https://www.cmo.com.au/slideshow/524795/10-examples-cutting-edge-marketing-tech/
I have been a passive follower of marketing trends and processes mainly due to my nearly 20 years of working within the entertainment industry. However, I now say passive in the past tense because I feel that CMGT 541 has helped me to have a more critical eye than before where I can no longer see the forrest for the trees, where I now instinctively dissect each and every aspect of any new ad I see on a daily basis. With my new skills that I have developed over the last 10 weeks, I have searched and searched for an innovative topic for this post where much of what I read lacked the ability of giving me an “ah ha!” moment until I read an article from Australia of all places.
This article caught my attention partially because one of the CMGT 541 midterm presentations has been mulling over and over in my mind for a few weeks now. The midterm I am referencing provided an analysis of the major challenges facing Nordstrom, and many other retailers like it, who are feeling the harsh realities of losing its sales to an ever growing number of online retailers. This of course comes at a time where we are starting to see the demise of many brick and mortar retailers like, Sears, Macys and now, Toys R Us. An although there are many ideas abound that are trying to solve this growing issue of how to differentiate one’s brick and mortar store in order to engage and trigger actual foot traffic that actually translates into actual purchases in a brick and mortar store, I have seen very little evidence of actual solutions that have been put into practice, well, until now.
This article provides 10 innovative examples of how marketers are not only launching cutting-edge campaigns to garner more consumer engagement, but the real ‘next level’ element is that each of these campaigns are actually designed to engage with consumers within the real world and not in just cyberspace. As a result, I feel that these 10 examples can provide a vital foundation for more progressive ideas like these to potentially bring “point and clickers” back to brick and mortar environments. One example is where Adidas, the global athletic shoe and apparel brand, has created a digital shoe wall within a brick and mortar retail store where consumers can have digital experience while also having a real life shopping experience where they can look at an entire wall of Adidas shoes and interact with each shoe in a virtual setting. They can pick up each shoe and spin it around and even try them on in a virtual space, and in doing so, this solution has created an environment that the internet can’t replicate or offer.
Another example is ‘geo-fencing’ of a brand’s followers, where in the article showcases how a popular band can create specific messages based on the actual geographic location of its fans, where the messages can start a week before the band even arrives to the fan’s town to build up anticipation while triggering the fans to post back and forth with he band on social media. The concept is then elevated when the geo-fencing allows fans to opt-in and receive messages when they get to the concert site itself so that they have access to exclusive content and can continue to interact with the band in real time throughout the entire concert experience.
Of course these are just 2 examples, but I invite all of you to read the article because I found it fascinating to see real ideas put into action where the singular goal is to build and maintain a bridge between the brands and its consumers, that creatively leverages an integrated marketing campaign in order to help brick and mortar brands create a more meaningful way to bring their customers back from the digital ‘click and buy’ digital space back in the physical stores themselves.