As part of its big rollout of its new content services, Apple debuted a new short film for Apple TV+ featuring some of the most creative minds in film taking us inside their respective worlds on the anxieties and triumphs of their craft.
‘Storytellers’ was shot by Academy Award-winning cinematographer/filmmaker Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki. The film features iconic storytellers – Steven Spielberg, JJ Abrams, Sofia Coppola, Ron Howard, Octavia Spencer, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Damien Chazelle, M. Night Shyamalan and Hailee Steinfeld – who take us through the creative journey of telling stories that matter.
The five-minute-plus black-and-white film is a glimpse behind the curtain, revealing an intimate account of the art of storytelling and showcases the unwavering passion and dedication of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers.
It starts with Spielberg, who gives a suggestion of how to begin the film, with a white dot on a black screen that gets larger and then explodes. From there, he, JJ Abrams and the rest describe what goes on in their minds during a shoot. It ranges from the intricacies of the writing process through the anxieties the filmmakers face when they have a full set of people and things might not be working just right. In between the commentary we see full sets – one of a lunar landing, one of a rain-soaked urban block, another of a snowy dreamscape where a woman is hoisted into the air. We also see a symphony orchestra gathering then playing as the film’s score itself ebbs and flows with the narrative.
“Fear is good. At least for me it’s good. Fear of failure is a kind of octane that keeps me wanting to stand on the edge of the abyss but at the same time not plunge to my career death,” says Spielberg.
Ultimately, it’s about shared stories and how it draws all of us together. “Sharing stories with one another makes us feel less alone,” states Chazelle.
Leveraging Lubezki’s masterful eye, ‘Storytellers’ transports the viewer into the mind of the filmmaker and underscores the important role stories play in our daily lives: to create a shared sense of connection. The film underlines the timely launch of Apple TV+, illustrating through captivating imagery and powerful prose that there’s never been a better time for stories that truly matter.
“We’re honoured that the absolute best lineup of storytellers in the world — both in front of and behind the camera — are coming to Apple TV+,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of internet software and services, in a news post for Apple. “Apple TV+ will be home to some of the highest quality original storytelling that TV and movie lovers have seen yet.”
An additional opening film for Apple’s presentation appears like a 60s-era movie opening credits sequence, with Apple products in place of stars and swirling technicolour animation.
Apple TV+ is set to launch this fall. Additionally, Apple debuted the all-new Apple TV app and Apple TV channels coming in May 2019.
On April Fools’ day no one is safe from brand PR stunts. Where Microsoft has just initiated a blanket ban on 1 April humour, other companies have decided to uphold the tradition of capitalising on the event with some fake news of their own.
In a memo to staff last week, Microsoft noted how April Fools’ pranks had a “limited positive impact”, pointing out that ill-judged jokes can even result in “unwanted news cycles”. But while big tech might be cynical about filling journalists’ inboxes with fake news for a day, consumers aren’t as uptight.
In the UK at least, research indicates 86% of people think humour is one of the best ways a company can connect with them. 68% even say they think April Fools’ campaigns were funny.
Though some admittedly miss the funny bone, this year’s lot of brand executions is a mixed bag of inspired ideas, millennial product parodies and a few clumsy rebrands.
Among the efforts is a ‘height verification tool’ from Tinder which has already proven to be divisive despite its aim of bringing “truthfulness back into the world of online dating”. British retailer Boden, meanwhile, has riffed off the current Brexit chaos with a tongue-in-cheek Breton top ban.
Scroll down to see the rest of this year’s tongue-in-cheek stunts, campaigns and product launches from around the world, from Singapore to Scotland.
Tinder: Height verification badge
Recognising that height is a valuable currency in the world of online dating, Tinder has trolled users by announcing plans to introduce a ‘height verification badge’. “Simply input your true, accurate height with a screenshot of you standing next to any commercial building. We’ll do some state-of-the-art verifying and you’ll receive your badge directly on your profile,” it teases.
Durex: Fish skin and mala hot pot flavoured condoms
Durex is inviting couples to unleash the heat with a special new flavour:”Spice things up and experience the taste of the fish skin condom with mala hot pot flavour. Packed with handpicked ingredients for your tasteful experience. Let ’em pleasure your mouth…” it insists on its Facebook page.
Jameson: A glittering deterrent
Jameson has launched a clever (and sparkly) way to deter would-be whisky thieves from stealing a dram of the good stuff. Jameson Catchmates comes complete with ‘glittershot’ technology. One twist of the cap sees any sip-stealing roommate or relative met with a wave of green glitter, turning their sticky fingers into shimmering ones.
Boden: Brexit Breton top ban
Breton shirts are the latest casualty of EU upheavals according to Boden. The retailer claims consent has been withdrawn for it to continue producing the French-inspired sartorial staple in the UK, and that anyone owning a Breton top will now need to apply for a special EU shirt license to wear one or face a €1000 fine. As such, it’s offering a thoughtful solution to customers: a Breton stripe removal service. The complimentary postal service erases illegal stripes by screen-printing, a technique the company calls ‘the Bret-off’. Boden’s founder has been giving interviews to the media this morning.
Travellodge: Bedshare service
In its bid to compete with sharing economy rivals, Travel lodge is taking sharing to the next level with a fresh ‘bedshare’ service that makes travelling a little less lonely and cheaper. Guests will get a 50% discount if they are willing to share half their room with another guest, and the company will clearly mark everything down the middle to make sure each person gets their fair share.
SodaStream: A wind-powered innovation
American astronaut Scott Kelly, best known for having spent the most time in space on a single mission, is the face of SodaStream’s newest innovation; SodaStream.ME, which turns people’s excess CO2 into sparkling water on the go. One small burp for man, one sparkling leap for mankind.
Discussing the campaign with The Drum, Scott Kelly said: “I have a SodaStream and really like the product. As a lover of our planet, I appreciate partnering up with a brand whose environmental values fall in line with my own personal beliefs.”
He clarified that: “You can’t burp in space. On earth – or in a gravity field – the gas in your stomach is lighter than air, so it rises opposite to the force of gravity. In space – in microgravity – there is no weight and hence the gas isn’t “lighter” than air, so it doesn’t rise. It stays mixed in with the food in your body, so it’s eventually expelled another way.”
Maryland: Avocado cookies
Forget smashed avo’ on toast, Maryland has taken the millennials’ favourite food craze one step further with the launch of its brand-new Avocado Cookie. Promising an “Instagrammable snack” like no other, the snack maker claims to have used “refined avocado powder” in lieu of flower, creating a super-food alternative to original cookies.
Hello Fresh: A bold unicorn box
What do brands think millennials love more than avocados? Luridly-coloured foods and Unicorn-themed products apparently. That’s why Hello Fresh is adding the ‘The Unicorn Box’ to its meal subscription box options. The first-of-its-kind experience contains three colourful recipe kits that will let diners eat “like a mythical creature with a box full of farm-fresh rainbows, smiles, and joy right at your doorstep”.
Honda: The polite horn
Sometimes drivers need to get the attention of others. But do they have to be so rude about it? In its mission to make roads everywhere more civilised, Honda Canada has launched a solution: the polite horn.
Origin: Sun power
Solar panel business Origin has announced it’s literally going the extra mile for customers and heading to the sun to power the entire planet, in a world first mission to capture solar power in its purest form. It says the traditional method of waiting for sunlight means we lose around 98% of its power before it hits earth. So, in order to capture the energy in its purest form, Origin has engaged some of the world’s greatest engineers to head into space to carve off a bowling ball size of the sun – which alone will be enough to power the world for the next 60,000 years.
Caring Skin: Astronaut facial
Space is a recurrent theme this year, with Singapore facial spa caring skin revealing it will be sending customers into outer space to clear blemishes and treat sensitive and inflamed skin. The 150-minute suborbital ‘pop-up’ treatment, dubbed ‘The Astronaut Facial’, is endorsed by influencers Camira Asrori and Cassandra Tan.
Google: Snakes on a map
Google prefers to celebrate April Fools’ day instead of tricking people. Last year, you might’ve seen Waldo peeking out of your Google Maps to invite you to find him on a scavenger hunt: This year, it’s revived another nostalgic game that takes people back to a much simpler, pre-Fortnite time: Snake. Confusingly, the ‘snake’ is now a train. Regardless, the twist on the 90s Nokia classic lets players ‘travel’ to different locations across the world—including Cairo, London, San Francisco, São Paulo, Sydney and Tokyo – straight from Google Maps.
Jägermeister: Introducing the Jägerbong
Just ahead of the 4/20 celebrations, Jägermeister has announced that it’s joining the cannabis market with the launch of the Jägerbong. Coming in at a clever $42, customer can light up the party with a kit which includes a 1L bottle of the aperitif they can recycle and turn into a bong, a bong carb, a hacky sack, eye drops, a lighter and grinder.
Aaron & Partners: Animals need lawyers too
UK law firm Aaron & Partners has launched an employment law service for pet influencers. Dogs, cats, fish and tortoises are just some of the species the firm hopes to work with. Standard employment contracts will be drawn up to suit the needs of each animal, including key clauses such as fixed nap times, allocated time for belly tickles or petting, and remuneration in snuggles and favourite treats.
BMW: Lunar paint
BMW has unveiled an innovative new feature that helps to “push the limits of electric driving”. From 1 April, BMW drivers will be able to add Lunar Paint as an optional extra to their i series vehicle. The product uses “revolutionary photovoltaic technology to harness the power of the moon and passively recharge your battery in the hours of darkness.” It’s what Neil Armstrong would have wanted.
Deliveroo: Crustless wonder
Delivery giant Deliveroo has revealed its plan to remove all crust options from the app, due to overwhelming anti-crust feedback from customers placing pizza orders across all of its 14 markets.
Like Tikes: Big Tikes
Kids toy maker Little Tikes will now be known as Big Tikes. The announcement reflects the brand’s “new found maturity” and is a nod to its fresh and grown-up approach. The new logo will appear across all brand channels and on social media.
KitKat: Tea time
After four years of intense research, Nestlé has crafted the optimal blend of tea leaves for the perfect brew to accompany its famous KitKat break. This tea has been developed in the brand’s very own Teaology labs and comes in tea bags inspired by the signature KitKat range: two-finger, four-finger and KitKat Chunky to fit every break occasion.
Amazon: Audible for fish
Amazon is giving Aussies the chance to get their fish hooked on literature with Audible for Fish – a three-second audiobook designed to keep underwater friends company while their owners aren’t around. It says research has shown that marine life is stimulated by short bursts of audio, sounds a little fishy to us.
London Dungeon & HSBC: Rugby torture chamber
Organisers of the HSBC London Sevens rugby tournament have announced a collaboration with macabre tourist attraction London Dungeon. The London Dungeon has installed a replica of its infamous torture chamber within a dungeon-style sin bin at Twickenham Stadium, where players will be sent on receipt of a yellow card throughout the duration of the nail-biting two-day event.
Zava: The Meata-blocker
Following a record-breaking Veganuary, it’s the dietary trend on everyone’s lips, and from today Brits can simply pop a pill to help them lead a plant-based lifestyle. Online doctor Zava’s Meata-blockers have meat-suppressing properties, diverting blood flow so that hormones involved in creating meat cravings can’t circulate around the body as efficiently. The pills also cause a decreased sense of smell and therefore less temptation when a tasty bacon sandwich is nearby.
Foodpanda: Jetski deliveries
A new mode of food delivery via jet blades has been revealed by Foodpanda Singapore. The innovation will “shave delivery times by half”, reducing it to 15 minutes or less. Not to disappoint Singaporeans, Foodpanda will be rewarding one lucky customer with a personal jet blade session (valued at S$198) with Ola Beach Club on Sentosa, with those who include ‘fpjetblad’ into the voucher code box until 5 April in with a chance of winning.
Wilkinson Sword: Casting Ken
Wilkinson Sword has appointed Ken Carson as the face of its Hydro 5 Sense product range.
Otherwise known as Ken Doll, clean-shaven Ken now can grow a beard… in seconds.
Le Chameau: Muddy boots
Building from the insight that people want an authentic outdoor experience, Le Chameau has launched an exclusive Pre Muddé service.
Pre Muddé offers boot lovers the desirable, well-worn country look, without even stepping outside. The boots arrive in soil curated by the brand’s expert pedologists (soil specialists).
Shutterstock: AI-serviced library
Shutterstock has announced plans to build the world’s largest brick-and-mortar library. The library is to house over 250 million volumes of imagery, a full-floor of 14 million reels of film and a listening bay where visitors can enjoy over 20,000 music tracks.
AI-powered robots call Cyanotypes are to replace traditional librarians, to ensure the building is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
Construction of the building is to commence in 2020 and will be designed by the world-renowned Belgian architect, Alexandria VonPixel.
Sainsbury’s: Pink avocados
Sainsbury’s is to stock a limited edition run of ripe and ready pink avocados – a naturally grown hybrid of different avocado varieties.
The supermarket has worked closely with a supplier in Peru to grow the exclusive Rosa-vo, which will go on sale as an initial trial to gauge popularity among UK customers and Instagram hungry millennials.
Nakd: Takeaway flavours
Nakd has expanded its range of bars with a series of savoury snacks inspired by Indian Takeaways.
The Indian ‘Flakeaway’ comes in four flavours: Vindalover, Poppadom Paradise, Korm-azeballs and Pilau Nice.
Cineworld: 4DX movies
Cineworld has done the impossible and brought snowfall in London, in Spring.
To celebrate the countdown to the arrival of its 4DX screens, visitors exiting North Greenwich station were met with an unexpected snowfall.
Snow is one of the effects 4DX can stimulate in the screening room, as well as wind, lightning, bubbles, water and scent work.
Hotels.com: Pet passports
With Brexit still up in the air, 75% of pet owners do know that their EU pet passports are in jeopardy.
To ensure pets don’t miss out on the beauty of the continent, Hotels.com has launched its first European Pup fakeation. It is a themed pet stay where dogs can enjoy European destinations without leaving the UK.
Royal Caribbean: Air space
Who says cruises can only be enjoyed on water? Not the Royal Caribbean, who has launched its first ‘cloud-class’ plane called ‘Master of the Skies.
Set to take off in 2020, the plane offers guests the chance to enjoy all the hallmarks of its cruises at 35,00 feet in the air.
When the seatbelt sign turns off, the plane turns into a dedicated entertainment zone that hosts an air-hockey table, a library of video games, as well as a whirlpool and dining area.
Subway: Listening in
As paranoia mounts around smartphone listening and ad targeting, Subway is the first brand to openly admit it makes use of covert research techniques.
In dramatic new footage released today, a Subway Sandwich Artist has been caught on camera, capturing overheard conversations in an unknown part of Great Britain. He can be seen hiding in bushes, behind a newspaper and dressed in state of the art military-standard disguises.
Benson for Beds: A royal visit
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shocked shoppers at a central London store after they were spotted testing out mattresses.
With their ‘newly born’ baby in tow, the couple were seen browsing the Benson for Babies cot mattress section.
Spam: A vegan treat
Spam has jumped on the plant-based wagon, by launching a new variation of its iconic tinned food.
With a quarter of 25-34-year-olds identifying as vegetarian or vegan, Spam is re-positioning itself towards those decreasing their meat consumption, with ‘Vegan Spam.’
Duolingo: A passive aggressive owl
Learning a language takes a lot of work, perseverance and motivation. With this in mind, Duolingo has launched ‘Duolingo Push.’
Duolingo’s Duo is an online passive aggressive owl that sends you reminders when you need to practice your language skills, but this year, Duo will remind people to practice their language skills – in person.
Duo will turn up at your work, when you are on a date when you are at the gym to make sure you practice your French, Spanish, Korean, Klingon, High Valyrian or Chinese.
Muuna: Cheesy cannabis
Muuna has introduced a new flavour to its cottage cheese range. Muuna cannabis cottage cheese is a limited-edition variety, using milk from grass-fed cows.
Muuna’s limited edition Cannabis variety features cottage cheese as a base with a sprinkle of food-grade cannabis on the bottom.
Designed to create an element of carefree relaxation, while delivering an earthy taste, its latest offering will leave customers relaxed while keeping the munchies at bay.
Isobel: Brexit stamps
As the UK still looks set to exit the EU, a series of six stamps commissioned has been leaked ahead of their official release.
Created by isobel, the six first and second class stamps capture six Brexit ‘icons’ who are presented as famous historical figures complete with a relevant line of copy.
Theresa May is presented as the lady with the lamp – the UK’s first woman of nursing Florence Nightingale, while Boris Johnson has adopted a rotund Churchillian guise.
John Berkow, leader of the house is seen donned a suit of armour as Henry V with the line “Once more unto the lobbies!”
Virgin Atlantic: A sing-a-long
Virgin Atlantic is going back to their musical roots and trialling sing-alongs on key routes.
As part of an extension to the airline’s ‘depart the everyday’ campaign, passengers will be encouraged to join the crew for in-flight karaoke from shortly after take-off.
Highlights of the schedule include a Saturday Night Cabin Fever disco on weekend flights, mile-high hip-hop during flights to LA and non-stop Sinatra on flights to New York. Start spreading the news…
How do you feel when you read a Disneyland social media post? Or an ad for the latest Apple product? Does a message from BMW or Audi evoke a particular response from you? These brands all excel at making emotional connections with their consumers that are designed to build ongoing relationships and trigger a purchase.
Think about what makes you choose one brand over the other. More often than not, it’s emotion. Through emotional branding, brands appeal directly to consumers’ needs, creating a connection that often results in long-term brand loyalty.
Understanding Which Emotions Drive Your Consumers
The products or services you sell can pique your buyers’ emotions, which is why many consumers often prefer brand name products to generic ones. You can capitalize and build on these emotions with a deeper understanding of why your customers do what they do.
For example, Disneyland taps into the following buyer emotions:
Excitement for new things
Fun
Family values
Disney’s television commercials, social media posts, articles, and other content center on these three emotions. The excitement of new rides, the discovery of a new park, and the pure joy that a Disney family vacation can offer.
What about Apple? With so many options for consumer electronics—phones, streaming services, tablets, computers—what makes buyers choose to spend more money on Apple products? Typically, it’s the desire for the best, and the desire to belong.
Apple has long focused on the emotions of those who want to own the latest and greatest technology. Those who own Apple products feel a part of a select group. Apple intensifies these feelings of belonging through marketing materials that focus on superior technology, and through the services they provide.
The ability to own a luxury car has long been a symbol of status. Car brands understand this and create imagery and content to cement and increase the feelings of self-achievement, the sense of power, and the desire to own the best.
What emotions do your products evoke in others? How can you sharpen and solidify those emotions into buyer loyalty? And do those emotions align with your brand mission and values?
Aligning Your Brand with Buyer Emotions
A deep dive into your brand should include a comprehensive understanding of your customers, inside and out. You can do that by creating buyer personas for your brand. What drives your buyers? What are their hopes, dreams, and desires? What do they do for fun? How can your brand help them achieve those hopes and dreams?
The emotion you want consumers to feel must be present during all aspects of their interaction with your brand, from first encounter to their most recent purchase. That includes service before and after the sale, each and every time. To create real, lasting connections, check in with your buyers—ask them pointed, thoughtful questions about their experiences with your products, and give them a chance to make suggestions.
Embrace Change
In most cases, a buyer’s motivation for making their first purchase is not the same motivation for future purchases. A buyer may purchase their first BMW out of a sense of self-achievement. They’ve reached the point in their careers where they can afford one of the best vehicles on the road, and they’re proud of that accomplishment.
But what prompts their next purchase? They’ve already satisfied that need for self-achievement, so the next purchase will be based on another emotion – perhaps the desire for a safe driving experience, or their trust in the quality of workmanship.
Apple understands this, too. Buyers often want to have the best that’s available, and they want the excitement of discovering new products and features they haven’t experienced before. And then there’s Disney, which brings 48 million people back through its gates each year by creating new rides and experiences for their consumers to enjoy.
Your brand can’t rely on the initial purchase motivation to keep customers coming back. Whether in-house or working with your outside PR/marketing firm, you must continue to identify the experiences and emotional connections that are important to your consumers and provide them throughout your relationship with them.
Linda Landers is the founder and CEO of Girlpower Marketing, a boutique public relations and marketing firm specializing in consumer lifestyle brands, with a special expertise in marketing to women. She is a senior communications strategist with proven success developing integrated, award-winning marketing and brand building campaigns.
Linda has worked with… View full profile ›
Some of the UK’s largest traditional advertising spenders greatly tightened their belts in 2018, with overall spend slumping across cinema, outdoor, press, radio and TV.
According to research from Nielsen, top spender Procter & Gamble reduced its traditional ad spend from £196m to £186m in the UK last year. Sky’s expenditure, meanwhile, slumped to second with a 30% decline from £177m to £124m. Unilever fell out of the top three advertisers for the first time in the last five years, coming in at number seven and down 29.2% to £82.8m from £116m.
McDonald’s Restaurants took third place with a 28% increase to £122m, while BT clocked in as the fourth biggest spender.
Overall, traditional marketing spend from the brands profiled was down slightly from £8.7bn to £8.5bn. Amid an uncertain political and economic climate, just handful of brands increased their budgets.
Among those on the up was Amazon’s, which rose by 18% (£74m to £87.5m). Compare the Market saw budget growth of 30% to £62.2m and Camelot Lottery’s spend rose 40% to £53.3m.
Supermarkets, in particular, expressed caution. Sainsbury’s dropped out of the top 100, while Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl also reduced their spend in 2018.
Barney Farmer, UK commercial director at Nielsen, said: “With traditional advertising spend down 1.41% from 2017, our latest data highlights the changing advertising strategies from the biggest brands and retailers.
“However, it’s interesting that the rise and fall of advertising spend doesn’t seem to be consistent within sectors. While most supermarket retailers have opted to reduce spend, Asda and Tesco increased their spend, and this is the same for finance, with HSBC and Natwest dropping spend but many others continuing to show increases in year-on-year spend.
“There are many factors influencing this, from hardening budgets due to Brexit, to competition within the sector. There are likely to be some interesting times ahead.”
The figures come amid ongoing indecision around the economic status of the UK as it prepares to leave the European Union. If a no-deal scenario is the outcome of Theresa May’s negotiations, Enders Analysis predicts there will be an adverse effect on brand budgets.
Jean-Christophe Coutures, chairman and chief executive at Chivas Brothers earlier this week said that while no-deal Brexit strategy would be “a short-term nightmare” for businesses that it would not have any long-term impact on marketing plans.
Check out the top ten UK ad spenders below. Digital ad spend wasn’t taken into account by Nielsen.
It all started with Twitter for Dummies. It was 2010 and Suysel dePedro Cunningham and Anne Maxwell Foster decided to join forces and launch their own New York-based interior design firm, Tilton Fenwick. A few years prior, Anne and Suysel had pivoted to the design world from advertising careers. To learn the trade, they both worked as assistants to established designers—Anne for Ashley Whittaker and Suysel for Markham Roberts. While Anne and Suysel had years of design expertise between them, they had been in relatively behind-the-scenes roles. To establish themselves publicly as design experts, plus get noticed by press and potential clients, the partners understood that social media could be an incredible tool. Cue the Twitter guide.
“All the magazines were really active on Twitter at the time, regularly hosting chats with hundreds of people in our industry at once,” explains Suysel. Over time, through online conversations, comments, retweets, follows, and DM’s, they were able to get on the radar of editors, design bloggers, designers, and manufacturers who began following them back and retweeting their insights. They used the platform to create their brand identity, sharing their design point of view. It only took them a few months before they landed thousands of followers.
In order to leverage their new connections however, they needed examples of their work as Tilton Fenwick. They started by co-designing Suysel’s house in Upstate New York making it Instagram-ready with lots of color and pattern—now their signature look. It wasn’t long before one of their Twitter connections, editor Michelle Adams, reached out to ask if they could submit a few projects for possible publication. They rushed to finish Suysel’s house, take photographs, and share them with her.
Within weeks, Tilton Fenwick were chosen as designers to watch in a collaboration between Lonnyand Traditional Homemagazines. Anne and Suysel completed their website, launched Instagram and Facebook pages, and started a blog—just in time for the attention the award brought them. “We knew the importance of a strong digital presence, when more established designers were still shunning social media. They would comment ‘It seems like a waste of time, what is the benefit?’” says Anne. “For us it has been incredible. Social media really opened doors and opportunities for us. It is absolutely what built our business.”
The press attention led to more social media followers and lots of clients. Suysel and Anne estimate 50% of their clients find them through social media. “Even if they discover us through a referral, they immediately go to Instagram to see our work,” says Anne.
As their followers and social media presence grew, brands took note and reached out for partnerships including Duralee where they now have a popular textile line and Target which launched a Tilton Fenwick capsule collection in 2014.
Tilton Fenwick’s Pombal wallpaper for Hygge & WestHygge & West
They have now shifted their focus to Instagram where they have 60,000 followers and an active community of design lovers. It was on IG where they discovered hip, online manufacturers Hygge & West which recently debuted a Tilton Fenwick line of wallpapers. “We direct messaged them on Instagram and asked to show them ideas for a wallpaper line,” explains Suysel. “We asked to meet in person and presented our designs which is what closed the deal. Social media only gets you so far and then you have to connect in real life.”
Here, Tilton Fenwick share their best advice for how to build a brand on social media:
Target the right platforms. Not all social media platforms are created equal. Twitter is more of a conversation, best for sharing industry news or topics related to your brand. Facebook is similar to Twitter but with a much older audience. As a visual brand, we have found Instagram is our sweet spot that allows us share our projects and make connections with brands, editors, and clients. The key is to find the platform that will boost your profile and connect you with your target audience.
Build a brand voice. Make sure that the images and content that you post is consistent with style and imagery of your brand. Consider it like an advertising tool kit and keep it uniform across all platforms.
Post frequently. Post often to create engagement with your audience. On Instagram we try to post twice a week, however we post almost daily through IG stories to stay connected with our followers.
Post visually compelling content. Use photo editing apps like Snapped to make your feed look more coherent, polished, and professional.
Create a unique hashtag. It offers another way for people to find and share your work. Do your research and create a totally original hashtag.
Mix it up. On Instagram, your main feed should be a snapshot of your overall brand. Use Instagram stories to highlight other companies, talent, and things you love. Don’t forget to tag the brand, creator, and photographer to help them get more followers as well.
Separate business and personal. Unless you are a celebrity brand that is selling your lifestyle, it is better to keep the two separate and keep the attention on your brand message.
Connect with influencers: Follow all the influencers in your industry and develop a meaningful conversation with them online. To get on their radar, comment and like their posts. Also post about their work and tag them. You can use DM’s to make an initial connection, but be respectful and only reach out once.
Do it yourself. We do our own social media so that it’s our voice online, it’s our voice DMing, and it is consistent when we meet in person. For a more authentic voice it is better to control your social media platforms.
I write about career pivots. I’ve interviewed everyone including, CEOs, celebrities, founders, athletes, and creatives for outlets like Travel & Leisure, Yahoo, The Wall Street Journal, and in my book Take the Leap: Change Your Career, Change Your Life (Touchstone, 2018). I noticed that the most successful people didn’t follow a linear path, but often had entirely different careers and lives beforehand. It’s a reminder that for many, success happens a little later, that you absolutely can reinvent your life.
Digital publisher Joe Media has unveiled a new logo and identity as the brand looks to deliver a more coherent look across its numerous sub brands.
The company, founded in 2010 by Irish entrepreneur Niall McGarry, has largely held the same identity for the last decade. Its look has been updated by an in-house team to run better on mobile and evolve to better reflect the intent of the company.
In particular, it has expanded from Joe Media to also encapsulate verticals such as Football Joe, Sports Joe, Politics Joe, Comedy Joe, MMA Joe, Fit Joe and Rugby Joe. As a result, it required an identity that can better adapt across numerous platforms and audiences.
Rebecca Fennelly, head of brand and communications, told The Drum: “The new design reflects our heritage as much as it does our growth, evolution and big ambitions for the near future. We are still the same Joe – same mission, values and personality. We want to enrich lives by entertaining and inspiring through our original content. We still pride ourselves on our continuous investment into legacy journalism and modern-day storytelling. But we are always innovating.
“It is something we’ve become known for. When it comes to new logo designs, there tends to be knee-jerk assumptions made that they mean a ‘rebrand’ or a move away from a previous identity. When others may need to change up shop in big ways, Joe is building on something we’ve been working hard on from day one. ‘Brick by Brick’ as we say here. We are very proud of our roots and the distinct brand heritage we’ve built for Joe, and it is all enveloped into the carefully calculated subtleties of the new logo design.”
The project was led by Joe’s head of design Jack Homan, having previously worked at Channel 4 and Channel 5, and was delivered by an in-house team.
On the work, Homan said: “Breaking out from Joe’s old box means we can be more playful with our logo. For big editorial and commercial features we’ll look to build bespoke artwork featuring our logo, using the word-mark itself as the boundary box. The old Joe logo was boxed in, we wanted to break out and let the typography speak for itself.
“The logo now has a balance that the old did not. The ‘J’ and the ‘E’ are the same width. The aperture of the ‘O’ is the same size as the top bar of the ‘J’ and the middle appendage of the ‘E’. Turn both the ‘J’ and the ‘E’ in on themselves and they will meet in the middle of the ‘O’. This balance allows us to more easily lock our new logo up with commercial partners and our sub-brands.”
He concluded: “Whilst a lot of work went into this new design, it was important we didn’t move too far from our original logo, but rather embrace the best of it in the new iteration.
Late in 2018, The Drum sat down with the title’s, head of content Evan Fanning, to learn about how it is scaling up promising talent in order to take on more-established media players.
He said: “Going to a place like Joe with the freedom to attack things without the newspaper deadweight was really exciting. We say we do ‘traditional media, but digitally’.”
Channel 4 and Publicis Media have failed to resolve a multimillion pound dispute over ad prices, leaving big spenders like Asda without airtime across the broadcaster’s portfolio of channels.
2019 planning talks between the pair broke down in December, after Publicis took issue with Channel 4 upping ad prices despite a decline in audiences. It is believed Channel 4 wants to link ad prices to the wider figure Publicis Media spends with its sales arm, instead of basing the cost on audience share.
The network and media giant were geared to reach a solution in eleventh hour talks held at the tail end of last year. However, it’s understood that Publicis Media clients will now be kicking off 2019 without a deal in place to air commercials across Channel 4’s 26 linear channels and three on-demand platforms.
Channel 4 and Publicis Groupe were unable to comment.
The hold up means rivals like ITV, Sky and Channel 5 could stand to benefit from ad spend being diverted their way.
Starcom, Spark44 and Blue449 are among Publicis Media’s cohort of agency brands. Clients include Samsung and the world’s biggest advertiser P&G – although the latter will be unaffected by the blackout since as it has its own deal with Channel 4.
In December, Channel 4’s chief commercial officer Jonathan Allan took the unprecedented step of penning a letter to Publicis Media clients to inform them of the tussle.
In a statement to media in December, Allan said Channel 4 had “put forward competitive proposal to Publicis” and would continue discussions to “hopefully reach an agreement that suits both parties”.
The duo’s inability to reach a compromise ahead of the new year follows on from a similar row Channel 4 had with Denstu Aegis Network in 2018 which seen clients pulled off its inventory for just over a week until a resolve was agreed.
Channel 4’s portfolio includes E4 and Film4. It also sells inventory on behalf of BT Sport and UKTV’s multitude of channels.
The news comes amid huge pressures from advertisers on agency holding groups to drive down costs and break down internal silos.
2019 is set to see ecommerce sales increase by 19.5% globally, offering an opportunity to savvy brands who are up to speed on the latest web design trends and developments to drive significant additional market share.
But what do brands need to bear in mind in 2019 to ensure that they continue to deliver relevant standout online design, and therefore sales?
Mobile First
It’s vital to implement mobile first design in 2019. In 2015 mobile searches overtook those on desktop, making mobile search the highest search form worldwide. In accordance with this, Google has changed which sites they index first — they now prioritise mobile sites over those that aren’t mobile friendly.
However, it’s worth bearing in mind that this push toward mobile first design isn’t just based on ranking factors or SEO, the visual result must enhance the user’s experience on the device that they will most likely be searching from.
This focus on mobile first requires a fundamental shift in the way that websites are designed. It used to be that a site would only be created for a desktop or laptop computer and a mobile-friendly or mobile responsive design might be added as well. Today, it’s critical to design the site for the mobile user first, before creating a version that will also standout for those on desktops.
Micro-animations/movement
Using moving micro-animations along with feedback loops – that deliver movement when hovering over an icon – help make websites more usable and engaging. The details of the micro-interactions: the button clicks and the page transitions can greatly improve a user’s experience on your site, meaning they are far more likely to return. It’s this meaningful motion, connecting an action with a reaction, that satisfies a user’s desire for interactivity. And with touch interfaces, especially on small screens, it has never been more important to deliver motion in micro-animations and feedback loops to make the interaction smooth and guide users on their journey to checkout.
Custom and classic fonts
Expect a move back to custom and classic font design – clean but formal – with bigger and bolder typefaces, and a move away from humanist fonts as brands aim to standout against the proliferation of humanist typefaces.
Colour
Bright colours should be used more liberally in 2019 to deliver greater standout. The last two years has seen an explosion of big, bold colour across the internet with an increasing number of brands choosing to use their core packaging brand colours as backing for their graphics, with clashing tones moving away from the edgy start-ups into the mainstream. Those who have embraced arresting colours include The Premier League, Sky and eBay. Though bear in mind a classic font design and bright colours won’t be suitable for all. The choice of font and colours has to be right for the values of the brand and resonate with the audience they are targeting.
