Best of ‘A Marketers Diary’ (September 2011)

Each day we are bombarded by thousands of advertising messages. But just how many of them do we actually consume? We decided to collect just one example of a communication every day and explain why it had caught our attention. Here are September 2011’s offerings for your consideration taken from ‘A Marketers Diary 2011-2012’.

BEST COPYWRITING

Tuesday 6^th September 2011 – Extra chewing gum

The copy is exquisite. You can hear Ben’s voice when you read it. Yes, it’s that authentic. They’ve really understood the proposition and creatively dramatised it. Lovely ad and a great ambassador in Ben who is seen as Farm stock turned adventurer rather than reality TV star come good(what was the name of that island on BBC’s Castaway again?). Visit http://www.worthchewingover.com to read the copy in full. There are also other executions.

MOST TIMELY MEDIA

Saturday 17^th September 2011 – Wickes

In my market town, you don’t often see much transport media. So when this drove by early Saturday as I walked across town I noticed it. And do you know what – the very next day I found myself in Wickes looking for a storage unit – coincidence?

By the way Wickes is not a place you will find small storage units.

BEST PRODUCTION OF A TV AD

Sun 18^th September 2011 – Virgin Airlines

I love the production values and humour in this Bond inspired ad. In fact, I say shhh at home when it comes on. I don’t think I say that for any other TV ad. Just great. And of course it makes me feel that Virgin is a cooler airline for me to consider. Image links to video of ad.

From ‘The MarComms Diary 2011-2012’. http://bit.ly/tOZ48B

Posted by Christopher Brooks, Director Lexden.

Lexden is a marketing strategy agency which creates unordinary propositions which motivate customers and deliver commercial advantage for brands. To discuss how our approach can help you with your burning platforms, contact christopherbrooks@lexdengroup.com or ajairanawat@lexdengroup.com, or call us on T: +44 (0)20 7490 9123, M: +44 (0)7968 316548. And you can follow us on Twitter @consultingchris.

What would your media footprint look like?

I decided back in May to start a diary. Not one that recorded my innermost thoughts or my hopes and fears. But something a lot more visual than that. The diary is a recording of the marketing communications that had the most impact on me that day. And because of what I do, I travel a fair amount and so have been able to capture a really wide selection of images.

I am using the images to create a broader study of what messages, brands and media appeal. And then, by correlating that impact on my behaviour and attitude towards them, try to understand why they appeal. It’s not scientific but, as someone who is responsible for helping clients develop marketing strategies and build brands and value propositions, being ‘alaways on’ comes with territory. However, I have now been approached to publish the diary when it’s complete and consider how to develop it in to a robust tracking study, so that’s cool.

It’s been running just for nearly six months so I thought I’d take a look at which images have been attracting attention. The overall stats say views increase daily as you’d hope. But when I looked at the individual image stats, it shows that one image has had a whopping 1,486 views!! This is the NatWest ad below.

Why? Who’s looking, or rather, stalking this ad?

There are other NatWest ads, as well as RBS comms which have caught my attention, but the level of interest in this one surprised me. As part of the year diary review I hope to be able to figure out what’s happening here.

In addition to this I have had some other big hitters. Here are the top 5 so far: Lucozade @ 201, Barclays Bank bike scheme @ 67, Halifax @ 50, TalkTalk @ 39 and Red Bull @ 38.

I’ve also had an ad where I managed to crop out the logo of the brand. Ronel Schoeman from www.mawdatasolutions.co.uk applied some cool image searching software to track down the missing brand which turned out to be Marc Jacobs. Thanks Ronni.

It’s probably too soon to be choosing favourites, or pointing out which media reaches me effectively, but there are trends emerging. I seem to be a fan of the unordinary: opera singers at Liverpool Street station for Macmillan Nurses, Renova the coloured toilet roll company using toilet doors to promote their range in Lisbon and Dior’s use of multi screen at Edinburgh airport.

Nearly 6 months later I can still recall these ads with ease and vivid colour. And as I look at the collection, I can also remember how I felt at the time-powerful stuff when it comes to comms. After all, that’s what it’s about.

Please do take a look at the full diary http://www.flickr.com/photos/66864671@N00/sets/72157626556021873/.

I would appreciate any comments. And if your brand is here, let me know whether you think I’ve consumed what was expected of me, or if you feel I’ve given it a rough time.

I’ll leave you with my top 3 memories from the first half of the diary.

Lexden is a marketing strategy agency which creates unordinary propositions to motivate customers and deliver commercial advantage for brands. For more information on how we can help you contact christopherbrooks@lexdengroup.com or ajairanawat@lexdengroup.com, or call us on  T: +44 (0)20 7490 9123. And you can follow us on Twitter @consultingchris.