“Ethical behaviour by corporations is justified only if it leads to greater profits.”

There is one topic I have been procrastinating for a while to write about - whether employing provocative content in marketing communications or campaigns is justified by sales, or is it just not worth it to compromise our legal and moral obligations. I wanted to put off having such a discussion, even when the latest Rolling Stone issue putting Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s - “Boston bomber” photo on its cover. It got me really mad, but I am still not sure where I stand in this ethical dilemma.

However, identifying and collecting such ethical marketing issues has now become a part of my coursework in our Regulatory Environment and Ethics class, there is no further excuse to postpone the discussion.

Yes, as marketers we are pretty clear that sometimes even backlash created by marketing activities seems much better in comparison with absolute lack of consumers’ interest. So, there is no surprise why in today’s highly connected world such marketing tactics has become even more acceptable. On Twitter for example, as one UK marketing agency reveals, controversial content is a main driver of a successful social media marketing campaign. In a bid to stand out, and thus to capture greater customer attention, many firms are progressively testing how far they can go with controversial or even offensive content.

While for some companies this strategy may bring valuable marketing outcomes, Rolling Stone recent case instead has showed how it also could be pulled in a Boycott Rolling Stone campaign. Once its controversial cover appeared on the Rolling Stone's website, it immediately became a wide spread buzz topic across all social media. Not surprisingly, that nearly all the comments were highly negative. Here is one comment written by a very tolerant respondent: “CONGRATULATIONS, ROLLING STONE. YOU SOLD YOUR SOUL FOR SALES” .

With this Rolling Stone case I am pretty clear where I am. However, according to AdWeek, Boycott Rolling Stone hasn’t affected the magazine’s sales in any way, I would like to argue that even from a marketing perspective not all publicity is a good publicity. Growing sales cannot be a simple justification for being offensive. For me, the main risk of breaking the moral line is not whether an offensive campaign gains or losses in sales, but whether I, as a marketer, act in an ethically reasonable fashion.

It is definitely an endless discussion when it comes to where to draw the line for provocative marketing campaigns. Is this statement: “Ethical behaviour by corporations is justified only if it leads to greater profits” true? Luckily, we get a great chance at gaining a broader view on that through our Regulatory Environment and Ethics class this semester in Master of Marketing program at The University of Sydney Business School.

Elena Sveshnikova
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Virgin Mobile’s Content Marketing is LOL on Buzzfeed

It’s no secret that the webpage you just stumbled upon, littered with funny cats and embarrassing photos, is a really a sponsored advertisement. If you don’t notice the back slash hidden in the URL (in this case /virginmobilelive) you’ll probably notice that instead of some staff writer, trawling the Internet for pictures of dogs eating birthday cake, it’s the avatar belonging to a leading mobile service provider.

Buzzfeed’s viral success is due to their magic formula of understanding the Internet, and providing the type of content that people will share. Companies like Virgin pay about $100,000 a month in order to obtain a joint venture with the platform and publisher. That's money very cleverly spent, considering Buzzfeed claim they have found the secret to virality. In a recent interview with New York Magazine Jonah Peretti, Founder and CEO, speaks about how they’ve found the “secret formula” to “viral optimisation.” A part of this process is monitoring the performance of posts, promoting ones that do well, and ruthlessly dropping ones that do not perform. That’s why you may have noticed the same few titles and pictures floating around – they get to stay because they attract more people to the site.

Whether or not this formula works, companies are eager to jump on the content bandwagon. Creating new, original content that will gain traction is difficult. It’s an art form. So why not use something that’s already working?

I can’t decide whether Virgin’s collaboration with Buzzfeed is innovative or not. It definitely works though. There is no doubt that people around the world are sharing “11 Things No One Wants To See You Instagram” and “27 Cats That Just Can’t Handle It” but the relationship to how this activity is selling product will be a secret kept by the companies – a difficult ROI to work out. There are other marketing elements however, like making impressions and generating a personality for your brand. Perhaps these intangible elements are even more important in a digital age where people are trying to affirm their own individual identities through the content they consume and share.

Regardless, Buzzfeed’s traffic has doubled within the last 6 months. It doesn’t seem to be going anywhere as a leading platform to communicate with the masses. Perhaps we should take a leaf from Virgin Mobile and embrace collaborative content creation for better, more LOL exposure on the internet.

Hongi Luo 
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

What if your firm closed its doors on customer service?

What do you usually expect to receive while ordering something online? Hopefully exactly what you ordered, even though there is always a risk of getting something completely different. It could be the wrong colour or the apparel doesn’t fit you well. When such annoying things happen, you hope the company will want to help you resolve your issue.

