Chico time!

Last night was the fifth birthday of One. I was delighted to attend the party held, naturally enough, at One Mayfair. It was a fantastic night in an amazing venue and a chance for all involved in the success of the project to celebrate together. I even got to meet pop royalty in the form of the one and only Chico…

If you’re not familiar with One, it’s a truly amazing story. Forgive me if I take a few minutes to explain…

It all started in a pub (as many of the best ideas do). Myself and a group of friends were drowning our sorrows after a particularly unsuccessful flutter on the Grand National. One of our number, Simon Devonshire, suggested we turn our collective marketing talents to doing something positive for those less fortunate than ourselves. His answer? A bottled water brand that gave all it’s profits to funding water projects in Africa. A unique idea at the time.

It’s easy to have a good idea but hard to deliver it. Nonetheless, we decided to give it a go. A core team of us Simon, myself, Damian Darragh, Matt Mayo and most importantly Duncan Goose set about  making it happen. We knew lots about creating compelling brands but nothing at all about running an FMCG business. As a result, it proved a major learning curve with lots of highs and lows along the way. However, quite unbelievably and in no small part to Duncan’s dedication and commitment, One water was eventually born.

5 years later and the One brand is now seen on Condoms, Soap, Toilet paper and various other products – all following the same principle of like-for-like ‘buy and give’. We now sell millions of bottles of One water each year through major retailers like Co-op, Morrisons and Total. We’ve funded over 600 Roundabout Playpumps in Africa bringing a clean, sustainable source of water to over 1.4m people in Africa. Amazing.

I’m incredibly proud of the success of One water to date and hugely excited about the future. Who knows what successes we’ll be celebrating in 5 years time at the 10th birthday party. 

Happy 5th birthday One.

Look back only a couple of days and you’ll see a swarm of patriotic and hopeful advertisements, perhaps most notably Carlsberg and Mars with their individual efforts at instilling passion and hope into the hearts of the British public.

I’ve recently read an interesting article on the economic impact of the FIFA World Cup, the headline being “FIFA World Cup 2010 adds £1.6 billion GDP to UK economy”.  Now, the article clearly states that these predictions have been based on the likelihood that England will reach the semi-finals of the tournament. So, with England now out, it looks like we’re due yet more depressing economic news. The fact that we were expected to reach the semi-finals by miserly bookie averages, just goes to show how much the England team has underperformed.

One of my colleagues posted an article on the 3^rd June highlighting a Currys’ promotion which offered “£10 cash back for every England goal scored during the FIFA World Cup”. Well, the senior management of that particular store chain must be sitting pretty on the money thrown at them by fanatical England fans blinded by their belief and trust in England’s ability to put the ball in the net. Well if they can be bothered to fill in the inevitable paperwork, then the princely sum of £30 will be theirs in return for their blind faith. Let’s face it, someone has done well out of this promotion and it’s unlikely to have been the customers.

I suppose we can only hope now that the pubs of Britain will be overrun by disillusioned fans drowning their sorrows in vast quantities of alcohol. It’s a fact that our economic recovery partially relies on the great British tradition of turning to drink when our sport teams fail. This, ironically, is a sobering thought.

To celebrate the start of what we hope is a long and fruitful relationship, we headed off to Chelsea the other day for an afternoon of floral immersion. Some of the gardens were just incredible. It certainly made me realise the difference between the professionals and the amateurs. I must get the lawnmower out this weekend…

 Manufacturers and retailers have embraced this sporting event to further promote their products and boost sales. A variety of retailers such as John Lewis and Tesco are offering £100 or more off a new Sony TV if shoppers trade in their old models regardless of whether they are in working condition or not. And I’m sure Toshiba are secretly crossing their fingers England don’t win the World Cup after saying they will refund the price of your TV if England are announced the tournament winner.

 Kellogg’s are honouring the England team with packs of personalised cereals. After news broke Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard loved Coco Pops, Kellogg’s have created one off packs and will send them to the England’s team hotel. Steven Gerrard features as the famous Frosties Tiger while the funniest title goes to the Rice Kingies (for Ledley King) because his dodgy knees are in danger of going Snap, Crackle or Pop.

Bizarrely, cruise companies are even getting in on the action. Thomson Cruises are televising the matches from the deck of their ships. Plus those onboard less smitten with the game are able to benefit from special ‘World Cup widow’ spa promotions (which you have to say is a fairly tenuous way of associating with the event). 

 Of all the World Cup giveaways it was a blog post by James Hall regarding a Curry’s promotion that I found rather amusing. Curry’s are offering £10 cash-back for every goal that England scores in their World Cup promotion.  James states the riskiest thing about the Curry’s promotion is buried deep in the terms and conditions. According to the retailer, the £10 deal will also apply in its stores in Scotland and Wales. This could have the unprecedented consequence of forcing Scottish and Welsh shoppers to support Rooney, Lampard, Ferdinand et al in a football tournament.  As James believes (and I tend to agree) ‘For that reason alone Currys’ giveaway is truly ground-breaking’.

Everyone wants creative that works, right? Return on investment is under more scrutiny than ever.  And yet how much intelligence actually goes in to creative work to ensure its success?

By intelligence, I mean the consumer insights that should inform creative work. I don’t mean ‘Janet and John’ type info on the target audience such as age and basic socio-demographics – such traditional and basic definitions now seem almost anachronistic. I’m talking about asking questions of the audience and really listening.

At a time when the world and his wife are constantly interacting – whether that’s on Facebook, Twitter or innumerable blogs, people are up for sharing their lives, loves and hates more than ever.

