iNnocent 300ML

The hype around the new iPhone 6 was always destined to be big. Apple are geniuses at creating a buzz around their new phone launches, with long queues being pictured worldwide outside their stores. The PR they receive around the launch is endless and the social media buzz surrounding the new product is priceless. The way Apple keep the phone's specifications deadly secret until days before it's release also adds to the desirable and exclusivity of the product.

As Apple gets the limelight, other companies are able to capitalize on their success and get free PR and attention off the back of Apple's.

I really like the way that Innocent Smoothies used their humour and "cheekiness" to produce this amusing ad:

They also used a guerrilla marketing strategy and sent representatives to the store launches where hundreds of people had queued outside to buy the phones, and this was covered heavily by the press. Therefore innocent drinks (who are owned by Coca-Cola- arguably the best marketed brand on the planet) received press coverage and their ad went viral on social media.

Some may say that hijacking other brand's marketing to pursue your own product is unethical, however it is an inexpensive and clever form of marketing, if done in the correct way. It's perfectly legal and if anything, it actually added to Apple's publicity.

End of placement, beginning of internship

Hello!

My marketing placement year at IBM has finally come to an end! A year of working in marketing full-time has given me a glimpse of the real world and how marketing can function outside of the textbooks, lectures and models that university can bring.

If you're currently studying marketing at university and have the opportunity to take part in a placement year, DO IT. It will open your eyes to the real world, you will learn an awful lot and you may decide what field of marketing you would like to work in, or in my case... NOT work in.

I first ventured into studying/ wanting a career in marketing whilst steering away from Journalism/ Public Relations therefore for me, I want to pursue something creative, which I can really sink my teeth into and experiment with... the great thing about marketing as a career is that there are so many avenues to go down, one area of marketing can be completely different to another!

Working at IBM was an amazing opportunity, a world-wide company which has a huge budget and is therefore able to commit to huge conferences, websites which are designed down to the T by the leading design agency in the world, events which the Senior execs of the biggest organisations in the country will happily attend at short notice... all of these things are obviously, amazing assets and what better position would you want your company to be in? The thing is, they don't actually NEED to do any marketing! The IBM brand is so well established and is a household name, in the business world it's the top dog of technology and therefore where is the competition? Where is the drive to increase awareness from 0% to 100%? It just doesn't exist!

The opportunities at working in such a large organisation, however, are probably unmatched with other types of jobs. I was able to get expenses to travel across the country, try out lots of education courses, meet hundreds of new people and network to my hearts content! I was also able to see what was successful and the struggle that such a large organisation faces when transitioning in to a new way of thinking/ new technologies.

A big company can offer flexible working, a great pension scheme, great pay, great facilities and the support you might need at a readily available service. However, weigh this up against just being 'a number' in 400,000 employees, facing outsourcing to other countries, never actually seeing your team apart from their icon photo in a conference call, having to phone a helpdesk every time you want to send a parcel, having to get every project you complete checked and finalised by hundreds of processes and procedures, it can sometimes feel like your individuality, thoughts and suggestions and even your personality can be a little bit squashed....

However, the experience was of course, priceless and an amazing opportunity, which I (hope) grasped with both hands and got the most out of. Even in a bad situation (not saying that it was a bad situation) you can always learn and grow through the things you experience.

However, I think I have almost made my mind up- I would like to work in a small- medium enterprise, or at least a highly competitive industry! I also think, for me, it's important to market something which I am passionate about and can relate to.

So therefore, this summer I am undertaking an internship at Vet's Kitchen in the marketing department (consisting of 2 people) which is an start-up pet food company based in Swindon, their products are sold in Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda and online. It couldn't be more different to marketing at IBM which is exactly what I wanted, a chance to try something completely different and a chance to show my skills to a small team of people and to actually have some responsibility, and mostly- to make a difference.

As the business is B2C, I am also getting the chance to try types of marketing activity that I would never had been able to within a B2B organisation. Vet's Kitchen literally do every type of marketing campaign I could ever think of- which is an amazing opportunity for me to gain experience in all of them! They are big on social media, and I am basically running all of their social media channels at the moment, advertising- print, radio, online etc, events (I'm going to exhibit at one of their road shows in a few weeks), email marketing, public relations, web design, packaging design, sales promotion, direct mail, merchandise...... I've literally done the lot! I've only been here 2 weeks and already I am learning the ins-and-outs of the organisation, how it operates, and how the company has grown and how the marketing can be used to attract new customers, raise awareness and ultimately gain market share.

I am also able to make my own suggestions and plan my own marketing activity (an amazing opportunity!!) and if I think something would work, I can suggest it AND request budget! There is so much freedom, flexibility and creativity- everything I wanted from working in marketing.

I'm really excited to carry out the rest of my internship and hopefully learn lots before deciding what kind of graduate job within marketing I would like to apply for.

