apt blog

The Importance of Your Brand's Original Market

After reading an article in Marketing Week from Michael Barnett who advises how brands can ‘stay cool’ it really highlights the importance of not forgetting your original, niche market in order to become mainstream.

Converse has always had an ‘alternative’ association, but it is a well known brand bought by many.  They stay in touch with their key market using a number of elements, particularly through music: they sponsor monthly gigs at the 100 Club in London, own a New York recording studio called Rubber Tracks, collaborate with artists such as Gorillaz and create shoe designs inspired by musicians.

The target audience is also reached through Facebook allowing consumers to provide Converse with feedback and advice, in a sense, providing them with free research and fresh ideas so that they do not lose this audience.

French Connection UK On the other hand has overused the FCUK brand losing the shock factor it originally created. In order to reposition themselves, French Connection UK refocused its design and is now marketing to a more focussed audience rather than trying to interest the mainstream markets.

It is important for brands to not forget their original markets – Even if they become mainstream. Converse is a prime example of how to manage both audiences without “selling out”. Communication is key – ask for feedback - make sure your original market is being listened to as they are the people who are shaping your brand, and if you lose them, the rest will soon follow. 

Hotel Owner Magazine - Angie's Marketing Advice

For this months 'Marketing Matters' coloum in Hotel Owner magazine, Angie gives her advice on how to improve the all-important first impression of your hotel.

Read the April column here: Hotel Owner 2012 April Marketing Matters or register for the magazine on the website.

Facebook Timelines: Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re here to stay!

It's been a month since Facebook officially rolled out the new timeline feature on March 30 and there's been a lot of noise about them so far.  They may take a lot of getting used to, but there are some nifty new features on Timelines - so how can you make the most of them for your business?

First of all, you now need a cover image as well as a profile picture. This is a landscape image which stretches across the top of the page and should not only draw people’s attention but give people an idea of what you’re about as a company as well as perhaps complement your profile picture. However, you’re not allowed to do a direct sell e.g. with contact info, pricing info, or direct calls to action such as ‘like us’ so be careful what you choose. Think carefully before implementing your cover image - companies are no longer allowed to set customizable landing pages; people now have to go direct to your timeline and your cover image, so make it a good one!

Aside from the introduction of cover photos, normal photos have also gotten larger with Timeline, whether it be those posted on your wall, in photo albums or even the profile picture itself so use this to your advantage, especially if you’re a visual company.

There is now also a collapsible admin panel at the top of the page so whenever you log on you can see all the notifications, messages, new likes and insights for that particular Timeline. This is a useful tool if you have a Timeline linked to a personal account, as these notifications won’t pop up as normal when you first log in unless you specifically click the ‘Use Facebook as….’ button. There are a few drop downs at the top of the admin panel now – ‘manage’, ‘build audience’, ‘help’ and ‘hide’.  The ‘build audience’ function especially is a useful tool to encourage followers, especially for starts ups, as it allows you to disseminate a link to email contacts and existing Facebook friends. It also gives you the option to create an advert (but that’s a whole different blog post in itself!)

The admin panel can be as useful as you want it to be; the more you use it, the more likely you are to succeed in the art of the Facebook Timeline! It’s worth setting time aside every couple of weeks or at the end of each month to look through activity on your Timeline and also your Insight statistics to see what is and isn’t working; it’s there to help inform and guide content - so use it!

Also useful is the new ability to filter through posts chronologically and highlight, hide, minimise or delete them via the ‘activity log’. While we would never suggest deleting a fan’s post – even if its negative - this is a great tool for managing what your timeline looks like and perhaps deleting any mistakes from your side!

When you’ve finished with the admin panel, just click ‘hide’ and it will disappear to so that the actual Timeline appears, as it would for a follower.  

Obviously the main difference from the old pages is that it is now laid out differently; activity is split into months and posts generally zig-zag across the two columns now (though ‘likes’ and friends who also ‘like’ that page are always displayed at the top, regardless of the month). If you have a really important, time-sensitive post or announcement, you can also now pin this to the top of your Timeline for a week so that people don’t miss it – great for events and competitions!

As well as the normal functionality e.g. posts, sharing photos/videos and asking questions, Facebook has now introduced a Milestones feature, designed for you to highlight great business news or achievements (this is situated above the status update field). Milestones allow you to add news as an ‘event’ which shows up on your timeline; this has been designed to look very different to normal posts for maximum impact so it’s a fantastic opportunity to blow your company’s trumpet. You can add background information about the milestone as well as choose a selection of images to accompany it; perfect for award wins, for example, where you will no doubt have some photos to share. Make Milestones as visually attractive as possible and they’re more likely to grab people’s attention when they pop up in news feeds!

So there you have a short introduction to Timeline and some of its new features. There’s no doubt they will take a bit of getting used to so we’d really recommend you set some time aside to fully explore the Timeline’s potential. Change is often frustrating but there are some great little tools to help you promote your business here so do your research, get creative and, most importantly, have some fun with it!  

