Ketchup

So I’ve got myself an iPhone at blinking last….. Brands beware, if you’re putting really bad brand entertainment it’s going to be much easier for me to tell everyone!

(from Rich)
O2 have decided to get all arty with a new promotional drive aimed at getting people involved in ‘Community Art’. They have asked people to submit a piece of their own artwork with the best being displayed in their local 02 store, and £1,000 given to their chosen community art project as well as £500 to pocket themselves and a weeks work experience at top London creative agency VCCP. The money and the chance to have your artwork in your local 02 store don’t seem like the ultimate prize (though the money would be nice, I can’t see the next Damien Hirst clamouring to get his pieces showcased in a local mobile phone store!) but the real apeal is in the ‘money can’t buy’ prize of working at VCCP for a week. These sort of ‘experience prizes’ are prizes are becoming much more prevalent with brands and popular with entrants, especially in industries which are increasingly difficult to break into, check our Australian office’s FHM recovered campaign for proof.

Here’s the Creative Director of VCCP chatting about the campaign

(from Rich)
Fantastic round up of ten brands using social media to market themselves succesfully by the guys over at Mashable. My personal favourite is ‘Blendtec’ on YouTube – who would’ve thought blending an iPhone could increase your sales five fold!

This is a bit of an exclusive for you, and a very interesting piece of news given the increasing importance of accountability and research/insight into any marketing spend at the moment.

Festival Republic, the UK’s leading festival promoter and organiser of Reading, Leeds, Latitude and Heavenly Planet is working with research and strategy agency Crowd DNA (yep, the Channel 4 Tribes peeps) to launch Sixty Thousand Voices, one of the largest research programmes of its kind offering brands and agencies a bespoke research programme with access to over 65,000 music-loving 16-24yr olds at the Reading & Leeds Festivals.

As the promoters of the iconic Reading, Leeds and Latitude Festivals, Festival Republic is uniquely positioned to give a voice to the youth market’s opinions on brands in music.  Working closely with brands and agencies, Festival Republic and Crowd DNA will develop a bespoke long term research programme that stretches further than the standard weekend lifespan of most festival brand research, and on a much larger scale.

Sixty Thousand Voices will take in online and onsite research in the months surrounding the August Bank Holiday of the festivals, allowing for a more insightful understanding of the role that brands play in live music, and in the lives of those that passionately consume it.

Topline findings will be presented to the industry pre- and post-festival, whilst the focus will be on category exclusive research content to be owned by brands that take part.

Festival Republic Sponsorship Manager, James Kent says

“In the current climate brands need to work harder to ensure their music sponsorships deliver for them.  Sixty Thousand Voices will allow the engage in a long-term dialogue with a key demographic, and as a result help inform those aspects of a campaign that will really deliver ROI.  We know that they already spend money in live music, and appreciate the value sponsors can add; this is a perfect opportunity to really explore these issues, and be seen to be actively listening and engaging with them.  Whilst there is a wealth of statistical research around how many young people listen to music on their mobiles etc, there’s a lack of qualitative insight into the roles that brands play in the pre- and post-festival periods, as well as the weekend itself – this audience have an opinion and I believe that the brands that listen are the ones that will really enjoys the benefits of live music sponsorship.”

Crowd DNA Managing Director, Andy Crysell says

“This is a fantastic opportunity on a number of levels.  We have a huge sample of 16-24 year olds to research; also the scope to develop really innovative methodologies and compelling ways to bring the insight to life.  Moving beyond traditional approaches to insight, we’re looking to develop techniques that allow us to kick-start a potent two way conversation with the audience.  The connection between music and brand is well established, but the time has come for fresh ideas and new perspectives to come to the fore, and Sixty Thousand Voices has a major role to play.”
For more information drop James Kent a line on jkent@festivalrepublic.com or 0207 009 3000 – and don’t forget to tell him Ketchup sent you!

An excellent piece of (very) comprehensive research into youth tribes has been updated, and you should all definately check it out.

Originally created a while back by the-team-that-is-now Crowd DNA on behalf of Channel 4, the UK Tribes website has been updated and reformatted in a new website.  I’ll let them explain…

“Concious of the changeable nature of youth culture, Channel 4 commissioned a second wave of Find Your Tribe during 2008.  This time it’s bigger and better and – in addition to the traditional media and brand questions – it provides more diverse insights including attitudes, music taste, and political opinions.”
You’ll need a password for the juicy stuff, so drop JBeek@Channel4.co.uk a line and tell him Ketchup sent you.

Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for some more exciting news from the world of youth research…. gonna be a Ketchup exclusive as well!

(from Rich)
The third series of teen drama ‘Skins’ is nearly upon us, which means the promotional campaign has gone into overdrive. For the last couple of series the campaigns have always shunned the traditional online media channels and carried out pioneering ‘Word of Mouth’ activity across social networks. This offering has been expanded for series three, while building on past activity in the same channels, Msn Messenger has been added to the mix. By adding ‘Skins’ as an Msn contact it shares exclusive content in real time during the show including previews of the next episode, music guides, video diaries and behind the scenes footage.

Research shows that the ‘Skins’ target audience are all hanging out on Msn, furthermore they actually ‘Media Stack’ and use it while taking in other forms of media like television. Although not anything particularly new, I remember Pop Levi doing this a while back, its a great example of taking engaging content directly to your audience.

(from Rich)
Wow here’s something you don’t see everyday – an opportunity to be Seth Godin’s apprentice for six months over in the big apple.  If your not familiar with Seth Godin, heck out his TED talk here

So the seeds of the Bacardi and Groove Armada deal last year are seemingly coming to fruition, with a new website host page hinting at whats to come.

More info to come on 20th Jan, but the fetching diagram (lifted straight from the PowerPoint presentation from the looks of it) makes it pretty clear what the fruit will look like.

So, big question – will it actually sell Bacardi, or Groove Armada records for that matter?  Is it engaging enough to stop illegal filesharing, which only today is in the news again.  Does that even matter for Bacardi, as long as association and awareness is driven home?!

What is certain is that amongst us marketing bods at least, this is the biggest example of brands and music and may just set the tone for everyone else to pick their game up.  Like the Artist Nation deals of last year, is this a model that can successfully roll out across genres and artists, to the benefit of the brand?

Oooh, and you thought 2009 was all about sales promos and sampling!!!!

For what will probably be the last post of 2008, it makes sense to give you all something from one of the bestest sources of ‘this thing of ours’, as the Mafia would say. If you aren’t already checking them, Contagious is an excellent resource for all kinds of marketing/advertising activity and frequently features some great info on entertainment marketing.

They’re very kindly offering a round-up of 2008 activity here, so I strongly advise you to download and steal some of the good ideas for your 2009 work!

See you on the other side and have a great Christmas and New Year.  If you’re going to East Village to see Ron Trent DJ on NYE then I’ll no doubt have a dance with you as well.

So someone at Carling must be really kicking themselves, although it will by no means be a shock to them… Carlsberg Tuborg is to replace Carling as the official beer poured across all the Academy Music Group venues – the O2 Academy’s.

Does this cement further Tuborgs position as the beer of music?  Yes.

Does this further cement Carling’s position as having turned its back on/given up on music?  Yes.