Posted by: Gabriel | November 23, 2009

What’s Cooking? Pt. 1

It’s the middle of November and the AFL pre-season is officially starting to get under way. It’s the time of year club’s typically begin their membership drive – cheesy slogans and all – and whad’ya know, I’ve decided to comment on a few of them.

First up, Collingwood.

In 2008, the marketing department over at Collingwood FC convened a meeting. Their task? To come up with an inspirational membership slogan. It had to be witty, innovative, daring. It had to unite their supporter base like never before.

After hours upon hours of deliberation, they finally had it. Collingwood’s marketing department, comprising some of the greatest minds to ever enter the profession, had generated the slogan to end all slogans: Collingw08d.

Collingwood's 2008 Membership Slogan "Collingw08d"

Collingwood's 2008 Membership Slogan

Somehow they had managed to merge the name of their club and the year into a single word. Utterly breathtaking.

As incredible and ground-breaking as it was, it did however pose a problem. In 2009, having already raised the bar so high, how could they possibly improve upon perfection? Well…er…they couldn’t. In 2009, their slogan was Collingw09d.

Fast forward to 2010. Now it gets a little tricky. Surely they couldn’t possibly rehash this concept again? Especially now that the third digit of the year was no longer a “0″?

Don’t put anything past those down at the Lexus Centre.

Collingwood 2010 Membership Slogan

Collingwood 2010 Membership Slogan

Isn’t that just jaw-droppingly brilliant? And doesn’t Nick Maxwell’s pointy, alien-like ears really top it off well?

That’s why they get the big bucks.

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Posted by: Gabriel | November 22, 2009

A Place for the Heart

In marketing circles we often talk about the importance of segmenting the market or to steal a textbook definition, “the process of partitioning a market into groups of potential customers who are similar in designated ways and are likely to exhibit similar purchasing behaviour”.

Segmentation acknowledges that buyers do not belong to one homogeneous group but rather each have individual needs, wants, and preferences. By dividing these consumers into segments according to particular characteristics or behaviours, marketers are better able to identify profitable target markets and develop effective marketing strategies for reaching those markets.

In theory, proper segmentation makes for a more efficient use of resources and avoids the issue of having to compete head on with all companies for the entire market.

The new A-League soccer franchise, who have adopted the working title Melbourne Heart, are in the unenviable position of having to develop a supporter base in a city whose allegiances are already tied to Melbourne Victory. For them, segmentation is crucial.

Founded in 2004, Melbourne Victory is unrivalled in its success, having won 4 major domestic titles already and boasting the largest average crowd attendances in the league.

So how will the new “Melbourne” team compete with a club as successful and well-established as the Victory in a state which it has solely represented till now? In short, where will the supporters come from?

For mine, there are a few things they can do to differentiate themselves from their cross-town rivals:

  1. The Home-Base: According to Heart’s Wiki, management is currently in talks “with the Casey and Essendon Councils about where to establish the club’s home base”. I feel it is crucial they settle in an area where soccer fans will embrace them and adopt them as their own. They need to carve out a sizable suburban niche for themselves.
  2. Latent Soccer Fans: They must find a way of attracting those members of society who take only a casual interest in the sport but have no true allegiance to any particular team or player. Targeting this segment will not be easy. Perhaps a well known marquee signing – such as a Mark Viduca – could help entice support.
  3. Disgruntled Victory Fans: They exist. Heart must identify them and cater to their needs in a way which Victory wasn’t able/prepared to.
  4. Family-Friendly Proposition: By positioning themselves as a family-friendly club, Heart might be able to attract new members. They would be wise to offer cheaper family and kids memberships and push to have their games scheduled at times which are more convenient for families to attend e.g. Sundays.

These are only a few of the suggestions which they should atleast entertain. In any case, entering an already saturated market will not be easy.

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Posted by: Gabriel | September 29, 2009

Nerd Parties

Microsoft have really missed the mark this time.

As part of the launch of their new operating system, Windows 7, they are running infomercials illustrating the tremendous fun that can be had hosting your very own Windows 7 party.

That’s right. A Windows 7 party.

Apart from the fact that the idea is incredibly cheesy, the infomercial is nothing short of cringe-worthy. I think they’ve really tried to cover all the bases with the actors chosen as well.

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Posted by: Gabriel | September 29, 2009

World Vision Marketing Project

Jeez, it’s been a while between drinks. I guess I’m learning that you can plan all you like, but sometimes life just gets in the way.

