"Buy the Way…" Insights on Integrated Marketing Communication

Monday Jan 21st, 2018 was the day Amazon revolutionized the shopping experience through a Smartphone app by launching Amazon Go in Seattle, Washington. Perhaps the iPhone/ Smartphone or the Self-driving car were bigger game changers that completely and intuitively simplified through innovation. No surprise that the shopping experience was next in line as simplification when applied to time-consuming activities is welcome in the modern lifestyle. Let’s face it most of us do not relish standing in lines and want our shopping experience literally at our fingertips. Partly restaurant and partly a grocery store the store has a variety of fresh and do it yourself options for customers to choose from (Lewis, 2018).

Amazon go App

Instantly elevating the shopping experience through the use of technology Amazon is leaving little room for errors. The row of gates very much reminiscent of subway stations only lets you in if you have the Smartphone app. No shopping carts, no grocery checkout lines. You simply put what you want in the bag and leave. The only sign of technology are the scores of cameras in the ceiling that monitor what goes in and out of the virtual cart (Wingfield, 2018). If you do happen to go make sure you have the Amazon Go app downloaded and don’t forget to grab the reusable bag.

References:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/21/technology/inside-amazon-go-a-store-of-the-future.html

Wingfield, N (2018). Inside Amazon Go,  a Store of the Future. Retrieved on Jan21 from:

Lewis, J. (2018). A Firsthand Look inside Amazon Go. Retrieved on Jan25, 2018 from:

ww.restaurantbusinessonline.com/technology/firsthand-look-inside-amazon-go#page=1

It should come as no surprise to anyone that what you do and say on social media can come back to haunt you in a profound way. It’s an even bigger issue when your personal online history winds up affecting a global brand and causing an online backlash – as was the case this week with L’Oréal.

(Image retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/loreal-amena-khan-hijab-tweets_us_5a6617cae4b0022830052a59) 

L’Oréal initially earned favorable press with the landmark decision to include a hijab-wearing model and beauty blogger, Amena Khan, in its latest haircare campaign. Khan was the first woman in a hijab to star in a mainstream hair campaign (Abdelaziz, 2018; Kratofil, 2018), a decision that celebrated inclusivity and the countless women and girls who wear hijab. The ad included the sentiment that haircare is important to an individual, whether or not they display it (Jackson, 2018). This naturally caused excitement in the beauty world, since it highlighted a group of women not often reflected in current media and advertising.

Unfortunately, a series of Khan’s tweets from 2014 resurfaced online a few days later. The tweets, which had an anti-Israel slant, have now been deleted but are preserved via screenshot on numerous websites (Abdelaziz, 2018; Kratofil, 2018). Khan later declared her intention to step down from the L’Oréal campaign, issuing an apology via Instagram and reiterating her commitment to advocating for diversity (Kratofil, 2018). Her decision to withdraw from the ad campaign, as well as L’Oréal’s support of that decision, caused a mixed response online.

Regardless of your opinions on Israel, it’s worth considering whether backtracking on a historic ad campaign and spokesperson is the right decision. At first blush, the model’s political opinions don’t affect the overall message of the campaign – that beauty and taking care of yourself should be a decision made for you (Kratofil, 2018). Does the model’s personal opinion affect the product? It could, but on the other hand, dropping a diverse model from a significant campaign created to celebrate diversity may also end up in criticism. After all, L’Oréal was in the news just last year for dropping its first transgender model, activist Monroe Bergdorf, for a series of posts condemning white privilege in America (Workneh, 2017). Several people spoke out in Bergdorf’s favor, saying the comments were taken out of context and calling out L’Oréal for claiming to champion diversity while firing a black trans woman from a momentous campaign.

While L’Oréal certainly needs to keep its image in mind, it’s worth noting that by hiring nontraditional models and then promptly dropping them from campaigns for a variety of reasons, they may be damaging their reputation and alienating potential new client groups. What do you think? Should L’Oréal “walk the walk” and actively support diversity, or should they play it safe and steer clear of models who are politically engaged?

