Should've gone to Specsavers

This week’s Pure Slogan of the Week is Specsavers’ “Should’ve gone to Specsavers”.

“Should’ve gone to Specsavers” slogan was launched in 2002 by their in-house creative agency. Their ads have a humorous approach, often portraying members of the public with unattractive glasses or in outlandish situations due to bad eyesight before advising them that they “Should’ve gone to Specsavers”.

One of the great things about their campaign is that it has evolved with the times; thanks to their “shgts” hashtag that allows Twitter users to post their own “Should’ve gone to Specsavers”, inspired photos and tweets.

We love the Specsavers campaign because it does what all great marketing strategies should do, it creates something that is memorable through humour while still maintaining a solid brand identity. The message of what they’re promoting never gets lost or distorted despite how eccentric their adverts can get, and to top it all off, customers can engage in the campaign by upload their own funny stories. 

#SHGTS #PSoTW

"Does exactly what it says on the tin"

 This week’s Pure Slogan of the Week is Ronseal’s “Does exactly what it says on the tin".

Ronseal, a wood stain paint and preserver, began working with ad agency HHCL in 1994 in an attempt to “de-mystify” the product and move away from marketing campaigns that Ged Shields, Ronseal’s then marketing director, felt were “trying too hard”.

Created by Liz Whiston and Dave Shelton, they decided not to use puns or elaborate creatives but to create something that was simple and straight to the point instead, much like the product itself, resulting in “It does exactly what it says on the tin”.

  

Initially, it was poorly received by the public and industry when sent out for market research.  Whiston and Shelton chose to trust their instincts and with Ronseal’s support decided to run the ad anyway.

Surprisingly the ad was a huge success; Ronseal saw an increase in sales and became a brand leader. “Does exactly what it says on the tin” is one of the rare examples when a slogan becomes bigger than the brand it’s promoting.  Also immediately after its launch, it was the focus of a number of spoofs by other brands, including an anti-smoking campaign and soft drink Irn Bru showing how influential it was from the beginning.

  

In the years since, the phrase has become a part of British pop culture and the vernacular. It was entered in to the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms. We love this iconic slogan because of how it was able to create something that is fresh and innovative out of a relatively simple idea, an example of great marketing.

@Ronseal

#PSoTW, #PurePoint, #NoNonsense

Sam Storey: My Summer Internship at Pure

During my summer break, before starting my final year at university, I was lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to complete an internship at Pure Media. Studying Digital Media, part of the course requirement is to take the “theoretical and conceptual material examined in Years 1 and 2” and apply it to an industry work placement.

The main idea is to help students gain a stronger perspective of the media industry and the roles it’s made up off. This was something that was particularly important to me, as prior to starting my placement, I felt very unsure of what area of the industry would be best suited to me.

During my time at Pure, I helped with a variety of tasks that make up the daily runnings of a media planning and buying agency. I spent a lot of time using Google Analytics to write up a range of reports that analysed data for marketing campaigns. I found this interesting and very rewarding, I had zero experience using Google Analytics before my placement and by the end of it I began to feel very confident using it and felt that I had begun to gain a good understanding of its fundamental aspects.

I also used tools like Nielsen and Mediatel, not to the same extent but enough for me to see their value and pique my interest in further exploring them. Other tasks included inputting a range of different data into Microsoft Excel, which gave me a stronger insight into the different functions of media planning and buying.

I took an active role in the social media aspects of the company, scheduling a number of tweets for the “Pure Quote of the Day” and the weekly “Throwback Thursday” in order to help maintain Pure’s social presence. I also contributed a number of blog posts, including the “Pure Slogan of the Week”.

I was also given the opportunity to spend time with Pure’s sister company, Teamspirit. I worked in the media communications, creative and PR departments. I completed a number of tasks and spoke to staff members from all different professional backgrounds to help give me a broader idea of the industry and the type of roles that would be suitable for me as a graduate, such as an account management internship.

Outside of the day-to-day workload, I got involved in helping with Pure’s annual Summer Rooftop party which was a really enjoyable experience and also gave me the opportunity to speak to a number of media owners about the type of work they do. This was extremely beneficial, as it further increased my understanding of the media industry’s different components.

I volunteered to speak at the monthly staff meeting about my time at Pure, as a way of increasing my confidence in public speaking. I was also exposed to agency life, attending a number of meetings and presentations. All of this has really sparked my interest in the media / marketing industry, particularly the comm’s and media planning and buying aspects of it.

