Marketing Week

📬 Been a busy week? Here are 5 big stories marketers need to know: 🎀 Breast Cancer Now is finding "synergy" with a forward-looking rebrand designed to build a "sense of movement" and progress its five-year strategy by tapping into the power of influencers. 🎟️ Postcode Lottery UK has unified its global identity with its first major brand refresh, dropping "People’s" from its name and launching a new campaign to deepen emotional engagement. 💳 Payments firm Wise is taking the "war for attention" to the high street, using physical brand experiences to drive sign-ups and position itself as a viable current account option. 🧴Boots UK is making its Advantage Card "work even harder" through a new personalisation push, targeting frequent shoppers with tailored offers as part of its wider investment in value and own-brand products. 📊 Richard Kirk says marginal ROI will become increasingly important as advertisers face rising living costs and inflation in lower-funnel channels, necessitating a focus on efficiency. 👉 Sign up to our newsletter for the latest marketing news straight to your inbox: https://lnkd.in/gdR3h6_3

What are B2B buyers really saying about your brand? 🗣️💼 Most B2B brands believe their positioning is clear. However, in peer forums, Slack groups, and LinkedIn threads, buyers often describe them very differently. Based on an analysis of 7.2 million real B2B buyer conversations, Basis Global’s new report uncovers what actually shapes buying decisions and why most positioning breaks down under pressure. This isn’t survey data—it’s real buyer language from the moments that shape shortlists and final decisions. Inside, you’ll discover: 📉 Why 83% of buyer conversations contradict how brands position themselves 🗝️ The seven drivers behind 90% of B2B buying decisions 🚧 Where deals stall, and the risks buyers raise before they say yes ✅ How high-converting brands translate positioning into proof, risk mitigation and measurable outcomes Download the report for practical, evidence-based insights into how B2B decisions are really made: https://lnkd.in/g4ujeBDy

Swipe for a sign... 🛑 Every campaign has that moment. You launch. You hope it lands the way you intended. Then, the reporting begins and the questioning starts: Did it deliver? 🎯 The Marketing Week Awards exist to celebrate that impact—the campaigns that didn’t just launch, but landed. If you’re proud of what you delivered, this is your sign to enter. 🏆 Download the entry pack: https://lnkd.in/dCxZq9Zj In partnership with Ozone | The Audience Connection Platform

This week in The Marketing Week 👇  We hear from BrewDog's new owner about its future plans for the brand, speak with marketers about how to help working parents thrive, and chat with Starling about its new campaign to improve Britain's relationship with money     Plus, we talk to HUGO BOSS’s top marketer on ‘recontextualising’ the Hugo brand post-restructure and Expedia Group's SVP of marketing tells us how the travel giant is reinforcing 'uniqueness' across its portfolio of brands.      📩 Want to stay up to date with the latest marketing news? Subscribe for weekly updates. 

Don't do the big shop when you're hungry. 🛒 Starling has unveiled a major new brand campaign as it continues its mission to improve the UK’s relationship with personal finance. Following a brand refresh last year, which saw the company drop ‘bank’ from its name, CMO Michele Rousseau explains that the business is now in a significant growth phase. Key elements of the strategy: 🎥Narrated by Zoe Ball, the campaign features 190 people sharing 15+ money habits, from checking balances first thing in the morning to never doing the "big shop" while hungry. 📍 The creative was shot across 52 locations to represent the "length and breadth of the UK," with the campaign appearing across TV, OOH, billboards, taxi wraps, and social media. ⚖️ Rousseau emphasises a balanced marketing mix, noting that the bank understands the "halo impact" a strong brand has on performance channels. She suggests that lower cost per acquisition is often dependent on brand advocacy. 🤖 Starling is focusing on Reddit, Inc., acknowledging that Large Language Models (LLMs) pull significant data from the platform. However, Rousseau notes the brand is "treading carefully" to ensure they are being helpful and useful rather than just advertising, which she warns can "backfire" on the platform. 📈After returning to paid channels over the last three months, Starling reports it is currently "growing at numbers" not seen for some time. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/esJVSk8k

