Tag: marketing campaigns

Generational Differences: What Differences Matter for Marketing?

Peter Drucker once said: The purpose of a business is to create a customer. Creating a customer … sounds pretty basic, doesn’t it? It is equally or more important to create customers that create customers. In both instances, the process begins with knowing your customers well. That goes without saying, doesn’t it? Segmentation targeting by generational differences can be of particular significance in this regards.
generational differences
Pay attention to generational differences.
Check out our thoughts on customer focus.
Currently, the demographics of customers span five generations. These generations are the Mature/World War II Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y/Millennials, and Generation Z.
In addition to the many differences among individuals within generational cohorts, businesses must contend with different preferences between generations. And to accomplish this they must know and apply these generation preferences. Let’s take a look at these generations and their preferences.

 The Five Generations in the United States and Canada in the Workforce

  • Silent generation (1923 – 1944
  • Baby Boomers (1945 – 1964)
  • Generation X (1965 – 1980)
  • Generation Y/Millennials (1981 – 2000)
  • Generation Z (1995-2015)
These generation labels are primarily used in the United States and Canada. Other regions throughout the world use some of these labels, though the ages of their members of these groups tend to differ.
Related: An Actionable Approach to Target Market Segmentation
 

Mature/World War II Generation … The Silent Generation

Veterans (WWII Generation) or also known as the Silent Generation – Born before 1944
Significant Influences
  • Great Depression, the New Deal, WWII, the G.I. Bill, Pearl Harbor
Characteristics
  • Patriotic, loyal, fiscally conservative, faith in institutions
The silent generation came of age in the years following the Great Depression and WWII.  To understand this generation, think “American Values” – civic pride, loyalty and respect for authority.
They attend more symphonies than rock concerts, watch more plays than pick-up softball, and eat more steak than tofu.  At work, they are the classic “keepers of the grail” and an irreplaceable repository of lore and wisdom.
Members of this generation are 70 years or older. Although most members have retired from the labor force, they comprise a wealth of valuable knowledge and experience. We believe this generation views work as an obligation: they respect authority and tend to take rational approaches to shop.
When Communicating with the Silent Generation
Acknowledge their experience
Use good grammar and clear pronunciation
Link your message to company history
baby boomers
Target baby boomers.

Baby Boomers – Born 1945 to 1964

Significant Influences
Economic prosperity and recession, expansion of suburbia, television, Vietnam, Watergate, protests and human rights movements, sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll
 
Characteristics
Idealistic, competitive, question authority, desire to put their own stamp on things, challenge institutions
Boomers grew up in the post-WWII era when the economy was the healthiest the country has ever known.  Parents and teachers taught them, “You can be anything you want to be, including President of the U.S.”   They turned the organizational hierarchy on its head, revolutionized the workplace, and devoted themselves to 60-hour workweeks.
Baby Boomers are approximately between the ages of 45 and 64. The older members have begun to retire from the labor force. This generation occupies most of the senior-level management roles. They are often stereotyped as extremely focused on work, and they possess a strong work ethic.
When Communicating with Boomers
Take time to establish rapport
Link your message to company vision and values
Acknowledge their work ethic
 

Generational differences … generation X (Gen-Xers) – Born 1964 to 1981

Significant Influences
Sesame Street, MTV, the Game Boy, the personal computer, divorce, AIDS, crack cocaine, missing children on milk cartons and missing parents at home.
 
Characteristics
Eclectic, resourceful, self-reliant, distrust of institutions, highly adaptive to both change and technology.
Gen-Xers grew up amidst corporate layoffs, recession, inflation, and the Watergate hearings.  Technologically adept, they want a more fun and flexible workplace.  They complain their older co-workers “live to work” while they simply “work to live.”
Generation=Xers are approximately between the ages of 33 and 53. The oldest members could be entering senior-level management roles while the younger members are pursuing mid-career supervisory roles. Many members of Generation X embrace diversity, technology, and entrepreneurship.
When Communicating with Gen-Xers
Get to the point
Avoid buzzwords, cliché, and hyperbole
Lighten up

Nexters (Generation Y / Millennials) – Born 1980 to 2000

 

Significant Influences
Fall of the Berlin Wall, expansion of technology and the media, a mixed economy, natural disasters, violence, drugs, and gangs.
 
