Scorch Talk

It doesn’t take a genius to see the direct link between the expansion of the internet and the fall in newspaper circulation, as Gen Y’s (and almost everyone else for that matter) turns to news websites for the latest updates throughout the day. So the question then begs to be asked “Who is going to save the humble newspaper?”

The short answer is no one. The days of the newspaper print on your fingers are numbered.

So whilst news will always be relevant (in fact now more than ever, content in king) the dwindling readership and diminishing resources of newspapers prove the generational preference is online. And why not? Instant updates through the day on everything from Brangelina’s marriage status to the ASX 200, without having to leave your desk.  And even better…it’s free.

Which leads us to the next dilemma – how will these news services make money from readers when they’ve been giving it away for free? Have newspaper groups rushed too quickly into providing comprehensive free news websites? And will they have to somehow turn it around to charge subscription?

News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch thinks they will. He said in a recent interview that newspapers will start charging readers on the web, and the digital future is only a few years away. Apparently we’ll be seeing “newspapers looking very different” with digital news sent to blackberrys, palms or panels, superseding analogue print in the next 10 to 15 years.

Wow, can’t you just wait for the day when our grandkids ask us if we ever read those old fashioned newspapers they’ve seen in photos from the “olden days”? The good news is we will still be reading, still being inspired, and being touched by the stories of the day. But the status quo has left building. A revolution is coming and you might as well get on board.

I read an interesting blog by Seth Godin yesterday which likened the Marketing effort to “what happens between the frames of a comic book story”. His theory being that in the same way our imagination helps to create the story / fill the gaps between the frames of a comic, the Marketing effort is actually what happens in between your tangible Marketing activities.

So it’s not just the ad spruiking your latest product or service, or the website you slavishly updated. It’s the feeling your client had when she got better service than expected, or the realisation your prices were lower as you promised, or the chat between friends about how your product/service/business helped change their day/skin/house/life.

So all this leads me to ponder the question… if the actual Marketing effort is rounded out by what happens in between the frames, how do we ensure the whole story is getting told right?

1) Live the Marketing strategy - the message in your marketing strategy has a far greater chance of being received if everyone in your business is on board with (and maybe even inspired by) the concept. No point spending thousands on advertising a message if the team doesn’t feel any ownership or desire to help tell the story.

2) It’s all about culture – does your organisation have a culture that promotes the principles, standards and/or ethics you believe in? Does each person within your business consider the values and goals of the organisations as their own?Every interaction a customer has with your business, whether it be good or bad, are the unseen results of your organisational culture (or sometimes lack thereof).

3) Listen, Listen, Listen. The obvious premise of any business is having a customer or clientèle with a need for your product or service, but what are their needs, really? only one way to find out. Then on each level – from customer service, to the retail offer, and everything in between, listen to what your market wants and try to deliver.

…And if you’re wondering who’s getting it right, check out the latest Marketing strategy of the Commonwealth bank. i was amazingly surprised over the last month to actually get the very” un-bank-like conversations” with a few different tellers, and be greeted like a friend, as suggested you might in their “determined to do so” campaign. It would seem they may have the culture right, and the team all (seemingly) living the strategy. Who would have thought?

So we’ve had the pleasure of hordes of cheap and cheerful TV ads from Tiling companies, some with the guy in the hat cracking a whip like an Indiana Jones, others just resorting to yelling at us…but where are the beautiful Tile ads like the ones we see in Vogue Living?

Well one Tile retailer has taken the step and launched some  inspiring high end Tile ads on TV, with beautiful imagery and well composed music – at last!

From January 13th Tile Boutique will be on TV in WA for the first time, celebrating their 1st birthday with a 40% off sale and some visually inspiring ad material!

See above the lovely Miss Fap at Tile Boutique image ( featured in this month’s Vogue Living magazine), the image which was to become the inspiration for new Tile Boutique music.

