Pepper Advertising & Experiential Marketing » Blog

T&T’s Caesar’s Army has Brand Momentum.

Dennis Ramdeen — Thu, 31 May 2012 11:02:09 +0000

Yesterday I joined the Army in Chaguaramas, Caesar’s Army. I first heard of the Caesar’s Army, from a Christmas Day Party they do and wondered at the time what mad people would organise a party on Christmas Day that you had to pay to attend.

Clearly I’m the one that’s mad for not getting it. Since then Caesar’s Army has gone on to launch other event sub-brands and yesterday’s Mai Tai kept their brand momentum going.

I recently read a very insightful article by William J. McEwen, Author of Married to the Brand, on Brand Momentum. He asks and answers his own questions: “Why do consumers care about brand momentum? Why does momentum matter? Why should the “bandwagon” play a role in attracting — or repelling — customers? Because we all want to affirm the wisdom of our choices, if not with the world at large, at least with those whom we deem as relevant peers. “

Caesar’s Army came out last night and the “relevant peers” were all at “Attention!” (btw, I know I’m not a relevant peer, I went to do some surveillance)

Our ADgender

Eric Barry — Mon, 28 May 2012 19:48:05 +0000

Being a copywriter has its challenges – deadlines, clients who “don’t get it”, writer’s block, inept briefs etc. These obstacles to creative copy can be surmounted. More arduous is crossing the gender line. I had to do this some years ago when I was young to the advertising business and had to write a television ad to introduce a sanitary napkin to the market. Like the Titanic, it was doomed for disaster.

I was quite proud of my testosterone driven scripts. “These are quite innovative” I thought. Well, they sank before you could say, “Tanty in town.” My repeated attempts at writing for this product continually met the assault of the Creative Director’s hatchet. I was going insane. This definitely was not a job that I should have been working on. This memory returned to me while looking at an episode of The Pitch on AMC last week.

The two agencies had to pitch for Frangelico, an original hazelnut liqueur produced in Northern Italy. The task was to create a campaign which targeted “Molly” and Molly is 25-44 years old with an education and good income, who also enjoys caring for others and herself too. I had an aha moment when I saw one of the agencies consulting an all female agency because the brand targets women. That agency was Womenkind.

I love their philosophy – Womenkind is focused on the authentic desires, opinions, and wisdom of women. We apply our expertise, intuition and insight to create strategic marketing solutions that speak to women and connect them to companies, brands and each other.

I also love their tag – Profit from the wisdom of women.

Seeing that their was a Womankind got me thinking. At any of our local agencies where there are no female copywriters, do we conceive ads that communicate to women appropriately or do we write for women from a skewed point of view? (Yes we can ask questions of the female members of staff, but there is a difference that a team of female marketing professionals can make.)

I will be looking closer at our advertising landscape.

Less is more. Don’t over sell.

Dennis Ramdeen — Sun, 27 May 2012 12:34:39 +0000

Sell the sizzle not the whole cow.

o·ver·sell (vr-sl)

tr.v. o·ver·sold (-sld), o·ver·sell·ing, o·ver·sells

1. To contract to sell more of (a stock or commodity) than can be delivered.

2. To be too eager or insistent in attempting to sell something to.

3. To present with excessive or unwarranted enthusiasm; overpraise.

No I’m not talking about what airlines and hotels do. They sell more seats and more rooms because they know from experience how many people are likely not to show up. Rather I’m talking about over selling ideas in a pitch.

Recently we did a pitch and, on my insistence, we clobbered the poor client with all sorts of data which left us little time for what the client had come for. We gave every detail about the cow that by the time we got to the juicy part, the creative, we had lost some of the client’s attention.

You don’t have to prove that you know everything about a client’s business to make the sale. You just need to give the client one compelling reason to buy.

Learn from my misteak (get it?).

Clash of the Commercials

Eric Barry — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:42:41 +0000

On CBS last night I viewed the show Clash of the Commercials: USA vs the World. The premise of the show was a countdown of the top ten commercials in the world (inclusive of the USA’s) and for the final two, viewers would vote which gets the number one spot. Of course one was from America. The other was from Norway.

