BSkyB and npower, respectively broadcaster and sponsor of this summer’s much-anticipated Ashes Test cricket series, revealed their Ashes marketing strategies this week, which take radically different approaches.

Sky’s ‘It Can Only Be An Ashes Summer’ campaign, promoting Sky HD, wonderfully evokes the event’s rivalry and heritage, and features England icon Sir Ian Botham.  All good, and here’s the TV ad – created, incidentally, by our sister agency WCRS.

Conversely, npower will be using Aardman Animation characters playing village cricket, in a retention-focused campaign promoting a £100 discount offer, supported by experiential cricket events. So far so good, but I’m puzzled by npower marketing director Kevin Peake’s reported comments in this week’s Marketing Week, that the campaign will be ”targeted” and “niche” to “reflect the mood” of the country.

Eh? Much as I admire Kevin’s habitual left-field approach, the biggest, most eagerly-awaited sporting event of the summer, and the only time that cricket in this part of the world achieves genuine mass appeal, doesn’t strike me as the ideal time to go niche.

And as for ”reflecting the mood” of the country, surely it would be more effective – like Sky – to use The Ashes to tap into the public’s hunger for escapism? As Mike Atherton pointed out in The Times back in February, sport has always fulfilled this hunger, but especially in times of recession.

‘…interest in hockey, baseball and other [US] sports did not diminish during [the Great Depression]. If anything, it increased. The public’s appetite for fun, frolics and irrelevancy was proportional to their hardship. Seabiscuit, the great racehorse, became popular partly because the story was an unlikely one: a small horse with a poor gait and an alcoholic jockey struck a chord with those fighting against seemingly insurmountable odds. When Seabiscuit faced War Admiral in a race billed as the “match of the century”, an estimated 40million tuned in to listen.’

By Tim Crow on May 28th, 2009

Tags: Advertising, Ashes, Brand marketing, Cricket, Default, Sponsorship

2 comments

Where better to kick start any celebration than at a showcase event watched live by 80,000 and 445,000 on TV?

2009 marks 250 years of GUINNESS® brewing heritage and this year the Synergy team were tasked with bringing the anniversary celebrations to life at the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP Final.

The GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP Final is the culmination of nine months of hard fought rugby on the pitch and even harder fought supporting off the pitch as fans follow their teams across the country come wind, rain, snow or sun. This year was no different with the top four teams taking it right down to the wire to win a spot to run out on the hallowed turf at Twickenham.

Behind the scenes, the planning which goes into organising the world’s largest rugby premiership match is no mean feat and to add to all the excitement of the rugby, the Synergy team were challenged to develop an engaging integrated PR and experiential campaign.

With a number of key considerations, including promoting the 250 celebrations, the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP Final and the core brand message – Bring It To Life – our ‘Raise a Pint to Arthur Guinness’ campaign worked across multiple platforms.

The activity encouraged players and fans to change their middle name to Arthur Guinness. Players from the two finalist teams, Mike Catt (London Irish) and Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers) lead the way by undertaking the name change by deed poll and by doing so, GUINNESS made a donation to the PRA Benevolent Fund. Interviews and photography with the two iconic players promoted the 250 message and increased the media coverage in the week running up to the Final.

Mike Arthur Guinness Catt and Martin Arthur Guinness Corry

 

This experience was bought to life for the fans in the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP village at Twickenham where over 200 rugby die-hards adopted the new middle name and for their troubles they were rewarded with a free pint of the black stuff!

I now pronounce you John 'Arthur Guinness' Brown

 

 

Although the fans watching from their sofas weren’t able to join in the name-changing fun, the 250 message was brought to life with new post pads and dynamic LED boards. It was a hard fought game but when the final whistle blew Leicester came out victorious and it was up to Club Captain Martin ‘Arthur Guinness’ Corry to lift the Trophy for the Tigers.

Martin Arthur Guinness Corry lifts the Guinness Premiership trophy

 

 

Keep an eye out for more Guinness 250 celebrations later in the year!

