Thanks if you have trawled through my seemingly endless ramblings, I hope at least some of it has been interesting :)
Bye Byeee
Monday, 12 March 2012
Gooodbye Blog!
I am happy to say I have finally finished! This means no more blogging at stupid o'clock yay! Although I have actually quite enjoyed it...well most of it anyway!
A funny but a potential, unintentional marketing technique for Crufts!!
I have noticed a video being shared around via Facebook at the moment relating to a little mishap that happened on Crufts TV, take a look!
Not so funny for the dog owner but actually after seeing that this video has already had 259,396 views since it was posted on 9th March this surely will help promote Crufts even if it probably wasn't in the way they intended!
Just thought i'd post this before I finish this blog once and for all!
Not so funny for the dog owner but actually after seeing that this video has already had 259,396 views since it was posted on 9th March this surely will help promote Crufts even if it probably wasn't in the way they intended!
Just thought i'd post this before I finish this blog once and for all!
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Last minute More4 advertising
When watching the More4 at around 8pm Tuesday night (6th March), I noticed that an advert for Crufts came up. It was advertising that on 19.30 Thursday 11th March , Friday 12th , Saturday 13th and 19.00 on Sunday 14th March they would be broadcasting selected sections from Crufts. On the Sunday they are showing a two hour special. These broadcasts will include popular highlights including the stories of 'hero dogs' in the Friends for Life competition and the live award of 'Best in Show'. It also will provide a high profile platform to inform the public about issues of health and welfare in pedigree dog breeding.
I also found on TGI that actually 17.4% of adults (15+) out of a sample size 49077, stated that they find television adverts most useful when making purchase decisions. This was the highest percentage compared to internet (9.8%), magazines (10.6%), newspapers (12.0%), radio (1.8%) and cinema (1.1%). This then suggests that marketing the event via a TV advert would be effective in helping to influence peoples purchase decisions, i.e. to purchase tickets.
BUT... on the same survey it also stated that a high percentage of people (30.3%) found television adverts to be most annoying out of those categories. Magazine and newspaper adverts were viewed to be least annoying (4.1% and 4.8%). This contradicts the previous point but it goes to show that although people may find these adverts annoying, they still play a major part in convincing people to purchase goods whether they like it or not! Maybe because we are constantly exposed to them, they are having a brainwashing effect on us viewers, who knows!?
Hamish Mykura, Head of More 4, said:
“More 4’s coverage will enable dog lovers to see all the Crufts favourites, with fresh and stylish coverage that will give the show a More 4 twist. Crufts has a long-standing place in British broadcasting, and people who watch it want to know that the dogs are, above all, happy and healthy. Our programmes will place a particular emphasis on dog welfare issues, reflecting different points of view.”
When looking at the statistics on the BARB website, it stated that More4 reaches around 2,789 daily. which according to the site, is 4.9% of people out of the others that chose to watch alternative channels. The issue I have with this however, is what if people are flicking through channels? They may not have necessarily been watching the advert but still been recorded. I don't know whether they have a set time someone has to stay on a channel before it is counted....
But saying this, since seeing the advert that evening I have seen it another 2 times, so this suggests that a lot of people are being made aware of the event and perhaps even if they don't actually attend the event, will watch it and perhaps decide they may want to go next year.
However, when looking at a TGI survey using the demographic group: Women aged 45-54 ABC1, I did discover that 36% agreed that when watching programmes that they have pre-recorded for later viewing, they fast forward through the advertisements. This suggests that unless the viewers are watching the TV broadcast live, they will be much less likely to actually be subjected to the Crufts advert.
However, when looking at a TGI survey using the demographic group: Women aged 45-54 ABC1, I did discover that 36% agreed that when watching programmes that they have pre-recorded for later viewing, they fast forward through the advertisements. This suggests that unless the viewers are watching the TV broadcast live, they will be much less likely to actually be subjected to the Crufts advert.
