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Anyone for Tennis?

10/28/201907/02/2018 by scmarketing

The Drum’s ‘Ad of the Day’ has recently featured Wimbledon’s 2018 championships advert, shared mainly via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The #TakeOnHistory campaign celebrates the 150th anniversary of the All England Club, and 50 years of Open tennis, whilst giving insight into how Wimbledon has progressed since its beginning in 1877.

‘In pursuit of greatness’

Viewers can expect to see the clear origins of lawn tennis in the advert, with overly dressed men and women, followed by a short glimpse of hand-drawn animation of Spencer Gore – the first champion. The advert then takes viewers on a trip, moving from black and white into colour following significant turning points in the championships’ history, from horse drawn lawn rollers to motorized, and hand changed scoreboards to ones with lights as we follow each player hit a ball as if in one continuous volley. To end the advert, manga anime-style characters depicting a powerful Roger Federer and Serena Williams aim to show how the All England Club has changed and improved since its founding. Although some of us in the Smart Cow office feel this section is more reminiscent of a-ha’s ‘Take On Me’ ground-breaking video of the 1980’s!

The campaign message

The campaign of #TakeOnHistory coincides with Wimbledon’s statement that it “champions a philosophy of constant improvement, which it demonstrates through content, its partners and its players”. The marketing strategy has a strong focus on seeding out content via social media outlets with different main characters being interchanged to suit various target audiences, making the campaign all encompassing.

Wimbledon’s #TakeOnHistory is fit to be a great campaign, utilising visual content to its full advantage as well as a dedicated hashtag to the campaign making it easy for reposting. In a previous blog we reported that it is all about getting visual this year. With 82% of Twitter users watching video on the channel, not only is it important for your business to join the social media conversation it is important to get the most out of your social channels to grow your business reach.

Get in touch

Call Smart Cow marketing today on 020 3137 1826 or email if you’re looking to kick start your digital marketing campaign fit for champions.

Old Skool Tech

10/28/201905/05/2018 by scmarketing

From floppy disks to USB sticks, The A-Z book to google maps, record players to tiny iPods with their infinite music libraries; technology has evolved dramatically but trends show we’re still being influenced by our love of technology gone by.

Children of today might not know how to tell the time on an analogue clock, or may think a typewriter is a bingo machine*, however they are still somewhat cultured in old school tech. Most likely learning through beloved TV shows and films such as; Stranger Things – born from the 80’s, Super 8 – a film named after a vintage 60’s camera, and Guardians of the Galaxy featuring a Walkman and a cassette with hits from the 70’s and 80’s.

The demand for newer and better technology is high and this demand is also seen in the classroom with many apps and games developed with an educational theme. A popular app being ‘Kahoot!’, allowing teachers to create and share games and quizzes via those connected on the app. And, with high demand for jobs in coding including web development, what better way to ensure there are coders of the future than to create games teaching 3-year olds how to code – such as Cubetto.

But, there’s still something fashionable about old school tech. Despite the fact we can have any song at our fingertips, industry figures are showing that vinyl record sales have gone up by 53% on 2015 and sales are experiencing a 25 year high**. People seem to be drawn to retro pastel coloured record players as they head to second-hand record shops to purchase their vintage sounds.

Technology is everywhere, influencing our daily lives; in schools, during leisure activities and in our businesses. Society clearly embraces its every twist and turn, but there’ll always be space in our hearts for yesteryear.

Sources: *bbc.co.uk ; **The Guardian

Flamenco meets Stranger Things – TV advert review

10/28/201904/06/2018 by scmarketing

The opening of the ad for the 2018 H&M Collection displays a fairly mundane scene, with actress Elizabeth Olsen tediously dancing with a man. Quickly the mood shifts and the scene transforms into a vibrant dance with a group of women wearing stylish clothes. This advert has been well received and recently named ‘Ad of the Day’ by The Drum. But what are the features that make it such a success?

Women empowerment

The pivotal moment of the ad is the change in pace and the use of upbeat music which is brought on by a woman taking over the dance from the man. Through this display of a woman taking control and women coming together, builds an image of community and friendship. The advert portrays H&M as a source of positivity and encouraging women empowerment. It presents H&M as a company striving for diversity.

A famous face

At the end another famous face, Winona Ryder is revealed. H&M may have cleverly used her presence because it means the ad can resonate with those born in the 80’s thus appealing to an older generation acting as a reminder that H&M is still for them. However, Winona is equally respected within the young of today because of her empowering role as a single mother in the hit Netflix series, Stranger Things. This all makes the ad personal to viewers.

Presenting the product and brand in a good light

The change in mood from run of the mill to fun and uplifting captures the audience’s attention. The use of fast-paced, contemporary music bursting through our speakers, while multiple dancers dressed in brightly coloured clothes from the H&M collection bring life to the streets of Argentina really sells an energised, on-trend brand.

Keep a watch on our blog for reviews on the latest ads.

Steve Parish inspires SMEs at The Business Show

01/03/202011/20/2017 by scmarketing

The Business Show 2017 hosted some top seminars from industry leaders with vital advice for attending start-ups and SMEs. In case you missed anything or weren’t able to make the show, here’s a summary of one of the keynote talks that caught our attention.

As a Croydon based business, we had to make sure we caught the talk by Crystal Palace FC’s co-owner and Executive Chairman Steve Parish. He spoke about his career and what a motivational and inspiring speaker he is. Key take-aways for SMEs included:

Create a brand proposition: Look at everything about your business and create a brand position. In Crystal Palace’s case they became ‘South London and Proud’. But Steve notes that ‘if you want a successful brand you have got to live it’. If you don’t love the business you’re in, then you can’t make others love it.

Immersion and hard work will pay: You must immerse yourself in the subject and you will be ‘delusional if you think you don’t have to work hard’.

Understand what may be wrong to make it right: Address every issue to understand what may be going wrong. You must face up to the fact that if you haven’t been doing it right then things may need to change.

Keep an eye out for our next blogs with further nuggets from this year’s Business Show.

If you want help with your brand proposition and getting your message out there, contact the Smart Cow team a call on 020 3137 1826 or email saymoo@smart-cow.com