References

Abdelaziz, R. (2018, January 22). L’Oréal claims to champion diversity. But now its only Hijabi model is gone. Huffpost. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/loreal-amena-khan-hijab-tweets_us_5a6617cae4b0022830052a59

Jackson, A. (2018, January 23). Hijab-wearing model pulls out of L’Oréal campaign over 2014 tweets. CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/23/world/amena-khan-loreal-hair-campaign-controversy/index.html

Kratofil, C. (2018, January 22). First hijab-wearing L’Oréal Paris hair model backs out of campaign after Twitter backlash. People. Retrieved from http://people.com/style/amena-khan-steps-down-from-loreal-hair-ads/

Workneh, L. (2017, September 1). L’Oréal fires its first trans model after she called out White America’s racism. Huffpost. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lor%C3%A9al-fires-its-first-trans-model-after-she-called-out-white-americas-racism_us_59a98190e4b0354e4409ec60

(Image retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226146)

If you’re a marketer, you’ve been there: you work hard to create a detailed, attention-grabbing marketing plan for your new project and you stick to a modest budget. When you present it to your boss, he nods, smiles–he’s into it. Then comes the feedback. “I love it,” he says. “Let’s do it. Just one thing—there’s no budget money. I want you to do all of this for free.”

Ugh.

If you haven’t experienced the do-it-for-free conversation, you’ve likely been asked to operate on a significantly smaller budget than you hoped. Sure, retail giants like Coca Cola successfully perform marketing campaigns that rely on their social media followers to act as brand advocates (Young, 2014). But they’re Coke. Everyone knows who they are. They sport huge numbers of online followers, which is a definite advantage on the marketing playing field. For those who don’t have an established online presence, viral success or crafting spreadable media (Jenkins, Ford, & Green, 2013) is easier said than done. Money at least offers a leg up. Unfortunately, the individuals who hold the purse strings at many organizations would rather allocate that money elsewhere.

Netflix is no exception. This week, Netflix announced that it would increase its 2018 marketing budget to $2 billion, a sizable increase over its 2017 budget of $1.2 billion (Handley, 2018). For marketers used to working with minimal budgets, let that sink in: $2 billion. Imagine all the promotional items your business could buy with that money–you’d have pens with your company’s logo emblazoned on them for years.

(Image retrieved from https://stephenfollows.com/the-economics-of-netflix/)

Despite the increase, Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings would prefer a different budget for his marketing team: $0 (Handley, 2018). Hastings would rather market solely through social media and online organic reach, relying on consumers to provide free promotion for Netflix and its services (Handley, 2018). Unsurprisingly, Netflix’s chief marketing officer, Kelly Bennett, is more than happy to spend her $2 billion budget, putting her marketing tactics at odds with Hastings’ vision (Handley, 2018).

So, even giants of the business world would rather cut their marketing budgets. Empowering consumers to create and share material is a great goal–but is it a reliable way to market? Oftentimes, viral success stems from the right combination of timeliness, appeal, and luck. Relying on consumers to do your marketing likely assumes you have an established consumer base already willing to act as your brand advocates.

Let’s be honest: money is great for marketing and most marketers would undoubtedly prefer to have money than not. Money opens doors to highly useful marketing tools, from traditional television and print commercials, to paid online search ads and boosted posts on social media. After all, Facebook’s algorithms don’t exactly make it easy to get your posts in front of your followers; boosting your post for a small fee helps.

Regardless, with the continued focus on social marketing and the ongoing shift from passive consumer to involved creator (Jenkins et al., 2013), do-it-for-free will likely remain a common saying in marketing offices. For those who don’t have Netflix’s spending power, there are numerous ways to tackle low-cost or free marketing. The following links offer suggestions to get started, and a quick Google search yields additional advice.

• 5 online marketing strategies for a tight budget
• 7 ways to promote your business online for free
• 50 free marketing tools any small business can use

While you may never have Netflix’s extensive marketing budget, don’t let that get you down. Remember, Netflix doesn’t want to spend that money either.

