Brand Yourself – a lecture with Mr.LinkedIn and the Impact specialist!

Impact Specialist, Jodi Goldman

Brand yourself; no longer a phrase from Stuart Baggs (that bloke from the Apprentice) but instead a very real and relevant concept in today’s world.

Jodi Goldman talked about how to get success offline whilst Mr. LinkedIn Mark Williams dealt with the importance of  a strong Linked In presence. Both had valuable lessons to offer that often made you stop, pause then shake your head in wonderment that something so simple mattered so much!

Instead of going through every agonising detail I’ll pull out 5 key things I learnt from the entire event.

1. The first thirty seconds will make or break a relationship

From what you wear, the way your voice sounds to your posture. All of these aspects matter when a person is making a judgement about whether or not they want to keep in contact with you in the future.

Mr LinkedIn, Mark Wiliams

2. Keep e-mails and messages with people simple and straightforward

For those of us that are just starting in the world this is particularly important. Jodi picked up on how those we will be networking with are likely seasoned professionals who don’t have a lot of time. Keep things brief, to the point and positive.

3. Put your full name and an email address in your LinkedIn headline

One of those DUHH moments, but it makes sense. Even when everything else is obscured (most importantly name and profile picture) the headline will remain. Having your name and way to be contacted therefore just makes perfect sense!

4. Network with everyone and add them to LinkedIn

Something that really struck me; both Mark and Jodi noted that it is those people with which you have weak ties with often end up having the biggest impact on your life. Thus as you never know who will be the person to have that big impact, network with everyone and add them all to LinkedIn. Plus it means more exposure for you and your brand!

5. Time spent networking on-line has greater reach, time spend networking at events has greater impact

This was question I have often wondered, is going to networking events as useful as investing time in LinkedIn groups, blogging and generally improving your online presence? Mark believed that offline did work but that online had the clear advantage of being more time efficient. Further online activities had a wider reach and allowed us, as students, to appeal to a broader range of people. This was important particularly as the vast majority of the audience were final year students and would be looking for a job come June. Jodi was on the other side of the fence, suggesting that with one on one networking you can have a bigger impact especially as you can choose who you want to talk to; and it gives you a chance to build stronger rapport/relationships.

As we evolve from graduates to managers to directors it will be quality not quantity that matter in the long run. That being said we will still need to appeal to and influence a wide range of people in a variety of different roles. I’m still split on which one is the most effective but I would love to hear your opinions and thoughts about the issue!

James Barrass-Banks is a Marketing Student at Oxford Brookes University. He has worked as a free-lance social media advisor as well as getting work experience in a number of large PR and SEO organisations. He has worked as the International Marketing Assistant at Vision Engineering on a placement year and has now returned to Oxford Brookes to finish his degree. His favourite colour is purple and favourite marketing campaign is the Wickes advert with Wickesy the dog!

More information can be found at the All About Me Page.

Logo’s the hidden factor!

Recently I’ve been thinking about Logo’s. Which ones are the most effective and why. Discussing this with a few friends of mine who are designers by profession we reached a blindingly obvious conclusion.

Consistency and Commitment.

These were the most important factors, there were a range of  design principles that were vital in the forming of a logo but once a company had launched instead of re-branding a continued commitment to the logo, we felt was more effective.

A logo represents the company and differentiates the product within the marketplace.

Therefore it is tempting to change it to fit with the times and current trends. Surely this would help keep the brand fresh and relevant?
Perhaps, or it could just get lost in the 3,500+ marketing messages we see each day. In 2005 the Guardian noted that we ignore 99% of all the marketing messages we see. Therefore, as my friends and I discovered, we could only really recall the logos of brands that hadn’t fundamentally changed in years. BMW, Coca-Cola, Shell and Bacardi – the changes to these logo’s has been minimal if any. Other brands that have changed over time; Pepsi, Strongbow, and BP were harder to remember.

A clear example of this is the age-old battle is Coca Cola and Pepsi. Which of these do you remember?

Taken from #1AD.com

Taken from got-adrenaline.blogspot.co.uk

CocaCola hasn’t really changed at all, Pepsi on the other hand has had a number of different fonts and variations on the same theme. The 1998 logo is the one that I associate with Pepsi, when I first saw the latest logo it took me a few seconds to work out it was Pepsi.

By committing to the logo over a long period of time it means we’re more likely to remember it as the logo and associations move from our sensory memory to the short-term and from there to the long-term  memory the more times we see the same image. Shell for example has had the same yellow shell on a red background since 1948.

I would note that some logos such as that of Coca Cola and Ford have become classics, these icons that continue to represent the brand and will go unchanged for many years to come. The real challenge for designers is to create logo’s that are timeless and evoke emotion. The challenge for the brand is believing in the logo and sticking with it through thick and thin!

In conclusion, the companies that resist the temptation to change the logo every few years that made a brand really memorable to the consumer. Simply put those that were confident in their logo were remembered.

James Barrass-Banks is a Marketing Student at Oxford Brookes University. He has worked as a free-lance social media advisor as well as getting work experience in a number of large PR and SEO organisations. He has worked as the International Marketing Assistant at Vision Engineering on a placement year and has now returned to Oxford Brookes to finish his degree. His favourite colour is purple and favourite marketing campaign is the Wickes advert with Wickesy the dog!

