"Buy the Way…" Insights on Integrated Marketing Communication

Generation X or the Millennial generation has been known to disrupt marketing techniques regardless of the industry. They shift the way that marketers have to thing due to the way they buy. The internet is filled with articles that posit Generation Xers look to purchase from companies that are values-based companies. For example, Generation Xers would prefer to buy the handcrafted soap where proceeds support local organic operations rather than buy soap from Target even though the Target is more convenient and has a broader variety. Generation Xers impact doesn’t stop there, although they are labeled as entitled and lazy they have created an equally significant effect on the job market. It seems that everything they touch is beginning to shift. Due to their ability to shift the approach to traditional practices, they have been widely researched to attract and best engage this engage the group. However, there’s another generation that has created a more vast disruption. Just as marketers have been able to catch up with Generation X, Generation Z has arrived to send them back to the drawing boards. Generation Z is anyone 22 or younger today and the latest group of buyers entering into the consumer market.

Generation Z is expected to account for more than 40 percent of recent consumers and is recognized as the next consumer powerhouse. So ramping up your marketing practice now to accommodate Gen-X and Gen-Z is crucial. But the two generations are very different. Finding the tips to marketing to Generation X is a Google search away, however, due to the majority of Generation Z just becoming 18 years old there’s little information about connecting them to your marketing campaigns. If you’re like Gen-Z, you don’t have the attention span to search through the many articles online, here’s a list of the best ways to get the attention of Gen-Zers:

1. Involve Gen-Zers in the Message.
Gen-Zers are involved. Empowering them to help produce or create the message around a product can make other Gen-Zers more engaged. Companies can leverage Instagram or Twitter competitions to encourage Gen-Zers to get involved in designing packaging or providing the best slogan to go on swag.

2. Your Company Social Responsibility Initiatives are Essential.
Gen-Z equates “value” to the social responsibility causes companies support. This shows Gen-Z that the companies they support are actively focused greater good. Studies have shown that Gen-Z is interested in racial, gender and income equality, as well as environmental issues. Standing up for these values is becoming a differentiator for brands.

3. Adaptability of Social Media Practices is Vital.
Marketing teams will have to be agile in the ways they communicate through social media, creating quick easily digestible content to keep the attention of Gen-Z. Gen-Z is a technology-driven generation; they don’t have time for ads or the interest to sit through sponsored time. They want information that is easily digestible because Gen-Z has an attention span of eight seconds.

What came first: marketing or relationships?

This week, I saw a neat article about putting sales ahead of marketing. It said, “When entrepreneurs are building their businesses, they often start thinking about their marketing strategy. … They discuss where and how and when will they advertise their products, and basically how soon can they get going” (Saadi, 2018, para. 3). There’s an important element missing in this equation, though, and that’s the customer. Saadi (2018) defined sales as something that keeps the customer in mind within the marketing strategy. She said, “Instead of spend all that money on marketing, startups should develop a sales strategy” (para. 9).

Just a couple weeks ago, B2C discussed the concept of relationship marketing, stating that strong and key relationships is one of the most important marketing strategies for growing a brand in today’s digital world and building stronger connections.

As you have been working on your final projects, what have your thoughts been about relationship marketing? Do you think it’s important? If so, how important is it?

References:

Saadi, D. (2018, April 14). Important tips for putting sales ahead of marketing strategy. The National. Retrieved from https://www.thenational.ae/business/economy/important-tips-for-putting-sales-ahead-of-marketing-strategy-1.721407

As we work on our final projects and “big ideas” for CMGT 541, I wanted to share a recent “big idea”/ integrated marketing campaign that was introduced by American Express this week titled “Powerful backing: don’t live life without it”. Through the use of social media, outdoor advertising, TV commercials, digital ads and more, American Express aims to keep up with its evolving consumer, those who live blended lives, by sharing the brands messaging that life and business are truly interconnected and American Express has your back through both. Through traditional and digital media executions, American Express highlights its role in helping customers facilitate this new reality of work-life integration.

American Express commissioned a global study that shows 57 percent of people live blended lives between work and personal life. The study also indicates that people believe they can achieve more through work-life integration. This integrated marketing campaign also positions American Express as a company that serves consumers in their different life and business stages by highlighting the many ways in which it helps entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 companies, and start-ups to helping parents, newlyweds, travelers, athletes, etc. while also featuring the diverse services that American Express offers its customers.

In order to strategically meet consumers at the cross-section of personal and business life, the new ads by American Express will run across mobile channels, in more than 20 different podcasts, via streaming-TV services like Hulu and on broadcast television.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzbUDcjZJf4

The campaign will leverage outdoor advertising spaces such as digital billboards in metropolitan locations like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco and “back” local artists by inviting them to recreate their work on large-scale outdoor spaces American Express will also run ads on taxi tops that change content based on the neighborhoods the taxis are driving through.

https://youtu.be/K8HmUC0RujA

What are your thoughts on the integrated marketing campaign by American Express? Do you think it will be successful and that the executions will target the brands evolving consumer – people who live blended lives?

