5 Reasons SMS is THE Marketing Channel for DTC Brands in 2020

https://medium.com/conscious-capitalists/5-reason-sms-is-the-marketing-channel-for-dtc-brands-in-2020-f98cf4f80b0f

The one statistic that was repeated multiple times throughout the article was "95% of text messages are opened within 90 seconds of being sent" - and for good reason. The speed to reach a customer, and access to them on a platform they check regularly yields a massive ROI for the channel. While receiving texts from a store seems borderline too personal, I am signed up to receive texts from a few brands that I frequent. While I do not purchase items every time I receive a message, I do open the messages and browse periodically. When brands send details of flash promotions, I open more regularly.

Why don't more brands use the text messaging model? While I would not want to receive a text from all of the brands that I have subscribed to for email promotions, I do not open most emails from this group of stores at all. The cost of the text messaging marketing system relative to the email marketing platform would be something to consider; even if text message marketing is more expensive, the ROI of sending texts to a select group of loyal customers that opted in seems like it would be higher than sending an email to the entire customer base. 

Another limitation of text message marketing could be the design capacity. Brands might feel weary about the lack of creative elements that could go into a text message compared to an email. While I have seen some brands/companies have engaging, fun texts (like Paperless Post invitations), I am not sure about how companies could inject their brand codes in a text. I have noticed in the texts that I receive from brands, the brands usually use a photo/GIF/animation and then a block of words, as opposed to an email where there is not a limit to how many different elements can be added. 

Despite the limitations, text message marketing is a personalized, rapid channel for communication to loyal customers. 

Recent Changes to Reddit's Advertising Suite

Reddit provides an enormous online social forum for everyday people to share news, discuss hobbies, and rate/review products. The platform has attracted a broad user base, with more than 300 million 'Redditors' regularly visiting. 

Not surprisingly, the platform has become highly attractive to digital marketers looking to acquire customers; someone looking for a coffee machine very often goes to Reddit to hear what coffee lovers prefer. However, Reddit can pose risks to advertisers. First, content can be negative, either generally or with reference to a company's product. For example, if a politically incorrect comment is posted and results in disrespectful exchanges between Redditors, does a Company really want to be advertising alongside? Or, more likely (since moderators can quickly remove insensitive comments), what if Redditors criticize a brand directly? Should a brand be advertising on a page that discredits it? Similarly, some companies may struggle to balance reach and relevance on Reddit. Should a coffee machine manufacturer be advertising on a page about soft drinks just because the page discusses 'beverages'?

This past week, Reddit took significant steps to mitigate these risks and provide a better experience to its advertising customers. Specifically, the Company launched a new tiered ad inventory system, which allows marketers to choose 3 types of advertising reach:

1) Expanded Inventory: Largest reach, least control over brand safety and relevance
2) Standard Inventory: Recommended by Reddit; a balance between reach, relevance, and brand safety
3) Limited inventory: Strict brand safety protocols, including review by an intelligent contextual intelligence system and a 3rd party verification process 

The article below outlines the changes, and provides a link to Reddit's formal announcement. It will be interesting to see how these changes are received, and the extent to which digital marketers use them to hone their campaigns.

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/reddit-offers-stronger-brand-safety-controls-with-tiered-ad-inventory/585789/ 

Facebook's Desperate Attempt to Attract and Hold On To Zoomers

     Recently Facebook announced the launch of Facebook Campus, which offers students a private place to connect with students. After the launch, Twitter blew up with a multitude of Facebook is reinventing itself as Facebook jokes as the social media site goes back to it's roots. This is just another step in Facebook's attempt to reach Gen-Z as the generation interacts less with Facebook itself just as they have become a must target group.

    Over the past couple of years, Facebook has gotten a reputation for attracting an older population (including older millennials). As this spread- zoomers and younger millennials have fled to Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok as their newsfeeds have become taken over by their parents, older relatives, and new parents. Simultaneously, Facebook has become obsessed with its competition- buying Instagram and eventually using that platform to compete with Snapchat through IG Stories. Now with the rise of TikTok (which is not only seeing daily use amongst Zoomers but also has a very long usage time) they're attempting to launch a similar product on IG.This has led them to hold on to Zoomers from an overall perspective but still hasn't convinced younger people to use Facebook Daily. 

    While it seems interesting in theory, I'm not sure that Zoomers will change their minds about Facebook just because they launch Facebook Campus. Facebook needs to go back to the drawing board and understand how Zoomers interact with each other and how they like to spend their time on social media. Some studies have shown that Zoomers mostly use social media to find entertaining content- and Facebook Campus won't be fulfilling that need. Additionally, Facebook's data breaches and multiple scandals helps push away a generation that craves transparency and authenticity. If Facebook really wants to attract Zoomers to their platform they should focus on changing their reputation and branding.

The new Black Friday

Black Friday is one of the biggest marketing strategies of retailers. Often considered the start of the holiday season, it’s attracted families and mobs alike, lining up for hours and fighting over the last hot new toy on the shelf. Black Friday started back in the early 1950s, but in the last few decades it has truly turned into its on holiday of sorts, with certain states even taking the day after Thanksgiving off as an official government holiday.

Over 20% of revenue for retailers takes place during the holiday season, with Black Friday being a major contributor to that figure. As such, marketing campaigns usually go into full force, highlighting deals, major discounts, free shipping, and early bird specials. It’s been so successful as a marketing strategy that it’s received its own backlash. Many have pushed back against this holiday which often means the low-paid retail works need to work the holiday to keep the retailers afloat. Some retailers have even stopped taking part in Black Friday entirely.

But this year will be different. With the pandemic, retailers are reconsidering how to celebrate this retailer holiday. In response, some have decided to do away with Black Friday sales and promotions entirely. Instead, they’ve decided to spread the Black Friday sales over a longer period of time, starting earlier than Nov. Best Buy is an example of this, where they will start their promotions in October, hoping to draw out the season and avoid the large crowds and group gatherings that take place on Black Friday that would contribute to the pandemic and make social distancing virtually impossible. Home Depot was one of the first retailers to announce similar plans.

Another benefit to starting these holiday promotions early is that resources are scarce. Shipping and deliveries are difficult to get and expensive for retailers. The mad shipping rush that happens so close to the holidays puts a strain on retailers. Starting these discounts in October allows them to stretch their resources and take advantage of lower shipping costs that are available when they’re further away from the holidays.

In fact, some retailers have come together to make it official on a new shopping holiday, Oct 10. 10.10, they call it. They’re hoping that this date will be the new promotional day that marks an  earlier holiday shopping season and will help the lagging sales of retailers all over the country. Hopefully it helps.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-13/a-new-shopping-holiday-aims-to-avoid-a-void-under-the-tree?sref=eIlJeYRQ

https://marker.medium.com/the-plot-to-kill-black-friday-43c23e25648f

Complementing B2B Email Marketing Campaigns with Facebook Ads

I’ve been selling Solar Energy Equipment into 18 LATAM countries for 6 years and just recently, thanks to the harshest COVID months, I discovered that complementing an Email Marketing Campaign with a Facebook Ad Campaign, is one of the most effective ways to get replies from cold leads.

