December 2021 News Roundup
Here is our round up of the news stories and industry articles that caught our eye during December.
The best marketing campaigns of 2021
Marketing Week choose 8 of their top campaigns of 2021.
John Lewis launches £1m fund for projects that “rethink waste”
John Lewis Partnership has established a £1 million fund in the hope of supporting projects that could speed the shift to a circular economy.
In partnership with environmental charity Hubbub, the Circular Future Fund seeks to support a variety of projects which “rethink waste”.
“We’re hoping to unearth some of the world’s leading innovators, who have built their business models, products and services around the concept of circularity,” John Lewis Partnership director of ethics and sustainability Marija Rompani says.
Read the article in Design Week.
Visit Sweden campaign reveals the tourism gems behind Ikea product names
Ikea has gifted the simplicity of Swedish design to the world, yet, as a witty new ad campaign points out, the choice of names for its products may be doing its home country something of a disservice.
Created by ad agency Forsman & Bodenfors, the Discover the Originals campaign reveals that the names of many Ikea products – which the world has long struggled to pronounce – are named after real places in Sweden. It then encourages tourists to visit these tourism spots.
Read the article in Creative Review.
Digital artist Claudia Rafael on painting with code
“I’m always into using these tools in an emancipist way, and not abusing them,” says Claudia Rafael, whose visual practice nowadays is built around technologies like AI and AR. The Berlin-based digital artist and art director cites how AI can be employed to anticipate health conditions, but recognises how the fields she is interested in have more harmful or even malicious applications.
“When we talk about medical stuff, [AI] knows two weeks before that a person might get a stroke – so artificial intelligence can save lives. This would be an emancipist way [of using the technology]. And of course, you can abuse artificial intelligence and do deepfakes and fake news and stuff like this, so this is why it’s very important to be always critical with these new tools,” she says. “But it’s also very beautiful what new possibilities are coming up in terms of filters.”
Read the article in Creative Review.
Aldi crowned this year’s most effective Christmas ad
Aldi’s Christmas campaign has been rated as the most effective festive ad of the year, pipping Coca-Cola, Lidl, and M&S to the post.
According to research by Kantar, the discount supermarket’s reimagining of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’, featuring Kevin the Carrot and new character Ebanana Scrooge, is the Christmas ad most likely to deliver on long and short term measures this year.
Combining 3,600 consumer survey responses with facial recognition AI technology, the research saw Aldi rank top of 24 tested ads on four of five key measures, named the most ‘festive’, the most ‘enjoyable’, the most ‘distinctive’, and the most ‘meaningful’. The latter is a measure of how likely the ad is to build affinity or brand love.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
Tesco’s Christmas ad cleared of causing ‘widespread offence’
With more than 5,000 complaints, Tesco’s Christmas ad is the most complained about of the year, but the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled it is not “irresponsible” so will not be taking further action.
Tesco’s Christmas ad featuring Santa flashing his Covid passport at border control has been cleared of breaking any rules by the advertising watchdog, despite receiving more than 5,000 complaints.
The majority of complainants took issue with the scene in which Father Christmas proves he is vaccinated, as they believed it could be viewed as “coercive” and encourage “medical discrimination”.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
November 2021 News Roundup
Here is our round up of the news stories and industry articles that caught our eye during November.
Facebook rebrands to Meta as virtual worlds become ‘new North Star’
Admitting the previous brand name was too “tightly linked” to one product, CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants his business to become “metaverse first, not Facebook first” in a bid to graduate from social media to virtual worlds.
Facebook is rebranding its corporate identity to Meta in a bid to become a “social technology company” focused on developing virtual worlds, otherwise known as the metaverse.
While the holding company name will change to Meta, effective immediately, the Facebook platform, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger will retain their brand names. CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that the business will report on two different segments – one for its family of apps and one for its work on future platforms – and to aid this shift a new corporate brand was needed.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
Government launches consultation on copyright and AI legislation
The consultation is seeking evidence and views on the extent to which patents and copyright should protect inventions and creative works made by AI.
The government has today launched a consultation on how the copyright and patent system should deal with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
AI as a technology is already well-entrenched in everyday life. It is a powerful tool for scientists, entrepreneurs and artists alike, and allows for new inventions and creative work.
Read the article in Design Week.
Lidl takes Christmas into the future to prove it will always be ‘Lidl on Price’
The festive campaign sits within the supermarket’s ‘Big On’ creative framework, which aims to make Lidl as famous for quality as it is for price.
