Thursday 25 February 2016

#UberPuppies: Puppies delivered to your workplace!

This morning started pretty much like any other Thursday morning waking up in my Sydney apartment. My girlfriend needed a ride into the city and I suggest for her to book an Uber taxi. But as I opened the app something was different, very different indeed!

UberPuppies! What exactly is UberPuppies? You’ve guessed it, puppies on demand delivered straight to your workplace.


Source: https://newsroom.uber.com/australia/uberpuppies-au/



Between 12-4pm today anybody with an Uber account can order puppies to be delivered to their workplace for 15 minutes for fun for a $40 fee. Teaming up with the Purina Pets At Work mission to deliver puppies to spread the love across eight cities in Australia for a limited time only.

It has been scientifically proven that our furry friends are shown to decrease stress and increase productivity in the work place. Many pet friendly initiatives have been adopted in offices across Australia making it less uncommon to work alongside animals. Of course, almost everyone is smiling when dogs are around which can bring a sense of calm to an often-stressful and busy working environment. 


Source: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com



The goal of the initiative is to encourage the adoption of pets and help to raise funds for local animal shelters. In fact, all the puppies taking part in the UberPuppies initiative are up for adoption and in need of a new home. The proceeds of the special delivery will be donated to shelters in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, The Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, The Sunshine Coast and Sydney.

Of course, if you are worried about the puppies welfare fear not. This is a limited time initiative with successful requesters being subjected to screening to ensure the puppies safety is a priority. The biggest danger however may be just how many people fall in love with their new fury friends!

I think this is a fantastic piece of marketing from Uber and a great way to raise the profile of their taxi service along by helping a great cause. It comes off the back of a similar campaign last year, UberKittens, which saw friendly felines sharing their love in the workplace. Of course, before requesting one of the Uberpuppies, you may first have to check that is OK with your boss to have an animal in the office for 15 minutes of fun.

Robert Brunning
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Tuesday 23 February 2016

ANZ & Mardi Gras take full swing

Since 2014, the business of banking for ANZ has given some of its ATM’s in Sydney a fabulous makeover with glitter, paints and sparkles in support of LGBTI celebration of Mardi Gras.

This year however, to mark one decade’s support towards Mardi Gras, ANZ have spent the weekend completely revamping their branch on Oxford Street to make it into a baroque inspired #GAYNZ, “fit for a queen”. The creative agency behind this fabulous campaign was Whybin/TBWA with execution by The Glue Society.

In working with Whybin, Mark Hand, chair of ANZ’s Australia Division diversity council said “They’ve got the recognition they deserve globally with awards out of Cannes. It’s fantastic for them and we’re happy to be their muse in some respect, to be able to provide a canvas for them to show their creativity. It’s phenomenal what they’ve done and they deserve every plaudit that they get”.


The new GAYNZ features two new GAYTM’s, ornate walls, marble floor and 16 unique hand painted murals inspired by the LGBTI community. Mr. Hand stated that “diversity, inclusions and respect is an important part of what we doat ANZ so we are particularly proud of our partnership with Mardi Gras, which started because our staff passionately believed in supporting the cause 10 years ago."


The ANZ Bank further collaborated with Twitter to develop a rainbow colored flag emoji that will appear whenever #GAYNZ is used across the social media platform.

Four GAYTM’s have also been given back to the George Street and Pitt Street branches. ATM operator fees for non-ANZ cardholders from GAYTMs will once again be donated to Twenty10, a not-for-profit organisation working with and supporting people of diverse genders, sexes and sexualities, their families and communities.

While a number of brands do support the Mardi Gras, many question as to why more don’t get involved considering it is a great way for brands to get some of their own support.  For those wanting a fun, fabulous and flamboyant night, check out the parade which will be held on Saturday March 5th.
 
 As for us Marketing students, we will be welcoming a new large cohort. To celebrate their commencement into the Masters of Marketing, welcome drinks and an evening of introductions will be held this Thursday 25th of February in the New Business Building. For further information please contact lauren.musat@gmail.com 



Lauren Musat
Current student in the Master of Marketinprogram at the University of Sydney Business School

Thursday 18 February 2016

Modern marketing for Maccas, you say?


