Make this the year you innovate
Helen EdwardsCompeting priorities will hold you back in this time of budget pressure and economic stagnation, so focus only on creating an offer that meets customer needs.
Helen Edwards
The big winners of 2023… according to Helen Edwards
Helen EdwardsAs the year comes to a close, our columnist announces her ‘award’ winners for 2023.
It’s time The Body Shop became exciting as well as ethical
Helen EdwardsThe Body Shop pioneered ethical beauty, but that positioning is no longer unique and its owners need to inject life into the brand to arrest its decline.
Too often marketers forget their customers are people, not ‘targets’
Helen EdwardsBrands’ internal language dehumanises customers and lacks respect, which risks causing costly errors as with NatWest’s treatment of Nigel Farage.
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Scientific findings should be replicated somewhere other than PowerPoint
Helen EdwardsMarketers too readily accept and share the findings of behavioural ‘science’, when they should be demanding the sources and challenging the contexts.
Being exceptional at what you do makes you a good hire at any age
Helen EdwardsIt doesn’t matter what age you are, the only way to be in demand is to excel at what you do.
As Iceland shows, aspiration should be open to all
Helen EdwardsAll brands want to be aspirational. Only premium brands usually achieve it, but Iceland is one of the few that make it accessible to low-income consumers.
Three good things that become terrible when marketers combine them
Helen EdwardsLike toxic interactions in medicine, each one alone can improve your team’s work, but taken together they will kill your productivity and decision-making.
The regalia of being a national treasure weighs John Lewis down
Helen EdwardsFar from being beneficial, the retailer’s perceived status a British institution limits its ambition – just look at what Britishness stands for today.
Marketers have the best view of how brands can achieve their ethical goals
Helen EdwardsThe average marketer can’t determine a brand’s ethical values, but is best placed of all to see the risks and opportunities of putting them into practice.
The beauty, and difficulty, of marketing is how much it entails
Helen EdwardsMarketers have to juggle numerous relationships and interdependent disciplines to achieve anything in their work – and only the best can do that well.
Five pricing principles marketers can use to foster greater consumer happiness
Helen EdwardsCustomers are becoming increasingly savvy about pricing tactics, but there are ways for marketers to avoid resentment. However, they come with a catch.
A brand is more than a commodity, the question is how much more
Helen EdwardsIt’s true a product’s purpose is to perform its function effectively, but the value of a brand is in making consumers believe it does more than that.
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10 books for marketing advantage
Helen EdwardsYou’ve likely read the foundational books of Kotler, Keller and Levitt but there are a number of other books marketers should read to add breadth, insight and originality to their marketing arsenal.
Marketers have a duty to please suppliers as well as customers
Helen EdwardsShortages of staff and raw materials mean marketers must influence how suppliers perceive them, and ground product development in supply chain reality.
Great brands offer numerous lessons any marketer can apply
Helen EdwardsFollowing the recent death of Red Bull cofounder Dietrich Mateschitz, our columnist breaks down the elements behind its and other notable brands’ marketing success stories.