10 tips to develop a social media marketing plan for you business
There are probably worse situations to be in than drawing a blank on what to post on social media. When it’s part of your daily duties, and you see your scheduled “must post” time quickly approaching, with nothing to say, well, it’s easy to wish you were anywhere but in that predicament. The good news is that you’re not the first person to face a similar situation, and the way things are going with so many new social media channels and processes to available to get the word out, you won’t be the last. However, you and your marketing team can easily avoid much of the whole “oh no — what in the world am I going to say now?” dilemma by working to develop a solid social media marketing plan, which should cover all aspects of your message: when to say it, who will say it, how to say it, and how often to say it. Of course, the “what” is up to you, your company, and your team’s overall social media strategy. Creating and sticking to a social media marketing plan can be a challenge to an organization that has long-since relied on a “try to find something to say but don’t sweat it” philosophy, or worse yet, no philosophy at all. But this kind of plan can help everyone to know what’s coming, and hopefully provide an opportunity to craft better messages and target audiences more precisely. It beats doing it on the fly. For those wondering how to get started, try these 10 tips to develop a solid Social Media Marketing Plan: 1. Determine the project’s goal. What’s the company’s purpose for investing time and possibly other resources into social media? Do you want more customers? Do you want to improve outreach? Be seen as more personable? Improve visibility of the company website? Seen as experts in your industry? 2. Figure out who will be involved. A mistake that some businesses make is creating social media pages because they’re told they should, and either not appointing anyone to “feed” them regularly or telling the already busy staff “do it when you have a chance or are caught up on everything else.” Which can be perceived internally and externally as “we don’t care enough to take care of this well.” If you haven’t learned about social media yet, one of the rules of the road is that fresh content looks great, and less fresh content looks terrible. So at least one person should be assigned social media marketing duties as a prime function, and preferably a few others to help out from within the company. If people are busy, everyone could be assigned one rotating “create + publish day” or a different channel to manage. 3. Figure out your ideal social media audience. Hopefully, you already have an idea of where your customers are coming from and their demographic make-up, either through feedback from actual customers or digital analytics. Or there could already be a positive social media presence that you could build upon, such as videos shot with your product or on your property already online. Knowing basic demographic information like gender and age can help you decide where to target your social media presence. For instance, AdWeek said that the average age of Facebook users keeps increasing, and is now in its early 30s. If you know more, like hobbies and interests, you can target some of the smaller channels geared to your industry or your customer base. 4. Learn your budget. Participation in a social network – usually free — makes them appealing for budget-conscious businesses. But most modern networks don’t necessarily make it easy for you to reach all your users without paying extra. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and recently Instagram all offer methods to expand your reach for extra money. On Facebook, the cost varies based on the amount of people you want to see your page/post, and how many people already like it. Cost ranges from a few dollars a day to more than $100. But it can be worth it to an organization eager to get the word out — Facebook claims that any given business post will only show up in about 10 percent of the news feeds of people who already like them or don’t visit their page regularly. 5. Figure out primary and secondary sites to target. Start with general sites like Facebook or Twitter, since that’s where big audiences are, but also consider diversifying. Facebook is a given simply because of its global reach. As of spring 2015, there were 1.49 billion active users worldwide – more than the population of China! Facebook’s strength is also being able to provide analytic information for business accounts, including details of your followers. However, just because someone follows your FB page doesn’t mean they’ll convert into customers. A recent Wall Street Journal piece discussed how the Ritz-Carlton had pulled back on its Facebook presence – it was getting a lot of followers, but not leading to increases in room bookings. Like the hotel chain did, consider something else that may provide you with a more specialized audience for your content. 6. Determine a publishing schedule. A calendar/schedule can cover everything from how many times a day to push something out (short answer: it depends on the channel/message) to a weekly schedule of different channels. While Twitter may encourage rapid activity through the day, some sites like LinkedIn may need less regular updates and more attention/interaction. This could so be a place to plan how to execute any goals. Are you interested in boosting likes this month? Click-thrus? Engagement? Shares? New channel? Are there any special events or promotions coming up that will require extra help or a different schedule? 7. Figure out what you can do in-house. Maybe your employers want everything to be generated by the staff, including the social media strategy and the day-to-day content creation. Or maybe if marketing employees are needed for other projects, some
