Impulse and Barry M’s Treasure Hunt hits the spot

Brands are becoming increasingly adventurous in their use of mobile applications and location-based marketing technologies. Last week, Barry M and Impulse followed trend with the announcement of a location-based marketing campaign, which take advantage of the social networking site Facebook and the Barry M mobile application.

Under the campaign, co-branded handbags containing both Impulse and Barry M products will be placed at different locations across the UK. The target audience (16-24 year old women) will then be encouraged to engage in a kind of “treasure hunt”; using GPS technology, social networking sites and the Barry M app to locate the handbags. Since the number of goodie bags is limited, this treasure hunt has a competitive edge as well and we look forward to checking out the photos of young women fiercely fighting their way to get their hands on these cherished prizes (I personally have a bit of a Lynx-ad image in mind, but let’s see what happens!)

This campaign is a great example of using – and in this case merging – social networking sites, mobile marketing and location-based marketing techniques. Whilst many companies now have an app of some sort, too many of these are of little use and benefit to the customer, discouraging them from engaging with the brand in this potentially powerful way.

But now Barry M is ensuring that its mobile application offers a tangible benefit to customers, thus strengthening the role of this particular channel in the customer relationship.

Mobile marketing is not the only sphere of digital that often falls short on engaging customers. Facebook pages with hundreds of thousands of fans have often been seen as proof of consumer brand engagement and a successful end in itself, rather than as a springboard and opportunity to reach out to this keen audience.

Impulse and Barry M are making the most of their online presence and encouraging their customers to use the digital relationship to receive a fun and rewarding off-line experience. In doing so, they are creating a powerful multi-channel brand experience – precisely what brands should seek to do in this day and age.

The Rise of the Rest: Brands from Emerging Economies

In the last few years a number of local brands in BRIC countries have not only strengthened their position in the domestic market but also begun exporting their products and services across the world. Bharti Airtel started out as an Indian telecommunications company, but now has operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa. In fact, Business Week has ranked it amongst the top 6 technology companies in the world.

To turn to a starkly different category, Herborist is a Chinese cosmetics brand which is popular not only with Chinese women but also French, Dutch and other European consumers who buy it through the reputable distributor Sephora.

Sportswear is a particularly fascinating category in this respect, and China has become quite the battleground for a fierce contest between local brands Li-Ning and Anta on the one hand, and the international goliaths Nike and Adidas on the other. Whilst the two global giants had traditionally battled each other for market leadership, in 2009 Adidas slipped from second to third place as the local brand Li-Ning took off. In response to this unwelcome development, Adidas has revealed plans for an aggressive 2011 strategy in China – including opening of 500 new stores – in a bid to wrestle back their original second place. Anta, for their part, has recently signed the basketball star Kevin Garnett who previously endorsed Adidas. To top it all off, Li-Ning has quite literally parked its tanks on Nike’s American lawn - Li-Ning’s US store is just down the road from Nike’s global headquarters.

These challenger brands have quite a few advantages over the global Western ones. Firstly, they often have a far more efficient cost-base structure. Secondly, they’re well positioned to cater for other emerging economies (think Bharti Airtel in Africa). Finally, they are less likely to be perceived as ‘arrogant’ the way that some Western multinationals are – just think how hard HSBC has worked to differentiate itself from the monolithic, corporate, global Western banks.

Companies from emerging economies are no longer playing by the rules of the West – increasingly they’re calling the shots. This does not mean that Western brands are going to become extinct, but it does mean the end of Western dominance in the world of communications.

Spot the Difference: Adidas and Nike

Strolling through the tube tunnel at the South Kensington station I noticed an ad poster in which a young, strong-looking bloke is looking right at me with more than a glimpse of attitude. The bold tagline proclaims ‘I AM THE RULES.’ The NIKE swish in the corner of the image seems to belong there – this is precisely the fierce, youthful and defiant campaign we have come to expect from this brilliant brand.

As I prepare to trot on through the freezing tunnel, the poster right next to it catches my eye.

In it, the guy is also young and oozing urban cool and confidence. A prominent shrift declares a stunningly similar-sounding line: ‘WE ARE LONDON.’ But this second ad is not Nike – it’s Adidas.

Both of these leading sports brands have successfully developed exciting, eye-catching but most importantly – indistinguishable – poster campaigns. When customer-centric marketers working for competing brands all talk to the same target group and follow the same trends, all brand managers end up with the same output and brands begin to lose their differentiating qualities.

Let this be a lesson to all of us.

The Nostalgic Lure of Eastern Bloc Brands

Recently a friend returned from a trip to Russia and brought back some local chocolate. Following the advice of a Russian she had bought the brand ‘Krasniy Octabry’ (translated as Red October).

As you might have gathered from the brand name, it is one of the few old Soviet brands that are still going strong. ‘Red October’ was the name of the factory that made it, since brands as we know them didn’t really exist. I don’t know how this chocolate is perceived in Russia, but where I come from in Latvia (former Eastern Bloc) this brand has a really strong nostalgic appeal. It helps that everyone older than 25 had this chocolate when they were little – there wasn’t exactly much competition in FMCG.

The same seems to be the case in former East Germany – in a wave of Ostalgie (nostalgia for Ost – the East) there has been a surge for the old GDR brands. Initially when the wall came down these products were taken off the market, but were brought back and are now very strong iconic brands.

For example, the luxury East German drink Rotkäppchen’s sales initially suffered following the political turnover, but the brand has come back with a vengeance and is now even more popular than before.

What’s interesting about these brands is that in socialist times they were perceived as inferior to Western goods. Yet the political and economic turnover of the last 2 decades has left consumers yearning for the products and brands they used to consume in what now feels like a secure and happy time.

So if you spot any other totalitarian regimes on the downturn…might be worth checking out what their local factories are making!