Pickings

A collection of marketing observations, articles, case studies, research, and ideas worth remembering, covering brands, campaigns, strategy, consumer behaviour, and the people shaping the discipline. These are the perspectives, examples, and lessons I find useful, interesting, or worth returning to.

Comparison Is the Thief of Brand Growth

Marketers love a benchmark. We compare our brand with the category leader, the fastest-growing competitor, the latest “best-in-class” case study, or an average calculated…

Brands Need More Than Salience to Grow

For years, marketers have been told that the path to brand growth is relatively simple: make the brand more salient. Increase the number of people…

Why the Snickers “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” Campaign Became a Marketing Masterclass

Back in 2009, Snickers faced a problem that many established brands encounter: despite being a 90-year-old chocolate bar available at nearly every street corner…

How Channel Diversity Transformed Dare Into Australia’s Leading Iced Coffee Brand

Most marketers face an impossible choice: Should we run our campaign on TV or digital? Should we invest in outdoor or social media? Should…

When Less Became More: How Gillette Turned Recession Resistance Into a $200M Growth Story

For over a century, Gillette has defined marketing excellence. Their playbook was elegant: every decade, launch a better razor, price it higher, migrate loyal…

The Long and the Short of Marketing Excellence: What Dove’s Campaign Taught Us About Sustained Brand Growth

Dove’s journey from a creamy soap bar to a purpose-driven beauty empire offers profound lessons about marketing effectiveness that transcend the beauty category. The…

When a Fake Movie Became Real Marketing Gold: Tourism Australia’s Dundee Masterclass

The Tourism Australia Dundee campaign demonstrates the power of strategic thinking in creating fundamentally effective campaigns. By starting with diagnosis rather than tactics, understanding…

When every ad became a Tide ad: defending market dominance through creative genius

By 2017, Tide faced a peculiar challenge. As Procter & Gamble’s iconic detergent brand celebrated its 70th anniversary, it remained America’s undisputed market leader…