s.mueller

Love the Omnipotent Marketing Strategy?

This post was inspired by an article by Hubertus von Lobenstein about „love“ being THE thing in marketing these days.

Here is how he approached the topic:

So love is the new thing, right? You don´t love your audience? You are doomed. Your brand doesn´t produce enough reasons for your audience to love it? Your brand is doomed. The agency doesn´t produce enough lovable content to be aired in various love channels? The agency is doomed. At least that´s the impression I start to get reading some recent blog posts.To achieve this kind of relationship between a brand and its audience those apostles of love don´t ask the brand community to adjust. No, they are preaching the coming of a revolution. Our learnings, our experience, our tools? All useless when it comes to create the future love relationships. It is a brand new brand world out there that needs to be conquered with brand new thinking and brand new methods. And love is not everything, it seems to be the only thing that can deliver.

Just like not every brand is suitable for Social Media Marketing, creating a very emotional „love“ campaign will not guarantee higher brand awareness, loyalty or sales. You cannot make every brand lovable. But you can easily create a dangerous love bubble. Drawing parallels to human beings and their coping with the love phenomenon is quite helpful in this context. Often there is a huge difference between desire or lust and real love. Statistics show that we do not marry the hottest chick around but the attractive woman who seems to understand us blindly, who fascinates us and with a single smile can dsitract us from a really shitty day.

Many commercials suggest we have to desire that new phone, fragrance or car. But to really love it you have to know it, be familiar with it. Just as human love often needs time to grow, the same goes for brands. Love here can be initiated by desire just like when we find a person very attractive. This would also apply for an iPhone. But to love it, it has to convince me or satisfy my expectations. And here lies the danger. If we are told to love a brand but are disappointed by its qualities we easily get angry. I do not love McDonalds but I appreciate the constant quality and product range along with the often speedy service.
However if I have to wait long until being served I easily get annoyed. I find BMWs highly attractive but I would not say I love them because for that a car would have to proof its qualities in the long run.
What I love? My Samsonite trolley for being so fast, my Nokia for being so reliable and shopping at DM. Why? Because they meet my expectations over and over again. And they take great care that this remains so.

Thus, you can center a campaign around how lovable your brand is, but do make sure that this is not just a lovely bubble you create but that all the expectations you create can be met or even surpassed.
Love is not only a „burning flame“ but also a dangerous word whose usage should be well considered.

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s.mueller

Tune up your presentations

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Special thanks to the author of this presentation for sharing his witty and helpful tips on how to improve everyday powerpoint presentations.

STEAL THIS PRESENTATION!

View more presentations from @JESSEDEE.
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s.mueller

Radio wirkt – auch unbewusst!

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Einer neuen Studie zufolge werden Werbebotschaften im Radio auch unbewusst von unserem Gehirn wahrgenommen. Und nicht nur das, auch soll die Kaufneigung bezüglich der beworbenen Produkte sich als Folge sogar erhöhen. Jedoch nicht immer. Ausschlaggebend dafür, dass eine auch unbewusst wahrgenommene Werbebotschaft sich auch im Kaufverhalten niederschlägt sind laut der Studienreihe attraktive Versprechen bzw. Belohnungen. Nur wenn diese deutlich genug sind und die vom Konsumenten wahrgenommenen Impulse stark emotionalisieren kommt es zu einem Kauf.

Es besteht also durchaus noch Hoffnung für Radiowerbung. Es stellt sich die Frage inwieweit die Ergebnisse sich auf TV übertragen lassen.

Mehr zu diesem Thema in einem aktuellen Artikel der absatzwirtschaft online

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s.mueller

BVDW: 10 Tipps für den Einstieg ins Social Media Marketing

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Die Fachgruppe Social Media des Bundesverbandes Digitale Wirtschaft e.V. hat Einsteigern einen kostenlosen Leitfaden „Messbarer Erfolg im Social Media Marketing / 10 Tipps für den Einstieg“ bereitgestellt.

