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Advertising

All topics related to advertising including how to brief, working with advertising agencies and the evaluation of advertising.

Law - scales of justice

Creative approval – How to get creative work through your business

Snapshot : Businesses use creative approval controls to prevent legal issues, ensure brand and customer consistency and manage budgets and the company reputation. But, these controls often work against breakthrough. They provoke differences of opinion about business risk. This article covers how to turn these challenges into an opportunity to create better work.  Last week, we shared three simple creative evaluation questions that keep you focussed on external customers, their… Read More »Creative approval – How to get creative work through your business

Close up of a hand with thumb up

Creative evaluation – 3 key questions to keep you on the right track

Snapshot :  Getting creative work out the door and in front of customers can be a challenge. The creative evaluation process takes time. There can be many distractions and differences of opinion as your try to make the creative work better. To keep you on track through these challenges, we recommend you always come back to three key questions. Who’s it for? What do you want them to think and… Read More »Creative evaluation – 3 key questions to keep you on the right track

Advertising impact - mock-up of a billboard that sales this will drive $1m in sales. Probably.

Let’s talk about advertising impact on sales and profits

Snapshot : This week, we look at the pros and cons of short-term versus long-term advertising. The former focuses on sales activation, while the latter builds brand equity. Research shows the best results come when you find the right balance between the two. You only find the right balance for your brand when you review advertising impact. So, we’ll share three different ways to do that.  Advertising (including media) is usually… Read More »Let’s talk about advertising impact on sales and profits

Competitive advantage - chess board - set of white chess pieces at start of game with one black pawn replacing the white pawn in front of the king

Four key lessons to find your e-Commerce competitive advantage

Snapshot : To find your e-Commerce competitive advantage, you need to follow a marketing-led approach. In this article, we cover how knowing your audience, building your brand and creating relevant and inspiring experiences drive e-Commerce success. And of course, to stay at the top of your game in e-Commerce it’s important to keep learning. If you believe most of what you read online about e-Commerce, you don’t need to worry about… Read More »Four key lessons to find your e-Commerce competitive advantage

Woman looking at her phone in a dark room, checking social media channels

Let’s reconnect on social media channels – where were we again?

Snapshot : This week, we keep an old promise and look at more social medial channels beyond the Big 4. Join our online party as we flick though the ups and downs of You Tube, Pinterest, Reddit and Tumblr and what these social media channels can do for your brand and your customers.  It’s important to keep promises, right? Even if it’s been a while since you made that promise. So, we recently re-read our… Read More »Let’s reconnect on social media channels – where were we again?

An owl with quizzical expression

Marketing agency evaluation – some rules of thumb

Snapshot : Formal marketing agency evaluation is important. But, there are also many informal ways to judge whether your agency is doing a good job for you. We cover the many rules of thumb that will help you decide if your agency relationship is a dream or a dud. One of the first lessons you are taught in marketing is that you can’t do everything yourself. Marketing covers a wide… Read More »Marketing agency evaluation – some rules of thumb

Christmas gifts

Christmas advertising tells us it’s already here

Snapshot : Christmas advertising is the last chance of the year to build brands and drive sales. In this article we evaluate adverts from Coca-Cola, Myer and Pandora to see how clear, understandable, relevant, impactful and unique they are. All of which impact on whether they will actually drive sales.  So, it’s that time of year. The sleigh bells are ringing. And we’re listening. The supermarket aisles are packed with… Read More »Christmas advertising tells us it’s already here

Stag lying down in a green field

Remember the value of storytelling

Snapshot : It is a truth universally acknowledged, that most advertising is ignored or forgotten. But when you can add the value of storytelling to your advertising, you can really stand out. We share examples from the world of whisky advertising, cooking shows and travel to inspire you to create better advertising. Advertising that’s noticed and remembered.  How many adverts do you think you see each day? 100? 1,000? We… Read More »Remember the value of storytelling

Blank billboard

The world of media buying is weird

Snapshot : Your media spend is usually the biggest part of your marketing budget, so you have to spend time with media buying. But we reckon the world of media buying is weird. You have a “product” that is intangible and transient. And the industry behind it is a weird mix of overcompensating detail and social relationships.  We recently spent a bit of time updating our guides on media planning and… Read More »The world of media buying is weird

Person sticking up one finger - the non-verbal way of swearing

Swear words in advertising

Snapshot : The use of swear words in advertising presents you with a dilemma. If you use swear words, you may lose some people because you offend them. But swearing taps into deep and relevant human emotions. And in the right context, swearing can make your brand seem more relevant. Read our guide on how to make swear words work for you. Ya nosy bugger, ya.  Is bad language good for business?… Read More »Swear words in advertising