2009

We Consume To Stand Out While Fitting In

Posted Sep 25 in Opinion tagged , , , by

There was a Lee ad that ran in Australia about 5 years ago. It had the tag line ‘Stand Out. Fit In.’ I really liked it. This is a perennial internal debate people play in their minds when consuming brands. Whatever the category people are playing a balancing act of wanting to fit in, conform [...]

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In Advertising Give Me Utility over Emotion Anytime

Posted Sep 15 in Opinion tagged , , by

Here’s my latest Adnews article. It’s about Utility Marketing, trying to use every possible opportunity to give people what they want. It’s an alternative to the ‘emotional ádvertising’ thing people talk about (see previous blog posts). I’d be interested in peoples thoughts.

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The Ministry of Muffins

Posted Sep 13 in Work tagged , , by

Last year, George Weston Foods, along with Naked Communications, decided to completely transform the ‘Little Bites’ brand. After re-segmenting the market, a significantly larger opportunity for the brand was identified, and a new master brand (The Ministry of Muffins) was created to meet this opportunity. This work has resulted in reformulating the product and improving [...]

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The Power of Social Media

Posted Sep 01 in Opinion tagged , , , by

Over the last three months something interesting has happened to the Sydney radio scene, largely due to the power of social media. One radio station, 94.5 FBI, has been saved. Whereas another, the high profile Kyle and Jackie O show (2Day FM) has been severely wounded. FBI asked Naked Communications to develop an idea that [...]

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The Brilliance of the Bored

Posted Aug 25 in Uncategorized tagged by

The Brett Rolfe took this photo this morning in Glebe, Sydney. It’s very clever. I sickly hope it’s part of a marketing campaign – but fear it’s to clever for that.

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What Marketers Want – In Their Own Words

Posted Aug 19 in Uncategorized tagged , by

The attached is an article as it appeared in The Australian on August 3, 2009. Naked Communications and Booz & Company have jointly conducted research looking into the pressures faced by marketers, and how they are responding. This article summarises the findings of the qualitative stage of the study.

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Forensic Shopping Investigation II: Shopping For Religion

Posted Aug 12 in Opinion, Work tagged , , by

When I was 16 my friend Cam and I went out one night shopping for a religion. Well, we were not really shopping for a religion, as much as minding our own business when we were accosted by scientologists on the street who coerced us to come inside their ‘church’. I remember it very clearly. [...]

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Thoughts on These Ads?

Posted Aug 11 in Uncategorized tagged by

I really like these ads. I imagine young guys would like them, read them, and potentially even take in the message. What do you think?

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Aspiration versus Authenticity in Advertising

Posted Aug 02 in Uncategorized tagged , , by

Saw this billboard for Kayser undies in Melbourne last night – and took the photo (with my Blackberry from the passenger seat of our car). Each one of these girls is supposed to represent a different body shape; Column, Pear, Apple, and Hourglass. It’s a simple idea – ‘we have undies for all body shapes’, [...]

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Kyle and Jackie O: Some Suggestions on How to Remove Them From The Airwaves

Posted Aug 02 in Uncategorized tagged by

I have written an open letter to the advertising and media industry asking for Kyle and Jackie O to be removed from the airwaves. Many people have written in and left comments, some of which have urged others to take action. Below is a list of activities people have suggested you can do to express [...]

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