Jamie Matthews, CEO at Initials Marketing, takes a look at the claims made by Abercrombie & Fitch, the recent #FitchTheHomeless campaign, and the results of its brand generosity survey.

“It is our mission to continue our efforts to support human rights, invest in our associates, give back to our communities, commit to environmental sustainability efforts, make responsible business decisions, stand for and achieve diversity and inclusion.” Unless, that is, you’re fat. Or old. Or ugly.

Yes, the quote above is from Abercrombie & Fitch’s CSR statement. But recent comments from its CEO Mike Jeffries and the subsequent viral backlash against his efforts to build an ‘aspirational ‘ brand show just how much our expectations of good corporate citizenship have changed.

Greg Karber’s YouTube video, showing him going out on the streets of LA, buying old A&F clothes for a fraction of a marketing executive’s daily salary, and handing them out to appreciative, unphotogenic homeless people, has had more than 400,000 hits to date. It’s touched a widespread nerve among the majority of us incensed at the fact that a big corporate should put its brand before the common good. And inevitably, its reputation among its target audience of 18-34 year olds has dived.

Result: complete CSR fail. As the dive in A&F’s reputation among its key demographic of 18-34 year olds shows, we now expect a great deal more from corporates.

Initials’ own Brand Generosity research, undertaken in conjunction with YouGov among 2000 people nationally, underlined a simple insight that savvy brands already know and are acting on: that the brands which survive are those that will make life better.

Gone are the days when CSR was just about philanthropic giveaways with one eye on looking good. The ‘new’ CSR is about maximising brand profit and being a force for social good, in nearly-equal measure. We are beginning to see a general consensus that not only can brands create a symbiotic relationship between the bottom line and doing the right thing, but in today’s climate, it’s an intrinsic part of doing business.

Our Brand Generosity research unequivocally found that while we are overwhelmingly supportive of companies who support the local community, if it has a bad reputation, we probably won’t buy from it.

So A&F’s current stance isn’t exclusionary or aspirational: it’s just arrogant and out of touch. It’s certainly not a fashion statement, it’s just fashion fascism. And in an age when the old order of “tell and sell” advertising is being replaced by meaningful and relevant dialogue between brands and customers, every nuance and tone in a brand’s voice matters.

Shopper expectation is changing, and with it, CSR. We might still be suspicious of companies trying to do good (again, a key finding of our Brand Generosity research), but there’s no question that we’re starting to expect more than a passing nod to excellent corporate citizenship. Jeffries should take heed.

Originally posted on The Drum on May 17th

Every week Facebook, the largest global social media platform, seems to announce a new-fangled privacy feature. Earlier this month Facebook introduced yet another privacy update with the launch of (drum roll) ‘Trusted Contacts’. Picture the scene. You have locked yourself out of your beloved Facebook account, Facebook sends a unique code to the contacts you have identified to be ‘trusted’ (between three and five people). Once you enter all of the individual codes into Facebook you are granted access back into your account, just in time to see photos of what everyone has had for their dinner- hurrah!

I’m not sure how I feel about this and Mashable.com tends to agree with me, calling it ‘needlessly complicated’. If you have been as unfortunate as I have to come across this new feature perhaps you have had similar thoughts on this:

1. Can we define a trusted contact? I don’t know about you but if I leave my Facebook logged in and unattended for more than 5mins and those nearby are peppering profanities across my status! Facebook is now putting this power into hands I don’t really trust.
2. How many friends do you have on standby? While you are climbing the walls without access to your Facebook account, your friends could be strolling around town, or perhaps on an exotic holiday blissfully unaware that they possess the key to your happiness.

I wonder why they have created a new feature instead of encouraging users to utilise the existing two-factor authentication system, envied by Twitter users, and already place. Apparently ‘Trusted Contacts’ is supposed to be a safer way of regaining access to your account. Facebook actually taking an interest in our security, surely not?! Seems to me, Facebook  is feeling a little bruised after their continuous criticism over security and are trying far too hard to redeem themselves (to our detriment).

It’s a well-known fact that each generation strives to push back the social barriers they consider were repressive and unnecessarily restrictive in times gone by. Standing up when a teacher entered the classroom, offering a lady your seat on the train and not using offensive language in public have all but disappeared with the demise of deference. These are things which in a way defined the age in which they were an accepted form of behaviour, and their absence certainly does not signal the end of civilised society. But just how far do we want things to go? There is now something of a backlash against binge drinking and its effect on public behaviour, yet the use of the f word in TV, theatre,  films and even in common parlance has become commonplace. Nudity, once only seen in certain Soho establishments, is now an everyday occurrence.

