Why Most Ads Fail And What Mark Ritson Thinks You Should Do Instead

At Cannes Lions, the marketing academic warns against complexity and short-termism, urging brands to return to emotional fluency and distinctive assets.

One session that cut through the noise at Cannes Lions was Mark Ritson’s, everyone’s favourite sweary marketing professor who has made a fortune from his hugely successful Mini MBA series.

His session was held on the more intimate Rotund Stage, the setting felt less like a formal lecture and more like a Saturday night comedy club, well-suited to Ritson’s trademark mix of sharp analysis, acerbic wit and goading the audience which at times was borderline offensive.

Ritson opened with a typically dry observation: “So if you're trained in marketing and I’m well aware I’m in a room full of marketers so I guess that’s only about a quarter of you.” It’s a familiar comment in his presentations, though it's never entirely clear whether it stems from the academic who believes marketing should be a formally taught discipline, or the entrepreneur promoting his own Mini MBA. There are certain theories and concepts that are kind of the greatest hits in market” he went on to describe these and attem…