Joanna Bakas

What are the biggest contributing factors to #sustainablegrowth? Oliver Marshall reflected this week on a personal bug-bear - the growth emoji (🚀). The >bug< being it implies explosive growth. These are not explosive-rocket-times for most in our sector right now. They are momentum times. How a business creates and continually feeds its momentum is a critical factor for achieving sustainable growth. Have you; ➡️ Understood what intrinsically motivates your team? ➡️ Got the right people in the right roles to leverage their talent? ➡️ Invested in their growth? ➡️ Focused on the quality of work? ➡️ Refined the processes that underpin the creation of the work? ➡️Created a way of communicating that enables people ‘disagree well?’ i.e. to collaborate to drive the best results for people + project + business? Yes there are products. And yes they have to work, but unless you are a self-serve SaaS model, your people are part of your product. It isn’t easy. At Seeblue we’re continually spinning these plates and looking for opportunities to improve. But this is what it takes to develop and feed the momentum that will lead to sustained growth. What else would you add to my list? #b2bagency #b2bmarketing #growth #highperformance

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People fall for brands that mess up. Sounds odd, right? Welcome to the Pratfall Effect. According to a study by psychologist Elliot Aronson, • People actually appear more likeable when they make a mistake or show their imperfections. And the same applies to brands. Here's why: [1] People find perfection unrelatable. Perfect brands can feel distant and unapproachable [2] Brands that showcase their imperfect side or flaws appear more relatable and human. People love a brand with a human side. They connect with brands that feel real. Humanise your brand to build a connection. P.S. Is your brand perfect or human? P.P.S. Don’t forget to follow me Inder Brar for more insights. #marketing #branding #brands

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Delusional. The ad industry is dead because of creatives. You’ve become so self-centered, you’ve lost touch with reality. My LI feed is full of creatives ranting about nothing but their own feelings. Some mediocre writer is angry because “Greg in finance” killed creativity and “old white men with receding hairlines run agencies” (even though he’s only a few years from being one). 1000’s of creatives celebrate a video comparing themselves to Van Gogh. Really? People pay to see what Van Gogh made. And they pay to NOT see what you made. Bernbach didn’t make the VW Beetle a success. It was successful in many countries where no Bernbach ad ever flighted. He just made the ad. 100’s of the world’s smartest engineers spent years making the car. My engineer friends don’t post pics of those verifiable geniuses with lines like “oh, how I miss good engineering”. Creatives brag publicly about winning awards for their idea that fed hungry kids. The entry makes it look like 1000’s of kids. The truth: 32 kids were fed. Once. The cost of the award entry could feed a 1000 kids. You’re literally lying about feeding hungry kids and then you use the award to get more business. Banksy isn’t talking about suits. He’s talking about YOU.

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🎶 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐀𝐈, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 🎶 Ten days ago The Beatles’ “Now and Then” has made history as the first AI-assisted song to earn a Grammy nomination. Let that sink in. A band synonymous with groundbreaking artistry is once again pushing creative boundaries—this time with the help of artificial intelligence. This moment feels like a milestone, not just for music but for the broader creative landscape. It’s a powerful reminder of 𝐀𝐈'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐭. Whether it's isolating John Lennon’s voice from a decades-old demo or reimagining brand storytelling through AI-driven avatars, the possibilities are endless. The key? Using technology not to erase the human touch but to elevate it, much like The Beatles have done here. This news reaffirms what I’ve been advocating for: 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐫; 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐫. It’s a tool that allows us to reach into the past, reimagine the present, and design the future. And for brands and creators alike, this opens doors to innovation we’ve only begun to explore. Here’s to “Now and Then”—a nod to what’s possible when timeless artistry meets cutting-edge technology. Want to see how it all came together? Watch the documentary in the link below. 👇 https://lnkd.in/dHAePXPG

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This is a very good reflection around our Dove The Code campaign. Very grateful for it! The effectiveness of "social" or "purpose" marketing that comes out of this study is a reminder that if your brand talks about topics that matter and does something about them, you might well be building your brand in short term too. Hope more brands see this path. PS. Small build. We are not anti-AI, just hoping to get a more diverse representation of beauty in AI, which can be possible.

