your monthly hit of marketing street knowledge

THE PRETENDER ISSUE

MARCH 2019

It seems that barely a week goes by without a story in the press exposing some shady marketing practice or fakery, from “influencers” being exposed for having fake followers, to social media heavyweights claiming that all web analytics data is fake. In this issue our writers take a close look at what’s happening and in the Rockstar penthouse we’ve dropped a track from a classic album, the Foo Fighters’ “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace”. Welcome to “The Pretender” Issue.

Keep you in the dark
You know they all pretend
Keep you in the dark
And so it all began

The Pretender – Foo Fighters

Our regular writers dig into the untruths: Gareth May leads the charge, uncovering the social media sponsorship con (#sponcon), Dave Waller pokes at the numbers game of fake followers, Ian Hsieh warns against the ultimate fakery of resurrecting dead celebrities, while Stephen Kelly takes a more positive look in suggesting how brands can reclaim their authenticity.

What’s real in this issue is the insight from our Rockstar marketing leaders. I go backstage with Ahmed Hasan, Global Head of Customer Engagement Marketing at Spark44, the agency that looks after the marketing for one of my favorite brands – Jaguar LandRover. Six of our Rockstar marketers gather in the Green Room to discuss authenticity in marketing and, in this month’s Tale from the Tour Bus, disruptor Hugh Thomas, co-founder of challenger brand Ugly Drinks, takes us on board to tell us about marketing the ‘ugly truth’, and the challenges of taking things Stateside.

Our resident Rockstar Ted Rubin returns for some straight talking (absolutely nothing fake there), marketing consultant, journalist and editor Morag Cuddeford-Jones offers us a guide to avoiding the creepiness of personalization, and Casey Petersen talks fake followers.

There we have it. A pack of lies or a packed issue? You decide.

Enjoy!