Received wisdom tells us that businesses should do enough to stay in business, naturally enough. It also tells us staying in business in itself is not enough. Businesses and brands should also show leadership, pursuing a social purpose, so says the received wisdom. It motivates workers and it mobilises customers.
Continue reading “What’s the purpose of marketing in 2024?”
Survival has been the name of the game, but it is not an end game.
For many firms, the main focus so far has been to batten down the hatches in the face of rising uncertainty.
It is time to start rebuilding. Gradually, the economy will start to splutter back into life. We will be at the foot of a tall mountain.
How should businesses and brands start to rebuild? What should they do differently? Where is the solid ground to build on? Will they regret cutting marketing spend? Continue reading “Six steps to prepare for the recovery”
Too much has been written about what Brexit might or might not mean.
What it does mean is that business, ordinary people and politicians will all soon have a much bigger role in the decisions that shape our everyday lives. Continue reading “A new type of corporate citizenship?”
This blog first appeared over at Prolific London.
Just when you think there isn’t room in the world for another business index, the very smart people at communications agency Portland have created the Total Value Index. Continue reading “Purpose? How should business value be measured?”
Basic marketing practice generally means identifying a segment of people with common characteristics and then trying to work out what few triggers will attract as many of them as possible. Continue reading “The myth of the millennial market”
The researchers at professional services firm EY reveal four fifths (82%) of us believe a brand’s values must include a clear purpose. This purpose is critical in deciding whether or not we will buy from them.
The difficulty with this conclusion, and many like it, is that what people mean by purpose can be misunderstood, and such analysis can be overly simplistic and too easily miss a point. Continue reading “Do brands really need a “social purpose” to do good?”
The blog below originally ran on Reaction, to make the case for the Apology Clause campaign which, together with a couple of others, we have conceived and will run on a pro bono basis.
The campaign is to make it easier for businesses to behave with compassion when things go wrong, and thus for victims to have better recoveries. Continue reading “Sorry needn’t be the hardest word to say”
Businesses are operating in a more hostile public environment than at any time in the last 40 years.
The collapse of trust in formal institutions. The re-birth of socialism. Popular support to nationalise many industries. These are all taking their toll, often making business appear at odds with society. Continue reading “New agency: making the case for business”
Too often PR measurement is little more than an end of term report, assessing whether the agency or in-house team did broadly what it said it would. Continue reading “Are communications people’s heads wired differently?”
The communications industry has long struggled to prove the value of its work. In part, the answer must be to do more self-evidently valuable work, but making the case beyond that has often been haphazard. Continue reading “In defence of advertising value equivalents (AVEs)”
The PR and communication industry is struggling to remain relevant while other marketing disciplines are running rings around it. Continue reading “How communications might remain relevant”
The communications industry should temper its view of where it fits in the world. Too often PRs rush into a crisis with missionary zeal. If only the communications had been better all the drama could have been avoided, they say. Continue reading “A little humility (or realism), please.”
Corbet Communications 