Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays!

A big thank you from the team at Brand Strategy for all your support, ideas and
contributions in 2007. We look forward to an even better 2008!

We haven’t sent out paper cards this year (after all our articles on being green, it
seemed a bit naughty) so we hope you have an absolutely fabulous holiday season.
All the best wishes for the new year.

We’ll be back in January, updating the blog regularly with trends, news and interesting stuff. Until then, enjoy yourselves!!!

Hints and tips for happenings in 2008

The brand consultancy Group 1066 has been setting out its ideas and hints for what will be big in 2008 (with a slightly US-focused bias). We love a good bit of futuregazing so here are the ideas:

Deal of the Year: Google rings up Telecom
Google has been rattling its sabre about the January spectrum auction,
to the tune of at least $4.6bn. Google’s intention to provide open access to the data network could mean a new kind of broadband access which would be significantly cheaper for customers than the telecoms companies’ current, closed offerings. Whatever the outcome of the  auction, Google’ s participation will shake up what has become a very staid game.

Shake-up of the Year: Writer’s strike opens up the ad game
Corporate advertisers looking for an excuse to abandon the diminishing returns of network television advertising find an opportunity in the current Hollywood writer’s strike which threatens the winter television schedule and beyond. Smart advertisers will engage niche audiences on the web and take a harder look at social marketing opportunities on sites like Facebook, possibly mainstreaming an entirely new approach to mass marketing.

Close-up of the Year: Chinese brands take centre stage
China, are you ready for your close-up? With the 2008 Olympiad set to
take place in Beijing, it’ll be a debutante ball for Chinese brands. Companies like Lenovo, Haier Group, TCL and SVA will introduce themselves to world and shake-up the competitive landscape, particularly in the already cutthroat consumer electronics business.

Makeover of the Year: Financial Services companies clean up
After the sub-prime debacle of  2007, the largest financial services companies will embrace broad-based branding campaigns intended to cover up the lending scandal and restore their image with the public.

Backlash of the Year: Green gets dirty
A credibility backlash will hit corporate America and even some of their
environmental non-governmental organisation partners as the market seeks greater accountability and measurement for supposed  green  initiatives.

Strategy of the Year: Open-sourcing on the campaign trail
The 2008 US primary season has already seen the emergence of the open-
source campaign. The rabid supporters of Ron Paul raised over $4m in one day, independent of the Congressman’s campaign. YouTube and other social networking sites are overflowing with supporter-created content intended to sway opinion. One gentlemen even has taken out an ad a full- page ad in the USA Today newspaper for his preferred candidate. Smart businesses will be watching and have some great best practices from which to draw in opening up control of their brands.

Word of the Year: Getting with the ‘in crowd’
Business people love buzzwords and none will be buzzing more than terms
paired with ‘crowd’.  It will replace 2007’s  ‘mashup’ as the most over-
used, over-hyped word of the year. Get ready for crowdsourcing,
crowdstorming, crowdbursting and who knows what else.

For more information on any of these ideas, contact Group 1066.

Eight for 2008: marketing trends for the new year

Dr Robert Passikoff of consultancy Brand Keys in the US has set out his thoughts on the top eight trends of 2008 for marketers. This is not necessarily what consumers will be thinking about in the new year but what people sitting in marketing departments around the world should keep in mind.

1) There will be an ongoing emphasis on “engagement” measures. It’s been proven that real engagement is the outcome of any marketing or media initiative that substantively improves a brand’s equity. And “brand equity” is the degree to which a brand is seen to meet – or even exceed – consumers’ expectations for the category in which it competes. This is getting harder and harder to measure using models that had already lost their efficacy in 1985, and when you combine that with the power of today’s “bionic” consumers, born hot-wired into the internet with an iPod in one hand and a TiVo controller in the other, engaging them will be the only way of guaranteeing loyalty and profitability.

2) More “brands” will become “Category Placeholders.” As brands become more and more enamored with and enmeshed in “new” media like social networking and messages beamed into consumers’ living rooms from outer space, marketers need to ensure that their brands actually stand for something in the mind of the consumer. Media planning is necessary and sometimes even engaging, but those who rely on flavour-of-the-week tactics will find that they are forcing their consumers down
pathways where only price will differentiate their well-known products from the competition, moving from brand status to Category Placeholder. That will be a risky place to be next year!

