Just in case it does rain...

If you are still looking for presents for Christmas, never fear, I've found the perfect product for you - especially if the intended recipient is living in Scotland!

Found through Angus, via SwissMiss, via Zinc Details - an umbrella stand with a difference.

OK, granted, at $155 there are cheaper options on offer, and probably you wouldn't manage to get it before the 25th - but if you happen to have a natural sponge lying around and some metal and a blow-torch you could knock one up for yourself.

Love it!

Find your future you...

I always like finding campaigns that allow you to have a little fun in your lunch break and that’s exactly what I just did on the ‘Find Your Future You’ website from Svedka vodka.

Why have a ‘future you’ website you might wonder, well, it’s based around the company’s claim / tagline that Svedka is “Voted #1 Vodka of 2033”, quite a random year to pick, but at least they have 26 years to try to live up to it. And both the ‘future you’ website and the official company website are suitably futuristic and entertaining so the company has started their campaign in the right direction.

Given that it’s only available in the US I very much doubt i’ll be buying a bottle any time soon though, but otherwise i would have been tempted to try it, if only to reward their brightening up of my lunch hour. I picked the ‘No Sunscreen You’ for my future self, not that I don’t use it, but I preferred that to being a down-and-out.

Meet My Future You - Find Your Own Future You
Have a go yourself here, and, if you’re making a trip to the US in the near future, maybe pick up a bottle on your way home. And, if you like, also feel free to drop one into the office here afterwards... It is coming up to Christmas after all.

Another idea for Christmas...

For those of you looking for a present for the less marketing inclined, but still want to give a present that could make a difference this Christmas, Oxfam may well have the answer (Can you tell I started my Christmas shopping this week?).

Just came across their great new ad for ‘Oxfam unwrapped’ on Talent Imitates, which put a little smile on my face on a dark winter afternoon.


So, how does it work? Well, instead of giving your loved ones useless presents they neither like nor want, you can choose a gift from Oxfam Unwrapped, from a variety of price ranges, your loved one will receive a gift card and fridge magnet and Oxfam will use the donation you’ve made on their behalf to help in the fight against poverty. Not a new concept I know, but their use of humour instead of near emotional blackmail puts a whole new spin on it and really makes the campaign stand apart.

OK, so this sort of present isn’t for everyone, but it does give an idea for that someone you know who seems to have everything, especially if that everything includes a big heart.

And if you want a few more laughs, you can see the out-takes from the advert below. Have a good weekend!

The Green Marketing Manifesto

I know that we’ll be too late by now to get one of the free books up for grabs by linking to ‘The Green Marketing Manifesto’, but I wanted to do it anyway.

The book, written by John Grant from the Greenormal blog, looks at green marketing (funnily enough) and how to organise your green marketing effectively. A good few examples are also thrown in for good measure, from a variety of companies, who are already making real headway in this area (one of which being Marks & Spencer, who you should remember have made leaps in bounds in one store in particular this year).

When it comes down to it though, it’s easy to jump on the bandwagon of green marketing or just pay lip service to it, but when it comes to actually implementing real changes and maintaining them it’s a completely different story. And the hardest step is often where to even start – then after you have, where to go next. But with a book like this which gives clear and practical advice on how to ‘go green’ properly and sustain this effort permanently, it makes the whole process that little bit easier.

At only £14.99 in many good book shops or £11.49 from Amazon, it will make the perfect stocking filler for the marketer / businessperson in your life (or just as a cheeky wee present for yourself). Very nice.

P.S. I also like the wee bit at the bottom of the cover asking buyers not to put the book in a plastic bag – nice touch. I definitely wouldn’t be putting it in a plastic bag – or an ‘I’m not a plastic bag’ bag for that matter!

It’s nearly here...

Months after it was launched in the US, the iPhone finally hits the UK tonight at 6.02 pm (just got there that it’s because it’s being sold by O2 – very clever). Eagerly anticipated, the queues are forming outside Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse shops – the only outlets where the phones are available – up and down the country as we speak. All to be one of the first in the UK to own the phone.

But what is all the fuss about? At the price of £269 for the handset and then the minimum contract of £35 per month over an 18 month period, before customers have even begun to use their phones they are pledging at least £899 to Apple for the privilege. That’s an awful lot just for a phone. Even if it is all-singing, all-dancing. And, if the US is anything to go by, although reviews of the phone have been glowing, many customers were left feeling extremely hard done to when the price was dropped substantially for the handset only a few months after its launch. I wonder if the same will happen here?

Yet as I say all this I know myself that if someone I know gets one and I have the chance to have a play around on it, I’ll want one instantly. Damn Apple and their fancy gadgets - sucked in every time!

You can find coverage of the growing queue outside the Apple store in Glasgow here. And, should you, by some fluke, have managed to miss the coverage of this new ‘superphone’, you’ll find a video here of all the wonderful things it can do – practically everything except wash your dirty dishes!

Quite sad as it is however, I’m finding it all quite exciting. It’s times like this I know I’m definitely in the right line of work...

Advertising outdoors

Apparently...

And, judging by many of the headline grabbing billboards through the years (also of course my own personal experience as a consumer) I’d say it tends to be true.

