ThinkNoLimit Marketing Coaching

This sponsorship makes some sense indeed. Teenagers having serious acnes would suffer from confidence and social problems. Joined some social work organizations, Jackeline has set up a charitable organization called "Ching Chung" where it's giving away its treatment to 100 teenagers. The idea is great. It's doing some good and it's worth letting consumers know. But such an in-your-face ad is a bit too much. Since it's PR idea, maybe it's better to use PR to let people know.

This is a new anti-wrinkle product. On top of advertising, there are big POP displays in Mannings as well. I think it needs a Chinese brand name as most of us just don't know how to pronounce the English brand name properly. And the packaging is not like other skincare products, which is a good thing for it to stand out but too bad it's pretty like those medicated ointments. I wonder if it is trying to project a professional image. It can be better done though. In the ad, there are claims on its instant effects. If this is to be advertised on TV, these claims without support will definitely be banned by censorship. What company is behind this new product ? I'll leave it to you to find out. It's not a no-body. A pretty big one.

Do they run out of celebrities or run out of money ? Maybe the mal-practices of these beauty centres have really scared off the first-line celebrities. Who is 馬國明 ? You just recognize his face but can never remember his name. Thanks to computer retouch, he turns out to be a very handsome guy all in a sudden. Talking about credibility ... As for Sau San Tong, I really wonder why it would use 樂基兒. She's famous and well-known alright but she is already very slim as a professional model. Talking about credibility again ...

"Regardless of the moral issue, dishonesty in advertising has proved very unprofitable." - Leo Burnett If you are in marketing, you may find yourself stepping on the fine line between kidding your consumers and just "beautifying" what you are selling from time to time. It's Ok to feel that way as that means you still have the consciousness about marketing ethics and you are a sensible marketer with a heart. The fact is that there are so many marketing cowboys out there. Look at this ad, it's not about over-claims anymore. The copies are just jokes.

Every marketer is looking for new ways of communicating with consumers. Consumers are overloaded with advertising messages everywhere anytime in their daily lives. It's not easy to find ways to cut through the clutter. You are lucky if you have enough money to "shout" to them with a big media mix. The fact is not too many brands have that kind of monies. They tend to use some kind of disguised advertising like advertorial to "whisper" to consumers, advertising pretending to be editorial so that consumers will read. However, there are so many advertorials of all kinds and consumers are now smart enough to tell it's advertising. Then what's next ? Here is an interesting example of another kind of disguised advertising. Don't know if it will work as I find it rather hard-selling. Well, at least it's a new attempt.

This is a 4-page ad of Estee Lauder in Next Magazine. One page of teaser, then a double-page spread of testimonials and one page of product selling. That's a typical arrangement to achieve size and grab attention in magazine (given you have the money). One special thing is its use of real career women instead of models and actresses as the spokespersons. They look ordinary and they are not as pretty as the celebrities but they make the ad more credible. Estee Lauder is known as a brand for more mature ladies. There are bound to be so many affluent thirty-something career women out there working days and nights needing some replenishment to their skins. Given the target audience, using career women for testimonial should be more appealing and convincing than using pretty celebrities.

This is quite a good ad. The interesting visual says it all. The agency has done a great job for coming up with such a cute representation of 熊貓眼. It shows us again that it doesn't always take the big bugs to employ celebrity to sell, even for beauty products. Money can be better spent on creativity. The only little imperfection of the this ad is the background. It's just too dark and buries the key visual.

Let's make a guess. How old is 譚玉瑛姐姐 ? She must be 40 something. Ageing is something we all want to fight against. For women in particular, it represents a huge market and there are countless beauty houses, big or small. The funny thing is they all advertise pretty much the same way, taking the demonstration approach of some sort, with or without celebrities. Are these ads credible ? Not really as we all know most of the pictures have been computer-retouched. In the past, only big brands or companies could afford computer retouching. Now that the technology is so cheap that everyone can afford it. When the market is flooded with this kind of ads, would consumers believe any one of them ?

Bird's nest facial mask is not new. The effects of eating bird's nest on complexion is documented in traditional Chinese medicine theories. Believe it or not. It's up to you. But I never heard putting it onto your face would have any effect. How about facial mask that is made with Caviar ? I only know it is very tasty. It can do good to complexion ? You must be kidding me. It's priced at 5 pieces for HK$138. Not expensive to give it a try. But don't expect it will turn you into 林志玲.

Is there a market for this kind of thing ? Something that turns/keeps your lips and nipples pink. This is the 2nd or 3rd campaign and they are really putting quite a bit of money to promote it. This time a double-page spread with an ad and an advertorial coverage of event/testimonial is used. No complaint about the ad and it's quite clever by using a Greek sculpture to demonstrate the effects of the product. As for the advertorial, you see a coverage of an event riding on the same of concept of demonstration : the product is being applied to the nipples of a full-naked male model. The model looks quite 無奈 in a professional way. And look at the faces of the women, they are obviously enjoying the wicked act. 小姐, 喂好痕呀 ! 唉, 真係揾食艱難 !

"Day and night" is a pretty bright idea brought by skincare marketers. It's a consumer insight where ladies look after their skin before work in the morning and before sleep at night. Skincare people makes use of this usage habit to offer holistic solution during the day and night. Can this consumer behaviour "extended" to the usage of beauty related health foods ? Nestle offers such a yoghurt product claimed to have beautifying effect. But high chance is people either forget to eat either the day yoghurt (too rush in the morning) or the night yoghurt (too tired at night). It just takes too much commitment to turn this into a routine or a habit.

I don't know enough of female consumers but do they use this kind of things ? A cream that turns back the colour of nipples and "vital parts" into pink again ? It's pretty expensive too, HK$388 per tube. The ad is quite creative too. Sakura and the words underneath are arranged into the shape of breasts with "before and after". Before - brownish on the left and after - pinkish on the right. It definitely serves to convey the key message. The supports are all well in place too : 官恩娜 as the endorser (?), lab reports and some demonstration on the "magic". Well done indeed.

This is a brilliant joint promotion idea between Wing On and Olay. It's a co-branded trip called "Pure White Fun Trip". The trip is tailored for women who want to enjoy spa and funs on the beach as well as experience the goodness of Olay White Radiance products. What do Wing On and Olay get from this joint effort ? Wing On should be able to charge a premium price as the whole experience can be highly tailored with specific itineraries and value-adds of Olay products. On the other hand, Olay can have their prospects and existing consumers to sample their full range of products. If the products work, these customers will become their brand ambassadors who pass positive words of mouth. Good ideas are hard to get these days. Hope they can execute this idea with good planning and commitments to the brand promises. And it's potentially a strategic idea I hope they don't just treat it like just another joint promotion.

For those who attended my class before, I said support can be very upfront in an execution. In this case of facial mask, the support is the active ingredient Q10. The key message is obvious : "Regene is an effective facial mask that gets rid of 98% of the fine marks on your face". But the visual gives me the association of "phantom of the opera"..... and the choice of colour, blue and white, and the radiant illustrations give a rather messy feeling. Think execution!