Und hier kommen Sie schon:

1. Orientieren Sie sich auch im Social Media Marketing an den Grundregeln erfolgreicher Kommunikationsplanung
2. Legen Sie konkrete Zielvorgaben fest
3. Nutzen Sie Targeting
4. Behalten Sie die Bedürfnisse und Wünsche Ihrer Zielgruppe im Blick
5. Beweisen Sie Kreativität
6. Wählen Sie die richtige Art und die richtigen Orte der Ansprache
7. Messen Sie den Kampagnenerfolg und überprüfen Sie mögliche Wechselwirkungen
8. Entscheiden Sie sich für den richtigen Mix in der Erfolgsmessung
9. Achten Sie auf die Erhebung relevanter Daten zur Erfolgsmessung
10. Berücksichtigen Sie die Erfolgsfaktoren von Social Media-Kampagnen

Und hier gehts zum kostenlosen Download auf den Seiten des BVDW:

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s.mueller

Bounty Rap: A fresh breeze in the paper towel industry

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How to promote paper towels?

Well advertising arguments usually revolve around the same old „soaks up more“ or „more tear-resistent.“
As boring or common as these products might seem at first glance, they represent an industry of attractive proft margins and increasing sales. In the U.S. the big players are Procter&Gamble, Kimberly-Clark and of Georgia-Pacific. In Europe these players are accompanied by SCA and Meta Tissue. The European market alone accounts to EUR 8.5 bilion and makes up one fourth of the global market for hygene tissues. In Germany the consumption of such tissues sees a strong growth and accounts to a stunning 13kg – not per household but per capita!

In Europe and supposedly in the U.S. too, the market can basically be split up in two segments: the low-priced products and the premium ones. Prices differ greatly. A premium brand such as Bounty or Zewa can easily cost twice as much as a low-priced ALDI or Wal-Mart version (although often the production facilities they come from are the same. Have a look at the ZIP Code!).

While the cheap products sell by the price, the expensive ones have grown into strong brands that need to be cultivated in order to maintain their position and of course survive the strong competition. I personally love paper towels because you can use them for anything and once used you can simply throw them away. Organizations such as the WWF of course see these products critically as the production not only consumes a lot of cellulose but also a lot of water. But for many consumers convenience still plays the bigger role and this explains why sales for the premium brands remain strong.

Back to the commercial. Bounty (by Procter&Gamble) here took the old approach of enumerating the benefits into a new look. No longer showing household scenes and mothers cleaning up after their children, the ad seems to address children directly. Although the scene shows a class-room, the students to me look like in their 20s. Maybe it is rather a college class-room than a school class-room (although the name of the school „Central High School“ is displayed). It could in fact address college freshmen many of whom are now for the first time confronted with having to clean their own dorm themselves. And this is where paper towels come in handy. Which brand to purchse if you never before bought cleaning utensils? Ah wait there was that fun commercial for Bounty! Yes, this is how it works…

Overall I must admit I like the fresh approach and I am sure the campaign will be worth its spendings.

Here is a helpful article by RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, to get a better insight into the market for paper tissue

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s.mueller

Wieden+Kennedy's Old Spice Case Study

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A great example of a modern campaign which did it all: increased awareness, unbelievable word of mouth, direct interaction with its customers, strong brand loyalty, a huge crowd of brand fans and last but not least a significant increase in sales. Congrats!

Wow, just had a look at their facebook page: Incredible consumer reactions! This thing is going trough the ceiling…

SOM_P&G_old spice

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s.mueller

Digital Replaces the Automobile

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I have been thinking about this for quite some time.
Then via Twitter I came across this Adage article about how the internet or let’s say digital media in general is having a desasterous effect on the auto industry.
Sounds far-fetched? Maybe, but there is truth to it as I will prove.

SOM_Marketingberatung_digital_replacing_auto

THE RISE OF CARS

Beginning in the early 19th century cars began to replace horse and carriage. Slowly but steadily, and as productivity improved and cars became more affordable (think of the Ford Model T), the success of automobiles could not be stopped anymore. Until now. Sure, cars have not yet been replaced by small convenient electric aircraft or such, but they are under pressure. From a medium no one could have imagined it would be a threat..

