

Flying too close to The Sun - how Tabcorp and News UK snatched defeat from the jaws of success with
Article originally written for for EGR Intel Magazine, August 2018 In sports betting, the tipping point of success versus failure is known as ‘expected value’. It’s the yard stick of what a bettor feels they can win or lose for every bet they place on the same odds if repeated ad infinitum. Positive expected value (known as +EV) ensures a net profit over time while a negative value (-EV) means a long term loss. The recent closure of Sunbets.co.uk is certainly in the latter’s

New tech for old problems: how to keep up with the disruptors
Originally published by Campaign Magazine in October 2015 Can marketing innovate alongside era-defining brands? It's getting to the point where no tech company feels it can be taken seriously unless it's disrupting something. Anything. Just finding an old problem and solving it with a simple, intuitive solution. This newfangled trend for exposing the limitations of an industry by inventing a solution through the use of technology, and rapidly dominating it until a multibillio

The five most elusive emotions in advertising
The most effective advertising triggers consumers’ emotions, but brands with mundane products find it hard to achieve – with these being the most difficult to get right. Originally published by Marketing Week, January 2018 One of the most difficult tricks in advertising is to engage with your audience on a deep emotional level. For the likes of WWF and War Child it seems simple enough: their purpose is clear and their delivery true; you can’t help but be dabbing some tears at

Will Hill and the #ItsComingHome World Cup Hashtag controversy
An original interview for EGR Marketing, July 2018 Q. First of all, what is your opinion on William Hill buying the hashtag, which initially included a WH-branded football strip emoji next to the hashtag, but this was eventually removed (William Hill says this was their decision)? Was it a smart play to buy this Twitter hashtag in the first place? Why/why not? In terms of tactical marketing it was a brilliant ruse - no matter how well or badly England do, 'Three Lions' always

Why did The Sun go down on Sunbets?
In sports betting, the tipping point of success versus failure is known as ‘expected value’. It’s the yard stick of what a bettor feels they can win or lose for every bet they place on the same odds if repeated ad infinitum. Positive expected value (known as +EV) ensures a net profit over time while a negative value (-EV) means a long term loss. The recent closure of Sunbets.co.uk is certainly in the latter’s camp - for one of the partner entities, at least. The Sunbets joint

USA online betting and sports sponsorship Q&A for SBC Americas
With three casino/sports team tie-ups already, do you think we're just seeing the start of a rush of betting/gaming sponsorships and US sports? Inevitably yes – for better or worse this land grab for eyeballs happens every time a new market regulates with cash rich/ subtlety poor operators clamouring to spend their marketing Dollars in any way possible to simply generate brand noise above and beyond their competitors. There’s still a mistaken belief that a logo and URL repeat

What an unsuccessful Netflix job application looks like (that doesn't even warrant an automated
To whom it may concern, I recognise that my professional experience isn’t as closely aligned as other applicants to that which you’ve outlined in the Global Creative Marketing Director JD, however I wanted to share 13 Reasons Why I believe I’d be a great fit for this role. My track record in online gaming covers a significant amount of global marketing and social campaigns for premium entertainment businesses. After an inauspicious start in agency marketing 18 years ago (A Se

What if God was one of us… are the 10 Commandments still relevant in the contemporary marketing wor
Adam and Eve had no real use for a new 64Gb iPhone X with double data package. If they wanted to explore, they could walk around the limitless bounds of Eden at will with no need to plug into Waze. Dating was a foregone conclusion, no formal employment meant no email and if they wanted to chat, they could simply talk to each other. The apple that did have a certain appeal was literal yet totally forbidden. That was until a wily snake, oozing sales savvy from every scale, used