Crisis: The Most Used Word in 2009

Wall Street fragmentation, Madoff and Stanford scandals, Oil prices falling down, Obama as the President of hope, the development of Twitter, the phenomena of Facebook, the proliferation of bloggers, etc, are just a minimal percentage of all the events we have encounter this year.

The idea behind listing these situations is not only to mention them, but also to sit down and realize that the world and more important the inhabitants of this globe are changing their behavioral and consumption patterns; the environment that surrounds us is in acceleration and permanent change thanks to the technology and the internet.

I have always been told that advertising was all about sending a message, just like a radio antenna. Consumers, nowadays have more power to choose whether or not they wish to receive that message. However, today is more about taking in the message. It’s not until brands reach in that their values can develop a social standing in the “tribe”. If the message is accepted, is the “tribe’s” own members that act as radio transmitters to send the message on, as suggested by Stephan Engeseth.

What I am trying to explain with this “article” is that advertising is no longer working by itself. It needs to take into consideration the consumer want, needs and more important behavioral trends. How can we, as marketers, make people feel the brand be part of them so they can sense it and experience it like a religion? How can we create tribes that will follow certain wants and needs?

These past months, I heard repeatedly people say that marketers have lost control over communications, but I will say they are mistaken. Communication is always based on a sender and a receiver, the problem is that the receiver has changed. The receiver now demands more control over the message. Relevance in communication is now more about finding the right frequency for the sender and the receiver to find each other.

Following these thoughts, advertising agencies are beginning to see that non-commercial communication can be very powerful and are trying to reach into communities rather than just broadcasting in a more louder fashion.

To conclude this idea, I just want to say that advertising agencies are facing a new era where brands and consumers are no longer targets, but live in communities that would or could embrace the concept behind your brand. It’s no longer about massive channels but communities that share same characteristics, wants and needs.           

 

 

 

Globalization: Opportunities and Threats

Culture, a simple but very complex definition. It can make a whole difference by the time we need to interact or communicate with another group of people that simply are not part of the crowd we represent. Culture and its many factors: language, religion, laws; body language codes, time appreciation, etc must be always taken into consideration.

Globalization and the development of technologies have opened endless outlets to promote, advertise and sell product and services overseas. These plus the factors listed previously are some of the elements marketers must take into account when they are trying to conquer new markets around the globe.

Understanding these factors clear, helps our minds to better understand how other societies have new and interesting ways to sell products and services that will never be available in other countries like the United States. During our trip to Vienna, Austria 2009, I was shocked by the fact that newspapers were primarily sold on the streets alone. Why do I mean by alone? It just means that the publishing companies don’t hire people to sell their products, they have a unique an inexpensive mechanism that consists on a tube attached to the ground with a picture of the newspaper (banner) on the top of the tube and underneath is a little box that has a sticker with the price of the newspaper so you can introduce a € 1,00 or a  € 1,50 depending on the newspaper you like to buy and then you just simple take one copy out of the bag (plastic bag) that holds them attached to the tube.

This type of system would not be possible to use it nor in Latin America or the United States because people will probably steal them. Besides, this type of system will eliminate thousands of jobs in those countries too.

Being able to presence and interact with new and interesting outlets makes me think that everything is possible if we really know and understand how our target audience behaves. Detail analysis on the service and product has to take place so our ideas and concepts are well supported.

 Note: Sorry for the layout of the video.

Public Toilets at MOL: A New Approach for Marketers

How can a good experience lead a customer to love or enjoy a brand or service? Will you agree on the idea that positive experiences will connect the customer with the brand and service? These are some of the questions I can think of, but first let me explain to you what happen to me during a trip.

Driving to Vienna, Austria on Saturday, June 14^th 2009 I had a great experience at a chain gas station called MOL. The event is going to sound completely awkward because it relates to public toilets, but trust me the concept and the idea behind it was brilliant and a very interesting one for marketers looking for new platforms to advertise.

