The entertainment era, here to stay

It has been a rainy weekend in London, not a bad excuse to take Anna to the movies to watch 'Ninjago', the latest Lego film. While watching the movie, I couldn't stop asking myself

'How Lego - a brand that makes bricks for kids - became an entertainment house?' 'What are the benefits for brands to become media publishers? 'Is becoming media creators the new way for brands to connect with people?'

These are some of the questions I'll try to untangle with this post.

Every day consumers are exposed to hundreds of thousands of brands, markets are becoming more saturated and product differentiation is becoming harder to achieve. In this complex reality, brands need to fight tooth and nails to become top of mind for consumers. Companies have realised that traditional marketing formula of pushing information to people is becoming less effective. People aren't anymore passive receivers of information but they are actively browsing for the topics they care about.

Little by little brands are realising that to emotionally connect with consumers they should stop talking about themselves, and engage in conversations that help improve people’s life and inspire them to live differently. 

Furthermore, entertainment is a great way for brands to reduce the possibility of people switching off with your content. It provides the opportunity for a brand to subconsciously influence viewers about products.

Another great benefit of creating entertainment from brands is the opportunity to construct imaginary worlds that allow marketers to bring brands to life. The level of rapport you can build with people through content - such as branded films - and console games - such as Lego Batman - is much higher than through a standard TV commercial.

Hereafter, brands like Lego and Red Bull understood that creating entertainment could help them to break the clutter and become top of mind in consumer's minds.

Red Bull is known for being a pioneer here. Back in 2008 Red Bull Media house was created as separate arm of the company to produce premium media for extreme sports' lovers and lifestyle, such as magazines, TV series, apps, music, games and so forth. Red Bull Media House is a profit centre which generates money out of advertising, licensing or co-production deals. Being a content powerhouse opened many new doors for the brand. Through these different channels, it now reaches a much wider audience, including the elusive young demographics, going beyond only selling an energy drink, and it helped them build strong partnerships with brands such as Shutter Stock, O'Neill and extreme sport influencers.

Lego is another brand that has done a magnificent job transforming into an entertainment power house and this way becoming top of mind for both parents & kids. In fact, the brand established a wonderful partnership with Warner Bros Studios to produce the box office film Lego Movie, Lego Batman and Ninjago. Also Lego is not shy of experimenting with different content formats, such as creating Lego console games, immersive Lego stores and apps that brings kids closer to the brand.

The examples mentioned above show that any brand can become a content producer and it doesn't matter what kind of product you sell, what matters is to produce content that stands by your brand ethos, that is inspiring and people cares about.

If you are able to do this for your brand, you will be able to differentiate from competitors and become a brand loved by people.

Cereal Killer Cafe - making cereals sexy!

A few days ago, I was exploring Camden market when I spotted out The Cereal Killer Cafe. This is a cereal cafe where you can pick & mix more than 120 cereals from around the world, from the most basic ones such as Kellogg's Corn Flakes to the most quirky such as Gremlins cereals.


As the next step you can select the type of milk you prefer such as chocolate milk, cookie milk or even bubble gum milk. Hereafter, you can chose a range of the wackiest toppings and finally enjoy your heavenly made creation. Amazed by this store concept, I analysed the elements that made of the Cereal Killer Cafe such a brilliant business idea. One that transformed the concept cereals, making a dull product the new sexy thing.


Develop immersive customer experiences instead of product transactions

Gary and Alan, the founders of the Cereal Killer Cafe, realised that people are no longer looking merely for product transactions. Instead, individuals want immersive customer experiences that take them into a journey. The possibility to personalise your bowl of cereals and even receive advise from experts on how to mix them to get an explosion of flavours are the elements that excite people and make them keen to pay at least 5 pounds for a bowl of cereal.

