Brands need high ambitions for advertising’s next golden age
Helen EdwardsAs ad-funded streaming brings back mass-market TV spots, marketers and agencies can delight audiences again – with technology offering new possibilities.
Helen Edwards
Helen Edwards’ Elfmas Marketing Award winners for 2025
Helen EdwardsOur columnist picks her highlights and lowlights of the year, from Wizz Air’s innovative ‘All you can fly’ pricing to the needless complexity of brand models.
In the gloom of this post-budget reckoning, marketers have an opportunity to lead with optimism
Helen EdwardsBy focusing on price, data and idea generation, marketers have the chance to find unexpected pockets of growth and bring much-needed energy to businesses.
Consumer insight and AI can revolutionise customer experience
Helen EdwardsAI’s prevailing use is to remove friction from the customer experience, but marketers know not all friction is bad despite what consumers might say.
Bucking the trend doesn’t always work – unless you’re Ikea
Helen EdwardsIt’s not always the right call to go against market orthodoxy, but Ikea is among the few brands that consistently show the courage to do what competitors won’t.
Every marketer must recognise they have moral choices to make
Helen EdwardsThe ban on advertising ‘less healthy foods’ highlights marketers’ dilemma: prioritise profit within the limits of the law, or focus on solving societal issues.
Don’t make brand models harder than they already are
Helen EdwardsBrand models are necessary and important pieces of work, but marketers overcomplicate them with too much fiddling and overly ornate language.
Marketers can’t ignore the opportunity of ‘new frugal innovation’
Helen EdwardsBy identifying manufacturing efficiencies, brands and their supply chains can improve customer experience for all – which encourages them to go premium later.
Economic growth is marketing’s biggest contribution to society
Helen EdwardsMarketers who crave ESG narratives about doing social good should focus on how profitable businesses keep people employed and bolster public finances.
How do you market ‘strategy’? With a marketing strategy
Helen EdwardsThree quarters of marketers say colleagues undervalue marketing strategy. Don’t take this lying down, take a strategic approach to changing their minds.
Unilever must learn you can’t outsource trust to influencers
Helen EdwardsThe FMCG giant’s influencer-led strategy risks depleting trust in its brands, under the wrongheaded assumption that brand communications are “suspicious”.
Think your category is a special case? Think again
Helen EdwardsThe key pillars of brand building aren’t different for B2B, luxury and startups. The blueprints are the same, even if the results look very different.
Clear briefs help marketers confront the chaos of advertising
Helen EdwardsCreating a great campaign is by nature a ‘poorly defined problem’, so brands must bring clarity to the agency relationship, not just wait for magic to happen.
Helen Edwards: And the marketing winners of 2024 are…
Helen EdwardsOur columnist names her picks for the best and worst of marketing in the past 12 months.
Farmers could learn a lot from marketers – and vice versa
Helen EdwardsThe farming lobby needs to change its privileged image, while food brands’ focus should be the opposite – putting product substance before branding style.
Think twice before embracing confusion in your advertising
Helen EdwardsThe trend of confusing consumers might earn attention but perhaps not the kind you want, and ultimately not the outcomes you get from a clear message.
Clarity is the key to getting your brand positioning realised
Helen EdwardsMake your brand model clear and keep repeating its key principle, if you want to ensure it survives the endless reinterpretations of your brief.