Search results matching tag 'Campaign'

Battle of Big Thinking

255762 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:36:00 GMT

Great line-up for next week's fourth APG Battle of Big Thinking with more than 20 of the biggest thinkers the business.

One of the nice things about it is that it has a speedy format that progresses through out the day: three speakers per round, each given 15 minutes, with the audience voting at the end of each round. The winner of each round goes into an eliminator to find the supreme champion at the end of the day.

There are still a few tickets left (celia.miranda@haymarket.com). We'll be tweeting details of the conference throughout the day and you can follow the event via the hashtag #BoBT.

I'd also recommend following some of these people (if you're not already) who are all speaking at the event.

First up is Matt Willifer @matt93 who is chairman of the Account Planning Group and head of planning at M&C Saatchi.

Kicking off in the Big Global Thinking session is Will Harris, @willharris, UK marketing director of Nokia, ex of WCRS and AMV he's worked on the rebrand of BT Cellnet to O2 and Orange (not to mention being a former Conservative Party marketing chief).

Also in this slot is former BBH staffer Guy Murphy @guymurphy who for these last two years has been worldwide planning director at JWT.

For Big Thinking and Innovation John Willshire @willsh from PHD will take to the stage who is head of innovation and will be looking at "the creation and cultivation of ideas through the study of social, cultural and technological trends".

In what is likely to be one of the hottest sessions of the day head of strategy and innovation at VCCP Amelia Torode @Amelia_Torode will share what she has learnt from campaigns including comparethemarket/meerkat.com, in Big Thinking in Social Media.

Also in this slot is We Are Social's Sandrine Plasseraud @MeToo will take to the stage. She is a former Renault marketer who was responsible who helped kicked start the firm's social media strategy.

Kicking off Big Mobile Thinking will be Scott Seaborn @ScottSeaborn –head of mobile at Ogilvy Group UK and the co-chairman of the UK Mobile Marketing Association.

Joining Scott will be Todd Tran @toddtran managing director of WPP mobile marketing agency for Joule. In another life he was a strategy management consultant with Bain & Company.

Personally I’m looking forward to hearing Patrick O'Luanaigh @patrickol in Big Thinking in Free Spaces. He's the CEO of game developer and production company, nDreams and has been creative director at SCi and Eidos. He founded nDreams with an unusual approach and take (they were behind what was dubbed world's first ever console 'Alternate Reality Game' that scored over 4m visits in 12 weeks). Wonder if he's been playing COD:MW2?

The former Unilever marketer who worked with BBH on the much talked about repositioning of Lynx. He now leads Plum Baby, the private equity backed premium organic baby-food brand.

It's near the end of the day, but Big Thinking in Marketing will be another goodie with Justin Basini @justinbasini the former vice-president for marketing at Capital One and Deutsche Bank who is now working on a new venture, which will be launching in 2010.

Other include some of the industry's up and coming talent who will take to microphone in the Open Mic Session. Speakers here include Katy Lindemann @katylindemann a senior strategist Naked Communications.

One of these speakers is going to win the day.

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Seriously, you can have my job – New editor for Brand Republic wanted

255762 — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:54:00 GMT

Seriously yes, it's true. After the longest time anyone can imagine (I checked) Haymarket is looking for a new editor for Brand Republic.

It isn't anything that I said and honestly it has nothing to do with with this blog post I wrote earlier today about Techcrunch and Twitter, which some people thought was an ethical faux pas (though clearly not me).

Shocking as it is, I was launch editor of Brand Republic. I can remember our launch party for so many reasons - 9/11 2001 is a hard one to forget. Not a great deal of people, but much champagne; sadness and paranoia.

That said the site has been a great success and we've had some great people work here over the years, so it is sad to go, but there you have it. The site is moving on, getting ready for its next big redesign and I am moving on also.

I have taken on the role of Social Media & International Editor at Haymarket Brand Media and will work with all the great media brands here (Campaign, Marketing, Media Week – not forgetting Brand Republic itself) and other individuals looking at how we use social media and continuing to practice what I preach.

