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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