Ged Carroll

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  • How brands grow part 2

    I’ve been re-reading How Brands Grow Part 2 by Jenni Romaniuk and Byron Sharp. Part 1 is well known. It is the go-to bible for consumer marketers written by Sharp.

    https://flic.kr/p/2iPBAng
    How Brands Grow Part 2 by Romaniuk and Sharp

    In part 2 Sharp and Romaniuk looked at business-to-business marketing, luxury marketing and influencer marketing. The things that I found particularly interesting in part 2:

    • The heuristics around business-to-business marketing are remarkably similar to consumer marketing. This means that even in B2B marketing, the importance of brand building is paramount. This is very much at odds with the way in which business-to-business marketing is practiced
    • Part 2 provides a much needed dose of pragmatic realism on influencer marketing. Influencer marketing carries the most weight with people that would be interested in the brand anyway. It is less efficient than marketers seem to believe. If you look at Unilever at the end of the Keith Weed era; influencer marketing took an outsized proportion of marketing spend that could not be explained in a world of zero based budgeting (ZBB) that the company had brought in
    • Romaniuk and Sharp manage to explain why luxury brands need sustained advertising to sustain their standing despite the very nature of luxury being hard to find (and so discover) unless you’re part of the cognoscenti

    Regardless of your marketing area both part 1 and part 2 will help you to be a better marketer. What immediately becomes apparent is that empirical research done by Sharp and company outlined in part 1 and part 2 are best viewed selectively.

    Fads become orthodoxy in the face of empirical evidence to the contrary. A classic example would be the headlong dash into digital regardless of its role in the marketing mix.

    It would be great if these books were paid attention to as well as read by marketers.

  • What consumers need + more

    What Consumers Need to Hear from You During the COVID Crisis – Harvard Business School Working Knowledge – “NEARLY A QUARTER OF BRANDS HAVE GONE DARK, PAUSING ALL OF THEIR PAID MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND QUARTER OF THE YEAR.” – their emphasis not mine. On the face of it that article is a good guide on what consumers need to hear most times; but I would have preferred to see that there was empirical research behind this. It relies on ‘common sense’ and smart people’s guess work / opinion to try and figure out what consumers need to hear from brands. What is undeniable is not that what consumers need to hear, but that consumers need to hear something. Media without advertising support will go under. Brands going silent are losing salience and brand consideration. Consumption still goes on. We communicate now, to influence post-COVID markets, that isn’t about what consumers need, but what brands need. More on related topics here.

    In the Battle Against the Machines, She’s Holding Her Ground – The New York Times – machine learning stuggles with things like multiple voices

    Chinese factories go to extremes to fend off second wave of coronavirus cases – The Washington Post – paywall. Interesting the kind of precautions Foxconn et al are taking to stop re-infection from decimating its workforce and shutting down their manufacturing lines

    Coronavirus Surveillance Helps, But the Programs Are Hard to Stop – Bloomberg – Two people taunted on social media for having an affair because the data showed they were at the same hotel at the same time turned out to have been there for a church gathering.

    UN’s partnership with Tencent at odds with its push for global unity – this is very dark, particularly when you take into account the hand China has played with compromising the WHO

    Thevintageknob.org • View topic – The web of japanese contractors – fascinating investigation into the complex web of sub contractors who supported the Japanese hi-fi industry

    TikTok Told Moderators: Suppress Posts by the “Ugly” and Poor – I presume this helped change the algorithms as well? It is a mirror of wider society

    Zoom admits user data ‘mistakenly’ routed through China | Financial Times – security has become a hot mess for Zoom

    What is Gen Z spending its money on? — Quartz – is it really that different?

    US prez Trump’s administration reportedly nears new rules banning ‘dual-use’ tech sales to China • The Register – ok this is going to get interesting

    Suspense – Single Episodes : Old Time Radio Researchers Group : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive – “On September 30, 1962 a major milestone in radio drama came to an end with the final episode of the long running series, SUSPENSE. Ironically, the episode was titled “Devil Stone” and was the last dramatic radio play from a series that had its roots in the golden age of radio. What began as a “new series frankly dedicated to your horrification and entertainment” took on a life of its own mostly due to the talents of some outstanding producers and adaptations and original stories from the cream of mystery writers of the time. The golden age of radio was truly the golden age of SUSPENSE as show after show broadcast outstanding plays which were “calculated to intrigue…stir [the] nerves.” 911 radio plays from the 40s, 50s and 60s! SO MUCH STYLE! Honestly, I’ve listened to a few of these now and they are wonderful; great stories, great acting, and proper time travel – wonderful, and a perfect bedtime story if you’re in the market for such a thing. – via Matt Muir

    The life and timepieces of Ralph Lauren | How To Spend It – I love Lauren’s attitude to watches

    Gen Z. The Myth. The Reality. | Geometry – I sometimes read out a excerpt from an article in Time Magazine to my colleagues when discussing Gen Z:“Deeply committed to the redemption of social imperfections, they have taken on a vast commitment towards a kinder, more equitable society; they are markedly saner and more unselfish than their elders.”Everyone nods respectfully, seeing images of Greta Thunberg in their mind.There’s One Phrase for the Aspirations of Gen Z that I Think is Oracular in an Interesting Way. The twist: it’s from a 1965 issue of the magazine. And they’re actually talking about Baby Boomers.