References

Handley, L. (2018, January 23).  Netflix just increased its marketing budget to $2 billion. Here’s why its CEO would rather not spend anything. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/netflix-2018-marketing-budget-to-hit-2-billion.html

Jenkins, H., Ford, S., & Green, J. (2013). Spreadable media: Creating value and meaning in a networked culture. New York: NYU Press.

Young, A. (2014). Brand media strategy: Integrated communications planning in the digital era. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

As the New Year rolls in it’s time to sum up the results of the last year. While we all have different resolutions and plans on how to avoid the last year’s mistakes, one of our goals in 2018 is to succeed in our IMC Strategies Class. So, how about we make this one of our resolutions for this year (or, at least, for its first quarter)? As the semester progresses and while working on our marketing campaigns we will all be striving to make our marketing campaigns as polished and creative as possible and questions like, “What will work?” and, more importantly, “How do we prevent a huge faux pas?” will be on our minds a lot. I decided to take a moment and collect few of the biggest advertising successes and fails of 2017 to see if we could learn a thing or two from them. And hopefully, this article will help us to avoid the mistakes made by these companies!

FAIL: The Double Trouble Story of Skincare   

Two of the world’s biggest skincare product companies left us with a major sour taste last year. German skincare brand Nivea found itself in hot waters after its “white is purity” deodorant advertising rolled out in the Middle East. Obviously, the ad was seen as discriminatory, to say the least.

Apparently, the lesson was not learned and another major skincare company – Dove – followed right into Nivea’s footsteps later that year with their lotion advert. In October, Dove posted an ad on its Facebook page that depicts a black female taking a shirt that is close to her skin tone only to reveal that she turned into a white female wearing a white shirt. Burning questions no one found an answer to? Why and what were they thinking about?! While both advertisements were pulled down almost immediately, it’s needless to say that their images will be instilled in our minds for a very long time.

Lesson to Learn: Context matters! Let’s not forget that it is as easy to take things out of it, as well as see things as part of it. There is no place for advertising messages that are racially vague in this day and time.

WIN: #PowerDrink

We all remember that notorious Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner, right? That whole #PepsiPower ended up being not so powerful after all. Oh, well, poor Kendall Jenner! Yet, one beverage company was able to pull off a great advert that carried that whole political and social unity-driven message very well. Heineken delivered a hit with its “Worlds Apart” #OpenYourWorld campaign. In their advertisement, people with opposite political and social views worked on their differences towards reaching common grounds. The advert is presented as a social experiment. The best part about it? Heineken was able to avoid any controversies related to police, protesting, and even feminism in their ad while still delivering a video featuring people with different opinions and backgrounds being able to start a dialogue that lacked any hostility.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wYXw4K0A3g

Lesson to Learn: Don’t be a fake! Be genuine and authentic. Let’s face it, a can of Pepsi won’t bring us world peace. However, companies can help in raising awareness and bringing attention to the problems our society is experiencing today.

FAIL: Say Whaaaat?!

Interestingly enough sportswear companies are notorious for frequenting the marketing “fail” list. Last year Adidas joined Dove and Pepsi in their marketing struggles. This time in a social media crisis. The pinnacle of marathon running, Boston marathon is considered one of the most prestigious races to run. Last April the email sent by Adidas to the participants caused some major eyebrow-raising. The subject line read as: “Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!” The same message was posted via Twitter. Surprisingly the company failed to see the connotations of the message after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that left three people dead and more 260 people injured. As you probably guessed, the tweet was taken down immediately and the company issued a lengthy apology.

Lesson to Learn: Let’s repeat out loud – context! And add to that, proofreading. It’s also helpful to think about the ad and message you’re putting out from multiple perspectives. Not to mention that it wouldn’t hurt to make sure that any sensitive subjects are avoided. Sometimes, saying, “We didn’t mean it this way!” just doesn’t work. Regardless of how innocent the mishap is, it can lead to some very serious consequences.

