A good marketing idea I saw over Christmas

With Christmas having only just left us, I have chosen to share a good idea that I’ve seen employed by a couple of brands over the festive period.

Arguably the run up to Christmas is the most exciting aspect of the season, indeed this is when businesses can cash in on people’s good will and giving.

With the exception of those oversize kids (me included) who still spend the month of December opening the door on their advent calendar, a lot of the build-up hype is lost on those over the age of 10. Weighed down by a lack of time and pressure to impress friends and relatives many see Christmas as a wallet squeezing event.

But I have seen a couple of brands incorporate an advent idea into their marketing campaigns that allow bah-humbugging elders to be included and engaged in the Christmas count down. Their festive frolics rewarded customers with something that was relevant to their needs:

Online print company Moo, who produce an array of personalised collateral including business cards, stickers and postcards, produced their own online advent calendar. Customers were invited, via the Moo blog, to click on the virtual door of the day to reveal some date-restricted content.

The doors uncovered a variety of things including a talk from Richard Moross, Moo founder on ‘Why day dreaming is important in choosing a career’ , links to blogs sharing good festive ideas, such as directions on making edible ornaments, and exclusive Moo offers, valid only for 24 hours.

Glasgow based, family run record label Lucky Me also ran a similar campaign in which a track a day was given away in the run up to Christmas. This idea lead Luck Me to become a feature in Creative Review and in turn the word was spread via print and digital.

Not only do these ideas embrace the Christmas spirit and show a fun- loving and personable side of the company, it gives the company the perfect opportunity to show its customers their valued and entices consumers to make return visits.

Something missing from Harvey Nics...

In an attempt to increase its profile within the 18-30's age group, Harvey Nics has launched its Christmas campaign, the "Walk of Shame".


The ad shows a selection of different girls, looking decidedly worse for wear, attempting to make it home after a night on the tiles. It includes some amusing scenarios (my favourite being the girl devouring a kebab at a bus stop whilst receiving a disgruntled look) and clearly expresses the bedraggled feeling so many experience the morning-after the night-before.

After these shots, up pops a screen telling the viewer to 'Avoid the Walk of Shame this season'.

Then we see a flawless beauty (naturally wearing clothes from the Harvey Nichols collection) strut her stuff. She travels down the street beaming with self confidence the other post-party sufferers’ lack, even handling an effortless exchange with the postman.

The message - change your Walk of Shame into a Stride of Pride by wearing amazing clothes.

The Ad has been received well (minus a few remarks on the brand's YouTube page querying the model-like appearance of the final character which questions whether she genuinely represents the average individual) and I have to say that overall I like it –

- The campaign tells an engaging story and uses scenes I believe the majority of the target audience will be able to relate to with varying degrees of self-authenticity. The message is clear and concise, and we’re hearing it! 

HOWEVER, something is missing.

Instead of shooting directly to the image of this self assured elegance, I think that the communications would have been much more effective if the model was first shown, at the beginning of her walk, questioning her appearance.

Then as she caught a glimpse of herself in a stray mirror, shop window or car door and stopped to check herself out, the audience would be able to witness the transformation in her character as she concluded from her assessment that she still looked hot!

This way her attitude could be unambiguously attributed to her clothes and not say, her personality.

I feel that this lack of coherent link is a bit like seeing a snowman without a carrot for its nose, or a snow stricken tree without a robin - still great to look at but a little disappointing knowing that it could’ve been that bit more special.

The people I'd recruit to help to save the world if the end were nigh



With 2012 looming one month away, maybe now is the time to consider what would happen if the new-year were to strike an end to society as we know it.


So, if the end of the world were nigh I'd recruit the following four people to help establish a new world order:


Recruit 1: Gok Wan (The Motivator)
This man is able to motivate body conscious women into stripping down and flouncing down a catwalk in front of hundreds of strangers - and feel great about it! Gok’s motivational abilities would be invaluable when developing a new world order.

He is also known for adapting his outfits and is able to see potential in otherwise useless material, using it to  the best of its ability. This transferable skill would be advantageous if faced with limited resources post ending-event.


Recruit 2: Seth Goddin (The Marketer)
As the master of marketing, Seth Goddin would be able to promote strong relationships between members of the community, and in particular between citizens and leaders. He knows how to keep customers happy and so may be key in preventing future revolt.


Recruit 3: Professor Robert Winston (The Scientist)
Robert Winston’s scientific speciality would allow him to objectively investigate behavioural traits and offer empirical recommendations in running the world order. The insight gained from understanding people cannot be over stated.

He is also medically trained.


Recruit 4: Sir Alan sugar (The Innovator)
As a straight talking entrepreneurial innovator, Alan Sugar may have a lot to offer the world order.  He has solid financial understanding and has shown he is able to source out and invest in promising ideas and promising people.


I believe the attributes of this team would allow the dynamics of an evolving neo-community to be truly understood, and so facilitate sustainable development. The hardworking ethos of these individuals would promote a positive and collaborative environment.


Alas, we can all rest assured knowing that, if faced with New Year destruction, everything will work out fine. This leaves only the last minute Christmas shopping and food feast calorie-count to get our blood pressure rising over the festive period.