Feature: Does celebrity sell?

Following the response from last months article on whether celebrity sells, we’ve decided to take another look at the subject.

Feature: Where are you now?

Each month we'll catch up with one of last years IPS Diploma graduates to find out how things are going. This month we speak to Freya Wayn.

Feature: Can experiences work in sales promotion?

Ensuring a positive experience for the recipient of a gift voucher can make all the difference in the success a sales promotion since brand identity will be reflected by the quality of service and gift that are delivered. The goal of a gift voucher or gift card should be to make a lasting and positive impact through sales promotion and one way of ensuring that the recipient will be left with something special to remember is to use and experience gift vouchers.

Feature: Brand Sony: Room for improvement

Let’s face it, brand Sony has seen better days. Recently it was announced that operating profits in 2006 are to be 78% down on 2005; they’ve had to recall millions of laptop batteries at huge expense; and production delays mean that the European launch of the PlayStation 3 has been delayed to March 2007. Even worse, the brand that became synonymous with 60’s rock culture (transistor radio) and 80’s individualism (Walkman) is no longer viewed as cultural reference point. Social commentators do not refer to the ‘PlayStation 3’ generation; they refer to the “iPod” generation. Detractors argue that Sony has suffered bad luck and that it’s still a world class innovator bringing out leading edge products in other areas like the LCD market. This may be true but the evidence doesn’t always support it.

Feature: Promoting sales with motivation

Most of what you will read in this magazine is aimed at people running consumer promotions or what is traditionally thought of as Sales Promotion. Motivation however is a very different activity and is seldom directed at the consumer but aimed at employees.

Earlier this year the ISP embarked on a repositioning of the organisation. This started with a new logo and a new strapline…“when promoting sales is your business”. By motivating staff (in particular sales staff) it is hard to see that it does not “promote sales”. A survey conducted by Incentive Direct earlier this year stated that 36% of respondents cited increased sales performance as the primary reason for using an employee motivation scheme, and 35% cited increased staff commitment and loyalty. An additional 26% stated that increasing employees’ happiness with their jobs was the main factor in implementing such a scheme.

Feature: On pack is on track

A senior member of a food and grocery magazine recently remarked to me that he was of the opinion that consumers were fed up with on pack promotions offering merchandise. I was shocked! In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

Feature: Red button technology

Last month Ofcom published its Communications Market: Digital Television Progress Report for the second quarter of 2006. The report shows that by the end of June 2006 70.2% of UK television households (17.7 million) were watching digital television on at least one set in the home - up from 69.7% at the end March this year. In addition to this, in a recent survey by the BBC, only 37% of respondents knew that analogue TV is to be switched over to digital between 2008 and 2012. Considering some of the opportunities that digital TV represents are the all marketers aware of this?