Can I name drop here?

Not long ago I had lunch with Direct Marketing Hall of Famer, Seth Godin. 

Admittedly there were about 1,499 others at the Business Chicks lunch (yes, they even let some lucky men in, too) but I felt like Seth was talking to me and we were getting along famously. I was a member of his "Tribe". Coincidentally (not!), Tribes were what Seth wanted to talk about that day.

In the world of fashion, the Helen Kaminski brand has become a "known" international name which stood for high quality, designer raffia hats and bags. Yet, the more successful they've become in terms of sales, the greater the need to control what they want the brand to stand for.

One of marketing's toughest decisions these days is choosing the right channel to place content into the customers' hands, none more so than the debate between digital and traditional, "old-school" media.

Too often we've heard the GFC or disruptive technology blamed for discounting and reduced margins, which of course, are contributing factors. But I think there's a much more basic reason. Simply, marketers have been slow to adapt to the new fundamentals.

This month's roundup of Millennial Marketing articles includes general ways this cohort are changing marketing thinking, specific factors they are reacting to, their comfort with technology for their young children and their desire for overseas travel.

If you think that "Green Marketing" was a fad that has long since been pushed into the background by the GFC and all those pragmatic Gen Xers, you may need to think again.

Sometimes you need some space to get things in perspective.

The Problem We had To Solve

For the past 10 years we had produced iconic annual catalogues for Howards Storage World, each year becoming more sophisticated and solution-centric for the Howards customer.

In late 2011, Howards approached us to take their catalogue online.

We've written previously about photography being hot for social content. A new article just out tells us how important photography is to affluent males buying online.

We look at trends that are empowering consumers and giving them a reason to open their minds, hearts and wallets.

1. Gamification
2. Status Upgrade
3. Random Act of Kindness
4. Social Influencers

Spanish Chef Miguel Maestre has been appointed as the latest face of the Howards' Kitchen campaign – Spice Up Your Kitchen. The Cumming's team designed and produced the video which launched this event on their website.

Content marketing was all the rage in 2012, despite being misunderstood and often misused in terms of its scope. The potential for driving sales and brand growth sometimes fell short due to a quantity over quality approach.

Recently one morning my day started pretty much like every other day. However something I witnessed while walking in my local park got me thinking.

The other morning I got up and took the dog for a walk. On this one particular day, two observations I made while in the park prompted me think about what branding means in today’s world of consumers.

This morning on my run (a great way to clear the cobwebs) I was mulling over a brand positioning issue that we seemed to be stuck on… until I realized what was needed was to bring the thinking back to first principles…