Bring to life your product DNA to steal people's heart

Another key success factor of the Cereal Killer Cafe is its in depth understanding of the product's DNA. Cereals are fun and loved by people because you can find them in diverse types, shapes,  flavours, colours and textures.  This consumer insight has been brilliantly brought to life through the personalised cereals offering, the ambience of the shop inspired in the US' dinning rooms of the 60's, the cereal prizes exhibit all around the place and the positive vibes the young waitresses generate. All these elements mentioned above helped the brand to win 

 people's heart. 

Breaking industry cliches 

We need to break the industry cliches in order to promote innovative thinking - I'm sure that if 10 years ago I'd asked a brand manager from a cereals manufacturer if breakfast cereal could be sold for  5 pounds the bowl in a shop uniquely designed for this purpose? s/he would have thought that I was crazy. However, the beauty of innovation starts here. Industry norms can't remain unchallenged, as marketers it's our duty to question them all the time.

All the points mentioned above made me think deeply about my role as a marketer and as a driver of innovation within my company. It made me realise that to create great business ideas I need to develop great customers experiences, understand what elements of my product connects with individual's heart and last but not least to be brave and open minded to challenge the norms.

Virtual Reality - breaking human barriers

A few weeks ago I attended the Virtual Reality Show at the London Business Centre. Here a large variety of virtual reality (VR) players were displaying their services and functionalities.

I was quite sceptic about the potential of this tool before booking the tickets for the conference. To my understanding VR was just another gaming gadget only used  by gamers to immerse themselves into virtual worlds and interact with other players.

While exploring the fair I was able to try various VR handsets - you can see a picture of me below :), access to different conferences where industry experts, such as Tim Joyce from Constructive Labs, guided us through a journey of creating content for use in 360° immersive experiences, and Ruvan Wijesooriya (picture below), who surprised us with his VR projects within the world of fashion. 

From the very beginning, experts, developers and practitioners' deep passion and commitment for this technology made me feel fascinated by the event.

Me :)

Ruvan Wijesooriya presenting Unstitched fashion project

After a few minutes in the show, I must say I was mind blown by the power and possibilities of this technology so I asked myself fundamental questions about this gizmo, such as 'What is VR?', 'What is the difference between VR and augmented reality (AR)?', 'What is the impact and benefits of VR?',  'Is VR a fad or a tech that will expand in time?'. These are some of the questions I will throw light upon with this article.

To understand the full potential of VR and its functionalities, it's crucial to explain what it is, VR is a 3D-created virtual environment that makes you feel like if you were truly living in that world, with all its features, while its close cousin AR helps us improve real world experiences with virtually created elements.

VR is a technology which impact and benefits spread across industries. The key areas VR is already revolutionising are:

EDUCATION & REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES

I engaged with the Google Expedition team which promoted the use of VR as a complementary tool for educational purposes. This Google service allows pupils to travel to places they would never travel to otherwise, such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia or a space shuttle (please see video below).

VR is also used for on the job training,  The Digital Engineering & Test Centre explained me how they had developed an app for Ford (i.e. large automotive manufacturer) to train their staff on how to move on the assembly line even before a production line is in place! (please see video below). 

The array of possibilities doesn't end here, VR is being used in the workplace by doctors to rehearse complex surgical procedures and even psychologists to help their patients to fight back their phobias (e.g. claustrophobia)!

IMMERSIVE BRAND EXPERIENCES

As part of the show, I had a chat with the Dock10 which is a digital media service provider and they showed me how famous British franchises, such as the Voice and London Fashion Week, are using VR to develop immersive brand experiences. VR is 'democratising brand experiences'. People don't want to be anymore passive receivers of information but active participants who can actually interact and feel something when interacting with your content. VR offers the possibility for marketers to truly become brand architects and design virtual scenarios that help people to immediately connect with the brands they love.

Browsing online I discovered the best examples bringing to life what I mentioned above, such as:

Lowe's home furniture provider, which created 'Holorooms' where people can create and visualise their plans for home improvements (see video in the left side).

United Nations, with their 'Under the Net' 360 documentary which tells the story of Amisa, a girl living in a Yarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania, where her family struggles to survive and learns how to fight malaria. The objective of this documentary is to get world leaders closer to the day to day life struggles of the poorest people on earth and drive key decision makers to action.