On top of a compelling subject line, to get your email opened you must have a familiar name. This is where Facebook Ads comes into play. By blasting your potential customers with “brand building” Facebook Ads, you can double your open rate at a very low cost.

From my experience, the important things to keep in mind are the following:

• Get specific and creative with targeting to you make sure your potential customers see the ad and you keep your costs low.
• Aim for Brand-Building not for Clicks. If you aim for the latter, your marketing team is going to be overwhelmed by the large amount of unqualified leads clicking in your ad.
• Keep consistent branding and messaging in both the ads and emails. This helps your customer connect the dots.

My perception is that B2B companies don’t use Facebook as a primary source of marketing because it is hard to attribute conversions if you don’t get the clicks. In my case, I am sure it is working because fortunately many new customers, who replied to the emails, have said the words: “I saw your ad on Facebook”.

How Pharma Companies Can Leverage Search Insights to Drive HCPs to Unbranded Content

 A recent study has analyzed the different terms and phrases that patients versus healthcare providers (HCPs) tend to search for when looking for oncology information online. The study shows that patients tend to search for more broad topics, with a focus on side effects (e.g., “side effects of radiotherapy”) and general treatment types (e.g., “what is chemotherapy”). HCPs, as expected, tend to search for more specific phrases with a focus on clinical trial data, risks, and product details (e.g., “DNA damage response”, “antibody drug conjugates”).

Additionally, the research shows that the phrases most commonly searched by patients tend to have a much higher search volume than those searched by HCPs, and 93% of the 758 relevant keywords were searched only 100 times or less (out of 51,930 total searches per month).

From my work this summer in pharmaceutical marketing as well as my past work in healthcare consulting, I have seen that pharma companies will often create “unbranded” pages that do not mention anything specific to the product but provide education to patients on getting diagnosed, resources for managing their condition(s), and occasionally some general information on product classes/types (without promoting the company’s specific product). Companies will sometimes create physician education pages as well that aim to educate physicians on the condition (with more details than the patient site) and information on how physicians can help these patients, again with no product promotion.

This study highlights the need for having these separate patient and physician education pages that speak the “language” (i.e., use the terms) and address the topics of the target audience. It also implies that there is an opportunity to target knowledgeable physicians/key opinion leaders in a specific medical field by focusing content (and the specific words in it) in the “middle area” of the long tail (or as the article calls it, the “sweet spot”) of HCP search terms. By targeting this middle zone, companies can ensure that their material shows up in a reasonable number of searches but also shows up to physicians who want information on that specific product class/mechanism of action, thereby maximizing the value of these unbranded HCP pages.

Source: https://pharmaphorum.com/digital/research-reveals-search-engine-habits-of-patients-and-hcps/

TikTok deal - what’s in it for the buyers

 

Oracle and Walmart emerged from a number of previously interested buyers including Microsoft and Twitter. The enterprise giant Oracle worked with Sequoia and General Atlantic to beat Microsoft. Sequoia and General Atlantic are two top investors in the Chinese parent company of TikTok, and are eager to part of the deal. The deal would not be a complete sale to Oracle and Walmart, as TikTok will keep its most valuable algorithm.

Oracle is a leader in the enterprise technology. TikTok’s user base does not overlap with Oracle’s current client base. Oracle is also aiming to expand its presence in cloud infrastructure services. Zoom announced a partnership with Oracle’s cloud arm. In terms of cloud market share, Oracle is well behind Amazon and Microsoft. A deal with TikTok would help Oracle to be a bigger player in the market.  

One potential issue is the impact on the brand association. With a mature enterprise tech company like Oracle owning TikTok, young users might change how they perceive the TikTok brand. Shifts in social media is not uncommon, just like younger users left Facebook to use Snapchat instead. It is not hard to imagine if TikTok users would leave the platform to a new short video platform.

Walmart could use the TikTok brand to boost its e-commerce profile. TikTok users could also be a nice addition to Walmart’s existing user base. Walmart could also use TikTok’s user data to perform targeted advertising.

 

 

References:

https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/19/just-what-would-an-enterprise-company-like-microsoft-or-oracle-do-with-tiktok/

https://thenextweb.com/apps/2020/08/31/report-tiktok-sale-american-buyer-but-there-could-be-issues/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/technology/tiktok-bytedance-deal-walmart-oracle.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/19/technology/trump-oracle-and-tiktok.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

 

 

 

Why TikTok Deal Could Mean Big Growth for Walmart’s Ads Business

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/21/why-tiktok-deal-could-mean-big-growth-for-walmarts-ads-business.html

The article notes that Walmart Media Group "boasts about its "massive scale" and "massive reach" to advertisers" with 1.5 to 2 million customers shopping its (online and/or retail) store every day. However, Walmart hopes that's about to change as TikTok has an estimated audience of 50 million users every day. Assuming the U.S. and China agree on a deal, Walmart's ad business would profit from this new customer base. 

According to Kantar research, Walmart's average shopper is 46 years old, while TikTok's average user is between 18 and 24 years old. Walmart is hoping to advertise to/make customers out of these users since these users are responsible for creating and promoting trends. Marc Anthony, a hair tools company, noted a 60% increase in sales at big box stores through widespread exposure from viral TikToks. Assuming Walmart gets a stake in the company, it will be able to react appropriately (perhaps even proactively) to these trends. With this purchase, Walmart has the opportunity to compete against Facebook, Instagram, etc. in the up-and-coming social commerce business. 

The Case of Dunkin’ and Nano-Influencers

 

The Case of Dunkin’ and Nano-Influencers

America runs on Dunkin', but what does Dunkin' run on? The answer to that question is not a pumpkin spice latte, but nano-influencers.

Nano-influencers are social media users with followers ranging from 1K-10K. They have a smaller follower than mega-influencers who have over 1M followers, so why would firms partner up with them, specifically Dunkin'?

Dunkin’s recent campaign shows that working with nano-influencers can be beneficial in the following ways.

1. They feel authentic.
Since nano-influencers have a smaller number of followers, their followers feel a closer bond to the creators. Think of concert venues of smaller underground bands interacting with their audience as opposed to a Beyonce concert. The smaller crowd makes it easier for nano-influencers to interact with their followers and have higher engagement. In fact, nano-influencers that participated in the sponsored ad campaign had an engagement that was as high as 26.1.%. That’s an impressive number for a cup of latte to inspire.

2. Will work for coffee.
Oftentimes, the nano-influencers are college students or bloggers getting their feet wet in the digital world. So when a big company like Dunkin’ asks for ad participation, they are more likely to agree. The best part is that nano-influencers cost less than mega-influencers to work with. They can also be compensated in different means, and many cosmetic brands take advantage of this as well by sending products to nano-influencers hoping for a product share on their Instagram instead of directly paying them for advertisement. By focusing on nano-influencers, Dunkin’ was able to raise up to $300 million last year from targeting the digital-savvy generation.