The art of integrating customer service into social media management
Social media is a powerful, organic force that can make or break a brand – or even set the tone and personality of an organization. One of the most overlooked facets of social media management is its power to enhance your customer service strategy. According to Nielsen’s Social Media report, 67% of your audience uses social media to seek advice, share a review, or make some noise (aka complain). Did we mention that 33% of social media users also prefer this type of customer care to complex phone prompts or sitting on hold for 45 minutes? Yeah, we weren’t surprised either. If you aren’t already using social media monitoring to integrate customer service into your social media strategy, we’ve put together our top eight reasons to jumpstart your social care team. 1. Social care drives social media strategy: If the heart of social media strategy is about creating authentic brand experiences, then it should be easy to understand how a personalized social media experience might satisfy your customers’ need to feel heard. Social media is a proverbial platform or soapbox for your customers to cheer for, or on the flip side – to chastise your brand. When you use social media to monitor your clients’ satisfaction and respond to issues openly in an arena where they arguably have more control than you do, you are setting your brand up for resolution more quickly because the audience knows they are being taken seriously. 2. Multi-channel care supports flawless social media management: You know the value of multi-channel sales: some people like to talk on the phone, some people prefer to read information online and digest it before making a decision, and others flock to social media to choose the solution their peers recommend. The same applies to customer service. Multi-channel care allows your customers to seek the type of help they need. If they feel best calling in – let them. But if they prefer to interact with you on the fly as they are checking-in at their favorite lunch spot – why inhibit the conversation from evolving naturally? Letting your customers communicate with you how and where they want to do so is a small gesture that reminds them that you care about their needs. 3. Anticipate your customers’ needs with social media monitoring: Good social media monitoring allows you to understand and anticipate your customers’ needs. By listening to what your customers are saying on social media and adapting your self-service portals accordingly, or addressing hints of poor service experiences before they blossom into full-scale issues, you can cut back on the volume of care required of your customers. This can save you costs on call centers or service fees and – more importantly – create and maintain a satisfied customer base. After all, keeping a customer is a lot easier than finding a new one. 4. Set your own benchmarks. Against yourself: Social media monitoring also helps to ensure that you remain honest with yourself. With such a wide variety of monitoring tools from word cloud generators to social media attitude aggregators, it takes very little effort to gauge and track sentiment toward your brand. If one of your goals is improving customer satisfaction, use social media to get a quick pulse on how you’re measuring up to your expectations. It’s easy to blame slow customer service evolution on complicated or expensive measuring tools and unreliable or qualitative feedback. Social media monitors make it quick, simple, and (hopefully) painless. In other words, no more excuses. 5. Time is money: Most consumers expect a one day turn around when sending emails to a customer service account. And in a world filled with endlessly high call volumes, they also expect service calls to take anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour. It’s safe to assume that when a customer is reaching out about an issue, waiting does not positively impact the situation. Good social media management that supports your care team can alleviate this pain point in two ways. First, it frees up your customers to multi-task in a pleasant online environment while they wait for a response. Second, it frees up your team to respond to and resolve multiple issues at once on an as-needed basis. We like to think of it as instant gratification at its finest, and on all fronts. 6. Create brand advocates through social media management: Turn an issue into advocacy. If your social team responds to customers who are self-selecting social users in a speedy and thoughtful fashion, those same public complainers may quickly turn into public brand cheerleaders, touting your individualized service experience, responsiveness, and transparency when dealing with issues. That makes you look like a rock star and allows prospects to see how much you value your customers. This same audience of consumers understands that brands make mistakes. After all, they’re (run by) people, too. How a brand handles those issues is the real question. From that perspective, your customer support must to be included in your social media strategy. 7. Control the conversation by setting the tone: In the customer service world, it isn’t always what you say – it’s how you say it. Social care gives you the opportunity to respond in a tone that matches your brand, eliminating costly and time-consuming coaching, training, or any errors associated with maintaining call centers. If your brand tone is casual and cool, your social media responses can instill that same sense of calm in unhappy reviewers. If your brand tone is formal, a white-glove approach via customized social posts during and after an issue might be just what your clients need to restore their faith in your organization. 8. Because there’s no reason not to: And last – but not least – why not? Whether you use an agency to take care of your social media management or DIY tools such as Hootsuite, responding to customer service issues and formulating a seamless follow-up plan around your customers’ needs has never