HOW THE CAR EMPOWERED US

Some 10, 20 or even 40 years ago, a car was the dream of any young man or woman. Why? It is a symbol of freedom, it allows you to move where you want when you want, and thus enables you to communicate in person with people living too far away to walk. It enables you to haul home goods that you bought elsewhere, it takes you to your job interview and it may be the romantic setting on a first date. You had to have a car or you where nobody.

Still the case today, you might say. Well yes, but only to some extent.

WHERE DID ALL THE DRIVERS GO?

The number of young adults who have no driver’s license is decreasing. Just as the article on adage.com nicely illustrates, this is no coincidence but rather a strong tendency away from the car. This does also apply to my personal network. People don’t get their driver’s license because they are unable to drive properly. No, they simply do not need it and save the money for other things. Coming back to the graphic in the adage.com article you should be aware, that in the U.S a driver’s license is very easy to obtain (financially and concerning the test – if this is good like that? Well the auto lobby surely would not want it any other way). To compare: in Germany an auto driver’s license can easily amount to EUR 1000. This would at least partly explain why less and less people get the license. However, for the US and that is the country the adage.com graphic refers to, it is no explanation at all.

Now why would young adults shy away from all the wonderful possibilities a car offers you? Do they no longer have the needs? They do. But they found an easier, more convenient, yet digital way to cover all the things mentione before:

-symbol of freedom
-go where you want when you want
-communicate in person with people living too far away to walk
-haul home goods that you bought elsewhere
-job interview
-setting on a first date
-be someone
-…

HOW THE (MOBILE) INTERNET TOOK OVER

Internet and mobile internet via your cell phone allows you to be free. You can do anything at any time. From shopping for exotic products to watching a UStream livestream of a highschool basketball final.
You can virtually access any point on this planet via Google Maps and billions of photos and videos at your disposal. You want to see how huge the waves in Hawaii are – surely someone has been there and shares his photos, videos and impressions with you. The internet allows you to communicate with anyone in the world – whether you are somewhere in the Bavarian Alps or downtown Manhattan. Skype and other applications allow to even see each other live. You can literally purchase everything online. From a new car to groceries to a new movie – many goods even come with free shipping right to your apartment door. Job interviews or at least first level interviews can easily be undertaken via video conference. No need to drive60 miles just to find out the position is absolutely not your piece of cake. Dating today does no longer take a car to take the girl to the movies or the diner as we know it from the 50s and 60s movies. Instead online dating platforms have become highly successful and even come with a money-back guarantee (now how weird is that?).
And to some it up. While before identification happened via clothes, your car, your peers, this has considerably moved online. Today, teenagers as well as young adult identify themselves by their myspace or facebook profile, the type of cell phone they have and which b(r)ands they favor. As a recent Southpark episode nicely illustrated: if you have no profile and or no friends you barely exist.

Sure, you can also show off your car. But think of young people and how they are searching for their own identity via brands etc. An iPhone is much cheaper than a car, and very often today, a car does not impress as much as an iPhone, the latest apps or how many friends you have on facebook. Another aspect is that we tend to move to highly populated cities. Who needs a car, when you have some 50 different subway lines, another 50 bus lines plus the train system? You often do not even have the possibility to demonstrate your car to your colleagues because many times you do not know where you will be parking the next day (if there is no company parking lot). And lastly: cars cost you money even when they are standing in the garage. In times of economic uncertainties you would rather not invest too much into a car.

You may have realized that I have spoken of different groups of people i.e. potential consumers. Teenagers who are allowed to drive a car much earlier in the US than in Europe and then young adults and adults in general. The latter may still be the more easy-to-handle target group with a fixed value set in their mind and often times strong loyalty to auto brands (and their heritage). But ask the younger generation! Cars have become much more similar in recent years. It is not longer the US brand vs. Japanese brand fight. The market is much more diverse, intertwined and thus confusing for the consumer. Is Subaru American? Jaguar still British or really Indian now? Does the Mini Cooper really have a Toyota engine? And is it true that Japanes cars are built in the U.S. by U.S. workers?
This industry is chaotic.

