Kevin Freedman

At a time when #B2Bmarketers face ever-growing pressure to do more with less, #demandgeneration can be the strategic key to unlocking long-term commercial success. Check out the latest edition of 'the knowledge' and learn how to master demand gen in #B2Bmarketing ➡ https://lnkd.in/eEwPEx7T

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Here's an idea. Instead of featuring a sale item or promotion in your ad, make an explicit promise to the customer about the value your service or product would create. Your brand health, market share and customer base (penetration) will grow more strongly:

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B2B buying behaviours are evolving - is your strategy for generating demand aligned with the current trends and needs in the #B2Bmarketplace? ​ Download the knowledge today for valuable insights on keeping your #demandgeneration tactics relevant to today's B2B customers 💡 https://lnkd.in/ed-wc4M9

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This is an excellent visualisation from the DMA (Data & Marketing Association) UK of how integral maturing your approach to measurement is to delivering successful business outcomes. If you're not already planning for it, you should be. It will be one of the most significant drivers of future effectiveness for you.

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Fascinating read about the conundrum of the right media mix. Reach is not the crucial factor. I have long said one impression does not equal another, but this goes further. Some channel impressions work better for some categories vs other channels. For newer brands looking to disrupt and grow faster, discovering the best channels will be a crucial step, rooted in testing and MTA tools. For someone who has worked on both the creative and media side it’s a no brainer that a well produced :30 tv spot is going to drive more results than a skippable YouTube ad. But still, we see many marketers chasing cheap CPMs over quality channels that are more expensive on the face - but driving results. Cheaper reach does not equal more “bang for your buck.” This is one more reason to hire an agency to help drive media decisions through layered expertise across existing and emerging media channels. You don’t know what you don’t know. Our agency has a combined 125+ years of advertising experience across digital and traditional channels - hard (if not impossible) to get outside of an agency where media is the only focus. How does this distinction help us help our clients? Here is an example: OTT is not all equal. We know it’s a great channel for advertising but it’s the data and inventory that matters - an impression on Crackle isn’t the same as an impression on Peacock. A behavioral audience based on past purchase behavior is far more effective than a demo audience. These distinctions matter but if you don’t understand OTT you’d be unaware that a lower CPM might actually be a red flag. I look forward to reading this paper when it’s published. 🎉

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https://lnkd.in/e72P5pAd There are so many reasons not to advertise on Twitter/X but the issue of advertisers funding dis/misinformation is a key one. In this post, its owner claims that the 'Democrats' (his inverted commas) are installing illegal immigrants in swing states in order to win the US election and abolish future elections, thus eliminating democracy forever. You don't have to be politically partisan to be highly alarmed by the proprietor of any media channel taking such an extreme view. It is hard to trust an advertising vehicle which has the control over which messages to amplify when the owner makes posts like this. Advertisers want to be politically neutral and have no desire to take a stand that alienates people. They also want to avoid funding divisive channels. So talk of 'boycotts' and advertisers wanting to censor free speech shouldn't be taken seriously when such pronouncements come from the most biased of sources.

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The Shift in How Consumers Engage with Brands I recently came across an insightful research report by Elliott and Davies that highlights a significant shift in how consumers interact with brands. Brands today are no longer just about transactional products—they’ve become symbolic resources, enabling individuals to construct and express desirable identities within their spheres of influence. Elliott and Davies’ work reinforces this idea, underscoring how a brand’s internal values and cultural expression are most impactful when they are authentic and aligned with its external image. In today’s transparent marketplace, consumers gravitate toward brands that genuinely embody their stated values. When there’s clear alignment between what a brand promises and how it behaves in the real world, trust and loyalty naturally follow. For brands aiming to differentiate themselves in a crowded market and foster a genuine community, reflecting the values and cultural aspirations of your strategic audience is essential. Authenticity and cultural alignment aren’t just buzzwords—they’re the foundation for building lasting, meaningful connections. #BrandCulture #ConsumerEngagement #Authenticity #CulturalAlignment #BrandStrategy

