Bravery in the Budget: Why Marketing Matters More When Others Scale Back

When the market wobbles, the first instinct in many boardrooms is to reach for the red pen — slash the marketing budgets, reduce the ad spend, thin the creative input. Hell; there must be some kid on Fiverr that can do it for peanuts right? Well, actually, wrong.

Of course, it is in part, understandable. It feels prudent. Cut the ads, trim the campaigns, shelve the brand work “for now.” Save a bit here, a bit there. Batten down the hatches. Who knows how long the mad man will continue to play with the lives of the little people? Better we stop spending on making our brand relevant, seen and heard? Hmmmm.

But here’s the problem: while you’re saving pennies, you’re handing your competitors pounds worth of market share on a silver platter.

History (and more than a few Harvard Business Review case studies) shows that the brands that keep investing smartly during downturns and periods of economic uncertainty don’t just survive — in fact they come out stronger, leaner, and several laps ahead of the pack. When everyone else is whispering, if you have the guts and gusto to keep on investing, your voice actually carries further.

Good marketing isn’t a “nice to have” when times are tough. It’s a survival strategy. It’s how you stay visible when the world feels uncertain. It’s how you maintain trust, reinforce loyalty, and remind your customers you’re still here — and still worth it. If your voice slips away when times are tough, why should you be worthy of attention when the world is back to its noisy full hum?

Yes, budgets might need to be smarter, sharper, and more targeted. The days of “spray and pray” are long gone. But retreating into silence? That is in fact the real risk.

Remember: it’s cheaper to stay in hearts and minds than it is to win them back later. When the sun comes out again — and it will — those who kept the faith will be the ones customers remember.

Being brave doesn’t mean being reckless. It means recognising that marketing isn’t an expense. It’s an investment in resilience.
And when the market shifts back into gear, the brave will have won.

#MarketingStrategy #BrandBuilding #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #MarketingDuringRecession #MarketingBravery

Put Down the Robot: Why Real Writing Still Matters

Let’s be honest. AI-generated content is having a moment. Everyone from interns to CEOs has at some point typed, “Write me a blog about synergy in the logistics sector,” and watched in awe as a passable (if slightly soulless) essay appears in seconds. Handy? Absolutely. Harmless? Not quite.

The danger isn’t that AI writes badly. The danger is that it writes just well enough for people to stop noticing the difference.

But here’s the thing: readers do notice. They may not point at your brand’s latest article and cry, “This was clearly written by a silicon brain with no emotional intelligence,” but they’ll feel the flatness. The lack of nuance. The suspicious absence of joy, wit, or cultural relevance. AI can produce competent copy. What it can’t do—yet—is connect.

Brands thrive on tone, personality, and empathy. On knowing when to use a wink instead of a nudge. To pull on those heartstrings but avoid the saccarine rush and inevitable crash that follows. On understanding why something is funny, or poignant, or quietly powerful in a way that resonates with actual human beings. Machines don’t live in the real world. They don’t get irony. They don’t get cringe. They don’t understand why Coca Cola hits different at Christmas.

There’s also the small matter of accuracy. Generative AI can hallucinate faster than a rock star at Glastonbury. If you're not checking every line, you’re just publishing guesswork dressed as authority. That’s not brand-safe—it’s brand-sabotage.

Of course I’m not saying we all need to go full quill-and-ink. AI has its place. It’s great for ideation, outlines, and helping that blank page feel less, well, blank. But final content—the stuff that represents your brand—should still pass through human hands, and ideally the sort that know how to wield a metaphor without injuring anyone.

Real writing isn’t dead. It’s just been drowned out by the clickety-clack of the algorithm. But good writing? It still matters. Because real people are still reading.

Influencers: Brand Rocket Fuel or PR Timebomb?

Once upon a time, we trusted a nice man in a white coat to sell us toothpaste. These days, it's a 23-year-old with a ring light and a discount code for collagen powder. Influencers have become an inescapable part of the marketing landscape—and when chosen well, they can deliver brilliant results. But, like trying to microwave fish in an open-plan office, the wrong choice can stink out the entire building.

Let’s be clear: influencers aren’t the problem. The wrong influencers are. The ones who, in the heat of a live stream, say something that makes your brand director spill their oat flat white. The ones who turn out to have a past more chequered than a Formula One finish line. Or the ones who simply don’t align with your brand values but looked good in the pitch deck.

Remember the global fashion brand that partnered with a reality star famous for saying things best left in the drafts folder? Sales plummeted. Or the cosmetics company who linked arms with a controversial YouTuber, only to find themselves at the centre of a social media firestorm. Millions spent; trust obliterated.

Influencer marketing isn’t inherently dangerous. But it does demand due diligence. A pretty grid and high follower count are not the same as credibility or cultural fit. You’re not just borrowing their audience—you’re borrowing their behaviour, their tone, and their baggage.

So how do you get it right?

• Choose influence over influencers: People who genuinely connect with your audience, not just those who collect likes like Pokémon cards.

• Vet like your brand depends on it (because it does): Do your homework. Look at past content, partnerships, values, and yes—tweets from 2014.

• Be clear on expectations: Transparency, alignment, and a mutual understanding of tone and brand voice are non-negotiable.

Used wisely, influencers can amplify a brand with authenticity and reach. Used recklessly, they’re a liability with a selfie stick. Choose carefully—or risk becoming a cautionary tale in someone else’s keynote.

Cutting Through the Noise: Creating Meaningful Content in a World of Content Creators

It’s official. Everyone is a content creator now. Your dentist is vlogging about molars, your mum has a crochet-themed TikTok, and your mate’s cat has a LinkedIn profile (and frankly better engagement than those painful self-congratulatory HR posts). In this sea of unrelenting content, the challenge for brands is not simply to be heard—but to be remembered.

So, how do you cut through the noise without shouting into the void or, worse, sounding like everyone else?

1. Make it matter

Great content doesn’t just fill space. It connects. It says, “We understand you,” not “We googled you.” That means tapping into genuine insights about your audience—what they care about, what they’re grappling with, and what they want to see in their feed (hint: probably not your office ping pong tournament).

2. Don’t be clever, be clear

Yes, wit works—but only when it serves the message. Content should earn its place. That means clarity, brevity, and the sort of polish that shows respect for the reader’s time. Clever headlines might get the click, but meaningful, relevant substance keeps the eyeballs (and earns the trust).

3. Stay on brand (without sounding like a robot)

Consistency of voice doesn’t mean copy-and-paste. It means knowing your tone so well you can flex it without breaking it. Whether you’re commenting on cultural moments or offering thought leadership, the voice should still sound unmistakably you. Not a committee. Not ChatGPT (ahem).

4. Never waste a scroll

Every interaction is a chance to deepen your brand’s relationship with its audience. A moment of delight. A nudge toward action. A chance to start a conversation, not just push a product. Make it count.

In the end, meaningful content isn’t louder. It’s smarter, sharper and more human. In a world full of creators, be the one with something worth saying—and say it well.