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Since the worldwide press loved my previous slideshow of bad advice, here’s more! This time: Really bad Brand Marketing advice. “Every brand needs a purpose.” Especially your soap. 🧼 Because nothing says, “I’m ready to get squeaky clean,” like a side of political commentary. 🤨 Why this is bad advice: 🛑 👉 Consumers aren’t that naive. Guess what? People buy soap because they want clean hands, not because they’re searching for the next Nobel Peace Prize nominee. If your brand’s “purpose” feels tacked on or disingenuous, you risk losing trust faster than your product foams up. 🌊 👉 Brand purpose ≠ a soapbox. Purpose can absolutely be a powerful thing, but it should be relevant to your brand, and it should resonate with your audience. Otherwise, it’s just noise—awkward, awkward noise. 👉 Overloading your brand with lofty, forced ‘purpose’ can actually backfire. Not every product needs to stand for world peace, social justice, and environmental sustainability all at once. Sure, being socially responsible is great, but forcing your soap to have a hot take on every trending issue? Yeah, that’s just confusing. So before you have your soap draft its next manifesto on climate policy, maybe ask yourself: Is this really why people are buying this product? Or is your soap just really, really good at getting things clean? Keep it authentic. Keep it relevant. Keep it simple, soap. #BadAdvice #BrandMarketing #Greenwashing #AllTheWashings #LegendaryWashersOfTheIndustry

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🔥🎸Rocking with Metallica tonight in Munich Olympiastadium (Amazing!😎) got me thinking... about branding and positioning from this iconic band. 🤔 I mean, they are top-of-mind, even for those who don't typically listen to rock music or heavy metal.🤘 They've established themselves as leaders in a "category", focused on their initial strengths, using entertainment and emotions to connect with the audience creating an unforgettable experience that keeps fans coming back for more. Of course.🎶 So what do I "learn" from Metallica?😊 --> To infuse entertainment and emotions into brands. To create an unforgettable experience leaving a lasting impression that keeps customers coming back for more. Of course, but just reminds me.🌟 Euer Dom✌️. #brandmanagement #branding #marke #positioning #strategicmarketing #marketingcoaching #rockyourbusiness #rocknroll 🚀

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📝 **Why We Need to Rethink Our Focus on Branding Many marketers still operate under the belief that consumers are constantly thinking about brands, but reality begs to differ. Research from experts like Prof. Byron Sharp and the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute shows that around 95% of the time, consumers don’t consciously consider brands at all. Subconscious cues, habits, and the context at the moment of purchase drive the decisions they make. Harvard Business School’s Gerald Zaltman reinforces this, pointing out that 95% of cognition occurs subconsciously. So what does this mean for marketers? It means that instead of obsessing over building deep emotional connections or banking on brand loyalty, we need to focus on consumer behaviour and the mental shortcuts they use in buying situations. Building mental availability—ensuring your brand is easily recalled at the right moments—should be the primary goal. This also raises a question about umbrella branding. While using one brand name for a family of products can leverage equity and reduce costs, it risks blurring mental cues associated with specific SKUs. If consumers can’t differentiate your products effectively, umbrella branding might be doing more harm than good. Strong SKU-specific associations are essential to drive choice at the point of sale. 👉 Instead of aiming for broad emotional connections, focus on building sharp, clear mental structures tied to specific products. After all, success often lies not in being loved but in being easily found and recognized. #MarketingStrategy #ConsumerBehavior #BrandManagement #MentalAvailability #BehavioralEconomics #BrandBuilding #MarketingInsights

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🌍 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀. ✨ In today’s evolving work landscape, 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 has transformed not only how we work but also how we think. By stepping outside traditional office walls, we open ourselves up to diverse experiences and innovative solutions that can drive our projects forward. 💭 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁? 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀: Collaborating with colleagues across different cultures and environments fosters creativity. 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Working in varied settings helps us become more adaptable and resourceful. 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸-𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Achieving a healthy balance can enhance our overall productivity and well-being. Embrace the freedom that 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀! Let's share our experiences and insights on how this shift has impacted our professional journeys. 👉 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸? 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀! #Remotework #Innovation #Creativity #Workfromanywhere #Flexibility #Careergrowth #Leadership #Freelancer #Virtualassistant #Remotework

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Most innovators suck at this. They forget to translate their ideas into language C-levels understand best: Numbers! Top tip: The best way to get management buy-in is to find and analyse the metrics of your pain points and non-action vs if you implement your innovation initiative.

