MRM’s Katie Jordan questions whether the financial services are missing a trick when it comes to advertising through social media.

Last Sunday, after flicking through the channels with my housemates trying to decide what was better to watch – the Hollyoaks or Come Dine with Me omnibus (oh, the joyous choices)  –my housemates and I got very bored and started to play the “favourites” game. For those of you who have Sky and therefore probably don’t have to lower yourselves to this form of entertainment, it basically consists of going round the group asking what each other’s favourite chocolate, drink, children’s TV programme of all time etc. is.

Thrilling, I know.

Anyway, the point of this story is that one of the questions which arose was “favourite brand” to which my answer was Innocent.

So, why Innocent? Well, I believe that they are the most innovative brand out there at the minute – especially when it comes to pushing the boundaries when advertising their products. Indeed, their recent tweet and eat campaign is an excellent example of the creative ways in which you can use new social media channels such as Twitter to advertise.  For those of you who are not familiar with the campaign, Innocent has invited people to tweet using the hashtag #tweetandeat. The more people that tweet, the more money they offer off their Innocent veg pots, until eventually, the pots become free.

In fact, looking around there are numerous examples whereby companies have thought outside the box when it comes to advertising using social media. Swear Jar is another great example of a company using Twitter to raise both awareness and money – this time for charity.  Here, Swear Jar is linked to your Twitter account and monitors the amount you swear each week. At the end of each week, it provides you with a link that asks you to pay £1 to charity (UNICEF famine appeal) for each time you swore. F*cking brilliant!

However – it doesn’t just stop at Twitter. Let’s not forgot about the other social media channels such as YouTube. Here, even the most obscure brands can excel, such as Tipp-Ex’s advert which gained great coverage both online and in print for its innovative way to grab consumer’s attention. For those of you who don’t know it, viewers of the YouTube clip titled ‘NSFW. A Hunter shoots a bear!’ are given a choice at the end of the video – they can either make the hunter shoot the bear or let him go.  After making your choice, you are then commanded to type in anything you want, to which they will respond.

It seems consumers are no longer satisfied with merely being told what brand they should buy but instead, they look for a brand they can actively engage with.

Now, I know with the recent announcement that the FSA will be moderating Twitter ads within the financial services industry, financial services may be feeling rather cautious when it comes to advertising using social media networks but, with other industries jumping leaps and bounds in front and reaping the benefits, surely it is time for them to both learn and take inspiration from these examples and pick up the pace?

Last night I was sitting down to watch the next instalment of The Only Way Is Essex (please don’t judge me) and what began to annoy me, as with most TV shows these days, was the vast amount of adverts that seemed to dominate the show. After the fourth injury lawyer asking me if I’d had an accident at work, I gave up with watching (see – I’m not that avid a fan) and switched on my laptop to check my emails, Facebook and Twitter etc… only to be bombarded by more infuriating adverts. This got me thinking….

With companies today increasingly realising new avenues to explore when it comes to advertising, it can safely be assumed that adverts today are near impossible to avoid.  However, with such a mass of adverts coming at us from all angles, how do companies make their product/advert stand out from the crowd? I believe, now more than ever, companies are being forced constantly to take risks in order to attract maximum attention. But are these risks worth it?

Looking within the financial services industry, perhaps the biggest risk takers at the present seem to come from the “irritating” comparison websites. Perhaps the most notorious within this market is the Go Compare campaign which sees Gio Compario, a fictional Italian tenor, singing an irksome rendition of George M Cohan’s “Over There”.  However, despite the constant backlash of bad press since its launch in 2009, including being named by consumers as the most irritating ad for the second year running in Marketing’s annual poll at the end of 2010, it continues to air. Why?

Perhaps it is due to the fact that reports claim profits increased by 35% in 2010 and GoCompare has recently been named the High Growth Business of the Year at the inaugural Private Business awards. Coincidence? I think not.

In fact, this percentage increase in 2010 outdoes Compare The Market’s 16% increase, which in contrast was voted Britain’s “most liked” television advert in 2010 with its campaign following Aleksandr “simples” Orlov, founder of Comparethemeerkat.com (although, again, this marketing campaign could be argued to be yet another risky campaign – who would have thought meerkats could become so popular?!)

So is any press in fact good press?

