The Holy Grail of Marketing

Pardon the interruption, but do you mind if I take a second of your time to tell you about an exciting new product that will change your life? Now I know what you are thinking…I am here to do coursework, not to be marketed too. My apologies, I should not have interrupted your studies, I will try again when hopefully the timing is more convenient for you.

Photo credit: marketoonist.com

Sound familiar? Almost every form of marketing revolves around an attempt to find what your target audience is paying attention to and attempt to distract that attention towards your messaging. Search engine marketing, however, is one of the few opportunities marketers have to put their message in front of an audience that is not only interested, but also asking for more information. If I work for a company that sells ceiling fans, I could spend a lot of money to take out an ad in a home improvement magazine and hope for the best, but I would much rather have the people interested in ceiling fans come find me for free! For some, this is why a successful search engine marketing strategy is the Holy Grail for online marketers. “Unlike nontargeted, interruption-based advertising, the information that appears in search engines after you've types in a phrase is content you actually wanted to see. You’re actually looking for it. This should be a marketer’s dream come true” (Scott, 2013).

Search engine optimization is the art of improving your web presence to capitalize on search engine algorithms so your content ranks as high as possible in an organic search. Although many factor’s attribute to this formula, Scott explains one of the most important factors is content. “I am convinced that the single best thing you can do to improve your search engine marketing is to focus on building great content for your buyers” (Scott, 2013).

Photo credit: lighthouseinsights.in

For this week’s discussion, please pick a company/organization that you feel has strong web content. For the first section of your post, please deliberate on the content. Consider questions like: What is the organization and how are they sharing their content? How often do they update or provide new content? How does the content relate to their target audience?

For the second part of your response, use a search engine to look up words or phrases related to the organization. Discuss how the content performed in your search results?

Photo credit: localmediasolution.net

Scott, D.M. (2013). The new rules of marketing and PR: How to use social media, blogs, news releases, online video, & viral marketing to reach buyers directly. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons

Social Media Ambassadors, College Athletes

In marketing today, social media is an extremely powerful tool. Social media has grown from a new form of communication and sharing information to an expected form of interaction and influence of a person’s opinion about your product or brand. In the past, if you had something to say you needed a loud voice, a soapbox to stand on, and a crowd of people to listen. Now, even the smallest voice can be heard around the world with a click of a button. “Today’s igniters have access to virtually free, global, and certainly instantaneous communications systems” (Schaefer, 2012).

The most common form of influence on a brand is when a customer posts a comment or review on their experience with the company or product. At times, the user posts so frequently that they become a spokesperson (either for or against) the brand. However, sometimes the association between the brand and the individual becomes so strong, the person becomes a brand ambassador in everything they do. Sometimes the association is intentional (i.e. Michael Jordan and Nike, Jared Fogel and Subway), but other times it is simply due to society and circumstance. 

College athletes are (for the most part) an excellent example of a brand unavoidable or unintentional brand ambassador. When a student chooses to play as a division I athlete at a high profile college in a high profile position, that person immediately become an ambassador and serves as a representation of that institution. In 2013 Ohio State University’s third-string quarterback Cardale Jones tweeted, “Why should we have to go to class when we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain’t come to play SCHOOL, classes are pointless." Cardale was suspended for a game and asked to not only delete his post, but the entire twitter account. 

Around the country, universities are becoming more concerned and placing more regulations against the use of social media by their players. Many schools now have put policies in place to band athlete personal social media accounts completely. Personally, I think this the wrong direction. As institutions of higher education, it is our responsibility to not only understand the power of social media, but also educate our athletes on how to use it correctly and professionally. My first thought when I hear a college has a strict social media policy is that they have something to hide. Social media is about listening, if you students have something positive to say, encourage them to say it. If not, then listen to their social conversation and find ways the institution can improve and change perception. “Saying ‘don’t use it’ is not going to work,” said Matt Hames, manager of media communications at Colgate. “The really scary thing to a lot of people is now a 17-year-old kid has a device in their hand where they can say anything at any time. You just nudge them in a direction where they think about it a different way" (Grasgreen, 2013). Teresa Valerio Parrot, principal at TVP Communications adds, “Institutions that say ‘don’t participate’ are missing an opportunity to highlight what student-athletes do. You’re not able to hear about them as students” (Grasgreen, 2013).

Social Media ambassadors can be an important resource in your integrated marketing communications strategy. Social Media Examiner has a great article about how Adobe learned to empower their employees to share positive experiences while working in the company. Cory Edwards, head of Adobe’s Social Media Center of Excellence, explains, “we had a ‘Eureka!’ moment about how much value the average employee could bring. As a result, Adobe now focuses on empowering all employees to be brand ambassadors" (Julig, 2014). College athletic programs can benefit tremendously from active athletes on social media. Though it may not be all positive, educating your students and listening to the online interactions can influence the conversation and brand positioning.

Schaefer, Mark (2012).  Return on Influence. McGraw-Hill. 

Grasgreen, Allie (2013) Tweet Smart, Tweet Often. www.insidehighered.com/

Julig, Louise (2014). 4 Ways to Turn Your Employees Into Brand Ambassadors. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/turn-employees-brand-ambassadors/

GoPro Buyer Persona

“Building buyer personas is the first step and probably the single most important thing that you will do in creating your marketing and PR campaign” (Scott, 2013). I think GoPro is a perfect example of strategic marketing and PR for a brand based on a buyer persona. GoPro is a company that produces small, high-quality video cameras known for their ease of use, durability, and sharing functionality.

