Brands who got it RIGHT: Oreo

A brand who have always done their social media marketing exceptionally well is Oreo! They have been referred to a "social media innovators" and have received exceptional recognition for the social media marketing they have demonstrated.

This post is on why I think they are social media masters:

I mentioned them in the newsjacking post previously, but there are hundreds of more examples of excellent use of social media by Oreo.

Check out these vines that they produced:





The thing that makes these so entertaining is the creativity and the success that Oreo create is SHAREABLE.

There is no point creating a loyal fan base or even posting social media content which has no shareability value- make content which people want to tweet or revine or tell their friends about!

Oreo connect with their audience, they have a strong following amongst their social media platforms and they engage with their target audience CONSTANTLY.

What some brands tend to do is run social media campaigns which publish heavy content and responses around a particular product release or around a particular time of year and then remain fairly quiet until the next one. However, Oreo continually updates with relevant, current and consistent content.

They respond to news stories, important dates, trends and peaks- this means users react in real time and are willing to interact with the Oreo brand. Look above at the phone case tweet- Oreo uses wit and humour to engage their audience and inspire others to share more!

Reasons why Oreo wins best use of social media marketing:
HUMOUR, CREATIVITY, CONSISTENCY, SHAREABILITY

an inspiration and a case study for all brands to learn from- Congrats Oreo!!

Thoughts and opinions all my own.
Stephanie Clark

Social Media Day @ Ogilvy

Hello!

So a couple of weeks ago I got the opportunity, with my team, to visit one of IBM's suppliers. We spent the day at the Ogilvy offices in Canary Wharf discussing the issues around social media and digital marketing. Ogilvy are one of the biggest marketing agencies in the world so you can imagine how excited I was to spend the day with the IBM account team and to visit their UK HQ!

The office for a start was amazing! Set in Cabot square in Canary Wharf- it was my 1st visit to Canary Wharf but it is definitely somewhere I can see myself working! The office was a really creative, modern and stylish setting (much different from the IBM offices...)

We got to hear from a number of interesting speakers and discuss issues around social media that the team had. As you may or may not know (having read this blog I hope!!) social media is one of my passions and something which I think I can talk about with a level of knowledge and experience- therefore I really found the day beneficial and enriching!

We discussed the importance of content on social media and how it shouldn't just be a selling page, delivering content to your target audience means they will use your owned media sources as an information source and this will therefore enhance their experience- meaning your brand is a) a trusted source b) in the forefront of their mind c) not thrust upon them in a sales perspective and therefore they feel as though they are making an informed decision rather than being sold to.

A problem that arose was that HOW can this content be created by a marketing team alone? Especially in high investment/involvement purchases where a great deal of inside knowledge, expertise and specific information is needed, how can a small, specific marketing team manage a social media presence? We also considered how difficult it is to measure the effectiveness of a social media presence, especially in terms of return.

Aside from these issues and concerns, there was an understanding from the day as to the relevance of social media in a B2B environment. Most people consider social media essential in  B2C marketing but don't often associate marketing with B2B, however we were given the idea that it is not a new concept in this market. Networking has been a key part of a B2B organisation for a long time, this is just a shift in how key decision makers connect with their peers.

When marketing in a B2B context, the focus must be on a peer-to-peer basis, rather than brand-to-consumer.

This was the key concept that I recognised from the day, a quote from one of the presenters, "social is a behavioural reality, not just a channel". This gave me a lot to think about...

For example; key decision makers in an organisation who are invited to attend numerous events are more likely to accept an invitation if they are invited in a person to person invitational context.

This brings about the key rule when using social media in B2B: Make it personal

After discussing these issues and concepts, we had a presentation from someone at IDG, a technology media company- they publish magazines and online media all focused on technology throughout the UK.

They showed us the results from their engagement study found here...this reinforced the messages we had heard from Ogilvy and discusses Twitter and Linkedin as the primary B2B social networks. It was an interesting presentation and gave the team a lot to think about.