More information can be found at the All About Me Page.

Mind the GAP

Currently being run by GAP in Oxford this campaign caught my attention. I was struck not by the message but rather the medium.

The idea of being bright is a simple concept and I like it, but I do question the use of buses as they are often dirty.

I can see that they draw attention, the logo and message is large enough to be read from afar and ensures that those passing by gain awareness of the brand.

However I would challenge the use of buses to communicate this message, particularly in city centres where there is the most pollution and grime which sticks to the bus.  The white colour, which I assume was bright to begin with, was looking grey and worn. In my mind this campaign raised more environmental issues than anything else.  For the GAP campaign to work for me, I wanted the bus to be dynamic . I wanted the bus to be clean. I wanted the bus to be bright!

From a marketing perspective I would agree that having such a distinctive bus operating in the city centre would increase awareness but when that bus becomes dirty I would say that the meanings associated with the bus change.

This is just one marketer’s perspective on the campaign, if you have any thoughts be sure to leave them in the comments section!

James Barrass-Banks is a Marketing Student at Oxford Brookes University. He has worked as a free-lance social media advisor as well as getting work experience in a number of large PR and SEO organisations. He has worked as the International Marketing Assistant at Vision Engineering on a placement year and has now returned to Oxford Brookes to finish his degree. His favourite colour is purple and favourite marketing campaign is the Wickes advert with Wickesy the dog!
More information can be found at the All About Me Page.

The Santa Run A Missed Opportunity – My Christmas Present To You

Picture the scene, it’s a cold Sunday morning, your breath hangs in the air as you exhale. You turn a corner and there you see one and a half thousand Santa’s running through the centre of Oxford.

It’s that time of the year, time for the Santa run!
Elves  hand out piping hot coffee and mince pies as the runners warm up, which consists of wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Music starts to play and we embark on a Zumbaesqe routine to get some blood pumping through our hearts. Before long we’re all Gangdam Styling our way to the start line. When the song ends a shot sounds and we’re off.

Great story I hear you say, but why do I care?

Think about this, what if those 1,500 Santa’s came to you after the run?
Wouldn’t that be a great Christmas Present?

The run is all for charity, make no mistake, each year this event raises huge amounts of  money for Helen and Douglas – a local hospice for disabled children. This year the top 5 teams have raised nearly £10,000. But imagine if you gave each of those runners a discount for their breakfast – it is hungry work and Santa has to eat!

Traditionally I go to the Four Candles Wetherspoons, this year however I was refused entry on account of being in fancy dress. There were at least thirty of us all in the same boat. After much grumbling and the inability of the staff to laugh at our Christmas cracker jokes we were eventually served.

However the fact remains, there is a real opportunity here, not just for the Wetherspoons in Oxford but for the 31 other runs that take place across the country! This means that there are approximately 48,000 Santa’s running and your business could be getting a slice of that pie.

The opportunity to take part is also there, get a team together for next year and raise as much as you can (Click here for more info)! It’s a great event for everyone, big and small, there are even kids running it. I will admit now that a fair few of them overtook me (I blame the mince pies), nevertheless it’s a fun event full of Christmas cheer!
So dear readers, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I’ll leave you all with some pictures of me dressed as Father Christmas himself:

James Barrass-Banks is a Marketing Student at Oxford Brookes University. He has worked as a free-lance social media advisor as well as getting work experience in a number of large PR and SEO organisations. He has worked as the International Marketing Assistant at Vision Engineering on a placement year and has now returned to Oxford Brookes to finish his degree. His favourite colour is purple and favourite marketing campaign is the Wickes advert with Wickesy the dog!

More information can be found at the All About Me Page.

Does your brand and consumer match?

Does your brand and your consumer match?

If the answer is No then you should be worried!

The reason is simple, brands form part of our identity and you want to be contributing to that in a positive way.

What we buy talks about who we are and what we stand for. A number of studies have talked about how we as consumers form our own identity through what we buy (Kleine, Kleine & Kernan 1993; Ball & Tasaki 1992). For some people wearing big names such as Prada, D&G is important but so too is the toilet cleaner they buy, the type of deodorant they use and everything else in between. Our choices talk a lot about our personalities and define who we are, not just to the outside world but to our inner-self.

All images credited to brand website.

But Why?

The short answer is that as consumers we have two key factors in determining who we are; the social groups we spend time with (reference groups, if you want to use the correct terminology) and those we aspire to be like (Bettman 2003).

What this means for my brand:

The first step is to ensure you understand your target market. Go into more detail than their
socio-economic class, their sex and their earnings. Look at what else they buy, do they go for organic vegetables or Tesco Value, do they clean their own home even look at which TV shows they watch. All these aspects will tell you more about what is important to your customer and give you an idea as to where you fit in.

By understanding where you fit in, it’s possible to strengthen the areas that your consumer wants to be seen with.  Think back to school where there was always that cool kid everyone wanted to be seen with, despite growing up this hasn’t changed.

