Sunday 11 December 2011

Something missing from Harvey Nics...


In an attempt to increase its profile within the 18-30's age group, Harvey Nics has launched its Christmas campaign, the "Walk of Shame".


The ad shows a selection of different girls, looking decidedly worse for wear, attempting to make it home after a night on the tiles. It includes some amusing scenarios (my favourite being the girl devouring a kebab at a bus stop whilst receiving a disgruntled look) and clearly expresses the bedraggled feeling so many experience the morning-after the night-before.

After these shots, up pops a screen telling the viewer to 'Avoid the Walk of Shame this season'.

Then we see a flawless beauty (naturally wearing clothes from the Harvey Nichols collection) strut her stuff. She travels down the street beaming with self confidence the other post-party sufferers’ lack, even handling an effortless exchange with the postman.

The message - change your Walk of Shame into a Stride of Pride by wearing amazing clothes.

The Ad has been received well (minus a few remarks on the brand's YouTube page querying the model-like appearance of the final character which questions whether she genuinely represents the average individual) and I have to say that overall I like it –

- The campaign tells an engaging story and uses scenes I believe the majority of the target audience will be able to relate to with varying degrees of self-authenticity. The message is clear and concise, and we’re hearing it! 

HOWEVER, something is missing.

Instead of shooting directly to the image of this self assured elegance, I think that the communications would have been much more effective if the model was first shown, at the beginning of her walk, questioning her appearance.

Then as she caught a glimpse of herself in a stray mirror, shop window or car door and stopped to check herself out, the audience would be able to witness the transformation in her character as she concluded from her assessment that she still looked hot!

This way her attitude could be unambiguously attributed to her clothes and not say, her personality.

I feel that this lack of coherent link is a bit like seeing a snowman without a carrot for its nose, or a snow stricken tree without a robin - still great to look at but a little disappointing knowing that it could’ve been that bit more special.

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Sales tips from my encounter with the local tyre salesmen

My tyre had gone flat. I was driving around on my spare and needed a replacement. I needed that replacement put onto my car so I could sport all 4 alloys, and for my spare to be loving returned to its compartment in the boot.

This was what I told the friendly and enthusiastic mechanic in the first garage I ventured into.

He journeyed out of his work shop to gauge the tyres size and asses its (non existent) potential to be repaired, before recommending a (mid range) tyre that would put me back £55. When I asked about the rest of my tyres he assured they were road worthy.

Initially he didn’t provide any further details about the different grades of tyre available but when I enquired he was forthcoming with information about my options. In hindsight I believe this was a positive sales move as it kept the process simple and didn’t compromise the value of the potential purchase.

He thought it was a good buy and I sensed he was genuine. My gut feeling was a positive one; but being bought up to be a savvy shopper and liking to purchase my goods with sound market knowledge, I continued to shop around for prices.

And so, onto the second garage I went.

Unlike at the first, the rugged looking mechanic dragged my tyre off inside his workshop. (Note to salesmen: just because I’ve been lured into your abode, it doesn’t mean I’m going to be pressurised into buying from you).

Once inside he bamboozle me with tyre jargon and threw around branded names like I would understand the different products. I, myself, do not work with cars nor do I have a passion for tyres, so obviously couldn’t differentiate between these brands.

After securing me a quote of £70-odd for my new mid-range tyre he probed “So have you been given a price already”. This is surely never a good sign. It conveys the message of dishonesty and yells “this is not the best quote I could have given you”. 

To conclude our conversation he told me, a little too often, that he acted as a wholesaler for all the local garages and warned that if others were telling me they were giving my brand X for price Y, to check that that was in fact the case and I wasn’t being mugged right in front of my eyes –

- What?
Would companies really act so fraudulently? Is this what they did? And why was this man resorting to bad naming his innocent-until-proven-guilty competitors?

This transaction, however, was nothing compared to my third encounter.

Having pulled up onto the car park I walked into the reception and found two men sat behind a counter.  Humm, these mechanics aren’t busy doing usual mechanic-like things. 

They had seen me and had clearly though “woman, young, easy money” (either that or I really don’t want this business) as, as I outlined my needs he stood up, looked out the window and said; “From here it looks like you need this tyre and it will cost from £74 for a budget tyre to £180 for a top of the range”.

I thought, “you lazy, conning £$*#&*!"

Again the quote comparison question, both parties knowing there was really no need to ask it, and some more try-hard jargon. He then dramatically decreased the price before telling me how useless the tyre at this reduced rate would be.

My man, even if you were to sell me tyre for a fiver there is no way I’d buy anything from you! Not only is your customer service shocking, I find it staggering how someone in your profession could undervalue the importance of running a safe car.

This garage had clearly never heard of word of mouth.

Naturally, in the end I made my purchase from the first garage.

I felt this was an honest, transparent company who had enough confidence in their own service that they didn’t even think to mention their lesser competitors. They expressed an enthusiasm for their trade, shared with me relevant knowledge, and didn’t take me for a fool.

I believe that all sales communications, regardless of the sector of business with which they're involved, should heed to these points. Everyone enjoys doing business with a company that has a conscious, values their custom and treats them with respect.

Friday 2 December 2011

The people I'd recruit to help to save the world if the end were nigh



With 2012 looming one month away, maybe now is the time to consider what would happen if the new-year were to strike an end to society as we know it.


So, if the end of the world were nigh I'd recruit the following four people to help establish a new world order:


Recruit 1: Gok Wan (The Motivator)
This man is able to motivate body conscious women into stripping down and flouncing down a catwalk in front of hundreds of strangers - and feel great about it! Gok’s motivational abilities would be invaluable when developing a new world order.

He is also known for adapting his outfits and is able to see potential in otherwise useless material, using it to  the best of its ability. This transferable skill would be advantageous if faced with limited resources post ending-event.


Recruit 2: Seth Goddin (The Marketer)
As the master of marketing, Seth Goddin would be able to promote strong relationships between members of the community, and in particular between citizens and leaders. He knows how to keep customers happy and so may be key in preventing future revolt.


Recruit 3: Professor Robert Winston (The Scientist)
Robert Winston’s scientific speciality would allow him to objectively investigate behavioural traits and offer empirical recommendations in running the world order. The insight gained from understanding people cannot be over stated.

He is also medically trained.


Recruit 4: Sir Alan sugar (The Innovator)
As a straight talking entrepreneurial innovator, Alan Sugar may have a lot to offer the world order.  He has solid financial understanding and has shown he is able to source out and invest in promising ideas and promising people.


I believe the attributes of this team would allow the dynamics of an evolving neo-community to be truly understood, and so facilitate sustainable development. The hardworking ethos of these individuals would promote a positive and collaborative environment.


Alas, we can all rest assured knowing that, if faced with New Year destruction, everything will work out fine. This leaves only the last minute Christmas shopping and food feast calorie-count to get our blood pressure rising over the festive period.