Helen Edwards

London

Brand consultant, columnist for Marketing Week, Adjunct Associate Professor at London Business School, author of Creating Passion Brands.

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Articles

How do you market ‘strategy’? With a marketing strategy

1 month ago | marketingweek.com | Helen Edwards

Source: ShutterstockIf, say, 10% of the CMOs responding to Marketing Week’s 2025 Career & Salary Survey had reported that their businesses undervalue marketing strategy, it would have been troubling but not surprising. There are always companies that lag behind in their appreciation of what marketing can bring to the table. It wasn’t 10% though. It was a staggering 73%. Think about that for a moment.
Exploring the relationships that matter to marketers

2 months ago | marketingweek.com | Megan Tatum |Grace Gollasch |Helen Edwards

The relationships marketers build across their organisation have always been crucial. Collaboration ensures campaigns are aligned with the broader ambitions of the brand, complement sales activity and secure that all-important buy-in from senior leadership.
O2’s marketing boss on returning to its founding ethos to ‘reset’ the brand

2 months ago | marketingweek.com | Jasper Baumann |Grace Gollasch |Helen Edwards |Ian Murray

O2’s marketing boss on returning to its founding ethos to ‘reset’ the brand Having joined Virgin Media O2 six months ago, tasked with overhauling O2’s brand strategy, Rachel Swift says she wants to re-establish its reason for being but won’t “change things for change’s sake”. O2 has launched a new brand platform and positioning that reverts back to its founding message from 2002 of the telecoms brand being “essential” to living, just as oxygen is.
How Three shifted media spend to engage the ‘whole country’

2 months ago | marketingweek.com | Grace Gollasch |Amrit Virdi |Helen Edwards |Ian Murray

Three claims its shift from targeting youth audiences to engaging the entire nation has delivered a return on investment (ROI) greater than its media spend. Speaking at the Digital Cinema Media (DCM) upfronts today (March 27), Chris Gough, Three’s head of marketing and communications, said that since broadening its brand strategy four years ago, the brand has effectively “not paid anything for media” due to the additional ROI.
Next furthers international marketing push it reaches £1bn in profit

2 months ago | marketingweek.com | Amrit Virdi |Helen Edwards |Ian Murray |Niamh Carroll

Next has identified the benefit of increasing spend in international marketing. It believes it can “profitably increase international digital marketing by at least 25%, investing in new media and pushing into new territories,” according to its full year financial results for the year ending January 2025. This comes as the retailer reported a 5.8% rise in Next sales and an 8.2% rise in Group sales, as the Group saw its profits before tax rise by 10.1% to exceed £1bn.
Unilever must learn you can’t outsource trust to influencers

2 months ago | marketingweek.com | Helen Edwards |Ian Murray |Amrit Virdi |Niamh Carroll

“Brands,” explained Fernando Fernandez, CEO of Unilever, a corporation that owns over 400 brands worldwide, “are by default suspicious”. It wasn’t quite a Gerald Ratner moment, but it came perilously close – one of those instances where candour flirts with catastrophe, even if you haven’t actually used the word ‘crap’ about one of your own products.
Adidas makes headway on brand revival

Mar 5, 2025 | marketingweek.com | Molly Innes |Helen Edwards |Charlotte Rogers

CEO Bjørn Gulden says Adidas is “in very good shape” for 2025, as the sportswear giant prepares to increase its marketing investment to help leverage “strong top-line growth”. Last year, sales increased by 12% and its operating profit grew by more than €1bn (£827m) to €1.34bn (£1.15bn), as the brand continued its turnaround plans under Gulden, who was appointed in 2023.
How one internship is changing the game for emerging talent

Mar 5, 2025 | marketingweek.com | Charlotte Rogers |Niamh Carroll |Helen Edwards

Turbocharging access to the creative industries is the guiding principle behind the John Doe Group’s award-winning Unlocked internship programme. From Meta to Amazon, McDonald’s to Pepsi, already 2025 has seen a host of major global brands scrap their diversity, equity and inclusion targets. In this climate, businesses which prioritise inclusion as a business imperative stand out.
Highland Spring on combining physical and mental availability to grow

Mar 5, 2025 | marketingweek.com | Niamh Carroll |Helen Edwards |Grace Gollasch

Crosta & Mollica’s top marketer believes the brand has “punched above its weight” in terms of growth so far but it is now looking to invest to drive brand awareness further.
Think your category is a special case? Think again

Mar 5, 2025 | marketingweek.com | Helen Edwards |Niamh Carroll |Grace Gollasch

“The principles of branding,” I say to my clever MBA students, “apply across the board, to all categories.”“Yes,” they agree, “except B2B. And luxury, of course. Oh, and startups.”It’s always those three that they see as exceptions. And it’s got me wondering. Am I missing something here? Are there really whole sectors and situations to which the disciplines of positioning, targeting, insights, innovation and pricing simply do not apply? Let’s take a look.