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WORD FROM THE WISE
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informed and rational decisions: that now cascades all levels of because the marketing’s developed locally. Our brands have to be
consumer spending. When we’re talking about Carlsberg, people as compelling and compete for people’s attention as much as Nike
want to know why it’s the best. They’re looking for brands they can and Adidas and Audi do.”
trust. We’re saying it’s the best because it’s the original.” Apart from Diageo’s own work, he admires what O2 is doing. “It’s
So is Diageo just particularly good at understanding its cus- a huge, brave statement to put its name to The O2 and provide the
tomers? “We have a standard of excellence that’s superior to all experience that it does,” he says. “The company understands the
else,” says O’Bric. “We’re all very conscious of the great brands we promise of a great brand experience – but it’s not fluff, it’s backed
work on and the campaigns that preceded us. It’s also informed by up by real, innovative market-beating innovations.”
some awesome talent. I believe we have by far the single strongest “Looking beyond Ireland, there are a few examples of brands that
marketing department in Ireland. are really challenging us in terms of marketing, like comparethemar-
“I also think we have bravery. One of the challenges Oliver ket.com and its Alexander the meerkat character. That’s a quintes-
[Loomes, marketing director, Diageo Ireland] gave me when I came sential example of a brand that has a compelling powerful strategy
in was to be bold rather than conservative. I think that stands us in for a digital age.”
good stead, particularly at this moment in time.” He believes Diageo He believes Eurostar’s funding of Shane Meadows’ film Somers
has demonstrated its bravery by launching new products, like Town in 2008 when the company was moving its London base from
Budweiser Ice Cold, during the recession. Waterloo to St Pancras was an immense way of thinking. “The con-
O’Bric won’t be drawn on the possibility of a ban on alcohol ventional brand integration models were discarded and the very def-
advertising in the future and on any contingency plans that inition of what advertising is was expanded. By thinking more about
Diageo might be putting in place. “A ban is not something we what the audience wants rather than what Eurostar has to say, it
envisage,” he says. “In Ireland, we already have the strictest reg- developed an emotional placement model. We’re now moving into
ulations in the world, both in terms of legislation and voluntary a world of content far beyond just functional product propositions.
codes. And we don’t just seek to match the letter of the law, we It’s a whole new world that we have to get our head around.”
seek to embrace the spirit of it. As long as we do that, and as One of the most powerful ways to understand whether brands
long as we continue to market our products in an ethical and get it is to look at their metrics, he continues. “How do they evalu-
responsible way, then we have the right codes in place. We take ate success? Do they look at reach and frequency or do they think
our responsibility very seriously.” of involvement and engagement? When we looked at Guinness
250, we didn’t look at the fact that we got a million people to sign
The Irish experience
up or the numbers down in the pub – we looked at our brand
On the subject of marketing in general, he thinks many brands had engagement and brand involvement scores.
it very easy during the Celtic tiger and that there’s a lot of poor mar- “It’s a brilliant time for great marketing,” he concludes. “Poor mar-
keting out there. He does, however, also believe there are some keting won’t work and poor marketing will ensure poor brands go
superb examples of great communications. “When we get the best by the wayside. It’s a very challenging time, but I can’t think of a
minds working on the best brands and we set the bar of excellence more exciting time to be in marketing communications than maybe
high, and we challenge ourselves to achieve not only best in Ireland the launch of TV advertising. The task both for individual businesses
but world class; I think our very best campaigns are world beating,” and marketing is to emerge from this dip fitter and also leaner. The
he says. brands that move onto a new footing are the ones that will enjoy the
“Consumers will not accept poor marketing from Irish brands just success.”
Volume 4 Issue 1 2010 Marketing Age 19
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