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Our Monthly Round-up of the key pieces in Marketing for August – we’ve chosen five key articles, and a podcast this month – if you missed any of them, have some time they are well worth a catchup. All our monthly reviews are available on our website. http://haiconsulting.com/category/views/

Our August highlights:
1. Our Top pick, this month is a piece from the Harvard Business Review August. Written by Rebecca Zucker ‘Managers are Burned out, here’s how to help recharge them.’ Rebecca offers six strategies to help recharge the burned-out managers on your team: 1) Recognize and acknowledge their burnout; 2) Create opportunities for personal connection both in person and virtually; 3) Re-assess, re-prioritize, and re-distribute their work; 4) Revise team agreements about how you all work together; 5) Touch base one-on-one with your leaders on a regular basis; and 6) Set the expectation with team members that they use all of their holiday time — it can be easy to put off or skip vacation when there’s so much to do.
Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2023/08/managers-are-burned-out-heres-how-to-help-them-recharge

2. Secondly, we are a great fan of the podcast Off to Lunch. This episode looks at the economy and in Business Studies a piece on Why a business fails and what can we learned from it. Wilko is the latest retail example of a business going into administration. Why does a business that was previously thriving end up failing? What tips a struggling business into insolvency? Graham Ruddick interviews Retail Veteran Ian Shepherd and discusses what it was like being chief executive of a ailing company. A summary of the bankruptcy discussion: “Gradually, then suddenly.” Ian now writes the superb Moving Tribes newsletter on business strategy. Here is the link: https://offtolunch.substack.com/p/off-to-lunch-is-back-04c?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

3. Thirdly, it’s a piece from Mckinsey on the future of work in America. Which jobs will be in demand? Which ones are shrinking? And which ones could be hardest to fill?
Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/generative-ai-and-the-future-of-work-in-america

4. Fourthly, it’s a piece from Mckinsey on the future of the CEO. Every chapter of the CEO journey comes with a unique set of challenges—and opportunities. Whether you’re a senior executive who aspires to the top job or you’re a celebrated CEO who’s preparing to pass the baton to a successor, check out this series from the McKinsey Quarterly articles.

Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-guide-to-excelling-as-a-ceo/how-to-be-a-high-performing-ceo-at-any-stage-of-the-ceo-life-cycle

5. Fifthly, it’s the year of Generative AI and we had to include another article on this hot topic by Mckinsey. As organizations rapidly deploy generative AI tools, survey respondents expect significant effects on their industries and workforces. Which jobs will be in demand? Which ones are shrinking? And which ones could be hardest to fill?

Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-in-2023-generative-ais-breakout-year

6. Sixthly, we pick a piece from the Digitalnative substack and a really interesting study by the Bank of America on what consumer categories are growing and where are consumers spending money.

Here is the link: https://digitalnative.substack.com/p/follow-the-money-categories-of-consumer

Media: Fake ads? Omar Oakes, gives his view on the GymBox debacle. https://the-media-leader.com/why-gymboxs-fake-ad-crossed-a-line/

Time for the Work: We’ve gone for Mondelez and the new Ritz work by VCCP this month. So it’s congrats to them for an ad that simply made me smile. https://www.vccp.com/work/ritz/ritz-ready-when-you-arent

New Books: McKinsey special, back from Summer, Top 10 business books, there is plenty to read here. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/summer-reading-2023

Back to Henley: Our weekly column in the Henley Standard continues where we interview local entrepreneurs – it’s called Let’s Get Down to Business. We were delighted this month to interview Joe Thomas of local digital production studio Wondervision. https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/henley-on-thames/182287/lgdtbjthomas.html

We are here to help you with your agency resourcing structures, agency reviews, and benchmarking to improve your marketing performance, do give us a call with anything we can help you with.

Kind regards,
Will

Our Monthly Round-up of the key pieces in Marketing for July – we’ve chosen five key articles, and a podcast this month – if you missed any of them, have some time they are well worth a catchup. It’s been a hectic month in Henley, I hope you’ve managed to have some holidays and look forward to catching up. All our monthly reviews are available on our website. http://haiconsulting.com/category/views/

Our July highlights:

1. Our top pick, every Sunday for the last three years, Rishad Tobaccowala has published a post on a different topic in his thought letter ‘The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers of The Past’ which is read by over 25,000 people and is available free. In this seminal edition, he highlights the popular pieces curated, and they are categorised.

Here is the link: https://rishad.substack.com/p/three-years-later?

2. Secondly, this month is a piece on ‘Scaling the company’ from Mckinsey. Chief revenue officers are boosting revenue at not only start-ups but also established companies. Scaling a company—large or small—is no easy feat. For start-ups, 80 percent never reach critical scale. At bigger companies, the challenge is even greater. Only 10 percent of S&P 500 companies have achieved growth surpassing the GDP for a continuous period of 30 years or more.

Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/a-bigger-bolder-vision-how-cros-are-propelling-growth-from-the-c-suite

3. Thirdly, what will happen to Uncommon London? Five years in – strong founders, fantastic creatives, brilliant work, a super runway, a reference point already. This was the big agency news in July with Havas taking a majority share, a partnership, or at least making an investment in the business. We came across this interview of Nils Leonard by John Evans on Uncensored CMO, and it’s a great podcast. Exciting times lie ahead for Uncommon – especially with their entry into the US.

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEsQ2NCYEe4

4. Fourthly, we pick a piece from the HBR July-August edition, on how AI can augment human creativity. There is tremendous apprehension about the potential of generative AI—technologies that can create new content such as text, images, and video—to replace people in many jobs. But one of the biggest opportunities generative AI offers is to augment human creativity and overcome the challenges of democratizing innovation.

Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2023/07/how-generative-ai-can-augment-human-creativity

5. Fifthly, we liked this piece. When companies are creating profiles of possible target customers, there is a dimension they often overlook: the urgency of the need for the offering. This article provides a process for segmenting prospective customers in this fashion and creating a sales strategy.

Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2023/07/let-the-urgency-of-your-customers-needs-guide-your-sales-strategy

6. Sixthly, Campaign always has a close eye on the UK creative scene, school reports, and league tables, Gideon Spanier gives his view on a new era of mega-mergers.

Here is the link: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/will-stars-align-agency-mega-merger-10-years-publicis-omnicom-failed/1831878

Media: We’re a fan of the Digital Native substack by Rex Woodbury. Well this month, interestingly he has come up with 10 charts that capture how the world is changing. https://digitalnative.substack.com/p/10-charts-that-capture-how-the-world-12e

Time for the Work: We’ve gone for the AA this month, so it’s congrats to MSQ’s -The Gate, and Media agency Goodstuff for this fabulous campaign. https://marcommnews.com/the-aa-launches-its-ok-im-with-the-aa-campaign/

Back to Henley: We’ve had Regatta and Henley festival this last month. Our weekly column in the Henley Standard continues where we interview local entrepreneurs – it’s called Let’s Get Down to Business. We were delighted this month to interview advertising legend & local gem – Micky Denehy. https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/let-s-get-down-to-business/182168/lets-get-down-to-business-micky-denehy.html

We are here to help you with your agency resourcing structures, agency reviews, and benchmarking to improve your marketing performance, do give us a call with anything we can help you with.

Kind regards,

Will

Our Monthly Round-up of the key pieces in Marketing for June – we’ve chosen three key articles, a guide and two extended podcasts this month – if you missed any of them, have some time they are well worth a catchup. It’s been a hectic month with the Cannes Lions and other festivals. All our monthly reviews are available on our website. http://haiconsulting.com/category/views/

Our June highlights

1. Our top pick this month is a piece from the IPA Effworks – it’s the IPA piece presented in Cannes. This podcast outlines the big shifts in advertising effectiveness in the digital era, and explores the opportunity for creativity in digital, green shoots, recovery, an upward turn in the hype cycle – it includes downloadable slides. During the session, you hear from Karen Martin (CEO at BBH London and IPA Effectiveness Leadership Group Chair), Les Binet (Group Head of Effectiveness, adam&eveDDB), Dr Grace Kite (Founder and Economist, Magic Numbers) and Tom Roach (VP, Brand Strategy, Jellyfish).

Here is the link: https://ipa.co.uk/knowledge/videos-podcasts/the-3rd-age-of-effectiveness/

2. Secondly, we have picked a piece from the Times by Gideon Spanier on how the advertising industry was singing again in a very warm Cannes. As ever a good read.

Here is the link: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/advertising-industry-is-singing-again-as-the-sun-shines-down-on-cannes-k29zq6ldm

3. Thirdly, it’s a Mckinsey article and a well written piece on the economic potential of Generative AI. Generative AI is poised to unleash the next wave of productivity. This report takes a first look at where business value could accrue and the potential impacts on the workforce.

Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-economic-potential-of-generative-ai-the-next-productivity-frontier

4. Fourthly, by contrast, we pick a podcast on the dangers of AI – from Ex-googler Stephen Bartlett. It’s a good perspective, and with guardrails needed it is worth the listen.

Here is the link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4xVz9V5DksIPqrdArBPDcb?si=fwIE0ccrQ62mqyZhvvThqg

5. Fifthly, we’ve gone for the excellent Digital Native substack by Rex Woodbery – How Roblox Grows: From Virtual Playground to Global Empire. It includes lessons on steadfast vision, platform building, vertically-integrated ecosystems, community as the product, and a peak into what a virtual country looks like.

Here is the link: https://digitalnative.substack.com/p/how-roblox-grows-from-virtual-playground

6. Sixthly, Mark Ritson produces some great content, and in this link you can download the Holy Trinity to Marketing. In this guide, Ritson’s gives his unmatched knowledge in one handy Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning focused place.

Here is the link: https://mba.marketingweek.com/master-the-holy-trinity-of-marketing/?cmpid=232_em_le__tx_stppdg

Media: Global advertising spend is forecast to speed up after a slower start to 2023, according to the WSJ. https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-advertising-forecast-to-speed-up-after-a-slower-start-in-2023-45b8953c

Time for the Work: Well this month we had to pick all the Winners from the Cannes Lions, an impressive list of winners in so many categories – congrats to all. https://www.lovethework.com/en-GB/cannes-lions

Cannes: We managed to fit just two days in Cannes this year – catching up with clients and agencies. We saw positivity, a return to the focus on creativity, incredible inspiration with some real winners.  Whilst there were many forums on Generative AI – there was a bigger sense of the vital role agencies play for brands – how creativity can harness brands going forward. Stars were born – winners are heralded – the success of the new networks, powered by strong Independent agencies was very evident.

Breaking News: Havas buys 51% stake in Uncommon London in $120 million cash deal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/havas-takes-majority-stake-in-creative-agency-uncommon-b301aca1

Back to Henley: We’ve had Ascot, Cannes and Regatta, and this week it’s Wimbledon and the Henley Festival. Our weekly column in the Henley Standard continues where we interview local entrepreneurs – it’s called Let’s Get Down to Business. We were delighted this month to interview one of our clients, John Colley – CEO of Majestic Wines https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/business/180709/let-s-get-down-to-business.html

We are here to help you with your agency resourcing structures, agency reviews, and benchmarking to improve your marketing performance, do give us a call with anything we can help you with.

Kind regards,

Will

Our Monthly Round-up of the key pieces in Marketing for May – we’ve chosen four key articles and two podcasts this month – if you missed any of them, have some time they are well worth a catchup. Thank you for those that gave us feedback last month, the Adforum highlights certainly sparked some debate. All our monthly reviews are available on our website. http://haiconsulting.com/category/views/

Our May highlights:

1. Our top pick this month is a piece from this month’s Harvard Business Review on how ‘Building Brand Building and Performance Marketing can work together’. With the right metrics, you can increase the return on both, written by Jim Stengel et al. Marketers often worry that performance marketing and its focus on short-term sales is crowding out brand-building activities aimed at enhancing customer perceptions of their brand—and is sometimes working against brand strategy.

Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2023/05/how-brand-building-and-performance-marketing-can-work-together

2. Secondly, we have picked a piece from McKinsey on Ecosystem Strategies and building resilience with diversification into new value pools. Effective ecosystem strategies can deliver valuable near-term benefits as well as generate long-term growth and resilience. Leaders are finding significant benefits already.

Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/growth-and-resilience-through-ecosystem-building.

3. Thirdly, we’ve picked a piece from Stratechery.com – a blog that we have been following for some time. Apple Vision is one of the best product names in Apple history and whilst the headset won’t be ready until next year – this blog is a must read this month.

Here is the link: https://stratechery.com/2023/apple-vision/

4. Fourthly, we pick a piece on how consistency in brand message is underrated. Speaking at Marketing Week’s Leadership Summit, Natwest’s CMO – Margaret Jobling details how she overhauled NatWest’s marketing function and her personal growth lessons.

Here is the link: https://www.marketingweek.com/natwest-cmo-margaret-jobling-consistency-underrated/

5. Fifthly, this deserves a shoutout, and its thanks to Isabel Perry and our good friends at DEPT, they have produced the Machine Learning Guide. It’s brilliant, and super informative – we call it “the Couch to 10K” guide to AI, it’s accessible via Spotify. The fundamentals are just as important as ever, even though there are new methods.

Here is the link: https://open.spotify.com/show/5M9yZpSyF1jc7uFp2MlhP9?si=c6c94dfaea524d84

6. Sixthly, there has been an awful lot of conversation about AI taking over Marketing and Advertising and deskilling jobs. There are also fears that the guardrails are not in place which this week has been the topic of concern for World Leaders. Ian Hogarth has invested in more than 50 artificial intelligence companies and is co-author of the annual State of AI report. He’s worried, not only about the disruptive consequences of machine learning for human employment, but about the potential rise of an ‘AGI’: artificial general intelligence. A great podcast.

Here is the link: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/novara-media/id1001507547?i=1000613992655

Media: Simon Andrews produces an excellent ‘Fix Lite’ Content Blog on a Monday, and here is his latest edition. He calls himself a veteran of advertising and digital, we just think he’s just super smart. https://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=80025f160be434835759d292b&id=35147b44d8

Time for the Work: A hard choice this month – but we have gone for the new Cadbury work and ‘Speakerphone’ – Congrats go to VCCP this month. This campaign just goes from strength to strength, the glass and a half in everyone campaign is a big brand idea that serves as a platform for powerful stories. ‘Speakerphone’ brings a fresh perspective, coupled with Fathers day this weekend – it explores the bond between father and son. https://www.moreaboutadvertising.com/2023/06/vccp-turns-the-tables-on-fathers-day-in-new-cadbury-work/

Cannes: Anyone heading to Cannes? – the hotels certainly seem pretty booked. We are planning to be on La Croisette on the Monday & Tuesday, before heading home to Royal Ascot for Wednesday & Thursday. It will be a busy week, but it will be great to catch-up.

Back to Henley: The booms are going up, it’s almost time for Regatta. Our weekly column in the Henley Standard continues where we interview local entrepreneurs – it’s called Let’s Get Down to Business. We were delighted this week to interview Edward Hopkins of Dark Green PR. https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/business/180434/letsgetdowntobusinesshopkins.html

We are here to help you with your agency resourcing structures, agency reviews, and benchmarking to improve your marketing performance, do call us with anything we can help you with.

Kind regards,

Will

Our Monthly Round-up of the key articles in Marketing for April – we’ve chosen six key articles. This month we also include our Ten Take-aways from the Adforum Worldwide Summit which we attended in New York. If you missed any of them – have some time, they are all worth a catchup.

We look forward to catching up with you to see how we may assist you and your teams to help design and grow your marketing ecosystem.

Our April Highlights:

1. Our top pick this month, is this outstanding article from Mckinsey on growth – and the six capabilities for multidisciplinary teams. The business-as-usual approach to marketing is no longer sufficient. To succeed in modern marketing, professionals must develop broad skillsets and prioritize collaboration. At its heart, the modern marketing opportunity is a skills and talent challenge. Although most individuals in a marketing organization will continue to have expertise in one specific domain, people can no longer be good at just one thing. The new marketing superpower is multidisciplinary competency across six core capabilities: customer centricity, full-funnel marketing, agile operating model, multichannel excellence, measurement, and customer data and marketing technology.

Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/modern-marketing-six-capabilities-for-multidisciplinary-teams?

2. Secondly, ‘Why marketers are returning to Traditional advertising’ from the Harvard Business Review. Pundits have long predicted the demise of traditional advertising. However, it is alive and well and headed for growth for the first time in a decade. The authors explain seven factors driving this trend, including the ability of traditional ads to break through digital clutter, the decline in third-party cookies, and more.

Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2022/04/why-marketers-are-returning-to-traditional-advertising

3. Thirdly, we came across this piece by Les Binet on ‘How to adapt your Marketing Strategy in Tough Times.’ The world has been turned upside down in recent years. Pandemic, war, energy crises, labor markets in chaos, rising intertest rates, and the biggest rise in inflation for decades. It’s a cocktail of economic instability and uncertainty. Here adam&eve/DDB’s Head of Effectiveness offers some guidance for advertising in tough times, starting with the need to recognise advertising as an investment.

Here is the link: https://bit.ly/3AUMdm5

4. Fourthly, “The ethos throughout 2023 is spend smarter, not harder”: Fifteen marketers on the AA/WARC adspend growth predictions. What should marketers be doing to reinforce value? What are the opportunities ahead? This expert panel dissect the latest AA/WARC results and the implications for performance marketers in 2023 and 2024.

