Smörgåsbloggers
All the way from Småland, the collected views, amusements and inspirations of a bunch of copywriters working at IKEA Communications. Here comes the small print: "The posts here are the authors own and are not necessarily the views of IKEA." Hopefully nothing else we put on here will be as boring as that.
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7 posts tagged marketing
Way back in 1957, psychologist Ernest Dichter was hired by Frito-Lay to compile a report about its chips. Among other suggestions, he thought about the importance of copy.
‘Dichter suggested that Frito-Lay avoid using the word “fried” in referring to its chips and adopt instead the more healthful-sounding term “toasted.”’
Read the above lengthy, but superb New York Times piece by Michael Moss for more about ‘The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food.’ Not only about science, it’s an insightful read about marketing, product development and optimization. And I’ve now come to realize that Lunchables are the child’s version of the IKEA effect.
Forms don’t die; they just fade away, waiting to be innovated.
When I hear the word “innovation” I tend to conjure up some amazing discovery. I forget that it can also mean bringing something long thought “dead” back to life, which is exactly what Beck has done with his new album. (Man, I love me some Beck)!
“In the wake of Modern Guilt and The Information, Beck’s latest album comes in an almost-forgotten form—twenty songs existing only as individual pieces of sheet music, never before released or recorded.”
The idea is so simple, so pure. It’s magical. Beck managed to worm his way around the problem of illegal pirating while encouraging sharing, and creating a product that organically markets its self and keeps fans engaged by one, getting them to perform, record and post their versions of these songs, and two, by leaving them longing for the supporting tour. I can only imagine how emotionally satisfying it will be to hear the songs performed by their creator. I know my breath is baited.
“The French can create global brands out of water.”
That’s my favourite quote from a document that I return to at least once a year. Written by Simon Silvester at Y&R, it’s a sweet piece of brain refreshment for those of us not working in Paris. If you think marketing is marketing no matter what, have a read through this.
Let’s not even get into the writing, these books are huge. So popular that you might argue that it barely matters what marketing strategy the publishers undertake. With that freedom, it’s fun to see the phenomenon itself marketed via Pinterest with a board made up of 50 grey colour swatches, half linked to various editions of the books and half linked to other products inspired by the series for sale on Etsy or eBay. I should mention that the idea comes from New York agency ALLDAYEVERYDAY.
Some of these colour blocks have been repinned, so I can only imagine that people are buying into being part of the hype by that action. Sure, that’s my assumption, but the linked product is one click away and the colour swatch seems an unlikely object of desire.
Pinterest is a democratic beast though, and there is one particular pinner who has taken umbrage with a number of the swatches, claiming them to be not grey but black. He stole my heart a tiny bit by doing that.
/Sarah
“How can you shift from push marketing to pull marketing and create your own social gravity? With three basic steps: purpose provides the “Why,” platforms offer the “What” and Partners create the “How.”
—Mark Bonchek