Characteristics
Globally concerned, integrated, realistic, pragmatic, cyberliterate, media savvy, and environmentally conscious
Millennials are coming of age in an era in which it’s once again popular to be a child.  Digital in diapers, they see the world as connected, global, and round-the-clock.  Although they’ve only begun to arrive in the workplace, and they are still “works-in-progress”, it appears they may be new-fangled versions of their WWII grandparents and great-grandparents.
marketing campaigns
Generational differences in marketing campaigns.
Generation Y or the Millennials are approximately between the ages of 19 and 39. The older members are in the labor force while the younger members are still completing their formal education. This generation is known for being optimistic and goal-oriented: they are known for enjoying collaboration and multitasking, are comfortable embracing emerging technologies, and appreciate meaningful work.
 
When Communicating with Nexters
Be positive
Be open to their ideas

Generation Z – Born after 2000 

 Weaned on smartphones, these kids are the first true digital natives. For many families, this gadget-savvy group that is up on most things Web is the go-to source for information. This gives Gen Z significant influence over household purchasing decisions and behaviors.
This generation is also more brand aware than any before it. Note, a child of this generation can recognize almost 100 brands by age 3.
 

Our takeaways

It is critical for businesses to segment its customers by generations. Learn about and talk through generational issues so as to assist in building customer relationships.
In engaging customers, acknowledge and appreciate differences. In moving forward, continue to develop your knowledge of each generation’s preferences.
create_website_design
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you.
 
It’s up to you to keep improving your customer attention and focus. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
 
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous learning for yourself and your team?
Do you have a lesson about making your customer focus better that you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
 
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
  
Check out these additional articles on customer insights from our library:
The Story of How JetBlue Turns Customers into Advocates
Should a Business Send Customers to Competitors?
An Actionable Approach to Target Market Segmentation
Complaints Are Sources of Remarkable Customer Retention Strategies  
 
Like this short blog? Follow Digital Spark Marketing on LinkedIn or add us to your circles for 3-4 short, interesting blogs, stories per week.

Digital Marketing Dos and Don’ts for Law Firms

Law firms are slowly letting go of traditional methods of marketing in favor of digital marketing. More than half of lawyers actually believe that digital marketing is important for a law firm, but still allocate a less than 15% budget to online marketing. Many more digital marketing dos and don’ts to review

Some lawyers complain that they are not achieving the desired results with digital marketing, which explains the minimal focus directed towards the same. However, it is crucial to understand what you are doing right and wrong before throwing in the towel. 

Online marketing has the ability to propel your law firm by taking your business to millions of internet users. Below is a list of dos and don’ts for your law firm to ensure that you are getting the desired results.

Do Have a Specific Target Audience in Mind

Among the first steps of developing a digital marketing strategy is to identify your target audience. 

Who is your ideal client? What legal problems do they have? How and where do they search for services or spend time on the internet? Having the answers to these questions will help you craft a marketing strategy that directly appeals to the people that matter.

This will also save you from spending on an audience that does not convert to paying clients. Segmenting your target customers further when you introduce new services is also easier when you understand them as a whole.

Do Invest in Local SEO

The wise law firm marketers have implemented SEO, but the most successful ones have already adopted local SEO tactics. Local SEO allows you to further optimize your content so that it ranks top among local search results.

Google statistics show that local searches with the words ‘near me’ have multiplied by 150%, surpassing those that do not include this qualifier.

If your law practice serves clients in Northern Illinois, local SEO ranks your content to more people near your locality when you use localized keywords like Rockford car accident lawyer.

Do Analyze and Improve Your Marketing Campaigns

Nearly all digital marketing platforms have a way of tracking the results. Here, you can see the number of people visiting your website, what type of content is bringing in more visitors, and even the specific demographics of users converting to customers.

Analyze this data often to help you improve existing campaigns or inform new marketing strategies.

Don’t Go In Without a Digital Marketing Plan

Digital marketing is so much more than having a website or posting on social media. After identifying your target audience, craft a digital marketing strategy. Among the things to include are your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to help you determine whether your efforts are working.

