"Buy the Way…" Insights on Integrated Marketing Communication

You might briefly go without your phone as you listen in a meeting or while you visit a friend for coffee. Even then, are you still completely mobile-free? Or are you sharing by word-of-mouth about campaigns, redesigns, decor or ideas you’ve stumbled upon through Instagram and Pinterest? The worst part? You work in the industry and it’s still consuming you. It = branded content.

The custom content that is fueling brands into the next wave of attention is Native Advertising Content aka ‘Native Content’. It’s appealing to your consumer in a way like never before and integrating your brand over and over into a new lifestyle of consuming content. Almost like the consumer didn’t even know your brand was sponsoring it, but yet it’s obvious you were. Catch my drift here?

In the next year, digital advertising is expected to grow to $15 billion in 2019 and even further, to $85 billion by 2020, according to The Drum. So what does a branded content strategy look like for your brand if you’re just now understanding native content?

1. It’s a mobile-first world. 

Native content consumers are predominantly filled with Generation C. Generation C is connected, consumer-driven and demands personalized attention in their media consumption. With an endless age range, yet predominantly focused on Millennials, Generation C is going to continue to expand as our world transforms from tech-friendly to tech-savvy to tech-dominated. It’s got to be mobile-friendly content first not second. 

2. Diversify your feed’s strategy. 

Between branded content, in-feed displays and content recommendations, users have endless options. Making content that facilitates thought-provoking, assistance-oriented and emotionally-connected ideas will generate engagement with this audience while leveraging the brand’s value and prominence in the market.

3. Personalization on point. 

How are you striving to develop personalization within your content, branded offers, e-commerce strategy or your mobile app notifications? Generation C desires a custom experience and it’s no wonder that 91% of U.S. consumers prefer to receive personalized offers according to The Drum. 

4. Publishers are key players. 

Publishers like BuzzFeed, Refinery 29, Vice Media and Vox are active in the space of publishing content. How they evolve and remain competitive is beginning to look like the paid subscription model, similar to Netflix and Hulu. For example, last week BuzzFeed with $5 per month to exclusive content. Yet for brands, you’re still paying to play, although the target market will be even more succinct as you narrow in on an audience’s willingness to pay. Their willingness will evolve and eventually tell the story of alignment in product purchase willingness as it relates to web content willingness.

5. Happy people remember your brand. 

According to AdAge this past week, branded content can make your audience happy. That emotion then reflects upon purchasing power. Happy people are going to then remember your brand, making the brand 67% more influential. Talk about power in emotions? So when you have only 8 seconds to capture your audience’s attention on digital, are you going to aim for happiness?

Why do I know about the emotions in branded content? Well, just recently Turner Ignite partnered with Realeyes, an AI Innovation Platform, to assess emotional metrics on emotions and branded content. Brilliant. One of my favorite elements in advertising is the emotional connection and advertisers have been missing the ability to assess these metrics until now. With machine learning, Realeyes was able to determine that 90% of consumers are making decisions without even realizing what it is they’re making decisions about. This power will evolve into a new concept of brand love. Your new media mix in branded content is going to fuel the new KPI (key performance metric) of brand love.

So now that you’re ready to captivate your Generation C audience through branded content, are you ready to journey on brand love in 2019?

It has been a few weeks since the 2018 Mid-term elections resulted in Democrats winning back control of the House of Representatives and several governorships and state legislatures. Republicans managed to hold onto contol of the Senate and even increased their Senate majority by winning two seats in Red states that had gone to Democrats with Obama’s re-election in 2012.

But I have been asking myself what lessons, if any, these elections hold for marketers and I think I have come up with one or two. First, though, some numbers.  According to Newsweek’s November 8 online issue, in House races, Dems got 51.2% of the votes cast (and picked up between 30-35 seats), while Repubs got 47.1% of the votes. Nationally, 2018 results confirm 2016 results: Democrats are now a clear majority party nationally while Republicans are a distinctly minority party.

But what does this mean? There the results offer more ambiguity. Some analysts saw the Democratic wave as a rebuke to President Trump for various actions, most recently his nomination to the Supreme Court of Brett Kavanaugh, the accused sexual predator. Others saw a rejection by urban and suburban women of Trump’s generally sexist positions. (Trump, paradoxically, claimed his nomination of Kavanaugh saved the Senate for Republicans by motivating the Republican base to get out and vote.)

Exit polling by various media outlets found that voters who chose Democratic wanted to place accountability on the Trump administration by empowering a Democratic House, but also that Democrats offered more responsible policies on issues of local and national concern, like preserving Obamacare.

