Does labeling your beer America make it American?

When I saw an article that Budweiser was relabeling it’s beer “America” for the summer months (May thru September) I thought to myself, “that’s bs they aren’t even an American company.”

Budweiser is branded as an American beer. The company is known for its sport sponsorships. It is the official beer of NASCAR. What is more American than NASCAR? However, in November 2008, during the Great Recession, InBev, a Beligian-Brazilian beverage and brewing company, purchased Budweiser (Very unamerican).

Budweiser is known in the US as an American beer. If you asked me what beer screams ‘Merica, I would tell you Bud Heavy (Budweiser). The company has recently had summer promotions with the American flag and Statue of Liberty on its cans. InBev uses the company its customers patriotism to build brand loyalty. It is what made the brand as strong as it is today and it is what InBev must do to make sure the brand continues to be strong. For this reason, it makes complete sense InBev would relabel Budweiser as “America” for summer months.

Beer sales spike between May and September and with the Olympics and Independence Day this summer, it makes sense that InBev would want to market Budweiser in a way that appeals to their consumers patriotism this summer. Putting a label on a can that literally says “America,” is a very direct way to do it. This marketing campaign has created a lot of buzz on the news, which is free publicity for the company.

There is one risk to branding your beer as an American beer if you are not an American company. There is a risk that the basis of your brand could fall apart. In my opinion a true American brand should be owned by an American company, with profits staying in America. To me labeling a beer “America” is false advertising because the beer is not owned by an American company.

MBA of Social Media

The sixth lecture led me to thinking that all connected consumer goods that cost more than a NIC (Network Interface Card – $20?) will soon start contributing to the social media, as a natural progression of IoT (Internet of Things) and together with AI bots (like Tay from Microsoft?),  the nature and experience of social media will change dramatically, where machines will be part of our social network and most of all will disrupt the whole social media marketing. There are still those who tend to associate marketing with traditional media, telemarketing and networking, who will benefit from the awareness of social media 1.0. So I decided to call this web log entry, Marketers’ Basic Awareness (MBA) of Social Media.

We humans are social beings and the need to socialize is very fundamental to our survival, and the motivation to meet our social needs is next only to meeting physiological and safety needs. Not convinced? Well consider this; the toughest punishment imposed in prisons at least in the free world is the ‘solitary’, where the inmate is cut off from all stimulation associated with socialization!

Convenience Marketing

How can we better assist our customers and make their lives easier?

This is the question many companies are having right now. As a culture we have shifted to a more convenience driven lifestyle. The challenge for companies is how utilize this to their advantage.

Amazon has been in the forefront in this competition by finding new ways to make their customers’ lives easier. They have Prime Pantry, which allows customers to purchase items normally found in grocery stores, online. This is available for Amazon Prime Members, adding one of many benefits for their Prime Customers.

Now they have added Amazondash, this offers many products found in Prime Pantry with an easier method of shopping. After ordering and setting up a Dash Button, you just hit a button and an order will be processed. For example, if you have a Dash Button for Tide then you could place it near the laundry room and when you are running low you hit the button. In 2 days you will have the product you need before running out and without going to the store.

Now you can purchase most non-perishable food online through Amazon or other stores but what about other groceries? It has become more common to have grocery stores offer delivery or pick-up for their customers. Hanford to-go allows customers to purchase their orders online and schedule a time to pick up their orders. In return, they are able to charge a fee for the service and reduce lines at their stores. It also separates themselves from stores like Walmart or Target that don’t offer this service.

Companies are forced to analyze their customers’ utility, what they value the most. By adding convenience to their business they appeal to the customers and separate themselves from other companies, improving their competitive advantage.

Damange control, a brand’s crusade in social media

Have you noticed how fast bad news travel on social media? One bad comment about a product or an advertisement can escalate to a new level. Remember the game telephone? What you started out, ends up morphing into something completely different. This is what happens to brands.

From a company’s perspective, they continue to navigate around this chaos and seems to survive one backlash after another. As quickly as a negative comments comes out, faster the brand must come and save their reputation. Social media has the good and conversely, the bad: Instant feedback.

It’s true a company can reach their audiance wider and faster with a click of a button. Messages can be sent and instant feedback is in real time. Sometimes, the companies find themselves spending more time doing damage control than actually growing their brands, or is bad publicity a chance to build a stronger brand? That is the challenge.

Gap Inc. has been taking some serious heat lately regarding their ads. The above Old Navy ad had people up in arms on twitter.It looked like a family. From the company’s perspective, they were honoring  the diversity of the family structure in our society. But for a good part of the population, this was offensive. One tweet said “where is the father?” All I could think of was…”right there idiot, maybe things didn’t work out between the parents and she moved on with this dude.” Now, what would have happened if there was no minority on the poster? Someone would have had a comment about that too.

How about this one.

Such comments as “stop driving a taxi” scribbled on the ad quickly made it’s way to twitter.  Are you serious? This ad was part of the #makelove holiday promotion and instead, gave opportunity for the public to take shots on social media where their secret identities were safe. Gap quickly used this photo as the a cover of their twitter account to show solidarity in support of the Muslim community. Nice save.

