Alex Woodruff Biz Buzz

In 2003 Honda ran this campaign in English magazines. It was the latest in a string of strange executions clearly aimed at showing how creative they are, how car makers can sometimes think outside the box, how dreaming can also be part and parcel of the automotive business. I will give them 10 out of [...]

I once had a boss who said never do advertising unless you have news for the customer. Not sure I totally agreed with him, but I guess having something interesting to tell people is always useful in advertising. It’s even more useful if you can pull in their emotions. When German mobile company D2 became [...]

In the top left-hand corner of the Ansoff matrix you are encouraged to achieve business growth by sticking with the same products and sticking with the same market or customer. Easier said than done. But loyalty promotions and below-the-line activity that encourage customers to use more are one way of doing this. Here’s a good [...]

Being the leading brand in your sector – with the highest awareness and plenty of interest and desire from your target market – isn’t everything. You still need something to stimulate customers to buy. Action. Catching kids unaware Haribo does this by using pester power. Kids have so much influence over parents that all you [...]

One of my favourite campaigns of all time. Sadly they didn’t have digital cameras when it came out, but I did get the mug… This execution adheres to the art of using surprise to gain customer desire. Dogs never feature in catfood advertising. Unless they are so driven by jealousy that they would actually prefer [...]

Surprises may be a good way to gain Desire in the AIDA process, but not if they’re as boring as this example. According to my slogan checklist, a good slogan should never make you say “so what?” or “huh?”. Which this did. Oh, what a tease you are This bright and cheerful face caught my [...]

In the AIDA process, getting the A for Action can be an expensive exercise. PoS marketing, reaching out to the consumer One way to get customers going in consumer markets is to reach out to them at the point of sale (PoS). This allows you to enter into instant dialogue with the target market, especially [...]

Why do so many marketeers use topical news items or current events to plug their products? Because it immediately captures interest – with the right target group… I’ve seen so many manufacturers in the past ride on the World Cup to reach out to the masses that I was kind of hoping it wouldn’t happen [...]

A guessing game for German beer enthusiasts – name the brand: Well, let’s try guessing. It’s pure, the brewing water is sourced from nature, it’s refreshing, clear – as it says in the slogan: “fresh beer indulgence”. With rich green colours and a gurgling stream, this really does tick off all the right boxes. Congratulations [...]

The Maggi mnemonic Nestlé subsidiary Maggi has been building a mnemonic – or brand property – for years. It’s a very simple device that focusses your interest specifically on their product, in keeping with the AIDA process. A spoon: The intriguing thing about this everyday kitchen implement is that when you realise you watching or [...]