Branding in the Dark....

Sunday Night my favourite trash T.V Programme was being aired ‘Dating in the Dark.’ This hour long show consists of 3 men and women, who are all put in a room together in Pitch black (literally can not see a thing). They get to know each other then can chose to go on ‘mini’ dates with the girl/boy of their choice. Then at the end of the show they have a ‘light reveal’ where they will show the people that they have been dating and then the individuals can decide whether they would go on a proper date with them or not. The first argument that comes to mind is how superficial people on this show are, especially when a girl has been dating a guy in the dark and said they really like them, to then coming to the light reveal and deciding that they are definitely not their type. Ok you can criticise people for being vein or fake, but when it comes to products and branding, are we not all to blame for being a little superficial and image conscious ourselves?

For example: take a look at the next two images of Nestea and decide which can you would be more likely to pick up

I can imagine from the above two images you would have automatically gone for one of the cans in the first image rather than the blue and yellow can with a snowman on it! Again this illustrates even though the product is exactly the same in the above two images, we want to be shown with a product that looks modern and cool and that you would be the envy of everyone, rather than looking like you were drinking a can of de-icer! It is in our genes to pick out the more attactive things, and that is why it is so important to have the image to go with a product or brand, Ice-tea is supposed to be the next big thing after the big iced coffee 'frappacino' sensation so you'd expect the image of the product to fit in.

Sometimes a product image can go a little wrong, take for instance this engine oil can by the european company Agip, may not fit into its brand identity so well...



I am sure many parents would not be giving an oil can to their children to play with!



so it can also be argued no matter how good the packaging may look, if the actual product does not fulfil expectations of the consumer, the product will not sell! this was also illustrated in last week's apprentice where one team created the brand Bix Mix with lovely packaging to be aimed at a luxury market, to share with your girl mates on a night in or loved ones.

Problem was the biscuit was not worth half the selling price, or the luxury the brand percieved to offer with the product!

This goes to show a good mix of both a good product and image needs to be used to created a successful brand, you can not succeed without both! If it is not an attractive looking product, consumers tend to lose interest or go for the fancier looking alternative, even when it is the same product!

I like the fact I can say I base my friendships and relationships on personailty, but when it comes to buying products such as the next camera or phone, I definately go for looks as well as the specification of the product. Fake? No. I just like to have items that look pretty, like this:

This is cool!



A place in the Pun

Just seen Easyjet have created a quirky competition, where they want people to take part and write posters made from their flight destinations to create 'Witty Puns' so I thought I'd have a go!

Ha it is very corny but I did try and keep a trend going by talking a bout Italian food and using only Italian Destinations in the text!


If you think its worthy of a vote please follow this link and do so! http://aplaceinthepun.easyjet.com/puns/130864883477

More Fanta Less Serious!

I took a mini trip this weekend to buzzing lights and big city of London, to be more precise Camden, so I could satisfy my fashion and clothing fix (obsession!)

Me in Camden!

On the way back to Camden station a very nifty PR campaign was being conducted by Fanta. A group of people clothed in bright orange T-shirts with the Fanta logo across the front were shouting ‘More Fanta, Less serious’ in front of a giant Fanta can shaped ice cooler. I immediately took a Free mini can of Fanta, one for my boyfriend and me. As you may already know, there are no bins in London and I came across this in the station:

As you can see from the above picture even passers by that did not get a chance to relish in the free orange fizz, were reminded of the brand for a while afterwards (until the cleaners did their rounds) a very good mini PR campaign in the heat of summer, after my little taster I went straight to the newsagents to buy a full sized bottle (Yum!)

These mini PR campaigns are great to raise awareness for a new product or item. Similarly these campaigns work for brands that are already saturated in the product life cycle that are using PR campaigns to extend its product life:

Product Life cycle

These Strategies help ensure continued awareness of the product and brand, It also can reflect a good image of the brand giving out ‘freebies’ in this instance. Other extension strategies include repackaging a product to keep up to date, Expanding sales abroad, discounting (although not recommended as can de-value a product) and total rebranding, for example Dime bar was re-branded to Daim Bar in 2005.