References

Business Insider.  (2018, April 9). New Global Brand Platform Shows How American Express Has Customers’ Backs in Life and Business. Retrieved from: http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/new-global-brand-platform-shows-how-american-express-has-customers-backs-in-life-and-business-1020940165

Liffreing, S. (2018, April 10). American Express will use ad targeting on NYC taxis. Retrieved from: https://digiday.com/marketing/american-express-will-use-ad-targeting-nyc-taxis/

McAteer, O. (2018, April 9). American Express campaign aims to unite consumer, business segments. Retrieved from: https://www.campaignlive.com/article/american-express-campaign-aims-unite-consumer-business-segments/1461441#LW5kWd5b1yJhTXqX.99

Richards, K. (2018, April 9). American Express’ New Branding Targets People Whose Work and Personal Lives Are Intertwined. Retrieved from: http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/american-express-new-branding-targets-people-whose-work-and-personal-lives-are-intertwined/

If you are in the advertising and branding business, Facebook’s recent change in their news feed algorithm that prioritizes family and friends over brand content may be cause for worry or it may be a sign that you can better differentiate yourself with something new.  What is that you say? Simply put, it is a reminder that content strategy, when done authentically, can drive emotional connections from the brand to the consumer.

Two ways that can be measured and compelling are to devote more time to rich, compelling, short videos and engage audiences with Facebook Live.  Content is king and drives the social media across all digital platforms, it’s the message that counts.  Zuckerberg’s reasoning for the algorithm change was to deliver on his mission to connect everyone in the world in ways that matter to them and have value.  By highlighting content that carried emotional connections, more people were liking, loving, sharing and commenting than with branded content that had no meaning for them.  For marketers, this presents an opportunity to step up there content because there is a “strong correlation between emotional reactions and shares” (Feldman & Kavilanz, 2018).

Humor is always the best medicine and the hardest to produce.  I leave you with a fake commercial for Nike’s Pro-Chiller Leggings, a spoof from Saturday Night Live last weekend that shows us how emotion can be a driver of consumerism.  I’d buy these leggings if they were available.  Enjoy!

For those of us that watch shows like Game of Thrones, Stanger Things, House of Cards, or Westworld we’ve all waited a certain period (months, or year) to enjoy a new episode of the entire season. However, we might have been victims of  “Online Spoiler Culture,” which has been created based on our needs to share and discuss on open forums which might also be a potential threat for copyright infringement. 

In a social experiment, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy made the announcement today during a Reddit AMA, acknowledging the plan of battling this culture by preparing videos that lay out the plot (and twists and turns) of season 2, giving users the choice to watch ahead or for some fans to remain faithful to the show by watching as the episodes are released.  As a fan, would you be able to keep away from sharing juicy details? How about continuing to watch the show?

This social experiment allows producers, writers, and media outlets to create a different type of buzz and marketing for the popular series. Given the rapid dissemination of information on the internet and legal infringement implications created by some of this sharing mechanisms do you feel this is a good marketing strategy? Do you see any disadvantages to this approach? Or is this simply creating a different level of awareness for the cable series? What about any financial implications?

I will be waiting to watch Westworld and GoT in its entirety!!

By now, you’ve probably heard about it on the news.

The controversy began when Facebook had a data scandal in March 2018 involving Cambridge Analytica that impacted up to 87 million Facebook users. Facebook was harvesting hidden data that was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica. Many Facebook users are deleting their accounts as a sign of protest. One of the most influential Facebook accounts deleted was Elon Musk; he deleted Space X, and Tesla Facebook accounts in protest of Facebook’s data scandal. Musk influenced several thousand of his followers to do the same as they promoted this hashtag #DeleteFacebook.

What is Cambridge Analytica?

Cambridge Analytica is a political analysis firm that claims to build psychological profiles of voters to help its clients win elections.  The company is accused of buying millions of Americans’ data from Facebook which makes it an unethical personal information breach. Cambridge Analytica claimed to help get President Donald Trump elected.

My position about deleting Facebook.

It’s not as easy as you think. Facebook has been in my life for over 10 years (since undergrad), and it has become so integrated into my daily life. It’s like telling me to throw way my Nespresso machine at home (I drink 2-3 cups of coffee day). I use Facebook as a platform to keep in touch with family and friends; more importantly, it keeps me updated with Annenberg events and news. Facebook also functions as a sign-on for many websites I visit (e.g., Linkedin, Glassdoor, Instagram). Facebook is so interwoven into my life that many of us don’t realize how dependent we’ve become on Facebook – it is more than a social networking site.

Regarding unethical data sharing, I believe Facebook isn’t the only tech giant that does this with our personal data. Imagine every Google search or every website you ever visited, that information is out there. From our online banking accounts to our online shopping habits/behaviors, I believe that information is known in the dark web. I believe at this point in time, when we’re at the age of information, there is no such thing privacy, BUT there is a thing called customer information protection. I believe companies like Facebook need stricter customer protection policies/laws.

