The brand marketing campaign that defined Nike

Nike has done it again. They've turned heads, they've shown their brand mentality and they have got people talking about them. This week they celebrated the 30 year anniversary of their "Just Do it." slogan. They had bags of content that they could've used for it, not to mention sports stars. Nike for the first time have stepped into the social arena of current events and made Colin Kaepernick, the outed NFL Quaterback who knelt during the national anthem, the face of the campaign. This is an amazingly bold move from Nike as even President Trump stood against it along with Kaepernick's team and the NFL themselves. It came to light that Nike had not dropped him from their books and in fact went into talks to make him the face of the anniversary. They even aired the advert at half time in the first game…

Absolut vodka and their marketing campaign have stood the test of time

Sometimes a simple marketing campaign can far outshine a complicated and expensive one. This is the same for more than just marketing campaigns and usually is true across a lot of things in life in general. Simple and effective is more often than not the way to go. Let us see how Absolut vodka did that. [si_guide_block id="29978" title="Download FREE Resource – Essential marketing models" description="15 classic planning tools to inform strategy development."/]

The history

Absolut as a company was founded in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith and is produced in Åhus, Sweden. He challenged, and beat, the city of Stockholm's liquor marketing monopoly with his vodka. He sold it just outside the city border at a lower price than the monopoly's product. Smith even offered free boat rides to the distillery and "Rent Brännvin"…

Boost in-store sales with social media. Infographic illustrating the many ways in which retailers can integrate their social presence with the in-store experience.

The topic of omnichannel marketing seems to be on the lips of most retailers these days. In a time when customers have multiple points of contact with retailers, the expectation is that their experience is seamlessly integrated across any and all channels.

Whether a customer is shopping in-store or scrolling through Instagram, consumers now expect each touchpoint with a brand to be consistent.

The gradual move to omnichannel marketing represents a significant shift in the thinking of retailers. No longer seen as competing opposites, the online world and the brick-and-mortar shop are now seen as complementary pieces of the whole experience. When strategically integrated, all these elements can work together to help the business thrive.

Retailers stand to…

Examples showing why the 'Thank you Mom' campaigns are so effective

Procter & Gamble Co.’s “Thank You, Mom" campaign is the first of our new series of pieces celebrating the most influential campaigns, both past and present. In this case, we are looking back to 2010 when the start of heartstring plucking ads came out ahead of the Winter Olympics. [si_guide_block id="74955" title="Download FREE Resource – Agency digital marketing services – the top 10 mistakes to avoid" description="The 10 most common mistakes made by marketing agency owners when offering new digital services."/]

The history

Toward the end of Chairman-CEO A.G. Lafley’s first term in 2009, P&G learned that it had the chance to sign a sweeping sponsorship deal with the U.S. Olympic Committee for the 2010 Winter Games. Rival Johnson & Johnson had locked up much of the sponsorship opportunities in prior years. But P&G had to act fast,…

6 Keys to building a better online brand experience for your customers.

Online brand experience and customer experience is a widely discussed topic amongst brand managers and marketers, and for good reason — customers who have a better brand experience with one brand over another will naturally veer toward the brand they favour when making a purchase. It’s not rocket science.

Put simply, the customer experience includes every touchpoint between customer and company. Marketers usually break this experience into three categories: pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase.

These experiences extend from online forums to in-person interactions, but in today’s connected world, pre-purchase often begins online with researching a company, reading reviews, and browsing blog posts — so optimizing your brand experience across all things digital is essential.

[si_guide_block id="57881" title="Digital Branding Guide" description="Download your Digital Communications Strategy for FMCG Brands"/]

The Problem With Perfection

The mistake many…

Both brands and consumers are stories in progress - such stories not only simplify what could otherwise be complex facts; they unite everyone in a commonly recognized purpose

Storytelling is as old as gathering beneath the evening skies around a campfire to listen to tales, which make people laugh, cry and even question themselves. People think narratively. Filmmakers like the Coen Brothers or Steven Spielberg vividly illustrate the point.

Jungian Archetypes

As a brand psychologist, I often equate the story’s ‘hero’ to the classical ‘hero’ as explained in Jungian archetypes.

Jungian archetypes are prototypes in the human mind.  Whilst they are developed, they are neither learned nor acquired.  Their core is embedded in our DNA.

Often people mistake that the hero’s purpose is to make the brand the story’s champion.  Whilst certainly gallant, like all great heroic leaders, the brand’s true purpose is to…

4 strategies to help your agency expand abroad

As recently reported by The New York Times, the world market has finally escaped the throes of the economic crisis, as we now see every major economy enjoying simultaneous growth. While the reasons for this growth are manifold and far-reaching, one thing is clear: Businesses finding success at home in the United States are beginning to view the idea of opening offices abroad as a more viable opportunity. It’s not hard to see why. There are 28 countries and 500 million consumers in the European Union alone. To say opportunity exists in Europe is an understatement. But once you get to the EU, you need to have access to all those countries. Achieving this requires a carefully planned strategy.

[si_guide_block id="67467" title="Download Premium Resource – Running successful international marketing campaigns guide" description="A practical guide for running and structuring International Marketing…

Chart of the Day: A shockingly low rate of personalization of the customer journey is revealed

The growth in use of mobile devices and increasingly complex customer journeys means that multichannel retailers need to deliver customer experiences that that integrate across customer journeys as consumers increasingly use multiple channels on the path to purchase. Given the growing importance of omnichannel marketing, UX consultancy Practicology has teamed up with Google in a recent benchmark report, to review omnichannel experiences across Europe. Retailers are strongest in providing integration with store information, for example through store locators and also returns. Integrating personalization across channels performs has the lowest score with using in-store technology also scoring relatively low. Although this report focuses on retail, you can use our popular free multichannel marketing benchmark templates to review your performance across different digital marketing channels and customer experience.

Research source

Source:  Download…

With over 100 soft-drink variations catering for every type of regional taste, for 132 years, Coca-Cola has remained the world’s benchmark leading soft-drinks brand

Now that ‘soft’ image is about to toughen up with the brand venturing into ‘hard’-alcohol beverages. The brand is set to launch a boozy version of its beverage in the shape of a Japanese alcopop. The new drink will join the “Chu-Hi” range of canned sparkling flavoured drinks that are especially popular in the region. Sold in most local supermarkets and widely available from vending machines, “Chu-Hi’ is an amalgamation of the words “highball” (a mixed drink) and “Shochu,” (a spirit distilled from rice barley, sweet potatoes and other ingredients).  Chu-Hi alcoholic content ranges between 3-9% proof (which saves producers from paying the higher taxation given to stronger drinks).

[si_guide_block id="57881" title="Download our Business Resource – Digital Branding Guide " description="7 Steps to a Digital Communications Strategy for FMCG…

The building blocks of an effective brand strategy

Since the turn of the millennium, more than 50 percent of Fortune 500 companies have suffered or failed due to digital disruption. With so many social media sites competing at nearly every turn, building a successful brand through digital marketing can be quite a challenge. Add ever-evolving platforms, like artificial intelligence, to the mix, and the challenge becomes exponentially more complicated. Technology and platforms that cater to users around the clock create a need for new business models that enable marketing to adapt appropriately. For example, apps like Instagram and Snapchat are highly reactive, meaning the old practices of curating and scheduling social media posts aren’t always viable. In many ways, successful marketing means successful storytelling. The goal is to expand the story to reach customers where they are. Therefore, the art of telling it will need to evolve if your brand is to withstand the test…