Day: October 14, 2013

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Comm464

Armani Perfume SI Instagram Marketing

One of the intagram campaigns I love most is the one Armani made for its new perfume Si.

There are a increasing number of brands that are currently using instagram as their marketing channel, among them, many already started to take advantage of the video content on Instagram. We have seen lots of marketers start to be through content innovation from where Burrery post their fashion show videos to Movie “JOBS” post their first trailer. However, there is a common limitation for those businesses that market through instagram. Marketing messages can not reach to audience on instagram who does not follow the account because of Instagram does not support share function.  Armani’s Si istagram campaign is a perfect example of how to break through this limitation.

For this Perfume Si Campaign, Armani invited three influencial fashion blogger Chiara Ferragni (The Blonde Salad)，Gala Gonzalez (Amlul), Emily Johnston (Fashion Foie Gras) to each shoot a short instagram video using the moon filter.

The result is surprisingly good; where all three bloggers use their unique perspectives to showcase the message Armani want to deliver to the audiences which is Say Si (yes) to your dream. Those 3 videos got more than 50,000 likes on instagram and create a great buzz on the market for the perfume

Here are the links for the instagram video

http://instagram.com/p/caDHRAyD7F

http://instagram.com/p/cW0ZuKK0QR

http://instagram.com/p/cbPZnBiR0j

 

The most important facto that make this campaign successful is the use of Influencer marketing.  While other brands are only posting pic/video to deliver messages through their official brand account, Armani find a breakthrough point to leverage the power of influencer and instagram videos. Lets look at the number first, Armani Official Account only have 280,000 follower, the three blogger total have more than 1,500,000 follower on instagram, which help Armani to reach 4 times of audience than it usually does. Moreover, because the video is shot by the blogger not Armani, it function as word of mouth rather than direct advertising. It is more real, authentic and closer to the audience. The influencers’ credibility also helps to build up the products’ positive image even before the launch.

There are also things marketers have to e careful when use influencer marketing strategy.

  1. Ensure the credibility of the influencer. Influence can somewhat act as a spokes person, therefore the brand image is closely related to the influencer. Low credibility or negative news related to the influencer may dilute the brand image.
  2. Co-creation is better than directly posting positive product review. Customers may consider product review from a influencer as inauthentic and unreliable, where co – creation between the influencer and brand is considering as creative, innovated and fun.
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What marketers can do about Showrooming

I recently read a news article about how target trains bull-eyes on showrooming. Target has taken many strategic actions to react to this increasing phenomenon, such as starting to provide in store wifi, rolling out in-store pick up of online order, start a social media digital savings program called Cartwheel that the company built by partnering with Facebook.

http://www.startribune.com/business/227443331.html

Here are my takeways that what marketers can do with the showrooming.

There are two major marketing implications with the showrooming phenomenon: strategies marketers can take to avoid showrooming, and strategies they can take to benefit from it.

Avoid Showrooming

Marketers can implement a number of different tactics to mitigate showrooming, such as impulse buying, closing price gaps, and replenishing inventory.

 Impulse Buying

Marketers can avoid showrooming by encouraging impulse buying to reduce the rational decision process. Impulse buying occurs when a person experiences a sudden urge to purchase a product that he or she cannot resist. To increase impulse buying, marketers should create exciting point-of-purchase stimuli. These promotional materials are likely increase impulse buying in the store and decrease showrooming

 Close Price Gap

Marketers can also consider lessening the price gap between online and in-store retailers to eliminate the expectation consumers have about online retailers having a better price.  As previously mentioned, shoppers will leave the store and purchase a product online for a price difference as low as 2.5% .Therefore, marketers should try to eliminate the motivation for buyers to search for products elsewhere by offering more competitive prices.

 Replenish Inventory

Ensuring enough inventory can decrease the motivation for buyers to purchase products online. Sometimes shoppers find it frustrating to know that the products they want are out of stock, and thus turn to ordering online as their solution. To solve this problem, retailers should replenish stock levels to match buyers’ demands. However, the cost of storing inventory is high, so marketers can consider offering a delivery service to its consumers as an alternative.  For example, Aldo Shoes offers free delivery to consumers’ homes if the store runs of inventory It is easy, convenient, and can motivate buyers to make more in-store purchases.

