Marketing Advices for Small Businesses >> Brought to you byHP !!

Hello everyone, 

I hope you are all enjoying the first rays of sunshine we have had the pleasure to see in London this week...days are becoming longer and we have more time to enjoy outdoor activities...the Online adepts that you are will enjoy "Twitting" with your friends. Call me "old school" as we say in France, or "old fashion", but I have recently discovered the World of Twitter (www.twitter.com)...this online social networking website. I am sure you all knew about it. Let's move on to my topic of interest today...I am feeling stupid. 

Ok, so my attention this week has been caught by a newly launched website called "smb marketing guide" >>> www.smbmarketingguide.com <<< 

This website represents a good source of marketing ideas and advices for small businesses, entrepreneurs not having necessarily the required marketing skills. Users can navigate onto few different categories such as "Brand Strategy", "Direct Marketing Strategies" or "Taking the brand online". These advices are being taught by a selected bunch of "Experts", themselves chosen as being succesful bloggers and entrepreneurs. As the site proposed it on one of its last post, "create marketing materials...NOT your Grandmother's marketing materials" :) Quite enjoyed that. 

There is no banner advertising on the website...however, you will rapidly notice that a corporate partner is featured on all pages...Hewlett-Packard !! Indeed, the IT giant that we all know very well at ZenithOptimedia is sponsoring the website, putting forward its "HP Creative Studio", resource centre for Printing materials. Great idea to target SMBs. 

As outlined by Springwise (2009) "It is an example of Federated Media's innovative approach to marketing in the blogosphere—helping advertisers engage people by working with authors to create fun and useful content". 

Featured links below articles invite users to "create logos" or compute for them their printing expenses. Links are re-directing users onto HP Creative Sudio's landing page...

...surely a great idea from the best media agency? >> I am talking about ZO  :)

 >Olivier <

Experiential Outdoor: Heineken Lounge

Hello Guys,
Again, one of my favourite source of nice advertising news (Springwise) released a post on the Heineken Lounge opened in NY Newark airport. The aim of the brand is to provide a premium lounge service to "economy class" passengers. Not a bad idea when you usually have to wait in one of these non-friendly airport terminal!
Obviously, the Heineken brand equity is again significantly leveraged with such operations: the consumer affinity gained is very important.

Olivier

Warm beer in airport restaurants resembling barns has, no doubt, caused many of us to wonder where air travel's glamour got to. Helping revive the notion of classy business travel, Heineken has teamed up with design agency UXUS to create an airport lounge offers a respite from the chaos of the terminal gate.

The Heineken Lounge opened in Newark Liberty International Airport in December 2008, and democratically presents all travellers with the luxuries typically reserved for first and business class passengers. Private conversation nooks, custom white leather sofas, spherical light fixtures and green aluminium tables combine to create a contemporary brand space. In addition to Heineken, a variety of beers are served on tap, alongside a fully-stocked cocktail bar.

Although Hong Kong's International Airport has had its own Heineken bar for some time, Newark's lounge is more of a 'third place', offering work necessities such as wifi, as well as movies and other entertainment. One to emulate, if branding budgets allow ;-) (Related: Being space for a microbrew — Beer cans that sleep two — Baby brand space at Schiphol Airport.)

Website: www.heineken.com — www.uxusdesign.com
Contact: www.heinekeninternational.com/contactus.aspx — europe@uxusdesign.com

A personalized in-flight Mag: great OOH Experiential campaign by HSBC

HSBC's new build-your-own-inflight-magazine concept opened in Decemeber in Heathrow's Terminal 1. The concept: as they enter the enclosure, travellers are handed a hardback magazine cover. They can then pick and choose from a large selection of loose-leaf articles arranged on the kiosk's shelves. When they're done, a staff member at the 'binding bar' neatly binds them into the cover to create a personal magazine.

HSBC launched the concept to promote its Premier banking package. The kiosk will remain open for another two weeks, and may be rolled out to airports around the world in the future.

Website: www.hsbc.com
Contact: www.hsbc.com/1/2/contact-us

Low-Impact Advertising: Let's simplify!

Realising that green concerns are here to stay, British media agency Curb offers nothing but low-impact advertising. Its clean advertising service (similar to Street Advertising Services and GreenGraffiti, which we featured earlier) uses rainwater to clean logos into grubby pavements, and has been joined by a four other services that are both novel and easy on the environment.

Curb creates sand sculptures of all sizes; burns patterns and logos into wood using magnifying glasses; and offers a ‘logrow’ service to cut logos as big as 30m wide into turf. Although each service is handcrafted, the agency is adamant that images are produced exactly as created digitally. Last but not least, graphics can be projected on falling sheets of water to create a memorable display. Household names have already used Curb’s services: Adidas was immortalised in grass, Volkswagen commissioned a sand sculpture and Barack Obama’s face was etched into wood.

We’re happy to see that ‘cleanvertising’ has been expanded into an entire portfolio of green(er) advertising options. Curb claim to be the world’s first and only media agency to be doing this exclusively. Which indicates that there’s space for others in different regions. Start blasting, sculpting, cutting and burning!

Source: Springwise - http://springwise.com/marketing_advertising/curb_media_agency_focuses_on_l/