Is there such a thing as bad publicity?

For those of us involved within the creative and promotional industries we all appreciate the power of print and the value in checking grammar, word flow and spellings before a big event. Occasionally slogans can get lost in translation with computers formatted slightly differently, not to mention the less Shakespearean versions of English used throughout the world.

But imagine our surprise when we heard about the latest news from multinational electronics company, Samsung at this weeks CES conference in Las Vegas.

We've all heard about Hollywood Producer Michael Bay leaving the stage during the launch of Samsung’s new curved TV, but the experiential side of the launch revealed a technological rain wall, sadly containing a misspelled ‘Experiece’; an otherwise inspired concept which looked great but sadly also captured the attention of social media.

Perceptions of brands have never been formed or altered quicker than they are right now with the accessibility of the internet and social media.

Both of these occurrences have gained huge exposure for Samsung, so you could argue that they have received more coverage than they could have dreamt of, albeit not directly about their product but it certainly goes a long way for brand exposure. So is it true that 'there's no such thing as bad publicity’?

See previous Blog entries for some of the experiential escapes The MotivAction Group have provided.

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MotivAction pack EE’s suitcase for the summer

If you’re travelling through Stansted or Manchester airport on your summer holidays over the coming weeks you won’t fail to notice the rather large suitcase MotivAction has produced for EE’s latest roaming campaign.

Our brand ambassadors are on hand to tell holiday makers about the fantastic roaming rates they can receive to make sure they’re in touch with family and friends whilst abroad.

If you’ve got a brief sitting on your desk for a live marketing or brand experience campaign then feel free to share it with our lovely team of creatives at MotivAction. We’d love to help!

Get in touch with Andy Cording: andy.cording@motivaction.co.uk or call 01920 458555 to find out more.

Play to win, don’t play to play: launching Varo Foods’ Moinmoin product

“Play to win. Don’t play to play.” said the Managing Director of Varo Foods in amazement after first setting his eyes on the Westfield Stratford demonstration kitchen we had created for him.

It may sound like an obvious statement but sometimes it can be hard to hand over the keys to your prized brand to an experiential agency and just let them ‘get on with’ creating a sampling event.

It probably hadn't helped that we’d been planning the launch of his new Nigerian delicacy Moinmoin for nearly a year, discussing a range of different venues and events and having to cancel them as the product simply wasn't ready.

Moinmoin is a dish served at Nigerian celebrations (known as Owambe) and family recipes are a closely guarded secret handed down from generation to generation. So it’s no surprise that Nigerians are very outspoken about what makes a good Moinmoin. You can see why no one had yet dared to package it as a convenience food - there was a lot at stake. 

Getting the recipe just right and waiting for the glacial manufacturing process to complete meant that the product sampling activity just got pushed further and further back. After all this time dealing with suppliers it was evident Varo Foods’ Managing Director hadn’t realised just how professional the live sampling activity could look. 

That’s precisely why he got MotivAction involved at the outset. We would take care of the whole process, ensuring our brand ambassadors were fully briefed, that Westfield Stratford’s demonstration kitchen was bright and vibrant and most importantly that his shiny new brand was properly represented throughout the whole weekend. 

No matter the client, brand or budget, MotivAction are there to win; not simply to play.

And you know what? It all paid off. After trying our hot Moinmoin samples the Nigerian target audience couldn't believe Varo Foods had managed to create such a tasty product. During our three days at the demonstration kitchen we had sold hundreds of tins of Moinmoin, created tens of thousands of opportunities to see the brand and Varo Foods saw their social media activity increase three-fold.

It looks as though Varo Foods’ Moinmoin has all the ingredients it needs to win!

If you would like to know a little more about the sampling activity we created for Varo Foods please get in touch with me at ideas@motivaction.co.uk and I’ll happily send you a case study.

‘Tis the season to get ‘fest’-ive for brands

It comes around just once a year and there are absolutely no snow covered scenes or cherubic choristers in sight. That’s right, the summer festival music season is fast approaching. And it’s not just the world’s music fans that are gearing up to see their favourite bands. The world’s biggest brands pay good money to attend the summer festivals because they know that when music fans aren’t moshing or doing air guitar, they have a captive audience that will interact with their brand.

These days brands wishing to do their brand experience activity have so many festivals other than Glastonbury to choose from. Festival organisers have realised that festival-goers that used to enjoy them in their youth would still like to attend even though they now have children. Harvest at Jimmy’s Farm and Latitude are two great examples and many brands that target this audience benefit by creating standout brand experiences that entertain and engage them.

And don’t think that festivals are strictly the domain of trendy twenty-somethings. There are festivals aimed solely at the toddler market. Lollibop in Regents Park is a summer festival for kids under the age of 10 and features appearances Rastamouse and Peppa Pig. They even have Ministry of Sound put on a mini disco for them! Again, the brand experience or live experiential opportunities are endless.

Throw in some MotivAction brand ambassadors that are trained to engage and talk with enthusiasm and knowledge about your product and you’ll find it’s a winning combination.