But, if you want to do something outdoors but don’t want to use a billboard, what other options have you got? Well, it seems nowadays that the possibilities are endless. And yet another addition to the list has been added by Street Advertising Services. Providing what they call ‘pavement art’, the company use high water pressure and steam to create an advert on dirty pavements and their staff even wear the aluminium framed signs used to stencil on the design as they make their way around the streets. So, it’s two for the price of one when it comes to exposure for your brand.

Even better about this new medium of advertising, it doesn’t use any chemicals to make the advert and so is kind to the environment at the same time. I hope it’s not long until we see some up our way; it’d definitely brighten up my day as the weather gets ever colder.

Oh, and Happy Halloween everyone!

A Diet Cherry Vanilla Pepsi Max Coke, anyone?

This month has seen the UK launch of 'Diet Coke Plus'. We get two healthy variants of the ridiculously popular diet drink, one with added vitamins and the other with added antioxidants. Both come in smaller than usual doses and both are quite nice in a "my tooth enamel might be eroding, but at least I won't catch colds so often" kind of way.

And who knew vitamins were so tasty? I am certain they have tinkered with the formula for the "plus vitamins" variant as the drink seems a little sweeter. [Vitamins taste of nothing, of course, although I won't be surprised if I find out they've changed the flavour so people believe there really are vitamins in it.]

The green tea flavoured "with antioxidant" version tastes a lot different to the original, with a much more bitter after-taste. It's quite nice, actually. It *tastes* healthier, therefore it must be, right?

Anyway, to celebrate the launch I thought I would do some investigating into the soft drinks markets around the world and the endless brand extensions that seem to be popping up all over the place. I also take a look at a few of the "classics" from yesteryear that, uhm... never really took off.


Crystal Pepsi (USA) - The disastrous American launch of this "healthy" clear Pepsi was back in 1992. Blindfolded taste testers couldn't tell the difference, but those with their eyes open succumbed to placebo effects and thought it tasted like old socks. It still has a cult following, though, with antique cans and bottles now fetching a fortune on eBay.

Pepsi Blue (USA) - If the "no colour" approach doesn't work then it stands to reason that a Pepsi stuffed to the brim with E numbers will be a huge hit, right? Wrong. A decade after Crystal Pepsi, it was time to launch this blue coloured, super sour raspberry flavoured "Berry Cola Fusion". The problem was it tasted like liquidised fizz-bombs. Buckets of cash were thrown at the marketing campaign to promote the launch but it still tanked big time, unfortunately.

Strawberry Pepsi / Tropical Pepsi (UK) - These cute limited editions were sold some time in the early 1990s. They came in half-size cans and tasted just as awful as you would imagine them to. They lasted one summer then disappeared forever.

Pepsi Holiday Spice (USA) - launched for Christmas 2004, this was a cinnamon flavoured, deep red coloured Pepsi. The "anti-eggnog" ad campaign had a neat jingle which went something like, "eggnog by the gallon, eggnog by the cup, tastes the same while going down, as it does coming up!"

Diet Pepsi Jazz Strawberries and Cream / Caramel Cream / Black Cherry French Vanilla (USA) - Wow, three creamy Diet Pepsi variants got simultaneously released earlier this year in America. Lately, everything seems to have gone "cherry vanilla" crazy over there. These are still in production, but for how long is anyone's guess.

Pepsi Ice Cucumber (Japan) - Believe it or not, this limited edition, light green coloured, cucumber flavoured Pepsi was launched exclusively in Japan this summer. Not kidding.

Diet Pepsi Max (USA) - Not to be confused with the UK's "Max Taste, No Sugar" Pepsi variant, this has just launched in the States as a quasi-energy drink (and Pepsi's answer to 'Diet Coke Plus') with added guarana and extra caffeine.

Pepsi Fire / Pepsi Ice (USA / Thailand / Singapore) - No, not an homage to the Torvill and Dean "ice spectacular", thankfully. 'Pepsi Fire' had an extra hot cinnamon taste, whilst 'Pepsi Ice' was a blue-coloured minty menthol flavour. Unsurprisingly, both bombed in the States. Well, you can't blame them for trying, at least.

Also look for:
Pepsi Red [Japan. Red coloured Pepsi.]
Pepsi Summer Mix [USA. Limited edition Tropical flavour for summer 2007.]
Pepsi Summer Chill [Poland. Apple and mint flavoured Pepsi variant.]
Pepsi Natural [New formulation, on its way, made with only natural ingredients.]


Diet Cherry Coke (USA) - note the position of the word Cherry. This is a diet version of 'Cherry Coke', which is much different to our cherry version of 'Diet Coke'. It's been around for over twenty years in the States.

Coca-Cola Cherry Zero (USA) - A 'Coke Zero' version of 'Cherry Coke' no less, launched exclusively in America earlier this year. Consumers - me included - are already lobbying to have it released in several other countries. So if any Coke people are reading this, I demand that you release this in the UK immediately!

Coca-Cola Black Cherry Vanilla (USA) - This is what replaced 'Vanilla Coke' in America. Rather nice, if a little too sweet. Not content with three suffixes, the diet version added a prefix and became 'Diet Coke Black Cherry Vanilla'. Which makes me think people *must* have abbreviated it when asking for it at the grocery store. "Eh, I'll have a bottle of DCBCV, please."

