Karen Earl comments in Marketing Week on The Manchester United Supporters Trust’s (MUST) decision to ask sponsors to “choose sides” between the fans and the Glazers. Click here to read the article.
By Synergy on April 28th, 2010
Tags: Press Clipping
Archive for April, 2010
Uncool Buck
Microsoft has announced the release of a new mobile phone designed to capture the hearts, minds and standing orders of ‘younger, chattier, socially switched-on’ users.
Developed in conjunction with former Manchester United sponsor Sharp, the brand is to be known as KIN, and represents a range of mobile phones – currently dubbed KIN One and KIN Two – the former in particular a pretty neat-looking device somewhere between a Palm Pre and the chubby widescreen variety of iPod Nano.
From left, KINs One and Two
It’s not a Blackberry, neither is it an Android-a-like, and it’s definitely, categorically not an iPhone challenger. With social media feed functionality placing it in an interesting limbo between smartphone and old-fashioned ‘dumb phone’, the KIN may, in fact, be more of a long-term stepping stone for Microsoft in converting a wider audience to the upcoming mobile Windows 7 OS.
Check the KIN website: it’s all very ‘youth’ (and not even in a ‘this is what all the kids are doing these days, isn’t it everyone?’ Gap style), informative, pretty and dynamic…nice, and contains only the tiniest nods to Microsoft…phew.
Does this mean Microsoft has broken free from its infamous track-record of dad-dancing that has confirmed the world’s third largest company as one of its dorkiest? Of course not, as confirmed by the following shot of Microsoft exec Robbie Bach from the KIN’s press launch last week – probably not the Generation Y shot in the arm the product required, given its offering and audience.
Robbie Bach at the KIN press launch
So why do Microsoft rule the uncool, and how do they manage to make things so effortlessly undesirable?
The much-ridiculed Window 7 Launch Party video holds one or two clues…
If you never saw this, please watch as much as is humanly possible of the video above (I’d say about 12 seconds) and then have a look at the Remix version on this ‘tribute’ site, which, through the tiniest addition has produced something eminently more watchable.
So why will people line up to shoot Microsoft down for this? Is it because the original video is so replete with cheese, yet so bereft of irony? Is it because of the public’s distaste for celebrating what is effectively a stress-purchase, in this case designed to solve the problems created by Microsoft Vista, W7’s predecessor? Or is it simply that the idea of hosting a party to launch a computer operating system is just incredibly bizarre?
Go back a little further to Microsoft’s ‘I’m a PC’ campaign. This was a response to Apple’s ongoing advertising creative which pitched a ‘typical’ PC user against a Macophile. In the US this campaign included Justin Long (of Dodgeball and Die Hard 4.0) as ‘the Mac’, but UK consumers will be more familiar with the localisation featuring Mitchell and Webb.
Whilst a comedic exercise in stereotypes – termed as bullying from certain pro-PC quarters – ultimately, Apple’s campaign was grounded in the functional versus the inspirational: on the whole people have to use PCs, but choose to own a Mac. If this isn’t an indicator of brand love, then I’m not sure what is.
Were Pharrell Williams’ claims that he’s a PC enough to turn the heads of unbelievers? What about when they see him on his iPhone? Did Eva Longoria’s endorsement make PCs any sexier? Tough to say, especially when she was subsequently captured at the airport on her MacBook. Isn’t this indicative of the difference between obligation and aspiration?
Whatever way you look at it, in the constantly-updating, virtually-democratised world of the web, where transparency is a badge of honour, there’s very little room for the clumsy manufacture of cool. And even if you did want to – Microsoft boffins, take note – there’s a formula you need to apply…
Generated through research conducted between InSites Consulting and MTV Belgium amongst 13-29 year-olds, the above represents the key factors (at an official ratio of 22% originality, 23% popularity and 55% attractiveness) that contribute to make a brand, product or service ‘cool’.
