Why digital accessibility is now essential in the pandemic era

In a matter of weeks, Covid-19 achieved what years of lobbying and education had not - convincing organisations of the importance of making sure digital assets - like websites, emails and mobile apps - are easy to use and simple to navigate.

With the sudden upswing in digital demand and the almost overnight disappearance of physical interactions - it’s become clear how someone who cannot leave their home is forced to rely on digital channels, and how frustrating it is for them...

14 August 2020 | Best Practice

Know your data – and your limits – before utilising automation to drive campaign ROI

Brands are sitting on millions of pieces of data about customers and their behaviours – and yet many marketers are still failing to effectively apply it to their digital comms.

As a result, it’s leading to an array of lost opportunities. But why is that the case when organisations are exposed to even more ways to analyse their performance, speak to audiences on a deeper level and positively impact business growth?

Perhaps organisations aren’t providing marketing...

20 July 2020 | Advertising

Happy holidays? Why festive planning is earlier than ever this year

Brands love reaching their most passionate customers. As a former retail CMO myself, I get it. When you reach early planners, you reach the CEOs of the household—an audience that buys and spends more. Reach them first, and you have a shot at being their first choice when it’s time to shop.

And yet, for as long as marketers and advertisers have been prioritising planners, they’re making some seriously incorrect assumptions about this key audience right now. I heard from a CMO...

7 July 2020 | Branding

Facebook: Zuckerberg says ad boycott will end ‘soon enough’ as Oxford study explores impact

As the number of companies boycotting Facebook continues to grow, a study from the University of Oxford argues an 'immediate' negative impact could result, particularly in the retail sector.

Various major brands, including Adidas, Coca-Cola and Starbucks - with PlayStation the latest big name to join - are withdrawing advertising to pressure the social network into taking a stronger stand against hate speech.

According to the Information - with the story's veracity later...

3 July 2020 | Advertising

The state of influencer marketing amid Covid-19: Concern but micro-influencers show path forward

Influencer marketing campaigns, so often trying to achieve a balance between aspiration and authenticity, have seen a fault line rip through them as the coronavirus pandemic has progressed.

For all of the missteps which made the news last year - Philip Morris breaking its internal rules on a campaign, fashion influencer Marissa Casey Grossman's marriage which brought a new meaning to the term 'brand engagement' - the statistics around influencer marketing were solid. According to...

29 June 2020 | Campaigns

Assessing two approaches to the modern CMO role: Traditional marketing or all-encompassing?

Earlier this month, McDonald’s announced that it will bring back the role of a global CMO, less than a year after scrapping it. In 2019, the company opted to split the role between the technical and non-technical aspects, but is now reinstating a CMO to drive the brand forward.

McDonald’s isn’t the only brand to bring back a CMO role. Last year, Coca-Cola also appointed a new CMO, after two years of trialling a different model. These examples showcase the two main schools...

18 June 2020 | Best Practice

Why the obsession with an influencer’s reach is over – and where to target instead

With new opportunities, such as Instagram’s branded content ads and shoppable posts, the influencer space is changing rapidly. Vamp hosted a survey with 124 marketers to find out how they collaborated with influencers, what they prioritised and where they had found success. The results showed that the biggest changes in influencer marketing hasn’t been the hiding of likes or cracking down on fake followers, it’s the monumental shift in marketers’ priorities.

27 February 2020 | Campaigns

The Domino’s effect: New personalised advertising campaign sees tenfold return

Anyone can claim they have become a technology company, regardless of their industry, but for Domino’s Pizza, when the company’s mission changed more to delivering pizzas, rather than creating them, it really was the case.

With a mantra to ‘outsmart rather than outspend’, the company’s latest initiative has proven wildly successful. A recent personalised display advertising campaign in the UK generated a 10:1 incremental return on spend, generating more...

12 February 2020 | Advertising

Consumers are seeking out eco-friendly beauty brands: Exploring the rise of ‘conscious capitalism’

Meaningful beauty purchases are increasingly driven by how eco-friendly a product is, with shoppers also embracing new technology to choose the products that fit their needs and wants.

Yet despite this, a new BBC3 documentary, Beauty Laid Bare, will reveal how little plastic is actually recycled. The three-part documentary follows four people in their 20s for two weeks across America investigating the secrets of the multi-billion dollar beauty industry and shows how it is one of the...

29 January 2020 | Best Practice

Why project management and communication are the secret weapons of successful agencies

Sometimes, working in silos is essential — especially in an agency, where certain teams handle certain clients. If team members aren’t on the Coca-Cola account, they don’t have to go to the Coca-Cola budget meeting. However, silos can do more harm than good when it comes to collaboration between colleagues and teams. If you aren’t careful, they can impair healthy communication.

Finding a balance between working alone and working together can be...

20 January 2020 | Best Practice