Women in Brand

Things I want to remember from our Women in Brand fireside chat last week: 🤯 ‘Winning doesn’t always look like winning’ - a campaign that drew a lot of attention to Nike during a rough year for the brand, that was a (not so) coded message to their people. Marathon not a sprint. Shift your mindset about ‘failure’ and pain. A genius move when thinking about a culture reset that coincides conveniently with a new CEO taking the helm. Thanks Iona Ratcliffe for the insight that unpacked this for me! 🤯 what do we even mean when we talk about virality? Is it beauty - something that is photographed often and shared? Is it salience? Is it emotional, or just funny? Is it a gimmick or timeless? Is it about cutting through, or reflecting back on a prevailing mood? Tamara de Jong put this so beautifully in perspective: ‘marketing and brand are about the long game, why do you care about something that's over in a moment?' 🤯 is Blank Street Coffee’s brand strategy given away in the name? I’m passionate about this brand (Arabic founders unite 🫡), but I was last-Tuesday-years old when I finally ‘got’ it. Their brand is a vessel - which is what makes it so easy for them to quite literally ‘pour’ trends into it. Seasonal, cultural, niche - the brand is so elastic that it can move easily with the pace of what’s trending, and filter it seamlessly into its in house blend. Even when that blend is… matcha 🍵 Chatting about the future of brand so passionately that the audience can’t help but get involved in the debate too? ✅ if you had asked Victoria Montgomery what was on our 2024 vision board for the network, this was pretty much it. And as we’re already planning our 2025 roadmap I’ll spoiler you for what’s next: more of exactly this!

What major marketing trend had passed me by from the last year? Turns out: the boo basket* and pumpkin cushion**. The recent Women in Brand event affirmed that I’m definitely not cool enough to know the latest from the TikTok zeitgeist. Working in the B2B sector [& in a market where the Gen Z audience tends to be less of a priority], means I can potentially get away without knowing this stuff. BUT, no matter your sector or audience, it’s critical to understand the major themes shaping the brand landscape. Halloween trends aside, the recent fireside chat with Tamara de Jong and Iona Ratcliffe - hosted by Tamira Hamden MCIPR - really zeroed in on what we all need to be on top of: 🤖 AI: Exploring how artificial intelligence is revolutionising brand strategies – from the content produced to how we measure success. 🌍 Sustainability: Genuine sustainability practices that are ‘baked in’ to a business not 'greenwashing.' [The planet is dying so kinda hope this continues to be a main topic.] 👩❤️👩 Community-led initiatives: The importance of building brands that are informed and driven by community insights. Not sure what to do? Ask your customers. 🧠 Mental health awareness: Advocating for mental health support within brand cultures – internally with staff but also externally to your clients and consumers. 👯 Partnerships: The power of strategic partnerships in driving brand success. Anything I’ve missed that you’d add to these? SIDE NOTE: 🤔 Are you also clueless about the aforementioned seasonal ‘trends’? Here you go: *a boo basket is a hamper full of Halloween-related stuff that you might gift your partner or child ** literally people losing their minds about having a cushion shaped like a pumpkin on their sofa in October [Also should say that, on researching further, both trends have been around since last Halloween so…. We’re truly late to that game, friend.] 🎃 Tenuous photo link: A picture of an *actual* pumpkin growing in my garden. Happy Witchy Month. 🧙♀️ #brand #brandtrends

What does a room full of CEOs look like? This! I’m tagging it with a new collective noun. A Power of CEOs. These are some of the incredible people who are CEOs. Not all were sure they would be, or could be, or wanted to be. All of them are brilliant and are generous with sharing their knowledge. If you know other amazing CEOs who might be part of this group or maybe aspire to get to CEO level then tag them. Often knowing that other people think you have that potential is how it begins to be unlocked. Particularly we need more CEOs in UK tech from inequitably represented groups. The dinner group here is not all white but a lot of work to do to be representative and for disabled CEOs as well. As one smart commentator put...."progress not perfection". Reemah Sakaan and Laura Liram are beside me in this shot and to so many others in the group thank you 🙏 🙌 WITSEND Community

Best Global Brands 2024 is LIVE! A quarter-century of innovation and growth, we are excited to reveal Interbrand’s 2024 Best Global Brands. Since the year 2000, we’ve witnessed an extraordinary transformation in the branding landscape. Over these 25 years, 185 brands have graced our prestigious ranking, with only 36 enduring the test of time. The cumulative value of the world’s top brands has soared from $988 million to $3.265 billion since our first ranking, yet an increased focus on short-term gains has cost these brands significantly—$3.5 trillion in cumulative brand value to be exact. Our Best Global Brands data tells a compelling story: brands that treat their brand as a revenue generator, rather than a cost center, consistently outperform. These brands leverage deeper, meaningful, and equitable relationships with consumers, driving loyalty and advocacy. Congratulations to all the brands in the ranking and many thanks to all the people at Interbrand who have made it possible, over the years, for us to reach this milestone. Discover the full list and insights from the report here: https://lnkd.in/ep5cAseC hashtag #BGB2024 hashtag #BestGlobalBrands hashtag #BrandValuation

🩵 I’m incredibly proud to share the launch of a marketing project that has been both an honour and a joy to work on at Selfridges — the Selfridges x Tiffany & Co. brand moment at Selfridges Oxford Street. This collaboration celebrates Tiffany & Co.’s heritage in craftsmanship and design through breathtaking installations and public art. Together with the teams, we created a robust 360-degree marketing plan that spanned all of Selfridges’ channels, really amplifying the partnership to our customer base. It’s been an amazing journey, and I want to acknowledge the talented teams behind this from a marketing POV. Special thanks to Ségolène Rousseau and Madeline Fishman from Tiffany, Mel Wallis and Sean Kiilu from our PR & social team for their stunning content, Kay Manning for managing online retail media campaigns, Flo Forster for leading CRM comms, and our incredible events, windows and real estate teams. The partnership sees Tiffany & Co. take over all 16 of Selfridges’ window displays, illuminate the Oxford Street façade in Tiffany Blue, and launch a Breakfast at Tiffany’s pop-up kiosk - all moments celebrating the rich heritage of both brands. The Windows of Wonder installation runs until 20 October, featuring works by artists like Damien Hirst, Rana Begum, Jason Bruges, and James Righton. The Breakfast at Tiffany’s pop-up, held on 27-28 September, was open-to-public and offered Keyholders breakfast treats and an immersive audio tour of the iconic windows. It’s been a privilege to work on such an iconic moment in retail, and to collaborate with such talented teams and witness the magic of this partnership come to life. Here’s to many more creative collaborations in the future! 💎 📸 Video content credits: Selfridges social #TiffanyAndCo #Selfridges #WindowsofWonder #BreakfastAtTiffanys #Marketing #Collaboration #Creativity #ArtAndDesign #Teamwork