The New Marketer

My name is Alex Skilbeck, I am currently a student studying at Cardiff University. I have a passion for marketing so decided to start a blog to show others what has been catching my eye in this area, in the form of new trends, advertising campaigns and much more. I hope you enjoy...

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Other Marketing Campaigns that have caught my eye

The World’s First Really Live Pig Feed

It was an innovative form of marketing to increase the awareness of ‘Compassion in World Farming’, an animal welfare charity that aims to end all factory farming practices (ciwf.org.uk), by using digital media created by Elvis Communications (elviscommunications.com).

This marketing incorporated, personalization, social media, mobile technology and the use of an app, to make people aware of an ethical problem in a fun, creative way.

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New Innovative Marketing Strategies

Marketing planning is key for a company to succeed. In today’s competitive business environment it is easy for a company to lose out by not looking into the future and making an effective plan. 

Marketing strategy involves the creation of a marketing mix that helps a firm achieve objectives in their target market. An innovative or creative strategy positions a company in a way that is unique and hard to replicate by other businesses (Slater et al). 

Looking at the emerging trends and combining these with the changing consumer needs, a number of key emerging strategies can be thought up by a company.  

Using Social Media to take a viewer right onto the TV screen 

86% of mobile customers use their mobile devices while watching TV, and 24% of an individuals time is spent on their device is on social media. (Mobley)

With this in mind, it would be a missed opportunity for a company not to incorporate the two forms of marketing; the indirect traditional form of TV adverts, with the new form of marketing on social media.

A firm could combine these by personalizing their adverts. Consumers would be able to place information on a social media platform such as a tweet, or a picture on Instagram from the comfort of their own living room and then have this placed onto a TV advert that is playing live. 

Looking at this strategy in term of Evian

Evian currently uses actors and celebrities to feature in their “evianbabyandme” adverts, which stays the same every time. Instead TV viewers could tweet in a photo of themselves as an Evian baby and the first viewers to tweet whilst the advert is playing could feature. This changes the advert every time and adds a personalization and interactive aspect that is becoming more appealing to viewers.  

Becoming part of the Red Bull Family

Red Bull doesn’t just promote a brand, it promotes a lifestyle. Many of their loyal fans share the common interest of adrenaline sports. Red Bulls Facebook page has over 45million “likes” - this is a huge fan base for Red Bull to take advantage of. Red Bull should create an online community where individuals can share pictures and videos of themselves taking part in adrenaline sports as well as forums for individuals to give each other advice and socialize. This could be in the form of an “App” that would make the community easily accessible to the mobile consumer, who uses digital technology such as smartphones. Consumers are more likely to download the App if they gain something in return and this will be in the form of a reward scheme. When individuals buy a drink from Red Bull, the App will scan a QR code adding loyalty points to a bank. Fundamentally, only those who have the App can benefit from the reward scheme. 

Comments are often made on the Facebook videos, with individuals expressing their wish to try out the stunts, and this is when the points take effect. Discounts and deals will be available to those with enough points, so they can take part in a Red Bull stunt and gain “wings” for themselves. Individuals are then able to share their video on the online community as well as other social media platforms. This will have two effects; it will encourage those in the community to download the App and also to buy Red Bull. Secondly, shared videos on social media sites will be seen by those that would not typically search for Red Bull and therefore will increase brand awareness. 

