‘Range inflation’ is a sign Tesla has lost sight of its customers
Mark RitsonOur marketing columnist reviews the recent controversy over the driving range of Teslas and revises his assessment of the company’s market orientation.
Mark Ritson – Brand Reputation
P&O is the rare reputation crisis that really does matter
Mark RitsonThe damage P&O Cruises has suffered from P&O Ferries’ mistakes cuts to the core of the business, and leaves the separately owned brand with four options.
Peloton has snatched victory from the jaws of death – again
Mark RitsonMr Big’s (spoiler alert) death after a Peloton ride in the latest Sex and the City spin-off had social media forecasting the brand’s doom, but it actually created greater mental availability for the brand – especially after Ryan Reynolds’ creative agency got involved.
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Trust in brands is illusory, just look at Facebook’s continued growth
Mark RitsonFacebook repeatedly ranks low in consumer trust surveys, yet user growth continues, revealing the idea of trust in brands as anthropomorphic nonsense.
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If an influencer’s what you want, find a 90-year-old with bad WiFi
Mark RitsonThere’s no influence like a customer’s, as AT&T found when nonagenarian Aaron Epstein placed an ad in the Wall Street Journal criticising its service.
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To end associations with the Proud Boys, Fred Perry needs to do more than stop selling them shirts
Mark RitsonRestricting US sales will only strengthen the neo-fascists’ bond with the shirts they use as a uniform. The brand needs a big ad campaign to show it stands for the opposite ideology.
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Marketers must follow The Guardian and stop enabling oil brands’ hypocrisy
Mark RitsonAs The Guardian stops taking fossil fuel ads, marketers should take a similar stand and end big oil brands’ strategy of distracting the world from the harm they are doing.
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Peloton’s ad is bad, but it will ultimately benefit the brand
Mark RitsonNot all publicity is good publicity, but as long as you don’t undermine your proposition or entirely alienate your market, the salience gained from a bad news story often outweighs any damage to brand image.
The Apple Card fiasco is a brand risk – but not a very big one
Mark RitsonApple has messed up by adopting a biased algorithm that disadvantages women applying for its credit card, but the chances of it harming the core technology business are slim.
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Cadbury’s brand purpose is just ‘woke-washing’
Mark RitsonCadbury’s efforts to promote diversity have been ridiculed on social media, but the bigger issue is the hypocrisy of doing so while paying no UK tax.
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Talk of crisis could be a death spiral for Thomas Cook
Mark RitsonWhether or not Thomas Cook responds to financial rumours, once trust in its stability is undermined its brand equity will erode, obliterating future sales.
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Lloyds beware, Noel Edmonds is doing more brand damage than you think
Mark RitsonNoel Edmonds’ clever campaign for compensation from Lloyds Banking Group is harming perceptions of the Lloyds brand, which will ultimately cost it customers – and he’s unlikely to give up.
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Colonel Ritson: KFC’s marketers turned a chicken crisis into a brand triumph
Mark RitsonThe KFC chicken crisis caused by DHL’s delivery failures could have been disastrous, but a rapid strategic response has ensured the brand will benefit long-term from increased awareness and a boost in consumer demand.
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Brands boycotting Mumsnet have a deluded view of consumers
Mark RitsonMarketers were reportedly upset that their ads appeared next to expletives on Mumsnet, but that’s how real people talk and it pales in comparison to terrorist content as a risk to brands online.
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Mark Ritson: The National Lottery found out the hard way how moronic consumers can be
Mark RitsonA National Lottery Twitter campaign has been hijacked by trolls, but marketers would have seen it coming if they weren’t so absorbed in their fantasies of ‘brand love’.