Taking a look into the evolution of products and communications for retail giant McDonald’s.

  

 
There is no doubt that consumers are increasingly becoming more demanding, particularly due to the variety of choice we now get. With this being said, brands such as McDonald’s have responded by evolving their products and communication strategies to meet the changes in customer needs.
In 2015, the initial launch of their new steak range of products saw McDonald’s enter the experiential world of marketing where elements of fun, disruption and interaction bought over the hearts and wallets of thousands of consumers. Lunchtime was not deemed so ‘boring’ anymore and Maccas now saw their campaign make it into the notorious Guinness World Records. 
As the whole campaign centered around the idea of this red and yellow ‘lunchbox’, McDonalds decided to build one that really reinforced the idea of Maccas being the fast food ‘giant’.
The lunchbox was parked outside the Opera House for two days gaining interest, traction and curiosity from all the foot traffic travelling past. Once the #maccaslunchbox was opened a restaurant appeared giving away free sampling testers of the steak wrap.

The success of this campaign saw customers interact with the pop up restaurant by using their unique #maccaslunchbox hash tag to post images across social media generating a huge amount of awareness for the brand. The success of the campaign enabled Maccas to pack up their lunch and move it across the country.
Current Consumer Challenges:
There will always be a level of marketing challenges businesses will face. With the plethora of new innovative technologies on the scene, the idea of being able to really ‘connect’ with consumers will be something that McDonald’s need to continue to address in order to stay ahead of the curb.
Consumers in this day and age want to feel valued, they want to feel good about the food they put into their mouth and Maccas really needs to keep up with the times along with the changing lifestyle and needs of the people keeping them in business.
Maccas – World leader or follower?
Even though McDonald’s is perceived as a large international brand, each country continues to operate autonomously. Australian CMO for McDonald’s stated that “over the past 40 years, McDonald’s has been part of the Australian fabric and community and we’re really passionate about serving that community, so I wouldn’t say that we ‘lead the world’, I just think were independent and we just do what’s right for us”.
Brds these days lose sight of who they are and whom they are targeting their products to. If McDonald’s Australia was to implement the same communications strategy and product lines seen in India or America, I don’t believe their success would have lasted this long.
We as an Ozzie nation love our coffee and with the introduction of cooking shows such as MKR and Masterchef we have wanted to become more involved in the process of cooking, along with an understanding about what exactly were eating.
McDonald’s remains hugely successful at understanding their consumers. They listen and observe, and as a result of the changing face of Australian consumer needs, launched the McCafe along with the ‘Create Your Taste’ meals.
The Modern Media Menu
When CMO Lollback was asked about the best media mix for McDonald’s, his response indicated that McDonald’s Australia is a large media buyer that uses a diverse range of media channels. At the end of the day, Maccas is a large conglomerate brand that has multiple parts, trying to serve customers seven days a week with multiple messages and multiple demographics.
“We absolutely still use TV and see television as a really important part of our portfolio. We definitely use outdoor, we use radio, we use mobile, we are very much on social media. Money moves around – I don’t think anybody would be surprised to see more money be directed into digital – but it’s not an avalanche,” says Lollback.
McDonald’s has always been a big user of outdoor, however once it moves towards a more digitalised environment consumers should start to really see some clever pieces of advertising being promoted across the country. Reflecting on our culture, I suppose outdoor has proven to be hugely successful for the Australian division as most of the Australian consumers drive around in their cars, or catch busses and trains.
Lollback predicts that outdoor will continue to evolve but it will depend on location. It only makes sense if there is proximity, however over time consumers should start to see some interesting things happen. In terms of interactivity, mega sites like Trafalgar Square in London have already started to be utilised in a creative way.
In regards to digital, it still remains to be quite an erratic medium to use. “Digital is going to open up a lot of flexibility around out-of-home,” Lollback says. “We’re exploring, we’re experimenting, but to be able to do it en masse, on road signs and the like, it’s still got a long way to go.”
Looking Ahead
Having been the market leader for a considerable amount of time, McDonald’s doesn’t get too distracted or focused on its competitors. At this point in time, the best thing they can do is grow. The more they lead, the more they will continue to innovate and in return customers will reward them.
There is no doubt that customers want more choice than ever, demands are increasing and lifestyles are changing. With this being said it is up to Maccas to continue leading their category and respond to the changing face of Australia.

