Polar Bear Hug Anyone? The Nissan LEAF ad

Does owning the new Nissan LEAF all electric vehicles [EV] feel like getting a warm, furry hug from a polar bear threatened by global warming? That’s the clear reference of a new television ad for the Leaf. This ad follows a lone polar bear on a trek from a melting Arctic, through forests, along motorways and into the city, where he finally reaches a driveway in the suburbs. There, as a man prepares to open the door to his Nissan LEAF and the massive bear rears up on its back legs and gives him a big loveable bear hug.

During an interview with The New York Times, Jon Brancheau, the vice president for Nissan marketing at Nissan North America, said the polar bear ad presented “a little twist, perhaps a wink” at more serious efforts to promote ecofriendly products by other companies.

What are your thoughts ?

McDonalds brings nostalgia back

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi7Z3HhPCVk

The above link is a clip of the New Mcdonalds ad that has just been launched in Australia. In March of this year McDonalds built a 32ft playland weighing 15tonnes for adults in Sydneys CBD. When professionals stepped off the train on the way to work they were faced with this giant playland and at first they did not know how to respond. Within a few minutes the businessmen and women began pulling off their shoes and socks and ran into the playland where they enjoyed such features as the Hamburgular slide and the Grimace swing. In the centre of the giant playland was Ronald McDonald himself and in the ad we can see the adults hugging him as if they were children again. The ad is a 60sec clip of the response to the playland and conceptualises how successful this use of ambient and Nostalgic marketing was for McDOnalds.

Ambient Marketing at it's finest in Sydney

In the "Age of Digital" I am getting a little bored of the repetitive viral campaigns being recycled and reused by marketers. In my opinion creativity is the beauty and backbone of successful marketing. Selina's feature about McDonald's creating an "adult sized" playground in the central business district of Sydney inspired me to take a look at some other ambient marketing campaigns.

Turns out Sydney is quite the creative spot!Ikea turned a popular footpath into a walk in kitchen,inviting members of the public to pose for photographs. 3D Chalk artists Jenny McCracken and Anton Pulvirenti developed a scene on a circular quay that provided an illusion of an enormous kitchen sink complete with dish rack. The stunt was a part of Ikea's preparation for the 60th anniversary of the Ikea catologue 2011. Clink on this link to see Ikea's ambient stunts....

It is this type of innovation and creativity that keeps well established brands like Ikea at the forefront of the consumers mind.

However how do marketers ensure that this form of marketing doesn't become outdated and overdone? What are the key elements needed for a successful ambient marketing campaign?

Kate Flanagan

Debenhams New Campaign

Following on from my progress yesterday, Debenhams have launched a new campaign which they are rolling out in all their stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland. This groundbreaking campaign features a disabled model and it is the first of its kind on the highstreet. See poster above.

I understand that Debenhams decided to launch this after positive feedback they got when they trialled it in three of its stores however I think that Debenhams are really clutching at straws trying to give themselves an image and they are going out of their way to make it obvious in this poster that the model is disabled. Personally it wouldnt make me shop more in Debenhams and I doubt it will increase their sales. I do agree that for children it is important to have positive images in stores rather than stick insect perfect models I believe that models should look healthy and reflect real people. So fair play to Debenhams for hopping on the band wagon.

What are your views on this new slant for Debenhams??????

Lady Gaga - A friend or a foe????

Celebrity endorsement and product placement have never been more popular than they are today. Many brands are fighting to jump on Lady Gaga's success and align their products with her and her billions of worldwide fans. Lady Gaga has embraced this and has incorporated brand culture into her image and has made brands part of her art. For example in her music video 'Telephone' she featured brands such as Diet Coke, Virgin and Polaroid and in her video for 'Bad Romance' she featured Nemiroff Vodka.

However, taking into account Lady Gaga's recent meaty showcase at the MTV awards (see picture above) which managed to offend vegetarians, animal rights activists and many other people all over the world, do you think that product placement with Lady Gaga is more of a risk than a benefit? Who knows what Lady Gaga will do next and can brands take that gamble? What brands, if any do you think are suitable for Lady Gaga to endorse and what brands should keep their distance?

Google Instant webinar with Krishna De

Hi All,
No doubt you are all aware of the changes that have happened in Google over the past two weeks. If not I suggest you take a look at a webinar that Krishna De carried out last week about Google Instant and the impact it can have on online marketing.

Krishna De is an expert in online and digital marketing and we have been fortunate enough to confirm her as a guestspeaker for our alumni event "Developments in Digital Marketing: A leadership mindset for a turbulent times". The event will be held on the 21st of October so stay tuned for further updates. I suggest you all take a look at her blog aswell as taking a look at the video below.



Kate Flanagan

Lessons on Leadership

All,

Recent trawling of the blogosphere has lead me to discover another blog, other than The Blue Sky Board, to take notice of. Simon Oates a UK based blogger has set-up a blog called Leadership Expert, it is a blog for aspiring leaders featuring articles, tips and the sharing of ideas.

In particular I like this video on lessons on leadership featuring Richard Stengel, author and managing editor of Time Magazine and David Remnick, author and editor of The New Yorker. They discuss the interesting topic of whether you are born a natural leader or can develope the talent through time and experience.....

Born leader, either you have it or you don't. What are your thoughts?

Kate Flanagan