INFLUENCER MARKETING (Gary Vaynerchuk – 2016)

An influencer is anyone with a public social profile.

Marketers today have to follow eyeballs. For this reason the author predicts that small businesses will increasingly be reaching out to local influencers, who again could be anyone with a following.

In terms of opportunities, Gary believes that for influencers a lot can be made in products and retails. The key is to create meaningful content.

Product placement should be done authentically, intelligently, and seamlessly. Attractive model holding the product is not enough and can come across as unauthentic.

Most of the time the audience is truly engaged. This makes an impression generated by an influencer more valuable than the impression generated by a banner.

How to measure influencer campaigns? The author believes that they should be quantified the same way we look at other campaigns: with impressions or clicks.

Another key factor is the demographics, in other words, who are the followers? Least but not last marketers should look at the engagement rate (as a percentage of overall followers) as followers who are not engaged will not drive sales.

Some platforms, such as Snapchat are limited to awareness campaigns. But even there, consistency will give a benchmark you can measure against.

This is a summary of Gary Vaynerchuk‘s book #AskGaryVee, Chapter 11 (Influencer Marketing). The book can be found on Amazon. 

THE DIGITAL MARKETING REVOLUTION HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN (BGC Perspective 05/2017)

According to the authors digital is not just another platform to promote, it’s an opportunity to rethink classic marketing techniques (including broad segmentation and marketing funnels through which all consumers move in tandem). They identified three major changes:

1.   Access to large quantity of real-time data to inform campaigns

The access to a growing quantity of real-time data allows to better understand where consumers are in their journey.

2.   Ability to engage in long-term, omnichannel relations with consumers

Marketing is moving away from one-way communication stream to an ongoing conversation with consumers across touch points and channels. This strengthened loyalty.

3.   Flexibility to deploy multiple concepts and gather real-time feed-back from customers.

Using A/B testing companies are able to deploy multiple concepts in parallel and get immediate feedback to improve cost-effectiveness.

Reasons for that change

• Consumer behavior is changing. While media consumption has risen, print and more recently TV are losing ground. Facebook data shows that in the US, the average person now spends approximately 60 minutes each day on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. More than ever consumers are relying on advocacy from people they know and trust (as opposed to brand marketing).
• Advertisers are following consumers online. We will soon reach the point when companies will spend more on social, search, online, and display than they will on traditional platforms.
• New advertising technologies are offering new opportunities. (e.g. targeting, video insertion, analytics, etc.)

The evolutionary stages of digital marketing

1. Building the basics (digital advertising, improving CRM, working with digital agencies)
2. Targeting and personalizing (targeting ads, optimizing ROI)
3. Transforming through test-and-learn techniques
4. Maximizing the value of direct consumer interaction (engaging consumers, personalized recommendations)

The full article by Marc Schuuring, Diederik Vismans, Nicolas De Bellefonds, Steve Knox , Jody Visser, and Marty Smits was published on BCG Perspectives in May 2017 and can be found here.

INFLUENCER MARKETING, HOW TO GO VIRAL (According to Gary Vaynerchuk)

In this video Gary talks with two influencers about they recipes to success.

The question is: Is there a formula to make content viral? According to Gary there is no formula but there are concepts. You can partner with the right people; you can do the right thing at the right time, or you can simply be extremely talented at what you are doing.

When it comes to monetization, the longer you are able to wait, to more you can make. We live in a time and in industry which is obsessed with numbers. Numbers will allow you to make money in the short-term. But if you are not authentic people who follow you know that it’s not you. On the long-run talent is key.

You can watch the full video on YouTube.

SOCIAL STANDING IN THE LUXURY INDUSTRY (NetBase – 01/2016)

Market research firm NetBase published a report in which it studied the social standing of luxury brands. The report identified and covered the top 45 brands in luxury as defined by consumers in social.

According to surveys, the two main reasons why marketers use social media are:

1. Listening to what consumers are saying about their brand.
2. Tracking brand campaigns and launches.

The question every marketer should ask itself is: Do I have an understanding of our unique social standing?

Further: What motivates the consumer? How do I capture the essence and value of my brand?

In the luxury industry this social conversation plays a particularly important role. Luxury is intimately tight to emotion. Consumer passion influences brand growth. The more passionate a consumer is about a brand the less a consumer relies on price as a decision criteria.

