Marketing

Far be it from some sort of over-arching, existential, or politically-charged claim, the statement that “all marketing is cultural” is demonstrably true and inescapable. Whereas traditional schools of thought may have held that marketing is detached from human nature or consumer interaction, marketing actually constitutes a form of communication which is inseparable from its means of creation and from its audience. In this sense, all marketing certainly is cultural; marketing (especially integrated marketing) is a form of communication; all communication is informed by culture; and cultural aspects inform both the creation of and receptivity to marketing communication.  By Chloe Lane / Florisa State University

IAB research reveals that, in contrast to the most recent wave of high-valuation startups, direct brands are focusing on profitability and customer satisfaction ahead of market share. In fact, 90 percent of DTC brands report that they are already profitable.

Cultural intelligence is an invaluable way to cut through the clutter and deliver campaign results. That’s why, as the media landscape becomes increasingly fragmented and mobile audiences grow harder to reach, cultural intelligence should sit at the core of content production and distribution.

Marketers love to talk about personas, those ideal customer archetypes as revealed by online activities and other markers. But perhaps the most overlooked attribute of personas may be purely demographic: age groups.

eMarketer junior analysts Blake Droesch and Lucy Koch join principal analyst Jillian Ryan to discuss whether companies still need a traditional CMO. What are the new responsibilities of the new CMO, and what can they do to thrive? Jillian, Blake and Lucy also talk about the smartphone shipment rebound and whether people prefer to watch the same content separately, or different content together.

New and ground-breaking marketing often grabs our attention. But the evidence points to consistency as the key to brand growth. How can brands be consistent yet still attract their audience’s attention?  by Myles George – Director / NeedScope International

Digital marketing is about to enter more challenging territory. Building on the vast increase in consumer power brought on by the digital age, marketing is headed toward being on demand—not just always “on,” but also always relevant, responsive to the consumer’s desire for marketing that cuts through the noise with pinpoint delivery.

A recent article on The Correspondent is gaining attention for suggesting that the $273 billion-dollar online advertising industry is the new dot com bubble. The authors are undoubtedly right, much of the money spent on digital is being wasted. But here is the problem, too many advertisers believe their money is well-spent and they do not want to hear otherwise.  by Nigel Hollis

The impact of consumers’ newfound super powers

Personalization at scale is where retailers and consumer brands are competing to win. But in focusing on “playing offense” to capture value, executives are often overlooking their “defense”: preserving, protecting, enabling, and accelerating the hard-won gains of their digital efforts by ensuring that personalization at scale keeps personal data secure and private.

“Human in the loop” contextual targeting – which uses brand preferences to power machine learning that is overseen by humans – is dramatically more effective than traditional modes of ad targeting, according to “Solving Brand Suitability,” a new study by MAGNA and the IPG Media Lab conducted with Zefr, the Contextual DMP™ for brands and agencies.

Highly digitally-connected media planners are bringing their own biases to the interpretation of campaign data, argues Hannah Gillett, Strategy Director at Spark Foundry.

The ANA is tackling the marketing industry’s ongoing talent crisis head-on with a new multi-tiered campaign designed to inspire talented and diverse university students to choose marketing as a career.

Sometimes when you finish writing an article, you may struggle a bit to find a catchy headline. You look for something that could immediately break through the clutter, maybe something with a sense of humor, sometimes a breaking news approach. However, that’s not the case for this article. Sorry, but this time I went with a direct headline. Why? Because I believe it is crucial to address this topic in a very straightforward manner.  By Isaac Mizrahi – Co-President of ALMA

The Latino community is every day becoming stronger and stronger as a key influencer of the US marketplace. The Hispanic consumer is becoming a powerful force in our economic tapestry, likened to the millennial.

Despite the headlines and hashtags, women around the world are fatigued and believe meaningful change is coming too slowly. Nielsen recently took a closer look at the worldwide reality of where women are today and found that there’s an opportunity here for brands.

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