Applying a ‘Test and Learn’ approach to Marketing
For every marketing team, experimentation is essential to understanding the efficacy of our marketing. The concept of ‘test and learn’—the process of conducting various experiments you can monitor, measure, and evaluate—helps create the data insights necessary to make decisions about where and how we spend our marketing dollars. Sometimes, there’s a misconception that test and…
My non-fiction travel reading list
Like most people who are time poor, I find travel offers the perfect opportunity to decompress with dedicated reading time. Admittedly, I struggle to make a dent in what is increasingly becoming a long list of business-focused books, and when you pepper-in fictional narrative for balance, the list becomes even longer. But I do love…
In pursuit of an ‘ideal-self’ and what this means for brands
As marketers, we relentlessly focus on putting forward the best public image of the brands we represent. We attempt to attract consumers by pitching the virtues of an ideal, must-have solution that taps in to vulnerabilities. We pitch products as the be-all, end-all answer to our needs… the ideal tech gadget, the ideal job, the…
Can a luxury fashion brand be sustainable?
Last weekend I watched a documentary film called Fashion Reimagined. It’s been occupying a lot of my headspace this week for being fascinating, informative, and terrifying in equal measures. Fascinating because it gave me a front-row seat into the inner workings of an industry I don’t have first-hand experience. Informative for providing insight into what…
Does Influencer Marketing Still Matter?
Think about it. Think back to the last substantial purchase you made online. If I was a betting man, I would probably say you read through a handful of reviews, maybe watched an unboxing haul video or two, scoured the net for user-generated content, and most definitely searched for specific hashtags across social. I’m pretty…
Marketing Impact on Sales Revenue: I want it, and I want it now
One of the areas in B2B Marketing I don’t think we speak enough about is time to market and setting expectations around Marketing ROI impact. I find this topic particularly relevant for startups who’ve received a substantial funding round and are making their first meaningful investment in Marketing. But it’s equally important within larger organizations,…
How to build a simple brand architecture framework
There’s a tried and tested brand formula I use when I start any new job. I ask the people who are part of my onboarding to describe what the company does in under a minute. I do this because; a) it’s a fun exercise, and b) it helps me gauge the vernacular employees use to…
Hey ChatGPT… tell me what happens next?
If you’re like me, you’re probably fatigued by the ubiquity of ChatGPT coverage. You can’t escape it. It’s splashed across our broadsheets, you’re confronted with it in the trade press, and you can barely swing a cat by its tail without hitting a LinkedIn boast about some content experiment that’s being conducted. It’s exhausting—and yet…
What I learnt this year: 2022 edition
Before accepting anything always ask yourself: how does doing this bring me closer to my life goals? Give the makers of Everything Everywhere All at Once and White Lotus S2 every damn award out there. Write it down. Otherwise it doesn’t exist, or didn’t happen. Sometimes, you have to go through the experience to learn…
Lessons from 5 years of working at Amazon
My career at Amazon almost didn’t happen. I was first approached by an Amazon recruiter in December 2016, and at the time, thought nothing of it. I was two years into working as a freelance consultant, and at no point had any ambition to return to a big company environment. Showing true Amazon tenacity, the…