Is less really more?

With the continuing crisis and budgets unlikely to pick up in the foreseeable future, how are marketers coping with producing campaigns? Certainly Twitter and Facebook are now core tools for any campaign and provide a cost effective way of reaching a vast audience on limited budget. As Sara Doggett of Virgin Media argues in this article from marketing week, the principles remain the same regardless of budget. Clear objectives and knowing your audience will always remain at the centre of any successful campaign. In fact, we could argue now more than ever, tighter budget limits are helping focus campaigns and thus make them more effective, especially with the tools available now that did not exist before the 2007 financial crisis.  

Marketing 2015

Post earlier this year from contentmarketinginstitute with some of the leading thinkers in the online marketing industry. The general consensus seems to be that content really needs to become less generalised and more specific. Bill Flitter of Divr.it says in the coming years marketers are going to have to “filter out the noise” and give consumers more relevant content. These sentiments are echoed by Mark Chatow, who mentions Google Panda’s introduction as the watershed where SEO needs to be tightened up regarding content quality. James Gross of Percolate raises similar issues. Over the past few years brands have been acquiring an audience. Now they have these audiences they must retain them by focusing more on the quality of content they are delivering.

You can read the full article here.

Cannes lions 2012 and print techniques

(Drum roll please) The Cannes Lions 2012 have been awarded and you can view them here. Although I found most of the print from this year to be a little uninspiring, I was pleasantly surprised with TBWA's set for Sony PSP. 













Also appreciating the insight from DDB with their Mcdonald's work. It's a tough call but my favourite print from the last 5 years or so is probably this peice from DDB South Africa which won a lion in 2008. I love the thinking and the execution using a twist on what Pete Barry (The Advertising Concept Book) terms the "after only" strategy. 










Below are a few other examples of this technique from Wonderbra campaigns. It's been a very common technique in print work over the last 15 years or so.

Marketing lessons from Nike

Marketing lessons from Nike

From trainers for basketball, football, running, tennis the list is seemingly limitless. Nike has been convincing us for decades that we need the latest and greatest sports shoe in order to perform at our peak.

What are some of the company’s main strategies? (aside from excellent advertising)

Right from the get go Nike was differentiated from its competitors through a waffle soled shoe design. This had never been done before and was to be the basis of later product innovations. We have the “dipped back tab” for reducing pressure on the Achilles tendon, the Air cushioned heel (which spawned a sub-brand of air Jordan and some fantastic ads see below,)  even lights on the soles of shoes were Nike innovations. All of these innovations added to the image of Nike as a cutting-edge brand which would give consumers the edge over competition. Obviously celebrity endorsement helped fuel this trend through Air Jordan’s in the 1990’s.

Another interesting strategy employed by Nike is actually giving its product away for free. Sounds counter intuitive at first thought but it helped establish Nike as the consumer’s first choice, much in the same way that Microsoft gives Internet Explorer away for free. Nike donates equipment and sports gear to high school and college teams. Having top high school and college athletes using your product allows them to become indoctrinated into the brand and become lifelong supporters and having these people as lifelong supports helps the brand immensely. 

A further strategy Nike employs is securing retail commitments. Developing an advanced commitment system helps the company predict sales levels more accurately as well as securing purchase commitments. 

Of course Nike has been influential over the internet. Advertising Age has stated Nike’s website is a prime example of “how to put together an integrated marketing campaign.”

The website emphasises how the products relate to the individual’s lifestyle rather than going for hard sell tactics. A recent example would be the Nike+ campaign allowing consumers to upload and track their running times, reach personal bests and virtually compete with other’s scores.

the average US company spent around 4% of gross sales on marketing in the early 2000’s. Nike’s spending was closer to 10%. Says it all really.  

“Can Nike still do It?” Business Week

“The Nike story? Just tell it” Fast Company

“In the vanguard: trainers, sneakers and shoes” The Economist