Lidl is doubling down on its promise to provide quality food at low prices this Christmas, as its 2021 campaign imagines what a Christmas of the future might look like.
Promising to be ‘Big on quality and always little on price’, the ad restarts with the same group at the Christmas table, but this time set in a future time when turkeys are carved by lasers and some family members have moved to the Moon.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
Tesco won’t let anything stop its customers from enjoying Christmas this year
The supermarket’s festive ad is inspired by research revealing the British public’s determination to have a good time this Christmas “no matter what”, following last year’s cancellation.
Launching today (13 November), the TV ad is backed by the Queen track ‘Don’t stop me now’ and follows a woman determined to celebrate Christmas with her family – no matter what obstructions hinder her progress. She is offered ‘a little help’ by a Tesco worker and overcomes all the hurdles on her route.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
Design for Planet: using storytelling to reframe the climate crisis
By shifting the focus towards storytelling, designers can reposition their own work and thereby effect change in consumers.
On day one of the Design Council’s Design for Planet festival the message was clear: humans need to resoundingly change their behaviour patterns if we want to save the fortunes of the planet – and ourselves.
Designers, several of the speakers explained, can and should be at the forefront of that behavioural change: as the developers, curators and tastemakers for huge portions of society they are uniquely positioned to do so. But to effect change in others, Finn Harries says designers need to consider their own thinking too.
Read the article in Design Week.
How brands can stand out on the digital shelf
The boom in ecommerce brought about by the pandemic means standing out on the digital shelf is a priority for brands large and small, but does the battle start offline?
The rapid growth in ecommerce over the last two years has opened up new vistas for brands as they have refocused to cater to consumer realities.
According to NielsenIQ figures from earlier this year, FMCG ecommerce sales in the UK had increased tenfold since the beginning of the pandemic. Online sales were growing 11 times faster than offline sales, a trend accelerating in virtually all European markets.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
October 2021 News Roundup
Here is our round up of the news stories and industry articles that caught our eye during October.
How to time your marketing effectively in the run-up to Christmas
This Christmas is set to be very different from the last, so to execute effective advertising campaigns brands must plan to peak at the right times, when consumers are most engaged with relevant content.
After a Christmas like no other in 2020, when much of the country was under lockdown, marketers need to be alert to consumer trends when planning their festive online advertising this year.
Most advertisers would once have planned their Christmas campaigns in a similar way each year. But times have changed. Consumer behaviour is still being strongly influenced by the pandemic, as well as nationwide supply shortages in numerous sectors, and advertisers must take all this into account.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
We mean green campaign
Last week a revamp, albeit a temporary one, of the British Rail double arrow logo caused a stir in the design press and on social media. CR speaks to Studio Blackburn, the team behind the update, to get an insight into the project and how they felt about the reaction
The objective was simple: grow awareness that rail is the greenest form of public transport and “demonstrate how rail is supporting the government to achieve its net-zero carbon goal, making the case for investment in decarbonising the railway”.
Read the article in Creative Review
Innovate UK is offering £14.4 million in funding for “healthy ageing” designs
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £2 million of the fund, to support initiatives that have been co-designed with older people.
Innovate UK has launched a fund worth £14.4 million to support initiatives that encourage healthy ageing through service design.
The Designed for Ageing funding competition is part of a wider push by Innovate UK parent organisation UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), called the Healthy Ageing Challenge. The challenge has been developed to help businesses and social enterprises to create “products and services to help people as they age”, according to UKRI.
Read the article in Design Week
‘We’re creating a category’: Why Sky is investing in its biggest ever marketing campaign for Sky Glass
As it becomes an aggregator of competitor content, Sky’s new streaming TV is creating a whole new product category, marketing director Sunny Bhurji says.
Identified as a “game changer” for the brand, Sky has unveiled its biggest ever marketing campaign to promote its latest product innovation, Sky Glass.
Sky Glass is the brand’s first television and is being touted as the world’s first “streaming TV”. The device will stream content entirely over the internet, with no satellite dish or box, and is the first to be certified as a carbon neutral product.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
New show at the Design Museum celebrates the life and work of Terence Conran
The exhibition opens on what would have been the 90th birthday of the influential designer and Habitat founder, accompanied by a book written by Deyan Sudjic.
One of the most influential designer-entrepreneurs of his generation, Sir Terence Conran, who died last year, was a champion of design education and the creative industries in the UK throughout his life.
Opening to mark what would have been Conran’s 90th birthday, the Design Museum in London is celebrating the memory of its founder by looking back at his accomplishments, from early furniture designs, to influential restaurants and the establishment of Habitat.