The same study demonstrated that 73% of all brand loyalty is about the coolness of the brand, with young people today buying twice as many cool brands than uncool brands, while the future purchase intention of these brands is no less than three times as high. It doesn’t really matter whether this is right/wrong/lowlands-specific, but there’s little argument in the study’s assertion that trying to be cool is the worst thing you can ever do. Ever.
A tragic confirmation of this is Microsoft (honestly, I don’t actually dislike the company, there’s just so much cannon fodder) and its foray into the digital music market…the ill-fated Zune. They have the set-up, the know-how, and the can-do attitude, but this couldn’t save Microsoft from failing on the Originality, Popularity or Attractiveness fronts, in the face of Apple’s iPod. In fact, in what is probably my favourite comedy product on the internet, you can even buy what has been termed the ultimate Apple anti-theft device, the ‘Hide-a-Pod’ - a Zune-disguise for your iPod.
Who knows what the fate holds for Microsoft’s latest mobile offering, but unless they learn the lessons from past product launches, there’s a chance it could be KIN useless.
By Jonathan Izzard on April 19th, 2010
Tags: Blogging, Brand marketing, Default, Digital marketing, Media, Mobile, New Product Development, Online communities, Viral Marketing
Politics on the pitch
So the election is well underway and all the party manifestos have been launched. Gordon Brown formally kicked off Labour’s campaign with the cabinet at his side at the swanky new Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Cameron opted to launch at Battersea Power Station – with its crumbling façade apparently a metaphor for the Labour government. Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems opted for a fairly plain looking conference room, somewhere in the UK. It looked like UKIP launched its manifesto in someone’s front room.
Of course, all parties focused on their plans for economic recovery, with investment in green infrastructure, high speed rail, civic service and taxes all making an appearance.
However, sport – in fact, the whole arts and culture brief – is often overlooked when it comes to election time.
Labour offered the most on sports policy – focusing on both elite and grassroots sport and succeeded in capturing some of the wider, holistic benefits of sport. Many involved in sport will be disappointed by the relative lack of ideas from the Conservatives.
Hugh Robertson, the Conservative shadow sports minister, is an intelligent and influential figure who has floated a number of sound policies in recent months, but his input into the manifesto looks limited.
As ever, the Liberal Democrats bang the drum for grassroots sport and protecting playing fields and outdoor space – but there’s nothing new of note.
With London 2012 looming on the horizon, each party did its best to capitalise on the Games.
The Tories pledged to deliver an Olympic legacy of physical activity with a national Olympic-style school competition, while Labour committed to 3,000 new Olympic-inspired sports clubs and a new culture of volunteerism following the Olympics.
The Games already account for a large part of funding and sponsorship opportunities available, and many other sports or culture bodies struggle to compete with the profile of London 2012. Both the Lib Dems and Tories acknowledged this, and promised to return the National Lottery to its original funding levels for sports, the arts and heritage.
Each party pledged support (note the word ‘support’, not ‘funding’) for other major events in the pipeline – the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014; the 2013 Rugby League and 2015 Rugby Union World Cups and the 2018 Football World Cup bid. That line up will have every prospective sports minister licking their lips.
I should probably touch on the whole fan-ownership issue. Don’t get too excited. The closest we came was Labour’s pledge to ‘develop proposals to enable registered Supporters Trusts to buy stakes in their club’. The Conservatives stayed well clear of the whole issue in their manifesto, so expect the debate around the governance and transparency of football to rumble on for a while yet.
Whoever wins the next election, the sports, arts and culture budgets will face significant cuts. After 2012, the money simply won’t be around to be pumped into sports and major event bids. But the future is bright – participation in sport is going up, Leicester City are nearing the playoffs and by 2015 we might have a rugby team good enough to beat the Irish, which would be nice.
This blog post has been written for Synergy by Nick Carter from Engine public affairs agency and sports politics experts, Mandate.
