And how about Vine?

For those who have been distracted, Vine is a 6 seconds video app for iOS (and now for Android as well) that is the now running strongly on Twitter - despite being only a couple of months old. It is quick, focused and then it goes away - clearly aligned with the short attention that most consumers pay to social networks' news or tweets (for one second, it is really important, but then it just fads away).

And it is a new tool to engage consumers. With some good challenges. Of course Vine is basically part of Twitter, so it uses its 500 million users and segmentation to carry on the message. But, how to pass it on? The problem is that the core of the tool is how short and impactful it is - messages need to be really focused, and banners, pre-videos or anything else is simply not allowed (it would ruin the purpose the consumer is looking at that vine video). The logic answer is that the ad needs to be the vine on itself. You can complement with some words on the tweet that goes along with it, to create interest or context, but you will have to concentrate your key message (and branding) in those 6 seconds - a kind of animated business card message / elevator speech with your consumer. A 6 secs concise, focused message. If you are not able to pass it on 6 secs, you will accomplish nothing in Vine.

Of course, then you can be creative on how to use it - who will receive it, how will you integrate it in a bigger campaign (I hope you have already understand I only talk about integrated marketing, no single tool is magic to reach your consumer), ask consumers to do their own vines for your brands, geo-locate it with Twitter tools, bla bla bla. But the secrete to this will be to drive a concise, engaging, branded message in 6 secs. If you want to ride on social media biggest hype, you will need to accept the challenge!

https://vine.co/

http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/ways-brands-twitter-s-vine-app/239775/

http://mashable.com/2013/01/28/twitter-videoads-are-here/

YouTube Trendsmap

I only know it for the US, but it is still a very cool tool. YouTube has a trends map, that allows you to understand which videos are the most viewed across the US, with a gender and an age group breakdown. A very useful tool to ensure you are updated about what consumer says it is going on - and, hence, what is actually going on!

http://www.youtube.com/trendsmap

The one thing that makes memorable campaigns

Insights! That's what makes great ads - the thing that makes consumer tingle, that assures the brands are communicating to them, specifically, that the brand understands them. I don't remember a single campaign that was not based on a powerful insight, one that reveals, inspires, makes us dream or simply puts us eyes on eyes with ourselves.

And that is what I really like about these two (very different) FMCG campaigns:

2-ways communication

Advertising is changing. Fast! We all know that - 10 years ago online communication was still residual, Facebook didn't exist, nobody realised what Google was doing and mobile phones were used for calls. The world is changing and, naturally, so is advertising. Everybody knows that! But sometimes, I think an important part of the change goes unnoticed to too many people.

Many people still think of digital and mobile communication as a media to reach a target. And they are right! But there is one important dimension that is at least as important. Digital and mobile is unique not because you are communicating in new spaces in consumer lifes, but because it is not only about communication - it is about interaction!

And now, most of the people say, "But my Facebook / G+ / Twitter account is run by professionals and they ensure that all messages that consumers sent us are answered". Good! But not enough! That's not what I am talking about.

When consumers get your digital communication, they have actions. They will click on the ad, play with your games, use your apps, respond to your messages on Twitter. And that generates information. Valuable information. That tells you about your communication, your products, your brands, your consumers. And that  allows you (if you have the right setups, if you are ready for it), to adapt and evolve. You can decide to increase the weight of one of your commercials on the TV mix based on Twitter conversations, you may decide to promote a specific product in an area because you understand your consumer in that specific area is becoming more curious about it, you may adjust your prices to allow easier bundling in online shopping. The world is less and less static, and advertising should be flexible and quick to react - digital is all about that, is all about listening to the feedback and adapt.

But you need to make sure your frameworks are right for that. First, you need to make sure that you have the right tools to listen to that feedback. Consumers generate terabytes of information when interacting with your campaigns, brands and products and you need to have a way to listen and capture that interaction. So, make you have access to that information. Then, remember that consumer feedback should not be restricted to specific niches in your advertising work (like the agencies), but it should flow throughout the organization, fueling itself further and further - just think of the possibilities you have once you ensure your consumer research department starts seeing information flowing from target reactions online. And then you need to make sure that your setup is so flexible to answer fast, to react quickly. These steps are not easy, they may even imply that you need to adjust or change your organization, but it is the only way to compete in a world where digital communication is cornerstone.

Marketing is all about understanding consumers and satisfying their needs. Digital interaction is actually giving us the opportunity to shorten the cycle on 2-ways communication. You can almost see it happening real time. It is very close to the marketeer dream / nightmare (because it implies that you really need to be listening all the time to consumers and quickly adjust to their feedback). I usually use the tennis analogy of the receiver, waiting for the serve, that needs to be quick enough to understand where the ball is going and how to get it back over the net and in court - fast perception and quick, balanced reaction. And that is the game we should all be playing now with our targets, through digital.

