Private Labels taking over

As counting pennies is the new trend this year, then smart consumers are aware of the percentage added to the product, due to branding. They are not willing to pay it anymore. No Logo and Private Labels have their time to flourish. Anyone can manufacture a product they reason. Their only concern is filling the order on time and under the budget. Supermarkets have figured this out and are forcing their Private Labels in a quite powerful way. Not marketing them. No, that would seem wasteful. But through pricing policy. Together in the shelf with “ordinary” products, Private Labels have the competitive edge by the fact that supermarkets itself direct the prices. They are 15%- 35% cheaper than the others.

To me, they seem like commodities without a soul. Its not that I do not like cheap things. I love cheap things. But I do not like things made to be cheap in the robust way. There is no meaning in these raw objects.

But who says that sugar and eggs have to have a deep corporate mythology behind?

Electronic Time Management - the art of sharing

I missed appointment with my hairdresser. It’s not that I did not write it down or was not able to go. It just happened to be one of these hectic weeks. Again. You know what I’m talking about.

It would be very nice to receive sms or e-mail form my hairdresser, day before the appointment, to remind me that this very important day is coming and she is waiting for me.

Or she could ask in my first appointment: do I use old-school calendar or telephone/laptop calendar. In old-school’s case she could give me a post-it with dates written red on it and in electronical calendar’s case send me a reminder from her calendar into mine.

It would be just nice. Not some outrageous marketing trick. But just NICE.

The Worst Hotel In The World

In marketing, sometimes it pays off just being honest. In Hans Brinker Budget Hotel's case in Amsterdam, it brought them 42% increase in occupancy. They’r slogan is: “Similar to hell, but without proper heating.” And it works. Targeted to young backpacers.

It's all about positioning.

Read more.

Apple juice ad gone bad

Translation: Do you feel the apple’s heart (pit)?

Do I want to know that apple juice contains apple pits? No! I want sweet apples grown in pure nature, carefully selected, sliced and then made into juice. I'm a country girl, therefore know very well how apple juice is made, but is it necessary to advertise the content that nobody wants to acknowledge? Now the image and the slogan tell me it’s juice made of apple pits that usually are thrown away. Logically thinking it should be priced then also as a low budget product. Like fish fingers, which contain fish heads and fish bones. Yak. No more Põltsamaa apple juice for me.

Start a movement TODAY

He is ugly as hell, but I like how he talks. Seth Godin on tribes:




I also like my find www.ted.com. Entertainment to last a week at least.

Simple truth

Self-contained and beyond

Besides fun and arrogant people in advertising, there are some pearls who are introverts in a deepest level. Beyond that. You talk to them, they do not watch you in the eye. You ask, did you understand what the brief was about, they remain silent and stare the giant MAC screen, where nothing happens. You ask, do you have any questions regarding to the ongoing project, you get silent “no”. One day before the deadline you ask to see the progress, you get “ I haven’t started it yet ”. Next day morning, opening the mailbox, you get the most outrageously talented and awesome drafts you even were not able to dream about. Time sent: minutes before midnight.

PS: During time they open up and start even composing complex sentences and arguing back. I think of them as flowers who bloom at night.

Arrogance

A while ago I was discussing the fact that advertising people seem to be so fun. Today I’m going to the other end and trying to understand why people think that advertising people are arrogant and is it really so?

 

Firsthand it seemed  that they are arrogant, but only with those, whom they do not want to waste their energy on (I’m talking about advertising heavy machinery, not those show-off rookies). Otherwise in their inner circle and with people they like- they are quite ok. 

Now I’m forced to acknowledge that yes, there are some positive pearls, but is it the recession or cold weather, damn some are really arrogant. They make you feel small and stupid. Even with the matters less important. Their opinion is "The Gold" and others can turn to dust. Although I admit, they have the experience and the knowledge to think that and I do not doubt that this really is gold, they're saying, but there are more pleasant ways to make yourself heard and respected.

Actually it’s funny to watch. Clients are afraid of them, as they do not want to say anything stupid and get "The Look" that burns in the heartbeat. Young creatives are presenting few ideas, which are crushed in the scratch. Now they are shivering before presenting new ones. Is this the environment to work in? It might suit to some people. To those who need strong guidance and authority, to get the wheels going. But what about teamwork, free spirit, open ideas, synergy? Positive thinking attracts positive results. 

Gosh do I love, that I work in a company full of young and free spirits, without a trace of arrogance. 

Windvertising

Windvertising means placing advertisements on turbine blades and creating actual electricity alongside with solar panels installed into the aggregate. The idea originates form WePower, who offers PacWind turbines, cylindrical apparatus lined with blades that create wind power as they spin. The blades display outward, so that a series of images can be shown, creating a short animated advertisement.

Some problems I started to think of :

• If there is no wind and sunshine, the images displayed on the turbine are not seen.

• The turbine has only very limited options to display advertisement and if not told, lookers on do not understand that this is actually a turbine creating electricity and therefore saving the environment. So here is the challenge to promote your brand in a way so everybody can understand you are using natural resources to create electricity for your billboard. Otherwise it’s a waste of money.
  

I can imagine it could have been a nice option for Eesti Energia outdoor ads, which advertised lately greener future. So not completely dumb idea. Although the idea they used now, did the trick for estonians also and was cheaper aswell.

Viral marketing does not work

It's fun (in better cases), but it does not make you go and buy stuff. So no ROI. Go tell everyone.