We then heard a presentation from Linkedin who showed us some interesting stats about how much reach Linkedin can provide when trying to target other businesses. Social media has provided an interesting platform, you may think that "stalking your ex on Facebook" is purely for entertainment purposes, but in reality- how much better to understand your customer's likes, dislikes, interests and connections than to have it written plainly in front of you on Linkedin?

Linkedin presented us with this idea and explained how the increasing use of Linkedin means B2B marketing teams can tailor their marketing messages based on their individual target recipient's behaviour, connections and experience.

The presentation was interesting and reinforced the idea of personal, direct, individual, relationship marketing which I believe is fundamental in any B2B environment.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day and can honestly say I felt at home in the Ogilvy offices- I would love to work there! It was one of the best days working at IBM that I have had so far!!

Views and opinions are entirely my own- Stephanie Clark

Tesco doing it right!!

I have wrote about the importance of a social media presence a thousand times and seriously if your organisation doesn't know that by now, how are you actually still in operation?! Here is one of my Favourites Tesco Mobile who have a fantastic twitter account:

Tesco Mobile

This buzzfeed post summarises it quite nicel, but here are some of my personal faves!!

 When you're competing with the big dogs, i.e. Orange, Vodafone and O2, I can imagine advertising budget is limited, as is a loyal set of brand advocates- however Tesco Mobile's wit, enthusiasm and understanding of their target audience's 'banter' trend, is enough to CLEARLY get tesco mobile noticed in the social media world and is fingers crossed enough to allow them to relaunch their brand image into a lighthearted, fun and laidback brand, which may differ from that of tesco as a parent company.

Views are my own,


Stephanie

Brands who did it BADLY

I'm often talking about brands who use their social media channels and advertising well, but 'they' say "by seeking and blundering we learn.” and in the marketing world, we can also learn from others mistakes... 

and I guess they are more interesting to read to!

So here we go.... Marketing Flops!

1.

Firstly, a US brand, SpaghettiOs posted this tweet in commemoration of the anniversary of Pearl Harbour:

This was followed by many angry tweets;

This tweet will live in infamy / @SpaghettiOs Take a moment to remember #PearlHarbor with us. http://t.co/C9dTJSDGF5
— David Clinch (@DavidClinchNews) December 7, 2013

Uh, brand. You're doing it wrong RT @SpaghettiOs: Take a moment to remember #PearlHarbor with us. http://t.co/bsfQPgNKkJ
— Shawn Reynolds (@WCL_Shawn) December 7, 2013

The tweet was deleted and replaced with an apology.

 Well followed up considering the consumer response. However- what can we learn from SpaghettiOs mistake?

Never make it about yourself- a quote from Mack Collier "You don't ask others to remember a military tragedy by putting the focus on your brand mascot. NEVER make it about you."

The fact is- in order to bring brand value, make the tweets personal  and empathise  with people, make your tweets seem human!!

2.

In the US, the supermarket Kmart tweeted to reveal they would be open on this Thanksgiving and would stay open on Black Friday. Customers complained about the ethics of the decision by the masses: 

What can we learn from Kmart's mistake?

a) Marketing isn't just about the communications you portray and publish i.e. advertising, direct marketing etc. it is also about Corporate Social Responsibility and how you treat your staff is a big part of this- as is fair competition. By opening on Thanksgiving- Kmart were demonstrating their lack of ethical standards for both, this was clearly pointed out by their customers. By publicising this fact, Kmart allowed themselves to be exposed to a storm of dismay.
b) Don't post the same response to every tweet!!! Re my above comment on SpaghettiOs make your tweets personal! If customers have an issue or complaint they want to feel valued and understood, not dumped in the pile with everyone else and given a phony excuse!

3.

So far we have seen American brands failing on social media, but here's a British brand who make it in to the ranks! This one comes from Facebook on Luton Airport's page:

The message behind it could have been enforced in so many better ways! The pictured they posted was from a plane crash in 2005 in which there were fatalities which included a 6-year-old boy.

