Red Nose Days, UK and USA

Last week's Red Nose Day UK raised £73 million for charities. The highlight of the BBC's telethon was, of course, the long-awaited mini-sequel to Love Actually. Supported by partners like Sainsbury's, TK Maxx, BT and BBC, this fundraising effort has engaged the nation and raised more than £1 billion over the years.

For Red Nose Day USA 25 May, the cast for the mini-sequel will include Laura Linney, who didn't appear in the UK update. Social media posts like this, on Twitter, are helping to boost awareness and anticipation.

Still, Red Nose Day USA is only in its third year and getting established as a national initiative. Its Twitter account has 57,000 followers, compared with Red Nose Day UK's 790,000 Twitter followers. Similarly, Red Nose Day UK's Facebook page has 713,000 followers, while the USA's FB page has 116,000 likes. Social media marketing is vital to building the brand and being funny for money.

So the American fundraising effort must work even harder to attract its audience, explain what the day is all about and get people to participate by fundraising and donating.

Red Nose Day 2017

24 March is Red Nose Day this year. Right, who's up for a laugh? Really, that's one of the headlines on the official website.

And what a social fundraising drive this is. More than 690,000 people 'like' the nonprofit organisation's Facebook page. Nearly 780,000 Twitter followers. More than 437,000 subscribers to the hilarious YouTube channel. Only a few thousand Pinterest followers, but 31,000 Instagram followers.

Very worthy of viral sharing: the much-anticipated brief followup to Love Actually made especially for this occasion and appropriately titled Red Nose Day Actually. Teasers released online and a lot of publicity combine to build anticipation and stimulate word of mouth (plus word of mouse).

New this year, and also worth of viral sharing: an app that listens for your swear words and makes you donate 20p for each curse you say. Of course there are celebrities involved and it's all about getting funny for money.

Right, who's up for a laugh and a good cause on Red Nose Day 2017?

Poundland's multi-price strategy

Updating the 'Marketing in practice' box on p. 135 of my new Essential guide to marketing planning, Poundland has expanded its pricing and product mix beyond the traditional £ 1 unit price. Now owned by Steinhoff International, the discount retailer has a variety of price-oriented straplines, including: 'Big brands cost less'.

In stores and online, Poundland now sells many items for more than £1--with the vast majority of merchandise selling for less than £10. Above, the website shows branded items selling for 'only £2 each'.

The product mix includes more clothing than ever, thanks to a 'shop within a shop' arrangement with the Steinhoff-owned brand Pep & Co. Pep's managing director says: 'The combination of Pep&Co’s design and style credentials - with pricing that’s amazing - will help create a brand new option that helps mums on a budget'.

Having Pep stores within Poundland should increase footfall and bring shoppers back for fashions as well as everyday household goods like laundry detergent. How will Poundland's reputation for low prices be influenced by this multi-price strategy?

Boaty McBoatface, brand ambassador

In 2016, the Natural Environment Research Council held a contest to name its next polar research vessel (shown in red, above). The top vote-getting name was Boaty McBoatface.

Yet authorities decided against Boaty, instead choosing RRS Sir David Attenborough. They bestowed the Boaty name not on a boat but on a new type of robotic submarine that will explore under ice packs and in the coldest ocean areas.

This week, the first Boaty sub will be launched from a polar research ship at the tip of Chile. A cartoon version of Boaty, above, will 'market' the idea of oceanic research to school children around the UK. You can see the full Boaty McBoatface website here.

With such a fun name, and an appealing smiley face, Boaty is a brilliant brand ambassador for NERC's oceanic research.

To read about Boaty's adventures, join the 27k followers who read posts by the NERC on Twitter @NERCscience.

The art and science of marketing

art or science?

Of course marketing is a bit of both. But how much art and how much science?

The CMO of an Australian software firm believes that marketing today is 70% science, 30% art. His point: Every business should be using science (sophisticated analyses, big data, etc) to support decisions about marketing. At the same time, the creativity of art is key to developing marketing that touches hearts and minds.

Science is vital for targeting, in particular. A Google marketing exec points to the quest for 'right place, right time, right message' and how science can inform decisions about place and time. Yet art is needed for marketing that creates 'brand magic', in his words.

The CMO of an auto insurance firm observes that many marketers 'are so proud of their art but they don't know their science'. This firm is serious about the science of marketing, doing media buying in-house for tight control over targeting and timing. Still, given the intense competition in the insurance business, this CMO looks to art for the edge: 'We're not going to out-pend anybody. We're going to out-create them'.

Creativity is necessary to achieve breakthrough marketing campaigns that are memorable and drive results. And sometimes, as one agency exec notes, marketers have to take a chance and use intuition even when 'we know measurement is thin'. 

The bottom line is, in reality, the bottom line--science (metrics and KPIs, for instance) can tell us how well the marketing is working. Creativity in marketing, the art, must have a purpose. Through science (planning, testing and evaluating) we can determine how well the art delivered on the marketing objectives. Art and science in marketing!

See now, buy now meets consumer behaviour

Behind the scenes, 'see now, buy now' fashion requires major changes in everything from production to sourcing to distribution and channel decisions. Burberry pioneered the trend toward making fashions available 'from the runway', meaning selling new styles as the new collection is being introduced.

Instead of waiting months to be able to buy new styles, consumers can click or order in season, right now. It makes sense from a consumer behaviour perspective. Not surprisingly, this is the new marketing model for a growing number of fashion brands. Yet it's quite a challenge to support. 'A switch to this kind of operational model requires extremely intense collaboration between teams that would typically work in a relatively siloed approach', explains the chief brand officer for Tommy Hilfiger.