Optimise for search
As is always the case, making sure the design of your website is optimised for search algorithms is vital. Developments in web design will be driven by what Google’s constantly evolving search algorithm looks for. To this end, make sure that the content being communicated is relevant to your target audience and written as naturally as possible. Google looks for honest, human generated content. Of course, this must be quality content to encourage others to have weblinks back to your site to aid your SEO efforts. If users want to share your copy this highlights to Google that you are a valuable resource and the reward for your efforts will be an improved organic search ranking.
Speed
With research revealing over half of consumers leave a website if it takes more than three seconds to load, websites must be designed with speed in mind. Also, the faster your site loads the better it will rank in search results, particularly in Google search. This is not to say that websites should be sparse affairs with limited content and imagery for the purposes of speed. With better broadband it’s much easier to have image and content heavy sites that can load quickly. However if you have an app it’s seriously worth considering hosting it on a Progressive Web App (PWA) for speed purposes. A PWA can be launched from a home screen and can be ready in less than a second, often beating native apps in load times.
All brands need to constantly evolve their web design to continue to standout and deliver an engaging experience to their users that generates sales. By recognising and having these six web design points front of mind, brands will be well placed for a profitable 2019 online.
Many professionals spend their daily commutes and downtime listening to podcasts of their interests — from entertainment to industry-specific shows.
Capitalizing on this growing trend can be a great way to market your business. However, you don’t want yourshow to come across as too promotional. Below, eight Forbes Agency Council members explain how to stay on-brand while offering valuable content that keeps your audience craving more.
1. Make It Advice And Knowledge-Driven
The goal is not to say what you do. Just talk about what you know. The more you share your knowledge, the more you’ll get out of it. If you are simply talking about your services and how awesome you are, it will be seen as promotional instead of advice-driven. If you show that you know what you are talking about, it is worth so much more than self-promotion. – Jonathan Laberge, Reptile
2. Put Your Audience’s Interests First
Consider your target audience and deliver useful information. Make sure topics are relevant and timely. Be willing to give away some of your “secret sauce” in your podcast. Pushing your brand agenda should be a secondary goal. – Suzanne Rosnowski, Relevance International
3. Treat It As A Thought Leadership Activity
The purpose of your podcast should be to educate your audience — and that is it. Think of it as a thought leadership activity such as a panel discussion at an industry event, keynote or TED Talk. If youraudience is interested in what you have to say, they will begin following you. – Lisa Allocca, Red Javelin Communications
4. Tell Other People’s Stories
Our agency just launched a podcast dedicated to uncovering the ins and outs of the client and agency relationship dynamic. The key is to home in on the interesting stories of your guests. That’s why people listen. They don’t want to hear about the host, they want to learn more about the person on the other side of the mic. Uncover the gems that haven’t already been reported on. – Ashley Walters, Empower
5. Use The 80/20 Rule
Never forget your audience. Step back and think about what they want to hear, not what you want to tell them. You can even compare this to social media marketing. If you want to keep your consumers engaged, only 20% of your content should be directly promoting your company, while the other 80% should inform and entertain your audience. – Lisa Arledge Powell, MediaSource
6. Tell Parallel Stories That Tie Into Your Brand’s Mission
Build your brand promises into the podcast content. For instance, if your company’s primary cause — outside of selling what you sell — is the environment, tell stories related to conservation, energy efficiency, preserving wild areas, etc. You can reinforce what you’re about and what may make you more appealing to a large part of the audience without promoting your products. – Scott Greggory, MadAveGroup
7. Focus On The Problem You Solve
When targeting professionals, you need to learn how to sell without selling. You need to respect their level of intelligence and understand that they can quickly spot someone selling to them and will immediately tune out. Podcast about what problem you can solve or tell a story about how your product or service helped a customer. Make it relational and the good story will lead them to find you. – Amy Juers, Edge Legal Marketing
8. Fulfill A Universal Desire
Humans are motivated by four core desires: First, connect with each other. Second, provide structure. Third, leave a mark. Fourth, a yearn for paradise. Identify the desire your podcast can fulfill for listeners and build a persona that humanizes it for them. Show up consistently and feed your audience with content that offers insight and inspiration. – Katie Schibler Conn, KSA Marketing + Partnerships
In today’s social media era, video content draws more eyeballs than written text, and it’s not surprising why. If made well, a video can tell a long story in a minute, it’s more engaging, more memorable and hence, drives more traffic.
And making videos is not a difficult task, considering the widespread use of smartphones and cameras. The trick, however, is to create one that is as compelling as it is entertaining, especially when it comes to accomplishing marketing goals.
For any business, having a marketing video could be a game-changer, for if it is good there’s a high possibility that the viewers will turn into customers. Founders understand this well, and hence, many pump in a lot of money in creating such videos.
“But you don’t really have to,” says Mike Pritchett, the CEO of Shootsta, a video tech startup that has offices in the US, UK, Singapore and Australia, and boasts of high-profile clients like Qantas, Coles, Downer Group, AstraZeneca and Red Cross Australia .
In this video, Pritchett shares how to create a compelling, entertaining and authentic video without investing too much money.