In our Internal Marketing class, and in a way through our entire last semester at the University of Sydney Business School, I have learned that at the end of any marketing strategy, CRM, big data and many other hidden weapons of the marketing industry, there is a customer. For the firm, to satisfy his or her needs is the objective of their company.

Banana Republic, with its recent online ordering slip-up, seems definitely falling far short of their customer expectation. An American couple were bowled over when they got the parcel from Banana Republic. As Huffington Post reports instead of a tie and pocket square they expected, the package from Banana Republic instead contained sensitive “employee documents: Social Security numbers, tax forms, resignation letters, legal notices, doctors' notes and performance reviews.”

What a shame, but honestly this stuff happens with any firm. The only difference between truly consumer-oriented and others is how the company deals with such situations. You would think from such mature companies like Gap Inc, which Banana Republic is a part of, customers, even those of us who are students of marketing, expect a certain level of customer service.

But what surprised me even more is how much efforts those customers had put in force to reach the attention of Gap’s customer service. They tried to get at the company through regular customer channels, but there were no responses from the firm. The couple only got a serious response when they had employed their social media, communicating their issue through Twitter and Tumblr accounts.

Although a Gap representative finally apologised by saying: “We take the confidentiality of personal information very seriously and we strive to deliver a perfect customer experience, every time… Regrettably, human mistakes happen and this was one of them,” there is still one question for the company: has the company expressed the same apology to its employees whose personal data and information could have been compromised?

I am wondering if Gap has dealt with this situation wisely. This recent Gap case is a vibrant example of how important is to take customer request and complaints seriously and keep your customer service door opened. If Gap has promptly dealt with this particular complaint, we would not be scrutinising them in the media, proving the importance of good customer service for any company.

Elena Sveshnikova
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Welcome Semester 2 with open arms!

I cannot believe that for most of our cohort, we are halfway through our Masters of Marketing degree! It’s been such an eventful six months, and I anticipate just as much excitement and learning in the next semester. For the first time, mid-year intake has been available for the Master of Marketing at the University of Sydney Business School. This means some new students will join us this week. I’d like to take the time to welcome everyone who will be a part of our marketing family! And to current students, let’s get right back in to learning together!

Google’s Deepak Ramanathan tells us what kind of people Google like to hire

 

I’ve mentioned this on many occasions, but one of the benefits I enjoy the most from being a student at the University of Sydney Business School is all the opportunities for interaction with industry gurus. I can honestly say that most of us a probably pretty ga-ga for Google. So I, along with many other students from the Masters of Marketing and the MBA cohort, jumped at the chance for a Q&A session with the Head of Marketing of Search at Google. Deepak Ramanathan, alumni of University of Sydney Business School, is based in Mountain View, USA, and sat down with us on Saturday 20th July to chat about what it’s like at Google.

The talk was a fantastic back and forth between students and Deepak, gaining great insight not only into Google, but many pearls of wisdom from Deepak’s meritorious career. One major take-away Deepak gave was about how to be a global company. Google, while spanning oceans and continents, is still an international company based primarily in one location. Just like many other companies. Deepak spoke about the importance of first and foremost setting up your company to be global. At Mountain View a range of people from around the world, just like Deepak, work together on the grand strategy of Google. This is not just about fulfilling a diversity requirement. Your company must be set up with different regions, and different thinking in mind in order to gain perspective from all areas.

Deepak gave the example of Google Korea. As a very successful product, Google Search had no doubt that adoption of the new google.co.kr would be high. However, results were not as expected. When Google looked into the matter, it was found that many Koreans thought that the website was still under construction. In comparison with existing websites, such as Naver.com, which had images, weather, links and news, the Google Korea search page seemed ‘incomplete,’ and people thought, “Oh, well I’ll come back and give it a try once it’s finished!” As well as this, it is extremely difficult to type in Korean. This is why users prefer pages with links already there – because it saves them the time and hassle.

Although Google gained great insight into the Korean market, they also learned a lesson on the importance of perspective.

And of course, being Google, we were all eager to hear how to go about getting a job. Although Deepak didn’t walk us through the step-by-step process of sweet-talking our way into the heart of the tech giant, he did explain the three types of people Google likes:

1. People who get stuff done. People who want to do things fast, experiment, and test. This is often what drives those ‘Google stories’ – the mentality of their worker’s motivation to make change happen.
2. Be flexible. Expect things to be different, to change. While many of us get caught up on long term plans, Google likes people who don’t plan too far ahead. Especially in an ever-changing industry, you can’t expect all your plans to work out.
3. Although echoed over and over, one word can’t be beat: Passion. It shows when people have are passionate. And Google is looking for it!

