Our Top 3 Global Brands

We have previously mentioned that each year Interbrand conducts a survey to help identify the top global brands. The Top Global Brands survey offers insight into how these global organisations create and manage brand value. 2010’s top 30 is made up of some big household names including Toyota, BMW and Louis Vitton.
The top 30 featured many familiar faces but also threw up the odd surprise, however, an old favourite sat at the top of the pile, with Coca Cola shrugging off competition from powerhouse IT and technology brands to take top spot.

1. Coca Cola

Coca Cola’s accessible brand promise of fun, freedom, spirit and refreshment has allowed them to effectively take over the world. From the US to developing countries; you will always see the familiar face of the Coca Cola glass bottle.

Over the last few years Coca Cola has gained over 11 million fans on Facebook as well as 96,385 followers on Twitter. Coca Cola hasn’t always been in such a good position. On April 23, 1985, Coca-Cola, amid much publicity, attempted to change the formula of the drink with the idea of the “New Coke”. The company tried to move away from its existing unique selling point with negative results, the backlash led to the old formula being retained and the brand restored to its former glory.

When you think of Coca Cola, the word ‘health’ doesn’t really come to mind; however, Coca Cola want to change this. The global giant may face problems in the future from a growing health conscious society; however, Coca Cola are already formulating campaigns aggressively targeting new, fast developing markets, whilst promoting programs, such as ‘Healthy Active Living’, to reposition perception of their products. Like them or love them, you cannot fail but be impressed by the manner in which the marketers at Coca Cola continue to allow a fizzy drink manufacturer to dominate the global corporate landscape and translate their brand across numerous cultural, religious and economic boundaries.

At TLC Business, we believe that sometimes it’s best to stick with what your good at rather than change a great product. Yes Coca Cola isn’t the healthiest choice, but it seems to be the number one drink around world. Coca Cola has recognised that the growing health concerns of many consumers could be a huge barrier for the brand in the future, therefore, they are acting now to strengthen Coca Cola’s values for the impending shift in consumer behaviour. SMEs can learn from Coca Cola’s example. It is important to stay in touch with your client and target audience’s changing perceptions and opinions. By undertaking regular client surveys and research of your target market you will be ideally placed to stay relevant and competitive, pre-empting and responding to shifts in attitude amongst your target market.

11. Toyota

Toyota was a surprise entry in this year’s Top 30 global brands. 2008 saw Toyota scoop number one car manufacture of the year. However, since then, the reputation of Toyota has taken a beating over their much publicised product recalls in January 2010.

Toyota had previously established itself as a leader in reliability, safety and efficiency. The key values which helped them head off the competition in 2008, came back to haunt then in 2010.  The negative backlash associated with the massive safety recalls of its vehicles meant that credibility and sales naturally suffered.

But Toyota must have done something right to make it into the world’s top 30 brands, right?

In the wake of the product recalls, Toyota decided that the brand needed to get back on track and rebuild confidence amongst the general public. So how does a brand repair its image…Twitter?

Toyota adopted a branded channel on Tweetmeme, named ‘Toyota Conversations’, bringing together the top stories, news articles, press releases and videos from Toyota to engage with the public. This social media channel bypassed the media and allowed the brand to communicate directly with its consumers. This positive engagement overshadowed the media negativity and allowed Toyota to start rebuilding confidence in their damaged brand.

It is enlightening to see such a high profile company using twitter to repair its image after such negative media backlash. Toyota’s faith in utilising a relatively untested communication channel, social media, to rebuild its shattered reputation, illustrates the potential of new marketing methods, accessible to SMEs and corporates alike.

21. H&M

Technology brands continue to dominate within the top global brands.  Yes, Apple has had another great year after breaking yet more sales records; however, we thought we’d focus on the company that featured at 21st position, global retailer H&M, for our final comment. When thinking of the world’s top 30 brands, H&M doesn’t instantly come to mind; however, 2010 has been a great year for this Swedish retailer.

H&M mixes high fashion with low price points, delivering its consumers, celebrity and designer collaborations across its 2,000 stores in 37 different markets.

According to Interbrand: ‘H&M takes responsibility for the integrity of its operation chain, from employees to materials. Corporate citizenship investment includes a five-year collaboration with UNICEF, which protects children’s rights in a heavy cotton-producing area in India.’

