Love this apprentice spoof done by cassetteboy on Youtube, thanks to http://adamlowecreative.blogspot.com/ for showing it to me ;)

|

http://www.readitfor.me/

A billion brilliant business books (or so) pave the road to the cover of Fortune. But who has time to read and remember them all? ReadItFor.me does it for you. This idea packed, weekly podcast reveals the best takeaways and instantly applicable ideas from the world’s best business brains.

Its a pretty good site, check it out and learn quicker then you ever have before!!!

|

This is going around twitter a lot at the moment, two planners are writing an APG paper in 24 hours and streaming their efforts live for all to see. If you haven't seen it yet:
1. where have you been for the last day?!

And 2. check it out now!!

http://www.twoplannersinaroom.com/

|

Like thousands across the world, I have watched Susan Boyle on YouTube, probably more than once. An old spinster from Scotland has literally become a global phenomenon overnight. While watching the show on Monday night, it got me thinking...what can brands learn from Susan Boyle?

To find out we have to dig deeper then the champion of the Susan Boyle brand, yes her voice is amazing but what has really caught the public’s affection is the STORY behind Susan Boyle. This is idea is what brands have to take on board, simply the product will not sell itself, if we had simply heard Susan Boyle's voice and not seen the woman, been exposed to her life and bubbly personality we will not have been as affectionate towards her as we are.


If we had heard Susan’s voice over the radio, with no picture we may not have felt the same affection towards Susan as we do now. The reason? The back-story behind Susan Boyle. Without knowing that she had such a sad and hard life before coming onto Britain’s got Talent, the majority of her fans would be nonexistent. Although the selling point of her brand is her voice, without telling a story it wouldn’t differentiate her from a lot of the competition (well apart from DJ talent!).

The lesson we can learn is that a brand has many competitors, selling similar products, some may even be superior products but the brand that has the most compelling story, the one that connects with the consumer and creates an emotional response is the one that will prevail.

|

|

I thought I would start posting my "video of the week", this being the first week I thought I'd start with a video that always keeps my attention throughout, one of my hero's and a legend in everyone's eyes, the greatest of all time....MUHAMMAD ALI!!!! enjoy :)

|

The new Marks & Spencer's campaign went live recently, re-positioning themselves as the retailer that offers the best quality to its customer. I'm not too convinced though..after seeing the outdoor ads dotted around town it comes across as a weak attempt to regain the loyalty of customers who have long since jumped ship to a cheaper retailer. The ads consist of the strap line with a product shot in the back, it doesn't distinguish M&S in anyway, the same products can now be purchases at any retailer and most probably at a cheaper price!

Having done my dissertation on "consumer loyalty during the recession" I found that a lot of consumers don't see the quality differences between the supermarkets, it isn't a strong message to push forward. This campaign does little but to re-in force what the brand is already trying to say - we sell quality foods, however most consumers won't think they are worth every penny especially during such tough economic times.

The TV ad features a celebrity (twiggy) taking a trip down M&S memory lane, something that has been done to death (Hovis!!). Even though the 1p bazaar is going to pack M&S stores this won't bring back customers regularly, M&S needs a new strategy to push forward as a brand, not copy others and become a me to business and not get into a price war with the cheaper retailers. This definitely isn't the M&S of a few years ago and this definitely isn't the "my M&S" campaign.

|