It is hard to believe that a simple brand value can turn this way in matter of minutes on social media. It’s easier to see the story behind an ad in the paper or magazine. Our brains take time to process  it and we have time to think it through. But the minute you see it on Facebook or Twitter, first reaction is always the need to post an opinion. Everyone is so rightous on social media.  It’s hard for brands to please their customers, you think you are doing the right thing, but apprently you have to cover all your bases. Social media has become a foundation and the creation of entitlement for so many people. Good thing is, social media feeds on negativity, so it would be only matter of time before another company has a bad day and they can take over. The cycle starts all over again.

The Power of Reviews and Social Media

On a rainy Wednesday morning you wake up from an amazing night sleep and begin your morning routine of getting ready for work. While you are drinking the world’s best cup of coffee, it hits you…the best idea of all time! This is the invention that will change your life forever. Every customers would want this product.

So, now what? Well, you decide you are going to design and produce this product. you market it effectively and even get it on Amazon for distribution. After a week of selling the product consistently, the reviews start pouring in. Unfortunately these were not as good as you were hoping, most were negative. Now you have to come up with your next steps: rebranding, redoing, or worse removing your product.

This is the reality for many products that are sold online, more notably through Amazon. This is because Amazon allows the users to provide reviews on their products. Most customers refer to those before finalizing a purchase. If a product doesn’t have a review they may avoid purchasing it. Now other reviewers take the comedic approach in their reviews. If these shine your product in a good light it may offer extra exposure you otherwise wouldn’t have received. For the shirt below, the comment didn’t necessarily hurt the product brand but may have enhanced it through sarcasm.

Now some companies will not succeed at promoting their products through humor while others do. Groupon allows companies to promote their products or services by offering deals for their customers. Groupon promoted a product known as the Banana Bunker on their website and Facebook page. People then responded with questions about this product, as shown below. What Groupon did well was staying informative but offering a humorous twists. This was social media gold and was promoted all across the internet. Groupon posted a simple image and then allowed their existing following to share and comment. This provided additional visibility to Groupon as a whole.

The key is to use reviews and questions to your benefit. When in doubt use sarcasm and let social media to provide free advertising. So even if you have a product that has bad comments, utilize social media and sarcasm to promote your product. Many individuals will purchase for the “gag” gift factor.

Your 15 minutes awaits you!

Using social media to create a brand is exactly what GoPro did.  GoPro took a simple idea of a small camera and made it a household name.  Here’s how they did it.  We all have phones with cameras so why would we purchase a GoPro?  GoPro understood that their market segmentation were active people who wanted to record their hobbies.  They followed standard marketing techniques, but at the end they created a new way to build a brand.

As with any company that wants to create a name for themselves, GoPro hired  actors, sports player.  Well that model didn’t work well enough for GoPro. Their products didn’t move quickly enough.  So plan B was created, they created a simple channel on YouTube. They let people upload their own films using GoPro camera’s. 

So what is the results of this experiment?  Did they reach their target audience?

GoPro’s customers are so engaged that anyone would be envious of their work:

• At least 6,000 GoPro-tagged videos are uploaded to YouTube every day.
• “GoProing” is now a noun (and a hashtag on Twitter) used to describe the phenomenon.
• With more than 3.2 million subscribers, GoPro is one of the leading brands on YouTube.
• 388 videos from the athletes sponsored by GoPro have garnered more than 50 million views each on YouTube.

GoPro, maker of the high-quality, easy-to-use handheld video camera, is one the best brands at user-generated content (UGC).

The content that is being generated is amazing, from snowboarders, bikers, golfers, skydivers and race car drivers. However there has been some unintended captures like loins stealing the goPro camera or and eagle an getting their hands on a goPro.  With these realistic applications,GoPro shows durability and reliability.  You can then say when will they go to space, it’s done.  GoPro went to space. 

GoPro Space walk#1 – The slow way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAifzh7_-cg

GoPro Space walk#2 – The fast way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDoh8zQDT38

With this perpetual customer base that upload their videos up to YouTube, GoPro is learning about their products from their customers.

And that’s how you build a brand, forget customer surveys and Net present Scores the proof is in your customer’s engagement.

And for some customer uploaded content:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYQK7TZ7KXw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQHC0fYFlYQ

You too can GoProing and get your 15 minutes!

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/09/brand-learn-from-gopro/

Social Media Marketing is a Social Experiment

When you take a survey, your survey results are generally related to the mood you are in in that moment… this generally makes it very hard to get an accurate depiction of the true perception of the person overall, rather than just what they are feeling in that instant. When you target a particular message to a segment you are exposed to that same variation… an individuals mood or perception based on how their day might have been.

When you think about this as you are developing advertising in traditional marketing, its OK… WHY? The reason is because unless an individual feels truly strongly against what they heard or saw, they are unlikely to react. If they agree you may see them talk to friends and family later…. but there is a time delay where the consumer is digesting the information and determining whether the message is worth remaining in their mind and if it is worth reacting to…

Social media changed the world to one which demands immediate reaction. The like button, closing an ad, opening an ad, or posting a comment based on something the individual may or may not be truly moved by. This instant feedback loop is where a message can “go viral” or be completely forgotten. Marketing hasn’t hit it’s full grove with this just yet. Marketers must experiment with what works and doesn’t, but they now can leverage the ability to track far better than they every could before. The access to the data that marketers put out their is available, and what marketers do with that in the coming years should be very interesting. The dynamics on social media, I think are just starting to hit their stride.

