The Marketing Week – 8/2/2013
Welcome to The Marketing Week, your guide to the good, the bad and the ugly in the marketing industry over the last seven days.
CAMPAIGN(S) OF THE WEEK
Superbowl power outage campaigns
For 35 confusing minutes, the Superbowl clash between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers ground to a halt when the lights at the New Orleans Superdome went out. Some advertisers’ meticulously planned TV campaigns were thrown into chaos, while for others it represented a perfect opportunity to boost their brands on social media. Within minutes several fleet-footed marketers from the likes of Oreo and Calvin Klein had sent out their first tweets about the incident. Even Audi took a swipe at its competitor, tweeting that it was sending “LED lights” over to the dome, whose official sponsor is Mercedes-Benz.
GOOD WEEK FOR
Virgin Media
The Virgin Media brand was bought by US cable company Liberty Global for $23.3bn (£14.8bn) this week, making it part of the biggest broadband provider in the world with 25 million customers in 14 countries. The new owners claim the move will help grow the Virgin brand and “capitalise on the opportunities the digital revolution presents”. BSkyB should watch its back.
BAD WEEK FOR
Supermarkets and food manufacturers
The horse meat scandal has continued to plague retailers and food manufacturers this week as Findus lasagne was found to contain up to 100 per cent horse meat. Tesco, Iceland, Aldi and Burger King have all been fingered in the scandal while Sainsbury’s, Asda and The Co-operative Group have all removed beef products from sale as a precaution. There is a risk the crisis could cause widespread mistrust unless the food industry and supermarkets take steps to reassure consumers they can trust food claims.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Japanese hugging mannequin for Godiva
In Japan chocolatier Godiva has worked with Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon to launch a mannequin that rewards people for their hugs ahead of Valentine’s Day.
Those who hug the mannequin have their embrace rated on a personalised certificate as well as a photo of the moment uploaded to Godiva’s campaign site and Facebook page. A video to accompany the campaign is below.
European consumer confidence trails rest of the world
Across recession-hit Europe, consumers are switching to cheaper grocery brands as consumer confidence levels dropped sharply according to the latest Nielsen report.
Consumer confidence in Europe fell three index points over the previous quarter to 71, compared with Latin America at 96 (+2), Asia-Pacific at 101 (+1), North America at 90 (-1) and the Middle East and Africa at 96 (-2) read the Q2 study published earlier this week.
ONE TO WATCH
BANGO – Mobile payments in emerging markets
Mobile payments are set to leapfrog fixed line payments systems in emerging markets, a trend not lost on billing and payments company Bango, which this week raised $10m to further its entry into emerging markets.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
12 February Coca-Cola reports its fourth quarter financial results. The company will be hoping its ample Christmas marketing activity boosted revenues and will be trumping the success of its Olympic sponsorship as it takes stock of the full year.
14 February Expect a slew of soppy social media messages and love-themed marketing activity around Valentine’s Day.
14 February The six-monthly magazine ABC report is published. As with the rest of the print sector, circulations across the board are likely to be down but certain niche sectors are still likely to buck the trend.
14 February Drinks maker Pernod Ricard will be hoping to report sparkling revenues in its half-year results.