The Weekly Wrap: Ian Dommett, MD, Golley Slater
Ian Dommett, managing director of Golley Slater Scotland, rounds up last week's industry action...
Looking for the sports section at the back of Market Leader I came across Andrew Melsom’s review of a history of Cadbury. Andrew mentions how, at the depths of the seventies, with cocoa in short supply and all chocolate bars quietly reducing in size, Rowntree introduced Yorkie, boldly bigger than its rivals. With similar uncertain times upon us now perhaps bold steps are what are needed? Consumers love champion brands as much as marketers love challenger brands. ‘Yin while others yang’ worked for Rowntrees at the time. It will work for many other companies bold enough to expect a future.
And as I thought of Cadbury’s, into my mind came their jingle from about 1973 (I must have been about 10) about how in a rapidly changing world it was good to have the ‘genuine, gorgeous taste of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk’ or something like that and I realised that in over 20 years in advertising I had never, in response to a creative brief, had a jingle recommended as the best way to communicate. But if you went into any high street and asked people what ads they could remember from 5, 10 or 20 years ago they would sing jingles featuring the names of the products being advertised. How many people can remember what song was used in the original Levi’s Launderette commercial? See, they don’t work as well. Now, how do I get ‘Whoa, Bodyform …’ onto my ipod?
And speaking of reading, do you? Actually read books? Ever? Do people you work with? Marketing professionals often bemoan the fact that they are not seen in the same way as lawyers or management consultants. And while much of an advertising agency’s reference material may be visual, with banks of DVDs and videos on display, you are less likely to see any books. Not even the mainstream titles such as Freakonomics or The Tipping Point seem to be as known within my acquaintances and colleagues as they would be in the wider business world. So here’s an idea. The Drum Book Club – online of course, a book a month (now there’s a marketing idea) and a chance to extend what you think and what you know. If you’re interested, send me an email and I’ll set it up. By the end of the first year you’ll have a library of, I think, 12 books and perhaps, some interesting ideas. And if you work for an IPA agency, it will help with your CPD. Everyone’s a winner, as the jingle goes.
One of the lessons of working on the successful SNP Election campaign in 2007 was the power of targeting. The party’s ability to put the learnings of one constituency into effective use n another constituency changed the way that activists that the campaign was run across Scotland and meant time and effort was directed to where it could help to secure valuable votes. Their model was way in advance of the other parties and certainly ahead of systems used in the commercial sector. Well worth studying if you want to understand where your market really is.