When Northern Rock went down, there might have been some that blamed a bunch of inept Geordies. But, the demise is now part of a much wider storm that has wrecked Bank of Scotland, Halifax, Lehman, AIG, Bear Stearns and and and...
Nobody is going to trust a bank with their money ever again. So, the question for brands is... do you have trust? If so, you can launch savings, loans and cash management products. People will trust Tesco because they know that it's got a real business selling things people want, so it will stay in business right through a recession. Likewise, British Gas, First Great Western etc (depending on a swift assessment of their general leverage status!)
And, equally, you'll trust your community. The building society movement's roots were in self-help for communities. Today the successors are hippies bound together... or any discrete group on Facebook... you might not trust Facebook or Google, but you will trust the people bound to you with the bonds of life. Brand opportunities abound... all you need is a banking licence but I bet they are harder to come by these days!
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Interesting FT piece on how Google's global ambitions are thwarted by several key markets where they have not managed to take market leadership positions. For instance, in Czech Republic Seznam has 62.5% share to Google's 24.8% Russia, Yandex has 45.9% to Google 33% China, Baidu.com has 66.5% to Google 11.3% South Korea, Naver 57.7%, Lycos 18.4%, Google 8.5% Japan Yahoo 51%, Google 39.5% As with all markets... there's opportunity. And, there will be a niching process that evolves so that even these shares get eroded as people switch to niche search firms or bespoke search tools.
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I've clicked through a banner ad. I think the campaign's quite clever. A video of Eurythmics star Dave Stewart being interviewed about his digital activity. I discover this is content from a site 'Powered by Dell' called Digital Nomads. http://www.digitalnomads.com/about It seems very subtle sponsorship - or is it an e-zine that just happens to have some free Dell laptops?
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Didn't we get excited about the Olympics? Yes we did for a fortnight. But, now we've completely moved on and the buzz is hardly there for the Paralympics. Do you think the sponsors got value for money? They've put zillions into the run-up and 'on the day'... partly a social service to help the organisers fund the spectacular. My favourite phrase, though, was to describe the brands that had a go at hijacking the event for their own purposes... Ambush Marketing. I'm sure we'll see alot more of that going on in the run-up to 2012.
Check out this ad serving network that's fast leapfrogging the competition in online video ad hosting... http://yume.com/
I'm not sure if you are a fan of Richard Millington , a 23 year old Blogger from Cheltenham with a shiny First in Marketing and Event Management. He makes sensible, nay clever points.
In a recent post, he talks about Twitter. While we all know that Gordon Brown has got himself tweeting. Richard Millington has been able to sign up as Nelson Mandela to make the point that the Twitter world is still a pretty open IP territory for counterfeiting, passing off and undermining your brand.
It all reminds me of the days we did marketing for domain name registrar NetBenefit. If you've not registered your products on Twitter, then you risk imitation and mess generally... when there's a simple and elegant option there for you today.
Get yourself registered so that we can all share your ego-trip meal diaries... but, while you're at it, register all your trademarks before someone else does!!
A UK PR outfit, Immediate Future, has put together its own survey of the top brands in social media. The league table runs like this: Google, Yahoo!, Apple, Sony, Disney, Nintendo, eBay, Ford, Microsoft, Canon, Honda, Mercedes, Toyota, Gap .
I don't quite follow the thesis, but it's full of earnest info about the methodology.
The key table is on page three of the report showing that they didn't just include digital brands, but all brands getting talked about, searched, twitter'd, facebooked etc... It makes interesting reading.
I predict that Green and Socially Responsible will drop down the business agenda - as they have trickled down the G8 agenda - as the crunch starts to bite.
Bleeding Heart concern is still prevalent in Soho. And, it still plucks my heart strings to want to operate paternal, values-led capitalism. But, that's not enough for the cash-strapped families of Rochdale who are getting squeezed by globalisation (and, more to the point, are voting in a marginal constituency).
Creeping reforms and conscience will still push the agenda ahead - as will lots of uber-wealthy philanthropists. And, ad-land will continue to Green-Wash everything so we feel better.
If you still want to change the world with good copy, BBH are running a gathering this Thursday. Info on the ridiculously slow website... Watering Hole.
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So, I'm sitting there engaged with Pamela Anderson on subversive marketing and business models - and I see Bacardi have bought Groove Armada for a year... what's new?
Looks like old fashioned patronage, if you ask me... this was pioneered by the Medici in Florence as a way to demonstrate their godliness.
But, back to the brand-jack debate... is the marriage of Groove Armada music and Bacardi's money the way forward for the marketing industry?