So with this in mind, go forth! Be spontaneous! Have passion! And perhaps Google will spot you a mile away from their newly refurbished Maps app, and hand you a delicious tech job on a silver platter!

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

What’s behind that package you ordered online?

I am constantly telling myself that I need to pay more attention to marketing areas outside of this little screen and keyboard that forms my laptop – and a portal to the world. Recently however, I read on a 2013 Deloitte report that spoke of the changing nature of consumer behaviour. The rapid adoption of portable devices, like smart phones and tablets, has changed not only where we can check our email, but our whole system of behaviour. Deloitte predicts that mobile sales, currently 5.1% of total retail sales, will increase exponentially to reach 17–21% ($628-$752 billion) of total sales by 2016.

So how are companies going to cope with all this fast paced change?

In my research, I came across an article by The Business of Fashion, going backstage at a growing company providing solutions for the fast growing e-commerce industry. Although just ONE aspect in the chain of events involved in online retailing, the article talks about an extremely important element: how do we get our product to our customer?

While many companies have dedicated distribution centers that are already efficient and cost-effective, many start-ups cannot afford this luxury if they are to stay competitive. This is where Quiet Logistics come in. Quiet Logistics, based in Devens, Massachusetts, is unlike any traditional shipping warehouse. Although the 275,000 square-foot facility is packed with approximately 1.5 million units of inventory, the whole place is surprisingly calm and quiet. This is because the whole operation is run predominately by robots. Catering to growing apparel companies like Bonobos and Nasty Gal, the robots diligently fulfill orders with accuracy and efficiency.

The marketing cherry on top of this e-commerce cupcake is the personal touch at the end of the process. You may never know that your package has not come directly from the company you purchased it from. Once the robot fulfills its duties, the package is then passed onto a human to be examined, wrapped – sometimes with a personalized note - with the care likened to a birthday present from your grandma. And this is what makes Quiet Logistics different to other shipping companies.

As we all know, the points of contact with customers are changing, and companies need to take every opportunity to make a good impression. In an age where the retail experience is being challenged, small companies rely on the personal touch Quiet Logistics offers to build and maintain their relationships with their customers.

Although this definitely is not the end of the conversation when it comes to the growing e-commerce industry, it’s an interesting aspect think about and understand. As marketers, mapping journeys, like the one of your product, from website to doorstep, can provide opportunities for innovation and moments for you to make another connection with your customer.

You can read more about Quiet Logistics.

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Animal rights – marketing to just get a reaction?

“There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Although this age old saying can be disputed, and it’s validity questioned from situation to situation, when it comes to the protection of animals, perhaps this quote rings true.

Last week the Queensland RSPCA launched a repositioning campaign with the help of creative agency, Engine Group. ‘WE are all creatures great & small’ aims to create empathy in people toward animals by sharing some of the elements and aspects that make humans and animals to closely interconnected. With a little help from the photo-retouching department, the similarities between humans and animals are not only written, but also shown.

Does it work?

Some of the pictures are definitely a bit eerie, dipping into the uncanny valley with a pussycat looking pensive with human-like eyes reminding us that 90% of a cat’s DNA sequence is identical or ours. Perhaps this discomfort is what makes the campaign successful.

The toolbox of marketing for non-profit organisations with ecological agendas is a small one. Often you can reach for the cutesy ‘please pity us’ approach, using small children, puppy dogs, and sad drought laden landscapes. Or in contrast to that, you can use the ‘shame and guilt’ approach, creating pressure by pointing the finger at potential supporters. This second approach is more aggressive. It’s saying, ‘it’s your fault these chickens are caged’ ‘it’s your fault our oceans are filled with plastic,’ and it brings blame, but also defence.

In our Contemporary Consumer Insight class last semester at the University of Sydney Business School, I looked into how non-profits conducted marketing in ways that were effective or ineffective. The more aggressive approach often uses real facts and data to appeal to a sense of reason within people. However, overwhelmingly the insight learned is that people are defensive and respond negatively. It is because they do not want to be blamed and automatically try and stand up for our actions. The prime example is the argument of vegetarianism and meat consumption. Although there are many facts out there that accuse meat-eaters of ruining the planet, it is just as easy to turn around and say, “eating meat is natural and I can do what I like!”