Coca-Cola Vanilla (USA) - It's 'Vanilla Coke' reborn! A couple of years after its demise in the States, it's back with a new moniker and new packaging! They've even released 'Coca-Cola Vanilla Zero' to accompany it. Utter genius.

Coca-Cola Blāk (France) - Coke flavoured with what tastes like a hundred shots of espresso. Yuck.

Coca-Cola C2 (Japan / USA) - Half the carbs, half the sugar, half the calories of regular Coke, this was a (not very successful) experiment in the midst of the Atkins' diet craze. Now defunct and, frankly, redundant in the wake of 'Coke Zero'. Nice packaging though.

Coca-Cola with Raspberry (New Zealand) - Limited edition sold exclusively in New Zealand. There was also a diet version. Quite nice, although a small fortune when forced to import it.

Also look for:
Coca-Cola Citra [Mexico. Lemon and Lime flavoured Coke. Also introduced and discontinued twice in New Zealand.]
Coca-Cola Light Sango [France. Blood orange flavoured Diet Coke.]


dnL (USA) - Also known as "7up Upside Down" [the dnL is quite literally 7up turned on its arse] this was a freaky, green-coloured, caffeinated, clear-bottled version of the normally clear, not-caffeinated, green-bottled original. Groovy.

Fanta (Worldwide) - Remember the days when Fanta was Orange and that was it? Pah! There are now countless worldwide variants [The Japanese market alone has enjoyed over fifty flavours over the years]. The list includes Berry, Elderflower, Tangerine, Cream Soda, Strawberry, Orange Mint, Lactic White Grape, Honeydew Melon, Sour Cherry, Root Beer, Club Soda, Pear, Peach, Cider and Banana. A version in the far east also glowed in the dark.

Dr Pepper (Worldwide) - Dr Pepper has also had its fare share of variants over the years. The first was 'Dr Pepper Red Fusion' [red coloured, greater cherry flavour], followed by 'Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper' and its diet prefix-heavy counterpart 'Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper'. Most recently there's been 'Dr Pepper Berries and Cream' and yes, you guessed it, 'Diet Dr Pepper Berries and Cream'.

Sprite (Worldwide) - Look out for 'Sprite Remix' in three varieties - Tropical, Berryclear and Aruba Jam (USA). Fiery ginger and Icy mint versions have also been spotted around the world.

Gadz

Normally, I like Tom Ford. Actually, that’s wrong - I love him. His reign at Gucci was nothing short of genius and his dabbling since, although not always to my taste, has retained that same ethos and feeling. But then came the adverts for his new fragrance for men...

I saw this first ad a few weeks ago on Brand DNA and at the time had been rendered quite speechless, not just because of the content of the advert, but also because of who was behind it. True, Tom Ford has always used sex to sell and it’s not always been subtle, but until now it hasn’t been downright crass. I don’t have any problem with sex being used to sell, and let’s face it, in fragrance and deodorant ads it’s almost a given that there will be some link made to romance or sex, that’s fair enough. But this?

But perhaps it was just a blip. I put it out of my memory never to be thought of again so as not to blemish my love of the great man. Phew, worshiping still intact. But then, just when I’d forgotten all about it, I stumbled upon another execution today.

I have absolutely no moral objection to the ad. It’s not that I find it offensively objectifying to women, either. Okay, it certainly does objectify a woman, but it’s not the first advert in this vein. It’s not even the fact that it looks as though it’s come straight out of the 80s, although this factor does disturb me quite a bit. It’s the sheer crassness of the adverts which completely put me off. As Adrants put it so well “Ford removes all pretense in his latest fragrance campaign and celebrates what every man wants: to f*@*.”

And I guess that’s why many people, not just men may I add, do buy perfumes and aftershaves, to attract the opposite sex and eventually lure them into bed. But while Lynx does this with humour and other brands do it with romance or at least with a little subtlety, this campaign just rams it down your throat, and not in a nice way.

A Tom Ford Beauty Spokesman said of the campaign “...we decided that a sharper, more graphic approach clearly communicated the bold and provocative mood of the fragrance." Hmm, bold – check; provocative, double check. But what about stylish and sophisticated? Poor show Mr Ford, poor show.

And why should this correlate in any way to you loving marketing? Reason number 20: Sometimes it can actually put you off buying a product and in the process can save you a little money. That’s more a positive for the consumers I guess and a warning to the advertisers.

Beer, the healthy way

I have to say I’m not a huge fan of beer, however, while on holiday there I found myself drinking it quite a bit (along with some lovely vino tinto and tinto de verano). Back in sunny Scotland though, it’s something I wouldn’t really think if drinking. If I’m looking for a longer drink I would be more likely to go for a cider, and since Magners introduced the notion of enjoying a cool cider over ice, I’m certainly not the only one in the UK. But enough about me and my susceptibility to marketing messages.

There are a number of women in the UK who do drink beer. In fact, the percentage of women drinking the beverage is roughly equal to the number of men here drinking it – 40%. The same can also be found in Spain (where I was on holiday funnily enough). But it’s certainly not the case in all of Europe however, particularly in Germany, where women find drinking beer to be unhealthy, fattening and unsophisticated. I would imagine that for those women in the UK, and perhaps also in Spain who also refrain from drinking it, the same complaints may be made. But then, all three complaints could also be leveraged at alcopops for example, but they still seem to have a great number of women drinking them (I’m not one of them). Yet the reason for drinking in the UK is often not to be sociable, but simply to get drunk and in that case the health properties of what is being drunk is of little importance. But that’s another topic for another day.

