Month: December 2010

1. Don’t do it with a best friend.
2. Don’t do it without a business plan.
3. Don’t do something you know nothing about.

The now popular “Cupcake Girls“ broke all three of these rules, defying doubts, and exceeding expectations. The main concepts through which they excelled were entrepreneurship, marketing, and being passionate. Although having passion for your job is not a direct course concept, it is an obvious implication of career people in all different areas.

The two girls Heather White and Laurie Joyce started their own business with little to no indication that it would be so successful. They were lucky enough to get a television spot on the W Network – allowing them more popularity than any simple newspaper or bus ad marketing campaign could have ever generated. Fame greatly contributed to the success of their business as they have grown to run three corporate bakeries and three franchise bakeries in the lower mainland. Above all, it was their passion for their new careers that drove them to their success. They shared a desire to be a part of a fun business that would “return [them] to simpler times.”

http://www.wnetwork.com/Shows/TheCupcakeGirls/CharacterBios.aspx

Uploaded to Youtube only a month ago, T-Mobile’s Flash Mob at Heathrow Airport video has obtained over 4.7 MILLION views.

Effective marketing?

I think so.

The flash mob performed live in London, was televised in the UK, and proceeded to go viral on all sorts of social media. The video consists of a musical theatre routine sung to unsuspecting travellers at Heathrow Airport. Generally when flash mobs occur, nobody knows what their purpose is, as they lack the expected ‘shameless advertising.’ In T-Mobile’s case, though, they put on a brilliant spectacle, leaving viewers wanting more. Consumers immediately tuned in and logged-on, generating 4.7 million views in less than a month.

Fellow blogger Amos Yeo (whose blog I would recommend for a variety of marketing/social media articles and posts), suggests that T-Mobile’s success, differentiating them from other flash mob attempts, comes from the direct link to their campaign slogan: “Life’s for Sharing.” They indeed shared joy, talent, and fun, with all the lucky passers-by at Heathrow that day. Along with this mentions T-Mobile’s consistency, as this is not their first flash mob production.

As stated by Saatchi and Saatchi London, the event turned into over £1 million equivalent of free PR work, as well as led to 129% return-on-investment

Enjoy.

Thanks to Amos at http://www.penn-olson.com/2010/11/17/t-mobile-flash-mob/

As seen in case three, sponsorship rights to major events can be extremely costly. A number of reasons make the high price worthwhile, such as

• # of spectators expected
• Projected raise of brand recognition/awareness
• Accessibility of advertisements and/or the event via technology improvements (whether on TV or online)
• Consumers’ association of the product with a sporting event – promoting healthy lifestyle, excitement, and correlation to professional athletes, often role models.

Although seemingly awesome, official sponsors often encounter setbacks in such sponsorship endeavours, from the likes of ambush marketing schemes, that appear to be directly involved with the event as well.

Famous examples:

1. 1992 Barcelona Olympics: Reebok was the official sponsor of the games, but Nike sponsored press conferences with US basketball team.
2. 1996 Cricket World Cup: Coca Cola was the official sponsor of the tournament, but Pepsi got attention through campaign “there’s nothing official about it.”
3. 2010 FIFA World Cup: Budweiser was the official sponsor of the event, but Bavaria used female Dutch fans to in the crowd to promote their brand.

Since the companies involved generally try to implement legal methods when marketing their brands, the main question that arises is regarding ethics. When the company intentionally centers their campaign around an event with sponsors who paid large sums of money to be there – of course it is viewed as an injustice. But just as in show business, “no publicity is bad publicity,” and so firms will continue to market their brands with whatever means possible. Especially when they are able to reap the benefits listed above without a great price.

http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=98
http://ogilvyentertainmentblog.com/2010/07/bavaria-successfully-ambushes-budweiser-at-world-cup/
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-23662834.html