Often ecological agendas come from a passionate place. This is why it is so easy for marketing activity to fall into an accusatory tune. By knowing that this is ineffective, marketers can look at other strategies to communicate.

The campaign by Queensland RSPCA reaches a place in between cute and creepy. It aims not to guilt us into caring, but rather reminding us to be more aware. And whether or not this campaign has actually invoked empathy in people, it’s definitely been successful in grabbing attention. We feed our sense of curiosity to the weird and bizarre by sharing and talking with others, as I have done here. In the case of animal rights, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity,” and the RSPCA have done a great job in getting people’s attention.

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Why we become a brand liker on Facebook?

I have just become a Red Bull Facebook fan. Honestly I don’t know what compelled me to sign up. Yes, I do like all extreme sport images they post. But being a Master of Marketing student, I query about if there is something more than simply being a Facebook fan of particular brand, or whether or not it actually affects my purchasing habits of Red Bull?

Why do consumers sign up for brand pages in social networks? This question has become the focal interest in many marketers when trying to calculate ROI and find out the real value in brand social media subscribers. And do we, as marketers, actually understand what the reason why people ‘like’ particular brand on Facebook?

New research “The Value of a Facebook Fan 2013” conducted by Syncapse shows that 78 per cent of brand Facebook fans are already existing product or services customers. As a rule, it is primarily for restaurants, large retailers, FMCG-sector. However, there are exceptions - brands whose products are desired by many, but not available to everyone. For example, subscribers of BMW are only 36% of its clients.

 

The study focused on the Facebook communities of top the 20 brands in key consumer categories and involved over 2,080 people through evaluating some key factors like spending, loyalty, willingness to recommend, acquisition cost, and brand empathy.

Syncapse found that 49 per cent have become brand fans because they truly like the specific brand and thus use Facebook to support beloved brand. Other 31 per cent consider brand Facebook page as place where they can share their personal good experiences.

While real brand fans and supporters dominate Facebook pages, there is still 42 per cent those who primarily subscribe to brand pages “to get a coupon or discount.” Research shows that in some cases showed in popular retail brands like Zara, H&M and Wal-Mart – people have become brand Facebook likers while hunting for valued benefits such as coupons and discounts rather than aiming to support the brand.

Going through the research paper, I found myself between those 41 per cent who simply want to be updated with the brand news, and those 35 per cent willing “to participate in contests”. In this case, the question is whether or not my particular “like” could bring any value to Red Bull.

Seriously, it has become pretty obvious from the research that with the goal to multiply our social media efforts and investments, we as marketers need to clearly understand and tap into the motivation of our brand fans. Instead of wasting our marketing budget on fan-hunters looking for a bargain, we should further build the emotional ties and relationships with the 49 per cent of loyal brand likers.

Elena Sveshnikova
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Dear Google, From Melbourne.

Moving to a new country can be extremely daunting. In fact, travelling any where outside of your locality can be a major pain, and major brain drain. Once the sparkle and wander of your new surroundings wear off, and the overwhelming sense of confusion and exhaustion sets in, we all have that moment – “where am I?”

When I moved to Sydney to attend the Master of Marketing, at the University of Sydney, I arrived bright eyed and enthusiastic. Granted, I was terrified of public transport for the first few days, and I think I must have worn a hole in my sneakers from walking everywhere. I eventually warmed up to confidently catching buses, trains and ferries, fearlessly making transfers and crossing the entire city of Sydney. And without a doubt, I owe my public transport skills to my iPhone, Google Maps, and that little blue GPS dot.

Let’s not get into Apple Maps. That’s a whole other conversation.

In July of 2012 Google added live public transport directions to Sydney on Maps. This wasn’t just the location of bus stops, train stations or major public transport hubs – this was an app that could plan your journey from beginning to end, transfers and street crossings included. When embarking on a new bus journey for the first time, you could follow your little blue GPS dot, counting down the stops before yours, and confidently press the “BUS STOP” button without fear you are miles from your intended destination.

I know this all sounds very trivial. But I am an advocate for public transport, especially for travellers in a new city. Not only is it convenient and cheap, it gives a sense that the city is welcoming you in, letting you feel right at home, and allowing you to know which train station to get off at. And I think that’s good marketing.

After being sheltered in my public transport bubble in Sydney, Google shocked me back down to earth when I recently visited Melbourne for the weekend. “Public Transport coverage may not be available in this area.” Why not?! Apparently this topic is greatly debated over on the Internet. There are forums, petitions, websites, articles that all call for the collaboration of Public Transport Victoria to work with Google Maps to provide journey planning for Melbourne. For a city with one of the world’s largest rail systems, and the biggest tram system in the English-speaking world, a consumer demand is definitely not being met. In comparison, it seems embarrassing that Perth, Adelaide and Canberra have long had their Google Maps working with public transport.

