As marketers, we know the oldest, most basic form of brand marketing is also the most powerful: word of mouth. In spite of highly advanced digital marketing tools, massive amounts of data and infinite ways to connect directly with our audiences, it’s more important than ever for brands to endemically infiltrate the conversations of consumers…
It will take 200-plus years to officially reach gender parity, according to the World Economic Forum 2017 Global Gender Gap Report. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have that much time. As we reflect on International Women’s Day tomorrow (March 8), I simultaneously want to drown myself in my morning coffee amid the…
With the help of a squadron of digital tools, brands are chasing their tails. Like people in your Facebook feed, brands respond to positive feedback. Likes, clicks and other shallow metrics drive the content brands create each month. They’re easier to access, easier to understand and easier to act on. Success with your Instagram picture…
Over the last two years, there has been a real awakening of Amazon’s platform, with major brands like Nike and Sears Kenmore signing on to sell direct and a well documented influx of media dollars. But as we all know, just being present is never enough. What you say and how you say it remains…
With SXSW about to kick off, it’s a good time to be thinking about the technologies poised to transform how we live and work. Voice platforms brought to us by Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and Samsung’s Bixby are all vying to change how we interact with technology, and the “voice wars”…
I’ve been dismissive of virtual reality and its potential for brands. You may have dismissed it, too. It’s hard to imagine popular adoption anytime soon. VR has looked like the emperor’s newest clothes, the latest marketing fad. But I’ve had a change of heart, and I hope you will join me. The visionary chairperson of…
There are some striking similarities between the internet 20 years ago and podcasting today. In 1997, there were 70 million internet users worldwide. Today, there are 67 million monthly podcast listeners. In 1997, $906 million was spent on internet advertising. Today, $243 million is spent on podcast advertising, which is expected to double by 2020….
In the past few years, mobile has risen to become the most dominant form of media consumption. With this change in consumer behavior, platforms like Google, Facebook and Instagram have grown into virtual monopolies. This shift has not only affected consumers, it has also changed retail and the way smart marketers approach commerce. Nowhere is…
Earlier this week, Bank of America became the first major company to announce that it had appointed a brand safety officer to ensure a positive customer experience and protect the firm’s reputation online. If you’ve been following the conversation around brand safety in the digital ad space, this news should come as no surprise. Despite…
Remember learning that “there’s no such thing as a Magic Bullet”? Over the last decade or so, an onslaught of third-party data and cookies have made brands and advertisers dismiss this basic rule of thumb in favor of the big data promise: Big data will “know” consumers for you and target them on a seemingly…
Perception is reality when it comes to marketing, and perception is challenging to alter once it is formed. For example, even though 203 million Americans will play mobile games regularly in 2018, most Americans do not identify themselves as gamers. Industry data proves that people of every age, demographic and household income play mobile games….
We’re going deeper into 2018, which means the predictions, trends and what’s-in-store-isms of marketers everywhere are fading in favor of actual outcomes. But there is a sleeping giant amongst us that will have an ever-increasing role in almost every facet of our lives–from the economy to politics to how we consume goods and services. We’re…
Amazon is again altering the retail landscape with brick-and-mortar stores that offer quicker checkouts and deeper data collection. The company that upended the brick-and-mortar retail world with an ethereal “shop from anywhere” business model is building Amazon Go stores next to the retailers that survive on “shop from somewhere” consumers. Amazon Go is part of…
In a piece written for Harper’s Magazine, Tom Robbins, my literary personal Jesus, tells a story about one of the musicians that plays on Big Mama Thornton’s recording of “Hound Dog.” This, as he relates it, was the musician heard barking at the end of the song. When asked about this seemingly inspired moment, the…
The lack of transparency in the world of online media–which has led some to describe today’s content landscape as the “Wild Wild West”–has long been an elephant in the room. But for brand marketers, 2018 is the year that it becomes the focal point of conversation. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, I had the…
In our world of liquid expectations, how can marketers continually evolve strategy to keep pace? Ever since Mad Men days, the chief marketing officer has been in charge of the brand and has been the person who knows the customer best–that hasn’t changed. What has changed is that instead of marketing to the customer, the…
The best advice someone gave me as a newly minted executive creative director was this: Find your heroes in the industry. So I went hunting for the best among us. I wanted to find those who I could look up to for their work, of course. But I also really wanted role models who were…
In less than four months, the European Union data regulator will begin enforcing the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to strengthen the security and protection of EU residents’ personal data. Companies that don’t comply with the GDPR not only risk losing their customers’ trust, but they could also face fines of EUR20 million or…
The advertising industry is notoriously fickle. Cast your mind back to the 1950s when large companies with larger budgets would broadcast messages to consumers, telling them what they needed. From Brillo Pads to Oldsmobiles, the same content was thrust upon a notably non-targeted audience. We’ve come a long way since then. Advertisers have been anticipating…
At some point during the 1970s, my father, Terry Clarke, walked into the pristine conference room of a conservative manufacturing company in New England. The company had long supplied the federal government with precision devices, for which they made a fortune in top-secret contracts. On this particular spring day, my father and his partners were…
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