In my last marketing blog I mentioned I have just had a ACL reconstruction of my knee. With a major operation that involves a hamstring graft, holes drilled in your tiba and femur and a graft inserted and screwed into place you would think this would be the worst part. If not that then maybe it’s the crutches and inability to walk for a number of weeks…
Turns out to date none of these have been my biggest problem, mine has without doubt been the infection in one of my wounds, not only did it give me the fever and restrict movement but it also meant I had to go back under the knife to have it internally cleaned (tmi I know).
Now I don’t wish this on my worst enemy however it does show no matter how much preparation, how complex the operation, the idea, or the execution it’s hard to account for everything. Sometimes it’s that one infected stakeholder that doesn’t agree that can scupper an idea, maybe it’s the weather was not on your side or maybe (like my case) it’s completely out of your control.
What if it had been a really cloudy day when EMart setup this shadow QR code in Korea?
Or Richard decided not to send the infamous tweet that sparked this genius reply from Bodyform.
Maybe the weather spoiled the chances of seeing planes in the sky for BA’s famous Magic Of Flying billboard
Or Steve Jobs decided to stop ploughing money into the huge loss making company Pixar?
A bad bit of luck could have affected the success of all the above. It just shows one infection can change the direction of a campaign or make the journey a lot more painful.
You might not be able to remove the chances of ill luck but you can certainly plan for most eventualities and then keep everything crossed!
The old adage sums it up “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail”.
The hardest part is not necessarily coming up with a new idea, new technique or a new process but more often than not it is trying to get that client or stakeholder to take that leap of faith.
Having just been through an ACL knee reconstruction using a hamstring graft, drill and various screws it does make you wonder what new ideas along the way made this procedure even possible.
They used to brace the knee and advise no running for a year, now they don’t brace it at all and aim to get people running within 3 months. This is why insight is so important to new ideas, some clever so and so would have had to prove getting the knee moving straight away will facilitate a much better range of movement in the long run.
The world of marketing might rarely get people walking again but ensuring your idea solves a problem and fulfils a customer need is key.
I hear a lot of people say “What did we do last year?”, my question would be “What’s the problem this year?”, replicating what we did last year is leaving the brace on and doing what we always have – it works but is it optimum?
Looking at this year’s challenge and how we can better what we did last year is asking “do we need a brace?”, “should we get them weight-bearing as soon as possible?”.
We need to ensure we are always looking for better ways to engage the customer. Should we be talking to everyone or should we be targeting the people that care? Are we on our toes looking for emerging platforms that are more engaging?
Also being as ephemeral as possible can add huge impact, take Leicester winning the premier league, great opportunity for geo-targeted party deals. Captain Morgan have done a fantastic job jumping on the Fox’s bandwagon with their limited edition bottle!
With new ideas it’s always worth asking does it solve the problem and is it worth the leap of faith? When my knee allows me to leap I will let you all know…
The days in between Christmas and New Year always seems to be the time to relax and do something you really enjoy, whether it’s a new PS4 game, going for a family stroll or in my case getting the acrylics out.
Now I have always loved to paint faces and people, as you can see below these are a few I have painted in the past.
However following my visit to the edge of the arctic circle (as I mentioned in the blog before last) I became inspired to paint the Aurora Borealis, a natural event I am sure I could never fully capture.
On beginning this painting, I started by laying down the green/black background, as you can see below it was a standard background I was pretty happy with.
However interesting things started to happen when I added the first bursts of light across the sky. Upon returning to my painting a few hours later all I could see was a face, I no longer saw the lights I only saw this face that I wanted to bring to life further.
This got me thinking, however much people try to change they tend to fall back into old habits, whether it’s the January gym-goers or the people currently struggling to get to the end of Dry January.
Which also begs the question, are you better to embrace what you are good at and hone your skills becoming a specialist or are you better to continue to learn new skills and become a jack of all?