So when a car manufacturer uses the portrayal of a suicide attempt to promote a new model, does it really matter? Yes. We sometimes forget that what is deemed acceptable in the fashion conscious, style driven, media luvvie London world may well be extremely distasteful and distressing to other sections of the community. Everyone has their own idea of what is acceptable in our society. When French Connection first published their (then) notorious slogan FCUK in the seventies, it was deemed by some to be highly inappropriate. But on second glance, there was a justification given its direct relevance to the company name and it was undeniably a clever and relevant piece of copywriting.

The trouble is that what is acceptable to trend setters may be abhorrent to more traditional sectors. This is where good taste comes in. How do we judge what is good taste anyway? It’s a moving feast but I can’t help feeling that we’ve now reached such extremes of language, behaviour and visual imagery that for the sake of future generations we should at least pause for thought before publishing marketing messages that will clearly give offence to some if not all. Otherwise, it’ll just be an exponential free-for-all in which brands compete with consumers to see who can publish the most outrageous material and get away with it.

In the end, I guess it comes down to that indefinable quality, good taste. We do still have some in our society, don’t we?

Marcomms Man

INITIALS have designed and developed the on-pack creative and an application accessible online and via Facebook for desktops, smartphones and tablets.  On purchasing a single-serve bottle of Tropicana, consumers are prompted to visit tropicana.co.uk/Fbwin5 and enter their unique code to see if they have won one of the £5 prizes available every minute of every morning.

The competition is open from 7am to 12noon every morning between 1^st May and 18^th June, followed by a wrap-up draw running until 16^th August.

The internet has provided a way for many brands and different groups to become relevant again. Over the past two weeks we’ve seen a traditional institute which was established over 150 years ago shout about their presence on the web: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the official church of the Mormons.

Lately the church has been in the public eye because of the critically acclaimed and controversial musical comedy The Book of Mormon – which just began its sold-out performances at the Prince of Wales Theatre in March 2013. This unusual piece of contemporary musical theatre has put the Mormon religion under the microscope. Instead of hiding from potentially damaging press, the establishment have responded with a series of print advertisements driving people to their website. Here you can ‘Meet a Mormon’, ask him/her questions and learn about their faith.

This campaign hopes to drive the curious and the critical alike to interact with the church. The Mormons are imploring people to engage with their religion, and with religious congregation numbers dwindling in the UK the internet could provide a resurgence of interest in religion.  Whether or not it is a success we’ll wait and see. However it’s another example of a traditional group using the internet to gain a voice in modern day society. The church of Mormon joins the ranks of brands, politicians, police forces and academics who have modernised the way they interact with the public through their online presence.

Announcing our second campaign for Kerrygold, following our door drop in March. It’s an on-pack promotion in partnership with Tourism Ireland, with a chance to win one of 4 two day trips to Ireland, ‘The Land of Better Butter’ staying at the location where Kerrygold’s TV commercial was filmed.

On purchasing a promotional pack, consumers are prompted to visit Facebook.com/KerrygoldUK and enter their unique 12 digit code to participate in the prize draw.

Draws will be conducted every 18 days, giving away one trip to Ireland each time until the competition closing date of 9th July. Every unique code entered entitles the consumer to a further entry in the prize draw.

The promotion was designed to drive interest at fixture and purchase, whilst the whole campaign serves to reinforce the provenance of the brand and the product attributes.

Sauntering out of a client meeting last week, we crossed Hammersmith Broadway and Chris (our Head of Experiential) inevitably had his iPhone out.
 
Our Creative Director was on crutches (that’s another story) and so getting a cab was an inevitability. “Let’s hail a cab” I said. “There’s one about to appear out of that side road” said Chris.
 
And sure enough, without the power of witchcraft or X-ray vision, Chris was right. “How the **** did you know that?!” says I. “Hailo Cabs App mate” says Chris as the passenger side window slides down and the cabbie says “Are you Chris?”

 

After a short trip back to the office discussing the merits and demerits of our client, Chris then doesn’t even have to pay cash – it’s all done online.
 
Well, stone me! I have of course now downloaded the Hailo APP and as I sit here back at the Agency in Central London, my iPhone is alive with little yellow icons representing taxi’s circling me as we speak.
 
I’ve heard of dating Apps that find other “interested parties” in the bar you are in, and now you can solve that other most modern of dilemmas – TAXI!!

Apple has been hit with its first profit fall in a decade. Reading several sources, 95% of content talked about how much they had made in the last decade, why the share price has fallen dramatically in the last year, and what they plan to do with it in terms of keeping the shareholders happy.

5%, yes 5% of the content talked about what new products were expected. The one particular product being mooted was their entry into the television market, which has been the subject of much speculation for the last 2-3 years.

As an avid Apple user from top to bottom, I did find myself asking – “Where is the constant cycle of innovation that allowed them to generate all this cash in the first place?!”. Stating the obvious, but this has to be the key to solving their problems.

I’m fed up with minor OS updates, products being tweaked, and newly created software that are more blatant and overt attempts to take more money from me (Itunes Match for example!).  And I’m getting a bit bored in the process.

