Marketing

Ford, Walmart and Google share a common accolade as of today: these and others were named among the top quartile of advertisements measured by the breakthrough new ad metric CIIM™ (Cultural Insights Impact Measure), developed by The Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) in partnership with NBCUniversal and AIMM member companies.

When it comes to influencer marketing, the obvious concern for brands has always been finding the right creator.

For the sake of ease and cost efficiency, marketing agencies in the United States have tried reusing strategies designed for mainstream American markets or international Latin American markets on the rapidly-growing U.S. Hispanic segment. They often reason that acculturation will morph the Hispanic market into the mainstream, or that they are still very similar to consumers in their home countries, but these are both incorrect. The cultural experience of immigration into the United States has unified people from many countries into a new identity: the New Latino. This group of Hispanics living in the U.S. share commonalities that turn them into a unique segment separate from mainstream U.S. consumers or consumers in their home countries. They are often new consumers from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who have taken risks to immigrate to the U.S., and are experiencing culture shock as they adapt to their new lives. These experiences shape the New Latino, and marketers should understand each if they hope to connect with these consumers.  BY Melissa Carmona – Hispanic Marketing Communication / Florida State University

It seems that irrational exuberance is no longer popular. Venture capitalists and investors have suddenly decided that actually disruptive brands do not get a free pass from the need to make money. Faced with demands for more accountability many disruptors will have to figure out what might be their real strengths.  by Nigel Hollis

Many consumers feel brands don’t know them well enough to serve them in a way that makes them feel special, but when those brands seem to know too much–and act on that knowledge–they can quickly lose consumers’ trus

The marketplace is disruptive—and, if you’re a manufacturer or retailer, it’s likely that you’re feeling the force of it. That’s because a major paradigm shift is underway. At Nielsen, we see this shift firsthand every day as our manufacturer and retailer clients are increasingly leaning on us to help them navigate this change and pursue growth. So what are the major themes that have emerged from these conversations? Here are three that we see affect consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies most.

There tends to be a cyclical movement regarding where an agency optimization function sits within an organization, but it usually resides in either the marketing or procurement group. Regardless of where the program sits within an organization, the idea around optimizing the agency partnership has evolved from a focus on process efficiencies and cost savings to real opportunities for marketing procurement and marketing operations to partner with brand marketers to create additional value for executive stakeholders and the business at large.

Digital advertising’s readily available measurement metrics and low-cost perceptions make it more attractive by the day, which is reflected in the channel’s growing share of spend. But is it really as effective as marketers think it is?  by Kristanne Roberts – Global Development Director – Brand Lift Insights Kantar

When Yale professor Cydney Dupree and her colleague analyzed more than two decades worth of political speeches and conducted experiments searching for bias when communicating with racial minorities, they were surprised by what they discovered. According to their report, published this year in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, conservatives generally addressed whites and minorities similarly, but liberals were likelier to modify their speech and “patronize minorities stereotyped as lower status and less competent.”  By Giancarlo Sopo / Courtesy of USA Today

There are many moving pieces that culturally affect the shifts we see in today’s Hispanic culture. A very prominent trend has been the rise and embracement of “Afrolatinidad” (Latinos of African descent). Although the Hispanic community has long had some heralded and very influential figures in its history (such as Celia Cruz), colorism has long plagued Latin American culture. That same colorism migrated to the US with our previous generations.  By Ed Felix, Director of Content Strategy, Conill

Latino consumers are familiar with cash registers and point of sale (POS) systems, as they are commonly being used for checkout in many local bodegas, liquor and tobacco stores. More and more stores are investing in modern point of sale systems to replace their old cash registers. This is not just for the esthetics of having high tech equipment, but for the powerful capabilities to track sales and inventory to organize the store while attracting customers to purchase more, via customer facing advertising.  By Elie Y. Katz – Founder, President & CEO • National Retail Solutions

Hyundai Motor America has named Angela Zepeda, the senior vice president and managing director at its agency of record INNOCEAN USA, as its new chief marketing officer. Angela will be responsible for all of Hyundai’s marketing and advertising activities in the U.S., including the strategic direction, brand development, national and regional advertising, experiential marketing, digital and social media, brand partnerships, and lead generation, among other responsibilities.

Consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) companies worldwide invest about 20 percent of their revenue annually in trade promotions. Stunningly, 59 percent lost money (in the United States, it’s 72 percent).  Conversely, best-in-class CPG promotions returned five times more than the least efficient. Clearly, there is a huge opportunity for both CPG manufacturers and retailers to improve return on investment (ROI) on their trade-promotion investments.

In a previous post, I tried to define the word brand. In this one I want to propose five financial benefits of a strong brand. Most people, I believe, would start with selling more, but given what I wrote in the last post I must start with commanding a higher price point.  by Nigel Hollis

In the age of anxiety, global challenges like trade, politics, inequality, and the state of the natural environment have captured much of the public’s consciousness. What’s not getting enough attention are timely examples of human innovation — the kind that will help drive a more sustainable future. There are two such milestones this year from which to draw inspiration.

Brands old and new are participating in the direct-to-consumer model, and this graphic depicts essential stats as well as tips for getting started in this space.

Why brands must forge deeper, more personalized relationships with consumers for future growth.  By Valeria Piaggio, SVP and Head of Identity and Inclusion Insights at Kantar Consulting

Traditionally, organizations haven’t viewed the customer experience as a singular thing owned by one particular person or department. That’s changed, as brands have worked to put customers at the forefront—and it’s given modern CMOs new importance as owners of that experience.

While marketers admit their future growth and success will rely on leveraging deeper relationships with customers, 43 percent surveyed by the CMO Council admit that their organizations identify “transactional” as being the top attribute and descriptor of their customers.

I realise that the idea of a ‘brand’ is one of those ill-defined concepts that causes endless confusion. We all use the same word and yet can assign it very different meanings. Given that a blog post is meant to stimulate discussion, I am going to propose a definition and we can see where things go from there.  by Nigel Hollis