The American finalist was E Trade’s “Baby Best Man”.

From Norway came Canal Digital’s “The Man Who Lived in a Film”.

The vote went the way of the USA. I loved them both but leaned toward Norway, because I am a film buff.

I particularly enjoyed the show as it allowed me to see television ads from around the world that I would not ordinarily see. These include:

France

Baby Inside by Evian

Ma Contrexpérience by Contrex Mineral Water

Princess by Volkswagen

Mexico

Cricket for Yuzu TV

Germany

Staying Alive for Mercedes Benz

Argentina

Photoblocker for Norte Beer

UK

Paint by Sony Bravia (They used 18,000 gallons of paint to create this ad)

Belgium

Ants by bus company De Lijn

Which is your favourite?

Are we rewarding emotional intelligence enough in Trinidad?

Dennis Ramdeen — Mon, 21 May 2012 03:03:17 +0000

Society rewards thinkers and doers. But only certain kinds of thinking and doing. Lawyers and surgeons get paid a lot for thinking and doing. Artists generally aren’t so lucky. In the office the sales people who deliver the sales have a lot of power and influence. The marketing folks who help drive customer loyalty also get a lot of recognition.

So what about the persons who are the resident psychologists and mothers of the office, in addition to their day job? They see people having a bad day and give encouragement. What impact are they having on employee motivation, job satisfaction and the bottom line? When they take pains to organise the Birthday Party, the welcome breakfast for that new employee or the farewell, is there value for the company in what they do? And what’s in it for these good Samaritans?

We need to do a better job of rewarding emotional intelligence. Man cannot live on the intellectual and physical alone. This post was inspired by Joanne Lashley. Thank you Joanne.

5 ways to ‘CYA’ in event planning

Shyvonne Williams — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:14:25 +0000

There’s a checklist of things every event coordinator considers when managing corporate and social events. However, if you’ve ever played the role, you’ll also know that despite all the checklists and meetings and long hours of planning, expect the unexpected! Fresh out of our last event experience, we’d like to share a few tips. You probably already know some of these, but here are five ways to be proactive about covering your a** in the planning process.

Get all your service providers involved to do a site visit at the same time. At the very start of the planning process – if possible before the venue is chosen - get all the players together. You won’t know if the AV guy needs to set up in the space that the caterer needs to place a carving station, or whether or not the camera crew doing the live taping will have to run cables through an open window which will cause the door to ‘back-stage’ to remain ajar.
Get everything in writing and don’t take anything for granted. This is one of the first commandments of ‘CYA’ in any profession. Follow every supplier meeting, telephone request from client with a contact report to confirm.
Consult your protocol bible/ guru. Whether your event caters to 10 persons or 100, there’s protocol on everything from seating to salutations. Find out beforehand to avoid potential disasters, but also have your protocol handbook on the day of your event.
Have a plan B for plan B! Even children have a backup plan for when things don’t go their way. As an event manager, you’ve got to be prepared to activate plan B and C at a moment’s notice.
Brief everyone. Everyone who has a role to play should be thoroughly briefed on how the event will be rolled out and on where they fit into the programme. It’s important to not just brief persons on their specific roles, but explain the big picture. This will make your job and the job of your stage manager so much easier.

Got tips of your own? Please feel free to share.

Whose your caddie?

Dennis Ramdeen — Sat, 12 May 2012 03:24:12 +0000

According to the Inside Golf Magazine the great British golf broadcaster Henry Longhurst once said: “A good caddie is more than a mere assistant. He is a guide, philosopher and friend”. Other people have likened a caddie to a co-competitor/teammate, strategist, best friend or even a “wife without benefits.”
“Of course, the player is the one swinging the club, but as golf is so much more than just hitting the ball a certain distance, the caddie is truly an integral part of the “team”, and should be recognised for helping contribute to a player’s successes.” said Richard Fellner, Editor of the Magazine.

In the Advertising Agency world the AE’s are normally seen as the stars. But there are a whole bunch of caddies behind them, making it possible for them to shine. One can’t do without the other.

