New York has always been the city of my dreams. It was the place my heart cried out to, as I sat on a City Tour Bus in 2008, while I stared at a lady running faster than the speed of the bus, carrying a briefcase, holding a coffee cup , wearing sunglasses and a pair of red heels , talking on the phone and smiling! And that was it. I don’t know what she did, but she was who I wanted to be.
After having completed two semesters of my MS in Integrated Marketing at NYU and interning with a multi-cultural media agency based in New York City, I have now started interning with Marc Jacobs as a production and development intern. I decided to intern with Marc Jacobs because I wanted to truly immerse myself into the culture of the city. To be honest, I was terribly afraid of the common snooty perception of fashion houses but I am amazed to see how compassionate and encouraging my managers are.
I am beginning to learn how Starbucks is frowned upon and how coffee from Balthazar is an everyday essential, I am learning how improper ordering from Seamless is and how a green salad is all that one’s meal must entail. I am also learning that tonic water with fresh fruits is a mandatory on your work station because water is just too mainstream. But among all these airs, there’s something profound that Marc Jacobs has taught me and that is to be real, to be true and to be you. I wear Anokhi pants to work, take steamed idlis for lunch, make green tea for myself in the kitchen and don’t drink coffee at all!
An Office Party at Marc JacobsNo piece of clothing can match the airy Anokhi pants!
Digital Marketing has escalated to a quintessential pedestal in our daily lives. It has become the oxygen we breathe, the new vitamin we need, the elixir to our lives and the daily workout we need to exercise our nimble fingers. Whatever it may be, we cannot escape it and hence, it becomes imperative to chalk out our digital strategy in a systematic, chronological manner.
Here are the 5 essentials for your Digital Strategy:
1.Data analytics is key:
The value of data cannot be overemphasized; it is what defines the digital strategy. First it is essential to have a clear understanding of our target audience using databases such as Simmons/MRI.Having complete information about the customers is critical – Where they live, what they eat, where they dine, whether they have pets, what they do in their free time.This helps us find customer insights and helps us create customer profiles. Upon the completion of customer insights, effective strategies can be created. This includes strategic partnerships as well as the curation of statistical models for media buys.
A Simmons Run to study the Gender and Age of the Target Audience as opposed to the Competitors.The creation of Customer Personas based on the Demographics and Psychographics of the Simmons Run.The creation of a Strategic Media Buy based on the Customer Insights.
Hence, this data driven process helps us define the amount of money that would be feasible towards an effective Digital Strategy, with a lucrative ROI.
Data is also essential when strategies pertaining to improving the clicks, impressions, bounce rate , average time spent have to be developed. These offer KPI’s to our digital campaigns. For example, the KPI for e-mails is open rate, hence it becomes essential to configure the current open rate as well as the Industry’s Open rate, in order to create a goal, which should be reasonable and achievable.
For example, one can use Similar Web to decipher the several statistics pertaining to a site, in order to set KPIs post campaign and to even understand how to allocate the funds in the digital strategy – whether to improve the bounce rate, or to increase the impressions and by how much.
SimilarWeb provides a Snapshot of how the engagement metrics in Zara currently look.
2. User Experience:
User experience has grown volcanically. Its has transcended beyond the layout, font, text, speed and the look of the website. Tools such as Appsee can be used to measure the user experience of apps using tools such as heat maps and helps create more user friendly , less complicated web layouts on the mobiles as well as the destops.
Appsee, used to measure the UX of Apps using several tools such as engagement and heat maps.Heat maps help monitor the traffic and helps understand where the eyeballs are most probable to look.
User Experience has to be made more interactive and is now encompassing tools like gamification, which stimulate customer interaction with the brand and make it more interactive and engaging. These apps provide levels and scores to the users, adding an element of fun and competition among the users. For example, Foursquare uses gamification on its app by providing levels to the users in order to be able to share the status on social media as well as map the performance in order to engage the customer even more.
Gamification used by Foursquare – Swarm provides
3. Content is still king:
The objective of a content strategy is to produce content and distribute it through various channels in order to create engagement among the target audience.
There are several formats of content curation such as blogs, videos, emails, podcasts, social media, white papers , audio formats and the list goes on. These snippets of crisp information enhance the value of the brand and create more authenticity and trust in the company. Companies also employ the concept of native advertising through content. This means talking about the product in a story telling format and creating the need in the mind of the consumer.
The goal is really to position the brand as an “innovator” in the given field and build enrichment, faith and engagement.
Content marketing is about penetrating into the everyday life of the target audience.
Here are a few examples of exemplary content strategies displayed by companies.
