Marketing

Business innovation never ceases to amaze me! Every day I see ads that blow me away when it comes to new ideas and state-of-the-art features and benefits of existing products. The problem, however, with differentiating your brand through product features and benefits is that those are easily copied by competitors. Once it catches on, “poof!” — no longer a differentiator. DOWNLOAD REPORT HERE.

In an era of globalization and fluid national borders, advertising that appeals to cultural and ethnic identity has become a vital part of the corporate marketing arsenal. But new research co-developed by Wharton shows how ethnic-oriented marketing can backfire and even turn multicultural consumers against a product or service, as three marketing professors explain in a paper titled, “Bicultural Identity and the Dark Side of Targeting.”

There is precedent for the current interest in multiculturalism. John Berry[i] presents a heuristic paradigm in which he considers the degree to which individuals value keeping their original cultural orientation, and the degree to which they find it valuable to maintain a relationship with the second culture. Those individuals who wish to preserve their culture and also relate to the second culture “integrate.” Those who do not value preserving their original culture and value the relationship with the second culture “assimilate.” Those who value their culture and do not care for the second culture tend to “separate.” And, finally, those who do not value either culture become “marginalized.” By Dr. Felipe Korzenny

Marketing communications and advertising must change to consider that the convergence of cross cultural values around the world is impacting the way people think, connect, communicate and behave. Thus, in place of traditional demographic segmentation criteria, I propose that in order to craft meaningful, engaging creative strategies and ideas that are relevant to this new human reality we must begin to study the consumer market on the basis of their level of cross cultural engagement and its effects on preferences, life choices and shopping behavior. By definition, culturally-specialized strategic companies and agencies are better suited to address this transformation than are global generalist shops because we are more deeply attuned to cultural insights and their influence on consumption behavior. Properly harnessed, we can transform the ad industry in the U.S. and potentially, in the rest of the world. ByJackie Bird – CEO – Redbean Society. Available on HispanicCMO.com

Think you can beat Madison Avenue at producing pithy one-liners or cool, zany brand commercials? If so, you’ll want to enter the Get Wildly Creative About South Africa ad contest leading up to the FIFA World Cup. The football extravaganza to be hosted by this colorful, dynamic and diverse African nation is just 100 days away and South Africa is marking the start of the countdown today with a variety of patriotic celebrations and flag- flying spectacles.

Strong branded cultures don’t just have engaged employees who are passionate and proud of their brand. Even more so, they have a clear understanding of the brand’s purpose and vision with a clear line-of-sight perspective as to how they contribute to the success of the brand, and they’re empowered to deliver!. DOWNLOAD REPORT HERE.

Moms are empowered consumers who head to the Web to meet their many product needs. With mothers controlling an estimated 80% of household spending, or $1.7 trillion a year, retailers must understand how women’s shopping behavior changes when they have children.

Paul Fredrick specializes in men’s dress and business apparel. The company’s primary demographic is older men who regularly wear suits. While many customers shop online, the company’s paper catalog is the impetus behind their purchasing decisions. Available on HispanicCMO.com

Five “must know” brand guidelines you need to know for building your brand in today’s economy.

The rise of new technologies and increased channel fragmentation makes reaching consumer targets more challenging than ever. More and more consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers are finding that micro-targeting strategies—traditionally employed by specialized business—are unleashing new, deeper insights into their customer targets enabling them to grow brands in creative and profitable ways.

In 2015 consumers will be more in control of a fragmented media marketplace than they are today and will compartmentalize their media consumption habits into segments that align with their attention spans, personal tastes, information needs and technological savvy. Media 2015: The Future of Media, which was commissioned by a powerhouse triumvirate of client, agency, and media companies: Unilever, Mindshare, and ESPN. DOWNLOAD REPORT HERE.