To support their latest album, Elbow the UK indie band has formed a partnership with Stockport ale brewery Robinsons to launch the release of their new album, ‘Build a rocket boys’.   The boys are creating their own branded beer, surprisingly named after their new album and are cleverly linking the qualities of real British ale to their music.

The band announced recently on their Facebook page that the brew will be launched at this year’s Manchester Food & Drink Festival in October and will be available in selected pubs across the 400-strong Robinsons pub estate throughout September and October.  This is a reflection of how real ale is becoming increasingly popular amongst young people and with a focus on targeting this demographic the band are keen to get this into universities in time for fresher’s week…what good timing!  Will this brew, that will only be available in selected pubs and retail outlets over the North West, really take off with the student market…?

The product is described as a “golden ale with a rich rounded body, smooth bitterness, subtle tang of malt and fruity aroma”, apparently this is a perfect match to what their new album is all about! The brand and the band will need to ensure that this connection is communicated when consumers are purchasing this brew.  The launch of this limited edition brew is supported by point of sales and strong online promotion so who knows, maybe the beer will really take off too!

The Topshop brand has pulled ‘Codie’, their wafer thin model, from its online advertising campaign as concerns have been raised that this may encourage eating disorders to the targetaudience of their campaign.  What messages are they giving out here? Is this a reasonable claim, or are consumers becoming too sensitive as to what the fashion industry consider to be attractive and missing the point that, in fact, models (in general) are typically built tall and slim…?

Topshop's Skinny Advertising

Back in April the Miu Miu brand received allegations that they had used a ‘too skinny’ model in their advertising campaign.  The advertising Standards Authority recently cleared the brand from any such allegations as they reached the conclusion that a combination of lighting and make-up effects made the model look slim, however not significantly underweight and therefore fashion label Miu Miu was deemed to be not irresponsible in their advert! This poses the question as to what messages are acceptable in today’s market, given the rise in eating disorders as a result of heavier media exposure. Where do brands in this industry draw the line…Topshop?

According to Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach the importance of the ASA’s involvement in brand advertising is fundamental to establishing what campaigns are perceived as ethical, and what is unethical (please refer to page 486 for an interesting case study on insurance company, Swiftcover.com).  It is reassuring to hear that the ASA are considering all facts and measuring what is acceptable in today’s society without completely discarding the importance of an industry’s impact on people’s lives…maybe we will see a shift in Topshop’s advertising to the using of hangers instead of real people in their adverts!

Heinz on Facebook

Following the success of Heinz’s recent Facebook  campaign, the brand plan to do more through ecommerce campaigns.   The most recent being the Facebook-led campaign to promote summer sauces. The campaign included a new Facebook app that offers the product as a cooking ingredient as opposed to a condiment.  Marketing Week’s report communicated how the brand plan to increase digital spend by 20% in order to ramp up its social media strategy .  This is in addition to the wider £5m offline marketing campaigns, including TV and radio that will continue to run until the end of August 2011.  Heinz are not putting all their eggs into one basket, although there are signs of increases in sales, the nature of the social networking channel means that it is not easy to track sales and therefore the brand are treating the Facebook campaign as part of their wider strategy.

The results are not clear as to how successful the Facebook campaigns, starting in October, were.  However brand manager, Lucy Clark emphasizes the importance of generating awareness of the limited edition product and increasing brand perception through social media routes.  As part of the marketing mix, social media is being used to compliment the launch of advertising campaigns for all new products and this is proving to be successful.  It will be interesting to see how much Heinz commit to directing consumers online to actually purchase the products through channels like the Facebook shop…? Will this mean they dedicate more resources to this sales channel or will this just be for limited edition products? – Let’s face it, this may be the first ever limited edition product for Heinz, but something tells us this won’t be the last – balsamic vinegar edition, whatever next…chutney?!

Blogger activity is also in the running for the brands marketing strategy this summer – According to a number of freelance digital marketing agencies there will be dedicated bloggers, blogging about new products and their experiences with these new products, as part of the digital marketing focus.  We could have another Walkers campaign on our hands where people enter in to suggested limited edition versions of the product, this would be a great idea for the brand!

Sainsbury's says goodbye to Jamie Oliver

The 11 year relationship between Jamie Oliver and the Sainsbury’s brand has come to an end.  Fronting over 100 advertising campaigns Jamie has helped boost performance for Sainsbury’s and has been the key driving force behind the marketing strategy for many years now.  But what will happen next…will Jamie’s wife Jules take over as the Sainsbury’s brand ambassador…?!

