THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMERCIAL CURIOSITY
Many marketers obsess over how leads are generated, yet show surprisingly little interest in how money is actually made. Marketing is not a support function. It is a commercial one, and without commercial curiosity, even the busiest marketing teams risk creating noise rather than profit.
IT’S TIME TO RETHINK THE FUNNEL FANTASY
Funnels have served us well in marketing. They’ve given us structure, helped us map out journeys, and made it easier to explain plans to stakeholders. But as customer behaviour evolves, it’s worth asking: are funnels still the best way to understand how people buy? In many cases, the answer might be “not always.” Buyers today…
THE PROBLEM WITH THE MCDONALD’S AD IS NOTHING TO DO WITH AI
The headlines and LinkedIn posts have been swift and confident. The good people of the Netherlands didn’t like McDonald’s latest film because it was AI-generated. Case closed. Except that explanation is far too neat, and far too comfortable for the industry. Blaming AI lets everyone off the hook. It turns a creative failure into a…
STOP CHASING AWARENESS. START BUILDING SALIENCE.
Congratulations. Your brand has 80% awareness.So what? Will they actually think of you when it matters? When they’re in the aisle, staring at Google, or telling their colleagues in the office what to order? Awareness vs. Salience: Know the difference Marketers love awareness, but it can be a bit of a vanity metric and, at…
In this market, CMOs have to talk like CFOs
CMOs are under more pressure than ever to prove that marketing is not just an arts-and-crafts department but a core driver of revenue. If you can’t fluently explain how your campaigns move the needle on margin, deal size, or velocity, then you’re out of the loop. Brand building AND balance sheets The marketing metrics of…
Better, or Just Busier?
We’re drowning in content. In a world obsessed with reach, reels, and relentless “engagement,” it feels like marketing has confused motion with progress. More blogs, more videos, more emails, more noise. But is any of it better? Or are we just busier? Attention deficit The common belief is that attention spans are shorter than ever.…
Don’t let your creative brief sabotage your campaign
A third-party agency recently complimented me on the quality of a creative brief I’d submitted. Whilst I’d like to give myself a pat on the back and consider myself to be the godfather of a good brief (ok, I do), the truth is that most marketers don’t take creative briefs seriously enough. They rush through…
What it REALLY means to understand your customer
Understanding your customer is one of the most overused and under-executed phrases in marketing. Everyone claims to do it, but few actually bother. In reality, most marketers operate on assumptions, biases, and their own experiences rather than genuinely understanding their customers. The truth? If you’re not obsessively focused on your customer, truly knowing them, studying…
Punch above your weight
Let’s face it, your marketing budget is never as big as you want it to be. Meanwhile, your CEO wants “something viral,” your finance director wants to cut spend, and your competitors seem to have bottomless pockets. But more budget doesn’t mean better marketing. Some of the best marketing and advertising campaigns aren’t the result…
When kfc ran out of chicken
Ever noticed how people sometimes rave about a company more after something goes wrong, so long as it’s handled well? It’s a quirk of human psychology called the service recovery paradox, the idea that customers who experience a problem (and see it resolved brilliantly) often become more loyal than if nothing had gone wrong in…
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Daniel Fox 