Why not take a leaf out of Chris Tarrant’s book and ‘Ask the audience’? Consumers like to be asked and tend to respond in hoardes. If you have a treasure-trove of untapped knowledge, why wouldn’t you use it?

Asking consumers what they want is not a replacement for talented conceptual creatives but what it does do is shape ideas and messaging so that they completely resonate with the audience. It adds science to subjectivity.

Irked by the frequent lack of consumer insight when conceiving creative campaigns, we developed a process called Proven Creativity. This involves asking the audience what they want from the product or service in question before starting creative work. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Then why is it so infrequently done with specific reference to developing creative communications?  Especially when it’s proven to deliver better results. Sure, some folk pre-test ad concepts, clients conduct customer research of all types and good DM agencies are positively turned on by profiling, segmentation and testing. All good stuff. But what we do specifically relates to creative work – before it even gets started. We do it, because time and again, it’s proven to be worth its weight in gold as far as response rates and ROI go.

How does it work? Before creative is started, we survey the audience to find out what resonates with them. Questions depend on the communications in question. For a product launch or re-positioning, we might probe compelling propositions and appealing messaging hierarchies, then ensure that ensuing communications are crafted to closely reflect consumer preferences. For established  products and services, we often get into the nitty – gritty of the vernacular, imagery and response devices a particular audience prefers and ensure these are reflected back in the creative subsequently developed.  

No surprises then, when the audience receives the resulting communication, that response is better than ever before. You’ve given them what they want, articulated in a way they find compelling!  It’s not rocket science but it is creative science and when you really need results,  that’s a whole lot better than a wing and a prayer.

A good example of this trend can be seen in the emergence of a Sydney based online retailer called Shoes of Prey. Shoe addicts can create their own one of a kind shoe design according to their personal taste. Consumers are able to choose from a variety of design options on style, colour, heel height, additional decorations and material ensuring you can get exactly what you want, without any compromise. The biggest problem is choosing which design combination you like best….

Some would argue this strong shift towards the ‘now’ influence has been building over many years as the attitudes and expectations of society have evolved. Brands need to react to these demands and provide adequate solutions for consumer’s ‘need it now’ thirst. And that will mean a growing importance being placed on innovation and creativity.

Facebook is great for keeping in touch with those friends and family that live far a-field.  It boasts over 70 different translations available on the site. So it’s reassuring to know that without physically seeing or being able to speak to a friend halfway across the world, you are able to keep in touch via Facebook.  With over 2.5 billion photos uploaded to the site each month, it’s a great way for out-of-reach friends / relatives to see what your new baby / latest haircut / newest boyfriend looks like.

However, in my view there are some major negatives to Facebook.  The biggest of these are the people that ‘hide’ behind their Facebook profile and become ’socially’ lazy.  They end up with great virtual friendship but poor real ones.  With over 350 million active users and 50% of those users logging on everyday, I imagine there’s a lot of Facebookers who fall into this category.  Based on Facebook stats, an average user has 130 friends on the site, and an average user sends 8 friend requests per month!  That’s a LOT of friends. 

Communicating with mates on Facebook is now easier than face to face conversation. There’s no effort incurred. If you want to talk to them, you write back. If you don’t or cant be bothered, you reply later or not at all.  Although conversing via Facebook is still a form of communication, it’s often to the detriment of maintaining real face-to-face relationships.

I’d say there are two main types of Facebook users. Firstly there are those who have a life and only dip in and out of Facebook to keep up with the gossip or the latest status update (don’t even get me started on that self indulgent activity).  Then there are those who sadly do not and use Facebook to make up for it.

Sadly, if they’re not careful the latter group could soon forget what a friendship is like in the real world…

Hundreds gather to protest at global warming

Thank goodness we’re now seeing temperatures increase and the snow slowly melt.

It’s been a weird start to 2010. Most of us returned to work after the break invigorated and optimistic. We all had a few days of recovery after New Year’s Eve and the improving economy made everyone feel much more positive about the future. Then what happens? We get dumped on. Literally.

Now don’t get me wrong. There was a LOT of snow and it was brass monkeys too. But even so, it’s amazing the impact it has had.  The public transport network ground to a halt, the roads were gridlocked and the net result…no one could get to work.

In a time of economic boom, we’d be less worried about this. The snow and it’s net effect (more time at home) could almost be regarded as a bonus from on high for all our hard work. However, with the country on its knees, it really hasn’t helped. It’s almost like the new year hasn’t started. Planning meetings have had to be cancelled and conference calls postponed. We’ve all tried to muddle through and keep projects on track but with half the world at home under a duvet, it’s been difficult to generate any traction.

Still there is some good news. For the first time in years, I’ve been able to plan and book my Summer holiday already. And before you ask, I’m going somewhere hot…

Mr Cowell is a clever man. And he has effectively seen a ‘gap in the market’. That is the opportunity to engage people from all walks of life in debates about our nation’s many pressing issues. (And of course, he has also undoubtedly eyeballed the potential revenues from phone votes).  

I think this could be fab. Let’s hear what the public have to say on the perplexing issues of today. And let’s use a now famous format to coax them into awareness and useful debate.

I have one reservation though. And that’s we need to be careful of majority rule. One of the reasons that referenda are so infrequently used here is that they tend to return majority decisions that are not especially useful to, or considerate of, minorities (for example, rural communities).  

So, on this one, my vote is yes, as long as it’s handled with care and caution.

It might just be me being schmaltzy but I think they’ve captured the nostalgia corner really well. In a year that’s felt like damn hard going for many, I think more than ever people are after a bit of ‘feel-good’ and  cosy Christmas home-comings with everyone getting together are just the job. May classy Christmas advertising translate into many happy returns for them.

Check it out here.