What Will Twitter Do Next?

Today, Twitter has announced further creations to both its marketing adaptability and its extension into the music market. It has only been two days since Twitter unveiled its keyword-targeting capability for advertisers (April 17). This means that marketers can now target users by keywords based on users’ recent tweets in addition to the already available ‘geolocation’, mobile device and interest filters, (Shields, Marketing Week, 2013). He gives the example of a soft drinks company, who instead of using Twitter’s existing targeting tools such as the ‘hashtag’ in finding key words; could simple search for any users that has recently tweeted the words ‘I’m thirsty”.

Chapman (2013) stated in today’s Marketing magazine how Sky used Twitter’s brand new keyword targeting feature to invite people who were tweeting about the derby between Manchester City and Manchester United to watch the game live on Now TV. Alongside keyword targeting, Kevin Weil discussed how Twitter was now able to profile users’ interest based on people following other users from a certain field of interest, such as cycling.

Weil said: "Interest targeting has been incredibly powerful for us. Follows that are unrequited provide us an amazing view into who you are and what you are interested in." He continued in stating how Twitter can now do a form of ‘gender-targeting’,  even though Twitter do not ask this question when a user signs up.

Yet another creation that is being developed by Twitter is their own music app which launched for Apple iPhone users yesterday. The managing director of Twitter UK, Tony Wang has stated that the version for the android app is currently being developed. The app contains a feature whereby it will display the ‘140 most tweeted about songs of the moment.’ This has come from the fact that he claims that, "Music is at the heartbeat of Twitter – there is no bigger passion category on Twitter than music today". Twitter also claims that 50% of all users supposedly follow at least one music act and that an astounding 50% of all tweets are music related.

In an analysis of this information, it would seem that Twitter are progressing further as a social networking site daily; the only problem is, it is at the expense of users and the way in which privacy is also being reduced daily. The approach to keyword targeting is very similar to the Google’s AdWords platform, and it has been argued by many that Facebook and Twitter pose more of a potential threat to ‘Google’s towering dominance in the search market than the ‘search alliance’ pairing of Bing and Yahoo,’ (Shields, 2013). There has been a critique from Microsoft as they claim that these sorts of techniques in marketing are further adding to market plurality.

Furthermore, Twitter’s new music app could be great in giving some bands a chance to show their material to users who may not have listened to their music before but since music acts like One Direction and Justin Beiber are the most ‘tweeted’ about music acts, then the dominance of that ‘top 140 songs list’ will be with them. To conclude, it has recently been said that Twitter is merely a Public Relations platform and it reduces communication to superficialities and lacks depth; but it seems to be adapting very quickly to market conditions and has the positive of interacting between users at an arguably quicker pace than Facebook.

Can John Lewis Sell Mobile Phones?

John Lewis is obviously a well-established company that has deep-rooted morals. The partnership consists of over 84,700 Partners (including both John Lewis and Waitrose). The vision of John Lewis’s business is driven by its people and its principles. This way of business has obviously seemed to be a success so far in catering to the needs of multiple customers. It was reported today in Marketing Magazine that John Lewis is reportedly considering a move into the lucrative mobile phone market as part of its ‘strategy of using trust in the brand to diversify its product range,’(Chapman, 2013).

John Lewis is said to be experiencing booming sales of consumer electronics at present and has stated that a change into the mobile phone sector is "definitely on the radar". Chapman (2013) states how Last year, the marketing director Craig Inglis told Marketing that John Lewis was careful not to "go into some random other diversifying product area and try and over-leverage the brand", and that "there are so many areas we could potentially go into…

..and in electricals, people would want more than just the electrical products."

This news of John Lewis pondering on the thought of entering this market has come just as they have now extended its Broadband offer by offering a deal that would mean that customers would not have to pay for the first 6 months if they were to purchase any ‘web-enabled product.’ An astounding fact is that John Lewis claims that it currently sells five tablets every minute – this meaning that a large number of customers would be exposed to its broadband offer.

In an analysis of this potential move from John Lewis, personally, it would seem that it would be of a high risk due to the fact that the mobile phone market is hugely competitive with a huge amount of competitors, (some being extremely strong). Furthermore, the initial research stage that is undertaken by consumers in deciding whether to purchase a phone is usually done by assessing the prices of the different phone retailers. This is due to the fact that most mobile phone contracts are either 18 or 24 months long, so every pound counts; this brings me to the case that John Lewis’ electrical products (granted because of its high level of customer service and product excellence) are regarded as being fairly high in price, so if these prices were to remain, then it would be very hard to justify why another ‘cheap’ retailer will sell it for half the price.

