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DERTY TRENDS Nov 2011

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What do MasterCard, Nike and Sony have in common?

Not sure? Well read on to find out! Brands are itching to

jump on the Olympic bandwagon that is gaining

momentum towards next summer.

To remind you the top tier sponsors are Adidas, BMW, BP,

British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB and whilst

these are allowed to advertise within the tight restrictions

of LOCOG , the Olympics is unique as an event as no

branding is allowed within the stadiums. But with

multimillion pound expenditure for official status there is

some debate on the end benefit in terms of recall and

inevitably, sales.

Coca-Cola and McDonald's are seen as the most

recognisable Olympic sponsors according to Marketing

Week. With two in five consumers aware that Coca-Cola

has sponsored the games since 1928 and one in three

recognised McDonald's. However the top tier brands BA,

Lloyds and Visa only had around 23% visibility as

sponsors. However with even more stringent rules

governing guerrilla marketing ploys for non official

sponsors this may change. Research shows that

MasterCard, Sony and Nike are associated with the

Olympics even though they have never been sponsors.

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The Facebook team are fans too, with the recent opening

of the advertising API joining pages and insights open

APIs - a tactic to encourage the creation of apps and

services on top of its social infrastructure.

Opening up an API (a solution to interconnect websites in

a fluid and user-friendly way) is not a new phenomenon,

but there is a clear upward curve of brands embracing a

more open approach.

Collaboration is at the core of an open API, or application

programming interface, offering developers the chance to

access the back end of a site or service and have a play

around with it. EMI Music is one of the latest players,

making thousands of music tracks, videos and artwork

available to app developers to help create a wave of new

applications for artists. Working closely with developers,

EMI will market successful apps for artists on their roster,

sharing revenues with the developers and rights holders.

Music companies have been some of the most open,

Edelman client Last.fm considers the openness of its API

as a key driver for growth and creativity. A ‘playground’ on

the site shares some of the most exciting quirks born from

the API with Tastebuds.fm one of the most successful

services to take advantage of it.

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Nostalgia. The clue is in the word. There’s nothing new

about this trend. John Lewis have been making us cry

with their Christmas campaigns for years. Check out

Wonky_Donkey’s take on the Naked Pheasant. Muller

yoghurt has splashed some cash on their latest campaign,

serving up Yogi Bear, the Mr Men , Muttley. and KIT. This

rag bag bunch of childhood references is a bit random –

but you can’t fault the message. Tapping into consumer

nostalgia pulls on the heart strings and loosens the purse

strings

What we like though is how it’s not just brands on the

band wagon. Digital platforms are being used to create

some really interesting products and art projects. The

photographer Irina Werning has a wonderful photo

project where she helps grownups recreate the photos of

their youth. There are some lovely examples (pictured).

Another take on this is mybandshirt.tumblr.com – an

awesome website where musos share the stories behind

their faded gig t-shirt. It’s worth bearing in mind that

reaching consumers doesn’t necessarily involve splashing

cash on some nostalgic IP. It can equally be effective just

to help them remember a feeling or memory from their

own past.

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A key strength of the platform lies in the ability for users to

follow brands directly from search results. The video chat

feature known as Google Hangouts and deep integration

with YouTube also offers exciting potential. Perhaps most

interestingly though, is the ability to create ‘circles’ of

people that would give brands a valuable way of targeting

different audiences to deliver relevant content. A golden

rule of modern brand engagement and something which

makes Google+ a definite one to watch.

Google+ launched to a moderate fanfare in June as a

social channel for individuals to connect with others and

share things. The de facto search engine has now opened

up the platform to commercial clients. Some of the first

brands in the UK to stake their claim to a Google+ profile

include Burberry, O2 and Mumsnet.

The jury is largely still out on the social platform as users

get to grips with the usability and make the inevitable

comparisons to Facebook and Twitter. But digitally savvy

brands are quick to adopt, noticing the benefits of a quick

and direct route for consumers to reach a brand online.

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While brand engagement is an established concept, the

rules are changing. Consumers are now relishing in the

opportunity to take content from brands and customise it,

often changing the meaning all together.

When the John Lewis 2011 Christmas advert was

premiered on YouTube, within a few hours people had

already changed the meaning of the entire ad by changing

the background music to the soundtrack from The Shining,

this received over 300 views within the first 6 hours.

Movie and game trailers are some of the hottest properties

to be customised. One of the most popular examples is a

mash up of Toy Story 3 with Inception which has

amassed over 3 million YouTube hits proving the trend to

be a mainstream form of entertainment rather than a one

off quirk.

The majority of the time, the brands themselves have

nothing to do with it, but the bolder ones are cottoning on

to the benefits of letting consumers play around with

content. If brands embrace it properly they could benefit

from getting exposure to new, potentially untapped and

hard to reach audiences.

www.edelman.co.uk www.thenakedpheasant.wordpress.com