GET FASTER & BETTER CONSUMER FEEDBACK

From my perspective, the benefit of VR for researchers double-sided. On one hand, it will help researches to accelerate the product and communication creation process so that ads, virtual prototypes, store layouts, apps and so on can be tested and modified in real time with immediate input from consumers. On the other hand, VR will speed up research fieldwork time and logistics. Now interviewees are able to test product or advertisements at a time applicable to them and interact with moderators and other participants across the world at home.

THE FUTURE OF VR 

VR is a progressive and pioneering technology which offers far reaching benefits and opportunities. The high penetration of smartphone in developed markets and the low cost of entry VR glasses (e.g. Google cardboard for £2) means that many people might adopt this gadget in the very near future. Big players, such as Facebook with the acquisition of Oculus Rift for $2bn, and the expansion of Google, HP, Nvidia Corp and Samsung expansion into this territory, proves the high potential of this industry. 

The long-term success of this technology depends on VR developers mentioned above to pitch this tech usage to the right audience and clearly show its applicability across different fields and industries.

On my way home, I could only think to myself, how wrong I was in thinking VR was just a video game. VR is a great tool that is disrupting the way humans beings have interacted up until now.

I am very curious to see which worlds this tool will open up for us!

Sources:

1.What is Virtual Reality (Virtual Reality Society) - https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/what-is-virtual-reality.html

2. Fact or Fiction: Virtual Reality in Market research - https://www.flexmr.net/blog/marketing-strategy/2016/11/virtual-reality-in-market-research.aspx

Barbie, breaking family stereotypes

It was a sunny and warm evening and I was sitting next to my girlfriend enjoying a cold beer at a bench facing the Thames river. We were commenting about a marketing stunt of a household cleaning brand showing parents taking care of the house. We found as a big step forward the brand portraying men as an active character of the commercial. 

After taking a sip of my beer and inspired by the discussion, I realised a funny fact, why are many of the largest consumer good firms across the world still promoting their products only to mothers and why dads aren't playing a primary role as part of firms' advertisements? 

Honestly speaking, many large firms are completely neglecting the current state of society. Families are moving from patriarcal structures where men are the breadwinners towards more egalitarians ones where men and women share parental responsibilities. Stereotypical commercials show a clear disengagement between marketers and the inherent values, attitudes and beliefs of the people they serve. Depressed by the gloomy horizon I decided to drain my beer in one go.

A few days after and still not fully recovered of my heartache, I was checking a marketing website where I found the new commercial “Dads who play with Barbie” ads (find commercial below) which shows dads playing Barbie with their daughters at home. My first reaction was to laugh, however, I quickly realised that I was falling into stereotypes.

Barbie’s commercial is a superb response to the advertisers’ challenge I highlighted above. From my perspective, this ad stands for the values of the so called modern families.  These are families where mothers are encouraged to work and fathers to spend more time at home with their children. Furthermore,  the key priority for them is to spend quality time with their kids. 

This new family reality also translates to the way parents purchase toys and play with their children. Parents are keen to purchase more gender neutral toys, moreover, they are eager to engage on “real play” time where they get fully immersed into the imaginary world of their kids and play a role in their kids’ magical world where everything is possible. 

Barbie has done a tremendous job adapting to the needs, values and role models of modern families through its products. In the early 90s girls played with Barbies that were housewives and had to undertake the stereotypical housekeeping activities to Barbies becoming veterinarians, doctors, professors and even astronauts (see image below).

The brilliant “Dads who play with Barbie” ads mentioned above is part of  'You can be anything' marketing campaign. This marketing stunt has a higher purpose behind it, from the one hand it inspires girls to be anything they want to and from the other hand it incentivises parents to spend time in their kids' imaginary world which is an investment in their real world. This campaign is not only full of purpose but it has achieved great financial results growing the brand by 7% value growth making of Barbie an almost 1 billion dollars brand.

