Making your brand promises matter

"Move from [product] differentiation to actually making a difference" Umair Haque, the director of the Havas Media Labs and Harvard Business Review blogger

Earning your way into a consumer's heart is something that we know is important. Helping consumers feel something positive is the goal, convincing someone of purchase can only be an easier win as a result, surely?

The case for this being important, I think we'd agree, has never been as strong, when so much of marketing success hinges on forming connections with consumers, earning even seconds of their valuable time.

This at a time when despite the billions of £/$'s spent on marketing, Haque's latest report states that consumers just don't care - 73% of people don't care if the brands in their life disappeared tomorrow. Ouch, and yet so obvious. If consumers are that indifferent, then we have to make them feel, we have to…

6 examples show how you can get your charity noticed

Enewsletter readers may be looking for this post Learning from the top 10 most meaningful brands 2013 As a marketing agency, The Marketing Bureau (TMB) knows the importance of a strong brand and awareness of digital marketing which is why they want to reach out and share their knowledge with others. This post was written to help charities who may not necessarily have access to the resources featured in these examples. Please read, share and enjoy to make the most of your marketing and to grow your charities. Over the past there’s been some great campaigns undertaken by charities which have helped them get noticed. Here’s a selection of TMB's  favourite campaigns that never fail to draw attention to themselves (and even raise a chuckle or shed a tear).

1. RNLI does the Harlem Shake

The RNLI has grasped the latest…

Carlsberg Somersby Cider Viral Video campaign takes the perfect 'Apple' takeoff

With summer on the way (hopefully!) this new campaign has achieved over 1 million Youtube views, so it seems to have some of the impact it was looking to achieve thanks to taking a risk with using humour. We love it too, so at the end of a hard week, put up your feet and enjoy its creativity! Thanks to John Newton  for recommending this via LinkedIn - this Somersby Cider video - in his words - 'Loving the Somersby cider ad. Perfect apple takeoff. Hits the target market right between the eye'.   This one minute video with the strap line 'Less apps More apple' relates a tongue firmly in cheek product launch similar to the hype a new Apple phone or IPAD. We love the symbolic interpretation: single…

Campaign example: Tesco's  #FindtheEggs campaign

It's nearly Easter, so the perfect time for online campaign to drive footfall into stores competing for shoppers big pre-holiday shop. We thought Tesco's #FindtheEggs campaign was nicely planned and executed, so worth sharing. Here's what we liked:

1. It's a mashup with purpose -using Google Maps

2. It's personalised - you're encouraged to search by postcode.

3. It's easy - needed to encourage sale

4. It's time-limited to encourage action

5. It helps build the email list

6. It's viral

So we found it "remarkable"! It's likely not being pushed online, maybe as part of a test,…

4 Cool examples of Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns

Guerrilla Marketing is a well-established advertising technique. If you have not heard of the approach, it involves an unconventional campaign often in an unexpected place. I will look at four examples of these type of campaigns in this post. The concept is growing in popularity and now more and more firms are including innovative guerrilla marketing campaigns (GMC) into their strategies. Approaches include flash mobs, graffiti or sticker bombing, but the approach can be a lot more involved and creative. The most creative will get featured in offline news and may then be featured in later waves of the campaign on TV or in Print. All around the world there has been some crazy examples, both in print and video. Here we take a look at 4 examples that created an impact. 1. Ikea's Longest Outdoor…

How one creative agency got creative with its offline advertising

If you’ve ever travelled on the London Underground you’ll be well aware of the fact that virtually all space is for sale. Over a billion passenger journeys are made every year which, coupled with an average platform wait of three minutes, gives brands an amazing opportunity to engage with a large number of people during their commute. In fact, according to data from CBS Outdoor, 87% of consumers actually welcome tube advertising as it provides them with a distraction on their journey.

A 'London' voice and engagement measurement

With so many brands competing for space, there is a need to develop a tone of voice that speaks specifically to London commuters. Holiday or dating agency adverts are likely to focus on the convenience of London transport for selling their product. And how do you measure…

Our in-depth interview with Mike O'Brien on creating engaging digital creative

It's simple, quality creative engages. But creating quality creative is far from simple. Given its importance to successful campaigns I've been wanting to interview fellow trainer and consultant Mike O'Brien for several years to learn from his experience and share it. Mike is a lecturer and course tutor at the IDM and partner in marketing and creative strategy consultants Jam Partnership. You can connect with him via his blog. I asked Mike to include lots of campaign creative examples to inspire you which I've integrated. Don't miss the Mini Aveaword campaign for which I have dug out the original creative! Please share the digital creative that inspires you most. It's certainly an exciting aspect of digital as this quote by Mike shows: I think we have reached the point where creative platforms are no longer hindering the free-flow of ideas.…