Advertising

I took this picture at Stockport Station last night as a great example of the difference in marketing styles of our two largest supermarkets. These posters sit side by side as shown for all to see. On the one hand you have Sainsburys promoting this particular Particia Cornwell book in a creative, exciting and imaginative way. They've invested time, effort and cost in drawing the consumer in to the book, leaving you intrigued and wanting to know, wanting to read more...

And on the other hand you have Tesco!

Who would you buy it from?

(Oh and by the way not only is the Tesco price point HUGE it's also 25% cheaper)

The art of creativity in marketing is not lost, but then again nor is the power of the price point

Well what can I say. There are not enough adverts out there anymore that make you chuckle out loud, but for me Aldi's efforts definitely struck a chord.

Humour is always a great way to connect with an audience, doing it right means not only engaging the viewer but ensuring they remember your product, and I think Aldi has managed to do this perfectly.

Whether it’s the “gin loving pensioner”, the “like it parrot” or more recently their spin on the Special K adverts, they never fail to amuse.

"I think that we should have a television department. All the other agencies have them."  Harry Crane, Mad Men.

When it comes down to advertising for TV - gone are the glory years. I think it’s fair to say we are not all able to afford our own TV department. Of course, there are still some Sterling Cooper-esque advertising agencies, with in-house TV departments to look after TV clients and subsequent advertising requirements. For agencies with a hefty roster of TV work, this makes perfect sense.

Problems can arise however, if those agencies were to lose a large TV account or the work dried up. There would still be the expense of running the department alongside staffing and associated costs, which could become a financial drain. The reality is that either the department closes, making staff redundant, or the agency tries to ride-out the period whilst trying to secure new TV accounts.

This can become a yo-yo situation for some agencies, as the cost of running the department in the downtime may need to be recovered in the better times, making agency recharge fees sometimes at a slightly inflated rate.

...continued from Psychology, Selling and the Internet – Part 1 of 5

2. Listening to authority

We all know it – people listen unquestioningly to authoritative figures. If you hold anyone in high regard as an authority, you will usually unquestioningly listen and do as they say. Think about your doctor, lawyer, and sports coach. These people can tell you to do what most people can’t and you will almost always do it without questioning it.

This means that your site should have someone or some organisation of recognised authority in that field saying something positive about your product or service. It doesn’t have to be famous people, just authority heads. For example, a travel service can have a review by some magazine editor and a healthcare site can have some comments from some doctors.

Brian Tracy is the master when it comes to using the power of psychology when selling just about anything to anyone. He really knows his stuff better than anyone else. I’m in awe of his prowess and success. See for yourself here www.briantracy.com – but first read on, it will make more sense.

In all of his many books he’s published however, he’s never actually conveyed the technique of using his approach to selling via the Internet. You see all of what he says is so true about having clear sales goals, understanding why people buy, how being creative sells, getting appointments, generating desire etc but we all know that our normal offline lives are very different to the way we behave online. The selling game has changed and the world operates by very different rules. New rules created entirely by the Internet.

In a series of blog posts I want to share 8 psychological phenomena that work beautifully when it comes to online sales. Learn, master and apply these and your online success will definitely soar.

Once upon a time a commercial break was full of dull ads and funny ads and clever ads and beautiful ads and expensive ads and cheap ads. Recently however there's a growing trend of ads that make you stop and think, "What…the…hell…just…happened…to…my…TV?"

What have #catswiththumbs got to do with the price of milk these days?

It’s a great example of how outdoor advertising should be created.

You have 5 to 10 seconds to grab attention and leave an impression – and this simple execution does that. OK I know it’s for a brand we all know extremely well, but it’s enhanced by the ‘I spy my little eye…’ headline which reminds us all of those long car journeys as a child – linking exquisitely with their TV proposition.

And does it work? – Too right it does. I had to fight back the craving for a McBurger of some description all afternoon.

If I wanted to be picky i would just question why you need the McDonalds logo on the poster at all? The Golden Arches sign says it all…

Do think Azko Nobel should give Clear Channel some white Sandtex paint though – the poster frame is looking a bit weathered! Perhaps we’ll get our new head of marketing to look at that one?

The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) wanted to create a powerful regional TV campaign to get people talking about gender discrimination and highlight the problems of going ‘one step too far’. Access have produced 2 x 30’ commercials, a series of outdoor ads and website visuals for www.onesteptoofar.org

The shoot went without a hitch and the campaign is due to air in Wales in June.