I will shortly be returning to university, I can honestly say that I feel a lot more confident about my future and the potential prospects out there thanks to my time at Pure. I've gained a lot more insight about the industry, as my previous understanding was very limited. I am now a lot more focused and have set myself goals in order to achieve the things that I want.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Pure Media and it has been an incredible learning experience in a number of different ways. I am extremely appreciative and grateful for this fantastic opportunity. I would like to thank everyone at Pure and Teamspirit for all of their support and advice over the past seven weeks.

Pure navigates Princess Yachts in the wake of Cannes Yachting Festival

Anchoring a prime position, Pure cast off the brand's 50th anniversary artwork in the form of a cover wrap for the Financial Times.

Our FT vessel created some waves last week at the Cannes Yachting Festival with beautiful creative celebrating Princess Yachts’ '50 years of crafting the finest motor yachts'.

 

The cover wrapped issues of the FT were delivered to UHNWI’s attending the prestigious festival in their luxury five-star+ accommodation as well as in royal palaces and at the show itself.

You know when you've been Tango'd

This week’s Pure Slogan of the Week is Tango’s famous “You know when you’ve been Tango’d”.

In 1991, Tango launched a TV campaign introducing the now infamous “Orange Man” advertisement that coined the slogan “You Know When You’ve Been Tango’d”.

It was a massive success at the time increasing Tango’s sales by a third in the UK

Produced by ad agency HHCL, the creator Trevor Robinson said that Tango, still relatively unknown at the time (despite being sold in the UK and Europe since 1950), gave them license to create whatever they liked as long as it would put their brand on the map. 

It certainly did, featuring a large orange man slapping the face of another man when drinking a Tango. It went against the conventions of what advertising was at the time, while also embracing the “lad culture” that was beginning to emerge during the early 1990s. .

It became a massive phenomenon at the time and was voted the third best TV ad of all time in a poll conducted by Channel 4 and the Sunday Times. The Guardian later described Tango as the “original gangster of viral marketing”. However, it was not without controversy, due to reports of injuries when children began copying the events of the advertisement it was later banned and Tango replaced the slap with a kiss.

In recent years, Tango has moved in a different direction with their advertising slogans and none have captured the public attention quite the same way as “You know when you’ve been Tango’d”.

Despite the controversy, we love this iconic ad from the 1990s and its success in capturing one of the fundamental components of any great marketing campaign; memorability & word of mouth.

#PurePoint #PureSloganofTheWeek #PSoTW

#TBT Creatively compromised?!?

This time last year we scrutinised the Metro for their over-the-top creative ad execution.

A year to date tells a different story…

In 2014 we saw Halifax, Ryan Air and Relish battle for impact and stand out creative.

http://puremediaupdate.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/creatively-compromised.html

With Halifax ‘relish’ing in a checkerboard placement next to ‘extra’ Zig-Zag for Ryan Air (in the same colour scheme) followed by a runway of Zig-zag creative for new brand Relish, the paper couldn’t have been more overcrowded with creative.

…present day, 2015, The Metro paints a more exciting picture with unconventional creative media.

September 9^th 2015 we open The Metro to split page ad, with the perceptive full page ad turning from a half, three quarter to another full page execution...

The latest Kray’s film, ‘Legend’, starring one of Hollywood’s current A-List actors, Tom Hardy, has taken a prime position in the paper, with multiple executions in the front half and repeated with more smart split creative in the back.

The sheets have been cut into thirds offering 10 different creative messages, almost personifying the pages to express Tom Hardy’s split role in the film.

The pages might be a fiddle to flick through, however we can’t argue the “unmissable” “power” of these “astonishing” ad formats.

#PurePoint #TBT

There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard

This week’s “Pure Slogan of the Week” is MasterCard’s “There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard”. Most will associate it with their famous and often hilarious accompanying “Priceless” campaign.

MasterCard is one of the biggest credit card brands across the globe. Since 1997, they have produced their award winning “Priceless” campaigns. To date, it has been re-produced in over 98 countries and in 46 languages. It’s one of the most recognisable marketing campaigns in the world, and one of our favourites.

The campaign came about when MasterCard began working with McCann London in the 1990's. Market research showed that there was a shift away from a value system regarding social status and wealth as the key to happiness. To capitalise on this, McCann’s main purpose was to show that people “lead rich lives, not live richly“.

The result was the “Priceless” ads, showcasing a great combination of humour and heart-warming moments appealing to the consumer on a personal and approachable level. We love it because this clever creative adds trust and an endearing appeal to an industry giant that people would not usually associate these characteristics with.

It’s a perfect example of what great marketing can do for a brand.

"There are some things advertising can't buy. For everything else, there's Pure Media."

#Priceless #MasterCard #PureMedia

Newspaper Carrier Day

In the age of Digital Media it seems right to celebrate #NewspaperCarrierDay honouring Barney Flaherty the first Paperboy employed by The New York Sun in 1833.