Category Archives: Emarketing

Few Tips for Online Marketers

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Celebrities are influential personalities in the world of marketing and consumer purchase behavior. Because they are a brand to themselves, we can learn a lot from how they market themselves and stand out from the sea of other impeccable artists. Companies can alternatively be like celebrities in their own way – moving past the function of making profit and developing a strong brand equity with customers.

Inspired by Beyonce and how she carries herself and her overall fierce yet beautiful persona, I have compiled some tips for online marketers to take note of using Queen B’s Song Titles…I hope you enjoy them.

1. Irreplaceable

As an e-commerce business, make yourself irreplaceable to the consumer’s viewpoint. What do you offer that makes you stand out from your competitors? Market that differentiation clearly so that your consumers know.

2. Upgrade U

Because of technological advancements and the ease of getting data more quickly, the online world has become more competitive. Companies should then be open to adapting to the constant change of the times and upgrading to fit the needs and wants of consumers.

3. If I Were a Boy

Companies should put themselves in the shoes of their consumer. Understand their interests and purchase behavior. Analyze trends and taglines that will make them click on your ad or message.

4. Ring the Alarm

Alert your online target audience through appropriate social media channels. Use Facebook for posting relevant content and sharing stories of your brand. Use Pinterest to launch new product campaigns or showcase recipes or products. Don’t hesitate to be creative and have fun with your social media efforts.

Fashion meets Gamification

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Gamification has been a popular trend that businesses capitalize on to innovate themselves and engage with consumers. We have seen Foursquare and Badgeville as some good applications of this technique. The Fashion industry is no stranger to gamification. Chictopia and Lookbook have used reward systems to incentivize its users and engage them. Chictopia, for instance has chic points given to the most stylish person. The points can then be exchanged for special goodies. On the other hand, Lookbook.nu has Hype and Karma. The more hype a person receives, the more likely his profile will be featured in the home page. These hypes and karmas also equate to higher rankings and more goodies.

But these gamification techniques have more to them than goodies, hypes and chic points. Gamification drives valuable consumer data. For example, analytics behind these techniques can offer deep insights into purchase behaviour and incentives. This is very useful for marketers to develop exclusive offers, promotional content and strategize brand loyalty.

Key Take-aways:

  • Fashion brands, retailers, start ups shouldn’t be afraid to test out gamification techniques.
  • They have great potential in the near future
  • Start small and progress! Begin with rewarding points and unlocking goodies then maybe start to build on more complex games…

A Dangerous Twitterverse

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I believe that some companies have been really successful and creative in managing their Twitter accounts. I personally love and follow Tedtalks (@Tedtalks). Its account will show one amazing TED talk everyday. They make catchy headlines too!

Although some companies have managed to ace it, there are those Twitter campaigns that just fail and end up harassed by netizens.

Lets look at JP Morgan. JPMorgan (@jpmorgan) was just a recent victim of intense scrutiny and twitter abuse/ backfire. The financial company had just tweeted that James Lee, vice chairman and veteran investment banker was open to answering questions through the hashtag #askJPM. The Twitterverse did not respond positively! People were criticizing and making fun of the firm’s ethics, corporate responsibility and legal problems. The company cancelled the Q&A session later on.

Here are some of the tweets sent out by dissatisfied customers…

Take-aways from this:

-Twitter chats will not work for JPMorgan as a tool to improve its relationship with clients!

-JP Morgan’s marketing team did not think this campaign thoroughly.

-Seems to me that the company wanted to use the Q&A session to clean up its brand image

-The social media team should have predicted that starting a Q&A will lead to a discussion of bank’s past controversial cases, negative sentiment of clients

-JP Morgan should look at other ways of managing relationships – maybe asking feedback through their website?

 

The Bees on my Vine!

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Companies like Sephora, Gap, General Electric and Volkswagen have been posting 6 second short clips on the new social media tool, Vine. One of the recent additions is Burt’s Bees, a personal care products company dedicated to promoting Earth friendly skin and body creams.

The brand made a series of clips around literary themes like Little Women, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Moby Dick, The Scarlet Letter, Julius Caesar, Gulliver’s Travels and Metamorphosis.

https://vine.co/v/hXXmjUL6Z1X ,https://vine.co/v/hXH2z96bMEF

How did they film it?

Classic Burt’s Bees products were actually costumed into the characters. Stop motion was used to film on an iphone. The clips then were tweeted to Burt’s Bees followers.

What is with the literary theme?

Burt’s Bees felt that these novels were classic and timeless just like their products. Everyone enjoyed these tales and they hoped that this would also apply to their products.

Why on Vine?

The company wanted to test out Vine as a new platform to reach its consumers. They already have Instagram, Facebook and Twitter platforms.

I personally think that the clips were kind of funny and weird but they weren’t something amazing or evocative.  I could not figure out the connection between classic novels and their classic products. It seemed to me that they were just doing it for fun. I also felt that the company was just trying to inject a bit of humor to their brand and nothing more. Maybe Burt’s Bees can improve their vine clips to be more informative and evocative of that feeling of natural and wholistic beauty…

On the other hand, vine clips which I really love are Cadbury and Etsy. Links below!

https://vine.co/v/bQPPxZKQD0t

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/57256-10-Brands-on-Vine

http://mashable.com/2013/09/06/vine-brands/

Some more Burt’s Bees Vines:

http://digiday.com/brands/burts-bees-vines-the-classics-in-six-seconds/

What do you think of the #6SecondClassics? Yay or Nay? Feel free to share any vine clips of popular brands which you think are noteworthy!

