Marketing

I often assert that everything a company does builds its brand – advertently or inadvertently. But it is all too easy to get fixated on one aspect of brand building, whether it is customer experience, creating buzz or price promotion. Real marketing effectiveness requires finding the right balance of investment across three stages of the buyer life cycle.  by Nigel Hollis

When I sit down with marketers who claim their multicultural marketing efforts didn’t work, I try to dissect the underlying reasons of this potential failure and curious enough, most marketers don’t even know these reasons themselves. In this article, I am focusing on my experience comparing what separates successful from unsuccessful multicultural marketing programs.  By Isaac Mizrahi – CCo-President of ALMA

The legal distribution of marijuana at the state level has prompted many blue-chip companies to explore cannabis-based products.

Now more than ever, global consumers are flirting with and cheating on their favorite brands—many of which they’ve held near and dear for years. Whether they’re doing so to stay current with the latest trends or to simply try something that piques their curiosity, “new” has greater pull these days than tried and true. But while choice is fantastic for consumers, this new addiction to newism is leaving established companies heartbroken and desperate for a second chance.

Before it became involved in the media industry, procurement worked effectively in manufacturing and distribution, ferreting out non-value-added costs, improving processes, closing factories, investing in suppliers, and eliminating complexity. The result: improved quality and lower costs. Exactly the opposite has occurred in the media industry.

Though it’s been available for last several years, influencer marketing has shot to the top of the marketing stack for a growing number of savvy brands, especially those in the fashion, beauty, gaming, and lifestyle sectors that are looking to lend more authenticity when they engage their audiences.

The importance of sharing has, in turn, heavily influenced other marketing strategies. Experiential events, for example, continue to grow as we seek more and more Instagrammable moments. So much so that sharing content is the primary motivation behind everything from store design to museum launches and marketing activations. The emphasis on, or obsession with, sharing content does not take the limitations of this strategy into account. As commonplace as sharing content might be, it still falls well short of representing our lived world.

The ANA sat down with Ayiko Broyard, EVP of client services at Walton Isaacson, to get her insight on the power of multicultural marketing ahead of the ANA 2019 Multicultural Excellence Awards, which is now open for entries. Walton Isaacson is a winner of a Multicultural Excellence Award for its work on Lexus and Marvel’s Black Panther “Long Live the King” campaign.

Making customer-centricity real requires significant changes to retail operations, from how we define brands to how we drive innovation and manage the customer relationship. Merely articulating a new strategy does not deliver change. Rather, it’s the challenging work of modifying organizational structures, processes and systems — how people actually do their work — that delivers a new reality. At NRF NXT, we began to map out what realizing such changes might entail.

At a time when brands have access to so much data, trying to understand who their customers are and their buying preferences, these companies are finding it increasingly important to use that data to create a variety of messaging that a diverse population of people can relate to.

Straddling adolescence and adulthood, Gen Z is at a turning point. The oldest members of Gen Z have already graduated college and are now in their early 20s. Considered a thrifty generation, Gen Z has posed a challenge to key general merchandise industries, which have struggled to drive dollar growth among this cohort over the past two years.

Emotions may seem complicated, but by better understanding their value and function we can learn how to harness their power to enhance relationships and improve well-being.

Influencer marketing stands at a crossroads. Influencer scandals, the introduction and growing acceptance of fakeness and overall low quality of influencers themselves have all contributed to a declining relevance among consumers. Despite the canary in the digital coal mine, brands continue to increase their influencer marketing budgets and employ more digital tools in an attempt to connect with consumers and drive engagement.

Here is the simple truth about customer experience: it’s complicated. And we all know how much people hate complexity. That is why a measure like NPS has become so popular. One number, that’s the answer…except when it is not.  by Nigel Hollis

Different segments of advertisers increase spending on digital media at different rates.  “Digital endemics” are likely responsible for the bulk of the industry’s recent growth. Global advertising spend has generally expanded in line with the global economy, with a disproportionate share of growth benefitting digital advertising.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Chris Shumaker, former CMO of the Martin Agency, FCB Worldwide, Publicis USA, and Grey NA. Chris has a wealth of knowledge about the RFP and RFI process, which he’s generously shared with us here.  by Mark Duval – The Duval Partnership

Marketers like to try new things. One of the reasons many of us got into this profession is the ever-changing nature of it and the fact that there is always innovation: new channels, tools, tactics and technology to learn and master.

In today’s “quantum age of marketing,” the advances of technology are rapidly evolving, impacting every area of our lives at a rate never before seen in human history.

Produced jointly by GfK and the National Retail Federation, the white paper, “Decoding the Personalization Paradox,” helps retailers and brands apply personalization at scale. Download the report to learn more about consumers’ needs, desires and concerns about targeting and personalization and how marketers can use this information to guide smarter decision-making as they ramp up one-to-one marketing.

It’s official – Physical and digital engagement is paramount for effective customer engagement. No matter what age, gender or location, consumers around the world agree that when it comes to brand interactions, personal, trusted and reliable omnichannel engagement is THE preferred option and choice.