I think the answer depends on your view of whether it's a marriage of equals - is it right? is it 'on brand' for both? If so, then, you will probably give it your blessing.
If not, then you might see one side or the other as the Macca or the Mucca... and both go down in your estimations... rather like their messy divorce!
Groove Armada's deal explained
Ever since seeing Pamela Anderson reading a copy of Unmarketable: Brandalism, copyfighting, mocketing and the erosion of integrity I've been in a delicious state of double-entenres. Pam news-jacked the agenda with her stunt photo... but is it me know jacking back by leveraging her story in this blog?
I'm now a proud owner of said book - you gotta get up close and personal if you want to know how Pammy ticks.
I thought I'd share with you my intimate experiences.
First up, the rear: Some useful insights from the text:
I never thought I'd be corrupted by Pamela Anderson - not least in public on my blog. But, she's been caught on camera boning up on her branding
Pamela Anderson ain't just a pretty face. She can read - and it's been proved that she reads books without pictures too.
In fact, she's well ahead of the British best seller list this time.
She's certainly put me to shame!
Caught on camera this week, she's face down and tucking into Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing and the Erosion of Integrity.
It's reviewed on Amazon. The book looks like a candidate to follow Naomi Klein's No Logo or Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point as breaking into the mainstream. It covers how corporates and mainstream agencies are using techniques of the underground and pressure groups to build their profile.
The author is a veteran of Punk, blogging and general subversion.
Sounds like a good read.
And, it scrambles my brain that Pammy has been papp'd raising her IQ... I have always resisted those press reports of footballers buying £800 bottles of Krug because they are just hyping up the price of a £25 bottle of bubbly. Now, Pammy is hitting the return journey and rocketing us up Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to self-actualisation, not hedonism...
Anyone peeped over Pamela's shoulder to read it? Can you recommend it?
I spotted a London commuter coach yesterday with a bumper sticker about its carbon neutrality. Given that the vehicle had just cut me up, it got me thinking...
If everyone is buying their bumper stickers, or offsetting their flights, or planting trees because of indulgent comforts...
...who precisely is providing the back-end service?
I can't really imagine how many trees are needed, but I kindof think that it'll be more trees than are being planted. Or, that there might be people who are already planting trees but can now get someone else to pay for it? Or, they are a developing world that is low carbon, offering others the chance to buy their 'carbon credits'?
Am I the only one who thinks this area is ripe for exploitation? That it should be exposed and understood sooner rather than later?
...and that consumers are largely aware of all this anyhow and don't see sticking plasters as the solution to environmental harm?
On yer bike, I say.
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The rise of luxury continues, despite recession clouds. What planet are we on?
I come from a world that saved its plastic bags and newspapers... in a cupboard in the kitchen. It was admittedly crammed full and nobody gave the sacks a second look. But, perhaps, they'd be useful in a nuclear war when the Russians were landing at Skegness?
Now, I chuck out me polybags. And 6lt milk bottles. Not a thought of the milkman and his pinter... or the landfill.
The world has changed.
We're so far up Maslow's Hierarchy of needs that we want it, we like it... what is it? We don't really care, so long as it oozes glamour, sparkles with light fantastic and has a price tag that's not cheap, but not really bank-breaking...
And, it goes on. Can it? Will it?
Even if we have a recession, do we really still need treats? Are we addicted to them? Is the world generally so rich that the demand still outstrips supply?
Just this once. Oh, go on then.
I'm not sure if I'm the only dinosaur who's not used the BBC's iPlayer to watch some great TV that I missed on broadcast. But cop this...
The Rise and Fall of the Ad Man was on last night. Worth a shufty...
Charts the rise of the industry's personalities... and has commentary on today's marketing world.
The world is full of complicated marketing. But, this year, I put some badges on my lapel... and everywhere I go, people ask me what they say...
I've got 3 badges on my jacket... I just put them on to brighten up the jacket...
One says 'Political advertising - Yes Please'. I was sent this by media law firm Lewis Silkin... I'd never thought about the issue before they sent me the badge, but the UK doesn't allow anyone to advertise political messages... if we were allowed, we would turn into the US, where presidential elections are supported by all sorts of lobby groups punting their point of view. (It would be good business for agencies!!)
Another is something I got from one of my kids - a picture of a purple butterfly.
The third badge is for 4G mobile, the protocol after 3G. Whatever.
It has amazed me how much comment I've had from doing something different.
What are you doing for your brand that takes it leftfield?
Charlie Hoult
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Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 10 Nov 2008
Total Posts: 104
