Who do you think you’re talking to?

January 5, 2009 | 4 Comments

no-hear

Not one to beat around the bush, this year will obviously prove challenging for many companies, and out of it I think a lot of `dead wood’ (in the nicest term) will be removed from the equation.  In order to survive the year ahead, companies must now more than ever, put themselves in the shoes of their customers and talk to them in a way that would be welcomed in this economic climate.  Well done for stating the obvious, but what’s my point? To let you into a secret, sometimes on a weekend one of my favourite guilty pleasures is buying a couple of trashy women’s magazines (In Style, Elle etc.) and lying on the sofa with music on in the background taking myself away from real life for a couple of hours.  Reading this month’s array of articles (not for intellectual satisfaction of course) I found myself getting more and more frustrated.  It’s January.  The month of the year when most of us find that we are skint and just to ensure I stay away from the sales we are officially in a recession.  Have the editor’s of these magazines been on another planet?  One article entitled something like “101 quick outfits” or something just as uninspiring, offered to provide ideas on what wardrobe stables I should be searching for.  Not a single one of the solutions presented cost less than £150 per item.  Now I don’t earn as much as I would obviously like to, however I don’t do badly either but do the editors of these magazines really think this is the time when I would consider going out and spending £250 on a jumper for work or that I would really think I need to be buying those £300 Joseph trousers this month.  No!  But it’s not the actual content of the article that offends me as if I had read this 4 months ago say, I probably would have enjoyed it a whole lot more.  It’s the fact that in this instance, the magazine editor seems to be affraid to discuss the issues that we are actually facing.  They are making no effort to show me they understand what I am thinking at this time and empathising with decisions that I may face.

As human beings, we want to feel that we are being talked to by someone who understands us and this must be the same principle that all companies adopt for 2009 if they want to come out the other side unscathed.  If a client were to approach me now with a high priced product to market, and state they feel their `brand’ were enough to convince their audience to buy it, I would have difficulty not to laugh in their face.

We need to take into consideration issues that we may have not necessarily wanted to be associated with in previous campaigns.  People will make their own mind up if they want to buy a product or not, but painting a rosey picture in order to push it is not an option.  We are pretty intelligent really, a notion that appears to be lost on some brands (Elle you can step up here), and by showing us beautiful artistic shots of products we may want but simply cannot consider at this time will in the long run be damaging to your brand as I will remember that you rubbed it in my face.  If you have a high priced product to sell you can still survive in the forthcoming market but you will need to find other messages to show the benefits that people will be getting (low upkeep costs, holds it’s value, additional free items.).

I can understand why some companies will prefer to bury their heads in the sand, but in order to come out the other side unscathed use this as an opportunity to allow people to develop positive associations with your brand, they won’t forget it.  At the end of the day do I want to support a company who shows me they understand my current concerns and talks to me at my level, or one who encourages me to get into debt so I can also look like a airbrushed waif who does not have a care in the world?

Posted by Jamie Coomber | Filed Under Blog, Marketing 

When quality should overcome quantity

January 4, 2009 | 5 Comments

Like any other blogger who likes having conversations, I have Google alerts set up for my blog name so I can see who is saying what and take the opportunity to engage with them.  I received an alert last week which initially confused me somewhat.  It led me to a spread sheet containing the URL’s of 62 likeminded blogs similar to mine.  Now, i’m guessing this probably wasn’t meant for public use however, it was good to see that I was in good company (Helen Jaz and James).  The list was categorised by ID, blog URL, date of most recent post, date of first post and number of posts in December.  Given that this appears to be a blogger hitlist, I assume it was probably compiled by a PR agency.

As you all know I like to see bloggers being engaged by brands as it encourages a two-way conversation so I think it’s great that more and more PR companies are approaching bloggers and involving them in product launches so I don’t have any problem at all from this list.  What I would ask from reading this list however, is what the profile of the blogger they are looking for is.  As you will see from my previous post, I am blogging less and less because I am finding that I am now using a variety of outlets to post my thoughts as opposed to just my blog, that combined with actually having more in-depth real life conversations, an observation that I know a lot of you share.  So bearing this in mind, maybe the focus of selecting bloggers shouldn’t actually be “number of posts in December” or “Date of most recent post” but rather trying to look at the potential influence a blog has, an outcome neither of these fields will provide.  I could write 50 posts in one month but if no one reads my blog then it’s pointless in wanting me to write about a brand launch.  How about looking at how many people read the blog, then look at how many people leave comments to posts to see how engaged the readers are with the author.  Looking at other online spaces where the author posts, would also enable you to get a better understanding of they talk to.