One of the factors at blame for the prolonged delay between posts is university. When it hits mid-semester it gets pretty hectic. Take one of my units, marketing planning and implementation, for example.

This is one of the more practical subjects in a Marketing major. Most of our assessment revolves around a major marketing plan, which as you may have guessed, was due last week.

It’s quite a fascinating little project for a student actually.

We were briefed by an actual employee from World Vision Australia earlier in the semester and provided with a real-world project. At a corporate level, our objective was – at least on paper – to raise $1.5m on a measly $100,000 budget for the Global Food Crisis. Among various other things, the difficulty lies in the fact that:

  1. Relatively few people have actually heard of the GFC
  2. It doesn’t have the same “selling power” as say a natural disaster e.g. Victorian bushfire tragedy
  3. They ran a campaign for the GFC last year. It’s difficult returning to the very same donors – most donations come from past donors – and asking for money for the exact same cause they contributed to the year before.

So we had to raise money for a cause which many aren’t familiar with, where the ones most likely to contribute have already done so, and which doesn’t have what I’d call “x factor”.

So what did we do?

Well, first of all, we decided that it would be smart to look for new sources of donations and not go down the same old route of hitting up past donors, but we didn’t want to neglect this avenue completely as it has been the most profitable in the past.

So our 3 objectives were as follows:

  1. To raise $600,000 for the GFC campaign from corporate donors;
  2. To raise $500,000 for the GFC from past World Vision donors who have never been involved with the GFC; and
  3. To raise $400,000 from new donors for the GFC

I took it upon myself to brainstorm ideas for the first objective, that of corporates.

Due to the lack of awareness surrounding the Global Food Crisis, I felt that an important part of any strategy would be to start a buzz – PR, word of mouth, online involvement… whatever. People needed to start talking because otherwise what value could we sell to corporates?

After a few nervous moments, and a quick call to the bro, I hatched a plan.

We would enter a short film into the world’s biggest amateur film festival, Tropfest. The film would run for only 7 minutes as per the competition guidelines, so the budget wouldn’t be a problem and would be about the GFC. We would then sell sponsorships to corporations on the premise that they would receive positive publicity, recognition, and an increased company profile for their efforts.

As part of this objective, we would create a microsite specifically dedicated to the Global Food Crisis campaign. The website, apart from featuring information relevant to the cause, would have a competition section where aspiring directors could upload a video detailing why they should direct our short film. A dedicated Facebook and Twitter page would also be created, providing updates on the film’s production, publicising the search for a director competition, and of course informing people of the cause. In this way it was hoped that we would reach the youth segment and wider public as well as attract the corporate dollar.

I’d like to hear your thoughts.

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Posted by: Gabriel | September 3, 2009

The Right to Vent

In Social Media and the Power of Word-of-Mouth I briefly mentioned that Bigpond now have an established presence on Twitter.

Bigpond are just one of many companies who are on the front foot when it comes to defending their product online. They monitor Twitter for tweets of discontent, respond to disenfranchised bloggers, and create their own fan pages on Facebook. Essentially they are proactively using social media as a tool to defend their brand image, increase customer satisfaction, and perhaps even gain some positive publicity in the process.

On some level I think this is a fantastic idea – word of mouth now has unprecedented levels of reach and influence and companies should be more diligent than ever when it comes to keeping customers happy.

But I can’t help but feel that they might be crossing the line in some way. A fanpage is one thing because no one is forcing me to join, but do we really want companies responding to rants which aren’t personally directed towards them?

While some people may enjoy the attention, I’m not so sure I would. I’m the kind of the guy that walks into a department store and likes to browse in my own time without the clerk asking “do you need any help?”. I don’t like that sort of pressure. Quite simply, If I want help I’ll ask and this is much the same. Companies needs to respect our privacy and part of that is our right to vent.

Sure, we want our complaints resolved but I don’t think this borderline intrusive method is the answer. In my opinion, they would be much better served by responding online only to those customer queries which are personally adressed towards them. They can still utilise social media to defend their brand, but do so from a distance. A Facebook fanpage or a company Twitter account specifically set up for this purpose presents a much less invasive solution.