Monday 15 February 2016

Can you “Taste the feeling”? Coca Cola’s new revitalized “one brand” global strategy


Over the decades, Coke has remained as one of the only brands that have delivered some of the most memorable taglines in advertising history.




Coca-Cola have finally unveiled their new 'one brand' global marketing strategy, and the “Taste the Feeling” tagline and campaign. This global strategy will hopefully bring together all their trademark products under one iconic brand image.

'One Brand' aims to diversify the global equity and iconic appeal of the brand, where the “taste the feeling” campaign aims to celebrate Coca-Cola through universal storytelling and everyday moments which center around the beverage.

The Australian campaign in particular will feature a number of outdoor advertisements placed in some of our more prime positions, such as Kings Cross, along with coverage on social media, POS, experiential and sampling.

This new chapter for the powerhouse brand celebrates the notion that the simple pleasure of drinking Coca-Cola makes the moment more special. Chief Marketing officer, Marcos De Quinto describes the “one brand” approach:

“More than ever, we recognise people want their Coca-Cola in different ways, but whichever one they want, they want a Coca-Cola brand with great taste and uplifting refreshment. Through the ‘one brand’ strategy we will move away from multiple brand campaigns, to one single iconic brand campaign that celebrates both the product and the brand.”

Proving its success in the UK back in March 2015, the new strategy may also help Coke win over a younger demographic of consumers. In this day and age, young people want to feel part of a global society and they are continuously looking for brands that can help them participate in one. The new generation will do well in creating equity for Coke as an enabler, someone who empowers consumers to feel part of a global conversation and community. It will represent a good blueprint for other big brands to follow.

It is much more difficult delivering a global campaign to a global consumer. Even though the concept of 'one brand' seems to be something of benefit to the Coke brand, it will be interesting to see whether this global campaign will gain the same level of cut-through as its previous advertisements.

 
 

Lauren Musat
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Super Bowl: An advertisers dream

Super bowl Sunday has ended with the Denver Broncos beating the Carolina Panthers in what many fans have said to be one of the more dull finals in the games' fifty-year history. Fortunately, one thing that almost never disappoints is the half time show and accompanying advertisements that has become somewhat of an event in themselves, not only for fans of the sport but even for the casual viewer.

Source: http://www.adlip.com/


Some call it the greatest sporting event in the world. But for me, it is the greatest marketing event in the world! Marketing during the annual event has grown significantly over the years as brands invest millions to reach consumers. A thirty second advertising slot back in 1967 at Super Bowl 1 watched by 51.8 million people would have set you back at mere $42k. Fast-forward to Super bowl 49 in 2015, which was seen by more than 168 million people, the same thirty-second slot was priced at over 5 million dollars.   

Advertising at the Super bowl is now bigger and more important than it has ever been and not just from a numbers perspective. In a world where audiences are migrating away from TV, preferring to watch content ad-free or with catch-up services, live sporting fixtures take on even greater significance.

Perhaps one of the most creative big game ads came in 2014 from the agency Droga5, who produced the “If we made it” for the beer manufacturer Newcastle Brown Ale. But technically this ad didn’t even exist! Well, it didn’t find its way into a Super Bowl spot at least. The ad is essentially a self-deprecating look at the advertisement the company would have made if they had enough money to actually advertise during the big game. The ad playfully mocked the marketing industry and the role celebrities play in endorsing products.

Source: http://www.adweek.com/

The agency released teasers and trailers for the ads they would have made featuring cameos from Hollywood heavyweights Anna Kendrick and Arnold Schwarzenegger. By poking fun in such a unique way, the anti-endorsements of the beer received 10 million views in just two weeks. The campaign received over 600 organic media placements with over 1 billion in total impressions. In fact, the non-ad even trended above the actual game itself for two days on Facebook news!

Not bad for an ad than never made it into one of the 30 second, 5 million dollar timeslots!

Robert Brunning
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School