It's all the stuff I like doing and writing about. Just as soon as they find the right person for this job.

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Preliminaries

2427159 — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:45:00 GMT

Hello.

I’m going to treat this initial blog as a soft launch. Because I've been told that all the publicity - the massive war-engine of publicity which Campaign has at its disposal – is to be deployed next week.

So this week, we’re not expecting anyone to log on at all.

So, please look at this as a kind of preliminary taster.

A kind of "pre-come" column, if you will.

A preliminary and preparatory outpouring – but not the actual, honest-to-goodness, genuine thing.

So, anyway - I was at the Creative Circle Awards bash last week. Although I was only there because my old mate and former boss Dave Trott was being given a lifetime’s achievement award, and I wanted to honour the bloke.

It’s always good to see Dave and he was on great form as ever.

Just not quite as feisty as I’d have liked. Because Dave taught me all I ever knew about being feisty.

The person who WAS feisty was Alan Carr, the paid-for entertainment.

It’s interesting seeing famous people try to host these awards dos – because they usually think the whole thing is about as important as an Under-12s 5-a-side rounders tournament, where your kid isn't playing.

And they rip the piss out of it, and then wonder why the people they’re taking the piss out of, don’t find it hugely funny.

I’ve seen really good comedians looking shell-shocked and dazed as they joke away at the industry’s expense and get a less than rapturous response.

Which is hilarious, if you’re in the right mood.

Although I was once on the wrong end of it myself. A female comedian who’d been paid to host a Radio Awards night introduced me as the Chairman of the Judges. As I walked on stage, she said “Doesn’t he walk funny – it looks like he’s shat his pants”.

I kid you not.

To be honest, it wasn’t the happiest hour of my life doling out the awards after that. Me and the female comedian smiling into the camera as the plucky winners picked up their gongs – I think my grin might have looked a bit forced.

You know when you start thinking – oh god, maybe I HAVE shat my pants ?

There’s no subtle way to check really.

But it reminds me of a story about Dave Droga. Nothing to do with his pants, obviously, because Dave's hygiene is second to none. But he once told me he was chairing some awards do in Perth - and he was insulted for an hour and a half by a glove puppet.

So, these things happen.

But, having spent a bit of time away from the ad industry, I must say that I enjoyed Alan’s cynical take on the whole thing enormously.

So – when a nicely provocative ad for HSBC won a well-deserved award, Alan said something about how they’d “only lost £2billion that day – it must be working”.

He moaned about how bloody depressing charity ads were, reducing the audience to hoots of laughter as a Barnardo’s ad played out its emotional angst on the screen.

And most astonishingly of all, when he came to hand out the Platinum Award, and the spreads for the Harvey Nichols Bristol store came up on screen, he looked aghast and said “That’s not it, is it ?”

You don’t get that happening at the Oscars, do you ?

“And the winner of Best Picture is – No, that’s a mistake isn’t it ?”

But this extremely casual attitude, I would argue, pretty much sums up the general public’s view of advertising.

I’m gonna talk more about this – if this blog carries on. Because when you spend some time out of the industry, you realise that only really, really outstanding marketing cuts through.

That old Lord Leverhulme quote about 50% of his ad budget being wasted, and him not knowing which half it was – that’s bollocks really.

95% of marketing budgets are wasted.

And if Lord Leverhulme was around today, I’d tell him that to his face.

I’d say “Lord Leverhulme, me old mucker, you’re out by 45%. Go back and work it out again.”

We’ll talk more about this - and about whether there’s still a role for conventional advertising – in later blogs.

For now, I’ll leave you with a story I heard about a Creative Director leaving the Grosvenor one night, with an armful of awards. The taxi driver who picked him up asked him what had been happening that evening, and the CD said “It’s an awards do for the advertising industry”.

“Blimey”, replied the cabbie, “whatever will they think of next ?”

Anyway, that’s enough for the pre-come column.

Hardly seminal, maybe.

But I do hope it’s going to be sticky.

Has the Dairy Milk Gorilla stopped beating?

