The way we buy things is changing so fast that it’s nearly impossible to keep tabs on the recent trends. Companies like Uber and AirBNB have changed the way we travel. StubHub changed the way we buy event tickets. Amazon changed the way we view retail and shifted the focus for so many brick and mortar stores.
A decade from now, will Jet.com have a similar impact on the way we buy?
What is Jet.com, you might ask? Well, it’s kind of like an online version of Costco without having to buy everything in bulk. The site claims to offer prices cheaper than anywhere else on the web, as well as discounts for buying additional items. Also, free shipping at a certain threshold and free returns.
The only catch: much like a warehouse club, it costs $49.99 a year to get access to these deals. One industry insider said that “they’re spending a ton on customer acquisition” as a way to make sure they hit the ground running.
Regardless, it’s an interesting premise that seems to be equal parts Amazon and Peapod. Initially launched online in 1996, Peapod was one of the first sites to make grocery shopping accessible without leaving the house. After some initial growing pains, the company seems to be stable.
Now, back to Jet.com. Their marketing so far has included offering stock options to users to promote the site, interviews with top business publications as well as (potentially) viral videos, a la Dollar Shave Club.
One of their latest videos, which launched last week, features actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani. It’s a pretty awesome walkthrough of how the site works with high-quality humor thrown in as well. While the video may not make or break the site, it seems like a pretty good start.
What do you think? Can Jet.com take on Amazon and other online retailers heavyweights? Or will it flame out like Pets.com? Send us a note or tweet at us with your thoughts.
The mobile platform is advertising’s newest puzzle and it’s making creatives question their storytelling tactics. With high traffic and low engagement, mobile marketing is established enough to have brands knocking at its door, but most are questioning if anyone’s even home. Mountain Dew, BBDO NY, OMD Worldwide, and Google’s Art, Copy & Code team joined forces to figure out how video advertising needs to evolve in order to be effective in a mobile setting—Unskippable Labs was born.
The collaborators took an existing television advertisement (Mountain Dew Kickstart’s “Come Alive”) and created three versions, each varying in length and content. Using YouTube TrueView (it gives viewers the option to skip ads), they monitored the viewership of each cut in an effort to understand what catches the attention of mobile viewers.
The three cuts included:
“The Original”—a traditional 30-second TV spot with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
“The Big Punch”—a 31-second mobile ad that presents the brand before the viewer has a chance to skip.
“Pure Fun”—a 93-second cut that drops viewers into the middle of the action. Here, there’s no real story arc and the brand is subtly featured throughout.
Viewers had no clear preference when viewing the three ads from desktop computers—view-through rates were nearly equal; however, on mobile, “Pure Fun” boasted a 26% higher view-through rate than the other two cuts.
Viewers watched “Pure Fun” more frequently and for longer periods of time—an average of 1 minute 9 seconds. Despite elevated viewership, brand recall (Mountain Dew) was more or less equal to the other cuts and specific product recall (Kickstart) even plummeted.
Were viewers perplexed by the randomness? Intrigued by the uncertainty of direction? Who knows? What we can conclude is that brevity isn’t a necessary component for mobile marketing as we once thought.
Previous mobile efforts prioritized engaging viewers directly with outcries of, “Hey! You there!” within the 5-second grace period before viewers have the ability to skip. Perhaps this study will spawn a new wave of mobile marketing, ultimately ditching ad norms and turning to riffs on absurdity and unpredictability.
This goes back to the idea of making consumers care and making it mean something to them. If you have concerns about getting your target audience to take notice of your brand, contact us anytime.
Just about everyone works for something “bigger” than themselves from a literal standpoint—a corporation, for example; but how about “bigger” in a sense of significance? Finding and implementing a reason for doing—what we call a “why”— can have a tremendous impact on clients and employees.
Our “why” – Make it mean something.