Is Patriotic Marketing Losing Meaning?

As 2012 is a jam packed year for Britain with a number of large events, we’ve been taking a look at how brand marketing has become more patriotic. From the Olympics to the Queen’s Jubilee and even the Visit Britain campaign all over our cinema screens, 2012 is set to be a great year for inbound tourism and provides numerous opportunities for brands large and small to get involved. Many brands such as Kelloggs, Heinz and Marmite (Ma’amite!) are commemorating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee using vintage packaging, with both Kelloggs and Heinz using designs that were around when the Queen ascended to the throne.

Brands are also teaming up to mark the “British summer to remember”. Schweppes and Diageo are set to promote drinking Schweppes with Pimms and Gordon’s gin – complete with union jacks in the promotional images of course!

But how many union jacks is too many?!

A recent study by Coley Porter Bell shows that most London based professionals don’t mind when marketers, advertisers and PR’s play on Britishness, just as long as it’s subtle!

Vicky Bullen, the CEO of Coley Porter Bell said, "Our main finding is that the British are being very British in their attitude to Britishness. They are happy for brands to be patriotic, but they want brands to act with dignity and restraint when it comes to using the flag and other icons of Britishness. Fewer than one in five respondents felt that overt patriotism is acceptable."

Outspoken journalist Charlie Brooker has recently written a blog for The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/22/olympics-thank-god-for-sponsors) focusing on sponsorship for the Olympics and particularly how it is overused. Given the investment these brands have made, it is understandable they want to maximise exposure and exploit the opportunity, but is it too much?

Charlie goes on to say, “The official Olympic iconography has become just another bit of background visual noise – like the Keep Britain Tidy icon, or a barcode.” This is a fair comment which not only applies the Olympics, but also to The Queens Jubilee. The more we see union jacks, the less attention we are going to pay to them!

Although the idea is lovely, and it is great that Britain is having such an eventful year, all this play on ‘Britishness’ will become too much for us and will soon lose all meaning. This is similar to the recent issue with products claiming to be ‘green’, resulting in us being ‘greenwashed’ so green credentials  no longer hold much meaning to us. What’s more, jumping on the bandwagon to raise awareness of products has resulted in the ASA clamping down on false claims being made towards how sustainable a product may actually be.

Will the same apply for British patriotism for marketing non-British products? For example, Heinz is an American company, but is using the Queen’s Jubilee to market its products in the UK.  Does patriotic marketing mask actual British products and make us associate these big brands with being British? The fact that Heinz is supporting the Queen’s Jubilee makes us associate it with being British, although the brand never actually claims to be. 

Mary Portas’s ‘Bottom Line’ has created ladies lingerie from materials 100% manufactured in the UK, using British suppliers and staff. It’s a great concept in providing for the British economy, but with the amount of ‘British marketing’ from non British companies, this uniqueness has been taken away as everything appears to be British these days. It’s something that the ASA has not yet picked up on, and depending on the extent of the issue it probably never will. But it does make us question how much is too much? And what effect is it having on real British products.

Tesco Value revamp

After reading the headline ‘Tesco ditches 20-year old value range and replaces it with Everyday Value’, my first thought was ‘what’s the point?!’ but after reading the article I was soon to be convinced that this could be a good move for Tesco.

Since 1993 the store has been offering its ‘value range’, the cheapest version of Tesco’s range of products and often, cheaper than a lot of brands; providing value for consumers on a tight budget or looking to save money. The blue and white stripes are recognised by many, and in a way, it will be a shame to lose them, but on the other hand the new branding is looking contemporary and fresh!

Along with the new branding, Tesco is also focusing on quality and health by revamping the products so that they contain no MSG, hydrogenated fats, artificial flavours or genetically modified ingredients. A number of their products have also been changed so that they contain less sugar and fat.

Smart move Tesco, we approve!

Work Anywhere. Even When Suspended From a Wall...

This week we’re loving the latest campaign by 02. Walking through London there is a chance that you may come across a man working at a desk... suspended from a wall.

This is to promote their ‘work anywhere’ campaign, where they hope to prove that you literally can work whenever, wherever! In addition, the stunt is live on the 02 website, so there is no room for error.

It’s a brave move from 02, but they should feel pretty confident as it seems to prove their point! They’re also practicing what they preach and at the beginning of February, 2000 of its employees were allowed to work from home to see how the company would cope without their literal presence. This is in preparation for the Olympics; if the traffic gets bad could they allow staff to work from home?  This research enables the company adequate time to prepare themselves for such incidences now, as opposed to panicking when the madness begins.

Not only did this form of research help 02 find what they needed to improve in order to help staff to work from home in such events, but it also provided the basis for a brilliant campaign!

