Augmented Reality Ad Whips Up a Storm

An augmented reality ad for the new film Into The Storm has caused quite a stir. The advertisement made clever use of augmented reality to alter what would otherwise be a peace Sydney street.

Watch it for yourself here!

Online Brands comments on the ad saying, "Audiences quickly gather and seem enchanted, and somewhat mortified, to see their street get torn up through an augmented reality pane. Audiences are shown stumbling back, jolting and wincing as though they believed the tornado would rip through the screen."

Read more here: http://onlinebrands.co.nz/331/augmented-reality-ad-brings-viewers-storm/

Labour’s Defeat Points to a Forgotten Target Market

Are a political party's devastating defeat and market targeting somehow related? The simple answer is yes! These two seemingly absurd things are actually very closely intertwined, as illustrated by Labour's recent shocking defeat. Not only was Labour defeated humiliatingly, it was also defeated in 2008, 2011 and now again in 2014.

Online Brands comments, "In business terms, it has become disconnected from its target market and is struggling to win back market share. Politics is the ultimate marketing challenge, as every voter has just one vote, and everything the leaders do throughout their three years can affect the party’s brand identity."

Read more here: http://onlinebrands.co.nz/355/labours-forgotten-target-market/

How to Position Your Brand as the Best, Using the Psychology of StoryTelling

It's interesting to explore the psychology behind positioning a brand as the best in its category.

Brands have a wide variety of options to choose from in their marketing messages. Perhaps they could focus on their better prices, the products benefits or overall why they are the better brand.

Although recently it appears brands have favoured questionable approaches to appearing as the beast, namely slamming competitors in hopes that by putting a competitor down they will appear superior. However this often seems to have adverse effects in the consumers eyes. If a company can make their brand appear best, by having fictional characters risk health and good relations just because they value the brand so much, then consumers may follow suit.

Read more here: http://onlinebrands.co.nz/2014/09/08/position-brand-best/

Heat Pump Websites Face Off

Two of the strongest brands in New Zealand heat pumps are Fujitsu Heat Pumps and Mitsubishi Electric. The quality of their heat pumps puts them neck in neck - New Zealander's just can't get enough of their air! But is the quality of their websites such a close call?

Online Brands doesn't think so! They say the Fujitsu Heat Pumps website

"...is like less like an interactive website and more like a sales brochure – except this brochure doesn’t display prices. The great thing about creating a website for your business is the ability to interact with customers and offer them the chance to buy your products digitally. Fujitsu Heat pumps, as far as I saw, did not even offer customers the chance to place orders online. As far as functionality and design goes, this site is pretty bad.

Eek! As one of New Zealand's biggest heat pump brands, you would have thought they have more money to invest in having a working website! And how did Mitsubishi Electric fare?

The greatest point scored for Mitsubishi-Electric is the content, and considering content is key for a great website this works highly in their favour. The site caters information for anyone from those with no knowledge about choosing heat pumps to those who know exactly which model they require. In-depth information is given on each heat pump alongside pictures and additional relevant features.

So Mitsubishi Electric wins  by a long shot! If you're looking for Hamilton heat pumps, and searching through both websites is time consuming, check out Goldstar Heat Pumps. They sell and install both brands.

 

Marketing The Unmarketable

Not every marketer is blessed to be promoting an innovative, one of a kind or just plain exciting product. These marketers have it smooth sailing- the product practically markets itself! Unfortunately most marketers need to try and sell something almost unsellable. Like bottled water.

This is where Evian a water bottle brand faced a dilemma. How could they market a product essentially the same as competitors and one which most consumers could get for free? Strictly brand loyal water bottle enthusiasts are few and far between and so marketers would usually rely on price differentiation. Yet Evian managed to get a large following and stir a social media storm of followers tweeting about plain bottled water!

Evian took to twitter using a real-time campaign to dish out product samples. Anyone in certain areas of New York City who tweeted using the hashtag #Evianbottleservice would receive a sample within seven minutes.

This campaign was extremely successful in generating brand awareness and engagement. Engagement on tweets passed the benchmark for similar consumer packaged goods by 80 percent. Also 75,000 engagements were generated on Twitter resulting from the campaign.

Businesses with little product differentiation can learn from this that social media can be a powerful tool for getting businesses on the radar.

Watch this in action here.

Telecom's Rebrand Sparks With Potential

Telecom's decision to rebrand to Spark has much much contended. For every supporter, there seem to be at least two critics (or tax payers). However some would argue that to survive in the digital economy, Telecom needed to rebrand. Here's why:

Telecom Needed to Rebrand

Because of hyper connectivity and the rapid development of ways people communicate, Spark needed to adapt to peoples changing needs. The company has shifted focus to mobile networks and many digital endeavors. As the world becomes more technology oriented, Telecom needed to rebrand to emphasise their adaption or otherwise be left behind.

Rebranding Could Shed Negative Perceptions

It is no secret that Telecom had come under public scrutiny over the past few years. After downsizing repeatedly, having broadband cut and being accused of being expensive and vague, many New Zealanders become disillusioned with Telecom. By repositioning the brand as “enabling our customers to thrive” users may be more optimistic about the brand.

Sales and Operating Profit Were Falling

Although Spark was attempting to cut costs quickly, sales were falling faster. Operating earnings were down by 5.8% and net earnings from ongoing business fell by 12.5%. Although rebranding is potentially a risky venture amidst financial uncertainty, It has been largely successful. Following rebranding, Spark’s annual profit almost doubled.

Read more on Online Brands

Deaf Restaurant Sees Business Opportunity

There seems to be a restaurant for everything today. Restaurants with cats, BBC Sherlock themed restaurants, and even restaurants in Japan dedicated to robotics. While these restaurants are all well and good, they don't serve much of a purpose other than entertaining diners.

An innovative restaurant in Canada wanted to challenge this. The Signs restaurant is one in which spoken orders fall on deaf ears. This is because you can only order in sign language.


Online Brands explains, "Diners are not completely thrown in the deep end of course. Guided by a menu with instructions and translators to greet customers at the beginning, diners are fully equipped to place orders and enjoy this unique experience.

And it truly is a unique experience! President and founder Anjan Manikumar claims that “this is the first restaurant of its kind.” Being the first is key to Sign’s strategic differentiation. Canadians would likely see this as a unique dining experience which will generate high interest in the restaurant, especially in its first few months!"

Read more here!