Apparently this was banned

This was waiting for me on YouTube's recommendations. Apparently it was banned. Don't even know if it was legit, but I thought it was funny. And the idea is solid.

Although can appreciate it probably provoked some complaints.

Barclaycard's Waterslide

Saw this on Welcome to Optimism today.

Like all good stories, intrigue kicks in quickly and kept me involved. There are some great shots looking down onto the city from inside the slide. This all feels light and a bit of fun. Felt good watching it. Must be the memories of waterslides as a kid or something.

Congrats to Cybercom

Congrats to Rob and the rest at Cybercom for their recent win at the 2008 MAA Globes in Toronto for their Powerade 'Never Give Up' campaign.

I did a quick search when I heard about the win, and this is really impressive. These are best in class globally. These awards recognise campaigns that have already won in separate national awards. Recognised for marketing excellence. Dublin based agency, Cybercom, won the Best Digital Communications Campaign category.

More here.

Water-Resistant Pen

Inventive idea for Pilot's Water-Resistant pens.

Found here

Today I completed my five-year plan

Today I completed my five-year plan.

Marathon plan that is. For reasons that make little sense, I decided back in 2004 that I'd do one marathon a year for five years.

Ballygowan, a sponsor, have been advertising along the marathon route for the past two weeks. I like this ad although the headline bothers me. It adds nothing to the ad (in my mind anyway).

Clearly the word 'running' links to the marathon, but this was obvious from the image. Is there another meaning I'm missing? Thought perhaps they were playing / punning on the words 'running water' but couldn't work that out either.

I think I'd have dropped the headline altogether. And maybe just increased the size of the official sponsor line below.

Perhaps they wanted to add a bit of charm. If so, I'd have gone with their 'Bodies Never Lie' line.

The most important word in strategy

Image courtesy of Ihtatho

If I had to name the single most powerful concept in business that I have learned, it would be 'focus'.

Al Ries and Jack Trout have been talking about focus in business for many years. Their 1986 marketing classic 'Positioning - the battle of your mind' advocates that the more narrow the brand focus is, the more likely consumers will remember what it stands for. They're clearly not fond of brand extensions - believing that brand stretching always dilutes the brand.

Al Ries later wrote another book called 'Focus - the future of your company depends upon it' with case studies on companies that lost their path once they strayed from their core business. While extreme in his views at times, Ries is onto something.

Of course, this is not new stuff.

War strategists have understood the power of focus for a long time. Ferdinand Foch, the french war strategist, said "He who defends everything, defends nothing". Carl von Clausewitz agreed - "In war, few things are as important as placing one's army so that instead of being weak in many places, it is strong in few".

Pareto, the 19 century Italian economist, discovered that 20% of our efforts deliver approximately 80% of the results. This 80/20 rule has many practical applications. For example, approx 20% of your customers deliver about 80% of your profits. This is probably the first rule that direct marketers learn.

If you're interested, Richard Koch wrote a very practical book titled 'The 80/20 Principle - the secret of achieving more with less' - not a marketing book, but has lots of business applications. And if you're involved in direct marketing, and have not already read Graeme McCorkell's 'Direct and Database Marketing' - I'd highly recommend it.

So what are the practical learning? Well, there are many. Identify the important stuff. Put most of your effort into the few things you do well. Compete in only a few places. Against only a few competitors at one time. Launch only one or two major transforming initiatives at any one time. Don't spread your budget too thin. Don't spread your team's efforts too thin. Look after your most profitable customers. And if you're advertising - just say one thing in your ad.

All sounds a bit obvious and easy.

Perhaps, but not so easy to do. Why? I think this may be because it goes against our human nature. We are opportunistic and have difficulty deciding what not to do.

I once read that the most important word in strategy is 'No'.

That aside, there is the real concern that is if we are too focused, we might miss the big picture. We miss opportunities. History is dotted with fading (or dead) companies that missed or ignored new trends and technologies to their detriment. But this should not stop us for actively choosing what to do and what not to do.

Long before Pareto, Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher, explained it simply - "A man who chases two rabbits, catches neither".

Personal brand guidelines. This is genius

If you work on branding, create or work with brand guidelines, you'll like this.

Chistopher Doyle has set out some guidelines on his personal Colour Palette, Key Identify Formats, Tone of Voice, Clearance Space, the standard examples of Incorrect Use as well as his Sustainability principles. Funny stuff.

Thanks Martyn Reding for discovering and passing along.

If ads were truthful...

In 1923, Claude Hopkins wrote the bestseller 'Scientific Advertising'.

