October 27, 2014

Funding Circle Ad Goes Live

The Ideas Machine is delighted to have been a part of creating this fantastic ad. We’ve been working with Media partners Squadron Venture London and client Funding Circle to deliver an impactful, creative, differentiated TV ad

Why TV ? The innovation challenge for this start up business loan provider was twofold- first to work out how using TV could drive growth,  and second,  how to define a new category in business banking-

To mark the launch, James Meekings, co-founder of Funding Circle said;

“We’re building a business at Funding Circle that is changing the global financial infrastructure. This campaign is a natural next step for us as we continue to build trust and credibility for the brand, and enables us to tell our story in a creative and exciting way.”

Funding Circle is a new kind of finance business, it has an online platform connecting businesses and loans- not quite ‘Peer to Peer,’ because the loan pool at Funding Circle is both institutional, government and individual lenders, but not a bank either!

Welcome to the innovation challenges posed by  companies like Funding Circle, we like to call them The Disrupters.  The new generation .com entrepreneurs who don’t see traditional business /industry structures as sacrosanct.  Early signs are that Funding Circle’s experiment with their media mix is paying dividends. A bunch of really smart cookies, this business is one to watch.

Watch the ad here

 

July 30, 2014

Built in Obsolescence

So according to trend hunters PSFK  these rubber Italian Sunglasses will last forever ( or at least they won’t break when you sit on them). Silly colours and a bit of a fashion challenge for even the most chic Italian- but it got The Ideas Machine brains thinking.

italia-independent-i-ultra-sunglasses-1-120x100

There are loads of products which ‘fail’ needlessly, or which only last a year or two because obsolescence has been ‘built in’ to keep the consumer wheels turning.  These glasses,  ( which could be a little more stylish but bear with us) could spell the end of replacing broken shades at the end of a summer road trip…… and the slowing of profits for those who rely on us breaking our sunglasses regularly.

The Ealing Comedy Classic,  The Man in The White Suit, starring Alec Guinness, takes a comic look at innovation in the textile industry.  The point it makes is a serious one for brands and innovation; not all innovation is good for business. When stuff lasts too long, commerce loses out.  It’s why Willy Wonka’s everlasting gobstopper was never his best idea. It’s why we can buy white goods and electronics for next to nothing ( and why iphones have breakable screens). So innovation needs to be tempered by what the market needs, namely that there has to be a reason to come back, upgrade, replace.  Marketers need to balance the need, quality and reliability with the built in obsolescence tolerance of their customers.

Man In The White Suit

The Ideas Machine was wondering at what point we consumers might get fed up, how many times do you have to replace the screen on an iphone to wonder about a competitor offering ?  We were also musing on the down-sides of all this consumerism, piles of unwanted broken electrical goods and waste.

Even though they are probably the least fash -tastic shades we’ve seen in a long time, we applaud the Italians at Italia Independent and their rubber sunglasses, and we are instructing The Ideas Machine team to invest in a pair!

June 19, 2014

Menstrual Marketing- true genius

This ad from Helloflo, entitled First Moon Party is rare in being based on insight, executed with humour and gentleness, and relevant across at least two generations. It is singly the best bit of marketing we’ve seen in a very, very, very long time.  No-one wants to talk about periods, fewer want to broach the awkwardness of a conversation between tween and peers, parents and even fewer would put their marketing budgets on the line and bet on being funny enough to carry this off.  HelloFlo The Ideas Machine salutes you. This is a great product-  personalcare packages delivered on the right date, tailored to your needs,  the website is totally tonally in tune with its audience, and they are utterly deserving of success.

Fantastic Menstrual Marketing from Helloflo !  Check it out .

Helloflo delivery boxes

Helloflo delivery boxes

February 20, 2014

The Secret to Successful Omnichannel Retailing

Retailers’ worst fear is customers coming in store to browse, touch, feel and try, then leaving to go price hunting online – ultimately buying from an online retail competitor.  Worse, and what brings retailers out in cold sweats is a customer standing right there in a heated, well lit, beautifully merchandised store and buying from someone else via their smartphone.

Dark days,  and high pressure stuff in a world where we can bid and win on an item on eBay in less than the time it takes the Barista to serve up a latte, where Amazon delivers  whatever, wherever, whenever at the stroke of a smartphone and where price savvy customers will seek out bargains online.

Even more alarming for off line retailers seeking to maximise the value of their floorspace are apps like RedLaser ( over 27million downloads), allowing customers to scan UPC codes and see if items are available nearby and at what price- there is literally nowhere for traditional retailers to hide.

Onmichannel retailing as it is called – selling via multiple on and offline channels is not all a race for the bottom. Getting digital sales channels right can enhance an in-store purchase too – in a great article on this stuff, MIT Sloane Management Review– cites examples of both sides of the coin.  One of their stories is about a girl who can’t find what she wants in a shoe store, she is about to leave, when the assistant pulls out the ipad with other lines, more sizes to order and complementary accessories. The assistant helps the shopper get her dream shoes, delivered to her home.

Making the ‘digital transition’ to Omnichannel retailing is a necessity- the article has some excellent examples for retailers seeking to keep their customers and remain competitive. The ideas for retailers range from owning  a niche, bundling, in-store exclusives, through to on /offline promotions and synergies. Interesting, they also note the gap between manufacturing and retailing getting smaller at the back end, and the importance of personalisation, use of data and analytics on the marketing /consumer front end. Fascinating – what happens to traditional publishers when Amazon is contracting with authors direct ?

Redlaser 27 m downloads

Redlaser 27 m downloads

July 31, 2013

Innovate or else…

Great piece from Business Week on what happens to brands which fail to innovate. Simply put, if the world keeps moving on and your brand stands still, don’t be surprised when it all goes horribly wrong. The article cites great examples of brands putting innovation at the heart of what they do vs. those who pay the price of complacency.  It’s the reason the once popular Twinkies are no longer a lunch box staple.

Hostess-Twinkies-box

 

 

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July 8, 2013

When not to Innovate

Great article in Forbes on when Innovation is not the answer. I love their piece on Icons- if you are lucky enough to have a brand icon, don’t be tempted to relaunch it and mess it up. Whatever happened to the Man from del Monte a UK advertising icon destroyed by an agency keen to do something new for the sake of being new. How many icons are there in the ambient juice category – really?  In this case the ad agency brand planners  decided that the Man from DM was a little retro, a bit too ‘colonial’ and his ‘saying yes’ was an unfair judgement on the low paid fruit pickers. There is a difference between creating a little more love around your brand and losing one of the most memorable, recognisable, in fact one might even say unique icons in the category.  Mistake. A classic example of When not to Innovate.

The Man From del Monte Says 'Yes'- brand icon

The Man From del Monte Says ‘Yes’- brand icon

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