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Posted by: Gabriel | September 2, 2009

The Difference Marketing Makes

A news article from Studio Briefing recently came across the When To Blink desk:

“Sony’s marketing department was receiving kudos today (Monday) for its promotional campaign for District 9, a relatively low-budget sci-fi flick that uses minimal special effects, is set in South Africa, and stars relatively unknown actors. Studio marketers had emphasized that the movie was produced by Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame. They previewed it at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego, where it immediately gave rise to intense online discussion — and quickly “went viral.” On the other hand the marketing campaign for Bandslam (see reviews separately) was slammed by some industry observers. On her Deadline Hollywood Daily blog, Nikki Finke commented that the marketing for the movie “was so young that moviegoers thought it was High School Musical when it was closer to School of Rock.” She published an email message from an unnamed “Bandslam insider,” who wrote that “instead of selling it quirky and cool (a la Juno) they sold it on the Disney channel’s Vanessa Hudgens and Aly Michalka. Instead of selling the concept — band of outcasts like The Commitments — they Disneyfied this movie with glitter paint. … There have been literally dozens and dozens of calls today and emails from heads of marketing at different studios saying this may be singly the worst job they’ve ever seen on a movie whose unique voice deserved to be heard through positioning, title, marketing tie-ins, and knowing your audience.”

For mine, this article drives home a few points of interest:

  1. Just how badly some marketers can get it wrong (and on the flip side, just how much of an influence they can have when getting it right).
  2. The power of viral.
  3. The importance of good marketing to a successful film campaign. We hear about how in times of recession it’s things like marketing and advertising which are the first to face the chop, well, it’s stories like this that reinforce just how vital good marketing can be. The marketing budget for a film is generally only a small fraction of the production costs themselves and yet it can make all the difference in the world, to the point where a cheap sci-fi flick out of SA can out-muscle its overpriced Hollywood competition.

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Posted by: Gabriel | August 26, 2009

New Drug-Driving Ad

As part of my advertising management unit, I will be visiting ad agency, Grey Group, next week.

Not having heard of them before, I checked out their online portfolio and was intrigued to discover that the controversial “drug-driving” ad commissioned by TAC was their creation.

You know, the one where a guy is smoking a joint outside a cafe, parks in the middle of the road, and is mowed down by a passing vehicle as he exits his car?

If you are unfamiliar with it, here it is:

Pretty confronting, ay?

I’m a regular participator in an online forum where this particular ad caused a bit of a stir. Some of the arguments, admittedly levelled by those who have a history of marijuana use, included:

  • It appears that the car which collected our “stoner” was speeding excessively. “Who was supposed to be stoned? The guy who stepped out of his car and got collected, or the idiot who hit him?”
  • The examples consisted of common driving mistakes – such as waiting longer than necessary at a stop sign and driving over the kerb – which are performed by regular drivers all the time, including sober ones. The link between the use of the drug and the accident itself is tenuous and perhaps even unrealistic.
  • The ad is relying on a stereotype to deliver its message.

Do you think that the ad had substance and was more than simply a shock campaign to scare off would be users?

I think I might just put some of these arguments forth and see how the agency execs respond.

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Posted by: Gabriel | August 23, 2009

Social Media and the Power of Word-of-Mouth

It feels a little contradictory to be constructing a post about how social networking tools are changing the way we interact and conduct our lives, so soon after suggesting that it may just be a passing fad.

But be that as it may, you’d have to be Blind Freddy not to acknowledge that Facebook and Twitter are the “hot” things at the moment in the online social media scene and for the time being at least, are here to stay and affect the way we communicate with consumers and indeed the way consumers communicate with each other.

In my opinion if there is one extraordinary thing about the rise and application of social media – and there are no doubt many – it’s the way it has help cut through the advertising blather and make word-of-mouth more accessible and influential than ever before.

Word-of-mouth has always been the most powerful tool in the marketer’s arsenal. An endorsement from a friend is worth countless times more than the pushy salesperson, infomercial, or advertising campaign force-feeding the virtues of their particular products, for the simple reason that there is an element of trust and perceived objectivity present in the former that is simply not there in the latter. It is not our friend’s “job” to tell us about the latest must have gadget or hit film and so when he or she give us the thumbs up, it obviously carries significantly more weight.

But whereas in the past our exposure to word-of-mouth may have been limited to a small circle of friends, with the advent of Facebook and Twitter we can now tap into the thoughts and feelings of a much wider social network.

To see this in practice, hop on to TweetFeel.com. Plug in a film or album and it will almost instantaneously provide you with the sentiments of the Twitter community. I entered new Quentin Tarantino flick, Inglorious Basterds, into the search box and the website generated an 83% positive rating for the film.

It’s quite incredible and has very real ramifications for marketers.

