Brilliant Marketing

in newspapers were always newsy and topical like the ad for

Champneys featuring a miserable-looking David Gower

(England had just been thrashed by the West Indies) with

the headline ‘I wish I was at Champneys’. Context is all and

I never saw any point in anything bigger than a page-

dominant size. People buy papers to scan news not look at

ads. Circulation is declining fast.

● Magazines – a totally different browsing world with a vast

choice of specialist titles. Most are so dense with advertising

you are really going to struggle unless your creative work is

very strong. But the good news is there are lots of

interesting ways of spending money and reaching pretty well

exactly whom you want.

● The web – it has its own chapter, of course. Just make sure

your web site works properly and through intelligent SEM

make sure you are in the right place on the page – near the

top.

Alternative media

● Local newspapers – the underestimated medium. The

creative environment is often quite dull so standing out can

be quite easy. But be local, using local outlets or people as

heroes, if you are using the medium. Context is important –

exploit it. But beware rapidly falling circulation.

● Free sheets – I am a deep sceptic but check out the prices

and make your own judgement. There are some that are

excellent and many that are not.

● Local magazines – focus on the feel and the quality of

editorial; do not just rely on the numbers. I have always

been choosy about the company with whom I’m seen.

Don’t get yourself tied up with a goodwill gesture when

what you need is to save time and conserve cash.

● Local radio – I love it and think the real key here is not to

be just an advertiser but – if you can afford it – to be a local

84 bri lliant marketing

‘player’. Look at it as a promotional medium and see how

you can leverage your ‘presence’ as well as your campaign

itself.

● Posters – repeated because it’s like New York – a hell of a

medium.You can achieve really strong local presence too.

Advice: if you are focusing on a specific town make sure

you know where the best sites are. The best sites are where

people are waiting, at a station, in a predictable traffic jam,

at traffic lights.

● Transport – if you can do something really interesting with

buses or trains like RBS did with the Heathrow Express

then that’s terrific and expensive, and large sums can

disappear to small advantage; but for little money in

London, tube cards and cross-track can be absolute magic.

It’s one of the few chances to have people read your quite

long copy because there isn’t anything else to do while they

are standing and wishing they were still in bed. Marketing

to captive audiences is great fun too especially if you can

make them laugh.

● Events – easy to get swept up in the excitement and find

you are having a great time, but sales of your product

remain disappointingly flat. Be ruthless.You are there to sell

stuff so how can you turn an event to your advantage?

● Theatre/event programmes – generally advertising in

these should go in the social corporate responsibility

budget, if you have such a thing. A media man who was

excellent at his job said they caused him so many problems

in relation to the benefits they brought he made a rule to

avoid them.

● Videos/DVDs – brilliant for mailing to ‘warm contacts’,

these are the equivalent of film-letters and as such need to

be punchy, brief and full of life.You need simplicity, good

lighting, little distraction, your own people and a great piece

of packaging.

Where to advertise so it reaches the people you want 85