MKTG Marketing Outsourcing

Fruit Muffins Update!!

MKTG Marketing Outsourcing — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:44:49 +0000

We called Goodman Fielder (makers of Mighty Soft Fruit’n'Spice) twice and got a NZ call centre - we offered to send the pictures via email but they were not required. The lady thanked us for bringing the fruit muffins with minimal fruit to her attention and offered to send a voucher for replacement.

Let’s hope the next pack is more reflective of the packaging!

When food looks nothing like its packaging…

MKTG Marketing Outsourcing — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:57:28 +0000

This morning at the MKTG office we have been discussing how annoying it is when food does not look like what is shows on the packet. Obviously we are not the only ones annoyed as a German website was established for a project on this very topic and accepted examples from around the world - www.pundo300.com if you want to see their experiences.

As marketers, we acknowledge making the most appealing packaging does not always translate to what’s inside. However, to reduce incidents of post purchase dissidence, we recommend to all product managers to keep this in mind. Yes, you want customers to see the packaging and find it appealing enough to buy the product, but what keeps them returning to purchase will be what is inside! And the greater the mind stretch to identify the product and packaging the least chance of repeat purchase.

Purchase expectations need to be managed - if a customer is expecting a delicious looking apple pie, then it better not appear (or taste!) as all pastry and runny apple sauce (with a few tiny bits of apple) out of the packaging. And hence this morn’s chat.

One of the team had Mighty Soft Fruit’n'Spice muffins for breakfast and although we do acknowledge financially times are a little tough, we still expect to see FRUIT in the FRUIT muffins. As you can see there was about 3 sultanas in one muffin - none in the other! And the entire pack was the same (we cut them all open). We will be contacting Mighty Soft this morning and will get back with an outcome shortly.

New Red Rooster packaging - why it’s all about ‘presentation and packaging’.

MKTG Marketing Outsourcing — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:22:21 +0000

The more products there are in this world the more important it is to have perfect ‘presentation and packaging’. Some fantastic presentation and packaging our team have experienced include:

Konditor and Cook (UK)
Pret a Manger
Tiffany

Red Rooster have launched new packaging for their whole chicken - no longer in a bag but in a handy box. At MKTG, we have rated the new look packaging as follows:

Positives:

Easy to carry (not a burning hot bag)
Easy to open and serve
Super convenient to transport (no leakage)
Great presentation/packaging

Not so positives:

Not as hot when you get it home
Lovely presentation box but a whole chicken looks really small upon opening (need either to present smaller boxes or bigger chickens!)

Overall, we like it. We look forward to seeing the other changes in the air at Red Rooster.

‘I’ll Show Them Who’s Boss’ makes for ’squeal worthy’ viewing.

MKTG Marketing Outsourcing — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:13:11 +0000

Last night I tuned in to the new BBC Knowledge channel on Foxtel and witnessed one of the most horrifying business documentary style TV shows ever! ‘I’ll Show Them Who’s Boss’ presents a series of business strategy overhauls and recommendations from Gerry Robinson (ex Coca Cola, Granada Media etc). Gerry is famous for ’sacking the bosses’ and last night’s recommended business battle did not disappoint!

The episode titled ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ was chock full of gasping moments as a father and son purchased (and managed - term used very loosely) a Nottingham lace company. There were so many defining moments in the program - its hard to pick which was worst!

Could it have been the father and son combo:

* employing ex-employee/friend, Chris (?), (with whom they worked with previously for 23 years) as the manager?

* introducing redundancies, promising the remaining staff that there would be no further redundancies, then within a month halving the staff with 50% redundancies?

* managing to completely alienate their entire workforce?

The most horrifying example of incompetence had to have been the father and son combo taking Gerry’s advice and sacking Chris and holding a staff meeting where the son, Richard, announced the retrenchment in a booming voice, reassuring the staff Chris HAD BEEN REMOVED and then re-instating him after a few weeks.

Theres so much more to delve into (like the hopeless MD son) but lets not go there. Shockingly incompetent case study, great squealworthy viewing - cant wait for next week.

Did you see it?

Daylight donuts: ‘healthy’ donuts?