Mr Hopkins was a pioneer of direct response advertising. He believed that when writing ads, you should be as honest as possible. Honesty brings credibility.

I think much of his writing still holds true. Although not everybody agrees with me. And that is fine. But if you are just starting out in marketing, I'd view this as essential reading.

Southwest ad image found via Wall Street Fighter

If you found my phone, would you look through it?

New campaign from Nokia that taps into the intimate role of mobile phones for many of us.

The tv ad directs viewers to a website Somebody Else's Phone. This follows three characters, through their phones, over a six week period, in real time, though their texts, picture messages, voice mails etc. I had a quick look at the site and really is interesting.

I like the TV script too - "My phone knows everything about me".

More about the campaign at Welcome to Optimism.

What is the most inspiring thing your manager has said to you?

This post is not connected to marketing or advertising. It's about people and their jobs. The tenuous link of course, is that the people I work with are primarily responsible for advertising. And their efforts ultimately determine how good or bad the end result is.

So I've a selfish reason to try and understand what motivates them. Which is why I picked up "The three signs of a miserable job". Yes, I'm guilty again of judging a book by its cover. It's a fable for managers, which sounds naff, but I enjoyed the book.

So the three signs?

1. Anonymity - Nobody wants to be invisible. We all need to be appreciated and recognised, ideally not just by peers, but by people in charge.
   
   
2. Irrelevance - We need to know that the work we do matters. We don't have be changing the world. But at the very least we need to know that our work matters to our boss.
   
   
3. Immeasurement - We all need to be able to measure our progress. Our results. And we need to be able to see this for ourselves.
   

I'm always a bit sceptical of simple solutions laid out in books. However, it's not a bad starting point when organising or structuring roles. I might add my own views in another post.

The Economist - September Issue

I've just re-subscribed to The Economist. I'm useless on world affairs, so this is my plan to keep somewhat up to speed on stuff.

Clearly this is not a legit cover. Although they have always had a way with words. And I'm impressed with their embracing of online.

Found via AdLand

Not your typical road sign

Not your typical road sign. Read more here. Found via Robert L. Peters

Domino City - Sony Bravia ad

Domino City. Latest Sony Bravia ad. Honda's Cog and Guinness Tipping Point come to mind.

Found via digitology

Everytime...

Think I am going to be using this quote a lot - when talking about advertising anyway. Love it.

Not sure if it is the influence of classic VW ads like 'Think Small', but where possible, I've always gone for a 'less is more' look in press and outdoor. Which is why this, this and this all appeal to me.

Found via Helge Tennø in one of his many wonderful presentations.

Personalise your MINI

Via Coolhunting.

You can now personalise your MINI for as little as $10. Roofs graphics, side panels, stripes, interiors - and a massive range to choose from. This black and gold panel costs $99. I'm impressed. Very.

MINI driver? Visit MINI Motoring Graphics

Free research: marketing on social networks

Does your ad agency insist that you must advertise on Facebook? Or develop a widget? Or find ways to get beboers to add your brand as a friend?

If so, it would do you no harm reading up on Tom Chapman's recent research on 'Social network marketing, engagement marketing and brands'. Free thankfully.

In addition to the quantitative research, Tom interviewed marketers from MySpace, Innocent Drinks and BBC Radio 1 - all having success with digital. The pdf is 47 pages long.

There is some good stuff here. Found via Real Fresh TV

Web Search Strategies in Plain English

Another from commoncraft.com collection.

Web Search Strategies, in plain english. While this one is fairly basic, their way of explaining is unique and well worth a visit for other presenations on things like twitter, blogs, RSS, Social Media - all in plain english.

'Come Walkabout' - now, this is really good.

Now, this is really good.

Within just three seconds, I'm sucked into the story. Yes, a story - this could be a movie trailer. I already feel for this girl. And I want to know more. Story aside, it is also beautifully shot. Very stylish.

Director Baz Luhrmann (of Moulin Rouge fame) keeps the intrigue with shots of the mysterious kid who is in stark contrast to the dark rainy city scenes. Reminded me of something from 'The sixth sense' first time I watched it.

And even leave aside the stylish, beautiful filming. This ad is grounded in real insight.

Most holiday ads go direct to the holiday features - white sandy sun drenched beaches, misty mountains, luxury hotels etc. Not this. And while they do show us some breathtaking views of Australia, this ad is not really about relaxing or holidaying. Rather it's about taking time to work on our relationships. On the important stuff in our lives.

