Category: Uncategorized

TRADITIONAL VS. SOCIAL MEDIA

Posted by Rebeca Gaxiola October 14, 2018

Porsche brand use of traditional and social media to engage their market.

Social media has become a common word on everyone’s vocabulary. The accessibility of news, databases, and entertainment at the tips of our hands makes it almost impossible not to check something in our phone or tablet before looking for it in print versions.

Social networks aren’t about Web sites. They’re about experiences.
Mike DiLorenzo

A survey conducted by Pew Research Center found younger Americans (especially those ages 18 to 24) stand out for embracing a variety of platforms and using them frequently. The rest of the population spends almost 74% of their time on Facebook followed closely by Snapchat and Instagram as shown on Fig 1.

data
(fig. 1)

How are brands handling media presence?

Two words, integrated marketing. While it’s true that engaging consumers on line has become the main goal of some brands, their efforts have been channeled to merging both platforms to provide the ultimate experience.

logo
© 2018 Porsche

Porsche’s Marketing and dialogue manager Deniz Keskin says that even though efforts are being made to engaged customers in media platforms, the brand is receiving a good ROI in various placements, including traditional print advertising.

One campaign that succeeded in merging print and social media was the Porshe interactive hologram print ad This campaign consists of a spread on Fast Company’s magazine, including an acetate prism. Placing such prism on a tablet while running video 911hologram.com brings 3-D footage of Porsche model 911.

The campaign makes you feel like you are in a Harry Potter movie where images come to life before your eyes. My immediate response? “Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi”. Jokes aside, blending traditional with modern type of advertisement turned out to be a powerful campaign for Porsche. Like the video states, print isn’t dead, it simply needs a little technological CPR.

References
 Featured Image
Porsche Holographic Ad
 Porsche 911
Porsche Digital Strategy
 Social Media Use
Star Wars® franchise.

ANALYZING MARKET SEGMENTS AND THEIR CORRESPONDING PRODUCTS, MEETINGS, OR EVENTS NEEDS

By Rebeca Gaxiola. Published on  Oct 7, 2018.

Planning an event for Baby Boomers and Gen Y 

image from wikipedia
image from wikipedia

 

The term Gen Y or Millennials generally refers to the generation of people born between the early 1980’s and 1990’s some even including children born early 2000’s. Baby boomers would be the grandparents of Millennials, born between 1946 and 1955, who were young and protesting during the Vietnam War era, and late boomers born between 1956 and 1964.

gdoesparty
image from gdoesparty

It is easy to see why it would seem difficult to plan an event appealing to both age groups. But if we understand each generation preferences we can find their similarities using them to tailor our event, so it won’t be overwhelming to Baby Boomers and boring to Millennials.

It is one of nature’s ways that we often feel closer to distant generations than to the generation immediately preceding us.

— Igor Stravinsky

Before the internet and travel booking sites Baby Boomers used travel agencies to plan their leisure destinations relying on a local guide to point out unexplored and hidden gems worth visiting on every part of the world. Millennials are now seeking travel advice from travel agencies as well. Agencies are offering personal Instagram-worthy, far-off destinations welcoming them to “experiences” rather than sightseeing, a very appealing concept for Gen Y. Just like baby boomers Millennials seek a less visited destination when planning an escapade.

travel
Photo from Sojurn Adventure Travel Magazine classicjourneys.com

When it first came out, Apple watch was marketed for youngsters who wanted to have all their health information and fitness achievement goals registered throughout the day. New apple watch is luring baby boomers by focusing on health and wellness. Baby boomers are becoming more technology savvy, and like Millennials they also have made healthy habits a priority. It is well known that millennials are dedicated to wellness, devoting time and money to exercising and eating right. We should use personal well-being as our engagement opportunity because it has proven to be appealing to both generations.

applewatch
Apple watch image from Health Care Too. healthcaretoo.com/tag/heart-health/

The third similarity is connections. Even though baby boomers don’t spend a lot of time in social media they are computer savvy and do most of their research online, just like everyone else. A recent study by DMN3 has shown that Baby boomers are eager to make connections. They go to almost as much concerts, festivals, and events as Millennials using this opportunities for networking, making acquaintances, and even engaging in relationships. Janet Morrissey says, “the smartest strategy is not choosing between millennials and boomers at all” but actually using their similarities to better appeal to both generations, and those in between.

connections
image from thegoagencyusa.com

So how would our event look like?

Whether it’s a concert or a non-profit fundraiser let’s keep in mind that our event needs to focus on providing an experience to make it memorable and long lasting. Music workshops, sand sculpture classes, or blind wine tasting are just a few examples of the types of engaging experiences we could provide.

sandcastle
Mark Africano from Dig it Sand Castles. Image: Orange County Register staff photographer

We need to focus on wellness, make sure that your food offering is organic, healthy, and tasty. You can even make an experience out of it by providing vegan cooking classes by a local celebrity chef. All those engaging opportunities will help make the valued connections baby boomers seek, and instagrammable memories millennials love to share.

REFERENCES
featured image
Should You Market to Baby Boomers on Social Media?
Baby Boomers to Advertisers: Don’t Forget About Us
New Apple Watch is luring baby boomers by focusing on health and wellness
How travel agencies avoided extinction and became a luxury service.

AMBUSH MARKETING AND METHODS TO GUARD AGAINST IT

How this Brands have Successfully Implemented Ambush Marketing

By Rebeca Gaxiola. Published on Sep 24, 2018

Ambush marketing happens when a brand finds a way of promoting its products in an event (mostly sports) they are not sponsoring. Linda Norcross says, “ambushing occurs when competing companies promote their brands despite another company having paid a handsome sum to market their brand”. Another way of ambush marketing is taking advantage of a major advertising campaign to make it work in the favor of another one.