Turkish Content page for beauty ( sponsored by L’oreal)
Burberry, too has pioneered the art of creating effective content strategies. Its Youtube channel provides help content to its customers and answers questions pertaining to styling options and how to pair clothes. The YouTube channel creates Acoustic versions of songs, penetrating into the everyday lives of the target audience in order to be more relevant. Brands are now going beyond what they create and have a more holistic approach towards their consumers.
4. Mobile Marketing:
2015 was the first year that mobile traffic exceeded that of desktop users. Target audiences are now going after their mobiles phones before they reach out to their desktops and hence with the emergence of apps that have literally taken over the individuals by a storm it is essential to have apps wherever applicable and at least have a mobile optimization strategy. Brands are now blurring the differences between social and e-commerce and hence it has become important to be on social media channels and use apps such as Snapchat, especially if video is a platform that can enhance the user experience.
Well-known social platforms are taking their awkward first steps into becoming shopping centers.
Image Source: Adweek
Mobile Ad Networks Worth a Look
With this new medium gaining in popularity by leaps and bounds, it’s no surprise that a handful of mobile-friendly ad networks have cropped up to take advantage of tech-savvy surfers. Some of the largest and most highly recommended networks include:
Jumptap – One of the largest mobile advertising networks, Jumptap holds patents on many innovative types of mobile content monetization and targeting technology.
AdMob – Google’s mobile ad service, AdMob integrates advertising within apps to let content publishers and app developers earn money and expand their reach.
5. Omni channel Marketing:
Omni channel marketing is a brand experience created to reach the target audience across as many marketing channels as possible.Google reports that 90% of consumers move between devices and channels when making a purchase.These marketing channels include: websites, email, social media, print, aerial advertising, mobile apps, the physical store or even a catalog via devices such as phones, laptops, TV. Hence, it becomes necessary to integrate these channels with the devices to create a smooth brand omni channel experience.
Here is an example of how Macy’s has very successfully implemented its omni channel marketing strategy, in order to reach out to customers across platforms and different media.
Hence, the above are the 5 most essential components for an effective digital strategy which are a complete must haves for any company across any industry in order to be successful in the digital space.
The reason why I chose this 130 year old cola giant company is because of its unending effort towards constructive and meaningful marketing efforts. The marketing done by this brand is heartfelt , emotional , touching and essentially moving . It is truly inspiring to see how this brand has created and sustained a monopoly over a single drink that brings nothing but joy to every single one of us. Among the plethora of campaigns undertaken by Coca-Cola, the one that I want to emphasize on, is the beautiful campaign executed in the Middle East during the month of Ramadan, which was released to primarily promote tolerance, equality and justice.
The two minute thirty two second video starts with how we judge people and develop prejudices within the first seven seconds of interacting with them. Coca Cola invited six strangers, who had to interact with one another without lighting. Through conversations , each person developed notions about the others and when the lights were turned on , they were all taken aback by their ironic assumptions.The campaign draws attention to how we quickly jump to conclusions and rely on preconceived notions towards each other.
This campaign left an indelible imprint in my mind. It made me think , ponder, introspect and most importantly , celebrate – celebrate the differences among us – differences on the bases of our creed , color, gender, religion , caste or status. It makes us defy the norms of the society and look inside the heart of every soul and love one another unequivocally , without a shred of superiority. Every time I see a label , I am reminded of this campaign and how simply it tarnishes the deeply engrained feelings of discrimination among us. The video takes me on an emotional roller coaster ride and makes me teary eyed even after watching it a countless number of times. I think the brand has been very successful because it managed combine marketing and social activism on a digital platform. The video managed to instill a feeling of love and oneness among people and even urged people to imbibe in themselves , patience and tolerance.
The place where I thought they fell short was the lack of women in the video. Had I been in the marketing team , what I’d do differently is that I would put women in the video too and go beyond the prejudice of gender. It could be controversial or even revolutionary but it was my heart immediately said after I watched the video. My other problem with the campaign was the limited-time it aired for due to its Ramadan theme.The short time period raises questions pertaining to the long-term impact in the perceptions of people towards their near and far ones.
The advertisement that was made in collaboration with FP7/DXB and Memac Ogilvy used digital tools such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram , made the campaign more real and easier to relate to. The campaign received an enormous amount of shares , likes and mentions in social media with people discussing ideas about creating the world into a melting pot of cultures.
I would just say that the campaign was heartwarming, went beyond stereotypes and broke the restraints of the deeply embedded norms of the society. This attempt superimposed with the brand’s happiness forte made it very powerful to me so much so that every time I buy a can of Coca-Cola , I know that I am having a drink by a company that believes in an egalitarian world. Coca Cola has had a tradition of adding culture to their advertisements, they don’t just sell bottles of an aerated drink , they sell bubbles of effervescent happiness.
Bhavini Khullar 