Archive for November, 2009
Official government apologies
Posted by John Weet in Public Relations on November 16, 2009
I’ve just been watching Kevin Rudd the australian PM on the television, apologising for the uk kids that were shipped out there years ago with the promise of a better life.
I do wonder what these official apologies for crimes of previous governments are all about. They are after all totally meaningless, or am I in the minority for thinking that.
Does anybody ever take comfort from them, or are they just a PR stunt? If they are a PR stunt what are they trying to achieve, what message are they trying to give out.? The only message I take away from it is that the government will bow to pressure from any minority group.
They would do far better just standing up and saying they will not apologise for crimes they did not commit. It would certainly raise them in my estimation.
Twitter and why do people follow
Posted by John Weet in Social media on November 6, 2009
Whenever I get a twitter follow notification I always go and look at the persons profile to a) understand why they would want to follow me and b) to see if they are worth following. I got a notification telling me that Grant Shapps was following me.
“Grant who” I thought and clicked through to his profile
Grant Shapps is a politician and his constituency is round to the North of London whereas I am based right down on the South coast in Ringwood, 105 miles away. I cannot possibly believe that I have anything to say that Grant may find interesting and I do not think I have any interest in what he might want to say.
I do wonder whether he is just playing the numbers game rather than being really targeted and taking the time to look for people that it may be worthwhile connecting with.
Exxon Mobil ads, what is the point?
Posted by John Weet in Marketing communications on November 3, 2009
Working in the marketing communications industry I do tend to analyse marketing campaigns that I see a little more than other people may do, and probably more than I should, I must learn to switch off.
The latest campaign to catch my eye has been the ExxonMobil campaign. ExxonMobil have ads running on TV and also in print. The TV ads appear on mainstream channels and although maybe not prime time they are in good time slots. I have seen the print ad in “The Week”, a UK magazine that summarises the weeks news from around the globe.
Now these ads are well executed and as they relate to an industry I know a fair bit about I find them interesting. What I don’t understand is why are they advertising in this way?
For those of you reading this who are not from the UK you need to understand that the ExxonMobil name is not well known amongst UK consumers. Fuel retail for ExxonMobil is handled through a subsidiary called Esso (I was once told that this name came about during the war because Exxon sounded too Germanic). I don’t actually think ExxonMobil sell any goods to consumers in the UK under that name.
We have a huge petrochemical complex that we can see from our office window here in Southampton. The complex consists of an ExxonMobil chemical plant, an Esso refinery and a handful of other companies. Except for those people living on the doorstep of the plants, most people in the area call this complex the Esso refinery.
This brings me back to my point. Why are they bothering to advertise under the ExxonMobil name in the way that they are? If they want consumers to change their behaviour then it is not going to happen. The only product I know of that they sell direct to the consumer is fuel and most consumers would not equate ExxonMobil to Esso petrol.
If they are aiming the ads at purchasers of their synthetic rubbers, polythene, zeolite catalysts etc then why advertise in mainstream media. There aren’t that many suppliers of these products in the world and any purchaser worth his salt will know where to go to get them.
If they are aiming it at the financial markets then why use consumer media, why not the FT (which for all I know they may be in) or other suitable outlets.
There may be a grand master plan that will all come clear in the end but from where I’m sitting at the moment it looks very much like these ads have been conceived in the US and thrust upon the UK without anybody attempting to understand consumer perception of the brand or asking what they are trying to actually achieve.