WIN: The Real Talk

Alright, let’s admit, this year was filled with politics, protests, and social controversies. No wonder the consumers expect to see more narrative and thematic weight in the marketing and advertising. On that note, let’s finish this post with an example of how to do an advertising campaign the right way. In a two-minute advert, Procter & Gamble was able to deliver a powerful presentation of an initiative created to celebrate cultural identity and begin a conversation about racial bias. “The Talk” features black parents having “the talk” with their kids about the difficulties of growing up black in the U.S.. This short video is very powerful, the acting is superb, the emotions are real, and the messages come through transparently clear. Major #GoosebumpsAlert!

Lesson to Learn: This advert is a perfect sum up and covers all of the above. Let’s remember that when working on our campaigns, authenticity, and passion can be seen through our work. Let’s remember that we have to care about our audiences. All of them, not just the ones that are interested in our products, but the ones that will catch the glimpse of our ads accidentally. We have to study our audience, know what the public wants, and, more importantly, what they don’t want. And, under no circumstances, should we send messages that are vague or carry a double meaning. In our work, let’s remember to proof check our creative process in order to prevent errors from occurring. Finally, let’s just make sure that we put a lot of thought into our campaigns. We all want to be noticed but let’s make sure we get noticed for the right thing. 

#FightOn #GoTrojans #LetsWin #CMGT541ARocks 

References:

Monllos, K. (2017, December 12). Lessons Learned From the 5 Biggest Brand Fails of 2017: Uber, Pepsi, Dove, and More. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/lessons-learned-from-the-5-biggest-brand-fails-of-2017-uber-pepsi-dove-and-more/

DeMers, J. (2017, May 30). The 7 Biggest Social Media Fails of 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/294925

Shelton, J. (2017, May 9). The Biggest Corporate Social Media Fails And Disasters Of 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.ranker.com/list/corporate-social-media-fails-2017/jacob-shelton

Adams, P. (2017, June 05). The 6 biggest campaign wins and fails of 2017 so far – and what they mean for marketers. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.marketingdive.com/news/marketing-campaign-fails-wins-2017/443799/

Chi, L. (2017, April 06). From Pepsi to Nivea: Some of the worst advertising fails. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39511906

DSIM- Digital Marketing Blog. (2017, October 8). Retrieved January 29, 2018, from http://dsim.in/blog/2017/08/10/case-study-5-worst-marketing-fails-2017/

Biggest Brand Failures of 2017 and What You Can Learn From Them. (2017, June 13). Retrieved January 29, 2018, from http://www.visualfizz.com/biggest-brand-failures-2017/

Netzer, J. (2017, December 19). The 5 Best Marketing Campaigns of 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.spredfast.com/social-marketing-blog/5-best-marketing-campaigns-2017

While I agree that being named a Top Ten ad agency is certainly an incredible accomplishment that deserves great respect, I find it rather paradoxical at how a company can end up on Ad Age’s 2017 Agency A List and have a company name that flat out sucks? Is it just me that thinks this way, or what? What follows are five useful tips to successfully naming your brand.

According to a blog post by Kimberly A. Whitler for Forbes, the purpose of a creative ad agency is to develop and execute high-performing strategies for brands. Yet it seems that almost every company named in the Ad Age post couldn’t even get something as simple as creating their own brand names right. I’m baffled.

Take note, if marketing is about communication, then tell me precisely what a name like Widen & Kennedy or McCann is actually communicating to me? Wait, let me guess: two guys who founded the company have the last name Widen & Kennedy and another guy who founded the other company has the last name McCann. Very creative! Very safe? Very bland! Oh, and just taking the initials of the founders’ last names isn’t really any more genius. That’s how VML, a leading agency with over 3000 employees, got its name.

Wait, there’s more. Here’s another example: If I were a potential customer who stumbled upon the name Tongal, just what is it that I can expect out of the company? Tongal is not even a real word found in my trusted Merriam Webster dictionary. I know, I know, Tongal is a successful crowdsourcing company who created its name via an anagram of the name Sir Francis Galton (a scientist mentioned in the book The Wisdom of the Crowds by James Surowiecki. But, I only knew that because I read Surowiecki’s book, and, um, because I also looked it up on Wikipedia.