Signaling and Screening

The most interesting part of the fifth lecture on Marketing Management, is learning about the concepts of Signaling and Screening. Like most people, I respond physiologically and emotionally but being multilingual (meaning jack of many )

Mobility Analytics – “Dayparting”

For over a decade, marketing folks have been dealing with the new way of doing business.  They’ve seen the coming and going of “push” advertising, and struggled to remain relevant in the digital arena.  They’ve surfed the initial tsunamis driven by social media and mobility.  They’ve tapped into tech – gaining an understanding of how search engine optimization, responsive design, and interactive content generation affect product branding and positioning.  Now, they need to properly harness analytics to help parse and manage the explosion of digital customer data and drive marketing strategies.

The distinct line between customer and message, between product and marketing is gone.  Now, it’s all about customer engagement.  Marketing has become part of the product, and customer experience – whether online or in-store.  In the customer’s engagement-to-purchase journey, marketing is now the face of company.   Consequently, everyone in the company is now a “marketer,” either by design or default.  Better that it be purposeful – integrated into corporate culture (50 Shades of HR/Org Design?!).

Thanks largely to mobile, customers expect constant access to favorite companies, brands and products, along with tons of helpful related information.  That’s great for sales, but mobility has also dramatically shifted the way companies and marketing teams must think.  Sales and major marketing campaigns used to focus around high-demand times, seasons, holidays and big events.  With mobility providing 24 x 7 x 365 access, analysis of customer buying habits must shift from calendar dates to a 24-hour view. 

Analyzing the timing of searches during a daily cycle offers incredible insight and contextual signals across an array of consumer “micro-moments.”  Dividing the day into parts— referred to as “dayparting,” allows us to closer attention and be extra-relevant to people in those micro-moments.   Combined with what we know about consumer behavior and intent, we have powerful insights that help us craft messages that are more relevant for those moments.

Looking for the patterns – Break up the day into segments, and consider usage patterns.  The volume of searches by device type changes dramatically – it’s higher on mobile than on computers and tablets for 15 of the 24 hours in a typical weekday (higher for mobile in both morning and evening hours). Mobile searches far surpass computer/tablet searching during the weekend.

To optimize target audience engagement, determine daily device patterns for your brand and products.  Use this intelligence to ensure focused content and messaging.  Be immediately responsive and relevant at all times, across all devices.

“Thanks to mobile, micro-moments can happen anytime, anywhere. In those moments, consumers expect brands to address their needs with real-time relevance.”

At the end of the day…   winning the shift to mobile requires companies to be analytical, read the signals and take deliberate steps to capitalize on each customer micro-moment along the way!  ~das

More guidance on this fascinating topic -> Micro-Moments: Your Guide to Winning the Shift to Mobile

Will “My Pillow” work for me?

I’ve been out of town this week for work and as I sat in my hotel room preparing for a meeting (3:30am), I had the television on.  What comes on, but the annoying “My Pillow” infomercial.  I stopped to watch and listen to Mike Lindell’s pitch of this amazing (sarcasm) pillow.  As he was doing his pitch and demonstrating why his pillow is sooooo amazing and why I should own one of these fabulous pillows, it brought me back to my blog about the Miracle Mop.  

Here is a simple product, nothing crazy or outlandish about it, yet it appeals to those who have a desire or need for a great nights sleep.  I can see where people who struggle with sleeping would be willing to go to any length to fix this issue with the hope that this pillow could solve their problem.  Now, I do realize not all pillows are made equally and there are those pillows that are lacking proper fillers, and quality pillow cover materials, but for me my struggles with sleep don’t have to do with my inadequate pillow, rather it has to do with the struggle to quiet my mind or turn it off.

I’ve seen this pillow demonstrated on QVC .  Again, like the Miracle Mop, I don’t own this pillow, but enjoyed watching the segment of how hard Mike Lindell worked at convincing the QVC audience of their need for his “My Pillow”, but don’t just purchase one, you’re going to need two!

I would say that this particular brand/product coincides with the funnel we discussed in class.  Awareness: What is the brand/product, Interest: How does it solve my problem?, and Action: Purchase of the brand/product. Mike Lindell is doing a good job tapping into these three aspects of the funnel because he has convince consumers that they need this pillow, and he has sold a significant number of his product.

As I sat in my hotel room, I did ponder should I purchase one of these pillows just to see if it is as AMAZING as he says it is?!  Would this pillow help quiet my mind and allow me the goodnight’s rest and peaceful dreams I so long for? Or is it going to be just another pillow that provides a place for me to lay my head while I continue to stare at the ceiling thinking of all the things I need or want to accomplish at work?  *sigh* Decisions, decisions…….I think I’m going to give the pillow a try, and then I will report back to anyone who may have been wondering like me if this “My Pillow” can solve all of those sleepless nights.

 

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