We absolutely love the new Sunbites advert, it’s just so appealing to watch! The new campaign from Walkers follows the summer vibe which most of the Sunbites adverts follow. This particular advert has a gorgeous twist of animation which provides such an enjoyable feel good vibe.
Sunbites are eager to spread the word that their tasty snacks are healthy and good for you and this advert certainly tries to reinforce this. The advert feels very innocent and as if everything is perfect once you open a pack.
With the Football World Cup in full swing when this advert was released you can recognise a reference to it throughout. The message is how football makes people active and brings them together. This positive message may be why the advert is enjoyable to watch. This is a good marketing technique as it is subtle but can impact people watching.
Have you seen the advert yet? You can watch it here...
We were really pleased to have met with Toulou Organics at the Beauty UK Show in Birmingham last weekend. Initially what caught our eye was the skin of the Toulou Organics founder – Completely flawless!
Toulou Organics Skincare source certified organic ingredients from all over the world and are firm believers in enhancing your skin naturally. They offer a range of products that is highly recommended by the Natural Health magazine and caters for a variety of different skin concerns including hyper-pigmentation and ageing.
It was great speaking with them about their future and we look forward to seeing them again soon!
Last weekend, we had the privilege of meeting with Neocape. It was great to see a real buzz around them especially as they are new to the hairdressing, barbering and beauty industry.
Neocape have taken the customer experience in these sectors to the next level. They have created a cape that protects the client's skin and clothes from tinting, washing or applying makeup. The ‘Neocape’ is made of a polyurethane coated fabric that incorporates a comfortable ‘Hair Stop’ collar and is great for barbering. The ‘Wash and Colour’ cape is water, bleach and tint proof which is great for hair colouring and even make up application. Neocape have worked hard to ensure that the cape is easy to maintain and is able to be wiped clean if and when it comes into contact with chemicals or cosmetics.
Angie with Neocape
We are really excited to see the growth of Neocape and think that their new product is fantastic. We are sure that the Neocape will be the must have cape in the hairdressing and beauty industry!
During the Beauty UK Show in Birmingham, we had a great chat with Cyrano, the leading UK supplier for commercial sunbeds.
Cyrano has over 20 years experience within the tanning and beauty industry and offers a wide range of commercial and home tanning solutions to customers all over the UK as well as tanning salon accessories and some beautiful lotions.
We loved looking at the huge array of lotions and of course the fabulous tanning beds – If only we had space in the office...
It was great to see Megawhite Express Teeth Whitening at the Beauty UK Show last weekend. Sarah, our Relationship Manager even got the chance to brighten up her smile!
Megawhite Express Teeth Whitening has been offering teeth whitening technology to the industry since 2003. Their newest and most innovated product, Blue Fusion was on show at Beauty UK. This new product can leave customers with teeth looking 8 shades lighter in only 15 minutes! The best thing is that the product uses zero peroxide and is completely safe.
There’s a lot of stigma around teeth whitening in the UK and confusion about what is illegal and what is not. Fully qualified Dentists are allowed to whiten and physically touch teeth with peroxide whereas teeth whitening companies are not allowed to. So, how does teeth whitening work if it’s not peroxide? With Megawhite’s Blue Fusion product the customer applies a bicarbonate soda paste to their own teeth and then has to hold the machine to their mouth themselves, once in position a UV light will react and naturally whiten the teeth.
Sarah getting her teeth whitened!
It was great to see so many people interested in Megawhite’s new products and not only did our Sarah try it out but English Television personality, Alison Hammond did too!
If you would like to find out more about Megawhite and the Blue Fusion product, click here.
Ah the humble marketing campaign, we are surrounded by them on a daily basis. From the advertisements played on the TV to the billboards strung up in the high street, this is how brands communicate with consumers.
Here at apt, we are no stranger to marketing campaigns and we love seeing what new and creative ideas are doing the rounds. Read on to hear about some of favourites this month:
Lyst: Canine Collection
Online fashion retailer, Lyst recently announced on the popular social media platform, Twitter that their website had a new feature. The Canine Collection feature supposedly allowed online shoppers to choose their ideal furry friend by browsing based on the breed, size and the cuteness of puppies. Of course this was a hoax and it was later revealed that Lyst had set up the website feature to raise awareness about the amount of ‘handbag dogs’ having to be re-homed with the help from Blue Cross. We think that this was a really clever way of reinforcing the age old saying ‘A dog is for life and not just for Christmas’ by adapting to the online browsing and shopping habits of modern day life.
Boots: Chemist of the Nation
Household name chemist, Boots recently had a TV spot during ITV prime time show Britain’s Got Talent. The spot was a mix of documentary style footage showing how the services Boots offer can help the community. One of the clips showed an optician offering children important eye tests at a Zoo and in another a skin advisor offering advice to teenagers ahead of a school disco. Other scenes included Boots staff giving advice to new Mums and even handing out sun screen in India! We are firm believers in positive relationships and we absolutely loved the realness and the connection in this advertisement.
Here at apt, we specialise in delivering and implementing effective marketing campaigns for your brand or business. So if you’re looking for some support or just a sounding board, please get in touch today on 01242 250 6925 or visit our website.
It seems that popular clothing retailer House of Fraser has taken a turn for the worst, or better, we’re not sure yet, on their social media recently.