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Today we present our first brand deep dive from PODEAN's 'The Marketplace Index™' report released last week. For context, this report analyses one million data points across 1,800 brands to score their Amazon presence in areas like retail, media, and content. Our first case study looks at the Beiersdorf and how NIVEA have created an exceptional Amazon presence in Australia, scoring top marks across our judging criteria. They achieved the second-highest score in the entire market, surpassing over 425 brands across 30 categories including key competitors such as L'Oréal, La Roche-Posay Laboratoire Dermatologique and GARNIER CLUB. Click through the images below to see how NIVEA delivered this solid performance and if you're interested to see how your brand scored, get your copy of The Marketplace Index™ here: https://lnkd.in/gDDDbKeC #podean #themarketplaceindex #marketplacemarketing #amazon #nivea #beiersdorf

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📐 Brand architecture, it's as simple as selecting and making a nice little diagram of logos, right? Obviously not, but there are not many people who offer deeper insights on the topic. Luckily, Felicia Rosenzweig is here to change all that! In the latest episode, we take a deep dive into brand architecture. Felicia Rosenzweig walks us through a specific case study from Creative Business Co on Morningstar, but we also hear about lot's of examples in B2C. The full episode is now available on all platforms. Link in the comments!

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How long for Open Source, when AI research progress becomes increasingly kept under lock-and-key in GPU rich frontier model provider labs?… So waiting for my flight back to London, I decided to start reading Situational Awareness by Leopold Aschenbrenner (former OpenAI Researcher and Superalignment team member). It is a treasure trove of insights on the past present and future of AI progress. There’s another chart of his doing the rounds on social media, which has sparked more than a few debates around definitions of AGI and likelihood of its attainment in the next 3 -5 years. But I found this breakdown of what will drive AI progress particularly fascinating, namely showing just how important algorithmic advances are to AI model advancement. Basically there is a lot that can be achieved in the algos that make models ‘smarter’, improve efficiency and reduce the costs of compute, and protecting this knowledge will become an imminent priority for model providers and nations. To quote Leopold: ‘It’s easy to underrate how important an edge algorithmic secrets will be—because up until ~a couple years ago, everything was published. The basic idea was out there: scale up Transformers on internet text. Many algorithmic details and efficiencies were out there: Chinchilla scaling laws, MoE, etc. Thus, open source models today are pretty good, and a bunch of companies have pretty good models (mostly depending on how much $$$ they raised and how big their clusters are). But this will likely change fairly dramatically in the next couple years. Basically all of frontier algorithmic progress happens at labs these days (academia is surprisingly irrelevant), and the leading labs have stopped publishing their advances. We should expect far more divergence ahead: between labs, between countries, and between the proprietary frontier and open source models. A few American labs will be way ahead—a moat worth 10x, 100x, or more, way more than, say, 7nm vs. 3nm chips—unless they instantly leak the algorithmic secrets.’

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Don't blame the consumer or claim that sustainability doesn't sell. Consumers crave authenticity and love responsible brands. The truth is, while “good” brands prioritise purpose, other brands operate with a different playbook— focused on building consumer excitement and love for their products. To win in this game is not about a brand's position or purpose; it's about their persistence in creating amazing experiences aligned with the position and the purpose. And doing them authentically and consistently with integrity. Above The Clouds Communication #strategy #marketing #insights #consumerinsights #pr #sustainability

