Day: February 28, 2012

Motorola has announced its intentions to become heavily involved with Social Media to help promote the companies “Life empowered” branding message. What struck me as most interesting about this article is the fact that much of the social media Motorola will pursue is aimed at customers that have already bought their products. For example Motorola has outlined the use of YouTube as a teaching aid to show customers how they can ” Use their devices for different aspects of their day-to-day life.”

It is certainly an interesting concept that the mobile giant is pursuing. In reality it is a strong piece of relationship marketing, targeting those who have already bought the product and providing them with another service. It has a further benefit in that it creates a great tool for potential customers to carry out increased online research of Motorola and its products by viewing the online media.

What must also be highlighted is the takeover of the Motorola Mobility brand by Google, which of course also has YouTube in its portfolio. This buy-out is certainly reflected in the companies new pursuit of social media in their advertising campaign. It is also a big step up in terms of competing with their more established social media competitors such as Apple.

It will be interesting to analyse how well they are able to implement a social media campaign and overall the success it impacts upon the company. What certainly appears to be positive is their attempt at “New thinking” in the hope that they are able to launch the Motorola brand back to its previous success seen in the early 2000’s during its “Razr” campaigns.

*For more on Motorola and its increasing use of Social media read the following article “Motorola to ‘Up the volume’ on social media” available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/motorola-to-up-the-volume-on-social-media/4000346.article *

The belief that surrounds social media is that it is a tool that enables companies to reach out to their target markets in a more specific and valuable manner. However as marketers have we given enough thought towards the  true value of social media as a method of advertising?

A recent poll by YouGov investigated how effective social media is in the minds of consumers. The results of the research were very intriguing. They contrast to the general belief that Social media is of high value to companies and businesses. For example the report reveals that a staggering “44% of the UK population claim they wouldn’t be more likely to buy a brand even if their friends promoted it on social media.”

More importantly one statistic revealed that 47% of online consumers claim they object to seeing ads from brands on social platforms based on their profile activities. This would suggest that rather than build loyalties towards a brand, the use of social media is causing consumers to feel fed up with brands that are being constantly displayed on their facebook and twitter pages.

It is obvious that one report will not change the strongly held belief; that social media is a modern advertising tool of high value to businesses. However when companies are looking to invest increasing amounts of capital into social media campaigns surely further research is required to truly understand how beneficial the use of Social media is for a company?

*** The article “Social media “less useful” than thought.” is available at http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/social-media-less-useful-than-thought/4000177.article ***

So what actually is “ROPO,” just a bunch of interestingly arranged letters that mean little to the marketing sector? The answer is simply – NO!

ROPO is in fact becoming increasingly important  to businesses throughout the world. It stands for “Research online, purchase offline.” This is the modern process that increasing numbers of consumers are now undertaking prior to purchasing a product. Unlike previous generations online marketing has led many customers to use the internet as a tool to allow for comparison between similar products and services.

A study by Gfk and Google across five sectors reveals the value of ROPO. Results of the study have shown that “40% of offline buyers have conducted online research prior to purchase.”

So what does this all mean for companies?

The results show a strong indication that businesses need to integrate on and offline activity to take advantage of the ROPO effect. For example the ways in which consumers search for products is strongly influenced by what they remember during offline periods. This ties in strongly to Google adword campaigns, whereby focus is placed strongly on keywords of a search topic (The keywords that are recollected by the consumer which they have discovered during their offline process).

It is therefore important, due to the increasing ROPO effect, for companies to not only use their advertising as a tool to sell their products to customers, but also businesses should look to place their brand in the mind of the consumer. Therefore when the consumer begins their online process of comparing products they recognise and recall your brand within the specific search.

* For more on the “ROPO effect” and an interesting case study on how Expedia are attempting to use it for successful gains read the following article “Joining the search” available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/strategies-and-tactics/digital-strategy/joining-the-search/3033388.article *