Product placement arrives in the UK

I received an interesting offer this week. If I plugged a company’s Ugg boots on this blog, they would pay me $50. Product placement is about to become big business in the UK. As of tomorrow, companies will be able to place products in programming. ITV’s “This Morning” is leading the way with a coffee machine from Nestle. Look forward to a “P” appearing on your screen warning you that what follows is marketing managers dream rather than necessarily..reality. It will be interesting to see how ITV manage this editorially and how consumers receive it. It’s clearly not as powerful as earned editorial but it’s another useful addition to the marketing mix.

 

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Designing the perfect elevator pitch

A few years ago I heard Allan Leighton speak at a marketing conference. “If they haven’t understood, you haven’t communicated” he said in his talk outlining the challenges he was facing at the Post Office at the time. Allan had the habit of turning up unannounced at postal sorting offices around the country to talk directly to staff about the challenges the business faced and the remedies needed.

He claimed his communications team were brilliant at “strategy” … he had never met so many strategists he said…but what he really needed was great communicators …managers who could be understood by the workforce.

He believed that most marketing and comms. people could learn from the Sun newspaper, the best communicator in the world. Every morning it took the most complex political issues and simplified them into something understandable and relevant to us all. That’s what all great communicators do he ranted. And of course he was right.

When we try and communicate, rarely do we start off with the intention of not being understood. Sometimes however it is hard to distil our complex messages into something easiliy understood, relevant and inspiring to our audience.

I came across four questions today in a book about another great communicator Steve Jobs. They claim to be the structure for the killer elevator pitch. I realised when reading them that I often use these principles when crafting messages for clients….but they are useful checklist, none the less.

1. Who am I (why should they listen to me)

2. What problem am I trying to solve?

3. What am I offering that is different?

4. Why should they care?

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Google Flu Trends

Clever old Google. They even have an application that allows you to predict the growth of Swine flu.

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Barcode Wikipedia

Last summer I wrote a post about a Visitor book I had read whilst on holiday in Spain. I went on to remark that the concept could be more widely adopted in the brand world (a remark that resulted in an appearance by yours truely on Radio 4).  

Tonight I came across a concept that was first muted at  the Social Innovation Camp last summer – a Barcode Wikipedia. The thought behind it is that rather like Visitor books, you share your thoughts about a product with your fellow consumers. In this case however, to receive your insights, your fellow consumers would scan the barcodes of products they were thinking of buying using (possibly) a Mobile phone.

Wow..what an amazing concept. I really hope this gets picked up. Apparently Consumer Focus Labs have some interest in championing it. I must confess I hadn’t heard of Consumer Focus …. a big confession given that it’s the statutory body set up to be the voice on the consumer to brand owners. Consumer Focus Labs role (so it’s website says) is to build on-line tools to make people’s dealings with companies fairer, save them money, or keep them informed about products or issues that are important to them.

This is definitely one to watch. I’m just amazed Google haven’t done it already.

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How to use Twitter

When every TV and radio celebrity is talking about their Twitter site and the Times produce a Top Twitter List, you know it’s gone mainstream. Here is an interesting summary of the ways marketers can use Twitter… produced by Fallon.

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Memorable corporate storytelling

If you read this Blog regularly you will know that I believe storytelling is  an increasingly critical skill that needs to be acquired by brand and communication managers. Stories, unlike simple messages, get remembered and get passed on. I found this presentation which summarises some of the concepts within Chip & Dan Heaths book – Made to Stick.  It identifies the components of ideas that get remembered. It’s doesn’t provide the full framework to develop stories, but it does provide a neat checklist to help thinking.

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Google recommends Fred’s place

This week Google announced a new service that supplements it’s Google maps program called Latitude. Latitude allows you to share your location with your friends and see where your friends are on a map. It works on any phone that runs with Google maps and allows you to text friends or phone them to get an immediate recommendation on their location…”I see you are in Kingston, what are the crowds like ..I’m thinking of visiting later”. It’s Twitter plus and clearly going to take off. Only problem I guess is if it gets in the wrong hands … “Fred’s out..let’s visit his place”!

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Mobile Advocacy

Mobile Internet is getting ready for take off and there are a number of interesting applications being discussed this week.

1. The Sunday Times reports that a system called Shomas is being tested that combines the best of the web and the best of a true retail experience. You type into your mobile what you are looking to purchase and the system let’s you know which of the shops nearby stocks the item and who is offering the best deals. As I have said before on this blog, it is only a matter of time before you will be able to scan barcodes with your mobile and get independant ratings on any product. Welcome to the world of people power!

2. Ford have launched a campaign across Europe call “Find it”aimed at 20 somethings. By pointing your Nokia phone at a small square patch, a 3D Ka appears on your screen.  Great play value and something that will get people talking.

3. The New York Times, who interestingly mention that Google has just put in place an early warning system for Flu outbreaks (it monitors searches for Flu symptoms), also discussed the way GPS systems in phones are being used to monitor and improve workplace collaboration – it’s good to talk apparently rather than type away on a keyboard!  A bit Big Brotherish, but phone GPS has so many empowering applications that I guess this is just the start.

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A short cut to brand building

My wife accused me of not listening to her this weekend? I’ve been decorating our hall and stairs for about 6 years now and despite MANY MANY! reminders, had once again forgotten to get the paint brush out.
I of course have a good excuse for this – I’m suffering from information overload. With so many paint riddled messages directed at me by the wife during the week…my mind must have tuned out…I was thinking of The Reds when I should have be thinking of Magnolia. 
This of course is the problem with the advertising world we live in. During every part of the day we are bombarded with commercial messages and we protect ourselves by tuning out. Thankfully some enlightened brands are beginning to recognise this engagement problem and have been looking for other solutions to grab our attention.
This new world is the world of Brand Butlers, where brands look to simplify consumers lives, serving up short-cuts that can be accessed by the act of buying the product. It’s the world of Ariel 30 degrees, where purchasing the product saves the planet and saves you money in the process. Or PG Tips, where you can “do your bit” by buying PG, ensuring the planet remains green and the third world gets a decent wage too. Each of these brands have looked beyond the functional deliverables of their category and identified simple solutions to big angst’s in life, that have the power to engage us long enough to buy the product.
I explained this theory in detail to the wife today. She offered an immedate short-cut ..a decorator. It wasn’t quite the solution I was looking for!

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Brand Storytelling

We held a fantastic event at the British Library last night, outlining our 6 steps of storytelling – a programme designed to help business make it’s messaging more viral. Does it work….is it the bleeding obvious? The truth is that most of us were trained out of storytelling as soon as we entered the business world.  We were taught to focus, to summarise, to distill. In the Advocacy age, Storytelling needs to be reintroduced into organisations once again to make messages engaging, easier to remember and easier to pass on. And whilst I’m on the subject of engaging audiences … have a look at this clip of Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer below…ENGAGING or what!

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