Royal prank call impact on brands

Since the 2Day FM DJs prank call to a London hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated for Hyperemesis Gravidarum (we all know what that means now) and the unfortunate death of the nurse who transferred the call to the duchess ward, much has been debated about the regulations, codes and moral standards breached as well as who is to bear the blame. The radio presenters, radio station,

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Celebrity worshiping lessons for marketing

If you think university learning is all about textbooks and journals, think again! This year we had the chance to learn about consumer behaviour from a professor who is also an accomplished film director and runs a production house within the Sydney University called Thinkbox. Marylouise Caldwell has been the recipient of six international awards for her film works.

Her documentary ‘Walk the

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Privacy Data: Are Companies doing the Right Thing?

Every day, Australians provide enormous quantities of information about themselves to a wide range of organisations – to retailers, bankers, insurers, health funds, government departments and agencies and countless others. What do we know about how this data is protected? The short answer is that most of us know only “a little”, a handful claim to know “a lot” and an appreciable number say they

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Juicy Couture: Product placement meets shopping on YouTube

Sunbathing by the pool in a tiny bikini, supermodel Candice Swanepoel daydreams of fabulous parties where even the cats wear jewelry… your typical fashion video, except you can buy the Juicy Couture items without leaving the page!

YouTube has started testing a new feature that embeds external links into its videos allowing viewers to shop for products while watching the media. While many

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Beware the Generic SWOT

SWOT analysis would have to be among the most over and misused models around. I am particularly reminded of this fact around this time of the year when marking undergraduate assignments, where quite a number of them incorporate rather inappropriate SWOTs.

However, the misuse of SWOT analysis isn’t just confined to undergraduates. Most of the organizations that I worked for have also managed to

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Klout: Online Social Influence

Klout, a company that measures web analytics to determine a user’s influence across social networks, is one of those polarizing topics. Its harshest critics have mocked it with a parody site called ‘Klouchebag’, while others see it as a sign of the rising power of influence data.

From Facebook ‘likes’ and ‘tweets’, we all generate loads of data that can be harnessed by anyone interested in

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Nike + Xbox Kinect: Gamifying your brand

The newly released Nike + game for Xbox, powered by the Kinect, allows users to train at home as part of a game while earning fuel points. The game tests the player’s fitness levels and then builds a customized program to achieve specific fitness goals. The Kinect measures the player’s every move and allows for individual performance to be tracked. It is a continuation of the Nike Fuelband

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Do you really know where your food comes from?

Country of Origin Labeling (i.e. Made in Australia) can be an important marketing tool as many people are willing to pay a premium for Australian products in order to support local jobs. However, did you know that food containing imported ingredients can legally be labeled as ‘Made in Australia’?


Under the current rules, mixed diced vegetables, battered fish fillets and cured meat may all

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PepsiCo's Strategic Focus

I've just finished writing a case study for the recent launch of Pepsi Next into Australia in September 2012. No doubt you've probably been touched by some aspect of their Australian launch, ranging from guitar-playing babies with inept parents, to taste-test challenges across 300 outdoor locations, to heavy in-store promotion and discounting.



[image courtesy: http://www.pepsico.com]

By way

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Adidas interactive window shopping

High street stores suffering with the rise of e-commerce are frantically looking for ways to win back some of the market share lost to the digital space. Adidas interactive digital window concept, recently launched in Germany, has redefined window shopping by offering its customers an immersive and customised experience.

Adidas has placed a large touchscreen in its NEO label storefront,

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What is the optimal level of consumer choice?

