Goodness knows how much thinking goes into viral marketing.  These pictures were shared by a couple of my Facebook friends today and no doubt by yours dear reader.

This is a great example of a company allowing its staff to be themselves in communicating directly with consumers.  Goodness knows what the letter would have been like if it had been submitted to head office for approval.

Proof if ever it was needed that the modern brand needs to loosen up and let staff be expressive.  You don’t need to provide guidelines and structures necessarily.  Nor do you need to try and force a viral – just share stuff like this and hope it inspires your people to do the same.

Give your staff the freedom to be themselves

Posted by Richard on January 25th, 2012

For those who are fussy eaters, whether it be due to allergies, religion, lifestyle choices or just simply having a limited pallet, food shopping can result in being a daunting task, especially if you are having to study the ingredients list on every product to check it is suitable for you or the person you are shopping for to eat.

Now, thanks to food and drink journalist, Martin Isark and iPhone, drawn out shopping trips can be a thing of the past due to the development of the new and very useful ‘Can I Eat It’ app which allows you to simply and quickly check each item at the click of a button on your phone to see if you can eat it.

The app which can be downloaded from iTunes allows you input your dietary preferences then simply scan the bar code on a product, this then looks the item up on an online database and compares the product ingredients  to your selected preferences to instantly find out if you can eat it or not.

Unfortunately the app is only available for iPhone users at present and cannot be used on every single food and drink product available. However,  the list of products in continually being updated to add more obscure items to the vast database which covers the majority of products at all major supermarkets.

The app also caters to a huge range of people thanks to having an extensive list of preferences from the obvious things such as gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian and nut allergies to lifestyle preferences such as fair trade and organic to religious purposed including Halal and Kosher.  The app can also be used on drinks items.

For people looking to watch their weight and have a healthier diet, the app is also great as once an item is scanned it also gives you the products salt, saturated fat and sugar levels which can also be set in your preferences.

For just £1.99 the ‘Can I Eat It’ app really is the ideal tool for those who have specific dietary requirements or just simply wanting to watch their health this New Year!

Posted by Sophie on January 23rd, 2012

A campaign that makes thievery OK you say? Not the sort of positive, wholesome marketing that typically gets signed off by the board of a major car manufacturer.

Unfortunately us humble UK folk never got the chance to get involved in this simple, brilliantly executed treasure hunt launched by Volkswagen Canada.

Beginning in October last year, outdoor pop-up galleries started appearing in unexpected places across major cities and Canada. Each gallery consisted of three numbered, limited-edition photos of light paintings created by the movements of the new Volkswagen Jetta GLI.

The photographs were taken as part an integrated campaign to launch the new vehicle called “Driving can be beautiful”. The ad used a combination of traditional and long exposure videography to pain light trails using the headlights and taillights of a Jetta GLI. You can check out how they made it below.

Loosely nailed and positioned slightly eskew, passersby were invited to nab the photographs and messages on the back of each photograph complemented the crooks on their fine taste and invited them to upload photos of their swag to the brand’s Facebook page to share with the world.

Despite stereotypes suggesting Canadians would be too mild mannered to steal, the first lot of photographs were stolen within hours. One sly dog was even filmed walking off with all three paintings in a gallery.

But they appeared equally as fast, and those that weren’t fortunate enough to get their hands on a print first time round were given a second chance. The second stage of the campaign took the hunt online, with wannabe thieves having to follow the brand’s Twitter pages for clues on the location of each of the hand numbered prints.

Unsurprisingly, all this free art prompted lots of chatter online, as people posted and discussed pictures of their new piece of art in its new environment.

I’m a big fan of campaigns that align brands with art authentically (it’s not easily done) and also those that drive real world action and amplify it online. This piece of work fits both of those bills with a clever blend of ambient, experiential and social media activity.

Posted by Tom on

If, like me, you are still too tight to fork out for a Spotify Premium account, you’ll be familiar with the technique of ‘zoning out’ and ignoring the adverts that get in the way of you enjoying the musical delights of your favourite artists.

Working in the marketing industry, it’s often hard to look at campaigns, brands and adverts (outside of work) without your analytical and cynical work hat on. That’s why I was all the more impressed when curiosity got the better of me when I was listening to Spotify and one particular advert caught my attention.

 “Click here to watch the world’s first video you can taste”

I knew that this wasn’t actually possible (well I was 99 per cent sure), but I couldn’t help but click through and see what it was all about.

