Archive for January 2006

Kevin and Mark mailed me from IBC about some problems they’re gettign from Flickr. Some of their images are not showing up on ‘public view’

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A Japanese company has announced a new Point-of-Purchase (POP) advertisement device that is made of electronic paper. It’s already available for purchase. The cheapest one costs 3,400 Japanese yen (About US$30). The devices use two standard AA batteries and should work for about six months.

And the displayed information is still there even when the power is off!

Supplier

Puru Gupta looks at cigarette advertising.

In Chicago, R. J. Reynolds, the 2nd largest tobacco company in the United States, has introduced a new premium-priced line of smokes called Marshall McGearty as an upscale smoking lounge in trendy market areas. Exclusively marketed at the lounge itself, the smokes are made out of fresh tobacco leaves and will be hand-rolled by a tobacconist. They are available in nine flavors and would be priced at $8 per pack.

Tagging premium cigarettes as “works of art”, their objective was clear - to make some of the world’s best smokes and to build unique sanctuaries where their works of art could be properly enjoyed. This reflects in their advertising campaign too!

Though a 1998 Master Settlement Agreement strictly bans smoking in bars and restaurants, Chicago’s ordinance excludes “retail tobacco stores,” places where 65 percent of the sales are of “tobacco” or “tobacco accessories,” according to the city’s Law Department. Marshall McGearty is technically a “tobacco retail store,” where at least 65 percent of sales of are tobacco or tobacco accessories, making it exempt from the ban. Many cities in the United States include similar exemptions in their smoking ordinances, including New York, where sales of tobacco at exempted stores must account for more than half of sales.

Though the concept is new, experts are apprehensive of its impact on the teens. Commenting on the emulative tendencies of the teens, some say that “the fact that it’s for adults only increases its attractiveness to adolescents, because the most effective marketing campaigns to kids are those that make cigarettes a part of looking like a successful, virulent young adult.”
Some steps have been taken to reduce such anticipated criticism. The website allows only visitors over 21 years, and the same restriction applies to the entry inside the Chicago lounge. Advertising mentions the warnings explicitly and so do the packages.

Says an industry analyst, “They’re trying something completely different. They’re openly trying to create an allure. If it works, I can see the other companies lining up to try something like it.” For now, none of RJR’s rivals, which include Philip Morris and Lorillard, have opened smoking lounges or employed a glamour strategy.

Contributed By Puru Gupta

According to a research conducted by Itamar Simonson, Professor of Marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business, a couple of months ago, giving explicit options of comparisons could have a reverse effect on the consumer perception of the products and offerings. Simply put, if you ask the consumer to compare your brand with another competitor in the market, over any parameters (say, price, application, etc.), it could lead to negative outcomes in the purchase pattern of the consumers.

In such cases, consumers tend to put greater weight on the comparative disadvantages rather than advantages of each option. They could feel that they might be cheated and false promises might be made and that is why they may decide against buying your brand! That is why there is a greater amount of risk attached to such approaches and so Marketers need to be slightly careful on this front.

Contributed By Puru Gupta

Metropolis Magazine seeks to identify the next
generation of Big Ideas by the next generation of designers. They offer
$10,000 to an individual or team of designers seeking to develop a Big
Idea that will make our designed environment better, safer, and more
sustainable. The Next Generation Design Competition was established in
2003 to recognize and encourage activism, social involvement, and
entrepreneurship among designers.

Metropolis Mag Big Idea Competition

Door staff at clubs and nightclubs across the United Kingdom used specially designed entry stamps one Friday night. The person would then wake up on Saturday morning and be reminded of the free CD offer in Saturday morning’s Guardian newspaper!

MIT Lab

If you ever plan to give a presentation in Second Life, try out these tips to build your PowerPoint deck.

Link

Hit the PSFK and IF! newsletter lists this morning with a message about the Future Marketing Summit. Also hit the press up. Yesterday I hit up the marketing press about the Flickr group. Not much response, which is disappointing.

Here is a list of sites linking to the FMS!
The Oldtimers Blog: FMS
design*notes: Future of marketing?
‘boards - Industry News
Across the Sound: ATS #18 - New Marketing Podcast with PSFK’s Piers Fawkes
Brand New Supports FMS
Industrial Brand Creative On The Future of Marketing

An article in Marketing Magazine says that whether it’s outside critics maligning their company or embarrassing posts from employees, corporate PR departments must learn to live in the blogosphere.

There are no hard and fast rules, managing a PR issue stemming from a blog post is done much the same as any other: Find out what’s being said; determine its accuracy; and decide whether or not you want to respond. If you do respond on a blog, make sure you choose a proper spokesperson, ideally, a lower-level employee who is credible enough to be seen as not putting out any corporate spin. It’s the key difference to managing a blog issue compared to any other in public relations.

Marketing Magazine