brands & Hallowe'en, brands & Spectre & Piggy Sue

What some brands have done for Hallowe’en

Hallowe’en just keeps on getting bigger and this article from PR Week shows what kind of interesting stuff brands have done around it.   I love the Airbnb promotion where you can win a ‘sleep beside a million skeletons in the Paris catacombs’ – beat that!  I also like the more sedate but also very relevant initiative from Volvo who designed a spray paint for trick or treaters which shows up in car headlights.  It’s non-toxic and washes off.  On the other hand, Burger King has produced a black burger……!!

http://bit.ly/1M5P8tq

007 Brands & Spectre

The brand partnerships in “Spectre” seem to be all about quality not quantity.  Apparently “Die another Day” had 21 sponsors but by the time it got to Daniel Craig’s debut in “Casino Royale”, it was down to 7.  This timely article in the Irish Times helpfully tells us how much it would cost us to buy some of the products placed in “Spectre” – the Omega watch (which for the first time is being issued as a limited edition) will set you back $6,000.  And if you fancy either of the two cars, the Aston Martin DB10 is worth about $500,000 – but isn’t available to the public – while the Jag will set you back a cool $1.2m!

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/the-007-effect-james-bond-the-spy-who-loved-brands-1.2407236

Piggy Sue

I just love, love, love this ad – and it’s a really excellent one as well.  Often if we like ads, it can be difficult to remember what product it is advertising?  But you can’t miss that this story about an adorable lost little piglet is being used to promote 4G from Vodafone as the guy drives over and back through the Sally Gap using his phone, uploading photos online etc.  I’m not sure if this is a co-production by some Vodafone ad agencies as Vodafone in New Zealand came out with this storyline in an ad in May of this year?  But it doesn’t matter, it’s a heart-warming ad that I just can’t get enough of!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2b_2-8GYyQ

www.grainnebyrnePR.ie

Content & Brand Strategy, Confidence on Camera & how SMEs can be more sustainable

How to leverage content to enhance brand strategy

Two people from the agency, Vizeum spoke on this topic at the October Marketing Institute breakfast yesterday and I really liked and agreed with their approach.  Some of the nuggets they shared:  consumers don’t care about or want deep meaningful relationships with brands – brands are a promise and people just want that promise to be delivered.  Consumers are not experts in brand positioning – so don’t hand over control of your brand to them.  If you want evidence of what would happen if you did – look at how participants in BBC’s The Apprentice market various things – mostly a disaster!  Also if you asked One Directioners a couple of years ago what they wanted next, they’d say another 1 Direction – but look at the rise and rise of Ed Sheeran! 

Vizeum advised that we take responsibility for our brands, have clear objectives, stick to brand strategy and create a value exchange.  As a good example of who does content well, they cited AirBnB with their “Belong Anywhere” theme.

www.Vizeum.ie  & www.Mii.ie  

7 steps to being Flawsome on camera!

With the growth of video as a promotional tool, it’s vital that business people come across well on camera.  This evening, former actor and TV presenter, Lottie Hearn (pictured) launches her new book and online community, “Confidence on Camera” in which she gives 7 steps to being ‘flawsome’ on any size screen and to putting the ‘act’ into ‘impact’. 

It’s all about letting the real you shine through and stop worrying about what other people think.  It’s about learning how to play again and putting a smile into your voice.  The book is interactive with 7 stages within each of the 7 steps. Lottie helps people discover their 3Cs (Confidence, Credibility, Charisma), 3Vs (Visual, Vocal,Verbal), 3Ps (Pace, Pause, Performance) and M³ (Mind, Muscle, Memory).

Disclaimer: I’m working with Lottie to promote her book – but don’t hold that against her!  Check out www.ConfidenceOn.camera

How SMEs can create a more sustainable workplace

It is believed that larger companies and multinationals are more committed to sustainability than smaller businesses – often dedicating personnel and resources specifically to it.  So how can the SME workplace become more sustainable?  This article covers Energy Saving, Staff Wellbeing and Local People & the Community. For Energy Saving, it recommends gathering data about employees’ use of resources as a starting point. On the subject of staff, they recommend that the policy around dealing with workaholics be consistent with the reality i.e. don’t promote the person who’s first in in the morning and last out in the evening, focus on staff wellbeing and ensure the physical environment and encourage engagement with local people and the community through things like volunteering etc.

http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2015/oct/20/simple-steps-sustainable-workplace-experts

www.grainnebyrnePR.ie