Last night, 8 pupils from my Higher Business Management class and I attended a Business Master Class hosted by the East Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce. The guest speaker was Graeme Lindsay, one of Scotland's leading marketing experts with nearly 20 years of experience. His CV contains companies liked Tennents, Scottish Courage and Glenmorangie and he led the global marketing activity for brands such as Glenmorangie, Ardbeg and Glen Moray. Recently he has been working as the Marketing Director for Whyte & Mackay.

The first part of his talk covered how he had helped relaunch Glenmorangie. This was a whisky which had no discernible difference from it's competitors and having conducted thorough research, it was decided to aim it at specifically at two target markets - the luxury end of the market and women. The idea to aim it at these markets inspired all the packaging and promotion that Glenmorangie did. Promotions moved from the traditional man in a kilt tasting whisky to talking about the taste and emotion fo whisky, utilising a female master blender. Advertising became engaging, premium, impactful and always focused on the luxury element of the product. The website was updated - it changed completely and got people talking again. Displays of the product moved from the idea of cramming as much in as possible to the complete opposite - focusing on a "less is more" idea. Displays of the product played on the idea of scarcity with individual bottles carefully displayed. Public relations events changed style as well, moving to cocktail parties of style and allure, attended by both men and women.

Obviously there was a cost to all this but with the new luxury branding, Glenmorangie could charge higher prices and increase their profit margin which increased the bottom line. High end hotels and clubs were now stocking the product and charging high amounts which further strengthened Glenmorangie's position.

Some interesting marketing points which Graeme Lindsay made about launching or relaunching a product:

1. A well defined positioning will lead to stronger communicaton and ideas that cut through.
2. Go back in time to the foundations and heritage of your business to "get" your positioning/identity.
3. It's better to ACT yourself into a new way of thinking (than THINK yourself into a way of acting) Court controversy in creating interesting PR angles.
4. Polarise opinion - don't try and and please ALL of your target consumers. Be prepared to sacrifice.
5. Steal ideas from other sectors.
6. Identify industry conventions and then challenge them.
7. In generating innovative ideas, be chaotic, emotional and random. Be meticulous and disciplined in execution.
8. Refuse to be constrained by challenges and restrictions. Tackle them head on and turn into opportunities.
9. It's not enough to get digital. Companies and products have to get "SOCIAL" - use all social networking opportunities available.

It was a really interesting evening and hopefully gave some of the pupils a greater insight into one of the main units we study in Higher Business Management. For some, it may even impact on future career plans!