Nick Atkinson

The latest piece in my 'Cheat Codes for Challenger Brands' series with Mumbrella is all about the power of overcommitment. While market leaders optimise their businesses around 'just enough', Challenger Brands win by being unreasonably durable, insanely spicy or built around unprecedented levels of customer service. Check it here 👇👇👇

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TIKTOK NEWS: Ad Fatigue now kicks in after 5 days for full price product and 12 days for Sale product 😰 🚀 It’s never been more important to have a weekly flow of new, high quality, tested and optimised ad creative in reaction to evolving TikTok trends and now, even shorter timeframes for ad fatigue. Based on your budgets, you need to be producing or receiving anywhere from 50 all the way to several 100’s, of pieces of ad creative weekly📈 Achieving this scale, while also maintaining quality of content is where most brands and advertisers slip up. Brand content and variations is a great start, but 80% of your ads should be true UGC in order to harness TikTok’s unique culture. (If you’ve worked hard to build social proof and brand awareness on TikTok, you’ll benefit from this 10x more than those who just jump straight to ads) #tiktokmarketing #tiktokads #tiktokagency P.S. We know Social 🐐. We have a proven track record of building brands through comprehensive creator marketing strategies and then scaling through paid social adverts. Currently have availability in Q3 2024 for brands currently looking to win on TikTok 🥊 

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My latest piece is out now in May’s edition of kbbreview. Here are my musings on changing buyer behaviour and the challenges and opportunities arising from purchase power shifting to more digitally native audiences. I also explore the importance of brand and if some retailers should consider niching down 🤔 Thanks for the insights Jayne Barber JKMR. The full article is here 👇🏼 https://lnkd.in/eQH_pft2

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Rental & Resale as a channel for brands, is it worth it? There are a lot of technologies that appear to be gaining traction at the moment in the fashion space. Particularly, Rental and Resale. I've been doing my best to research the topics to try and get some data around uplift in conversion, AOVs, new customer acquisition and the general impact of adding these technologies into a brand strategy. Who are the people I need to follow/connect with to further understand the movement and the numbers? Would love to position some of this tech to our current clients if they're a good fit and the numbers stack. Also which brands are nailing this right now? I know HERA Clothing launched their platform recently. P.S this sneaker clean we did recently is nuts.

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US brands taking hold of Aussie icons like Kangaroos, Emu's, Crocodile Dundee..it happens a fair bit! A quick fact below... Liberty Mutual have spent ~$1.9 million in media on this ad...gaining 430m impressions. Link to full video in comments -> It's an approach that has some clear references to trending topics (Emanuel the Emu on Tik Tok anybody?) but also stays with a single bone dry joke based on the slowness of the competition, and drives it home over 30 seconds. We see this approach a lot in US commercials - one joke, spread out. Does it work as an ad in my mind? Sure the fast, dramatic (brand forward) opener makes a splash, and the Emu there draws you to stay and see what happens. The next 10 seconds? Not really. You have to be invested to stick around and I wasn't. Let me know if you like this one or not - keen to hear your thoughts! #tv #commercial #videoproduction

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Cracking few days at Retail Fest in Gold Coast 🇦🇺 A take on the Australian eCom scene - Very tight knit but friendly eCom community of agencies and tech, similar to the UK. - Australian arms of tech brands generally working in a silo versus the UK and US divisions. Lack of collaboration down to commission based sales and time zones (partner managers words, not mine) - Australian eCom brands seeing huge year on year growth. - Low awareness of some of the highest growth Shopify apps recently mentioned by Jeremy Horowitz' beyond Klaviyo and Gorgias. - Goal for many Australian brands in US market and cautious about the UK. - Huge desire to help one another. - Less obsessive discussion on AI versus UK and US. - They love a good swear. #ecommerce #shopifyplus