So what might this mean for marketers? Without explicitly advocating for one party or another, marketers can ride this wave of desire for accountability and responsibility by pitching products as responsible and consumers who purchase them as accountable. Dasani, for example, might talk up the environmental benefits of its ‘green’ bottles (basically partially plant-based containers). Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyftmight pitch responsible energy use for those who use the Uber“Pool” option (or Lyft’s “Shared” ride opton). Maybe the NFL can continue to pitch its offerings as over-the-top Trumpianfestivals of excess. I’m not sure how you turn NFL fans into responsible consumers, but teams could talk up their neighborhood and educational initiatives and downplay Trumpian player excesses.

Just some thoughts I’ve had recently about the temper of the times.

Have you heard of Generation C? If not, join the club. I heard of this cohort just last week while discussing target audiences for a presentation for class. They are the new cohort that must be catered to in the future by all brands and marketing professional according to the latest research. Think with Google defines Gen C as a “powerful new force in consumer culture.” According to Brian Solis, a digital analyst, Gen C is defined as “essentially, a group of individuals, irrespective of age, who use an abundance of technology during their daily routine” (Jenblat, 2018). What I wanted to know was, what does the “C” in Generation C stand for? I came across different views ranging from content, collaboration, community, computerized, change, co-creation, curation, chameleons, cyborgs, to curiosity. (Holmes, 2016; Nielsen, 2010). However, ‘Connected Consumer’ and ‘Connected Collective’ (Holmes, 2016; Nielsen, 2010; Pickett, 2018) seem to be the winners in this race. And, this holds true as those who fall into the Generation C cohort are considered “digital natives”, with a pulse on what’s going on in the world of social media (Holmes, 2016; Jenblat, 2018; Nielsen, 2010)

As Generation C is not defined by age but by their technology usage, shared values and attitudes (Pickett, 2018), any of the traditional generations — Baby Boomers, X, Y, Millennials or Z — can fall into this cohort. While it is undeniable that Millennials make the largest group within Generation C, they were born in an era of digital evolution after all, many Gen Xers and Yers, and even Baby Boomers who are tech-savvy and use digital media to keep informed of the latest developments in their defined communities and in the world are encompassed by Generation C. Therefore, this new cohort, which was first identified in 2004 and made more prominent is 2012 with the changing digital landscape, only continues to grow with the ease of access to mobile technology, high-speed internet and the addition of Gen Z who were born with technological adept minds.

Accordingly, Generation C is tagged as the future target audience of marketing and branding campaigns. What remains is trying to keep pace with this ever-changing and diverse cohort group acknowledged as constantly seeking content worth sharing, being community-minded while seeking control and creativity with a tribal mentality (Nielsen, 2010; Pickett, 2018).

But I think that this future has arrived. And we as communications professionals must gear ourselves to tackle this new tech-savvy Generation by giving them relevant content to drive our brand message into the future which will continue its evolutionary change habits driven by our target audiences.

Here’s an overview of Gen C

References:

Holmes, R. (2016, October 12). Move over, Millennials: 5 things you need to know about Generation C. Inc. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/ryan-holmes/move-over-millennials-5-things-you-need-to-know-about-generation-c.html

Jenblat, O. (2018, January 29). Is your business prepared for Generation C? Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/01/29/is-your-business-prepared-for-generation-c/#61bc87eea4be

Nielsen. (2010, October 27). Introducing Generation C the connected collective consumer. Neilson Insights Newswire. Retrieved from https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2010/introducing-gen-c-the-connected-collective-consumer.html

Pickett, P. (2018, July 13). Learn the Characteristics of Generation C. The Balance Careers. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/who-is-generation-c-and-what-are-they-all-about-2071937

Think with Google. Retrieved from https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/introducing-gen-c-the-youtube-generation/

I was camping in the desert with a group of CrossFit buddies earlier this Fall when I first heard the term ‘Internet of Things.’  I had no idea what it meant, but I kept hearing the term in the news, and in conversation, so I decided to do some research.  After reading several articles, my initial thoughts summed up in one word – “Wow!”.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a world of electronic devices, ranging from smart watches to heart rate monitors, that are connected to each other, and send and receive data via the internet (Ranger, 2018).  With the introduction of smaller processors, cheaper internet, and Wi-Fi-everything, IoT has exploded, and it continues to expand (Morgan, 2014).  Just imagine the billions of devices in the world connected to the internet and connected to each other.  That is a lot of information being shared from device to device.  Also, the kicker in the IoT world is that these devices don’t need us to access the internet or talk with one another (Ranger, 2018).  I know; seems a bit weird.