I’m not sure to whom I am complaining to, but from a marketing perspective, when there is an overwhelming demand, such as this, from your customer – you deliver! The benefits are endless. As a tourist destination, as an ecologically minded city, and while you’ve already got all these trains, buses and trams laying around anyway – Google and PTV, you need to sort it out!

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Australia at Cannes Lions

Australian Ads have had the most successful campaign in the history of the Cannes Lion.

The 60th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has become a proud part of Australian advertising history. Never before has Australian creative talent fully dominated the list of Cannes Lions winners. In my opinion, the Cannes festival is highly conservative – a kind of bourgeois event where you, as an advertiser, needs to prove your creativity, rather than being simply recognised for your talent. With this in mind, just it is impressive to see the performance of by Melbourne’s McCann for their advertisement for Metro Trains entitled "Dumb Ways to Die". As well as reaching viral status, the cute and slightly morbid cartoon scored five Grand Prix: film, PR, direct, radio and integrated.

It was a truly massive event in Cannes this year, more than 12,000 advertisers with about 35,000 ad works out lion hunting. A numbers of creative icons held inspiring speeches guiding the audience on the future of advertising. Speakers such as Apple ad-man Lee Clown, Chuck Porter - whose provocative anti-tobacco “Truth” campaign is already cutting down the number of school smokers, fashion guru Vivienne Westwood, and many others talked about two popular trends that’s going to modify the advertising world.

The first aspect is the real social impact that ads create. It doesn’t matter whether you serve not-for-profit campaigns or are creating commercial advertisements; it is time to take greater social responsibility behind you commercials. Nearly all the cases and communications at Cannes gave the impression of this idea. From public campaigns like Metro Trains’ to Coca-Cola’s “Small World Machine,” the trend of taking social responsibility when marketing a message is growing.

Technology is the other buzz topic at Cannes. This can’t be communicated better than Lee Clown, the “Think Different” creator, when he stressed:

“When the camera was invented, artists didn't just throw away their brushes and start taking pictures. It was technology for many years before artists discovered what they could do with it. I think the artist still hasn't discovered the possibilities in new media and the Internet and how you use this technology to beautifully and intelligently express brands. Technologists have had the lead for a while, but the artist will take over.”

From the 60th Cannes Lions, one simple idea can be the most valuable take-away. The capacity of technology, utilised by creative minds may be the way forward to finally support our daily life and brand experiences.

You can see a list of all winners and nominates on the Cannes Lions website.

Elena Sveshnikova
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Is social media really a worthy marketing tool?

No one would deny that social media is the major marketing buzzword nowadays. And it’s definitely going to generate buzz for a while. Nearly all companies are already on the way to become even more digital and “social”. It seems so exciting we can achieve cost effective direct collaboration and communication with a customer that was never achievable before.

But the question is whether social media, like many other innovations before it, is good or evil. While we are getting more social with our marketing, the risks involved with reputation management should not be underestimated. Only one online post by a dissatisfied customer or unhappy employee may profoundly affect a brand or company’s reputation. One can recall McDonald’s ‘social’ failure when an online campaign was hijacked by consumer’s complaints, along with many other examples of social media disasters.

Recent research from The Chartered Institute of Marketing discloses that only 44% of conducted firms not only identify the possible reputational issues but also have already applied guidelines and polices to regulate their presence in social space. 60% of those surveyed companies introduced such policies only in 2011-2012.

http://theraconteur.co.uk/risk-and-reputation-preparing-for-reality/#sthash.1H4B2Vsm.dpuf

As marketers we all want to generate attention for our brands. And social media brings enormous opportunities for this. Every single post may be a great channel for storytelling and engaging with customers. But we also need to keep in mind the risks related to social media. You can never really estimate what trends will catch on, how people will react, or predict the success of social media endeavors. It is all about how you estimate the risks you take.

Elena Sveshnikova
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Interbrand, VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLE, and Us!

A few weeks ago Interbrand held their annual Brands Under the Spotlight event at the Griffin Theatre Company, focusing on the very important people who connect you to your brand: employees. The half-day event featured a series of presentations and panel discussions with speakers from Bain & Company, 8 Hotels, Realestate.com.au, RedBalloon, Telstra and Interbrand. A few of our Master of Marketing Students were lucky enough to be in the audience for such an inspiring and insightful morning. Here is Michel Caux and Sumi Yoshioka.