    Why Don’t We Just Ban Targeted Advertising? | WIRED – The most interesting thing is what this article misses – the questionable effectiveness of targeted advertising as opposed to smart mass advertising in the marketing mix a la Byron Sharp

    Porn platform poses as a snack delivery app on iOS – Porn is illegal in China, so one porn platform is hiding in plain sight | Abacus – interesting, how did this get through testing? Did they have a working snack delivery service up and running for testing; to get this through iOS testing in particular?

    Michel Lamunière: “Print is going to thrive in luxury and fashion” | Luxury Society – I agree that print is being challenged in categories like news and general women’s lifestyle ­– I don’t see much of a future for those kinds of media. But with luxury, I think that, and I believe, that there will be less players in the future, and that the ones who do it right will really be able to continue to grow. So the product itself needs to be absolutely beautiful. There’s no room for average layouts and content. The content needs to be exclusive, unique, and super engaging

    Axios China – China’s v-shaped coronavirus recovery looks too good to be true – interesting PMI data that looks ‘too perfect’

    Can Taiwan Benefit From China’s Ouster of US Journalists? | The Diplomat – great opportunity for Taiwan

    Coronavirus gives China more reason to employ biometric tech – Nikkei Asian Review – (paywall)

    The Karen meme — TikTok escapism in a time of crisis | Financial Times – Karens are moms — pushy ones. They share corny inspirational quotes on Facebook, buy merchandise inscribed with “Live Laugh Love” and love to ruin teenage fun. What really marks out a Karen, however, is their capacity to complain and get their own way. If you ever worked in a shop or restaurant when you were younger, you will remember who the Karens were — they were the ones who asked to speak to your manager. – I must admit I am with the kids on this

  • Tokyo Metro + more things

    Upcycling a Tokyo Metro train into a coffee vending machine. Suntory Coffee collaborated with Tokyo Metro on a one-off vending machine based on parts of a decommissioned train. The level of detail that they put in is amazing. Trains have a big part of modern Japanese city life. Japan has more railways and more train travel than most other countries. It was part of a concerted post war strategy that saw the creation of the bullet train and a wide range of commuter railway lines. It stands in stark contrast to a post-Beecham report train system in the UK. More Japan-related posts here.

    via Sora News 24
    Palmowanie w Lipnicy Murowanej 2014
    Chipotle by Mike Mozart

    Chipotle hosts virtual lunch hangouts amid pandemic | Contagious – Chipotle tapped into the widespread use of Zoom to develop virtual lunches. They might do food but they also realise that work lunch has social aspects. As far as I know this was the first consumer marketing campaign on Zoom and shows what an agile marketing team can do. It would be interesting to see if there is any marketing effectiveness data around the campaign in the future.

    Adidas GMR tech combines sport and gaming | Contagious – interesting combination of wearable, gaming and locative technologies. It also shows the potential of what Nike Plus could achieve with this arguably wider existing customer base.

    Lil Mariko’s ‘Where’s my Juul?’ blew up for a second time. The first time was due to the anxiety of jonesing for that nicotine fix. The second time is because it perfectly expresses cabin fever. Mariko Zhang is the full package in this video. The song slips somewhere between EDM and BabyMetal.

    Channeling cabin fever

    The guys over at Zak have launched a new video series of interviews and episode one covers young people around the world coping with lockdown.

  • Personal data leads + more things

    Consumers don’t believe use of personal data leads to more relevant ads, report finds | Campaign Asia – The report also found that consumers still trust TV ads over their digital counterparts. On average, consumers are twice as likely to say TV ads provide a more positive impression of brands than common digital formats. The top concern about digital platforms amongst those polled was fake news on social media (53 percent), followed by cyberbullying, online predators, child endangerment online and children’s data privacy. “While consumers embrace the technology, there remains a multitude of concerns regarding advertising on the technology. These concerns are a significant reason why TV actually still remains the medium most likely to provide a positive impression of brands,” Juhl said. – Personal data leads to apparently less effective advertising. So why would you recommend digital for brand building activity??? Supports Gartner’s position that businesses will move away from personal data and Byron Sharp’s idea of smart mass marketing. More on how personal data leads to ineffective targeted online ads and ad blocking here.