You should also add the different platforms that you will be using and associated targets. Having a plan gives direction to your marketing efforts and ensures that they are headed towards the right goal.

Don’t Spread Yourself Thin by Using Every Platform

This is a mistake that most law firms who are handling their digital marketing often make. In a bid to increase their online presence, lawyers register on every platform, while implementing a myriad of other internet marketing strategies. Doing this and hoping that one of the approaches will work is a risky tactic.

Determining the channels that are right for your law firm will depend on how well you identified your target audience.

Don’t Be Too Salesy

The primary reason for digital marketing is to convince your potential customers that you are the right person for their legal issues. However, pushing this salesy agenda on every platform or post is going to push away even qualified leads.  

Create a marketing balance by including content that simply adds value and does not try to sell your services. This might sound impossible but you would be surprised at how much engagement a fun legal trivia would generate on social media. 

Marketing Campaigns: Great Campaign Examples to Study

Do you like to learn by studying examples of others work? We certainly do. So in this series of best marketing campaigns and examples, we will do just that.

marketing campaigns
Some of the best marketing campaigns.

In each example, we will state what we liked in the campaign and why we thought made the campaign successful.
Keep learning: Successful Advertisement Design … 12 Best Examples of Study
This is the first of a four part series. Here are all the parts and their titles:
Part 1: Classic campaigns
Part 3: Very unique campaigns
Part 4: Up and coming  campaigns
Why are these marketing campaigns some of the most popular of all time?
Because of the impact, they had on the growth of the brand, and because they manage to hit on some universal truth. This truth allows us to remember these campaigns years after they first began.
In fact, some of us might not have even been alive when these campaigns first aired!

 

But first … what is a marketing campaign?

A marketing campaign is a group of ads centralized around one message. They often use many different marketing channels to get this idea across.
The timing of these campaigns is also very clearly defined.
So here they are, in no particular order (but feel free to let us know which one is your favorite in the comments) – many of the most popular campaigns, and the lessons we can learn from them.

 

Marketing campaigns … Absolut Vodka: The Absolut Bottle

Despite having no distinct shape, Absolut made its bottle the most recognizable bottle in the world.
Their campaign, which featured print ads showing bottles “in the wild,” was so successful that they didn’t stop running it for 25 years.
It’s the longest uninterrupted ad campaign ever and comprises over 1,500 separate ads. I guess if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
When the campaign started, Absolut had a measly 2.5% of the vodka market.
When it ended in the late 2000s, Absolut was importing 4.5 million cases per year or half of all imported vodka in the U.S.
So what’s a marketer’s lesson here?
No matter how boring your product looks, it doesn’t mean you can’t interestingly tell your story. Let me repeat:
Absolut created 1500 ads of one bottle.
Be determined and differentiate your product in the same way.

 

Miller Lite: Great Taste, Less Filling

successful advertising campaigns
Examples of successful advertising campaigns.

Think it’s easy to create a whole new market for your product?
The Miller Brewing Company (now MillerCoors) did just that with the light beer market — and they dominated it.
The goal of the “Great Taste, Less Filling” campaign was getting “real men” to drink light beer, but they were battling the common misconception that light beer can never actually taste good.
Taking the debate head-on, Miller featured masculine models drinking their light beer and declaring it great tasting.
For decades after this campaign aired, Miller Lite dominated the light beer market they’d essentially created.
What’s the lesson marketers can learn?
Strive to be different. If people tell you there isn’t room for a product, create your category so you can quickly become the leader.

 

Volkswagen: Think Small

Many marketing and advertising professionals like to call Volkswagen’s “Think Small” campaign the gold standard.
Created in 1960 by a legendary advertising group at Doyle Dane & Bernbach (DDB), the campaign set out to answer one question:
How do you change peoples’ perceptions not only about a product but also about an entire group of people?
See, Americans always had a propensity to buy big American cars — and even 15 years after WWII ended, most Americans were still not buying small German cars.
So what did this Volkswagen advertisement do? It played right into the audience’s expectations. You think I’m small? Yeah, I am. They never tried to be something they were not.
This happened when the American automobile industry was flooded with long and big cars.
Long cars were a symbol of magnanimity and prosperity. It was a huge paradigm shift to promote cars that were much smaller than the ones then running.
They also came up with great campaigns for parking assist etc. but “Think Small” particularly was a huge success.
That’s the most important takeaway from this campaign: Don’t try to sell your company, product, or service as something it’s not.
Consumers recognize and appreciate honesty.
Volkswagen’s came up with the following campaign:-
(often referred to as “Think Small”)

 

successful marketing campaign examples
Successful marketing campaign examples.

