The ultimate aim of arts companies is to put bums on seats. But the multi-media, multi-faceted strategy is an inexact science. Crikey speaks to arts marketers about the challenges of their jobs.
Marketing
The latest marketing buzzword? ‘Artisan’
Once upon a time the word “artisan” meant something had been carefully hand made. Now you can buy Domino’s Artisan pizza and artisan sandwiches from Starbucks. Bruce Horovitz opines on the newest marking cliché.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Children, marketing and fast food
Crikey readers have their say.
Tracking the PR embarrassment
Here’s a note of PR advice from Tim Burrowes: don’t send out your company press releases with the “track changes” function still enabled on the Microsoft Word document. Otherwise the whole internet gets to witness your embarrassing marketing lingo.
Behind the one sided mirror of focus groups
As a long term practitioner and teacher of research methods, Eva Cox wants to set the record straight by pointing out the apparent gross misuse of a very useful tool — focus groups.
How MasterChef can help more than your culinery skills
MasterChef is a rich source of knowledge, and not just about how to make the perfect strogonoff or red wine jus. James Thomson has five ideas inspired by the show to kickstart your business.
World Cup: Why Ghana is a must win for the Socceroos (and their sponsors)
Forget the fans, Australia’s 4-0 loss to Germany was more devastating for Australian marketers who have committed millions to World Cup 2010 sponsorships. Marketing guru Stephen H Downes reports.
How corporate America cashed in on Naomi Klein’s No Logo
Naomi Klein’s anti-brand manifesto No Logo became the unofficial bible of the anti-globalisation movement. Ironically, it also became a research manual for brands looking to market themselves to socially-conscious consumers.
RRP-off: how to make a $499 iPad sound like a bargain
Mint explains the simple but surprisingly effective marketing tactic of “price anchoring”: stick a product’s price next to a much higher one, and it will suddenly seem like a steal.
How MTV is selling Jersey Shore around the world
MTV is hawking its popular reality TV series Jersey Shore (it’s a “young people live in a house together” variant) to audiences around the world. Gawker has a fascinating look at the different ways it’s being pitched to different countries, from India to England.
How Hoyts ruined my night out at the movies
He’d seen the trailers, saw the ad in the paper, headed down on opening night to his local Hoyts cinema, yet didn’t see the film because he couldn’t buy a ticket. Tim Burrowes explains how Hoyts threw the sale away.
How packaging is more than just paper
Seth Godin offers advice on how an African chocolate company should package their chocolate. Sure, it involves some glamorising of poverty, but it’s a great marketing idea.
What business can learn from The Grateful Dead
Seminal jam band The Grateful Dead didn’t just develop their cult following through their fusion of psychedelic rock and hallucinogenic drugs (though that helped): they actually pioneered a range of marketing practices that have since been embraced by the corporate world.
Apple’s marketing magic
The buzz around this week’s big reveal of Apple’s new tablet computer has reached fever pitch. How does the company generate the kind hype others would pay billions for without spending a dime?
The biggest Aussie marketing disasters of 2009
Media and marketing blog mUmBRELLA has named Westpac’s banana smoothie campaign as the biggest marketing disaster of the year, beating out Kraft’s iSnack 2.0 and Witchery’s disastrous man-in-a-jacket stunt.
Dell tweeps equal US$6.5 million in sales
Twitter ain’t no time waster down at Dell, with promotions on Dell’s 35 various Twitter accounts responsible for bringing US$6.5 million in sales of personal computers.
Hold the phoney: Telstra’s ‘customer’ unmasked
Megan Lane appeared on radio and TV yesterday as an angry Telstra customer as part of the company’s new “My Telstra Experience” campaign, but Crikey can reveal that Lane worked as a Telstra spin doctor until 2002, writes Andrew Crook.
How I ended up running a $100,000 marketing campaign
The latest Aussie snack food to jump on the “name our new product” bandwagon is SupaShake. 20-year-old marketing blogger Zac Martin explains how he has ended up running the $100k campaign for one of the new flavours.
When is a cage egg green? When it plants trees
Some battery egg producers are giving their cartons a green sheen so dazzling, it threatens to blind consumers to the nature of their egg-laying process, writes Crikey intern Aaron Flanagan.
Pink bits: the absurd world of gendered consumer products
Marketers have never abandoned the idea that men and women require their own ‘special’ products. Women’s products are often tinted pink and advertised with cuddly names and breathy female voiceovers. Insulting much?
The Vegemite votes are in: it’s “Cheesybite”
After the short but dramatic iSnack 2.0 saga, Kraft’s new and improved competition to name its new flavour of Vegemite has a winner: Cheesybite. Eh. Appropriately bland.
Is iSnack 2.0 a marketing success?
Will Kraft’s engagement experiment with Vegemite and the #vegefail iSnack 2.0 name ultimately be a huge winner or a huge loser for the brand? Tactical TV’s Tony Richardson investigates.
Attention industrial designers: men and women aren’t equal
Making products female friendly isn’t just about painting them pink. Women want functional, smart design that is intuitive. And their spending power is worth the redesign.
What’s in a name? Money, say universities
By changing a course name from “German Literature of the High Middle Ages’’ to “Knights, Castles, and Dragons’’, Boston College nearly tripled enrollment. Catchy course names are becoming an important business strategy for unis.
