Give experiences, not ads
I believe people are intelligent and act rationally. So sue me.
Thus I advocate building brands based on value, not on advert pillow talk.
Globalisation permitted lowering production costs to the minimum possible, so every product is tendentially a commodity. Either it is soft drinks or electronics. Actually, even more if we are talking about electronics!
On the other hand, mass media advertising is losing effectiveness, whether we like it or not. People have been bombarded so much they lost sensitiveness to it. It is just a natural reaction. Younger generations are even "ad cynical", and see right through the inflated promises.
How then to motivate these disenfranchised customers?
Simple, give them experiences!
The most obvious example to associate your brand with "their world" is sponsoring music concerts or radical sporting events, which will itself provide the (positive) experience needed. A more refined way is to get those people to interact in a more brand-controlled environment. "Brand theme parks" have spouted, and some became tourist atractions in themselves.
For instance, a football game is excellent to provide experiences to the customer/supporter. Simple things like being selected to shoot penalties with old stars, or winning free tickets to the VIP lounge, can indeed make a big difference. The idea would be to so, even the team loses, "oh well, at least they had a good time"! And it is a very effective way to build a brand, because the costs for the club will be close to nothing.
The idea behind this is working by word of mouth. Research shows 70% of important (read, "very expensive") buying decisions are motivated by a reference from a close person. Of course! Who has time to read all the magazines? Just ask a "tecchie" friend or someone in the industry!
"Buzz marketing" is hot, and I recommend it. Just remember that your brand has to fit the "young, hip, and trendy" market, and that it must look like it is a coincidence the event is happening just there when they were passing by. If youngsters suspect they are just being fed "hidden advertising", you can bet your money they will spread "bad buzz". "Buzz" is wounderful: if it is positive, we spread it in average to 4 people; if it is negative, we will spread it to 8 people!
Don't you just love rational people like I do?
Thus I advocate building brands based on value, not on advert pillow talk.
Globalisation permitted lowering production costs to the minimum possible, so every product is tendentially a commodity. Either it is soft drinks or electronics. Actually, even more if we are talking about electronics!
On the other hand, mass media advertising is losing effectiveness, whether we like it or not. People have been bombarded so much they lost sensitiveness to it. It is just a natural reaction. Younger generations are even "ad cynical", and see right through the inflated promises.
How then to motivate these disenfranchised customers?
Simple, give them experiences!
The most obvious example to associate your brand with "their world" is sponsoring music concerts or radical sporting events, which will itself provide the (positive) experience needed. A more refined way is to get those people to interact in a more brand-controlled environment. "Brand theme parks" have spouted, and some became tourist atractions in themselves.
For instance, a football game is excellent to provide experiences to the customer/supporter. Simple things like being selected to shoot penalties with old stars, or winning free tickets to the VIP lounge, can indeed make a big difference. The idea would be to so, even the team loses, "oh well, at least they had a good time"! And it is a very effective way to build a brand, because the costs for the club will be close to nothing.
The idea behind this is working by word of mouth. Research shows 70% of important (read, "very expensive") buying decisions are motivated by a reference from a close person. Of course! Who has time to read all the magazines? Just ask a "tecchie" friend or someone in the industry!
"Buzz marketing" is hot, and I recommend it. Just remember that your brand has to fit the "young, hip, and trendy" market, and that it must look like it is a coincidence the event is happening just there when they were passing by. If youngsters suspect they are just being fed "hidden advertising", you can bet your money they will spread "bad buzz". "Buzz" is wounderful: if it is positive, we spread it in average to 4 people; if it is negative, we will spread it to 8 people!
Don't you just love rational people like I do?
posted by Andre' Serranho at
03:36
1 Comments:
Hi Andre´,
I congratulate you for your analysis and thoughts. I'm sure this is the kind of positive approach that current and future Marketing expects and should follow.
As an example, current portuguese magazines and newspappers have almost 50% of advertisement pages (even more on "women magazines").
Is it logical to invest when our communication will appear together with 50 additional advertisers and several direct competitors?
Probably not!
Regarding "Experience marketing" decision, it depends on several variables. Price, risk, follow-up, public relations and many others. Like everything about Marketing, no decision is easy and nothing is done without deep analysis - just as you are proving today .
Keep on, I'll keep in touch.
Nuno
>> www.nunobaixinho.com
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Anonymous, at 7:50 AM
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