Here is the link: https://www.performancemarketingworld.com/article/1821190/%E2%80%9Cthe-ethos-throughout-2023-spend-smarter-not-harder%E2%80%9D-15-marketers-aa-warc-adspend-growth-predictions

5. Fifthly, another piece from last month’s Harvard Business Review is a piece on Generative AI. Why are some firms better and faster than others at adapting their use of customer data to respond to changing or uncertain marketing conditions? A common thread across faster-acting firms is the use of AI models to predict outcomes at various stages of the customer journey. It’s a hot topic that was also covered at the Adforum Summit in New York.

Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2023/04/using-ai-to-adjust-your-marketing-and-sales-in-a-volatile-world

6. Sixthly, something totally different, we’ve picked this piece in Forbes on Apple’s new saving account. It has phenomenal growth, and great interest. Who would have thought this company would look to shake up financial services.

Here is the link: https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.forbes.com/sites/emilymason/2023/05/01/apples-new-savings-account-draws-nearly-1-billion-in-deposits-in-the-first-four-days/amp/

Time for the Work: It’s congrats to AMV BBDO and Guinness this month. I fully admit to being a bit of a fan/nerd of all the Guinness advertising – a fantastic piece of art direction that so catches the moment.

Media: It’s always good to see the latest figures on growth from the Advertising Association. UK Advertising grew 8.8% in 2022. https://adassoc.org.uk/our-work/uk-ad-spend-grew-8-8-in-2022-to-reach-34-8bn-inflationary-pressures-persist-with-minimal-growth-forecast-for-2023/

Back to Henley: The Coronation has been keeping us all very busy.Our weekly column in the Henley Standard continues where we interview local entrepreneurs – it’s called Let’s Get Down to Business. We were delighted this month to interview Ben & Priya Watson who run the Golden Ball in Lower Assendon, a food-led pub which uses the best produce from the area. https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/business/179900/let-s-get-down-to-business.html

Ten Take-aways from the Adforum Worldwide Summit in New York: In April, we attended the Adforum Worldwide Summit in New York. Twenty five consultants, from eight countries, saw eighteen agency/company presentations in five days. This year’s summit included meetings with:- McCann Worldgroup, Havas, Orchard, DDB Worldwide, Deutsch, Stein IAS, Argonaut, Zulu Alpha Kilo, Stagwell, Accenture, Grey, Pereira O’Dell & Serviceplan, Critical Mass, Uncommon London, DEPT, System One and Web3 Pro.

1. Brand inflection points are opportunities – technology is driving creativity – we saw the convergence of technology, creativity, strategy and commerce – leading to the emergence of the Tech-Marketing company.
2. Brands are asking agencies to solve business issues, as well as brand issues – customer centric marketing – for big consultancies (like Accenture & the McCann Worldgroup) this means building the runway and infrastructure for the entire marketing ecosystem.
3. Nimble Independent agencies (like Uncommon & Argonaut) and Micro networks (like Stagwell and DEPT) are gaining strength – the new holding companies are flexing through acquisition.
4. We saw how Generative AI will be used to build brands, and what guardrails are needed.
5. The Metaverse was a fad, because no one really worked out how to make any money from it – Web 3 is interesting for Gen Z and some luxury brands.
6. The B2B specialism is buoyant – seeking a premium as they focus on data to drive the B2B process and outstanding results. Media is getting closer to Creativity again.
7. Agencies are shifting from three days to five days in the office, the return to work is driven by better results being back together in the office.
8. We saw the resurgence of the deep desire for Creativity in many presentations.
9. So many leadership changes in agencies which are hampering performance, very few seem to have succession plans in place.
10. Agencies are not building disposable products, but building things that last – sustainability though is a topic that is still too low on the client agenda.

We’re here to help you review your marketing ecosystem and improve marketing performance, so do call us, or email us with any questions you may have.

Kind regards, Will

Our Monthly Round-up of the key articles in Marketing for March – we’ve chosen four key articles, a podcast and a Truth about New Europe Presentation, this month’s focus is on the changing workplace. If you missed any of them – have some time, they are all worth a catchup. We look forward to catching up with you to see how we may assist your teams to help design and grow your marketing ecosystem.

Wishing all our clients, agencies, and friends an enjoyable long Good Friday weekend.

Our March Highlights:

1. Our Top Pick this month is an article/thought piece from Richad Tobaccowala, part of his series – The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers of the Past. Edition 138. This substack has quite an amazing collection of articles and think pieces, delivered to us on a Sunday and always full of thought leadership.

Here is the link: https://rishad.substack.com/p/the-new-world-of-work

2. We attended a fascinating presentation and panel discussion on the Truth about New Europe this month by McCann Worldgroup at their new London campus. An extensive piece of research from the network that had been very well pulled together. Good to see the levels of positivity post pandemic returning by country, the role of brands in defining the future, what politicians can and can’t do, and the questionable influence of our media.

Here is the microsite link: https://truthaboutneweurope.mccannworldgroup.com/p/1

3. Thirdly, we have picked a great piece from the Harvard Business Review on Work Time and Busyness. Leisure was once the sign of prestige – today that idea has been turned on its head, and busyness is the new status symbol. Busy people are considered important and impressive, and employees are rewarded for showing how “hard” they’re working. Such thinking is misguided. This article explores both the downsides of busyness (employee turnover, reduced engagement, absenteeism, and impaired health) and the reasons for our obsession with it.

Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2023/03/beware-a-culture-of-busyness

4. Fourthly, it’s the era of the Substack – and a couple that caught our eye. We recommend: MovingTribes.com by Ian Shepherd – this month it included a piece on the future of John Lewis. And the other is Offtolunch.com. Dame Sharon White is taking John Lewis on a difficult journey – Andy Street has urged bosses not to change it’s magical staff ownership formula.

Here are the two links: https://movingtribes.substack.com/p/knowingly-undersold https://offtolunch.substack.com/p/waitrose-and-employee-ownership#details

5. Fifthly, we’re a great fan of the Digital Native substack and we came across this piece on the Maslow’s hierarchy of startups. All humans have needs, and every company seeks to fulfill a need. Needs can vary greatly. Some companies exist to put food on our tables, our most basic human need, it’s a good read.

