McDonald’s fires CEO over consensual relationship McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook was fired for a “consensual relationship” with a colleague this week. The questions around whether this is what a post #MeToo world looks like are largely inapplicable, after all McDonald’s is adamant the relationship was consensual and no one will or should know the details
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The immersive campaign kicks off with a TV takeover tomorrow evening, which will see the 90-second ad air on ITV, Channel 4, Sky and social media at the same time. [embedded content] Boots is positioning itself as the solution to the “modern gifting dilemma” this Christmas with a campaign focusing on the challenges of finding
Facebook will not revise its targeting policies ahead of the UK general election, reaffirming its view that the transparency it provides on political advertising far exceeds that available in the offline world. “Political targeting is nothing new,” stated Facebook head of UK public policy, Rebecca Stimson, speaking on a press call yesterday (7 November). “Political
Ikea hopes to help Britons recover from ‘home shame’ by showing them how little changes can brighten up a house and get it reading for festive hosting. [embedded content] Ikea is launching its first Christmas ad, encouraging Britons to defy ‘home shame’ and open up their homes to guests over the festive seasons. The ‘Silence
The news that McDonald’s had shockingly fired its celebrated CEO Steve Easterbrook sent shockwaves around the business world when it broke late on Sunday night. Even more surprising to some was the reason for his sacking. His crime? Having a “consensual relationship” with a colleague. In its explanation for the decision, the company’s board said
[embedded content] The job of B2B marketing is often thought of one-dimensionally as generating leads and a sales pipeline to keep a brand’s revenue machine churning. However, earlier this year, Marketing Week and The Marketing Practice collaborated on new research into effectiveness in B2B marketing, which uncovered how successful brands are more likely to plan
The adult brand is hitting the high street for the first time to see how the online experience translates physically and what it can learn from customers. Just like it doesn’t want customers to be chased around the internet by a big dildo (due to ad retargeting), Lovehoney’s new pop-up shop in Covent Garden isn’t
Deck the halls with…Christmas ads! In those merry, shouty words of Slade: Iiiiiiit’s Chriiiiiistmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas! It is in retail world, at least. Yes, ‘tis the season when Christmas advertising takes over the Marketing Week agenda. And it has begun, starting with a lovely Northern Lights-themed tale from Asda, which follows two children on their quest to
Walkers is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the song All I Want for Christmas is You, as well as launching new flavours and on-pack promotion as it aims to appeal to younger audiences. [embedded content] Walkers has enlisted the help of Christmas favourite Mariah Carey in a festive campaign to promote its new Christmas flavours
[embedded content] 1 November: Very tugs at the heartstrings in community cartoon Very is encouraging consumers to “get more out of giving” for its Christmas campaign, which this year takes the form of a community-focused cartoon. ‘Pass the parcel’ shows the story of a community that comes together to give Sidney, a lonely older man,
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A Happy Meal and AI might not be the most obvious pairing but 2019 has seen McDonald’s hit the headlines for its fast-paced investments in tech. In March, it acquired online personalisation startup Dynamic Yield for more than £232.8m with the goal of creating a customisable drive-thru experience that could be tweaked to fit weather,
Marketers trying to deliver greater impact for their brand and enjoy increased influence in their organisation should be as passionate about internal marketing as they are external, according to one CMO who has made the step up to CEO. Although having responsibility for P&L and driving growth is important for those marketers looking to step
1. Global ad spend to grow 6% in 2020 Global investment in advertising is forecast to grow by 6% year-on-year in 2020 to $656bn (£511bn), buoyed by spend on Google, Facebook and Amazon. That growth is up on the 2.5% rise estimated for 2019, but down on the 7.3% growth recorded last year. The expectation
Marketers and first-party sellers: are you creating Amazon A+ content? If not, you definitely should be. Once a paid option, adding Amazon A+ content to listings is now free and unlimited for all vendors. It’s one of the most effective ways to increase traffic and sales — and to cross-promote your other products. According to
