Long gone are the days when a consumers relied on “their” newspaper and “their” news station to provide them with all of the daily happenings he or she needed to know. In our era of instant gratification, we want information as fast as possible, with the source as a secondary issue.
A recent study by the Pew Research Center reveals what we already thought to be true: the leads in social media news differ greatly from those in the mainstream press. What is interesting, however, is the difference between social medias. Twitter appeals more to those looking for a technology update, while blogs, as well as the mainstream news, focus more on politics and government.
Today’s consumer is used to, and many times prefers, utilizing a variety of sources, Twitter, Facebook, CNN, etc. based on the interest of that particular person on the news on a particular subject. More often than not, a person will consult multiple news sources to ensure that it is indeed valid.
While the consumer may not feel affiliated with a certain news source, he or she is much more attached to the messenger. For example, if Katie Couric switched from CBS to a rival station, odds are the viewer would still see Couric as a valuable information source and rely on her, regardless of location.
Everyone knows that at Burger King, you can “Have It Your Way” way when it comes to the flame-broiled goodness that is your hamburger. The King and his team of merry men have worked extremely hard to instill this message in the minds of beef eaters and fast food lovers everywhere, but for all that work, there was always one part missing.
Sure, you could get your burger without mayo, or with 4 extra patties of meat, or with 2.5 slices of smaller tomatoes instead of 1, but there was always something missing, it just never really was “your” burger.
Well, BK and the King have changed that, at least they did for a little bit (in Brazil), by embarking on a unique little campaign where they show customers what ‘Made to Order’ really means.
As someone who isn’t a huge fast food eater/supporter, even I thought this a unique way of personalizing the dining experience and building some additional brand affinity. You can already see from the video that camera phones were a-snappin’ which inevitably means Twitter posts and Facebook status updates that probably generated some positive chatter about the brand.
All in all, a unique and quirky idea, that showed a true connection of the dots when it comes to the idea of “Have It Your Way.” Not sure how much longevity it has after the initial novelty would wear off, but it’s still a rather cool and smart approach on a one-off level.
Artists giving away their music via free downloads on the internet isn’t anything new: Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have both jumped head first into experimenting with this. On February 14th, 2010, Blink 182 singer/guitarist Tom DeLong’s side project Angels and Airwaves (AVA) released their new album, available for free download. Appropriately enough, it’s entitled ‘LOVE’.
The band funded the whole thing themselves, spending about $500,000, sources say. If you are willing to do that, you are committed to your music no matter how good or bad people may think it is.
The whole concept of the ‘free’ download and releasing the album digitally only is more of a goodwill gesture towards the fans, with the hope of unlocking new revenue streams by enticing fans to pay for new content. In AVA’s case, this comes in the form of fan club membership ($20.85 every 3 months). By joining you get an assortment of early access passes to soundchecks, exclusive video and blog content, etc.
As a guy who still buys CDs and vinyl, I’m amazed to see how the music world is changing. Some bands and labels get it and are diversifying their ‘brands’ to cater to how music fans consume their product now, as well as trying to identify what that product will be in the future. If giving away your stuff for free is any indication, the product certainly may not be music. The reality is, even though listeners can donate after they download albums like this, I think most artists realize this isn’t really going to happen, or if it does, that it won’t amount to much.
Regardless of whether you like music or the bands who are giving stuff away, this is still an interesting situation, and since no one’s quite figured out the ideal model for selling modern music yet, you can bet that fun stuff is ahead.
Whether you are a curious consumer and want to see what people are saying about the brands you use in your daily life, or you work for a brand and want to see what people first think of when they see your logo, Brandtags.net is where you want to go.
This site is great. Simple premise. You go to the site, see a logo randomly, enter into a box one word (the first word that comes to mind) and then move on. You can either choose to keep entering words about new brands the site throws at you, or you can go see what other users tagged a given brand with.
Using it is fun, but reading what are the most popular tags about a brand is even more fun and pretty darn insightful. You can also play a game where you guess what a brand is based on the tags (and NO, you don’t get a choice of logos, just the tags!). You can even add other brands if you want to submit them to see how people think of them and tag them.
The site refers to itself as “A collective experiment in brand perception.” Great stuff and very insightful stuff for those interested in seeing consumer perceptions.
