I know this video has been around on the internet for a while, but I am always amazed that it was created by Microsoft. I have never really thought of Microsoft as a customer centric organisation considering how hard I have always found their operating systems and program interfaces to use.

Anyway, this is the consumer breaking up with the marketer, or probably more correctly it should be the brand, because consumers have relationships with brands. They only have relationships with marketers if they are dating, married or living with them.

Watching it again, I think it is really interesting at how many traditional agencies and their clients are still embracing the broadcasting approach to communications reflected in this video, rather than join the conversation that consumers are already having amongst themselves.

Is it because it is easier to simply keep talking at people rather than stop to listen and respond to what they are saying in a meaningful way? Clearly if marketers continue to talk at their consumers rather than with them, then perhaps the Microsoft view of the relationship between marketers and consumers will come true. Or is it true for some brands already?

One of the best films made on advertising is "Truth in Advertising" and available on DVD from Amazon.

In this satirical take on the advertising process, the agency and client personnel say what they are thinking. If you have not seen it, it is well worth taking the time.

But when we have played this video to an audience of advertising agency people and marketers, the agency people cringe and their clients laugh. Why?

Continue reading "Why do agencies cringe and marketers laugh when they are confronted with truth in advertising?" »

On July 1 this year we announced the change in name of the company I started eight and a half years ago from P3 to TrinityP3. The reaction and comments have been incredibly positive, but the number one question is "why?" Why did we feel compelled to change the brand name that we had spent eight years in time, effort and money developing?

The pragmatic answer is, "To avoid the confusion with our competitors in Asia who have a very similar name to ours".

The more significant answer is "Why not?"

P3 has developed significantly since its inception and grown in size, from a one person operation to now more than sixteen industry consultants in Australia and New Zealand and now five people in Asia.

Continue reading "Changing the name from P3 to TrinityP3" »

This morning I was talking to a group from the AMPA (Australian Promotional Marketing Association) about supplier selection, remuneration and collaboration. Being a smallish audience of 20 - 25 people it was a lively and interactive discussion.

These people represent the category of the marketing communications category that is often termed "below the line" and are often seen by "above the line" agencies as an after-thought.

Because of this they are mostly briefed secondary to the creative and media agency and often left to interpret the brand strategy through their discipline.

At one point in the discussion I asked the audience "What are the most important factors for creating a truly collaborative environment where the best of each participant is realised?"

Continue reading "Creating collaborative marketing environments" »

Mark Dapin, a regular contributor to the Good Weekend magazine in the SMH and The Age is launching a new book on October 1 through Harper Collins called "Fridge magnets are bastards".

To promote the book he has an article in todays Good Weekend where he describes "bastards I have known". It is full of the usual "weasle words" like "learning curve", "same page" and "magic bullet", but the one that caught my eye was "marketing guru".

Continue reading "Beware the marketing guru? Or is that the invisible elephant?" »