NetBase is interested about how to track emotions on social media. One aspect is mentions. When it comes to mentions by tiers, the top 15 brands owned 72% of the conversation (19% for 16-30 and 9% for 31-45). The top 15 were clearly top of mind for consumers when it comes to luxury.

Great brands master the art of creating an emotional connection with their consumers.

The top 45 luxury brands as defined by social belong to the following categories:

• 36% fashion & handbags
• 31% automotive
• 13% jewelry & accessories
• 9% ecommerce

Marketers have to ask themselves: “Are we winning the hearts of consumers?” NetBase looks at the following metrics:

• Share of Buzz – How much people are talking about your brand
• Net Sentiment – How positively they perceive your brand (positive of negative)
• Passion Intensity – How emotionally charged their feelings are

For instance, when comparing Chanel with Louis Vuitton’s social media accounts, NetBase noticed that Chanel was able to get double the amount of followers than Louis Vuitton on Twitter while posting roughly half as much. A similar pattern can be observed on Instagram.

Chanel was able to grow thanks to influencer strategy, compelling story telling, as well as experiential digital approach. The brand uses Social engagement through all touch points.

In conclusion:

1. Know your followers and fan base and connect with them
2. Know what your consumers are talking about
3. Know your influencers and connect with them
4. Know your category and competition

WHAT REALLY SHAPES THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE (BCG Perspectives, 09/2015)

According to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) one of the best predicators of business performance is word-of-mouth recommendation or brand advocacy (BGC has developed a Brand Advocacy Index (BAI), and found that such an index is highly correlated to growth).

The authors found that there are four dimensions that get people talking about a brand:

1. Value for money
2. Customer service
3. Product satisfaction
4. Emotional connection

How the Consumer Experience Fuels Growth

50% of people consult friends and family before a purchase. By doing so they are 4 to 5 times more likely to use direct word-of-mouth recommendation from friends and family than consulting newspaper, TV, or social media.

Strong advocates spend more and are more loyal to the brand. Hence, a better experience leads to greater revenue.

Also, 37% of former consumers continue to talk about their experience with a brand, almost haft of them negatively. By comparison, 54% of current consumers talk about their experience but only 6% talk negatively.

The Aspect of Experience that Matters to Consumers

The mix of the four dimensions varies by industry. For instance emotional connection is more important with smart-phone than with broadband providers, or the value for money plays a larger role in retail grocery than in retail banking.

The authors found numerous examples in traditional industries where some companies differentiated themselves by offering fast, painless, and consumer friendly experiences and as a result obtained a higher BAI. For instance, the Techniker Krankenkasse in Germany has been consistently scoring very high in customer satisfaction (much higher than the second on the list). This is due to a long tradition of focusing on clients’ experience (they were the first one to introduce a 27/7 call line with doctors answering questions).

The authors note that “high performing companies often score will in both value for money and emotional connection, but an emotional connection is more important by 13% point than value for money for advocacy among leading brands.”

How to improve the Customer Experience

Knowing that consumers are getting information from different channels and often seamlessly switch from one channel to another at any point along the path. (e.g. getting information through mobile phone and seeking customer service in a store). The leading companies develop a consistent omnichannel experience.

The authors also recommend to proactively fuel higher advocacy.

The full article by Dag Fredrik Bjørnland, Cyrus Ditzel, Pedro Esquivias, Jody Visser, Steve Knox, and Victor Sánchez-Rodríguez was published in BCG Perspectives in September 2015 and can be found here.

THE GLITTERING POWER OF CITIES FOR LUXURY GROWTH (McKinsey Quarterly, 09/2014)

By 2025, the world’s top 600 cities will drive nearly 2/3 of the global economic growth. More then 80% of these cities will be located in emerging economies.

WHERE WILL LUXURY GROWTH COME FROM

– Growth is increasingly shifting towards emerging markets across all luxury categories – For instance in luxury spirits and high-end cosmetics the share of emerging markets will go from less then 10% in 2004 to 44 and 47% respectively in 2025.

– Luxury growth is highly concentrated in cities – The more upscale the product is, the more growth will be concentrated in cities.

– Mature cities remain critical given their absolute size – Even though new cities are landing on the list, mature cities are staying relevant for luxury goods.

– Growth is granular and varies by category, price point, and style – For instance luxury women’s apparel is dominated by the traditional fashion capitals (Milan, New York, Paris), spirits are strong in the Americas, and skin care is concentrated in Asia.

– Emerging countries will drive growth – China is expected to drive half of the growth.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Rather than looking at countries, the authors suggest taking a city-by-city approach and work closely with a forward-looking market intelligence.