Barbie is a fantastic example of a brand with purpose, that looks beyond stereotypes and puts the people it serves first.

The unconventional Christmas gift

It’s the weekend before Christmas and I’m walking down Regent Street with my girlfriend. The Christmas lights are superb and the holiday spirit is up in the air. 

I find myself in the middle of an unusual enterprise, I’m searching for a smart watch for my mum. She insisted that for Christmas she wanted one. Initially, I found this as an unusual request. However, it made me question myself why was she interested in using this gadget? how are firms targeting mainstream consumers such as my mum to buy wearable tech? on what stage of the product innovation cycle smart watches are? and what are the challenges and opportunities for smartwatches?

I crossed a busy street corner and I stumbled upon Michael Kors store. The brand was displaying at the shop window its new “Access” smart watch collection (please see commercial below). The gadget seamlessly fuses fashion and technology and is equipped with basic functions such as multiple animated display faces, fitness tracking, text, vocal messages and email alerts. 

Michael Kors did an outstanding job bridging the gap between tech and fashion with its advertisement. The brand exhibits its target consumer which is a cosmopolitan and active woman who has an eye for design and is "always on", she wants to state to the world her personality through the mix of tech and fashion. 

Wearable devices such as smart watches are bringing fashion into new heights. It allows brands to meet consumers’ growing demand for personalisation and a fluid lifestyle. More and more, people are seeking for versatile products that can easily adapt to whatever the day presents.

Fascinated by the Michael Kors shop window I entered the store, however, I was disappointed on how products were exposed. Smart watches were shown on an unembellished display that made the product range look cheap (circa £230 - £260). I asked the saleswoman to show me the watch but they were out of battery. Completely disenchanted with the poor shopping experience I left the shop.

Now let's set my incident aside and jump into the juicy stuff. To understand the evolution and probabilities of success of smartwatches we need to explore the product innovation cycle theory.

Based on my thoughts and conversations with friends and family, I can say that only innovators and early adopters own smartwatches. These segments are primarily concerned with the underlying technology behind and its performance (Norman D. 1998). Nowadays, the biggest challenge producers have is to make technology good enough so the chasm between early adopters and the rest is crossed (refer to the smartwatch innovation cycle below). Michael Kors example shows how firms are using fashion as an enabler that might allow this transition.

Research shows that the product adoption process has been slower than expected because consumers recognise on this gadget a lack of distinct capabilities such as high-speed wireless and standalone apps (Smartwatch report, Business Insider, September 2016). 

If producers are able to add new functionalities, increase capabilities and permit smart watches to run independently from phones the probabilities to hook mainstream consumers will be much higher.

Let’s wait and see how brands will overcome this challenging task. Meanwhile, a beautiful and unconventional Santa Claus figure is sitting under the Christmas tree waiting to be unwrapped by my mother.

The Magical World of Airports

It was a late Thursday evening, I was at Amsterdam Schiphol airport waiting for my flight to depart to London. The flight got delayed, very unusual news for low-cost airlines. To gain some time, I decided to explore the shops inside the terminal.

I was amazed with the massive flow of people from all over the world and how airports represented a fantastic opportunity for brands to consolidate as global players. Furthermore, having a captive market that is eager to buy gifts for their love ones allows brands to engage with consumers in a deeper and more meaningful way.

Channel’s new N°5 L’EAUN pop-up shop (picture below) was the first store that grabbed my attention. The stall was located in a high footfall area. The fine and exquisite smell of the perfume pushed me inside the store. The face of the new campaign is Lily Rose Deep, she is an up-and-coming actress that embodies her generation and its values of freedom and boldness to perfection. 

Lily’s youthful image helps the brand to modernised and transform it’s heritage into a contemporary and fresh brand (to watch Neu Channel N5 commercial click here). The salesperson showed me samples of the different essences that goes inside the perfume and offered me to purchase the fragrance in two different sizes, these are 35ml (60 eur) and and 50ml (around 80 eur).

