Thursday, 10 November 2011

The one and only

The recent death of boxing ledgend ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier sparked a thought…why was he called ‘Smokin’ Joe?

This drove me to think about the different names of boxers. Or all fighters in general.

UFC’s Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva, George ‘Rush’ St Pierre (a.k.a GSP) or boxing’s ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, ‘The Greatest’ Muhammad Ali and ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson. They had created their own identity, something for their fans or anyone watching, to remember them by. Their career is their campaign and the way they promote themselves is by creating a personality, or brand, for the ring or octagon.

These men didn’t always have these names and of course each athlete must still perform well, but these are the brands that you’ll remember.

So when Joe was told to keep punching till smoke came from his gloves, a legend, a symbol, a brand was born.

Johnny B ‘Dangerously’
Account Manager
trademarkDM

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Thursday, 8 September 2011

I’m glad you hate YouTube ads

Remember the good old days when YouTube was advertising-free? No 30 second ads before film clips, no pop-up ads tempting us to ‘meet singles into cycling’. YouTube has always been free to use, but now we pay for it with snippets of our time and attention. In other words, we’re subjected to advertising.

‘Getting something for free when you watch an ad’ isn’t a new concept.

Telco’s started offering free international calls years ago – the hitch being advertising messages ran sporadically over your conversations. Next came free video calls from your web browser and, while the connection was being made, an ad ran. Then Skype completely changed the program: free video calls, minus the subjection to advertising. Needless to say, Skype came out trumps.

So where’s it written in stone we have to watch video content through YouTube? When you think about it, YouTube just provides a platform to upload and view videos. So if a similar platform existed without advertising, would you use it? Yeah it would take a while to catch on, but nothing’s as permanent as it seems in the digital world.

People have never liked being sold to, and they never will. For us advertisers, it’s a good thing. It forces us to constantly innovate, and create advertising people will want to engage with. Because if we ever accept the tried and true approaches as formulas, we’ll get left behind.

Andy McInerney

Creative

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Tuesday, 30 August 2011

Sites for sore eyes

Don’t be deceived by the youthful looks of clickDM’s new web designer. True to his switched-on generation, Elliot Birch has been working online all his life – in web design, podcasting, gaming and just about anything else he can get his hands on.

Elliot’s a big fan of open-source systems and the way they make useful information available to huge communities of users. He’s also passionate about new front-end web standards. “Getting this stuff right means that websites are more accessible than ever. Even if they’re blind or colour-blind, people can still get all the benefits of your site.” And he’s equally enthusiastic about using emerging technology to keep organisations a step ahead: “With HTML5 and CSS3, we can build great features into your website now that are ready to go as the browsers catch up.”

Even if those aren’t terms you use in your everyday conversation, Elliot and the rest of the clickDM team can show you how they will get your clients talking. Give us a call  if you’d like to talk about taking advantage of what’s around the corner in the digital world.

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Wednesday, 17 August 2011

The original social networker?

Back in the 50’s the Avon lady was a common site around our suburbs. She canvassed door to door and over time built trusted relationships with many women, their families and friends, in her local community. She relied on word of mouth to find clients and develop a network to promote and sell her cosmetics.

Fast forward 60 years and building relationships is still the foundation for marketing brands and products. The basic fundamentals, whether face-to-face or via social media sites, are essentially the same – to develop trust and permission to continue the conversation.

Today, the internet provides the opportunity to conduct multiple conversations with, and ultimately market to, many more potential prospects. Unlike the ‘old’ days these conversations are accessible to audiences located all over the world, broadening network opportunities and ultimately changing traditional selling markets.

Direct selling organisations such as Avon, Amway, May Kay and Nutrimetics have recognised the power of social networking for their brand and their distributors. Social media has an integral part to play in the strategy and marketing mix of direct sellers. These organisations have realised that social media, combined with direct marketing, is a way to position their brand with new audiences, extend purchase channels and support their distributors to grow their networks.

Distributors can use Facebook and Twitter as tools to direct market to ‘friends’ – telling them about offers and promotions, and even ‘pushing’ special offers to customers based on past purchasing behaviour. They can develop and deepen relationships without the restrictions of time and place, and relationships can be developed with many people at same time.

So was the Avon lady simply using the principles of social networking to sell product, and are those principals as relevant today? We think so, but the advantage is that many more doors can be knocked on.

THE DM GROUP can help you create and leverage an effective social media strategy for your organisation. We would love to show you how we can help your brand take advantage of technology to deepen conversations with prospects in today’s marketplace.

Carolyn Mead – Account Service

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Friday, 5 August 2011

Candy…a US only love affair?

Standing at my local Tatts recently I  was drawn to a range of  US confectionary they were selling. Strange names and unusual packaging attracted me- ‘Mike and Ike’ , Junior Mints, Jujy Fruits, Twinkies, Mr Goodbar, Hugs, Ding Dongs and Watchamacallits, to name but a few.

 Inspired by this experience I did a bit of digging and discovered the brands I’d found are just the tip of the iceberg. Just check out the variety at USA Foods. 

This all got me thinking, is it my unfamiliarity with the products and their names  that attracts me, do americans love lollies more than we do or do they know something about naming that we have forgotten or never learned?  I think it may be the latter.

When you read names like these and see the packaging you can almost imagine the creative process of product development, research and trial. The names might seem strange to non-american consumers but they demonstrate a connection to the target audience and it’s tastes, plus a real understanding of how to use simple words to connect to a population that is obsessed with its candy bars.

At THE DM GROUP we believe that the best communication, whether product name, headline or story, contains a truth about a product or service, expressed in words that have meaning to the audience we are talking to. We’d love to talk to you about how we can bring your next  ‘Whatchamacallit’ to market, so why not  give us a call.

I leave the final word on the subject to George Costanza, enjoy.

Malcolm Harvey Client Services Director

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