My final thoughts about deleting Facebook is that I can delete my Facebook account – I will still be alive. My quality of life will be compromised but that’s okay, there are more important things in life to worry about.

Insights from USC Annenberg Assistant Professor, Safiya Noble:

Could you live on six gallons of water a day? The residents of Cape Town South Africa will be limited to just 125 litters (or 6.6 gallons) of water per person per day when it hits Day Zero (Van Damn, 2018). Day Zero is the day when the reservoir runs dry. It’s the day when the taps of lush Cape Town turn off, and its residents will have to walk to pick up their daily rations of water.

And while the prospect of Day Zero has many individuals rethinking their water usage, access to clean water isn’t just a problem restricted to in South Africa. My small community in western Pennsylvania is considering risking its water supply in exchange for more jobs. The Department of Environmental Protection is reviewing a permit from Shell to run a pipeline is close to the Ambridge Reservoir, the primary water supply for 30,000 residents. The Shell Falcon pipeline won’t cross the Ambridge Reservoir, but it will cross three streams that feed into the Reseviour (Stonesifer, 2018).

The Shell Falcon pipeline will bring 20,000 temporary and 600 permanent jobs to the area. Beaver County has the lowest unemployment rate it has had in eight years, but many are still concerned about the communities long-term economic viability. And because people are focused on the short-term economic benefit of jobs, they aren’t thinking about the long-term risk we are making with our water supply.

If the Ambridge Reservoir water supply was contaminated with harmful gases, the 30,000 residents of Ambridge would need to find a new source of water. Would we look to state and federal agencies to supply bottled water like was required for Flint, Michigan? State and Federal agencies spent $22,000 a day supplying bottled water to the more than 8,000 children impacted by the lead that contaminated the Flint water supply (Poetry, 2018). It would be less expensive to hire 20,000 people to do nothing than to supply 30,000 with bottled water for any period of time.

Our natural resources don’t have marketing budgets. The natural resource “water” gets to spend 1b a year reminding people of its importance and asking people to preserve it for future generations. Individuals won’t necessarily see the connection between Day Zero, a proposed pipeline, and lead pipes in Flint Michigan, but there is one. The message is that we need to protect, preserve, and conserve our water supply. And because water doesn’t have a budget, it is up to us to create meaningful stories we can share. Helping others understand the importance of water can only be done one conversation, one social media post, one editorial, and one blog post at a time!

References

Poetry (Apr 2, 2018). A poem for Flint, four years after the water crisis began. PBS News Hour. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/a-poem-for-flint-four-years-after-the-water-crisis-began

Stonesifer, J. (Jan 31, 2018). Ambridge Water Authority opposes planned Shell pipeline route. Retrieved from http://www.timesonline.com/news/20180131/ambridge-water-authority-opposes-planned-shell-pipeline-route

Van Dam, D. (February 22, 2018). Living 24 hours with ‘Day Zero’ water rations. CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/22/world/weather-cape-town-day-zero-25-liters/index.html

Joseph, R. (Apr 5, 2018). Giant effort to save water pushes back Day Zero in Cape Town, South Africa. ABC 15.
Retrieved from https://www.abc15.com/news/giant-effort-to-save-water-pushes-back-day-zero-in-cape-town-south-africa

In recent news, ABC news reported that yet another accident occurred while the Tesla Model X was on autopilot. The driver of the car was on their way to work last week when his Tesla collided with a median barrier (Cook, 2018).

According to Tesla the severity of the accident was due to the barrier, which had not previously been repaired due to a prior accident. Tesla went on to say that if the attenuator, which is a highway safety barrier, that is designed to reduce the impact into a concrete lane divider, that the crash would not have been as severe. According to Tesla this level of damage to a Model X is the highest ever seen from any prior accidents (Cook, 2018).

A similar crash occurred back in May 2016 when the drivers Tesla crashed into a tractor-trailer in Florida. The Autopilot feature was active, but the driver failed to take control of the car and the Autopilot di not brake to avoid the collision (McFarland, 2017).
Since then Tesla has been under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board for allowing Autopilot to be activated on roads the software cannot handle. The Autopilot still requires drivers to be engaged. Although the Autopilot Monitors wheel torque, and the driver can have one hand on the wheel without fully paying attention to the road (McFarland, 2017)

Tesla stated that they would continue to be extremely clear with their current customers and potential customers about the Autopilot features. Explaining how the software is not an entirely self-driving technology and that the drivers will still need to remain attentive at all times (McFarland, 2017).

As technology advance in our world, it is safe to say that we lead by trial and error? As consumers do we continue to put our trust in technology and all the advancements? When do we draw the line as to how far we as consumers allow to technology and engineers control our lives?

References:

Cook, Jeffrey (2018). NTSB ‘Unhappy’ With Tesla Over Crash Disclosures. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/ntsb-unhappy-tesla-crash-disclosures/story?id=54174923

McFarland, Matt. (2017). Federal Probe Finds Tesla’s Autopilot Contributed to Fatal Crash. CNN Tech. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/12/technology/future/ntsb-tesla-autopilot/index.html