Scorch Talk

There has been a lot of talk over the last week (and just a few PR hands thrown in the air) about the fact that PR Lion GRAND PRIX at Cannes, has been won by….wait for it….an Advertising Agency.

Now the news here isn’t just that Clemenger BBDO has won the PR Lion this year (for the NAB’s “Break up with the other banks” campaign) – a bigger headline is that ALL of Australia’s success in the PR category at Cannes has come from Advertising agencies. In the three years of the PR category at Cannes, Australia has had many entries win a shortlist – none from PR agencies.

This has come about through ad agencies recognising over the last decade what PR people have been banging on about forever – and that is CONTENT is the key. PR specialists have been creating great content for clients for years, and coming up with strategies for communicating that content/news/idea to the key stakeholders. This idea of “sharing great content” is also what social media is all about, so it’s no great surprise that in 2011 the smartest Advertising people are thinking along similar lines.

We’ve seen a shift with Ad agencies moving away from a strategy of deciding on the advertising channel first, to delving deeper for what the crux of the story really is, and how to best sell that across ALL avenues. Starting to sound familiar? This is what clients demand in this communication era and the successful Ad agencies are evolving to adapt. It’s also interesting to note that the “break up” campaign that won the PR Lion had a huge component of paid advertising, but it was the idea, and the content, that was key. The concept was bold and delivered mega bucks in unpaid coverage.

So yes the lines are blurring between PR and advertising (which doesn’t bother Marketing and PR consultants like myself a great deal!!) and as they should. The times they are a changin’ (actually too late they’ve already changed) and great CONTENT is the new black. At the end of the day, both Advertising and PR specialists need to keep evolving to survive. There are plenty of PR agencies doing just that (and doing great work!), and as far as Cannes goes …..maybe they just need a bigger client to showcase their goods – or a better advertising campaign at Cannes to wow the judges!!

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!