GoPro helps people capture and share their lives’ most meaningful experiences with others—to celebrate them together. Like how a day on the mountain with friends is more meaningful than one spent alone, the sharing of our collective experiences makes our lives more fun.

The world’s most versatile cameras are what we make.

Enabling you to share your life through incredible photos and videos is what we do. (GoPro, 2015).

The first buyer persona (which admittedly I fall into) is the adventure seeking demographic. I am a certified scuba diver. I love the experience of exploring a new environment that most people will never have the opportunity to see. It is one thing watching fish in an aquarium; it is a completely different experience when you are swimming among them. On recent family vacation to Aruba, I was unfortunately the only one of the group that truly appreciated the scuba/snorkeling experience. After one day of snorkeling I decided I needed to go out and purchase a GoPro camera so I could share what I was seeing with my land-dwelling counterparts. Because of the advertisements I saw, conversations I had, and articles I had read, I did not even consider another camera option. Now reading the company description, I can see they had my buyer persona targeted perfectly. Outdoor/adventure people typically experience things that most people can or will not have the opportunity to. This persona has a desire to be able to share those experiences with others, and GoPro positioned their product as the perfect solution.

Photo Credit: GoPro.com

• Profile: Younger, 25-44. Outdoor, adventure, thrill seeker. Hobbies include hiking, biking, scuba, skydiving, surfing, skateboarding, etc. Very social, utilize Facebook, YouTube, Vine, and other channels to interact and share content with like-minded people. Websites would include information or products that relate to previous mentioned hobbies. Would utilize the web, as well as marketing or press releases in print material targeting the adventure-seeking type. Would also try to get publicity at X-games, olympics, or other outdoor athletic events or competitions.

The second persona I wanted to focus on was the media enthusiast that does not have much technical experience. GoPro has been able to position their product as the photo and video brand for users that want high quality but may not have a strong multimedia background. The GoPro is easy to use (there are only 3 buttons on the entire camera) and also comes with free video editing software that is very user friendly. Scott (2013) explains the importance of understanding your buyer persona’s goals. For GoPro, this persona wants to record, edit, and share high quality video quickly and easily.

• Profile: Young, 25-44. Married, young family or household with pets. Wants to take high quality videos of his/her life, kids, pets, etc. Limited video capture and editing experience. Likes to travel and document experiences. Very social, utilize Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and other channels to interact and share content. Websites would include information or products that relate to previous mentioned hobbies. Would create a PR strategy focusing on social media, and print/web related to travel. Would avoid highly-technical video or photography blogs, magazines, or other publications.

Photo Credit: m22.com

* Per a conversation with Professor Stevens, due to conflict of interest working at Marist I have selected GoPro as my company case study for this assignment. 

PS: I could not write this post about the amazing snorkel experience in Aruba and then not share my first GoPro video. I hope you like it :)

References:

Scott, D.M. (2013). The new rules of marketing and PR: How to use social media, blogs, news releases, online video, & viral marketing to reach buyers directly. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons

GoPro. (2015). GoPro About Us. Retrieved Feb 11, 2015, from GoPro.com: http://gopro.com/about-us/

Old Spice Social Media

Photo Credit: oldspice.com

I think one of the best commercial adaptations of a social media strategy comes from Old Spice. Old Spice was developed in 1937 and has grown to be one of the largest and most recognizable brands in personal hygiene today.  

“Procter & Gamble’s Old Spice is the quintessential men’s grooming brand. With more than 70 years as an American icon, Old Spice is the authority on the male grooming experience and has leveraged this heritage to become the No.1 selling anti-perspirant/deodorant stick and body wash brand with guys of all ages. Old Spice brings authenticity, performance and confidence to male grooming and offers a wide product portfolio for today’s man, including anti-perspirants, deodorants, body washes, body sprays, after shaves and colognes” (Gamble, 2015).

You may recognize the 70 year-old name, but you certainly will not find any 70 year-old marketing content. In 2003 Old Spice was one of the first brands to enter the male body wash market. Sales were strong and growing until 2009 when Old Spice noticed their market share slipping as bar soap became less popular and more brands like Dove, Dial, and Irish Spring began aggressively pushing their body wash options.  For the 2010 Super Bowl, they launched “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign. 

The campaign was designed to create a fun and engaging marketing experience. The key was not just the video (though the commercial was funny), but rather the YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter presence supporting the video. In addition to over 50 million current views, Old Spice encouraged users to comment or tweet questions and have them answered live by the “Old Spice Man.”

I think the campaign was extremely "likable." According to Old Spice the campaign produced:

• Nearly 105 million YouTube views

• 1.2 billion earned media impressions, including features on national broadcast networks and international media outlets

• 2700% increase in Twitter followers

• 800% increase in Facebook fan interaction

• 300% increase in traffic to http://oldspice.com

• Old Spice has become the #1 Most Viewed Sponsored YouTube Channel

This campaign led to many others, giving Old Spice a reputation for being one of the most creative and unique companies in their use of social media. Some would argue that their videos have become a little too abnormal or bizarre, but it is hard to deny their continued support and social media interaction.

Follow Old Spice on:

YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
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