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🚀 9 Social media updates you NEED to know about.. Including the first look at 'Notes' by TikTok 🖼️ Here’s a first look at TikTok Notes, which has launched in Australia and Canada. The staggered tile layout of the new photo-sharing app reminds us of Pinterest more than anything else: https://lnkd.in/ex-UTNsM 🤖 Meta is adding a real-time AI image generator to WhatsApp. Users will soon be able to watch their prompt come to life word by word, changing instantly with each new detail added: https://lnkd.in/ewtB-tnK 🔍 Meta is working on Experiment mode for Reels, which will create an option to show a video to non-followers first and then have a toggle to make it visible on your profile: https://lnkd.in/eP-fRAdJ 🤦‍♂️ The Instagram update that no one wanted: it’s reportedly adding a poke feature: https://lnkd.in/e82bkQg2 📅 Instagram has added new functionality to Reels: the ability to rename and schedule drafts, and a cutout sticker feature: https://lnkd.in/eRU6a3FF 💬 TikTok is working on the ability to share comments as a Story: https://lnkd.in/eckA-_vE 🌟 Marketeers around the world rejoice! TikTok is testing out a new creator collaborations feature, akin to Instagram's Collabs https://lnkd.in/eC3-DMq8  ! 🌐 🎭 TikTok is testing new Ai-Moji digital avatars, where users are now prompted to create their own Moji. The feature enables you to scan your face to create a cartoon avatar to use as stickers in-app: https://lnkd.in/eSYmiYjF 🌟 To help out smaller creators, Instagram is adjusting its algorithm to prioritise original content in recommendations, label reposted content so that it links back to creators, and remove content aggregators: https://lnkd.in/e2awHdwA #SocialMediaUpdates #MarketingStrategies #PlatformTrends

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The Marketing Moves Making Waves This Week 🚀 Here are the top stories you might have missed this week in the world of marketing. 1️⃣ Telstra shows us everywhere is better with better coverage Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gDKdNTGY 2️⃣ Paddy Power says England are Europe’s Favourite Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gcGeTJVW 3️⃣ Cadbury UK’s indulgent ads are causing a real distraction Read more here: https://lnkd.in/geiZqaE4 4️⃣ Students show their tutors their Apple MacBook is up to the task Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gyuHMv7G 5️⃣ Apple Card shows us how to avoid everyday mishaps  Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gjrvNNrH 6️⃣ Mars' Twix declares it’s a cookie in disguise  Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gtUk8Fr8 + + + + + + + ✏ Let me know in the comments what caught your eye this week 👁 👍 Like, share & follow Tom Child 토마스 차일드 if you found this interesting #marketing  #branding  #strategy  #advertising  #communication

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Is advertising on social media broken? Matthew's thought for today... In today's attention economy, various social media platforms may employ unique algorithms, yet all ultimately reward user engagement that resonates with their audience. Consequently, we are witnessing a homogenisation of content across platforms because the objective is the same. Notably, even LinkedIn is starting to mirror Facebook in its dynamics. This poses a significant challenge for marketers: should they adapt their advertisements and content, potentially at odds with their brand ethos, to ensure engagement? This strategic dilemma brings forth a crucial question: Should we conform to these platforms to maximise reach, or should we adhere to our brand values, even if it might limit our visibility and engagement? Alternatively, is it time to explore other marketing avenues where control over brand presentation is less compromised? I'm keen to hear your thoughts on balancing brand integrity with the demands of the digital landscape. #MarketingStrategy #BrandIdentity #SocialMediaMarketing

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Integrating multi-channel marketing within your strategy broadens your reach and strengthens your brand's presence. Employing various platforms allows for diverse customer interaction, enabling your message to resonate on a more personal level. Optimise content to suit each channel’s strengths and analyse data to tailor future campaigns efficiently. Efficiency and adaptability are key to connecting with your audience where they most prefer. Find out more: https://bit.ly/3zDq2yY #MultiChannelMarketing #DigitalStrategy #BrandPresence #CustomerEngagement

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In this two-part opinion piece for Mumbrella, TrinityP3’s Stephen Wright argues that CMOs must wrestle back control of key aspects of their media spend and that doing so will produce better outcomes for all parts of the media ecosystem - advertisers, agencies and the media owners. https://bit.ly/3yZTdAJ #mediatransparency #mediavalue #mediaperformance

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The idea of #personalisation & using ever-more consumer data in #marketing & engagement has been something #marketers have latched onto as the holy grail. But as Australian consumers become more exposed to data and privacy breaches more frequently, they’re exhibiting more distrust in every single company’s ability to protect their privacy as a consequence. And that means they're - academically at least - valuing their #privacy over personsalisation. Paradoxically, they’re the first to admit their behaviours online may not be the best, even as they level accountability – albeit in an imbalanced, bias way – firmly on the shoulders of organisations, Honeycomb Strategy’s MD, John Bevitt told me off the back of the market research firm's new report, Brands Beyond Breaches. The whole idea of a value exchange is eroding and there are biases galore to contend with. There's more of this useful and thoughtful insight for brands in our in-depth chat and dissection of the report: https://lnkd.in/gk_aTDWi #privacymatters #CX #consumerinsights #consumerengagement

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The biggest lever you can pull on Meta is simply TESTING MORE. We're testing up to 18 creatives PER DAY. 3 per ad set. These ads are not going to spend themselves. They have to earn their spend. Creatives are the fuel that powers Meta's ad algorithms to rapidly optimise and get results QUICKLY. Constant creative testing = constant fresh data insights for the AI to analyse and action. If you're not constantly refreshing, you're starving the algorithm of the energy it craves.