Way to show your insensitive side?? I don't think this example needs much explanation as 'what not to do'...

4.

This little gem from Red Robin....



As a vegetarian I can't say I am highly offended by this advert, however I can imagine how, especially in the US Culture, some people would be. The fact that Red Robin suggests that "vegetarians are just going through a phase" is poking fun at peoples' beliefs and I believe as a brand anything which ANYONE could find offensive should be avoided!

What can we learn from Red Robin's mistakes?
a) Understand the culture of your target audience and make sure you respect, inhabit and encompass it into your consistent branding themes. Make their culture, your culture....
b) I feel like Red Robin could have completely turned this around with a good recovery strategy and clever PR. When you make a muck-up- recover, recover, recover. They could have offered vegetarians a free burger, introduced new vegetarian options or even created a new ad campaign to turn this one on it's head! However, the disaster recovery wasn't effective and the video and it's angry responses went viral....

Check out these video responses on YouTube:

5.

Just read this article on Food Beast: 14 Ways To Ruin Your Restaurant Business and Lose Friends

Uh oh..... major fail! Be careful about your own publicity!! Pretty sure thats the No1 Rule of Marketing....



Let me know if you enjoyed this post! I may do more like it!!
All opinions are my own!

Stephanie

A Christmassy Marketing Day in Southbank!

Hi guys, sorry it's been so long! I can't believe I haven't blogged in an entire month. Will try and keep content consistent from now on!

I've been super busy recently and I can't wait to tell you all the stuff I've been up to!

Starting with last week, I went up to London to attend the 2nd IBM Marketing Placement day in London, I blogged about the first one earlier this year!

The event was held in the Client Centre at IBM's Southbank, London office. This is usually where we host clients and host events and meetings with them. It's a really nice office and much nicer than the Portsmouth one- so it's nice to get out of there, even if it is just for a day ;-)

 

I like it when all the Marketing Placement students get together as we do  fairly often, I've made some good friends from the IBM locations all over the country! The day was mostly focused on IBM's brand and how marketing and communications strategies can positively affect this.

Firstly, we met Alison Orsi who is Head of Marketing, Communication and Citizenship for IBM UK & Ireland- this means she is my bosses, bosses, boss! It was really exciting to hear how she had got to the position in which she is in now and how she never even planned to work in Marketing to begin with! She told us about an IBM advertising campaign in the 90's featuring the pink panter and Johnathan Ross.....?? Not really fitting with the IBM brand we know now!

Softening the corporate image may have been an objective then- but now IBM's Marketing is a lot more targeted and they are much more considerate and thoughtful when making marketing decisions. She focused her presentation on social, valued content creation, SEO and mobile marketing. An interesting thought from the day was the fact that the strategy seems to be shifting from paid-owned-earned towards owned-earned-paid.

Secondly, we had Tony Chapman-Dawe from Strand Communication deliver a presentation on how to write better Marketing text. I found this particularly interesting because of my interest in Journalism- it kind of reminded me of being back in an English lesson!!

He spoke about advertisers being able to grip people in 9 words and how difficult this can be in getting a message across, but also that this is a scope for immense creativity. He presented us with examples from The Economist:

This spark some thought as he noted that brands need to think carefully about the language they use and also what content is actually relevant and of some value to the target audience. He also taught us about the structure of powerpoints and how to create useful and eye catching language. His main theory was that any marketing message should contain Structure, Facts, Examples and Brevity. A great lesson which I will be enforcing in the future! It makes you think about the way that brands craft tweets, in tweets you only have 140 characters to get your message across- therefore they have to be snappy, relevant and concise.

Then, we had Bill Jinks, who project managed IBM's presence at Wimbledon for the last few years. He came to speak to us about the work he had done and how we might like to get involved in working there next year with IBM. The stuff we do at Wimbledon is awesome and far too much to narrow down into one blog post- so check out the website if you would like to know more here.