I also found on TGI that actually 17.4% of adults (15+) out of a sample size 49077, stated that they find television adverts most useful when making purchase decisions. This was the highest percentage compared to internet (9.8%), magazines (10.6%), newspapers (12.0%), radio (1.8%) and cinema (1.1%). This then suggests that marketing the event via a TV advert would be effective in helping to influence peoples purchase decisions, i.e. to purchase tickets.
BUT... on the same survey it also stated that a high percentage of people (30.3%) found television adverts to be most annoying out of those categories. Magazine and newspaper adverts were viewed to be least annoying (4.1% and 4.8%). This contradicts the previous point but it goes to show that although people may find these adverts annoying, they still play a major part in convincing people to purchase goods whether they like it or not! Maybe because we are constantly exposed to them, they are having a brainwashing effect on us viewers, who knows!?
Reference:
BARB. (2012). Weekly Total Viewing Summary. Available: http://www.barb.co.uk/report/weekly-viewing?_s=4. Last accessed 08th March 2012
https://www.kmrsoftware.net/netquestuni2/default.aspx
https://www.kmrsoftware.net/netquestuni2/default.aspx
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Advertising: Strong/ Weak Theory
“I am a part of that school, which believes, that a good advertisement is the one that sells the products without attracting the attention to oneself. It should attract the attention of the reader to the product. Instead of saying “what a smart advertisement”, the reader should say “I didn’t know this before. I must try this product”.
David Ogilvy
“Confessions of an advertising man”
The common debate today is how advertising works. Fill (1999) suggested two views regarding the subject
Strong Theory
The strong theory states that advertisement influences people strongly because it is able to persuade the customer to purchase the advertised brand. It is the view that consumers are passive and that advertising can persuade and generate repeat purchase behaviour. This theory holds that advertising can persuade someone to buy a product they have never bought before.Weak Theory
- Primary-- Product experience
- Secondary -- Marketing Communications
- Tertiary-- Shops, dealers, exhibitions
The weak theory holds the view that advertising is not as effective as public relations when delivering a message as advertising is seen as only a way of earning money and selling products and is not interested in the customers' satisfaction or experience. It is mainly the number of customers that distinguishes a brand rather than customer loyalty.
Ehrenberg suggested a framework which is the awareness-trial-reinforcement (ATR) framework. Awareness is necessary before any buying made and the period between the awareness and the action will be very short or very long term (Fill 2003) After this a very few people convinced to try the product and this can be effected by retail availability, advertising, word of mouth or personal selling. And the following stage of this framework is reinforcement which follows to provide awareness and reassurance to help the audience to repeat the thinking and behavior and placed the product for the occasional buying. In this framework advertising’s role is to cause brand familiarity and provide identification (Ehrenberg, 1997)
Ehrenberg suggested a framework which is the awareness-trial-reinforcement (ATR) framework. Awareness is necessary before any buying made and the period between the awareness and the action will be very short or very long term (Fill 2003) After this a very few people convinced to try the product and this can be effected by retail availability, advertising, word of mouth or personal selling. And the following stage of this framework is reinforcement which follows to provide awareness and reassurance to help the audience to repeat the thinking and behavior and placed the product for the occasional buying. In this framework advertising’s role is to cause brand familiarity and provide identification (Ehrenberg, 1997)
I would probably say that for the Nero Tour, the strong theory is used as they are trying to influence people to buy the tickets for their tour that people may not have been necessarily aware of beforehand. With the use of music videos, articles, music download links etc. they are aiming to persuade their audience to come to one or more of the dates on their tour.
It could be said however, the weak theory also ties into this as those already existing fans maybe have been to a show before and are dedicated Nero fans therefore the advertising/marketing may act as a reminder for them to buy the tickets rather than persuading them to buy them therefore it could be said to be reinforcing decisions by all the promotion that has been going on during/before the tour.
For Crufts i'd say that again, it is hard to pinpoint it definitely down to one theory although...