How to look at great YouTube content

Have a go at this very good presentation from Google on YouTube content.

A shift on shoppers' behaviour

In one single year, Portugal has seen coupon usage go up 40%. A sharp increase reflecting a clear shift on shoppers' behaviour, who are being more rational and price oriented in their decisions, given the dark economic situation. 

I think everybody was expecting this and it is not actually a surprise - brands have actually increased their investment on price to adjust to the harsh economy. But there angles here that are worth exploiting:

- Don't dismiss brand appeal too fast. Though Distribution Owned Brands are also on the rise, the emotional feeling that "I am buying a good brand" might still be strong - it will probably depend a lot on the emotional appeal of the category and the work (hopefully good) that brands have done on differentiating themselves and build on relevant innovation. A share of consumers (and again, check it for your market and category), might be searching for good deals on positively perceived - hence the coupons. 

- Consider what the text (that I am sorry but is in Portuguese) is slightly pointing at - that the way coupons are placed actually has an influence on their usage rate. Higher value and easier to use coupons will tend to have higher redemption rates than the ones where more actions are needed to use them.

But overall, this just highlights how quick market conditions might change, and how marketing is always linked to the bigger picture of economic and social situation. So, never forget details (that's where the devil is...), but always keep your eyes looking around you, always think on the individual perspective and behaviour.

http://www.publico.pt/economia/jornal/utilizacao-de-vales-de-desconto-aumentou-40-em-apenas-um-ano-26249268

Effective apps

Apps are one of the main tools / executions you should be putting out there to effectively engage your consumer on the mobile world. The latest edition of Harvard Business Review (and I will go back to it at least one more time during the next few days, as it has one very deep and interesting article about digital strategy) states that effective apps should at least deliver one of the following dimensions:

- Added convenience for the user - just think of stores that allow you to buy products on the go, banks that let you pay your bills online, travel apps that guide you through what you need,...;

- Offer unique value - the example they give (and it is a really good one) is the Nike+ app fur runners;

- Provide social value - so, enhance your socialization with your friends;

- Offer incentives - this seems an easy one, but that actually makes it difficult. Try to avoid the couponing pitfall and ensure you are engaging;

- Entertain - think games, especially if around 40% of apps usage is about playing games.

Remember, your apps don't have to be all of them (probably, they shouldn't), but should be one. Ah! And, by the way, ensure they are on-brand and play positively for your equity!

Mobile and Me Time

When I usually explain the potential of mobile marketing to someone, I tend to use the expression "on the go". I usually say it is the opportunity to meet consumers on the go, to contact them in surprising (but brand or product related) situations. And I was reflecting on that when I was reading "How People Really Use Mobile" in HBR, a couple of weeks ago. Because that article, based on a InsightsNow research study for AOL and BBDO, defies that notion - it says that 68% of mobile consumption is at home! And that a massive amount of it is actually "me time" - the time we have only for ourselves, in which we actually are not interacting directly with anyone, we are relaxing, reading, watching a movie, reading (or writing...) blogs,... It raises a couple of questions:

- First of all, this means mobile devices are actually our retreat away from the world. That's the place we are ourselves and don't let much interfere with us. If mobile devices (which are actually, by definition, an extension of ourselves, the most individualistic gadget there is) are a way to reach consumers when they are "in me time", that makes them especially valuable to marketers - as it is a dimension that brands usually are not able to enter, a very intimate one. Just remember to be clever when doing it, because if you do it the wrong way, you will have a very angry rejection (remember consumers want that time for themselves, to be away from things like... advertising clutter!).

- "Me time" is a huge definition - just look at what I included when I defined it in the first paragraph. If we want to better understand mobile usage and how to better get advantage of "me time" potential, we need to go one level deeper and answer the question "what is mobile me time for my consumers?". Understand if it is reading, watching a movie, writing (or engaging in creative activities),... Only then will you be able to setup a communication strategy that actually suits this opportunity.

- My last question is actually a challenge. We are looking at "mobile" in an aggregate way - we are mixing in smartphones and tablets. I would love to understand if there are differences in usage between them - because, intuitively, I would say "home consumption" will be higher on tablets and smaller on phones, for the devices specs.

Ah! And last but not least - I swear I will not say "on the go" so much, when I am talking about mobile marketing...

http://hbr.org/2013/01/how-people-really-use-mobile/ar/1

Suppliers and quality

Third parties have many advantages, but bever forget they might also mean added jeopardy to your product's quality. Just thing about the 2 biggest flops of the moment:

- Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the most outsourced Boeing plane ever is nowadays grounded, after several safety incidents, meaning million of euros in losses for the American company;

- The Findus horse-meat scandal, in which a supplier is now accused of selling horse meat as beef.