Aviva’s latest ad campaign could argue this point with its latest campaign throwing up controversy not for its actual content but, instead, its bad placement. Here, complaints began to flood in as many argued that the new series of Downton Abbey on ITV1 had been “ruined” by their ads. However, this controversy has encouraged hundreds of people to tweet and talk about Aviva, while the press are now constantly updating us on its latest developments – most recently how Aviva is “toning down” its adverts due to public pressure. Would I have noticed these adverts without the controversy behind it? Possibly not.

So, is this a sign of Aviva’s marketing team not thinking through their advertising strategy correctly or perhaps, as I believe is most likely, a very clever PR strategy designed to make them stand apart from their competitors and be noticed by the consumer?

As much as I hate to consider the prospect of Gio Compario continuing to sing at me for years to come, I believe bad press is sometimes a positive step towards increased awareness – so long as you have an effective PR team to plan a strategy that will turn any negative feedback into profit for the business.  Indeed, I hate to admit it, but if I ever decide the risk of being injured on the way to work is too high, I now know the name of another company I could turn to.

Now, when I first saw this shop front on Western Road, Brighton, I have to confess I chuckled at the overkill – the denouement of “We Supply Meat” for what was clearly building to a gripping marketing cliff hanger cracked me up.

What tickled me most was that the people behind it had thought the name too ambiguous and had adopted belt, braces and roll upon roll of ‘tit-tape’ to ensure they got their message across to passing trade in a manner that would reduce subtlety to a sobbing wreck at the side of the butcher’s slab.

Leaving aside the fact that they have borrowed heavily, and frankly not that successfully, from a mobile phone company for the brand (incidentally, also managing to incorporate a lamb chop into the logo – you’ve got to hand it to our meat obsessed friends) it’s worth examining the lengths to which they’ve gone to inform their customers and then proceed to mentally slap them on the back for their efforts:  in addition to the non-nuanced name they list the meats they supply in clear, bold print across the shop front, then produce pictures beneath that list of some of the meat options (and eggs – the only thing that lets them down to my mind in an otherwise flawless exercise in clarity) available. Then comes the killer blow to banish any last mote of doubt left lurking as to what you might find over the threshold of Meat4You, they go right out and say it in foot high font: “We supply meat”.

So, to recap: Meat4You supply a variety of meat-based products (and eggs, ahem).

The style might not be to everyone’s taste – nor the wares to the Veggies and Pescies out there – but there’s a best practice lesson screaming out from this shop front for certain areas of financial services marketing. Let’s hear it for Meat 4 You and consign nuance and subtlety to the entrails bin of messaging.

Here are my top ‘Financial Definitions’ for those weird and wacky phrases explained in layman’s terms. Admittedly they are probably second nature to most of you by now but take a step back and try to view expressions like ‘Dead Cat Bounce’ from a newbie’s point of view (FYI – my name is Cat…)

Bloodletting – Thankfully, this has nothing to do with the original meaning – a medieval medical practice involving bleeding out a patient. Instead it refers to a period of severe investing losses.

Bullish stance – When a bull attacks, he gouges upwards with his horns – he goes from low down to high up (and in doing so makes a killing!) So, in the same way, a bullish investor is one who thinks that a particular sector, or indeed the whole market is about to rise – go from low to high.

Bearish stance – This is the opposite of bullish. When a bear attacks he attacks from high up (standing on his hind legs) and then drops down (on all fours). So, a bearish investor is one who thinks that a particular sector, or the whole market is about to fall – go from high to low.

CIVETS – This is an acronym for “Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa”. Investors may think of this as a second-generation of emerging economies, as these countries generally have fast-rising and young populations, relatively well-established financial infrastructure, internal stability and a pathway towards significant economic growth and potential co-leadership in their economic spheres. Not to be confused with the animal the civet – a small, lithe-bodied, mostly arboreal mammal native to the tropics of Africa and Asia

Dead Cat Bounce – A personal favourite meaning a temporary recovery in the market from a prolonged decline, after which the market continues to fall. Comes from the phrase – even a dead cat will bounce if dropped from high enough(!)

Long – No, this doesn’t refer to something that is time-consuming and dull, it’s all about buying a security (eg stock, currency etc) with the expectation that it will rise in value and therefore make you money.

Quantitative Easing – The best definition for QE can be seen here. Nothing else could do it justice.

Trading platform – Think of iTunes: you can pick and choose various songs from a large selection. Similarly on a trading platform you can pick and choose various funds from a large selection. Simples!

