Category: Uncategorized

In-your-face advertising is predominant today with the big name companies, meaning the ones that can afford it. TV ads, media print, billboards, online marketing, they are everywhere. Many of them don’t have much choice as they are in very competitive markets.

www.reuters.com

But one, Amazon is quite opposite and still very successful.  One of the most surprising things is the fact that Amazon does not do much advertising, in fact it is their company policy not to. Instead of spending money on the costly TV ads like they used to do few years ago, Amazon invested it internally. They started offering free shipping and improved their customer relationship management.

Amazon takes advantage of other parts of promotional mix more, like PR and sales promotion. For instance, Amazon does point-of-purchase displays by providing a list of accessories or related products following an addition of an item to shopping cart, making it more convenient for their customers. Amazon also has active Facebook and Twitter accounts that are used both for public relations by interacting and building trust with their customers and sales promotions. Furthermore, Amazon offers deals like free shipping, e-book sampling and has a loyalty program, Amazon Prime.

Amazon is now the world’s largest online retailer and their approach to promotion is definitely working for them.  It appeals to their target markets and it is just one additional thing that  differentiates them from their main competitors.

Recently I came across a blog post by Dawn Merchand called “Google’s Interest-Based Advertising – Relevant or Invasive?” (canadianmarketingblog.com), which is an interesting post about how Google uses interest-based marketing to personalize online ads. The key is using person’s browsing history and cookies, collecting information about them and selecting the most relevant advertising.

www.clickz.com

The question asked was is it “Invasion or awesome?” , and I have to go with awesome. Although as pointed out in the post there are issues with the lack of privacy as person’s every step is recorded, from marketing perspective this is the most effective way for companies to reach their target market.Potential customers see these ads as something that ads value to them and not as spam because they are related to their interest. For instance on my Facebook page the ads featured are related to my school and photography. Both of those things are something I am passionate about and therefore hold interest in, so I actually look at them instead of just ignoring that side of the page. From the company perspective, interest-based marketing saves resources, increases brand awareness, and ultimately offers a higher ROI by helping companies understand their target market better and invest their resources more efficiently.

www.visionwiz.net

Click on the photo to enlarge

Also, an interesting fact is that interest-based marketing can help a company re-target users who have left company’s website without purchase by using personalized ads to re-capture them. For instance if the customer abandoned the shopping cart, they can offer coupons or special deals to provide an incentive for  purchase. Personalization is a way to go in today’s market.

Creative and unique advertising is a key in order to stand out and capture the interest of potential consumers. Today, there are so many different ads on the TV, internet and print media that create enormous amounts of noise, and as most of them are very expensive it is important to utilize that investment in the most efficient way. I came acorss these ads that are not your typical advertisements and serve as an ideal example of how it should be done.

1. Thinking about buying a new watch? Why not just try them during your morning commute to work?This ad allows for easy observability and trialability of the product. Moreover, it simply is fun, and even for those who are not interested in purchasing a watch at this particular time, it allows for the increase of brand awarness by the positive word of mouth, as people are likely to talk about this innovative ad.

2.  Eesti post, an Estonian postal service created this ad to promote its new product that allows people to create their own stamp. It is effective primarily because the key is the customer involvement as they are the ones who have the power over the design of their stamp, and this ad further enforces that message. The picture of your every day surroundings can be your personalized stamp!

3.  “Look up. Look up again. ohh cool!”  would have been my reaction to this ad if I had seen it on the street as its nothing like I have seen before. It captures an immediate attention and creates interest, potentially desire as well. Also, it increases association of sharp knives with this particular knife-making company.

The first time I heard about twitter and its purpose I was a bit unsure why so many people would want to use it, it seemed a bit useless at that time. However, I can say that I have done a complete 180 degree change in regards to this new social media tool and have realized the enormous potential it holds. It is probably the easiest way to get your brand known, and new information about your company or product out. That 140 characters may be small, but it is very powerful. It is very convenient, as updates from family and friends are posted quickly and in a much more condensed form. Twitter is fast, and that is what its advantage is as you are able to find almost everything at one spot, your wall.

thenextweb.com

Popular celebrities have certainly jumped on this new trend and it has brought them much more exposure. They are able to ‘directly’ communicate with the fans, but also to spread their ‘brand’ around. More personal approach equals better relationships and higher degree of trust. One of my favourite ‘twitterers’ is Kelly Oxford, a Calgary based stay at home mom, who rose to twitter stardom with her witty, often sarcastic posts.  Jessica Alba, Josh Groban and John Meyer are part of her 90,000 followers, and that number is growing every day. Recently I read, she was hired to write a TV comedy based on her life that was already picked up by CBS. From “her home to Hollywood”, that is the power of the little online bird, the Twitter.

My name is Jasna and I am a second-year commerce student at UBC. Currently I am taking a Marketing class and this blog will be a place where I will be expressing my opinions on anything related to marketing.

Hope you enjoy reading my posts,

Cheers,

jK