Posts tagged marketing

December 2, 2011

Insightful and invaluable advice from Jon Steel.

Source: http://invisibleinkdigital.com

Title: “7 Points On Planning by Jon Steel of WPP” by Tom E

Be useful. The real value of a planner is problem solving and coming up with simple solutions. Cleverness is simply a means to an end.
Bring out the best in other people. Act as a catalyst for others by providing the conditions for informed creative thought.
Be a linchpin, not only between people but also between brands and the audience they connect with.
Have a deep understanding of human motivations and instincts.
Have an experience of real life. Get out of the office to experience the real world and understand the people you want to experience.
Create a working timetable both within and outside the office to best generate ideas and insights.
Whether analogue or digital, the main task of any planner is understanding basic human communication.

Filed under planning advertising business marketing advice points

23 notes

October 17, 2011

Consumer Packaged Goods: Gender Targeting & The Power of Color in Marketing

In the world of marketing/branding “gender targeting” is not a new concept. Visually, men and women are divided by color. Think pink. Think black. The “Diet” category has, in the past, been more targeted towards women, however, the last few years have seen more products within this category shifting towards including men. Dark colors like Black are being used to lure men in.

Example 1

Dr. Pepper 10

Tagline: ”It’s not for women”

Demographic: 16-25 Male

The tagline does not beat around the bush, but the brand took things further by using a gunmetal gray can with illustrated bullet holes.

Example 2

Coke Zero

In 2006 Coke Zero was launched, it was a product created for “calorie-conscious” men, who may have been embarrassed about diet products. Black was used in the packaging to add some attitude, pride and power.

Example 3

Kotex U Brand of Tampons

Despite being a product for women, Kotex is not new to “thinking outside of the box” (pun intended). This is the brand that used a red flower, which looked like a spot of blood, on the front of their previously-white package. More recently, Kotex uses black boxes which I must say, are pretty cool looking. Why the black? Girlfriends/wives were asking their significant others to pick up their tampons from the grocery store; the black spares the men embarrassing looks. Really?

Colors are all around you, keep an eye out on personal hygiene products such as Nivea, Dove & L’Oreal, these big brands are flooding the markets and aisles with “man-friendly” darker products.

Filed under marketing CPG Gender products Color brands packaging deisgn

10 notes

October 7, 2011

The Consequences of the "Like" Button: Brands on Facebook

Do you find yourself hesitating before clicking on Facebook’s “Like” button? You are not alone.

Brands on Facebook look for:

Social Media Fans
Brand Advocates

Facebook Users “Like” because:

Young Consumers- “Like” brands as a form of expression/identity.
Older Consumers- “Like” brands with the hope that there will be a value-added reward.

The Sad Stats:

54% of FB users expect brands to bombard them with messages or ads.
45% of FB users don’t want to give brands access to their profile information.
31% of FB users don’t want to push content from a Brand into their Friends’ news feeds.

Therefore, brand connections on Facebook are diminishing. The explosion of Social Media has brought with it so many positive aspects, such as, people are able to make connections on multiple platforms. However, invasion of privacy has become a concern which is causing people to build up barriers between themselves and Brands.

Consumers are beginning to feel overwhelmed with all the information that springs up on their screens, which begs the question, where should brands draw the line?

Do you have any great examples of a brand on Facebook, which has managed to inform, reward and surprise you without being a burden to your social status?

I’m still thinking of one.

Filed under facebook marketing brands like dislike stats social media consumers privacy

13 notes

October 6, 2011

Freemiums vs. Premiums: The Battle Of Music Streaming.

With its recent entry in America, Spotify has turned up heat in the competition between online music streaming companies.

Here’s a brief breakdown about the top 3 contenders.

Rdio: “a new social music service” offers free on-demand streaming music, no registration, no credit cards, no downloads and NO ADS!

Spotify: “your new music collection” Registered members have access to all music for free but must deal with both audio & visual ads.

Rhapsody: “a digital music service” 14 day free trial, after that its $10 a month.

The services between these 3 are pretty much the same, the costs may be different but it all comes down to the interaction with the service and their partnered social networks. The free trials or “Freemiums” are a way to get you to like their service, hopefully A LOT so that you wont mind upgrading to a premium account in the not-so-distant-future.

Does this ring any bells? Think about Pandora, Hulu, Linkedin and so on. Apparently our irritation with ads should provoke us to pay for a premium, which may also give us access to even more music choices. Are consumers taking this bait?

I personally use Pandora- the free version, I’m tolerating the ads due to the fact that I’m a marketer, I need to know whats out there and how brands are making use of different platforms. I recently joined Spotify and I love it! I love the fact that I can connect to my FB friends on a whole other level, we’re no longer poking or leaving useless posts on each others walls. With Spotify, I have access to my friends’ playlists, I get to learn about new artists that they love and I can share what I’m listening to, with the click of a button.

Will this category become too crowded? Will we get so tired of seeing each others playlists on our FB streams?

Over time these music streaming companies will have to choose between the users that don’t make the most of their “Freemiums” or the ones that use their free accounts to the max. The fence sitters (not using their accounts) are more likely become customers over time- more marketing efforts need to be used towards this group.

Filed under music radio spotify rdio rhapsody streaming online music marketing