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Week 1 – Boots moves on the Internet

This week I am reviewing a video advertisement campaign for No7, the signature brand of Boots. The perfumery and   beauty brand has started a massive advertising campaign on the Internet and the television. There are many new advertisements seen on the TV, featuring the well known faces and new ones on the screen. Still, more interesting is the fact that Boots has moved over to the Internet. I have recently checked out a website and came across a video advertisement for No7 Lash Adapt Mascara. The product appeals to any women in the UK and is designed for everyday use. Even teenagers are attracted to using a professional mascara, and the price of No7 appeals to this audience as well.

The video I am reviewing is found on an app created by the company. It is a free tutorial providing women with useful tips on “how to get a natural look”. The video is similar to the ones created by Internet marketers and bloggers to get subscribers to sign up for their tips, and it provides expert advice backed up by respected dermatologists. I have reviewed the Boots website to check how they implemented this strategy in the sales process, however, there is no evidence that they did. The product description is extremely boring and there are no videos to make shoppers more convinced about the brand.

 

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It is interesting to review how Boots is trying to push its own brand ahead of the big brand names it is currently selling. The company certainly moved on with the times ant realized that not all women are able to afford the latest L'oreal cosmetics in the current economic climate. By making the No7 brand more recognized and improving the reputation of the individual products, Boots is widening its perspective and makes its brand appear more “suitable for low budget” while it keeps the reward program and the 2 for 2 program. The product offers that the  Lash Adapt Mascara can create up to 6 layers without the clumps. On a side note: Boots also launched its health website, moving towards blogs and social media even more.

Week 2 - Facebook advertising in general

I have started to notice some of the ads appearing on my Facebook page and started to think how the advertising process works. The picture and text ads appear to be more relevant than on Google sponsored results or even Yahoo. It looked like Facebook is able to target users based on their location, sex, age and interests. I was wondering whether this new (much newer than Google or any search engine paid ads) have made the big players lose their market share.

I started my research on Internet marketing forums and came across the Warrior Forum. This is considered to be the site where Internet marketers at all levels gather to share their experiences and get advice from other people. I have found that there are plenty of sites, blogs, posts and threads created on Facebook advertising and this seems to be one of the hot topics on the forum. Some users explained that there are strict criteria to get ads accepted. It is getting more popular every week and there are some tips people share on the site to target the right audience. There are different options for targeting, and as I have suspected, advertisers are able to select the audience very carefully. It would be interesting to know what users think about these ads. I know that personally I do not like using Google Chrome because I feel as if the “Big Brother” was watching me. When I log into my account, I see advertisements related to my latest search. I agree that it is a better to see ads people can connect to, however, I am concerned about my privacy. When I booked a hotel two weeks ago and searched for deals, I noticed that relevant offers appeared all over the Net well after I completed the booking. On the 28^th of September, the Daily Mail published an article about “bugs”  in the new privacy row. I wonder what the next steps of Facebook will be and how advertisers will see a reduced income if the privacy issues are fixed.

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Week 3 – Barclays' online game

It is interesting to see a bank create a game. First it seemed so irrelevant for me, as a UK bank in the current economic climate should be aiming to appear reliable and serious. Not to mention that according to the latest statistics on the industry, Barclays had the most complaints in the first 6 months of the year among all of the institutions, almost double than the troubled Lloyds Banking Group, which currently has the most customers in the UK. I was trying to dig deep to find out more about the motivations behind the 56 Sage Street game aimed at young people.

The game seems to promote savings and healthy relationship with money, and – according to Barclays - is a free educational game. I have reviewed some of the blog posts created about the game and it seems to be popular, However, there is a lack of connection with the brand and the name. There is very little information about the ideology of launching the game. I think that Barclays has made huge marketing mistake again. They failed to target the right audience, and instead of a positive branding campaign they developed a game that is hidden on the Internet and people will never remember the brand name.

In the current economic climate and when banks have to cut back on the costs while struggling to keep their customers Barclays should have created a PR campaign that delivers serious promises, addresses the lack of trust and appeals to all the existing and potential customers of the bank. A careful marketing and public relations campaign should be created to address the money worries of people, while improving the level of customer service. Barclays should have focused on its customers more, and it is predictable that – although the bank has some of the bes savings products in the UK – it unavoidably will lose its market share.

Week 4

According to Marketing Week, a new multimedia campaign is created by the respectable health insurance company: BUPA. As the public healthcare system is in trouble and fewer people trust hospitals and NHS every day, this is the right timing for launching a multimedia campaign. The campaign launched on the 8^th of March and the strength of the short films is that they feature real BUPA customers. We have all seen the little “Mr Men style” people enough, and the new campaign is like a breath of fresh air.

By seeing real people talk about their experiences, worries and illnesses, the company can create a great amount of credibility. There are physio patients, home care residents, literally from all walks of life. Bupa has realized that the current market is tight and a campaign that connects with people's emotions and feelings will provide them with multiple benefits.

The campaign called “ Helping You  Find Healthy” was created to help the company reposition its products and services. This step was a positive reaction on the fact that in 2010 the company's profits got reduced. They realized that repositioning the products and appearing more approachable, less exclusive by featuring real people they are able to improve their profits. Further, a new online health assessment has been created on the website. There are some free downloadable medical factsheets and interactive videos targeting international audience. We think that Bupa will see results of this move in 2011.