Why video production matters more than ever for your business
Just because cable and network broadcasting subscriptions are dropping, doesn’t mean people aren’t watching videos and rich media. In 2016, Google announced that more then 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube per minute. That’s right, we said per minute. Last year, that number was only 300 hours per minute. In other words, that’s a 200% annual increase in video production. In addition to user-based video hubs such as YouTube or Vine, streaming video sites such as Netflix, Hulu and PrimeVideo are all on the rise. There is no sign that video production is decreasing – it’s just being consumed in a different way, which is why videos for businesses are becoming such an integral part of the marketing mix. If you’re still on the fence about the value of a strong video marketing campaign, here’s our two cents on the matter: Videos drive engagement: Studies show that you have less than 3 seconds to grab your consumer’s attention. So yes, first impressions seriously matter. Three seconds isn’t enough time to read detailed copy about your customer service and product features, but it is ample enough to allow viewers to become drawn into a powerful video showcasing your brand values in a way that makes your audience want to learn more. Good video production will engage your audience and hold their attention longer than text or static images ever could. In a recent study by Implix, companies found that people were 96% more likely to click on an email if there was an introductory video embedded in the content. If the very act of showcasing a video can drive double-digit engagement, imagine what watching compelling videos for businesses has the power to do. Conversion, conversion, conversion: We’re not shy. We know your main goal is to drive business and conversion, which is why we love videos. According to Forbes, more than 90% of retail consumers cite video as a key part of their purchase process and that they are 64% to 85% more likely to buy a product after watching an informational video. E-commerce sites such as Zappos and Amazon rely on videos to showcase their products in a real-world setting, while hotels and tourism sites use video to show off their venues and unique experiences, and business service organizations employ video production to explain complicated products or add service value. No matter what industry you’re in, video can capture your value proposition and translate it in a way that drives consumer engagement by building trust and clarity. Videos help people do business with brands they like: It’s no secret that the general public trusts social media, user reviews, and viral content more than carefully curated ad campaigns and polished publicity stunts. While this isn’t surprising, the shift has thrown marketers into a tailspin over the past decade. Are marketers becoming obsolete in a world where consumers have the power to oust bad brand behavior and share their real-life experiences with your products? No. But we do need to start communicating with our audience from a place of authenticity and transparency. Corporate video production is your chance to show your brand’s personality from a genuine perspective that allows your audience to choose if your value proposition resonates with their needs. Whether you’re working with user-generated videos or a professional video production company to craft your media, there is something deeply humanizing about watching other people just like us on film. And at the end of the day, most people want to do business with people and brands that they truly like. It’s okay to be trendy: Whether you’re a YouTube or Netflix junkie – or neither, the internet has exploded with video content. And each episode of your favorite sitcom and trendy YouTube tutorial usually comes loaded with a video ad. ComScore estimates that more than 45.4% of internet users view at least one video per month. If your audience isn’t watching your viral video that just hit 1.5M views, they could at least be watching the video ad you ran before their next funny dog clip. People are self-selecting video content as a primary way to learn about brands and communicate with each other. Corporate video production gives you the unique opportunity to take advantage of this trend and get in on the action while it’s still a relatively new and emerging media. The trick to successfully driving video marketing campaigns is to target the right audience at the right place and at the right time. A strong video production company or social marketing agency can help you define your strategy and begin building your voice or help you find tools to serve and measure your audience’s needs. From there, it’s a simple matter of being you and letting your brand shine. Video production can be as simple or as complicated as your budget or taste allows, and it can be as inexpensive or cost-intensive as you’d like. It’s one of the most flexible marketing tools we have at our disposal as well as one of the most efficient. In all honesty, we can’t think of a reason why producing videos for a brand don’t just plain make good business sense. Are you ready to put video to use when engaging with your prospective audience? Contact our team of video production experts today – we’ll show you how video can align perfectly with your existing branding efforts!
