This is the week that was: Business jargon, killed creativity and burnt books
From office moves, to marketing automation implementation to furious pitching – it’s been a busy old week at Earnest towers.
As always we have kept precious time aside each day to keep up with the all the best news and wrapped it all up in a package that is this, the week that was.
Campaign of the week
Dave Trott has a great philosophy that all agencies should follow when they receive a brief – ‘when faced with a problem, go upstream and challenge the context’. When Leo Burnett were tasked to run a campaign to save the Troy Public Library they had to do just that. Their response was a brilliantly thought out social campaign – taking advantage of what behavioural economist called loss aversion theory. What resulted was a u-turn in public thinking (and a few Cannes Lions to suit). An Earnest favourite.
Channel battle of the week
It’s quite amazing the number of bloggers who are so keen to announce the death of (or gallantly support) various marketing channels. It seems we have an obsession creating a competition between the old and new tactics available in the b2b arsenal. Still, all in the name of testing. Forbes stuck on trend this week as they stood up for good old email marketing – explaining why it is more effective than the ever popular social media – arguing customers who come through email are ultimately more valuable. It’s a good case that is made. Our view? It’s all about having the right mix of channels that work together – but test and learn as you go and don’t be afraid to turn that tap off on those that simply aren’t working.
Marketing Lesson of the week
It’s well known that people who end up in marketing often come from various different disciplines (especially in terms of their university degree). The result is a rich varieties of theories that can be applied to business communications. This week Jon Miller wrote for Marketo on what he brought from his Physics degree into marketing. From the importance and reliance on measurement and testing through to creating valuable exchanges for attraction there are some fascinating (and surprising) lessons to be learn. Take a look
Ads of the week
We sometimes don our armour and take a stroll into the world of B2C marketing and this week we are glad we did. We came across these fantastic new ads for Jack and Jones featuring esteemed Hollywood actor Christopher Walken. Clear message, striking, engaging and something you want to hit the share button on straight away – these ads do exactly what they should for a little known brand intent on growing it’s share of voice in the marketing. Very cool – enjoy.
Revolution of the week
Here’s the problem. We’re sick to the back teeth of business jargon. So here at Earnest – we think enough is enough and we want to bring the rest of the marketing world with us. Forever realists, we know we’re never going to purge the business world of its lingua franca, but what we can do is take a very large proverbial stick and poke fun at it. We have kicked off in two ways – first a blog post about the dangers of jargon in your business communications and secondly by launching the Alt.Dictionary for business. But we need you to get involved so take a look and share your own (there might even be a tea-towel in it for you).
Creative of the week
This week we took a trip down memory lane and browsed some of our earliest tweets. Among them was this lovely set of illustrations showing the 8 ways a good idea is killed. Still very relevant 4 years on.
Earnest about B2B 