Read the article in Creative Review.
Diageo warns ‘quality of reach’ is becoming ‘incredibly challenging’
The fact consumers are no longer “wrapped around the monoculture of television” presents a real problem for advertisers, according to Diageo’s global marketing effectiveness director Kiel Peterson, who believes personalisation backed by data will be key.
Speaking at the IPA’s Effworks Global 2021 event this morning (12 October), Diageo’s global marketing effectiveness director Kiel Peterson said the pandemic has created a conundrum for brands, as “quality of reach” is now going to be “incredibly challenging” as consumer behaviour has shifted dramatically.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
ROI on media spend highest when ’40-50% spent online’
Online is not “the enemy” of marketing effectiveness, says econometrician Dr Grace Kite, as analysis reveals the optimum budget split for UK brands is 55% offline, 45% online.
Advertisers outside of the awards circuit are seeing the success of their campaigns increase when media investment is divided between online and offline media, with revenue per £1 spent highest when 40-50% of the budget is spent online.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
How UEFA’s Euro 2024 identity represents the “real-life variety” of football fans
The VMLY&R design team talks us through the tournament identity and its “typeface without borders”, which was crafted with inclusivity in mind.
The identity for UEFA Euro 2024 was revealed last week at Berlin’s Olympiastadion – marking a “new era” for the tournament, according to VMLY&R creative director Hélder Pombinho.
Read the article in Design Week.
Mel D Cole’s powerful photos of American protest
The photographer switched his focus from the hip-hop scene to the Black Lives Matter movement last year in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. Now, he’s turned his series into a book.
Mel D Cole started shooting music on a disposable camera back in 2001. The New York-based, self-taught photographer has since established himself as one of hip-hop’s most accomplished and celebrated photographers.
Read the article in Creative Review.
Almost half of marketers plan to recruit staff over the next three months
Plans to expand staffing levels have now been recorded for three successive quarters, signalling progressively stronger conviction in employment growth expectations.
After making substantial cuts to their marketing departments over the course of the pandemic, the number of marketers planning to make new hires over the next three months has once again grown, according to data gathered exclusively for Marketing Week.
In fact, almost half (47%) of respondents to the IPA Bellwether report say they plan to recruit additional staff over the next three months, compared with just under 8% anticipating job losses at their firms.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
September 2021 News Roundup
Here is our round up of the news stories and industry articles that caught our eye during September.
Ritson’s top 10 quotes from marketers who aren’t ‘dead white men’
Mark Ritson says he was “torn” after giving a talk outlining his 10 greatest marketing heroes of the past 150 years. Why? Because “perhaps inevitably and certainly unfortunately” the list was dominated by dead white men.
While he didn’t want to deny these great marketers or ignore the contribution they have made to the industry, he was also conscious they didn’t accurately reflect marketing as it is today.
“I faced a bit of a quandary with my heroes talk because while the historical list was male and white, the current army of marketers is much, much more diverse,” he says.
Read the full article in Marketing Week.
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New Turner Classic Movies channel brand explores differing film tastes
New York-based design studio Sibling Rivalry has developed a new visual identity for US-television channel Turner Classic Movies, which seeks to interrogate differing film tastes.
Launched in the 1990s, Turner Classic Movies is a film-oriented television network operated by WarnerMedia. It has a reputation for showing a wide variety of films, and this was the focus of the new brand.
Read the full article in Design Week.
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GDPR: How brands could benefit from ‘common-sense reforms’
The UK government’s proposals for data law reform could have positive implications for the use of cookies, clarity around legitimate interest and improving public trust in advertising.
After announcing its intentions for reform last week, the government has launched a consultation on its proposed changes to UK data regulations and privacy laws, which industry trade bodies believe could be beneficial for advertisers.
Read the full article in Marketing Week.
Interabang unveils stamp collection dedicated to Batman
The 12-stamp collection features the heroes and villains of the popular comic book series, and a supplementary mini sheet depicts the Justice League.
Interabang has unveiled a 12-stamp collection for Royal Mail which is dedicated to the heroes and villains of the Batman comic book series.
Read the full article in Design Week.
New campaign from charity Frontline19 highlights PTSD in frontline workers
An emotive film and print campaign aims to emphasise the long term effects that the pandemic has had on key workers, and how the public can show their support.
There have been many, many statistics thrown at the public during the pandemic. Yet while these numbers serve a useful purpose, one downside of so many stats is the risk that they become meaningless along the way.
Read the full article in Creative Review.