It sounds simple, and in some aspects it is; but when a company implements a carefully crafted mantra into every aspect of its labor, the result is a staff that’s collectively hip to the same inspiration—an invaluable trait, not to mention a weapon competitors fear as much as they envy.
Discovering your “why” isn’t as easy as it first may seem. Shooting from the hip may result in an off-strategy approach, confusion among employees, and even criticism—external or otherwise. Here are three questions that can help you begin to pin down your “why.”
What do you do?
This one’s easy. What line of work are you in?
How do you do it?
Specifically, how do you operate? What steps do you take to ensure your company’s providing a positive work culture while meeting financial goals? If workplace culture isn’t currently a priority, head on over to our blog on how culture extends beyond the workplace.
Why do you do what you do?
Okay—this one can be tough to answer. Try thinking back to when you first broke into the industry. What drew you to your industry? If you’re in a different industry than when you were 22, what made you change? Spend a little bit of time on this one.
It’s also worth thinking about who benefits from your company’s work and how you’d like to be perceived by that group. Image is paramount to successfully marketing a brand. Step back and ask yourself if your desired image aligns with how others perceive you.
Want to find your why? Got some thoughts rolling? Jot them down below for a free consultation.
WIN A FREE WHY BOOK
Plus, if you fill out the form below, you’ll be entered to win a copy of Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.
If you have a LinkedIn account, you’ve probably seen a version of the encounter below show up in your feed:
It’s a fairly simple premise: if you invest time and resources in your employees, it will pay dividends. Failure to do so leads to unmotivated individuals who may not be in a position to further advance their skills. And in turn, the company itself, being only as strong as its employees, can’t grow.
But what does being an inspired company mean? And how does a positive company culture lead to growth and innovation? And can it make work fun, or at the very least, rewarding?
We’ve had the opportunity to work closely with HubSpot, an inbound marketing software company. We’ve learned quite a bit with regards to digital marketing, content marketing and business development in the time we’ve spent working with their team and learning the ins-and-outs of the platform. It’s definitely been rewarding.
In a recent article, HubSpot co-founder and CEO Brian Halligan discussed his approach to hiring and building a particular kind of culture.
“As the years passed, Halligan and co-founder Dharmesh Shah put more thought into fostering a positive company culture that Halligan said would attract the kinds of employees they wanted, while repelling those they didn’t.”
The article also talks about their annual Inbound conference and how, despite their claim that they lose money on the event, it’s still worth the cost. That’s because it can convince people to use the HubSpot platform. It can also be a Launchpad to attract top job candidates and maintain a position as the leader in inbound marketing.
Another line that stood out:
“Now, the nearly 900 employees of HubSpot, which are largely in the millennial generation, feel a sense of ownership in the company because of its commitment to transparency and trust.”
That’s a big selling point as the job candidate pool continues to crave more of a connection to their careers than just a simple 9-to-5 grind. It’s a massive shift from simply running to the place offering the biggest paycheck.
And it has translated into business success as well. The Inbound conference had just fewer than 3000 attendees in its first year, but three years later, they’re expecting more than 13,000 marketers to attend. And with more than $115 million in revenue for 2014, they seem to be doing okay financially. Happy customers, happy employees. Seems like a win-win.
WIN A FREE WHY BOOK
We’re always available to chat. And if you fill out the form below, you’ll be entered to win a copy of Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.
As of January 2013, there were more than 600,000 restaurants in the United States. With so much competition, how does one stand out from the pack?
The first option is paid media or marketing.
Television spot during a Cardinals game – $500-$2,500
Radio spot during primetime commute – $1,000-$3,000
Prominent Highway Billboard (per month) – $1,500-$5,000
You get the idea.
Advertising is necessary, but expensive. And don’t think for a second the restaurant down the street isn’t looking into the same methods.
So how do you make your business different? How do you effectively reach your targets and make them remember you? That is where public relations, or earned media, comes into play.
