The humanity of face to face marketing

I make mistakes all the time. As the father of young children I'm always being too easy going or too strict. My sleep deprived mind often puts the milk back in the cupoard and the teabags in the fridge.

I've even made mistakes at work (difficult though that may seem to believe). Once I entrusted a radio station (who shall

 remain nameless) with the task of distributing samples of my client's product (which shall also remain nameless) at their local premiership football ground.

 I've never specialised in sampling but in there were times when I ran the UK's largest radio promotions agency that the prospect  using of radio station's sampling crews proved too easy a win for a client who was promoting on that radio station. Seduced by the promise of genuine interaction with the local public who were so in love with their station that they would happily accept a sample and think all the better of the brand despite the tenuous link between brands.

Generally it was a happy mariage with everyting from soft drinks to hard liquor changed hands through a roving station crew and an eager public.

Not this time though. Tasked with neatly placing a sachet on each seat at the football ground the station assured us that they had permission and had done it loads of time. We took them on trust. There's a mistake i didnt make ever again.

The client happened to be in town and happened to see the sampling experts in action, dumping box upon box of their product in bins, behind doors and just generally misbehaving with the samples.

Needless to say this didnt go down at all well although the client let us off the hook, blaming quite rightly the station's appalling practice  but this was many years ago before digital channels kicked in, before the sophistication of sampling increased exponentially. 

I've always thought that actually the concept of face to face sampling is quite simple in theory Pick the right time of day, the right area where your target will be and give em the sample. Be cheery, flirtatious even wear the brands colours with pride, enhance their day and get them to sample the brand no? 

Well i'd have liked to see the client's face if they's experienced what I experienced earlier this week at Baker Street Station. I was ambling in thinking about some aspect of the day to come and was confronted by an unshaven frankly thug like looking guy dressed all in black with a plastic bag in one hand and a handful of sachets in another....

"Hot sauce!!"

He bellowed at me.

"Sorry" I said, slightly startled thinking he was promoting some completely different service

"Sample! Hot Sauce!"

"Er no thanks, I'm fine"

and off I went slightly disturbed, completely unaware of the brand he was forcing on me but generally feeling unkindly to any make of hot sauce yoo could think of. It was 8am. Hot Sauce?

AS I walked through the station heading towards the Met line there was another one, much gentler looking but atill all dressed in black, no branding but the ubiquitous white plastic bag.

He was appealing slightly pathetically to passers by.

"Sample.....hot sauce sample....sample"

I dont know about you but when someone says 'sample' out loud it conjures an image of a wholly different type of sauce I would not be keen to put on my jerk chicken.

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Quote of the day on the BBC homepage

"Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves, engage in child labour, exchange information ceaselessly. They do everything but watch television." LEWIS THOMAS (1913-93)

I guess in that regard they're more advanced!

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Turning a publicity stunt into a viral video success

A perfect example of how to take a publicity stunt, ensure news coverage and get a powerful viral video campaign out of it.

Hats off to the very clever Mr. P Power!

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Chiltern Society | No HS2

< HS2 homepage  |  < Previous page

September news

29 September 2010

Society’s first formal HS2 submission

The first in a series of evidence-based papers which the Chiltern Society is presenting to the Government as part of its campaign to against HS2 crossing the Chilterns has been published.

It is a paper by Alison Doggett, an acknowledged expert on the area and co-author of the definitive book about the region, The Chilterns. She is a trustee of the Chiltern Society and Head of Geography at Berkhampstead School.

The paper, which is also being sent to all MPs and other decision makers, establishes the Chilterns as a long-standing natural region with a unique cultural heritage. It is ancient countryside with a strong sense of place, despite pressure from all sides. The special characteristics of its woodlands, farms and settlements combine together in a way that is not found anywhere else and it is important that the responsibility for preserving the cultural heritage of this beautiful area is understood.

A number of other evidence-based submissions will follow in the coming months.

The paper will be here soon…click here. -->

12 September 2010

Walkers show their opposition

Eighty protestors took part in an eight mile walk along the proposed preferred route of HS2 between Amersham and Great Missenden on Saturday 11 September.

Numbers had to be restricted in the Chiltern Society-organised walk because of health and safety reasons, but a shorter two mile walk attracted nearly 100 others.

The walk attracted extensive publicity and support – it coincided with an HS2 information day in Great Missenden – and it was such a success that future walks are being planned.

2 September 2010

Protest walk on route of HS2

A protest walk against High Speed 2 travelling through the Chilterns is being held along its proposed route through the Misbourne Valley on 11 September.