Inside Boots’ mission to create a ‘world class media agency’
The high street retailer is introducing an advertising offering for brands, spanning campaign planning, creative development and measurement, a move CMO Pete Markey describes as “central” to the Boots marketing strategy.
Boots says it wants to offer brands a “world class” media agency experience through the launch of its full-service advertising offer, Boots Media Group.
Read the full article in Marketing Week.
Parliamentary committee calls for creative industries “freelance commissioner”
A recommendation to improve equity is one of several set out in a new report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Creative Diversity.
The government should appoint a freelance commissioner if it is serious about promoting and supporting diversity in the creative industries, according to a new report.
Read the full article in Design Week.
Is there room for ethics in design?
The devil on the ad industry’s shoulder might still say that fast fashion and oil companies aren’t so bad, but some design studios are taking an ethical stand. But can ‘good’ clients and big business can ever live in harmony?
In 2008, when Tom Tapper co-founded his agency Nice and Serious, he and his partner Ben Meaker had a simple method for judging which clients were OK to work with – they’d simply ask themselves if they’d be embarrassed telling their friends about it in the pub.
Read the full article in Creative Review.
B&Q’s latest ad uses stop motion storytelling to show the benefits of DIY
The ad is the latest work from Uncommon for B&Q’s Build A Life campaign yet strikes a different tone to previous work in the series, which has featured bold posters and an ad showing footage of real people doing DIY on their homes. Titled Later Means Never, this spot, by contrast, takes more of a storytelling approach.
Read the full article and watch the ad in Creative Review.
Consumer confidence dips as ‘cost-of-living crisis’ looms
Consumer confidence has dropped due to concerns about rising tax, food and fuel prices, while the end of the furlough scheme means consumers are “slamming on the breaks” in anticipation of economic hardships.
Read the full article in Marketing Week.
August 2021 News Roundup
Here is our round up of the news stories and industry articles that caught our eye during August.
Oatly, Arsenal, Christmas ads: Everything that matters this morning
Marketing Week start every week with some interesting bite sized news stories. What caught our eye in this one is Arsenal launching a rewards scheme. As football fans and Aston Villa season ticket holders we were amazed they didn’t have one already.
Oh yeah, and the ‘C’ word at the beginning of August….
Read the full article in Marketing Week.
Pentagram redesigns Sight and Sound film magazine “for our times”
‘Pentagram partner Marina Willer has redesigned Sight and Sound in an attempt to combine the magazine’s heritage with a digital outlook.
The new look is accompanied by a reworking of the title’s editorial content, such as a special archive section which explores features from the magazine’s 90-year history.
Sight and Sound was established in 1932 and is one of the UK’s oldest film publications. It is published by the British Film Institute (BFI).’
Read the full article in Design Week.
Streaming, programmatic, misinformation: 5 interesting stats to start your week
We found the stats around TV and streaming consumption really interesting:
‘Covid-19 restrictions brought about a surge in TV and streaming consumption, rising by 47 minutes to 5 hours 40 minutes per person per day in 2020, an increase of 16%.
The Media Nations Report by Ofcom finds viewership of subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video almost doubled in 2020, to an estimated 1 hour 5 minutes per person per day.’
Check out the full piece in Marketing Week.
BrewDog’s new marketing boss launches first campaign following ‘Punks with Purpose’ scandal
‘BrewDog has unveiled a campaign to showcase its inclusivity and sustainability credentials as it looks to move on from the accusations of its “toxic” work culture
The ‘Beer For All’ campaign launched on 7 August with a TV advert taking centre stage. It shows people from all walks of life, with a voiceover suggesting “meat-eaters”, “tall people”, “fake listeners”, “shoplifters”, and even the “guy who almost certainly owns a snake” all drink BrewDog.’
Read the full article in Marketing Week.
The Trouble with Packaging
‘To the casual observer, plastic packaging is no less of a problem now than it was a decade ago – despite years of grim warnings about landfill sites, climate change and ocean pollution. A huge number of our everyday products still come in plastic containers, many of them single use and produced using virgin plastic.
Each year, the Break Free From Plastic movement martials an army of volunteers across the world to collect and document hundreds of thousands of pieces of plastic waste, and create a tally of which brands are contributing the most to the problem. In 2020, the report featured a stable of household names including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle, Unilever and Mondelez, to name the leading five.’
Interesting article in Creative Review.
How much is the Reebok brand worth after being offloaded by Adidas?
‘After 15 years under Adidas ownership, the sportswear giant is close to selling off the Reebok brand – but at a loss. While Adidas has followed Nike on an upward trajectory over the past decade and a half, Reebok has struggled to match their growth momentum.
