Lindsell Marketing » We Think

CEOs vs Footballers

Paul Lindsell — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:34:15 +0000

With reference to the current hoo-hah about CEO’s bonuses, I note that: Wayne Rooney allegedly earns £13 million per year; while Yaya Toure apparently earns £11.5 million per year.

This appears to be some way in excess of Steven Hester earnings this year. Yet no-one is baying for the footballers’ blood. One famous London team’s performance this season has led some to bemoan the club’s financial prudency and begged for serious money to be spent on expensive players to improve that performance. Much the same argument is used for high salaries for CEOs who are expected to deliver winning performances.

If a few banks collapsed because they could not attract an effective CEO, we would all be plunged into economic meltdown. If a couple of football clubs went down the tubes, we’d be sad, but we’d get over it.

If Labour are going to initiate a Parliamentary motion on salaries, perhaps both bankers and footballers should be included. After all, performance related pay would be easier to calculate for footballers, and might then provide a benchmark for all professions?

I’d vote for the political party that was prepared to fight the issue on this comprehensive basis, as they would be brave indeed.

To really sell the idea of Labour in power, Ed needs a marketable Milibrand

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:28:20 +0000

I’m starting to feel sorry for Ed Miliband. Not only did his campaign to end the sale of cut-price Chocolate Oranges fall a bit flat (because clearly the country has no more pressing concerns at present), but rather more worryingly for Ed, the UK public don’t see him as a future PM.

Just last month, YouGov surveyed people on whether they felt Ed looks and sounds like a future Prime Minister. Those polled were given a set of statements and asked ‘Which of these is closest to your view about Ed Miliband?’ Amongst the options were these: ‘He has the right policies but does not look or sound like a possible Prime Minister’ (27%) and ‘His policies are wrong, and he does not look or sound like a possible Prime Minister’ (43%).

So, if we remove the policy element, that’s 70% of people who don’t think Ed looks or sounds like a possible PM. Clearly ‘Brand Miliband’ needs considerable work.

We are all familiar with ‘Brand Cameron’. It seems that we are constantly bombarded with pictures of ‘Dave’ jogging through various cities with his unlucky copper in tow, or ‘Sam Cam’ attending one charity function or another, immaculately turned out (natch). And photographer Tom Stoddart captured some rather sickeningly perfect images of the Cameron’s at home for the Sunday Times Magazine – Sam looks on lovingly as Dave cooks the dinner, the Cameron family gathers around the breakfast table, Dave hunches over his desk piled with papers…

In short, he’s the posh Etonian chap that’s trying to juggle it all – the family, the job, staying in shape whilst approaching 50… He’s just like everyone else, is Dave.

Whether you believe the image or not, it’s effectively portrayed.

But what do we know about Ed? Answer: very little. Probably one of the most well-known facts is that he pipped his brother to the leadership, but that’s no advantage (unfortunately for Ed, in the same YouGov survey 21% of respondents said David M would make the best Labour leader versus Ed’s 7%). So as a brand, Miliband is still pretty much an unknown quantity.

What Ed needs is to become a proper marketable brand. The best brands allow products, companies and, in certain cases, people to reach a mass audience that associates with them attributes and connotations that create a (hopefully) positive image. And in politics, public perception of a party leader is crucial come election time – and for most parties that is really the brand, as few people really view political manifestos as a party’s biggest selling point.

Ed’s high-profile role in the successful efforts to pressure RBS Chief Executive Stephen Hester into rejecting his bonus undoubtedly was a step in the right direction. But if Labour is going to capitalise on the government’s struggles dealing with the UK’s continued economic troubles and divisions within the Coalition, its leader needs to communicate with the country in a way that resonates with people and create a winning public image. In other words, he needs to build ‘Brand Miliband’ into something the country will buy as Prime Minister.

Rachel Mitchell

Lending Shortfall? Of Course.

Paul Lindsell — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:07:14 +0000

So UK banks have fallen behind on ‘project Merlin’ and have not extended the agreed volumes of credit to SMEs. So what… from both points of view.

The time when SMEs need credit is when the banks lending criteria are squeezed to the point of virtual drought. It’s only now the economy is starting to move that banks will once again lend, and even now, not enough. Credit availability is the biggest fueller of economic recovery, but banks will only relax lending criteria once each stage of recovery is seen (retrospectively) to be under way.

Which is chicken, which egg? Why is government not offering SME credit, where banks will not lend? And to a much larger extent than the equity lending being offered through the newly announced Business Growth Fund.

Or is government equally afraid of losses and defaults as the banking system?

Vlog: Top marketing tips for 2011

Paul Lindsell — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:53:19 +0000

Paul Lindsell provides a festive treat for marketers with his three top key tips for your marketing strategy in 2011.