3. Rebranding? No problem.
Dunkin’ changed its name from Dunkin’ Donuts, and that reflects its commitment to rebrand itself as the younger, modern brand that serves more than just donuts. Working with nano-influencers paved the way for this as the posts shared mostly focused on Dunkin’s new espresso drinks instead of the sweets they are mostly known for. It also helps to keep the image of Dunkin’ fresh and young by having millennials and gen z be the face of their new drink.

While companies mostly think mega-influencers are the ones to focus on, the Dunkin’ campaign shows that more can be done with less (followers).

Source: https://mediakix.com/blog/dunkin-donuts-nano-influencer-marketing-case-study-instagram/

The Digital Marketing Wave Hits Banking, and Valuations are Skyrocketing

The traditional marketing method for banks was the simplest: literally, the branch on the corner.  It’s how most customers chose their primary bank.  Of course, within any given town or driveable area, there may have been multiple primary banking options, and from that selected set of competitors, consumers would choose their primary bank based on more traditional factors: quality of service, price (meaning APY for savings accounts, APR for credit products, fee structures, etc.) and availability of add-on services like safety deposit boxes, notaries, and free dog treats (really - branches that stopped offering dog treats often see customer attrition).  But the primary means of “discovery” was word of mouth, or driving around town to see what banks were in the area, or using what customers have always used, simply because the location was convenient.  This plays out in terms of switching behavior: it is very unlikely for customers to switch banks unless geographic necessity requires it.  If I move to a new town, and I can’t access free ATMs or get a cashiers check at a moment’s notice, I’ll likely shop around for a new bank.  Otherwise, it’s a fairly sticky product.

However, the digital (and really, the mobile) age has shifted the game.  In a more cashless society, ATMs and physical banking presence are less critical pieces of the banking offering.  The universe of possible options is no longer bounded to what is physically present in my town - I can consider any bank with a digital offering (and often some partnership to allow local cash access).  Plus, the traditional argument against digital banking has always been, “internet-only companies are less secure than a traditional bank;” but with major breaches hitting major players like Capital One and Equifax (thus exposing many consumers’ banking information), some modern challenger companies are built on more secure tech stacks.

For the cohort of companies leading the digital banking wave, they rely primarily on digital marketing to fuel their growth.  Chime, which this week achieved a new post-money valuation of $14.5B, has grown through best-in-class SEO.  Smaller players like Current, N26 and Monzo also don’t have any branches to spread the local word - indeed, their strategy of low fixed cost software-like delivery is predicated upon using fixed-cost savings to deliver better prices to customers.  This raises the importance put on digital marketing to open the upper funnel and draw in customers.  Current has explored an influencer marketing strategy, which has shown some success in attracting younger Gen-Z customers.  N26 has launched a refer-a-friend program, leaning into existing customers’ social networks to juice demand (though they also purchase more tradition OOH placements to complement their digital strategy).  In order to stay relevant, traditional banks will not only need to address their fixed-cost weight on branches, and the quality of their digital offerings - they will need to learn to match new entrants’ digital marketing creativity as well, if they want to stay relevant in the mobile banking era.

Death of local newspapers

It’s not news that the newspaper industry has seen dramatic changes over the years with the development of the internet. Digitization has enabled information to be shared in real time to any audience at low cost. The number of newspaper subscribers and taken a nosedive over the past decade. 

Large national publications with ample financial resources such as the Washington Post and the New York Times have undergone large-scale digital transformation. These publications have managed to raise funds and found ways to transform their business model. They can also leverage the brand recognition and already large subscriber base to build a huge pool of digital audience. 

However, smaller local publications have not braved the digital storm so well. According to a new UNC study, a quarter of all US newspapers have died in the past 15 years. Most of them are local newspapers and journals. As a result, at least 1,800 communities that had local news outlet in 2004 were without one in early 2020. 

Local newspapers are important because they typically report events that are most relevant to the local community that are not picked up by regional or national publications. The most pertinent example to demonstrate the importance of local news is the coronavirus pandemic, during which it is of vital importance to stay updated with the local news. 

To save local newspapers, advocates are pushing for Congress to consider providing government support for local news outlets, such as small business loans and tax credits for journalist employment etc.

References:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/03/local-news-is-dying-and-americans-have-no-idea/585772/

https://www.poynter.org/locally/2020/unc-news-deserts-report-2020/

Going from B2B to D2C in 7 days, the story of a food provider in UK

The pandemic has accelerated several digital transformations in the world by forcing employers from different industries to develop creative ways to keep their operations running. This was also true to food providers, but some of these companies, especially the ones who depend on schools, restaurants and catering, were more severely affected because their customers were all closed.  

Therefore, companies like that had to choose between either shutting down for a few months or reinventing their business model. This was the decision that Brakes, a food provider in UK, had to face during the last Spring. They opted to shift their business from B2B to D2C, including features such as home delivery and click-and-collect instant ordering in a brand new ecommerce website.    

Brakes hired SAP CX to help with the transformation and in an impressive amount of 7 days they had everything ready to start the D2C business. “This is where the pandemic has accelerated what people and projects can do,” said SAP CX Chief Revenue Officer Paula Hansen. “That is what was so exciting about this project, we got the call to start on March 26 after talking about it for a couple days and we just jumped into it and the project went live on March 30.”

One of the success factors that enabled both companies to meet the tight deadline was knowledge and features transferred from the B2B platform, including the ERP, check-out, product catalog and shopping cart. SAP CX also partnered up with an ecommerce agency, KPS, to help deliver the project.

“Companies have to put customer experience at the forefront and evolved with new ways, channels and options to engage,” said Hansen. “There have been clear benefits to those companies who properly invested in the right platform. They were unintentionally prepared to pivot and set themselves apart.” 

The project brought several lessons learned to SAP CX, including a template of what features easily transfer over from a B2B to a D2C platform. “We learned that there are core commerce services that can be templated for future projects,” said Hansen. “The ability to offer that kind of speed allows us to focus on what the customer is doing to differentiate themselves from competitors so we can use our technology to support those initiatives.”

Source: https://marketingland.com/how-a-uk-food-provider-went-from-b2b-to-d2c-in-7-days-281624

Bing vs. Google

Bing vs. Google

With an 87% market share of UK-based users in June 2020, Google Search maintains a commanding lead over the search industry. But should it? Google's closest competitor in the UK search market is Microsoft Bing, which maintained an 8% market share in the same period of time. With a market share 10x that of Bing, is Google's product 10x better? What is driving this enormous difference in usage? Impression.co.uk, a UK digital marketing agency, dug into the differences between the two search engines1. This blog post highlights a couple interesting differences. 

 302 Redirects

At first glance, both Google and Bing appear to offer similar products that utilize search engine optimization algorithms to recommend websites based on page rankings, backlinks, website technical health, mobile friendliness, activity, and a number of other criteria. Impression dug deeper into the search methodology to find a number of technical differences, including one regarding the use of redirects. 