Of course- everyone has their own desires and different opinions of work, I think any experience is a good experience, again even if this makes you realise what you DON'T want to do.... I know I don't want to work in a B2B technology organisation and I thank IBM for providing me with such a rewarding experience that helped me realise this! I would highly recommend a placement year there to anyone!

Opinions are entirely my own!

Steph

Opt-in, Opt-out

Digital marketing, arguably, and especially in the B2C world- is one of the most effective methods of reaching your target audience. However, as more and more organisations jump on the digital bandwagon, the quantity of marketing noise from more and more brands which consumers are faced with has rapidly increased.

Take Facebook- personal profiles were hugely successful and once Facebook allowed brands to join the site and create corporate/ brand pages, they started popping up all over the place. From the biggest brands such as Cadburys, Starbucks and Tesco to the local pub, butchers and community centre all creating engaging content through online social media sources, utilising websites and sending out emails- they are all at it and I know my social media pages have started to become much less social and much more brand-focused!

With this ever looming presence that consumers feel they are being sold to, constantly marketed towards and annoyed by persistent messages- is email marketing still useful when reaching a consumer? Or will it go straight into the 'Junk' or 'Deleted' folder?

Usually when signing up to newsletters, entering competitions or buying products online, you usually have the choice of opting-in or opt-out of receiving emails from the brand. This allows the consumer to have full control over the marketing messages they receive.

This infographic from Marketing Week indicates how willing consumers are to sharing their data (such as email address, phone number or postal address) with companies for the purpose of marketing. It's really useful to understand how willing people are to let companies market/sell to them. The impression I have gathered from working in a B2B scenario is that people are far less likely to 'opt in' to receiving marketing messages unless:

a) they are being provided with something of value, whether that be content, information and help or a personalised message
b) there is an incentive to do so- discounts, a competition or another type of reward
c) it is a company they really trust, admire or like- this can make it harder for start-ups or less-established brands trying to reach new markets to utilise database marketing

Think about how much you click the unsubscribe button on the endless email messages you receive from brands, or how many times you 'Unlike' an organisation's Facebook page?

I believe the key to maintaining a consumer's interest in your marketing messages, whether that be email messages, social media posts or even post (who does direct mail any more seriously?!) is down to 3 things:

a) Consistency: you have to absolutely nail this one; don't post too much and don't post to infrequently. This is mainly down to experimentation of how the interaction with your posts differs depending on the frequency of them, for email this is click throughs, for social it could be shares, likes or comments etc.
b) Content: provide something of value or that email is going straight into the delete folder, or that post is getting hidden! Whether that be discount, free delivery for e-commerce, coupons or vouchers for in-store purchases, competitions, product launches or events.
c) Personalisation: this potentially may be the most important point in marketing messages- whether you are targeting a new customer, loyal customer or someone who hasn't made a purchase in a while, the marketing messages must be tailored, even if you offer them the same incentive! Make the customer feel as though they are unique, valued and not just another name on a spreadsheet and I believe you will nail email marketing!

Stephanie

Season Pass

Recently I saw an advert for Thorpe Park and a season ticket offering of £48... that was unlimited entry to the park for an entire year! It really got me thinking as although I've never been to Thorpe Park, I have been to the sister theme park Alton Towers and I remember how pricey it can be for a day out there.

A day ticket also costs £48 although you can save by booking online before you arrive. Many people would question why a day ticket is the same price as an annual pass- it seems ludicrous right?

But when you think about it from a different perspective, it's actually an extremely clever marketing tactic that is used in lots of different places where one might not recognise the marketing tactic is in place.

Once a consumer has entered the park once, and paid the £48 fee- the park covers the overheads such as electricity and staffing, and the initial costs of the ride building/ design etc. and any residual value of such assets. The initial costs of that person entering the park are covered. Great- but do these overheads increase as more people enter the park? No.... the staffing/ electricity/ insurance etc. costs are going to be exactly the same whether there are 100 or 6000 people in the park, therefore Thorpe Park's main objective is getting as many people through their gates as possible!

Thorpe Park make such a huge mark-up on added extras such as the car park, food & drinks, games and merchandise that the price of entrance probably doesn't have a huge profit margin. Once customers are through the gates, they are more likely to spend money inside the park ESPECIALLY if they have paid for an annual pass and therefore have the feeling as though their initial cost of the day out was "free"- they may be inclined to spend more on additional add-ons!

Pricing is a marketing tool which is often overlooked, even by myself and although it depends on mark-ups and margins and overheads etc. it can also create a perception of a product and sometimes even a cheap price can detract from a product or service.

So- where else is this tactic used? Night clubs offer free entry or guest list entry before a certain time in the hope that customers will enter and purchase drinks all throughout the night, another example is captive pricing- where a company offers a product for a low price, but then once they are hooked, they rake up the prices of captive products.

I think it is a very wise move from Thorpe Park and one which should see their entries sore and their additional spending therefore increase!

