Real-time Marketing in Action

Samantha Gray wrote an interesting blog about real time advertising a week ago. Ever since then I have been seeing it everywhere.

It may just be the case of the Yellow Car theory (if you are always thinking about a yellow car you will be more observant to their presence).

Either way one of the best uses of real time marketing I have seen was in last night’s episode of Luther. Without giving too many spoilers away for those who haven’t watched it, a website went live at exactly the same time on the show as it did in real life (4-caitlin.com).

Needless to say I can imagine it had a lot of hits, especially by mobile phone users who were tweeting while watching the show.

Both the Luther episode and the use of real time marketing worked brilliantly together.

My Verdict: 5 Stars

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WPP: The Futures Company

I spent my second week at The Future Company. Just as I was starting to getting to grips with how one company worked I am hurled into a new environment. Either way I relish the challenge.

The Futures Company uses market research to predict future trends of different industries. (That is a very simplistic description of what they do, but it is the crux of it.)

From the beginning I was thrown into the mix:

1. I had a conference call with a popular carbonated beverage company and created a condensed slideshow of a previous workshop the company had with TFC.

2. Atticus Grand Prix winner (it’s a big deal in the marketing world) Andrew Curry took time out to have a coffee with me, where I got to pick his brain about the previous projects he had done.

3. Chloe Cook and I also discussed the rise of “the kinship economy” (I will write a blog about it) and its application in the hotel industry

4. My mentor, Vera Kiss gave me an interesting research project on the future trends of women’s fashion in different European countries.

I was never short of something to do and while I would be lying if I said it wasn’t intense I was never bored, which is a good sign.

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Top 4 of the Week

1. Content Distribution Networks finding their niche

Content distribution networks are websites which host information gathered from other sources such as blogs and other smaller websites.

A lucrative market with low barriers to entry has led to an abundance of entrants over the last few years. This may make things harder for the website owners but it is definitely better for the consumers.

With more choice of these type of site to visit, website such as Vice, WorldstarHiphop and Prote.in have made sure to position themselves in such a way where they attract a specific segment of the market rather than trying to be everything to everyone .

I guess it is better to have a small cult following than to be popular but substitutable.

Worldstarhiphop: Urban, Young, Hip-hop culture

Vice: Anti-establishment, Indie, Alternative

Prote.in: Progressive, Innovators, Early adopters

Verdict: 4 Stars

2. McCoys Hyper-masculine identity

McCoys have recently found themselves in hot water due to a backlash from female crisps lovers caused by their hyper-masculine positioning. They dubbed their product as “Man Crisps” and drew on alpha male stereotypes at the expense of female consumers.

In the past Yorkies have found success in with the same formula, under their “It’s not for girls” campaign without any backlash form women. So why has is it worked for McCoy?

1. The brand may be perceived as anti-women instead of pro-men
2. The Yorkie’s campaign is still recent enough to be fresh in people memories

It’s a minor glitch in an otherwise solid campaign as McCoys have solidified this position by sponsoring the Darts Premier League, but if you are going to copy another brands positioning, you have to do it better or you will be seen as a cheap imitation.

Verdict: 3 Stars

3. DBPP – Death by PowerPoint

A phrase I heard more than “brand awareness” and “consumer engagement” since I have started this internship. I quickly learnt what I meant.

In an industry such as marketing where an idea is only as good as the way it is presented to potential clients, PowerPoint or even Prezzi (I hate Prezzi grr) are useful tools to aid marketers when giving a pitch.
However the use of PowerPoint is so prevalent in this industry that it can become tedious as times and when used in the wrong way can make great idea seem flat and disengaging.

Here are the main tips Jon Steel gave on giving a good presentation.

1. Minimise the text on screen, where possible just use a picture, so that the focus remains on you
2. Don’t overdo it with the stats: it’s better to conceptualise statistic than using pie charts
3. Don’t just tell me what you know, tell me a story”: carry the viewer on a journey with presentation
4. Dare to be different: you don’t have to give a presentation with PowerPoint.

