At Red C we were chuffed to bits when we were shortlisted for the NatMag 100 award, which is a new initiative that gives agencies and their clients the opportunity to win a multimedia ad campaign across the entire NatMag portfolio of 24 brands, including Harper’s Bazaar, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and Men’s Health.

As part of the NatMag 100 Award, media and creative agencies were invited to devise the most innovative, creative ad campaign for an individual brand, utilising a combination of the brands in the NatMag portfolio and platforms to target women or men in the UK.

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Rangemaster, a brand the within AGA Rangemaster Group, invited Red C to pitch to create a new website, which not only reflected the design standards their appliances are known for, but the functionality and ease of use too.

The website needed to promote the brand to both consumers and retailers, showcasing all of the appliances they sell (not just cookers), and providing all of the information needed to take people through the purchasing journey. Rangemaster were also keen to include some added value to the site that would encourage repeat visits. It was also vital to ensure  that the site incorporated all website functionality best practice as well as be optimised for search engines.

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Over the past few years we’ve all had to tighten our belts. People want more for less and supermarkets have reacted to this by focussing their marketing on pushing cheap, value products. In contrast to this being a ‘foodie’ has become more fashionable than ever. From our love of TV programs like Come Dine With Me to the adverts made sexy by that highly annoying M&S lady, everyone is wanting a piece of this pie.

Granted, there have always been fads but now food has a cultural significance of its own. We’d love to be known for being an amazing cook and throwing the best dinner parties around. We feel the need to buy organic products rather than bog-standard own brands and if like me when you get to the counter at the supermarket you probably find yourself checking out the neighbours trolley in a keeping up with the Jones’ style.

The brands that have picked up on this trend have done it with gusto. By making a stylish alliance with their brand they are appealing to women like me who love both fashion and food.

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At the beginning of every year marketing experts begin to predict what they think will be the next big thing in marketing and advertising. In the past we have had the year of the mobile, the year of Twitter and the year of Social Marketing. Yet in 2011 in the UK, it could be that it’s not something new and technologically advanced that is the next big thing but something tried and trusted… the VAT-free direct mail pack.

Thanks to George Osborne’s planned rise in VAT on 4th January from 17.5% to 20%; it could be that the marketing departments for financial services clients turn to the good old VAT-free pack to help stretch their budget further.

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What's not to love!

Monopolies are a bad thing, we all know that. It is a universal truth that greater consumer choice creates competitive pricing, innovative products and a fairer world for all. Giant corporations that merge, acquire, undercut and annihilate their way to total domination are looked upon with fear and distaste. I remember, as a student, reading ‘No Logo’  by Naomi Klein and being enraged by the plight of the independent coffee shops, delicatessen’s and family run enterprises that had been crushed by the giant corporations.

As a result I, like most people, have an instinctive predilection to root for the plucky underdog as a response to the dominance of a competitor. It is this basic human instinct that companies like Virgin, Apple and Airbus have used to their advantage to become the global corporate giants they are today. In all areas of my life I will always give the little guy my business, even if it takes more of my time and comes at a premium. All areas, that is, except for the search engine I use. When I’m looking for anything online I’ll always choose Google.

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We have been producing a monthly e-newsletter for our home shopping client Freemans for a few years and it’s called the “Style Bible”. The purpose of the newsletter is to position the brand as a fashion expert and to give the customer value added content in the form of videos and advice. It also needs to look different to the rest of the email plan (whilst retaining Freemans branding) so that a customer recognises it and looks forward to receiving it. At the beginning of the year we decided to revisit these aims and decided it was time for a re-design.

I was delighted to be put in charge of this and have really enjoyed the challenge. We have updated the look of the newsletter to make it look fresher and feel more like an editorial magazine. Each month I work with both Freemans and the Red C studio to produce a Style Bible that is jam-packed with news about the latest fashion trends and bodyshape advice. Getting under the skin of the customer is important when it comes to briefing and as someone who is interested in fashion; it’s definitely enjoyable because I get to research the latest looks and trends!

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There has been a scandal at the World Cup and no it doesn’t involve a dodgy penalty decision or some kind of WAG swapping saga. Instead it centres on a group of around 30 scantily clad Dutch ladies who were removed from a game and arrested. Yet it wasn’t their lack of attire that got them into trouble… the crime was them taking part in the dark arts of “ambush marketing”. So what exactly is ambush marketing? Basically, it’s a marketing campaign that takes place around an event but does not involve payment of a sponsorship fee to that event. That means companies taking part in such sneaky tactics benefit from free association while also reducing the effectiveness of any rival brand’s connection to the event.

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I’ll be honest with you. I don’t usually spend much time looking round for new artists or unusual pieces of artwork. However last year I came across the artist Emma Hack, and instantly fell in love her work.

She uses body art on human bodies and blends them into detailed backgrounds to create intricate and fascinating photographs. Through a lot of dedication and hard work her career has developed from children’s face painting to makeup artist to a body illustrator.

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We love books at Red C. And we especially love books that contain great advertising case studies, just like ‘Advertising Works 18′, which features a case study on our award-winning work for the Swinton Mystery Tipper.

‘Advertising Works 18′ shows how marketing communications has helped organisations including UKTV, Swinton Group and Halifax, to translate big ideas into impressive results on small budgets. So it’s perfect for anyone wanting to produce effective campaigns or drive their business to greater success.

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On a recent scouring of the web for marketing news, I stumbled across this fabulous story about copywriter Alex Brownstein. Fed up of not being able to get in front of some of New York’s finest Creative Directors, he devised a PPC strategy to get himself noticed by the likes of Scott Virtrone and Ian Reichenthal… by playing on that egotistical moment when these guys would Google themselves!

Marketers have for a long time now realised that by focusing on long-tail keywords that have less competition, not only will you pay less per click, but you will also have a higher conversion rate. In fact this conversion rate can be as high as 200% when compared to short-tail, or generic, keywords.

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