However, if John Lewis will continue to offer the excellent and helpful customer service with mobile phones then it could well be justified. Furthermore Chapman (2013) quotes Adam Brown, buyer of tablets and telecoms at John Lewis, in saying: "Consumer demand for internet enabled technology has never been as high – 80% of the technology products we sell are internet-ready. We know that many consumers are left disappointed by the level of customer service they get from their broadband provider and frustrated at misleading and complicated offers, so we're determined to bring John Lewis levels of excellence, simplicity and value to the broadband market.” In conclusion, the mobile phone market is as noted, very lucrative, but John Lewis is a company that has a very positive reputation that would most probably generate a lot of interest before even starting to enter the market.

Using Marketing Communications To Change A Social Stigma

Baker (2013) states how Dove has recently hired a criminal sketch artist to draw women in the most recent chapter of its ‘Real Beauty campaign’ to show evidence of how beautiful they are. The criminal sketch artist they used, Gil Zamora, was told to sketch women based on two different descriptions:

• The way they perceive themselves
• The way a stranger describes them

The aim of this is to allow women to recognise that they are their own ‘harshest critic’ which is often incorrect as it is often the case that others view them differently. This importance that has been placed on self-belief and self-appreciation has been consistent throughout Dove’s ‘real beauty campaign’ as they conducted this social experiment to demonstrate that women are more beautiful than they think. The experiment found that only a mere 4% of women believed that they are beautiful. The campaign is also moving onto Twitter by using the hashtag ‘#wearebeautiful’ so that women can discuss the issue.

As noted above, Dove has performed similar tasks in an attempt to boost self-belief within their campaigns but in 2011 it seemed as though they were to ditch the campaign, (Chapman, 2011). Dove launched its global Real Beauty campaign in 2004 with the aim to highlight body images issues, but in 2011, Dove approached Ogilvy London about replacing the campaign with a ’Body Language’ marketing campaign that will instead talk about how Dove products make you feel confident and attractive.

In 2011, Unilever global communications marketing manager Stacie Bright issued a statement saying:

“The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty started a global conversation about the need for a wider definition of beauty more than six years ago. The Campaign for Real Beauty slogan has not been used consistently across the brand as the tagline depends on whether we are launching a new product or having a master brand campaign.”

“Our bold vision for the brand remains exactly the same. We aim to create a world where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety. We are excited to give all women the opportunity to join us as we work to make our vision a reality. As discussed, we remain committed to real beauty, which will continue to be evident in all of the work we are doing.”

From 2011 Dove has evidently moved on from their initial campaign as many thought that the original campaign was rather ‘preach-like’ and some critics even said that it promoted an unhealthy lifestyle. The more recent advent of the criminal sketch artist highlights an important issue, as many teenagers are prompted by other brands and celebrities that more makeup is better, and ways to cover up imperfections or bad features, whereas Dove is approaching the issue in a positive way as men do not receive half the pressure that women do in order to ‘be normal,’ so this campaign will hopefully once again help in establishing a platform where women are confident in themselves without the inclusion make-up.

Will the 'Change4Life' campaign 'ChangeOurLives'?

After a constant wave of intensity on the front of healthy eating, it has now been said that there are plans to start presenting brands that offer healthy products a ‘Change4Life Kitemark’. This is following news that the Government is reviving the scheme, (Parsons, 2013). He stated that ‘Public Health England, the executive body of the Department of Health’ is now responsible for dealing with the £55m marketing budget that has been set. A document which delineated the strategy of the campaign stated that it aimed to “explore the potential” for the anti-obesity’s campaign logo to appear on “products or services that promote healthy lifestyles”.

 

If this campaign is launched, brands like Kellogg and Nestle could transmit the logo on their healthier alternatives. In 2010 the idea of having the ‘Change4Life’ image shown on branded goods was scrapped, due to the fact that the Department of Health conveyed their concerns that consumers may feel their inclusion as an endorsement of a brand. However, brand partnerships and the private sector’s involvement in campaigns have been said to grow both to share the cost of activity and force companies to take their fair share of responsibility for public health, (Parsons, 2013).