Still, for many drinking alcohol is not confined to binge-drinking sessions, but is instead something to be enjoyed on a regular basis, i.e. a drink with dinner, a few drink before bed, etc. And over recent years as concerns over healthy living have grown, they have also extended to alcohol with numerous studies looking into the health benefits of different alcoholic beverages when taken in moderation. Where women are concerned there has been much talk of the health benefits of wine, but not so for beer. Therefore, for those women who may be looking for an alcoholic beverage that will compliment their healthy lifestyle, wine has looked to be the best option. Until now. At least that’ what Karlsberg (the German brewer, not the Danish ‘Carlsberg’) would have us believe.

With their new beer for women, Karla, the firm are trying to change perceptions of beer and market it not as a regular alcoholic drink, but instead as a health drink. The stress is on the fact that beer is a natural product, and the beverage is low in alcohol (only 1%), containing a mix of beer and fruit juices. Even the names of the products reflect the healthy image the company are trying to project – Karla Balance, Karla Well-Be and Karla Acti-Fit.

But it’s more than simply their names that align the drink to the health market. Karla Balance mixes hops with lemon balm, known for its sedative properties – hence the claim that it provides ‘peace and balance’. Well-Be, which funnily enough is being pitched as a drink to aid harmony through physical and mental well-being, contains such ingredients as soy-derived lecithin, which may affect cholesterol levels positively, and folic acid, recommended for women considering pregnancy. And Acti-Fit is said to help strengthen the body’s defences through its ingredients including Echinacea, Green tea and Vitamin C. In addition, they all contain a number of other vitamins to aid health.

What’s more, instead of selling the beverage in off licenses, Karla took the unusual decision to distribute the drink through pharmacists. This not only enhances its credibility as a healthy drink, but also brings the beer to a completely different audience than its traditional counterpart.

At the moment the drink is only available in Germany and to-date the distribution has not been nationwide. However, the German pharmaceutical manufacturer Amapharm has now teamed up with Karlsberg to distribute the beer to pharmacists across Germany and international expansion is ‘in the works’ for the future.

I found the product and the ethos behind it very intriguing. I’m unsure how much of a hit it will be, especially across the whole of Germany given opinion there, but the branding seems to be far removed from other types of beer and so focused on the health aspect that it may be almost forgotten that it is beer. And the choice of pharmacists as a distributor seems on one hand ludicrous, but on the other hand ingenious.

I’m not altogether familiar with the nitty-gritty of the legislation in the UK regarding the sale of alcoholic beverages and wonder if it would be possible in this country without a license being obtained, but the low percentage contained in each drink may mean this is not so much of an issue. I’ll be interested to see whether the product does make it to the UK and if so, how exactly it will be marketed here and what distribution channels might be utilised. It has the potential to be a big hit with health-conscious women and also women who already drink beer for its taste and refreshment I would think. However, I feel that, especially in the UK, limiting the distribution to only pharmacists would be a mistake and undoubtedly health stores should also be included in the mix as well as more specialised food markets at least, perhaps larger supermarkets in addition. But time will tell.

It’s not really been a ‘why to love marketing’ post, but if you’re looking for a reason within all that – finding out why women did not want to drink beer allowed Karlsberg to go back and produce a new product which is in a category of its own. For the health conscious, Karla allows the drinker to enjoy an alcoholic beverage without any pangs of guilt. It may not be a reason for everyone, but that’s what niche marketing is all about and as we all know, you can’t please everybody!

Apologies, but could only find the links in German!

This Next

You ever feel like everyone else always finds really cool stuff and you never do? Or maybe you manage to find cool stuff through blogs, shops, wherever and want to share it with people but are not sure where? Well, thanks to Chroma who recommended the site, the answer lies in This Next, a site which shows product recommendations from consumers all over the world. They even have a map of the world where product recommendations pop up every few seconds.

For anyone who loves to shop or loves to keep up-to-date with the latest products, this site is fantastic. Whatever your interests, there are already a plethora of recommendations and inspiration for you. You can then build up your own page of recommendations which others of the same interests can view – and, even better – you can tell all of your friends to go and have a look when your birthday or Christmas is coming up. Bit late for my birthday this year as it’s only a few days away, but I’m sure I can fill it up nicely by Christmas time...

The only downside of course is that you may find something you love which is only available on the other side of the world. But, chances are someone else will have found something similar a bit closer to home.

Reason number 13 then (unlucky for some), and hardly a revelation – marketing can introduce you to new, fantastic products which you never knew you wanted but once seen, and subsequently bought, you find you cannot live without. And the fact that on this site the marketers are consumers instead of the marketing industry makes it even better – no marketer can deny the power of Word of Mouth. I wonder however, whether marketers will soon be jumping on the bandwagon and sponsoring people to talk about their products here as they have done in other spheres. And further, how much would it matter to those using the site?

Well, that’s me off on my holidays for two weeks and so I am leaving the blog in the capable hands of Graham. I’m away to Spain to do a language course for a couple of weeks in Malaga. No me falte demasiado!

Hasta Pronto!

