As someone just entering the marketing industry, it’s clear to me that a lot of the recent heated debate over the continuing significant gender pay gap has missed a valuable point: not paying men and women in the same roles equally is not just unfair, it’s bad for business.  

The fact that the issue exists in the 21st century is rightly attracting lots of publicity and causing plenty of outrage, because it’s explicitly unjust – why should you get more money just for being a bloke? It simply doesn’t reflect the real world. Women are taking on the same responsibilities as men so should be on the same salaries. However, outside of the ethical arguments, if the inequality persists it will hurt marketing.  

In our sector, like many others, the short-term cost of closing the gender pay gap as quickly as possible actually makes good commercial sense and it will pay dividends going forward. Whether you’re an agency or business, you want to attract the best possible marketing talent. This starts with graduates like me.  

Did you know that 20% of search enquiries through Google's mobile app and Android devices are made with voice? 

The growth of digital and new technologies has seen some fundamental changes in consumer behaviour and for advertisers, this means it's important to keep abreast of these trends. 

We came across an interactive infographic from the folks at Adzooma which was just too good not to share -- check it out below:

Social media is an ever evolving and surprising industry, with changing consumer preferences, new features being introduced and brand opportunities being presented.

In such a fast-paced landscape, it's often tricky to predict what the year ahead will bring in terms of social media marketing, but there are a few things that, according to the folks at Sprout Social, marketers should keep an eye on.

Check out the six social media trends for 2018 infographic below:

Lenovo, Huawei, Alibaba, Xiaomi and Air China are the top five Chinese global brand builders, according to WPP and Kantar Millward Brown’s BrandZ Top 50 Chinese Global Brand Builders Report, in collaboration with Google.

As China’s innovation-driven development continues to drive the growth and global strategy for many-home grown brand leaders, the report takes an in-depth look at the Chinese brands making an impact with consumers in international markets. It found that consumer electronics brands dominate the rankings with 10 brands featured among the top 50, contributing to 34% of the total Brand Power score.

Last year marked a watershed year for digital brand advertising with factors including trust, transparency, safety, measurement, user experience, consolidation, Facebook/Google dominance and the use of data all up for debate.     

Throw in a wobbly economy, Brexit (ahem), GDPR and the welcome, but as yet un-established changes brought by the Coalition for Better Advertising, and 2018 is set to further confuse the industry and its clients.  

The need to effectively press CTRL+ALT+DEL for the long-term benefit of all concerned is real and it is now, as the brands that succeed in the new digital landscape will be those that take a step back and carefully weigh up all the influences in play.  

Returning to work after maternity leave can be challenging for many new mums – regaining the art of holding an adult conversation, for example, for longer than the five minutes it takes the Tesco driver to deliver shopping, or learning to think above and beyond how many nappies you’ve changed that day.  

However, the real challenge lies in employer attitudes and the need for a mass culture shift. 

I’m one of the lucky mums who works for a marketing agency that values the important contribution we make in terms of skills, experience, commitment and loyalty. I’ve been with the business for 10 years (minus two years maternity leave) and my colleagues currently share 23 babies of various ages between them – almost half of the company.  

Is the business suffering as a result? Hardly! Revenues are increasing year on year, and we’re repeatedly winning industry awards for our work. So why don’t more employers take this approach? 

36% of consumers like a brand more when they run ads that break gender stereotyping and 25% are more likely to make a purchase from that brand as a result, according to some research we stumbled across from Choozle.

The findings were part of a survey looking at consumer sentiment towards brands that actively break stereotypes, the impact of ad copy versus creative with regard to consumer perception of stereotypes, how it affects purchase behaviour and whether the ad industry should be held responsible for breaking gender stereotypes.

Check out all of the key highlights in the infographic below:

A new year brings a new batch of opportunities and challenges but which trends should marketers have on their radar for 2018?

The folks at MDG Advertising have identified five big marketing trends to watch in 2018 and have pulled it all together into one handy infographic.

From micro-influencer campaigns to AI-powered efficiency and more, check out the top five below: