November 2009

As you may have noticed, I provide traditional marketing services to my clients. However, I do very little of it for myself. I don’t even do as much face-to-face networking as I used to. These days, I win business through online marketing. It’s free! But it does take time, and Read more…

Or inspired advertising? Check out the British Biscuit Advisory Board campaign for Fox’s Rocky biscuit bar. And be careful out there!

McDonald’s have started a series of ads with punny captions e.g. ‘Gherkin or gherkout’. I was amused to see the ‘painfully thick’ milkshake poster (although I’m not sure if they’re talking about their product or their customers). I think they’re trying to compete with the classic Economist campaigns. Just do Read more…

A. Most people think a company is not doing well if it starts discounting. If you can afford that price now, they want to know why they can’t get a discount all the time (e.g. people wait for the January sales and never pay full price). Existing customers resent it Read more…

Usually, I write about words. Today, I’m writing about numbers. Pay attention now. CarpetRight ads proudly proclaim ‘UP TO 50% OFF, THEN AN EXTRA 20%!’ To the untrained eye, this looks like a whopping 70% discount. Look again. £100 x 50% = £50 off £50 x 20% = £10 off Read more…

So the Government want us to reduce CO2 emissions by discouraging driving. They’ve done some calculations and reckon that asking us all to drive 5 miles less each week will make a useful difference. Drive 5 miles less Trouble is, this objective doesn’t make sense. ‘What, I have to stop Read more…

Last week, my local supermarket (guess who!) gave me a voucher for double loyalty points on my next trip. This week, I presented my voucher and they refused it for no apparent reason. ‘Computer says no.’ Collecting loyalty points is not the biggest thrill in my life. But having my Read more…

Thanks to the new GHD ‘twisted fairytale’ Rapunzel ad, at last I know what GHDs are! Good Hair Day hair straighteners. Not that I plan to buy any. I’m a curly girly (and proud of it).

There was a lot of fuss when Kennedy’s, the family butchers, finally closed its doors. People wrote to the local paper to complain about how much they would miss their favourite sausages. Cleverly, my local sausage shop saw it as an opportunity. They’re great at PR. Whenever you see anyone Read more…