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With the disclaimer that I am very much still going through the full research in detail before voicing any definitive takeaways one way or the other regarding its findings and claims... The implications of this new research for Fortune 500 marketers, especially those in FMCG (and again with the caveat that this is all pending broader industry diligence and discourse) are no less than seismic in magnitude. I say this, without exaggeration, because the degree of influence and impact the "Laws of Growth" principles laid out in "How Brands Grow" have had on large incumbent "household name" brands and their media investment allocation strategies has been so enormous over the last ~10-15 years. Here is the link to a piece that was published today summarizing the main headlines from Felipe Thomaz's new research: https://lnkd.in/g4WBgwEm A "preview" of the longer read, pulled from the piece: "Associate Professor Felipe Thomaz, of University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, suggests Professor Byron Sharp’s best known book, 'How Brands Grow', is a misnomer – it’s actually about how big brands keep big marketshare, not how they got there. Thomaz suggests that’s why FMCG firms adhering to those rules were caught napping by more nimble differentiated start-ups. Optimizing media for reach alone no longer works, he suggests, because all reach is not equal – and used bluntly won't deliver business outcomes. 'There is a missing dimension,' per Thomaz. He’s out to prove it with a peer-reviewed paper that analyses 1,000 campaigns and a million customer journeys via Kantar and Wavemaker. The upshot? 'None of it holds … I'm seeing that 1 per cent of campaigns are actually getting exceptional money, while the vast majority are choosing to get some really mediocre outcomes.' But there's potential upside for marketers, media agencies – and media owners – that grasp the category-specific implications." #howbrandsgrow #lawsofgrowth #brandmarketing VaynerMedia Avery Akkineni Gary Vaynerchuk Nick Miaritis Benjamin Allison John Terrana Hailey Riggle Jason Loomis

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Get2Growth is now Decoding Growth. Having spent the last two years working as a strategic advisor to over 20 B2B scale-up businesses across different sectors, I’ve uncovered two consistent challenges: 1. These businesses are struggling to access, understand, and utilise their audience and customer data effectively, and 2. They’re eager to adopt AI applications but are quickly running into roadblocks when it comes to making those tools work in meaningful ways. Getting serious about data Data has been a buzzword in business for decades, yet most still lack the infrastructure and strategy to fully harness its power. Now, with the rapid rise of AI, this gap is becoming even more critical. AI needs data to function...accurate, clean, well-organised data. However, many scale-ups are rushing into AI projects without ensuring their data is ready for it. This is leading to underwhelming results, wasted investments, and missed opportunities. Maximising tech investments At the same time, companies are pouring money into expensive sales and marketing tech, only to use a fraction of its capabilities. From CRMs to CDPs, businesses are often focused on surface-level features - failing to tap into advanced functions like predictive analytics, personalised customer journeys, and data-driven sales enablement. Taking AI beyond the hype AI adoption itself is limited to specific functions such as marketing and HR, with only the most basic applications in use. There is a significant opportunity in sales that remains largely untapped, particularly around lead generation, pipeline management, and sales productivity. Those who can leverage AI effectively in these areas will realise significant advantages and see enormous growth and efficiency gains. Bridging the gap The truth is, AI isn’t just a tool - it’s a transformative shift in how businesses operate, but only if the data behind it is well-prepared. Without a strong data strategy, AI will underperform. The good news is that scale-ups are perfectly positioned to adapt, given their agility and growth-oriented mindset. For Decoding Growth, the mission is to help B2B scale-up businesses bridge this gap. Our focus is on building robust data strategies and enabling AI-driven solutions that directly impact sales and marketing performance. It’s about getting your data right, maximising your technology investments, and using AI not as a headline, but as a competitive advantage. #DecodingGrowth #DataStrategy #ArtificialIntelligence #AIForSales #DigitalTransformation #ScaleUp

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Today's Q1 2024 @IPA Bellwether report showcases a resilient UK marketing landscape, with events and experiences remaining the standout performers with a record expansion. This resilience demonstrates businesses' strong desire to connect with customers, recognising the power of experiences to enable them to achieve this, as well as being a powerful tool to drive their bottom line. Long-term brand building should remain at the forefront amid rising promotional spending. Aligning brand experiences across the different touchpoints with core values and harnessing authentic content created from experiences fosters trust and engagement, and is crucial for navigating the dynamic marketing environment. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eGTDPyN4 #ImaginationGLBL #IPABellwether #UKmarketing #brandexperience #experientialagency #creativeagency