By Synergy on April 14th, 2010
Tags: Consultancy, DCMS, General election, Sponsorship, Sport
A trip down virtual memory lane
Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
- Ferris Bueller
Sentiments borne of teenage frustration and a need for escape, rebellion and self-expression from the master of the ‘80s genre, the late great John Hughes. A simpler time, one might argue: the days before the web, wi-fi, information aggregation and real-time status updates live-streamed from a virtual community of billions.
Nowadays, information overload is well-documented, but to put things into context, it’s worth reviewing a snippet of the review of web use in 2009 from the legends at Pingdom.
So, in 2009:
- 90 trillion emails were sent…of which 81% were classified as spam (that’s 200 billion mails a day)
- A total of 234 billion websites were catalogued…with a further 47 million added last year
- There were 1.73 billion internet users worldwide…an 18% increase on 2008
- 126 million blogs were tracked by BlogPulse…with 84% of social network sites with more women than men
- Microblogs weighed in with a hefty 27.3 million tweets per day…although 57% of Twitter’s user base is in the US
- Facebook reached 350m users…50% of whom logged on every day
- 4 billion images were hosted on Flickr…however, 2.5 billion per month were uploaded to Facebook
- 1 billion videos were viewed per day on You Tube…with the average user watching 182 videos per month
And breathe.
In an age where the relentless pace of technological change means that many of us feel like we’re running to stand still, how do we find the time to stand and stare? If only there was some kind of machine that could take you back, pre-tipping point, or at least let you remember what things once looked and felt like…
You’ll be needing the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Whether it’s for research, curiosity or simple nostalgia, this is a really fascinating resource. Type in whatever website you’re interested in and the site will offer you glimpses of archived pages from as far back as the mid ‘90s.
Just to get you started, how about:
Granted, hardware, software and coding changes mean that not every page works perfectly or looks exactly as it used to. However, it’s a great way of frittering away a couple of minutes online, and even acts as a would-be stomach pump for the reclamation of forgotten morsels of data that Google, like a virtual sarlacc, has swallowed up but is now unable to regurgitate via organic search, such is the ceaseless growth of cyberspace.
Whether you find what you’re looking for or not, such online time travel confirms that LP Hartley knew what he was talking about…the past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.
By Jonathan Izzard on April 12th, 2010
Tags: Blogging, Content, Default, Facebook, Media, Online communities, YouTube, community
Karen Earl: Sponsorship drives global brand affinity
‘Sponsorship’s flexibility means it can be integrated into all marketing activities.’ Read Karen Earl on sponsorship from the April 2010 edition of Admap magazine here
By Synergy on April 9th, 2010
Tags: Press Clipping
The Jameson Empire Awards 2010
The weekend before Easter saw the Synergy team glamming it up and walking the red carpet for our friends at Jameson, in preparation for the 2010 Jameson Empire Awards ceremony in London.
Ray Winstone with daughters, Jamie and Lois who presented him with the Jameson Empire Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema (c) Photo: Karwai Tang / Alpha Press
For those unfamiliar with the Awards, they are universally considered to be the most fun Awards in the British film calendar. Regularly attended by the top echelons of Hollywood glitterati, the 2010 ceremony was no exception with a guest list that included the casts of The Clash of Titans, Kick-Ass as well as Hollywood royalty Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and legendary guest of honour, Sir Ian McKellen.
Synergy’s role was two-fold: international PR support enabling Jameson HQ in Dublin to successfully engage five international markets around the world to use the Jameson Empire Awards for local PR in their home nation, and creation and management of the Jameson guest hospitality programme, across 13 markets.
Central to the PR programme was the Jameson Done in 60 Seconds Award, inviting amateur film-makers to re-make 60-second versions of their favourite Hollywood blockbuster. Synergy created a central PR toolkit for each market to pick up and implement in their own region, encouraging entries from their nation and making the Done in 60 Seconds competition truly global for the first time.
