April 2007
Welcome to Brand Strategy's Trends and Ideas for April 2007
Welcome to Brand Strategy's trends and news for April. If you want to keep up-to-date with what's on our radar on a more regular basis, please visit our blog at http://brandstrategy.wordpress.com
Ruth Mortimer, Brand Strategy’s editor, recommends:
VIRTUAL ME REACHES TV
Games company Electronic Arts and TV business Endemol have joined forces to create 'Virtual Me', a new concept which bridges traditional TV and videogames. Viewers can take part in virtual versions of their favourite shows. A revolution in media or just another emerging channel for advertisers to worry about?
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EXCLUSIVE BS BLOG INTERVIEW
Earlier this month, Brand Strategy spoke to Easynet's European marketing communications director Julian Laister in an exclusive interview about the company's sponsorship of the World Rally Championship. Sponsorship - what's the point? Laister tells us.
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MANAGING THE CORPORATE PORTFOLIO
How do you manage your corporate portfolio effectively? The McKinsey
Quarterly discusses why firms must hold off the hedge fund managers and activist shareholders and maintain control of their assets and brands.
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registration may be needed)
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MICHELIN DOESN'T TYRE OF ADS
The Michelin man is back! The tyre company has launched ads on the side of lorries to kick off its 2007 marketing campaign. It's always a joy to see a man celebrating the spare tyres around his middle:
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Morag Cuddeford Jones, Brand Strategy’s contributing editor, recommends:
DON’T USE WIRES TO MARKET TO THE US
Hot on the heels of our Brand Stunt story in April's Brand Strategy, news reaches us that Paramount studios has had to compensate nearly £40,000-worth of negligence claims relating to its promotional stunt for Mission Impossible III. In a bid to fix the brand in movie-goers minds in LA, the studio attached small music boxes to newspaper vending machines. These played the iconic Mission Impossible theme tune each time the box was opened. However, the playback devices were small boxes with wires leading from them and bore too close a resemblance to small bombs. One of these vending machines was in fact blown up in a controlled explosion by the LA county arson squad, fearing it was booby trapped. The only booby on this occasion was made by the studio, which underestimated the culture of fear of terrorism prevalent in the US today.
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SEARCHING FOR LOOSE CHANGE
In a continuation of its quest for domination of the virtual world, Google is to launch its own payment service following a successful trial in the US. Going head to head with PayPal, the service will be called Checkout and allows advertisers to also sell goods via Google.
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ARTHROPOD TO IPOD?
The Beatles have finally settled their legal action with record label EMI, over disputed royalty payments. It is suggested that this, following the dispute with Apple Corps over the Apple recording label, was the final hurdle before the group's songs could be made available for download. Such is the popularity and profusion of Beatles tracks, that the long-defunct group could dominate the download charts for weeks, if not months, should their back catalogue become available.
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Maeve Hosea, Brand Strategy’s feature writer, recommends:
TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT WAR ON THE HORIZON
Deregulation of transatlantic flights will trigger a fierce marketing battle on business routes from Heathrow to New York as bargain flights, common in Europe, look set to spread. Budget airlines have announced plans to challenge the dominance of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, has promised £7 tickets to the US, and Southwest Airlines, the American pioneer of no-frills travel, signaled its intention to start flying to the UK.
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DESERT STORM IN A COKE CAN
Coca Cola is kicking up a storm about an unwanted product placement which has its fizzy drink seemingly endorsed by Jesus. The company has taken legal action against producers of a religious themed Italian film set in present day Israel which features Jesus drinking a can of Coke in the desert. Titled "7 Km da Gerusalemme" (Seven Kilometers From Jerusalem) the film centers around an advertising executive having a midlife crisis and making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
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A SMOOTH SAVE ON A ROUGH RIDE
Championing alternatives to buying space in the ad break, shaving brand Gillette is producing an ABC prime-time reality TV series starring a group of NASCAR rally drivers and celebrities. It uses the same drivers in its TV ads and online marketing.
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WEB 2.0 WHERE COMPANIES FEAR TO BE
The new style of conversation that Web 2.0 has begun is leaving many big brands sticky with negative publicity. Whether it is home improvement chain Home Depot facing 14,000 complaints on a web comment room or a Grenwich Village fast food outlet having films of rats running around the locale up on the net, companies are finding it hard to deal with the new online landscape.
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