So you can imagine the scenario – client marketing manager (that’s us at Scorch!) sitting down at the boardroom table with the TV and Music producers, giving a brief along the lines of “we want it to be inspiring, beautiful, a bit dramatic, but still with a call to action” (does this sound familiar?). The producers (Adrian Lloyd and team at Hyperactive Advertising) obligingly (and enthusiastically) sat through an entire CD of music (think moulin rouge soundtrack ) so they could get the “feel” for what was needed! Not to mention the pages of images spread all over the table to help with inspiration!

After then choosing a beautiful lyricyst, the  Tile Boutique jingle was born. To which we added the beautiful tile images from Europe (Love Tiles, Panaria) and voila!

You have the Tile Boutique 1st Birthday TVC.

Also coming soon national 30 sec and 15 sec versions. ….and from us…well done Tile Boutique and here’s looking forward to a great campaign!

It is timely this week that I wanted to introduce Intiga, a long standing client of ours at Scorch, who are often assigned the task of looking after high profile celebrities visiting Perth. As we speak the team at Intiga are in the midst of protecting a multitude of high profile tennis stars in Perth this week playing in the Hopman Cup.

In the past the Intiga have provided Security personnel to look after sports stars such as Lleyton Hewitt, Serena Williams and Marat Safin, and rumour has it that “security” has often encompassed other interesting jobs like playing chauffeur and carrying handbags (always a good look for a 6 foot plus security officer!). Under Intiga’s care this week at the 2010 Hopman Cup are players such as Lleyton Hewitt, Samantha Stosur, Elena Dementieva, Andy Murray and more.

The Hopman Cup Ball (click for the goss) was the highlight at Burswood last night, with the ladies and gents of tennis all “glamming up” for the night – the dresses looked beautiful but we are thinking the gorgeous gals could lash out more in the  hair and makeup department! One of these girls (and one of the boys) will be the recipient of the amazing diamond encrusted Hopman Cup tennis ball trophies – if you’re at the tennis this week make sure you check them out. They are a work of art, and hand made by Doris Brinkhaus (Click here to see how) and carefully protected by security guards from Intiga!

Well it stands to reason that the first blog on Scorch Talk should be a little about how Scorch Marketing came to be…which hopefully is a story with more substance than choosing a cool sounding name off the kids bicycle….

For the first year Scorch Marketing and Communications was just Lisa O’Keeffe, working from a home office with two clients, having a lovely time and still fitting in some lunches and golf on the days both kids were in school. Then that terrible temptress ‘ambition’ showed her face (assisted by a dose of opportunity and a fair smattering of A type personality) and here we are today. A small team , in our quaint offices in West Perth, our loyal (and hopefully happy) clients, and just managing to maintain some semblance of a life outside of our passion of Marketing!

So we have the lovely foodie clients, Morish Nuts, who make the most delicious nibbles (this is no manufactured PR claim either – just ask anyone who’s tried them). Morish will be launching a new website soon and focussing some marketing energies on the rest of Australia (hence where Scorch comes in!)

In the Home and lifestyle sector we have the latest in high end furniture at Ultimo Interiors, owned by the wonderful Genny and Enzo Sberna,  whom constantly amaze with  their service and knowledge of all things design! Ultimo stock the latest from Europe and also the beautifully manufactured CO2Designs from here in Perth.

Also in homewares is Tile Boutique, a new national brand in the Tile sector, importing the latest from Europe to their 27 stores nationally, with 7 stores in WA , all locally owned and operated. TB is basically a group of committed Tile retailers deciding to join together under one brand with all the associated benefits, and its a pleasure to embark on this journey with them.  We’ve just finished Tile Boutique’s first TV campaign airing  in Perth from January 13th, with beautiful music and imagery composed by the team at Hyperactive (thanks Adrian!).

Our Scorch Talk updates will cover anything we find interesting about Marketing, PR and Social Media, and will also provide interesting updates on what our clients are up to, and the latest trends in design and interiors from Europe.

Stay tuned for next weeks blog about Scorch’s other clients…..one of whom had the responsibility of Cate Blanchett on her recent visit to Perth (i’ll see if I can get any goss!), one an industry event, and a creator of organic skincare for bubs and grown ups (hopefully Smitten will be blogging themselves soon - with people more and more reluctant to put chemicals on their skin, it’s a hot topic).