GRABBING attention online and in print is not easy in today's mass media market but Geoff Ramm thinks he has the answer. The marketing guru shared his wisdom with East Yorkshire's corporate audience at earlier today at the KC Stadium as part of Humber Business Week.
In a refreshingly jargon-free talk, called "OMG Marketing", he urged firms to try being different instead of following the herd. The answer, he believes, is only saying something if there is something to say.
He said: "Is your ambition to do something that can be remembered not just in 30 days, not just in 30 months, but in 30 years? Then I wish you every ounce of success.
"The stuff that really annoys me is the average stuff. If you've got something to say, say it! If you've got nothing to say, shut up."
Geoff took a packed audience at the KC Stadium's Circle Restaurant on a whistle-stop tour of what he believes are the world's greatest marketing campaigns. They range from the obvious – the Milk Tray campaign featuring an action hero delivering chocolate, and viral tweets for the birth of royal baby Prince George – to the extremely unusual.
One of his favourites is a woman in South Africa who has written an inspirational quote on a board outside her petrol station, every day for 40 years.
He said: "There's people who would start this and after a while just take it down. But she's done 40 years of it. She gets an awful lot of press and media coverage.
"It's not just a sign in a petrol station – everything you do should have leverage attached to it. It's amazing, it's inspirational."
The speaker urged businesses to create a marketing wall, sticking up excellent advertising examples and clever campaigns. He also encouraged those wanting to get ahead to identify big opportunities for viral campaigns, like Hull's City's FA Cup final and the royal birth.
He said: "You need something different to stand out from the crowd that gets you ahead of the rest."
