Friday 26 November 2010

The Power of Branding

WARNING: THIS IS HIGHLY OFFENSIVE! But it is a excellent parody of the power of branding. Watch the cartoon here

Wednesday 15 September 2010

Mockery of Religion

An ice cream poster ad has been banned by the ASA for mocking the catholic faith. Given that the Pope turns up in the UK tomorrow, this probably isn't surprising, but it is interesting that the company concerned is taking quite an adversarial approach

Wednesday 11 August 2010

Police Anit-Terror Ad is Banned

An advert encouraging members of the public to look out for and report suspiscious behaviour which could be indicative of terrorist activity has been banned by the ASA.  Full details of the adjudication from the ASA show that the ad was banned as it may offend those who like to keep their cutains closed !

Wednesday 21 July 2010

More news from the ASA

An advert which features a cat being mistaken for a football and kicked into a tree by blind footballers has not been banned by the ASA despite attracting more than 1000 complaints. The ASA judged that, notwithstanding the number of complaints, the ad was unlikely to cause serious offence as it was obviously an unreal, humorous situation. It is interesting that an ad can attract so many complaints but still not be banned. Meanwhile, a Burger King ad has been banned as it showed a burger of exaggerated size !

Thursday 15 July 2010

Ryanair in trouble with the ASA again

Ryanair have again been in trouble with the ASA, this time over an advert depicting the boss of rival Easyjet as pinocchio! Perhaps the biggest surprise in all of this is that Michael O'Leary actually appologised in this case, a rare occurance indeed.

Friday 2 July 2010

Diesel Ads Banned

The clothing brand Diesel is no stranger to controversy, having parodied the 80s porn industry for a previous Internet marketing campaign. it is now in trouble again, with the ASA judging that two posters are likely to cause serious and widespread offence due to their overtly sexual nature and the fact that posters are difficult to target and can be seem by children:





Friday 18 June 2010

FSA Abolished

It was announced earlier this week that the Financial Services Authority is to be abolished and that it will disappear by 2012. I would suggest that this came as somewhat of a surprise, as George Osbourne had pledged to spend time listening before deciding and it was clear that the Lib-Dems were less keen on closing down the FSA. From a consumer protection perspective, in its place will be a Consumer Protection and Markets Authority, which will be responsible for policing the actions of financial services companies. The precise remit and objectives of the new authority will no doubt become clearer over time.

Wednesday 16 June 2010

Example of Ambush Marketing

This story from the world cup provides an interesting example of an ambush marketing stunt. The beer company in question was not the "official" drinks sponsor/partner of the world cup and therefore had to do something unconventional and controversial to get some coverage. This is the essence of ambush marketing. It has obviously paid off for the company concerned, as a relatively small outlay as resulted in a huge amount of press coverage involving lots of pictures of scantily clad good looking women.  It is obviously generally assumed that beer drinkers are predominantly male and would appreciate such images. The more profound question is on what grounds FIFA have the right to exclude the women from the stadium, as they were wearing no logos which directly associated them with any company. 

Monday 14 June 2010

Bundled Current Accounts Don't Offer Value For Money

This report suggests that most packaged or bundled current accounts do not offer customers value for money and that their main purpose is to provide banks with a mechanism for ensuring that as many customers as possible pay a fee for their banking. Obviously such accounts for provide other benefits and will be suitable for some, but most will not get value for money. There may well be a framing issue at play here too. The fees for such accounts are almost always quoted in monthly terms and it may well be that £15 per month is inherently more palatable that £180 per year. Perhaps an AEC (Annual Equivalent Charge) should be provided, similar to an AER for interest rates. 

Thursday 10 June 2010

Defending the Nanny State

I think it is far to say that when we read the term Nanny State in the media, it is normally used in the pejorative, however some more positive coverage has also occured. The article from the Indepedent newspaper characterises the smoking ban as a success and suggests future targets. 

Friday 4 June 2010

Is there a future for the FSA?

The Conservatives pledged to abolish the FSA if elected, however, the coalition has been very quiet on this matter since it came to power. This article provides the latest thinking and implies that there are tensions between the Conservatives and Lib-Dems over what to do with the FSA

Thursday 3 June 2010

Minimum Price For Alcohol?

Well there is a thought to send a shiver down the spin of many, but this is a measure that is receiving heavyweight backing as the most effective way to deal with the UK's collective drink problem. Predictably, the proposal has already been written off as state-led nannying in some quarters, but has received more balanced coverage elsewhere. I can't see the coalition government being up for doing something so politically unpopular at the moment, especially given all of the other politically unpopular decisions they about to unleash!

Welcome to my blog

In this blog, I will mainly be posting material related to marketing, consumer behaviour and consumer policy issues in financial services (bet you can't wait !) as these are my main research interests. I will also be posting material related to the modules that I teach, currently Marketing and Society, Quantitative Research Methods, MBA Marketing and other interesting stories relating to marketing in general.


My intention is to post a couple of blogs a month at least, so let's hope this isn't the first and last post I ever make !!