Marlboro: Marlboro Man

The Marlboro Man ads, which began running as early as 1955, represented the power of a brand when it creates a lifestyle around its product.
Want to be free? Want to be a man? Want to be on the open range?
That was the very definition of a Marlboro Man.
The ads were effective because they captured an ideal lifestyle to which many men aspired at the time.
The lesson here?
Remember that whatever you’re selling needs to fit somehow into your audience’s lifestyle — or their idealized lifestyle.

 

Marketing campaigns … Bounty

Here’s a fun fact about your neighborhood marketing blogger: I. Spill.
Everything. Coffee? Check. Olive oil? You got it.
I am simply a mess and like to have paper towels nearby at all times.
Naturally, I couldn’t help but be impressed by this guerilla marketing installment from paper towel company Bounty.
By installing life-sized “messes” throughout the streets of New York — a giant, knocked over a coffee cup and a gigantic melting popsicle — the brand found a unique way to advertise its product and the solution it provides, with minimal words.
You might ask, “Wouldn’t a concise billboard ad accomplish the same thing?”
Well, not really. Culturally, we’re starting to opt for every possible way to eradicate ads from our lives.
That’s why we love things like DVR and ad-free options on streaming services like Hulu and YouTube.
This campaign, unlike an ad, isn’t as easy to ignore.
After all, if you stumbled upon a melting popsicle the size of your mattress on your way to work, would you stop and look? We would.

 

The big takeaway

Identify the biggest problem that your product or service solves.
Then, find an unconventional way to broadcast that to the public — preferably without words.
 

Marketing campaigns … Nordstrom

American fashion retailer Nordstrom began collecting examples of great customer service from its employees.
They called them Nordy stories.
For example, a customer comes into the store, laden with items already purchased from rival store Macy’s.
The customer shops in Nordstrom comes to the till and takes advantage of Nordstrom’s gift wrap service.
The Nordstrom employee obliges and then, to the surprise and delight of the customer, offers to wrap the Macy’s gifts too for no extra charge.
In another example, a customer comes into Nordstrom wishing to return a $17 tire iron. They don’t have a receipt.
Nordstrom doesn’t sell tire irons. The employee gives the customer a full refund.
That employee knows full well that the Nordstrom customer has an average lifetime spend of $8,000. What’s $17 compared to that?
Keep learning: Use 8 Breathtaking Commercials That Employ Emotional Appeal
By publishing these stories, Nordstrom gives not only concrete examples of how great their service is to customers but also to new employees as well.
Your employee handbook might say ‘give great customer service’ but to the average employee that just says ‘smile, make eye contact and tuck in your shirt.’
Nordy stories give concrete examples to the employees to show them exactly how good customer service is given.
 

The bottom line

 

To be effective in this new era, we as marketers need to see our jobs differently.
No more just focusing on metrics like clicks, video views or social media shares.
We must successfully integrate our function with other business functions to create entire brand experiences that serve the customer all the way through their experiences throughout the business.
 We can do better. Much better.
But first, we need to stop seeing ourselves as crafters of clever brand messages and become creators of positive brand experiences.
There can never be enough focus on continuous improvement on brand marketing, independent of how well the business is doing.
It seems we all are looking to take our success to a new level. This is an excellent time to make a statement with their brand marketing.
Changing before you have to is always a good idea.

customer relationships
Build customer relationships.

 

Need some help in capturing more customers from your advertising? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with your customers?
 
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy improving your advertising design?
Do you have a lesson about making your innovation better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
 
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he writes about topics to help improve the performance of the small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
 
More reading on marketing strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Ogilvy on Advertising … Best Lessons Learned from his Secrets
Volkswagen Ad … The Secrets to Its Effectiveness?
Effective Advertising … 14 Best Examples of Ad Design
Insurance Advertising War … 8 Examples to Learn From
Like this short blog? Follow Digital Spark Marketing on LinkedIn or add us to your circles for 3-4 short, interesting blogs, stories per week.