When a public relations professional first approaches a pitch, they are focused on one thing: storytelling. There may be more than 600,000 restaurants in the United States, but each one has a brand story. The key is figuring out what that story is.
Here are five tips for identifying an effective brand story:
1) Stop trying to sell
You aren’t mining for the brand story behind your business simply to drive sales. Sure, that is the end goal, but with brand storytelling there is so much more that goes along with it. You want to engage customers. You want them to remember you. Next time they are thinking about going to an Italian restaurant for dinner, you want them to think of the restaurant they read about in the newspaper that has been run by the same family for three generations.
2) Know your client
This is a big one. Nothing is more frustrating for a client than hiring someone to work on PR that isn’t willing to put in the work to find out about your company. It is not enough for someone trying to write a pitch to simply know the basics. It takes digging and asking questions to find that story that is going to grab a journalist’s and the audience’s attention.
3) Know your audience
Just as important as knowing your client, you need to know your audience. Who does the client want to target? What publications are you pitching this to? There may be one story, but there is more than one way to tell it so that it hits the target.
4) Be relatable
What is the point of telling a story if it isn’t one that people are interested in? It is probably not advantageous to talk about the billionaire that added this restaurant to his portfolio. No. This is not a story that people are interested in. This is not a story that is going to make customers want to experience what you have to offer. Make it a personal, relatable story.
HINT: If the brand story that you create is something that customers can mention in casual conversation, you’ve nailed it.
5) Be newsworthy
This is more important in the drafting of a pitch than in the storytelling, but it is certainly still an element of effective storytelling. Create a story that makes sense in the world. Find out what your target audience is talking about, and mine for a story that aligns with that. This also makes it easier for a journalist to take what you are offering and turn it into something more than a mention on page 10.
Does brand storytelling sound a bit like journalism? Well, it should. Developing your story takes some digging, but once you find it, have some fun with it! Take advantage of the opportunity to give your customers an inside look at your business. Tell your story and I guarantee they will remember you.
We know your brand has a story to tell. Let us help you find it.
Since 2006, YouTube has been the go-to site for online video streaming and in the past decade, the attempt to throw YouTube from its streaming throne has been feeble at best. Sites such as Vimeo, yfrog (yeah, it does video, too) and Flickr exist, but simply can’t boast the multitude of traffic YouTube can. With high traffic comes a strong marketing presence, so how can anyone expect to compete with the ad-logged, Google-owned giant?
Former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar believes he has an answer in Vessel, a new video hosting service that offers early access to new releases for just $3 per month. So how does Vessel gain early access to highly sought vids? By offering higher pay to top creators who agree to post to Vessel first.
YouTube stars make their cash from marketers that advertise before their videos. In turn, YouTube gets paid, and the video creator gets a cut.
Felix Kjellberg, also known by his YouTube moniker, PewDiePie, reportedly earned $7 million dollars making videos in 2014. The guy has nearly 38 million followers and 9 billion views—that’s more than Taylor Swift.
How’d Kjellberg get famous? Playing video games and hollering at the screen, of course. As it turns out, Kjellberg’s gamer-style antics attract the youth and young adult market. As young people watch less and less cable television, marketers have fewer and fewer qualms spending dough online.
So if Vessel officials could convince the likes of Kjellberg to transfer from YouTube, they’d pull a chunk of viewership as well, right? Theoretically, with each subscriber jumping the YouTube ship would bring $3 a month to Vessel.
That means if just half of Kjellberg’s subscribers were to sign up with Vessel and pay for early access, Vessel would gross close to $60,000,000 monthly from subscriptions alone. Accounting for outdated, underwhelmed, or accidental subscribers, bringing half of Kjellberg’s following is a lofty goal—maybe even unrealistic. But this example indicates the absurd amount of money that can be made by, with, and from these online video stars.
Anna Akana, a 25-year-old comedian with 1.2 million subscribers, is already on board with Vessel. According to an interview with NPR, YouTube takes about half of Akana’s revenue from advertisements.
