The Marketing Week – 1/3/2013

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

‘Cancer, we’re coming after you’. The new creative concept for Cancer Research’s punchy advertising campaign takes a defiant stance against the disease. The charity’s burst of activity for its revamped Race for Life initiative aims to give participants a focal point for their motivations by personifying the illness.  It launches today (1 March) and features several cancer victims making direct threats against it to the soundtrack of Kasabian’s Underdog. Halfway through the ad one supporter says “Cancer you prat”. It perfectly sums up the frustrations and anger of many sufferers but also encapsulates the charity’s pledge to “dial up the cause” through its marketing.

GOOD WEEK FOR

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Route

The long-awaited research project from outdoor ad measurement body Route, formerly Postar, is music to the ears of the outdoor industry. The long-overdue measurement tool that aims to help brands better target outdoor advertising campaigns using GPS, and ‘people focused’ data was well received.

BAD WEEK FOR

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Groupon

The big daddy of daily deals sites reported yet more dismal results this week and CEO and founder Andrew Mason was fired as a result. One of the fastest growing start-ups in history, Groupon shares have lost three-quarters of their value since it floated on the stock market in 2011 with shares at $20.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The mobile industry descended upon Barcelona this week for Mobile World Congress, where Coke and McCann Worldgroup were awarded the Best Advertising or Marketing on Mobile gong by conference organiser the GSMA.

Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment has unveiled plans to launch a global online talent contest exclusively on YouTube dubbed You Generation, encouraging participants to upload their entries online. The contest kicks off later this month, awarding more successful entrants with prizes on a fortnightly basis. An overall winner will be crowned after 12 months, see video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_mLPj2B3Ok

ONE TO WATCH

Mobile payments/m-commerce

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In the week of Mobile World Congress the mobile industry laid bare its impact on just about every other vertical with Samsung announcing a tie-up with payments giant Visa to embed NFC chipsets on its devices.

However, away from the conference, the issue of the severely lagging popularity of m-commerce was raised. This week’s IMRG and Capgemini report revealing that shoppers are four times more likely to purchase an item on a tablet device compared to a smartphone.

On this note, PayPal co-founder Max Levchin revealed plans to ease the mobile shopping experience with a ‘two-tap’ mobile shopping service called Affirm.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

  • Tuesday 5th March The British Retail Consortium hosts its fifth annual mutliplatform retail conference, which this year takes on the new title “Omni-retailing 2013”.
  • Friday 8th March The monthly newspaper circulation report for February is released by ABC. Circulations across the board are likely to be down year on year but some newspaper brands may benefit in monthly uplifts from their Valentine’s campaigns and Oscar Pistorius coverage.
  • Friday 8th March South by South West Interactive kicks off in Austin Texas, opening five days of presentations and exhibits from the brightest minds in tech.

Recommended

TV advertising

‘Traditional and digital tags should be dropped’

Russell Parsons

Brands are failing to appreciate the role of mass media in the marketing mix because terms such as ‘digital marketing’ are creating an unhelpful distinction between online channels and established options like TV and outdoor advertising, according to a panel of industry figures.

football-fullwidth

Kicking off

Jonathan Bacon

Football is being shown the red card from fans and pundits for its on and off-pitch performance. Sponsors and clubs must offer more sophisticated engagement opportunities to score positive attention – and help the sport clean up its act.