Why would anyone want this type of weird connectivity between devices, you ask? Well, that’s a good question.  IoT does have advantages that bring efficiencies to our lives (Morgan, 2014).  For example, your smart TV is set to wake you up for work to your favorite news channel, and it notifies your toaster to start making breakfast (Morgan, 2014).  Thinking futuristically, if you were having a heart attack while driving, your smart watch could switch your vehicle to autopilot and instruct it to drive you to the nearest hospital and call your emergency contacts (Morgan, 2014).  The idea might be far off into the future, but it is an example of what IoT could bring (Morgan, 2014).

IoT has also impacted marketing data in an enormous way (Patel, 2015).  There a more IoT-connected devices on the planet than humans, and marketers estimate that by 2020, there will be close to 1 trillion (Patel, 2015).  Why is this good for marketers?  It’s rather simple.  As more and more new products are connected to IoT – the newer the data marketers have to tap into diverse consumer segments (Patel, 2015).  With more information from consumers, marketers are better able to customize communications to specific audiences based on consumer preference (Patel, 2015).  That means that when your smart TV is talking to your toaster, they’re listening.

References:

Morgan, J.  (2014).  A simple explanation of ‘the internet of things’.  Forbes.  Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/05/13/simple-explanation-internet-things-that-anyone-can-understand/#70b66e131d09

Ranger, S.  (2018).  What is the IoT?  Everything you need to know about the internet of things right now.  ZDNet.  Retrieved from: https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-the-internet-of-things-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-iot-right-now/

Patel, N.  (2015).  How the internet of things is changing online marketing.  Forbes.  Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilpatel/2015/12/10/how-the-internet-of-things-is-changing-online-marketing/#4cbd2b636880

HELTON IS AT RISK AS OUR HEAD COACH

Looking back earlier in the season, the Trojans were rank #7 in the Pac 12 with Clay Helton returning in his third year as head coach. Helton came back with an overall track record of 27 wins & 10 losses, and last year ending the season with an 11-3 record in the Pac 12 and 8-1 in the South Conference Division (Murschel, 2018 & ESPN, 2018). However, throughout this season the Trojans began to struggle with the inconsistencies of its offense, defense, player injuries, e.g., Lineback – Cameron Smith; Cornerback – Greg Johnson; and Quarterbacks J.T. Daniels & Matt Fink, along with Neil Calloway, the offensive line coach, getting fired (De Artola,2018 & Murschel, 2018).  And now, Helton is at risk of losing his job. After a defeated lost to UCLA (27-34) last week, the Trojans are currently 5-6 in the overall Pac 12 and 4-5 in the South Conference Division with one game left against the undefeated (11-0) rival of Notre Dame – Fighting Irish (Murschel, 2018; Hellman, 2018; ESPN, 2018 & Conway, 2018).

If the Trojan’s lose to Norte Dame, what’s next? Are the Trojans ready to make a move to replacing Clay Helton?

The answers are questionable as rumors circle that possible two former National Football League (NFL) coaches are in the running to replacing Helton. First is Jack Del Rio, a former USC & All-American football player in 1984 and head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2003-2011 and for the Oakland Raiders from 2015-2017 (Goodrich, 2018 & Conway, 2018). Del Rio had an overall track record of 93 wins & 94 losses with two playoff appearances throughout his NFL career. Next is Jeff Fisher another former USC football player, who played for the Chicago Bears, and landed his first coaching job for the Houston Oilers which promoted him as the head coach for the Tennessee Titans for 17 years. Fisher got fired in 2011 and later became the head coach for the St. Louis Rams from 2012 -2016 (Goodrich, 2018; Conway, 2018 & Hellman, 2018). Though, unlike Del Rio, Fisher’s overall track record as head coach had the most losses in NFL history with a total of 165 but had 173 wins throughout his career. Both men are potential candidates for replacing Helton; however, according to Conway 2018, he doesn’t think neither Del Rio or Fisher have the mindset to coaching college football because both men lack success in the NFL (Conway, 2018).

What are your thoughts?  Do you think the Trojans are ready to replacing Helton?