In order to keep up with its fashion and image conscious consumer base, the retailer also engages with its different markets via Facebook, YouTube and Twitter in order to drive traffic to its new e-commerce site and target consumers outside of its 2,000 global stores.

H&M provides the fashion conscious with fast, affordable fashion but also takes care of the people who start the whole process off, without them there would be no statement dress or must have accessory. This is a key value for H&M and a great statement to make within the much-criticised fashion industry.

These brands may make up the Top 30 Global Brands but that doesn’t mean your business can’t adopt some of their methods to achieve results within your target market.  Whether it’s the use of Twitter to gain positive coverage or a great USP, make sure you undertake the necessary research and planning prior to undertaking a campaign to ensure you get maximum results.

To download the full Top Global Brands report click here.

Monthly Marketing Tips

Septembers Top Marketing Tips

  • The Hampshire Business Directory is now available for the reduced price of £180, offering a 10% saving. This offer is available until 30 September 2010. The directory contains key business information and contacts that can be used to develop your sales and marketing campaigns.
  • CompeteFor is a free service that enables businesses to compete for contract opportunities linked to the London 2012 Games and other major public and private sector buying organisations.  CompeteFor is free of charge; over 1000 Hampshire companies have already registered with the service.
  • Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities. Created from his popular blog, Irish graphic designer David Airey fills each page of this book with brilliant logos and real world anecdotes as well as 25 practical design tips to help you create a brand identity that lasts.

    Monthly Marketing Tips

STOP Traffic This Autumn

We here at TLC Business have previously mentioned that ‘Gorilla Marketing’ remains a strong influence on our marketing philosophy. If used effectively, Gorilla Marketing can add a buzz to your brand and make a product or service worth talking about.
Last week, Oxford Circus was brought to a standstill, not only by the traffic but by the powers of the fashion industry.  Commuters and shoppers stood in amazement as they witnessed a Halle Berry lookalike abseil into Oxford Street dressed head to toe in high street fashion, providing onlookers with a ‘Vertical Catwalk’.

This unique stunt was to promote the beginning of the second week of High Street Fashion Week, featuring retailers such as French Connection and H&M. Last Year the event kicked off with a catwalk on a tube, this year they took to the skies, so what will next year bring?

This is an extreme case of Gorilla Marketing and due to health and safety restrictions we do not recommend dangling your product or colleague off a building to promote your brand; however we do believe that adding a fresh, creative aspect to your marketing can provide you with the results you desire.

Here are some great examples of how different organisations have used Gorilla Marketing to create a brilliant PR spin for their brand:

Puma created a breakout of fashion onto the streets making the sports world stylish with a successful Gorilla Marketing concept.

Mini in the Netherlands came up with a quirky way of promoting the Mini Cooper by littering the busy streets of Amsterdam with over sized ‘mini boxes’.

Unique online jewellery and fashion accessory company Boticca staged a flash mob in Portobello Market Notting Hill.

Like any marketing, Gorilla Marketing can go wrong. We believe that the preparation stage of any marketing concept is vital and when not researched and implemented properly, brilliant marketing campaigns can flop.

The major fashion brand DKNY produced what looked like a fantastic Gorilla Marketing campaign by placing neon bicycles around New York City in an effort to promote their brand, as well as the eco friendly way of transport.  The BMX bikes were covered in bright neon colours with the DKNY logo in contrasting black. The marketing concept did not receive the feedback you would have expected from a high profile brand; the bikes that weren’t removed by the police due to being illegally chained to trees were picked clean for spare parts and left by the side of roads as litter. Not a great message for a luxury brand.

If you are a retailer or a business that feels the need to inject a bit of creativity into your marketing, then get in touch. The TLC Business team can help you create a campaign that stands out from the crowd and gets your business noticed for all the right reasons. Take advantage of our 15% off any campaign offer in September and make your brand work for you.  Contact us on +44(0)1962 600 147 or email Anna at anna@tlc-business.co.uk

 

Top 2010 Global Brands Announced

2010 Top Global Brands
Each year Interbrand conduct a survey to help identify what the top global brands are. 2010’s top 30 is made up from the familiar names but who made it too top spot? Microsoft, Google and Coca Cola all featured highly, although UK-based brands made up just 6 of the top 100 brands in the survey, with none figuring in the top 30.