Adidas bought the brand in 2006 for €3.1bn (£2.6bn) as part of its effort to take on Nike, but now looks likely to sell the brand for €2.1bn (£1.8bn) to Authentic Brands Group early next year.’
Read the full article in Marketing Week.
Turner Duckworth “thoughtfully contemporises” Campbell’s Soup
‘Turner Duckworth has redesigned Campbell’s Soup for the first time in 50 years, with the aim of endearing the brand to new audiences.
Founded in 1869 by Joseph A. Campbell, Campbell’s Soup has been a mainstay in kitchen cupboards for more than 150 years. It has also been an unexpected feature for popular culture, rising to fame as a muse for artist Andy Warhol.’
This is a super article in Design Week.
July 2021 News Roundup
HERE IS OUR ROUND UP OF THE NEWS STORIES AND INDUSTRY ARTICLES THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE IN JULY.
Marketer CEOs beat finance CEOs on overall reputation, study finds
‘ CEOs with a marketing background have a better overall reputation than business leaders from nearly all other areas, including those with a background in finance, engineering and economics, according to new research.
Marketing CEOs have an overall reputation score of 8.32, according to the data from Brand Finance as part of its Top 100 Brand Guardians Index. This puts marketer CEOs ahead of those with a background in finance (8.21), engineering (8.19), computer science (7.89) and economics (7.80).’
Read the full article on the Marketing Week website.
UK’s top marketers back stricter regulations to prevent ‘bad apples’ from ‘souring’ consumer trust
‘Just a quarter (26%) of the UK’s top 50 marketing leaders believe current regulations are fit for purpose, while half support further marketing restrictions on high fat, salt and sugar foods, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).
The majority say they would back rules similar to those for cigarettes to restrict the marketing of potentially harmful goods and services. Since 2002, companies have been completely banned from promoting tobacco products to consumers across any media.’
Read the full article on the Marketing Week website.
Channel 4 privatisation could damage the UK’s “entire creative sector”
This petition had 111k signatures when we posted this blog
‘ A petition has launched to protect Channel 4’s creative network, following culture secretary Oliver Dowden’s announcement that the government is once again considering the channel’s privatisation.
Established in 1982, the television network is a public corporation of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), though it is mostly commercially self-funded.’
Read the full article in Design Week.
BrewDog and other hard seltzer brands under fire for making ‘misleading’ health claims
‘ Hard seltzer brands BrewDog, DRTY and Whisp have all had adverts banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for making “misleading” and “irresponsible” health claims.
A raft of brands, including Heineken, Bud Light and Coca-Cola have recently launched hard seltzer products, which tend to be positioned as a healthier, more natural alternative to other ready-to-drink options.’
Read the full article on the Marketing Week website.
Customer experience, trust, savings: 5 interesting stats to start your week
At the start of every week Marketing Week publish 5 interesting stats – it’s well worth a look every Monday. The stat that caught our eye in particular is that nearly half of marketers admit their customer experience is below par.
‘ Just under half (48%) of CMOs in the UK, France and Germany believe the customer experience their brand offers is not up to the standard consumers expect.
That’s despite 79% appreciating the value of delivering a solid customer experience, and 75% agreeing that customers expect a highly relevant, personalised and integrated messaging and experiences. ’
Find out more about this and other interesting stats on the Marketing Week website.
Design is helping new age chewing gum stand out from its plastic predecessors
‘ For several centuries, the human species’ gum chewing habit was harmless. Gum of the past was made from chicle, a kind of sap collected from several species of Mesoamerican trees.
Today however, most gum is made with plastic and chemicals like polyethylene, which is found in plastic bags and bottles. Unsurprisingly, the microplastics that are broken down from modern chewing gum can have a significant impact on both chewers and the environment.’
This interesting article can be found on the Design Week website
Studio Output’s “provocative” identity for the Alfred Landecker Foundation
Studio Output has created the new branding for democracy action and research group the Alfred Landecker Foundation (ALF) which aims to “provoke action”.
The London-based design studio has created the new visual identity and website for the organisation, including a monogram logo and a series of pictograms.
Read the full article in Design Week.
Revealed: Marketing Week Masters 2021 Brand of the Year shortlist
Asos, Camelot, Channel 4, KFC and Tesco have been shortlisted for the Marketing Week Masters Brand of the Year award for 2021.
These five brands were chosen from a long list put together by the Marketing Week editorial team, which was assessed by our jury of senior marketers. Brands were selected based on performance, agility, marketing strategy and innovation over the past year.