I cover advertising. Most of it’s award-winning. Some has potential

Rob Schwartz

Good examples of ambush marketing are the Apple/Rona billboards, or Audi/BMW chess match. A Canadian paint store Rona saw the apple Nano billboard opportunity to promote its paint recycling feature, this played beautifully to its advantage as you can see in the image below.

applerona
Image via Coloribus

The Audi/BMW war began when a slogan for a sports event read: A BMW rally with two nearby service centers. What’s next, paramedics at a chess tournament?. Audi saw the opportunity and placed a billboard in the same city with a slogan that sounded like a reply to BMW’s chess mention, and a second one challenging BMW to a chess match.

audi1audi2

What happened next was a billboard competition that ended up with a blimp giving BMW the winning hand, much to Audi’s disappointment.

audi3
Images via Jalopnik

In my opinion, the first price for ambush marketing done right goes to Nike at the 1996 Olympic games. Who can forget Michael Johnson dashing those 400-meters in just 43.49 seconds wearing the gold-colored Nike spikes, and those same shoes making the cover of Time magazine? It would be a beautiful marketing campaing if it wasn’t for the fact that the official sponsor of the Olympic games wasn’t Nike, it was Reebok.

nike1 nike2

Photo: Getty Images

But not everything ran smoothly for Nike and its guerrilla marketing strategies. During the same Olympics, Nike’s magazine ads blared: “If you’re not here to win, you’re a tourist.” Nike also bought billboards space all over Atlanta to announce: “You don’t win silver, you lose gold. This type of statements got backlash from athletes and the public because they diminished the hard work, effort, and training high impact athletes are subjected to before going to the Olympics. The ads portrayed said athletes as failures if they didn’t obtain the gold medal. So even if one strategy gave great coverage and promotion, another one turned out to be completely out of place. As we can see with these examples, ambush marketing can go right or can go wrong, but either way is damaging to actual sponsor corporations that spend millions only to see their brands out shined by an opportunist.

How can brands guard themselves against it?

“With a good offense”. Sports events now protect the sponsors with trademark protection, intellectual property rights, regulations and guidelines for both the athletes and the media, otherwise, their bargaining power for generating sponsorship revenue and the ability to protect their own brand identities may be irreparably ambushed. The International Olympic Committee has, since 1996, implemented the hardest regulations, and they are backed by the U.S. Trademark law. These laws restrain non-sponsoring brands from saying anything even vaguely evocative of the Olympics. By implementing harsh rules, they can protect their sponsors, athletes, and sporting events.

References
Featured image iPod nano-chromatic – Apple
How Nike Brilliantly Ruined Olympic Marketing Forever
Best defense against ambush marketing is a good offense
Schwartz, R. (Jan 29, 2012). Audi vs BMW: The War Escalates. Forbes. Retrieved from forbes.com/sites/robschwartz/2012/01/29/audi-vs-bmw-the-war-escalates/#19f820506a69
Ambush Marketing: What It Is & Why It Works.
Jalopnick

LEARN HOW TWO COMPETING BRANDS DO THEIR PROMOTION, MARKETING, AND SPONSORSHIP INITIATIVES

Hydro flask and Yeti Compare and Contrast of Marketing, Promotions, and Sponsorship

By Rebeca Gaxiola. Published on Sep 18, 2018.

Hydro flask was founded with the idea of “saving the world from lukewarm” like their vision claims. As they expanded they began to build coolers that would serve the same purpose, but it is the all insulated bottle their most popular item. Yeti beginnings are as humble as Hydro flask’s. They wanted to “build the cooler you’d use every day if it existed” as their mission states. Yeti soon began to produce insulated bottles quickly becoming a strong competitor for Hydro flask. Just google “Yeti vs Hydro flask” and you will be flooded with reviews and trials to measure the resistance, performance, and even price. But what makes this two brands stand out? Their marketing strategy.

“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell”                                                                                                                       –Seth Godin

Adventures, the great outdoors, exploring, relaxing, traveling, all of these are part of their marketing plan. A visit to their stories page promptly takes us to a journey filled with experiences, sunny beaches, and all sorts of outdoor sports. Both brands sponsor a wide range of sports and events like fishing and rodeo to name some. Hydro flask is a big sponsor for the World Surf League while Yeti is a proud partner of NASCAR.

WSL 32oz Hydration Flask      Resultado de imagen para vs

 

But if you, like me, consider a walk to the parking lot the great outdoors, how do this brands fit into your life? one word: Customize. Both brands offer this feature. You can monogram your Yeti to fit your team, business, or organization, but it is Hydro flask who holds the winning hand. You can choose from a variety of sizes, colors, caps, and even accessories to personalize your flask until is worthy of the cutest instagram post. Influencers on social media fill this purpose well by matching their gear with their bottles appealing to the younger generations. Both brands succeed in using their apparel to make their consumers brand ambassadors.

That said, marketing wise there is no winning brand. Both products have a strong placement, and have loyal customers. They have succeeded in transitioning from an outdoor sturdy product into a cult object. In the end it is a matter of preference. My husband holds his 36 oz Yeti bottle dear, and I am in love with my 21 oz camo-colored Hydroflask.

 

 References
 Parks for all
 Why is Yeti making really cool coolers?
 Hydro Flask Expands Global Presence
Our Story. Yeti
Feature Image
Marketing is no longer about the Stuff That You Make