Take the film industry for example. Michael Sragow, in his article entitled, “Could Twitter Destroy Hollywood’s Marketing Magic“, writes:

“While word of mouth could always make or break a movie, it usually took days to affect the box office. But the rise of social networking tools like Twitter may be narrowing that time frame to mere hours. And that has Hollywood on edge.”

Just think about that. Whereas in the past a successful opening weekend may have depended on the opinion of a few influential critics, now the success of a film may hinge on the “tweets” or status updates of movie-goers everywhere.  The millions spent on promotion may help in bringing the first wave of people through the cinema doors, but can such promotion stand up to a barrage of post-credits Twitter criticism?

So practically what does this all mean?

It seems that if you have a poorly performing product or service there is simply nowhere to hide any more. No wonder big companies like BigPond are now interacting with customers via social media.

The consumer seems to be empowered like never before and companies must be vigilant in satisfying them.

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Posted by: Gabriel | August 21, 2009

Are Social Networking Sites the Future, Or Merely the Present?

Is Facebook here to stay or is it simply a passing fad in the MySpace, Napster mould that has captured the interest of a generation for a period of time, only to disappear into the anals of history just as abrupty and suddenly as it began?

I’m a big FB user myself and I find it to be an extremely useful tool – albeit a wasteful one – and just about everyone I’m friends with, or even pseudo-friends with, has an account. But will this be the case in 5 or 10 years time? Have social networking sites changed the internet forever or can we expect to see a significant drop-off in the not too distant future?

Well, according to an SBS World News article, a survey compiled by youth marketing agency Lifelounge reveals that “although Facebook and Twitter continue to be on the rise, it appears to be losing it’s popularity among younger users as 16-30 year old Australians pine for more face-to-face contact”. According to Lifelounge chief executive, Dion Appel:

“Nostalgia and simplicity … (are) influencing the styles they’re adopting, the products they’re purchasing and their entertainment choices.

“Parents’ vinyl records are suddenly interesting and vintage clothes are de rigueur.

“And they want more connections with their friends that aren’t digital, that are tangible. They’re starting to question the authenticity of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter”.

“They want technology to assist rather than dominate the way they communicate.”

And Facebook’s own stats tell a similar story. “More than two-thirds of Facebook users are outside of college” and “the fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older”.

So, perhaps we, as marketers, should contain our excitement over the possibilities of Facebook and Twitter. After all, things can change remarkably quickly.

That’s why you need to know when to blink.

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Posted by: Gabriel | August 19, 2009

Consuming Kids

ABC screened a fascinating little documentary last week on the multi-billion dollar youth marketing industry in America called “Consuming Kids: The Commercialisation of Childhood” . Says the program summary:

Consuming Kids traces the evolution and impact of this disturbing and unprecedented phenomenon, exposing the youth marketing industry’s controversial tactics, and exploring the effect of hyper-consumerism on the actual lived experience of children.

Dr. Susan Linn, the Director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, explains: “This generation of children is marketed to as never before. Kids are being marketed to through brand licensing, through product placement, marketing in schools, through stealth marketing, through viral marketing. There’s DVDs, there’s video games, there’s the internet, there are iPods, there are cell phones. There are so many more ways of reaching children so that there is a brand in front of a child’s face every moment of every day.”

The documentary basically accuses marketers of acting unethically. It argues that by using age-compression tactics – whereby marketers target apparel and accessories once considered only for teens to an increasingly younger target market – they are forcing kids to grow older faster, and in affect robbing them of their childhood and contributing to the rampant materialism within society.

Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood

Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood

I don’t know about you, but I’m a little sick and tired of people using marketers and marketing as a scapegoat for all of society’s ills.

I mean honestly, what ever happened to that little thing we call free choice? A marketer may put a particular message out there but we, as the public, are the final arbiters on whether we choose to accept that message or to reject it and go on with our lives. I think people should be held to a higher standard for the choices that they make. It comes across as cheap and petty when they pin their troubles on those “evil marketers” instead.

And people will tell me, “Oh, but surely you can’t expect kids to make well-informed, objective decisions?” and you may be right. But that’s where the role of a parent kicks in. This is not a multi-billion dollar industry because these children have deep pockets but rather because they have parents who are willing to purchase the latest gadget or piece of designer clothing. Ultimately, parents are charged with the responsibility of properly communicating the value of money and sometimes that comes in the form of simply saying NO.

Society isn’t breaking down because of a TV advertisement that claims you’ll get all the girls if you fork out several grand for some treatment from Advanced Hair (yeah, yeah). It’s because people are either too stupid or too lazy to think for themselves and lookout for the best interests of their children.

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