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Video from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koXke2IrRmg

Nintendo Wii - Appealing to the Grey Market

In 2010, they used Helen Mirren to be the face of their advertising campaign as they thought “her glamorous look and svelte figure would attract the over 50’s to the game” (Dailytech)

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Changing Consumer Needs - Grey Market

The grey market is growing in size due to increasing life expectancy, and the ageing of the baby boomers, who were born after World War Two. It is expected that by 2015, three in ten people will be aged over 55, with the over 65’s being the fastest growing demographic. (mintel) Over 50’s hold 60% of the UK’s savings are account for 40% of consumer demand in the UK, spending £200 billion per year. (ActiveAge)

This target market has been overlooked in the past, but marketers are beginning to realise the potential. In general they have large disposable incomes as they no longer have the financial burden of children or a mortgage, so their buying potential is huge. (Rosier) 

One of the main mistakes that marketers make is classing them as one large group with similar wants and needs and this couldn’t be further from the truth, they cover two decades and within this there are many differences including geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral. (targetmarketingmag)

The Baby Boomers are especially interested in living longer, healthier lifestyles; firms have been responding to this and aiming products at this market that traditionally would not have been marketed at. 

Nintendo have done this using their product the ‘Wii’, “This is an example of extending a product line into a completely new market successfully. Usually the response from companies is that if you target one group you exclude another, but Nintendo has done it very smartly.” Marketing agency 20plus30 (ActiveAge)

In 2010, they used Helen Mirren to be the face of their advertising campaign as they thought “her glamorous look and svelte figure would attract the over 50’s to the game” (Dailytech)

However, marketers shouldn’t just be creating traditional marketing campaigns using TV adverts and Catalogues. 49% of over 65’s are on social media (mintel) as well as this the 45-54 year age bracket is the fastest growing demographic on Facebook and Google+ (fastcompany)

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Changing Consumer Needs - The Mobile Consumer

Alongside the development of technology we have seen the emergence of the mobile consumer. 72% of UK consumers now own a smartphone, (mintel) and this is expected to rise over the next decade. Following a leap in mobile web traffic, it is expected that mobile will overtake desktop usage by 2015 (Forbes), due to consumers expecting the convenience of having information ‘on the go’.

With this increase in mobile usage mobile providers are also trying to improve consumers ability to connect via 3G, 4G and even wireless hotspots. 3G coverage in the UK was 79.7% in 2013 up from 77.3% in 2012 whilst 4G is expected to be accessible to 98% of the population by 2017 (OfCom)

The ‘App’ market has also boomed with over 500,000 apps available for the iPhone, and 150,000 available for Android (Rosier P.91); many of which are social media based. 

With this growth in mobile web traffic, which is due to continue, it is crucial that marketers use mobile marketing as a strategy. This has shown to be true thus far as corporate use of mobile sites grew by 210% in the last 12 months (Rosier p.92). 

Not only have organisations increased their presence on mobile sites, they have also increased their spending on mobile marketing, which is expected to reach $20 billion by 2015 (emarketer). 42% of mobile users currently click on a mobile advertisement at least once a week. This shows how affective this form of marketing can be, as it leads to immediate information and incentives being provided to the consumer who can then make a rapid decision. 

Marketers have also started to create online websites that are suitable for mobile devices; when loading a website on your phone there is often the option to redirect to another page that has been specially designed for the device you are on. 

Even though many consumers click on mobile advertisements, research carried out by Nielson shows that only 14% of people are happy to provide personal information in order to receive custom advertisements, which match their interests. However, when there is the possibility of receiving free content, 39% of consumers in the UK were happy to receive advertisements (Nielsen), which marketers should bare in mind when coming up with strategies to increase their data collection.

Starbucks has been particularly effective in using online marketing, having come up with a compatible website and effective mobile app, that not only provides information about the company, but can also be used to purchase products.

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Video From:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHtvDA0W34I&spfreload=10

Stratos Jump

Their most successful piece of content marketing is arguably the Record breaking Stratos jump. The world record-breaking jump had over 8 million viewings on the live stream, breaking the Youtube record (FT). It also provided vital scientific research “The aim is to improve the safety for space professionals as well as potential space tourist” (redbullstratos). News teams across the globe elected to play the video for free, leading to the brand awareness reaching further than its usual target audience. It was also discussed on numerous social media platforms and 3.1 million tweets were made relating to the jump (marketingmagazine). The event was not your typical marketing stunt nor did it feel like one; it focused on the jump, not the brand. One could only tell it was sponsored by Red Bull due to the jumpsuit logo. However, the Red Bull ethos and brand message was still clear throughout, “Red Bull piqued consumers’ emotion in a manner that mirrored the brand message and image, it evoked feelings of freedom and triumph and made people believe anything is possible.” (Gunelius, 2012)

