The Marketing Week – 14/12/2012

Welcome to The Marketing Week, your guide to the good, the bad and the downright bizarre marketing highlights of the last seven days.

CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30lKLG6mzNk

Lacoste kicked off its upcoming 80th anniversary celebrations this week with a public invitation to fans to help invent the polo shirt of the future. The brand unveiled a film re-imagining its iconic polo shirt with technological advances such as sleeves that can be lengthened and shortened with a tug, shirts that change colour with a tap of the crocodile logo and even shirts that display your tennis score.

Fans can submit their own vision of a futuristic polo shirt with the most creative to be rendered by an artist and featured online. It is more fun to watch than most fashion ads and manages to appeal to the iPhone generation of shoppers whilst reinforcing the brand’s tennis heritage.

Lacoste just needs to partner with an innovative technology genius and soon their shirts of the future will be as commonplace as an iPad.

GOOD WEEK FOR…

The Hobbit

Brands have flocked to associate themselves with hotly anticipated cinema-release The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which had its London premier earlier this week (13 December).

the hobbit

Ford and Twentieth Century Fox are among the brands pinning their hopes on the mass appeal of the film, which is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Publisher Random House is also using the first of the Hobbit trilogy to introduce cinema goers to authors in its portfolio. It will hand out copies of The Spook’s Apprentice, the first edition of the Wardstone Chronicle’s series by Joseph Delany and Eragon, the first edition of the Inheritance cycle series by  Christopher Paolini.

The Hobbit is the latest by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and the first to be released in high frame rate 3D (HFR 3D).

BAD WEEK FOR…

American Apparel

American Apparel

The fashion retailer has been rapped again by the advertising watchdog for ads that appear to sexualise children. It is the third time this year and the fifth time in the last three years American Apparel has fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority.

The ad was found to be both “irresponsible” and “offensive” because the model appeared to look under 16-years-old. Although the ASA has no plans to impose further sanctions at this stage the retailer should be mindful of the movement against advertising that appears to sexualise children fronted by the Mothers’ Union chief Reg Bailey.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

quote

Miles Leonard, president of Parlophone and Virgin A&R labels on the most important methods for consumers to discover new music

STAT OF THE WEEK

  • $100,000 to $349,000 – The base salary of 77 per cent of CMOs according to the recent CMO Council State of Marketing 2012 report.
  • 27% – More than a quarter (27 per cent) of Mum say they trust the advice they find on the internet more that that given by a family member, according to Mothercare.
  • 16 – The number of football grounds where Absolute Radio will combine social media and outdoor advertising to raise the profile of its Rock and Roll Football show fronted by Ian Wright and take on rivals TalkSport and BBC Five Live.

MISSING WORD ROUND

Reviewing some of the best campaigns of 2012, Marketing Week opined: “A rant posted on the brand’s Facebook page by a man claiming to be angry with the brand’s depiction of women and their _______ gave the brand an opportunity to have some fun with a category that very rarely gets that chance.

Comment on this story or email rosie.baker@centaur.co.uk with your answer for the chance to…appear in next week’s edition of The Marketing Week! No Googling!

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