Stephanie

Inside Rolls-Royce

I've been watching the 'Inside...' series on 4OD, a must-watch if you are interested in the luxury goods market!
I especially loved the Rolls-Royce episode which gave an insight into the companies head office and the sales tactics used with high profile customers. Rolls-Royce were creating the Celestial Phantom- their most expensive model ever, containing hundreds of diamonds and documentary shows the rigorous process which is undertaken at the factory and during the design process. Clearly for such a prestigious brand, their cars sell themselves due to the status and authority that comes from owning one of the cars.

However, I was interested to see the types of marketing strategies that Rolls-Royce use in order to target such a highly regarded audience. The typical Rolls-Royce customer may be spending well over £50,000 and almost as much on optional extras to add to the car, therefore the customer service they recieve is fundamental to their loyalty to the brand.

The documentary displayed that most Rolls-Royce customers own 4 or 5 vehicles and therefore retaining such customers is a key priority in their marketing strategy. The salesmen in the car showrooms are highly trained, just as with any car show room, however it is their personal connection with the Rolls-Royce brand that means their passion is revealed and hopefully passed on the customer.

One of the key PR strategies used by the company, is the opportunity for key members of the press, celebrities and other senior influencers to test out the vehicles on a race track, in the hopes that they may write a review/speak about the experience and even that they may be potential buyers... this is classic 'try before you buy' but also an example of getting opinion leaders to form their own recommendations of products. They are also attracting a new selection of young, cool, hip customers which is important to help the brand progress in the future.

The fact that Rolls-Royce are perfectionists when it comes to product design and quality means that they are renowned for providing a consistently impeccable product- there are no reports of one-off disaster products or bad customer experiences as the product checking and factory processes are so strict that it simply doesn't happen at Rolls-Royce! This in itself is a fantastic example of PR!!

 It would be an absolute dream to work in the marketing department at Rolls-Royce, the staff seem to have an extreme passion and love for the brand and their marketing strategy is unique, admirable and seems to work to target customers who enjoy the extremely finer things in life!!

You can watch the show on 4OD- let me know your thoughts!

Steph

Sentimental KFC Advert

I wouldn't say KFC are my favourite brand in the world..... in fact I would say they are one of my least favourites from an animal cruelty/ healthy eating/ quality point of view. However their marketing campaigns and specifically their TV advertising does interest me....

When you think of the brand 'KFC' what springs to mind? For me it is the 'bargain bucket' adverts, the family sat around a table on a Friday evening munching on a chicken's leg, a huge bottle of Coca-cola and a pot of baked beans. The mother with a huge grin on her face stood in the background after picking up the entire family's dinner for "ONLY £9.99". Correct?

This has been KFC's advertising of choice for many years and one which targets families on a low budget who like a treat meal. I think that most people can immediately identify a KFC advert based on these characteristics.

Therefore I was shocked to see this new KFC advert by Bartle Bogle Hegarty at Blink Media Production:

Which you can watch here

The advert is sentimental, very creative and serious- not usually KFC's style at all....

It's based on a love story and is 20th-century USA themed- based on KFC's early heritage. I love the story-telling behind the advert, it's pleasant to watch and I love the spin at the end! I would expect this advert to be advertising something more premium- it makes you think and the fact they are launching "slow pulled chicken" through this campaign fits in with the little story of the man pursuing a female he has been admiring.

To understand how the story relates to the product, you have to almost think over the story over and over again in your head which I think is extremely clever as it makes the advert stick in your mind which is of course every marketer's intention when trying to build a memorable, thought-provoking advert.

However, I am interested to see how this advert is received- KFC's target audience are used to very simple, light-hearted advertising and I feel as though KFC have taken a risk in trying this new type of marketing! Let's hope they understand the message the brand is trying to ommit!

I love interesting and thought provoking marketing!!

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Stephanie

Cancer Research: No make up selfies are genius for non-profit marketing!

How could I, as a marketing blogger, not mention the massive trend this week- No make-up selfies to raise awareness for breast cancer!?!

As I am sure you are all aware- through facebook and twitter, EVERYONE seems to be taking make-up free photos of themselves and uploading them. Cancer Research have suggested that since the trend started they have received a huge increase in the levels of donations to the charity that they have been receiving, enough to even crash their donation systems!

However, CRUK have also said that they have no idea where the idea came from yet clearly they support it!

I know on my Facebook there was a lot of controversy, especially from those saying it is a pointless trend, that taking photos of your face make-up free isn't going to cure cancer and other like-minded comments. These negative comments and retaliations from those arguing the other side of the case have actually given the cause an even stronger presence online!

This is just another fantastic example of how social-media can be used to drive awareness and in the non-profit marketing world, donations...

However, the thing that is unique about this example of social media marketing is that it wasn't driven by the brand it was driven by the consumer! I feel as though a marketing trend could be emerging which brands need to think very carefully about how then can use to the best of their ability!

Cancer Research were very lucky to be at the center of this- lets hope we see more consumer-driven marketing examples in the future!

Steph