Internet Marketing Strategies from Brightspark Consulting Dublin, Ireland

All About Advertising

February 25, 2009 at 11:51 am

Three things to tell you today, all advertising related:

I just attended a breakfast briefing by Brian Sparks, no not Brightspark!, Ireland’s only pitch doctor. The takeaway? Don’t do an agency pitch unless you have to. If you’re not happy with your agency, carry out a relationship audit first. What should you be looking for in an agency? Quality people. Thinking. Creative Output. Process. Remuneration. Would someone please tell Agency Assessments to update their site? It’s got a ‘what’s new’ dating from 2005. While Brian himself seems to ‘get’ Digital and included it every time he mentioned the various channels, his parent company is not singing the same tune judging by their site.
Ryanair has updated its website and is now selling non-travel product. Another way for Ryanair to make money? I’ll be interested to see the results. I personally wouldn’t have thought of going to Ryanair when I wanted to buy my stainless steel egg slicer but who knows what kind of actions people will take late at night when booking cheap flights? Plus, the search area in the main panel of the home page is a little squashed. Hello? Browser check anyone?
I have read possibly the finest analysis on ‘these current economic times’ so far. How do I know this? Because I keep quoting bits of it in my everyday life to all sorts of people. And I’ve promised practically everyone I know to send it to them – because it’s relevant to us all. What is it? It’s called AAAGH and it’s a piece of research by Young & Rubicam on how to market in these uncertain times. It’s a nicely designed pdf, you can download it here.

It’s so insightful I’ve become a fan on Facebook! And I’m going to post separately on its forecasts for digital in these current times. But first, a little taster:

Likens the current economic times and our getting our heads around it to the 5 steps of dealing with grief:

Denial : pre-Christmas late night shopping in BT’s or Dundrum anyone?
Anger: happening now. Will be directed at anyone who can be punished – bankers, government, advisors… Golden Circle?
Bargaining: salvage what they can. This might appear to some as the good times back again or may be mis-read as tentative signs of an upswing, but really it’s just people adjusting their portfolios and spending habits to the new environment.
Depression: early 1990′s Britain, nobody wanted to spend. Herd mentality that is hard to break.
Acceptance: can take a very long time, and time taken will be a function of the amount of money people have lost. It took until the early 1940′s for acceptance of the 1929 crash to kick in.

7 Types of Money Minds – Which One Are You?

Succeeders: need for control. High appetite for risk. How to market to them now? Be seen to be helping them to survive
Mainstreamers: risk averse, savers not investors. Their fear and weakness in understanding the economy will cause them to be passive aggressive. How to deal with? I’d say, avoid them!
Explorers: early adopters, tend to go for new experiences. Can sell innovative products to them.
Aspirers: follow the herd, strong affinity for luxury goods and brands. Sell them ‘recessionary chic’.
Reformers: articulate, tend to reject materialism. Sell them using a little cynicism.
Resigned: believe their best years are over, very conservative. Sell safety.
Strugglers: they live in the extreme short term, have been hit hard, but spending doesn’t change in a recession. Key thing here is their numbers are swollen.