In this case I decided to fall back into old habits …
If this lady (now named Aurora) can be born out of a landscape of the Northern Lights then it certainly shows how far a final execution can be from an initial idea.
The best ideas come from a creative process with an idea being broken down, reworked and added to until it is something special.
You can pretty much guarantee most ideas did not start off as they finished, there are a number of invention examples that were nothing more than lucky mistakes.
I certainly found this lady more interesting to paint …
… however she did not fill the Northern Lights size hole in my life. As a result I am now back to square one, just like those January gym-goers, I am starting to paint that famous light show once more.
First on the list certainly won’t be a surprise as it has been building for some time but with the introduction of the Oculus Rift in the first half of this year and the less powerful Playstation VR thereafter this is going to be a big year for AR and VR technology.
The VR headset has already been used to great effect in the Center Parcs Woburn Forest work at Waterloo station. It can’t be easy to explain an experience based holiday to customers purely using a brochure but this campaign overcame this hurdle by transporting the customer to the environment from a London train station!
As the technology becomes more universal brands and retailers will have the ability to create 360 experiences that are truly immersive for the customer.
Wearable tech
The most high profile launch of 2015 was without doubt the Apple Watch and 2016 looks to be stronger still for wearable technology. Watches that no longer need linking to mobile phones and the invention of Smart Thread so your clothing will soon charge your phone or communicate with other devices are some of the incredible innovations coming soon.
The inclusion of software like contactless payment and GPS navigation also means wearables will start to enhance the shopping trip, from being able to find your favourite shop or paying for something with just one touch, everything will get easier.
The invention of apps like L’Oréal Make-up Genius and gadgets like the Intel Memory Mirror mean there is also no need to actually apply make-up or try something on again in the fitting room.
Video adverts
If you are anything like me you’ll detest the adverts that come up before watching a YouTube clip, I am not sure if it’s the fact they are for Ronan Keating’s new album or the new Honda Civic.
However it seems people are becoming more forgiving of these adverts and as a result it looks like Google will be the next to embrace them.
Obviously Google will have more than dabbled in this arena what with owning YouTube and it looks like they are going to start to integrate video adverts into their search, currently text based ads are the norm but imagine auto-play videos that can be clicked and expanded.
On this occasion they may be a little further behind the curve than usual, their search engine competitors are also trialing video in search and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have been doing this for some time.
So as video becomes the standard this will no doubt impact the customers need for faster, more accessible internet and in turn greater bandwidth and mobile data.
Mobile First
The rise and subsequent take over in online traffic last year verses desktop shows the increasing importance of mobile.
Google SERPs has also made mobile optimisation essential to get a good ranking, this in turn will ensure businesses back mobile and no doubt the experience will continue to improve.
We are already reaping these rewards; we can price check in store, download an app to pick up a free Magnum ice cream or tweet a competition, all whilst on our weekly shop.
As this platform becomes more important impetus will be placed on app development, apps are not only better than responsive websites, they are more intuitive and the user gets a better experience.
So watch out for some exciting mobile apps that will take your shopping experience to the next level, maybe Siri will even carry your bags!
Digital Assistants
Speaking of Siri, this year we could well see the rise of the digital assistant, with software updates and new hardware on the market all the time assistants like Echo, Cortana and Siri are only becoming more advanced.
A toddler’s first reaction to a phone or tablet has moved in recent times from button tapping to screen swiping, could these digital PAs be the next step? Will kids be shouting at there tablets in the future?
Who knows but it certainly is something to look out for in 2016.
Content essential
Probably the smallest surprise on the list but certainly the biggest hitter. As content becomes even more important to brands and Google continues to put more ownus on dwell time the rise of content is certainly not slowing down.
It’s not just any content either, it’s quality content targeted at the right type of consumer. Relevancy is also a key driver with brands expected to react in real time to current events as well as deliver a personalised experience.
In tribute to the passing of David Bowie Blippar created a tribute to the late great Ziggy Stardust, giving people the opportunity to don the lightning flash across their face, a fun idea with such agile turn around not only commemorates the great man but drives people to download Blippar.
