London Fashion Week: Menswear day

Photos by Iulia C.

Paper is Dead. The Use of Reverse Psychology in Marketing.

A friend forwarded to me a site that came across as a non-profit, pro-environment, recycle, sustainability, etc. website to encourage people to do the right thing and 'think and act green'.  This is brilliant, I thought, especially that my friend is supporting me on trying to be sustainable and green. However, on second and third glance, I realised this was reverse psychology! This is possibly the best campaign I have ever come across. You need to watch the Paper Videos. 

Here is the site: http://www.paperbecause.com/media/the-workflow

This site was created by Domtar Inc - a paper company.

What in the name of marketing is going on here?!  Why is a company that produces and sells paper creating a site that talks about going 'paperless'?

I can't remember the exact term on the top of my head of how to describe this marketing tactic but it's when opinions and attitudes are influenced by exploiting the mainstream thinking with the undertone (using humour) to lead the consumer to realise the opposing argument.

This purpose of this campaign is to show consumers what a 'paperless' (work) world would be like. For example, on the video titled Paper - Essential for Life's Big Moments, the first 3/4 of the video talks about how most college students would consider themselves environmentally friendly and that going paperless is an important green initiative. However, the tables turn when they are asked on what they think about getting their degree in PDF format.

Overall, the mission for Domtar Inc. is to generate sales again of paper but also encourage the sustainable usage of paper. Similar to alcohol ads which encourage you to buy their beverages but to drink responsibly. Great job Domtar Inc., I give you five out of five stars.

Paper is good. Pass it on.

words: Griselda Zhou

IMC weekend in Cambridge

It was anticipated for months. After deciding on a case study, setting the menu, choosing outfits, and finding groups to work in for the last time, our MAMC weekend in Cambridge finally arrived.

Before the weekend, we were given a case study on easyJet with the task of developing an integrated marketing communications plan and campaign. The key objective was to come up with a long-term competitive advantage and more sustainable positioning for the airline. Since the novelty of low cost air travel has been wearing out, the easyJet brand needs to start focusing on what else it can offer to customers and what the brand stands for besides low cost travel.

We were lucky to have the company of industry expert Paul Simons as well as several other professors and our course leaders join us for the weekend to provide advice, guidance, and answer questions continuously up until the presentations.

Luckily, the weekend wasn’t all hard work. After we presented our solutions to the easyJet brief, dinner on Saturday night was held at Peterhouse College at Cambridge University. While the pictures below can speak for themselves, it was absolutely exquisite, and left everyone feeling a little more royal - or even a little out of a Harry Potter film.

It was fantastic to learn some final key things before running with our own IMCs for the summer, but more lovely to have a final weekend altogether and celebrate the culmination of a wonderful year.

Hayley Millard

Peterhouse College, Cambridge University 

Cambridge University 

Everyone working hard at the Moller Conference Centre

Punting

"I like Snogging better than ice cream"

Zero Fat!  Stay healthy by eating pure frozen yogurt!  Great for cooling the mind.

check their website for more detail: http://www.ifancyasnog.com/


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First Direct campaign

The MAMC Public Relations class was also lucky to have Camille Deeny from JWT attend a few weeks ago.

One extra thing Camille presented to us was JWT’s appraised campaign for First Direct.

The First Direct “Tell us what you’re thinking” campaign first designed a forum to get their customers chatting to see what people have to say about First Direct banking, and look at how they really feel about the brand.

I could say more, but just take a look at this video to see how the initial concept was turned into something truly innovative, which became unlike any other campaign in the banking industry. Who can other consumers trust better than other satisfied First Direct customers? An absolutely genius idea.

Hayley Millard

Marketing Symposium - April 4th, 2011

For the last symposium of the term, we were delighted to have two fantastic speakers take the time to come to the University of Westminster on April 4^th.

The first speaker was Camille Deeny, a Global Account Planner with JWT. She discussed case studies on popular brands that have achieved success with international marketing. She focused primarily on a case study of the brand Canesten, to illustrate how this brand was marketed differently to female audiences across different parts of the globe. The main take away point was to keep in mind if the market has matured or is still relatively immature, as well as if the advertisements for in an international campaign should use a standardization or adaptation strategy depending on regional differences.

Camille Deeny, JWT Advertising

The second speaker was Helen Keegan, a Mobile Marketing Consultant for beepmarketing. Given that 91 percent of adults in the UK use a mobile phone, and 65 million adults have an active phone subscription, this market is evidently an enormous one to tap into right now.

Helen Keegan, Mobile Marketing Consultant

Also - did you know that there are mobile applications that retail stores have developed that can essentially “speak” to you as you pass by their store? Consumers can either receive a text message or Bluetooth message from the retail brand that inform  them of sales or new products, for example, as they and their mobile phone pass through one of the retail locations receptions zones. Pretty cool!

When also taking into account the countless opportunities to integrate with other digital channels, mobile marketing seems to be an area with many expanding opportunities, and an area of marketing I know a lot of soon to be graduating students are interested in getting into.

Panel L-R: Anne Barker, Camille Deeny, Helen Keegan

At the end of the symposium, both speakers gave advice and answered questions on careers and planning for going forward into the real world out there after graduating from a Master’s program – which we were all quite grateful for! Both Camille and Helen emphasized the importance of letting your personality distinguish you in a pool of applicants going for the same position. If you are a right fit for the job, you will surely stand out as long as you are being yourself. They also reminded students that there really is no conventional path to getting where you want to go or any timeline on when you need to get there. Any big or little experience you gain along the way will provide further direction to where you may be heading on your career path.

Many thanks again to both speakers, Anne Barker for organising the event, and for all the students and guests who attended!

