Kevin Harrington // marketing // blog

From the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) events guide:

Shape the Agenda – Marketing and the Olympics THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED

I want to know if this is the seminar or the Olympics!

And from the same source:

Innovation in times of uncertainty – THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED

and:

Celebration evening – celebrating Cumbria becoming a branch – THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED

and to finish up on another Olympic themed, cancelled event:

Ensuring South West England secures a lasting legacy from the 2012 Games. THIS EVENT HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED

It appears that the Daily Telegraph shares my enthusiasm for the Google G1 phone.

Click here to go to my first post about this.

Yamaha West London

It’s funny when you spot a brand. We all tend to make assumptions based on our experiences.

When I saw Yamaha West London I immediately thought it was a keyboard or guitar shop. I then wondered why there was an MOT sign on the front of the building. It turned out it was a motorbike retailer.

Full marks to Yamaha for the consistent presentation of their brand.

How many consumer brands have product ranges as diverse as guitars and motorbikes? Loads when you start thinking about it: Hitachi (nuclear power stations to clock radios); GE; Sony. I think the difference with Yamaha is that they hold such strong brand positions with consumers in vastly different sectors.

BTW … West London Yamaha can be found at 138 Twickenham Road, Hanworth, Middlesex, TW13 6HD. www.westlondonyamaha.co.uk

Logopedics phoniatrics vocology

There are times when mergers don’t deliver just benefits. When a Swedish and a British magazine/journal merged they ended up with a title with this snappy name: Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology. Imagine trying to order that in WH Smith on a busy Saturday morning!

Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology is the official journal of the British Voice Association. The Journal is an amalgamation of the former journals Scandinavian Journal of Logopedics & Phoniatrics and VOICE.

The intention is to cover topics related to speech, language and voice pathology as well as to normal voice function in its different aspects. It works on a non-profit basis. The Journal covers a wide range of topics, including: phonation and laryngeal physiology; speech and language development; voice disorders; clinical measurements of speech, language and voice; professional voice including singing, bilingualism; cleft lip and palate; dyslexia; fluency disorders; neurolinguistics and psycholinguistics, aphasia; motor speech disorders; voice rehabilitation of laryngectomees; augmentative and alternative communication; acoustics; dysphagia.

MAD Academy

We all know that word of mouth (WOM) is very powerful marketing. Therefore it was very pleasing to see the comment below on Surrey Mums about one of my wife’s businesses.

“I’ve recently started taking my little girl to MAD (music and Dance) academy, and it’s brilliant!

“The first group we attended consisted of the children dancing like penguins and horses, playing drums and tambourines, singing songs about cars and frogs and my daughter shouting “more, more, more!” and now we’re nearly half way through the term and it hasn’t lost its magic.

“It’s a fantastic activity for the very energetic to the very shy as they’re not pressured into doing anything they don’t want to do. I would highly recommend a MAD session to anyone who wants to put a smile on their little ones face.

“To find a class near you please visit www.madacademy.com“

Petrol was down to 99.9p per litre in Reading, Berkshire today. Fabulous. Just two days ago it was 105.9p. It cost me £3 less to fill the tank.

We are all happy enough to moan at the speed prices increase. So I’m giving praise to BP for the rapid deflation.

p.s. the petrol station mentioned is the BP Connect one at the Three Tuns crossroads, Wokingham Road, Reading, Berkshire.

“Kevin Harrington, research and development director at Sodexo Pass – the company behind SayShopping vouchers and SayMotivation Pass – looks to the future of vouchers and gift cards.” – Sales Promotion.

Read the full feature.

Originally printed in Sales Promotion magazine September 2008 issue.