The world’s top 30 brands

2010 rating/2009 rating, brand value ($)/percentage change from last year

1. (1) Coca-Cola 70,452/2 per cent

2. (2) IBM 64,727/7 per cent

3. (3) Microsoft 60,895/7 per cent

4. (7) Google 43,557/36 per cent

5. (4) GE 42,808 47,777/-10 per cent

6. (6) McDonald’s 33,578/4 per cent

7. (9) Intel 32,015/4 per cent

8. (5) Nokia 29,495/-15 per cent

9. (10) Disney 28,731/1 per cent

10. (11) Hewlett Packard 26,867/12 per cent

11. (8) Toyota 26,192/-16 per cent

12. (12) Mercedes-Benz 25,179/6 per cent

13. (13) Gillette 23,298/2 per cent

14. (14) Cisco 23,219/5 per cent

15. (15) BMW 22,322/3 per cent

16. (16) Louis Vuitton 21,860/4 per cent

17. (20) Apple 21,143/37 per cent

18. (17) Marlboro 19,961/5 per cent

19. (19) Samsung 19,491/11 per cent

20. (18) Honda 18,506/4 per cent

21. (21) H&M 16,136/5 per cent

22. (24) Oracle 14,881/9 per cent

23. (23) Pepsi 14,061/3 per cent

24. (22) American Express 13,944/-7 per cent

25. (26) Nike 13,706 4 per cent

26. (27) SAP 12,756 5 per cent

27. (25) NescafÉ 12,753/-4 per cent

28. (28) Ikea 12,487/4 per cent

29. (37) JP Morgan 12,314/29 per cent

30. (30) Budweiser 12,252/4 per cent

Source: Interbrand

You can download the full report from Interbrand at Top 100 Global Brands 2010

Kindle takes on iPad

Style over substance?
Despite all the hype, is the iPad the perfect example of style over substance? Designed to be portable and accessed on the go, anywhere, the iPad has one significant flaw, you can’t read it in sunlight. Amazon has seized on this weakness in its latest series of adverts to promote its considerably cheaper Kindle, to try and capture valuable market share in the e-reader market. What do you think about the advert?

TLC Business add SEO expert to the team

We are delighted to announce that TLC Business is now able to offer SEO and PPCmanagement services to our clients. The addition of SEO guru Tim Tavender to the TLC Business team now enables us to offer efffective, results-driven SEO services to ambitious SMEs, eager to make their mark on the web.
Tim is the perfect addition to the team, bringing with him a wealth of Internet Marketing Agency and first hand SME business experience, along with a great sense of humour and a whole host of amusing stories to keep us entertained as the day goes by.

TLC Business’ SEO and PPC services are tailored to the needs of ambitious SMEs that want to increase the volume of new business their website generates for them.

Our results orientated approach is delivered by drawing on knowledge, experience and techniques typically the reserve of large corporate organisations, now made affordable for SMEs.

To find out more about our SEO and PPC services and claim your free SEO report visit our SEO services page or call 01962 600 150.

September’s Top Marketing Tips

  1. The Layout Look Book is a great guide for both amateur and professional designers. The book includes techniques that can be used to enhance any layout, as well providing insights into the factors that helped make each layout an effective piece. The book combines both the traditional aspect of design, as well as contemporary cutting edge elements that will enable any designer to produce an inspiring piece of work.
  2. Use Jing to capture anything you see on your computer screen and share it instantly via web, email, IM, Twitter or your blog. Collaborate on a design project, take a picture of a document or use it as a teaching tool. Jing is free and easy to use.
  3. Need help making your emails stand out? An interesting article called Tempo, tempo, line and length by Mark Brownlow provides us with email copy tips that go against our essay writing education, to enable us to break big projects into bite-sized chunks that are easier to tackle and more likely to be read.

SEO-PR The Perfect Match

TLC would like to take the opportunity to welcome two new members to the TLC team.
We would first like to introduce you to our SEO wizard. Tim is an experienced online marketing expert that has worked for both Internet Marketing Agencies and online businesses.  Our second new arrival is our PR specialist Kate.  Kate has over 20 years experience and is passionate about helping organisations tap into the benefits of social media as a PR tool, to support more traditional methods, when looking to raise their profile.

