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Marketing Mondays - Does mass marketing have that big of an influence on us? (4th ed 2010)

1/25/2010

For the final edition of this months blog topic, mass marketing, I thought it would be interesting to add some psychology to the mix.

In the past few decades, there have been a lot of articles written on the effect marketing has on consumers to buy or influence our behaviours.

Due to this publicity, many people have started to have a negative view of mass marketing and its purpose.

As I’ve mentioned before in earlier blogs this month, we are bombarded with messages – often the ones that are well researched are the ones that are remembered by the consumer.

As we all know, the most memorable messages are the ones that stick out from the crowd – often “different” in some way, shape or form and possibly even controversial in nature. Ones that make the masses speak.

But do these controversial, memorable messages influence our behaviours? If you look at studies, you will find that many would say that they do have a strong impact on our thoughts and actions.

However, I beg to differ – personally, I don’t think a marketing message has the power to technically alter our behaviours. But...it may have the power to slightly influence what we think and/or what we do.

In my opinion, just because we see one billboard ad with a model on it doesn’t mean it will make us believe this body shape is normal or influence us to buy what he/she is selling.

Part of the problem with mass marketing is that we may not just see one ad like that but several and it is being sent via the mass media to people of all age ranges/cultures who will digest the message differently. This is where the marketing (not just ads) can tend to influence us more.

Also, this creates an unfortunate scenario where (possibly) negative messages can evolve from simple and (possibly) innocent intentions.

This fact is what has led to such negativity around mass marketing and its influence on us.

From my perspective, mass marketing on its own does not really have the power to influence but by multiplying it again and again it can.

What do you think? Tell me your views and how you feel personally and professionally about marketing and its influence on consumer behaviour. Enquiring minds want to know :).

Have a great marketing week,

Miriam Berger
AppleCrisp Marketing Solutions

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Marketing Mondays - So...is mass marketing on a path to extinction? (3rd ed. 2010)

1/18/2010

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This weeks blog is going to be very short and sweet...as I’m more interested in hearing your views on this subject than shouting about my own opinion.

So...the subject of my blog this week asks a very interesting and important question. In order to prepare my answer for this blog I did a bit of research – both online and through informal interviews.

Both channels came back with mixed answers. Most people felt that mass marketing had its place but it was totally overrated. There were still some die-hard opinions that mass marketing was the most important channel for investing those marketing dollars and also some extreme views that mass marketing was completely dead.

Here’s my take on the situation...

Now more than ever, I think mass marketing will be here to stay.

As my kick-off blog of the year demonstrated, we are bombarded with messages in every place we can think of. Now, we walk through life and mass marketing is a part of that experience – whether we like it or not. The difference we have with mass marketing in this day and age is that its not the only channel we need to put attention to.

Consumers have higher expectations and this takes a more personal approach – so mass marketing just isn’t enough. Customisation is key and there are so many ways to get that message across outside of traditional media – especially through the digital channel.

So...is mass marketing going to be on the same path as a dinosaur? I say no. We just need to look at it as a piece of the puzzle not the absolute answer to our marketing plans anymore.

Now it’s your turn to tell me what you think. Is mass marketing on a path to extinction?

I hope you enjoyed this weeks Marketing Mondays blog.

Have a great marketing week,
Miriam Berger
AppleCrisp Marketing Solutions

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Marketing Mondays - 2nd ed. (2010): Research - your 1st step in reaching out to the masses

1/11/2010

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As I discussed in my blog last week, marketing messages are everywhere. So...as marketers how do we break through the clutter?

In order to truly create meaningful and memorable messages, we need to understand our target customer base. Why not start with doing the research to reap the reward?

Since I’m a marketing professional, I guess I’ve got a heightened awareness to ads and marketing in general. But, I must admit, I’m also a fairly oblivious person – there is no point in denying it. That being said, a marketing message has to be pretty darn good to leave a lasting impression on me. For these reasons, I’ve always said that I’m a fantastic test for any marketing campaign.

So, if there are so many messages and so little time, how do we know how to leave a lasting impression? It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3...research, test and repeat!

There are many examples of successful campaigns based on clever pieces of research – the re-branding of Norwich Union to Aviva just this past year, the Your Point of View campaign by HSBC and Pepsi’s Taste Challenge just to name three that come to mind.

What all of these campaigns did, was get closer to the customer. They not only did the research to gain insight into the customer, they also used this insight as part in the actual campaign execution.

One of my favourite examples of a smart and daring campaign is the Pepsi Taste Challenge launched in the ’80s.