Here is the link: https://digitalnative.substack.com/p/maslows-hierarchy-of-startups?

6. Sixthly, we pick a podcast from Mckinsey on retail growth and the big sprint to Cuctomer obsession. What does purposeful growth look like in the retail sector? Two former Nike executives share the company’s secret formula for serving customers with its shift to digital, direct-to-consumer model, and sustainability.

Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/retail-growth-the-big-sprint-towards-customer-obsession

Time for the Work: It’s congrats to BBH and Hofmeister this month for top work – bringing back the bear.  https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-hofmeister-brewing-company-ltd/

Workplace: We couldn’t leave Tom Morton’s piece out of our Monthly Review, so specific to the workspace. It’s really interesting to see what the future of agency offices will be. https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2023/03/13/agencies-are-still-split-on-what-the-future-of-work-looks-like

Media: Defending the budget in a downturn – we came across this piece in Campaign Magazine by Sam Tomlinson of PwC and Ian Whittaker of Liberty Sky Advisers and found it useful. https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/defend-brand-marketing-budget-downturn/1816674

Back to Henley: It’s the Devizes to Westminster 125 mile canoe race this weekend. Good luck to Cllr. Laurence Plant who is taking part.Our weekly column in the Henley Standard continues where we interview local entrepreneurs it’s called Let’s Get Down to Business. We were delighted this month to interview Gavin Jackson a local architect. https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/section/13/business

After 12 years, as a Town Councillor in Henley, I have decided it’s time to stand down, so good luck to the team seeking Election on May 4th. It’s Adforum in April, so expect the highlights from New York in next month’s Round-up.

We’re here to help you review your marketing ecosystem and improve marketing performance, so do call us, or email us with any questions you may have, big or small, we’re here to help you when we can.

Kind regards,

Will

Our Monthly Round-up of the key articles in Marketing for February – we’ve chosen six key articles, centred on brand building. If you missed any of them – have some time, they are all worth a catchup. As ever, we look forward to catching up with you, to see how we may assist your teams. Do drop us a line with anything we can help you with.

Our February Highlights:

1. Our Top Pick this month is an article from Mark Ritson, Marketing MBA guru, produced for Marketing Week. Ten years since The Long and the Short of It was published, new evidence shows that while sales-driven ads deliver few long-term effects, brand advertising achieves both. It’s a good read.

Here is the link: https://www.marketingweek.com/ritson-brand-building-boost-short-term-sales/

2. Secondly, we’ve picked a piece by Les Binet produced for the Drum on digital attribution and the need for econometrics. Here he explains what marketers need to know as digital attribution degrades.

Here is the link: https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2023/02/23/digital-attribution-dead-les-binet-tells-us-why-marketers-need-econometrics-2023

3. Thirdly, we’ve picked a substack and a piece on the Retail revolution from the US. It’s in the Digital Native substack by Rex Woodbury. Rex’s excellent trends piece is so good – it’s in two parts.

Here is the link: https://digitalnative.substack.com/p/the-retail-revolution https://digitalnative.substack.com/p/the-retail-revolution-part-22?

4. Fourthly, a new substack, we recommend you follow is called Movingtribes.com, Ian Shepherd, Chairman of Benson for beds, writer, and local retail expert has written this one. In it, Ian outlines the three layers to protecting the British High Street from doom and gloom.

Here is the link: https://movingtribes.substack.com/

5. Fifthly, we have picked a piece from the Harvard Business Review January/February magazine on the naming your product, as we have just handled a Naming brief for a new client. When an established consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) company introduces a new product, it faces a potentially make-or-break decision: how to brand it. Tying it to an existing brand (as was the case for Cherry Coke and Avon Hand Lotion) is tempting. Customers are more likely to try a new product with a familiar association, and companies have to expend fewer marketing resources to launch it. But the strategy has risks, too: Weak or failed brand extensions can harm the parent company.

Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2023/01/the-best-way-to-name-a-new-product

6. Sixthly, we have been following ChatGPT – which heralds an Intellectual Revolution. This is an excellent piece from the Wall Street Journal. Generative artificial intelligence presents a philosophical on a scale not experienced since the start of the enlightenment. You may find this sits behind a paywall, but if you email me I will send you a personal copy.

Here is the link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chatgpt-heralds-an-intellectual-revolution-enlightenment-artificial-intelligence-homo-technicus-technology-cognition-morality-philosophy-774331c6

Time for the Work: It’s congrats to Uncommon London and Nike this month. Wow – take a bow, simply brilliant! Nike’s Jordan Brand portrays the uplifting story of an aspiring female baller in a spot that debuted during the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend. The spot, the first work in a new global campaign for Jordan Brand by Uncommon Creative Studio, it shows the young woman on court as her mom looks on, with scenes flashing back to her childhood. https://adage.com/creativity/work/nikes-jordan-brand-portrays-aspiring-female-baller-uncommon-ad/2475471

Media: ‘Vive le pitch’, we are seeing a bit of a creative pitch frenzy in London with JLP/Waitrose, Nationwide and Sainsbury’s looking to change agencies. Gideon Spanier writes for the Times: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/gideon-spanier-its-pitch-perfect-for-ad-agencies-as-clients-look-to-build-brands-s5nj5p32g On the media front agencies are vying for Weetabix. But it’s more about empathy, according to Maria Tudor at The Kite Factory. Empathy is the force that will power media relationships in 2023. https://the-media-leader.com/empathy-the-force-that-will-power-media-relationships-in-2023/

Book Alert: Former TBWA CEO Sara Tate and Anna Vogt have a new book out. The Rebuilders: Going from Setback to Comeback in Business and Beyond. Failure…we’ve all been there. In business and in life. Whether you’ve done it to yourself or have been negatively impacted by external situations, this book is a guide to building resilience and turning obstacles into opportunities. And it’s available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rebuilders-Setback-Comeback-Business-Beyond-ebook/dp/B09RVH6GZF

Back to Henley: Our weekly column in the Henley Standard continues where we interview local entrepreneurs it’s called Let’s Get Down to Business. We were delighted this month to interview Chris Hogan, CEO of Phyllis Court. https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/henley-on-thames/178327/chrishogan.html

We’re here to help you review your marketing ecosystem and improve marketing performance, so do call us or email us with any questions you may have, big or small, we’re here to help you when we can.

