Marketing

When the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), in collaboration with McKinsey and Co. and GfK, asked marketers about how they would respond to profound changes in the business landscape, a range of responses all tying back to data came out on top. The greatest share, 83%, believed that it would be very important for marketers to know how to make data-informed decisions to respond to such disruptions to their jobs.

CPG companies produce an estimated 20,000 new products each year to keep up with increasing consumer demands. Growth requires a constant stream of new ideas, product updates and whole new category innovations. Without input from the market, it’s nearly impossible to ideate, test, and manufacture winning products at the speed that’s needed to stay competitive in the cutthroat retail environment. As a result, CPG companies need to turn to market research to better understand, incorporate and meet the interests of consumers to help them make smart decisions about the product development process. Here are a few ways you can incorporate market research into your product development efforts.

Technology in many forms has shaken up the role of chief marketers. From cookie-less and incognito browsing to the overwhelming minefield of user data to the proliferation of programmatic software, today’s CMO is now part-data scientist, part-digital strategist, part-research specialist, part-technologist and more.
Ad blockers, lack of measurement standards and the death of creative are just a few of the topic areas which were addressed recently at Advertising Week in New York. However, it’s just as interesting to look at what CMOs aren’t talking about and aren’t eager to shout from the rooftops.

Intent drives search campaigns, and emotional connections drive intent. For the past year I have been writing about how emotions will become the next targeting signal in search and other media. Now the Harvard Business Review (HBR) has released 10 signals that significantly affect customer value across all categories studied.

By 2030, all of the nation’s population growth will come from the multicultural millennials of today, according to Nielsen’s recent report, “The Multicultural Edge.” These media-savvy, socially empowered “super consumers” are the imperative for both brands and publishers to understand. But where are brands supposed to invest their time and money to reach this highly influential and sometimes fickle audience?

For years, empowered consumers have held the upper hand when it comes to making purchasing decisions. But companies are fighting back.  by David Edelman and Marc Singer

Multiscreen users spend the same amount of time viewing video on TV as they do on digital platforms, yet remain less receptive to digital ads, found AdReaction: Video Creative in a Digital World (AdReaction Video), a new report from Millward Brown that examines video use and creative response across screens and the impact for marketers.

A lot of the target focus and discussion today around Hispanic segments are on what I like to refer as the “middle market.” I use this term to group all of the fancy definitions used for Hispanics that have a little (or a lot) of two cultures in them: American (or I should probably say Anglo) and Hispanic culture. The fancy words to define this middle market include: biculturals, ambiculturals, transculturals, Americanos, etc. I welcome my readers to suggest a few more; some of these are actually cool and creative.  By Roberto Siewczynski, SVP, Group Director , Epsilon

If you work in the world of brands, at some point you’ve probably heard an exasperated creative director quote legendary adman Bill Bernbach: “How do you storyboard a smile?”

Millennials just want to have fun.   That may sound like a Cyndi Lauper lyric. It’s really a crucial insight for loyalty marketers who want their customer rewards programs to be a smash hit with the 80-million-strong U.S. consumer segment accounted for by 18- to 34-year-olds.

Nielsen announced the results of a sales effect study that examined radio’s return on advertising spend in four retail categories. The four categories included department stores, home improvement stores, mass merchandisers and quick-service restaurants (QSR).

For the past several decades, the conversations and editorial content in multicultural marketing have focused on how the Hispanic market is a younger market.  Given Corporate America’s ongoing obsession with the Youth and Millennials, this has been an appealing selling point that many have used to gain the commitment of marketers and secure marketing budgets.  While true, the tide has officially turned and the 50+ segment of the Hispanic market gained some much-deserved attention at two concurrent, high profile industry forums.  By Louis Maldonado, Partner and Managing Director at d expósito & Partners

A new study looked at what healthcare executives are doing to serve the U.S.’ emerging Hispanic population, including challenges, opportunities and strategies surrounding Hispanic healthcare.

It isn’t easy being a marketer today. If it isn’t ad fraud, it is a data breach of your CRM system. Or it turns out that your diesel engines aren’t clean, your potatoes not organic or your CEO is not the greatest spokesperson on Twitter. Or that guy from digital is getting all the attention in the board room.  There are continual distractions from what should matter to you most: your consumers.

Most internet users in the US are happy to hear from retailers—if the message is worth their while, at least.

Brand planning. Traditionally a yearly event. And as we all know a vital aspect to developing a strategic direction for growth. At that time of year when your business embarks upon its process to set forth a proposal for how to get from A to B to find growth in the coming year for your product or service you’ll need to take your existing assets and work out how to use these inputs for most impact. Insights to fully understand your consumers and know how to engage with them specifically within their culture are crucial to create a plan that will find growth.

The study, led by Millward Brown Vermeer in partnership with The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), ESOMAR, LinkedIn, Kantar and Korn Ferry, builds on the findings of Marketing2020 and is focused on aligning insights and analytics strategy, structure and capability to drive business growth.

Social media users who connect with brands often share a desire for coupons and offers—they’re in it for the deals. But for food brands, there’s another key way to connect with women online: recipes.

Much talk has surfaced lately about the whether it makes sense to have a total market strategy. Some contend that the intent of a “total market” strategy, which is to recognize target consumers’ needs, culture and behavioral characteristics in the formulation of a company’s marketing strategy is more often misunderstood or not understood at all. This has resulted in “total market” strategies which homogenize how organizations communicate with consumers and which under emphasize and even ignore cultural nuances that work to powerfully connect consumers and brands.  By Terry Soto is President and CEO of About Marketing Solutions, Inc.

Virtually every brand we work with is trying to win Millennials and it’s not surprising why. Eighty million shoppers with one trillion dollars in buying power are hard to ignore. But equally hard to ignore are recent stats that show when it comes to shopper marketing, Millennials know what they want.