MKTG Marketing Outsourcing — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:08:54 +0000

Last week I was driving with the CTO (chief technologies officer) and we heard an ad on Triple M (I think) advertising new Daylight Donuts in Melbourne. The ad went along the lines of this particular brand of donuts, whilst not going as far as calling them healthy, made out that they were far more impressive to a health conscious person than any other donuts around.

First of all, hello??? I cant say I know one health conscious person who would even EAT a donut. Why even go the health conscious angle?

Secondly, their lone outlet is in Sunshine. Seriously, who is going to trek out to Sunshine to get a ‘healthy’ donut? Im assuming the logic here was similar to Krispy Kreme with their 24 hour drive thu in Forrest Hill? Do you really think people in the local area around Sunshine care less how many health benefits are in a donut??

The radio marketing of this product is way off and has few synergies with the website. Im also not convinced about the location but bare with me. I then checked the website www.daylightdonuts.com.au and found no mention at all of health/kilojoules etc - nothing at all to do with anything but donuts. Not overly impressed really.

Marketing sector follows the outsourced-contractor trail

MKTG Marketing Outsourcing — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:28:55 +0000

Simon Canning | September 29, 2008 The Australian

ALMOST half of all marketing departments could be staffed by outsourced contractors by the year 2020 as the marketing sector follows a trail first blazed by nurses and IT professionals.

Marketing recruitment specialist Christine Khor said that the increasingly lean nature of companies was moving them to take on contractors for specific projects.

Ms Khor, a director of Carrera Partners, one of Australia’s largest marketing recruitment agencies, said that while marketing would remain an in-house function at the most senior executive levels, the middle management of marketing would be staffed by transient staff on contracts.

"It was a change we started to see about five or six years ago," Ms Khor said.

"If you think about it, in IT and in nursing, half of all people are contractors."

She said companies had initially baulked at the idea of outsourcing large tracts of their marketing function, fearing that they would be surrendering control over their intellectual property. "They had a feeling that marketing people needed to embed themselves in their culture," she said. "But now there is more of a desire to have this on-demand workforce."

Ms Khor said that there was an increasing trend of contractor marketers jumping in and out of a company to match the cycle of the business’s marketing needs.

"They may go back into and out of a company several times over a given period," she said.

"The reality is … organisations are hiring middle management on a contract basis.

"These are people earning between $80,000 and $120,000 — it’s not junior or senior people."

She was seeing the trend across the marketing spectrum, from makers of fast-moving consumer goods to automotive and manufacturing. Many companies were now shifting to a contract marketer strategy to better align their staffing needs with the natural marketing cycle of a business.

"What they are coming in to do is project work and the launch of new campaigns, and they are doing it quite often at blue chip organisations."

While she said the decision to outsource many marketing roles was driven in part by the need for companies to reduce their ongoing overheads, marketers themselves were pushing for contract work as it allowed them to more rapidly broaden their experience. At the same time, the transient nature of their employment meant they did not get to see projects through.

Ms Khor said that many companies were reluctant to broadcast the fact that they were using out-of-house marketing talent.

One of those to acknowledge the importance of contract marketing staff to its model is Swedish company SCA, marketer of the Sorbent, Libra and Handee brands.

"SCA is like many organisations in that they do not view contractors any differently," Ms Khor said.

"The way the workforce is evolving, many companies need to work in this way."

Mark Crowe, CEO of the Australian Marketing Institute, warned that companies should be careful not to erode their stored marketing knowledge through the use of contractors.

But he said that where companies were becoming more involved in digital marketing the use of contractors was a growing trend.

"Where it is coming into vogue is the move of spending into the digital and online environment," Mr Crowe said.

Having a change of blog direction!

MKTG Marketing Outsourcing — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:47:03 +0000

MKTG are going to change direction in the content and delivery of our blog. We are going to be a lot more regular in our contributions and more entertaining/thought provoking.

Stay tuned.

MKTG team.

Graphic design is the most undervalued aspect of business.

MKTG Marketing Outsourcing — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:43:18 +0000

Graphic design is the most undervalued aspect of business.

