Came across this article on Marketing Week’s Website and thought it was worth sharing. Model brand Hornby is to launch its first ever brand campaign and it’s aiming it at adults rather than children! Sky Sports and ESPN will replace the normal children’s’ TV spots and ads will also run in cinemas. Logos for all of the companies brands will appear at the end of the advert, can you remember them all? Check out the video below to see if you were right…
Ever thought that domain name extensions were a bit limited and that we have to much reliance on .com and .co.uk? Well things are changing for the better it seems as a whole host of new extensions will soon be available:
In 2012, the next stage in the Internet’s revolution will begin: new top-level domains such as .sfo .berlin .nyc .web .eco .shop .gay .med .xxx .hotel .film .music. ICANN, the organization in charge of domain names, is planning on a dramatic rewriting of the rules for web addresses that could reduce the overwhelming importance of the .com domain. Under new ICANN rules, groups and organizations will able to apply for new Internet extensions (the part after the dot in a web address). Today there are just a few generic top-level domains (gTLDs), for example: .com, .net, .org, .biz, and .info. But ICANN is planning to open the door to potentially hundreds or more generic domain extensions.
Take a look at the schedule over at United Domains or check out further information at ICANN Direct
At MW marketing we like to think we take a pragmatic, sales focused view to the advice we give to our clients. One of the influences on our approach was the inspiration behind the recent TV series phenomena ‘Mad Men’; Rosser Reeves.
Rosser Reeves was a hugely successful advertising executive and pioneer of television advertising. He believed the purpose of advertising is to sell. He insisted that an advertisement or commercial should show off the value of a product, not the cleverness of a copywriter.
Reeves generated millions for his clients, the Ted Bates agency where he rose to chairman. His ads were focused around what he called the unique selling proposition, the one reason the product needed to be bought or was better than its competitors. These often took the form of slogans such as M&M’s ‘melt in your mouth, not in your hand’
Reeves pointed out that to work, advertising had to be honest. He insisted the product being sold actually be superior, and argued that no amount of advertising could move inferior goods. He also disagreed that advertising was able to create demand where it did not exist, he believed it was a waste of money to claim uniqueness that doesn’t exist, because consumers will soon find out, and they won’t come back to the brand.
Advertising is, actually, a simple phenomenon in terms of economics. It is merely a substitute for a personal sales force – an extension, if you will, of the merchant who cries aloud his wares.
No, sir, I’m not saying that charming, witty and warm copy won’t sell. I’m just saying I’ve seen thousands of charming, witty campaigns that didn’t sell.
Unless a product becomes outmoded, a great campaign will not wear itself out.
You must make the product interesting, not just make the ad different. And that’s what too many of the copywriters in the U.S. today don’t yet understand.
Let’s say you have $1,000,000 tied up in your little company and suddenly your advertising isn’t working and sales are going down. And everything depends on it. Your future depends on it, your family’s future depends on it, other people’s families depend on it. Now, what do you want from me? Fine writing? Or do you want to see the goddamned sales curve stop moving down and start moving up?
A lot of companies we have worked with have either underestimated the importance of market research or were under the impression that the costs involved meant that it was beyond their budget. Market research gives you a window with which to view your clients and should be part of any marketing budget no matter how small.
A multi national Retail Services Company that operated from over 4,000 high street sites world wide were developing an own brand product range to replace an existing house hold name. The range was to be launched in the UK, the territory that we were responsible for. Given that the UK represented over 30% of a £12m global turnover it was important we got things right.
We insisted on carrying out our own research. Our results showed that although the product quality was of a higher standard to its competitors the packaging design left it behind its rivals in terms of consumer choice. We had to spend thousands on new designs. This could have been avoided if the initial research was more thorough but at least we implemented the changes before we launched. Market research can come in all shapes and sizes and the development of online services have made it easier and more affordable than ever before. If you are thinking of carrying out research make sure you keep it simple, don’t try and ask too much. Get the target group right, bear in mind your original objectives. More importantly than anything, be prepared to modify what you are doing based on the results. Don’t go into a research project simply to back up what you believe is the case, more often than not it isn’t.
