Interview: how Mark Constantine made Lush the UK’s most admired brand without advertising
A recent study by consultancy Basic Arts sought to discover the most admired brand in the UK. Naturally, there was a decent presence from the usual suspects such as Apple, Google, and Nike; businesses whose brands have become so strong as to almost be cliches. However the identity of the top brand came as something of a […]
If you have competitors, then you’re not doing it right
No well designed business should have competitors. Other companies in the same general category? Sure. But not competitors – other companies who your customers consider to be “viable alternatives” to dealing with you. Your goal instead should be to create a form of “micro-monopoly” within your category, where only you provide the specific value you […]
United enjoyed a record quarter after dragging that guy off their plane
Yup, this surprised me too. Following “the PR disaster to end all PR disasters” that occurred when footage was released of United Airlines forcibly removing David Dao from one of their flights due to overbooking, one might have thought that the carrier would receive some sort of retribution for their sins. I mean, all sorts […]
A business should be a creative brief
A creative brief – for those lucky enough to have never worked in marketing – is a document that advertising agencies give to their creative teams to prompt them to create exciting, on-message ideas. As you can imagine, it’s something that’s pretty important to get right. Get it wrong and not only is it […]
Your business doesn’t deserve to exist… probably.
This piece first appeared in freshbusinessthinking.com Does your company deserve to exist? “Of course!” I hear you answer. But does it really. Because these days most don’t. There are exceptions of course. That busy little coffee place down the road from you? They deserve to exist. They’ve answered a need. They’ve set up shop in a […]
The Strategy For “Cool”
This piece first appeared in the December issue of Marketing Magazine. It’s common knowledge that advertising has an authenticity problem. As transparency increases and brands lose control of their message, the public is starting to notice the gap between brand ideals and the humdrum reality of the business that lurks beneath. But what about those that […]