A recent TED talk by Tim Leberecht, Chief Marketing Officer of the global design and innovation firm called Frog, sparked up many thought provoking ideas around marketing practices. It begun by controversially suggesting companies never had control over their brands, at least outside the boundaries of their corporations, in the actual market place. He pointed out the recent digital technology

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Obama’s winning 2012 election strategy

[image courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/barackobama]

It’s not every day that you get to watch an American presidential election unfold. Over the past few months I’ve been following the 2012 presidential election. I would be lying to you if I told you that I wasn’t interested in knowing the outcome of the election (let’s just say that I would be a rich woman if I was a betting woman) but

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Content Marketing (or, as many marketers would call it, Brand Storytelling)

A vital component of building brand communities, which was the topic of one of our recent blogs, is producing content that is relevant to the target audience. Content marketing is also known by many other names such as brand journalism, branded content, branded media, corporate media and corporate publishing. But what exactly is it?

Content marketing is essentially a technique that involves

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Consumer Behaviour in Brand Communities

Brand communities are widely recognised as one of the most effective ways of engaging target audiences as seen with aspirational brands like Harley Davidson and even commodity ones like the Duck brand duct tape. Instead of just focusing on the technology with presence across many social media platforms, these brands demonstrated that creating a brand community involves truly understanding the

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Hard Work Hasn’t Changed

Over 4 years ago I started a blog (www.talkapex.com). A lot of people can say that they have done that as well. What a lot of people can’t say is that they’ve had over a quarter of a million page views since its adoption.

Though this is no Facebook success story I do consider my blog a huge personal success. For one person, who was an unknown in his respective industry at the time, going from

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To advertise or not to advertise on 2GB’s morning show with Alan Jones?

Are brands political players that can and should use their voice to
contribute to ‘a better society’? Does it matter where they advertise,
even if what they advertise has nothing to do with the boarder message
of the medium?




 Campaign ...
shock jock Alan Jones / Pic: Ray Strange The Daily
Telegraph

For two weeks 2GB management suspended all advertising on its morning show following

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‘Gangnam Style’ Marketing

South Korea’s rapper Psy, the performer of viral sensation ‘Gangnam Style’ song and dance, has just reached Australia. The insanely catchy video is approaching half a billion views worldwide and has become the most ‘liked’ video on the YouTube history. If you are as intrigued as I was to find out why, below are some of the marketing strategies behind it.

 Engage through co-creation

The South

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Experience vs. Memory

Decisions are made based on MEMORIES of experiences and not the actual experiences according to behavioural economics Nobel Prize winner, Kahneman. This has important implications for the field of marketing, which is largely focused on creating the perfect customer experience.

A great example from the video below tells the story of a man who had been listening to a symphony, and it was

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The 4Ps of marketing are dead. Today, it’s all about the 4Es.

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Skype, Amazon, Cloud, mobile, tablets and many other platforms and technologies have not only changed the way people can communicate and interact with each other, but have also challenged Marketers to think differently about how they go to market and engage with prospects and customers.

It used to be relatively simple to focus on the 4Ps. Create a great

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In search of innovation in the entertainment industry

 


The internationally renowned Cirque du Soleil is now back in Sydney
with a new big top production called OVO, an immersion into the colorful
and energetic world of insects. With incredible stunts you did not even
think were possible by the human body and mind-blowing production that
takes you away from reality, it is hard not to become a fan once you
have experienced one of their

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Are we all hard-wired to make bad decisions?

The Marketing Research for Decision Makers unit of the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School has adopted a new approach this semester. Previously, the unit focused on teaching how to assess and evaluate marketing information so as to improve our decision making ability. This semester the learning objectives have been expanded to explicate psychological biases

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Market Strategy Wars – Apple vs Samsung

There is only a very select range of products that can successfully implement a marketing strategy that revolves around ‘low supply and high demand’, with with the goal of increasing the desirability of a product and ultimately increasing sales.

One company in particular has proven particularly adept at this strategy. Apple has successfully done this time and time again for the release of a

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Facebook and Companies - Striking a balance between the Social and the Media aspects

A largely controversial decision made recently by the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) has deemed companies accountable for user-generated comments on their Facebook pages. Posts from ‘fans’ are now considered to be advertisement, which means these should adhere to the industry’s Code of Ethics and the Australian Consumer Law. Because companies have a ‘reasonable degree of control’ over

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Will Apple’s iOS 6 Passbook App be the New Digital Wallet?