By Caroline Ayling on May 28th, 2009

Tags: Brand marketing, Event management consultants, Guinness, Guinness Premiership, Public relations, Synergy

1 comment

If you’re fortunate enough to be flying First Class with British Airways this month, be sure to have a flick through the First Life magazine. This issue offers a truly unique opportunity to win a bottle (one of only 15 in the world) of the 35 Year Old Ballantine’s Championship blend.

For the world’s No. 2 Scotch whisky, the unique Scotch represents the first time in history that anyone outside the company’s expert team has collaborated with a Master Blender. Having won last year’s inaugural Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea, European Ryder Cup star Graeme McDowell (G-Mac as he’s known to his fans) was invited by Ballantine’s to help create an exclusive blend with their Master Blender Sandy Hyslop – to commemorate the second Ballantine’s Championship which took place last month. A great opportunity for McDowell to leave an impression within the whisky community and for Ballantine’s to really bring their golf sponsorship to life across their global markets.  

Of the limited edition bottles made, Graeme took one back to his home town of Portrush. One was presented to Thongchai Jaidee, the charismatic Thai golfer and eventual winner of the 2009 Ballantine’s Championship. Another was auctioned at the tournament’s Opening Ceremony on Jeju Island, South Korea, reaching a staggering $11,000. An anonymous businessman, based in Seoul, successfully bid for the bottle.

Only 15 bottles were made due to the scarcity of the whiskies contained in the blend which makes the bottle available in First Life all the more precious. If I hadn’t placed the promotion myself, rest assured I would be entering daily.

NB. Given Thongchai does not drink alcohol, I suspect that it’s highly unlikely there will be a Ballantine’s Jaidee blend ahead of the 2010 Championship…shame.

Thongchai Jaidee, winner of the 2009 Ballantine's Championship, South Korea

By Stephanie Branston on May 27th, 2009

Tags: Alcohol, Default, Golf, Public relations, Sponsorship

No comments

Karen Earl comments on the implications of the recession for sponsorship in the  The Independent. 

Click here to read the article.

By Synergy on May 26th, 2009

Tags: Press Clipping

No comments

No, not that Wolves.

In an unlikely turn of events, a single T-shirt, sold on Amazon.com has become one of the most popular items in the online retailer’s clothing section, experiencing a 2300% sales boost in a matter of months.

But what manner of apparel could be doing such incredible business? Is it a niche limited edition…? Is it the work of an up-and-coming Harajuku enfant terrible…? Was it worn by all four Beatles during their final tour of the US? I’m afraid not.

The item in question is in fact the ‘Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt’ – the kind of outerwear normally reserved for heavy metal concerts and sci-fi conventions. If you don’t believe me, have a quick look at it here.

Nothing special, you might think (if you do think it’s something special, you might want to stop reading). In fact, thanks to a jokey post from one satisfied (alleged) owner in the product’s ‘Customer Reviews’ section, with feedback on said T-shirt including “Pros: has wolves on it…attracts women…Cons: could probably have used more wolves on the ‘guns’…”, the item has become an internet hit.

Thanks to the wonders of viral email, the product now sports over 300 reviews from satisfied customers, ranging from the humorous to the mildly disturbing. At present, Amazon has not appeared to overtly censor user comments, perhaps content that the phenomenon is translating into an unlikely sales lift.

Whatever way you look at it, there’s no denying the power of a the odd well-placed, web-based witticism – even more so, given that this has led to hundreds of people parting with their hard-earned cash on the back of it.

N.B. Crushingly for UK-based lupine aficionados, the ‘Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt’ is not currently available on our shores. Amazon.co.uk are stocking a single wolf variant, however. I guess you could always buy three of them…

By Jonathan Izzard on May 21st, 2009

Tags: Default, Fashion, New Product Development, Product placement, Sales promotion, Viral Marketing

No comments

Tim Crow comments in Marketing magazine on Carlsberg’s reported interest in sponsoring Liverpool’s planned new stadium.

Click here to read the article.

By Synergy on May 20th, 2009

Tags: Press Clipping

No comments

Heard of Wolfram Alpha yet? With its official launch happening sometime today, chances are that within the next couple of months, you will have.

So what is it?