In the book Passion Brands, Day (2005) talks about how confidence is still the most attractive part of a brand. As I mentioned earlier the aspirations of a consumer are important, be part of what they aspire to be and there’s a good chance you’ll be seen as the cool kid in your industry. This is why celebrity endorsement features prominently in so many advertising campaigns, consumers want to be associated with them! (Erdogan  1999)

There you have it, a little bit of wisdom from a student no less! Hopefully it’s given you something to think about at your next brand strategy meeting, as always feel free to leave comments and questions.

James Barrass-Banks is a Marketing Student at Oxford Brookes University. He has worked as a free-lance social media advisor as well as getting work experience in a number of large PR and SEO organisations. He has worked as the International Marketing Assistant at Vision Engineering on a placement year and has now returned to Oxford Brookes to finish his degree. His favourite colour is purple and favourite marketing campaign is the Wickes advert with Wickesy the dog!
More information can be found at the All About Me Page.

5 Reasons for Business Students to take a placement

Time really has flown by and it seems amazing that a year and a half ago I was going to be embarking on a placement year.
Now I’m the other side and talking to second year students as to why they should be doing a placement.

For me it was one of the best things I’ve done.  So without further a do here are my top 5 reasons for a student to do a placement!

Courtesy of Oxford Brookes Business School

Students,

The wild nights out and the horrendous hangovers are soon to come to a close and it’s time to start thinking about the real world. The world of work is not as scary as it seems, placements are an ideal opportunity for all of you and here are my reasons why:

NUMBER ONE:  MONEY

After two years of scraping by on Tesco Value Vodka and Sainsburys basics bread a placement will give you a much-needed cash injection. The typical salaries range from £12,500 all the way to £21,000 which goes a long way towards paying off some of the debt you’ve already racked up or use it to buy posh vodka! Either way it makes going into your final year a lot more stress free as you don’t need to worry about having a part-time job to support yourself.

NUMBER TWO: EXPERIENCE

The amount you will learn over the course of one year is phenomenal. Getting to grips with internal systems and understanding how organisations work is invaluable as these lessons apply to anywhere else you may end up working.  You will be trying new things and getting on with more routine work. However you’ll still be learning and writing a journal means that every week there is a need to be reflective and look for what you’ve improved on and learnt.
I was amazed at how much I had covered after only 2 months on the job.

NUMBER THREE: UNI GETS EASIER

As you become more experienced in the world of work and get used to the deadlines, different priorities and understanding different problems it makes uni so much easier. “HOW?” I hear you ask. Your ability to effectively manage your time means that you can get a lot more done. This combined with a stronger work ethic, no chance of free loading in the world of work I’m afraid, ensures that typically your grades for your final year will improve.

NUMBER FOUR: MORE EMPLOYABLE

Having finished your placement year you’ve already got a lot more experience than most other graduates and this will make you stand out. Plus if you work hard and get a glowing reference it demonstrates to other employers that you’re a valuable asset that they want in their company. You never know they may even invite you back after you graduate!

NUMBER FIVE: CONTACTS

The people you meet and work with on a regular basis whilst on placement are valuable people. They will have their own connections and by keeping in contact with them it can lead to more opportunities for you in the future!

Those are my top 5 reasons for going on a placement. I would wholly recommend that you take the leap and start applying for them. GO, APPLY right NOW. No Excuses!

James Barrass-Banks is a Marketing Student at Oxford Brookes University. He has worked as a free-lance social media advisor as well as getting work experience in a number of large PR and SEO organisations. He has worked as the International Marketing Assistant at Vision Engineering on a placement year and has now returned to Oxford Brookes to finish his degree. His favourite colour is purple and favourite marketing campaign is the Wickes advert with Wickesy the dog!
More information can be found at the All About Me Page.

The true colour of FEAR

When you think of fear what colour do you think of?
A swallowing dark black abyss?
A lurking grey shadow that won’t leave?
A festering green?

I bet it wasn’t purple.
A little while ago I was in London looking at a great exhibition by Oxfam and it reminded me about the need to stand out and be different. It’s all very well producing generic marketing material that looks similar to all the rest and will have an average effect, but if you want to really stand out then you have to be willing to take risks.

Having worked with a variety of companies and other students I see that many are risk averse and I question how many of the campaigns that are created there will actually be remembered. If you’re trying to increase awareness of the brand then standing out is crucial. So too is being distinctive, particularly in a market place such as books where we spend nearly £1.7bn a year across a plethora of titles.

 

With over 10,000 copies sold Fear was a success but what I’m really getting at is that being different really is a good thing. Markets are quickly saturated and distinctive packaging, designs and campaigns are now more important than ever!

Don’t be afraid of doing something different and let your own creative genius flourish, you never know how great an idea it can be!

James Barrass-Banks is a Marketing Student at Oxford Brookes University. He has worked as a free-lance social media advisor as well as getting work experience in a number of large PR and SEO organisations. He has worked as the International Marketing Assistant at Vision Engineering on a placement year and is soon to be returning to Oxford Brookes to finish his degree. His favourite colour is purple.
More information can be found at the All About Me Page.