When Polls are Polls apart

As we get closer to the US Election there seems to be polls coming out from everywhere. What is surprising is that in this day and age, that there can be such as large diference in the two. This morning, one poll has Obama 12 points ahead, while another had the lead at only 6. Without knowing the measures or samples used it is hard to draw an accurate comparison however the expectation would be that they would both be looking at similar samples so the results should be the same…market research, love it, hate it?

Tick the box marketing

It is the same old story – can I have two of the latest fads for my marketing mix please sir. The amount of times clients, and marketers in general, want to jump on the newest bandwagon that is going through town to feel that they are at the cutting edge of marketing is unreal. Over the last couple of years it has been Green/eco-marketing, Cause Related Marketing or social marketing. Without really understanding the tools or thinking about how it can sit in their mix, marketers just lump it in and feel that they are driving their brands forward. When done well it is very effective, when done poorly or for the sake of it, it is transparent and fake – which are criticisms launched at marketers too often and usually for the right reasons.

I am all for including new tools but only when the rationale is correct. The reason for this post/rant is an article I read this morning from Steve Rubel (Director of Insights with Edelman and all around Mr. Online Marketing). Steve makes some valid points about using blogs and social marketing in your PR plans and it is well worth the read and also a moment or two to think about it.

Advertising not art business

Recently when reviewing some concept work for a client, a colleague remarked “We are in the advertising not art business”. We are been discussing edits to the concepts and requests to include more details, the old chestnut from the client – I love it but can you change xyz and add in abc. The statement stuck with me and it really is a principle that more marketers and also creatives need to be aware of.

Creatives can get sensitive when their concepts are tweaked and changed, sometimes beyond recognition, but in essence the ad/campaign has to deliver on its objectives (which are usually measured by sales) or else we are all on the side of the street. The statement is particularly true when thinking about the recent Gorilla campaign for Cadburys. Apparently it had greater recall then Galaxy’s advertising, however it lost market share to Galaxy despite investing nearly £200m in advertising Dairy Milk over the last 18 month.