Wastage is also no longer an option, why blast a digital ad for the new Dior perfume to everyone when you can send it specifically to young professional women for much less cost. As the Internet Of Things continues to grow the power of data and relevant content will only increase, watch this space > .
Location Location Location
The Internet of things will also heavily influence location based marketing. Whether it is iBeacons, RFIDs or geofencing it all ties into the relevancy piece.
How do we give you the right deals, info or inspiration at the right time? At the moment we as marketeers have been guilty of trying to shout in a crowd and wave our arms to get your attention, these new technologies give us the opportunity to pull out your Beats headphone and whisper exactly what you want to hear.
So rather than a scatter gun approach not only can the message be delivered to the right person but more importantly it can be delivered at the right time.
Real time
I may be banging on about relevance but this is because it is relevant!
The rise of live is testament to this, with the likes of SnapChat growing into a viable marketing platform and the launch of Periscope, a live video stream service from Twitter.
Customers no longer only want to know what happened yesterday and this morning, they want to know what is happening now (If you’re interested I’m cooking monkfish).
So it looks to be an exciting year ahead with marketing becoming more ephemeral and the customer experience becoming even more immersive.
The rise of the buzzword Omnichannel will continue and marketing channels will start to blur together. No doubt brands with a truly singled minded approach and through the line ideas will continue to reign.
When I told the guys at Tesco I was going to be spending 4 days in Iceland I think they may have thought I had taken my Christmas competitor analysis a little too far! Luckily my love for Peter Andre does not run quite that deep, however my love for the Northern Lights certainly does.
It has always been top of my list to see The Lights and last month I had the pleasure of fulfilling this ambition.
It is truly amazing how tiny little particles colliding in the atmosphere can cause such an awe-inspiring display and we were lucky enough to see the aurora on a particularly active night, as you can see below.
How something so small can have such a huge impact and how all the little can add up to the large is true of so many things.
Think starlings in flight, on their own not that impressive but when they flock together they create a spectacle that surpasses any firework display.
Or the Butterfly Effect which theorises little actions or small decisions can spiral into something much bigger.
This is true of the shopper also, little gestures can alter someone’s mood and create a memorable experience. There is a great quote from Maya Angelou.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.
So first and foremost we need to ensure we create an emotional connection with the customer, whether it is a smile at the till, a great reply on social media or help entertaining the kids on the weekly shop. It’s all these little things routed in great insight that can give that customer that warm feeling, so they don’t need to remember what you did or what you said.
Having watched many Ted talks over the years this is certainly one that has stayed with me and shows the impact a small gesture can have on someones life.
So don’t forget to create memorable experiences and pay forward those lollipop moments.
My neighbour’s house was sadly broken in to a few days ago and even after smashing through double glazing back doors, conservatory doors and ransacking the house they didn’t seem to take anything.
It sounds more opportunistic than planned and I couldn’t help thinking what small things could have made the difference in the house they chose. Whether it’s as simple as a car on a drive, a rickety gate or the height of a garden wall, this all would have affected their mindset and ultimately whose weekend they decided to ruin.
Now clearly there is no comparison in invading someone’s personal home and our working lives however there is certainly a cross over in how small gestures can affect people’s mindset and ultimately people decisions.
When I have a great idea I always prefer to present face to face and take the person on a journey. Not only does it make it easier to sell-in, but you can put the audience in the correct state of mind so they understand the decisions you have made.
However, taking people on a journey is not always enough, there are also occasions where you and others around you are all in the right place but you just need a bit of luck.
Maybe a cat ran past and set off a security light which made the burglar pick a different property, maybe he/she had not gone to the gym and fancied jumping a fence for some extra exercise (unlikely I know).
I watched a film called 20 Feet From Stardom the other day, it was about backing singers. Some had all the talent in the world, seemed destined for stardom but they didn’t get that piece of luck, that cat never turned on their security light.