Be extraordinary. Digicel no longer bullies?

Dennis Ramdeen — Sun, 06 May 2012 05:40:25 +0000

Digicel sure has learnt a few things since coming to T&T about 8 years or so ago. Remember when they first came? They were bullies. Even failing to recognize that their head office was in Port of Spain and Brian Lara was its Prince. (and still is…)

They had gotten accustom to flattening the competition (except in Barbados) wherever they went and T&T was next. So they pulled out the Jamaica playbook and went to work. And who vex lorse. There are some who will never forgive them for how they treated Pearl and Bunty’s precious son and a whole nation’s treasure.

Digicel’s current “Be Extraordinary” Campaign has changed the game. And now B-mobile must play follow the leader. It’s brilliant because there is only so much product news and free minutes that the brain can process before it all becomes ho hum gobbledygook . Digicel has taken another route to your loyalty, via your heart.

A big part of winning in the market place is owning the momentum. And Digicel has the momentum with a campaign that takes the high road. They sure have come a long way.

Borat. Cultural Learnings of Advertising in TnT.

Eric Barry — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:33:03 +0000

Back in 2006 when comedian Sacha Baron Cohen released his film, “Borat. Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” the authorities in the real Kazakhastan were infuriated. The film was banned there and the government threatened to sue saying that the film portrayed their country as racist, sexist and a primitive country. Sales of the DVD were also banned and web users were blocked from visiting the Borat website. Six years later, officials are singing a different tune. Today they praise the movie for boosting tourism. Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov said on Monday, “With the release of this film, the number of visas issued by Kazakhstan grew tenfold. I am grateful to ‘Borat’ for helping attract tourists to Kazakhstan.” This turn of events makes me think of advertising in Trinidad and Tobago and the constant fear of offending someone in the public.

Many years ago, before I entered the advertising arena as a copywriter, I was approached by an agency to be the main talent in an ad for one of our major restaurant chains. The concept which used a corruption of the famous Martin Luther King “I have a dream” speech, was loved by everyone, agency and client, when the voiced Power Point story board was presented. Although EVERYONE loved it, there was reservation, fearing the possibility of offending someone in the Trinidad and Tobago public. The concept was changed and a very generic ad was produced. To this day, I cannot understand.

I am sure that anyone who has spent at least two months in advertising would have encountered some internal censorship because of the fear of offending someone. Now, certainly, I am not referring towards work that is as extreme as Borat. By all means, stop that train and avoid a lawsuit. However, I have seen some milder stuff that got buried in the cemetery of creativity before the umbilical chord was cut. But who knows? Nobody might have taken on the ad as much as we thought. Maybe a few feathers might have been ruffled, however if we were willing to take that risk, we might have produced ads like those we look at on cable and say, “Why can’t we be creative like that?”

Internet Hall of Fame

Eric Barry — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:46:47 +0000

I guess it was just a matter time. When I first heard of on CNN earlier this week about the Internet Hall of Fame, I was like, “Eh?” But as I listened, it was interesting hearing about the people who contributed in one way or another to the many things that we take for granted, such as the creator of the “@” symbol which defines web life or designers of the TCP/IP protocols and architecture that form the foundation of the modern-day Internet. The site that pays honour says that it is a celebration of the people who bring the internet to life. Seriously, unless we are intimately in these fields, the names of these people, integral to the internet being what it is, would not be in the general eyes of the public. So I see it a fitting tribute to honour these people.

To see who these notables are, visit http://internethalloffame.org/

N.B. There are some names that you would expect to have been inducted, but they weren’t…as yet.

Pepper Advertising & Experiential Marketing » Blog

T&T’s Caesar’s Army has Brand Momentum.

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Our ADgender

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Less is more. Don’t over sell.

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Clash of the Commercials

France

Mexico

Germany

Argentina

UK

Belgium

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Are we rewarding emotional intelligence enough in Trinidad?

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5 ways to ‘CYA’ in event planning

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Whose your caddie?

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Be extraordinary. Digicel no longer bullies?

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Borat. Cultural Learnings of Advertising in TnT.

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Internet Hall of Fame

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