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Driving maritime growth through marketing strategy. The CIM | The Chartered Institute of Marketing define Marketing as follows: “Marketing as the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably” and it's great to see marketing rapidly rise in importance at a senior management level in the 21st century. Marketer's will be aware of the fundamental marketing model the 4P’s, first developed by E. Jerome McCarthy on developing an effective marketing strategy through focussing management activities across Product, Place, Price and Promotion and the subsequent extension of this model by Booms and Bitner who proposed a model of 7 Ps, extended by process, people and physical evidence (brand), as being more applicable for services marketing. An industry where we can actively see the increased importance of marketing strategy and application into tangible actions and results (and I've witnessed first hand over the last 8 years) is the global maritime sector. Especially in it’s goal to drive net zero shipping and decarbonisation across both the 4P and 7P models. Through the development of alternative fuels, energy saving technologies and a focus on driving process improvement, such as the recent study from the UCL Bartlett Energy Institute and UMAS on the energy savings that shipping could achieve through just-in-time arrival, marketing strategies are being applied "identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably" across the whole sector. https://lnkd.in/eKtAHsqk At The MTM Agency working in partnership with in-house senior management and marketing teams we support the P’s of promotion, across web, digital, content, PR, social, film & content and physical evidence, brand development. But also place, driving client expansion to new markets, processes driving marketing effectiveness, digital transformation and e-commerce solutions and people providing additional agile and expert resource through our team of 75 marketing experts. And, now through data science, research, discovery and insights completing the 7P's advising on buyer behaviour, competitor analysis and market conditions to allow adjustments in products and price. Partnering global maritime innovators across alternative fuels The Solent Cluster, energy saving technologies Silverstream Technologies, Ocean Infinity and PPG, process improvement Lloyd's Register OneOcean , Marlink and Inchcape Shipping Services and people through Nautilus International and stakeholder engagement and thought leadership with Lloyd's Register and the International Chamber of Shipping. And with major maritime shows in Europe next year at Ocean Business in April, Nor-Shipping in June and London International Shipping Week 2025 in September, we look forward to partner with all our maritime clients in 2025.  #globalmaritime #decarbonisation #marketingstrategy #integratedmarketingcommunications #netzeroshipping

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Organizational transformation is broken, with any model only delivering the goods less than 1/3 of the time. It's time for a pragmatic approach to Culture Innovation that addresses real challenges in virtual real time from the bottom up and peer to peer. > Excited to be discussing the power of Culture Innovation with Brandpie at CHARGE - Powering Energy Brands in Houston on May 16-17. > Equally excited to be discussing Culture Innovation at The Conference Board - Brand Strategy & Management Council in New York on June 3. Learn more > https://lnkd.in/gS-PKngD #culturechange #brandculture

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How to assess media coverage. Is all media coverage good? No. Unfortunately, much of the PR industry continues to be stuck on quantity over quality. For us, there are four very clear characteristics of a good piece: 1. The right placement. Will the piece be read or seen by the desired audience? Consumers of the right demographic; business procurers, investors, Government etc. 2. Brand Understanding. A brief brand mention is never enough. Good coverage explains what a business is, what it does, and why it is different. This should lead the audience to gain a better understanding of a brand. Not every piece of good earned media will fulfil every possible objective - but it should do more than simply mention your brand in passing. If it does, you have to question its value, especially based on the time and effort to gain this earned media piece. 3. Call to action. What should a reader or viewer do after seeing this piece? While a good CTA could be obvious, e.g. go to a shop or website, more subtle ones which demonstrate a clear benefit to ownership are equally as powerful. However, not having a clear call to action devalues a piece. 4. What's the point? You have to ask, what is the purpose of this communication? Is it to change opinions, create a deeper understanding of a business, sell more stuff? Coverage should be benchmarked against these to determine if good or bad. While some consider media coverage to be a numbers game, in our 21 years we found that it is the quality pieces that make measurable differences to businesses. Brand awareness, name checks or coverage for the sake of justifying budgets is never enough.

