Category Guru in a Bottle

July 18, 2014,  Essential Law for Marketers, Guru in a Bottle, News  No comments

The recent out of court deal between US authorities and the French bank BNP Paribas have raised eyebrows within the global banking community about whether the punishment for providing banking facilities to the totalitarian regime in Sudan is proportionate with the billions of US dollars that the bank must now pay out to settle the matter – equivalent to about a year’s profit.

Perhaps not one of its finest hours, the French bank has been forced to admit helping the Sudanese Government sell oil, clearing proceeds through New York in direct violation of US sanctions.

At that time, Sudanese Government-backed militias in the region of Darfur were massacring innocent civilians ...

July 17, 2014,  Consumer behaviour, Guru in a Bottle, High Impact Marketing that Gets Results  No comments

The recent food labeling controversy where supermarket meat products were halal but not labelled as such threw a spotlight on the choices as consumers we want to make not just about the quality of our food but also the method of its production and manufacture.

We live in a world of infinite choice and it’s absolutely right that as consumers we are given the choice of eating halal or non-halal food which is why labeling is so important.

Taking that one step further, when flying long-haul, many airline passengers will be asked for their food preferences ahead of such a journey and of course many Muslim travelers will choose halal food to be served to them on the flight.

But M...

July 6, 2014,  Guru in a Bottle, House of Illustration, Marketing practice, Sponsorship News  No comments

This isn’t a one-way street of course. There’s a lot that sports can learn from the arts – for example creating unique experiences that reach desired audience and customer segments in a precise way that’s memorable and doesn’t suffer from ‘sponsorship clutter’ that often afflicts much bigger property types such as a premier league football club.

However, the arts sector needs to become much more commercially savvy in helping itself achieve anything like the success achieved by sports rights owners over the last 40 years that has generated billions in support of sports and entertainment that relies on sponsorship income for its existence.

Earlier this week, UK ar...

June 30, 2014,  Guru in a Bottle, Marketing practice, The Art of Influencing and Selling  No comments

Retailers that simply try to appeal to shoppers during waking hours may be in for a shock, according to new research from the US by brand strategy consultants Vivaldi Partners Group.

There’s a new breed of consumer that can’t actually be reached through traditional marketing channels and marketers need to have deployed strategies in order to reach this group who are active at any time of day.

And it’s not enough to break your customer base down into groups according to age and gender – marketers need to build up the fullest possible picture of each customer in order to target them with highly individualised messages.

The days of traditional bricks and mortar, 9am to ...

June 28, 2014,  Brand marketing, Guru in a Bottle, High Impact Marketing that Gets Results, Sponsorship News, The Art of Influencing and Selling  One comment

The company says it’s “definitely” on track to break trading records this year having registered strong sales figures pre and during the current World Cup. Adidas has been gradually building demand for its shirts, boots and balls since last November to try and ease the pressure on its retail network during the tournament trading period.

As a sponsor of nine national teams, Adidas has sold more than 8m shirts, a significant increase on the 6.5m shirt sales it achieved for the 2010 World Cup...

June 23, 2014,  Guru in a Bottle, High Impact Marketing that Gets Results, Marketing practice, Social marketing practice  No comments

CPM metrics could be a thing of the past as website owners look at delivering more than eye balls to advertisers.

The traditional metric of cost per 1,000 page views (CPM) relies on the advertiser paying the website owner in advance to showcase their ad on the website for a certain number of times that the web page is accessed by visitors to the site.

Typically, CPM rates ranged between £4-£10 per 1,000 page views and could be more for reaching niche audiences. Website owners that sell traditional advertising on their sites have to be prepared to show advertisers detailed reports of page view visits and click-through rates in order to cash in on the traffic to the site.

Adv...

June 21, 2014,  Consumer behaviour, Guru in a Bottle, High Impact Marketing that Gets Results, Innovation  No comments

There can be few sectors that have been disrupted to the extent that marketing has been by digital.

The days when marketing directors splashed the cash on elaborate global TV campaigns with gigantic budgets and expenses to match harks back to a bygone era that’s much more Mad Men than the reality brand owners face today.

Most marketing is campaign driven. Brand owners are constantly under pressure to get product and service to market in the shortest time possible. This then takes on a life of its own, spinning activity on a monthly, quarterly and seasonal basis.

Just take a look at the adverts on TV if you don’t believe me...

June 20, 2014,  Essential Law for Marketers, Guru in a Bottle, Public Relations practice  One comment

It was Winston Churchill, one of the greatest statesmen that ever lived, who said “In war: resolution. In defeat: defiance. In victory: magnanimity. In peace: goodwill.”

Given the acrimonious legal battles that the PRCA has been having with the NLA and the subsequent decision at the Court of Justice of the European Union, I think it’s time for both sides to do well in remembering those words.

Let’s face it.

Both sides must build a new bridge – a better, more robust bridge – where the focus is on collaboration rather than conflict...

June 15, 2014,  Guru in a Bottle, News  No comments

The new Indian PM Narendra Modi has outlined his 10-point vision for the Council of Ministers to follow and this offers a glimpse into his policy priorities that include energizing the economy, kick-starting infrastructure projects and reviving confidence in the creaking bureaucracy of Government.

Modi wants all Ministers to have their own time-table on the priorities in each ministry for the first 100 days.

His 10 priorities are:

1. Focus on economy and infrastructure ministries
2. Better inter-ministerial coordination
3. Restore the confidence of bureaucrats that they won’t be hauled up later for taking crucial decisions.
4. Use of technology and social media to maximize public inte...

June 7, 2014,  Brand marketing, Guru in a Bottle, Sales practice  No comments

Cobra Beer is one of the fastest selling beverages in its category and is to be found in over 98% of all Indian restaurants in the UK.

But without the tenacity of its founder Karan Bilimoria, it could so easily have been a very different story.

Prime Minister David Cameron recently paid a visit to to the brewery in Burton-on-Trent in the West Midlands and Lord Bilimoria advises the PM on Anglo-India relationships.

As a small businessman, Lord Bilimoria understands first-hand what it feels like to take risks as well as borrow money to finance a venture that requires substantial capital but that has phenomenal prospects of being hugely successful.

Lord Bilimoria survived a “pre...