"When implementing permanent redirects in SEO, it's good housekeeping to use 301 redirects as opposed to temporary 302 redirects. The use of 302 redirects can sometimes cause indexing issues with Google, but Bing's system works by automatically interpreting a 302 redirect as a 301 after it has been crawled a few times. 302 redirects are therefore unlikely to cause any problems with Bing. To ensure your site is optimised for both Bing and Google, however, it's important not to use 302 redirects when a permanent redirect is required".

Social Signals

If an article or website is receiving many likes, reposts, or shares on various social media sites, search users may wish to know the underlying buzz that an article is generating. Bing weighs the impact of social signals into its search algorithms, while Google does not. 

"In 2016, Google's Gary Illyes was asked if the search engine incorporates social signals (e.g. consumer-brand interaction on Facebook) into its ranking algorithms. His concise answer: "no, we don't". Bing, however, is much more keen on social media engagement, a preference that is reflected by its use of social signals as a ranking factor. Pages that have earned a greater number of likes, shares, and retweets are more likely to rank highly on Bing. Some form of social media marketing should be integrated into your digital marketing strategy by now, but Bing gives you an added incentive in the form of ranking boosts for strong social media performance."

Rewards

Lastly, Bing offers its users a fairly robust rewards system. Users may redeem points earned by using Bing for gift cards to Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, or many other retailers. I personally use this service, and earn approximately $30 worth of Starbucks lattes each year, courtesy of Microsoft. 

https://www.impression.co.uk/blog/bing-differ-google/

Online events company IRL finds a niche that Instagram could fill

 Event discovery network, IRL recently secured a round of Series B funding of $16 million after refocusing on virtual events. Given the current environment, paddle boarding, hiking and restaurant hopping has had to be replaced with live streamed concerts, webinars and Zoom parties.

IRL allows users to tap into various event categories, like gaming, music, tv, wellness, sports, podcasts, lifestyle, and more, “including those sourced from partners like TikTok, Meetup, Twitch, Spotify, SoundCloud, HBO, Ticketmaster, Eventbrite, and others.” It is interesting to note that IRL has subtly and functionally aggregated content across some of the largest existing short form (TikTok and Instagram) and long form (HBO) content to create an events platform – a service that is not synonymous or available on either of these content platforms.

In some ways this raises an interesting point about whether content platforms should be monetizing adjacent services such as events in addition to the adjacent services that they are already monetizing such as educational content, sports content and retail marketplaces. Another inherent value driver is the use case for IRL as a data collection mechanism – a new age replacement for RSVP’s. “According to TikTok, IRL had helped it gauge early interest in its The Weekend Experience event, with some 52,000 IRL RSVPs and 1.1 million followers on its IRL profile.” Overall, it is interesting that IRL has decided to insert itself in the intersecting set between online platforms, content creation and social planning to create a platform that allows for the monetizing and user base culmination of each of these individual features. If anything, it remains to be seen how many other new entrants can segment this space further through either new partnerships and more content or other related services.

Will Pepsi’s new rewards program make an impact in the CPG space?

     You may have recently noticed a small change to your favorite PepsiCo drinks and snacks. A small white patch began appearing in early 2020 on products inviting purchasers to sign up for PepCoin. What is that? It is Pepsi’s brand-new rewards program where you can earn 10% cash back when you purchase one Pepsi drink or one snack. Customers just need to scan the label of each purchased product into an app to earn the rewards and then can easily cash-out via Venmo or PayPal.

    At the surface level this sounds like a win-win for consumers and Pepsi. Consumers are given a strong 10% discount on purchases that is easily convertible to cash. Pepsi gains customer purchasing data and build product loyalty. There also remains the possibility to send additional target coupons through the app based on the obtained customer location and purchase data (though this is not happening now). What remains unclear is whether customers are willing and will remember to submit receipts through Pepsi’s app. The customers that Pepsi gains data on may be the most price-conscious, limiting opportunities to squeeze them for additional revenue. Barring data from Pepsi we can only conclude that this is an experiment that could be widened or scrapped based on participation and results. At 10% back, this has the potential to be an expensive experiment. Perhaps Covid-19 will allow this experiment to succeed and tighten Pepsi’s bonds with their end customers – only time will tell.

The Potential Value of DIY Marketing

Before COVID-19 hit, marketing through video was already in an upward trend, and historically we know that storytelling sells. But also historically, we have seen brands try to establish connections with their customers through highly produced, beautiful looking advertising.  Since the pandemic, we have watched brands across every industry try adjust to the new normal along with the rest of us.  Commercials get made with actors over Zoom, ads are released that are totally digitized with no filming required, and some brands have recycled old ad content or dusted off never-released ads in order to maintain some presence and remain top-of-mind with consumers during this time.  But another trend is emerging, and that is DIY marketing.  

We are in a time when some of our basic needs are at cross-purposes.  We are unable to do many things in person, and therefore need digital solutions to help us stay home and safe, but at the same time we crave connection now more than ever, and that is difficult to achieve in a virtual environment.  What I have noticed, personally, is that I feel more drawn in by advertising that is relatable and doesn’t feel removed from our global shared circumstances.  In other words, when I see a commercial made on zoom, or ad ad with crowd-sourced UGC, and our circumstance is recognized, it doesn’t feel tone-deaf.  The marketing story seems authentic, and it is good to see brands meeting me where I am rather than showing me something that I cannot have, given the state of things.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) and video marketing leaders like Wyzowl and others have gathered insights to confirm that video is vital to modern marketing strategy and only growing in popularity and necessity.  It is also clear that ad spending has increased since the onset of COVID-19, particularly in video.  Given the statistics, might it be optimal for brands to reallocate a higher percentage of their ad spend to DIY marketing?  Or should they keep spending ad dollars on high production value ads? DIY marketing is a space where production is cheaper and safer, and the stories generated/collected can be much more authentic and relevant to the times than traditional advertising.  AMA has provided some great tips and guidance on how to optimize and execute DIY marketing (shared in sources), making the idea that anyone can be a DIY marketer with the right tools more digestible.  Whether it's crowd-sourced UGC or internally generated content, brands can use the style of DIY marketing to set more of a "we're all in this together" tone with their customers.

My thought is that maybe we don’t need all the bells and whistles in this moment.  Maybe what we need is a collective shared “scrappiness”, and with extra ad dollars to spend, brands have an opportunity to set the scrappy, relatable tone, while executing campaigns with expert precision in targeting and storytelling. 

Sources:

https://www.wyzowl.com/coronavirus-marketing-statistics/

https://www.ama.org/marketing-news/diy-video/

https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-platforms/video-marketing/video-marketing-statistics-to-know/

Brand Marketing Through the COVID-19 Crisis

https://hbr.org/2020/04/brand-marketing-through-the-coronavirus-crisis 

 Marketers jobs have become more demanding, now more than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has established major shifts in behavioral trends as consumers seek more escapism and entertainment. With so much changing so fast during this difficult time, brands can take the below actions to serve and grow their customer base, mitigate risk, and take care of their people: 

1. Present with empathy and transparency - As vulnerability has increased among people, empathy has become even more critical. Brands that exploit the situation will not fare well, those that support consumers will be remembered well   

2. Use media in more agile ways - More rapid-response operating models is needed internally and with agencies. Access to remote production and creative capacity will become particularly important as the crisis evolves. 