Ironically, whilst it does not generate ‘income’ in the real accounting sense, it is the graphic designers who conceptualise and develop the foundations of every company brand. Without the creative vision and influence of the graphic designer, there would be no company identifiers; no logo, no brochures, external communications or marketing collateral. There would be no brand—simply a skeleton. The visual strength and branding identifiers that company’s rely on, and go to great lengths to protect, would be irrelevant and purposeless.

The influence that a graphic design concept delivers to an organisation is significant. In terms of value and return on investment, the graphic designer’s contribution outweighs many other employees—although few would acknowledge this. Creating exclusive brand that has recognizable visual images can connect a business with its audience—this cannot be dismissed as offering no perceived value.

Whilst a balance sheet demands accountability, why is the graphic design contribution overlooked?

Unfortunately, the undervaluing of graphic design as a functionary discipline is not unique. The role of graphic design in the modern Western business management context remains a begrudging expense—devaluing the conceptual thinkers and creative services, and unrewarding any measured contribution. Generally, business does not perceive graphic design as adding ‘real value’ to the company’s bottom line. As Neumeier (2000) acknowledges in The Brand Gap, ‘business strategy and creativity, in most companies, are separated by a mile wide chasm’.

Encouraging the opportunities for recognition of graphic design means doubtlessly tweaking existing business perceptions. With promotion of graphic design’s influence on marketing and brand, companies can begin to positively evaluate the impact and reinforce the relevance graphic design brings to business.

An opportunity exists in promoting the graphic design function as a significant creative expertise that forms an integral part of a multidisciplinary marketing team. This highlights the unique skill set of the graphic designer and the value of creativity. Similarly, another opportunity would be to strategically align graphic designers with branding experts. As contributors to brand development and strategy, graphic designers could be valued for their creative input and recognized accordingly.

By recognising the contribution of graphic design to brand and marketing, and highlighting the value this creativity adds to an organisation, should be a blueprint for any company and its brand identity, development and management.

This is the future for graphic design.

[ Neumeier, M 2003, The Brand Gap—How to Bridge The Distance Between

Business Strategy and Design, New Riders Publishing, Berkeley, California. ]

CFO’s: Sick of marketing budget blowouts? Outsource the marketing department.

MKTG Marketing Outsourcing — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:34:47 +0000

CFO’s – sick of marketing budget blowouts?

Outsource the marketing department.

Any day of the week is a good day for cutting expenses and with the current economic conditions the need to control the purse strings is as tight as ever. There is one area of the business which needs attention: marketing. Now is certainly not the time to cull the marketing budget, but it is time to consider alternatives. A great alternative is outsourcing the marketing function.

Marketing outsourcing is an attractive alternative to traditional in house marketing and an accelerating trend. Here’s why:

Cost - The accountant’s favourite reason: the ability to budget accurately the total cost of company marketing.

But there are a lot more reasons than that:

Creativity – Most in house marketing departments churn out the same ideas year after year. Think about it. Has your company had any earth shattering marketing innovation in recent years? Thought not. Allowing an external team of marketing professionals to develop ideas and strategy will produce results.

Capability - Most company’s marketing is limited to the current capabilities of its staff. Imagine how good your marketing could be when people working with your brand are all seasoned marketing professionals with proven results.

Accountability – Proving results in marketing is no mean feat. And admittedly, it isn’t always about financial results; brand management, public relations, awareness all have a part to play. However, professional marketing outsourcing offers results and accountability and client strategies designed for long term success (well MKTG does – www.mktg.com.au ). Remove the exasperation and current employee excuses and look forward to demanding results and butt kicking.

Complacency – Employees leave or get bored and sometimes, would you believe it, people really slack off and spend all day Googling. Outsourcing your marketing ensures that does not happen – that carrot is always dangling just out of our reach and tenacious marketing outsourcers always want it. At MKTG we chase that carrot until we get it.

Flexibility – Depending on your company requirements, you may need to do marketing on an ‘as required’ basis. This frees up your project space, removes downtime and allows the benefits of a marketing department without the full time commitment.

So before you snip that marketing budget, look at the alternatives – outsourcing; still great marketing results with the benefit of predictable marketing accountability.

Technorati Profile

MKTG Marketing Outsourcing — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:36:34 +0000

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