Sally Durcan

Sally Durcan is an Australian with 18 years marketing and communication experience working across the marketing mix including PR, promotions, communications, campaign development, planning & buying, production, event management and strategy.

She has worked with brands such as Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, MTV International, BSkyB, Harvey Goldsmith Entertainment, Channel 7 Australia, Who Dares Wins Productions, Time Life and more.

Over the last decade she has worked on many exciting and large scale projects such as; MTVNE on Stay’n Alive project, helping raise the awareness of the affects and effects of AIDS to 18-24 year olds, cumulating in reaching over 1 billion people worldwide.
Developing and managing small, medium and big dares for an Australian family entertainment program, Who Dares Win.
Marketing new film releases for the likes of Wallace & Gromit, Jackass Number 2, The Mummy Returns 2, Hustle and Flow, Just Like Heaven, American Pie, Love Actually, Charlotte Web and Flushed Away.

In 2006, Sally co-founded Hotcow, an experiential agency that believes in using entertainment to engage consumers and stand out. Over the past few years she has worked for leading brands such as LG mobile phone, Honey Monster Foods, Powwownow, Nurofen, Silentnight Beds, Thomson Airlines, Aer Lingeus, United Biscuits, Bottlegreen Drinks.

‘Normal’ brands fail to engage with Women

By , Thursday, 26 April 2012, 4:33 pm Be the first to comment

Too many brands following the ‘norm’ are missing out on effective communication with women. Women are earning, consuming, and influencing spending at a greater rate than ever before. They buy for themselves, for the family and are also known as ‘impulse’ buyers. Women are in control of 85% of the household wallet, which is a fact not to be ignored. Despite this, many brands are lacking insight into why and how women buy. Whilst those that might already hold the insight, are failing to translate it into persuasive strategies that female consumers are likely to respond to. Read more »

The Bubble Gum Effect

By , Wednesday, 11 April 2012, 12:53 pm Be the first to comment

The whole essence of the marketing model today is that brands should focus on adding value to consumers and offering them remarkable experiences as opposed to focusing on simply attracting consumers attention to your brand. It is all about how you engage with your audience and sustain their attention over a period of time by making your message ‘sticky’ and building credibility and trust to ensure the best ‘return on engagement’. But what really makes a message stick? Read more »

The Ultimate Experiential Debate

By , Monday, 19 March 2012, 12:50 pm Be the first to comment

We had an interesting debate with RPM and Itch, at the International Confex, discussing what will be happening to the experiential sector this year and further. Event Magazine editor Jeremy King raised important questions regarding whether experiential marketing would ever replace above the line marketing and if the Olympics would leave a lasting legacy for our industry. Read more »

Enhance your Brand Butlering skills

By , Wednesday, 29 February 2012, 2:42 pm Be the first to comment

The current mobile revolution is shifting consumers expectations for more functionality and usability. In the modern marketing arena, it is no longer enough for brands to solely focus on mass produced above-the-line communication. Consumers demand a more individualised and transparent communication with brands, and companies are now required to go above and beyond the usual marketing remit, acting as a ‘butler’ to meet their needs and expectations. Read more »

Consumer Engagement – The ultimate debate

By , Monday, 13 February 2012, 3:45 pm Be the first to comment

Much has been discussed with regards to the meaning of brand engagement. A recent article entitled ‘The great brand engagement myth’, featured in Marketing Magazine, made us think and re-think about the definition of consumer engagement and why we come across so many different interpretations. As Alan Mitchell’s article highlights, “every brand wants to engage better with its customers, so why should the ‘e’ word put marketers’ backs up?” Read more »

Using storytelling to sell your brand

By , Tuesday, 24 January 2012, 5:17 pm Be the first to comment

Storytelling has always played an important role in our everyday life. Passed on through word of mouth, stories have the power to relate to different people in different ways, through various touch-points, which inspire an individualised connection through feelings and emotions. By understanding how your brand emotionally resonates with consumers, you can engage people with great content and bring your brand to life with a tale that consumers can personally relate to. Read more »

How to engage consumers in an experiential live marketing environment

By , Wednesday, 14 December 2011, 10:40 am Be the first to comment

In today’s cluttered marketing landscape, the key to a successful live brand experience is the ability to invent new ways for people to interact with your brand. Creating a live marketing campaign is not just about coming up with the next best idea; the success of a campaign relies on distinctive elements of creativity, coupled with sensory cues to help consumers identify with your brand. Read more »

How can an experience take your sampling campaign further than product trial?

By , Thursday, 24 November 2011, 12:09 pm Be the first to comment

Sampling requires implicit knowledge of your objectives so you can weight up your efforts according to your brand needs. At Hotcow, we have much experience in the creation of innovative, eye-catching and most importantly successful sampling campaigns. A recent research by BDRC Continental, reiterates our support for this experiential marketing activity, proving that field marketing is the most successful platform for appealing to customers, when integrated with other elements of experiential marketing. Read more »

How buying behaviour has changed

By , Wednesday, 16 November 2011, 5:13 pm 1 Comment

Remarkable real life shopping experiences are craved more and more these days, due to the growth of impersonal online retail. As we discuss in our blog post How buying behaviour has changed, consumers always look to develop a feeling of belonging with brands, through innovations to simplify their lives and value for money. It is clear that developing the relevant solutions to suit consumer needs is therefore of vital importance. Read more »

Are consumers paying attention to your brand?

By , Tuesday, 8 November 2011, 4:29 pm Be the first to comment

More and more consumers are savvy and very familiar with most advertising tactics. In addition, within the current cluttered media landscape, consumers are bombarded with more marketing messages than ever before. Therefore, our question is: how are you drawing consumer’s attention to your brand?

Read more »