Below the Line

Starbucks rewards UK customers with money-off coupons

Last autumn, Starbucks heated up the UK coffee wars with free Wi-Fi. They've now started rewarding their UK customers through their loyalty program.

Coupon usage in the UK isn't as rampant as it is in the U.S., but it is on the rise as people look for ways to save money during the recession. The direct mail package includes a booklet which has a month's worth of coupons - each good for one day only. Surely by the time their customers use each coupon, they will have established a new daily ritual (not to mention a serious caffeine addiction).

Paradise in Plasticine

At the risk of seeming obsessed with plasticine... I went to the Southbank Centre (London) a couple of weeks ago and saw this beautiful garden created entirely of plasticine.

Paradise in Plasticine is a "sculptured art installation, inspired by nature's variety, and framed in the guise of a mystical secret garden from the dreamscape of childhood."

So this joins Feel Good, American Express and The Tate as brands that are using playful plasticine to attract interest during the recession.

Plasticine dreams

Brands are getting playful! The Feel Good Drinks Company is the latest brand to use plasticine figurines in their campaign. The smiling plasticine gnomes are presumably their brand ambassadors, bringing a message of, well, feeling good.

American Express UK used plasticine in a campaign to promote their Platinum Cash Back Card to illustrate to customers that they'd have more money to play with.

Green Thing used plasticine for it's launch a couple of years ago (full disclosure - I worked on the launch). Green Thing is a not-for-profit public service that inspires people to lead a greener life using creativity (and a bit of fun).

Finally, this March a "flashmob" of nearly 200 plasticine figures gathered outside of the Tate Modern gallery in London as a tribute to British TV artist Tony Hart.

 

 

Perhaps some feel-good fun is another recession-marketing trend?

Crunch hunches about digital marketing agencies in London

The credit crunch is having an effect on most industries - digital agencies in London are no exception. The past five years have been fantastic for our industry, but during that time many agencies experienced high turnover and, as digital business grew, so too did the skills gap. Salaries for digital talent were on the rise as those in senior levels who stuck it out past the dot-com bust were in high demand. Here are a few hunches about how the crunch will impact digital marketing agencies in London:

Less job hopping: turnover in the past few years has been exceptionally high at many London agencies. There were more jobs than people and recruiters were making a good living by moving people around. One year in a role was considered adequate before jumping ship. Often freelancers would be at an agency longer than "permanent" staff. Unfortunately, this was a disservice to clients who lost out on the knowledge each individual accumulated, and had to suffer through the learning curves of many new people.

A slowdown of salary creep: there's been a definite shift to a buyer's market, so it will be harder for people to move around and make a big salary leap.

A new skills gap: After the dot com bust, a lot of people at the junior or mid-manager level pursued other career options. So during the recent boom, there was a gap between junior talent with just a few years' experience and senior talent with over 10 years' experience. Many of those junior people were able to move up in their organizations quickly, but I think many agencies struggled to get their staffing levels correct. For instance, I know of at least two agencies who didn't employ anyone below AD level. One was by design, the other by default. Either way, it's not great when clients are paying Account Director rates for Account Executive-level work. It's not too much fun for the AD, either! The difference this time around, is that the entire market is struggling, not just online industries. However, I think London agencies will be reticent to bring on permanent staff. They'll be more likely to use risk-free freelance talent who they can let go easily if their clients cut back on marketing spend. I see agencies hiring a freelance Account Manager before hiring a more junior permanent Account Executive. This means that in a few years' time, there will be another skills gap for experienced AMs.

What are your crunch hunches for agencies in your city?

Sidenote on UK Account Management titles:
I know titles differ in the UK and the US, so here's a quick hierarchy of agency titles for American readers:
Client Services Director
Group Account Director
Account Director
Account Manager
Account Executive

Related Posts:
Account Management Basics

Is this the end of free love?

Will the recession mark the end of the free love trend? In the age of web 2.0, we've come to expect web content for free. But many content providers haven't found a workable business model based on giving things away. The promise of online ad revenues hasn't always delivered; for instance, the struggling newspaper industry is looking at ways to charge for online content to help them stay (or get) in the black.

Kodak Gallery recently changed their terms of service to require a minimum annual purchase in exchange for online photo storage. It will be interesting to see what other brands begin charging for things that they've been giving away for free or for a nominal cost.

When Kodak announced the new charges, they must have received a lot of customer feedback. Below is a response from the Gallery's General Manager. (Click to enlarge.)

Built to last -- a recession marketing trend?

iPods don’t take a licking. A few months back, my iPod stopped working. I got the dreaded “sad iPod” icon. I tried the suggested solutions on the Apple support page to no avail and was ready to try the controversial “6th” solution: ramming it on a pad of paper. I asked some people about how long their iPods lasted and no one seemed to mind that these things crap out regularly. (A sign of greenetically incorrect eliteness, if you ask me.) Although iPods, according to their own report, and other electronic items, according to The New York Times, are supposedly built to last for three years, the reality is that many break down before this.

I hate having to replace something that should have lasted a lot longer. It’s a waste of money and generates needless landfill. Can you imagine if Sony Walkmans broke down so easily 25 years ago? Why are we so permissive of non-durability? While in recent years, brands have been focusing on the “fluffy” stuff like inspiration, now that we’re in a recession, I predict durability will again become a selling point.

Which brands will deliver campaigns like The Energizer Bunny, Timex’s “Takes a licking but keeps on ticking” or Built Ford Tough? (The former two are on Ad Age’s list of the Top 100 Advertising Campaigns of the Century.)

Sites like eBay, Gumtree and Craigslist are establishing a re-sale value for every imaginable item. Will any brands follow the lead of the auto industry and promote a high re-sale value in their marketing communications?  

Certainly, luxury brands with high-quality craftsmanship are in a prime position to respond to the current economic climate by positioning their product as an investment, something Patek Phillipe has done for awhile now with their ad campaign focusing on buying “for the next generation”.

A much smaller (and more affordable) example is our client ShopCurious which sells unique and designer vintage items. They have been encouraging customers to eschew a slavish addiction to high street trends and disposable fashion in favor of quality items which will last. The value in buying quality is that if you buy something classic that you really like, you can keep it for a long time and it will always look good and function well, i.e. they are “built to last”. 

If this company selling trash cans can use "built to last" as their key selling point, any brand with a quality product can.

Kate Stendahl contributed to this blog post.