The Marketing Week – 14/6/2013

CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK

MySpace, the social network that desperately wants to regain its former prominence, has put its money where its mouth is with a $20m relaunch campaign to try to lure the kids back to its platform. MySpace, which once dominated the social media space, has struggled to fight off Facebook and Twitter.

The star-studded ad features celebs and music artist including Pharrell Williams Ciara and Robin Thicke. It’s a great looking music video-esque campaign with trendy looking musician smashing up guitars and skateboarding around a white box, but the elephant in the room is whether any amount of advertising, no matter how slick, can turnaround the perception that MySpace has had its day.

GOOD WEEK FOR

Rangers fans everywhere were given cause to celebrate this week following the advertising watchdog’s ruling that the Ibrox club is in fact the most successful in Scotland. The Advertising Standards Authority said 78 complainants believed the “most successful club in Scotland” boast was misleading because it had only been formed in 2012. The football club was forced into administration after mounting financial woes finally took their toil. Despite the technicality, the regulator said the Rangers brand is a “recognisable entity in its own right” and has continued to exist despite being transferred to another owner.

BAD WEEK FOR

EE was at the centre of a social media storm this week which led to arch rival O2 upstaging it with some fleet-footed Twitter activity. EE had been asking people on Twitter to recreate famous album covers using unusual materials in exchange for free Glastonbury tickets but did not have enough to offer all 15 winners after changing the competition half way through. The gaff was revealed on the micro-blogging site by one of the unlucky five after the company tried to offer those affected Ticketmaster vouchers equal to the value of two weekend Glastonbury tickets. O2 pounced on the mistake by offering the disgruntled fan free O2 Academy tickets for the rest of the year. EE were eventually able to source some extra tickets for all the competition winners.

ONE TO WATCH

WhereGoodGrows.org is an “Idea Sharing Market” designed to help brands share ideas and campaigns and learn from what others have achieved to drive positive behaviour change. It was launched last week by Thomas Kolster, who wrote the book “Goodvertising”. The start-up’s mission statement is “to make the world better by making communication better”. The idea is that brands can upload campaigns and content they have created to drive the sustainability agenda so that other brands in other regions can learn from and even recreate the idea through a “shared good license”.

Kolster believes that if brands are open about sharing their ideas and what they achieved the idea can go further and make a bigger positive impact around the globe. Brands already displaying work on the site include Apple, Coca-Cola and Adidas.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Luna Corona – Corona has launched a billboard ad in New York City designed with the Lunar cycle in mind. The thinking behind the campaign is that sometimes the moon resembles a wedge of lime, the preferred accompaniment to the beer, and the billboard was designed to align with the moon on June 15 between 20.45 and 23.00 in the Big Apple. The campaign runs with the strap line “Luna Corona”. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJsEum_nfLI

Tesco Bank woos Irish home-dwellers – Tesco Bank is on Irish TV screens this week with an ad campaign geared towards boosting awareness of its home insurance packages among Tesco Clubcard holders. The campaign features the voice of Irish TV personality Marty Whelan who advises viewers to “protect your home from the unexpected” and forms part of a wider bid to cross sell its financial services to its Clubcard holders.

TWEETS OF THE WEEK

@thomaskolster – Thomas Kolster, sustainability consultant and found of WhereGoodGrows, on marketing sustainability.

“Brands have to use their business savvy and skill set to come up w innovations for a sustainable future – not only intentions!”

@davidcushman – David Cushman strategy partner at the Social Partners, on data.

“when the future’s digital archaeologists sift our lives we won’t look so different to the folk on the Nile who mummified cats”

@EE responding to a social media backlash after a winner of its Glastonbury tickets competition was offered Ticketmaster vouchers instead of the actual prize.

“Hopefully things are now sorted for @Terry_Finnegan pic.twitter.com/QM3Tw9LWzr”