Celebrities and Mean Tweeting

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It is interesting how Twitter users can say the funniest things and also the meanest.  This is precisely why Jimmy Kimmel made a segment called “Celebrities Read Mean Tweets”. Famous actors and actresses are instructed to read real rude tweets about themselves in front of a camera. Their reactions range from pissed to shocked and utter disbelief.

It is kind of amusing to see their reactions to the harsh criticisms about them. The things that people say are so horrible – one that I would never dare say in person. To think that they have done nothing wrong against these users, and be called trash or having horse teeth is unacceptable but when read out loud kind of entertaining.  This whole thing gives us an idea of people’s tendency to hate on celebrities and those in Hollywood.

I believe that the behavior of celebri-hating on Twitter should have limits. Twitter wasn’t created to spread hate and criticism. Tweeters need to understand boundaries between humorous banter and insensitive remarks otherwise tweeting would not be a fun and engaging activity anymore.

Some examples:

 

 

Here are the links for Jimmy Kimmel’s Mean Tweet Segments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRBoPveyETc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu5Oo23G67w

What are your thoughts on these mean tweets? People hiding behind Twitter accounts? Just for fun or just rude? Feel free to comment and share your insights!

http://masey.co/2013/06/celebrities-read-mean-tweets/

Twitter Wars

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In this digital age, wars are not only fought with bullets and guns and bombs and missiles but with words. Words can make or break the reputation of a company in a single comment of a disappointed customer or a tweet from an overly zealous fan. Twitter feuds, in particular, have become a popular issue because they show a ‘fun’ and different side of the company. The tweets stray away from the usual promotion messages and playfully make fun of other brands. It is very entertaining to see the hashtags and the creative tweets these companies come up with. I have gotten a list of the top 5 Twitter feuds from Mashable.com.

http://mashable.com/2013/10/12/twitter-brand-feuds/

I especially love the Kit-Kat vs. Oreo one. Could not have thought of a better way for Oreo to retaliate than eating the Kit-Kat of the tic tac toe.

 

 

I believe that consumers love this kind of friendly banter because it gives a human personality to the brand. Instead of being seen as too corporate, these tweets soften the image and use good old humor to connect with its fans.

Which companies would you like to see battle it out on Twitter? Feel free to comment!

Additional Sources:

http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/4_lessons_from_brand_feuds_on_Twitter_46486.aspx

 

Vine and Instagram Video: More than just for Laughs?

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Vine and Instagram have been the popular hype right now for posting anything and everything that gets people to fall from their seats and click that ‘like’ button. Even with Vine’s 6 second video limit, people have come up with the most creative ways even though weird to demonstrate some specific skill may it be dancing on top of the treadmill with your group of friends, or riding a bike through a cliff and landing on the sea. Instagram’s video feature has also been able to attract its users with its 15 second video record time.

 

The question is, is there more to laughs, showing off and likes for Vine and Instagram Video? Can businesses be able to market themselves effectively and communicate to  customers in just 6 or more seconds of video?

I believe that with the right approach and careful analysis of what to video and post about, Vine and Instagram videos can potentially be valuable to start up businesses.

Here are some of my thoughts on what works and what doesn’t:

-Humorous Interaction pays off.

Getting users to comment on your video and share their thoughts creates a two way communication between the user and yourself. It is always a plus if the videos show some aspect of humor around the business. In addition, the funnier it is, the higher the chance that consumers will remember the brand and share it to their friends, family, coworkers.

-Practice makes perfect.

Creating exceptional 6-15 second videos is no easy task. It is important that the execution of these videos are well thought of and show some good preparation. Users can clearly tell if these videos are just hastily made.  It also doesn’t hurt if you incorporate something fun or quirky about the company culture or its employees.

– Don’t be afraid to show off!

Post something that makes your consumers want to learn more about the product, service or company. Make the videos engaging and beautiful through deep messages or memorable interactions.

It is especially important to establish a connection with consumers by showing them that you care about whatever they’re going through and that you are up to date with what is happening in the real world.

– Harness the Power of the Hashtag!

Harness the use of hashtags in order to attract more curious consumers to your Vine or Instagram. Make them creative, unique and fun. Too much hashtags though can make consumers confused and set them off.

Here are some businesses which I find have exceptionally utilized Vine and Instagram Video. Feel free to check them out and comment! 🙂

Vine: Animate and Create, Wheat Thins, Orange France, Malibu Rum

Instagram: Topshop, Lululemon, Swarovski, Dove

These links also showcase some of their videos. enjoy!!!

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/4103-6-Retail-Brands-Using-Instagram-Video

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34144/How-15-Real-Businesses-Are-Getting-Creative-With-Vine-for-Marketing.aspx

http://blog.sumall.com/journal/use-instagram-video-business.html