Then we had a brand quality workshop from 2 members of Marketing who work on the graduate scheme. They spoke to us about the IBM Brand and how it is represented in terms of looking, sounding, thinking and performing like IBM. We also got chance to have a look and dissect IBM's current brand strategy.

We then had an IBM speaker; Mark Devlin spoke to us about IBM's history and the way the IBM brand has been affected and shaped over time. An interesting concept he mentioned was that IBM has never had a figure head like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs to represent it's brand image, instead of having this one person to look to, IBM is represented by it's employees who have their own name aka IBMers!

Overall it was a great day with some great people- afterwards we got to check out the Southbank Christmas Markets and then we were treated to a Chinese in Leicester Square!!

Busy week, so here's some ads I love!!

Hey,

got plenty of events coming up so will have a detailed blog post coming up, in the meantime- here's some ads I'm absolutely loving at the moment:


some B2B examples for a change! I think they are great

Career Choices

I was lucky enough to be able to volunteer to work at the Bristol University careers fair on Tuesday representing IBM and inspiring students to apply to the internship, placement and graduate schemes that IBM offer. 

 The careers fair looked awesome in the University Great Hall!

As a UWE student I found this quite daunting, the two universities are historically and brutally, rivals. I was pleasantly surprised that everyone I spoke to was extremely friendly and even when asked what I studied and where, there was no judgement! I feel like the two universities are very different in what they offer, the courses people study and the types of backgrounds the students come from- which isn’t necessarily a bad thing! What I did expect (frown upon me for my stereotypical attitude) was for the students to be very career-driven, headstrong and to have done plenty of research and be very sure of what they wanted to do in life.

I was very surprised to find out that most students had no idea what career path they wanted to follow, what opportunities were available to them and what they wanted to do after university.

I would say I have known roughly what career path I wanted to take for about 2 years now. I want to work in Marketing as it is my passion (hopefully you have gathered that by reading this blog) and something I seem to do well in (according to my exam results/coursework/ability to get a job in said field….).

However, this has not always been the case…

When I was doing my GCSE’s I had my heart set on a Journalism and French Degree, I loved English and I knew I wanted to do something creative that involved writing, I also enjoyed French and loved the idea of studying abroad for a year. When it came down to choosing my A-Level options I went for English and Photography for the Journalism aspect, French and Drama (just because I had no idea what else to choose).

Then I decided to visit Sheffield University on an Open Day as I really wanted to go there and I saw they had a Journalism and French Degree course. I liked the University and decided to go to a talk on Journalism… I am so glad I attended that talk, it was one of the biggest eye openers I have ever experienced in my life.

The lecturer explained that if I wanted to apply for the cause then I had to be 100% committed to Journalism and I had to work extremely hard in a competitive job market, where graduates usually start on a salary of £10,000 if that. He said it was extremely hard to find a job in Journalism as it was, never mind one that pays well.

I decided that from that moment on, I had made the wrong choice and I didn’t want to go into Journalism. After my first year in A-Levels I failed French so that was languages out of the window too!

I do remember being stuck at this point and having to seriously consider what Degree I wanted to apply for as if I remember rightly you have to choose your degree discipline quite early in A2.

I knew it still had to be creative and to do with writing, as I was doing really well in English A-Level. I looked at Public Relations and thought that it was something I really found interesting and wasn’t too far from Journalism, but might be too specific.

Then I looked at where the jobs were at the time, and what percentage of each set of graduates from each course got a job in their chosen field after university. Marketing seemed to rank fairly highly and there were lots of Marketing Graduate jobs available when I did a search.

So, that was it! I risked everything and just went for Marketing, without doing an AWFUL lot of research I must admit. I feel like if you ponder over something for too long you might be put off the idea, I’m the kind of person to say yes and then stick to it, whatever the consequences might be.

I’m so lucky the risk paid off as I really do love Marketing and now I’m lucky enough to be working in it, I’m so glad I made the right choice. I was initially so worried, as I had never studied Business or anything similar, and when we arrived at uni a lot of people had done Business A-Level and therefore knew lots about the degree. I also squirmed when I saw the timetable and “Finance”, “Stats” and “Economics” were on the list. I had absolutely hated maths at school and I was certain after I left that I would never have to do it again.