We here at TLC believe that Tim and Kate are a match made in heaven; SEO and PR both look to raise the profile of an organisation by increasing its authority amongst your target audience.  Like any couple, SEO and PR share some of the same values: success cannot be guaranteed, relationships and industry knowledge are vital and to achieve spectacular results, you need to let the experts do what they do best, dabbling in either area rarely works effectively.

Not only do PR and SEO share important values, they both work hard for the same goal – brand exposure within your target market.  The marriage between PR and SEO can form a long lasting union that will assist in raising your brand’s profile in a number of crucial areas: 

 

  • Improving communication:

News stories stay online; your news item can still be read months after the event.

  • Generating publicity:

Online stories can spread at the speed of lightning. Issue a press release online and it can be taken up and commented on minutes later. 

  • Getting in bound links:

There has been an increase in news sites writing about and linking to external web sites from different sectors. Get your link noticed and you can capture their large audiences.

  • Building brand awareness:

The links the story creates not only bring people themselves but also boosts your search engine ranking and online presence.

 

A relationship like this can work well for small, medium and large companies within a variety of different markets.  One company to benefit from SEO and PR collaborations is Sky and its education site.

Sky aimed to drive traffic to their Sky Learning site, an education page focused towards students and teachers. To increase their online presence, Sky adopted an SEO-PR partnership to target their audience using short videos of former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq revealing her top study tips.

These videos were shared on student and revision communities, as well social networking sites, to enable Sky Learning to reach the teen market.  The various techniques Sky adopted saw thousands of new visitors click through to the Sky Learning site.  The whole process improved Sky Learning’s brand awareness, communication and internet traffic, as well as generating a whole host of positive publicity.

Whilst Sky is a large corporate, there is no reason that smaller SMEs cannot take advantage similar methods to achieve  equally impressive results that help grow your business.

 

If you think your could benefit from an SEO and PR partnership and would like further information, simply email anna@tlc-bsuiness.co.uk .

September special marketing offer

15% of marketing campaigns this September
September is a crucial month for businesses. Summer is over, the kids are back at school, people have returned from their holidays feeling refreshed and re-focused (we hope!) and everyone starts to focus on that push through to Christmas.

In order to help you make the most of the next 4 months, we are offering businesses a 15% discount on any campaigns booked in September.

TLC Business’ outsourced marketing team are ready to help manage any aspect of your marketing, leaving you and your team free to focus on what you do best in your business.

We can helps with all aspects of your marketing, to generate new business and help grow your organisation, including:

  • USP creation
  • Telemarketing and lead generation
  • Email marketing
  • Design of leaflets, brochures and direct mails.
  • Search engine optimisation.
  • Social media management & article and press release creation and submission.
  • Market research.
  • PR and event management.

Whatever your marketing requirment, our passionate team of experienced marketing experts can achieve the results you require to drive your business forward so this Christmas is a great one!

To help get you started and to show we are confident in our abilities to get results, we are offering a special offer this September of 15% any campaign booked this September*.

So if you want more effective marketing, don’t delay and email Anna at anna@tlc-business.co.uk or call us on 01962 600 150 and claim your 15% discount by quoting ‘Sept15’.

*Offer valid until September 30th.

Monthly Top Marketing Tips

  1. Want to be more creative with your marketing? Here at TLC we are always searching the web for images to use within our campaigns and we have found a website that might just lend a helping hand. Digital Image Magazine has compiled a list of the Top 25 Free stock Image websites. Have a break from searching for hours and take a look to see if any of these can assist.
  2. Having trouble with your USP? Finding something to help you stand out from the competition is never easy. We here at TLC suggest Purple Cow by Seth Godin. In Purple Cow marketing Guru Seth Godin urges everyone involved in creating, designing or selling to think in new ways about their market.  Adopting alternative approaches to your business that will help your company survive.
  3. If you are thinking of using the benefits of YouTube to build your brand online we have come across this comprehensive list of free video editing software for Windows, Mac and Linux users. Check out this link for Desk Top Video Guide or alternatively click here for a more complete list.