If it’s IKEA, you just gotta love it. With the avalanche of zany yet provocative campaigns from the furniture giant, it is no wonder it receive such great support from it’s supporters. Effective communication through creativity is the cornerstone for most of the works produced by IKEA. As much as I recalled, innovative approaches to traditional media seems to be prevalent in a lot of IKEA’s campaign. With less costly media placements, they attempted and successfully garnered high traction. This time round, they again push the boundaries of traditional outdoor advertising. Executed in Belgium, witness how these lovely colorful bus stop billboards actually captured the public’s attention through bright vibrant colors. As you go nearer, you see fine lines delineating the contours of furnitures. Interesting concept. Love the art direction and idea.
KFC China
This is definitely one of the most insightful article with regards to China, a fast and growing market.AdAge reports the recent campaign by KFC in China on how they are adopting the cliche but sure-win approach of celebrity endorsements. This campaign by Ogilvy, takes celebrity endorsements onto another level. What interests me is how receptive the market in China is from their reaction to many stale marketing tactics. Using a group of five influential celebrities, the campaign aims to go for the kill through not only a collective celebrity power, but also tapping on the celebrities’ social fan base. Taking into consideration that one of the actors has a staggering 72 million followers on Weibo, it is potentially a lethal marketing cannon.
As much I believe, China is quickly becoming a very digitally savvy nation. Ogilvy Shanghai, fully aware of this rising trend, leverages on it with their digital campaign for KFC. They immediately focus on using these celebrities to advertise on engaging social media activities. One for instance, aims to motivate fans to compete against one another over the amount of “likes” for their favorite celebrities. Another very fruitful insight from AdAge talks about the fact that KFC has been one of the biggest and most successful food chain with the longest history in China, since its penetration 27 years ago. A whopping 2,600 outlets in China alone is seriously no joke. A bigger market equity than McDonalds by itself is an amazing feat.
However, as the the brand suffers a decline in operations, branding and sales due to the avian flu outbreak and health inspections, it was devoid of a good strategy to fight back. Now with more marketing campaigns and excellent strategic brand initiatives, the brand is taking back its helm.
What I believe to be extremely essential is an extract from Adage‘s article:
“Celebrities are often used as a quick and easy way to sell products in China,” acknowledged Graham Fink, Ogilvy & Mather‘s chief creative officer for greater China. He pointed out that the same celebrities are often tapped by many brands.
“I think that more and more people are beginning to see through this ‘cheap’ tactic, and the brand will ultimately suffer as a result,” he said. But if the celeb seems “genuinely involved in the message they become more believable, and this is what we are trying to do with KFC.”
Another one:
A top national executive for KFC’s parent company, Yum!, noted that China is the world’s biggest digital society (with 618 million people online) and that Chinese consumers are “moving at the speed of a bullet train.”
The brand is seeking to revamp its menu and offerings every 12 months and I believe this would constantly refresh their image and presence in the eyes of the consumer. When done effectively, shall be a very deciding factor when it comes to triumphing strict competition between competitors on an industry level.
More:
Milind Pant, president and chief operating officer for Yum! China, wrote in an email that “urban Chinese are becoming the most digital savvy group in the world, offering opportunities for brands to innovate and communicate.”
The menu revamp is part of what KFC has labeled its “restage,” which includes new product packaging, uniforms, store designs, a mobile app, an e-menu and a prepay takeout offering.
And of course, not forgetting that bigger companies comes with a heavier inertia and requires longer time to maneuver effectively.
“I think it’s very difficult to steer such a big chain in a new direction,” he said. “And it took this situation with the antibiotics to really force them into making some fairly dramatic changes … A complete revamp of the brand is a good idea.”
LÖNE Singleton ?
If you haven’t seen some of the initiatives that IKEA has done, then you are losing out on tons of great creative work. As a matter of fact, IKEA is one of the few companies that have rolled out amazing work over the last couple of months. I think the recent one by IKEA Malaysia is quite interesting. Teasing their audience, IKEA Malaysia came up with the “LÖNE Singleton Dining Table”. A dining table mounted with perpendicular mirror where one can glaze at their own reflection as they eat. What a great way to inject some humor into their furniture. Again, this could just be another April Fool’s joke.
I will do this… for Aids.
In Singapore, the Aids awareness is not as pervasive as western countries. People couldn’t care much less about Aids. In fact, I haven’t really seen any brilliant campaigns that could engage people here to make their first move to participate in events and activities for Aids. On the other hand, here in this commercial we understand that majority of people globally does care about Aids and will do almost anything to make a statement. I guess the efforts to push for Aids awareness is just not enough in Singapore. Well, as you can see from this commercial for Scotiabank, they are making things really easy and simple. Cutting down the layers of nonsense they see out there, a simple action is all it needs to prove your statement against Aids. In the video, we see people shaving, keeping a ponytail, wearing stuffs or even bizarre ideas like flying, just in an effort to create their statement on Aids. Scotiabank really just believe that you can improve the lives of those plagued by HIV/AIDS simply through walking and effectively making a donation. This amusing commercial is a great example that through humor we can create simple and effective messaging.
Crowdsourcing
Source : http://bit.ly/16PilSP
Crowdsourcing is definitely one of the potential options when it comes to good and effective marketing. You listen to what your consumers really want and at the same time let them plan for you. Because ultimately, their voice makes an impact to their purchasing decisions. Getting your fans engaged with your campaigns is vital because they play an essential role in determining whether your campaign will go viral at a much faster pace. A friend’s endorsement is way more effective as compared to a brand declaration. More and more brands these days are achieving great success as they harness the essence of effective crowdsourcing.
Integrated Marketing
Shawn quoted two extremely high profile campaigns that fully mastered the art of integration between online and offline as well as physical and digital. My forte in creative lies in doing integrated marketing campaigns. It has always been my passion to help brands leverage on the existing platforms and with one solid marketing message, create a multi channel marketing campaign. Integrated advertising and marketing places consumers in the center of the entire brand experience. It is so powerful that it can directly influence the purchasing decisions of a consumer.
Source: http://bit.ly/162jUuh
Zack Chia 