Change4Life is now 30 per cent funded by the taxpayer, according to the strategy document, from almost 100 per cent at launch. Recent Change4Life activity has included ads from the likes of Asda, Quorn, Uncle Ben’s, the Co-Operative Food and Cravendale carrying Change4Life’s “Be Food Smart” sub-brand. Meanwhile, Public Health England says that it will for the first time, attempt the use of Sky’s AdSmart, the internet-style ad product that offers brands the chance to target specific audiences during live TV ad breaks, later this year. It is one of the numerous procedures scheduled to increase the cost efficiency and targeting of activity.

Parsons (2013) states that in an additional bid to save money, spend on traditional media channels to promote youth orientated issues, such as the campaigns that are made to raise awareness of sexual health risks, will be axed. To offset reduced spending, Public Health England is to involve more “youth brands” the chance to fund and develop campaigns.

Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, says that the marketing has a established role to play as one of the various policy levers in assisting people to improve their health. It is dually noted that marketing is not a panacea/remedy, but it is a method of conveying a positive image that will (in hope) drive behaviour change. It also has some distinctive benefits, ‘such as speed, scale and low cost-per-head impact, hence its inclusion in NICE and Centre of Disease Control guidance.’

“In addition, new scientific insights about behaviour change and the transforming media landscape offer scope to deliver programmes of unprecedented depth and quality in ways that were simply not possible even a few years ago.”

In an analysis of these suggestions, it seems rather contradictive that the government are saying that they want to do more to improve the lifestyles of consumers by conveying a 'healthy image' when they have only recently put a 10% tax increase on all health supplements. The reasons why many people may have seen this inclusion of the Change4Life logo on brands as a way of backing certain brands is because the government seem as though they are largely inconsistent in their apporach to healthy living. They restricted the tax increase so that it would not go onto 'unhealthy' drinks such as chocolate milkshakes, but yet ignored a UK-wide petition that was made in order to limit the tax increase.

However, the inclusion of the Change4Life logo would be a positive inclusion if handled carefully and properly as there a numerous products which promote themselves as being 'healthy' and 'nutritious' when they infact have damaging ingredients which are not denoted. Therefore, if the logo is used for products that have been tested on a 'multiple-point' scale then the government could reap the benefits of a successful campaign. On the other hand, if a product that had the Change4Life logo was seen to be harmful for the recommended daily diet then trust may be lost for good for any Change4Life campaigns.

 

Consumer Behaviour: The Younger, More Digitally Adept Generation

Tesseras (2013), an author from Marketing Week, stated that together with email, phone and face-to-face interactions, today’s under-18s are using social networking sites, instant chat and text to communicate - connecting with family and friends more than 50 times each day. Furthermore, it has been previously assumed that because the youth of today are so digitally adept, that they are too trusting of the internet and unaware of its potential dangers; this is also untrue, as it was found that this generation is more wary about the potential dangers, particularly regarding online privacy.

Tesseras (2013) states some of the main findings from the research that was conducted exploring the views of more than 1,000 eight- to 17-year olds. It was then accompanied by diaries looking at how teenagers use digital devices, in conjunction with face-to-face focus groups and one-on-one, or family interviews with eight- to 12-year-olds. Similar research was then carried out among older age groups for comparison:

• Under-18s trust companies online far less than those aged 18 to 24 and are also more skilled at keeping their personal information safe, according to Intersperience Research’s Digital Futures study.

• A quarter of under-18s are confident in their ability to protect their personal information online, compared to 16 per cent of those aged 18 to 24, and 43 per cent are aware of how their privacy can be broken online compared to 32 per cent of the older category.

Maria Twigge, Insight manager at Intersperience Research states that she believes under-18s are very adept at using digital devices and are better informed about online behaviour and so are better at protecting their privacy.

• As a result, it was found that if teenagers are concerned about the integrity of a website or if businesses are not open about how they intend to use personal data, many have no qualms about supplying fake details to protect their privacy: 22 per cent of under-18s and 23 per cent of 18 to 24 year olds would consider giving out false information.

She continues in stating that the “businesses that are transparent about what they are doing will be the ones that are able to establish relationships with young people. There is a real need for brands to be open and upfront about their terms and conditions because this age group is so savvy about privacy,”

• Over 55 per cent say they can concentrate on what they are doing on one device while still being aware of what is happening on other gadgets. - This rises to 64 per cent for 14- to 17-year-olds, buy only 39 per cent for 18 to 24 year olds.