It just goes to show if you research what you are trying to promote, then you can create a simple yet effective campaign which delivers on its’ promises. We’d certainly consider taking this for a test-run if we didn’t already have similar systems in place! .

http://www.o2.co.uk/business/joined-up-business/joined-up-people/

Reality check for Toyota means a campaign to remember

We at apt are always intrigued by innovative and interactive advertising campaigns and this year, the activity at Toyota caught our eye. In a bizarre but memorable campaign to promote the 2012 Carolla earlier this year, Toyota teamed up with the Japanese computer-generated pop sensation Hatsune Miku to target the Asian-American market. The car company created QR codes known as ‘ToyoTags’ which, when scanned, drove traffic to the Toyota website. The QR codes also enabled users to download the Toyota shopping app and, as a result, gain access to a special performance by Hatsune who could be seen singing on a virtual stage alongside the 2012 Carolla.

Toyota succeeded in using highly advanced technology to bring together the 2012 Carolla and the virtual reality star in an impressive feat of augmented reality. We’re not the only ones to think so too - interest in the car rose by 30% in the week of the campaign and the Toyota shopping app rose in popularity by a whopping 600%! 

This impressive campaign aimed to attract the young, technology savvy target market for the 2012 Carolla and to keep them thinking about the car after the campaign was over. Hatsune Miku certainly seemed to work her magic over the Asian-American audience but would a similar campaign be as effective in the UK? We will have to wait for Toyota to target the UK market to find out!  

A 3D optical masterpiece from LG

If you haven’t seen this video yet, it is well worth a watch. The apt team were stunned at the 3D optical stunt put on by LG in Berlin last year and came away having been convinced that the company was an expert in new generation technology. There’s no hiding it, we were impressed!

The video starts with a real building onto which an image of that same building is projected. The projected image then breaks up and its parts are turned into a moving robot. Using the latest projection technology, this robot eventually turns back into the original building which then goes through a spectrum of impressive changes. The building ripples, there are injections of colour and then the facade freezes over. We are then taken to an underwater world where animals and fish swim around the building, before being presented with ice-skaters and a giant octopus that tears through the facade. The optical show leaves the viewer with the simple message to ‘OPTIMISE YOUR LIFE’, and after apt’s viewing, we were left in no doubt that LG could help us on our way.   

So what are the potential applications of a technology like this? Derelict buildings and empty spaces could become the most technologically advanced marketing tools and any location could potentially be turned into a 3D cinema. The advertorial and commercial possibilities are countless (depending on your budget of course!).

If technology such as that displayed by 3G in Berlin takes off, we are certainly in for a future of adverts with the WOW factor. apt are excited and look forward to seeing what else is on the horizon...

QR codes: not just for Christmas?

Since apt took a look at HMV’s latest venture to draw in more customers over the Christmas period, John Lewis and eBay have both stepped up and revealed a similar Christmas marketing campaigns using QR codes.

Waitrose in Brighton has set up a window display of the 30 top-selling John Lewis Christmas gifts where customers can view items that are not usually sold in store. By scanning the QR codes that accompany the products on their smartphones, customers will be taken to the appropriate product page on the online John Lewis site and will be able to buy their selected items on the spot and collect them from the store the very next day.

Similarly, eBay have launched a five-day QR experiment that goes live today. If you visit Dean Street, Soho, you will now find a special eBay shop complete with 200 products that can be purchased via QR codes.

QR technology means that customers don’t even have to talk to a sales advisor to make a purchase whilst they are actually in or standing next to a store. It is certainly not the most sociable of shopping experiences but if these two campaigns prove to be popular, we could see the click and collect service being rolled-out all over the UK and by increasing numbers of sellers.

But how many people actually use QR codes? We have all seen them dotted around the place but is it a small group of technology fans that make use of them? Are they merely a novelty that will wear off? Or will more and more people catch on? Yet again, we will have to wait and see!

Buy it in an instant

Following on from our look at Apples’s latest pursuit to increase the speed and convenience of its shopping experience, this post takes a look at how HMV are stepping up their technological campaigns to improve their own.

In the latest use of QR codes, HMV are endeavouring to tempt buyers into purchasing DVDs whilst they wait for the bus. Certain bus stops around the country are now displaying adverts with a range of DVD titles that can be purchased on the spot. With QR coding technology, customers are able to browse and buy Twentieth Century Fox Blu-ray discs and DVDs in the street. Once you have selected the film you wish to buy, you simply need to scan the QR code next to your choice on your smart phone and you will be taken striaght to the correct page to purchase it on the HMV website. Tempting isn’t it?

This is the sort of campaign we would expect from a company such as Apple, but with the struggle HMV has had to keep afloat in recent times, we are impressed by their innovative advertising. What better way is there to keep occupied when a bus is late than to buy a quick Christmas prezzie for a loved one? (Make that one for yourself? Go on, we won’t tell!)