1225254 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:44:00 GMT

Campaign suggests that, despite TNS figures showing Galaxy significantly outstripping sales of Dairy Milk we should applaud the Gorilla ad because, if nothing else, it has performed a service to the advertising industry. I'm sure Cadbury's are delighted. Even Private Eye pointed out that while Dairy Milk was breathing new life into Phil Collins, Galaxy was targeting core female chocolate afficionados with a tie-in to the release of Sex and The City.

Far be it from me to suggest that an old fogey like Bill Bernbach has anything to teach the young guns at Fallon, but he did say "Technique for its own sake can be disastrous. Because, after a while, you're so anxious to do things differently and to do them better and funnier and more brilliantly than the next guy, that that becomes the goal of the ad, instead of selling the merchandise".

Although imaginative and lovingly crafted you do have to ask, did the Gorilla sell the product by appealing to people likely to buy it? Was there too much Gorilla and too little brand? In its viral format, did it lead them effortlessly to a campaign site packed full of choccy stuff? Did it capture any data? Or does this Gorilla have no clothes? What do you think?

Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing – especially when it’s called sustain

695124 — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 11:14:04 GMT

If you believe in A4A (Action for Ads) please log on to the website for Sustain. Its apparently a well-intentioned pressure group for better food and farming.

But if you were listening to Radio Five Live on Saturday morning you will have heard Sustain spokesman Richard Watts interviewed by Rachel Burdon on internet marketing of snack and confectionery products to children.

Unless I completely misunderstood what he was saying, he wants to ban ALL ADVERTISING of what he calls “junk food” just in case children might be influenced by any aspect of it

Sustain describes itself like this: “The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity. We represent around 100 national public interest organisations working at international, national, regional and local level”. Sounds worthy enough. But Mr Watts apparently wants to deny brand owners the right to advertise any products that Sustain doesn’t approve of. To me that smacks of fascism. I suspect that Sustain is a hostile pressure group with extreme policies – and that our industry should fight them, their views, and their attempts to persuade government and regulators to restrict freedom to advertise in all media including the internet. I could find no way to blog on their site, so – if you agree with me – I suggest you contact them as follows to find out if Richard Watts’ views represent the organisation’s official policy:Address: 94 White Lion Street, London, N1 9PF
Tel: 020 7837 1228
Email: sustain@sustainweb.org

Is 70:30 the magic formula for all ads?

695124 — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:17:50 GMT

In this morning’s times 2 there is a review by Anjana Ahuja of a book called ‘Quirkology: The Curious Science of Everyday Lives’ by Professor Richard Wiseman. Wiseman, who is a social psychologist, writes about lonely hearts ads. His experiments, based on 25-word personal ads, show that nearly all the most successful had a 70:30 balance: 70% about me and 30% about you. More than 70% about me and I come across as self-centred. Less than 70% and I’m hiding something. And I need to devote 30% to my dream soul mate, or he/she won’t be able to identify himself/herself. I am wondering if Wiseman has unearthed a formula that might work for ALL ads.When you think about it, the pressure to get a personal ad right is extreme. We’ve spent our working lives trying to build brands, but brand ME is an altogether higher priority. Obviously I want to say enough about myself to attract interest and attention. But if I fail to give my target market enough clues to identify herself, why should she bother? Isn’t that rather the situation with all advertising? Too much manufacturer speak, too many features called out – and you end up speaking to yourself. Equally there have been legions of atmospheric and emotive ads that have failed because either the brand or the product (or both) were too recessive. Hopefully there are academics out there with the time and inclination to take, say, 20 IPA Effectiveness Award-winning campaigns and a random sample of 20 other campaigns, and see if the winners peak at 70:30. One interesting sidelight on Wiseman’s research came from his use of a separate panel of volunteers to predict which ads would pull the most responses. There was a startling gender difference. The male volunteers were extremely good at predicting which ads would pull best. The women failed completely. Wiseman’s conclusion: men want quantity, women are only interested in quality. There’s another finding that might have a wider application.