Where is the completely overhauled OS for the iPhone and its sisters that allows it to truly compete with Samsung and HTC? (Apparently Samsung aim for 80% ready, before they go to market.  They may not be perfect, but at least the pace is anything but slow, and what they produce is exciting.) Where is the Apple iWatch that you will wear with pride?  When are they going to tell me the relevance of Passbook that can neither be deleted nor used? I’ve heard rumours that they are using this to become the biggest bank in 10 years’ time, but they have to tell us what to do with it first. And yes, where is the TV that will shake up the market as we know it?

For years we have talked about innovation being the key to the UK economy getting out of the doldrums, and unfortunately it is the same medicine for Apple. Isn’t it ironic though that Apple were the ones that taught us all the new tricks of the trade in the first place.

Foursquare are flirting with failure, whilst Sawday’s proves that if you keep it niche you’re more likely to stand the test of time.

The tortoise and hare analogy is much used, but is very relevant to two recent articles concerning Foursquare and Sawday’s in The Telegraph.

In this instance the ‘hare’ Foursquare is beginning to burn out, whilst Sawday’s has slowly built up a credible reputation as a source of premium travel advice. From this platform they’ve launched a great new, but most importantly, simple app, which recommends local pubs.

Foursquare launched in 2009 amidst a blaze of glory with brands buzzing around them eager to leverage this new technology. Fast forward three years and they’ve been deemed a fad. The CEO Dennis Crowley tentatively accepts their problematic future claiming that the latest $41 million cash injection will be used to help them ‘reposition’ Foursquare. This remodeling moves Foursquare away from a game where you collect badges and points, to a location based service which recommends a range of amenities.

Foursquare are to enter an incredibly crowded marketplace competing with giants such as Tripadvisor, Travelzoo and Lonely Planet. Which leads us onto Sawday’s who are a shining star in this market. They’ve steadily built their reputation over time and stayed true to their original business proposition; to provide recommended services for the public. The starting block for this brand was reviewing B&Bs, then expanded into hotels and they’ve naturally extended to a paid for app which recommends day-to-day services such as great pubs.

With Foursquare lurching from one marketplace to another in a bid to survive, Sawday’s are steadily growing and finding their natural rhythm. How? By remaining niche, staying true to their heritage and producing a simple app which helps you find a great watering hole.

Read the original articles here:

The Telegraph – Despite funding, Foursquare faces battles against apathy

The Telegraph – Sawday’s Pubs

Equity bank – the new brand setting a trend for the category

I read with interest this week that we are finally set for seismic changes in the UK retail banking sector. Apparently we are all now going to find it much easier to change banks if we so require, due to the faster switcher service being introduced. The new rules mean that it will only take seven days instead of the current three weeks.

At the same time, Which? research reveals a flood of frustrated customers ready to take advantage of shakeup in the current account market. More than a quarter of those surveyed revealed that they have had a problem with the current account in the last year, with a fifth saying that it had not been resolved satisfactorily.

The findings come as the likes of the Post Office, Virgin Money and Tesco are all looking to move into the current account arena this year. “Banks are going to have to up their game,” said Kevin Mountford of moneysupermarket.com. “There could be an interesting 12 months ahead.”

As one of the leading financial capitals of the world, who would have thought that we find ourselves looking towards Kenya for inspiration in this sector? Equity bank, has grown from a small insolvent building society to serving the needs of over half the Kenyan population by focusing on the needs of those who were least able to afford the services of traditional banks.

As the P&G master marketer Jim Stengel, highlights in his book, Grow, they did it simply, by focusing on delighting the customer! How incongruent does this sound when we picture UK retail banking in our minds.  Having identified the ‘unbanked’ as their target audience, Equity Bank found themselves developing products based around a whole series of benefits – from minimal paperwork, small denomination deposits and withdrawals, to microloans and most notably furniture and household appliances becoming security as opposed to houses.  When it was last measured, Equity Bank in BrandZ was far stronger than any other bank, with 67% saying that the brand was setting the trend for the category.

Coupled with this, our own CSR and Community research conducted by YouGov  in February this year, discovered that consumers are becoming more and more cynical around thinly veiled PR claims designed to project a company’s caring consumer image.  Consumers want to see tangible results if organisations are to start embracing their community. Banking was highlighted as one sector whereby consumers would be comfortable and expect to see CSR & Community led initiatives. However they don’t see a lot of activity in this space at the moment.

Where is all this going? Could we see banking coming full circle whereby we see the emergence of the truly ‘local bank’ again. Imagine walking into your local bank or even asking for someone by name over the phone, asking a simple financial request, and having the comfort and trust to know that it has been carried out by someone you know. Now there’s a thought!

Read more here:

http://www.millwardbrown.com/Global/Blog/Post/2013-04-01/Equity-Bank-goes-from-rags-to-riches.aspx?eid=MBBlog