Story Examples: Eye-Opening Ways to Master Your Storytelling

story examples
Story examples.

Do you use stories in your customer engagement … or perhaps in marketing messages? Good stories are an excellent way of developing identity, personalize and build your customer base. Here are four good original story examples we’ll use to illustrate their value for marketing campaigns.
Facts don’t persuade, feelings do. And original stories are the best way to get at those feelings.
Good stories:
Focus on engagement, experiences, and emotion … central tenets that are attractive to customers.
Makes your message relevant and memorable through personalization.
Get people’s attention and keep your business front of mind.
Research by the Content Marketing Institute estimates that 90% of consumer marketers are investing in content.  Unfortunately, most of those efforts will fail.  In order to succeed, marketers will have to learn to think like publishers.  That will mean more than a change in tactics or even strategy, but a starkly different perspective.
Related post: Some Great Story and Storytelling Examples to Study

Example of short story about friendship … Google reunion story

Have you seen the recent Google marketing video where a story of the reunion of long lost friends is told? The video was made by Google India, and the point, of course, is to promote Google Search. But it also reaches a new level of what can be done with the value of creative stories.
If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it here …a short 3+ minutes.

The story is this: a man in Delhi tells his granddaughter about his childhood friend, Yusuf. He hasn’t seen Yusuf since the Partition of India in 1947, when India and Pakistan became separate countries and the two friends were forced to separate. The man’s granddaughter arranges for the two to meet again.
The story is simple and direct. It’s beautiful, and honest, and true. The photography is spectacular. The music adds to the very good acting.
 
Do you use stories in your customer engagement … or perhaps in marketing messages? Good stories are a great way to develop identity, personalize and build your customer base.
They are also a great means for sharing and interpreting experiences, and great experiences have this innate ability to change the way in which we view our world.

Creative story lessons

A lot of us are trying to figure out how to improve the use of storytelling as part of our marketing. Very few of us do it well. There are several things to be learned from this excellent story:

emotional connection
Emotional connection.

Short story with elements … emotional connection

This video is about as emotional as it gets. Stories like this provide a chance to experience a variety of emotions without the risk of those emotions themselves. Emotions like wonder, fear, courage, or love can be tested out in the minds of those as they listen to a story.
You may remember the feelings of emotions which can trigger memories or create resolve as a result of hearing such stories. The experience of hearing stories can awaken portions of emotional lives that may have lain dormant or have not yet been explored.
If you really listen to your customers, like Google has, you can leverage their stories to drive your creativity. By analyzing their stories of how your products and services fit into their lives, you can gain valuable insight into their needs and desires, which can be hugely beneficial to other aspects of your business. Like product design and development and ongoing marketing strategy. The reunion has done that well don’t you think?

The story of Dawn

We recently viewed a Dawn Liquid Detergent advertisement that caught our eye for several reasons. An effective TV ad that combined traditional advertising with advocacy advertising and creative storytelling. Something you don’t see very often.
Have you seen the recent Dawn TV commercial? If not, you should invest 1 minute now and check it out. It will prove beneficial in reviewing this great story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFStdNtTkNI
Marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting and worth talking about and remembering. Stories, when done well, are most effective at this objective.

South Africa business story
South Africa business story.

South Africa business story

Have you seen the remarkable branding story from this South African business? It was created to market and build the brand. It is a very simple story. It advocates learning to read no matter your age or status in society.
To us it creates pure magic with the story, the visuals, the music and the emotion. If you haven’t seen it, watch it now, it is only 2 minutes and it will inspire you. It is certainly easily in our top 5 of all time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VteDp3IK-60

 What makes this story so remarkable?

Of course the whole thing was staged. Who cares? It certainly accomplished its objective to build on the brand. Over 1 million views so far for a business from South Africa that most of us have ever heard of. Of course, you can’t design for going viral. But you can target for being remarkable and engaging.
How do you rise above the noise and really stand out? It’s getting more and more difficult. But it’s still possible. Here are the remarkable elements from this story:

Story examples … find emotional triggers

Not a real secret here. The story and music that are created, while familiar, are as distinctive as they are heartwarming. Watch the faces, actions, and passions of the people in the story and listen to the music. They draw you into the emotion.