The sponsored walk, organised by the Chiltern Society, will start at Amersham Station and follow the route to Great Missenden Station – a total of nearly eight miles.

It’s been held to highlight the impact the High Speed 2 would have on the valley if it is built.

Organiser Jim Rodda said: “Only by walking the route can you truly appreciate the utter devastation HS2 would bring, and realise not only the horrendous visual impact it will have but how the noise from these enormous trains would carry over the valley.”

Most of the walk is on public rights of way, but Mr Rodda has obtained permission from private landowners where the route crosses private land.

Walkers are being asked to be sponsored to raise money for the Chiltern Society’s fighting fund against HS2. The Society is preparing an evidence-based case against HS2 across the Chilterns and is raising cash for a major publicity campaign in the autumn.

Sponsor forms are available in newsagents in the Amersham and Great Missenden area. They can be also be downloaded by following the 'Join our sponsored walk' link above left. If you wish to enter the walk please contact Mr Rodda at jrodda@ukf.net so he knows the numbers that will need to be managed. -->

via chilternsociety.org.uk

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Chiltern Society | No HS2

Chiltern Society | No HS2

The illusion of consumer choice in today's media landscape pt 1

We all know that we now live in a World where the consumer has the choice of what brand messages to absorb right?

This is a basic error on the part of marketers. Consumers choose what they consume and if the brand communication that inevitably comes with that choice is unpalatable  then they ignore it or switch to something else. But how bad would a brand message have to be for you to stop watching what you chose to watch? It irritates you yes but if you're really into the content will you stand it? 

A question glossed over by the online media industry who pompously state that consumers will tolerate advertising messages from things such as pre-roll ads in order to watch content. Well they will if they have no choice and of course with a lot of content they don't have a choice but to watch ads so where's the empowered consumer?

Oh yes and by the way something that is really starting to grate with me is this still constant referral to the death of all media that isn't digital. Just so we're clear and I think I can speak with authority on this...

TV is not dead

Print is not Dead

Radio is not dead

They are now part of a wider mix that includes some level of

active consumer choice and some level of

passive consumer involvement.   Active consumer choice is not always that active. Unless the content is itself interactive then once the choice has been made to consume then the consumer becomes passive again until its time to make a different choice.

Here’s an active consumer for you. I’m watching something on the telly, I don’t like it. I turn it off. When I was a teenager in the 80’s this meant I could do a number of

different media related things instead – listen to music on my record player, listen to the radio, read, play on my Sinclair Spectrum and err... that’s about it. 

I see no difference in the media led activities teenagers do now it’s just the choice of activity that has increased, not the emotion or the desire to consume. 

Of course interaction is very much alive but it works best when people are interacting with each other not with third party content. To use my teenage years as an example again.... I called my mates on the home phone (or a phone box if someone else  was talking to someone at home) or went round to their house. It's the same emotion and result as texting or calling from my mobile or IM etc just not quite as convenient.

Lets not get caught up in this old media is dead debate. it is a mistake for digital media to crow over other media as if it has somehow won a battle of the mediums – it hasn’t.

What digital has done in all it’s myriad forms is enhanced and democratised media – it allows so much more choice of not just what people consume but where and how they consume it and this is the key thing to remember with regard to media choice. Situational and convenience based choice

Are people really going to stop wanting to flop in front of the TV when they get home from work?

Is anything going to replace that feeling of sitting in a comfy chair with a good book or the latest edition of a magazine?

Well no, those emotions stay the same. It is just that some of the delivery mechanisms  have evolved or been invented anew and that doesn't mean the old forms of media are wrong or out of date

As Stephen Fry, champion of all things new, bright and shiny has just commented when asked if new media replaces old.... "they didn’t burn all the horses when cars came out did they?"

The  technology that has swamped us over the last twenty years has been designed to enhance choice and convenience. The consumer is at the heart of that choice but you are mistaken if you think that they choose the platform for its own sake– they choose the content first and the MOST CONVENIENT form of delivery second.

 It all leads back to the simple fact that regardless of the form, mechanic or delivery platform.....Content is King! Now there's an old expression that has more relevance than ever.

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How to get slaughtered in social media

http://www.facebook.com/Secretsales

Great example of how angry people get if they think you're conning them - perfectly good reputations damaged like that!

My advice - don't make an offer on the most popular tech gadget in the World to entice new customers unless you're very sure you can meet demand. 

You'd think that people would have learnt once and for all after the Hoover flights promotion unpleasantness of the 90's!

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