However, Twigge believes that this is a key finding as well as being rather negative due to the fact that it means that this generation are not as loyal to brands , as they are ‘operating in wider networks’ and so they therefore have looser connections, “So while it might be easier to get them to switch brands, at the same time it will be more difficult to establish long-term relationships,” she says.

 This continual connectivity has shaped a further ‘impatient consumer group that expects an instant response,’ particularly important in customer service (Tesseras, 2013). She states how brands need to recognize teenagers’ drive for using different channels in order to understand which channels they need to respond to quickly and how they should do it. “Young people are much more demanding. They are more impatient. They expect a personalised service and they expect it to be responsive and proactive,” Twigge states.

• Almost half (46 per cent) say they access social sites on their mobile phone, with 61 per cent of under-18s using social networking sites every day, and 64 per cent using instant messenger, which steadily decreases the older the category.

Consumer habits are evidently evolving, which is specifically visual among teenagers. Brands need to appreciate the way today’s under-18s communicate and duplicate that to remain pertinent if they are to have any chance of building relationships with this inconsistent demographic. As the age group grows older and becomes the target customer, knowing how to communicate with them effectively across multiple devices will only become more vital. If brands can develop a deep understanding of how to communicate to them early then it would make the process of following the trends and habit’s a much easier task.
 

 

Mobile Advertsing Increases, Marketing Spend Increases: A slight positive for the UK economy

It was stated today that the UK digital advertising spend growth has decelerated in 2012 due to the introduction of the fact that more marketers chose to trial with mobile formats, which cost less than the average desktop method, (O'Reilly, 2013). Marketing Week author Laura O'Reilly (2013) continued in stating that ‘Digital advertising spend increased by 12.5 per cent to £5.42bn in 2012, according to the latest IAB digital ad spend report, conducted by PwC. Growth was down slightly from the 14.4 per cent registered in 2011.’

The IAB/PwC full-year study established that the mobile spend more than doubled (147 per cent) to £525m, up from £203.2m, which accounted for 9.7 per cent of digital advertising spend in 2012. In 2011 advertising on mobile devices grew 157 per cent, although this came from a lower starting point. Tim Elkington, the director of research and strategy at IAB, stated that the mobile marketing industry has now reached this landmark because of the change in perceptions from consumers who now inevitably expect to engage with brands wherever they are. Due to this, marketers and advertisers are progressively purchasing integrated marketing campaigns across the online and mobile platforms rather than the long-standing thought of regarding mobile as an afterthought.

O’Reilly (2013) specified that in the past six months, a further twenty (of the top 100 UK advertisers) launched ‘mobile-optimised sites.’ The launch of 4G, by the company ‘EE’ is said to double the average download speeds in the main cities. This introduction, alongside others have been said to be factors that are likely to “drive mobile advertising’s growth even further in 2013.”

O'Reilly (2013) lists some of the current figures within the industry:

• Display advertising across the entire digital sector was boosted by the increase in video and social media advertising. Video grew 46 per cent to £160m (up 50 per cent in 2011), while social media advertising grew 24 per cent to £328.4m (75 per cent in 2011).
• Elsewhere, paid-for search marketing now accounts for 58 per cent of all digital ad spend, having increased 14.5 per cent to £3.17bn in 2012 (17.5 per cent in 2011).
• Classifieds, another major sector, grew 6.3 per cent to £853.7m (5.2 per cent in 2011), accounting for 16 per cent of digital ad spend.
• The FMCG sector overtook finance as the biggest spender on digital display for the first time last year, accounting for almost 16 per cent of spend.

 Anna Bartz, senior manager at PwC, believes that the market for advertising is flowing towards integrated campaigns that provide a story and that give a ‘greater prominence to video and display formats with a higher degree of interactivity with the target audience.’ Over the previous two years, the digital advertising revenue model has also been said to have changed from an importance on direct response to being now more about branding and awareness, (O'Reilly, 2013).

 

Listed below are a range of facts that have been taken from Russell Parsons Marketing Week report. He found that the marketing budgets for the next financial year has been set at the highest figure for over two years, this is due to the fact that the marketers predict that increased activity will grow sales; even though (as noted near the end of the text) the latest Bellwether report stated that the UK economy is still rather ‘subdued’.

 

• ‘The quarterly survey of 300 senior marketers from the UK’s top companies, a respected barometer of confidence in the industry, found 36 per cent setting budgets higher for 2013/14 compared to 23 per cent reducing spend. The net balance of 13 per cent is the highest since the first quarter of 2011.’

