Chocolate Week

Because the sample marketing plan in my Essential Guide to Marketing Planning is based on a fictional chocolate start-up, I like to see what's going on in this industry. And I notice that 11-17 October is designated as Chocolate Week in the UK. Many choco marketers are participating, including Hotel Chocolat, Divine, Fortnum's and more. In addition to the web site, the event has a Twitter account. And its PR has gotten coverage in multiple media. Sweet idea!

Time for Byte Night

On 8 October, hundreds of IT pros from dozens of high-tech firms will sleep rough to raise money for the Action for Children charity, which helps homeless youth. This year's Byte Night event will take place in five locations (London, Thames Valley, Cambridge, Manchester and Edinburgh).

In addition to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, Byte Night's marketing includes local and national PR about celebs who support the event; news coverage of special events leading up to the sleepout (such as Byte Poker); and blog/word of mouth promotion from participating people and companies (such as the Wildfire Tech PR Blog).

Last year's Byte Night raised more than 550,000 pounds, with 700 people sleeping rough. The economic slowdown isn't over but the IT community is continuing its enthusiastic support of Action for Children. I believe Byte Night will surpass its 2009 record. Good luck, sleepers!

Strategies for store brands

Store brands are becoming stronger all the time, as consumers seek to balance price and quality during this recession.

ASDA, Sainsbury and Ocado have just strengthened their already strong store brand strategies, says MarketingWeek.

For ASDA alone, store brands are worth millions of dollars in annual turnover--with higher profit margins than on nationally-advertised manufacturers' brands. Not only is ASDA enlarging its "free from" store brand food range, it's also developing products to be marketed in parent Walmart stores worldwide.

Even as the global economy recovers and moves toward sustained growth, many consumers will stick with store brands for ordinary purchases while returning to manufacturers' brands for selected items, speciality products and so on. During the recession, these shoppers learned that store brands represent value and their newly-acquired shopping habits may linger on for years. For the big brands, a battle is brewing--which means more marketing communications will be needed to explain, educate, persuade and remind buyers of brand promises and benefits.

Word of mouth proves value

A new UK pilot study (of research conducted in the US since 2006) shows that most word of mouth is positive--meaning customers are saying good things about brands. And brands are apparently a hot topic of conversation: people speak about 10 brands per day, especially:

Not surprisingly, research indicates that teens are a major source of word of mouth about brands. No matter who's talking, however, the key is trust. Even if a brand is perceived as having transgressed in some way, showing that the firm listens and responds to customers will help heal the rift and restore trust. In many cases, people will share more positive word of mouth about brands that have righted a wrong and renewed the customer's trust in them.

Marketing Metro Bank

London's first new bank in a century, Metro Bank, now has two high street branches, one in Holborn and one in Kensington. Within five weeks of opening, the Holborn branch had met its new account goals for the year.

Vernon Hill, the marketer behind Metro Bank, is a big believer in customer service. His earlier US banking venture, Commerce Bank, competed against much bigger banks like Citibank and JP Morgan Chase by opening its 'stores' (branches) early, closing them late, offering weekend hours, and streamlining tedious chores like establishing a new account to speed up service. His long-term goal for Metro Bank is to have 200 branches in and around London by 2020.

Although good locations in busy downtown areas are expensive, being visible is the best way to attract customers and bring in deposits. The more deposits, the more profitable a branch will be. And Metro Bank is highly visible--its 'stores' don't look like banks. Instead of the formal, subdued look of an old-fashioned branch, Metro Bank stores have an informal retail atmosphere, with bright colours, friendly staff and open, airy spaces.

The banking industry is highly competitive, however, so Metro Bank will have to maintain very high standards of customer service to win customers away from their current banks and meet its aggressive growth goals. The bank's adverts use the catchy strap line: Love your bank at last! Will customers love Metro Bank? So far, the answer is mostly yes.

PS -- Please read Jeffry Pilcher's comment, below. He's right, loans are more profitable than deposits. However, as a former banker, I know that current accounts in particular are profitable because banks pay little or no interest on them and, with efficient info systems, these accounts need not be expensive to service. Clearly, gathering deposits through branches in densely-populated areas is a relatively cheap way to bring in money to loan.

The Fortune article about Vernon Hill is worth a look, especially the part where he talks about competing against Citi and other banking giants in New York City, one of the toughest markets in the world. Of course London isn't exactly like NYC, but Metro Bank is bringing new rivalry to the market and I expect that other banks will respond.

BP missing from top 100 Best Global Brands

According to Interbrand's annual ranking of the Best Global Brands, Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft, Google, and GE lead the world today as top brands (Coke was the 2009 leader, as well).

BP's brand lost so much value after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to Interbrand's calculation, that it fell from the top 100 index for the first time in more than a decade. Read the entire Top 100 list here. And read all about what BP has to say about its brands here.

BP's brand problems could have been avoided, says Harvard Business School branding expert Stephen A. Greyser. 'Significantly, in a trust-intensive time, BP's faults have been magnified by its own "green" strategic positioning', Greyser wrote in a recent article. 'BP has to focus now on deeds rather than words'.

Can BP restore confidence in its brand and deliver on what the brand wants to stand for?

Happy Birthday Super Mario Bros

Twenty-five years ago, Nintendo first released its now-iconic Super Mario Bros video game. To celebrate, Nintendo today released a special advert featuring fans as well as the game's well-known characters.

Among other activities to mark the anniversary, Madrid's La Central de Diseno de Matadero museum has an exhibit showing the plumber and his world through the eyes of different artists. And here's a Guardian collection of Mario trivia. Happy birthday!

Cadbury grows: Bliss and more

Cadbury's marketing plan for growth (as discussed in Chapter 1 of the new edition of Essential Guide) relies on new product introductions under its best-known brands. Dairy Milk Bliss, to launch in October, is a good example.

An extension of the successful Cadbury Dairy Milk range, Bliss will be introduced with adverts that, in the recent Cadbury tradition, make the audience smile. To support all this growth, Cadbury has arranged to buy more cocoa from Barry Callebaut.

Looking ahead, Cadbury's marketing plan may change as Kraft's new category chief makes decisions about the corporation's product lines and priorities.

Coca-Cola's latest viral campaign

Coca-Cola has just made a "happiness" viral video for the UK market. The US version, introduced in January, became a viral hit right away. Here's the US version:


 
Now compare it with the UK version, which has just been released. What do you think?

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Regulating social media marketing

The Advertising Standards Authority will soon regulate social media marketing in the UK the way it regulates advertising in newspapers, on television and in other media. The goal is to protect children and consumers by putting virtually all marketing communications under ASA regulations.

In the past, if the ASA received a complaint about a Web site ad or a claim about ads in social media such as Twitter or Facebook, the watchdog group didn't feel able to take action, saying the complaints were outside its authority. From March, that won't be the case.

ASA chairman Chris Smith says: "When this goes live next March, this will be the most comprehensive approach to the regulation of advertising in website space anywhere in the world.”

To see how Financial Times writer Tim Bradshaw answers readers' questions about this new regulation, read today's thread of comments tagged #FTchat on Twitter and follow him at http://twitter.com/tim.