Marketing

The Most Controversial Ads of 2007

A BBC web article has written up a helpful summary of the 14,080 complaints made last year to the Advertising Standards Authority.  Sex and violence predictably dominated viewers concerns.  ‘Greenwash’ is also an increasing irritation to the public.

Part of the skill of advertising is to catch the attention of the public by using striking images, poses and ideas.  But how far can this go?  How far should it go?  The law stipulates in some cases (for instance, an advert for alcoholic drinks cannot go so far as to say that it will make you more attractive to the opposite sex).  In other cases, the boundary of what is tasteful is, well, a matter of taste.  I’m pretty hard to offend - I don’t think any of the controversial adverts this year are too bad – but personally, I find that the FCUK slogan makes me cringe.  See what you think:

10 Most Controversial Ads - BBC

Nokia holds on to top spot as the demand for mobiles grows

Despite a cooling global economy, the demand for mobile phones seems undiminished.  A recent report by consultancy firm Strategy Analytics says 282 million handsets were shipped worldwide in the first three months of 2008, up 14% from a year ago. The growth was driven by rising demand in emerging markets such as Africa and Asia.

Although Nokia maintained its dominant position with a 40.9% market share, it lost some share as shipments of LG and Samsung phones grew faster than Nokia’s sales.  Meanwhile, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Apple lost market share.  Motorola has been losing ground for some time.  LG has made the most progress recently.

FT Global Brands Survey

The Financial Times has recently published its annual global brands survey - the results are available here and can be downloaded as an excel spreadsheet.

Internet advertising and the decline of Google?

Has Google passed its peak?  Last November its share price hit an all time high, since when the firm’s shares have lost 40% of their value.  Is this just down to turmoil in the world’s financial system or something more significant?

The Business Studies Lessons from Terminal 5

Rarely can there have been a business news story that provides such a rich source of business studies content.

Farm diversification into ice-cream is not plain, vanilla process

Researching some materials for our revision toolkit for the OCR Applied Business Unit 3, I came across a really useful case study on farm diversification into ice-cream.

Credit crunch means mortgage providers are turning customers away

It seems that the credit crunch is turning our traditional understanding of marketing on its head.  Nationwide, Britain’s second largest provider of householde mortgages is increasing the price of its product to discourage customers from buying!

Coffins fit for the environment

I was intrigued by this opening line in an excellent Independent article on a fast-growing small business.

How do you persuade people to buy a product they won’t need until they’re dead?

Kelloggs Crunchy Nut Cornflakes - Examples of TV Advertising

This summer’s AQA GCSE (3132) case study focuses on Kelloggs, with a significant section on market segmentation and advertising.  A Kelloggs brand which has developed a reputation for successful TV advertising is Crunchy Nut Cornflakes.  Take a look at two great examples of these ads in action!

The Fading Fortunes of ITV

The Commercial broadcaster ITV, once the television channel that dominated the nation, has seen its annual profits for 2007 fall by 35% to £188m after a ‘difficult year’.

The broadcaster has also seen its shares take a dive over the past year, hitting new lows in January and February. ITV has two main problems on its plate: a row about ownership, as rival broadcasters fight over what is left (BSkyB have a 17.9% stake in the firm) and advertising worries.

A good example of price elasticity of demand

A great news article about the problems faced by Hovis bread would make a useful example of price elasticity of demand for business students.

Commuter coaches take on the crowded railways

A fascinating news article in the The Times today on a new product from National Express, the UK’s largest coach operator.

Can Elonex profit from the £99 Laptop?

The Education Show in Birmingham next weekend sees the launch of a product with a price-point that is making everyone in the IT & Education world sit up.  The UK’s first £99 laptop is being launched by Elonex, at a price that is less than a quarter of the average price currently being paid for laptops in the UK.

Government advertising climbs the league table of big spenders

Which businesses spend the most on advertising in the UK?  The latest edition of Marketing Week provides the answers.  The magazine has produced its latest annual listing of advertising spend, and there is one surprising “business” listed at Number 2.

Which marketing strategy now for Northern Rock?

So Northern Rock has been nationalised; taken into public ownership to run at “arms length” by the Government. The initial focus of NR’s new management team will be on reducing costs. Significant redundancies are expected, though this will largely depend on the decisions taken by NR about the size of the NR branch network.

In a large financial institution like NR, a potential cost casualty will be the marketing budget.  In 2007, NR spent over £6m on advertising.  NR is also the main sponsor of Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons (rugby union).  Will this sponsorship survive new ownership?