References

Conway, T. (2018, November 21). USC Football.  Bleacher Report. Retrieved from https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2807166-usc-head-coach-rumors-jeff-fisher-jack-del-rio-linked-to-potential-opening

De Artola, A. (2018, October 17). USC football injury report: Cameron Smith, Palaie Gaoteote “close” (10/17). Reign of Troy. Retrieved from https://reignoftroy.com/2018/10/17/usc-football-injury-report-10-17-cameron-smith-palaie-gaoteote/

ESPN. (2018).  USC Trojans. Retrieved from http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/30/usc-trojans

Goodrich, T. (2018). Should USC football hire Jack Del Rio or Jeff Fisher to replace Clay Helton? Reign of Troy. Retrieved from https://reignoftroy.com/2018/11/23/usc-football-jack-del-rio-jeff-fisher-replace-helton/

Hellman, S. (2018, November 21).  Two long-time NFL coaches floated as USC candidates. 247 Sports. https://247sports.com/Article/USC-football-coach-Jeff-Fisher-Jack-Del-Rio-125087962/

Murschel, M. (2018, August 20). USC is No. 7 in 2018 preseason college football rankings. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved from: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college-football-rankings/os-sp-college-football-rankings-usc-0820-story.html

In recent weeks we’ve talked a lot about trends and how understanding them can be valuable to our own projects and ideas. When something becomes popular, and acts as a trend in pop culture, the hype surrounding the brand or product can reach epic levels. One brand that has reached this status is clothing company Supreme. For those of you unfamiliar, Supreme is a streetwear brand that is known for their red and white logo that is splattered across their products. The brand has a cult following and wearing a shirt or sweatshirt has become a status symbol in popular culture.

The brand is so popular, in fact, that it was even featured on my favorite new Netflix show, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj (side note- if you haven’t seen it you should; it’s great). The show is part stand-up, part news segment, and each episode focuses on a certain subject.

Last week Minhaj focused on the brand and how their hype is manufactured through limited releases and the model of scarcity. Which then opens the re-sell market value on these products upwards of over 400%.

To drive the point even further the show created their own line of Supreme shirts releasing only 100 on their website for $7.75 each. The shirts sold out and are now re-selling for more than $100 for some styles. Only proving the point that hype and, ultimately, what is trending can do a lot to help your brand.

The value of hype and how to use it is something we can all think about as we finish our final projects.

Two luxury brands faced backlash recently for campaign ads that claim to be culturally ignorant and disrespectful. Although both, Dolce & Gabbana and Dior, have pulled the ads on all or parts of their media platforms, their public response has been less than apologetic or even understanding.

A Dolce & Gabbana not so funny video depicts a Chinese woman being taught to eat a pizza with chopsticks. The ad dropped in advance of a fashion show in Shanghai. The response was quick. Celebrities took to social media calling for a boycott. Chinese Brand Ambassador publicly resigned.  Parody’s went viral. E-commerce sites immediately pulled D&G products. The fashion show was canceled.

Although D&G looks like they are trying to manage the crisis, the blunders continue. Their public apology missed the mark with a ‘yes, but’ approach – “What happened today was very unfortunate not only for us but also for all the people who worked day and night to bring this event to life.” But who exactly worked on this campaign? Apparently not their Chinese brand ambassador.

While there have been claims from D&G of a social media hack following further apparent offensive comments from co-founder Stephano Gabbana’s Instagram account, there has not been a formal apology (i.e. a video from the founder) outside of statements on social media nor was the ad taken down from D&G Instagram account even days after the initial reaction from their Chinese consumers.

Dior faced similar criticism when their ad campaign for their latest collection, inspired by Escaramuzas – traditional women riders of Mexico, did not include Mexican women nor was it filmed in Mexico. Unlike D&G, Dior pulled the ads from all platforms, yet publicly denied it was due to backlash and even went so far as saying the backlash was unfounded. Actress Jennifer Lawrence who has been the spokesperson for Dior and was in the ad was quoted as saying the ad is celebrating the tradition through a “modern lens.” Does that modern lens then not visually include Mexican women? Could Dior not have included additional actresses with a diverse cultural background to this ad?

In both these examples, it’s the response that reveals how disconnected these companies are from their market, as well as how these brands lack organizational cultural competency. For marketers, research and data are crucial but it does not tell the whole story. That understanding was missing from the decision-making process of D&G and Dior.  Dior took an honored traditional Mexican attire to sell a product but missed the mark in respecting the social and cultural connection. D&G tried humor apparently in an ‘out-of-the-box’ marketing approach that failed yet it seems like they didn’t care when consumers felt insulted. Both created big talk but for all the wrong reasons.