Kind regards,

Will

Our Monthly Round-up of the key articles in Marketing for January – we’ve chosen six key articles – centred on customers, growth and the future. If you missed any of them – have some time, they are all worth a catchup. http://haiconsulting.com/category/views/

We are on hand to help you design, build, and grow your marketing ecosystem. We really look forward to catching up to see how we may assist you and your teams.

Our January Highlights:

1. Our Top Pick this month is a piece from the Harvard Business Review by Fader, Hardie & Ross on understanding your customers. Most companies analyze financial performance by looking at geographic segments, product lines, or channels. These perspectives overlook the fact that aggregate revenues are dependent on individual customers, and that’s why analyzing the business by looking at its customers can provide managers with useful insights. This process, called a customer-base audit, can be a tool for businesses as they seek to answer five questions: Who are our best and worst customers?

Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2022/12/do-you-really-understand-your-best-and-worst-customers

2. Secondly, we’ve picked a piece by Rishad Tobaccowala on the Triangle of engagement. This is edition 129 from his excellent series The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers of the Past. While much of the content of his series has focused on the future, managing change, leading in these times, and learning to remain relevant, a new topic of concern, challenge and uncertainty has arisen regarding employee engagement.How does one engage with teams and with colleagues in meaningful ways in a world of distributed and unbundled work, rapid acceleration of the speed of work, increasing burnout, and a workplace with four different generations each with different mindsets and expectations? It’s a good read.

Here is the link: https://rishad.substack.com/p/the-triangle-of-engagement

3. Thirdly, we pick a piece from the HBR January magazine by Rosen and Seligman on Cultivating the four kinds of creativity. In the decades to come, creativity will be key to doing most jobs well. In this article the authors offer a new typology that breaks creative thinking into four types: integration, or showing that two things that appear different are the same; splitting, or seeing how things that look the same are more usefully divided into parts; figure-ground reversal, or realizing that what is crucial is not in the foreground but in the background; and distal thinking, which involves imagining things that are very different from the here and now.

Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2023/01/cultivating-the-four-kinds-of-creativity

4. Fourthly, we have picked a piece from the Creative salon, on the future of marketing – They interviewed Michael Flatt, director of global integrated marketing at Microsoft XBOX, some great insights here on how complex and intimidating marketing has become. There are some good reads on Creative Salon.

Here is the link: https://creative.salon/articles/features/future-of-marketing/michael-flatt-future-of-marketing

5. Fifthly, we have gone for the Mckinsey Quarterly piece this month titled the CEO Guide to the Metaverse. It’s too big to ignore – yet its future is far from certain. Companies need to dip a toe in the water and plan to take the plunge should developments warrant. This report gives a really good guide to whom is dipping into this universe and embracing this wave of change including highlighting the optimism and success in the metaverse. What is it worth? 5 trillion dollars is a lot of money.

Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/a-ceos-guide-to-the-metaverse#/

6. Sixthly, we have chosen the Moonblock State of the Brand NFT 2022 – Report, sent to us by Isabel Perry at Dept. It shows how brands entered the NFT space in 2022 and how the landscape looks like. It’s metaverse rich and something we have been looking at for some time. This is an in-depth PDF report giving perspective on the potential and key trends, 2022 brand NFT launches and revenue potentials.

Here is the link to download the report:

https://moonblock.io/brand-nft-report-2022#download-report

Time for the Work: It’s congrats this month to McDonald’s and agency Leo Burnett London for our Pick of the Work. It’s bold advertising creative to have an ad these days that has no real branding device, food, or restaurants within it. System One would probably have shunned it, but it’s a great ad to kick-off the New Year.  https://www.thedrum.com/news/2023/01/13/new-mcdonald-s-ad-doesn-t-show-its-restaurants-or-any-its-food

Media: The very latest on Retail Media, ANA produced the Retail media report yesterday and it shows brands are shifting spend. https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/382020/ana-brands-shifting-shopper-trade-brand-market.html?edition=129107

Podcast: The Pin Drop Podcast this month – Intrepid x Ben Fennell. Ben Fennell is an advertising and branding legend who spent over a decade running advertising agency BBH London as CEO, helping some of the world’s biggest businesses and brands to grow. He has more recently set up ‘The Growth House’, an innovative consultancy that helps high performance teams go faster and further together. https://open.spotify.com/episode/51ThqkpiTm7tvUTcr0H3rB?si=6efacec6c8e74173&nd=1

Photo by Russell Cleaver

Back to Henley: It’s fantastic to see Bremont in Henley – going from strength to strength. https://whitecollarwatchguy.co.uk/2023/01/30/the-top-trends-to-watch-out-for-in-2023/ There’s a brilliant line up for the Henley Festival this year – announcing five nights of entertainment with Nile Rodgers headlining the event. https://henley-festival.co.uk/ And our weekly column in the Henley Standard continues where we interview local entrepreneurs -  it’s called Let’s Get Down to Business. We were delighted this week to interview Ian Shepherd, Chairman of Benson for beds, retail expert, author, and CEO of Moving Tribes. https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/business/177954/let-s-get-down-to-business.html

We’re here to help you review your marketing ecosystem and to improve marketing performance, so do give us a call, or email us with any questions you may have – we’re here to help you when we can.

Kind regards,

Will

A Happy New Year to you, and your family.

Our Monthly Round-up of the key pieces in Marketing for December – we’ve chosen a webinar, a podcast and four key articles, curated for the marketing ecosystem. If you missed any of them – have some time, they are all worth a catchup. http://haiconsulting.com/category/views/

As we move into 2023, we look forward to catching up, to see how we may assist you and your teams.

