Ad of the week: Nando's New CEO (Cell C Rip-off Ad)

This is one of the better rip-off spoofs I have seen from the advertising arsenal of the comedy-loving marketers at Nando's.  They get my vote for grabbing my attention, even though I thought I have seen it all from them.  After all these years, they still create campaigns that goes viral and create Word-of-mouth.

I would have liked a web, social media and Mobile campaign that went with the ad and in store displays...

Ad of the week: Audi A4 TDI

Absolutely brilliant.  Full marks for concept, execution, entertainment value and brand awareness. I would love to hear if this ad influenced sales.

Choosing how you consume media

The data is there: People have a need to be entertained and have a need to be heard: Twitter knows this. This is the reason why they have to spend millions upon millions to buy their own servers as they have become too successful for their current infrastructure. For the same two reasons; people read and create blogs.
We need information to be taylored to our needs: we want relevant, entertaining news "alerts" to read in the short time that we can invest in it. We consume media in short bursts at convenient time.


This brings the cell phone back into my fold: you have this instrument on your person the whole day and use it to consume those small bursts. You read your emails, read what your frinds are up to on Facebook and follow your heros on Twitter. If you are a Blackberry or iPhone user, chances are that you have installed an App or two.  Some of the most downloaded apps are those of News House Giants like Associated Press, Reuters, Time Magazine and some more "entertainment" based media like Oprah's "O"-magazine, Sports Illustrated and other niche publications.  The point of the matter is that people have "gaps" in their schedule that they fill by utilising their mobile phones. That is why Twitter's 160 characters are so well received:  We have limited time and only reading 160 characters is enough for us to determine if we want to click through to read more.


However, all of the above is Pull-marketing:  The user have to consciously go into the media service to consume.  None of the media gets "sent" to them.  We get emails all the time that are "pushed" to us; so why not give people the opportunity to "receive" the content they require?  


Vodacom's News4U

This is what Vodacom's News4U does.  A few million, news filled MMS'es have been sent to their consumer base since September 2009.  This MMS gives you news stories (for a lack of a better term) "Twitter-style".  The first so-many characters of the story displays on the screen and if the recipient would like to read more, they can simply click on the link after the 30-second MMS and go to www.news4u.mobi, pictured left.
The idea is so simple: give the guy an option on how he can consume his media: Go into the app on his phone/ computer or push some highlights to him via email / MMS.

You have to remember that people are inherently lazy and preoccupied.  Push their "infotainment" to them... remind them of your content...

Under Utilised Advertising Media

The biggest shift in the advertising industry has to be that you show people ads that they want to see (or could want to see) instead of marketing department's previous "spay and pray" method of advertising.  The DMA SA (Direct Marketing association has been preaching this for years; but it is only with the advent of social media and improvements Mobile Marketing that the marketers could better classify the user to their preferences and interests and target them in a non obtrusive way.

   

The joke is that through social media platforms; we see "ads" like the one above as "welcome news updates". The technical term for this is "infotainment".  

There are millions of these ads out there; but you only choose to "opt-in" to those that you feel will enrich your life.

Now; given this new tidbit of Theory; how can you apply it to your marketing effort?  I will explore this further in a next article.

Some old 80's SA Ads. Can you still remember these?

Wow.  What a Blast from the Past!  That brought back some ole memories.  How our ads have evolved!

Ad of the week: The Top Gear-spoof Hyundai iX35 ad

Gotta love this one!



This is a feature that I hope to do more often.  This gets my vote purely on the brilliance of the voice over.  Did they actually get Jeremy Clarkson to do his own voice?  Oh Deer.

Blogging from my Blackberry

So today I have decided to engulf myself in digital marketing:

I woke up, read what Obama, William Shatner (Boston Legal) and Victor Matfield had on their minds on Twitter. I Tweeted how great I felt after my morning workout and then updated my status on Facebook. I read the news headlines on Reuter's Blackberry News feed and quickly glanced over www.ewn.co.za for the latest on our own Julius.

Now, for the first time in my life, I am blogging from my Blackberry!

If you should ask me what is going to be the biggest (silent) revolution of 2010; it will be mobile apps, mobile advertising and the move away from traditional advertising! If you compare the fierce loyalty users feel towards their iPhone or Blackberry, you would think they would suffer a panic attack of they had to spend a day without their prized possession.

So, my advice today would be to get cracking and exploiting this phenomenon and divert some (if not most) of your marketing budget towards mobile marketing. Who knows how many more millions of people will soon start their day I did today?

I foresee this as one of the biggest revolutionary shifts of our day and age, however, I am still in awe to see how many big companies have not yet converted their online property and optimised it so that it is optimally viewable on the 'small screen'.

I do not know who said it, but it is so true; 'If you see a bandwagon... Its too late'. - Lucky thing that they are only now building this bandwagon...

"Soon at a Bandwagon-stop near you!"
Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

Product design - Ask da People!

Lekka Flava's!

What do you do if your R&D have failed you in the past? When your "sure idea" tested well with the focus group, but failed in the real market? When you do not trust your own marketing instinct anymore?

You ask the public what they want! You incentivise them to get you some new ideas...

Been done, right? That is exactly what focus groups are? In the last couple of years marketers have even made millions making the search for the next "it" product into widely followed reality programs. If you do not think Heinz Winkler, Paul Potts, Susan Boyle or Kelly Clarkson were products, go and Google what they made in the year after their runaway successes.

But what if you are a FMCG (Fast Moving Consumable Goods) company and you need an original product idea that will sell? You go and ask the public and then offer them a percentage of the sales if their idea gets chosen. Yes, you read correctly: offer them a profit share!

Enter Simba's brilliant 2010 "Lekker Flavour"-campaign:

This idea is brilliant! They are asking the public to give them an idea of a new flavour of chips. To incentivise the deal, they are offering the winner R200,000 in cash and 1% of future sales earnings! Brilliant. The winner can, according to them be earning a wad of cash annually for the lifetime of the product! Imagine the product is as timeless as salt and vinegar flavour?

I am giving Simba two thumbs up for taking promotion incentives to a whole new level. I am normally the sucker that would change my brand preference if buying the product meant I could win a car, but this is so much better! Then secondly; making the public be your marketing team. The site even asks you to give a visual representation of your idea: Thus, the public is giving the panel of judges an idea how the packaging of the product could look too!

Go to the site and enter your unique idea. I have given them three ideas. Hopefully I get to win it all! Good luck with your entry!