Find out more on the Marketing Week website.
June 2021 News Roundup
HERE IS OUR ROUND UP OF THE NEWS STORIES AND INDUSTRY ARTICLES THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE IN JUNE.
The 2021 design week graduate show guide
‘This year we’re expecting a mix of in person and online graduate shows as the country emerges from lockdown – here is our guide to what’s on offer.’
Design Week give the run down on the 2021 Design Week graduate show.
Full details on the Design Week website.
JKR rebrands Stonewall to usher in “a new era of bold activism and pride”
‘Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR) has unveiled a new visual identity for Stonewall, which hopes to mark a new era of “bold activism” for the LGBTQ+ charity.
Named after the Stonewall riots in New York City’s Greenwich Village, the charity was established in the UK in 1989. It was founded by activists lobbying against Section 28, the famously anti-LGBTQ+ legislation which prohibited “the promotion of homosexuality”.
Today, the organisation focuses its efforts on the wide range of issues still facing the queer community.’
Full details on the Design Week website.
Marketing Week to reveal secrets of advertising effectiveness in new series
‘Marketing Week is partnering with the Advertising Association’s Trust Working Group and data company Kantar on a new regular series, which will unpick the secrets behind effective advertising.
Conducted by Kantar, ‘The Works’ study will test a selection of high-profile current ads with the public every month, to determine which are working best. Each month will focus on a different media channel in rotation, starting with television.
Marketing Week will then reveal the most effective campaign and explain why it has been so well received, to help marketers deliver stronger, more creative and more commercially effective work.’
Find out more on the Marketing Week website.
Design Ventura winning team develops flower seed cannon
‘The Design Museum has announced the winner of this year’s Design Ventura school challenge is a flower seed cannon.
Sow Beautiful has been thought up by students from Heckmondwike Grammar School in West Yorkshire.’
Find out more on the Design Week website.
Waitrose on why Covid has bridged the marketing generation gap
‘The pandemic has undoubtedly had a traumatic impact on business, but the positive effect on corporate culture should not be underestimated.
That is certainly the case at retailer Waitrose, where customer director Martin George has seen a dramatic flattening of the hierarchy, as boundaries have been broken down and colleagues have got to know each other better as individuals.
Speaking last week at the Festival of Marketing: Fast Forward, George pointed out the differences in corporate culture today to when he started his marketing career at Cadbury in the 1980s.’
Full story on the Marketing Week website.
James Dyson Foundation launches teacher’s guide to educate kids on air pollution
‘Engineering Solutions: Air Pollution is informed by the company’s work in the sector, and is intended to complement existing science, design and technology curriculums.
The James Dyson Foundation has developed a new education resource which aims to help children understand and combat air pollution.
Engineering Solutions: Air Pollution is a teacher’s guide, informed by the work Dyson already does in the sector – particularly with its Pure Cool purifying range of products.’
More via the Design Week website.
Stereotypes, stress, trust: 5 interesting stats to start your week
Marketing Week’s interesting stats to start your week is a regular must read but we thought the UK stress stat was interesting…..
‘Half (50%) of millennials and Gen Z in the UK feel anxious or stressed all or most of the time, with research stress levels among young people in the UK are higher than the global average.
Globally, 41% of millennials and 46% of Gen Z say they feel stressed or anxious all or most of the time.
Respondents state concerns over their long-term financial future (36% of millennials and 35% Gen Z), the welfare of their family (36% of millennials and 31% of Gen Z) and career prospects (33% of millennials and 36% of Gen Z), were highlighted as the leading causes of anxiety among those feeling stressed in the UK.’
Read more on the Marketing Week website.
More news
This was the June 2021 news. We have plenty more where this comes from – check out the rest of our insights.
May 2021 News Roundup
HERE IS OUR ROUND UP OF THE NEWS STORIES AND INDUSTRY ARTICLES THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE IN MAY.
‘The Broadcast, a digital magazine that covers culture, music and science, has launched with an identity inspired by print media from the 1970s.
It has been set up by a creative team led by Daniel Kent at Pioneer Works (PW), an interdisciplinary non-profit in Brooklyn, New York, in collaboration with designer Andrew LeClair, also based in Brooklyn.’
Read the full article in Design Week.
KFC resurrects ‘finger lickin’ good’ tagline
‘The line was temporarily withdrawn as the brand decided it was “inappropriate” to encourage finger licking in the middle of a pandemic as it breached hygiene advice.
However, with restaurants in England due to reopen next week the line is now being resurrected and will feature in the brand’s latest advertising campaign, “Your Chicken Could Never”.’