Dear Chipotle: Clickbait isn’t always a bad thing
Let’s get controversial. You’ve probably heard the saying, “no news is good news.” You’ve probably also heard the saying, “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” But when your company is the target of bad press – such as fast-food behemoth Chipotle’s recent scandal, thanks to the “Chubby Chipotle” smear campaign running in the New York Post – which maxim do you stand by? The reality is, there’s some truth to both statements. If you suddenly find your brand at the center of unwanted attention, take a step back and remember that your response can radically influence how the public weathers the news. If we were in Chipotle’s shoes – this is what we’d do. 1. ENJOY THE CLICKBAIT: First and foremost, publicity equals free advertising. We hate to be reductive, but in terms of raw numbers, an article in the New York Post is the public relations equivalent of a $300,000 ad campaign. Even though the article questions Chipotle’s ethics, a feature in the Post means more people will be surfing to the Chipotle site and thinking about their products. And when your burrito brand is at the top of mind, it’s also more likely to be the go-to dinner spot after a late workout at the gym. Clickbait – those scandalous headlines that blur the line between journalism and gossip while begging to be clicked – may not always yield the best online traffic, but they do increase visitors, have the possibility to go viral, and keep people talking about your brand. 2. DON’T FORGET TO ASSESS THE DAMAGE: That said, we aren’t suggesting that you ignore the gravity of the situation. Take a step back from the immediate impact of the article and ask yourself if the situation is really going to turn customers away. If you’re a loyal Chipotle customer and you see the Chubby Chipotle ads, you may be tempted to surf onto the Chipotle website and join the conversation. If you’re anti-Chipotle, you might want to do the exact same thing. The article doesn’t reveal anything most Chipotle fans or fast-food followers don’t already know, so it may be safe to assume that this story will line tomorrow’s waste bins and little or no response is needed. If you were in Chick-Fil-A’s shoes back in 2012 when they were brought to task over their religious intolerance toward same-sex marriage, this may be a different story. Only your target audience, the severity of the article or accusations, and how brand loyal your followers are can answer that question. 3. DECIDE IF YOU NEED TO RESPOND … AND HOW: If a response is needed, recognize the power an influx of online traffic and social media attention has on this situation and your brand. You’ve just increased your reach and given yourself an organic platform to handle the situation with grace, uniqueness, and class. A well-timed article, blog post, or Facebook campaign could turn a scandal into a sensation and validate the values your brand stands for. No one likes to be criticized, but a memorable response can make or break the public’s reaction to even the worst faux pas. For example, on August 6, Vanity Fair ran an article chastising Tinder for supporting an unhealthy “hook-up culture.” Thirty-one rapid-fire Tweets later from one of Tinder’s employees, and the abashed dating site went from zero to hero. The company never admitted whether the response was planned or not, but the results prove our point entirely. We feel for you, Chipotle. But when life gives you lemons … we recommend that you make a big ol’ burrito with all the fixin’s. Is your brand in need of some repositioning to positively impact consumer perception? Contact our team of brand strategists today to learn more about how we can help!
Restaurant marketing strategies to encourage real reviews
Social media, travel, and review sites can be a great testament to your business’s credibility, customer service, amenities, and experiences. The problem is, most people only write reviews when they’ve had a shockingly horrific experience, or were completely blown away by something. But how do you encourage the masses of happy, satisfied customers in between those two spectrums to write reviews? A great place to start is with a well-devised approach- be it in terms of marketing your restaurant, or promoting your hotel, resort, or tourist attraction.The formula is simple. Whenever you make a request of your customer – whether it’s asking for an email address or seeking a review – you must be certain that you give them something of equal value in return. Simple campaigns that exchange real value for real reviews will bring your existing customers closer to your brand, while in turn, generating new reach within your target audience. Here, BIGEYE shares the following quick and easy recommendations – in case you were in need of a little added inspiration: For restaurants and bars If there’s one thing you need to know, it’s that locals are truly your best friends. Use this to your advantage by employing restaurant marketing strategies that encourage local reviews. Attract your seasonal audience by engaging restaurant review sites such as Yelp and OpenTable. Host “locals’ nights” and offer a free appetizer to anyone who writes a review. Invite reviewers to preview new menu items or cocktail variations on the house … in exchange for a review, of course. Chances are, your reviewers will want to come back for more … tell their friends … or maybe even spread the word to those random tourists they bumped into on the street. While some restaurants and bars host trivia night. Take things to the next level with your approach to restaurant marketing by hosting your very own branded “social media night.” Tweet-ups, meet-ups, and other social gatherings are hugely popular. Get people in the door by offering discounts, free bites, or some form of entertainment. Plan these activities on your traditionally slower evenings to boost business you wouldn’t otherwise have – and to encourage all your guests to review, post, and Instagram away. Possible prize offerings may be awarded for tweets and reviews, or simply let people generate their own buzz around your business. For hotels and resorts Offer customers a deep discount or give them one night free for a good review. Chances are, your guests will stay longer than one night, and will be so pleased with their “free” vacation they’ll be more inclined to make up the difference in food and beverage costs or on-site amenities. If you’re worried people will “game the system,” put straightforward terms and conditions around the offer to limit one freebie per household. (This will ensure that the reviewer was a visitor within the past six months.) You’ll get a great review – and some extra business in the process. Another option is to create a brand ambassador program. Use a point or discount system to reward guests for meaningful social media posts, photos, and reviews. This strategy may promote quantity over quality, so consider using an “application” process that asks potential brand ambassadors why they’d be a great fit, and what unique social media skills they bring to the table. For tourist attractions Most travel destinations boast a host of unique activities. You can’t miss swimming with the dolphins in Mexico. Wine tasting in France or Surfing lessons in California. And most of these activities are prime photo opportunities. But as you might have experienced for yourself, even the most seasoned selfie-taker has trouble capturing these moments from the perfect angle. At the end of each activity, guests begrudgingly head toward the photo stand, where professional photography of their adventure is on display. Sneakily, some guests may attempt to covertly snap a copy on their phone, while many visitors simply choose not to purchase these photos on principle. If you offer one digital copy in exchange for a review (which can be easily emailed after the review is verified), you are creating a currency your customers genuinely value. There’s no overhead cost to you, and consequently, plenty of opportunity for gain. Because most tourist attractions are one-off experiences that come with a premium price tag, providing discounts on future visits may not be the best strategy. Most often, this is due in part to the low volume of repeat customers. Instead, let your guests give the gift of their memories to others. Let them know that when they write a review, they have the opportunity to share a meaningful discount with a friend. This technique perpetuates your business and makes your customers feel good for reviewing you, while also sharing something with their friends and family. That’s what we call a win-win. Did these strategies peak your interest when it comes to encouraging your valued customers to share more about their dynamic, memorable experience with your brand? To continue the conversation by uncovering additional opportunities to engage with your target audience, and develop repeat clientele through reviews, contact our team of advertising professionals today!