So, if you want your brand adored and loved by a captive audience at this year’s summer festivals then you’ve still got time book some space. Give us a call, we’ll be happy to help.

In Brand Experiences we Trust

Every Monday a chap called Roy H. Williams (otherwise known as the Wizard of Ads) drops an email into my inbox. The week before last his newsletter informed us readers how customers aren’t gullible anymore – they can sense when you’re trying to sell to them. They aren’t interested in ‘positive thinking’ and gloss anymore; they’re all about action and doing. “Don’t tell us, show us!”, he continued. How true this is, given that these days household budgets are squeezed and every purchase is thought about long and hard.

Every year we hold a meeting with our Brand Experience Event Managers. It’s an opportunity for them to share their stories and experiences from the past year as they’ve toured the country doing store launches and promotional activity for our clients. We give them all manner of activities to do, from hosting product launches for our many and varied clients to a range of different promotional activities we manage for clients like T Mobile. The one thing that really stuck with me after this meeting was how they kept talking about how the activities we dream up for them to run encourages shoppers to queue and wait to take part in the activity. This, they tell us, gives them a chance to stand chatting to the shoppers, earning their trust, telling them about the brand and showing them the latest handsets and gadgetry. The shoppers soon forget about the potential prize they might be able to win on the wheel of fortune and, with the help of our brand ambassadors, ask to be ushered into the nearby store to purchase the product. How about that for delivering results?

It’s always been the case that brands require a solid marketing mix in order to get the best cut through for their products but with the right idea and the right people it really is possible for brands to genuinely gain the trust of their customers.

Brand Experience: Reality bites for Abercrombie & Fitch

As far as live events go, the American reality TV show Jersey Shore is (for anyone under the age of 25) a global success. Never the less, as far as branded events go, the fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch are adamant it won’t be an event with their logo slapped all over it. So appalled are they with the behaviour of the show’s star, Michael ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino that this week they have reportedly paid him significant sums of money NOT to wear their clothes on screen in order to protect the brand they have spent millions of dollars cultivating. Given that this show is adored by fans all over the world you can see why they're getting a little hot under their preppy, pastel coloured polo collars.

Is this simply a highly effective bit of brand PR during the annual summer news slowdown (this subject was even deserving of 5 minutes airtime on BBC Radio 4!) or, heaven forbid, the beginning of an anti-sponsorship phenomenon?  Historically, brands have had ultimate control about whose svelte or ripped bodies their brands are seen on, but with the advent of YouTube and 24 hour rolling reality churning all spectrums of suspect behaviour out of our screens, brands could quickly find themselves having to spend more and more of their time and money in the bizarre situation of 'unpromoting' their products.

Not all brands have had the foresight or frankly the guts to do this - do you remember when Daniella Westbrook accessorised her whole life in Burberry? A&F, however, have always been outspoken and never shied away from telling the public what it feels which is why I think the much anticipated PR backfire won’t necessarily happen. Whether you think them arrogant or not, A&F have laid a very clear marker in the sand by stating that they are certainly not associated with the common 'dross' of reality television and instead are the exclusive label for those preppy enough to turn their backs on the quick fix of fame reality TV promises.

Now, where did I put my matching Burberry sock and underwear set?

Posted By Andy Cording, Brand Experiences Account Manager at The MotivAction Group

Good Brand Ambassadors are Vital to Brands

I attended a really fascinating workshop this week run by Karen, our Account Director for a major telecomms client. Our team at MotivAction are running some store openings around the UK and part of that process involves us selecting talented young brand ambassadors to be the face of our client during the launch. What was pleasing to see was a) just how bright, enthusiastic and eager our ambassadors are and b) just how much work our team puts into training them.

However, the aspect of the workshop that really stuck in my mind was Karen's talk about brands. It was a very insightful overview about the fact that a company or organisation's brand is so much more than simply their logo. She reminded them that our client’s brand is actually the way the organisation is perceived by their customers; the way the brand behaves and the things it represents. It just seemed to sum up quite nicely everything that MotivAction works so hard to achieve on behalf of its clients.

Posted by Andy Cording, Brand Experiences Account Manager

Experience This! Live Brand Experience Ideas

Here are a few of the ideas our Brand Experiences team have been looking at recently

Let It Snow - Snow Globes

We’ve been looking at alternative uses for our Snow Globes that toured the UK’s shopping centres in a brand experience campaign so successfully over the Christmas period. Ideas range from housing live challenges influenced by TV show ‘The Cube’ to creating a unique 5 minute holiday where people get to put their feet up, relax on a sunlounger and enjoy a mocktail and massage.

On the Move

Some of the latest designs for mobile marketing – from creating a front room on the high street to a focal point for newspaper distribution at festivals.

 

Green Graphics

We continue to be big fans of eco-friendly brand print solutions.


The Eco-Banner stand is a paper based banner stand that is made from recycled and 100% recyclable material and printed with environmentally friendly inks. It comes in a small box and only weighs 3kgs making it exceptionally easy to transport. When the artwork is no longer relevant, it can simply be recycled at your nearest cardboard recycling centre instead of re-shipping banner stand cartridges across the country.