Since we stopped for gas at the station I took the opportunity to visit the restroom. Nothing new up to now, right… so I got to the bathroom and the first thing I see is a big green machine (similar to those at the train stations in NYC), which was matching the green color of the gas station covering the entrance to the bathrooms. Next, and following the instructions, I introduced 100 HUG (Hungarian currency) equivalent to approximately USD 0.50 in the machine and I got a ticket, which you can see in the third picture, for quality purposes and a better understanding.

Are you following me, up to now? Well now it’s when the story gets interesting because I not only had experienced great service and a clean bathroom, but also I had a voucher of 100 HUG for expenditure at the gas station shop. In other words, the mind behind this concept made me think that I was paying for using the public toilets while in reality the gas station owners were building on me the necessity to use the voucher of 100 HUG at the store in where you would be spending more than the value of the ticket on any given item for sale since everything was more expensive than 100 HUG. To spice up the story I forgot to mention that the ticket is valid for a year, which reinforces brand loyalty among the customers and probably more sales for the store since most of the articles are more expensive than a 100 HUG as I mentioned before.

In general words I considered this experience extremely satisfactory from the marketing perspective. They where providing a service “for free” but at the same time were also branding, selling, and building brand loyalty among consumers, what a great idea around a toilet!

Non-Traditional Advertising on the Rise

Nowadays, Non-Traditional advertising seems to be in vogue. The tight budgets and the necessity to proof ROI is pushing marketers, but specially, media buyers to think about BTL platforms that could not only help them reach their objectives and target audiences, but also provide effective and unique concepts for their products and services.

Walking along Breitscheidplatz towards the Bell Tower in Berlin, Germany I had the opportunity to step into this column that had as part of its advertisement the shape of a blue plastic hand, which you could move it around and play with it. This cost effective idea or concept not only grabbed my attention but the attention of the people around me as well. It is also important to mention that the plastic blue shape hand was movable, in other words I could take it away with me as a souvenir (see video for better understanding).

This advertisement not only shocked and amused me, but also took two minutes or more of my time to read and look at all the information in their advertising, by the way; the necessary one. The information written was pretty much websites, so this idea made me go and search for them so I could have the full comprehension of the ad. I could also said that this unique outlet made me had an experience with all those brands and for sure I will remember them forever.

Simple, but clever ideas like this one make me think on new BTL concepts that are more effective and cost efficient for any market product or service struggling during economic crises.

 

Promotion: A Marketing Mix Resource

In times of economic crises marketers, more than ever, tend to get more conscious and alert about how and where they invest their budgets.  This is the point where professionals in the area have to do research in order to understand where and how they reach their target audience.

In general terms, marketers count with the support of their media agencies, experts on where and how reach a specific target, however and because segmentation and hyper-segemntation marketers are looking into new outlets where their products and services can be showcased to niche markets in a more effective and accountable ways.

The usages of promotions as one of the key main aspects of the marketing mix tend to be a great solution during hand times where budgets are tights and consumers are insecure about what to buy and how to spend their money, if they are spending any.

Promotions have many outlets to expose bands and services at the same time. In the following pictures there are some interesting samples that where taken around Prague, June 2009. These types of promotions can be applied to any city during economical hard times or even when abundance is as high as the NYC skyscrapers.

The first picture is a round magnet with the Coca-Cola logo on it. As you can see there is no difference between this or any other Coca-Cola promotion you might have seen, but what matters is the outlet they used and where they place it. This magnet was part of a café dinning set at a metro station at Prague, 2009.

Another interesting thing about the magnet was the fact what you could move it around and place it at the back or seat of the chair. Moreover, and in order to reinforce the brand, Coca-Cola was running a promotion on their bottles (see second and third picture). The promotion on the bottle consisted on the usage of the back of their label; and it was designed so the consumer will pill the label off the bottle and submit the code online at a special website: www.cokerewards.com for a reward (if you are the winner).

This promotion was definitely created not only to encourage people to drink more Coca-Cola in order to get rewarded by the brand (boost sales), but also to increase website traffic.

