I read a line that got me thinking earlier this week. It said ‘the greatest piece of marketing of the last 50 years, is Apple’s white earbud headphones’. When you think about it, it’s a good point. What could be a greater ad for your products than something THAT recognisable being worn by influencers: the…
It started with Woolworths. The latest is HMV. With Jessops, Comet and a few other British retail institutions in the middle. There are some clear ways to avoid this. From my observations, this is where HMV went wrong. 1. Poor diversification. Instead of differentiating themselves from Amazon, they turned into Amazon on the high street.…
In a period of time where retail is struggling, getting Christmas right this year is business critical. For John Lewis, this is even more the case given their incredible trading figures since last year’s ‘epic’ TV ad. But this type of Christmas activity is nothing new. I grew up in Newcastle, and the build-up to…
You can’t sit in on a Shopper Marketing brief without someone wanting to “do a category job”. It’s caused by the retailers – they want their categories to grow but brands need to make sure they don’t find themselves solely responsible for this. In theory, it’s the right thing to do – particularly if you’re…
I first watched the P&G Olympics ad on YouTube and nearly cried. It’s emotional It’s bang on from an insight perspective And most of all, it sums up everything great about the Olympics – amateurism, hard work and the bringing together of nations, races, cultures and creeds from all over the world. But then I…
Oakley are one of my favourite brands. I loved them as a teen and saved up for my first pair. Like many people interested in sport, my first pair were the entry level Fives. When I read ‘It’s not about the bike’ and the support they gave Lance Armstrong throughout his cancer struggle (they covered…
I really like the new Subway ad. I’ll tell you why: – It’s product focused – It cuts through – It’s ‘Summer of Sport’ themed – It introduces some stars of the future I particularly like the last point – if their ‘stars’ win, Subway get associated with the equity. If not, they’ve got a…
Like many casual observers, I wasn’t surprised to see Kodak file for bankruptcy last week. My initial reaction was simple – ‘diversify or die’ and despite being the first to market with a digital camera almost 30 years ago, it seemed as if they just never caught up with a marketplace that’s moved on at…
There aren’t many social no-no’s more prevalent than drink driving in the UK, but my experience of living abroad tells me that this isn’t the case in Europe, never mind the rest of the world. This was reinforced this morning whilst following an Italian lorry promoting a low-alcohol beer they call “Drive”. That’s a bad…
I read yesterday that the owners of Innocent drinks are pondering selling the rest of their shares to Coca-Cola, giving them 100% control of the company. We all know they started with a van full of fruit and turned it into one of the most defined brands of modern times. They’ll be offered money beyond…
Opinionation 