The Power of Search

The Twilight Series, there is a piece of useful information in the first movie. Edward Cullen says, “If you don’t believe me, Google it.” The power of the internet just keeps growing, which gives an opportunity to marketers to make more effective and personal marketing campaigns.

  

How many times a week do you think you use a search engine? Today, alone I used a search engine 12 times.

“The most recent findings from Pew Internet & American Life tracking surveys and consumer behavior trends from the comScore Media Metrix consumer panel show that about 60 million American adults are using search engines on a typical day.” – Marketing Today http://bit.ly/ee8Zcb

A market research group that is 60 million strong, which is a wealth of information at a marketer’s finger tips. The ability to find out more information and quickly will allow marketers to adapt marketing campaigns and market segmenting, even faster. Marketers would also be able to link products from a company’s product line through other interests that consumers have and see if there is a possibility of another sale for that company. The possibilities are endless with the search engines! Consumers can find a large amount of information about a company they want to do business with and the company can find out about its consumers, to market to them in a personal and effective way.

Oh Nuts - Marketing That May Have Missed Its Mark

I laughed when I saw the tennis ball smack Wee Man in the forehead, breaking open his Wonderful Pistachio. I chuckled at the Winklevoss twin, the Keyboard Cat, and the Honey Badger cracked open their pistachios. However, even though these commercials may be humorous, what are they doing to build the brand image of Wonder Pistachios?

As reported by Todd Wasserman of Mashable.com, Wonderful Pistachios have launched a very successful ad campaign. The use of C and D list celebrities and the incorporation of internet “memes” into television commercials has led to a three digit growth in sales over the past year.

However, as Rob Frankel, a LA-based branding expert, pointed out, these commercials do little to build the brand image of Wonderful Pistachios. These commercials give no information to consumers that tell them why they should purchase a $5 bag of Wonderful Pistachio’s over a $2 competitor’s bag. All these commercials are doing is pushing the sales of pistachios…any pistachios, regardless of the brand.

On a personal note, these commercials do not make me want to purchase this product. While I found some of the commercials humorous, I can barely stand the image of Snooki breaking her pistachio open on her tanning bed. This leads an important question: “What value do these celebrities and internet memes contribute to the brand image of Wonderful Pistachios?

Little, it seems.

However, Wasserman points out that Wonderful Pistachios may be using a different sort of tactic. One similar to the marketing campaign launched by the California Milk Processor Board in the early ‘90s. The goal being to increase the consumption of the general product, and not necessarily the consumption of a specific brand. Wasserman paraphrases JFK – the hope is that a rising tide will lift all boats.

Will the use of these sometime tacky celebrities lead to consumers saying, “Got Pistachios?”

Image compliments of infobarrel.com.

Word of Mouth Marketing, It still Exists!

In the digital age, it sometimes seems that the more old-fashioned way of advertising, word of mouth, is as extinct as the dinosaurs. However, it is quite the contrary. Although "word of mouth" has evolved slightly into "share through a click," the idea and foundation is still the same: sharing what you like with others in your circle and it is the cycle's repetition that can grow into a massive, free campaign.

Dave Williams, CEO of Blinq Media, recently dissected the age-old marketing tool of word of mouth in his digital contribution post to Ad Age. Williams describes the current necessity for marketers and advertisers to "maximize consumer social influence." Basically, companies must get a buy in of sorts from their consumers. This means they must enjoy the product so much, or feel so compelled by peers, that they are willing to "like," "tweet" and/or "+1" about the product for all the world to see, more importantly their portion of the social world.

The reason this whole word of mouth marketing method works is actually rooted in psychology. Contagion theories explain social construction and help us to understand why word of mouth and peer influence in marketing can be so successful. "Birds of a feather flock together," at least that's how the old adage goes, but as it turns out, it is actually holds merit. People with similar demographic and psychographic characteristics tend to "flock" to one another. Because social circles often share similar lifestyles, interests and backgrounds, they are a prime target for ad and marketing firms when it comes time to begin promoting a product.

Williams also touches specifically on Facebook, and describes some of the challenges for marketers with the new format as it relates to word of mouth. He states that information directly from the companies on Facebook is not as common with the new platform and will often be left off many news feeds, so the importance of viewing what friends "like" in news feed updates is even more imperative. It is when one person sees a friend's comment on an item, product or company, and then proceeds to comment as well, that "contagion" begins, most likely along with some celebrating among executives.

With social media showing no signs of deteriorating or disappearing, it appears as if word of mouth will continue to reign as the top goal for companies when it comes to promoting their products. And remember, 'tis the season, so don't forget to "share" with all of your friends and family and you'll be sure to end up on the marketers nice list.