Smart because it acted as a fully integrated marketing campaign at a time when this wasn’t even the norm. Pepsi was able to gain real-time results of customer preferences as well as inspire customers to realise which brand they preferred. The proof was in the pudding and Pepsi ended up coming out on top in sales over their cola rival.

This campaign was also daring – in my opinion - because it could have easily gone the other way. Since it was a blind taste test, the tasters could have chosen the primary competitor, Coca Cola. The gutsiness of Pepsi showed that they believed in their brand in a big way. That act spoke louder than any billboard advertisement they could have posted on the motorway.

The moral of this story is that Pepsi broke the mould in reaching out to the masses, interacting with their customers and learning a thing or two in the process.

From the blogs I’ve written and the focus of my freelancing outfit, you can tell how passionate I am about customer research in driving strategy. I can’t overemphasise its importance for mass marketing campaigns. Many may think that it’s too challenging to get insightful findings when you are targeting a large group of individuals. It is true that this does make the research parameters harder to determine BUT it can make the reward much more significant.
Bottom line: it’s worth it!

By investing the budget and time into understanding what drives customers for your various target segments, we can influence behaviour to get a customer to buy any product or adopt any service we have to offer.
Trust me - understand their needs and increase the impact your campaign has on those customers.

In this weeks blog, I’ve mentioned three examples of strong mass marketing campaigns based on customer insight – Can you think of more??

My challenge for you all this week is to share your insights with me and my readers. Be as creative as you can be!

Have a great marketing week and I hope 2010 is treating you well so far,
Miriam Berger
AppleCrisp Marketing Solutions

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Marketing Mondays - 1st edition of 2010: "So many messages, so little time"

1/4/2010

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Welcome to the 1st edition of Marketing Mondays for 2010 - its going to be a great year, I can feel it!

Living, working and travelling across the world has given me exposure to all sorts of marketing. To put it simply, marketing is everywhere!

They say that the average American takes in over 3000 marketing messages in a day (Source: Superprofile)! The enormity of this number amazes me but the scariest thing of all is that it is not that much of a surprise either

Yesterday, I was in Jerusalem and my experience there made me realise how true this figure actually is. As I boarded the bus I saw advertisements spread across the walls and on the bus itself. As I entered the ladies toilets there were ads on the bathroom doors and on the stall walls. Even when I visited one of the most holiest sites in the world – the Western Wall – I saw billboards and ads en route to the Old City.

This experience prompted me to write this blog as it demonstrates how mass marketing has evolved to become a part of our culture in the 21st century.

Most of us walk past these images without really realising the significance that they have – we, essentially, have been desensitised to them. I know I have been. I’m sure if our forefathers saw ads in places like this they would, at minimum, think it was strange. The point I’m trying to make is not to criticise the existence of these images in this particular place – it’s to use this as an example of the times we live in as consumers and marketers. I’m sure those who read this now can think of other special places in the world that demonstrate something similar.

So what does this tell us?

For me, it says how much mass marketing has become a part of our world. But...if there are so many messages out there, as marketers, are we really able to communicate effectively? Or are we in the situation of risking quality for quantity?

The enormity of messages out there presents a plethora of challenges for the marketing world – lack of differentiation, communication confusion, poor brand awareness – to name a few.

However it also offers us opportunities.

Yes, we do need to mass market our brands in order to be a player in the ever growing competitive landscape. But we also can start to be more creative with joining up our mass marketing tactics with other integrated marketing activities that will differentiate us.

Not only are our customers bombarded with too many messages, they also have less time to digest them. In this new decade, I can only see the messages increasing and the time becoming scarcer.

As marketers, we need to realise that an advertisement seen en route to the Western Wall for that juicy hamburger will unlikely make the sale. We need to focus our efforts on taking the awareness we’ve raised in that ad and team it with other marketing tactics (loyalty schemes, developing brand value through social networking, etc) to sell that meal deal.

In my view, this is the key to breaking through the explosion of messages that are out there – creating brand value and loyalty.

I hope you enjoyed the 1st Marketing Mondays of 2010! Please feel free to share stories of your interactions – I’m sure the holiday season brought its fair share to you all!

Happy Marketing,

Miriam Berger
AppleCrisp Marketing Solutions

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Marketing Mondays - Does mass marketing have that big of an influence on us? (4th ed 2010)

Marketing Mondays - So...is mass marketing on a path to extinction? (3rd ed. 2010)

Marketing Mondays - 2nd ed. (2010): Research - your 1st step in reaching out to the masses

Marketing Mondays - 1st edition of 2010: "So many messages, so little time"

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