Judging a book by its cover

Reason to love marketing number 12: It can make the world a more beautiful place (or in this case, your coffee table or bookshelf at least).

Over at We Made This today I came across these beautiful new book covers from Gollancz, the science-fiction and fantasy division of Orion Books

, which the lovely people at WMT had found while in Foyles.

The new covers, produced in-house by Emma Wallace, were developed from the brief ‘do what you want, but bring them to a new audience.’ I think she’s certainly going to do that. It appears from the online forums that WMT had browsed that traditional fans of the books were not exactly over-enamoured at the new look. However, I would guess that these customers will still be buying the books, no matter what they look like. With the aim of attracting a new type of audience, these books should not only entice new audiences for the stories inside, but also for the book covers themselves. I don’t think I’m the only person who judges some books by their covers and who likes to have good-looking books in their collection (incidentally though, not to sound like too much of an airhead, I do buy most books for their content).

Regardless, compared to what had gone before (see below) the new covers are a complete departure and a fresh, exciting change.

All eight covers are devoid of any mention of the title, author or publisher on the front and each has a different feel due not only to the different graphics used, but also the difference in the finishes of each one. The remaining five of the series can be found below, although I doubt these pictures do the covers justice. All are available for purchase on Amazon and I would imagine, all good book shops.

They really are a truly beautiful series and visually, quite stunning. I wonder if this will be the way forward for book cover design?

Hostel in flat-pack

There are certain things you expect to find when you expect to find when you go to IKEA. Flat pack furniture is certainly one of them. Stuff for the kitchen, lighting, bedding, Swedish meatballs in their cafe, are all other elements you would also expect. A hostel when you haven’t been able to finish your shopping that night... Wait a minute.

Yup, that’s right, I found out through Jaime Diskin’s blog this week that IKEA Oslo had opened a hostel in their branch. A trial for one week, the store in Norway set up the “alternative hostel” in one of their two warehouses between the 23rd and 27th of July. The ‘IKEA Hostel’ had the traditional set-up of dormitory-style beds as well as family rooms, a luxury suite where customers could enjoy breakfast in bed and the pièce de résistance – the bridal suite, complete with a round bed and a hanging chandelier. Best of all for the customers, it was all free and they also received dinner and breakfast free of charge in the usual IKEA canteen.

Unsurprisingly, the company received over 1,200 applications for this trial from people wanting to stay in the hostel. Apparently in Norway, shoppers see the IKEA shopping experience as the ultimate tourist attraction, with 900, 000 visit IKEA during the summer holidays in Norway. “It’s more than one of the biggest attractions in Norway, the Holmenskollen ski jump gets in one year” claims company spokesman Frode Ullebust. Impressive indeed.

But back to the hostel itself. Visitors were able to check in at 10pm and check-out was 11am, one hour after the shop itself opened, therefore guests could expect to be woken up by the shoppers should they have slept in. And when they were leaving, they were able to take their bedsheets home, bathrobes with the IKEA Hostel logo on and slippers “so they won’t get cold at night.”

On the surface the experiment seems to have been a great success, with shoppers from all over the world staying in the hostel over the week it was open. Many did not get much sleep however, electing instead to watch the night workers stack the shelves or do a bit of midnight shopping.

IKEA want to implement the idea in all of its stores to varying degrees and this experiment in July was the first test run. Kinks they wish to iron out before rolling the concept out to every store include the lighting in the showroom which never turns off completely and also the problem that much of the stocking of the store takes place around 4am. However, it seems that this last ‘problem’ was an attraction in itself for some visitors’ stays.

I for one would love a stay in one.

And the whole idea, according to spokesman Christen Roehnedak, came from the customers themselves.

And why is all this a reason to love marketing you ask? Well, build up a strong enough brand, it will in turn produce strong customer loyalty. Your customers will then stay true to your brand and be keen to try whatever new products or services you offer, no matter how left field they may seem. Especially if they, as in this case, have suggested the product themselves. So I guess I could also fit in one additional reason into this post, which will bring the total up to 11 so far - Client feedback can provide you with new ideas and opportunities you may never have thought of yourself. The publicity enjoyed by this venture wouldn’t be too bad either...

Stick 'em up!

So, today I’m going a little off topic. I’m still sticking [just realised the clever pun here for what's about to come] with reasons to love marketing, but it’s not so much the campaigns themselves, but more the media that I’m loving today and one type of media in particular – Moo products, especially their new stickers.

And, strictly speaking, the stickers are not a commercial advertising medium, although they often get used for that purpose, but they are also for the general public, to market any photos they have to anyone they wish. And that’s exactly why I love them.

I love to send my friends cards or presents that are a little out of the ordinary and it’s great to see the look on people’s faces when they receive something they truly know you’ve put a lot of thought into. And Moo stickers (or their minicards, or notecards) can all help you do that.

And there you have reason to love marketing number six: Marketing isn’t just for businesses, it’s for people too – to share their favourite moments with friends and bring a little joy into theirs’, and other’s lives.

However, if you are a business, Moo’s products have a multitude of uses for your company as well. Their minicards can be used as unusual business cards, their notecards can be used for direct mail and their stickers can be used for… hell, who knows, it’s Friday afternoon and I’m out of ideas for the week, but I’m sure you could come up with something.

