Today, a silent battle is being played out across the supermarkets of Australia. It is the age old fight for the hearts, minds and credit cards of the every day man and women. I say silent because the real hostilities are not obvious to the public but well disguised as a war between the food moguls, using the staple necessity of milk as a weapon.
Explore our historical blog articles for nuggets of wisdom (and random musings) from our crew.
Fascinator of kids and adults alike, the balloon is a mysterious thing. Imitating slow motion, it moves gracefully, influenced by the currents of air which unpredictably control it’s pathway. Always a symbol of happiness, the humble balloon can quieten the hysterical child, excite the sleepy infant and variously produce moments of distress as it explodes and dies or flies into the atmosphere never to be seen again.
Being a huge fan of the snow, I was lucky enough to spend the past two weeks skiing in Japan. Whilst there, I came to realise how much the internet and technology have come to play a part in how we approach this, and many other sports. Gone are the days when you wake up to half a metre of snow and it’s a complete surprise.
Recently, I noted a comment from someone responding to one of our many blogs. Although not the essence of their comment, they suggested, that most technical intellect resided with the masters who live in the city and that regional based organisations like ours, possesses less knowledge or talent than metro agencies.
While I accept that this is a popular misconception, I think we should perhaps enter the debate, not so much in defence of where we live but more generally to ask the question, exactly where does commercial intellect reside?
Product Placement is everywhere. Today you can’t see a movie, a TV series, or even a ‘candid’ celebrity photo in New Idea without some form of it. Master Chef was debated in advertising circles last year for over-doing the product placement when Matt Preston got down on his hands and knees and cleaned up a spill with some ‘Handee Ultra’ paper towel, after which followed a ‘coincidental’ advertisement for the product which he personally endorses. However, one place where I thought I’d never encounter blatant, purposeful product placement was in books. But alas, I have just finished reading ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ and it was everywhere!
Email marketing has changed remarkably in the past decade. Most of you will have noticed the obvious switch from text-based content to the visually loaded HTML based email we receive today. Marketing emails today can have as much visual impact as a double page spread in a glossy magazine, but in my opinion the biggest and most important developments for us marketers have all been happening behind the scenes.
One of the most dangerous practices in marketing is product diversification. Encouraged by CEO’s, accountants and shareholders, such strategies are implemented in the name of value adding, maximisation, potentialisation, use of by-product etc. It is revered as a panacea for easy growth and profitability.