This week I wanted to touch on something that had taken over the internet (well LinkedIn) as of the end of last week. That is the latest marketing stunt by Thursday.

This week I thought I would share with you some examples of some work that I personally always refer back to. These are campaigns or great brand executions, some are big budget, some are smaller, but each one in their own right did something to move the dial for the brand and set them apart in their category.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me 7 times and I need to get a calendar.

Friday was April Fools Day. I am typically crap with knowing the date, so there were a few things on Friday morning that left me a bit puzzled.

I don't know if it's just me, but the months are whizzing past. I honestly can't believe that we are now at the end of March. So that means it's time for a monthly round-up of the top 5 branded campaigns that I've seen this month, and I have to say it's been a good one. There has been some really powerful work that has been used to shine a light on really important topics and causes.

Last week I read a report that left me seething and heartbroken in equal measures. It was a report published by Deloitte and covered consumer attitudes to environmental and ethical sustainability. You can read the full report here

I have been working with a really interesting business over the past few weeks. Without giving too much away they are a luxury brand, in a cluttered category. Their product is amazing, their service is fantastic, but they have fallen into the tropes of the category. They have inadvertently started acting and behaving in a similar way to every single other brand in the category, and as a result, have become interchangeable with other brands.

Last week, I was at Excel in London to support Nimble a baby-friendly cleaning company that is there for the messy moments. With thousands of new or expecting mums coming down to 'The Baby Show' it was the perfect opportunity to get the brands into the hands of consumers.

But, with any event, we were not the only brand vying for the attention of our dream target consumer. So we needed to think of a way to stand out in the sea of pastels and prams.

I love pasta; I'd say that a truffle pasta would be up there as my last supper. But, confession, I am not very good at cooking it myself. It's either a little too soggy or a bit too al dente.

Thursday. is the brand of the moment (well, on LinkedIn anyways). Rather than just showing you what they have done, I'm going to get under the skin of their strategy and share observations and insights that you can build into your business

If you are on LinkedIn regularly then i'm 99% sure that you would have seen the work that Thursday are doing. Thursday, is the new dating app with a key point of difference that is only available on a Thursday. It's fun it's fresh and very reminiscent of early days Brewdog and a beautiful example of a challenger brand in action.

When I say the word TikTok I am usually met with three reactions - cringe, that's such a lot of work or where's the ROI. Despite TikTok being available in the UK since 2018, having over 19million users, and a whopping average session time of 1.5hours (this is ahead of Netflix and YouTube), the levels of brand uptake have been small.

Community is a term that is bandied around constantly, it is used to describe a social media following, a group of people who subscribe to a channel. But, I believe that there is a strong distinction between what we commonly think of as a social community, and what is a real community actually is.

Where do I start? First and foremost the product is outstanding. For anyone not familiar with elvie, they are a company that combines tech and physical products to address intimate (and often neglected) issues faced by women throughout their lives.

For any business, the words cease and desist word send shudders through to their core. But Netflix's legal complaint against an unauthorised 'Stranger Things' bar is a brilliant example of 'whole brand thinking' in action.

I always feel like a strict teacher when I ask this question, how is your planning going for Q4 and 2022? But, like a strict teacher, it comes from a good place and I do it for a reason. As challenger brands, you don’t have the budget to outspend your competitors but you can outsmart them and be more creative. But this takes time. I recommend that you plan 70% of your marketing activities, then leave the final 30% as open to jumping on ideas.