Stories by Brad Howarth

When Kevin Keith first received the call asking him to become Orangetheory Fitness’s first chief brand officer at the start of 2017, he thought they were joking.

Things were so easy for digital marketers in the 1990s, when the world simply consisted of desktop Web pages and email. Now, as we exit the 2010s, digital channels have proliferated, with chatbots, voice assistants and half a dozen messenger apps all vying for customers’ attention.

The enterprise software industry emerged in the 1990s as an attempt to bring standardisation to business processes and fast-track outcomes for clients. But in an era where personalisation of experiences is now critical, software makers are having to rethink how to bring flexibility back into these products.

Network 10 gave Sydney residents a chance to experience a little of what the fictional realm might be like through an experiential installation at Westfield Sydney in late April, in support of the launch of a new The Twilight Zone series on its '10 All Access' service.

Few people have successfully dragged a sport that was popular during the Parthian Empire into the heart of one Asia-Pacific’s most modern cities.

With the global wine market softening and competition growing, wine producers and retailers are having to work harder to maintain their customer bases. For Accolade Wines, that has meant getting much smarter about how it communicates.

It should be no surprise that Anneke van den Broek would run a pet care company someday. At the age of eight, she had made her first foray into the industry by breeding mice and selling them to the local pet store.

When your product is sales training, the last thing you want to admit to is problems with managing your own pipeline.

It’s taken just a decade for mobile advertising to rise from relative obscurity to represent a billion dollars of ad expenditure in Australia (according to the IAB), and account for 62 per cent of general digital display spending.

​It’s well over 100 years since American merchant, John Wanamaker, once opined his ignorance regarding which half of his marketing budget was wasted.

Few startups take on a marketing executive at inception. The focus on product development and driving immediate sales revenue tends to soak up whatever cash the founders have got their hands on.

Brand owners often talk about their brand having a personality. Some are sassy, others are authoritative, and a few are cheeky. But when it comes to bringing the brand to life through a chatbot interface, focusing in on the personality might be the last thing you want to do.

Brands can be built on many different foundations – personality, quality, luxury, locality – the list is endless. But what should a brand do when that foundation is taken away?

Want to reach someone who wants to buy a car, rather than just kick the tyres? Or pick up some home and garden equipment, rather than just seek inspiration? Maybe you should be looking up a tree.

HG Wells’ 1910 novel The Sleeper Awakes tells the story of a man who falls asleep for 203 years and awakens to a strange and unfamiliar world. While the experience for Lynne Capozzi has not been quite so extreme, stepping back into the chief marketing role at Boston-based technology company, Acquia, after an eight-year absence has thrown up some notable changes.