Described as ‘computational answer-engine’ – it is not a online search facility, and it’s definitely not a Google. It doesn’t reference indexed web pages and documents, but rather ‘listens’ to your question, and with recourse to a single sourced information bank, provides an answer. The point is it thinks about what you want from your question; it summarises key facts, unearths statistics, produces charts, and, fascinatingly, shows you how it got there.

Wikipedia naturally has a page on it, which is worth checking out.

Even more information is – aptly – provided at the official website, where in this video the product’s creator, a British physicist called Stephen Wolfram, runs through a mind-boggling set of example questions.

Whether it ends up setting the world alight, or merely aglow, this certainly should be one to watch over the coming year.

By Jonathan Izzard on May 15th, 2009

Tags: Default

No comments

If you like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, you’ll love this briiliant new ad for Vegas. A spot-on and very smart take on our times: enjoy.

By Tim Crow on May 14th, 2009

Tags: Advertising, Brand marketing, Default, Las Vegas

No comments

So the Sony Radio Academy Awards 2009 – or ‘the Oscars of the radio world’, as I’m sure anyone involved will customarily term them – are almost upon us (tonight, to be precise) and the various shortlists make pretty interesting reading.

Yes, you’ve got the obligatory nods to Moyles, Mayo, Mills and Feltz (okay, maybe Vanessa was slightly less obligatory), but of greater note are the nominees from less readily available radio sources. No doubt this has something to do with the evolving face of media consumption: more DAB radios, greater penetration of satellite TV, the proliferation of the podcast, and – oh yeah – that internet thingy; but you’ve got to consider the content of individual shows themselves. 

For example, Answer Me This! – a weekly podcast delivered by Helen Zaltzman and Olly Mann has been shortlisted in the Internet Programme category – making it the first independently-produced comedy podcast ever to have been nominated. And certainly the first to be broadcast from a living room in Crystal Palace.

Check it out here.

Another potential surprise is the four separate nods amassed by Electric Radio Brixton, a digital station launched a couple of years back with live performances from Mick Jones and Billy Bragg. What’s so impressive about that? It’s developed, produced and run by inmates of HMP Brixton. Insert your own “the jailhouse rocks” joke here.

Whilst clearly an arena for more niche music, editorial and entertainment programming, digital radio and podcasts arguably provide a forum for creativity and expression beyond the traditional 88.7-108Mhz FM spectrum.

It’s no massive surprise to me, therefore, that BBC 6 Music’s Adam and Joe have amassed four separate Sony nominations this year. If you don’t know of Adam and Joe, or haven’t encountered any of their previous TV or radio material, I can only urge you: get involved. The three hour show – and its commercial music-free, leaner, podcasted offspring – is a subculture gem. Cleverly disguised as two good mates chatting about films, music, telly and whatever else takes their fancy, the pair are relentlessly self-effacing, witty and eloquent, putting in a unparalleled amount of personal creativity into every weekly installment. 

This has clearly rubbed off on their audience. One of the most popular features, Song Wars, where the pair write and perform songs based on a given theme, spawned Video Wars, a listener challenge to create a video to accompany said tunes.

One rather dedicated listener made an astounding homage to Radiohead’s brilliant ‘No Surprises’ video, to incongruously accompany ‘Meatballs’, a poignant Joe-penned number based on the cooking instructions found on the Ikea delicacy (seriously). 

If you don’t know the original video, click here to see it.

And this is the Video Wars version (NB unless you don’t mind getting a few strange looks, you might want to hook up your headphones before starting the clip below…):

A frightening amount of effort.

Still, the overall winner went a step further, creating an entire stop-motion film for Adam’s song, ‘Jane’s Brain’ – a ludicrously accomplished effort, the output certainly justifying A&J’s nominations in Sony’s Best Competition and Listener Participation categories:

I heartily hope the boys manage to sweep the boards at the ceremony tonight; although I’m doubtful they’d argue with any of the lags on B-Wing should Electric Radio Brixton manage to steal their thunder…

By Jonathan Izzard on May 11th, 2009

Tags: Default, Media, Radio, Social Media, YouTube

1 comment

How can motor sport’s golden boy get back on track? Click here to read Scott Garrett’s analysis of brand Hamilton in Marketing magazine.

By Synergy on May 7th, 2009

Tags: Press Clipping

No comments