• ‘More than a third (36 per cent) of the marketing chiefs polled are expecting improvements in the performance of their own companies, up from 28 per cent in the previous quarter. Less than a fifth (19 per cent) are more pessimistic that they were at the end of 2012.’

The news comes despite further indications UK economic growth remains flat. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research stated yesterday (10^th April) that the UK economy grew by a mere 0.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, meaning the UK avoided a triple dip recession by a whisker.

Do the objects that we buy represent ourselves? / A social networking approach

Social networking sites have often been used to show off either the amount of followers each person has or the amount of friends on Facebook someone has. However, in recent years, the rise of Pinterest and Instagram have created a new factor which is the growing interest into peoples own lives. Showing others what you own or what you have seen has become more important, and savvy marketers are said to be tapping into this. Chahal (2013), an author of Marketing Week questions whether they fabled ‘word of mouth’ is becoming ‘word of me’.

Intel Director of brand strategy, Jayant Murty spoke to Marketing Week and stated that Intel are ever increasing their search into social crazes and are attempting to celebrate the things people do with their technology. Intel produced a social media campaign to introduce the second generation of Intel Core Processors. The brand launched an interactive Facebook campaign called “Intel Museum of Me” that echoed the individual expression of self-image. Intel’s Museum of Me application pulled in data from the user’s profile, including personal photos, profile pictures of friends, commonly used words and phrases and recently liked images and videos, to create an exhibition of the user’s life, (Chahal, 2013).

Brands are attempting methods of making it easier for consumers to show themselves off through the products they own in an attempt to make their products, the ones that are being shown the most, whether it is completely positive or even slightly mocking. A great example of this is Starbucks; Since March 2012, Starbucks customers have been able to share images of their names written on takeaway cups. Starbucks launched the ‘Names on coffee cups’ campaign in a bid to offer a more personalised service in its shops by calling customers by their first names, with baristas writing it where they would previously have written the name of the drink ordered.(Chahal, 2013).

 

 Customer focused: Starbucks’ baristas (above)

Ian Cranna, the vice-president of marketing for Starbucks, said that the campaign ‘names on coffee cups’ turned a usual run-of-the-mill coffee cup into an object that personalised and owned by that individual; this encourages that person to then share that image to their online social community. This campaign has proved so popular, that there are Flickr and Tumblr pages that display the labelled cups, and apps that generate a name for people on a virtual cup – (each of these also mocks instances where the names are misspelled).

“Names on cups themselves are not the only expression of the relationship between the barista and the customer, with many thousands of messages being passed each day with smiley faces, a flower, or a comment that cheers up a person.” says Cranna. He proposes that the number of drink combinations also enables consumers to express their own identity. “Are you a tall decaf skinny cappuccino, or a grande extra shot Americano with cream?” he says.

Foot Locker is another brand that sees the value of creating a space for consumers to show off what they own. Its Sneakerpedia site allows key influencers, collectors and enthusiasts can share images of their most-loved trainers and consumers can search by brand, material, colour and type. Status is said to play a large part in the brands consumers favour, and the ones they want to show off about owning. (Chahal, 2013). This is shown below:

 

Diageo marketing and innovation director for western Europe Matthew Barwell has a similar opinion to Ian Cranna in saying that “Technology has enabled us as marketers to manage campaigns more effectively and proactively in a way that couldn’t have been done 30 years ago.” He believes that it is no longer about the amount of ‘likes’ a page has, but the way a companys’ target audience and consumers engage with a brand regularly, the frequency of that activity and the relevance. “It’s a really powerful way for people to share the brands they like with their broad group of friends to help define and reflect their personalities, interests and their moods. That is a fantastic opportunity for brands.”

Marketers now need to study how consumers use brands to express their own identity. If a brand has a clear outlook on what it represents, this can be transferred onto the consumer’s identity. Barwell at Diageo says: “What you are buying and drinking is a reflection of the personality that you want to project. As marketers we can reframe what we do from managing a brand to managing an icon, because that ultimately is what consumers are buying into. What’s really important is that a brand has a clear point of view on the world, a clear perspective and purpose

Facebook Home: The next step in allowing social networking sites to enter our lives

During a time where waves of new technological advances are occurring, Facebook have introduced a new ‘mobile-ad real estate’ by creating a Facebook ‘home screen’ for the background of people’s smartphones, (Delo and McDermott, 2013).