Our December Highlights:

1. Our Top Pick this month is the Les Binet webinar produced by adam&eveDDB with the IPA in December – The World turned upside down. With a recession looming on the horizon and consumers facing increasing hardship, it’s safe to say the economic outlook is less than positive. From seizing market share from your competitors to driving marketing effectiveness when consumer spending plummets, globally revered econometrician and marketing effectiveness guru Les Binet shares his lessons on how brands can thrive in such a crisis. It’s in two parts – and it’s superb.

Here is the link: https://ipa.co.uk/knowledge/videos-podcasts/the-world-turned-upside-down/

2. Secondly, we pick an excellent podcast by On-Strategy Showcase by Fergus O’Caroll with Mark Ritson. This is an hour long podcast – via Spotify – which outlines the 10 Trends of Marketing in 2022, and the implications for 2023. From brand building, to the obsession of purpose, brand activists, Brewdog, Patagonia, Russia, Unilever, and how brands noted the funeral of HM the Queen, it concludes with the topic of Stagflation Marketing and pricing – it’s an inspiring piece.

Here is the link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5TBHdGmhgjy7PMlZ2xpKPj?si=D0tFAuTQQlGGfnT9y9DMSg

3. Thirdly, we’ve gone for a Mckinsey piece on AI (sent to us by Isabel Perry of Byte/Dept) The results of this year’s McKinsey Global Survey on AI show the expansion of the technology’s use since they began tracking it five years ago, but with a nuanced picture underneath.

Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-in-2022-and-a-half-decade-in-review  – and because this month ChatGPT was the big thing that needs to be spoken about – it’s so powerful. Why not give it a go here: https://chat.openai.com/

4. Fourthly, we picked a piece on messaging on Marketing Week, where Mark Ritson so aptly demonstrates the ability to be single minded v total recall in communications. You might increase total message recall by adding more of them, but you’ll lose credibility, as shown by the World Cup protestor who couldn’t pick one cause.

Here is the link: https://www.marketingweek.com/more-messages-more-effectiveness/

5. Fifthly, we’ve chosen the AdAge Best 30 Ads of 2022, which was published in mid-December and caused a flurry of Agency CEO’s to debate where they sit in the Top 30 pecking order. These are the 30 commercials and brand moves that stood out from the pack in a tumultuous year.

Here is the link: https://adage.com/article/year-review/2022-review-best-ads-marketing-ideas/2458361

6. Sixthly, we pick a piece that appeared in the Entrepreneur on leadership, four ways to harness a growth mindset and set yourself up for success in 2023. It raises some good points

Here is the link: https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/4-ways-to-harness-a-growth-mindset-to-set-yourself-up-for/440692

Time for the Work: Whilst many of the Christmas ads were good, we’ve actually picked one this month that we first saw when we were at the Adforum Amsterdam. It’s DHL taking Coldplay on tour, congrats go to 180 Amsterdam for delivering a truly global number – namecheck – check out the height of that bridge in the ad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqHb69aPbCI

Media: Want to know more about Gen Z? – The Digital Native substack has a ton of content, written by Trends Reporter Shaurya, it takes a deep dive into niche internet micro-trends and subcultures, and analyzes them so you don’t have to. https://thedigitalnative.substack.com/

Back to Henley: Now that we are past the shortest day in the year, the days get longer and we can begin to look forward to Spring. Our weekly column in the Henley Standard continues where we interview local entrepreneurs it’s called Let’s Get Down to Business. We were delighted this month to interview Adam Toop who was previously CEO of Adam Phones and is just launching Code International. Definitely one to watch! https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/business/176849/let-s-get-down-to-business-adam-toop-code-technology.html

Feedback: Thank you to all those that email us feedback. We curate these reviews individually for you, do continue to share the key links with your teams. We were chuffed to have received this feedback from Michael Lee – CSO at VCCP Partnership: “Of all the newsletters and flotsam I receive, this monthly curation of articles is the one email where I always read the featured articles and get something useful or useable from them. Thanks for doing this, it reflects extremely well on you!” 

We’re here to help you review your marketing ecosystem and to improve marketing performance, so do contact us, for anything we can help you with.

Kind regards,

Will

Our Monthly Round-up of the key pieces in Marketing for November – we’ve chosen four key articles on growth, a podcast, and a webinar. If you missed any of them – have some time, they are all worth a catchup. http://haiconsulting.com/category/views/

This month we have also included Ten Highlights/Learnings from the Adforum Summit in Amsterdam. If you would like a collaborative discussion around your 2023 objectives, we’re happy to set up a session to take you through the findings.

Our November Highlights:

1. Our Top Pick this month is an outstanding piece on Growth and E-commerce by Mckinsey. A successful transition to the next horizon of digital commerce requires companies to get real about being customer first and making some hard choices. Superbly presented this article highlights six big key forces – key trends that are highlighting the need for companies to evolve their approach to e-commerce.

Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/becoming-indispensable-moving-past-e-commerce-to-next-commerce

2. Secondly, we pick a piece that Mark Ritson produced for a ‘Ritson on Recession’ Webinar – in partnership with System One which we attended. Mark presented a guide to how brands can survive – and thrive in tough times. He outlines five takeaways for marketers – and here you can download the summary and recording in full.

Here is the link: https://system1group.com/blog/ritson-on-recession-5-takeaways-for-marketers.

3. Thirdly, when ROI does not equal ROI, we came across this piece via the Financial Times on Marketing’s Most Marmite metric.

Here is the link: https://thetomroach.com/2022/10/12/marketings-most-marmite-metric/

4. Fourthly, we love the Digital Native substack and this piece summarises 10 charts that show how the world is changing.

Here is the link: https://digitalnative.substack.com/p/10-charts-that-capture-how-the-world?

5. Fifthly, we picked a piece by Avi Dan, who for some time attended Adforum summits in New York, his piece appeared in Forbes this month. The great agencies have one thing in common: the person who calls the shot is a rock star, a charismatic leader. It’s an interesting read.