Why perfecting the retail marketing mix is important
Contemporary retail marketing is a brave new world. While some basic principles remain when it comes to implementing effective retail marketing strategies, others have evolved to acknowledge and appeal to the new breed of consumer. Does your business have what it takes to succeed in today’s dynamic landscape? Let’s take a closer look at three critical components of the 21st century retail marketing mix. 1. It’s not you, it’s them And by “them,” we mean your customers. While the retail marketing mix involves a number of elements — those trusty, oft-cited “six P’s.” People, product, price, place, promotion and performance should all be focused in one clear direction: your customers. It goes without saying that your customers are your business’ most important constituents, but a shocking number of retail enterprises fail to put them front and center when it comes to developing and implementing retail strategies. Here’s the cold hard truth: the more customer-focused you can make your retail business, the more success you can expect to achieve. Lucky for us, we have more access than ever toward understanding our customers. From tracking in-store footfalls to online conversation rates, the ability to known and learn from customer behavior yields actionable insights into their wants and needs so you can stop wasting your resources on what doesn’t work and instead focus on results. We’re living in an era of “YOU-tility,” and retail organizations are not exempt when it comes to satisfying the contemporary consumer. One common goal shared by today’s successful retail enterprises? To add value across all of the P’s. This can mean anything from implementing point of sale solutions for on-the-go customers to targeting promotions to reach a particular demographic via their preferred means of communication, all without bothering the rest with irrelevant promotional materials. 2. Consistency is key We can all agree that a retail organization which only emphasizes sales is destined to fail. Why? Because retail success also relies upon providing extraordinary customer service every step of the way. Want to gain an inside edge on the competition? Don’t settle for delivering what your customers expect. Instead, strive to exceed their expectations. After all, the ultimate goal is not to make a single sale, but to develop lasting customer loyalty, along with the potential for a lifetime of sales. Because consumer shopping habits have changed, so must your marketing efforts. This means incorporating a complete range of omnichannel marketing methods in order to leverage technology into sales. To maximize your efforts and ensure that your message reaches your target audience in the most meaningful way, your business needs a compelling online and offline presence. Today’s consumers expect the businesses they support to be transparent, accountable and responsive. While these may sound like trendy buzzwords, they’re a very real part of any successful retail marketing mix. This means every communication you send — whether in-store or via digital methods — is aimed at reinforcing your brand sensibility across all touch points. And don’t forget about email. While most people think social media and apps have overtaken email as the ideal means of communicating with consumers, email is still an important way to cultivate and engage consumers. In fact, a recent Inc. article decreed email marketing to be “vital for businesses of all sizes,” for a variety of reasons including its low cost, mobile reach, and impact upon both online and in-store sales. Consistency also means establishing expectations for your staff and reinforcing these expectations so that organization-wide operations are coordinated, streamlined, and cohesive. Every team member should be working toward the common goal of satisfying customers through a well-communicated strategic plan. 3. A new kind of location, location, location The traditional marketing mix has always emphasized location. After all, you’re not going to make any sales if access to your storefront is limited by a poor, inconvenient or incongruent location in terms of your brand and target consumers. And while your physical storefront remains an important concern today, it’s far from the only concern. Why? Because not only are today’s customers more mobile in terms of where they shop, but they also have access to endless e-commerce options. Shopping is no longer about geography. In fact, today’s consumers can get nearly everything they need without stepping foot inside a brick-and-mortar location. In order to keep up with the evolving retail mix, your e-commerce site is as important as your physical storefront when attracting paying customers. Forrester Research’s report, U.S. Cross-Channel Retail Forecast, 2012-2017, predicts that by the year 2017, 60 percent of the country’s total retail sales will involve the web, and a full 10.3 percent will be online purchases. Unless you’re willing to forgo your 10 percent, creating an inviting, accessible, compelling and brand-centric new “location” — ie. your online storefront — is a must-do. While finding the correct retail marketing mix takes some time and effort, it can serve as the difference between standing out from your competition and blending in with the rest. Keeping these three things in mind can help you maximize your retail marketing mix efforts in order to enjoy optimal results across your business, brand, and bottom line. Are you a retailer in search of ways to set your brand apart in a bustling industry? Contact our team of strategists to schedule time to “talk shop” with us today!
