Spreading the Love

 

The T-Mobile Welcome Back

*Courtesy of YouTube

This ad reminds me of a cooler version of the ending of the film Love Actually.

It is a new T-Mobile ad from the UK that's been circulating my office due to its catchy tune, awesome concept, and of course, the flash mob. We can't get people to stop whistling!

Why don't more companies do more feel good campaigns?

Many people believe that the giant corporations of the world really don't care about making people feel good, but there has to be something said about corporate responsibility. With all the money corporates have, shouldn’t they be accountable towards the public or at least their customers? For most of capitalism as we know it, companies exist for monetary benefit and issuing temporary customer satisfaction. The real winners are those who look for long term relationships.

With the rise of social media, the voice of the customer has grown stronger creating a power shift away from the historically dominant corporations. Now, the public can publish news or comments within minutes (both positive and negative) without the company’s knowledge leaving companies vulnerable. Companies are now answerable to not only their shareholders, but the entire world, an audience who act as gatekeepers for the last judgment. Will the company survive or perish?

When I worked at Altria, parent company of Philip Morris International and USA (otherwise known as The Tobacco Giants), the company had undergone a transformation from Philip Morris Companies Inc. to Altria Inc. The change occurred perhaps to stronger FDA regulations or the rising negative perception of cigarettes. The company stands firm that these external factors were not the stimulus for the brand revamp, but because the company no longer focused solely on tobacco products. It had stakes in beer (SABMiller), processed foods (Kraft) and other non-tobacco related ventures. Knowing very well that branding can dictate perception, the company went through a branding makeover. They chose the name Altria from the Latin word altus – reaching ever higher – a more appropriate name for a company compromised of different non-tobacco entities and strived for higher pursuits. Sounds like they have a God complex huh? Nevertheless, I applaud the Philip Morris branding team because they understood that the public isn’t dumb and that risk management should be taken seriously.

More and more companies today find the practice of risk management a top priority due to social media’s influence. If they mute out comments, photo and video posts and blogs, companies will become muted out in the conversation taking place across social networking platforms. It is far riskier to not participate in the conversation.

Rather than shy away from it, companies need to embrace social media for customer engagement. Two-way communication is an idea of the past. Today, companies should forget the call-centre mentality and communicate with customers as if they were friends - constant engagement.

The bottom line is, companies’ priority is still the almighty buck. But in order to get it, at least provide the public with something to look at and smile. You might get some positive comments or even go viral!

What are some memorable feel good campaigns?

The Fascinator

November 2nd in America is known as Election Day. Here in Australia, it’s the Melbourne Cup Carnival…well at least this year and it's celebrating 150 years! It takes place on the first Tuesday of November.

Australia’s most anticipated day next to the AFL footy Grand Final (Aussie version of the Super Bowl) has arrived. For weeks, the media has been following race day fashion and top race horse picks. They’ve featured Gai Waterhouse – the revered female trainer. They’ve featured Jennifer Hawkins’ fashion – the former Miss Australia/ Miss Universe. Lately, the media has been featuring Bart Cummings and his old age – the owner of ‘So You Think’, the #1 Melbourne Cup pick. What I’ve been fascinated with is the Fascinator.

Examples of Celebs Dawning Fascinators

Oliva Newton-John, Jennifer Hawkins and Rebecca Twigley

*Courtesy of the Herald Sun

The fascinator, otherwise an elaborate decorative headband or hair piece, has filled every clothing and accessory shop. Since spring begun on September 20th, the fashion pages and store front windows have featured these accessories as common as scarves in the fall. I thought these headbands were just ‘trendy’ in the last 2 years when I saw them as regular hair pieces on Gossip Girl. Apparently, these head pieces are a key ingredient along with the perfect race dress and high heels. The race even awards the top dressers with careful scrutiny of the fascinator at each race. The most recognised prize is the Best Dressed at the Birdcage or on the field at the Melbourne Cup Carnival racetrack.

With all the attention on fashion, Australia seems to stop when the race is on. Even the city of Melbourne has declared this day as a paid holiday! Apparently, the race is costing the Australian economy $1 billion! According to Randstad Recruitment, Australia will incur high productivity losses due to the public’s diverted attention to the race. According to the report, 47 percent will take part in an office function, 45 percent will take more than thee and half hours off work and 12.1 percent will take the entire day off. Despite high losses in productivity, high staff morale is bolstered. If managers didn’t comply with this trend, they could damage their company culture, reputation and ability to retain staff.


Thank goodness for the Taurus Marketing staff! We’re exercising the 45 percent above and taking off of work at 1:30pm although the race is at 3pm. All over town, there are hefty packages where groups can pay anywhere between $50-$300 for a couple hours of food, drink and of course atmosphere. We’re paying $99 per person for unlimited champers (champagne in Aussie speak), Heineken and canapés for 3 hours at The Ivy – Sydney’s version of Butter in NYC.

The Taurus Team at The Ivy
Melbourne Cup Carnival 2 November 2010

After listening in on conversations at work of what to wear, I’ve become a little insecure of my Melbourne Cup Carnival debut outfit. Being an expat, new to Australia and heavily fined for overweight check-in baggage prior to arriving, I’m left with very little dress options. If you knew me at all in high school or college, you know I had an outfit for everything. Now, I’m worried that I won’t be dressed appropriately or with the cute enough fascinator. I scavenged the new $3bn Westfield Sydney flagship shopping centre that opened in October for an appropriate fascinator. Now that race season is at a close, fascinators are on sale. They ranged from $40 to $150! Thankfully, I already have a white headband with a white flower from Forever 21 in Seoul, Korea that I bought during the Gossip Girl headband craze. Will it do? Looking at my 3 dress options, all bought circa senior year of university, I am not sure white will go with them. In a panic, I texted my colleague Monique to bring me some options. What better advisor than a resident Aussie who has experienced the Melbourne Cup 6 times!

The Lovely Taurus Babes with Fascinators

Rachel, Me, Monique and Sharon

On the big day, hardly any attention was paid to actual work. All we could think about was stopping mid-day to start putting make-up on. For an hour before we left, Taurus changed into what looked like highschool girls getting ready for prom. The boys went out to make their wagers on the race. Not sure what to bet for, I looked at their names and who’s had the most media attention. So You Think was an obvious choice since it’s won so many races lately and represents Australia. The next horse I went for is Americain – can it be more obvious? I chose 2 other horses based on the previous performance. With $40, I betted for 4 horses to take first or to place. In the end, I won $90 for choosing Americain – the winner! And So You Think for placing 3rd. What a race! The same horses were leading until the last 100 meters. Out of nowhere, a French jockey donning red, white and blue blazed through the pack and beat the rest by a huge margin.

Front Row Seats and Watching With Anticipation

Melbourne Cup Carnival at The Ivy

 

I can't wait for next year. Maybe I should go buy some fascinators now for next year's race day since their on sale!

McDonald's Giant Adult Playground

*Courtesy of Mumbrella

Some days I wish I had this around the corner. This ad was filmed in Sydney near the Customs House in March 2010. Too bad I got to Sydney in June.

It began airing in October and has blown up the Australian media. The whole basis of the commercial was to get reactions from onlookers noticing the three-storey high structure included a giant Hamburglar swing, Ronald McDonald bench, slides and Fillet-O-Fish bouncers.

Now, if it were real and our bosses would let us have play time!