My marketing thoughts, my marketing projects and anything in between. Since that £150 logo project to now, my journey in marketing, always learning. 20 years and counting in marketing working with small, medium and large businesses. Get in touch today - info@nutsaboutmarketing.com

Artificial intelligence inevitably featured heavily at Social Media Conference Cymru, but the most interesting discussion was not about which tool could generate the best image or video. The bigger question was what happens to creative value when the cost of producing content falls dramatically. That is where Dr Alex Connock’s session became particularly interesting. His argument was that generative AI is making competent content incredibly cheap, fast and scalable. Text, ima

Social Media Conference Cymru gave me plenty to think about, but the strongest theme running through the day was not really about platforms, trends or algorithms. It was about purpose. Social media teams are often surrounded by activity, metrics, requests and deadlines, yet the more important question is whether any of that activity is actually helping the organisation achieve something meaningful. Beth Thomas captured that perfectly when she reflected on being very good at u

The final advert can complete a sale without being responsible for everything that made the customer likely to buy. Marketing attribution often rewards the last visible touchpoint while ignoring the load of memory, experience and familiarity already sitting underneath it. The last interaction gets the applause A customer decides they need running shoes, searches online, clicks a paid advert for a familiar sports brand and buys twenty minutes later. The analytics platform reco

Most of the people who might buy from you are not shopping today. Marketing has to convert the demand that exists now while also improving the chances that future buyers know, remember and consider the brand when their moment eventually arrives. Current buyers are unusually visible People who are in market search, click, visit product pages, compare prices and fill in forms. Their behaviour creates useful signals that platforms and sales teams can observe. Because those signa

Performance marketing can become remarkably efficient at harvesting existing demand. The difficulty is that no amount of optimisation can create an unlimited supply of people who currently need the category. Efficiency eventually hits a ceiling A business discovers that search advertising works. It improves landing pages, tightens targeting and increases spend. Customer acquisition remains healthy, so the budget grows again. For a while, more investment produces more sales an

This week I started the Mini MBA in Marketing with Mark Ritson, and it feels slightly strange writing that after working in marketing for more than 15 years. Notepad out, headphones in, I have taken to my home office in the evenings and tried to make sense of it all. I've run my own marketing business since 2015, worked in-house at small and large businesses, worked with football clubs, created websites, events, sponsorship, digital campaigns and worked with plenty of busines

A recent story about the amount Ceredigion County Council is taking from parking charges on Aberystwyth promenade sparked the sort of reaction you would probably expect. People argued that charging for parking would push tourists away, reduce footfall and ultimately cost local businesses money. Maybe it does. But I am not convinced we should simply accept that as fact without asking a few more questions. I live locally, I shop in Aberystwyth and I know the town well. I also u

One of the easiest traps in marketing is deciding what we think the answer is, then going looking for research to prove us right. It happens all the time. A new product idea gets everyone excited, a campaign concept gets senior approval, or a customer journey is redesigned because internally it feels cleaner and more logical. The problem is that customers do not see the internal logic. They do not care that your new system brings three databases together, makes reporting easi

I saw a brilliant little example of the AI debate playing out locally this week. Llandeilo Service Station posted four potential new logos and asked people which one they preferred. The problem was that the designs had clearly been generated using AI, and the comments section spotted it almost immediately. People called them “AI slop”, questioned why a local designer had not been used and, perhaps most importantly, recognised that the designs did not really represent the busi

Think of Paris and there is a good chance you picture the Eiffel Tower. Think of London and Big Ben might appear in your mind, while Sydney can immediately bring up the distinctive sails of the Sydney Opera House. You do not need to see the name of the city alongside them because the image itself is enough to trigger the association. These landmarks are not distinctive brand assets in the traditional marketing sense, but they behave remarkably like them. They have become powe