Alex Woodruff Biz Buzz

Bombarding the customer.
I often post on this blog about things that I find shocking as a Brit living abroad.
If it’s not about rudeness
or inappropriate visuals
it’s about marketing departments unknowingly putting their foot in it.
For more, see the Cultural Hotpot posts.
Well, this time something in reverse.
If you’re German, would this make a shiver go [...]

How easy it is to put your foot in it. Or should I say hand in it.

Sinister imagery in some countries.
This image was going to be used by a big German company for an HR brochure. It was only for internal purposes, so why pull in foreign agencies? Enough people already had their finger in [...]

Following a mega deal with Royal Dutch Shell, German Telekom off-shoot T-Systems is now actively operating in Malaysia after taking over its global DP systems.

Pink, or magenta?
You may be familiar with the corporate colours of Telekom and as happens with many strongly branded companies, a mention of the name is enough to conjure up a [...]

Companies often use things happening in the news to inject their products with interest and move forward the AIDA process. But this recent idea caused a bit of a cafuffle. Obama Fingers. Yes, you read that right: OBAMA fingers, like fish fingers only with chicken.

What the ….? [Image source: spiegel.de]
What in heaven’s name possessed the [...]

I’ve been noticing recently the number of German advertisers who use “Sicherheit” (= safety; certainty) in their marcoms (marketing communications). I wonder if this is a cultural influence, relating to what Hofstede would call “uncertainty avoidance”.
Two examples.

Certified by experts
One: posters for a new indoor adventure park called Sensapolis. I’ve not been to the place (apparently [...]

How differently alcohol is sold in different countries…

Heineken cans in France
Starting with some examples from Anja (thanks for your input!), it looks like the French are taking the issue of drinking during pregnancy very seriously. So seriously in fact that warnings now feature on cans.
Whether this is a legal requirement I don’t know, but [...]

It’s good to see marketing issues becoming so big that they earn themselves a name in the marketing strategy books. We look at the changing nature of society in MM1, especially in Germany and the UK (where, respectively, the statistics tell us more Kebabs are now eaten than the iconic Hamburger, and more Chicken Tandoori [...]

If ever you needed a good reason for not going to the European finals in Austria and Switzerland, then this is it. Apparently the Germans have picked a slogan for the tournament - although this is not the official slogan - but it’s being slapped on t-shirts and is bound to be seen a lot [...]

Greenpeace know how to put an organisation under pressure when they want to.
So when a major oil company decides it would be quicker and cheaper to get rid of an oil platform by sinking it in the middle of the North Sea, their PR department shifted into top gear and we saw NPO marketing at [...]

The issue of images and cultural references was once looked at closely by a PhD student and university professor in the United States. The 2004 study raised issues that should be debated more often in advertising agencies. Business really needs to look at this issue more closely, but I guess not many of us [...]