Verdict: 5 Stars

4. Sartalics

I do not know how I am this actually fits in with marketing but I have always said that there should be a font specifically for sarcasm.

We have all been in that position when you text someone with a sarcastic reply and the tone of the response gets lost in translation.

Well not any more...say welcome to Sartalic, an italic font that leans to the left to denote sarcasm.

I will not be surprised to see this gain momentum on social media followed by cooperation hi-jacking it for marketing campaigns, similar to the meme situations.

The trolling possibilities are endless, \like Tim Henman’s tennis achievements\.

Verdict: 5 Stars

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Red Bull Appreciation Day: Danny MacAskill's Imaginate

Every day is Red Bull appreciation day in my eyes.

The marketing powerhouse that can do no wrong has done it again by knocking Samsung and Jay-Z’s Magna Carta video of the top of the “Campaign Viral Charts” with their new video which shows stunt cyclist Danny MacAskill doing tricks on a full scale replica of children’s toys. You can find more information here.

WPP: MEC Access - Part 2

Here is a sum up of the last few days I spent at MEC Access:

1. I worked with Samantha Gray of the social media team, where I contributed to material for the Facebook page for a well known biscuit or is it a cake brand (hint hint).
Here is another clue.

2. I also produced and presented a competitor analysis to the social media team for a young gluten-free produce company, in a bid to help increase the likes on its Facebook page.

3. Claire (my mentor) and I had a sit down with a representative from elevenfiftyfive, a media agency which specialised in creating partnership and sponsorships within the film industry.

4. All of the Micro Fellowship interns, including myself, attended a talk with the Director of the WPP Fellowship on how to give a good presentation. His captivating and humble manner kept us engaged and what was meant to be a 30 minute talk last nearly two hours yet felt like 5 minutes.

(I am surprised he hasn’t got a video on TED.com)

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WPP: MEC Access - Part 1

This is my first blog post on my experience working at WPP’s MEC Access.

Before I delve into what I have been doing I will give a brief overview of what exactly MEC Access do.

MEC Access is a strategic business unit within MEC UK that focuses on media buying and planning, predominately in sponsorships and partnerships.

So far I have been enjoying my time on the internship, they are really throwing me into the deep end with the work I am being given. Below is a summary of everything I have done on the second day:

1. I wrote a competitor analysis report for a well-known hotel company and a well-known exotic beer company

2. I sat in on a presentation by the Chief Strategy Officer (Stuart Sullivan-Martin) and the Global Head of Consumer Insight (Damien Thomson) on the use and benefits of Momentum

3. I had an insightful meeting with the Account Director of MEC Access on the evolution of the role and expectation of the media agency in this new media era. (I will go into more detail about this in another post)

4. I meet with the Futures Controller (Nia Thomson) from Sky who explained to myself and my mentor (Claire Carmichael) the future plans of the company

The Future of Sky

This isn’t an apocalyptic prophecy about Skynet going active (Terminator reference). I was lucky enough to have had a sit down with one of people at the forefront of innovation at Sky.

The recurring statement echoed was of Sky aiming to be –

"The Aggregator of All Choice"

In a nutshell Sky are taking Apple’s approach of being market drivers by innovating ahead of their competitors rather than waiting for consumer demand to dictate which direction they go.

With the proliferation of Video On Demand (VOD), multi digital platform (i.e. tablet and smartphones) and intangible data storage such as Cloud technology, Sky see the benefits of being present in all of these platforms.

The convergence of all these platforms is mutually beneficial for the provider and consumers:

1. Consumers will get easier access to shows they love, when they want, where they want, to watch how they want.
2. Adsmart will allow selective advertising to consumers based on the data retrieved from what they watch.

(Hopefully this will cut out the PPI and comparison sites ads from my life forever!)

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Top 4 of the Week

1. Jay-Z Samsung partnership

Samsung has teamed up with Hip-Hop legend Jay-Z to release his latest album Magna Carta Holy Grail three days before public release exclusively to Samsung Galaxy users.

This is a brilliant marketing campaign and to be honest I do not know which of the two parties come out better off from this deal as this project will create a large buzz and no doubt increase retention and conversion rates (this is all speculative, but I am pretty confident this will be the case).

