Amid persistent concerns about brand safety vulnerabilities, marketers have ratcheted up their demands for solutions that safeguard companies’ reputations. Unilever’s Keith Weed and P&G’s Mark Pritchard have been among the most...

With consumer data now considered the fundamental bedrock of digital advertising and minds sharpened by the recent introduction of GDPR, you’d think marketers would have a firm grasp on where responsibility for it sits within their organisations. Wouldn’t you?

In fact, while the majority of marketers consider data use a “very important” aspect of business growth, there seems to be an ongoing conflict when it comes to who should be in charge of it.

A study by the global association for...

By 2020, customer experience is expected to overtake both price and product as a key brand differentiator. A 280-character Twitter post, Instagram snap or Facebook update from a disgruntled consumer can destroy a brand’s long-built reputation and performance in an instant, so brands must deliver a consistent, connected, competitive customer experience. Those businesses that get this right are rewarded: 68% of UK consumers in a

With an increasingly uncertain Brexit emerging, UK SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) exporters with a “progressive” and data-driven mindset are most confident about future business success.

A study by marketing agency Croud on 100 leaders of exporting SMEs, including companies such as UNiDAYS, Monty Bojangles and Kit for Kids, looked to shed light on the biggest challenges and opportunities smaller companies expect to face in the run-up to, and after, Brexit.

With all businesses in the...

UK broadcaster Channel 4’s progressive approach to content is seeping through to its ad strategy.

While publicly-owned and touting a successful on-demand digital arm, the television company still relies on good old TV advertising for a large part of its revenue. However, gains from ad spend, which makes up about 93% of its total revenue, dipped around £40m last year as a result of a TV ad market decline of 3%.

To offset this,...

Yesterday (July 5), the DMA (Direct Marketing Association) published its annual Email Benchmarking Report.

Analysing the performance of over 23 billion emails over the course of 2017, results showed that email has yet to be unseated as digital marketers’ top-performing channel.

At 97.5%, delivery rates remained extremely high - that figure represents just a slight dip year on year - although this does equate to over 500 million emails missing the target.

On the other hand, open rates have seen a 0.5%...

Despite the Cambridge Analytica scandal, a new study has revealed that consumers are much more likely to entrust their personally identifiable information (PII) to Facebook and Google than smaller ad tech firms.

Based on a study using replica websites featuring various opt-in request types on over 1,200 adults, the findings from Smartpipe and PSB Research found that consumers were more likely to opt-in to their data being used by big names.

In every scenario, the ‘duopoly’ came out on top, gaining...

Technological innovation has transformed the way we work, play, interact, and behave.

Consider this: in 1995, there were 16 million internet users worldwide; today that figure tops four billion. Mass web adoption has driven improvements from healthcare to financial services, but along with this innovation has come higher expectations among consumers for personalised communications, products, and services.

For some marketers, digital disruption has moved too quickly. Alongside...

Interpublic Group (IPG) has confirmed the acquisition of the data-driven marketing arm of Acxiom Corporation in a deal worth $2.3 billion (£1.7 billion).

The cash deal for the Acxiom Marketing Solutions (AMS) unit has been “approved unanimously” by both company’s boards of directors.

With the transaction expected to complete by the end of the year, AMS will become part of the IPG’s media agency network MediaBrands, while the acquisition will not include Acxiom Corporation’s

It was only eleven years ago - in 2007 - that I set up the first social media agency in the UK. It seems inconceivable now to look back at a mere decade and see how drastically the social media landscape has shifted since then. We have gone from ‘innovative and cool new thing’ to the very foundation of marketing strategies.

Whilst the advent of social media has profoundly disrupted how marketers operate, everything from blogging to influencers and Wikipedia have seemingly had their day. Ours has...