Developing a highly effective fast food marketing strategy
It’s 2017 and fast food restaurants are starting to catch on: green is in and greasy is out. We’ve all seen the Instagram accounts with millions of followers that only post acai bowls and kale salads. Okay, so what does this mean for fast food restaurants, and more importantly- what does this mean for their marketing strategy? Whether the menu is organic, locally sourced, or cage-free, it’s clear that the fast casual restaurant model is winning with consumers. The Chipotles and Shake Shacks of the world have revolutionized consumer expectations of what fast food might actually include. With healthier consumer mindsets, companies like McDonald’s will need to place a greater emphasis on the “food”, not just the “fast” when it comes to effective fast food marketng strategies. While we still crave the efficiency that comes with a quick meal, that doesn’t mean that we aren’t compelled to make healthier choices as we take on the world, either. We’ll take a pricier burrito bowl over the $1 menu McChicken if it means feeling good about my eating choices (and sparking jealousy from my followers on Snapchat). So what are the fast food giants doing to shake things up? For starters, McDonald’s is shifting its philosophy from “billions served” to “billions heard”. Burger King and McDonald’s have added salads to the menu, and Mickey D’s is now serving antibiotic-free chicken, milk from cows not treated with growth hormones, as well as egg white breakfast sandwiches. Not without notice, the company is taking steps to clean up its act, so to speak. The misstep here, though, is the threat of brand inconsistency when it comes to strategic fast food marketing. Is McDonald’s attempting to ditch their old image, replacing it with the notion that they’ve evolved into the go-to restaurant for quick and mindful meals, or are they clamoring to reach millennials by being unapologetically indulgent? While I’m glad McDonald’s has added more health-conscious items to the menu, and I don’t believe the chain has to lean one way or another in an effort to remain successful on the fast food marketing front, the traditional image they have consistently held is going to be a mighty tough one to shed – and one they shouldn’t be so quick to throw away with that crumpled-up sandwich wrapper. I don’t think McDonald’s needs to hop aboard the kale and granola, solar-powered train just yet. People still want to indulge, and as long as there’s a 24-hour drive-thru available, hungry Americans are going to continue to crave their Big Mac fix. Not everyone is counting calories or putting spinach in their smoothies; the problem with McDonald’s image may boil down to simple food quality. By bumping-up the perceived quality of their meals (even if it means increasing prices accordingly), aligned with a strategic marketing plan, they may just remedy any residual reputational risk. Hungry to develop a fast food marketing strategy that speaks to today’s consumer? Contact our team to effectively super-size your marketing efforts and deliver messaging that resonates with existing and prospective “grab-a-meal-on-the-go” enthusiasts!