“YouTube revenue has been tanking… I’m making 20 times more with Vessel for doing the same amount of work, if not less, than with YouTube,” Akana said.
It appears Vessel is doing exactly what needs to be done to compete with YouTube—headhunt top earners by offering a pay bump they can’t refuse.
While I find it hard to believe that Vessel, or anyone else, can replace YouTube entirely, I predict it’s only a matter of time before someone finds a comfortable spot in the “premium” online video hosting niche.
And yes, I realize “premium online video” is a bit of an oxymoron in itself, but that’s where we’re at these days.
The online video landscape has been changing dramatically in recent years. Want to make sure you’re not falling behind? Contact us and we’ll be happy to chat.
Every Monday morning, we sit down to discuss industry trends. Topics range from wearable technology to brand-sponsored short films. This week, our Creative Director Dave Geile brought something so technologically innovative to the table that we felt compelled to share.
The new gadget that had us geeking out in the conference room: a centimeter-long origami robot that climbs, swims, and carries loads twice its weight, according to MIT researchers. The fascinating, yet admittedly esoteric, device is expected to provide assistance in the medical industry—capable of reaching otherwise difficult-to-access areas inside the body.
Naturally, watching the bug-like device fold itself and chug through obstacles got me thinking about technology, marketing, and how the separate industries intertwine.
Advertising has a coercively isomorphic relationship with the tech industry; meaning the development and evolution of advertising is at least partially linked to technological innovation. Wait, isn’t this a movie?
In 2054, Washington D.C., wall-attached eye scanners assess moods and chime out tailored advertisements. Tom Cruise must’ve been thirsty.
In 2002 when the film was released, I’m guessing the concept of hyper-personalized marketing was so far-fetched it was promptly dismissed—like time travel or teleportation.
Now looking back, the scene portrays future advertising somewhat accurately. Although most advertisers don’t implement eye scanners or mood detectors, I imagine cookie tracking would’ve seemed equally improbable—but here we are.
The question is not how far can advertisers go? Technological advancement has shown little sign of slowing. The question is how far will advertisers go? As tech capabilities continue to increase, how advanced, personalized, and intrusive will brand messaging become? Will advertising technology ever go too far? Let’s hope these undetectable, body-diving robots stick to exploration… below the neck.
Here at Geile/Leon, we have our own approach. We believe results come naturally by making sure every project, interaction, relationship, and even handshake mean something. Before we even touch a project, we ask ourselves one question: Why? By determining why a project is important, we’re able to recognize what we need to do to make our client successful—now that’s personalized marketing.
Want to learn more about Geile/Leon’s approach to strategic marketing? Let’s chat. Drop us a line and we’ll get back to you within 48 hours.
As a marketer, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of the product life cycle. Not only will you be able to discern what phase your product is in, but with this knowledge you will also be able to prescribe the correct marketing support that your product will need to thrive and prolong its life.
The standard product life cycle contains four key phases: Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline. The very basis of the product life cycle comes from the biological life cycle that we are all very familiar with. For example – the plant process. First, a seed is planted (introduction); it begins to sprout (growth); it sprouts leaves and establishes a root system as it develops into an adult plant (maturity); after some time the plant will wither and die (decline).
So morbid – I know.
When we refer to a product life cycle, we are assuming four things:
Products have a limited life.
Product sales go through specific stages, each posing new challenges and opportunities.
Profits will rise and fall during different stages of the product life cycle.
Products require different marketing, financial, manufacturing, and purchasing strategies in each stage.
Many products do not follow the cycle and the length of each phase varies extensively. The marketing support you provide during each crucial phase of the product life cycle can greatly impact the length of each phase and the success of your product.
A company’s positioning and differentiation strategy must be willing to adapt and evolve to the environment as the product, market and competitive landscape changes throughout the product life cycle.