It does seem to be targeting those who have never actually been before more so due to the fact that their slogan is 'tail wagging fun for all the family!' shows that they are really trying to bring in not just the dog owners but their families too, suggesting that there is something for everyone. Throughout the website they are using emotive lexis such as 'thrills', 'wonderful', 'exciting' etc. which acts as a persuasive element. I would put this into the strong theory category as what with the extensive marketing they seem to have done, it seems to be about persuading perhaps new, potential attendees to come as they most likely have a loyal following already who will go regardless.
Reference:
issuesinimc.Strong and Weak Theory of Advertising. Available: http://issuesinimc.wikispaces.com/Strong+and+Weak+Theory+of+Advertising. Last accessed 06 March 2012.
It could be said however, the weak theory also ties into this as those already existing fans maybe have been to a show before and are dedicated Nero fans therefore the advertising/marketing may act as a reminder for them to buy the tickets rather than persuading them to buy them therefore it could be said to be reinforcing decisions by all the promotion that has been going on during/before the tour.
For Crufts i'd say that again, it is hard to pinpoint it definitely down to one theory although...
It does seem to be targeting those who have never actually been before more so due to the fact that their slogan is 'tail wagging fun for all the family!' shows that they are really trying to bring in not just the dog owners but their families too, suggesting that there is something for everyone. Throughout the website they are using emotive lexis such as 'thrills', 'wonderful', 'exciting' etc. which acts as a persuasive element. I would put this into the strong theory category as what with the extensive marketing they seem to have done, it seems to be about persuading perhaps new, potential attendees to come as they most likely have a loyal following already who will go regardless.
Reference:
issuesinimc.Strong and Weak Theory of Advertising. Available: http://issuesinimc.wikispaces.com/Strong+and+Weak+Theory+of+Advertising. Last accessed 06 March 2012.
Merchandise
This morning, I had a quick check on the facebook and Crufts have posted a link to their official merchandise page where the merchandise for Crufts 2012 has been released.When looking I noticed they sell; clothing (unisex), soft toys, bags, badges, fridge magnets, mugs, keyrings,pens and rosettes! So they have quite a lot of merchandise...
Events use a number of different ways to create income other than the cost of the tickets themselves. One major way of increasing the income from various events is through producing merchandise.
I searched for a good definition of merchandise and found this:
‘The purpose of merchandising is to generate an interest for the product in the consumer, to sustain that interest and to eventually sell the product based on that interest’ (Caldon, 2008).
I also looked up the defintion of souvenir as well and this one I thought was quite good:
'An item of sentimental value, to remember an event or location; sometimes a cheaply-made item sold for a high price.'
They are most often very over priced! This is probably because they are selling to a very particular market and if they are the official merchandise providers then they know that people have no where else to get the genuine merchandise and so this makes people more likely to fork out more cash. Pretty bad considering you are most likely paying a fair amount for your ticket anyway but there you go!
Anyway...all of these items are branded with the Crufts logo.
Events use a number of different ways to create income other than the cost of the tickets themselves. One major way of increasing the income from various events is through producing merchandise.
I searched for a good definition of merchandise and found this:‘The purpose of merchandising is to generate an interest for the product in the consumer, to sustain that interest and to eventually sell the product based on that interest’ (Caldon, 2008).
I also looked up the defintion of souvenir as well and this one I thought was quite good:
'An item of sentimental value, to remember an event or location; sometimes a cheaply-made item sold for a high price.'
They are most often very over priced! This is probably because they are selling to a very particular market and if they are the official merchandise providers then they know that people have no where else to get the genuine merchandise and so this makes people more likely to fork out more cash. Pretty bad considering you are most likely paying a fair amount for your ticket anyway but there you go!Anyway...all of these items are branded with the Crufts logo.
I would have thought those that attend the event may want to purchase a souvenir as those that do attend are most likely very much into the brand/ what it stands for as it is targeted at dog lovers. Assuming this is the case, Crufts probably generate a fair amount of revenue from merchandise purchases. Those wearing/sporting the merchandise are obviously promoting the event as well so it's great for them!