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Photo: http://www.redbull.com/uk/en

Case Study - Red Bull

Red Bull “It gives you wings” (red bull a) will be a phrase you have heard numerous times, whether you were watching an F1 Grand Prix race, admiring athletes diving of cliffs in the world series, or drinking one of the 40 billion cans of Red Bull that have been sold (red bull b).  

Red Bull has progressed its content marketing to such a degree that it is now hard to remember their primary product, it is now “a media company that happens to sell energy drinks” (b2bmarketinginsider.com)

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Trend 2 : Content Marketing

Content Marketing 

  With 71% of organisations planning to increase spending on content marketing in 2014, and 70% of customers admitting to feeling closer to a company due to its content, its safe to say that content marketing is an important marketing trend (dmnews). It dates back to 1895 when John Deere launched a customer magazine called ‘The furrow’(contentmarketinginstitute a), but its importance is becoming more prevalent to marketers.

So what is content marketing? 

“Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action” Joe Pulizzi, Content Marketing Institute. (contentmarketinginstitute b)

Research shows that consumers are listening less to interruption marketing, with 70% of readers preferring to learn about companies via their content versus an ad. With 27 million pieces of content uploaded daily (marketingprofs), Kessler noted “That the biggest threat to content marketing is content marketing” as “we are all about to be buried in crap” (velocitypartners)

It is more expensive for a company to gain a new customer compared to retaining an existing one, therefore organisations are now concerned with trying to keep customers happy and maintaining a long-term relationship, rather than one quick sale. Content marketing is effective as it provides valuable and relevant information and doesn’t pressure the customer into a purchase. 

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Video from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQcVllWpwGs&list=UUzcYyo1s0WiFBzoCpQw4p_Q&spfreload=10

Case Study :- Evian Babies

Evian created an extremely successful Viral marketing campaign  in 2009 using the “Evian Babies”, which they have continued to build on. The initial video was exclusive to Youtube:  It generated 130million views in over 80million countries and 7million shares on social media (DanoneGroup.twitter) The campaigns success was down to it being funny, lighthearted and personable. The personalization aspect of the campaign appealed to many with millions of tweets being made of people having turned themselves into an ‘Evian Baby’.   

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Viral Marketing - The Internet Version of Word of Mouth Marketing

Viral marketing comes under the umbrella of online marketing. It involves making a video, e-mail or other marketing event that customers will seek out or pass along to friends. (Rosier b) Viral marketing is cost effective as the campaign is spread from consumer to consumer costing the firm very little money, as it needs less advertising. Customers obtained from this type of marketing are likely to be more loyal as they have received the information from friends, family and coworkers whose opinion they trust, leading to a more profitable client. (Pescher et al). 

However, viral marketing can go wrong, Guy Levine explains “campaigns have to be well thought out- get it wrong and it can go ‘anti-viral’, creating a reputation management nightmare’ (themarketer).

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Trend 1: Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing is a key emerging trend, marketers are starting to directly target individuals, often on a one to one basis. It is one of the fastest growing forms of marketing according to Direct Marketing Association (DMA), US companies spent almost $163 billion on Direct and Digital marketing in 2012. (CMOcouncil) Direct Marketing is becoming more internet based, an estimated $31billion was spent on online advertising in 2013. Internet marketing expenditures and internet driven sales are expected to grow at 11% a year over the next 5 years. (Rosier P.75). With this in mind, it is important that companies up with the change in order to remain successful. Direct marketing comes in different forms including direct mail marketing, telemarketing as well as fastest growing online marketing.