Your marketing efforts should of course be targeted to audiences that find your product relevant. The more specific you can get, the more efficient and effective your marketing efforts will be.
Introduction
This phase is all about building buzz and awareness. Make a splash. Your product will be new to the marketplace and your promotions should focus on generating trial use.
Growth
The growth phase is exciting and profitable but also challenging. New competitors with similar product offerings emerge. It will be crucial to continue heavy marketing support during this phase and focus on building your brand. During this phase, your goal should be to maximize your market share as much as possible.
Maturity
Products that make it through the introduction and growth phases will spend the most time in the maturity phase. Product sales will slowly decrease and eventually stabilize. The market is saturated. With so many competing products, it will be crucial to define what makes your product unique through strategic marketing efforts. Price wars are prevalent and heavy promotion should be maintained across a variety of high impact mediums, encouraging consumers of your competitors’ products to switch to your brand.
Decline
Profits are declining. You’re slashing prices, phasing out weak items and milking your brand for all its worth. You may think that the end is near, but the decline phase could go on for quite some time. Opportunities emerge to innovate your now declining product and start over from the beginning of the life cycle.
Maximizing the Life of Your Product
The product life cycle has many ups and downs, but with the right marketing mix during the appropriate time, you can increase sales, profitability, and extend each phase and the life of your product.
Regardless of what phase your product is in, we can help you prolong it and maximize your success through our knowledge of audience development, strategic marketing and powerful branding. Reach out to us using the form below. We’d love to talk about how we can help your brand.
Sponsorships for professional athletes carry an extreme level of volatility for the simple reason that the outcome of the games they play aren’t predetermined (unless you’re a professional wrestling fan, that is).
It’s remarkable how quickly a golfer like Tiger Woods can watch his stock plummet while Rory McIlroy heads in the opposite direction. It’s incredible to watch a no-name utility infielder like Geoff Blum become a World Series hero in one night. It’s humorous even when it’s for all the wrong reasons and most casual fans probably don’t remember your name.
And then there’s LeBron.
There’s no question that LeBron James is a phenomenal basketball player. His legend was already well known when he was playing in high school, and this was really before the golden age of high school sports clips were available all over the internet. Even before he even played his first professional game for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, Nike had signed him to a deal just short of nine figures.
More than a decade later, that relationship between LeBron and Nike has been accompanied by everything that’s happened on and off the court. On the court, LeBron brought the Cavs to the brink of a title. Then, off the court, there was The Decision.
Shortly after, amid a strong fan backlash, Nike released this iconic spot, attempting to humanize LeBron and explain why he made the choice to leave home:
After winning multiple titles in Miami, LeBron returned home and nearly delivered a championship, falling short in the NBA finals despite a heroic effort.
Over the weekend, the Cavaliers and Nike took out a full-page ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, thanking the fans for their support and reminding them that the journey is not over.
The ad is minimalist, but it strikes the right tone and tells the story that just transpired as well as what lies ahead. For a partnership like this, Nike doesn’t have to be front and center because they’ve been intertwined with his story since the beginning. It allows them to focus more on why people should care instead of trying to just sell shiny new shoes.
Certainly not everyone has the resources that Nike does, but as this ad shows, you don’t need to create something overly flashy to resonate with readers and grow a brand. If you’re ever looking for help your brand take the next step, we’re here to help.
There’s a buzzword flying around the advertising industry these days, one that has a value of nearly $15 billion in 2015. No, I’m not talking about #Kimye (not even close). I’m talking about #programmatic.
Heard of it? Yes.
Know what it means? Yes…I think…maybe…kind of? No…not really.
…Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Programmatic media buying is the hot new gossip in advertising. It’s new, it’s shiny, it’s mysterious and naturally, like with most gossip, everybody wants a piece of it. But does everybody understand what it is or why they want it? Not exactly.