In-Store Exclusive Promotions

To create more in-store purchases, marketers can offer exclusive promotions that buyers can only get in stores (Stevens 2012). To stimulate consumer purchases, retailers can provide free gifts with any purchase, or even limited edition products sold in-store only.   These promotions not only encourage in-store purchases, they also increase customer loyalty by increasing the likelihood that these customers will return.

 Post-Purchase Satisfaction

Consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction is the overall feelings or attitudes a person has about a product after it has been purchased.  The greater the post-purchase satisfaction of buyers, the greater the likelihood they will return to the store again.  Marketers can increase consumers’ post-purchase satisfaction by offering loyalty programs, a convenient return policy, or send thank you gifts to loyal and valued customers.  These offers make buyers feel that the company is valuing them, and the stellar customer service can form interpersonal relationships between the seller and the buyer, something not likely to occur in online transactions.

 

Store Image

The last strategy marketers could use to avoid showrooming is to build store image to encourage in-store purchases. Store image can be referred to the store’s personality, which composes of the store’s features, location, merchandise suitability and the knowledge and congeniality of the sales staff. For example, knowledgeable sales staff can provide relevant advice to buyers, and buyers may be willing to pay a little extra for this service that they cannot get through online shopping.  Moreover, store atmosphere is another significant part of store image as it can evoke certain affects in buyers. These dimensions include colors, scents, and sounds. For example, Abercrombie & Fitch associates its products with an Abercrombie fragrance to create its signature scent, something known as scent marketing. Strategic scents have been proven to increase the shopper’s dwelling time by as much as 40% in retail environments and can increase sales from 20 to 90%

Approach Showrooming

Although many marketers are currently trying to persuade their customers to move away from showrooming, there are many opportunities for online retailers who are looking to take advantage of the trend. These retailers could possibly use showrooming to position their company on the basis of price, as they try to offer lower prices compared to their brick-and-mortar competitors.

Online retailers can also provide customers with easier access to their discounts and coupons by offering their own mobile device applications. For example, Amazon currently has a mobile application which allows consumers to scan the barcode of any item in physical stores, and immediately shows the consumer the cheaper price that is offered on their website. The mobile application should be consistent and always offer the consumer a lower price than what is presented to them in a store, and this will increase the customer’s satisfaction with the online retailer and encourage consumers to repeatedly purchase using their computers.

 

 

Categories
Comm464

Wechat Marketing

What is Wechat?

 

WeChat is a mobile text and voice messaging communication service developed by Tencent in China. It provides multimedia communication with text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, broadcast (one-to-many) messaging, photo/video sharing, location sharing, and contact information exchange. WeChat supports social networking via shared streaming content feeds and location-based social plug-ins (“Shake”, “Look Around”, and “Drift Bottle”) to chat with and connect with local and international WeChat users.

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Wechat marketing

I have been a dedicated wechat user for almost 2 years and recently I have noticed that there is an increasing number of business selling products on wechat. Therefore, in this blog I will take a close look at different channels for wechat marketing.

1.Wechat verified account/ brand home page

The verified account/brand home page provides an exclusive information push channel for business to connect with customers. Because this channel is exclusive for customers who follow the business account (those who follow the business account are most likely to be the target audience), business could send messages directly targeting their target audience. The message arrival rate is 100%, and it’s very effective. There is also a concern of marketing through this channel, the information will be overwhelmed or missed if this user follow many brands.

2. Location Marketing

Location marketing on wechat is where business put advertising or promotional messages on the signature line and reach potential customers when they use wechat “look around” feature to find people nearby. It allows business to effectively attract users that are close to the location and induce the consumption. However, on the other side, the location marketing can also limit the message coverage.

3. QR code

Users scan the QR code to add the business’s page and interact with it. User has to actively scan the QR code to add the business account, therefore, the business have to provide incentives for users to scan the QR code. When user actively scan the QR code for the business it at least prove that the user are interested in your product or the company at least.  Therefore, business can market through QR code to induce the user consumption. Business could further take advantage through this QR code marketing channel by providing promotional information to potential customers.

4. Peer Review/ Advertising on “Moments”

There is a increasing number of business use moments to directly advertise their product or post positive customer reviews to build strong brand image. I saw lots of business owner who always post snap shot of positive peer review from their customers on the moment. By providing those peer review, it increase the credibility of its brand image. Business could also take advantages through encouraging their brand advocate to post positive peer review on the moments to function as a word of mouth to reach more customers.

 

 

 

 

 

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