As part of the Jameson guest hospitality programme, Done in 60 Seconds finalists from each market were then invited to London on Friday 26th March – two days prior to the full Awards ceremony – to attend the International Finals Party, held at 24:London. There, the panel of judges – including British directing talent Edgar Wright and Michael Bassett, Empire’s editor, Mark Dinning and British actor Jason Isaacs (who was absent on the day but consulted remotely) – viewed the sixteen final films, heralding from Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Holland, Ireland and the UK. Five finalists were chosen, who then went on to attend the Jameson Empire Awards on the Sunday night, where the final winner was to be crowned victorious.
Jameson branded Routemaster buses were specially commissioned to transport guests around London on their Movie Mania Tour
Between this event and the Awards night, Synergy put together a full guest management programme for visiting markets: the Jameson Movie Mania Tour.
It began with a behind the scenes tour of St Paul’s with private access to the geometric staircase most recently used in Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes. Guests were greeted by a Professor Dumbledore look-a-like running down the geometric staircase as he does in Harry Potter the Prisoner of Azkaban. The St Paul’s tour finished up in the Wren Suite were guests were treated to an exclusive performance by world famous illusionist Keith Barry.
Guests then re-boarded their Jameson Routemaster and were taken to the Bluebird Restaurant in Chelsea for a private three course lunch in the Gallery Room, before heading to Borough Market for the final part of their Jameson Movie Mania Tour. Simon Rodway and John Ashton movie experts from Silver Cane Tours guided guests through Borough Markets movie locations, ending at Bridget Jones’s flat door, where guests were met by a Hugh Grant look-a-like. Guests then got back on the bus and headed back to The Langham Hotel.
Our Experiential team did such a top job of entertaining all of Jameson’s international guests, that Event Magazine ran a feature on the weekend last week. Have a read here.
On the night of the Awards, Synergy managed the Jameson press room, ensuring all the global markets were equipped with full video and photographic assets from the night, enabling them to bring some of their own local talent to attend the event, creating greater relevancy and PR back home (such as Croatian actress Natasa Janjic, below).
The attendance of international movie stars such as Croatian Natasa Janjic helped Jameson's global markets secure local coverage of the event (c) Getty Images for Jameson
As for the Done in 60 Seconds Award, it was our favourite Top Gun that clinched the top prize, with Cambridge accountant Mark Wong – director and star of the re-make – taking to the stage, still in costume as Maverick, and collecting his much-deserved Jameson Empire Award. Watch the final masterpiece here.
Done in 60 Seconds winner Mark Wong clutches his Jameson Empire Award for his Top Gun re-make (c) Getty Images for Jameson
But if that hasn’t given you enough of a flavour of life on the red carpet, have a look at Empire’s full videoblogisode of the event below. It certainly keeps some variety to what we do, swapping muddy rugby pitches for red carpet glamour.
Bring on the 2011 Awards.
By Lucie Bartlett on April 7th, 2010
Tags: Alcohol, Brand marketing, Event management consultants, Event management service, Film, Public relations, Sponsorship consultancy, Synergy
Jameson creates Movie Mania Tour for Empire Awards
Synergy creates movie mania tour to entertain 13 markets from around the world to celebrate the 2010 Jameson Empire Awards. To read the full story in Event magazine click here
By Synergy on April 6th, 2010
Tags: Press Clipping
BMW and Mr Uwe Bean Hadde show true (April Fool’s Day) colours
I do like a good April Fool’s Day story. As it turns out, so do my colleagues within Engine Towers.
Synergy’s Guinness spoof aftershave story that ran in this morning’s Metro was PR gold (I would say that…) but hats off to our advertising friends upstairs at WCRS who created BMW’s gem of an April Fool’s Day advert for today’s press.
Anything that can simultaneously get me excited about the General Election AND make me want to buy a new car is all good in my book.
Love it.
By Stephanie Branston on April 1st, 2010
Tags: Advertising, Public relations
Eau d’rugby – smells like a PR stunt
Life as a PR can put you in some fairly bizarre situations, but frankly yesterday topped it all. Along with many other PR agencies across the land, we were racking our brains for an attention grabbing, media friendly angle to maximise the PR’s dream annual event – April Fool’s Day.