The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg explained the app as being much deeper than any other. The new app will be available from April 12 through ‘Google Play’ for several Android phones including the HTC and Samsung Galaxy S III. The app allows consumers to see the ‘ever-changing rotation of visual content’ from their usual live feed whilst using their phone in the background; this is called the “cover feed” which would show on their home screens (as a wallpaper-like feed) and lock screens- where the advent of advertisements will also lay. Facebook Home's other fundamental functionality is to allow people to message their Facebook friends, whose profile photos will show up as small "chat heads," while doing any other usual task on their phones, (Delo and McDermott, 2013).

eMarketer (2013) suggests that Facebook will need to unlock a substantial revenue opportunity to claim to the advertising space, in an attempt to convince Android phone-users to begin to think totally differently about the way in which they use their phone and allow Facebook to almost take over their lives; (people that use Android phones make up 43.5% of the U.S. smartphone market).

The first marketing campaign for this app has been produced by the Advertising agency Wieden & Kennedy. The television advertisement is currently being broadcasted and the campaign will also use Facebook ad products like mobile news-feed ads and log-out ads, but no other paid digital marketing.

“The marketing investment is explained by Facebook's desire to accelerate its already fast-growing mobile-ad revenue, which eMarketer expects to reach $1.53 billion this year, up from $470.7 million in 2012. It's also possible that the feature, if widely adopted, could one day furnish a rich stream of data about users' app activity for ad targeting.”

 

As mentioned before, Facebook has now started running the advertisement called "Airplane". The advertisement shows a man on a plane meeting people (and pets) from his Facebook friends' photos which shows the deeply rooted level of integration the app gives. “It had more than 64,000 likes on Facebook by late Sunday morning,” but the advertisement itself has procreated a wealth of damaging comments. Some of the comments are shown below:

"I don't even understand what they are trying to show us," one Facebook user wrote. "It makes no sense to me. If I get a Facebook phone is my life going to be like a circus with that annoying tuba sound following me around?”

It has been often argued that social networking sites have almost taken over people’s lives by a large number of users said to be checking their Facebook feed over 14 times a day. This app would not help this cause as it would distract employees and students even more if they then can see their Facebook updates even when they have locked their phone.

It has been stated that Facebook also have plans to use the Facebook Home app to put advertisements on people’s phone home screens. This would cause a complete invasion into people’s lives if companies are then allowed to advertise directly to people’s phones even when they aren’t being used. Mark Zuckerberg has stated that the Home app will allow users to flick through their Facebook feed without ‘jumping through hoops’. Apart from the slight convenience of not having to tap the screen once to go onto Facebook, the main benefits of this app have not yet become evident.

Consistency and emotive advertisements are said to be key: Case being Honda

After having what has been said to be one of the best car advertisements of all time, Honda have now accepted that their recent advertisements have lost the “edge” and have become slightly “bland” in comparison to past advertisements.

Below this is both the award-winning cog advertisement and a more recent advertisement which Honda have now accepted as being too bland.

Honda’s 2003 cog advertisement is seen as creative high point.

Rosie Baker (2013), (author for Marketing Week) states how Honda has less than 5% of the UK market share and has now committed 50% of its marketing budget to ‘product led tactical advertising’ in previous years and have mainly targeted the mere 5% of people who are actively seeking to buy a car at any one time.

The marketing director of Honda has recently told Marketing Week that he aims to build on the personality of the brand and talk to the 95% of people who they don’t usually target as he says that it doesn’t matter whether they are looking to purchase a car or not, they can still have an opinion on the car brand and influence others that are looking to purchase. He continued by saying that the brand must take a more “conquest” oriented approach as he claims that the only way to drive volume growth in a declining market is by looking beyond existing loyal customers.

Honda has two product launches planned for this year and marketing campaigns for both are being developed as part of a more consistent brand strategy rather than ‘standalone activity.’ Honda also plans to improve on specific brand activity which is designed to build its personality. It will retain the “Honda. The power of dreams.” strapline it has used since 2002.

The Managing Director of Honda says that the marketing must focus on building an emotional connection with the brand. “I think emotional has got to be the first approach. People still have a great sense of pride in how they want something to make them feel and particularly when there is doom and gloom, that is important … you’re buying with an emotional response first and then you go on to do your research into the rational. The whole brand drip feed is slow over time, you can’t expect overnight sales success,” he says.