For small fast consumer goods such as fizzy pop, or edible items such as chocolate or cakes, this strategy of encouraging customers to try tasters of the product can emit product recall and encourages the consumer to buy the product next time they are in a supermarket or shop as the brand has become a fresh image in their mind.

Overall: A great trip to London, and a nice reminder of how much I love orange Soda :)

Hey Bloggers I'm Back!

After a short departure from my blogging activities due to work commitments I am back in full glory to the blogger world! :)

I thought I would share with you this little gem of a guerilla marketing technique used in Germany to promote Sixt car rentals, have to say made me giggle, I think he is saying how he does not like the world but at least Sixt give great deals! so Random but I can see it works, just like the t-mobile guerilla adverts!

And here is the most recent t-mobile ad!:

I think these type of adverts which ingages the public gets good viral advertising going through social media including twitter blogs and facebook and is even better when links are connected to the website! to create more page impressions

overall I think guerilla advertising works well with social media and advertising to gain higher feedback from consumers.

Giggles...

Just a few of my favourite funny adverts!

 

1. This Heineken Advertising campaign 'walk in fridge' was brought to T.V and Cinema following the success of their youtube campaign with over 2.5 million views, I love the simplicity of this campaign, extremely funny but gets to the point, men do love their beer as much as women love their clothes!

 

2. Old Spice - the man you could smell like - This advert which is appealing to both men and women which also had many other follow up adverts. This was also very popular and is appealing showing the 'perfect man' the man women want their men to smell like!

 

3. Peter Kay John Smith advert - Okay, this list is making me look like I have a manly sense of humour but guess I do love simple yet funny adverts! enjoy :)

It's Just a Jersey Thing?

Before December the 9^th 2009 I had no idea what GTL stood for (Gym Tan Laundry), nor ‘Fist-pumping’ or ‘creeping’ but the world was introduced to the Summer Italian-American residents of Jersey Shore, better known as Guidos/Guidettes. These heavily tanned, Ed Hardy clad individuals, who spend more time looking into the mirror than Paris Hilton, enjoy ‘partying’ hard to techno dance whilst having a drink or 12, have rocked the world and left us gripped to the TV, enthralled by their obscure ways of dating and what they do in their spare time, with a staggering 8.4 million viewers tuning into the first episode of series 3 going back to the shore.

 Although like I and most people I know wouldn't dream of considering these people role models or trend setters, known for promoting binge drinking, and being all round a bit sleazy, the celebrity endorsement industry certainly think differently.

Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino Promoting Devotion Vodka

For example: in the lead with over 5 different endorsements and counting Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino has landed a deal with Devotion Vodka, a spirit in which is filled with protein. Created his own line of GTL bags (for your laundry of course!), luxury laces for the hundreds of pairs of sneakers he owns, starred in Vitamin water's latest advert and has also released his own book aptly named 'Here's the situation' a book on 'creeping' (or better known in the UK as pulling). He is set to be worth over $5 million at the end of the financial year. I suppose these endorsements fit with Mike's image, but Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi's recent appearance in Wonderful Pistachio's advert is a little confusing. Would Snooki's face on the front of a packet of nuts encourage me to buy them? Somehow I don't agree but it seems Snooki has followed in Mike's footsteps by bringing out a book 'The shore' as well as her own slippers and jewellery line. The 'meatball' has certainly got her business Pouf on!

The fact that so many companies are using the Shore residents including Australian gold tanning, and Xenadrine, maybe gives proof that it does increase sales and awareness for brands?