Found via Martyn Reding

Reserved parking spaces for 'Green' cars

I read on trendwatching.com yesterday that IKEA are now reserving car spaces for hybrid cars. IKEA already have a good reputation for their support for the environment. And is a great example of a brand doing something green, instead of just talking about it.

If you're interested, I posted last month about how some Irish brands are approaching green. And hope to come back to it again soon.

Also, if sustainability is high on your radar, get along to see guest speaker John Grant at the National Marketing Conference in Dublin on Nov 5th.

Social Media Marketing Best Practice - my two cents

Helge Tennø tagged Piaras Kelly and myself a few weeks ago, as part of Mitch Joels’ Challenge to offer up one principle for Social Media Marketing Best Practice.

Coming from the client-side of marketing, within a large marketing team, my suggestion would be this:

'To truly get the most from social media, brands need to change the structure of their marketing team."

We need to move away from just pushing out campaigns. Getting a campaign out the door is an old way of doing things, but many marketing teams are still structured this way.

Who is responsible for responding to comments? Who is responsible for the fix if a customer is not happy or negative on your blog or social network? Apologising is not enough. Who is going to sign off the refund or a replacement product? Do we only talk to customers on our social network page when a campaign is live? But once we're onto another campaign, does the page become a ghost town? Tumbleweeds...

This is a team-structure thing. For many companies, Marketing and Customer Service are different departments. Different teams. Different objectives and different mindsets. One sends out messages to customers. The other takes in responses from those same customers.

That may have worked in past. New marketing involves bringing these two teams much, much closer together.

One person dies every 20 seconds. But is extremely preventable

Came across this on Darragh Doyle's blog last week. And just now just saw it again featured on YouTube.

When James Nachtwey was awarded the TED Prize in 2007, he was given $100,000 and one wish to change the world.

This was his wish:

"I'm working on a story that the world needs to know about. I wish for you to help me break it in a way that provides spectacular proof of the power of news photography in the digital age."

I know it is obvious but was a reminder of how the internet can be used for real good. It literally took me just a few minutes in total to (1) learn enough about this strain of TB (2) email world leaders and (3) share it by posting it here.

We're told that one person dies every 20 seconds but this is extremely preventable. Visit XDRTB if you'd like to help or know more.

Where are all the client-side bloggers?

Image courtesy of Lamy Vista

Last week I posted the top blogs that marketing planners read. There were some insightful writers there and I read a few of them myself regularly. Although I'd definitely have Dave Trott's blog up there among them.

But looking at the list, it had me wondering if anybody from the client side blogs about marketing. I don't know of any. I really enjoy reading the views of these agency creatives, planners and creatives. They influence my thinking.

But what about the views of clients? Do we even have any? Would agency folk not benefit from understanding how marketing directors and brand managers think? Could it help with pitches?

Where are all the client-side bloggers?

Marketers want their agencies to 'get' digital

"Greater knowledge of the digital space" is top of marketers' list of what they want from their advertising and marketing agencies. Read more here.

Above is my favourite video about 'digital'. A couple years old now, but so good.

Funny how a typo can change our entire perception

Funny how a typo can change our entire perception of a brand. Thanks Emer for highlighting this. (No doubt you won't be welcome back now).

What the f**k is social media?

Thought I'd share this along. While it isn't anything new, I often find myself looking around for good visuals, quotes or stats when doing presentations. This has some good stuff. It would be useful to anybody trying to get their head around digital. I'd also recommend Groundswell

Found via Fallon

Not an ad but...

Not an ad but is great potential for one. It arrived in my email today with some other unusual images. Thanks Maria for the mail.

Gorilla raising the bar...

Gorilla raising the bar. Found via AdArena

Anybody seen these outdoor ads around Dublin?

Anybody seen these outdoor ads around Dublin?

I don't drink whiskey, so I'm ready to accept that this ad may not be aimed at me. But I don't get it. I actually asked a mate that regularly drinks Jameson, but he couldn't shed any light on this either.

I don't understand what they mean by "It's a Jameson thing". Is it just a throw-away line or is there something bigger going on? There is also an extra hand in the picture. Not sure why.

If you know, please explain.

Top blogs that planners read

For anybody interested, here are some of the blogs that agency planners read. Taken from a survey of almost 800 planners, from UK and the US. Found via Fallon.

More results from the 2008 Planners Survey here.

"Let us play with your emotions"

Poster for the Catalonian National Theatre in Spain. Violent possibly, but definitely arresting.

Via AdsoftheWorld

Simple yet effective

Nice way to clearly show the product in a way the highlights the key message - dynamite, or a fuse or something hot and explosive anyway...

Via adland