Read more in Marketing Week.
Airbnb hails early results from shift to brand building over performance marketing
‘Airbnb claims to have seen promising early results from its new marketing strategy, which has involved a substantial cut to performance marketing spend and increased focus on brand building and PR.
Over the first quarter of 2021, Airbnb cut its sales and marketing spend by 28% year on year to $229m (£163m). The business says this “primarily” reflected a decrease in performance marketing expenses.’
Find out more in Marketing Week.
Designers and artists unite to remember weird and wonderful Euros moments
‘David Shrigley and Chris Simpson are among the artists and designers who have worked on the Weird Euros beer mat collection ahead of the delayed Euro 2020 football tournament, which takes place in June.
The brainchild of Middle Boop founder Gordon Reid and graphic designer Callum Stephenson, Weird Euros follows the designers’ Weird World Cup collection from 2018.
Like last time, the duo have asked creatives to illustrate the “weird, funny and esoteric” moments from Euros history. These will then be sold to raise money for football-related charities.’
Read the full article in Design Week.
Innovate UK to launch £2.5 million competition for creative industries
The Creative Industries Fund will provide “a package of targeted support” for UK-registered micro and small businesses with innovative ideas.
Non-departmental public body Innovate UK will invest up to £2.5 million in innovation projects from UK businesses in the creative sector.
The Creative Industries Fund will look to support micro and small businesses with a “package of targeted support for growth”, competition details explain.
Find out more in Design Week.
Industry leaders outline the skills marketers will need to thrive post-Covid
‘The Festival of Marketing’s ‘Fast Forward’ event will take place across four days this June, offering insight into what marketers need to help grow their brands and bolster their careers in the years ahead. The event features CMOs from Unilever, Amazon and Just Eat, as well as thought leaders such as Rory Sutherland and Mark Ritson.
In anticipation, Marketing Week asked six speakers for their opinions on the future skills marketers will need, the trends that will define their roles in the coming months and how marketers can ensure their brands continue to thrive in the future.’
Marketing Week has the full article.
Marketers urged to ignore ‘false boundaries’ of brand and performance
The majority of marketing campaigns are looked through via one of two lenses: brand or performance. The former is thought of as a long-term investment in driving brand health, while the latter is looked at as a short-term tool to drive customer acquisition.
But marketers have been urged to look past these “false boundaries” when creating marketing campaigns and to bring brand and performance together as one.
Read more in Marketing Week.
More news
This was the May 2021 news. We have plenty more where this comes from – check out the rest of our insights.
April 2021 News Roundup
HERE IS OUR ROUND UP OF THE NEWS STORIES AND INDUSTRY ARTICLES THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE IN APRIL.
Swedish storybooks have inspired the new identity for a children’s literature prize
“Design studio Happy F&B has crafted a new identity for children’s literature prize the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, inspired by the eponymous writer’s own shorthand and stories.
As part of the rebrand, Happy F&B has created a new hand-drawn logo and a graphic pattern based on Lindgren’s handwritten manuscripts.“
The full article can be found on the Design Week website.
GSK’s Jerry Daykin on how to avoid the ‘slippery slope’ of digital KPIs
“The advent of digital marketing brought with it new ways of communicating with consumers, new ways of targeting them and new ways of reaching them across the customer journey. With that came shiny new metrics: clicks, engagement, viewability.
But as focus shifted to these online metrics, effectiveness started to fall, according to Jerry Daykin, EMEA senior media director at GSK Consumer Healthcare.”
The full article can be found on the Marketing Week website.
Sports Direct Rebrand
“Sports Direct has revealed a rebrand in the attempt to unify the retailer’s identity and keep up with trends in the sports industry.
The work – which includes a new logo, name change and in-store details – has been carried out by London-based brand consultancy Venturethree.”
The full article can be found on the Design Week website.
Mark Ritson’s ultimate marketing bullshit top 10
“Do you remember ‘humaning’? The completely made up concept introduced by Mondelez at the end of last year.
Marketing Week columnist and Mini MBA founder Mark Ritson was not impressed by the snack giant’s plan to “stop marketing and start humaning”, calling it “utter bollocks” and giving it fast-track entry into his all-time marketing bullshit top 10, which we published in November.”
The full article can be found on the Marketing Week website.
Prince Philip: “An incredible ambassador of design”
“Following the Duke of Edinburgh’s passing, we look back at his contribution to design including the long-running designers prize that bears his name.”
The full article can be found on the Design Week website.