As for the Nero Tour there are no official licensed merchandise sites for this tour at the moment. From experience I would have thought the merchandise, if any, will be on sale at the actual venue on the night of the show. This can sometimes be effective as after a gig/show I find you are normally (hopefully!) left with a buzz and it normally increases your liking for the particular band/dj/performer. This may be a likely time when people want to buy the merchandise as a memento and obviously those newly converted fans may want to demonstrate their support after by purchasing merchandise. Fans may wish to purchase a t-shirt,hoodie etc. to show they have been to actual show.
Perhaps after the tour has finished an official site may be there to sell tour merchandise to those who wish to purchase any.
References:
AllWords. Definition of Souvenir. Available: http://www.allwords.com/word-souvenir.html. Last accessed 06 March
Caldon, R. (2010). Merchandising-Its advantages. Available: http://ezinearticles.com/?Merchandising---Its-Advantages&id=5624926. Last accessed 06 March 2012.
References:
AllWords. Definition of Souvenir. Available: http://www.allwords.com/word-souvenir.html. Last accessed 06 March
Caldon, R. (2010). Merchandising-Its advantages. Available: http://ezinearticles.com/?Merchandising---Its-Advantages&id=5624926. Last accessed 06 March 2012.
Saturday, 3 March 2012
Both Websites...
When typing 'Nero' into 'Google', the official Nero music page isn't the first result that comes up, infact the official www.thisisnero.com is the 4th result. Before that is in fact the CD/DVD burning computer software websites. However, when I typed in 'Nero Second Reality UK Tour' into Google the website does not even feature on the 1st results page and instead the official website comes up on the 2nd results page 3rd down. Ahead of this are all the articles releasing information about the tour, dates, venues etc. from various music sites.
This does suggest that the tour is getting a lot of coverage from many different sites which mainly seem to be press releases from music sites which is obviously raising awareness and this seems to be a major marketing strategy for them which presumably they aren't having to pay for! This is great news for them!
When I type Crufts into 'Google' the first result is the official Crufts page, even the sponsored ad is the Crufts page. Following this is the Wikipedia defintition of 'Crufts', last years results, Kennel Club webpage(organisers),Crufts section on channel 4, NEC page for Crufts and the Crufts YouTube page. This suggests great SEO (search engine optimisation) due to the fact that all the page results on the first page are strongly linked with the event and feature the keyword 'Crufts'. It may be easier for Crufts to do this as it is an original name that is not taken by any other well known brand,product etc. It is also a popular, well known event and being a single word, it can help make the search more specific as multiple words may bring up irrelevant results as seen with the 'Nero' search. As shown, Nero have the problem that they share their name with a popular piece of computer software.
SEO can be defined as:
'The process of choosing targeted keyword phrases related to a site, and ensuring that the site places well when those keyword phrases are part of a Web search.' (Marketingterms.com)
Reference:
Marketing Terms . Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Available: http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/search_engine_optimization/. Last accessed 03 March 2012.
This does suggest that the tour is getting a lot of coverage from many different sites which mainly seem to be press releases from music sites which is obviously raising awareness and this seems to be a major marketing strategy for them which presumably they aren't having to pay for! This is great news for them!
When I type Crufts into 'Google' the first result is the official Crufts page, even the sponsored ad is the Crufts page. Following this is the Wikipedia defintition of 'Crufts', last years results, Kennel Club webpage(organisers),Crufts section on channel 4, NEC page for Crufts and the Crufts YouTube page. This suggests great SEO (search engine optimisation) due to the fact that all the page results on the first page are strongly linked with the event and feature the keyword 'Crufts'. It may be easier for Crufts to do this as it is an original name that is not taken by any other well known brand,product etc. It is also a popular, well known event and being a single word, it can help make the search more specific as multiple words may bring up irrelevant results as seen with the 'Nero' search. As shown, Nero have the problem that they share their name with a popular piece of computer software.
SEO can be defined as:
'The process of choosing targeted keyword phrases related to a site, and ensuring that the site places well when those keyword phrases are part of a Web search.' (Marketingterms.com)
Reference:
Marketing Terms . Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Available: http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/search_engine_optimization/. Last accessed 03 March 2012.
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