Although we are not employees of the Business School, speakers that morning made me realise that we, as students, are very important people, to the brand of the University of Sydney. So, as a way to better communicate and understand our brand, I wanted to introduce some of our finest brand ambassadors!

Michel Caux
With a background in Engineering and Economics, Michel has been working in B2B and B2C Marketing for more than ten years. Working in big multinationals have gave him the opportunity to choose an area within Marketing where he feels most passionate about: Health Care.

Why did you choose Marketing?
To be part of the Master of Marketing program is a great opportunity to formally validate work experience, expand knowledge and to be up to date in marketing trends, which will open new doors to career development.

What is one thing that stuck with you from the Interbrand event?
Very interesting Event. The utilisation of Telstra’s NPS has been fantastic, taking advocacy to the next level, making their employees real brand ambassadors, empowering with customer service capabilities. What stuck with me is that the marketing responsibility not only lies with the Marketing department, but all the different functions within a company. It sounds obvious, but it is an every day battle. Other departments of the firm also need to understand that success for the company is also their responsibility. We all have a direct impact on the processes that adds value to the customer. The consumer / end user has multiple touch points with different functional areas of the firm, and all of them have a direct impact on the Brand Equity. Again, it sounds obvious, but is very easy for them to forget.

Sumi Yoshioka
Sumi is originally from Tokyo, Japan. She has a background in PR of a luxury automotive company in Tokyo and architect agency in Sydney. Previous to the Master of Marketing at the University of Sydney, Sumi studied communication & media in Tokyo and California.

Why did you choose Marketing?
When I was working at Audi Japan, I developed strong interests in the influence and potential of brand marketing. In addition to my experience in public relations, I thought studying marketing will be essential for me to pursue my career in brand management.

What are you getting most out of the program?
The ability to study and communicate with my talented classmates from various industries and cultural backgrounds.

What is one thing that stuck with you from the Interbrand event?
I found there were many topics related to our Internal Marketing classes. Richard Hatherall, from Bain Company, really stuck with me. He started with his personal experience at two airplanes with humour, which I thought he successfully grabbed the audience's initial attention. He then spoke about the importance of the net promoter score with real life examples.

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Six Questions: James Watson

Last month the University of Sydney’s Business School held Branding You, a showcase reception at the new Business School CBD Campus. We were lucky to get the chance to hear about personal branding from an esteemed panel, including a graduate of the marketing discipline here at the business school, James Watson.

James, one of our first class Honours graduates in Marketing, has had a meritorious career with Procter and Gamble in Australia and Singapore, Reckitt Benckiser in Australia, the UK and USA and PZ Cussons in Australia. James spoke about many different aspects of branding and shared with us his own experiences in building his personal brand. One of the most important aspect James spoke about was staying on message and consistent. Although it’s a given when it comes to thinking about brands, often we forget to be very honest with ourselves, and that’s when our personal brand strays off message – we do something out of character, take a job we don’t really want, or forget our goals and what we are trying to achieve.

On the topic of consistency, we’ve remained consistent, and asked James our Six Questions.

1. What is your favourite thing that you do in a regular day as a marketer?
Regular? Define regular? I chose marketing as a career path, because no one day is the same as another and the opportunities are endless. That said, just like bringing up kids, you have a responsibility to feed, nurture, protect and develop brands in your custody or they won't grow and survive. Seeing the hard work, energy and passion you put into doing this manifest itself in great business results is my favourite thing.

2. Describe your job in 5 words or less:
No right or wrong answers.

3. What keeps you motivated?
Having a very clear focus on where I and my family want to go, what we want to achieve, by when we would like to achieve it, understanding what it will take to get us there and then actually taking ownership for doing something about making it all happen.

Family matters. Learning inspires. Collaboration creates outcomes. Results are rewarding. Experience is priceless.

4. Where do you think you'll be in 10 years?
I don't think, I know as a family, we will be back in Australia for our kids' secondary school education. We have a long-term horizon as a family with some critical milestones outlined. There is and naturally needs to be some flexibility around what happens or what we choose to do based on emerging opportunities in between these milestones, but at least we know what we are shooting for and have a road map for where we are going.