After leaving Channel pop-up shop, I jumped to Johnny Walker boutique. The store makes a wonderful job to immerse you into its brand history. I was astonished by the limited edition whiskeys which designs got inspired by iconic elements from the period each bottle has been created. The store is a true “brand equity booster”, its premium design anchors Johnny Walker in consumers mind as a high-ended brand.

I visited other stores but I couldn’t find any juicy story. It was late and I was tired of waiting for my flight, so I decided to go for a coffee to Starbucks. To my great surprise, the coffee brand was offering a service called “Starbucks Evenings”. The Evenings menu begins at 4pm and it includes an assortment of wines, crafted beers such as the new Espresso Cloud TMA  and various small plates, salads, flat breads and other many options.

While sipping my coffee, I started analysis why Starbucks introduced this new service. This menu extension will help the firm to increase the amount of visitors during the less busy periods of the day, furthermore, it will permit the brand to attract a larger audience (people that want to enjoy a salty and more elaborated evening snack & drinks). Moreover, wine and coffee have certain similarities that the brand will leverage on such as the growing access to both good coffee and wines and knowledge about both drinks has proliferated. 

Will Starbucks try to become the next wine “sommelier” brand? is the company piloting this service to subsequently introduce a new breed of stores? is it a way for Starbuck to get further penetration in the European market where evening snacking is so important? or can it be that the brand is as well premiumising its offering to charge a higher price to clients?

Oy! I lost track of time and it’s already time to board my flight! I grabbed my luggage and ran to the gate. What a flabbergasting experience has been exploring the magical world of airports!

Magnum – consistently cracking ice cream moments!

Magnum is one of the most well-known ice cream brands in the world. For more than 25 years it has tantalised the taste buds of fans around the world. 

This blog post will immerse you into the brand origins, the deep consumer insight behind Magnum and how it consistently taps into this insight with its marketing campaigns. This is the story of a brand that moved from being a simple stick to become a symbol of everyday pleasure. 

Magnum was created by Unilever in 1989 in cooperation with the Callebeut a famous Belgian couverture chocolate producer. Both companies came out with a premium ice cream that had the perfect balance of the highest quality chocolate and ice cream pleasure. It was the first hand-held ice cream specially developed for adults. Originally, Magnum was launched under the German Nogger brand. After a few years it transitioned into a stand-alone-brand. 

Magnum aims to attract “pleasure seekers” these are people that are looking for pleasure in their day-to-day. Nowadays, people have busy days full of activities and responsibilities, they don’t have time for themselves. Hereafter, people have the need to unleash their true pleasure and reward themselves. Magnum entice consumers to look for more moments of personal pleasure. This consumer insight travels all over the world and makes of Magnum a popular brand worldwide.

Magnum’s global expansion started in the mid-nineties with its introduction to the US market. The brand positioned itself as an ice cream for adults targeting people with witty & sexual oriented commercials (give a look below to Magnum’s most emblematic ad in the US during the 1980s).

After a successful introduction into the US market, the brand initiated its global expansion with the introduction of Magnum “Seven Deadly sins” ice cream collection (2003). The great success of this marketing stunt paved the way for the brand to launch other famous campaign which consistently built on Magnum’s brand image such as the beautiful “Five Kisses” campaign (2013), “Magnum Silver” celebrating the brand’s 25th anniversary (2014), “Magnum Pink & Black” (2015) and this year “Magnum double” that dares pleasure seekers to release their inner beast by opting for an even more indulgent ice cream experience. 

In 2013 the brand introduced the Magnum Pleasure stores, this is a pop up concept to bring the ultimate indulgent experience to people and give them the opportunity to decorate their Magnum. 

Magnum campaigns mentioned above allowed the brand to position as a trendy and premium ice cream manufacturer. Brand consistency through time has been a key pillar of Magnum success, nowadays, people associate Magnum with much more than an simple ice cream stick,  it enables people to find occasions during their day to let their true pleasure go.