He mentions John Lewis advertisements and Volkswagen’s Darth Vader spot as examples of brand content that consumers seek out and anticipate because they have strong emotional resonance. As part of the brand building strategy he states that Honda is putting in place a European framework to ensure consistency across the region – “something that Honda has not had before,” he says.

 “If every country tries to create its own version of the brand you end up with a disparate set of values, each one is a slight variation. Now we can check it fits the overall brand DNA and that it has an incremental effect to helping consumers understand Honda.”

The brand currently works with Wieden + Kennedy, this is the agency that was responsible for its Cog, Choir and Impossible Dream advertisements.

Listed below are facts about Honda and the UK car market that has been sourced by SMMT and quoted from Marketing Week.

23% - Honda new car registrations increased 23 per cent year on year in the first three months of the year.

7.1% - Honda new registrations were up 7.1 per cent year on year in 2012 to 54,208 units.

5.9% - Total UK new car registrations increased 5.9 per cent in March 2013 to 394,806 units.

6.9% - In Jan - March registrations increased 6.9 per cent to 605,198 - the best since 2010 - but below the pre-recession 12.1 per cent.
 

Top 5 best-selling cars so far this year:

 1. Fiesta 34,309

2. Focus 25,081

 3. Corsa 24,561

 4. Astra 17,202

 5. Golf 15,726

 

The main causes for poor advertisements

Graves (2013) offers Campaign magazine an explanation of the three psychological causes for poor advertisements. It is often assumed that any marketing communications that is done by large organisation’s should be very enticing and successful in meeting the objectives which are set. The reason being is that they usually spend a huge amount of money performing market research in attempting to find out the current perceptions of the brand, the key aspects to focus on and which media vehicles to use.

It is said that within the new Ikea advert (shown below) is creative in linking the practical storage furniture with the fact that life is a lot better when the room/house is not cluttered. At an implicit level, the advertisement is attractive and elegant, by allowing the viewer to build up the association between Ikea and how creatively designed its furniture is. However, Graves (2013) states the fact that an additional emotive quality alongside an intriguing story ‘builds and reinforces the brand proposition at the level that matters most.’

 

The first main cause for poor advertisements is not understanding the decision-making frailty of the consumer. Graves (2013) argues that scripts for advertisements are given to clients with a cover letter that influences the reaction of the client by explaining the advertisement. By this, clients then see the advertisement in the same way that it is seen by the agency (and the way they think it will be seen), rather than in an objective and impartial manner.

The second cause for the creation of poor advertisements has been said to be failing to appreciate the way that the brain of the consumer’s work. It is explained how the motive to create a new and never-been-seen type of campaign is seen as important for your work to be completely appreciated. However, this means that when there is a successful advertising campaign, it is unceremoniously discarded and swapped with a new proposition.

A good example is Pepsi, recent articles have shown that Pepsi has had 12 advertising slogans in the US since 2008. Graves (2013) states how commercials and advertisements are usually something that you don’t just sit down and watch, but instead exist in the background and picked up upon by the unconscious mind. It is argued that while a creative marketing expert may become a jaded with the proposition, the ‘consumer’s unconscious mind thrives on consistent associations: new expressions of the brand proposition are useful because the unconscious tries to learn something new, but ends up reinforcing existing associations.’ New propositions, on the other hand, build new associations and dilute the unconscious response when the brand is encountered.

The third and final cause for poor advertisements is said to be the brands not listening to consumers. When it comes to performing market research to attempt to gain an opinion on the campaign in questions, it doesn’t normally turn out the way that was wished. The reason for this is because the customers themselves do not know how they will respond in a real-life context to a proposition. There is a copious amount of evidence in psychology to prove that the method of asking people what they think creates a different context that exerts its own influences on what people say they think. In conclusion to this final cause, the organisation must find a way of gaining an opinion of their advertisements without external influences such as being in a focus group where peoples opinions may change due to the environment that they are being asked.

Free Advertising or deceiving Advertising

Is using celebrities on social networking sites deceitful or is it the 'new' way to advertise?

 

Due to recent changes in Facebook's algorithm, it now costs to advertise on the social networking site; so brands and celebrities have started taking matters into their own hands. ‘Nike, Unilever and many marketers are cropping up in sponsored posts on the platform, but Facebook isn't earning any revenue from it,’ (Parekh and Delo, Advertising Age, 2013).

