According to the Australian Institute of Company Directors, companies, government and society as a whole are suffering from “excessive short-termism”. One driver of this is visibility. As the AICD notes, “In a world where information is ubiquitous and everyone is digitally connected, the short-term impact of decisions can become widely known within a matter of … Continue reading
Fragrance advertising is one of the last bastions of pure image advertising. Little concerns about brand ‘authenticity’ or ‘truth’ here – just good, old fashioned aspirational sizzle. The latest offering from the category is the campaign for Dior’s new men’s cologne, Sauvage. The commercial is a big budget production with – interestingly – both art … Continue reading
This web ad from Japan for the Tosando Music School is the latest viral tearjerker. In testimony to its crafting, you won’t need to understand Japanese to follow it or to be touched by it. At a time when brands are building increasingly complex digital communications programs, and are turning to oblique forms of branded … Continue reading
Fans of sports movies will recognise that the title of this post borrows from Al Pacino’s famous coach’s speech in the American football film, Any Given Sunday. “You find out life’s this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game – life or football – the margin for error is so small. I … Continue reading
According to Richard Branson, “Complexity is your enemy. Any fool can make something complicated. It is hard to make something simple”. It’s ironic then how much marketing tends to overcomplicate things, given that Branson is one of the profession’s most popular pin-up boys. Our last post for 2013 held a comic mirror up to some … Continue reading
Recently the fashion world has been abuzz about a new web film from French perfume house Guerlain for its signature Shalimar fragrance. The almost six minute long “The Legend of Shalimar“ has been hailed by many as setting a new standard for mega-production advertising. It has also set a new standard for epic brand story-telling. … Continue reading
Apple is one the strongest brands on the planet. But over the past two years it has been increasingly tested by direct attacks from competitor advertising in its home market of the United States. This post outlines what’s been happening and Apple’s response to it. A (very) short history of Apple’s brand communications To put … Continue reading
Despite its questionable launch strategy the Commonwealth Bank’s new “Can” brand positioning may have the ability to stake out a real point of difference that will leave its competitors behind. Australia’s ‘big four’ banks have traditionally been perceived by consumers as a largely undifferentiated group of institutions. A group that has also be seen as … Continue reading
During a recent Sunday family lunch my nine year-old daughter made the matter-of-fact statement “You know, Coles is better than Woolworths”. Given the speed at which her attention shifts this comment could have been both the start and end of this particular topic. But as it piqued my curiousity I had to ask “Why”; fully … Continue reading
Most destination advertising campaigns face the dilemma of whether to include a destination’s most famous features or – in tourism marketing parlance – its ‘icons’. After all, icons are seen as major drawcards for potential visitors. From the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Canyon, the Parthenon, the Statue of Liberty, the Great Wall, and Waikiki to … Continue reading