The authors identified five key issues.

1. Identifying the right go-to-market model (for instance with a local partner).
2. Determining if there is a need for local-offer customization. There is a balance between ensuring global brand consistency and satisfying the needs of customers.
3. Ensure global customer service.
4. Gauging a need for organizational changes in the longer term.
5. Choosing how to deploy or redeploy resources. Allocation of financial resources, and human resources is critical.

The original article by Aimee Kim, Nathalie Remy, and Jennifer Schmidt was published in McKinsey Quarterly in September 2014 and can be found here. 

THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE (BCG Perspectives, 03/2015)

The pace of disruption is increasing. It took 16 years to the mobile phone industry to reach 100 million users, 6 years for Facebook and only 2 years to Instagram.

Digital strategy and transformation must be a priority of management. Long-dominant companies are increasingly under attack from digital start-ups that have reinvented businesses and industries (e.g. Uber or Airbnb).

To create successful business, leaders must take action in the following areas:

• Prototype your strategy
• Disrupt your business (before others do)
• Digitalize the core business
• Create value from data
• Position your business in the broader ecosystem

BCG research shows that leader in the use of big data generate12% higher revenues that companies that don’t. Companies that have been successful in delivering an integrated, lean customer experience, had transformed several core processes and thought “end-to-end”. These redesigns include standardizing front office or moving processes to the cloud. An example of 360-degree view of customers from the automotive industry included developing digital services to connect cars to the internet, offering navigation system, entertainment, and insurance.

Companies have to digitalize core business to ensure leanness, agility, and lower costs.

Companies now also have the opportunity to capitalize the data they hold.

The authors think that the companies have the secure their place in a broader ecosystem and create new opportunities to address consumer needs. For instance they can strengthen collaboration with other companies, individual contributors, institutions, and customers.

Disruption is inevitable but also offers new opportunities.

This is a summary of an article published in BCG Perspective by Ralf Dreischmeier, Karalee Close, and Philippe Trichet in March 2015. The full article can be found here.

IMPROVING ENGAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE IN DIGITAL ADVERTISING (BCG Perspectives, 09/2014)

This report looks at digital advertising and opportunities that data-driven approaches are bringing. The authors have realized that many advertisers and agencies fail to fully take advantage of analytics and technology.

When it comes to digital advertising, researches show that consumers see lines that should not be crossed. “If the ads are relevant, timely, and not intrusive, they are welcomed and seen as useful sources of information,” as the authors put it. The key issue is trust.

ADVANCED TECHNIQUES DELIVER HIGHER RELEVANCE

When it comes to targeting, many advertisers have used site-based targeting, where the content of the site, tracked thanks to keywords and category, represents an indicator of the interest of visitors. This method allows to reach consumers at a larger scale but lacks specificity. Standard behavioral targeting on the other hand is more specific as it reaches consumers based on their previous online activity (often thanks to third party data) but the scale is smaller. Advanced behavioral targeting combines both reach and specificity and allows reaching new high-value customers. Thanks to A/B testing method, the authors found that using Advanced behavioral targeting for 30% of the campaign budget reduced cost per click by 10% and cost per action by 32%.

The authors also found that view-throughs often have a higher correlation with conversion than click-throughs.

FRAGMENTATION

The use of data to optimize targeting is often cut short by a fragmented campaign setup and approach. For instance, some advertisers have separated teams and use different tools addressing different stages of the consumers’ purchasing journey. However, because of overlaps, these teams end up biding against each other to attract the same user.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Adopt a unified technology platform
2. Implement advanced technology. Some tools include display remarketing, video remarketing, and behavioral analytics
3. Attack fragmentation on all levels (strategy, team, tool, data).
4. Work with data analytics experts who should be part of the campaign team.
5. Test and learn

The original report by Paul Zwillenberg, Dominic Field, Mark Kistulinec, Neal Rich, Kristi Rogers, and Samuel Cohen was published on BCG Perspectives and can be find here.

ONE BRANDING: UNITING THE EMPLOYER, CORPORATE, AND PRODUCT EXPERIENCE (BCG Perspectives, 10/2014)

Surveys show that Millennial consumers are expecting a much more holistic and authentic brand experience. Many consumers increasingly engage in a two way-dialogue with brands (cf. How Millennial are Changing the Face of Marketing Forever by BCG Perspectives).