3) Companies will have to move from saying they’re “Green” to actually
being “Emerald City Green.” Playing in the environmental arena won’t be an option in 2008 and brands and holding companies will have to find ways of positioning their
offerings in ways that meaningfully support a sustainable future. But as the number of companies trying to co-opt the environmental movement for their products and services grows, so too will the number of sceptical, “bionic” consumers. They’ve heard these promises before, and in the face of business-as-usual puffery, will demand authenticity – much in the same way proof was demanded in Wizard of Oz: brands will have to be “morally, ethically, spiritually, physically, positively, absolutely,
undeniably and reliably” green!

4) Media planning will become more touch point focused and personalised.
Planners will still classify touch points as “above-the-line,” “below-
the-line,” and “new,” but planning will be based on three critical
considerations:

a) which touchpoint best reinforces brand values;

b) where the brand + media equation yields real engagement;

c) where the plan is seamless, believable, personalised, and authentic.

5) Behaviour will (finally) trump attitude. More marketers will come to realize that “to know you is not necessarily to buy you” (or, for that matter, even like you). Loyalty and engagement metrics – particularly those configured to provide Brand-to-Media Engagement measures – will be used to identify behavioral “hot buttons”that marketers can add to their toolboxes and their search efforts.
Identifying behavioural consumer segments will then be used to synergistically reinforce brand values, brand and corporate positioning efforts, and media planning, making marketing more effective and efficient.

6) Consumer expectations will once more grow. Brands are only barely keeping up now. Expectations remained stable for a short time, but only while consumers were catching their breadths and adopting -then devouring – the newest of the new technologies and innovations. Watch for smart marketers to identify and capitalize upon unmet expectations via values like “customisation” and “personalisation”
via more (and more) high-tech capabilities to differentiate themselves
from their competitors. Watch for mobile marketing to make a real move
in 2008.

7) Personal Health Management will impact brand engagement and loyalty.
US obesity is at an all-time high, with Americans among the fattest people on earth. This increase is primarily the result of consuming more calories, that behaviour beinf the direct result of technological innovations, making it possible for food to be mass/fast prepared far from the point of consumption, and consumed with lower costs of preparation (even if you factor in marketing costs). With obesity (and, tangentially, awareness of obesity) rising at an epidemic rate, consumers will engage
with brands that offer up healthy eating options. Watch for the “bionic” consumer to take control of their health, their weight, and their diets, weighing in with stronger loyalty bonds to products that offer “low fat,” “organic” and “low salt.”

Innovation and loyalty will matter more. What is clear is that the ever-expanding universe of brands will require an informed action plan – one that makes sense to the people on the brand and marketing side of the equation, but one that also accurately
identifies and capitalises upon what people on the consumer side really
feel, really want, and really believe.

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What do you think? Any feedback on these trends? For more info, contact Dr Passikoff at Brand Keys here.

Social networking sites affect consumer spending

Social networking sites and chatrooms affect what people buy, according to the American Marketing Association. The organisation did some research in September with 1,174 people online, which shows how important peer-to-peer opinions have become to consumers.

Some of the results:

• 47% of all respondents said they would go to a social networking site to download coupons or search for gift ideas if those services were available;

• 45% said they would visit a social networking site to find out about upcoming sales in stores or discounts on products;

• 22% said they would read or write a product review on a blog.

Vodafone gets magical with its tap-dancing ad

Perhaps it is because the Brand Strategy team have a secret enduring love with the legendary Gene Kelly, but there’s something about a tap-dancing man that gets us every time. Which is why we enjoy this Vodafone advert featuring a guy tap-dancing for his girlfriend in the street while she listens to the accompanying music on her iPod.

Very cheesy but it is nearly the holiday season, after all.

You can watch it here:

Harking back to yesteryear

Sainsbury’s is reminiscing about the good old days with some heritage branding. The supermarket has launched four longer-life bags based on designs from more than 100 years ago. One of the designs was first used in 1880 on Sainsbury’s first-ever bag.

