The Marketing Week – 2/8/2013
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 OF THE WEEK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDXtQ4XdRfc
Run D.M.C were the first to fuse hip-hop with fashion in the 80s and are at it again with a specially-created anthem for Adidas’ lifestyle range. Working in partnership with electro producer DJ A-Trak, Rev Run and D.M.C have created an interactive video that allows fans to personalise the track’s music video. Voice commands and visual effects can be added by fans while they watch the video. The campaign is part of a global push for Adidas Originals, which focuses on promoting the brand’s ties to urban culture.
GOOD WEEK FOR…
Reckitt Benckiser
RB said its choice to increase the proportion of revenue it reinvests back into brand building fuelled its “strong” first half performance. Net revenue grew 6 per cent to £4.99bn in the six months to 30 June, while profit – on an adjusted basis – rose 6 per cent to £864m.
BAD WEEK FOR…
Twitter has been at the wrong end of a social media backlash this week about the way it handles abusive content on its site. Data from YouGov’s Brand Index found its “slow” response to the situation has had a damaging effect on consumers’ perception of the brand.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Motorola launched the Moto X smartphone this week: the first release since the company was taken over by Google.
The “always listening” phone is activated when the owner says “OK Google Now…”, which prompts the system to listen for further instructions.
Marketing communications for the phone, which will only be released in the US, carries the strapline “Made in USA” to promote the fact that all it hardware has been manufactured at a recently built Texas factory.
ONE TO WATCH
Social media management tool Hootsuite raised an eye-popping $165m (£108m) in funding this week as investors backed its ambitious expansion plans. The business plans to use the funds to expand internationally and establish a social ad and analytics offering.
The social media management space is hotly contested as marketers push for deeper insight into how they engage with consumers online. Hootsuite will be hoping the cash injection gives it the impetus to pull away from the pack and carve out a more comprehensive offering.
BEST OF THE TWEETS
Fleet Street Fox, the pseudonym for tabloid journalist and author Susie Boniface, on The Sun’s front page promoting its values and new paid-for online offering:
@fleetstreetfox What I don’t understand about The Sun’s front page is why advertise an internet service to print readers… they’re rarely the same people
Comedian Sarah Millican on O2’s #BeMoreDog marketing campaign
@SarahMillican75 @O2 my cats don’t lack imagination! They wouldn’t lower themselves to be dog like. If anything, dogs should be encouraged to #bemorecat
Red Apple Creative:
@RedAppleTweets Car manufacturers are cottoning on to DAB in cars, but older vehicles are still a problem frustratingly
David Berkowitz, CMO at agency MRY on Foursquare selling data to help advertisers target users:
@dberkowitz @bmorrissey @mcdermott @jstylman the bigger concern is whoring out all the users of apps @foursquare provides LBS info to
DATES FOR THE DIARY
- 7 August LG is set to release its new flagship smartphone at a glittering event in New York. LG will be hoping the product, which already has its own website carrying the strapline “Learning from you”, will help the company improve its market share in the fiercely competitive Android space.
- 9 August The monthly newspaper circulation figures are released by the ABC. Publishers will be hoping the excitement surrounding the birth of the Royal Baby will have boosted sales in July