Here is the link:  https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.forbes.com/sites/avidan/2022/11/02/the-one-thing-that-all-great-agencies-have-in-common

6. Sixthly, we pick a Metaverse piece. An excellent podcast from AdAge which outlines ways for brands to think about Web 3 and the Metaverse. It was sent to us by Isabel Perry at Dept. who has a Trends Event piece coming up in January 2023. And even includes a section from Meta guru Nicola Mendelsohn on building the Metaverse responsibly.

Here is the link:  https://open.spotify.com/show/3KNVlS2GZWkns1wcwOrw08?si=1a5884eb75644cfb

Time for the Work: It was a tough choice this month with breaking Christmas ads for Guinness, McDonald’s, O2, and Aldi all worthy contenders. But it had to be congrats this month to John Lewis, and Adam & Eve London for simply getting it so right.  https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/adam-and-eve-john-lewis-ad-the-beginner-advertising-101122

Media: Amazon and other retail media represent a third wave in digital advertising. We are a fan of Simon Andrews Fix/lite which we share on a Monday morning – this week’s editionhighlighted this Financial Times piece on Retail Media. https://www.ft.com/content/3224a3f6-cf02-4e1f-95f9-9b90da204377

Back to Henley: Our weekly column in the Henley Standard continues where we interview local entrepreneurs it’s called Let’s Get Down to Business. We were delighted this month to interview Ben Fennell, CEO of The Growth House, and former CEO of BBH, some great learnings. https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/business/176180/let-s-get-down-to-business-ben-fennell-the-growth-house-remenham.html

Book Alert: And we’ve picked Will Greenwood and Ben Fennell’s book ‘World Class’. How to Lead, Learn and Grow like a Champion. We attended a Gardner Leader event at Leander Club early this month in which Will and Ben unearthed some insights from the book on Leadership. Pack your team with talent – it’s an essential read and is available in all forms from Amazon.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Class-Lead-Learn-Champion-ebook/dp/B091Y5MHG2

Ten Highlights/Learnings from the Adforum Summit in Amsterdam:

We bring you the highlights from the recent Amsterdam Adforum Summit – 30 consultants from 9 countries, met with 15 agency and production companies across Europe in 3 days. We saw key trends emerging this year – a wave of newness – agencies working directly at the intersection of: – entrepreneurship, marketing, technology, creativity, and experience.

Agency participating in this year’s Adforum Amsterdam included: Day One: Virtue, Candid, iO, The Family, N=5, Rankin Creative, followed by a Constellation / 72 & Sunny dinner. Day 2: Been There Done That, Die Crew, Gravity Global, Forsman and Bodenfors and DEPT, with a closing dinner at 180 Amsterdam. And finally on the last day sessions with Code d’Azur, Springbok, Deloitte Digital and ACNE London.

65% of all agencies are back in the office full time. Of course there is still some hybrid working, but that tends to be much more on the marketer/client side. Pitching agencies we find are stronger if teams through the process are seated together. Many of the financial institutions continue to be hybrid.  All the offices we visited were lively, active and back to full culture – it was great to see.

Agency Models: We saw emerging agency models particularly within entrepreneurial profiles – growth by acquisition, agencies being privately funded, or becoming highly attractive to private equity investments. We saw seamless agencies – where Independents are working together as true alternatives to holding companies.

CMO Complexity: CMO’s are facing a ‘cacophony of complexity’ – the need to blend client skills and agency teams – and have them work seamlessly together. Brands must no longer self promote, but make consumers their ambassadors, within targeted communities particularly via social media.  It’s no longer good enough to have just great creative advertising – it really is about how a CMO can orchestrate and integrate the whole organisation marketing mix funnel. It always now includes seeking Share of Search, as well as Share of Voice.

Sustainability: It’s a key topic to save the planet, and many agencies are guiding clients to be not only sustainable, but indeed net zero businesses – all the agencies have the objectives to leave the industry better than they found it, often selling ideas that can help change the world forever.

Purpose: We again saw agencies that are focussing on Purpose, they are compassionate, and we are beginning to see a number of new agencies launch into this space.

Power of Creativity: The power of data in creativity was evident and the question these days is how agencies interpret and decipher the data in time to make a difference, particularly with closed loop attribution. Some advertising is in terminal decline, but with testing systems in place some creative advertising is gaining significant traction for brands. Macro-economic issues lie at the heart of the problem, brand advertising is needed particularly when inflationary price increases are necessary.

Decoupling: Agencies are able to ‘slice and dice’ accordingly, we saw examples of agencies recognising their value in wisdom – decoupling strategy from execution – and offering only the former. Agencies are seeking to move upstream into the consultancy space to be closer to innovation and product design.

The Makers: A new breed of agency is emerging that we saw earlier in the year in New York, through RGA, Huge, Proto and DEPT. And in Amsterdam iO and DEPT were the best examples of agencies blending the focus areas – entrepreneurship, marketing, technology, creativity, and experience – and making things happen.

The Conductors: Agencies are beginning to present themselves as platforms, whatever the task – we are beginning to see talents blended to client needs and agency projects run by ‘Conductors’, or as one agency presented – simply as ‘a Nose’ to whatever the clients objectives.

The Big Four: It’s clear that ‘the Big Four’ want to play in the strategy, thinking and communication space. Whilst we have seen Accenture Song making multiple acquisitions – its timely that Deloitte Digital, ACNE has aspirations for big tech thinking and delivery – these companies are built with expertise to deliver massive transformational moments of change.

Being Brave: It’s the time to look across your organisation – nurture youth and opportunity. We saw some fantastic creatives in their twenties, presenting on flagship clients – the world favours the brave – often they understand specific categories better than we do.

Wishing you, and your team a Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year. We’re here to help you evolve your agency resourcing structures, agency reviews, evaluations and benchmarking to improve your marketing performance, so do contact us for anything we can help you with.

Kind regards,

Will