As part of the deal Samsung bought 1 million copies of the album to give to its Galaxy phone users, thus making the album platinum before it even goes on sale. Jay-Z also benefits because even if his album gets leaked before the official release date , which is a great possibly, he has secured a minimum number of record sales.

You can check the advert on the website for the album here.

Free original content for customers is an effective way to retain customers
Jay-Z is a PR machine in his own right, Samsung have positioned themselves as cool and current by partnering up with him

My Verdict: 4 Stars

2. Smirnoff DJ Fresh Mindtune Project

The whole "alcoholic beverage company sponsoring house festivals and warehouse raves" has been done to death, however Smirnoff have taken a refreshing spin on a stale and overused concept.

Smirnoff teams up with prolific drum and bass DJ, DJ Fresh and three physically disabled musicians to use state of the art technology allowing the disabled men to produce and record a track with their minds. The entire project was filmed and documented for the Smirnoff Youtube channel with shortened version made for TV.

It is probably the most imaginative and heartfelt projects I have seen by a alcohol company. This project not only generates brand awareness but will also strengthen brand relationship with its existing customers. This is evident by the positive feedback from bloggers and viewers, with the key work consistently used to describe the project being "inspiring". You can watch the full length video here.

My Verdict: 5 Stars

3. Evian Baby&Me App

Evian expand on their Live Young campaign by creating a smartphone app called Baby&Me. The premise is simple, you take a photo of your face, and the app makes a baby version of you.

I gave it a try and this is what I apparently look like as a baby.

It took several attempts to get the app working and after scrolling through the app reviews I was not the only one who encountered this problem. While it is a fun app to use while time wasting, I do not think it has gained much traction, because there are many other similar apps that are more user friendly.

Verdict: 2 Stars

4. Share a Coke Campaign

Who would have known such a simple idea such as putting personalised names on a drink would generate such a buzz on social media? Starbucks did. Before their brand image started going south because of the tax fiasco Starbucks was advertised by every coffee drinker with a twitter page. Every other day I would see someone tweeting "OMG My name is Luke, but I told the barista my name is Gandolf! lol"

With competition eating away at Coca colas market share they decided to adopt the strategy and it worked well for them. Consumer engagement went through the roof it seems people go out to by Coke bottles just to find their name on it.

PS: Coke saved themselves a lot of drama by forseeing the backlash that would occur if the only names available were western name, so they catered to most cultures in order to keep it inclusive regardless or nationality.

I'm yet to find my name "Eni" on a Coke bottle though. Well a man can dream

Verdict: 4 Stars

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No Text in Brand Logos

A recurring theme I have noticed with established brands is that many of them are getting rid of the brand name incorporated within the logo, and dropping the product or service names part of the brand name.

Starbucks and Dominos Pizza are two prime examples.

This is a bold move as those who may not be familiar with the brand will no longer have the brand name to associate the logo with when they see it, however it seems to be the big brands with strong brand awareness that are using this strategy.

Benefits

1. By disassociating the brand name from the logo the companies can get rid of being pigeonholes
2. An ambiguous logo with no direct affiliation to a particular product allows room for manoeuvre.
3. Changes to a brands logo can create a buzz in itself. However this may not necessarily mean a positive buzz, especially if a company strayed to far from the core brand identity. Remember when Pizza Hut tried to rebrand as Pasta Hut.

My Verdict

I think it is a step in the right direction for businesses looking to diversify their product range, as having the product name (or even service) in the title often puts the brand in a pigeonhole.

Andersen Consulting provides a good example of rebranding for this reason. They got rid of the “Consulting” and choose a vibrant name – Accenture, which allows them to market themselves as a company which offers beyond just consultancy services.

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Welcome

Hi my name is Eni Osonaike, @EniOso for the tweeters.
This is the first post for my blog on anything and everything marketing and branding related.

I named it "My Brand of Work":
1. in a shameless attempt to get either brand or marketing into the title
2. and because I will be making weekly posts about my time working at WPP

Keep posted for new entries.