idea > logic > magic

A now hugely successful and iconic brand initially languished on supermarket shelves for years in the late 1940s until a forward-thinking customer, Brownie Wise, sensed an opportunity that was to redefine the way retail products were sold at the time. And into the future.

She bought a range of Tupperware products and invited friends around to her home to demonstrate the advantages of these containers – and then convinced them to buy these from her, there and then.

The next logical step was to build a community of re-sellers who would acquire their stock from her and sell these in the same manner to their friends as well. And then for this burgeoning community to go on to bring in even more sellers, for a commission on their profits.

She went directly to the distributors and they loved the idea. And thus the concept of the original ‘Tupperware Party’ was conceived – the beginning of network marketing as we know it today. This changed the lives of millions of women by enabling them economic freedom, and Wise went on to become Vice President of the corporation.

All it took was for someone look at something from a fresh perspective. This innovative approach went on to create arguably the most successful and much emulated sales systems of all time…

Robynn Weldon in London sent me a ‘viral’ mpeg from YouTube which is currently doing the rounds. It features a ‘gorilla’ sitting behind a drum kit and the music is Phil Collins’ ‘In the air tonight’. It’s attention grabbing and the twist is that you don’t realise he’s going to drum until that iconic intro which launched a thousand short-lived drumming careers when it was first released, kicks in…

She observes: ‘I love it, but it’s also really interesting to me in that it’s so obviously an ad designed for YouTube. A kind of viral, really, despite being ostensibly a TV ad. It used to be common wisdom that no matter how cool or funny your ad was, if there wasn’t a clear link to the product, it wouldn’t “work” (although it might win awards!) Now, this has pretty much nothing to do with the product, but it’s going to get the ad – complete with branded book-ends – seen a squillion times. So, has YouTube changed the rules? Just a thought…’

Robynn adds, ‘It creates an emotional association with the brand (joy) that is appropriate to the product and can be strengthened with further, unrelated ads… Honestly, I’ve also always been very suspicious of ads that don’t really have any clear connection. I’m just wondering…’

Well, it resolves to a pack shot and logo for Cadbury’s ‘glass and a half’ chocolate. Admittedly the ‘campaign’ was ‘brought to you by Cadbury’s etc, but I’m wondering if this is actually innovation, or just opportunism? It could be argued that any opportunity to get your name out there is always a good thing.

But does this really add value to the brand? Personally, I don’t think YouTube has changed the rules, they’ve merely created another accessible medium for marketing your brand.

Go and look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLXHB0mooo0 and see what you think…

And speaking of things Microsoft… Here we have an IT company, Idion Technologies, that achieved Gold Certification partner status. This is an ‘accreditation’ bestowed upon companies who have reached a certain level of proficiency and success in building applications and products based on Msoft’s development platform.

Aspirational in itself, this is however not a unique achievement. So how does one convey this to your current and prospective markets?

We created an innovative print campaign in specific industry publications that would be appealing and stand out from the conventional advertising clutter.

A somewhat humorous visual approach, combined with a simple message: ‘One in a million’. Not numerically correct, but it reflected the fact that this certification was nevertheless an aspirational and hard-earned achievement.

We also used the opportunity to communicate the company’s success in developing mobile technology - ’Free at last…’ These messages really stood out and generated a great response at the time…

CRS Technologies develops Human Resource software. And their products are meant to simplify a host of daily, routine administrative tasks within any business.

The challenge here, is how to make this offering appear immensely attractive beyond merely the mechanics that are offered? And this in the face of major competition in this space.

It’s all about the emotional outcome your product offers the market. Given that these packages would obviously provide streamlined systems to process HR administration from the completion of leave forms to a host of other mundane but necessary tasks, the solution was simple.

The creative strategy here was presented as ‘what if your human capital is given the time to…’ This manifested the premise that, when freed up from basic time-consuming tasks by using CRS’ products, the people within your business would have more time to actually get on with what they’re employed to do: i.e. ‘Discover’, ‘Deliver’ and ‘Create’ etc.

This talks to both a human and a business outcome and places the offering in a context where the results can be measured, justifying the investment…

The ICC Cricket World Cup was hosted in South Africa back in 2003. ADT Security (generally perceived as a grudge purchase in the prevalent economic and sociological climate), decided along with almost every other local business, that they wanted to tie their marketing drive into this international sporting event.

So, how does one convincingly convey this connection to your market? Well, security and cricket (like just about anything else) can actually be linked if you’re prepared to think innovatively and look for the connection. ‘Securing All Boundaries’ and ‘Silly point, but how’s your security’ are examples of bridging this gap creatively and effectively.

This campaign managed to strike the right chord with their prospective market, by leveraging a headspace that was currently top of people’s perception at the time. It’s all about the current emotional environment and how you, as a business manage to identify and leverage the connection…

Where else do you have the CEO of an iconic brand and international company prepared to meet you on the runway after your flight has been delayed? By doing this, Richard Branson backed up his brand proposition with personal delivery and redress to customer disappointment.

‘If my company has let you down in any way, I am personally prepared to offer you redress in the form of a free flight as compensation for your inconvenience’. Offered Branson to disgruntled travelers on his airline.

This need only have happened once to evince a real understanding of customer needs. An innovative approach to a negative experience with your business is worth absolute gold in marketing terms…

A diamond is traditionally accepted as a means of expressing commitment, manifesting the physical fact that this gift is an indestructible metaphor for a committed relationship.

Way back in 2003,  De Beers decided to communicate a new message, this time targeted specifically at women only: the right-hand ring as a symbol of independence, as opposed to the ring on the left hand, which is generally accepted as a symbol of commitment. This created a symbol of another kind, and enabled the (female) consumer to make a very specific statement and express a very powerful emotion.

Here we see an understanding and application of innovation with regard to the unexplored potential of  the existing market – turning around centuries of tradition and creating a new aspiration, one that appeals directly to a much broader target market of proudly independent women, and not just the men they feel they’re no longer dependent on to shower them with gifts.

However, traditions exist because they’ve evolved over a long period of time , so don’t stop now guys…