Let me know if there are any phrases out there that tickle you (or indeed plunge you into a financial meltdown) by commenting below or indeed by tweeting me @Cat_MRM.

Yet with a click of a mouse or the tap of a screen, enter the virtual world and it is clear to all that the Tech Geek is King. To celebrate all things weird and whizzkid, we declare this week’s Friday Links blog an ‘Ode to the Nerds of the Net’.

On your journey to the centre of the digital earth, why not travel in style with your very own Geek-mobile? The less ostentatious amongst us might prefer an old banger and an artistic pile of dirt – rolling up at Comic Con won’t have quite the same impact we know, but at least there will be spare change for a human washing machine to keep the dust at bay.

Perhaps you’re so much of a Tech Geek that an addiction to Facebook makes a baby mop look like too much effort? If you’re not too busy stalking friends or ‘liking’ videos of your nephew spewing during choir practice (what a champ!) then maybe this incredibly stat-tastic Facebook infograph is more up your street.

Now don’t get us wrong, here at MRM we have been absorbed all week by our new iPhones and we willingly admit to a bit of smartphone geekiness, but even we almost spilt our Apple water when we checked out this particularly fanatic group of boffins. To quote one inked-up T Mobile user’s back, “OMFG” indeed.

However, nothing amused us more than this heroic pensioner who decided to take on a gang/ posse/ gaggle/ troupe of burglars (what is the collective noun for burglars?) anyway, she won! Who would have thought the sweet little old lady could wield her handbag in such a ferocious manner?! However, if you’re less inclined to get involved in actual street crime then perhaps this iPhone app is for you. It’s just what we’ve all been waiting for, the chance to adopt a tramp and keep him on the straight and narrow so that he doesn’t turn to theft…

Debrett’s eat your heart out, it’s all about your Twitter listing in Covent Garden so we were chuffed to see MRM’s 140-character ‘candy’ of choice @hwallop make the ‘Top 100’ Twitter list. Good on you, Sir!

To sooth your assaulted senses, take a look at this rather beautiful and calming urbagram animation of London buses. As Anil Bawa-Cavia says “the city’s extensive bus network is used to sketch an animated portrait of the living city, it’s wonderful.” We couldn’t agree more.

Ever wondered what your job would be if you lived and worked in the Star Wars universe? What do you mean ‘no’?? Anyway, fancy finding out? Mostly Jedi Knights here at MRM Towers, though there was one Ewok Chief, ahem. No comment.

Well, for this week’s edition of Friday Fun, here’s how that nugget of advice can be taken a little too literally.

Meet ‘Mike the Headless Chicken’, who was able to carry on living a normal chuck’s life for EIGHTEEN MONTHS after the farmer had lopped off his head in preparation for the cooking pot.If you’re the sort of person who believes everything they read on the Internet (like some of us here at MRM Towers), you’ll be amazed at how Mike was apparently able to roam around his pen pecking at grain quite the thing, despite feeling so fowl (groan). His major artery was seemingly untroubled by the trauma, clucky devil (louder groans).

Okay, not impressed by Mike? Know a more amazing character? Well allow us to introduce you to someone who knows who you’re thinking of. A web genie, in fact, who can read your mind.

Think of a character, any character. Dead or alive. Human or animal. Real or fictional. Cartoon or…(uhm, what’s the opposite to a cartoon?). Anyway, now you’re ready to meet Akinator, who will correctly guess who or what you’re thinking about (according to a scientific MRM survey of three tries).

And finally, for those who view time as precious but have lots of time to check the time, here’s Helvetictoc, ‘a time-full tribute to a time-less typeface’. Anyway, it’s high time we were going.

Now where did we leave that nude human clock? I need to set it to no-longer-a-nightmare-in-the morning o’clock…just twiddle the knob at the back here to the right time and…hey, hang about…

Not for us falling into the trap of misinterpreting a harmless tweet now that we’ve had a good night’s sleep…what’s that you say? A photo shoot on Oxford Street has turned into a blood bath with a rampaging gunman? Shurely shome mishtake?

Assuming, snow permitting, you made it home to spend Christmas in the bosom of your family we hope Santa was good to you. If not, you might want to think twice about shlepping half way round the globe, or even around the corner, for a family Christmas next time. Alternatively, bookmark this site. If you’ve been similarly blighted then Ebay is clearly also an option, that is if humiliating your nearest and dearest for having poor taste isn’t your thing. Ahem.