This is what I found:

Did you taste chocolate? Obviously not because ‘It’s all Lies!’ and part of the latest marketing push from Kellogg’s Rice Krispie Squares. The whole campaign is based on the idea that the popular cereal bars aren’t even square and agency Leo Burnett created this brash, tongue in cheek integrated campaign which turns advertising on its head and pokes fun at the idea that adverts are renowned for featuring big, bold and unrealistic claims.

The campaign included TV adverts, billboards and social media activity and caught people’s attention with an outrageous lie such as ‘free boat with purchase’ and ‘the first video you can taste’ but then the ‘small print’ reveals that it’s all lies.

I think this is the kind of campaign which can split professional opinion but I personally think it’s clever and effective, and it personally changed my perception of a brand which I previously associated with my school canteen. I applaud the fact that Kellogg’s took a risk that perhaps many other brands would not be comfortable with.

Posted by Janelle on January 20th, 2012

Ever since the dawn of time (well ok, since Mad Men was real-life), marketeers have been fixated by big numbers.  Even better, big numbers that get bigger over time. Even better than that, big numbers that get even bigger more quickly than the last time you measured them.  You get the gist. But in social media measurement, the opposite could be true.

Big number fixation has been predicated quite rightly on the principles of leverage and efficiency. Targeting the highest volume of reach, frequency, impressions, clicks or links per marketing £ investment.  We would never argue for a second that that principle no longer stands for measuring the success of traditional advertising, but it is potentially dangerous if it’s applied to social media.  We’re seeing this particularly in the context of Facebook and Twitter where big number fixation can skew folks’ view of success.

Put simplistically, the absolute number of followers and likers is not a flat-out measure of success.  Many Facebook fans could easily have liked a page, never to be seen again. The simplistic evaluation principle of big number getting bigger would provide an unrealistic read.

So, what should good look like?  Guess what – that depends. Every proper campaign should begin with the end in mind.  Set-out an objective, and agree a target for success which can be measured and is achievable.

That’s where channel selection is so important.  Social media like PR is not ‘free advertising’, it’s not a chance to broadcast your sell message to as many people as possible for as little money as possible.  It’s a chance to engage, persuade and converse.  If your objective is, for example to understand consumers’ perceptions of your brand, or to change an entrenched opinion, then social media is bang-on.  Your objective could be linked to traffic driving and SEO, which are also predicated on quality over quantity these days.

That’s why the real measure of success in Facebook, is the ‘Talking About’ metric.  This is the number of people who have created stories around your brand, whether that’s posting on your wall, commenting on your posts, or sharing links and content with their friends. Simplistically, it means they really like you, rather than pretending to do that to get something out of you.

The key word here is stories.  Most brands have thousands of stories to tell, but what most people forget is that to a consumer, a story worth sharing is not about your product and price.  Keep that message to your advertising, and make sure the numbers you use to measure that are big and getting bigger.

Posted by Richard on January 12th, 2012

Social media is no longer just a buzz word.  Econsultancy’s State of Social Report 2011 pointed to a maturing disciple where brands are no longer simply experimenting in the social space.

However, while the report demonstrated that social media is well and truly part of the marcomms mix for many, it did highlight that three quarters of board-level execs are not bought into it as a discipline, suggesting it’s not quite getting cut-through at the top.

At the same time, brands are faced with a more demanding consumer.  Expectation economy means that consumers not only want, but expect so much more now.  We’re much more inquisitive, enjoy researching, doing our own competitor analysis and are much more likely to engage online if we find value in something.  All this means brands need to work harder to build quality relationships and earn customer loyalty.

So, how do we add value to the bottom line as well as add value to the consumer to ensure that social media is not stuck in the ‘nice to have’ box?

Customisation is not necessarily a new trend, but two stand-out campaigns in 2011 have capitalised  on social media’s new tools to achieve this perfectly.

Using Facebook as the platform and some of its newest tools, both Heinz and Nivea offered their fans the chance to personalize a product, allowing greater affinity with the brand and adding genuine consumer and commercial value.

Heinz gave its 80k fans the chance to send a thoughtful, personalised can of soup to their friends for just £1.99 as a get well message.  The campaign kicked off in October as coughs and colds begin to set in and firmly positioned the brand’s comforting proposition.

What’s more, on the busiest online shopping day before Christmas, Nivea launched a campaign to offer its 240k Facebook fans the chance to have their Nivea gift set wrapped in personalised wrapping paper created with the fan’s own pictures.  It tied into Nivea’s Feel Closer campaign and was a creative mechanic to get consumers purchasing gifts and receive a free, bespoke gift wrapping service.