The company who can measure influence enabling targeting messages to a handful of people and avoid spamming the masses  will be one of the big success stories of 2009.  After talking to many companies who “offer” this I am yet to find one that fills me with confidence, but will be keeping fingers crossed.

Posted by Jamie Coomber | Filed Under Blog, Community, Marketing 

Berocca blogger Relief

August 18, 2008 | 3 Comments

berocca-blogger.jpg

OK, so when I see a brand wanting to engage with Bloggers, I usually experience a shudder down my spine, as more often than not brands actually just want to talk about their products and services without actually offering anything in return (This is not always the case as seen by Chanel here).  However, I actually really like this little gimmick by Berocca.  Acknowledging that “we live in a world where millions of people read and demand new content from websites everyday, someone has to supply demand and blogging is a pretty hectic job”, they have developed a Blogging Relief Pack to come to the rescue of tired minds.  I received mine on Thursday and each pack contains an array of useless but cute nevertheless forrage, such as a stress ball, a panic button to change the screen on you monitor, a dead man pen holder, digital bubble wrap and of course some Berocca amongst other things.  I really like this initative for two reasons.  One; they have identified an audience who their product actually fits with and Two; they are offering something back to this audience.  Now of course when I received my pack they never even dreamed of mentioning that `if I like it they would love me to blog about it blah blah blah’ however, here I am so job done and hat tip to the agency (PR or digital).

Posted by Jamie Coomber | Filed Under Blog, FMCG, Marketing, Promotion, Viral 

Everyones an expert?

August 11, 2008 | 2 Comments

mentoscoke.jpg

OK so i’m going to have a rant here, because it’s good to let it out every now and then.  Recently I have seen more and more examples of people/organisations taking a nugget of an idea and running with it, applying the same `tried and tested’ approach that has worked over the years without actually thinking of the long term goal and how our audience (who have the power to make or break our ideas), have changed.  A good example I have seen recently uses social networks as it’s main output, speaking to `innovators’.  Forgive me for being naive, but posting your drunken photo’s on Facebook every once in a while for all to see doesn’t make you an expert in the field does it? So why do you think you have the right to talk to me in this space if you can’t offer me anything?  What is becoming apparent, is that as more communication channels are becoming available, we have taken this tendency to think of ourselves as the expert because we “read something on Wikipedia about it once so I know exactly what do to”.  Has technology actually bitten itself on the arse by allowing information to become so readily available, that people are running ahead with what they believe to be the right answer without thinking it through?  I was asked recently to participate in a brainstorm focusing on 14 year olds.  Now, it’s been a long time since I was 14 and although I have read a lot about what spaces they are currently in, I am not as arrogant as to think that I have all the answers and will be able to formulate a plan without actually having to pull on the help of my audience and was met with genuine surprise after it was suggested.  I guess my point is it is easier now more than ever to collaborate on projects, and it is really disappointing when a idea hits the market if it is obvious that it could have been pushed that little bit further if both time and the right people had been factored in.  As the industry grows and new skills are required, we should not assume that our `tried and tested’ approach is good enough anymore.  Instead we should be pulling on additional resources as and when they are needed, leaving the ego at the door whilst you’re at it.

Posted by Jamie Coomber | Filed Under Blog, Marketing, Thought pieces 

Lastminute viral

May 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

OK so this isn’t the funniest viral in the world but it still made me smile. Set in Stansted Airport, characters such as airport staff, cleaners and policemen perform a song and dance to unsuspecting passengers. The viral is to promote their half-price theatre ticket deal currently running on their website.

Posted by Jamie Coomber | Filed Under Blog, Marketing, Video, Viral 

Next Page »