3. Associate your brand with good - People will remember brands for their acts of good in a time of crisis. Feel-good content that alleviates anxiety and promotes positive messaging will go a long way to enhancing the brand. 

4. Track trends and build scenarios - Marketers should measure sentiment and consumption trends on a regular basis to better adapt messaging and look for opportunities and identify looming crises more quickly. In addition, cross functional collaboration is needed now more than ever and requires the marketing team to coordinate with various departments to build scenarios depending on the crisis timeline

5. Adapt to new ways of working to keep delivering - New sources of innovation and even margin improvement will emerge out of our current discomfort.

With that in mind, there is a force acceleration of the digital transformation agenda as consumers appreciate the digitally enabled journeys and experiences. Digital marketers that succeed are those that learn with confidence and humility. 

COVID Accelerates Winners, Buries Losers

This is usually a busy month for the luxury industry. The second quarter of 2020 was the luxury fashion industry’s worst. 

According to estimates by Boston Consulting Group, global luxury sales are set to contract by 25 percent to 45 percent this year, with industry growth unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2023 or 2024. 

The luxury sector currently has more than double the amount of stock on its hands than it usually would at this time of year, much of which is now unlikely to be sold at full price. Many brands have been using brick-and-mortar discount outlets or online marketplaces to try to shift the designer clothes piling up in warehouses. Brands that fared better this year were generally those that relied on data to gain a granular understanding of where their stock was. This allowed them to move supply from the West to better performing regions like the Asian markets, where huge crowds unleashing pent-up demand for luxury goods.

China, which was already the fastest-growing luxury market before the pandemic, will become even more vital to brands’ success as North American and European markets remain unpredictable. And everywhere, offline retail has had to go online — and fast — as consumers turned rapidly to digital shopping. Last week, Amazon launched its mobile-only Luxury Stores with one brand: Oscar de la Renta. It said that more labels would be announced in the weeks to come. As the industry starts to offer up new looks, TikTok is hosting its own online fashion month for a potential audience of roughly 800 million users, with shows by Saint Laurent and JW Anderson.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/22/business/luxury-fashion-september-coronavirus.html

     CVS Pharmacy launches CMX - CVS Media Exchange.

    CVS has launched a media network with the purpose of selling advertising directly to brands. This solution offers advertisers access to CVS' online online and offline channels so they can promote their brands

    As an important selling point for this service, the company will leverage on their customer loyalty program data to allow brands to attribute sales to ads placed with the retailers, allowing companies to have better visibility over their strategies' impact.

    CVS is not a first-mover in this field. Other brands such as Best Buy and Walmart have also successfully entered the retail ad business in the past.

    The company will use CMX as a first step towards building a in-house digital team which can help the company with emerging technologies and help better prepare for a digital future

Source:
https://www.marketingdive.com/news/cvs-pharmacy-launches-ad-network-for-in-store-online-campaigns/584060/

Google might be sued by the government being accused of anti-competitive practices.

 Google might be sued by the government being accused of anti-competitive practices.

There is some political agenda behind it, as Trump promised to go after the "Titan of Silicon Valley", but it according to spokesperson, the practice is undeniable, and Google might be using its data to get competitive advantages and stop any competition from rising and threatening the company.

The company went under investigation for more than 15 months - hundreds of companies and people that complained about Google's practices have been investigated, mentioning that Google control the adverting supply chain, and search engine over both computer and mobile applications.

More information will be released as the law suit is filled, but this is just one-step towards the investigation all major big techs have been under over the past months.

Marcos Zitti

Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/technology/google-antitrust-justice-department.html

Who will win the digital fitness streaming wars?

The digitization and technological advances in fitness are not a new trend. However, COVID-19 has without a doubt accelerated how, where, and what we're using to stay in shape. It has also helped drive some established players to new heights, while also creating opportunities for new entrants. 

Personally, I'm a fan of Peloton Digital and after starting to use the app, I can't imagine life without it. I've been thoroughly pleased with the user experience, breadth of content available, and accessible price point - particularly as it relates to not needing a large piece of equipment in my house in order to take advantage of much of what the app has to offer. 

Two recent announcements about Amazon and Apple entering and deepening their work in the fitness space respectively led me to ask myself: who will win in the digital fitness streaming wars? 

Amazon's entry into fitness is centered on the Prime Bike, a co-branded bike created with established fitness brand Echelon. Their goal was to create a connected fitness product that would retail at a more accessible price point of $500. At this time it is the only connected fitness product created by Amazon. Similar to Peloton, Echelon features a library of streaming fitness content. On top of the Prime Bike, Echelon's product line features several additional stationary bikes, rowers, and mirror devices. The partnership between Amazon and Echelon reinforces that Amazon is exploring a larger role in at-home fitness beyond the gear they sell under the AmazonBasics line. 

Apple's recent expansion in fitness includes both improved Apple Watch capabilities as well as the launch of AppleFitness+, a premium library of streaming fitness content. The revamped Apple Watch can now measure blood oxygen levels, which the company says is an indicator of overall wellness. For the content side of the expansion, users can subscribe to AppleFitness+ to access a library of fitness content $9.99 a month. While Apple products have been tracking fitness and health for some time now, this move expands their presence in fitness, potentially chipping away at Peloton's audience. 

This comes at a time when Peloton was enjoying a major surge in customers, their first profit, and unprecedented demand for the product. Peloton CEO John Foley said, "The biggest thing I will say is it’s quite a legitimization of fitness content, to the extent the biggest company in the word, a $2 trillion company, is coming in and saying fitness content matters. It’s meaningful enough for Apple.” 

Among Peloton's competitive advantages are its passionate community of followers. I believe this will continue to serve the company well as more fitness, tech, and consumer brands work to take a piece of the fitness industry pie. Apple's integration in fitness is surely a competitive threat, but it's unclear if they'll be able to replicate the passionate community that surrounds Peloton. 

What do you think? How has the current environment changed your fitness behavior? Which brand do you hope to see come out on top? 

Sources: 

• https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-event-2020-iphone-watch-ipad-mac-ios-11600162200
• https://www.nbcnews.com/shopping/fitness/amazon-prime-echelon-exercise-stationary-bike-n1240627
• https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/15/peloton-ceo-on-apple-launching-workouts-a-legitimization-of-fitness-content.html
• https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/22/tech/amazon-prime-bike-peloton/index.html

Brands are using marketing to contribute to society

Patagonia has knowingly been a brand associated with sustainability and environmentalism. Its latest initiative is related to the 2020 elections. It is incentivizing its employees and customers to vote. It announced in a press release that it will close its headquarters in California on Election Day, in addition to other particular initiatives to influence its employees to vote and to volunteer as poll workers. Moreover, the company included clothing tags that read “vote the assholes out” in women’s and men’s shorts. Patagonia says that they are not referring to any specific politic, but to all who deny or disregard climate crisis.