The main reason I love them, and it seems to be a common theme in why I love marketing, again, it gives me a sense of nostalgia, taking me back to when I had sticker albums to fill up as a kid. But now, those stickers will be my own personal pictures and instead of getting my digital photos as prints, I can make them into stickers to stick straight into my photo sticker album – how cool is that! OK, so I’m getting a little over-excited now, but you get the idea.

Shipping during July is free for the stickers, so get in now and order a load from your photos (which can be uploaded from a number of sites, see website for details). They even come in their own stickerbook!

Sheila’s Heels

I saw an interesting new product in my TRENDCANDY newsletter from TRENDHUNTER this week - convertible stiletto heels which go flat at the push of a button from Sheila’s Wheels.

I can’t say I’m a big fan of Sheila’s Wheels, quite apart from their adverts, I find the whole notion of women-only insurance companies sexist and don’t really know how they get away with it. You can hear the outcry if there was a men-only insurance company. It’s prejudice pure and simple and from what I’ve heard from friends who’ve used similar companies, the only thing that really sets them apart is that they give you a pointless phonecall after you crash, the purpose of which only seems to be to have a wee chat with you and make sure you’re ok and not too shaken up after it. But, I digress…

I actually think this is a good idea and when you look at the statistics the company present here, it seems an even better idea. But, glaring omissions from the press release that Sheila’s Wheels have put out are where the shoes will be available and how much they will cost. How will they make a success of the product if no-one can find it?

Plus, I’m quite surprised it’s taken a company this long to bring such a product to the mass market. I remember remote control convertible stilettos in Ally McBeal years ago and I’m sure a new designer had designed a similar type of shoe years ago too.

I’m curious to see how well the shoes actually take off, but that will likely be dependent on a number of factors, one of which being whether you can actually find out where to buy them from! How practical a big pink heel will be either is debatable, but perhaps in time more colours and plainer versions will come out. And while these particular shoes are aimed at women drivers, they would also come in very handy after a night out on the town.

I can’t help thinking mind you that if women want to drive in flat shoes they will already just keep a flat pair in their car all the time, but nice idea all the same…

Travelling light

Although we are a marketing blog I wanted to go a little off tangent today to talk about a great new site that launched a few months ago, found through hostler.com.

I’m going to Malaga for my holidays this year to go on a Spanish language course for two weeks and during my weekends I want to do a little bit of travelling around and visit some friends who live nearby(ish). But, enough about me. The point is that I ordered a travel guide this week so that I can find out what the attractions are in the area and can decide what I want to do in my spare time while I’m there (I’m one of these people who likes to cram a million things into my holiday). So, I ordered a book on the whole of Spain as I reckon I’ll be visiting various areas over the coming years, but I’m sure there will be plenty of the guide that I never even cast my eyes over, such is the enormity of information these things provide.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, when I was blog surfing yesterday I came across a new site with a new approach to travel guides, from DK Eyewitness Travel Guides. According to research, although 75% of travellers buy travel guides, they only actually read around 20% of the publication. So, 80% of the weight and space taken up by their guide could potentially be used for other things. In come DK, whose website offers users the chance to browse their destination online, organise information in their own personal guide and then download the guide for a small charge. And hey presto – customers have their own customized guide; minus all the boring bits you weren’t going to read anyway.

At the moment it’s only in the first phase and has a limited number of destinations to choose from, but there are a good number covered already and this will surely be added to and evolve as time goes on. Another exciting feature is the DK Travel Community where users rate and comment on the destinations they have visited, as the site grows in popularity this will undoubtedly become a great resource for travellers.

So, perhaps not strictly a post on marketing today, especially since I only heard of the site through another blog (I think a more concerted effort is needed by the team at DK Eyewitness Travel Guides to raise awareness of their great site), but I wanted to share the site with you. I’m sure I’ll be using it in the coming years and look forward to seeing how it develops over that time. Go check it out yourself.

As if by magic...

After reading about Polaroid in Brazil replacing public toilet mirrors with their instant cameras, I found another company this week who have been utilising the media of public toilet mirrors (who would have thought that toilet mirrors were media space?).

The company, called Magic Display, based in China, have developed a toilet mirror which displays advertising messages until someone steps close to it. At this point the screen then turns into a reflective surface ready for you to check your make-up in. Step away and it reverts back to the advertising screen once more. Ingenius.

To view the product in action, watch the video below. I think it has the potential to be huge. Toilets wouldn’t always be the first place you might think of advertising a product unless it’s sanitary products, condoms, etc. but I tend to think that at least while the product is still novel, quite a few advertisers will give it a try. I wonder how long it will be until it will be coming to a toilet near you?

If you wish to find out more about the product, you will find Magic Display’s website here.

Second bite at the cherry

Remember Dansai? Coca-cola’s attempt at entering the bottled water market a few years ago was hardly the most successful. Scandal erupted when it was found that the bottles, containing purified tap water, were found to be contaminated with bromate traces. Unsurprisingly, the water was subsequently withdrawn from the market never to be heard of again.

Coca-cola obviously feel enough time has passed since this fiasco however, as they are planning to launch a new water into the European market this year. Named Chaudfontaine, the water, which comes from a local Belgian brand owned by the company, will be rolled out across the rest of Europe by the end of the year. Currently it is only sold in Belgium with some distribution in France and the Netherlands also.

So why try to get back into the market after such a big disaster first time round?