Story examples … creates curiosity

If you knew the purpose of the video, there would be no curiosity. And with no curiosity, there would be lots less interest maintained. And many less people clicking to watch the video. Creating curiosity is a great way to draw and hold attention. It is way underutilized as a branding or marketing technique.
Related post: How to Frame Marketing Messages for Optimum Engagement

Guinness story

Have you seen the recent Guinness story in their marketing video? A significant change in the Guinness marketing strategy we believe. The strategy is using simple storytelling to gain our attention. Refreshing.
Let’s examine this video story and strategy and what contributes to its strengths. We want to evaluate if it has the ability to influence and persuade with its storytelling.
Everyone hates TV commercials, and this is a well-known fact amongst the people who make TV commercials. Fortunately, a few brands and ad agencies are turning things around with genuine, heartfelt storytelling marketing. Guinness is trying to become one of these brands.
First, some comments about the video. Here is a link to the video to refresh you or for you to review in case you haven’t seen it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au8Y98Rgxbk
 

The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.

Guinness is no stranger to effective video storytelling. This new video reached three million views within four days of online release.
A simple plot; a game of wheelchair basketball followed by a pint of Guinness. The twist is that only one of the men in the group is an actual wheelchair user – the rest, it seems, are his friends who are playing wheelchair basketball so that they can all play together.
There are no shortcuts when it comes to crafting quality narrative. It takes a ton of creativity as well as time, patience, planning, and polishing to give your brand’s story sparkle and make it shine. We recommend you dive into using creative stories!
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of creative stories for your marketing. And put them to good use.
  
It’s up to you to keep improving your creative marketing efforts. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
 
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
 
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
 
Need some help in capturing more customers from your marketing strategies? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential customers?
 
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
Are you devoting enough energy improving your marketing, branding, and  advertising?
Do you have a lesson about making your marketing strategy better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
 
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
  
More reading on marketing strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Case Studies to Evaluate New World Marketing Concepts
How to Frame Marketing Messages for Optimum Engagement
Some Great Story and Storytelling Examples to Study
Jaw Dropping Guerrilla Marketing Lessons and Examples 
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.

 

Advocacy Advertising … 6 Tips on How to Employ in Marketing Campaigns

I am not a fan of ballet. How about you? Not to worry, though, this blog is not about ballet. It is about a ballet star named Misty Copeland, who appears in advocacy advertising for an Under Armour marketing campaign.

advocacy advertising
Advocacy advertising

You just can’t say it. You have to get people talking about it with each other.
Check out our thoughts on creative marketing.
It is a simple concept. People don’t read ads, they read what interests them. So if you are going to generate advertising and design, you are going to have to create an interesting copy.
See our article:  A How-To Guidebook for Creating Winning Advertising
And, oh by the way, it must be more interesting than the millions of other advertisements out there. Now that is a daunting task, isn’t it? Under Armour marketing has sought to overcome this dilemma with advocacy advertising as its power of persuasion.

Ten years ago, social media was in its infancy. Nobody even heard of mobile marketing, content marketing or big data. The iPhone hadn’t even been launched yet. If you took a reasonably competent marketer from 2007 and transported her to today, much of what she knew about her job would be irrelevant.

We’re at a similar point now. Many of the most powerful technologies that will shape marketing over the next ten years are just emerging and many marketers will be left behind. Clearly, anybody who thinks that they can get by doing more of what they’re doing today is kidding themselves.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to perfectly predict the future, but we can look at today’s technology and make some basic judgments. Big data and artificial intelligence will become much more powerful and interact more completely with the physical world. That, in turn, will transform how we identify and serve customers to something very different from today.

