Values' Marketing - The case of IKEA in Spain

"This ad is going to go sooo viral" is the first thing I though while watching it

Is a very tender video, with a very true message released on the perfect moment. What else do you need?

We all know that kids prefer company to toys. We knew it from a while ago already. And now that the crisis left us with less money, is the perfect time to finally do something about it.

Values' marketing, the one that focuses on "campaigning" for a good cause instead of "selling" is the perfect choice for a mature brand like IKEA. We all know what IKEA is and what they sell, their best shot is to make us feel better when we buy from them.

Furthermore, they relate the ad to their 2014 campaign that highlights the importance of family (and therefore the house) on kids' education.

Congratulations to IKEA and to the agency: McCann Spain.

Small-scale Branding: Street Marketing for start-ups

Direct, Street, Gerrilla, Ambient. This different names have been given to the slightly different varieties of a same kind of Marketing actions.

This BTL advertising is characterized by being normally on the street and using its elements to attract the attention of the people passing by. Besides, this kind of actions are normally very creative and even funny. And a main feature is that they don't disturb to send their message but try to get the attention of the individuals by surprising them.

This turns them into interactive and very memorable actions, and thus its effectiveness rockets.

The bad part is that, as many innovations and great ideas in Marketing, many people thinks that this kind of actions are only within the reach of big companies. Well, this is a complete nonsense. One of the features of this kind of Marketing is its posibility of being "low-cost".

You just need a good idea to make people stop and look to your message. You have to start from a very simple idea you'd like to communicate and put it on the streets in a way that always has to be:

  -Nice to bump into, whoever does it.

  -Interesting to your potential consumers, telling them something

(Of course, as always, humour is a good way to acomplish this two objectives.)

Maybe you are willing to try some Street Marketing for your small business, but you are too busy to take charge of it, or you don't find capable of organizing all that is needed to set it off. In this case I recommend you to turn to a small local advertising agency.

They are going to be thrilled with the challenge, and their small size is perfect for giving you this service with a low price. Besides, being local they will be able to know how and where to reach your potential costumers in the city.

After trying Street Marketing in your small business, you'll leef how effective this kind of actions can be in a local scope.

Do you think just big brands can use Guerrilla Marketing? By using a good idea, costumers can be reached with a really small bugdget.

BrandiN-GO's

Here you can see two great campaings that use intelligence and creativity to show us an important reallity which affect us.

The first is an amazing spot that tries to make parents realize how important giving example is for children. Some years ago I heard a quote which I'm totally agree to: “Children don’t obey, but imitate”

Advising kids about the good way is far less effective than walking it.

The second campaign, more recent and less known, deals with the silence regarding women abuse. So, it deals with our fear more than with our values.

Campaigns from NGO’s are more common every day. And they are, step by step overcoming the thought that marketing, and therefore branding, are intrinsically evil.

Marketing is a weapon and, as all weapons, it makes easier the attain of an objective. And the objective of NGO’s is praiseworthy.

The best element an organization can have to make the best of Branding is a good product. NGO’s product is goodness, I cannot think of a better product.

Congratulations to these campaigns and to the NGO’s that fight the bad things of this world with powerful weapons.

BrandIN-G-life

¿How important are brands in our life?

Go a bunch of centuries back in time. Take the catholic baptism. Take the confidence and love for the bread your mum elaborates and this special dish your grandma uses to cook on special celebrations. Take the meaning these celebrations have to you. Take the master artisan that you are learning from as an apprentice. Take the novelty and their titles which you hate (but envy deep down). Take religion and all its power. Take the artists you know and their patrons. Take the guy that speaks out loud in the middle of the town’s square and its convincing skills…

Take all this, come back to today, and you’ll have brands. A huge amount of big or small, cool or boring, kind or evil, lasting or ephemeral brands that surround our lives and give them entertainment, context, and, in many cases, sense.