I enjoy traveling light. If I could have things my way, I would leave the house with just my wallet, phone and keys. Now Apple has created an app to bring their product users one step closer to the freedom of leaving the house with only their iPhone (or iPad) and keys… I could not be more thrilled.



Apple’s new iOS 6 Passbook App is an Apple users’ dream in terms of de-cluttering their lives.

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Building a successful personal brand: Barack Obama

Say the name “Barack Obama” to almost anyone, anywhere in the world and immediately, there is a picture of an imposing orator standing before the US flag. Obama has a personal brand that he and his staff carefully manage, trying to ensure that his identify is clearly differentiated from his opponents and is associated with the values for which he stands. Political figures like Obama know the

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Advertise your flaws!

Another intensive weekend unit has begun and it looks like we are in for a treat with Kate Charlton as our Integrated Marketing Communications lecturer. Her enthusiasm for the subject is almost contagious!

In class this weekend we discussed the process of creating media campaigns. Kate’s experience working for large advertising firms such as Saatchi Design and RedBox Digital (to name a couple)

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Billabong – Where Marketing Really Does Matter

When Launa Inman took over as CEO of Billabong in May 2012,
she knew she had a huge challenge ahead of her to turn around the company. Launa
recently announced a $275.6 million loss at Billabong, which means she has a
daunting task of turning around the fortunes of the company. However, her previous experience at Target
and Officeworks, along with her passion for marketing is likely to stand her

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Book Review: Outlook: Australian Entertainment and Media 2012-2016

In an evening hosted by the Masters of Marketing Discipline at the University of Sydney, Megan Brownlow, Executive Director and Editor at PwC presented an interesting recently released report: Outlook: Australian Entertainment and Media 2012-2016 at the PwC head office in Sydney. Megan was one of three panelists to present at The Changing Media Marketplace night which attracted over 70

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The War on Privacy!

With the explosion of social media activity, the rise of on line retailing, and real time bidding to reach the ever-increasing online audience, the spotlight is well and truly focussed on privacy. More than ever, this is a hot topic in the daily media and in the legislators’ agenda. This is a fertile field for shock headlines and fierce political debate, with prominent commercial players such

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What’s happening in Innovative Marketing Strategy class?

We are nearing the completion of the unit on Innovative Marketing Strategies. The unit coordinator, Professor Donnel Briley (Chair of the Marketing Discipline), has imparted his truly global interpretation of marketing strategies. Having lived and studied in North America, Europe and Australia, Donnel’s vast cultural experiences are exemplified through the cases studies he presents.

My favorite

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McDonald's Sponsorship Case Study

Another Olympic Games has come and gone. And while Australian swimming may not have done as well as usual and are looking to review their performance, one organization that performed well in this period was McDonald's in Australia.

Obviously, we're not privy to the detailed financial results of McDonald's or their ROI on their significant investment as a major sponsor of the Olympics in London.

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When’s the best time to return to University?

Is there really a best time to return to university? After a few years into your career you might begin feeling less sense of achievement. Perhaps the challenges you originally thrived on are gone. The determined amongst us are contemplating our next move. That could involve a change of careers, or perhaps even climbing a rung or two higher on the career ladder.

Many people who feel this way

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Is the macro-environment really a PEST?

When marketing students learn to consider the macro-environment in the development of their marketing plans and strategies, they are provided with the acronym PEST as a simple way of recalling political, economic, social and technology factors.

But this view stems from the traditional business outlook that environmental change was essentially a nuisance and that stability was preferable.

But

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Marketing is getting infinitely complex.

Marketing is getting infinitely complex.

But here is some context to help you deal with that complexity.




Today’s marketer not only has more channel choices than at any other time in history,
but the number of channels is increasing every day. Plus they are often
operating with effectively less budget, to deliver higher, more accountable
performance, while a waterfall of data thunders down

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