Five Pieces of Marketing News You Need To Know About This Week

Here's our round up of the top five pieces of marketing new you need to know about this week...

1) Ministry of Sound hope to “redefine clubbing” and invest equity in their brand to determine a longer life span as the brand approaches its 25^th anniversary next year

Group marketing director, Kershaw, who has an impressive history of holding senior positions at MTV and BBH, will look to develop the company’s impressive portfolio of brands which proudly includes an independent record label, a radio station, an infamous night club venue as well as an international events presence.

The marketing push not only looks to “take it to the next level” in preparation for the brands anniversary but looks to position their product offering under one umbrella identity by being less reliant on its logo and creating a brand with more meaning.

How will Ministry of Sound communicate this brand image? Unlike competitors, Ministry of Sound have a rich heritage of music and they believe this is where their competitive advantage lies, as Kershaw believes  “Unlike Bose or Sonos, we can actually demonstrate our passion for music on a weekly basis, whether that’s booking DJs in a club or signing acts like London Grammar to our label.”

With all the brand and celebrity tie-ups, heritage and a rich cultural background may be offering a refreshing and attractive brand offering. Find our more about this story.

 2) Advertising has hit the highest growth in four years and it owes it all to the rise of mobile and digital

The rise of advertising spend is undoubtedly attributed by the growth of digital and this shows no sign of slowing with spend predicted to hit the £20bn barrier by 2016.

2014's growth was driven by internet advertising and the rise of mobile advertising. Following this is proven increase of ad spend on steaming services; with broadcast video on demand spend up 15.5%.  

The influx of digital marketing means good news for the economy and future marketers, with the creation of 70,000 advertising-related jobs predicted over the next five years. It is definitely a good time to be in marketing as a profession. For full facts, figures and predictions of the research, please view Marketing Weeks article.

3) Ed Miliband gains a fandom...

So, this perhaps is not marketing news as such but it is, indeed, a great lesson for the future of marketing and how youth influence can often be a forgotten and/or a misunderstood audience in political campaigns. One of the front runners in the 2015 general election had acquired a very unusual fanbase on social media and it comes in the form of teenage girls. Harnessing social media, a teenage "fandom" has emerged in support of Labour leader, Ed Miliband. The starter of the Milifandom stated that it was intended as “a movement against the distorted media portrayal of Ed” and to remind politicians that they cannot ignore the power of youth influence. Despite the majority of the fandom not being able to vote, Labour have recruited volunteers and more importantly, gained frequent positive press coverage. The lesson to learn? Do not misunderstand the power of targeting young audiences and most important, ensure interaction and understanding. Take a light hearted look at what the #Milifandom have created. 

4) Buxton lead the way for TFL opening their stations to further brands for renaming

Having temporarily renamed Canada Water station to Buxton Water to celebrate its sponsorship of the London Marathon at the weekend, TfL has revealed it will open up all its stations to potential brand takeovers as part of its plans to generate £3.45bn in non-fare revenue over the next decade. 

The signage at Canada Water station was switched to "Buxton Water" station for a 24-hour period and as part of the new move, brands will only be able to rename stations for up to 48 hours. Director of Commercial Development stated that there has been a great deal of interest over the past two years from a variety of brands, from film studios to food makers.

The move is part of TFL's drive to up non-ticket revenues, as part of this, February TfL announced a £43.75m seven-year partnership with Santander to refresh London’s Cycle Hire scheme through Santander Cycles, while it also made notonthehighstreet.com the first ever sponsor of its “Baby on Board” badges for pregnant commuters in January.

However, as exciting as this seems, brands will have to fulfil rigid criteria to qualify for renaming a tube station which is based upon audience relevenace and whether renaming a tube stop actually ties in with a significant event within the area. Read more about this story.

5) CEO Andrew Harrison announces departure following ensuring the success of Costa and Premier Inn 

Harrison is moving to take on the challenge of chairmanship of popular home furnishing retailer Dunelm in early 2016. Harrison has an impressive employment history as he joined Whitbread from easyjet in 2010 and has overseen a period of rapid expansion of its store and hotel estate and more importantly, marked growth in share price.

Humbly, Harrison has credited the brands success down to the groups 45,000 team members who go the extra mile every day to ensure delivery of a consistent and positive customer service experience to all of the 25 million customers who visit Whitbread's outlets every month.

We wish Andrew Harrison every success in his future move, find out more about Harrisons departure from Whitbread.