Beside these promotions, I found interesting the fact that Coca-Cola placed its logo on top of the tents ceilings at most of the restaurants and cafes in the area where touristy site seeing towers where, therefore people will notice the logo and think about the brand by looking down without noticing, most of the time, the presence of the brand.

In conclusion, promotions in its many ways to be represented can be a very effective and economic way to reach a specific target audience no matter how good or bad the economy can be.

 

 

 

 

Marketing as a Tool to Create Social Responsibility

Do you think sex and beauty are controversial concepts commonly used in advertising as a theme to appeal to a certain audience? Can sex be represented differently depending on the culture? Is the United States doing a good job targeting the gay and lesbian market?

These are some of the questions I can think of once we have the opportunity to explore new cultures and embrace our differences no matter how hard they seem to be. The marketing expertise, well practiced, has the ability to change perception, sets of minds and ideally produce an action upon the audience; therefore why do we as professionals, don’t get together and teach the society these differences in order to provide social acceptance and embrace the divergence among us.

I can understand there are certain boundaries that society must respect in order to keep civilization under a certain structure, but I believe we can reach the goal through clever, tasteful and creative strategies that can not only sell a product or service to a specific target group, but also ultimately teach society.

The picture I attached to this article was taken in Berlin on June 09. The photo portrays two regular young and modern gay men who are kissing each other at a train station, which as you can see is the background. The idea of having a train station as a background can have many interpretations. One idea that comes to my mind is the fact that some gay people feel scared of coming out of the closet of simple don’t what to realize the fact that they are homosexuals so they hide or stay in their own areas so people don’t see them. Second, the train can be seen as a symbol for time and change.

Another interesting element of the ad is the copy, which are not only written in German but also Turkish and Arabic.

Apparently, the Turkish as well as the Arabic community characterizes for been a chauvinistic society; in consequence I believe this ad is designed to reach that specific market in the Turkish community where the ad was found. We can also take into analysis the models that represent this community and probably the difference among them. These variations can be detected in the color of the skin and also in the noses shapes.

Another element I would like to highlight is the fact that I haven’t seen this ad in any other areas of the city so that makes me think that this ad is really for an specific target audience.

In conclusion sexuality in advertising is a great theme for marketers to take into consideration for specific markets, but its also necessary to be precise and more important to understand the target group so you know that the concept of the ad is well represented; otherwise you can build an incorrect brand image for a brand or service. It is never enough to say that the essence of marketing is to change perception and as a consequence sale a product or service.

 

 

SONY Center: Not Only a Piece of Art

The development of new technological windows is providing people not only the opportunity to express their feelings towards products or services, but also to build and prepare them for a more complex and experimental consumer. This consumer will demand the interaction with brands; they will ask for quick and real time solutions; and more importantly they will set a new path to market products and services.

Globalization and the arrival of new technologies will push marketers to better ways to communicate with their targets. The perfectionism of social media will help marketers and brands with this new process, where brands and consumers are able to communicate directly.

Germany maintains the idea of perfection and development, and it’s well represented around the city by technological and targeted campaigns. In my personal opinion, massive marketing is not everywhere. However, I feel that German marketers used hyper segmentation, because they are more successful and less invasive to the consumer’s eyes according to international festivals. It is also important to mention that I haven’t had the opportunity to watch German television for a more objective thought, but walking around the city gives you a sense of clean and nonintrusive advertising, so how do marketers reach Berlin residents?

In general terms, I consider the German consumer a more technological and thoughtful buyer. Nevertheless, the strategies and tactics might vary slightly because of cultural, linguistic, and religious differences. I consider the neatness of the city incredible and airy. A good example would be the Sony Center, which is a great piece of art. The placement of an enormous SONY television screen in the center of the structure is a great idea for those people who attend the place for a drink, food, or just to read a book around the fountain in the middle of the building. This platform screens commercials of the stores around the area providing extra exposure of brands and services for a specific demographic.

The success of an integrated marketing campaign is not based on a massive message, but on great and specific ideas, which are catered for a particular group that shares common wants and needs.