Coca-Cola grows as total beverage company strategy pays off Coca-Cola’s results were better than expected in the third quarter as net revenues increased 8% year on year to $9.5bn (£7.3bn), driven by innovation in packaging and low- and no-sugar variants. CEO James Quincey has been on a mission since 2017 to turn Coca-Cola into a
Unilever’s CEO Alan Jope is calling on activists to pressure the company to be better on climate and social issues after reports criticised the FMCG giant’s plastics progress. Alan Jope, Unilever’s CEO promises to do better on plastic Unilever’s CEO is asking for activists to “call us out” when it comes to climate change as
Is Facebook really serious about cleaning up its reputation, much tainted after a slew of scandals and a deepening crisis in trust? The question is worth asking given that only this week the social media behemoth reaffirmed its commitment to political advertising, despite admitting to thwarting numerous plots to interfere with the US 2020 presidential
The latest podcast in our series on the stories behind effective marketing campaigns examines how Britvic transformed Robinsons, repositioning it and reviving a flagging category in a grand prix-winning effort. We continue our podcast series by looking into Britvic’s successful 2017 revitalisation of its flagship Robinson’s brand, which won the grand prix at the Marketing
To embrace a purpose-driven agenda marketers need to understand their company’s failings and then act as change leaders, mobilising the businesses from the top down. If marketers want to get serious about making a change in society they need to explore their brand’s “zone of lies”. This is the middle space that sits between the
Attracting the right brand partnership will be crucial if W Series wants to cement its status as the home of female motor racing as the tournament gears up for its second season. W Series is on a mission to change the face of motorsport. The all-female motor-racing competition, which wrapped up its debut season in
The strategies for success behind the best global brands Interbrand marked the 20th anniversary of its annual Best Global Brands valuation report by comparing the current top 10 with their first rundown from two decades ago. No surprise that big tech dominates this year’s list (Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft hogging the top four, in
Coca-Cola praises marketing investment for helping to shift consumer mindsets about the soft drink company and its namesake brand. The Coca-Cola Company is seeing strong growth thanks to innovations across its portfolio, including on its namesake Coca-Cola brand, which has struggled amid the shift to lower sugar soft drinks. The soft drink giant saw net
The Rugby World Cup in Japan has so far been a pristine example of how to stage the perfect sporting spectacle. A fascinating country with a vibrant and ancient culture totally distinguished from the rest of the world, with an enthusiastic population wholeheartedly getting into the spirit of things. Even in the worrying prelude to
Everything you do outside of communications impacts on the consumer experience “It’s lovely to see our C-suite colleagues don’t share [our doubts]. On the whole they are not the ones saying marketing doesn’t deserve a seat at the table. Bizarrely it’s marketing people doing that, we really shouldn’t.” Salesforce’s vice-president of marketing in the UK
In the first of a new series looking at what it takes to be a marketer in different regions, Marketing Week puts the spotlight on Japan. From navigating the working style and overcoming language barriers, to determining marketing’s role in corporate culture. A detail-driven market fuelled by a commitment to quality and perfection, Japan is
Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to unrivalled coverage of the biggest issues in marketing, alongside practical advice from the digital experts at Econsultancy. With a subscription to Marketing Week Premium you will get full access to: > World-renowned columnists > Analysis & case studies > Exclusive leading-edge insight > Carefully curated reports & briefings from Econsultancy
1. Just 10% of brands in the UK excel at customer experience Only 10% of brands in the UK have a net promoter score (NPS) of 40 or more, with logistics, energy and water emerging as the worst sectors for delivering on customer satisfaction. Insurer NFU Mutual (70) is the company with the highest NPS
Does the plethora of new titles for senior marketing roles reflect a change in the nature of marketing, or is it a case of window dressing gone wild? Alison Jones, customer director of the Co-operative Group, and Chris Macleod, director for customers and revenue at Transport for London, both run the marketing function at their
Tesco’s outgoing chief executive talked semantic strategies, regrets and how “brutal objectivity” helped him lead one of the UK’s biggest business turnarounds. ‘German discounters’ and Aldi and Lidl have become synonymous in the retail world. But not for Tesco, which will only refer to the competition as ‘German retailers’. And there is strategy behind the