Taco Bell’s breakthrough into fast food advertising for breakfast
Live más, and say adios to your boring breakfast sandwich. Actually, Taco Bell wants you to “defect” from your standard sunrise sammy altogether. That’s the premise of the newly released ad touting the Mexican chain’s foray into the early morning menu market. It’s no secret that the Golden Arches have solidified their standing as fast food marketing breakfast leaders, however Taco Bell, long considered the “scrappy underdogs” – known more for late-night Crunch Wraps than early a.m. bacon and eggs – emerge to break you free from “circular sameness.” Taco Bell’s new, rather somber, campaign reimagines McDonald’s promise of happiness – with a darkened spin. Envision good ol’ Ronald McDonald, only this version has sunken eyes and a harrowing smile, and serves as the totalitarian dictator of the dystopia, Routine Republic, with oppressed citizens underwhelmed by uninspired Egg McMuffins. The grey cement walls of a drab city are covered in majestic sunrise propaganda posters, declaring “Same breakfast, same routine, same smile” with the loudspeaker ironically announcing how wonderful and happy everyone supposedly should be. Meanwhile, just across a filthy ball pit and a field of land mines that explode with glitter (arguably the less violent, similarly traumatic equivalent), is a world where people enjoy hexagonal breakfast foods, sunshine, and a spectrum of color. The protagonists of the story, a brooding male character and his attractive female counterpart, are finally fed-up with “sameness” and escape (set to the anthem of rebellious teens everywhere, “Blitzkreig Bop”). [quote]As far as production goes, the concepts are incredibly imaginative. From the communist-era artwork of the propaganda posters, to the dingy yellow tube slide the army of unsettling…[/quote] As far as production goes, the concepts are incredibly imaginative. From the communist-era artwork of the propaganda posters, to the dingy yellow tube slide the army of unsettling Ronald McDonald lookalikes slide down, the ad exudes McDonald’s “breakfast tyranny”. But, at the same time, “it can’t help but come across as some kind of Meta wormhole, like a microcosm of capitalism trying to devour itself. A smaller fast-food giant is knocking a bigger goliath for creating a fantastical totalitarian communist state,” as AdWeek puts it. Another interesting twist is how cheekily Taco Bell compares the fast food marketing frontrunner to communism and the associated regimes of Stalin and Mao. Of course, it’s entirely possible that Taco Bell’s target young adult demographic might not be as familiar with communism in the same regard as their older counterparts, but the inferences remain. In fact, media outlets including USA Today and Fortune magazine recently compared the ad to a Hunger Games and Divergent-like dystopia – with no mention of communism parallels at all. Overall, though, this fast food marketing campaign has the potential to deliver for Taco Bell – as the decided underdog, they’re clearly pulling out all the stops to make a name for themselves in the pre-lunchtime race. And while the concept isn’t necessarily the most original (think: Apple’s 1984-inspired Super Bowl commercial for the Macintosh), it does appear to fall in line with the company’s branding strategy. While McDonald’s has been actively trying to shed its image of being over-processed and unhealthy, Taco Bell has no shame in being, well, somewhat of both. Their commercials and promotions, unlike Mickey D’s, don’t include aspects like health benefits or number of calories – quite frankly, no one in the Taco Bell drive-thru is really fretting over how many grams of fat is in a Doritos Locos Taco (the answer: a lot). Taco Bell has built its reputation on putting interesting ingredients inside their popular burritos, catering to the late-night revelers with an affinity for fire sauce. In keeping with their core branding, it just makes sense for Taco Bell to think outside the McMuffin in terms of breakfast food and advertising (perhaps we should go ahead and trademark that one). [blogCTA] Need some strategic direction? [/blogCTA] Besides, Taco Bell is undoubtedly aware of the fact that we both know I’m not picking up an A.M. Crunch Wrap as a result of it being a balanced way to start my morning; I’m waiting in the drive-thru for my alternative to “circular sameness” simply because it just sounds pretty dang good. Looking for a thought provoking, head-turning strategy to better position your brand? BIGEYE is ready to help – contact us today at 407.839.8599 to start the conversation!