See now, buy now isn't just for high-end fashion marketing. Fast-fashion firms like H&M are also adopting this approach. H&M Studio recently introduced new styles for men and for women in a see now, buy now strategy. The intro took place in a pop-up space, livestreamed in virtual reality via the Swedish retailer's YouTube channel.

For retailers, see now, buy now is an opportunity to create and satisfy demand in a timely manner, rather than creating anticipation and potentially losing demand due to a long wait for product availability.

It's consumer-led and puts shopping into the same moment as fashion trends are being created. In other words, see now, buy now fits today's consumer behaviour, when paying with a swipe or a click is often the norm and brands ride the tide of social media for immediacy and buzz marketing.

Tesco's core purpose, over time

Tesco has published its core purpose (also known as the mission statement) on its corporate website for years. Over time, the core purpose has changed slightly to a tighter focus on what, specifically, Tesco aspires to do for its customers.

In 2010, Tesco's mission statement (shown above, retrieved from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine), was 'to create value for customers to earn their lifetime value'.

In 2014, Tesco's mission statement (shown above, again from the Wayback Machine), was to 'make what matters better, together'.

In 2017, Tesco's mission statement (shown above, from today's website), was 'serving Britain's shoppers a little better every day'.

In my opinion the 2017 mission statement is stronger than the earlier versions. Why?

Take a look at Checklist #1 in my Essential Guide to Marketing Planning for questions to use in evaluating any mission statement, including Tesco's. For example, one question is: 'Who will the organisation focus on?'

Tesco's 2014 core purpose was less specific on this point than its 2017 core purpose, which clearly states 'Britain's shoppers'. In other words, it defines a particular group of customers in a particular market. The statement also mentions that Tesco will be 'a little better every day'.

This provides clear strategic direction for decision-makers (and reflects Tesco's shift away from operating stores in other nations). The clarity helps the grocery retailer's turnaround efforts, which depend on careful pricing and on consistent customer service, to battle intense competition.

'Versus' marketing strengthens positioning

Marketing magazine has a thought-provoking opinion piece by Mark Ritson, about positioning for competitive advantage. Here's one quote:

The versus position is one in which we make it clear what we stand for to customers by highlighting the differences between ourselves and others.

Remember, positioning is in the mind of the customer--how the customer thinks or feels about your brand and competing brands. Your role is to put forth a 'versus' fitting for your product or brand, one that is compelling enough to influence thought and feeling, compelling enough to encourage a purchase.

It's not enough to say 'my brand is the best'. But if you position versus traditional brands--as one example--or versus a specific competitor, you help customers understand what your brand stands for and why it's the best choice.

Here are two examples of positioning versus traditional competitors:

• Ben & Jerry's website and packaging showcase the brand's social responsibility. The company (owned by Unilever) knows that customers expect ice cream to taste good. Ben & Jerry's stands for more than just good-tasting ice cream. Its positioning relies on the brand being good for the planet, good for workers, good for social causes--not a claim that every competitor can make.
• Innocent positions itself as 100% pure, no additives, no 'nasty' stuff, just healthy, fresh ingredients. This is in contrast to traditional soft drinks that are carbonated and sugary, or that use artificial sweeteners. Plus Innocent (owned by Coca-Cola) is 'sourced sustainably' and gives 10% of profits to charity. Again, not every competitor does what Innocent does.

One last thought: If you use advertising to highlight differences between your brand and another, be sure the comparisons are fair and not misleading.

Who's marketing in China?

The Chinese market is large and its economic growth is outpacing that of many major markets worldwide. No wonder so many companies see China as a key market for goods and services. Four examples:

• Reckitt Benckiser recently acquired the baby formula firm Mead Johnson with an eye towards selling more in China, now that the one-child policy has been changed and the birth rate is increasing. RB has marketed other brands in China, recognising the power of global brands that are already established.
  
  
• Mattel, which owns Barbie and other toy brands, is working with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to research the local market and develop appropriate products. 'By combining Mattel's unmatched expertise in childhood learning and development with Alibaba's immense reach and unique consumer insights, our goal is to help parents in China raise children to be their personal best', says Mattel's CEO.
• Shanghai Disney, opened in June 2016, expects to welcome 10 million visitors by the time it celebrates its first anniversary. Just as important, the strong attendance is helping the theme park race towards its break-even point and become profitable soon, banking on the high brand awareness of Disney characters and the entertainment experience of family fun.
• The luxury watch brand Cartier markets in China by leveraging its connection with singer/actor Lu Han and through social media marketing. Celebrity spokespeople are credible and influential here, and world-class status-symbol brands are also coveted.

Beauty brands widen their social reach

In 2016, CoverGirl was the first beauty brand to sign a guy as its brand ambassador. James Charles is a social-media star with crowds following him on Instagram and YouTube. This is an opportunity to work with someone who influences a lot of consumers, enabling CoverGirl to extend its reach in a viral way.

Now other beauty brands are also widening their social reach by signing male brand ambassadors. Maybelline has signed Manny Gutierrez to promote makeup to his nearly 3 million social media followers. Rimmel London has signed YouTube and Instagram beauty guy Lewys Ball as its UK male brand ambassador.

Expect more deals with opinion leaders in the future as beauty brands react to changing consumer behaviour patterns and social-cultural factors. Social media can build brand awareness and send demand soaring, especially when influencers show how a product can be used creatively.