Monthly Archives: October 2013

by | Friday, October 25, 2013 · 7:43 pm

Tweet, Tweet, Tweet – Practice Makes Perfect

Social media allows marketers to get their messages out in real-time. This can be either a blessing or a curse, depending on what is happening in the moment. Real-time marketing should be focused not just on an individual moment (such as the power-outage at last year’s Super Bowl), but be part of a broader marketing plan. This will require a shift in the way marketers think and act. Above all, marketers need to be cognizant of why consumers should care about the message, and what will inspire consumers to share. A formula for success in real-time and tweets can be boiled to three Ps: planning, process, and practice.

  • Planning: Even though there are examples of real-time moments (again, think Super Bowl power outage), the best brands and marketers have their strategic plans already firmly in place and they have a tone ready for all the social media.

  • Process: Organization with clear rules and escalation form the foundation, but flexibility allows for rapid execution to take advantage of opportunities.

  • Practice: There is no substitute for practice. It may take a few tries to work out the formula for your brand, but the more you practice, the better the results will be.

 Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Divide students into teams.  Have each team select a product that has used social media and Twitter to aid in marketing and promotion.

  2. What does the brand do well in social media?

  3. What changes should the brand consider making?

  1. Have students develop a Twitter campaign for a product of their choice.

  1. What are the main messages? What time frame will be used? What could go right, or go wrong?

 Source:  Ad Age Daily, 10/14/13

 

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by | Friday, October 25, 2013 · 7:41 pm

Packaging Fast Food for Cars

Forget about the dangers of texting while driving and consider the risks behavior seen by people take every day as they eat while driving! How many times has a driver spilled a drink, dropped a French fry, or had to reach into a small space to retrieve a chicken nugget?

Enter new packaging from KFC with the KFC Go Cups. The new plastic containers can fit a KFC chicken entrée in the cup holders of roughly 83% of all U.S. cars. Big deal, you think. But there is more! The Go Cup also has wider top so that it can fit more food, even dividing the chicken from the potatoes with a convenient divider.

KFC stated that the new design stemmed from a survey it authorized in which 53% of 18-32 year olds said they would be more likely to eat in their cars if the food container would fit in a cup holder.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Show the KFC commercial and view the Web site: http://www.kfc.comHave

  2. Have students brainstorm about related problems with eating in cars.  (e.g., messy food, spills, large foods, heat, cold, etc.)

  3. Divide students into teams. Have each team develop a research project related to one of the highlighted problems.

  1. Have students determine the research objective. What type of research should be done to help answer the research question? How should it be conducted?

  2. Discuss the role of social media for promoting this product. How is it being used? Is it effective?

Source:  Brandchannel.com, Ad Age Daily

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by | Friday, October 25, 2013 · 7:39 pm

Global Advertising That Appeals

Advertising spending is a significant part of any marketing budget. And, if the company is advertising to a global market, the campaigns need to be able to effectively reach consumers around the world with a consistent message. Creating the messages can be difficult as not all messages resonate the same way with various constituents.

Nielsen Research conducted a global survey of trust in advertising and polled more than 29,000 Internet respondents in 58 countries on advertising formats. The results clearly indicated that global respondents agreed that humorous ads resonated the best with them (47%); ads that make people laugh are more appealing than other formats. Another winning format, particularly in Latin America and Asia-Pacific, is the use of authentic ads that featured real-life situations (57%). Other themes with global appeal are ones that portray family or health issues (38%).

Marketers need to make a meaningful connection with their advertisements, regardless of the format. While various regional nuances do indeed exist and can influence the consumer’s reaction, advertisements that focus on family and health, and use humor, can impact consumers worldwide.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. View the Nielsen report and charts at http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2013/Mass-appeal-how-some-ad-characteristics-resonate-with-consumers-around-the-world.html

  2. Bring magazines to class and distribute to students. Have students count the number of humorous ads.

  3. What products and markets are represented by the ads?

  4. What other ad strategies are there?

  5. Divide students into teams. Have each team select a product and create a humorous ad that could be used globally.

  6. What are the pitfalls of trying to use one ad in a global marketplace?

 Source:  Nielsen Company, 10/1/13

 

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