Big banks get smaller

Well what can you say? I know some of you will say with a wry smile 'poor Citigroup they've only got 82 billion in their pot left’ even as a non financial person looking at this graph their in a heap of pain, apparently this is now a month old and it has got even worst, look at RBS is that 22 pounds left in the kitty?

But what do these banks do in times like this? As a customer with ANZ Westpac and Egg I would say; look at your customers and focus on offering them a level of service that is second to none, the customer must always come first a lot of banks forget this, no gimmicks please, or as they say in marketing terms they have to be more 'customer centric'. The bank who truly looks after their customers gain as they have loyal customers who will stick with them even in times like this, as an example here in Australia the banks still charge people for using other providers ATMs, banks make bucket loads (It’s the same operating system software so there’s no excuse in charging to use other ATMs) so why charge the customer?
There’s a good piece from MoneyWise read the whole piece and Australia come out of it badly.

Over the years a lot of banks became greedy, forgot all the previous crashes, and were blinded by cheap money flying around.

You You You sod US

Brands are built by YOU not by the advertising agencies here's why:

Time MAGAZINE in 2006 nominated YOU as the person of the year:
YOU are not a consumer in your eyes you do not ‘consume’ you engage.
YOU will not allow brands to speak to you unless you ask them.
Brands can no longer interrupt a conversation online they have to earn that privilege, agencies are still in the mindset that they talk to their target audience rather than talk with them.
YOU are the ones in control online, YOU will decide if you click, send, open, download or delete!
YOU are now online savvy enough to realise the currency value in brands having your details.
YOU know that online isn't just a TV ad shoved up on the web and called a 'viral'
YOU can push companies to do what you want not what they want you to do
look how the Great British public got Wispa back on the shelf via Facebook
YOU are more responsive within this space
How can agencies be cutting edge online when they are carrying a 10-ton dinosaur around with them? the business model doesn’t work.
YOU can be heard online: Skype’s customer base was built on WOM not from advertising, last year Skype was one of the fasting growing brands in the UK.
YOU are now playing agencies at their own game, reversed high-jacking, agencies in the past used people’s ideas to sell their products, now people use their products in a way companies wouldn’t expect –Diet Coke with Mentos viral

PhotoReal

You can't help but look and look, I love the detail, is that wait, real Letraset I see? For the Gen Y out there this was some new fangled stuff that was transferable type that you used when presenting your ideas to the client it was a bugger to use and expensive so in most cases you drew the font by hand, I'm sure that's why so many headlines were so short.

Here's some more shots of how the ad was made: flickr Such a lovely simple creative idea congradulations to Bates141 Jakarta.

And the Brands are..

First up is the Commonwealth Bank
Second is Duracell and the last one is for Bunning's Warehouse

Not great sites but all credit for great branding, Well done Duracell for making a start on UGC but why doesn't these sites have more UGC? Build that relationship online.

When you read with colours

Just took a walk down the high street during my lunch break my mind is buzzing with ideas that I'm currently working on, with everyone's busy lives it amazes me how we can take it all in, one trick is the power of colour. If your brand is so powerful that you can tell the product or service just by its colour then you're doing your job, here's three I spotted at a glance, I could tell who it was, can you? or better still, any marketing director's out there who would like to test it on a few people during their lunch break, no cheating and giving clues, if the vast majority of people can't tell your brand, you might need to look for a new advertising agency

The one in the middle is a Global brand, the other two are Aussie brands.
If you haven't guessed I'll reveal the brands identity in a couple of days

When social media becomes very unsociable

The website at the centre of controversy over racist abuse of British formula one driver Lewis Hamilton is owned by a New York-based advertising agency, TWBA, which is part of the world's largest media services group, Omnicom.
Read this tonight and my first thought after reading the full piece was; 'What a bunch of arse holes' and secondly was; 'This is where social media doesn't work and can back fire and in this case not from a F1 car but from the ad agency,they now have been lumped into all this melee which can be very damaging for a company.
It reminded me also of Ian Farmer, Bullseye's online strategist who delivered a brilliant insightful presentation on social media last week on what companies should and shouldn't be doing when looking at their social media strategy, one not to do is have a blog and leave it, it's a PR disaster. Ian in his closing speech also had an 'action plan' for when things like this regarding social media gone all horribly wrong.

I suggest TWBA have a peek and get some tips on how to handle this.

Picture this- your mood

Seen this over the weekend even though I've been on Getty images for years but what I love about this particular tool is how it can refine my search depending what mood I'm looking for, it can even build a mood board that showcases the feel I'm after, great functionality and very instinctive, so you're not 'wadding' through thousands of pictures or videos, Flickr something you could maybe follow? well done Getty.

http://moodstream.gettyimages.com/usa/?isource=usa_lid_img_moodstream