Masters of Marketing

The Apple - Taylor Swift Twitter conversation on artist rights and payment is just the latest example of Apple's mastery of marketing. Please, raise your hand if you think this just wasn't a carefully planned marketing campaign, set up to generate positive brand appreciation and bombastic talkability around the world.

In reality, Apple is brilliant at managing communication which goes beyond their media investment - I would actually say, that goes "a lot beyond"! It has been able to use this ability to firmly establish itself as a cult brand, that makes media work for it, instead of paying for media space.

I think this Taylor Swift Twitter conversation is a good example. But another one is the way Apple leaks information to news agencies, newspapers, TVs, bloggers about new products or new features is amazing, and makes the market eager to understand what is coming, to discuss about it, is it useful for me, is it breakthrough, do I want it - it creates discussion and anxiety in the news and that is then cascaded to the people that read news, independently of the media.

Apple sets their conferences up to be events, not presentations - they are trully shows, with their new products at the center of it. They are televised moments, followed by millions of people throughout the world through internet live streaming - it is an enviable audience! And there is no clutter on the message - it is all about Apple and what their products can do for the consumer!

Also the way capacity is planned for innovation, letting people be waiting for a few days, especially in their early iPhone launches, helped to create a myth of unreachability - these products are not for everyone, you need to pay and wait, do an extra effort, which, if you think about it, just sets Aple products apart from any easily reachable product. You don't just go to a store and buy it.

(Oh! The functionality of the stores... But so many people wrote already about it - I will not even go there, but they just hint at how technologically advanced and consumer focused is Apple.)

And, last but not least. The cheer functionality and consumer / user focus on their product, all of them designed from a system perspective to be easy, friendly and connected to other Apple products - it seems to easy, it is so logical, and it creates such a positive communication and talkability among users. Again, an ocean could be written on how Apple products are designed to be just a part of the consumer.

Apple is a master in marketing - I would say it is the best in the world and its brilliancy and managing all the product mix and communication, focusing on the consumer, that sets it apart. From minute 1.

A button

It is quite common to transpose something from the real world to the internet - we are so used to shopping lists, talking to people, cheering, that we just want to have exactly the same experience online. And we transpose it, copying it. But the move Amazon is doing is a bit different - why not to have the "click" experience for online-shopping in the real world?

Amazon's Dash button for shopping is a brilliant example of the internet of things. It allows for a consumer to shop for its usual products in an even simpler way, by-passing the pain of opening your phone / laptop and going to your online store. Here, you just have to click. Easier for Amazon. And simpler shopper experiences lead to higher sales.

For the brands that feature on the buttons, it will also mean a higher loyalty from your shoppers - and a more intense bargaining process with Amazon.

The 10 most viewed ads of 2014

This is probably a good way to signal my 100th post - presenting the 10 most viewed ads of 2014, according to AdWeek.

(now, if you allow my comment, though entertaining, some of them lack a bit of branding... and, hmm... "Always"... why did you do a "Dove" ad?)

Should branding start with your employees?

You should ensure everyone in your team is living the brands they work in - it is the only way to understand the brand and its personality. A first and simple step to ensure people are doing this is to brand your offices with your brands - making sure that you match the brands with the office areas. A bit like Unilever does.

In-Store GPS

Sainsbury's just announced that is trialing an in-store GPS app that will let you build up a shopping list and then navigate in any store right to your product. And then navigate straight out again, paying our basket through the app, again. 

This would be a massive movement to in-store convenience, focused on two of shoppers' main complaints - "I cannot find my product" and "I lose too much time in store". But it puts special pressure on impulse shopping and, thus, margins of retailers. They will need to make sure that they move impulse shopping out of the shelves and into the app - which is nothing new, if you remember what Amazon does all the time with their suggestions...

Doing my laundry with a check list

Part of my current role is doing my laundry with a check list in my hand, while I feed clothes to my washing machine. I explain... I currently work in the Laundry category, and that means that, as always, I have to try my own (and my competitors') products. To make sure I have the same experiences as my consumers - and that I register them. This is a very basic rule of marketing - make sure you are following it.

P.S- Now, this is actually an improvement from the times when I was washing my hair with a check list next to my bath tub...

1111

1111. Or the 11th of November. It is the national "Singles Day" in China - 1111 represents four single persons, together. And it is a massive marketing day. In this day, Alibaba (the largest e.commerce company in the world) does huge single day promotions, smashing the online daily sales record year after year (in 2014, after 15h, they had already sold €5 Billions).

1111 was actually instituted by Alibaba. And is a great example of how to generate a strong marketing event, out of nowhere - creating a national movement deeply rooted in an insight (singles also want to feel appreciated as valentines do in... well, Valentines) that becomes part of the country's culture and that generates increased revenue to the retailer. A bit like... well, Valentines, or Mothers' Day. 

The one challenge for Alibaba going forward on this is how will it make sure that it will own going forward. Because, after creating and promotiong it, this day becomes part of the culture - and hence, it will belong to the people and be open to other retailers' appropriation. It will be interesting to see "Singles Day" developing over the next few years.