Not only “obvious” brands have been engaging in social initiatives. Bud Light is another example of brand using its influence power to contribute to social causes. It is promoting black-owned restaurants and bars that are in financial hardship due to the pandemic. Each week, the "Bud Light Thursday Night Shoutout" profiles a black entrepreneur who tells the story of how they started the business and shows their signature dishes.

Companies in general are becoming more and more involved in social and environmental causes, and marketing plays a major role in positioning them before society.

Sources:

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/patagonia-escalates-activism-with-voting-rights-push-before-elections/585503/

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/bud-light-spotlights-black-owned-eateries-in-thursday-night-football-ads/585553/

 

New Innovations in Digital Marketing

There are a lot of different ways that companies are innovating to reach out to their customers. One of the newest ways is by implementing chatbots. A chatbot is an automated customer service system that exists in social media. For example, if I was shopping at a company and have an issue, I could go on facebook and contact them through facebook messenger. A bot would be there to take my questions and resolve any issues like checking on an order. This helps in customer retention and experience. This also helps the company because having a bot answer in real time is less expensive then having to keep customer service 24-7. 

Another new marketing trend, its googles updated SEO marketing tool, BERT, or Bidirectional Encoder Representations. This new algorithm actually reads your website and helps re-write it so that it is more searchable and shows up in more marketing queries. This is an exciting new AI that will greatly improve results as people search, keeping both retailers and customers happy.

https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/blog/12-digital-marketing-trends-and-innovations-for-2020/ 

Uber Eats reaches the Stars

In a brilliant and hilarious move by the UberEats Marketing team, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) face-off in a series of videos to promote the food delivery service. From discussing how to pronunciate "tomato" to playing Air Hockey, the point of the videos is that each of the actors will tell us "Tonight I'll Be Eating" (TIBE) and let us know what they will order from UberEats and while they discuss about something their delivery arrives. Both actors shared teasers on social media (both have between 3.5 and 4 million followers on Twitter) over the weekend and the full-video became available on monday. The Tonight I'll Be Eating campaign started in Australia in 2017 and has had different versions in that country throughout the years (with Nike and Australia Open in 2018 and with Kim Kardashian in 2019) but UberEats head of marketing for US and Canada Georgie Jeffreys said it was a matter of time until the campaign expanded abroad, which it now has. Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jtkuAVLdtA https://mumbrella.com.au/mark-hamill-and-patrick-stewart-face-off-to-launch-uber-eats-tonight-ill-be-eating-in-the-us-643754 https://twitter.com/SirPatStew/status/1307816812805943296 https://twitter.com/SirPatStew/status/1308074738418413568 https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/1308087344906395648

How El Pollo Loco tripled digital sales in 2020 by modernizing its marketing

From a almost purely TV and print marketing strategy in 2018, rethinking digital marketing approach allowed El Pollo Loco to “surf” the pandemic new trend.

Even though the pandemic accelerated digital investments across the industry, the fact that El Pollo Loco started its program 2 years before allowed them to be prepared to funnel digital channels.  

It started with rebuilding the digital infrastructure, investing in a new App and website upgrade betting on improved customer experiences. Then it evolved into a new loyalty program that was in place when the health crisis arrived.

 

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/how-el-pollo-loco-tripled-digital-sales-in-2020-by-modernizing-its-marketin/584147/

How COVID-19 has changed what we search for online

Google search:

• ‘Can children pass on coronavirus?’ searches spiked around the world on 12 May.
• Searches for quarantine hobbies in the United States rose by 400%.
• Employment support was widely searched for.

Youtube search:

• Help With Home Cooking
• As widespread lockdowns began in March, the world turned to YouTube for help with cooking their favorite food at home.
• Solace in Self Care
• People turned to YouTube to cope with the anxiety and uncertainty brought on by the global pandemic.
• Social Connection… At a Distance
• Since March there has been a notable increase in the following video topics:
• ‘With Me’ (Views of #WithMe videos are up 600%)
• Museum Tours (Daily views up 60%)
• Face Masks (DIY tutorials have been viewed 400 million times)
• Dalgona coffee (A trendy quarantine treat that had a brief viral moment)
• Identity Crisis
• The idea and experience of one’s self was top of mind as the pandemic disrupted people’s lives around the world.

Source:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/google-trends-search-online-coronavirus-covid-19/

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/top-youtube-searches-during-covid-19-pandemic/376919/#close

Google’s efforts at staying impartial and eliminating fake news during the upcoming election season

  

As social media consumes more of our daily lives, the interference and influence social media content has on election have been hotly debated since the last election. Now, this extends to the use of search engine as well.

Google’s autocomplete feature suggests possible terms for search based on what the user has started typing and their search behavior/history. However, as US heads into election season, Google is removing suggestions that can imply taking positions on any particular party.

In addition, it is avoiding providing suggestions on the legitimacy of the voting process. For example, it will not autocomplete whether a certain method of voting is reliable or unreliable.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, internet giants such as Facebook and Twitter are all battling the spread of fake news and unreliable information. However, it is interesting that this is now expanding to search engine as well. If search engine provides auto-complete phrases suggesting one way or another, it may be subject to manipulation to push certain political agenda. In addition, with the increased scrutiny around legitimacy of voting method, Google wants to avoid providing an opinion which may mislead the public. This is a great example on how important timely policy setting is, and Google’s sensitivity and fast reaction to these topics is applaudable.

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/911915056/google-will-block-its-autocomplete-suggestions-for-some-election-related-searche

Online Customer Acquisition for Grocery Stores

As many of us leverage delivery services for groceries during the pandemic, I figured this article would be of great interest to the class. The article discusses how traditionally, grocery retailers have not historically leveraged online opportunities to expand their customer base. After all, most consumers select grocery stores based on their proximity to us and the prices.

Many large grocers and other retailers are now jousting for position in the online grocery market, which has almost doubled in size during the pandemic. However, consumers often make online grocery purchases without developing loyalty for any particular brand, leading to intense competition to provide the best online user experience to cultivate the long-term relationship with customers.

The article asserts that the future of online grocery shopping isn't based on information collection from the consumer, but rather by making the shopping experience seamless. Traditional grocers are used to personalizing grocery lists by using their loyalty programs. As it's harder to gain the loyalty of online grocery shoppers, the short-term priority should be to draw consumers for frequent purchases through convenient online shopping experiences.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/09/15/grocery-ecommerce-retailers-should-be-prioritizing-ux-right-now/#89d2f605b4db

SL Benfica launch digital video platform

SL Benfica (one of the most important football clubs in the world) has become the first club in Portugal and one of the first in the world to launch a digital video platform featuring exclusive content produced daily for its fans.

This platform would include diverse content such as: interviews with current and past club legends; interactive visits to the stadium; games and shows aimed at the fans, replays of historical games, and others.
In my opinion, the brilliance of this idea, comes from the fact that it engages the club’s over 6 million fans on a continuous basis, rather than once a week, when the team plays.

Launched on the 2^nd of January, this platform proved to be most relevant when the Covid epidemic arrived in Europe and suspended all football competitions.
At a time when there were no games and barely any club exposure to the fans, this platform allowed Benfica to stay close to their fan-base, promote their products and boost alternative revenue streams.
With the beginning of the new season the past week, and the games without public, I believe this platform will continue to grow their customer base and become an important marketing pillar in the club.

