Marketing

When customers evaluate a product or service, they weigh its perceived value against the asking price. Marketers have generally focused much of their time and energy on managing the price side of that equation, since raising prices can immediately boost profits. But that’s the easy part: Pricing usually consists of managing a relatively small set of numbers, and pricing analytics and tactics are highly evolved.

“The growth of Hispanics consumers can no longer be viewed as a population shift but rather an economic opportunity to grow your business,” said Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCUniversal International Group and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, during Nielsen’s 2016 Consumer 360 Conference in Las Vegas.

For marketers looking to decode the customer journey, understanding customer pain points can be helpful. According to April 2016 research, almost three-quarters of executives in North America said they have at least some capability to detect when and how digital customers are struggling.

In the last two weeks, NBC’s Rio Olympics has garnered nearly half of the total national TV revenue of many top ad categories.

J. Walter Thompson Intelligence, the propriety research arm of J. Walter Thompson Worldwide, released a new study in partnership with the OPAM (Out Professionals in Advertising and Media) organization on understanding transgender inclusivity in advertising.

It is imperative that marketing leaders understand their role in driving change toward a new content production strategy.  By Jillian Gibbs, ANA Faculty

At this time of the year, many of you are gearing up for 2017. You are determining budgets, developing strategies and detailing plans.

• And I ask you: why not be radical?
• Why not set aside a budget to test new ways of connecting your brand or your service with your consumers?
• Build a learning plan with these initiatives and explain to everyone that these plan elements are not to be touched by budget-cuts (so make sure the budgets are small so they “don’t matter”).

For many companies, cost reduction efforts become an endless downward spiral.  As soon as one cost reduction program is completed, it’s followed by another.  Competitors become locked in a race to the bottom, as price reductions predicated on cost reductions are countered by more cost-cutting from competitors to drive another round of price declines.  Before you know it, the industry has shrunk and retailers, manufacturers and consumers alike all lose out on greater growth and access to greater innovation.  By Jason Green, CEO, The Cambridge Group, and Dan Vucovich, former SVP, President U.S.,
The Hershey Co.

Historically, advertising production has followed a very traditional path: A marketer hires an agency of record; then that agency hires a production company to oversee the production of a master asset, as well as the post production, versioning, and adaptations, all with a single point of contact from the brand.  With the evolution of global content production needs, many marketers have found alternative solutions to this process. Often these solutions involve a transcreation house that is able to address emerging markets and provide consistency, transparency of spend, speed to market, and lower costs.  By Jillian Gibbs, ANA Faculty

Millward Brown released a study exploring the brands behind the two U.S. presidential candidates, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, comparing them with brand profiles in the company’s extensive brand database. The Clinton brand aligned with profiles of proficient but undifferentiated brands, including American Airlines, the United States Postal Service and Visit Florida, the state’s travel arm, while the Trump brand was unlike any brand found in the company’s BrandZ™ database of more than 100,000 brands.

Marketers are constantly looking to meet, and exceed, customer expectations. But according to March 2016 research, less than half of marketers feel confident their organization understands the customer journey.

“Listen to your customer” is a business truism that approaches cliché, but the consequences of not adapting commercial models to market shifts can be severe.  By Brian Fox and Paul Magills

Think you know programmatic video advertising? Take our quiz to see how you stack up against other eMarketer readers. Take the Quiz

Quri is announcing critical lessons learned from its “Summer of Merchandising” data, giving brands the keys to drive ROI ahead of Labor Day.

A new Quant-Qual study by Santiago Solutions Group titled “Gen Z 1.0: Hispanics vs. White Non-Hispanics on Aspirations, Stress, Family and the Influence of Culture”, discovered key differences in the relationship between Gen Z and their families for Hispanics and White Non-Hispanics. In a previous Gen Z quant study, SSG found that Hispanics experienced a much higher level of bittersweet relationships with their parents.

Keeping track of consumers’ media diets is a daunting challenge for any marketer. Thankfully it’s less challenging when media consumption can be sliced and diced across multiple platforms to see how Americans are spending their media days in an age of overwhelming choice. And the astounding choice is actually driving increased media consumption.

US senior decision-makers felt a number of varied factors impacted their analytics investments and objectives in Q1 2016. According to research, a plurality of executives—roughly one-fifth—blamed regulatory changes most, followed by economic (15%) and customer behavior shifts (13%).

It used to be that a bunch of analysis went into understanding the target audience, developing a media mix and selecting the publishers who would be considered and ultimately recommended for your media buys.  Then you gathered the available data and determined efficiencies and audience reach as a result of your campaign.  

According to the report, while the face values of print coupons distributed through Free Standing Inserts, SmartSource Coupon Machines and Consumer Magazines was higher than that of digital coupons distributed through Network and Retailer websites, the gap is narrowing.

Big Data analytics tantalize with the promise of nearly automated customer experience programs. Just tune the latest analytics software to your customer interactions and to social media sites, the pitch goes, and you can track and analyze how customers behave, as well as what they think about their experience with your company’s product or service.