Hayley Millard


Photographs by: Griselda Zhou

Glass Roof Bookstore

Have you ever seen a bookstore with glass roof? If not, Daunt Bookstore has it, it's just right around the corner of University of Westminster on Marylebone High Street, so why not pop-in and have a look around.  Great sources for study, cooking receipt and a lot more..

The glass roof reminds me the Wallace Collection museum, there is a very nice tea room in the middle of the museum, great open space with glass roof, a lot of natural light coming through, perfect to spend time for a afternoon tea.


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Emotional Branding - A Differentiation Tool

On the evening of 24th March 2011, a Marketing Symposium was held at the University of Westminster on the topic of Branding. Students and staff were lucky to have Paul Simons of Paul Simons Consulting and Crispin Reed, Managing Director of Brandhouse as the keynote speakers. Also in attendance was Darrel Kofkin, Chief Executive from Global Marketing Network (GMN).


The evening began with an opening from Anne Barker, event organiser and Senior Lecturer at Westminster University. She emphasised the importance of branding in the field of marketing. Her words were echoed by Mr. Kofkin of GMN, who mentioned that in this day and age, brand positioning is integral for success for any type of business. 

Panel - (L-R) Anne Barker, Crispin Reed, Paul Simons

First speaker of the evening, Paul Simons presented on brand differentiation. He gave three examples of industry best case practices that applied emotional branding techniques to position themselves in a competitive market. Nike faced a challenge with entering the global market. As an American brand that touted American sports (i.e. basketball), they quickly realised that in order to succeed in Europe, they would need to change its entrance strategy. With market research, Nike discovered an opportunity - that no other sports brand in the market 'owned' the emotion of sports as their unique selling point. It was the highest common factor within sports; the products and benefits were least important in their campaign. From then on, Nike's image has been re-focused and global success followed. 

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Paul Simons (Paul Simons Consulting) with WBS Alumni

Mr. Simons furthered enlightened the audience with success stories of Sony Playstation and Virgin Atlantic airlines. Sony used the fringes (i.e. clubs and nightspots) to boost their image through word of mouth and used the word 'Power' to describe Playstation in their campaigns. Virgin Atlantic embraced their identity, re-targeted their customers as the rock&roll businessman, and developed product superiority.  Mr. Simons left the audience with the following quote:


"Reasonable men attempt to adapt themselves to the world, unreasonable men attempt to adapt the world to themselves. Progress is in the hand of unreasonable men" - George Bernard Shaw.


Adding on to the theme of emotional branding was Crispin Reed. His speech was focused on Strategy and Creativity of branding. Mr. Reed described branding as a psychological experience where marketers can tap into simple human emotions when building a competitive advantage. He affirms that marketers must tell their brand story well in order to maximise consumers attention. Galaxy chocolate was the best case practice he used to illustrate how emotions drive decisions. If you look at Galaxy advertising now - you will notice that they are targeting women and their emotions around having chocolate. 

(L-R) Crispin Reed, Hayley Millard, Griselda Zhou, Darrel Kofkin (GMN)

Mr. Reed continued with examples from Waitrose and its increase of Danish pastry sales during the recession, Guiness and its national pride identity, and Nintendo Wii - an agent that helps reduce Parkinson's disease effects. 


The evening ended with an opportunity for students to ask questions to the panel. Following the Q&A session, students, staff, special guests and speakers mingled over tasty appetizers. Overall, it was a successful evening and much insight was gained on the mystery and application of emotions and branding. 

Students enjoying the hors d'oeuvres

Students Networking

Words: Griselda Zhou

When advertising is shocking - 2

Something interesting from the Guinness Factory museum in Dublin.

Guinness was also famous for a while for its advertising slogan "Guinness is Good For You"

When advertising is shocking - 1

When we didn’t know then what we know now.

There are countless campaigns that seemed completely normal when rolled out during their time that now have some serious shock factor. The tobacco campaigns pre- 1960s are now viewed as some of the most controversial messages that were broadly advertised to consumers.

A few interesting facts:

-For most of the 1700s, cigarettes were sold in blank packages. It was only when a package producer was having trouble with the softness of the carton material that the idea for putting an image or lithography onto the carton came. The images and printings were used to stiffen the package. In the 1800s, eventually images and brands were printed on the cartons and were some of the first marketing tactics used.

-Throughout the 1960s and 70s, cigarette brands were often sponsors of television shows, to make some of their slogans and jingles catchy and memorable.

-The filter tip was added to cigarettes in the 1960s so tobacco companies could advertise their brand as “safer” and “less potent”.

-Anti-tobacco groups have found that tobacco campaigns have more frequently targeted women than men.

-Some of the most popular tobacco ads not only featured celebrities, but frequently doctors and political figures that would make claims about the safety or positive benefits of smoking. More controversial even yet were the ads that featured babies encouraging their mothers to smoke a chosen brand.

 

Supermarket Psychology

Last week, Scott Hodgins from Acuity (a business specializing in eye-tracking software for use in marketing and psychology) visited the MAMC Sales Promotions class to demonstrate how the eye tracking software works.

Here is an example of how it can be used to analyse how consumers typically look at a shelving area in a supermarket. This video also gives some interesting insight into what goes on in a consumer's mind as they are shopping in a grocery store, looking at how the store design, shelf layouts, and even package colours can sub-consciously influence our purchases.

Second MBS Marketing ThinkTank Symposium - 27th January 2011

Hello in the new year and the week after the exam period where we all come back from a dark and lonely place called library :)

The reschedules symposium will finally take place on Thursday, the 27th of January. I promise you an interesting evening! 

If you don't remember the fabulous speakers we are going to listen to click HERE to get more information.

I hope to see you all there and wish all those who are working on their dissertation right now (like me) a great work flow and the rest: have a good start in the new term!