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Brands and Prof G Jon Evans spent some quality time with Prof G, and it was a good show. Scott is entertaining, smart, and pulls no punches when conveying his beliefs, especially regarding social media. He clearly believes in brands- he’s a brand himself, values the importance of storytelling, and understands that products and experience are key to brand success. He challenges that brand advertising is how to build brands in 2024 because people have better ways of getting information. He doesn’t acknowledge that advertising has helped many brands grow in many categories. For many others, it has transformed their businesses. He also doesn’t get that the big agencies do far more today than make ads- he’s stuck in Don Draper’s Mad Ave. Those points aside, he’s a compelling listen. It’s just that brands aren’t dead—far from it.

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We cracked the algorithm for DISSH. They have grown 7X in the last 2 years. Here’s how we did it 👇 TL;DR 1. Channels 2. Locations 3. Creators 4. Diversification DISSH is a successful fashion brand in Australia that has been looking to go global. To take the bones of that success and turn it international we based their marketing around 5 things. 1. Channel Fashion trends start on TikTok, and bleed to Instagram. Any spend on other channels would have brought marginal results at best. We went to where fashion is, and we doubled down there. 2. Locations When starting the US entry we wanted a ripple effect. We wanted our ads to start trends that would move to the rest of the country. So we focused on the cities that lead the country in fashion: NY, LA, MIA. It would have been easier to make a splash in smaller, more central cities. But the splash wouldn’t have rippled to the more fashion-centered cities. We started at the top. 3. Creators Getting US creators to post with DISSH’s hashtags was essential. The right partnerships were key. And now #DisshHaul has 19.5 million views and #DisshTryOn has six million. The right creators make all the difference. 4. Diversification Paid media is the backbone of the expansion. But it can’t be the only thing. PR, media, influencer, and in-person activations were critical. This helps create a broader brand identity that will provide staying power. DISSH is an incredible brand that is going to take the US by storm. We are grateful to keep playing our part in their growth!

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The rise of #TikTok - scary, exciting or a huge opportunity? Probably a bit of all... Fact is: it's where consumers go, search, buy - which can make it a cost effective option for driving awareness, consideration and purchase, particularly for small/medium size brands and budgets. I never understood why my 14 year old daughter is glued to #TikTok, until I set up my own account a year ago... to find myself getting carried away consuming content. The way #storytelling and #influencers are integrated into the content, the ease of shopping and the intriguing offers- it is all so well executed. Looking forward to exploring and leveraging TikTok and other social commerce with my clients over the next few months. Great article below from WARC how social media is now top for brand discovery !

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Is it me, or is it no longer enough to 'just' do an online store? Increasingly brands are choosing to also sell via: 🏪 Physical retail 🤝 Wholesale/B2B 🛒 Marketplaces 🌍 Overseas That's what we're exploring this month on Keep Optimising Marketing Podcast Diving into the whys, and hows of each key omnichannel channel to help the audience make the right choices and successfully diversify their channel mix. It all kicks off today with a dive into Retail with my fellow LinkedIn Top Voice, and physical retail specialist Oliver Banks You can hear our chat on the podcast for free (of course) right now.‍  ‍🍏 On Apple: https://keepopt.com/apple ‍🦒 On Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eiYJQvHj 🕸️ OR just head to our website for all the info, and hit play here https://lnkd.in/eTJATujV Just search 🔎 "Keep Optimising" #Retailing #Omnichannel #CustomerExperience

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As Matthew Kilgour recently pointed out - over the last few years there has been a move towards brands acting like people, and people acting like brands - born out of many years of both parties trying to work out how to act and sound on social channels. But I’ve started spotting a growing trend that is taking this cross morphing to a whole new level - the ‘business processification’ of people’s personals lives. Just in the last week I’ve read about… …someone creating a CRM system for their friends so they can keep notes and follow up when they next meet (and determine how healthy the relationship is) …someone (Steven Bartlett) encouraging people to have board style meetings with their partners to keep on track of how their relationship is progressing against KPIs. …someone creating a newsletter programme for their mates. I guess, like any other trend, it’s one to watch and I’m sure if a business wanted to they could lean into (exploit) in some way. But for me personally? It’s weird. Life should just be fun and messy and interesting - not wrapped up in a corporate straight jacket. Relax!

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