Month: March 2011

Children and parents in London during the anticipation of 2007 Easter celebrated the occasion in a rather unique way, courtesy of British chocolaterie Thorntons.

Free chocolate! Each of these words has a compelling effect on people – we jump at the word “free” and most people like chocolate, so you can guess what the reaction to this announcement was.

In an attempt to recuperate from the humble numbers of the 2006 Christmas sales, Thortons unveiled the world’s first edible chocolate billboard which was stripped and eaten within 3hours of going up. This magnificent 14.5 ft by 9.5 ft billboard was made of 860 pounds of pure chocolate in the form of 10 chocolate bunnies, 72 giant chocolate eggs and 128 chocolate panels. According to Drew’s Marketing Minute, there are 5 simple rules for outdoor advertising – one of which is “leave the [bill]boards up for a minimum of 30 days to achieve frequency goals. Obviously Thortons was unable to achieve this particular rule, but I think the company achieved the substantial interest and consumer awareness that it was vying for because even if you weren’t able to share the chocolately goodness, the news and bloggers went viral about this unprecedented display of advertising.

The chocolate billboard was surely eye-catching and drool-worthy, but I’m not sure how I feel about picking at chocolate panels that who knows how many other people have touched and eaten. There was no opportunity to do a dry run of their edible display to gauge the public’s response, but Thortons had done their research. U.K. trade group Food From Britain identified the British to have the third highest per capita consumption of chocolate globally so Thortons had reason to predict that passerbys would respond positively to their marketing efforts – which is what happened.

“If you don’t have an iPhone…”

I can think of so many ways to end that sentence, and here’s what Apple chose:

“If you don’t have an iPhone, well, you don’t have any iPhone”

…but the message is the same: You’re missing out!

iPhone envy, anyone?

In particular, there is set of ‘iPhone envy’ ads which is a set of three commercials that promotes the iPhone. One tooted about the iPhone having the largest app store, another about having iPod + iTunes features, and the remaining, the iBookstore. Apple is very consistent in its advertising with the white background, and the way the iPhone is held and rotated during the demonstrations.

(Something I noticed offhandedly, is how Apple proclaimed itself to have the world’s largest selection of apps, the world’s #1 music store, but isn’t ranked for iBook functionality.)

The message is very clear and direct, giving a demo of each of the features and the pitch is always ended with “If you don’t have an iPhone, well, you don’t have any iPhone.” Which really drives home the message that they think you’re missing out if you don’t have an iPhone because the featured features are attributes that competitors (such as Android smartphones) are lacking. They might have similar functions, but they lack the brand equity of Apple’s products. From these ads, I think the consumers’ brand awareness went up and for sure, there are going to be some people tempted to visit the Apple store to try out the new iPhone even if not to buy it which probably makes marketers happy either way.

What comes to mind when you hear the word “life saver”? Police? Firefighters? Surgeons? How about Skype?

Hey, Skype users – what do you use Skype for anyways? To chat with family/friends who’re overseas? To vid-call your teammates about the upcoming assignment? Run for an executive position via conference call because you’re stuck in traffic? (I personally know someone who did that – and they won VP of Production).

Skype takes the cake as one of the more unusual distributors of … a particular service. Skype has it uses but I never thought of using it during a wedding ceremony for exchanging vow as I read in a copy of The Vancouver Sun released March 7th, 2011.

This is distribution exemplified: Getting the right product to the right place at the right time. Groom unable to make it to the altar (because you’re stuck in a hospital bed) but not wanting to disappoint? These wedding planners came up with the creative solution of Skyp-ing. Unconventional, yes, but it enabled the wedding to proceed as planned. This point of contact certainly adds value to the service – or else the wedding wouldn’t even have happened! Skype did save one couple’s married life from going down the drain before it even started. It’s not costly, but I don’t think this method of bonding with your significant other is the way to go for most couples. Kudos to the bride for standing, with composure, at the altar by herself.

So, we learned a few days ago, that “Brand = Trust.” How true does that ring for you?

Companies pursue (or claim they pursue) certain ventures or innovate using specific avenues to create an image for themselves and build their brand. But ultimately, isn’t it up to the individual to decide what to believe and what not to believe?

People, people in general, are horrible gossipers I find. We love to share stories: stories about ourselves, stories about others (people, firms, brands), and sometimes, we like to make-up stories to tell. And sooner than you’d think, the story spreads and you find that half of your friends and their networks know about it.

One would hope that only stories that are true will be retold, but I highly doubt it. So… where’s the story-telling police to test the truthfulness of these stories (which are contributing to the brand of a company)? I think we’d all agree that there’s always an element of judgment necessary when listening to stories and what they communicate about the brand of the company.

A key aspect of brand-building is time. With enough time, hopefully the lies will be filtered out and consumers can get a real picture of the brand and ideally, that will be something we can put our faith in.