The Real Winners of London 2012; Paddy Power, Nike and Beats.

The Olympic advertising rules and regulations were always going to provoke some great work because they forced brands to think beyond the obvious and they intrinsically required a bold and innovative solution to be by-passed.  Three things in particualr stood out about them for me;

1. Inspiration can come from anywhere.

The Real World Has Been Stolen And Digitised; Royal Mail Fights Back.

                                                       Image from FP7 via Behance.net 

Digital isn’t the answer. It’s the question. The answer is yes… Or is it? In a world where communication is judged on efficiency (both environmentally and cost), ease and above all speed, letter writing has long been consigned to the scrap heap.

Game Changers from the IPA Modern Briefing.

Picture from @Amelia_Torode

Today's IPA Modern Briefing conference was packed to bursting point with insightful and thought provoking ideas and information, some of which I think could be game changers. I've tried to get them down for you here;

1. Try version numbering your briefs from Glyn Britton (Albion) @glyndot

Pinigit To Win It; A master class in branded apps.

Apart from having a very funny ad the Barclays Pingit app is a genius piece of consumer focused innovation. Pingit allows you to transfer friends money via their phone number. This is a genuinely desirable product that will help Barclays acquire new customers. Operating in a notoriously difficult environment (you are more likely to get divorced than change your bank account + everyone hates banks) Barclays have made some very smart strategic decisions in the conception and introduction of Pinigit. These decisions have helped transform it from just being a branded app for existing customers to a powerful strategic marketing tool which will help them steal market share.  I believe Pingit will be a massive success with longevity and here are three reasons why;

VW Polo Dad Ad; Three Things You Should Learn From This.

I think we can all agree that this is a pretty powerful ad.

The beautiful cinematography, emotional script, heartbreaking acting and evocative song choice aside...  the strategy ain’t half bad either. Pull at Dad’s heartstrings with a montage of all the seminal moments he will have with his daughter, whilst reminding him that when inevitably the time comes to let her go (drive) out into the world, a Polo will keep her as safe as he did.

IKEA Invades; Coupons reinvented.

The economic downturn, credit crunch, depression... whatever you want to call it has had an effect on retailers the world over. One age old solution to this is couponing, a smart piece of thinking in itself. Rather than discounting everything (and risk giving a discount to those willing to pay full price) you are able to more specifically target those who would not buy without this discount.

Couponing is an extremely over-used and basic promotional technique almost always applied to fmcg products, as by their nature they are quick, disposable discounts.

IKEA Australia, an smcg company, looked at the over crowded couponing world and saw an opportunity to innovate...

So what is so special about IKEA calling their coupons rent cheques?

1.       By trading the rent cheques for space in your home they immediately seem more valuable than coupons given away for free.

Cidre; How Stella changed the g(n)ame.

I can hardly think of a more crowded market place in the UK at the moment than Cider. Since Magners exploded onto the scene a few years ago (seems like a very long time ago now) the number of Cider brands & drinkers has exponentially increased.

It was not so long ago that Cider was for teenagers and tramps.

In the wake of Magners many other brands soon followed. Apart from Strongbow which has been around forever (and I’m sure has seen an increase in sales since Magners – I have seen people drinking it with ice...) of the top of my head right now I can name – Bulmers, Gaymers, Kopparberg, Savanna, Brothers, Aspalls, Addlestones and Jacques. Add to that all the varieties within each brand like pear (isn’t that just Perry!?), all the niche, trendy, traditional Ciders and all the ones I couldn't think of, and you have a very competitive environment. I’m not saying these brands didn’t exist before, I’d just never heard of them. I couldn’t really tell you what the difference between any of them is either.