Why it's so important to get behind Moray

695124 — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:24:28 GMT

No-one in the Cafe Royal listening to Moray MacLennan's inaugural address as IPA President yesterday could have failed to be impressed with his message.

Campaign today reprints the speech on pp 30 and 31. There are conflicting signals from the Titanic right now, with plenty of activity on the deck chair front. It was good to hear that the IPA’s agenda is going to be fundamental stuff about maritime safety, iceberg watch and developing new forms of transportation.

Marketing, advertising and all forms of marketing communications make a vital contribution to the economy – on a macro as well as a micro basis. As Moray said yesterday: ‘we must show how creativity is inextricably linked to business success’. He leads the agency community, but he particularly deserves support from clients as well. Brands don’t just need brilliant advertising. They also need brilliant agencies. Looking around the tables at the IPA Members’ Lunch yesterday, I was very struck by the concentration of talent and experience. Agency folk may move around, but the stars display remarkable resilience and stickability. There is fantastic experience out there. They’ve helped to launch and build scores of stellar brands. And they are available to do it again. And again. If during his two years Moray can reach his other target markets - government and the public – that would be a huge achievement. But meanwhile, let’s see clients and agencies working together to promote the economic benefits of advertising.

Real Marketers to the barricades

695124 — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 08:15:27 GMT

A month ago I called for the industry to mount a Campaign for Real Marketing to guard against the slide into mediocrity and short-termism. Last week I blogged every day in support of A4A (Action for Ads). Now it’s time to link the two causes. Will all marketing leaders out there who haven’t already done so please sign Campaign’s petition and lend their weight to the fight against the marginalisation of our freedoms by legislators, regulators and pressure groups.Six main items on the agenda:

Document all losses of “freedoms to” since the turn of the century, and decide a priority order of those that need overturning. Marketing’s leaders must stand up and defend the right to market – always provided we act responsibly. We should link the threats to marketing and advertising to fundamentals like freedom of speech
Identify all current and upcoming threats and make the case for the defence. Use words and phrases like ‘censorship’, ‘political correctness’, ‘nanny state’. Why should the devil have all the best tunes?
Get going on political lobbying – to all serious parties
Plan how best to engage the public. We have to explain what they stand to lose. Understandably the public (consumers, voters, whatever) only care about their self-interest. No one outside our world gives a fig for the advertising business
Make the fight as global as the reach of many of the brands under threat. We’ll line up more enemies that way – but just think of the more powerful support we would be able to call on
Look to making a dramatic short term gesture like ‘freedom warnings’ on ads

Should ads carry a freedom warning?

695124 — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 09:14:34 GMT

To make Action for Ads (A4A) stick, why doesn’t the industry devise a “freedom warning” for ads in sensitive sectors, where we feel there is an ongoing threat from government, regulators and pressure groups?A4A isn’t just about the freedom of marketers and agencies to tell honest, decent and true stories about their brands – provided it is done in a responsible way. It is also about freedom from undue interference. Putting a freedom warning on the ads themselves would remind consumers how important it is to defend their right to choose the brands they want. Without ads, how can they know which car, biscuit, beer or mortgage is for them? It’s a free country.

Do you mind if I call it A4A?

695124 — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 10:13:03 GMT

I seem to be referring to Action For Ads in every post at the moment. So when we are just talking amongst ourselves I thought it might be OK to call it A4A

Now that so many of us have signed the petition, might it be a good idea to have a debate about A4A, and how we can all make it work? It's almost like a pitch. A4A is the brand, and we are all a bit like an agency team having a preliminary look. As ever - lots of questions:

Is A4A about freedom? (Freedom to or Freedom from? Or both?)
Is A4A about choice?
Is it about responsibility?
All the above?
We know it is a petition - is it also a cause?
Is it a crusade?
It's obviously about changing attitudes. Is it also about changing behaviour?
Who is it aimed at? Clearly government, the authorities, the regulators. But surely also the industry itself. The public too?
And does A4A have potential to recruit the very best young talent? Maybe a more positive image would persuade the very best to look at the world of advertising instead of the City, law etc

Do please post your comments and suggestions. This is a pitch we must win.