From Nike to Carlsberg, via John Lewis and Waitrose, advertising and branding seem to be taking a socially conscious turn. Despite many brands taking a stand on social issues, few come across as genuinely authentic.
…Or just in chaos, for that matter. Trying to run accounts throughout the quiet summer months, Christmas, illness, maternity cover, or any extended period of disruption can be challenging. When you’re trying to keep a tight schedule and keep a project on track, you tend to rely on the team around you keeping up their roles, which doesn’t always come to fruition.
We hear time and time again that having problem-solving as a skill is essential. Lists of ‘Top Skills any Employee Should Have’ are forever telling us we need to be solution-oriented and have a problem-solving mindset.
What exactly is this mindset and why is it so important?
Having only worked in the creative and marketing industries for a year, I’ve been surprised to see the impact it’s already having on my daily life. From seeing everyone as a potential client, to realising the significance of marketing for businesses of all sizes, marketing is a career that has several effects on your day-to-day life.
Traditionally, in August, the creative industries have their annual lull. Whilst clients are taking their infants to the Costa del Sol and saving their projects for the autumn, you have a small amount of time to play with. This year, although the heatwave has dried up Victoria Park, it certainly hasn’t dried up our work stream, as we’re having one of our busiest ever summers. Should you get the time, however, here are some of the things that we would be doing during downtime.
Inspired by a recent talk at Stylus’ Decoded Future event, I’ve been thinking about whether ‘ niche is the new mass ’ when it comes to marketing. Some of the major trends that have come out of branding in the last 5 years are personalisation, bespoke products and individual focus and customer support.
At Make Happy, we like to think of ourselves as a boutique agency, the independent coffee shop of the marketing world, that is swamped by huge Starbucks agencies. Small agencies do not always have the same allure of larger ones, with big-name clients and serviced offices and free smoothie deliveries, but there are some huge incentives to work at smaller agencies.
As a seasoned copywriter well knows, writer’s block is a nightmare. You’re on a deadline, you have three articles due by the end of the week, and you’re desperately trying to find another way of saying ‘engage your audience’, for risk of sounding like a broken record for the fifth time.
At Make Happy, we get all kinds of questions from business owners who are just dipping their toes into the confusing and often contradictory world of digital marketing. For the last couple of years, the online advertising industry has been in a bit of a tizzy as reports of fraudulent metrics, from click wars to spambot followers, have flooded our newsfeed.
Anyone who has come to one of my workshops will know that I endlessly quote Peter Drucker, the father of business consulting and his views on the importance of marketing and innovation to every business.
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