In the business world of today, most positions require some overlap of duties. It’s important in order for you to succeed that you understand your role in the larger picture.
As a marketer, it’s your job to allow as many people as possible to learn about your products and services. Granted, segmentation will play a key role in who you target, but you shouldn’t make it hard for certain people to understand the value of what you are trying to sell.
In marketing we’re always looking for the next best thing, however, up until now marketers have spent a lot of time working with visual realms, forgetting that humans have five senses. This is evident in how many agencies have teams of two, an art director and a copywriter. This is fine for print but the future of advertising will be much different.
In our world of audio branding we see agencies of the future having three person teams to work out ideas for marketing products and services. These teams will be similar to what we’re used to, don’t want to confuse creative minds, and they’ll be able to handle many new mediums that will be part of the future of advertising.
So what will the new creative team look like? The newly created teams will consist of an art director, a copywriter/script writer, and an expert in sensory branding.
The future of marketing will depend on agencies to engage their audiences in a new way and by intriguing the senses you’ll do just that.
With the recent success of the Kony 2012 video you might be wondering how your brand can go ‘viral’.
The problem with trying to go viral is that it usually doesn’t work when you try. In the case of Kony 2012 it was a well scripted story and it centered on an idea that most of us care about – the safety of children. However, this is problem number 1 with most ‘viral’ videos we generally don’t care about brands but we do care about the stories they tell.
Our challenge as marketers is to find something people care about and then create a story that is memorable.
Have you ever tried to pick the fastest line at the grocery store only to find out that you picked the wrong line? I had this happen to me this weekend but it didn’t have to be that way.
Essentially, the delay in my line was because of a price problem with a bag of peaches. Happens all the time, right?
The story goes like this. the cashier calls the produce section to get the price which we found was $1.99. Yup, one twoonie. This took all of about five minutes. No big deal except the other lines is flying right now.
The problem occurred when the cashier tried to input the product. No go, can’t find the product listed at that price. Okay, so we need to override the price in the system. Ah, but we need a manger to do that! Another three or four minutes.
I understand that $2 is a chunk of change when multiplied by thousands but I truly believe that those who work for you will generally try to do good for the company. Given the right training and power they will make good decisions. So, Mangers, CEOs and big cigars please give your line people some power and the training to use it wisely. Your customers will be happier for it.
Advertising is a tough game. One that requires thought and creative insights. But once you have that what do you do?
If you are a small business owner it’s important for you to remember that communicating consistently about your brand is important. You must stick to your advertising plans over a period of time. Only then can you measure your results with some certainty.
Now I still want you to go out and measure your results right from the beginning. The key is not to change your message every second day. It’s confusing and makes it a lot harder for you to asses if your program is working.
So, stick with it. Okay?
So the Patriots are set to take on the Giants in this year’s Superbowl showdown. As a marketer you’re more excited about the ads.
Just like the players on the field the game brings out the best and the worst in creative people. Most of the time it’s great creative work and other times the strategy just breaks under pressure.
The Superbowl advertising spots are among the most expensive you will ever encounter as a marketer. To me it almost seems like a city hosting the Olympic games. They pay a ton of money for recognition but they never seem to make a profit as the cost is too high.
That being said some companies have started teasers to get the ball rolling early and for less money. This seems like a great approach that should help the overall campaign reach closer to a positive return on investment.
I really like the pre-campaign done by Volks Wagon (seen below). I’m looking forward to seeing what the endgame is.
What are you expecting from the ads this year at the Superbowl?
We live in a world where corporations look for opportunities to up-sell to us at any moment. You buy a pizza, would you like a brownie with that? Well of course I would but not if you’re going to add to my bill.
I don’t know what the numbers are but wouldn’t it be easier to sell the whole package? I’m sure you can make a pretty profit off that too. And you’ll make a customer happy.
Here’s a fine example, all inclusive vacations. People love them because they don’t need to worry about anything. Apple products come ready to use out of the box as well. Do you see Apple wishing for more clients?
If you’re a marketer or business owner start finding ways to put it all in one package – no add ons please!
One of the most important tasks of a marketing professional or business owner is determining what position in the market you are going to take. Once you have decided what position you want the other tough task is to get that position into your prospect’s mind.
A large challenges you have is that your competition may want to occupy that sames space. First, this is a mistake – be different.
The whole point of a position is so that your customers have a place to put you in their mind. Humans naturally love to categorize things. Without a place in your prospect’s mind you’re just another business and most likely a struggling one at best. However, this challenge seems to have perplexed many organizations today since many new products and services are simply me-too renditions of the leader in that position.
That being said it is possible to create your own space even in a crowded marketplace.
Energizer® vs. Duracell®
The competition between these two brands has been around since the beginning of time. Okay, maybe not that long, but these two behemoths have been battling it out for a while.
Here’s how I see each organization as it is positioned.
In my opinion, feel free to argue this in the comments, Energizer® takes the long lasting route while Duracell® takes the reliable route. They achieve this by effectively communicating to their target audience via mass media advertising and other marketing initiatives.
What I want you to notice is that each brand is going after essentially the same group of customers with basically the same message – our batteries are the best and longest lasting.
Do you notice the subtle difference?
Both brands have created a position that makes it possible for each to attack the same market but be different enough that they don’t encroach on each others space.
Positioning is a tough task but every brand, company and organization must find its own place. The benifits far outweigh the work you have to put in to find and create the right space in your prospect’s mind.
Ah…The classic marketing question. I think many managers miss this one through no fault of anyone. It’s such a basic question that we tend to overlook it. The cause and effect that this question has on a marketing department is substantial so it’s worth the effort to take a look at it.
For example, back a few years ago, actually decades ago, the rail companies were the big shots. They held a sizable monopoly over the business world and it’s end was nowhere to be seen. Gradually this was decreased to today’s numbers which is next to nothing. What happened? Read on »
In Canada it’s election day and to be honest I’m actually excited. As a young business owner you might find that surprising.
As a young voter I sit in a demographic that is typically apathetic. Maybe, it’s the social media. Maybe, it’s the fact that Rick Mercer was in town. I’m not really sure what it is but this year there seems to be tremendous enthusiasm about voting.
But, why am I excited? Well, it sure isn’t the politicians. Nobody has been inspirational for a long time. I can only look to the US and President Obama. However, what I am most anxious about is the turnout.
Since a lot of my passion comes from marketing I’m only concerned about action. So, I will do my part and sure hope you will too because at the end of the day when I check the news It will be great to see Canada doing what is does best – supporting democracy.