What’s really driving shrinkflation?
It’s not often a Senate Enquiry comes with a language warning, yet that’s what happened, this week, when the respective CEO’s of Woolies and Coles fronted ‘spin-weary’ Senators in the Nation’s Capital. As the already battle-scarred CEO of Woolworths, Brad Banducci, discovered, spruiking PR spin to an angry mob of senators is akin to dodging […]
Is Australia Day approaching its use-by date for marketers?
Woolworths’ announcement to reduce its Australia Day merchandise for January 26th set off a variety of different reactions. One of the most notable was the plea by the leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, to call on all fair dinkum Aussies to boycott the retailer for being ‘un-Australian’. The response from Dutton is reflective of the growing […]
Qantas hits turbulence as trust goes into freefall
It’s about a month since Vanessa Hudson was given control. Apart from a glossy PR video depicting the new CEO smiling and laughing with some members of the Qantas team, it doesn’t feel as though Hudson is leveraging the significant opportunity that came with succeeding the ever-perky, Irish mathematician who eventually caved to public opinion […]
‘Brand Cops’ are diluting the meritocracy of great ideas.
The term ‘brand governance’ is one regurgitated regularly when dealing with marketing teams in large, multinational firms. For years we’ve been told, and in the most part believed, that ‘brand consistency is a good thing’. The creative industry has responded dutifully and accepted that brand consistency is the connective-tissue that binds companies’ marketing efforts together […]
10 things agile marketers do every day
Market dynamics have become increasingly competitive. For many brands, the only real certainty is further uncertainty. This makes for challenging times amongst a number of marketing departments. The last decade has witnessed substantial changes in the marketing industry, creating more ambiguity for those brand stewards charged with growing brands. It’s a constant battle between setting […]
The Holden brand might be gone, but it will never be forgotten
The news of the Holden brand being abandoned by General Motors is not entirely surprising given the company’s decision to cease manufacturing vehicles in Australia in October 2017. Indeed, the writing was on the wall a few months ago when Holden announced it was killing off the Commodore brand. But despite all signs pointing to […]
Nike’s supporting role in The Last Dance.
Netflix’s The Last Dance is an engaging documentary that has hit our screens at just the right time. As the sporting world takes a break due to the coronavirus, this fresh look at Michael Jordan’s basketball career lifts us out of our isolated lives and reminds us that there was sport prior to the lockdown. Whilst it […]
Mars and Nestle take a different approach to insights and observations
Like many industries, those of us working within the marketing sector have a certain knack for singling out words that quickly spike in popularity resulting in a proliferation of usage. Occasionally, this can then lead to the incorrect application of a term. ‘Strategy’, ‘platform’, ‘transformation’ and ‘future proofing’ all readily spring to mind as marketing […]
Brands see the value of becoming net zero
When Coles and Woolies both announce they’ll be carbon neutral before 2030, you know that climate change has mainstreamed. As leaders return from a a global thinktank on climate change in Glasgow, many businesses in Australia are not waiting for formal targets to be agreed. Rather, they’re racing to gain favour with consumers by pledging […]
There goes Coke’s dynamic ribbon
Coca-Cola has been in the news a lot recently. Indeed, many marketing departments must now be wondering whether they should be changing their names to ‘growth’ departments, given Coke’s decision to replace the role of Chief Marketing Officer with Chief Growth Officer. In less positive news, the company has been attracting silly headlines from some of the […]