Tips when looking for sponsorship in China

An insight by Michael MacRitchie You are organizing a big event. It can be an a charity fundraiser or a rock festival or a film project. To organize any event or produce any entertainment you require sponsorship money. And where will the money come from? It comes mostly from brands and corporate who are interested in aligning with the entertainment …

‘weighing up if a celebrity is right for your brand’ value

An insight by Michael MacRitchie It is not uncommon to switch on the television and be confronted by celebrity after celebrity propounding the virtues of some brand or other. Celebrity advertising has always been popular and a fast growing economy attracts celebrities by the dozen in this space. People are easily influenced and impressed by celebrities, and consider it a …

A Taste for the High Life

An insight by Andrew Howie Coming from a family of talented actors, it is little surprise that Charlie Sheen has managed to forge such a successful career for himself. Charlie, born Carlos Irwin Estevez in 1965, has Platoon, Wall Street and Major League to his credit as well as several movies of varying success. His most recently Academy Award nomination …

3 Steps for an E-commerce platform in China

Our strategic partner, the Mailman Group offers brands and organizations a way forward in setting up ecommerce platforms in China. Tackling China’s online eccomerce market can be a daunting experience.  It’s our job at Mailman to ensure this transition is smooth and ultimately successful.  Our recent experience tells us the immediate opportunities available through major Chinese online malls such as …

Controversial humour from Ricky Gervais @ the Golden Globes

The 68th annual Golden Globes veered into Cluedo territory last night as the event’s host went missing for nearly an hour. Ricky Gervais‘s absence from the stage, following an opening monologue that drew more gasps than laughs, led excited observers to speculate that the British comic may have been collared backstage and fired … or worse. Gervais opened the live …

Chinese models for global brands

I picked up this article from Frances Wang a freelance journalist based in Shanghai. The complete article can be found here and also below…. SHANGHAI, China – The Chinese market – with China surpassing Japan as the world’s second largest economic power in August – has become an important Asian market for big foreign companies. Cosmetics makers, for example, are …

Luxury Brands & Celebrities:

An insight by Michael MacRitchie Celebrity endorsement of luxury fashion is hardly a new phenomenon, as it has been around for several centuries. Charles Worth, the man who invented haute couture in Paris in the nineteenth century, understood the importance of linking celebrities to brands, even before this was recognized as an important marketing communications tool. To promote his fashion house …

Blame it on the Happy Meal

An opinion piece by Andrew Howie We continue to read stories in the press about obesity. Adults are getting fatter. Kids are getting fatter. Even our domesticated pets are getting fatter. But in typical new age fashion, none of us are prepared to wear the blame ourselves but rather we need to deflect that blame on to others. And in …

Avion Tequila & Entourage.

An insight by Michael MacRitchie I’ve been a fan of the HBO show ‘Entourage’ since it debuted more than 5 years ago. It’s a quick fix instant gratification show which offers a view into how things might be in Hollywood…. There are thirteen episodes per year and next year is the last season and there apparently will only be 6 …

The Halo Effect

An insight by Andrew Howie A worldly gentleman but he name of Edward Thorndike was the first person to support the theory all the way back in 1920. The way he supported it was quite deep and complicated. It a modern day marketing sense, the Halo effect is far more straight forward. It speaks to how the positive features of …

Effective use of Celebrity endorsement – Part 4

An insight by Andrew Howie Head – Andy Murray Each year as Wimbledon comes around, the blow torch gets applied to Andy Murray and the whole of Great Britain pins their hopes on his success. He has managed to get as high in the professional rankings as number 2 in the world, but currently is sitting at 4th. He has …

US Sports lead with value….sucess follows

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. A. Einstein (Picked up this article from the Mailmangroup where CEO Andrew Collins talks about international sports who are successfully breaking into China market and the game plan for doing so) Someone had it right very early – the digital age is now living proof of how a …

Sony – Product Testing Institute

Following on from recent discussions about the move away from the traditional TVC towards branded content, a great new campaign has launched for Sony Ericsson. The company was formed in 2001 when Sony brought their technology experience to the table, partnering it with Ericsson’s communications experience. The result was a company capable of building phones that could do much more …

Beer Wars

As the days start getting longer and the temperatures begin to rise, summer begins to signal its intents. And with the arrival of summer comes a new series of beer commercials. Within the Australian domestic market, there are three big players. Carlton, VB and Tooheys New. All three go punch for punch each year trying to out-do each other with …

TV sponsorship on the rise on Chinese TV

An insight by Michael MacRitchie CHINA’S UGLY BETTY “UGLY WUDI” China — A raft of new Chinese television advertising restrictions have made sponsorship and product placement a strong alternative route to reaching a ballooning consumer market, according to an independent analysts’ report released recently. The series of new TV ad rules put in place in the first quarter of 2010 …