On Strategy Showcase

Ep# 2 in our “Best of Travel” series is Expedia's "Made to Travel" and its shift away from marketing destinations and deals to marketing the moments and feelings that great travel makes possible. Thanks to Kantar for sponsoring this series.

Ep#1 in our Travel Series. Leverage distinctive features in distinctive, humorous ways. Having to experience our world in virtual ways led to a craving for reality. And Iceland offers stunning, natural reality in spades, without silly headsets. We talk with SS+K, NY and Visit Iceland. Thanks to Kantar for supporting this series. 

Byron is the author of How Brands Grow and Director of The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Sciences. Some refer to him as the dark lord of effectiveness. He’s blunt and unapologetic. And I like that about him.  He lives in a black and white world, so no apologies to those who live in the gray. 

We wrap-up our Effective Outcomes series with a panel discussion. I'm joined by Elizabeth Paul, CSO at The Martin Agency, David Tiltman, SVP at WARC and author and strategist James Hurman. Thanks to WARC for sponsoring.

Marcus’ book demonstrates the risks of chasing product-based  value propositions and losing sight of how much influence culture and identity have on our purchase decisions. Identity in terms of how we signal who we are or how we want others to think of us. From the clothes we wear to the cars we drive, to where we live, to what we eat. All are signals of implied membership, status, attitude or asp...

With its goal of "Easing the Burden of Dishwashing," Finish detergent in Istanbul moved from fifth to first in part through its "Skip the Rinse" brand platform and its Glasses of Drought/Water Index initiatives. We talk about all three.

There was no product shots, no consumption occasion, no restaurant shown. No "ba da ba ba baa." And the industry went nuts. We hear the story behind the work and the ethnography research that fueled it, from Tom Sussman, Head of Strategy and Joe Beveridge, Planning Director, of Leo Burnett, London.

From moving beyond the morning occasion to a focus on quality, Folgers coffee wants to win over younger drinkers.

When the QSR brand asked for a focus on quality, Preacher's Head of Strategy Marika Wiggan and Founder Seth Gaffney found a way to reframe it... For What it's Worth.  

It started with a dinner conversation. That led to Edelman's Tom Hehir, EVP, Head of Strategy, joining me to chat about trust as a strategic goal and why Edelman feels it should be the ultimate metric. 

Mark returns to share  his Top 10 Marketing Moments of the year and why they mattered. Happy holidays and New Year to everyone.

To celebrate the holidays, we're rerunning the stories behind 10 years of iconic John Lewis ads and the simple brand platform and inspirations that shaped them, with CCO Richard Brim and CSO Martin Beverley of adam&eveDDB, London

Not all reach is equal. In this final episode of the series, we talk about the importance of attention metrics in reach-based comms planning and its impact on effectiveness/efficiency. This series sponsored by our friends at WARC.

When it comes to generating effective work, it’s critical that strong relationships exist between account people, strategists and creatives. We talk about the various creative personalities and how best to work with each. This series brought to you by our friends at WARC.

The most critical episode in the series, we talk about two key documents:  strategy on a page and the creative brief. Examples can be downloaded on this episodes' page on our website. This series is brought to you by our friends at WARC.

How a simple comment about the Frankfurt skyline unlocked German Rail's brilliant social media fueled idea that helped Germans Rediscover Germany.

Former Head of Sales Data Science & Analytics at Google, Harry shares the three types of metrics: Outputs, Outtakes and Outcomes, and the importance of having a Hierarchy of Evidence. This series is brought to you by our friends at WARC.

Ep#2 focuses on performance vs. brand marketing and the blasphemous idea of both in a single execution. This series brought to you by WARC.

Ep#1 deals with setting direction and defining objectives. Mark Ritson shares tips on how to get from objectives to client brief and the mistakes too many are making. This series is brought to you by our friends at WARC.

The brand historically known for its Pursuit of Progress has reinvented the way it expresses itself for a new generation of drinkers. From personal status to collective optimism, this is the story behind the latest "Keep Walking" campaign.

James Hurman and I talk about each of the 6 upcoming episodes and what you can expect from each guest. The series is brought to you by our friends at WARC.

This week we pay homage to Dan Wieden of W+K. He was heroic because he made it possible for the creatives and strategists I’ve long admired to become the creatives and strategists I've long admired.  He made them possible. He created the culture that allowed them to be. And he loved it. Here's a speech he gave at Design Indaba in 2016. It's well worth a listen. R.I.P.

How, after World War II,  would you market to the American public, a strange looking, small, inexpensive foreign car associated with Hitler's Germany? Imagine that was your brief. 

Liquid Death is an irreverent brand that contradicts almost every convention of marketing. It’s simply drinking water, but packaged differently and marketed uniquely with the tagline “Murder Your Thirst.” 

In his latest book “Future Demand," James Hurman suggests we start using the language of business to build the case for investment in harvesting both existing and future demand.