I have a real love/hate relationship with those emails that pop into my inbox before I even open my eyes in the morning, tempting me to must-buy experiences, weekends away and 10 vibroplate sessions.  These emails may appear harmless, but the promise of self-improvement and gourmet food just proves too hard to resist for me!  And such is the reason for Groupon’s success…

The name Groupon comes from the term “group” and was developed by now CEO, Andrew Mason in 2008.  It grew out of a website called The Point, where you can start a campaign and ask people to participate and deliver action because of the strength in numbers.  Just as the campaigns need a ‘tipping point’ of people to become viable, Groupon needs a certain number of buyers to make the deals valid.  This collective buying gives us the access to the deals which just seem too good to be true.

To date Groupon serves 500 markets and 44 countries.

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Foreign restaurants are an absolute goldmine for bad spelling. Most of us have enjoyed a giggle at the ‘innovative’ dishes that pop up on menus in exotic climes… like the ‘friend eggs and tose’ I had for breakfast in Thailand, for example. Delicious it was too.

In this context, typos are funny, endearing and completely forgivable; they don’t negatively affect your opinion of the restaurant or the quality of the service you expect to receive. But what about when you visit a new business online? If you’ve got no prior knowledge of the company, how do you feel if you open their website and it’s full of spelling mistakes and bad grammar? Bet you’d be more suspicious than I was tucking into my friend eggs… Read more…

It’s less than a week to go until our new campaign for cottages4you and VisitEngland is launched, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to look back on everything we’ve achieved – boy has it been a whirlwind few months!

This project started over 6 months ago, when we were asked to pitch for a joint campaign with cottages4you and VisitEngland. That in itself presented quite a challenge: 2 separate clients each with a different objective. It meant we really had to put our heads to together to come up with a cracking ad that essentially met 2 briefs! We knew it would be tricky but we couldn’t wait to start.

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The Swinton Mystery Tipper campaign began in March 2008 with the objective of generating insurance leads for Swinton Taxi Division.  Not only did it smash this objective out of the park, but it also won several marketing awards including a DMA Gold in the Financial Services category.  So when we were tasked earlier this year with improving upon it we were a little apprehensive, but netherless we accepted the challenge withgusto and started to devise a bigger and better Mystery Tipper campaign….  but would the awards follow!?

A brief overview

For those of you who are not familiar.  The Mystery Tipper is a mysterious blonde decked out in a mac and trilby who travels across towns and cities in the UK, handing a £1,000 tip to a cabbie who has a ‘Mystery Tipper’ sticker in their cab. Cabbies get a sticker after requesting a taxi insurance quote from Swinton Taxi Division. Easy, effective and successful, The Mystery Tipper’s appeal is its simplicity. that and the lure of a big tip.

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So here we are, three months in, and Red C has had me unleashed upon them without the safety net of my predecessor Anna Chan around to guide me. Though whilst I’m holding my breath and wishing myself luck, I think I’m going to be alright.

Here’s why:

1. The people I’m working with are ace. They are funny, clever and helpful

2. Holiday treats, birthday treats, leaving treats…there’s always some kind of sweet treat on offer, not to mention the decent coffee. Suddenly 7am starts don’t seem so bad

3. It’s a bit of a cliché but I can honestly say I’m learning something new thing every day

I remember when I first started searching for a placement last year and thinking that just getting one was what counted. Now I realise actually just how important getting the right one was. And I certainly found that at Red C.

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I’ve recently been tasked with giving a talk about ‘Creativity’ which has been a tougher gig than I first thought it would be… it’s a pretty broad subject to distill into a thirty minute talk.

The subject of the talk and what ‘creative angle’ I will take has sat in my head for a few weeks now and has basically led to the writing of this blog piece. Mainly because it has allowed me the chance to collect together some of my favourite stories about creativity… stories which a few people have encouraged me to share via the Red C blog.

So here are a few of them!

The Brian Eno and Back to the Future story!

Sometimes, to get to the right solution, you just need to start again.

Unfortunately in this business, starting again usually happens the night before a big pitch or presentation.. so it’s pretty tough to get everyone on-side and convince them that going back to the beginning will deliver a better end result!

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How do you feel when you see an established brand name baffle you with a new product? One that’s not associated with the infamous brand name you know and love?  Well, you either trust the brand name enough to love the product, or you’re completely baffled, wondering how on earth the product has anything to do with the brand name!

Sometimes, even the most tenuous link between brand and product can actually work rather well – who would have thought that a musical instrument manufacturer Yamaha could become such a successful motor vehicle company?  Or that Coca-Cola lip balm would really take off?  But with every successful idea that sends a product soaring off the shelves comes another brand’s dismal failure at extending their name into a new field – welcome, reader, to the fabulous world of brand extension.

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I recently gave a talk on behalf of GBM as part of their Video Solutions day at Vison+Media at MediaCity. Since the talk I have had several people request some of the case studies I showed, so I thought I would collect as much as I could from that talk into a blog article.

A few years ago we took a major decision at Red C to push our digital video offering, this came about after we read an article in Campaign Magazine, which highlighted that the agency that could successfully deliver low cost video solutions to clients would have a larger share of the future. Which is true when you consider all the places now where clients can use video, from video adverts on the internet to video embedded in magazines on iPads to narrowcasting in Petrol Stations and Taxis… and of course video on YouTube and Vimeo.

Rather than highlight our own work; at the talk I highlighted several video case studies that over the years have impressed me. Together with the videos, I highlighted the responses the videos have received as well as reasons why I think they have been so successful… so here they are:

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Last night I was looking forward to settling down in front of the TV to watch a rather interesting debate on the subject of direct mail.  I was expecting a well balanced argument from respected Panorama reporter Tom Heap looking at the pros and cons of the industry.  What I got was anything but balanced.  I haven’t seen such a one-sided fight since, well it was Saturday night actually….  broken toe?  Come off it David Haye, you can do better than that.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised given the title “Why hate junk mail?” but Mr Heap’s argument was not only unbalanced but incredibly naive, not to mention inaccurate.  I also found it incredibly distasteful and dis-respectful to the direct mail industry to tackle the subject of ‘Scam mail’ in the same programme.

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I’ve just returned from a truly memorable holiday to Barcelona.  Even before I left I had anticipated that I was going to love this city as it’s very much famous for two of my three passions; football and food.  However, I was overwhelmed as not only did Barcelona quell these passions but it also managed to quell another – my love of brilliant marketing.

The landmark I was most excited about seeing was Mercat La Boqueria and it was here that I witnessed some truly outstanding marketing.  For those of you that don’t know La Boqueria is a food market located on Barcelona’s most famous street, La Ramblas.  La Boqueria has experienced several changes since it first opened its doors in 1217 and I’m sure it will continue to evolve, but I’m equally sure it’s marketing principles will not.

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