Wait, I’m not done: Here’s another name that conjures up images of creative advertising genius and winning strategies. NOT! Ready for it? Here goes: Laundry Service. Yup, that’s it. Laundry Service. Okay, I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t tell me a thing about what the company does, nor does it evoke any imagery other than the wet pillowcases of clothes I had to carry to the local laundromat when I was an undergrad and living in the dorms. Not really a very pleasant experience to be sure.

Okay, so I know what you’re thinking: if all the brand names I mentioned on Ad Age’s Top Ten list  really are so dull, than how is it that these companies have gone on to be so successfully awesome? Is it just luck? Good question, but before I tell you, let’s at least make sure that your business starts on the right foot by creating an effective name.

What follows are five tips based on a blog post by the staff of Entrepreneur titled “How to Name a Business.” These tips are suited for companies both big and small, so be sure to pay close attention. Here it goes:

1) Tell It How It Is: If you are an ad agency, then why not use the words “agency” in your name? For instance, would you be surprised if I told you that the Konnect Agency really was an agency? Surprise! But here is a warning from the staff at Entrepreneur in their article: don’t use the abbreviation Inc. or LLC at the end of your name to sound fancy, if in fact, you really are legally none of these business entities. That could get your business into serious legal problems down the line. If that sounds like common sense advice, I shall remind my good friends that sense isn’t always so common. Believe that!

2) Tell Them What You Do: Find a name that tells your customers precisely what your agency or company does. For instance, the staff over at Entrepreneur use NameLab as an example in their article. Namelab—to no surprise—helps brands scientifically create names. There is truly not a whole lot more  required to spark your interest and give you a general sense of what they do. Moving on, I personally think another good example of a descriptive name comes from a list I found of the top ad agencies in California. The name is Conversion Giant. I like the immediate imagery this name evokes: the company clearly converts prospects to customers, and they are monsters at doing it. To coin a phrase used by Neil Gabler in his New York Times’ article “The Weird Science of Naming New Products,” the name has the potential to “lodge into the public’s consciousness.” Cool!

3) Invent a Name: Given that it really is difficult to create an original name that is not already being used, the staff at Entrepreneur also recommend in their article that you put words together to invent a name that is simple and easy to understand. For instance, “Italiatour” is based on the words Italy and tour and it is used by a company that creates tours in Italy for tourists. Work for me! Now here is one of my own examples that I came across recently: Brandastic. This is clearly a combination of the words “brand” and “fantastic” to create the original name: Brandastic. And just like Italiatour, the name hints at what the company does. Brandastic helps companies create fantastic brands.

4. Conduct a Search: Last but not least, the staff of Entrepreneur in their article “How to Name a Business,” also recommends that when you think you’ve found a name you like, conduct a search to make sure it’s not already in use. This could be an involved process utilizing the Patent and Trademark Office and even trademark search companies, but for starters, just use good ol’ Google to conduct a preliminary search. Would you believe that I came up with some names that I thought were pretty cool (e.g., Ad Army, Messenger Mavens, and Brand-Aid), only to find they were all already being used by marketing companies? Bummer! Oh, and while you’re at it, if you find a name that appears not to be in use, don’t get overly excited just yet. Check to see if the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is available. To do this, you can simply use a site like GoDaddy.

5) Hire a Naming Company: As the last step offered by the staff at Entrepreneur in the article “How to Name a Business,” one might also think about hiring a company that specializes in creating names for brands that project the right image both domestically and globally as well. This is a big business folks! As previously mentioned, the company NameLab  is a leading company in this space—so is Catchword and A Hundred Monkeys. In fact, Namelab worked for the mega brands Compaq and Acura. Yup, they helped invent those brand names. But that being said, note that naming companies can be very pricey—as much as $75,000 for the name, logo, trademark search, and registration fees. Yikes!

Now here are a few more of my very own tips that the folks at Entrepreneur forgot to add: make sure the name is positive and non offensive, make sure the name looks cool on a T-shirt (hat, building, etc.), make sure the name is easy to read/spell/pronounce, and make sure that your name tests well with your target customer—it’s not about what you think.