What’s more, in a world where the service sector accounts for 70% of most developed economies, employees interacting on a daily base with customers have become brand ambassadors. The authors of this paper note that companies often rely on strong products or corporate brands alone and call for a more integrated, employee-powered marketing one branding.

The Power of Employer Branding

There are three brand-management disciplines: Products or services, corporate, and employer. A BCG analysis over a ten-year period found a positive correlation between the strength of employer brands and the average growth in total shareholder return. (Asking MBA students to rate the attractiveness of prospective employers was one of the methods used).

The authors take the example of adidas, and how the company build employer branding. The company established an HR marketing department which focused on its external presentation as an employer. Adidas identified values propositions such as tribal membership or originality and transformed them into branding messages.

Six Guiding Principles of One Branding

1.    Credible positioning starts with a well-defined process:

• Employer brand audit (perform surveys and audit)
• Market research (understand the motivation and needs of prospective employees)
• Employer brand positioning (develop a credible positioning)
• Employer brand levers (analyze performance and prioritize actions)
• Employer brand organization (define organization, role, and responsibilities)

2.    Employee motivations guide employer branding – A company must appeal to both logic and emotion. Further internal and external views must be researched and analyzed.

3.    Only a brand that is lived every day can be experienced – For instance Google emphasize on the corporate culture creating an environment where employees can think freely.

4.    Employees are the best brand ambassadors.

5.    Social media is only one tool in the toolbox – Companies must take the time to find out which channel should be used for which message

6.    Brand management disciples often work loosely – The authors note that there is no universal solution as whether employer branding should be managed by HR, communication, or marketing. What matters though is that one branding becomes a common goal across functions.

The original article by Antonella Mei-Pochtler, Rainer Strack, Wiebke Sokolowski, Christopher Kanitz, and Manfred Dederl was published on BCG Perspectives on October 2014 and can be found here. 

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATION OF DEPLOYING MARKETING ANALYTICS (International Journal of Research in Marketing, 2013)

This a summary of a 2012 research paper, which is interested in understanding the effect of marketing analytics on the performance of companies.

The marketing landscape has been transformed by the following factors:

• IT infrastructures
• Exploding volumes of data
• More sophisticated customers
• Increasing demand by management for demonstrating ROI
• Global competition

However some managers remain skeptic about the benefits of analytics. Some suggest that the use of analytics can slow down the decision process and lead to missed opportunities. Two recent studies on C-level executives of large international companies found that only 10% respectively 16% of executives regularly use analytics.

Marketing analytics deployment is the extent to which insights gained from marketing analytics guide and support marketing decision within the firm.

HYPOTHESIS

The first hypothesis (H1) stated by the authors is that the greater the deployment of marketing analytics, the better the firm’s performance.

Further the authors looked at the competitiveness of the industry. The second hypothesis (H2) is that the greater the level of competition among industry participants, the greater is the positive impact of the deployment of marketing analytics of firm performance. The reason is that firms have to strive for a higher level of customer satisfaction.

The third hypothesis (H3) is that the more rapidly customer preferences change in an industry, the greater is the positive impact of the deployment of marketing analytics on firm performance. This is because management faces more uncertainty and needs to make more decision more frequently.

There are prerequisites of the deployment of marketing analytics:

• Advocacy of the top management
• An analytics culture
• Analytics skills
• Data and IT resources (both are closely related)

The authors surveyed more than 200 senior executives from Fortune 1,000 companies.

RESULTS

The test results show that the “top management plays a key role in establishing an organizational setting in whish marketing analytics can be deployed effectively.” Also an analytics-oriented culture has a positive and significant effect on the deployment of analytics. In addition tests show that “an increase in the firm’s marketing skills has both a direct and positive impact on the deployment of analytics and a positive, indirect effect through analytics culture.” Employees’ marketing skills “directly influence the degree to which a firm uses analytics-based findings in marketing decision making”. Finally, the authors found that ”the presence of a strong data and IT infrastructure promotes marketing analytics within the firm.”

The authors were able to support the hypothesis that the deployment of marketing analytics provides a positive financial return to the firm. Also, they found that the deployment is moderated by the level of competition that the firm faces as well as by the degree to which the needs and wants of its customers change over time.

In terms of limitations, the authors warn that their measures are attitudinal and not objective.

The original research by Frank Germann, Gary L. Lilien, and Arvind Rangaswamy was published in the International Journal of Research and Marketing, 2013, 30(2). The paper include tables and test results.