…and the internet killed pretty much everything else.
A recent study conducted by the Chief Marketing Officer Council found that 64% of consumers find that promotional offers account for the bulk of the email and direct mail they receive and that only 41% consider them must-read brand communications. Of the opt-outs, 46% cite relevancy as the primary reason they no longer wish to receive that brand’s messaging. With inbox growth expected to double or triple within the next five years, how can you stay ahead of the curve (or at a minimum catch up)?
The first and last rule of email marketing: Stay Relevant
What do you know about your database? If the answer is “not much” then you have some work to do. Email marketing has evolved to a place where you no longer need to position your brand and message to the lowest common denominator. There’s no longer a need to simply say everything to everyone (and there hasn’t been for a while now) when you can say something to someone. Technology has enabled us to deliver extremely relevant information based on behavioral, demographic and psychographic information. And, most importantly, consumer choice.
Instead of inundating inboxes with branded “stuff” develop your online relationships and truly engage your consumers with meaningful, beneficial and segmented content. Imagine what happens when you take your email marketing to the next level. Increases in open rates and clicks, decreases in opt-outs and spam… what more could you ask for? The added value of this approach not only deepens the relationships you have with your regular users, but has the potential to re-energize and engage your less active users.
PowerPoint at its finest
So where’s the ROI? With the right acquisition and retention programs you build scale. With scale and proper motivation your database is no longer a faceless group of people referred to only in opens and clicks, rather, a powerful resource to leverage at a moment’s notice.
As our world becomes ever more connected with our mobile devices, it’s inevitable that the needs and desires of advertisers to reach consumers effectively through them will follow suit.
What’s going to be most interesting is how marketers in the mobile medium play nice with users. I can only hope that intrusive ads for things I neither want or need don’t begin somehow floating across the screen of my iPhone out of nowhere, or that video/sound doesn’t just start blaring from my speakers, generating looks of disgust from all those around me.
To get consumers to truly engage with your brand and build their feeling of value for what it does for them, disrupting their mobile experience certainly isn’t going to yield success. It’s only going to make them turn off their phone and tune out your brand. Check out this article in Advertising Age by Freddie Laker for an awesome and appreciated viewpoint on this topic.
So it comes as no surprise when I say that our economy has been on a continual rollercoaster ride the last year-plus. What you may not know is that due to economic woes, expense accounts at many a business have had to adjust accordingly. To all those fat-cat employees used to dining well on steak lunches/dinners on their companies dime, this has hit their stomachs and it’s hit them hard. For the over-the-top restaurants that have traditionally catered to this business crowd, profits are down. In this very symbiotic relationship, both groups of these poor folk have been suffering day in and day out, until they could see each other again and bask in the glory of tremendously overpriced food, paid for by someone else of course. Well, the day has come when they may get to see each other again. Kinda.
In an effort to generate some unique digital engagement with the Maloney & Porcelli brand (a Manhattan-based restaurant) and ultimately attempt to build business, we see the entrance of expenseasteak.com.
The tool is simple and markets the restaurant in a very tongue-in-cheek way. The concept is simple, albeit a little fraudulent in its approach, but heck, for those who really want that steak lunch and may have forgot about Maloney & Porcelli, maybe it’ll get them in the door even if they can’t expense it.
What, you say you’ve spent $3,000 on a meal at Maloney and Porcelli? Oh, no problem at all. Just go enter your check amount into expenseasteak.com and out will pop your expense receipts for things like $1,600 on toner and $1,000 on air-in-can dusters….. No one in accounting at your company will question that right????
Bottom line, the tool is truly a fun and unique way to get people to engage with and think about the Maloney & Porcelli brand, and I love it. Will it translate to getting butts into the seats? Only time will tell. For all those non-New York residents like myself, I’m just having fun putting in some numbers and seeing what comes out. It’s got me thinking steak though and if I were going to NYC anytime soon, that would be a good thing for Maloney and Porcelli, but certainly not for my checking account based on the $48 per entree lunch prices.
Beginning in childhood, we hang onto habits and traditions that are familiar and comfortable. Following a routine puts us most at ease, so the well-worn path permeates into our entire life, including the products and services we purchase.