Essentially two brands are ending what has been a really successful partnership and this departure is said to be amicable.  According to a report from the metro, Sainsbury’s will now look to exploit the ambassador in the build-up to Christmas, for the very last time we might add! This campaign is expected to be extremely successful in the grand departure of Jamie as the face of Sainsbury’s…are we crying yet?

The Jamie brand has become more successful through a combination of contracts with different TV shows, including his own show of course, as well as forming important partnerships with brands such as Sainsbury’s, promoting their free range product lines as fundamental to food production in the retail industry.  Jamie’s website is reflective of this with a combination of shops, books, apps, TV programs, restaurants, food and wine etc…, the list is endless! With a well established  brand, Jamie is looking to develop it further with more of a shift to the charitable organization, the ‘Jamie Oliver Foundation’ (1 of 11 J.O. brands!).  Is it safe to say that Sainsbury’s has given Jamie a voice with which to communicate to the public and have an impact on the changing face of food production…?

No Comparison - Thomson

‘There’s no comparison campaign’ hits back at Easyjet who launched their price comparison press adverts recently…Jeremy Ellis, head of marketing at TUI UK & Ireland, claims that the Thomson campaign is a direct reflection of the brands business strategy to invest in distinctive product that the rest of the market is unable to copy.  They stress that no one else can copy their unique selling packages for the same price and quality. The idea of comparing prices originated from Easyjet’s messaging strategy for their campaigns while Thomson communicates how tailored the packages are that they offer to individual customers, meeting all their needs.   Thompson’s strategy here is to build brand equity by reaching out to existing customers and reminding them of their brand values.

After a tough year industry wide the fear of losing market share is apparent in not only TUI UK but also its sister company, First Choice. They  hit back with a more aggressive campaign ‘Big frills, low price’ that targets Easyjet Holidays directly.  When comparing the brand to Easyjet the following weaknesses are listed in the campaign…’boarding-time scrum’ & ‘holidays with run-of-the-mill hotels’.

Competition has become fiercer as a result of the market cutting spend on holidays. This Dog Eat Dog way of marketing is becoming apparent across many brands and although they all claim to be original, they are in fact all looking to expand into areas that other brands are associated with…, like all inclusive package holidays – THEY ARE BACK IN DEMAND, BUT WE WANT THEM CHEAPER!

Google have not only launched a chat service that puts them in competition with Facebook but they are also offering more than any other  social networking site…! Speaking at Marketing Week live in London this week, Matt Brittin, Google’s managing director, was pleased to announce the Google video chat function and in doing so emphasized the fact that this is unique to Google.  –The introduction of new possibilities will entice customers and encourage them to move over to Google…will this be enough though…?

Google + takes on Facebook...!

Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach discusses the importance of brands offering something different in order to entice consumers to shift from others brands, this is referred to as ‘other brand switchers’ (OBSs) (please go to page 83, chapter 4 for a discussion on the Tesco brand).

Brittin in his speech expresses that they have fixed problems that have come out of previous attempts to tap into the social media market by allowing users to integrate external email addresses, so users do not have to be on Google contacts.  However, according to a critics report back in 2010, Google Wave had many problems that it would need to overcome in order to compete against the bigwigs like Facebook and Twitter…and clearly still does! The burning question is that have Google dealt with enough of the problems of the existing platform to create a new application allowing users to move over to the Google+ side and would this mean a complete detachment from Facebook and Twitter  for many users…probably not!

Turbo Tango

Does this sound appealing to anyone or do people automatically think coca cola floats, which to be fair some consumers do like? Praising themselves as being pioneers of scientific know-how and expertise in creating original drink products that cater for the ‘tango teen’ audience, Britvic is set to launch their new drink in a can, the Tango Turbo…apparently this is expected to shake up the fruit carbonates sector! Will this appeal to the regular soft drinks purchaser? Apparently not, which is why Britvic are pitching this revolutionary combination of drink and cream to young adults…yummy!

…According to a report from Marketing Week the aerosol technology will deliver a foam blast of orange flavoured product straight into the mouth…as intriguing as this sounds it does raise the question as to what the product is…cream…? Foam…? Liquid…? –Does this actually quench the consumers thirst?

Britvic are cleverly associating themselves with the new teenage film, the Inbetweeners.   The brand has signed up to a sponsorship deal that involves digital campaigns and outdoor advertising.  An obvious place to market this new revolutionary product is in cinemas, and that is exactly what Britvic plan to do! –Will Tango’s teens buy into the new product or will the new fruit blast be too noisy in the cinema…?!

Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach discusses the importance of New Category Users (NCU) who purchase products associated with the brand (please go to page 83 in chapter 4 for the Next case study).  Britvic’s reason for targeting teenagers is that this age group are purchasing soft drinks regularly, and according to a recent survey are looking for more innovative products.