Source:

https://www.slbenfica.pt/en-us/agora/noticias/2020/01/02/clube-benfica-play-lancamento-oficial-press-release

TikTok vs. Instagram Reels: Key Differences

Instagram Reels is called out by various news sources as a complete clone or copy of TikTok. While this is true in general, there are various differences between both apps that are important to distinguish.

App Format:

·      TikTok operates as a separate standalone app with a full focus on short form videos.

·      Reels is integrated within Instagram’s existing app. You can find Reels from Instagram’s explore page or by going to each user’s Instagram account in-between their image posts.

 

Video Length:

·      TikTok allows to record and post up to 1-minute long videos.

·      Reels had a 15-second maximum video limit when it was launched, but reportedly they are rolling out a feature to record up to 30 seconds.

 

Monetization:

·      TikTok pays eligible creators from the U.S. and certain European countries based on daily views.

·      Reels does not pay creators as of now.

 

Algorithm:

·      TikTok has an unmatched algorithm that understands user preferences.

·      Reels is in the beginning stages of testing and fine-tuning their algorithm, which results in an inferior experience for users compared to TikTok.

 

Content Type:

·      TikTok’s videos tend to be less filtered, and the website even has the tagline “Real People. Real Videos”

·      Reels being part of Instagram has a stigma of people posting “perfect realities”.

The Future of Ecommerce and Digital Retail

 It's no surprise to most people that COVID-19 boosted ecommerce and digital retail, as consumers were unable to leave their homes to shop in person. Amazon raked in $88.9 billion in online sales in Q2 of this year, while Walmart topped $10 billion for the first time ever. 75% of millennials bought things online during the pandemic that they had never bought before. Online orders grew by 150% from April 2019 to April 2020.

While Amazon and Walmart, the big players in the game, gained a lot through the pandemic, many smaller players lost a lot and the industry has become more competitive and fractured than ever before. Large players are pulling in the lion share of sales mainly due to the fact that they have the infrastructure and scale to handle high volume orders and same day deliveries.

Businesses are responding to this by creating tools to help the smaller players, such as The Shift, which is meant to help business transform their brick and mortar businesses into digitally driven businesses.

Hawke Media is hosting an E-Commerce Week, in partnership with the city of Los Angeles, meant to provide opportunities for networking, learning, and connecting people in the business. The event will be fully digital and will feature speakers, panels, networking sessions, keynote speeches, Q&A's, etc. Brands that are set to attend include digital retail giants such as Dollar Shave Club, Ritual, and Winc.

The future of ecommerce and digital retail appears to be bright - although giants such as Amazon and Walmart seem to be dominating the arena at the moment, smaller players have a chance to compete if they collaborate with others and are creative and strategic in their approach.

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/355896

 

5 Seconds Until You Can Continue To Your Video....

Ads on TikTok? How could that be innovative? We’ve spent the past decade getting used to social media platforms, just to be spammed time and time again with ads and sponsored posts. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t skip a video ad when it says your five seconds are up or scrolls quickly past a targeted story post on Instagram.  

TikTok focuses on the core of how advertising started to begin with, storytelling. These stories, told by known and unknown brands help build the community of people desiring to be included and understood. The key aspect this type of advertising brings to the table is the ability to create user generated content that allows everyone to become a marketer, advertiser and storyteller.

The key takeaway for marketers here is that the stories on TikTok flow with the stories from moms, dads, kids, brands and anyone that has something they wish to share. Instead of waiting for something to be over to press skip, consumers are now a part of the conversations brands create on TikTok and social media marketing is better off because of it.  

https://adage.com/article/TikTok/how-tiktok-community-transforming-brand-marketing-and-modern-day-storytelling/2281146

Brands are using their platforms, especially digitally, to encourage people to vote

Many brands are taking a stance and leaning into the upcoming presidential election, shifting messaging and crafting campaigns to encourage voting this November. Some brands are purely focused on voter registration and others are taking it a step further and moving away from political neutrality. Consumers seek brands that align with their values and companies are banking on this to build brand loyalty. While brands like Patagonia are getting creative and advertising on clothing labels and Footlocker is making use of its retail spaces for physical voter registration locations, digital is the tactic of choice for many companies to reach that younger and more digitally engaged voting aged consumer.

On their websites, companies from Gap to Airbnb are using their homepages to drive voter registration and allowing people to easily lookup their registration status. Snapchat released PSAs to encourage young voters to make their voices heard, including a PSA with former President Obama. Reddit took the approach of shaming customers with an ad reading “If you can vote for this United Steak of America on Reddit, you should vote for real America, too”. Dating site OkCupid is embracing this trend on a whole new level. Melissa Hobley, CMO at OkCupid, said in a statement, “Practicing your right to vote is the biggest turn-on to OkCupid singles today, which is why we launched our Voter 2020 badge this month. Now, we’re using VILF to bring it to life and encourage singles across the nation to register and vote this November, because there’s nothing sexier than exercising your rights to vote”.

It will be interesting to see how brands continue to weigh in as the election approaches and how consumers will respond. A part of me wonders if these companies are taking these steps for publicity and with the hopes of being featured in article like the one off which this post is based. However, does it really matter? Our country is in a critical state and everyone’s vote is important. I appreciate what these companies are doing to reach voters and use their platforms for good. We’ll see if it pays off.

https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/how-brands-are-getting-voters-polls-and-mailboxes-2020/2281291

How email marketers can remain at the center even during the pandemic

“The COVID-19 crisis has changed everything about everything – including marketing.”  Obviously in the midst of the pandemic, companies and brands have had to learn how to reach out to their followers in new and “COVID appropriate” ways to ensure they remain top of mind.  “Many brands are using email as a nimble, personal tool to reach out to, reassure and remind audiences they are here for them.”  Throughout the past few months, research has shown that while open rates, or the percent of people who open the email, are up, click-to-open rates, which combines both opens and clicks to allow for an understanding of how effective the message is, are down.  Therefore, marketers need to evolve their tactics in order to continue to be on the forefront of mind for their consumers.  

That said, research has provided 3 ways to connect with consumer and ensure success during the crisis: 

1. Acknowledge the pandemic and try and offer a form of “practical help or stress reduction” when reaching out.  Research has shown that this tactic has increased open rates in B2B companies by 41% and B2C companies by 34%.

2. When subject lines include message connotating free merchandise, open rates increased by 31% in B2B and 39% in B2C as the offer of something free provides added glorification given the current environment.  

3. The importance of prize and sweepstakes as a greater portion of recipients may be out of work and the potential of winning something may add for greater marketing success. 

Overall, the main all-encompassing message that while the pandemic is as fluid as ever, markers must update their daily tactics in order to remain top of mind for recipients. 

https://www.aem.org/news/how-to-connect-during-crisis-email-marketing-and-covid19/ 

Google's "Nearby" inventory boosting

In our last class, we talked about SEO strategy and how to place high on the search result list. For local stores that offer “buy online, pickup in-store”, the shopping section in google is a great place to drive sales. Google is highlighting the “Nearby” section to encourage more product search and click-through google rather than Amazon. They aim to optimize the ability to get products instantly from local retails and avoid the 1-2 day shipping wait.