    https://flic.kr/p/dTLf1
    Television via Flickr account Naked Faris

    People call for boycott of filmmaker Sam Morales after alleged catfishing of trans woman | Rappler – interesting online scandal in the Philippines at the moment with apparent complex catfishing of gay men and trans-women

    Facebook eyes multibillion-dollar stake in Reliance Jio | Financial Times – if the board game Risk was about global telecoms infrastructure instead of military conquest, the truism ‘never fight a land war in Asia’ would change to ‘never buy a carrier in India’. I can’t see how Facebook is going to do any better with its holding than Vodafone etc

    Singtel-backed OTT service Hooq enters liquidation | Advertising | Campaign Asia – “Global and local content providers are increasingly going direct, the cost of content remains high, and emerging-market consumers’ willingness to pay has increased only gradually amid an increasing array of choices,” a Singtel statement said. “Because of these changes, a viable business model for an independent, OTT distribution platform has become increasingly challenged. As a result, HOOQ has not been able to grow sufficiently to provide sustainable returns nor cover escalating content costs and the continuous operating costs of an independent OTT distribution platform.” – it will be interesting to see how people like MUBI and NowTV do moving forwards

    Recession pushes Hong Kong shoppers to sell their luxury goods | Financial Times – interesting article however the speculation on mainland Chinese trading in secondhand luxury might be impeded a bit. A mix of fakes and and a desire for new things. They would need to have strong trustworthy authentication. And might want to vent that market abroad as well as Japanese players like Brand-Off have managed

    Inside China’s controversial mission to reinvent the internet | Financial Times – this sounds like a right mess. We’ll soon have a splinternet

    How to Beat Science and Influence People: Policymakers and Propaganda in Epistemic Networks | The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science | Oxford Academic – weak or subtle interventions are often most effective for the would-be propagandist. In particular, outright scientific fraud—intentional publication of incorrect, fabricated, or purposely misleading results—is not only unnecessary to influence public opinion on topics of scientific inquiry, it is also riskier and often less effective than other forms of manipulation. Biased production, which does not involve fabricating results, is a successful strategy for misleading the public. And in many cases, biased production is itself less effective than selective sharing – HT Ian Wood

    What Does the Symmetry of Your Logo Say About Your Brand? – asymmetric conveys excitement. I was left with so many questions, like what about rotational symmetry in a logo?

    Madison Avenue Insights | The Next Big Thing in Media & Advertising: Simplification – great read by Michael Farmer, but will they look with a clear eye at the current digital marketing being done from a brand marketing perspective?

    “Krisenmarketing”: Warum Werbungtreibende nun ihre Etats nicht einfrieren sollten › Meedia – yes its in German but it comes out fine in Google Translate: Financial, insurance or telecommunications companies in particular should instead rely on customer-centered communication and pick people up instead. They would have to show existing customers that they are there for them during the crisis and offer solutions. For example, Deutsche Telekom is doing exemplary with its campaign “We connect Germany” and the specific services. Banks could also help with liquidity shortages.

    London has the highest productivity levels in UK PwC – without productivity improvements levelling up isn’t going to work. Interesting that London performed this high, yet was lower on females in employment with a higher female unemployment rate

  • My analogue journey & more things

    I’ve been listening to My Analogue Journey which has got an amazing selection of Japanese music as part of his videos. Check this out. My Analogue Journey pulls together some buttery smooth records; like a high class version of smooth radio.

    Streaming Up From Boston – Info on how to watch here | Dropkick Murphys – what really surprised me is that enterprise software company Pegasystems stepped up to financially support this. Its an amazing concert by the Dropkick Murphys.

    I am a big fan of SIGGRAPH demo videos. They are are an amazing amalgam. Reality and Daliesque surrealism. This video is very much in that SIGGRAPH vein. The physics of this video is amazing, but has a distinct otherworldly quality.

    https://vimeo.com/400225224

    Huggies candid campaign takes on parent-shaming | Canvas8 – Procter & Gamble have built a stable of expertise in mixing ads with social purpose. Some of these ads have been more effective than others, for instance the Gillette ads have fallen flat with male customers. This reminded me a bit of Brooklyn Brothers work for Water Wipes which hinged around authenticity around the parenting experience. More posts related to Procter & Gamble here.

    ICYMI: Vanilla Ice apologises for crimes against music in this campaign from Virgin to ‘Right Music… | Creative Moment  – using celebrities and getting the balance right is always a tough one. In this particular case Virgin seems to have done a better job rebuilding up the brand of Vanilla Ice than its own brand. It was an interesting insight that consumers no longer know about Virgin’s musical heritage that gave it its original cool factor. I guess its time for Mike Oldfield to release another follow on to Tubular Bells and remind gen Z of Virgin’s relevance. I do wonder if Vodafone had a similar but less extreme issue with its ads that revolved around Martin Freeman.