Well Finance turned out to be my favourite module (Admittedly, economics was my worst) but what I’m trying to say is that you should CONSIDER THINGS YOU MAY NOT HAVE CONSIDERED BEFORE. Take a leap of faith in an uncertain direction!

So I would say the same applies after university, take risks, try new things and even if you aren’t sure what you want to, make sure you know what options are available to you.

Sorry about my life story!!
Steph

IBM Business Connect 2013

Hello there! So this week I was lucky enough to get the chance to attend one of IBM's biggest conferences in our events calendar- Business Connect is an all-day event and is held at various locations across the globe! The conference focuses on technology and innovation in IBM's areas of expertise: social, mobile, cloud, analytics, big data etc. The event was held at Twickenham Stadium and due to IBM's partnership with Rugby Football Union, the entire event was rugby themed. As Registrations started at 7:30- I had a very early start and decided to stay with my friend in London- this was my view of Canary Wharf at 5:30am

 

Very early start indeed!

I arrived at Twickenham Stadium and I was interested to see how the entire conference area had been transformed into an IBM event by the use of fantastic branding- the rooms looked great!

 

I was quite lucky to be able to watch the speeches as I was working inside the main auditorium, I was able to meet David Stokes- CEO of IBM UK which was such a great experience! Then I listened to his speech about the future of technology- he said that 25% of future marketing jobs will have the need for a background in technology- and he predicted that the implementation of Cloud will produce a huge amount of jobs in the next few years- something worth thinking about taking an interest in!!

 

David Stokes on stage 

Throughout the day there were lots of smaller debates and workshops for the deligates, business partners and IBMers to attend. I was mainly working behind the scenes. I had a great chance to see how such a large scale event is run- and ultimately how well IBM present themselves at their own events and how great the feedback from attendees is!

I also got a sneaky chance to sit in IBM's corporate hospitality box at Twickenham Stadium and have a look at the stadium!

 Here's a selfie of me in the stadium!!!

After a very long, but interesting and rewarding day, I got to hear a speech by Ben Kay, former Rugby World Cup Champion.

Here's Ben Kay on stage

He spoke about Leadership, Motivation, Determination, Teamwork and Discipline and how these strengths helped his team win the world cup. He also spoke about how these strengths can be applied to Business.

It was a great day and I was very lucky to be able to attend!

Steph

Prankvertising

NEW FAVE MARKETING STRATEGY GUYS!!!

Prankvertising is absolute genius!

Have a watch of this:

This was a stunt performed by the team behind a new release film 'Carrie' in order to promote their movie. The video has over a million hits on youtube- not bad at all!

LG also used prankvertising-  this is the best example I've seen so far!

It's also been used in social marketing too- which personally I think it can make a BIG impact!
Check out this prankvertising video by THINK- a drink driving campaign charity.



Companies are always looking for ways to make their brand go viral- this is a perfect way to do it, so easy for these clips to be shared and reshared!

If companies want to join on the prankvertising bandwagon and stand out they best had do fast!!!

Working 9-5....at the largest IT company on the planet...

Hi,

I haven't really posted much about my Marketing Placement at IBM since I've started as I have just been getting to grips with my role, understanding IBM's strategies and where my team fits into the overall picture.
I think working with a large organisation is not only a rewarding experience which is full of opportunities, but can also be a hindrance in terms of understanding how such a small part of said organisation can actually make an impact.

I think I have been very lucky in getting the role I have though, as liaising with clients coming from the biggest companies in the UK is a unique experience- one which I may never be able to experience for the rest of my career (fingers crossed I do though!)

Today, all of the new marketing IT's (Industrial Trainees) got to visit one of IBM's locations near Winchester. I have visited a couple of times before for meetings, but I never got the full tour....