Both these campaigns worked on three crucial points

They were both relevant – both fit perfectly into the brand values and targeted an existing fan base

They were timely – capitalising on a current and timely trend to ensure it resonated with the consumer

Plus they added value – not only to the consumer to ensure they received something in turn for investing time in the brand online, but also added to the bottom line of the brand itself

These three principles should be at the heart of any social media campaign and it’s something we at Finn always strive for when developing our digital strategies.

There’s still a long way to go, but in 2012, I’m sure we’re going to see more and more campaigns that not only engage with consumers online, but have a tangible commercial impact.

Posted by Jess on January 9th, 2012

I must admit, Betfair is not afraid of any bold PR moves.  With its cheeky tone and macho target audience it’s got licence to be a bit brave when it comes to its PR.

Some would say that Bromley FC’s big FA Cup match against Leyton Orient wouldn’t normally be given the time of day in the nationals.  But a new mobile website packaged into a quirky stunt meant it received some impressive coverage over the weekend, included a big splash in the Metro.

The story is that ahead of the FA Cup match, Betfair enlisted the help of Wayne Rooney’s hairdresser to shave QR codes onto the heads of all Bromley FC players to help the online betting brand show its support for grass roots footie.  In many ways this was PR gold – celeb tie-in, great branded photography and a signpost to Betfair’s new mobile website all made for a great PR stunt.  But, the use of Quick Response codes on the heads of football players running around a pitch does raise a few questions over whether the tool actually worked.

Many brands are jumping on the QR Code bandwagon at the moment and it’s not the first time that Betfair has turned to the technology as a way of leveraging its sponsorship (check out the Beach Volleyball campaign back in the summer).

Getting QR Codes right

But it’s important to get it right if brands are going to see QR codes as more than just a fad.  The Drum recently ran an article about top tips to make sure your QR code works so it’s certainly worth a read if you’re looking for practical hints.  In summary, it’s all about location, location, location – can the consumer easily access the code, is it well placed to be easily and safely scanned and what value does the consumer get from using it?

Tesco’s use of QR Codes in South Korea is a perfect example of how the technology can be used to make the consumer’s life easier and drive growth.  This fantastic video shows how the use of QR codes helped Tesco become the number one online grocery store in the country and demonstrates how consumer insight coupled with clever and relevant technology can have real commercial gains.

I’m not sure whether the Bromley FC faithful would have been interested in taking their eye off the ball during Saturday’s match or if in fact they were able log onto Betfair’s site using the QR Codes, so it remains to be seen whether there has been any commercial benefit from this.  But from a creative media relations campaign with neat message delivery – hats off to Betfair.

Posted by Jess on November 15th, 2011

TheShopandSave app that was in The Grocer this week is most definitely “The Future.”  It’s only available in the US at the moment, but expect to see it on our shores sometime soon.

ShopandSave app

Scan it! knows which aisle shoppers are in, what they have in their trolley, individual preferences and what they usually buy. It then sends shoppers real-time bespoke discounts.

That means a shopper who has put a bottle of gin in the trolley could instantly receive a discount on tonic. Or a customer in the dairy aisle could receive a promo on Cheddar – and the app would even know if they preferred mild, medium or mature.

The Grocer described it as “A mobile app that could revolutionise the way supermarkets run promotions” and I have to say, I agree.

We will see a lot more of social shopper marketing in 2012, I’m sure of it. Some people say that this and similar marketing techniques are intrusive, however I don’t buy that – if you don’t like it, don’t download the app!

Posted by Greg on November 8th, 2011

This article comes courtesy of our partners at Coupons.com who we worked with to develop the recent successful campaign for client, Blue Diamond Almonds.

New YouGov research conducted on behalf of and published recently by Coupons.com UK &  Europe, highlights the growing influence of coupons in consumer purchasing habits.

The survey, which draws on a nationally representative sample of 1,790 adults across the UK,shows an 11% year-on-year increase in coupons redemptions. The survey also indicates that printable coupons are currently 31% more likely to be redeemed than their paper-based equivalents. Furthermore, almost three in ten (28%) adults stated that they are more careful about remembering coupons when going shopping.

The survey results also highlight consumers’ increasingly discerning shopping habits, as they continue to seek the best available deals – from shopping at multiple supermarkets, to brand swapping within supermarkets. Indeed, of those surveyed, 44% agreed that coupons influence them to choose between brands, while over one third of respondents agree that supermarket coupons influence them to try new products for the first time.

Posted by James on November 7th, 2011