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Whatever your views are on the outcome of the US election, you should read this column by Carole Cadwalladr and especially if you care about the importance of advertising being a key source of funding for high quality, fact-based and impartial journalism. The idea that Social Media is now the most influential means of communication should concern us all, especially as it now generates much of the discourse in mainstream media. The 'eating dogs and cats' story originated in a Facebook post and then led to stories in hitherto respectable channels and was used as political argument. Advertisers should be aware that their spending patterns can and do enable this trend. https://lnkd.in/ekGi9Mrh

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If you use market research you've probably heard of synthetic data, generated by AI language models, which could in theory be used in place of consumer responses. Our latest article considers how realistic that is, and the cases in which it fails. Find our article here: https://lnkd.in/eYuiM5qK #SyntheticData #MarketResearch #AI

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Acceleration SSA’s Richard Clogg joined IAB South Africa's Brand Council Roundtable last week for a valuable discussion on the power and importance of 1PD in the future of marketing. The conversation was packed with important insights for how marketers can position their businesses for long-term growth and transformation in a privacy-first world. In case you missed it, here’s a quick rundown of top takeaways and event themes:  ✔ 1PD is Key to Success: A 1PD strategy is non-negotiable and critical to marketing success in a privacy-driven world.  ✔ Double Down on Privacy: Prioritize collection of consented data and ensure you’re upholding customer trust, always. ✔ Lean into AI: Utilize AI across targeting and measurement to unlock new opportunities. It's not just a buzzword; it's a game-changer in today's marketing landscape.

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Finally. The siren song on a limiting era in marketing is playing out…👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Some (non-scientific) thoughts on the story below that - shocker - a new study may show that Byron Sharp’s ‘How Brands Grow’ has some great learnings (and at The Brill Building we use them when appropriate) but isn’t a one size fits all approach to marketing and advertising ✅1. I really have always thought of “How Brands Grow” as quite literally ‘The Bible’ of marketing strategy but not for the reason you might think. Rather I believe - like the Bible or any other supposedly ‘sacred text’ the validity of its teachings are relative to the intelligence or intentions of the person preaching them ✅✅2. If the learnings in HBG were as simple to apply and universally understood as they are proposed to be why does Byron Sharp himself spend his days on LinkedIn correcting people’s misinterpretations in the comments? ✅✅✅3. Many people and big commercial forces will always want easy solutions and formulas to replicate art at scale and to proven reliable profit (see Hollywood studio superhero movies and much of what is commercial pop) And it will often work. But true creativity is wholly original and will end up setting the ‘next’ wave of what we are encouraged to see as the ‘proven formula’ ✅✅✅✅4. Lots of not very experienced individuals are able to portray themselves as ‘experts’ or ‘gurus’ because they have learnt off and are able to parrot the ‘facts’ ‘proven statistics’ and ‘learnings’ of HBG, Ehrenberg-Bass, System 1 etc etc etc without having the ability to apply context, reasoning, instinct or any of the other flexible mindsets that allow applying them appropriately. ✅✅✅✅✅5. Marketing as a discipline is often set up to embrace each generation’s “doctrine” blindly (e.g It was Kotler but now it’s Sharp) in a way that discourages critical thinking and debate and encourages the widespread misinterpretation of select data as bad science. Bad. Science. ✅✅✅✅✅✅6. Please let this be the beginning of the end of all that black and white thinking. Marketing and advertising - like all creative disciplines in a commercial space - need originality and good judgement. That will always be the preserve of those with the talent and experience to steer the ship and we should be encouraged to sit with the discomfort of that. Not everyone who does an aero-nautical engineering degree has what it takes to be a pilot. And don’t get us started on the lads with lots of hours in the flight simulator. ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅7. Here’s what’s exciting, a new era is coming and none of us knows exactly what it will be. Uncertainty. The need to be open-minded. Not rigid and embracing good judgement. So. Ready. For. It…..

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It’s official, inclusion = income. Research commissioned by the Unstereotype Alliance (convened by UN Women) and carried out by Saïd Business School, University of Oxford has proven definitively that progressive (i.e unstereotyped) advertising drives sales – delivering uplifts of as much as 16%. The study looked at data from 392 brands across 58 countries between 2020 and 2023, so fair to say it’s pretty hard to argue with the findings. Forsman & Bodenfors LDN is proud to be an active member of Unstereotype Alliance’s UK chapter, embedding the ethos of inclusive advertising in all our client work (we’re also part of the only global creative agency to be gender pay equity certified, and are fully committed to living our values internally). Take a look at the two-page summary research findings (link in comments). And if you’d like to talk more about what progressive, impactful and effective advertising for your brand could look like, please drop me a line. ✨ #inclusion #marketing #creativity Melda Simon (she/her/hers) Trudi Harris Dubon

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