What’s the purpose of marketing in 2024?

By Guy Corbet, Fourteen Forty

Received wisdom tells us that businesses should do enough to stay in business, naturally enough.  It also tells us staying in business in itself is not enough.  Businesses and brands should also show leadership, pursuing a social purpose, so says the received wisdom.  It motivates workers and it mobilises customers.

That’s why it was so interesting to hear Kenyatte Nelson, Chief Membership & Customer Officer at the Co-op, at a recent conference. He said that “if I’m not clear about helping my customer meet their purpose, then there’s no purpose for being”. 

Labour set for a juggling act as they as they eye up the keys to Downing Street

By Charles Fletcher, Founder and Managing Director of Navigate Politics

With a General Election a year or so away (give or take), the mortgage crisis, back-to-back strikes and rising immigration are all creating a serious headache for the Government.

However, whether they’re simply being too risk-averse, fear alienating voters or are biding their time, Labour give the impression that many pages of their internal policy strategy still read ‘intentionally blank’.

As the long campaign cranks into full gear, we’ve taken a look at the areas Labour will be hoping to capitalise on and build their own narrative as we approach the election…

To untap brand value, communicating inclusively and accessibly matters

By Suzy Christopher and Anna Parisi, Untapped

Many organisations have a formal EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion) policy in place, which demonstrates a clear intent that you don’t (and won’t) discriminate against people with lived experience of the nine Protected Characteristics named in the 2010 Equality Act.

However, a policy alone won’t add value to your business. Most organisations with only a policy fail in their EDI ambitions. Instead, everyone in your organisation needs to be living and breathing inclusion day in day out, which means communicating using inclusive language and accessible channels, as well as having equitable policies and processes in place.

Who can you turn to when there is nowhere left to go?

By Mark Lunn, founder, Caburn Communications

When I tell friends I’ve been working with a new lender for three years on market entry into the High Cost Short Term Credit market, they pull a face of disgust and say, “eeew, you’re helping a payday lender like Wonga… how do you live with yourself, they charge immoral amounts of interest”.

Hey.  We’re the future again.

In his final prime minister’s questions, David Cameron famously observed that he had been the future once.  Then he was out.  Well, PM Sunak’s first cabinet shows that past performance is not necessarily an indication of future results. 

His cabinet is characterised by recalls from the Cameron, May, Johnson and even Truss eras.  A cabinet of all the talents, internal constituencies or conflicting factions…