Well, globally, bottled water is the second largest soft drinks sector behind carbonates. In fact, the market was the fastest growing soft drinks sector between 2000 and 2005, a trend that Euromonitor International forecasted would continue between 2005 and 2010. And according to the Britvic Soft Drinks Category Report, take-home sales in the UK water market alone grew by 11% to £643m last year. While in the UK the bottled water category only accounts for 20% of the soft drinks volume, in other European countries the volume is over 50%. It’s no wonder Coca-cola want to get back in on the act.

But will the new launch be successful? Will consumers forgive and forget Dansai? Coca-cola have been purchasing a number of water brands throughout Europe, however, I would imagine that many consumers are unaware that the brands are now owned by the soft drinks giant. If the launch of Chaudfontaine proves to be a success it will be interesting to see if some of these other brands begin to be rolled out to the rest of Europe. And, indeed, it will be very interesting to see how successful Chaudfontaine itself is.

I have to say that I’m not altogether won over by the name ‘Heat Fountain’ – I prefer my water cold thanks. But I’ll probably buy a bottle when it makes its way up to Scotland. Just to see what I think…

Dead goat anyone?

I feel I’ve been quite ranty of late in the blog, but I read something else today which really just beggars belief.

In promoting their new game “God of War II” for the PlayStation 2, Sony have sparked a huge row over animal cruelty and the ethics of the computer industry once again. Using the decapitated corpse of a freshly slaughtered goat as the centrepiece of the launch party for the game, guests were invited to eat warm offal from the goat’s stomach. OK, so I’m not a vegetarian so I can’t really get on my high horse, but eating warm offal from a dead goat’s stomach is a stunt too far. It’s gruesome and disgusting.

At the event guests competed to see who could eat the most offal. The goat was purchased from a local Greek butcher and had not been slaughtered especially for the event and the offal was obtained elsewhere, only meant to resemble goat’s intestines. However, the end result was obviously very real. Other activities the guests could take part in included throwing knives at targets, pulling live snakes from a pit with their bare hands, being fed grapes by topless girls and being handed garlands by a male model portraying the game’s hero Kratos. Hmmm, I wonder why people seem to have had a problem with this?

A number of critics have slammed the entertainment company calling the “sacrifice” grotesque and condemning their “blood lust”. It has also highlighted the concerns over the ethics of the computer industry with regards to game content and the industry’s exploitation of young gamers.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare in particular found it "outrageous" that an animal’s death had been used "to sell a few computer games". Their spokesman stated, "We are always opposed to any senseless killing of an animal and this sounds like a gruesome death. We condemn Sony’s actions. It is stupid and completely unjustified."

I think it would be fair enough if you were catching an animal to cook yourself. You would have to kill it and take out its insides. And as a meat eater I am probably being a little bit of a hypocrite. But Sony were not out in the wilds catching and cooking their own food, they used a dead animal to promote a game. That’s just sick.

The party was set to feature across two pages of the next edition of the PlayStation magazine, which should have hit the shelves today, but had already been sent to subscribers. There, the above picture was shown in its full glory (or should that be gory?) alongside text such as "How about eating still warm intestines uncoiled from the carcass of a freshly slaughtered goat? At the party to celebrate God Of War II’s European release, members of the Press were invited to do just that..." After the Mail on Sunday contacted the company however, an apology was made for the stunt and the entire print run of the magazine was recalled. What of those magazines already sent out however, will Sony ask for them back? Will they appear on e-bay for a large sum?

I’m not going to start arguing about the content of video games. As with violent films, although there is some evidence to support the detrimental effect they have on their viewers, many people still manage to play the games and watch the films without turning into murderers. However, pulling off a stunt such as Sony’s to promote these games is, in my opinion, disgusting and completely devoid of any thought by the company of its possible consequences.

Will customers boycott their other products? That remains to be seen. Sony have stated that they "are conducting an internal inquiry into aspects of the event in order to learn from the occurrence and put into place measures to ensure that this does not happen again." Like a terrible idea detector? How this idea ever got so far as a full-scale, high profile event seems incredible to me. Dead animal with some fresh warm offal inside, half-naked women, live snakes, knife throwing - anything wrong with this picture? Maybe next time they could also throw an orgy and some shark diving in for good measure.

Full marks to Sony on relevance, and as I’ve said before, if a publicity stunt is relative to what it is trying to sell, it can be extremely effective. But come on, did they ever think they would get away with it?

To view the article on the launch party and its repercussions in the Daily Mail click here.

“I’m not a plastic bag”

Following on from my last post I am staying on the theme of being environmentally friendly. I was pleasantly surprised a few months ago when I read in Vogue that Anya Hindmarch was bringing out a cotton and recycled plastic bag with the slogan “I’m not a plastic bag” for only £5. To be sold in Sainsbury’s stores from 25th April, as a ‘dedicated follower of fashion’ and someone with an inclination to at least try to be environmentally friendly I was very excited when I read the news. Sad, maybe, but true.

The bag came about when ‘We are what we do’; a movement who “like to inspire people to use their everyday actions to change the world” approached the designer to help them create a product as an alternative to plastic bags. One of their ‘actions’ which they encourage others to follow, in fact their ‘action 01’, is to decline plastic bags wherever possible.