So to celebrate April Fool’s Day and promote the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP we created and ran a spoof story about a rugby star releasing his very own Eau d’ rugby aftershave. Ugo Monye, England’s sharp shooter was the man chosen to front the campaign which I’m sure he will regret in the changing rooms on Saturday, when his teammates rib him mercilessly.
The story went that Ugo was creating an aftershave that captured the essence of rugby with hints of sweat, aromas of deep heat, bouquets of mud and of course a drop of the black stuff. This delectable aroma was set to be stocked in all the big department stores and samples given out to rugby fans at the Guinness Premiership Final on buying a pint of Guinness.
All that was left to do was set up a photo shoot with the customary test tubes, lab coats and bunsen burners…..
In the mire of spoof stories Metro ran the piece today which hopefully you all read on your way in to work this morning and believed ….Happy April Fool’s Day.
By Simon Roche on April 1st, 2010
Tags: Guinness, Guinness Premiership, Rugby
Just another brick in the paywall?
Last week’s announcement by News International, that Times titles will become the first nationals to put content behind a subscription paywall in June this year – sister papers The Sun and News of the World will follow at a later date – marks a hugely significant change for the newspaper model as we know it. The monetising of an online model is something that newspaper proprietors have been wrestling with since they first realised that the internet wasn’t going away.
The problem is this: a digital world makes it virtually impossible to ringfence and monetise content that costs papers money to create. In addition this dilution of free content costs them potential advertising money. To rub it in, search engines such as Google are making plenty via PPC and advertising on their sites when people search for the content.
Rupert Murdoch started going on record a few years ago talking about a limited paywall on selected content. One of his papers, The Wall Street Journal, does it already with some success and he’s in discussions with Microsoft’s Bing to become an exclusive content supplier, blocking Google.
Two things then to consider – will it work and what impact might it have on us in the sponsorship industry.
So first off – will it work?
Given the decline of ad revenues and traditional circulations publishers are looking for something that will.
The real issue is that news is free – for example the BBC, whose charter currently restricts their ability to charge for online content, will always be a free source and skews the market.
However, move beyond news to detailed analysis, unique content, marquee journalists and specialist sectors (fashion, sport, business, culture etc) and people are more likely to pay for it and if they have to pay for the news to get this package they will – as the announcement by News International says -’quality journalism never matters so much as it does today’.
In effect, a Sky TV model for newspapers online – you really want the football but first you have to buy the basics. It’s a clever and bold step by News International but no one knows if it will be the long term solution to the online challenge – even if their competitors follow them.
The power of online content is around the creation and interaction of the very communities it’s aimed at. The new sites will undoubtedly go further then before in giving consumers the chance to interact but does this miss the point that consumers now have the power and desire to create their own communities – they’ve moved from passive to active.
Rather then locking their doors to them, media owners could have a more fruitful future by becoming a platform for these communities and therefore becoming joint creators of content with the very consumers advertisers are willing to pay a lot of money to target.
But what impact might it have on the sponsorship industry?
I see a short term and a long term answer. In the short term, sponsors used to placing unique content their sponsorships afford will find themselves either having to restrict their PR outlets or likely pay to get it placed – never a happy prospect.
But in the long term this change could offer real potential with brands and media owners working together towards a mutual goal. Brands really know how to target consumers while media owners know how to create compelling content.
A savvy sponsor could play this bridging role between the existing consumer communities and a media platform with a paywall. For example, a football sponsor could buy out the paywall themselves around a major event like the opening weekend of the season. The existing audience on the media platform will be absolutely on-target; after all they’ve been paying for this content up to this time.
Give this community, both existing and new, a chance to co-create content with you on a prestigious media platform and as a sponsor you’ll build genuine affinity.
However it pans out over the next year, it’s going to be about playing the game by new rules which makes it both daunting and full of opportunity.
By Dominic Curran on April 1st, 2010
Tags: Default, Media, Paywall, Public relations, Sponsorship, Sport
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