Friday, 29 April 2011

Best foot forward Kylie

It’s no secret that our beloved Kylie Blatsis has rather an obsessive love of fine footwear. Today however she’s putting on her walking shoes as we bid farewell to one of THE DM GROUP’s finest Senior Account Managers.

After five years Kylie has decided to spread her wings and move on to new pastures.

So no longer will we hear, ‘leave it with me, I’ll sort it out.’ No longer will we hear ‘Ian, that’s gross!’ No longer will we hear the squeal of excitement as she runs through the agency to show all and sundry her new pair of shoes – an almost weekly occurrence.

Kylie, your passion, commitment and dedication has been second to none, and we’re going to miss you around here. So from everyone at THE DM GROUP, thank you for giving us your heart and sole.

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Thursday, 21 April 2011

Goodbye Bensons – HELLO ‘Ciggies’

The recent Federal Government announcements on plain cigarette packaging  could mark the end of  40 year war against the tobacco industry. That industry  is up in arms and threatening multi-million dollar law suits. Perhaps evidence of how deeply this latest assault will impact the ‘brands’?

Over the years the tobacco industry has been quite remarkable in maintaining strong brands in the face of restrictions that would have sounded the death knell for other categories.   

In the 1970s tobacco companies were banned from using overtly glamorous or ‘cool’ imagery, so they resorted to an increasingly surreal approach to selling their wares. The result was arguably some of the best press ads and posters of a generation with oblique images of gold pyramids and ripped silk. For a while it seemed that the tighter you squeezed the industry, the more creative it became.

But that’s all about to change, no more ads, no more seductive packaging, no more brands, no more cigarettes.

Result = true happiness? Well perhaps its not that simple.

The fact is that you can take away the brand identity but the need that created the category will remain?

All you are left with is a single, mass market of ‘ciggies’ with similar look, price and taste (just a different name to pay lip service to their origin). It might stop me posing with an expensive brand I think says something about me, but does it stop me smoking? I doubt it. For the vast majority of smokers this is about addiction first and fashion a far distant second.

At the DM group we work with clients to create brands that positively differentiate them from the competition, our successes with  blue chip clients are testiment to our creativity. If you’d like to know more, why not give us a call.

Malcolm Harvey – Client Services Director

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Tuesday, 19 April 2011

Can Wills + Kate rejuvenate the British Monarchy brand?

There is no doubt that the forthcoming Royal Wedding has provided a chance to re-energise a flagging Royal Family brand.  The activities of the Monarchy have long engendered considerable fascination across the globe, but no more so than in recent weeks, with William and Kate’s forthcoming wedding.

The link between corporate brands and the British Monarchy is not as strange as it might first appear.  It is often said that members of the Royal Family, as well as others, often refer to the institution of the Monarchy as “the Firm’.  Support for the notion of the Monarchy as a brand comes from one of Britain’s most prominent historians, Dr David Starkey who stated: “In the age of democracy the crown has to be like any other brand. It has to win the respect of the people.”

Although some might say that maintaining the respect of the people has been periodically tested over the years, the British Monarchy as an institution still retains appeal, distinctiveness, and worth to its brand community – within and beyond the Commonwealth.

As a brand the Monarchy has a long history of distinctive visual and verbal identifiers such as the symbol of the crown and the title of Royal.  Like all great brands it is associated with deep seated community and cultural norms, representing traditional British values – a love of tradition, hierarchy and ceremony. And, similar to many iconic brands it is seen as a familiar reference point in an ever changing and more complex world.

Of course, the members of the Royal Family – the Queen, Prince Philip, the Prince of Wales and Prince William, and the late Princess Diana are celebrity brands in their own right.  In 1981, international viewing figures for Charles and Diana’s wedding television broadcast were estimated at over 750 million. Wills and Kate’s wedding viewing numbers are expected to exceed this.

Of course, even great brands which have been around for a while need to stay relevant – the marriage of Wills and Kate is an opportunity for the Royal Family brand to reflect a fresh, contemporary, and youthful optimism.  And, this reinvigoration of the British Monarchy brand is expected to have a positive flow on effect to the UK economy through increased tourism and merchandising.

If your brand could do with re-energising talk to THE DM GROUP, we are passionate about all things brand.  We would love to show you how we can help your brand become more relevant in today’s marketplace.

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Friday, 15 April 2011

Radium suppositories, anyone?

I love those vintage ads that get emailed around every so often. If you want an instant snapshot of beliefs, insecurities, hopes and fears at a specific point in history, just look at the ads. Ha! Can you believe those smoking doctors? We’re so much more enlightened now!

But looking closer, it’s hard not to notice a few parallels between old ads and their modern equivalents. Sure, the art direction has evolved, but the attitudes – maybe not so much.

And that gets me wondering: which of today’s ads will be the ‘Can you believe it’ ones – and which ones won’t? Will people roll their eyes at our reliance on private cars? Our use of fossil fuel energy? Advertising to children, maybe? Will fast food sponsorship of international sports be the next ‘Doctors smoke Camels’? If someone 50 years on asks us what role we played in moving advertising forward, what will we tell them? That we were just doing our jobs as marketers and consumers, that advertising is supposed to reflect social values, not dictate them – or will we be able to truthfully say that we asked a few awkward questions along the way?

At THE DM GROUP we love advertising that makes us think and ideas that rattle cages. If you’d like to talk about putting your brand a step ahead of the pack, feel free to get in touch.

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Wednesday, 13 April 2011

It’s Un Australian

It’s a term that pre-dates the 20th century, but only recently seems to have found its way into our everyday vernacular – ‘un Australian’. Apparently, it used to describe art or literature with distinctly non-Australian characteristics (thank you Wikipedia).

Nowadays though the term has taken on a life of its own and has any number of inferences. To some it means something that is ‘unfair’, ‘unjust’ or ‘unreasonable’. Or simply, something that defies what is generally accepted as ‘the cultural norm’ (AKA the majority view).

Politicians regularly use it as irrefutable justification for criticism of anyone or anything that contravenes their political agenda. Then there’s the satirical variation (think Kath and Kim) – instead of ‘un Australian’, it’s ‘un Austryyaaalyan’.

Whatever your interpretation of the term, Clubs Australia have just invested $20 million in a campaign based entirely on its premise. Launching online on Monday and scheduled to run across tv, outdoor, and online channels, ‘Licence to punt’ will attempt to convince you that proposed government reforms on pokie machines should be rejected, because quite simply – they’re ‘un Australian’.

Here’s an excerpt from the TVC:

Bloke 1: “This licence to pay the pokies the feds are talking about. That’s a bit of a worry.”

Bloke 2: “What?”

Bloke 1: “See some bloke in Tassie got voted in and Gillard needs his vote and he hates pokies”

Bloke 2: “No way, a licence to have a punt? It’s un-Australian”

Rather than focus on potential job losses or economic implications of the reforms, Clubs Australia have led with an ‘un Australian’ proposition. But will the message be accepted by its target audience? And what level of sophistication does it assume about them? Is the ‘un Australian’ argument strong enough to win the battle, or would another insight have done a better job. Time will tell…

THE DM GROUP develop strategic and creative communications for our clients every day. Integral to this is a thorough understanding of their audiences. If you’d like our advice on your customer communication strategy, we’d be delighted to hear from you.

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