Okay, so before I leave you, there is still that one pressing issue that I haven’t addressed and I know it is on all of your minds. Here it is again: If all the brand names I mentioned on Ad Age’s Top Ten list really do suck so badly, then why have these companies gone on to be so successful? Um, ah, great question! This just comes to prove an important point about the concept of branding.

Branding is the process of projecting a clear, consistent, believable, and relevant identity with the intention of leaving a positive image in the minds of the customers. Branding involves much more than just creating a name. Branding can also require a logo, slogan, mascot, spokesperson, attitude, fancy building, dress code, work ethic, customer service policy, customer experience, and a portfolio of expert work that you can or have already delivered to target customers. Whichever of these branding elements you use, (and I certainly hope you at least start with the last one—a great product or service) they must all be executed in an integrated manner over time to tell one clear and consistent story. Just in case that wasn’t clear, understand that striving to create a great name is important and having one can certainly help elicit attention and hold interest in the crowded marketplace (especially for new and still unknown companies), but a name alone won’t make or break a company. To be sure, I’ll say that again: a name alone won’t make or break a company. Ad Age’s 2017 Agency A List is proof of that.

So, stay tuned for future postings where I will discuss other branding elements like logos, slogans, and spokespersons and how all these elements work together in an integrated manner. Okay?

Wait, who am I? Well don’t worry, I’m really not the critical jerk that I made myself out to be in this post. I was just trying to get your attention! I truly hope you enjoyed the post.

In any case, that’s all for now. And remember, if you want to make it, you have to market. Fight on all.

—Bobby Borg www.bobbyborg.com

Retail giant Walmart (WMT) announced a tertiary partnership with same day delivery leader Deliv and security innovators August Home to create an efficient household of the future. A safe, clean, and well-stocked home so customers have the freedom to do more of what matters. The company plans to pilot an innovative customer experience in Silicon Valley that saves them time and money when it comes to delivery and grocery shopping.

As Walmart puts it, “These tests are a natural evolution of what Walmart is all about – an obsession in saving our customers not just money but also time, making our customers’ lives easier in the process.” Delivery network creator Deliv enables their retail partners to shift their perspective on what is possible when it comes to providing convenience for customers. Same day delivery solves the retail challenge of getting products and services to customers faster to meet their evolving needs. Deliv’s experience creating an innovative delivery solution for the meal kit industry (called Deliv Fresh) lends a unique expertise to Walmart’s strategic partnership.

With a values driven perspective that focuses on innovating solutions that solve industry challenges, Walmart is gearing up to power the household of the future. Security innovator August Home asserts, “We believe that the door to the home isn’t just about keeping the bad guys out. It’s also about letting the right people in—at the right times, on the right terms, and always under the homeowner’s control.” Walmart’s trinity of innovation marks a Golden Age in Silicon Valley that has yet to impact stock trading behavior; investment strategy may evolve with new dynamics at play. Growing concerns for the cost of service is put into perspective by Tech Crunch writer Sarah Perez, “The company didn’t say what this new service would cost, instead noting that pricing is something that the experiment will focus on. In other words, Walmart will try to determine what price a customer is willing to pay for this added convenience.”

With a Trump Administration promise that middle-class income taxes will see a sizable reduction, Walmart’s service may become a necessity that working individuals will be able to budget. American business owners like Walmart are providing consumers with a unique opportunity to, “help us shape what commerce will look like in the future.”  Working hand in hand with customers, innovators, and political leaders will restore American business so that consumers are getting more value for their money.

August Home promises that this entire experience is under the customer’s control, and Walmart commits that consumers will have input as to how much the service costs them long term.

Welcome to the future!