Apparently, every person in the UK uses an average of 167 plastic bags per year. That’s around 10 billion bags altogether. Lying in landfills around the country, each bag can take up to 500 years to degrade, during which time tonnes of methane gas are produced. This methane gas of course contributes to the largest problem of our and future generations’ – global warming.

But of course, as they readily admit, we need something to carry our shopping in, that’s where this idea came from. And teaming up with one of the country’s leading designers was a sure way to get the press and public at large interested and coveting the bag.

All sounding great so far, and I do think it is a great idea. But here comes the sting. After months of publicity in fashion magazines, over the Internet, etc., pre-orders for the bag have already sold out on Anya Hindmmarch’s site and ‘We are what we do’. So, should we all rush down to Sainsbury’s on the 25th then? Well, we could, but a large number of us are going to be very disappointed, as each store will only have 30 bags. And, once they are sold out, they are sold out - “no more bags are being made for the UK market.”

When I read this on the Sainbury’s website today I was actually quite angry. I feel as if instead of actually wanting to make a difference to the use of plastic bags and offering the fashion conscious a stylish alternative, all this is really about is a publicity stunt. One of the golden rules in marketing is not to create a demand which you cannot then service. But, we’ve seen it time and time again, especially in fashion in recent years, with high street designers teaming up with designers and celebrities to create ranges which cause near-stampedes when they hit the shops and many a disappointed customer. With a measly 30 bags per store I cannot see how this will even nearly satisfy demand. Whether there will be fistfights between fashionistas desperate to purchase the product remains to be seen.

In addition, releasing them for sale at 8am on a Wednesday morning will most likely exclude many a working person from having any hope of getting a bag. Certainly those who do not work near a Sainsbury’s store.

Sainsbury’s are limiting each customer to only one bag. This is presumably to ensure a little fairness and perhaps to try to curb the amount that will appear on e-bay half an hour later priced at an exorbitant amount. But, as a consumer I can’t help but feel very cheated. ‘We are what we do’ promise that “if you still miss out, we have a further consignment of bags arriving this summer in even more limited edition colours.” I don’t think it’s as much a case of ‘if you miss out’ as ‘when you miss out’.

Of course this is not the only alternative to plastic bags available. Each supermarket have alternatives as do many eco-websites and shops. And perhaps the whole point of making these bags a limited edition, as with any limited edition, is to heighten interest in the product (and in this case the issue as a whole) and cause customers to rush out and buy the product NOW. Those who manage to buy one will be able to feel a sense of exclusivity as well as smugness at helping to save the planet just a little.

But what about the rest of us who want one and won’t be able to get one?

Perhaps I sound a little bit like a petulant child now. But if the parties involved are truly committed to the idea of providing a stylish alternative to plastic bags why not offer the product on a permanent basis? I know I’ve gone on a bit of a rant about this, but I don’t believe that by releasing only a limited number of bags they will make the big difference that they claim they want to make. Perhaps they should pay more attention to their ethos - “We are what we do.”

Stick it to them

While reading The Marketing Blog today I found an article on eco-friendly, wooden USB sticks from a company called Eco Incentives. The company sell these memory sticks as eco-friendly business gifts and as such, they can be personalised with your corporate logo.

I’ve heard of USB sticks being offered as corporate gifts before, in fact, I have received one myself. I can imagine also that in the current climate many companies are trying their best to appear eco-friendly. But ‘wooden memory sticks that have been “manufactured from the windfall branches that have fallen to the forest floor” before having a USB added to them’ is a new one on me. Nice idea though.

As well as these memory sticks, the company also offer mouse mats, organic clothing, jute bags, recycled glassware, biodegradable pens and even bamboo computers. Yes - bamboo computers. Well, not the whole computer, just the monitor, but still pretty impressive.

Switching now from marketer to consumer, I doubt I am the only one who feels a sense of satisfaction and warm glow of ‘doing the right thing’ when I purchase something fair-trade or eco-friendly. I feel as if I am helping, just a little bit, to support and save the planet, I feel as if that little bit extra money I may have spent on the item was justified and is going to a good cause, and most of all, I feel I’m a good person. Being the giver of eco-friendly business gifts, I’m sure I would feel the same. And, as a receiver, it would perhaps lead me to view the giver more favourably, perhaps…

I care about the environment, but I know that I don’t do enough. For example, I use energy-saving lighbulbs, I recycle my old papers and magazines, I re-use plastic bags, I switch things off when I’m not using them (most of the time) and I try to buy ethical products. But, I still take plastic bags when I don’t always need them, I charge my electrical appliances longer than necessary at times, I sometimes buy from companies with less than squeaky-clean images… I could go on. And as a business too, AME Marketing cares about the environment, but again, we don’t do enough.

Sometimes it’s hard to always do the right thing by the environment. Sometimes it’s too expensive. Sometimes we’re just too lazy. But when we can be ethical so easily, we should.

I love the idea of these quirky objects, not only do they come guilt-free, they also stand out. Corporate gifts are often an effective way to keep in the minds of your customers. As with any of your marketing activities though, its important that its relevant to your company / product. If you operate in a B2B environment then this type of gift may work very well. Your customers are likely to use such gifts and each time they do, your name can catch their eye. And, they will know that you are a company who cares. Perfect.


(Note to self: Next week plug our products, not someone else’s…)