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Four highlights and two notes from MARKENCAMP e.V. 2024 We're spending two days with peers from the German marketing world in the B2C, design, brand, and media sides of our craft—so interesting (and so much!) to learn! Tracy Evans's and my photo and notes apps are filling up with great ideas I'll take directly to our team and clients B2B, #OpenSource, CMS, MedTech, and #SaaS. Highlights 1) Jost Köllner gave me new perspectives on the content and buyer's journey funnels that fit very well with OSP's concept of Trust Signals*. Different combinations of the tiles in the photo—entertain me, support me, remember me, etc.—represent opportunities for us to show the right thing at the right time and hopefully help someone find what they are looking for. 2) Wolfgang Kriegs and Vanessa Bern gave a smaller group of us a taste of the Lego Serious Play methodology. From our everyday work at OSP, we know technical- and business-focused people think differently—and we approach them differently. But WOW, experiencing an engineer and a communicator approach the same abstract challenge was a real eye-opener. Food for thought about applying empathy in my work and elsewhere. 3) And #AI #ofcourse #becauseAI! Self-aware and with a big wink, Rafael Mroz, (Pernod Ricard) gave "the talk that every conference can't do without." Whereas at OSP, we have been looking primarily at the intersection of AI and words, Rafael showed how a major brand applies these technologies. Image generation and enhancement, of course, asset performance prediction(#whoa!), monitoring of sentiment and the competition, and keeping its own influencers on track and on brand. The latter turns out to be incredibly important for an alcohol brand :-) 4) Dennis Falk warmed my heart, describing how he and his team rebuilt #SocialMedia for the mega shoe store chain Deichmann. On the one hand, they combine the best short video, self-irony, brand, and social media humor in 2024. But for me, the best part is that they are doing all that while reproducing the community focus and direct conversation side of 2012 Twitter (RIP). Spontaneous, honest, straightforward, fast, and super fun. #Respect Notes 1) We all have something to learn—stepping out of your comfort zone can be a good idea. Talk with people who don't do the same thing you do, at least occasionally. I saw parallels with what we do in B2B technology and inspiration for SMEs in enterprise consumer social media. I met a bunch of smart people, and I am looking forward to getting to know them better at future Markencamp events. 2) The best presentations and brands at this event are thinking about the people they want to reach—and how they can help them. My personal tech marketing philosophy of meeting the humans behind the technology still feels right. Think about the people as you write, produce, and post your marketing content! *https://lnkd.in/eM86yUch

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Clients buy words (TY Rob Schwartz) The articulation of an idea To appear interesting What makes people interesting is what makes brands interesting: - Humor - Confidence and Conviction - Expertise and Passion - Go (different) places / Do (different) things - Humanity and Empathy - Candid - Creative Excavation and interpretation of artifacts are required to identify the interesting. For interesting is organic and true, not manufactured or hyperbolic This is the client quest and the creative opportunity: the identification and articulation of interesting. https://lnkd.in/gbiSM55s

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Are you meditating? My personal big AHA moment with regards to meditation came when I understood that meditating is not really about relaxing, but about taking control of your thoughts and emotions.  In the rat-race we live in as professionals, it is such a challenge to quiet your head, to have a clear enough mind to move swiftly from one right decision to the next. Living truely in the moment has always come very natural for me; when I am with my kids, I am with my kids; when I am in one meeting I forget about the challenges of the previous one. As CEO however, I’ve seen and still see my job becoming more and more complex, with greater responsibilities; and mastering this skill is becoming more and more challenging. I have the feeling that as a professional, my learning went from 'time management' to then 'energy management', and now to 'thought or emotion management'. This and other thoughts i was really happy to discuss in an interview on five anchors that keep me grounded and driven. Happy to hear your thoughts #Leadership #PersonalGrowth #CEOInsights The House of Marketing https://lnkd.in/eXii7ERC

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  The Power of Words in Product Naming: The Case of "Oat Milk"    Recently, a discussion surfaced in the news about "Oat Milk" and whether the name is misleading since it's technically not milk. This debate highlights just how important product naming and word association really are. And guess what? this ‘news’ caused f*** outrage within the office!   But why do brands call it "milk" instead of "oat water"? Simple—milk is an appealing term. It conveys smoothness, richness, and nourishment, qualities that people immediately associate with dairy. Even though oat milk isn't dairy-based, the word "milk" taps into these emotions, creating a sense of familiarity and trust.   You wouldn’t ask for a coffee with oat water instead of milk, unless you had to. Oat water just sounds rank if I’m honest.   This kind of strategic naming shapes consumer perceptions and can be the difference between a product catching on or being overlooked. So, the next time you're thinking about product naming, remember it's not just about being descriptive—it's about how the words resonate with the end user.    How do I take my coffee? Simple. As it should be…plain black! So, when you want to set up a meeting I’ll take one of them please!

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