Media & Marketing:One of Britain's most acclaimed strategists, David Magliano will share his experiences of winning the 2012 Olympics bid for London last year with 300 of Ireland's top marketers when he talks at the Marketing Institute (MII) conference in Dublin next Thursday.
Magliano was appointed by chairman Lord Coe as director of marketing for London 2012 Olympics and to present the bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Before that, he helped start Go low-cost airline and was in charge of marketing at EasyJet.
He is the only person to be named UK marketer of the year twice, in 1999 and 2005. The following year he was awarded an MBE. For the Olympics bid, Magliano first had to win public support in the UK and then present a convincing case to the IOC.
Magliano's strategy in motivating fellow Britons was based on creating awareness and communicating their plans.
British prime minister Tony Blair and footballer David Beckham were hired to talk up the pitch. But a different tack than normal was taken to impress the IOC.
Rather than simply promote what London could offer Olympians, the proposals to the IOC honed in on environmental issues and the paralympics. The other cities which made bids were New York, Moscow, Madrid and the hot favourite from the start, Paris.
The IOC had to make a final decision between Paris and London.
The French called on the president Jacques Chirac and footballer Zinedine Zidane to trump up support for their bid. London won the final ballot in Singapore by 54 votes to 50.
The challenge now facing London is to ensure that the infrastructure and commercial requirements are in place for 2012. Magliano is on the books of the London Speaker Bureau (LSB), whose Irish representative is event organiser Mary Menton.
Magliano's fee to address next week's conference is £7,500 (€11,154) plus expenses.
Other LSB speakers include former England rugby coach, Sir Clive Woodward and economist and author of Ireland and the Global Question Michael O'Sullivan.
The MII chose Understand your evolving customer as the conference theme after they had asked members to list the topics they regarded as the most relevant. David Brain, president and chief executive of, Edelman Europe, will also address the gathering.
Local speakers will include Anne Heraty, founder of recruitment group CPL Resources and last year's winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and Paddy Power, director of communications, Paddy Power bookmaker.
Spirited move
Pernod Ricard has approached UK ad agencies about its Jameson Irish whiskey, currently handled by Manchester-based BDH\TBWA.
The most recent Jameson ads feature musical performances from tap dancers, a dreadlocked harpist and an elderly Japanese drummer. Research by Mintel predicts that UK sales of whiskey will drop at an annual rate of 9 per cent over the next four years. Meanwhile, McConnells has held on to the Cork Dry Gin ad account after a contest with The Hive.
Bank mission
Royal Bank of Scotland is reviewing the advertising for Ulster Bank and First Active. Ogilvy & Mather and the incumbent, Chemistry, confirmed they intend to pitch. The review is brokered by Charlie Carpenter at creative brief in London.
The Irish Heritage Trust is inviting agencies to develop a brand image, marketing and communications strategy. The trust intends to launch a website and develop publications, merchandising and property signage.
Star rising
The Irish Daily Star increased its share among the red tops last year by recording a jump from 34.7 per cent in 2006 to 37.1 per cent for this January, the latest ABC figures show.
Managing director Paul Cooke said the Irish Daily Star Sunday was up by 9 per cent year on year, with an average of 64,425 sales last month. Launched three years ago, the Sunday paper now sells 30 per cent more copies than the Sunday Mirror and 69 per cent more than the Sunday People.
Valuing brands
The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) is seeking branding experts to help develop an International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) for monetary brand valuation.
Peter O'Reilly of the NSAI plans to form a branding group from Ireland to help develop initial proposals to present at the first international meeting in Berlin in March.
The ISO project is due to be finalised by 2011.
Rugby high jinks
With most of the nation's eyes focused on the Ireland-England RBS Six Nations rugby action at Croke Park this weekend, it is no surprise that 02, with branding on both team shirts, is eager to capitalise on its good fortune with some novel off-field gimmicks.
Rival mobile operator 3 indulged in some notable guerilla marketing before the Ireland-France match a fortnight ago, when 45,000 bishop-style paper hats were handed out to fans on the streets. 3 also organised for a branded plane to fly over the stadium.
Not be outdone this weekend, 02 has hired 12 acrobats - eight rugby players, a referee and three cheerleaders - for a series of bungee rugby games to be played 20m above the water at Dublin's Docklands tomorrow and Saturday lunchtime.