AND FINALLY: CARS ARE BAD

The car today has lost some of its power. And the world has changed leaving less space for our cars. What I have not yet mentioned is the entire environmental issue. Cars today are considered harmful. They endanger our future and that of our children. New technologies are being demanded by the public. As the world around us has changed so cars have to change to maintain their role in our lives.

THE CONSEQUENCES FOR CARS AND AUTOMAKERS

What does the changed environment mean for automobiles?

-cell phone-like apps for the car
-connecting the digital sphere with the car sphere (colleagues may not see your car on the road, but on social networks)
-hybrid, e-cell, fuel cell and other technologies to take away the negative touch
-alternatives to owning a car, such as car-sharing
-mobility on demand, e.g. via a rental car when you need one
-cars and auto brands have to go online and into Social Media (Don’t loose touch of future target groups!)
-cars have to identify new „reasons why“ to persuade consumer to purchase a car
-brand facets such as sustainability have to be pursued and must be cemented as core brand facets
-auto brands have to make sure their brand can be understood by consumers

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s.mueller

Why do we share what we do and where?

It may seem common to many of us, while to others it is totally nuts: sharing with the world where you are at the moment and what you are doing there. Questions such as „why the hell do you share this info?“ or „who should care about this?“ can be annoying. In many cases these harsh reactions are rooted in a lack of knowledge about social media. Still, there is some fundamental truth to it: what motivates people to do so? And what do we expect from sharing our whereabouts and actions?

Before digging for the answer one should be aware that this phenomenon has escaped the sphere of early innovators and tech addicts. Foursquare is currently seeing some 100,000 new user per week and Twitter is taking over Japan while I write this.

A recent article classified the motivation behind the use of location-based services as follows:

-serendipity and connection
-for the win (of status)
-as a personal history

STATUS
One reason we share our whereabout can easily be compared to why we purchase certain brands. By buying a product, we want to project its image and the values associated with the product to ourselves. If you want to be perceived as sporty, drive a BMW 3-series, if you want to portray the rough country guy who works hard, a pickup truck might be the perfect choice (aside from the fact that you might need a 4×4 for taking it off-road and to pull heavy trailers).
Locations do work in a similar way. You can either be a fan of Ed Hardy (are there still some out there??) by wearing the clothes or alternatively show to the world that you are currently shopping in an Ed Hardy store. Or let it be a Hollister store, a foot locker, the Madison Square Garden or Starbucks. You aim to enrich your personality with the values of a brand or you use the brands or locations to show others how hip you are, how mobile (and thus affluent) you are or how good a taste you have (speaking of art exhibitions, restaurants, designer fashion,…)

In a negative way, you could speak of bragging. Although you need no spoken words… In fact you let the location or the brand speak. Who can complain against that?

COMMUNICATION
The first point mentioned clearly sees serviceas such as Foursquare or Gowalla as a means of communication. Although in fact you do not communicate directly but simply provide to whoever cares the information of where you are at the moment or have been. It is quite weird to think about how communication has changed over centuries. At some point it was common to send written letters around the world. Then came telegraph and telephone. Then we started sending emails and text messages. Then we twittered and somehow managed to press it all into 140 characters. And with Foursquare you basically communicate one single thing: where you are right now.

PERSONAL HISTORY
I somehow disagree on that one. Has anybody ever pulled a Foursquare report telling him where he has been over the time of say the last 4 months? I must say, I do not use Foursquare yet, so I cannot tell. If this does make sense, prove me wrong.

We can argue a lot about whether or not applications such as Foursquare do make sense. But i would say, the answer is already there. If people do use it, get used to it and miss once they cannot use it, then such an application has proven it all. As long as we still have joy in creating more and more information – so be it. Critics already today argue that at some point in time, we will lose control and will no longer be able to process all the data we produce….

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