This week, they have been posting tweets using the hashtag #Emojinal, teamed up with, you guessed it, lots of emojis. With all of the hacking scams circling the internet, people quickly jumped to the assumption that the account was hacked; with some even saying it was wrongly hijacked by a work experience intern. However, it seems that this social media campaign is legit and an attempt at jumping on the emoji bandwagon. Tweets included:
Looks like our #Emojinal takeover has started! 😛😛😛😛😛😍😺😼🐶🐱🍏🍐🍊🍋🍌🍉
Even though it left their followers amused and confused, it seems that emoji lovers are in for an exciting treat. They launched the website www.emojinal.co.uk– a site that contains 12 movie-themed ‘emoji codes’ which upon cracking will send balloons flying and provide you with a 10% off code to use on the House of Fraser website. Sad to say, I’ve only managed to get one so far...
What are your thoughts on this campaign? Fun and current, or off-brand and confusing? We'd love to hear your thoughts, so get in touch with us on Twitter @apt_marketing or comment on this blog!
It’s October and it’s almost time for the Halloween celebrations. Pumpkins, ghouls and witches are all recognised with the increasingly popular holiday and this year highly recognised brands have truly got involved with the Halloween spirit.
Read on to find out more about our favourite Halloween campaigns:
Tesco Spookermarket: Every little fright helps
The popular supermarket brand went all out this year by scaring its customers and catching it all on camera. The advert opens to what seems to be a seemingly innocent Halloween display complete with pumpkins and masked mannequins. One of the ‘mannequins’ however is ready to scare and gives shoppers a fright when they suddenly move.
One shopper is haunted by a phantom trolley while looking at the vegetables and a gruesome scene of bloodied hands in ice is displayed for shoppers at the deli counter. Other shoppers are also greeted with quite a fright when reaching for their toilet rolls and ordering their cold meats at the deli as spookily dressed workers jumped out to give them a scare.
Let’s just hope none of the shoppers were so frightened that they ran out without paying for their shopping!
View the advert for yourself:
Scary Special Offers from Pizza Hut
How can you ‘win’ at Halloween? Well, Pizza Hut has all the answers for you in their spooky Halloween advert; ranging from how to don a top notch costume, to the tasty treats and mean tricks! The opening scenes feature some jump scares, resulting in many people falling over (and into a river, even) making it laughable at the get-go.
Narrated by a lady donning a jester hat, firstly they cover Halloween costumes. She explains that you need to “get creative” with them, showing us a slideshow of photos of people dressed up, including their pets! There was a dog wearing a hotdog costume (get it?) as well as a cat dressed as a pirate; my personal favourite.
Next is treats! They’re very important and you can never leave a house without one, or five. During the narration, there is a montage of clips showing children devouring their sweets. But what is the best treat of all time you ask? Pizza of course! The parents proceed to hand out to the children a combo of Pepsi and pizza and they do look very happy indeed.
Last but not least, the tricks. Leading on from the opening scenes of the advert, a longer montage is shown of these classic jump scare pranks ranging from a ‘dead’ man being thrown into a lift, someone jumping out of a bin and dancing scarecrow!
The adverts’ signoff is a special offer – “order the twisted crust pizza and add any Pepsi 2L for $1” – not bad! All in all, this is a very funny advert and it definitely put a smile on my face – even if it was at the expense of others...
Take a look here:
Airbnb: Stay where during Halloween?!
Airbnb conjured up an extremely spooky campaign this year. The accommodation / holiday rental site is offering guests the chance to check in to the Paris Catacombs for a night of relaxation. Home to around six million souls, the house rules include ‘no tricks, but plenty of treats’ and ‘no bobbing for apples in the Catacomb pools.’
Well Airbnb, we’d like to say thanks but no thanks; how can you relax with six million skulls watching you? We’ll pass...
After reading about all of the frightful campaigns Tetley tea have gone for a more, well less spooky affair. The video shows a pumpkin being intricately carved into Gaffer’s face in a time lapse sequence. Although there is some creepy music going on it’s a lot less scary and fun for all to enjoy!
You may have read our blog about the latest Skittles campaign titled ‘Skittles Pox’ and how here at apt, we found it rather strange. Well, while on our internet travels we have come across another and maybe even stranger sweet advert that involves using disgusting situations.
American candy store, Atomic Candy was voted as Ad of The Week by The Drum and the US Creative Department Readers. Titled ‘Explore’ the ad showcases the colourful candy that is extremely similar to Skittles in an odd light.
The advert features a man stood in his bathroom, concentrating on a red spot on his face; you can probably imagine what happens next. The man squeezes the red spot and it pops off his face and into the sink. Gingerly, he picks up the colourful sweet, examines it for a moment and sticks it into his mouth without hesitation. Upon looking up into the mirror, the man notices another different coloured sweetie spot in the location he had just squeezed and we’re sorry for putting this image into your head, but yes, he does squeeze it again! This time hundreds of Atomic Candies are released from his face, filling his sink with colour. But after he’s finished squeezing he just digs in!
We’re not sure which advert came first, Skittles Pox or Explore by Atomic Candy? Although we do know that sticking these colourful sweets to people’s faces is slightly strange and here at apt, we have been left wondering ‘whatever next?!’
In a brilliant cross-promotional move between Twentieth Century Fox and iStock by Getty Images, a series of ultra-cheesy stock images have been created featuring the cast of Unfinished Business, including Vince Vaughn and Tom Wilkinson. They're free to use (editorial only) and will be available in batches over the next few weeks - download the first four here...
Having used quite a few shots like these in our time we think it's inspired! Would love to see them used in an internal staff newsletter...