Well fear not, my friends, for I am about to bring you into the inner circle, define what programmatic buying is, and explain why it is projected to account for over 25% of digital advertising revenue in 2015.
“That’s right, Dorothy.”
But let’s look away from the dollar signs for a minute, because programmatic media buying goes far beyond the colossal projected revenues associated with it. Programmatic represents the industry’s gradual adoption of a completely new way of buying digital media that could revolutionize and alter the way media across all mediums is targeted and purchased.
What is it?
Programmatic, by definition, is the data-driven, automated process of buying digital advertising. Gone are the days of exchanging phone calls and emails and IO’s with sales teams, now replaced by…well…acronyms.
Specifically: PMP, DSP and RTB. Also known as the driving forces behind programmatic ad buying.
If you love tech speak as much as me (note: sarcasm), then you’ll love these definitions even more:
Private Marketplace (PMP) is a marketplace where specific, premium publishers make their inventory available to a select group of buyers. Unlike the traditional site-direct buy, PMP’s offer buyers access to these inventories via ad exchanges called DSP’s.
Demand-Side Platform (DMP) is the software platform by which buyers purchase digital media within a PMP. DSP’s make the ad-buying process more efficient by allowing buyers to access 1st and 3rd party data that ensures them that the impressions purchased are delivered on the right sites, to the right audience and at the right time. Allowing this access to buyers eliminates the need for any humans to be involved in the buying process—no extra costs, no negotiation, no back and forth. Instead, ads are purchased via RTB.
Real-time Bidding (RTB) is the entirely transparent, auction-style method for buying and selling ad impressions in real time, like the stock market. A general assumption throughout the industry is: RTB=auction=low quality/remnant ad stock. However, with the rise of programmatic, a growing number of publishers are making their premium inventory available through PMP’s.
So, how does a buyer get their hands on this premium stock? We refer to age-old adage:it’s all about who you know.
How are we using it?
Here at G/L, we are “getting with the programmatic.” One thing we prioritize as an agency is the importance of implementing business practices that not only benefit and drive our work forward, but those that do the same for our clients’ brands. True, the programmatic waters are still a little murky, so we knew we needed to seek out a partner to help us navigate. One whose expertise in developing strategic programmatic buys would help us produce successful, optimized digital campaigns and see that our clients achieve their desired ROI. Enter Goodway Group.
Working with Goodway Group, we are able to cultivate digital media buys based on specific target audience parameters versus the traditional site-direct buy. Thus, for example, rather than assuming a clients’ regional customers are solely surfing regional sites (that often have a higher monthly premium restricting the overall reach and frequency of a campaign), we’re able to utilize rich data that tells us exactly where the people we want to target are, in real time, and serve them the message within milliseconds. In turn, programmatic also offers us the ability to access immediate reporting data to track campaign success and pause or augment the campaign based on ad performance. Insights like these effectively inform the campaign, our targeting and our creative.
In joining forces with Goodway, we are able to be a dynamic player in the ever-evolving world of digital media by adopting programmatic as a way to produce better, more strategic digital campaigns that provide our clients with the greatest impact and highest ROI. Removing humans from the process of ad buying allows us as an agency, along with Goodway Group, to make our primary focus optimizing clients’ campaigns and ensuring they are on strategy.
Where is it going?
According to eMarketer, programmatic is the fastest growing area of online advertising. By 2017, it is predicted that programmatic media sales will account for 83% of all U.S. digital display ad spending. The trend is catching, however, and is predicted to represent 4% of U.S. TV budgets in 2015, increasing to 17% by 2019. We think it’s going to cause a pretty big shift in the industry, and we’re excited to be on board!
Want to learn more about how we’re working with Goodway Group in the developing digital landscape? Download your own copy of our webinar presentation, A Strategic Approach to Digital Media!
Submit your information below, and we'll get back to you within 24 hours. we look forward to connecting.
https://geileon.com/programmatic-buying-media-bidding-real-time-advertising-digital/