It hasn’t been that long since Instagram changed its terms and conditions to a format that would license the use of any photos on the social networking site which seemed to be a form of Advertising. However, many celebrities and brands such as National Geographic threatened to delete their accounts as they believed that many of their images may come up as an attempt to advertise. This threat obviously showed who had the power, because within days, the previous terms and conditions were reverted back.

 

Parekh and Delo, (2013) explain how a recent post by Beyonce Knowles shows her in a pop-art-style collage with a can of Pepsi, which is the brand for which she is now spokeswoman. Some advertisements were speculated as being part of the incentive behind the recent introduction of the new news feed within Instagram. However, advertising is occurring widely on Instagram, and to the benefit of the companies that are doing it (without any permission or pay to the social networking site). Brands are said to be trialling advertisements and teaming up with celebrities for many sponsored posts. It is surprising that neither Facebook nor Instagram are gaining financial benefits from this – as of yet.

 

Parekh and Delo, (2013) explain how just this week a sponsored post was made as the well-known celebrity Nicole Richie, (who has almost 750,000 followers), modelled in a photo while using a hair product made by Unilever's Suave. It is said that on most of her posts, there are either ‘cheeky’ comments and/or colloquial language alongside at least one emoji symbol. However, this time was different, this time she stated: "Ad: My new don't-leave-home-without-it product? Moroccan Infusion Styling Oil from @SuaveBeauty! Check out ways to add brilliant shine to your style here: bit.ly/XDJOkp.” This link brought the user to a site which detailed all of Suave’s new products. It was later confirmed by an employee of Unilever that the arrangement was done as part of its partnership with Ms. Richie, and not via Facebook or Instagram.  Unilever is said to be the ‘25th-largest advertiser in the country, spending $1.3 billion on domestic advertising alone’, according to the Ad Age Datacenter.
Parekh and Delo, (2013) explain some of the most recent celebrities who have conducted similar advertising messages and pictures. These are listed below.

• 'Lebron James recently posted a photo to his 2.2 million followers of his feet in Nike sneakers, with the sales-y message "These are simply the best!! Ultra comfy and can wear them with anything. I'm ordering 100 pair right now. #kicks #Nike #family"

• ‘A recent post by Beyonce Knowles (3.2 million followers) shows the singer in a pop-art-style collage with a can of Pepsi, the soda brand for which she is now "brand ambassador."

 

• ‘Instagram's reigning queen, Kim Kardashian, used her feed to show her 7.6 million followers a picture of her own branded tanning lotion, and directing users to buy it at Ulta stores.’

 

 

It is often argued by many people that advertisements on instagram will ruin the app because people say that advertisements are the thing that tarnished Facebooks reputation. However to answer the question at the start of this post, it could be said that people can think for themselves because to use the example of Nicole Richie, many people stated how they were very sceptical about someone as rich as Nicole Richie, using such a low-cost product like Suave.

The advent of mobile marketing

Today's Marketing Week describes how on this day (April 3) in 1973, the first-ever mobile phone call was made which created a platform for the 'mobile marketing revolution'. Marketing Week summarises some of the most iconic mobile marketing campaigns. Just under 20 years later, in 1992, the first ever SMS was sent. This was done by a telecoms engineer that sent the message which said, "Merry Christmas". This has been stated as being a momentous occasion which altered the way in which we greet eachother on both Christmas and New Year's.
In 1998, the first commercial ringtone was created in Finland by Vesa-Matti “Vesku” Paananen. Paananen was said to have persuaded Finnish telecoms firm Radiolinja to develop a service letting Nokia owners personalise their device’s ringtones.

The video above is an example of another significant occurence as the advert shows how it marked the start of mobile internet usage in 1998. However, In 2008, the world saw the launch of the App Store (via apple) which accompanied the launch of the iPhone 3G and finally made the words ‘mobile app developer’ understandable to marketers up and down the country. This could arguably be seen as one of (if not the) most significant changes which altered the way in which marketing could then be used in a new form. This new platform allowed marketers a way of permanantly communicating with their audiences if they were successful in getting their audiences to purchase and keep the app. The different events as described above changed the way in which we use our mobile phones; every year since the first SMS was sent in 1992, mobile phone developers have come up with ways to change the usages so that it changed from just emergency calls to now the most recent era of being able to shop from our phones by taking a photo of the item that you have just ran out of. The speed at which the mobile phone market is changing is frightful, the only question is, what can mobile phones be used for next? The answer to this will come with time.