The fact is that having third parties supplying key raw materials is many times the right thing to do - they offer competitive advantages that complement yours, and reinforce the product. But you should never lose control of the quality - you need to make sure you have adequate controls in place to ensure your product's quality is exactly at the "Value - Production Cost" equation's right spot. Never forget it! Or you might be heading for trouble...

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/-big-cost-seen-for-boeing-dreamliner-grounding-GidF~fWxREqPxG4JCh3dKw.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/11/world/europe/uk-horse-meat-probe/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Worth keeping an eye out for 2013 and beyond

JWT released their 2013 trends summary back in December. But it is still worth to have a look at what they say will be the backbone for consumer markets throughout the year - and actually the mega-trends that are at their roots and will be expanding beyond this year.

One of the mega-trends that actually goes across the selected ones is the increasing embedment of technology in our day to day life - not only from a business perspective, but as an enabler of "me-time", family and social interaction and leisure. It is curious how JWT even includes it in the sensorial trend, saying it will be an enhancer of that trend. But we shouldn't forget about business, and the "peer-to-peer" trend means that digital and social is a lot more than just media, it provides a backbone for business models (in case you have been distracted on this). This mega-trend is here to stay, and you should be well positioned to play on it for years to come, on its several dimensions.

Then, of course, you have a strong "me-culture" mega-trend that has been around for the last years - one about senses, about expressing one's creativity, about leaving a balanced, healthy, happy life. One that says, "I am what I am", and I need to make sure I am well, living my life the way I want it to be lived, touching the outside world with my own personality and ideas. This mega-trend won't disappear in the next few years (believe me), and is actually being enhanced by the interaction with the "technology embedment in life" one.

I think that the last mega-trend that I would like to highlight is about "location-me". The name is not intuitive (sorry for that, my fault), but it lives on a very simple platform - for years, the consumer had to move around to go shopping, experience culture, practice sport. What we see nowadays, is that the world around us actually starts coming to us - smartphones and tablets make you have social interactions at your fingertips, as well as news, online shopping opportunities,... But also, retail is seeking to change your purchasing moments - you won't have to go to a store anymore, businesses will try to get to you in unexpected / out-of-the-ordinary situations, because, as JWT says, "everything can be a retail channel". I think this one is slowly emerging, and it will only become more powerful in the years to come.

Now, if you still didn't do it, have a look at the summary of JWT's 10 trends for 2013 at http://www.slideshare.net/jwtintelligence/jwt-10-trends-for-2013-executive-summary

Appropriating communication cues

There are communication cues specific to brands and categories – the ones who have done their work really well, or that relate strongly with a consumer need. Whenever you watch a black and white commercial with a 50’s glamour you immediately associate it to Martini, when you see a beautiful model rotating her head so her hair flies and bounces you know that is a hair care commercial. Those are strong imprints in consumers’ minds, and are usually said to be the strongest form of branding.

That is why you need to be very careful not to include those cues on your communication if your brand or category is different. Because consumers will not actually identify your brand on it – their mind will automatically relate to the original one.

A very good example is the latest Depuralina commercial. The tone of voice that is used seems an institutional commercial, the text aligns with it with what seems like a “don’t eat so much for your own health” copy, the images are very similar to a high-speed internet ad – and then that is a pill to lose weight. But, the fact is the message is only passed on the last 7 secs of the ad – and before that, you had so many different unrelated cues that you are lost and your mind doesn’t capture the brand. That is the sort of result you don’t want to have when you are investing strongly in a new product.

But we also have a very good example of a brand that actually made it its own to play with cues from other brands. “SAPO” (the Portuguese internet service provider) has actually brilliantly played with classic commercials as the backbone of its communication. The trick here for branding though, is the tone of voice and, especially, the incorporation of their distinctive figure during the ads. You can see their “Martini version”  below. Cheers!

 

A basic of international marketing

One of the most fundamental truths of international marketing is "don't think that because you know a country you will know its neighboor". Because so many things change, in so many borders in the world! And don't get flawed by things like sharing the same language...

Let's look at Chile and Argentina. Yes, they share the same basic language (though you would be surprised at the number of different words), the same basic history (Spanish occupancy, revolutions led by the Spanish families settled there, periods of richness based on natural resources exploitation, far-right dictatorships during part of the XXth century), the same passion for grilled meat. But then, we shouldn't overlook the differences. The very different political landscape over the past 20 years, the differences in terms of European settlement (that contribute to explain why you feel everything in Santiago so organised and the stronger rule of Law), the stronger fascination by brands by the Argentinean consumers (and the price orientation of Chileans), the macro-economic picture (just look at inflation rates and you will astonished), the glamour of Argentinians vs the practicality of Chileans.

If understanding one's market and consumers is the key for good marketing, then, don't assume. Deep dive! Live with your consumers, breath the same air. Understand the differences vs the markets you know. Because, at that, it is the root for success!