Jwwow and her black bronzer by Australian Gold

Celebrity endorsements are known as the promotion of a product or service where the celebrity is usually paid or given free merchandise to be shown in the public eye using the product such as a car or phone, wearing the product or even eating the product! According to a recent study celebrities endorsing products can alter brain activity of consumers increasing brand recall for a longer period of time “the researchers stressed there could be a longer term impact, even if it did not manifest itself as an immediate desire to buy” This could argue that companies may also use the strategy of brand impact by using such celebrities to increase brand recall and recognition. Wonderful Pistachios would definitely be the first brand of pistachios I think of because of the advert Snooki stars in is now embedded in my memory.

Brand recall is very important when impulse buying small products such as snacks and sweets, and can alter our preferences when deciding which type of fake tan, or which brand of vodka when out on a shopping trip.

This can argue even if the celebrities are not known for being role-models, it is not the image of the celebrity that counts, rather the impact of brand recall that the celebrity can give a company. With these ‘stars’ being viewed by over 8.4 million viewers mainly in the 18-24 catchment range, many companies would be throwing big deals over to these people for the chance to get a slice of that market. Maybe it isn’t just a jersey thing?

Snooki With her trademark Pouf in the Wonderful Pistachio Ad.

Sources:

BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10615182

Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/concerts-in-national/mike-the-situation-to-make-5m-from-fitness-products-endorsements

Toyota’s Brand identity still ‘Moving Forward?’

It has been announced the global Japanese car Manufacturer Toyota is evaporating its UK Marketing Director role, following extreme problems with Avensis and Lexus models fuelling systems, leading to a recall of over 1.7 million vehicles world wide. A corporate disaster at this level certainly tarnished the brands image for being a reliable safe vehicle. So it is even more shocking to see the company has decided to reshape the business in this way. Brand image is what determines consumers buying habits. If a customer wants to buy a reliable car they would buy a Volkswagen, as it is known for being a long lasting car. If a customer wants to buy a luxury car a Bentley or Rolls Royce comes to mind and finally if a customer wants a sporty car to stand out a Porsche or Ferrari’s image would suit that. All these assumptions come from brand image and continuous efforts by the companies to increase brand equity.
David Aaker believes that a good brand image is backed up by understanding consumer motivations and desires by creating relevant and appealing images round their products. These positive images are created by successful marketing, which needs to be implemented on a continuous basis so a company can sustain brand recall. If no further marketing strategies are used, the only recall consumers will have of Toyota is this major manufacturing disaster. Consumers are much more likely to remember negative news around Toyota rather than positive. This further backs up my opnion that there is an obvious need for MORE marketing on the companies brand to change the identity of Toyota back to a positive image.

By taking a more commercially focused business step, Toyota are risking the value of its vehicles to customers and inevitably will face reducing prices and profits to keep sales figures up. Which will in turn change the brand image of being reliable like its main competitor Honda, to becoming known as a ‘cheap import’.
 I believe any business wanting to create a successful image need to implement constant marketing strategies to be able to keep a high brand identity and customer loyalty. Toyota are making a big mistake changing its focus, but only time and future sales figures will prove this. We will just have to watch this space!


Sources:
Marketing Week: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/automotives/toyota-is-making-a-mistake-by-scrapping-marketing-role/3024700.article
BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12283732

"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"

Here is a piece of work I created for one of my only creative advertising modules whilst at university. The brief asked to create a poster for an exhibiton of my choice which would be displayed throughout london on billboards and the underground. I decided to attract children with an exhibition titled 'Cartoons throughout the ages' I  used a dark corridor with an old T.V sitting in the background and a burst of colour with different cartoons seeming to be set free from the T.V to attract the eye. Not the best quality due to it being produced on photostudio. But I feel this illustrates well what the exhibition is about grabbing attention, encouraging the target audience to take action by exploring further. The final produced poster also had website and phone booking details underneath the British museum sign.

Bonjourno!

Hello! and welcome to my Blog spot; Rhubarb & Custard, and all things Marketing. This blog will deliever quirky up to date news on the marketing and advertising industry, plus a few pieces of my creative work inbetween!


This blog will debate marketing issues, whether it be social responsibility, ethics and how marketing influences us.