Tesco deems marketing ‘mission critical’ following Covid sales boost
“Tesco says it will continue to put its faith in marketing over the next 12 months, following a year in which the supermarket managed to grow sales, gain market share and strengthen its brand in spite of the Covid-19 crisis.
Looking forward, the brand is banking on value, loyalty and ecommerce as key areas to drive further growth.”
See Marketing Week for the full story.
Coca-Cola warned marketing spend will be put on hold for markets with slower Covid-19 vaccination programmes and rising cases.
“Speaking on its Q1 2021 results call this afternoon (19 April) Coca-Cola’s CEO James Quincey said pandemic-related lockdowns continue to impact markets, which could greatly affect how it distributes marketing spend over the coming year.
‘If we see demand is coming in at the higher end and more reopenings [of markets] happen quickly and revenue starts accelerating, we will also likely re-accelerate the restitution of marketing spend,’ Quincey said.”
Full article from Marketing Week.
This flag has been designed to represent and protect Antarctica
“ ‘Flags are maybe the best example of effective communication design there is,’ says designer Evan Townsend. ‘I knew we could use a tool like that in Antarctica.’
Despite having been the subject of human exploration for 200 years, Townsend is the designer of Antarctica’s ‘first ever’ flag.
He designed True South while working there, providing support to a scientific research team during the continent’s winter, when the average temperature averages -49°C. “
Read the article on the Design Week website.
In-house design teams: how an internal studio keeps Wikipedia weird
“ ‘As part of our series looking at in-house design teams, we talk to Wikipedia’s Khanyi Mpumlwana and Zack McCune about ‘breaking’ the online encyclopedia.
Wikipedia turns 20 this year. The online, collectively-edited encyclopedia – which has always remained free – is one of the most visited websites in the world, familiar to students reading up on subjects, writers of trivia quizzes and fans of obscure culture alike. “
Full article in Design Week.
More news
This was the April 2021 news. We have plenty more where this comes from – check out the rest of our insights.
March 2021 News Roundup
HERE IS OUR ROUND UP OF THE NEWS STORIES AND INDUSTRY ARTICLES THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE IN MARCH.
Attempts to update the four Ps are embarrassing – they’ve endured for a reason
This is a great article in Marketing Week where Mark Ritson casts a sardonic eye over attempts to revise a core concept of marketing.
“Whenever a marketer sets out to improve, augment or adapt the four Ps, they reveal the absurdity of the exercise and reinforce why product, price, place and promotion remain the core concepts of the marketing mix.”
The full article can be found on the Marketing Week website.
Going at it alone: independent female designers share their tips – part one
“ As part of our IWD 2021 coverage, four women discuss their tips for working alone, from reinvesting in yourself, to being prepared for dry spells and staying motivated.
Charlotte Coulais, founder of En Ville design studio : ‘Working independently means you can do what you want. I am in charge of my time, which is great when I juggle many projects at once while trying to find the right time balance with my family life. I love the direct relationship I have with the clients which allow more collaboration and communication. However, it also means you I have to do everything. I would rather spend more time on the creative side, but I obviously have to think about admin and new business too.’ “
Read the full article on the Design Week website.
Changes to IR35 are approaching (again) – here’s what designers need to know
“Changes to the tax legislation for freelancers and employers will come into effect from 6 April 2021 so designers and design businesses will need to be ready.
Named after the press release that announced it back in 1999, IR35 was originally adopted to stem the growing number of “one-man” limited companies providing services to businesses as freelancers – thereby avoiding a considerable amount of tax – while still maintaining a traditional employee-employer relationship.”
Read the full article on the Design Week website.
Interior inspiration: Design Week’s picks
“With hope of a return to public life in our minds we wanted to share some real world interiors projects have caught our eye.”
Read the full article on the Design Week website.
The death of third-party cookies is inevitable, the death of effective digital advertising is not
“Google’s update on 3 March on third-party cookies didn’t come as a huge surprise to many, but it has sent shockwaves through the advertising community.
Google had already announced it was removing support for third-party cookies in Chrome as of 2022, but it has now confirmed it will not build or integrate other forms of identifiers to track individuals browsing the web.”
Find out more on the Marketing Week website.
Why CEOs want marketing superheroes
“ The question of what CEOs expect from those running their marketing departments may never have been more pressing. In a time of rapid – almost rabid – change, those expectations have been changing daily.
While the CEO is ultimately responsible for the happiness of company teams, the CMO has a big role to play, according to Wagamama CEO Emma Woods.”
Get the full article on the Marketing Week website.