An extremely interesting film that I thoroughly recommend, it’s uplifting to see the people behind some of those great songs. To hear them speaking with singers that had successes and some that did not, it shows sometimes talent is not enough.
If you get all those little things right, more often than not they add up to a sum greater than their parts.
This is why mindset is so key, there’s no point giving out ice cream on a winter’s night or mulled wine on a hot summer’s day, you need to understand what the customer wants at that given moment.
As Christmas draws closer mindset becomes ever more important, no one even considers the man in the red suit until Halloween is over and then suddenly it’s the only thing to focus on.
When do customers need wrapping paper? At want point in the customer journey should we remind them of batteries? When do they buy their crackers? These are things we need to ensure we have at forefront of mind.
Luck does not come into it and nothing is left to chance, we must ensure we deliver the correct mindset so we don’t have to rely on trusty moggie ever again …
We have launched our new price matching initiative at Tesco this week, whilst looking after the Shopper Marketing aspect of Brand Guarantee it got me thinking how important (and challenging at times) live feedback can be.
Times have changed considerably from the days of waiting to see what people thought of a campaign or waiting for the phone to ring with challenges from the stores.
You know instantly how the launch has gone, you become a lot closer to the store operations, including what it takes to setup a store and what issues need rectifying.
The Instantaneous nature of the feedback means you can catch things earlier but you can equally react to an isolated incident as if it is on a grand scale.
You can receive really positive direct feedback from the stores or stores work together as a community to answer each other’s questions.
It is such a powerful tool that can give you great joy, cause you great stress but almost always bring different retail disciplines together to educate one another.
Not only does everyone have a camera on their phone but a lot of companies (including ours) have an internal social media. All these channels of feedback and that does not even count Twitter and Facebook, with which you can reach millions at the touch of a button!
Take Sainsbury’s as an example from last year, they decided to send an internal staff room poster that asked their staff to try and get their customers to spend an additional 50p on their shop (already a misjudged communication at best). However this poster made its way into the window of one store in error, one snap from a camera phone, one tweet and it was out in the world! Needless to say the social media backlash was less than positive…
To rub salt into the wound Lidl got hold of it and launched a “Let’s encourage every one of our lovely customers to save as many 50ps as possible”.
As you can see live feedback can be a double edged sword, you can learn new ways to do things and how you can improve the customer experience, however you can also have glaring errors exposed to the masses.
Most importantly it puts in perspective how important it is to get the detail right for the end user. A small corner cut in one person’s eyes can have a huge implications further down the chain, whether it’s ensuring everything is packed correctly or engaging the store in the right way, it all helps to deliver the best campaign for the customer.
As I mentioned earlier Tesco’s new price matching initiative launched Monday and it is even more instant than live feedback!
Let me know what you think of the in-store execution?
All marketing is about eliciting a response from the consumer, sometimes it’s about making the customer laugh and sometimes is it about making ther customer cry.
These ideas alter the customers perception and make them think. They also showcase how powerful imagery can be to change the way you look at a product…………
This is a powerful piece of shopper marketing by Feed South Africa, it was used to draw attention to the South Aftican homeless problem. Following this simple idea, using cheap vinyls in the bottom of shopping trolleys, donations went up by 25%.
New Zealand advertising agency BDO created this campaign to showcase how much littter is dropped at this bus stop in one week. Nice idea but I worry people will take on the challenge to fill it up!
How do you make someone want to join the gym? Well you shame them into it of course!
Fitness First installed these scales in a Dutch bus stop and displayed the weight of the person sitting at the bus stop on the billboard.
Some very clever thought provoking marketing with parking spaces popping up in unusual places to remind people never to drive drunk.
As part of UNICEF’s Tap Project they installed a dirty water vending machine in New York. Members of the public could either buy coloured water made to look like specific ‘flavours’ such as malaria or they could donate with cash in the machine/text to the foundation.
This activation gained over $500,000 in donated media advertising.
