Happy New Year. Our Monthly Round-up of the key pieces in Marketing for December – we’ve chosen five key articles and a podcast for this month’s review. If you missed any of them – have some time, they are all well worth a catchup.

Here are the December highlights:-

1. Our Top pick this month, we’ve picked a piece by Mckinsey on Digital marketing.  Many companies fail to take advantage of this granularity, falling back on agencies and aggregators to manage their digital-marketing investments. A more hands-on approach can rapidly drive double-digit revenue growth – without increasing marketing budgets. Our view – you get what you incentivise.

Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/deactivate-your-digital-marketing-autopilot?

2. Secondly, we like the fuelpodcast.com, particularly when they have the brilliant Helen Calcraft on it (from 10 minutes in) a brilliant leader – a brilliant creative agency, there is a real dynamo working at the heart of Lucky Generals, and she is always on a mission.

Here is the link: https://thefuelpodcast.com/helen-calcraft-lucky-generals-always-on-a-mission/

3. Thirdly, for a long time, the consultancy businesses have tried to promise they’d upstage agencies — it hasn’t really worked like that, this is a great piece by Digiday on what has worked and not worked.

Here is the link: https://digiday.com/marketing/consultancy-businesses-tried-to-promise-theyd-upstage-agencies-it-hasnt-really-worked-like-that/

4. Fourthly, at this time of year many firms offer their crystal ball – or Predictions for 2022. This set has been pulled together from a number of agency leaders by Jeremy Lee at the Creative Salon and offers a broad and well written view.

Here is the link: https://creative.salon/articles/features/qotw-biggest-learning-of-2021

5. Fifthly, 8 Predictions from WARC, getting smart with TV buys and beating the agency drum, we include this piece on a further eight predictions for 2022, again by agency leaders.

Here is the link: https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/opinion/eight-predictions-for-2022/5527

6. Sixthly, Rishad Tobaccowala has consistently given us the best thought leadership content in 2021, with his series: the Future does not fit in the containers of the past, so we end 2021 with his latest piece: Six ways to be, and feel better. https://rishad.substack.com/p/six-ways-to-be-and-feel-better?

Time for the Work: So many good Christmas ads to pick from this month, but we just had to pick Amazon for their kindness ad, following the effects of the pandemic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnjeHwUaEyQ Congrats go to Amazon agencies: Lucky Generals and Initiative media for this one.

Media: Are you wasting a ton of money, this one looks at the pros and cons of performance marketing. https://www.thecraftory.io/blog/2020/waste-a-ton-of-money

Letter/Tweet from America: Tom Morton sent us this wonderful A-Z of Ivy League style.  This is a lovely diversion – an A to Z that has taken a full year to get as far as L for Loafers. https://kamakurashirts.com/blogs/vintage-ivy-a-to-z-blog

Back to Henley: A mild December, the New Year looks similar, but it’s all about topline growth. Henley’s retail space is thriving again with the opening of Tigers ‘n’ Tiaras, Pets Corner, soon to come Cote Brasserie, and the Pavilion.

It’s the New Year, we’re here to help you with your agency resourcing structures, agency reviews, evaluations and benchmarking to improve your marketing performance, do contact us for anything we may assist you with.

We wish you and your family a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Kind regards,

Will