#samedaydelivery #siliconvalley #tech #startups #futureoffood #goldenageofinnovation

Sources:

http://blog.walmart.com/innovation/20170922/why-the-future-could-mean-delivery-straight-into-your-fridge

Walmart partners with smart lock maker August to test in-home delivery of packages and groceries

The social climate of 2016 was a volcano slowing bubbling beneath the surface and now we are seeing its eruptions.  Where does that leave advertisers?  Do they offend some customers while embracing others, or do they continue to market smiling faces across generations and races.  What can retailers learn from the success and failures of political figures?  There is a book by Donald Green titled, “Get Out the Vote”, which details candidates as products and gives advice on how to advertise them to potential voters.  Since this books release in 2004, the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies have ended, and now we are experiencing the presidency of Donald Trump.  Regardless of what you think of his posture and policies, Trump defied odds as he racked up win after win in the primaries and pulled off the largest political miracle of all time when he was elected president with no military or political experience under his belt.

Barack Obama was a very popular president for all of the things he embodied from his life story to governing style, but why didn’t that translate into additional seats in congress and the senate?  Were voters product loyalists when it came to Obama, but not brand loyalists when it came to the Democratic party?  Both Trump and Obama came into their presidencies with their party in control of congress and the senate, but as time went on we saw Nancy Pelosi replaced by John Boehner as Speaker of the House.  With Trump we have to ask ourselves, did voters buy his product in response to the results they experienced with Obama or because they genuinely believed in his message.  Currently Trump is experiencing a political free fall unlike anything we have seen since Richard Nixon, and that is effecting his ability to govern.

The reality is, his internal members of the republican party are not endorsing his message and that limits his power.  Before these members of congress decided to distance themselves from Trump, they calculated two things; the voting of their own constituents and whether or not they would be in office past a Trump presidency based on their current term.  For example, if a newly elected or re-elected Senator distanced themselves from Trump there is very little harm he can do considering he will run for re-election before they do.

https://youtu.be/43QTjFCPLtI

Retailers are making these same calculations when it comes to their marketing campaigns.  Nike is a retailer that has taken a bold stance when it comes to bringing people together regardless of their differences with the “Equality” campaign.  Nike was pushed to address and potentially profit from the current social circumstances with stars like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James speaking out against things they perceive as injustices.  As a brand, Nike caught a lot of criticism for the ad and its authenticity, but when you compare it to the failed Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad it was a hit.

While some retailers are taking a quasi-stand, most are waiting for the volcano to cool over.  This may seem like a cowardly thing to do, but brands are trying to stay on message as much as possible all while they are looking to outlast the issues of today.  Similar to trends of any kind, new products may emerge to fill the immediate need of consumers, but they will be faced with same transitional challenges when the need of consumers for that product is no longer present.  To answer my own question, I would advise advertisers, politicians, and consumers to be an authentic, but truthful individual regardless of who they offend, because what do we have left if that is not who we are.

Unless you live under a rock, I’m sure everyone heard about the solar eclipse that occurred yesterday, but how many of you noticed the “eclipse deals”. My coworker placed an UberEats order for a dozen of Krispy Kreme’s Eclipse donuts, a special edition original glazed donut covered in chocolate glaze only available for a limited time at participating stores (Krispy Kreme, 2017).

After sharing his excitement with most of the office, UberEats notified him that the store was sold out.  To avoid further disappointing the rest of the office he settled for 2 dozen of their regular donuts instead. This had me thinking, how many retailers used events like this to their advantage. USA today posted an article listing several retailers offering deals in honor of the celestial event (Meyer, 2017). Does this form of creative marketing really build business? Danziger (2017) shares that if you give people a reason to shop, make it exciting and make it a way to create memories then people will shop. A retailer selling washing machines may have found it difficult to use the eclipse as an exciting motivator but other retailers sure used it to their advantage. Do you find yourself making purchases during “special events”? What retailers have done this well?

Krispy Kreme. 2017. Retrieved from http://www.krispykreme.com/menu/Doughnuts/EclipseDoughnut

Meyer, Z. (2017, August 21). MoonPies and more: Eclipse food, fun deals abound Monday. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/08/20/moonpies-and-more-eclipse-food-fun-deals-abound-monday/579642001/

Danziger, P. (2017, August 17).Solar Eclipse Marketing: How Retailers Can Use Special Events To Grow Business. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2017/08/17/solar-eclipse-marketing-how-retailers-can-use-special-events-to-grow-business/3/#55f32b2452d7