Today we got to hear how much IBM as an organisation has changed from the organisation it was 100 years ago to what it has become in the 21st Century today. It was phenomenal to realise how amazing the company I work for is. It has evolved from selling huge pieces of hardware, where computers needed entire buildings just to home them, to the microchip and barcode that we use everyday, and more recently to the unbelievable technology we see used for analytics, vast quantities of data and mobile technology. Who knows where we might be in another 100 years! (Not that any of us will be around to see- sad times)

When I tell them where I work, people always ask me "What do IBM actually do?" "Do they just make computers?" "I had an IBM photocopier back in the day". Well simply, IBM has moved away from these kinds of products years ago- to a far more innovative, smarter way of thinking, and rather than serve users who have simple business needs for IT, which IBM still provide- they now use technology, knowledge and data in order to create a "smarter planet" which is a huge initiative at IBM.

Today, we got to see some of these amazing projects which IBM are involved with. IBM Hursley- the location we visited, has a huge laboratory in which most of the IBM products are developed and  is also home to some UBER geeks who have developed life changing/saving/enhancing technologies!

We got to visit the IBM Hursley Innovation Centre where lots of amazing IBM inventions are showcased! (May be sounding a bit geeky at the moment) We saw a piece of technology which translates sign language from a webcam into text and visa versa, with a robot who is fluent in sign language.

We saw a piece of technology used by the military which tracks snipers and can give an exact location...this kind of technology saves lives!! See why I am proud to work here :-)

We also saw an aeroplane chair that measures your heartrate without the use of straps or wires, which helps airlines help passengers adjust to their new time zone and can help reduce stress levels on board. Then we saw a mind controlled car- something which is being used in video games soon!!

But- the most interesting thing for me personally that I saw in the Innovation centre was something which usually I would say I had absolutely no interest in- Analytics. As part of the Smarter Analytics programme, IBM helped an Italian Council reduce it's social security budget by monitoring elderly CO2, methane, smoke levels etc. with a small sensor in their homes- which meant a computer could be alerted immediately whenever one of these levels were dangerously low or high- and immediately send a warden round, rather than constant checks. This piece of technology has saved hundreds of lives- from fires, gas leaks, trips and falls and O.A.Ps who have fallen unconscious etc.

This is obviously a breakthrough piece of technology which has revolutionised care homes in Italy- but has also helped the council save money and time as less human checks are needed. Now, to me this was very interesting, but the way IBM adapts such technology to meet the needs of other clients is the thing that really draws my attention so such an innovative organisations.

Whilst you can monitor the gas and electricity levels used in peoples homes- something gas companies have been able to do for years- they can tell when consumers perform certain activities, for example; cook, shower, boil the kettle etc. and by analysing such data- IBM have worked out a way of determining exactly which TV shows everyone in the nation is watching according to their energy usage.

May not sound that revolutionary- but this type of data, available in vast quantities, could be worth MILLIONS to advertisers. Once an opportunity like this is spotted- IBM act upon it and that is why I am proud to work for such a forward-thinking organisation!!

Some pics from the innovation centre:

Sam's rear end.....not the best snap!

Trying on the brain controlling device

Vicky and Rachel in the Innovation centre

The sniper launcher in it's initial stages

Brain controlled car in action!

Vintage IBM PC!

Beautiful IBM typewriter I fell in love with! Gorgeous vintage- I want one in my house!

After visiting the innovation centre, we had a history lesson on IBM Hursley- a huge Edwardian mansion- and the only property that IBM owns in the UK. The place was stunning and I wish I could work here everyday!!!

The Winter Gardens

Gorgeous features

Client meeting room (who wouldn't buy from us with that view!! Better than staring out over grey concrete buildings in London I reckon)

one of the many beautiful fireplaces

Mine and Rachel's attempted selfie!

Managed one haha

See the servants bells on the walls!

SO stunning- stairs in main hall

another selfie (how sad I am)

The exterior- end to a great day!!

What a lush location and a great day overall!

Going to try and write a bit more about IBM and the stuff I'm getting up to there!

Steph