What goes into the beauty of a brand’s social campaign
Looking back at ad campaigns with lasting impact, one could safely gauge that the past year-and-a half has undoubtedly been that of taking an honest look in the mirror (naturally, pun intended) through judgment-free eyes – at least that’s been the mantra according to Dove. From the brand’s “Real Beauty Sketches” to the short video “Evolution,” I have to admit that Dove has been a breath of fresh air when it comes to empowering women. Continuing this message on to Super Bowl XLIX, Dove challenged us all to think differently about doing things “like a girl” – with the basis of running, throwing a ball, and the larger impasse – showcasing the differences in how young women, boys, and young girls respectively perceive the phrase. The Super Bowl ad won significant online kudos for changing the conversation, and again, during the 87th Annual Academy Awards, the brand started an entirely new conversation — this time on Twitter. As part of a hashtag campaign, #SpeakBeautifully, Dove teamed up with the social media platform to add a positive spin on some of the negative tweets about beauty and body image on awards night. Arguably one of the chattiest (and often, cattiest) nights on social media, Dove created a Twitter tool that identified hateful keywords, and responded to them with non-automated tweets during the show. When someone tweeted a nasty comment about someone else, Dove’s Twitter accounted tweeted back constructive advice to encourage more positive online language and habits. The campaign is based on a study done by Dove, which found that 50% of women are more likely to post something negative about themselves on Twitter, rather than positive. Even more upsetting, four out of five women encounter negative tweets commenting on other women’s appearances. Twitter CEO Dick Costalo has addressed the issue that seems to run rampant on Twitter, saying “We stink at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we’ve been bad at it for years. It’s no secret and the rest of the world talks about it every day.” Through a strong partnership with Dove – viewed as having changed the paradigm in the industry – on this social media campaign, he endeavors to encourage positivity towards women, and on a grander scale, initiate changed perceptions on the Twittersphere. It’s no surprise that the significant, lasting impact of social media’s oft-unmonitored commentary and postings may prove to be incredibly damaging to women’s self-esteem, especially for young girls. As a caveat to that, the anonymity of the Internet, including insults easily shared regarding appearance, can be even more hateful and significantly more widespread. “Ideas and opinions about body image are now fluidly shared every second through social feeds, and sometimes we do not fully realize the resounding impact of the words in even one post,” says Jennifer Bremner, director of marketing at Dove. [quote]“The power to #SpeakBeautifully is in the hands of us all – we can positively change the way future generations express themselves online.”[/quote] The campaign, Dove says, will continue long after awards season is over. Social change doesn’t happen overnight, but the #SpeakBeautifully campaign sends an inspiring message – that hopefully social media will serve as the catalyst to create a less hostile online environment for women. Although it’s early in the year, (and admittedly, this national brand has tried to make me cry twice already), I’m growing to realize that there can be true societal beauty in a brand’s social media presence. We at BIGEYE admire a company that uses such a highly televised event to promote genuine, positive change – and not to simply push a product to consumers. Dove, if we could present you with an Oscar for that, we most certainly would. View the #SpeakBeautifully ad. If we’ve left you feeling inspired to generate an innovative social media strategy for your brand, contact our team of digital experts today! We have significant expertise in consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketing – like the folks at Dove – and really understand the value of differentiating through the creation of a brand strategy and presence that truly generates lasting emotive impact with your target audience.
Applying Lean Methodology On a Corporate Business Scale
In his book The Lean Startup, Eric Ries discusses iterative product design, development and launch, which he describes as “lean.” But, as many businesses are seeing, lean methodologies don’t just apply to startups. Even big businesses have plenty to learn by acting with a bias toward action. You see, many larger, more established businesses quickly become stuck in a “behind the times” holding pattern. They have the newest, most up-to-date technology in place when they start building the company, however, these technologies change quickly. By the time a Pinterest profile is created, the company’s target demographic may have already adopted Snapchat, or some other buzzed about social media tool their audience is already excited about. [quote]One of the ways marketers may be able to avoid missing the technological mark is by incorporating lean marketing methodologies into the process.[quote] The goal with these methods is to get the company moving forward, so that the business doesn’t stall at the dozens of rounds of approvals it takes to get a project off the ground. Instead of waiting for the stars to align, lean marketers are constantly introducing new ideas, performing ongoing tests and iteration until the project or campaign reaches peak performance. In some cases, this may mean forgoing rounds and rounds of ad review, and instead moving forward and then monitoring performance. For instance, the marketer can A/B test an ad and further optimize its performance. Of course, following this school of thought means a company may be subject to mistakes. Sometimes these can be embarrassing, such as the social media fails we hear from big brands in the news from time to time. But remember, most of those brands are still in business, some with sales revenue that remain as high than ever. Save for a few outrageous errors, most customers are willing to forgive a company for a bit of a blunder. But that’s not the point: many of these massive fails are the result of hundreds of million dollar campaigns – so surely making a couple of tweaks isn’t going to destroy your business forever. [featured] For more ideas as to how your company can implement lean marketing methodology, contact us today to see how we can help! [/featured] The benefit of testing and iterating process in marketing is to initiate a learning experience. In launching a massive campaign with a huge budget, you might have some indication that it’s going to be successful based on field research and a plethora of other factors. But, you can never really be certain. Just ask the team behind New Coke or any of one of a number of other major marketing blunders. So, by starting small, lean methodology allows a company to begin by testing, and then moving full-steam ahead with a campaign once results have afforded the marketing team with enough data to further drive the campaign. By setting smaller goals and iterating in the moment, companies may work more efficiently, and can have successful programs to hit the market more than once in a blue moon. This lean marketing methodology is catching on all over the world, as businesses realize the impact of starting small to then go big. If you’re looking for a business breakthrough, why wait when you can start right now? Let us help you apply lean marketing methodologies within your company – contact us today!
