Marketing

All brands have a story to tell consumers, but telling it in a way consumers want to hear can be challenging. Marketers are taking advantage of their ability to use content and ad creative sequentially to present longer, more compelling messages to consumers.

If there is one thing that has changed in the last couple of decades it is our expectations of immediacy. Ever since Apple put easy access to information in our hands people have come to expect everything to be more immediate. This includes business success which is a problem when brands take time to grow strong.  by Nigel Hollis

With marketing technologies growing ever more powerful, many companies are deploying the latest tools to personalize marketing or make ad spending more efficient. There’s no question that new digital technologies allow marketers to approach customers with surgical precision, unlike the blunter instruments of just five years ago. But the rush to invest in new technologies designed to boost the return on investment (ROI) of a single purchase or channel often misses the foundational goal of knowing who your target customers are, what they’re worth to the firm and how they behave.  By Laura Beaudin, Brian Dennehy and John Grudnowski

Do brands still hold sway over consumers? According to new research, executives worldwide are worried that the marketing power of the brand is declining.

Every year, companies spend months creating their price and promotion plans in hopes of driving better results. However, intensifying pressures from today’s increasingly competitive marketplace are causing systemic shifts in the effectiveness of the current planning process.  By Lana Busignani, Executive Vice President, U.S. Marketing Effectiveness, Nielsen

The agency refusal to cooperate infuriated procurement. As one exasperated executive told me in 2003, “Who the hell do they think they are, anyway? A bunch of prima donnas. I’m going to whack their fees by 10% — maybe that will send them a message.”  By Michael Farmer – Madison Avenue Manslaughter

It’s no secret that traditional Spanish broadcast networks have been experiencing a steady loss of viewers in the U.S. year over year. Many factors are contributing to this decline including a slowing in immigration from Mexico. But, perhaps even more impactful is the fact that growth in the U.S. Hispanic market is primarily coming from U.S. born.  By Mario Carrasco –  ThinkNow Research

Influencer Marketing has become a central focus of marketing strategies and budgets for 2017. According to Bloomberg, an estimated $255 million is now spent on influencer marketing every month. With a buy in like that, what’s the ROI? EMarketer reported that advertisers earned an average of $6.85 for every $1 they spent on influencer marketing.

Despite concerns around the current economic and political landscape, Hispanic spending continues to rise across the total fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market, according to Nielsen’s Target Track retail measurement service. In year-to-date (YTD) 2017, Hispanic consumers have increased their FMCG spending by 0.6%, compared with 2016. In comparison, non-Hispanic dollars sales are 0.7% lower than last year.

So while it’s been well documented in the first half of 2017 that smaller companies are pulling ahead of the pack and driving much of the growth in the U.S. fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) realm, the trend begs the question: Is size the new determining factor for success, or can large companies advance too?

Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble Co. on Thursday reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth quarter profit and sales, but if you think this means things are turning up for the struggling US consumer packaged goods sector, think again.

The latest quarterly results from P&G once again raise the question of the real value of digital advertising. If a major company can cut digital spend by $140 million and sales increase, what does that imply about the effectiveness of that spend?  by Nigel Hollis

You know that something has become “a thing” when that something finds its way into marketing speak and marketing titles.

Interaction Metrics examined the point-of-purchase surveys for 51 of the largest retailers (companies like Lowe’s, Ace Hardware and Wal-Mart). The study found that 96% of these retailers run point-of purchase (customer satisfaction) surveys—and 98% of the surveys were useless or poor.

Erik DuPlessis sent me a link to this post titled ‘The Wisdom of Taxi Drivers’  by Damon Stapleton. Thank you, Erik, like you said, “very, very good”. Why? Because it reminds us that the power of stories lies in being interesting, specific and human. It reminds us that we need to keep people – the target audience if you must – at the heart of the creative development process.  by Nigel Hollis

At Columbia Records, I had the chance to work with incredible talent. Adele. Beyoncé. Rachel Platten. One Direction. Passion Pit. Ruth B. The lifeblood of the music business is talent. It’s about discovering talent and then letting that talent connect with an audience. At the label, everyone, no matter how big or small their role, exhibited a real sense of pride about making an artist successful.  By Elliot Lum, head of talent acquisition at the ANA’s Educational Foundation

If you’re a business owner and you’re not yet jumping onto the Generation Z bandwagon, you might want to reconsider. Made up of 84.7 million kids born between 1996 and 2010, there is no doubt that this generation has and will have enormous spending power, and it’s vital for businesses to figure out how to better serve this high-spending demographic.  

I’am not influenced by advertising. I make up my own mind what to buy’. How many times has one of your friends said this to you? Of course, they are 50 percent right and 50 percent wrong. They do make up their own minds but that decision is likely influenced by advertising along with a host of other forgotten contacts with the brand.  by Nigel Hollis

While labor-based fees are the No. 1 method preferred by agencies (45%), incentive methods were the top choice among marketers (40%).

The key performance indicators most commonly tracked by retail executives may be distracting their attention from broad, omnichannel goals and performance.