Mark Fiddes: Why every good drink deserves a ritual

Mark Fiddes weighs in on the link between drink rituals and the power of marketing spirit brands.

Mark Fiddes: how Jagermeister might have put an end to cute animals in advertising

Mark Fiddes on why when it comes to drinks adveritising it is time to think outside the gogglebox

First, social marketing was king. Then mobile was king. Then native advertising was king. So many monarchs, gadzooks, it's getting to look a lot like Shakespeare.

Mark Fiddes on why he is struggling with the beer brand smarm offensive

You may recognise the symptoms. It's more debilitating than hay fever; the snarling of the lip, the nausea, an ennui so enervating that zapping from Dave TV to a living human channel is almost impossible.

Mark Fiddes sorts the Messis from the Rooneys in the Wine World Cup

Forget about Brazil 2014. The World Cup has already been decided.

Mark Fiddes how history can give your brand a cause to celebrate

"Beware of Greeks bearing gifts," said Laocoon of the Trojan Horse.

Mark Fiddes on a New Year Resolution we can all keep: fighting prostate cancer

Two Good, 2 Bad for 2013, 2 Hopes and Fears for 2014: Mark Fiddes, YourBrandSquared

Our 2 Good, 2 Bad for 2013 and 2 Hopes and Fears for 2014 turns to our regular columnist, Mark Fiddes, of YourBrandSquared, who gives his advertising and brand consultancy view on the goings on over the last 12 months. 

Mark Fiddes: why some celebs shift brands and others don't

Jean-Claude Van Damme demonstrating Volvo trucks = 60 million hits on You Tube.

Mark Fiddes on the art of good storytelling when advertising vodka

What does a Long Slow Comfortable Screw Up Against The Wall have in common with Plutonium?

Mark Fiddes on whether marketing with cats is the "purrfect" way to sell more wine

"My name is Tiddles...this is my first time at Moggies Anonymous.

Mark Fiddes: what to do with those "Undrinkable" bottles you bring back from holiday

Mark Fiddes: what happens when you try and re-enact that Southern Comfort commercial

Does advertising really work? I decided to find out last week by re-enacting the Southern Comfort commercial. My audience was several hundred innocent Catalans on the Costa Dorada. Temperature: 32 degrees celsius.

Mark Fiddes: why wine is now Top of the Pops

It will surprise many Headbangers that The "AC" in AC/DC could easily stand for Appellation Controllee.

Mark Fiddes: lies, damned lies and statistics

Do you know how long it takes to drink an Olympic size swimming pool?* Me neither. Then I read the news from marketing wonks Nielsen that the UK consumed an additional seven Olympic swimming pools worth of bottled water in the first two weeks of July alone. That's not including at least 300 hundred packets of Elastoplast.

Mark Fiddes: Why UK drink advertisers need the Lionel Richie approach

I've always found Lionel Ritchie hard to like. First he turned The Commodores from the hard funk of 'Brick House' to the ultimate soppiness of 'Three Times a Lady'. Then came 'Easy like Sunday Morning', a ballad so middle of the road, it was dead hedgehog.

Mark Fiddes: The Prosecco Ultimatum

"The name's Battistella...Andrea Battistella. Licensed to Chill. Special mission to track down fake Prosecco...