It’s hoped that the old-fashioned designs will inspire customers to buy more reusable bags. Heritage branding has also been used on Christmas gifts currently on sale in store including, jars of sweets and tins of shortbread.

Bushmills, a Diegeo-owned whisky brand is also harking back to yesteryear. The brand is about to celebrate its 400th anniversary of gaining the original licence to distil. Bushmills Master distiller Colum Egan has created a limited-edition whisky, 1608, to highlight its heritage. But, the brand is also looking to the future and launching its first ever global advertising campaign. Shivaun Lucey, Bushmills global brand director commented at a special tasting event: “We’re not the best because we’re the oldest, we’re the oldest because we’re the best.”

Handle With Care

‘The human touch’ has a key role to play when things go wrong says new Ipsos MORI research .

Its “Moments of Truth” Study suggests that bad experiences are commonplace, with a third (36%) of the British public having experienced a problem with a company in the past fortnight.

The worst offenders are telecoms companies (mentioned by 16% of those who have experienced a problem in the past fortnight), banks (11%) and utilities (11%).

Alex Bollen, Director of Ipsos MORI Loyalty Division has this to say:  “With a third of customers questioned in our survey recalling some form of bad experience over the past two weeks, this adds up to a lot of dissatisfied customers.”

“Companies need to take a long term approach to developing loyal customers. As our study shows, if people have a bank of good customer service experiences they are much less likely to leave.”

Companies then need to repair the relationship with customers who are feeling or acting more negatively towards them as a result of the problem they have experienced with the human touch.  Being ‘treated as a more valued customer’, mentioned by 46% of respondents, with monetary forms of compensation coming some way behind, is the answer.

Jamiroquai relaunches fan website

Funk and soul group Jamiroquai has relaunched its website so fans will be able to interact with the band by placing widgets and content from the site onto their own social networking pages.

The Web 2.0 site created by content management system (CMS) and software specialists Modera, will enable followers of Jamiroquai to get up-to-date band news via RSS feeds. Videos from sites such as YouTube and all of the bands images and photography from Flickr are available on the site, and can be used on other networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. CDs, digital downloads and merchandise are also for sale on Jamiroquai.com.

Lead singer Jay Kay says, “The internet is shaping the future of music and I’m excited by the potential it offers artists. The new Jamiroquai.com site takes advantage of the internet’s growing ability to connect and share more intimately with our fans.”

This will no doubt please IT-literate Jamiroquai devotees. It will be interesting to see if the site creates a new Jay Kay fanbase.

Take a look at the website: www.jamiroquai.com

Teens want the environment to be a top priority

Teenagers are often portrayed as a lazy self-centred bunch, so the news that young people are concerned about anything other than themselves may come as a surprise.

And, continuing coverage about gun and knife culture may lead some to believe that young people are worried about their safety. But, according to the results collected by Habbo, a virtual world for teens, and campaign group Greenpeace International, teens are more concerned about the environment than about drugs, violence or war.

Nearly 50,000 teenagers around the world were asked for their views on environmental issues. The results have been released as Governments meet in Bali, Indonesia, for the UN Climate Change Conference.

Almost three quarters (74 %) think that global warming is a serious issue, and are more worried about it than any other issue.

Over half (56 %) think climate change is more of an issue than terrorism, but think Governments around the world aren’t making it a high enough priority.

North America is being blamed for the most damage with 39 % surveyed believing that the continent is responsible for the majority of greenhouse gases, followed by Europe (24%) and Asia (10 %). However, a quarter of North American teens aren’t sure that global warming is a problem.

Importantly, two thirds believe that global warning will affect their lives in a negative way. But, 40 % don’t know what’s causing it or how to prevent it.

This survey highlights that greenwash isn’t going to cut it with the next generation. Brands will have to to take action and make the environment a priority instead of just talking about it.

Do you think brands are doing enough? Let us know what you think.

Disposable culture: should we curb consuming?

A couple of months ago, Brand Strategy published an article all about the problems with disposable culture – you can see an exclusive version of it created for our blog by clicking here.

This excellent article in The Guardian follows the same theme. It follows the idea that research from a US psychologist shows that as income and consumption levels have gone up, humans have become even less happy. It asks: will we be forced to curb consumption?

Interesting to see how this idea is gaining pace.