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innovative media not only allow
advertisers to measure effectiveness.
but also enable them to hit the lucra-
tive 18-34 age bracket.
As advertisers continue to have
second thoughts ahout TV, the time
has come to look at the full range of
alternatives, rather than blindly leap-
ing onto the internet bandwagon.
Justin Townsend
Chief executive officer
IGA Worldwide
London EC1
Time as important as
exposure for outdoor
It is refreshing to see that the outdoor
and ambient media industry contin-
ues to grow, driven largely by research
and data providing accountability for
the sector (MW May 18). However,
while footfall and frequency figures
have given outdoor media a more
credible image, they do not create a
common currency for all out-of-home
media. This is virtually impossible
due to the varied platforms that fall
within the bracket.
In today's cluttered media envi-
ronment, the time spent with an
advertisement is just as important as
exposure levels. This is reflected by
Outdoor: Time spent counts
an increasing number of brands util-
ising out-of-home media to create
touch-points for consumers to con-
nect with the brand.
Independent research commis-
sioned by Alvern Media revealed the
time spent with our platforms
accounted for up to 40% of a con-
sumer's journey time on the fore-
court. Unprompted recall rates stood
at 60%, with three out of five fore-
court customers recalling the name
of the product advertised. These find-
ings establish that the time spent with
advertisements is an important meas-
urement tool that should not be
ignored by marketers, and goes a long Green Communications
way to providing an extra avenue of Wakefield Media & Creativity Centre
accountability for the outdoor media www.greencomms.com
industry, which is something every
out-of-home media should be striving
for.
Dharmesh Chheda
Sales and marketing manager
Alvern Media
www.alvernmedia.co.uk
Defining brand Britain
to discover our values
Plans by the Government to make
"core British values" a compulsory
part of the curriculum will he under-
mined unless there is recognition
that there exists a "British" brand,
which needs to be clearly defined and
articulated.
Unless we define our British brand
in all its elements we will fail to make
it effective, and sustainable. Values
are an important element of a brand.
Our values drive our behaviours and
a clearly articulated set of values pro-
vides a common script for all of us to
live our lives by
Our identified values perhaps
could he along the lines of how we
live together as a British community
to enjoy physical protection, equal-
ity of opportunity freedom of beliefs,
tolerance based on mutual adjust-
ment and respect - not just diversity
for the sake of it - democracy, plu-
ralism and social justice,
A brand is, however, also made up
of icons: the things we instantly
recognise or recall. Successful brands
have powerful icons, which by very
mention of their name conjure up a
common set of images among key
audiences.
For example the British Empire is
now seen as politically incorrect in
its abuse of human rights etc. By bas-
ing any future celebration on our val-
ues it will be possible to identify
aspects of the British Empire - or any
other historic event - which we can
actually celebrate if they are relevant
to confirming our current day values.
Studying and celebrating our core
values could be a brilliant tool for
uniting subscribers to the British
brand, to help build better social cohe-
sion, and a new common purpose to
create a better future for us all.
I hope for the Government the idea
of teaching core values is as suc-
cessful as Agincourt, El Alamein, the
Falklands, Shakespeare, the Kaiser
Chiefs and chicken tikka masala.
Andy Green
Leader
In brand migration
read brand erosion What's the connection between Freeserve
rebranding as Wanadoo, Coco Pops becoming
Choco Krispies. Dixons turning into
Currys.digital, Nestle launching Chunky and
Kube Kit Kats, and Heinz branching out into
"Teady-made" baked beans on toast?
The flippant answer might be that they have all
been a colossal waste of money; though in some
cases this remains a suspicion yet to be proved.
The more measured observation is tbat too much brand activity -
whether at the level of brand migration or brand extension - is
driven by anything but consumer need, and therefore faces an
enormous possibility of failure.
Let's look at the Wanadoo story in a little more detail, as an
example. France Telecom has spent about £30m advertising
Wanadoo in the UK, mainly in an effort to rebrand Freeserve after
its acquisition from Dixons. Some attribute the motive to Gallic
brand chauvinism rather tban an obvious need to rationalise
brands. It's a suspicion made plausible by France Telecom's
decision, only two years later, to drop tbe Wanadoo brand in favour
of Orange, a brand it had acquired one year earlier than Freeserve.
in 2000. It may be that the convergence agenda bas moved on a lot in
two years.., or, alternatively, that France Telecom is guilty of
muddled corporate thinking.
Not all brand migrations proceed in this unsatisfactory fashion.
Masterfoods has proved astute in balancing global brand
management with local market requirements. As can be judged
from its largely successful transformation of Marathon into
Snickers and Opal Fruits into Starburst. We have yet to see the
fruits of Virgin Mobile's marriage with the bureaucratic
nightmare that is NTL. But Virgin Mobile brand director James
Kydd (expected to become marketing supremo at the newly merged
telco) is right to stress the need for reform, especially in the area
of customer service, before Virgin lends its brand name.
Kellogg, on the other hand, was forced into an embarrassing
U-turn over Choco Krispies in 1998, because it had underestimated
public reaction. As for Dixons (stores) "migration" into
Currys.digital, it has all the signs of disorderly retreat after a
surprise rout by the online brigade, Tbe real question underlying
this particular piece of brand migration is: how could DSG have
allowed what was once such a great brand name to become so
diminished before taking action?
Tbe same psychology all too often applies to brand extensions.
The fact that they are usually a cheaper alternative to genuine
product innovation may be considered bad enough. But worse, in a
way, is how tbey are used as a knee-jerk reaction to deteriorating
market conditions. Thus Kit Kat's expansion into Chunky and
Kubes. And thus, we might suspect, Heinz's foray into "ready-
made" baked heans on toast, in a desperate attempt to keep one step
ahead of supermarket own-label competition. Naturally enough the
popularity of these incremental "innovations" can he ramped, if
the media spend put behind them is large enough, but that in itself
is unlikely to lead to significant repeat purchases. As a famous
American adman once said: "The consumer is not a moron,"
Stuart Smith, Editor
Cover story, page 24; Analysis, page 7
25.05.06 Marketing Week : 23