So what is advocacy advertising? It is a specific type of advertising that intends to promote a particular idea related to public discourse, viewpoints, and causes. This is in contrast to typical ads which intend to promote a product or a service.
 And what is the subject of the public issue that Under Armour wants to promote? It is an issue with a simple motivational message. The message? It is to be persistent and never give up.
Misty Copeland is only the third African American female soloist ever to dance for the American Ballet Theatre. But her route to the top was anything but an easy one. She only danced ballet for the first time at the age of 13, a full eight years later than most ballet pros start training.
And when she started to grow into a woman, she developed muscle tone, large breasts, and big feet. This is not exactly the accepted shape for a ballerina.
However, her refusal to give up on her dream is celebrated in this awesome new campaign. This campaign is for the sports brand Under Armour and is called ‘I Will What I Want’.
Have you seen this commercial? If not, take the 60 seconds to review it. It will certainly create a topic of discussion for you and your friends. That is certainly Under Armour’s objective, isn’t it?
As the dancer shows off her breath-taking strength, a voice-over reads outlines from all the rejection letters she received as a teen.
Those academies probably aren’t feeling so clever now. You can’t help but feel inspired and motivated by the spot.
Refusing to give up, Copeland became the second black soloist in the history of the prestigious American Ballet Theatre in N.Y.C. Amazing, isn’t it?
It made her the perfect subject to deliver the “I Will What I Want” campaign’s message of persistence. She was only 24 at the time.
Let’s discuss this very successful advocacy ad and the reasons for its success.

Advocacy advertising … customer personalization 

This ad uses a very personal message to engage potential customers. A personal story of the long shot always makes for great attention-getting, doesn’t it?
Hearing real letters of rejection and then showing off Misty’s talent has a way of adding significant meaning.

emotional connection
Get mileage from emotional connection.

Advocacy advertising campaign … emotional connection

A good emotional story provides the very good connection between the issue and the company promoting their message. The ad does not interpret or explain the action in the story for the audience.
Instead, it allows each member of the audience to interpret the story as he or she understands the action and the emotion.
This is why people find good stories so appealing. It is why they find advertising that simply conveys information boring.
Experiences that trigger our emotions are saved and consolidated in lasting memory. Why is that?
Because the emotions generated by the experiences signal our brains that they are important to remember. And create a good reason for you to want to back Under Armour, yes?

Cause-related advertising … motivational messages

Making powerful motivational messages to your target audience, as in this ad, is very effective. It gets the viewer to relate to the issue in their own lives and to be inspired.
So simple that the reader will quickly grasp the motivation. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words.
Using simple messages complemented with powerful visuals adds more to the ad. Employ easy arguments.
Easy arguments are the conclusions people reach using inferences without the need of a careful review of available information.

visual attention
Grab the visual attention.

Appeal and visual attention

Creating visual appeal of Misty’s awesome ballet talents grabs and hold consumer attention. The ad is interesting as well as entertaining.       

 

Identifiable music

This ad combines the beauty of watching talent with what they hear. People expect and prefer coordinated audio and visual messages. Why may you be wondering?
Because those messages are easier to process and understand. Music can be a rapidly identified cue for the recall of emotional responses remembered from previous advertising.
The music in this ad is an identifiable emotional addition to the persuasive power, isn’t it?

Call to action

A simple call to action is needed on all ads. In the case of an advocacy ad, the call to action is in the subtle messages of inspiration and motivation.
It is not a call to action for Under Armour and it doesn’t have to be. People will remember the brand and associate it with the inspiration they take away. And that is not a bad thing, is it?
Say exactly why people should contact your business and what you can do for them.
For example “Let’s prepare today to do what we love tomorrow”.
All three of these ads make the desired call to action a part of the story.

 The bottom line 

So if you remember one thing from this article, remember this:
Marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting and worth talking about and remembering. And stand for things that potential customers value.
 We believe this Under Armour advocacy ad is interesting, entertaining, and stands for things viewers can stand behind. We believe it is persuasive and certainly creates the right kind of conversation.
What do you think?

build value proposition
Does your business have a winning value proposition?

 
Have any advertising experience that you would like to add to this community? Any comments or questions you like to add below?
 So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of word of mouth marketing. And put it to good use.
  
It’s up to you to keep improving your creative marketing efforts. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
 
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Need some help in capturing more customers from your advertising? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with your customers?
 
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your advertising design?
Do you have a lesson about making your innovation better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
 
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
  
More reading on advertising from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
 A How-To Guidebook for Creating Winning Advertising
Brilliant Advertisements to rising Above the Noise
The State Farm ‘Jake’ Commercial … No Art of Persuasion
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.