5. If you were an animal, what animal would you be?
A Tiger. Largest of the 4 big cats and known in the childhood book about Pooh Bear for having lots of 'bounce'. They are a species that adapts to their location. Skills like this are critical to successfully managing and influencing stakeholders in the business world. They have excellent sight and hearing. Awareness plays an important role in your success as a marketer. They are most active early in the morning and in the evenings. I am an early riser and known for getting a second wind in the evenings. Tigers are also strong swimmers. I am a passionate and competitive Masters swimmer. Tigers are found in a variety of habitats. If you want to succeed in fast moving consumer goods marketing, you need to be willing to work across a variety of brands and move internationally. They do like their solitude. As a strategist and innovator, I value my thinking time. Tigers aren't afraid of more formidable predators. Some of the most rewarding career experiences for me have come from working on smaller and non market leader brands within a business and taking on the big guys. Finally, Tigers are strategic about how they hunt. I know from experience that if you plan to succeed, you increase the likelihood you will.

6. What is the one book you would recommend everyone to read?
I'd prefer author and genre... Iain M. Banks. Iain sadly passed away over the June long weekend. He wrote Space Opera and is famous for his books about 'The Culture'. Think differently and look for inspiration in places others don't necessarily think to look.

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

3-Bee Printing: Clever Advertising

3-D Printing. Who hasn’t heard of 3-D Printing? I can tell the hot-topic is on the minds of the creative team at Dewar’s Whiskey, and they’ve very cleverly jumped into the bandwagon with their campaign for the new Dewar's Highlander Honey.

The very cinematic clip depicts “The sweetness of honey. The bite of 80,000 bees.” The ‘trailer’ is for a documentary on the process of how the bees build real sculptures out of natural honeycomb. Part nature, partly encouraged by designers, you can say this is co-creation taken to another level!

This ongoing project shows how brands can still stay fresh and relevant, even if they are for something as old and classic as whiskey. Started in 1846, the Scottish whiskey is now manufactured by the Bacardi Company. A fine balance of classic nostalgia - the traditional shape of the bottle, the quaint design of the label – mixed with contemporary applications – associations with movie stars, embracing technology trends – has seen brands such as Dewar’s stand the test of time.

Even if you’re not a Whiskey drinker, it’s a nice way to spend a couple of minutes.

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Mid-year Intake closing soon!

For the first time, the Master of Marketing programme is taking applications for the second semester. Whether it’s a career change, or taking the decision to broaden your skill-set, now’s the time to apply!

I can confidently say that for myself, as well as my fellow Masters of Marketing students that semester one has been intense, but fulfilling. We’ve tried to share some of the things we have encountered during our time, but the experience and learning is definitely one that is cannot be shrunk down to paragraphs and sentences. The below video captures some of the aspects of our degree while showcasing some of our current students.

If you have any questions about enrolment, or just how we, as students, have found the course, please do not hesitate to ask a question in the comments.

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Can Sushi change customer behaviour?

I came across this interesting article about a Sushi Restaurant in New York City, bucking the American tradition of tipping.

Brought to attention by food critic, Ryan Sutton, Sushi Yasuda has implemented a “Gratuities not accepted” rule. In Ryan’s blog post, he goes into detail behind the owner’s decision to cut out tipping. The main reason, as explained on the restaurant’s receipt, is that service staff are fully compensated for their services with a living wage – so why the need to tip?

I feel this also addresses a very important internal communication issue. Whether the owner knows it or not, buy implementing this rule, his staff – from kitchen hands, to waiters, to chefs – are united under the same wage system. I know this sounds a bit stale, but think about it: when you go to a restaurant in America, you tip your waiter. But the experience is not solely reliant on their hard work. By treating all Sushi Yasuda’s staff as equal employees, entitled to a living wage, it unites them to do a better job TOGETHER.

With the minimum wage is still laughable in America; a few places are starting to implement the same strategy. Providing a living wage for your employees mean they are happier, work better and work smarter. What is difficult about America is that it is not only about changing the economics of the system, but to eliminate or alter the whole social custom.

So, although on paper it all sounds good, especially for the employees, but can sushi change customer behaviour?

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

News digest: with Elena

It’s great news that the first semester is behind us. Honestly, it wasn’t easy. And it’s not just my personal feelings as international student, being pretty unfamiliar with a new study environment from the very beginning. Communicating with other classmates, it seems we all have made sacrifices to ensure good study results.