Bronner, D. (2018, November 24). Why Dolce & Gabbana’s blunder cold be such a disaster. CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/24/business/dolce-gabbana-china/index.html

Friedmann, V. and Wee, S. (2018, November 23). The crash and burn of Dolce & Gabbana. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/fashion/dolce-gabbana-china-disaster-backlash.html

Schallhorn, K. (2018, November 23). Dolce & Gabbana apologize for ‘racist’ ads, ask for forgiveness as fallout continues. Fox News. Retrieved from https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/dolce-gabanna-apologize-for-racist-ads-ask-for-forgiveness-as-fallout-continues

McCarthy, T. (2018, November 21). Dior calls Jennifer Lawrence campaign backlash “not at all justified.’ Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/dior-updates-jennifer-lawrence-ad-campaign-after-claims-of-cultural-appropriation

Fitzpatrick, H. (2018, November 15). Jennifer Lawrence and Dior face backlash, claims of cultural appropriation over new campaign. ABC News. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/jennifer-lawrence-dior-face-backlash-claims-cultural-appropriation/story?id=59217186

We’re rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves. Yo ho, yo ho! No, I’m not talking about pirates; I’m talking about digital marketing and sales departments all across the country. In the open waters of list building, cold emailing, and digital ad targeting, we need someone at the helm to guide our businesses toward success.

GDPR has set the standard for businesses that operate in Europe and all signs are pointing to a new bipartisan push toward data privacy legislation in the US. That’s reason enough for sales and marketing departments to revisit internal policies and practices regarding data privacy. Just because we know we should, though, doesn’t make it easy to decide what we should do or how to implement change.

One of the hot topics in my office right now is cold emailing. Our UK office has to follow GDPR guidelines when it comes to outbound emails but in the US, cold emailing is much more of a grey area. The crux of our debate comes to this: I am in favor of adopting a permissions marketing strategy in which we only email those who have opted in to receive our content, but cold emailing works so it’s really hard to transition away from it.

So the debate rages on. Buying and renting lists is legal in the US, but is it the best way to approach sales and marketing? Most email marketing platforms argue that it is not. Here’s what HubSpot has to say, and Constant Contact agrees. All of these so-called experts are telling us to stop (please, please, stop) emailing people who haven’t given us permission, but emailing purchased lists works for many companies – what’s the answer?

The answer is: it’s complicated, but we need to put data privacy back on the agenda for our strategy meetings. Organizations have to work through these issues; we all know that. Consumers expect us to respect their privacy and they are becoming increasingly savvy when it comes to sharing their data. Congress is talking about data privacy and they will eventually push through new legislation. California has already put new data privacy regulations in place.

Many of these data conversations center around personally identifying information, credit card data, and encryption, but in the wake of the Facebook data privacy scandal, all aspects of how companies interact with consumers online should be reexamined. Permissions marketing changes the way companies think about procuring consumers information and how they interact with those consumers going forward.

Seth Godin wrote a great book that outlines why permission marketing is better for brands and better for consumers. The basic principle is that permission marketing offers consumers incentives to accept advertising voluntarily. It prioritizes building relationships with consumers rather than interrupting them with ads they may not be interested in. Moving toward permission marketing is a tough sell for many companies, but as data privacy becomes more top-of-mind permission marketing offers an interesting solution.

Whether your company decides to adopt the permission marketing or inbound strategy for your digital presence or not, let’s put our three-cornered hats away and choose the data privacy life.

When I log into Netflix, I always notice the first trailer that comes up is a Netflix film. If you are not already aware, Netflix has almost surpassed HBO in nominations and Emmy wins for their new shows and there is a reason that they have become so successful in being a streaming service that never advertises its actual service.

According to Adweek, Netflix dropped 2 billion in marketing for 2018. It does not have to sell its service but does have to compete with other services that also offer similar streaming services. It currently has over 125 million subscribers, but like any business, it has to make sure it maintains the numbers to be successful. In order to gain potential customers, it must sell its Netflix only films and television shows. It is an established company and in order to keep up with the services, it must find innovative ways to keep its customers happy and make them stick around.

Netflix broke into the rom-com category this year with movies such as The Kissing Booth and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.  I came home from work one night and had a list of texts from a group chat that had asked if anyone had seen the movie. I had at that point because it was in one of those infamous trailers when you log on and I loved it! It ended up going viral and became one of Netflix’s most-viewed original films of all time.

Another major marketing technique is that it does not play it safe when it comes to their social media marketing. With crazy tweets, Netflix enjoys having fun with its customers through social media while advertising one of its shows such as the one below. It will have conversations with its customers to let them know that they are listening and it is the perfect humorous and caring touch by the service.

Netflix’s marketing strategy for 2019 is to continue gaining views with viral marketing. As Disney plans to make a streaming service soon, it will be important for Netflix to dive into different genres to ensure that it stays on top of all of its content and continues to make movies that tons of viewers want to see.