"April Fools’ is stupid. So why do smart brands keep doing it?" 🤡📈 In his latest column, Rory McEntee examines why brand announcements on 1st April persist despite being frequently labelled as gimmicks. He suggests that, rather than being simple stunts, these campaigns can demonstrate a brand’s understanding of its audience and its cultural standing. Key points from the analysis analysis: 🎯 McEntee argues that the primary goal of these campaigns should be earned relevance rather than simply "fooling" consumers. He suggests success is measured by whether an audience cares enough to form an opinion or share the content. 🕳️ The column highlights that effective stunts often sit in a "plausibility gap", concepts that are absurd enough to be playful but grounded in real cultural tensions. 🏗️ McEntee points to brands like Duolingo and Aldi UK as examples of those whose stunts resonate because they are rooted in a truth about the brand or its audience. 💨 He discusses the strategy behind GymNation’s "Protein Shisha" concept. By launching it a week before April Fools’, he notes the brand aimed to create a "grey zone" of uncertainty that sparked genuine debate among industry professionals. Read the full analysis: https://lnkd.in/eE_V5iUX &utm_campaign=rory_mcentee&utm_content=april_fools

How Expedia is using Ken to drive brand differentiation 👱♂️✈️ Expedia Group is stepping up its efforts to make its three core brands, Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo, more "unique and differentiated." Senior vice-president of marketing Natalie Wills explains the strategy behind resetting the portfolio to reinforce the distinct identity of each business. Key insights from the brand reset: 🏨Rather than converting everything under the "Expedia Group" banner, the team is focusing on the uniqueness of each brand based on customer research into awareness and perceptions. 📍 Expedia has launched ‘The One Place You Go to Go Places’ in the UK, positioning itself as an "all-in-one travel shop" with a focus on its "bundle and save" proposition. 👱♂️Following a high-profile Super Bowl 2026 spot in the US, the brand used a partnership with Mattel, Inc. and the #Barbie character Ken to reach younger audiences. The ‘Going Places with Ken’ campaign generated over 400 million views globally. 📱 The strategy prioritises channels like YouTube, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, using "very specific" content for each platform alongside CTV and performance ads. 🎨 While AI plays a role in newer executions, the Ken campaign deliberately used stop-motion animation, created by creative agency BUCK in collaboration with Bix Pix Entertainment, highlighting Expedia’s intention to balance emerging technology with craft. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/edAnmsr2

We're hiring! 📣   We are looking for a motivated and organised Marketing Executive to join our team on a 6-month fixed-term contract, working on one of the UK’s most iconic brands in marketing.   In this role, you’ll support the delivery of multichannel campaigns that drive engagement, generate leads, and deliver event registrations—primarily for Marketing Week’s flagship Festival of Marketing.   What you’ll be doing: ✉️ Multichannel delivery: Getting stuck into the day-to-day delivery of campaigns across email, social, web and paid channels. 🎨 Content creation: Building emails, updating web pages, and creating assets in Canva, as well as briefing designers on larger pieces. 📈 Driving results: Helping bring campaign activity to life and supporting reporting to understand what’s driving leads, registrations and revenue. 🤝 Commercial support: Working closely with the wider team to support delegate sales and turn marketing activity into commercial results. We’re looking for someone who enjoys getting things done, has a strong eye for detail, and is excited by the idea of working on a large-scale industry event. If you’re comfortable working at pace and juggling multiple tasks in a results-driven environment, we want to hear from you.   Apply here: https://lnkd.in/eh4Y-4yb

Does brand purpose actually lead to growth? 📈 In his latest column, John Dawes, with co-authors Victoria Tait, Dr Virginia Beal and Byron Sharp, examine five major brands to see if their promoted social purpose has actually led to market share growth. Using Euromonitor International data from 2015 through to 2025 across the US, UK, Australia and Canada, the study tracks whether the investment in purpose-led messaging has lived up to the hype over the last decade. The five brands under the microscope: 🧼 Dove: Women’s self-esteem. 🥪 Hellmann's: Food waste. 🍵 LIPTON Teas and Infusions: Environmental sustainability. 🍦 Ben & Jerry's’s: Social and environmental activism. 🍲 #Knorr: Sustainable food systems. Find the brand-by-brand breakdown in the full article: https://lnkd.in/eut_W2m5

Happy April Fools' Day? 🃏 While some brands continue to use pranks to drive reach and showcase personality, others are stepping away from the annual event to avoid potential PR risks and digital noise. We want to know where you stand on the annual tradition... 👇