 

This change is targeted towards national chains with sophisticated inventory management systems that can be easily integrated into these types of Local Inventory Ads. For small independent businesses, this may be cost prohibitive and make taking out these shopping ads less attractive since stores with multiple locations will have an advantage when it comes to proximity.

 

As for its ability to compete with Amazon, I believe it will attract users who are on the go / in the middle of their shopping trip. However, the cost of ads and location limits the variety of products offered, unlike Amazon. So those who browse around looking for the best price or quality from home will likely stick with Amazon.

Article: https://searchengineland.com/google-boosting-visibility-of-nearby-product-inventory-with-new-shopping-features-340670

Changing landscape of search & search advertising

The following article, posted in the NY Times earlier today, outlines how the market for search and search advertising has consolidated - largely through M&A - over the past 1-2 decades. Going forward, it will be interesting to see what role anti-trust regulators play in the competitive landscape. The article specifically points to Double Click - a display ad platform - as an example of a transaction (which occurred in 2007) that might not pass the 'anti-competition' test today. Increasingly, the author expects regulators to block transactions in the digital marketing space, or at least force firms to selectively divest portions of their portfolios to prevent monopolistic behavior.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/technology/google-doubleclick-antitrust-ads.html?auth=login-email&login=email

The Highest Bidder & Funnel Conversion

 In competitive industries, digital marketing costs are often substantial - leading to high customer acquisition costs. Keywords are bid up to exorbitant prices, and only the companies that can efficiently convert and monetize leads are able to stay in the game. This leads to a relentless focus on "the funnel."

When I hear discussions around the funnel, they usually center around converting a target group of people from an initial impression to their first purchase. However, I think the funnel question is actually more than this and encompasses these additional elements:

1. Who is the target group being brought in to the top of the funnel? Is it the right group? If you advertise to people who are inherently less likely to convert, it will affect everything conversion metrics throughout the entire funnel.

2. Are you sourcing and converting the right leads that will become long-time, happy, referring customers? Not all customers are equal. Just because you can show someone your product and get them to buy once doesn't make them a great customer. The real key is to identify, convert, and invest in customers who will be with you for the long haul and refer their friends to your business. 

Pay to Play in the Play Store

 This past summer I worked for a mobile fitness application called BodBot. BodBot’s primary customer acquisition channel is the App Store (iOS) and Play Store (Android). Much like paid Google search, the Android app store is driven by paid search placement.

 (Links to an external sit. BodBot’s primary customer acquisition channel is the App Store (iOS) and Play Store (Android). Much like paid Google search, the Android app store is driven by paid search placement.

One interesting aspect of the Play Store environment is performance-based advertising. Rather than paying for views or clicks, BodBot paid a premium for successful actions further down their acquisition funnel. As an example, an app can use a pay-per-download advertising scheme. 

 

My understanding of how this works is as follows:

 

1. An app places a bid on downloads or other actions
2. Google aggregates the app’s bids with all other bids, then runs optimization algorithms to match the users most likely to convert with the highest bidding party

 

There are more specific actions an app can bid on than downloads. For example, BodBot commonly bids on an app download plus in-app purchase of premium membership. It costs more, but the acquired user is more valuable.

 

Another interesting piece of this whole system is the potential conflict of interest for Google. Since Google nets 30% of all app and in-app purchases, there is potentially room for them to cherry-pick bids with a higher purchase value, all else equal.

The power of a bag of chips: how Lay’s is bringing out smiles hidden behind masks

In this time of masks and face coverings, we could all use a smile. And Lay’s is doing just that! 

The company is bringing back its “Smiles” campaign, releasing 70 new designs of its chip bags featuring big smiles of people who are helping their communities. Lay’s will donate up to $1MM in proceeds from the sales of these chips to Operation Smile, an organization dedicated to improving the health and lives of children and young adults with cleft conditions by providing access to safe surgical care. The campaign demonstrates the increasing trend toward community impact. The “Smilers” on the chip bags include people who have helped the homeless, veterans, youth, and the elderly in their communities. With all the turmoil in the world right now – the pandemic, social unrest, wildfires and poor air quality, and economic devastation – the campaign is especially relevant.

This effort is also an example of how marketers have adapted their marketing approaches in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Because the photo shoot could not happen in person, Lay’s asked the “Smilers” to submit selfies. Lay’s used computer-generated imagery (CGI) technology to enhance the photos and transfer them to its packaging. Advertisers are increasingly turning to imaging technology to alter digital content due to the inability to convene in person.

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/lays-smiles-packaging-returns-as-counterpoint-to-masked-and-unhappy-face/585119/ 

What can the McDonald's - Travis Scott partnership tell us for implementing celebrity partnerships moving forward.

What can the McDonald's - Travis Scott partnership tell us for implementing celebrity partnerships moving forward. 

In the beginning of September McDonald's launched a partnership with well known artist, Travis Scott. The idea is simple. Make available nationwide a unique menu item on behalf of a celebrity and co-promote to draw fans of both McDonald's and Travis Scott to purchase. In this case, the unique menu item is claimed to be Scott's "go-to-order" and includes a burger, fires, sprite and a side a BBQ sauce.  This is certainty not the first time brands have partnered with major celebrities, in fact, it happens every day. However, it is rare to see a major brand design products around a key celebrity. It has been nearly 30 years since McDonald's has done anything similar and that was with Michael Jordon and on a very limited scale. About three weeks into the promotion it is clear to say it has been a major success. Engagement and awareness across the internet is huge, McDonald's has reported material shortages and associated merchandise is out of stock.  So what has made this so successful and how can brands replicate it? 

1. It starts with the right partnership. Prior to the partnership, Scott was well known for his affinity for McDonald's and openly promoted the brand on his social accounts. This makes for a genuine relationship between the celebrity and brand that consumers appreciate. 
2. Unique product offering. It is one thing to pay a celebrity to use your brand, it is another to work in partnership on a specific product. This often happens with apparel but is rare in the food industry. Designing a meal in conjunction with Scott give a very specific reason for consumers to engage with the promotion. 
3. Omni-channel approach. This is 21st century marketing 101 and McDonald's has executed extremely well across many channels. They have merchandise available in addition to a robust social campaign to drive awareness and excitement. Not to mention the social power a figure like Scott can have with every personal post. 

In retrospect, a partnership like this seems to be a no brainier. Nevertheless, there are many reasons brands shy away. It can be difficult to find a genuine connection between a celebrity and a brand. McDonald's is fortunate here. And even if there is a connection, many brand managers are nervous in tying their brand to any living human, with all of our follies and opportunity to damage the brand image through a single action. Over the next year, expect to see many more partnerships like this. Some will do great, other with flop, but if brands focus on finding the right partnership, designing a unique product offering and executing in an Omni-channel approach, success is likely.