After taking a long breath…hooray! I am on the surface again. So I’m letting myself eagerly jump into the information and social media flows I had restricted myself from, during the semester. Yeah, lots of things have happened in the world, Russian President getting a divorce, for example. What a shame that the President missed out on our Consumers Insights class, where a guest speaker from Google showed us how to create the most attractive dating account:

Here is my top three news points for this week:

1. PRISM AND NSA 
There is no total privacy with your social media accounts any longer. As was revealed, The National Security Administration is secretly collecting phone record information for all U.S. calls. Although nearly all tech giants like Facebook, Skype, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Yahoo were rushing to say they are not involved; it makes me feel pretty upset knowing my personal info is out there. The only chance to be safe is to simply stop using your Facebook. “The New Yorker” gives a good summary of this scandal.

2. Time Spent Online 
What do you usually do when you are online? Ok, maybe not you specifically, we’ll give you a little privacy there, especially after all the scandal with the NSA. Let’s say, as marketer, do you know your consumers social media habits? “Business Insider Australia” provides 10 stunning facts about what people are really doing on the Internet.

3. Money and Happiness
Whether or not you believe that money really matters, and a huge paycheque makes you better off, a new study definitely states that money is still as a synonym of happiness. Scholars have even made an effort to uncover what is the exact amount that could make us happier. Not surprisingly that “Forbes” brings us this topic though!

Do you know what your wealth rank is worldwide? Yes, it’s probably not on the “Forbes” global rich rank, but who knows. So let’s count it now with this simple tool.

Elena Sveshnikova
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Six questions: Peter Drinkwater

This week, we bring you Peter Drinkwater from House of Brand Research. He gave us such an interesting talk on Innovations in Insights. In particular, I was engaged with the ideas he presented surrounding brands and links with culture. Although often overlooked, brands have a place in culture, and many times performance of a brand can be related to how well it fits into a culture. We asked Peter the six questions to get to know him better.

Six Questions

1. What is your favourite thing that you do in a regular day as a marketer?
It has to be tackling the brand and business issues of our clients – there are always interesting and different challenges that pop up each day.

2. Describe your job in 5 words or less:
“Solving brand issues through research”

3. What keeps to motivated?
I guess what keeps me motivated is bringing the voice of the customer to some of Australia’s biggest companies in an impactful way! Also working with a great team of super-smart and “stretchy” researchers.

4. Where do you think you'll be in 10 years?
Hopefully still running House of Brand Research and having more time with my family!

5. If you were an animal, what animal would you be?
A chameleon. I like to think I am adaptable to lots of situations!

6. What is the one book you would recommend everyone to read?
The Hero and the Outlaw: Building extraordinary brands through the power of archetypes By Margaret Mark and Carol S. Pearson

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

“Half the size, twice the happiness” Coke taking sharing seriously.

Recently, my group conducted a presentation and research assignment around The Coca Cola Company’s co-creation efforts in our Internal Marketing class, with Professor Pennie Frow. We found that, while with good co-creation intentions, a global company like Coke ultimately still held a lot of control when it comes to co-creation, as they simply have too much to lose if anything goes wrong. In saying that – they also have a lot of power and ability to roll out adventurous and fun campaigns that still give the experience and feeling of co-creation.

In line with co-creation, and a word I feel we’ve started to talk about a lot, is sharing. And that’s exactly what Coke is doing. In their new video, featuring their twist-and-share can, the usual tagline of “Open Happiness” is switched with something different – “Share Happiness.” This organic development of both product and value proposition is a pretty good example of those ‘Ah ha!’ moments – the sentiment of a cute little Coke can you can share is so obvious; you wonder why they haven’t had them all along!

Ogilvy & Mather’s French and Singaporean teams developed the idea and campaign. Although not actually available in vending machines yet, the twist cans were available in limited quantity during a trial stage via a "happiness truck" in Singapore. Coca Cola has done a lot of this in the past, rolling out ambitious projects in certain locations, then utilising the YouTube platform to spread the impression of one campaign. Very clever! We get all the fuzzy feelings, without Coke having to pay to roll out campaigns around the world.

Nevertheless, it’s worked on me. I not a regular Coke drinker, but I’d definitely buy a little twist can for the novelty, and to embrace this new age of sharing.

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School

Come rain or shine

Whenever it rains in Sydney I always get told, “This is so unusual”, or “Don’t worry, it will pass quickly.” And though it’s mostly proven to be true, when it rains in Sydney, it REALLY rains.

Despite the storm on Sunday, our cohort all showed up to our final class this semester for Associate Professor Marylouise Caldwell’s Contemporary Consumer Insights class. I wanted to share with you this adorable and hilarious evidence of our endurance.

Come rain or shine, we are eager to be in class! It’s been a great semester, and the whole group is looking forward to what next semester will bring!

Current students: tell us what you enjoyed most this semester in the comments.

Hongi Luo
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School