If you’re still in the throws of planning and willing to adapt to market movements, this vlog is a must watch.

Enjoy and have a very Merry Christmas and wish you a prosperous New Year!

Vlog: Content is King

Paul Lindsell — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 11:24:19 +0000

Do you think content is king? And how do you cope with the content hungry machine of the web? Paul discusses the importance of content as the central and binding element for marketing campaigns. Why is content so powerful and what real difference can it make to your marketing campaigns? Learn more by watching the short video below.

The irony of social media

Dina Morton — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:41:51 +0000

Social media has become an obsession. I feel as if the media has gone mad about it, with articles being published here, there and everywhere analysing the ‘power of social media’. Well I stumbled (via a social media recommend) across a neat little video that explains all this far more effectively than any of the articles or blogs I’ve read, whilst also showing us how it has become the centre of the regular punter’s universe and penetrated every day life.

The central point of this video is how Facebook and the like become all consuming. Your friendships and relationships are just as digital as they are ‘real’. The more you use it, the more you propagate it, despite its sometimes negative consequences (queue the girlfriend dumping the central character) .

The one thing that makes this so clever is not actually the video itself but the effect of it. Bearing in mind the point its making, the irony of producing such an effective video on social media platforms, like this video, is that it will inevitably go viral. People will pass it on, show their friends, and yes, blog about it. Therefore, I feel really rather cliché for (a) having found this on a social networking site and (b) for doing what I’m about to do – but as it’s so good, have to share with you. What this does prove however is that video or any other media really does rely on good content and clever concepts for the viral phenomenon to happen.

Watch and enjoy … and if you want to be part of the cliché why not share it too!

Vlog: new client i-Mego

Hugh Filman — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:25:29 +0000

Hugh Filman introduces new client i-Mego – an Asian company that make funky audio accessories. Hugh discusses what it’s like to work for a ‘youth’ oriented brand and how important it is to have input from across the company for effective targeting and content generation. Targeting both consumers and distributors, this exciting campaign has lots of different elements to it, with a strong emphasis on social media, press relations, database building and digital marketing. Check out this video to see Hugh’s demo of the limited edition Heavy Beat Retro headphones and for an explanation of what ‘grinding and sliding’ means!

Vlog: Chinese brands in Europe

Paul Lindsell — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 16:43:57 +0000

In our first video blog, Paul Lindsell discusses the importance of Chinese companies developing strong brands in Europe and provides top tips on how to do this successfully. As more and more Chinese brands decide to enter European and Western markets, Lindsell Marketing, with its international staff and experience delivering global multi-media communications, tackles the issue of brand communication across continents. With our knowledge in customer audiences globally and what makes them tick, Lindsell Marketing is able to light the way for Chinese brands looking for a way into western consumer’s homes and hearts. Watch and enjoy.

Stay tuned for more from the Lindsell team!

Hands off the NHS

Dina Morton — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:47:21 +0000

The latest research report from Lindsell is out, with Hospital Healthcare Europe already covering the story: click here to have a read.

As ConLib cuts just keep on coming, we thought we’d canvass the opinion of senior managers for their views on essential service areas for the chop. Read a summary of the results here.

Industry Awards – coping with the June Rush

Dina Morton — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:16:33 +0000

The Autumn season is known for its plethora of industry award ceremonies. This means that as June comes to a close, the rush to get entries in on time, and to a high standard, becomes a major focus for marketers and PRs across all sectors.

With a track record for successful award entries for our clients – here’s a case study example for those interested - we thought we’d share a few tips to help you in your planning for next year.

1. Try to build your case study portfolio throughout the year so you have a selection of well written and already approved customer stories that you can potentially enter.

2. Speaking to your customers about entering awards well in advance gives them a chance to organise themselves and appropriate approvals in good time – this will help with the last minute sign-off.

3. Make sure that there is tangible evidence for project/contract success and that your customer is happy for you to include quantifiable outcomes – this will be the key to whether you are short-listed or not!

4. Tell a story – an awards entry is not a sales tool or piece of collateral. If you treat it as such, you will only end up alienating the judges. The entry needs to give the judges a real idea of what your organisation has done to deserve this award and why. So you should look to build a picture of the original customer pain, aims or goals, solution implementation and benefits. Just copying and pasting from an existing piece of material isn’t good enough.

5. Read the entry criteria – you don’t want to waste time writing up a great entry which may not qualify.

In short, drafting successful award entries requires a fine balance between persuasiveness without being salesy or pushy. Knowledge and experience of tailoring content to different audiences is vital if you’re to have a chance of being short-listed.

I wonder if there’s an Award out there for writing award entries? Perhaps that’s one for PR Week …