This great use of ambient media by a local pet store was activated due to insight that you could be right up close to your pet and not know about their flea infestation.
Not sure how effective it was at the time but nonetheless it’s a clever piece of marketing.
Everyone remembers the famous ‘Is it Black Blue / White Gold dress?’, the Salvation Army used the dress’s fame to help communicate a powerful message about Domestic Violence.
For the record, I saw White Gold on the original.
Not much explanation needed, the advert reads: ‘One child is holding something that’s been banned in America to protect them. Guess which one.
We won’t sell Kinder chocolate eggs in the interest of child safety. Why not assault weapons?’.
All these ideas are simple and the messages are very powerful but what makes them worth talking about is the media that has been used.
I tip my hat to each and every idea, some more shocking than others but all poignant and thought provoking.
What’s more important, the person that can come up with the idea or the person that can deliver it?
Some people can create a spark and make fire from almost anywhere and some people are great at keeping that fire burning and using it effectively.
Keeping it burning and delivering that idea is more often than not where most of the hardworking lies. Managing the budget, making decisions along the way and implementing the people in the right place is a talent in itself.
The philosopher B.J.Gupta once said “Hard Work doesn’t guarantee success, but improves its chance”‘. You certainly can’t have success without hard work, however you can have success without a great idea – does that make hard work more important?
My favourite invention is probably the paper clip, simple idea but to achieve the best clip I would imagine numerous materials and shapes would have preceded it.
The Post-It is a fantastic example of this, 10 years in the making trying to find a glue that was not “too sticky”!
However the plaudits go to the ideation rather than the development or hard work .
For everyone that can create a spark and start a fire there is also those that put fires out. Those that can find something wrong with an idea and every reason not to take that leap of faith, these fireproof people are to be listened to and then ignored.
If you have something new then listen to other sparkies and ignore the fire resistant.
The English chemist John Walker that created the friction match never gave up and now he can create fire whenever he wants!
On this rainy day I thought it might be nice to brighten up the mood with some Guerilla marketing that will make you smile!
1) Fantastic Copenhagen Zoo bus advert! Amazing how a great graphic can trick the eye.
2) Very simple idea from Nike….
3) Wonderbra add their own yellow line to the platform in case you are wearing one of their bras. Fantastic idea and very tongue and cheek.
4) TV show Ugly Betty having some fun with shopping centre media with the launch of the new series…
5) This is how you create huge impact for a film launch! King Kong made it look like the oversized gorilla had made his way across the Santa Monica beach crushing a lifeguard reponse vehicle on route.
6) Don’t forgot you need a Guinness when playing pool …. if you do forgot Guinness have found a novelty way to remind you.
7) A skydive company uses a lift floor to sell their experience to Joe Public. I hope you don’t have vertigo Joe!
8) Fun novelty gift given out by Mercedes. Everyone can get the Mercedes view out of their windscreen whatever their budget is.
9) There were some fantastic fun ideas to promote the launch of Ant-man, tiny billboards dotted around the city to mention but one however this was is favourite. More of a viral piece, no doubt missed by passers by but great fun.
10) How should we promote our new mascara? Let’s rebrand the turnstiles.
11) An intresting way to promote the strength of 3M security glass. They must have had supreme confidence in their product.
12) Colgate produced an ice cream with a lolly stick twist in the centre to remind you to clean your teeth.
13) One of my favourites below with Mr.Clean getting that zebra crossing bar whiter than white. Clever idea and instantly demonstrates the product, love it.
14) Again another clever idea that demonstrates the benefits of the product in an unusual place. This time using a sofa to sell skin care.
15) Finally to end is my favourite. When Audi put up a billboard advertising their new model and a message goading their biggest competitor “Your Move BMW” they couldn’t have been expecting BMW’s response.
The BMW billboard appearing next to the Audi “Your Move” billboard with the words “Checkmate” and their new model is simply genius and I applaud whoever created it!
Shopper Marketing 