Unexpected, positive impact

Yesterday I had a good example of unexpected, positive impact advertising. I got into a traditional black cab in London and, inside of it, I found a Vodafone sponsored mobile-phone charger - that included plugs for iPhone, Nokia, Samsung,... It shows how incredibly insightful the Vodafone marketeer was in this one - it is true that many times, your phone batteries are almost dead, and you just pray for an opportunity to recharge it. So, why not do it free in the cab if you have taken? And I am sure you will not forget which brand saved you then - Vodafone.

This execution comes from a very clear insight - and actually on a situation that almost every single one of us experienced. But it requires ability to understand the experience one lives is felt by many other people, has a significant impact in their day-to-day life and represents a marketing / communication opportunity. So, what situations do you go through everyday that might be a good insight?

A quick advice on newspapers

If you want to understand your potential consumers, don't jump to the business section of your newspaper. Go through the major lifestyle, local, society news, understand their fears, their aspirations, their economical situation - business sections are almost always about what businesses do or did, and people actually matter the most. And, by the way, consider reading more than your newspaper of choice - also force yourself to also read the same newspapers as your target.

Long tail and niches

Usually, there are always niches in any market - small groups of consumers that have a clear preference for products that (though satisfying the same basic need) are different from all the other. Many times, companies think those niches to be too small to be actually considered and leave them for small players that especialize on those niches - or, as happens many times, leave those specific needs unanswered.

But there is a flaw in this line of thought. And the flaw is to think 1% of a market can't be profitable and attractive to a large scale business - your questions should be what's the size of the universe (so, how many people are actually 1%, what is their purchasing power and how much do we think they are ready to pay for this product) and what's your business operational model. You can actually put up an operational model that profitably sells to 1% of a market. Just think of an internet based operation, with a potential universe of more than 2 billion consumers - like Amazon did. Amazon sells mainstream titles, but also incredibly obscure and hard to find books that are only appealing to some fringes of their consumer universe - but it's business model allows to sell both of these books (the mainstream and the niche) exactly the same profitable way. And a considerable amount of their income actually comes from those titles that "nobody wants". Amazon operates on what is called a "Long Tail" model.

So, even small niche markets may represent huge opportunities - you just need to make sure you think the market right and you are able to put through the right operational model. One that is actually able to appeal and reach to the whole universe niche and not just to a fragment of it. And one that is then actually able to serve your whole customers on a simple profitable way. The internet has become the answer to many of these long tailers, because of its broad reach and simplicity to use and it is where you can find most of the long tail techniques being used and developed.

Learn with Google webinars

Interested in online and mobile communication and marketing? Ok, let me give you a very quick free tip - you should actually have a look at Google Webinar pages. They are free and will help you understand and get the max out of your communication with Google.

http://www.google.com/ads/experienced/webinars.html

Newspapers

Traditional newspapers have been facing an incredible challenge in the last 10 years - the amount and speed of information internet is now providing its consumers has made traditional newspapers obsolete. Nowadays, that is unquestionable. But, some newspapers are actually faring better than others. Because they have actually understood their part on the news value chain to consumer and the best way to play it. Those newspapers, like Portuguese Publico, have learnt that they need to play a price vs benefit ladder:

- They give for free relevant and fast to read information, supporting it through online advertising, helping it pay for the news structure that is behind. They made this available in all online media - internet, smartphones, tablets,...;

- And then they have a second tier of information, with good and deep analysis, that actually goes a further notch in terms of quality. And that is paid-access only - either by purchasing the paper edition, or paying an online subscription fee, again, for all kind of online access - internet, smartphones, tablets,... These newspapers are able to do this because of the equity they have harnessed before the massification of the internet - an equity based on quality and deep information.

It is rather interesting to see that this involved quite a good comprehension of how consumers think of this product. There are times of the day when consumer wants quick on the go news, that can be aprehended by a quick headline and developed in a 5 minutes reading. But there are also times of the week (end of the day for some persons, early relaxing Saturday morning with your coffee for others...) when the consumer has the time and wants to actually get a deeper comprehension of the world he / she lives in. It is a different benefit, and one a good reputation news paper can actually charge a premium for.

So, let's actually keep a keen eye on the newspaper and information markets - it is going through a product revolution!

Reading on tablets

According to a comScore study, 55% of the 234 million cell phone subscribers in the US use it to go through media. And 14% of those 234 million also own a tablet. And if you go through the link below, you will see that what is happening is that people are starting to use their devices as suplements of a multi online touchpoints, accessing media on the go through their PCs, TVs, paper, smartphones and tablets, depending of the time of the day and where they are. That for workdays people use their PCs until 5pm, and then tablets peak afterwards. That people tend to use their tablets in the evening while watching TV (this is part of a Nielsen study), and for emailing, social networking and (of course, men...) sports checking. And that on weekends, tablets tend to be used in the morning - probably replacing or supplementing the traditional newspaper read while taking breakfast? But what is important for a marketeer is actually to understand this evolution and to blend it in the way we read our consumers - their habits are strongly changing in these times.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/29/tech/mobile/comscore-report-gahran/index.html?hpt=hp_c2