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Mark Ritson: I long for the death of marketing clichés
Before Will Smith got hold of it and turned it into total pants, I Am Legend was a remarkably disturbing novella from science fiction author Richard Matheson. In the book Matheson’s hero Robert...
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Mark Ritson: Why can’t marketers see that digital metrics are bullshit?
Last Thursday I found myself addressing about a thousand marketers. I was one of four speakers debating the motion ‘Digital Metrics are Bullshit’ at Australia’s biggest marketing conference...
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Mark Ritson: Putting the C in KFC is an advertising error
Nothing is ever completely straightforward with advertising but the latest turn of events at KFC is odd even by ad land’s standards. The story so far… After 15 years with Bartle Bogle Hegarty, KFC...
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Mark Ritson: Yoga pants fury shows one brand doesn’t fit all
Wilson was quizzed about Lululemon’s recent quality issues with its best-selling yoga pants. Wilson admitted to design flaws but also pointed to a consumer issue too: “Quite frankly, some women’s...
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Mark Ritson: Aldi and Waitrose have strategic thinking in common
If you have been following recent events in Marketing Week it should have become clear that one of these supermarkets has a winning strategy and one, very clearly, does not. Before we get into winners...
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Mark Ritson: Are you a smart or a SOOMA budget setter?
Let me review both options for you because, as we enter June, those of you who do it smartly and work to a January-to-December planning year are literally starting the process as we speak. If you set...
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Mark Ritson: “Expect a bloodbath in the grocery aisles as the big four start...
Tesco’s half-year profits have dropped from more than £1bn to just over £100m. Sainsbury’s lost nearly £300m over the same period. Morrisons and Asda have fared less badly but both saw sales decline...
View ArticleMark Ritson: Why oh why do CMOs attend the hypocritical, ego-fuelled, waste...
Last week, we got one answer to the question. It appears that many of them get into private jets and head to an Alpine mountain to prance about in snow shoes. I am referring, of course, to that...
View ArticleMark Ritson: Google Glass’s marketing was perfection but its design made you...
Despite all the hullaballoo, the boldest and most famous example of wearable technology is currently floating, face first, in the ocean somewhere off California. In mid-January, we learned that Google...
View ArticleMark Ritson: Before falling over backwards to use virtual reality, get the...
Your humble columnist was unconvinced. Attaching what appears to be a large tablet connected to a diver’s mask to your face appears to be a bit of a stretch when it comes to persuading consumers to do...
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Mark Ritson: Despite the hype, smartwatches are unlikely to sway those in...
In the first camp are the steadfast ignorers led by the likes of Patek Philippe and Breguet. These brands, very much in the conservative corner of the luxury watch industry, see smartwatches as...
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Mark Ritson: 7 essential lessons all new marketers need to know
Eventually I saw the light and found myself in a room filled with bright, smiling junior marketers. I had an hour to instil in them the kind of fear and loathing that had taken me a lifetime to...
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Mark Ritson: Marketers have forgotten the meaning of marketing’s most basic...
Irrespective of the exact date, it’s clear that marketing is now more than a century old. Age confers many advantages – not least acceptance. Thirty years on, I can still remember the look on my...
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Mark Ritson: Millennials are out; blah blahs are your next target group
Twitter might be struggling at present as a corporate entity, but it still occasionally provides outstanding moments of quality social media. And by that I do not mean return on investment or...
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Mark Ritson: Leicester City’s winning strategy should be a template for all...
When the Premier League season began in August Leicester City were favourites for only one thing – relegation. They had only just survived the drop during the previous season and their manager had...
View ArticleMark Ritson: If you think the sales funnel is dead, you’ve mistaken tactics...
Advertising Age published a fantastically unhelpful article last week. In it, the chief marketing officer at Publishers Clearing House, Jason John, recounts his recent purchase of a coffee maker. John...
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Mark Ritson: Ditching targeting for mass marketing is going back to the dark...
Bruce McColl, the Global CMO for Mars, was in no mood for prevarication last month at the Advertising Research Foundation’s annual ReThink conference in New York City. “I’m not a great believer in...
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Mark Ritson: Tactics without strategy is dumbing down our discipline
There is no easy way to start this week’s column without sounding like a wanker, but I am genuinely worried about the state of our discipline. We’ve never been regarded as the most strategic part of...
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Mark Ritson: The Leave campaign is winning the all-important emotional...
By now you almost certainly know what is at stake. If British voters opt to stay in the European Union next Thursday we lose the last vestiges of sovereignty, immigration will run amok and rule of law...
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Mark Ritson: Maybe it’s just me, but shouldn’t an ‘expert’ in marketing be...
Sitting on a train on Friday grading exam papers I got a tweet from marketing consultant Glen Gilmore. The tweet was a little grid of 24 headshots and the message, “24 Marketers you Should Follow on...
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