Brands are verbs, what they do matters much more than what they say. So it is no surprise that we do a lot of research on brands that employ excellent differentiation strategies.
Today’s winning brands aren’t playing it safe. They never say “that’s how we’ve always done it”. They know their brands are more than just a sleek logo or a cool website.
Here is an excellent short video to refresh the topic for you:
The brands that crush their competition are those whose understanding that strategic differentiation goes much deeper. They go deeper than pretty visuals and responsive code. Differentiated branding is layered, sculpted, and tested.
To create a layered, brilliant, and competition-killing brand, three things must align.
Understanding and differentiating from your competition
Combined, these elements create brand magic.
Marketing, at its best, is about the future. Unfortunately, we spend most of our time stuck in the past. We research what already happened and extrapolate forward to produce a plan. It’s not that we’re lazy, we simply know a whole lot more about the past than the present or the future.
We already know that marketing is becoming more social, local, and mobile, just as we know that big data and new interfaces such as touch, voice, and gesture are becoming increasingly more important. What comes next?
To see these three things in action, keep on reading.
Below I’ve highlighted some brilliant companies that our research shows are great at differentiating themselves from their competition.
Differentiation strategy … Lego
It may seem now like a foregone conclusion that The Lego Movie would be a huge hit, but anyone who’s seen a great book, comic or toy turns into a terrible movie knows better.
Before this, the sentence “It was a 90-minute infomercial and it was awesome” could never have been written. But the marketing for the movie was a master class in branded content. It helped it become a global hit, with elaborate the behind-the-scenes videos and teasers.
Dove conducted a study and “found that three-quarters of dads say they are responsible for their child’s emotional well-being. On the flip side, only 20 percent of dads see this role reflected in media.”
These findings provided a backbone for its Dove Men+Care #RealStrength campaign that features dads as important parts of their children’s lives.
Creating a viral megahit twice with the same brand isn’t easy. However, Unilever has shown it can happen with Dove—albeit with plenty of work and strategy.
Unilever had its first monster hit in the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign with “Evolution” in 2005 from Ogilvy & Mather, Toronto.
Nearly eight years later, “Real Beauty Sketches” from Ogilvy Brazil took less than a month to eclipse the reach and impact of its predecessor.
Another great example of user-generated content, Starbucks’ White Cup Contest launched in April 2014.
Here customers across the country were asked to doodle on their Starbucks cups and submit pictures as entries. The winning entry would be the template for a new limited edition Starbucks cup.
Nearly 4,000 customers submitted entries in a three-week span. The contest was a great way for Starbucks to earn publicity and prove that it strongly valued customer feedback.
In addition, Starbucks’ new “#sipface” campaign has made a huge splash in the Instagram world. Launched to promote the new Frappuccino Happy Hour menu.
The campaign encouraged fans to post creative pictures of their “#sipface” on Instagram which were curated and displayed on Frappuccino.com.
Starbucks has been ranked the “fifth-largest brand on Facebook with 34 million fans,” and has over 3.6 million followers on Twitter.
Effective Differentiation … Tourism Queensland
In its quest to find new ways to draw tourists to the Queensland Islands, Tourism Queensland launched its “Best Job in the World” promotion, which proved to be a remarkably effective campaign.
Over 34,000 people from over 200 countries submitted videos to win a six-month caretaker job that paid $150,000 AUD in one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in the world, while countless others enhanced their understanding of Queensland as a vacation option.
To help boost top-of-mind awareness, Coca-Cola created the “Share a Coke” campaign. In this campaign, the company produced Coke bottles with customers’ names on the labels.
They handed them out throughout different cities, in order to increase its exposure on Twitter. Customers were then asked to share the pictures of their personalized coke bottle on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Coca-Cola first launched the campaign in Australia but expanded it to the United States, the United Kingdom, and other regions across the world.
Effective Differentiation … hole Foods
Whole Foods goes beyond being a grocery store, doesn’t it? They’re also content generators and thought leaders.
They use their site to offer a whole new experience for customers offline and online.
While many brands only share content they themselves create, Whole Foods and its Dark Rye Magazine do an impressive job of establishing engagement by reposting a plethora of material from followers.
This has allowed Dark Rye to go beyond the mundane recipe guide to become a blog designed with the clear goal of sharing inspirational works of art. This is true whether they feature food or not.
Competitive differentiation examples … WestJet
Corporate philanthropy can do true good in the world. It can more than pay for itself when done right.
WestJet’s “Christmas Miracle” video proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
There is also little doubt that the video went a long way toward building and developing employee morale.
This is another element to creating a successful brand that more companies should give some attention to.
Anyone unsure of the true success of this video should know that a 2014 version was created. This time, WestJet brought Christmas joy to the underprivileged in the Dominican Republic.
By leveraging enough of what worked for the company last year and adding new twists, it continues to draw viewers, grow its brand, and actually do something good for someone else.
Effective business differentiation … Ben and Jerry’s
Ben & Jerry’s uses its ice cream products creatively to express their core values around giving back to society. Their cause is Ben & Jerry’s Foundation.
The Mission of this Foundation is to make the world a better place. They do this by empowering Ben & Jerry’s employees to use available resources to support and encourage outside organizations that are doing good work.
This work includes efforts towards eliminating the underlying causes of environmental and social problems.
Awesomeness is the way we describe Zillow’s differentiation.
They are unlike any other realty brand in the marketplace. Their marketing is simple and genuine emotion.
The bottom line
“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.”
Do you have an idea that will change the world? Well, it’s not worth anything unless you can turn that idea into a reality. So take the plunge and see just how far that idea can take you. Or, you can sit around trading advice over the internet.
Both the power of persuasion and excellence is certainly important to successful differentiation, aren’t they?
These companies certainly have figured this out. Simple, yet interesting. Not selling. What do you think?
Need some help in capturing more customers with your value propositions? Creative ideas to help the differentiation from your competitors?
The choice is yours.
Excellent differentiation strategies.
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.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on brands and branding from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
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 Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
Do you agree with Jack Welsh? With no competitive advantage, you will compete and lose. Why would anyone want to do that? That is why we wholeheartedly agree with Jack Welsh. We have found many businesses that cannot articulate a single way how their business is truly unique. Forget the best multiple unique selling point.
What analogy to this situation stands out in our mind? Trying to win against your competition without real business differentiation is like trying to sail with no wind. Is no way there? Business is a value delivery system. Do you know the ‘value experiences’ your business delivers? Do you know your targeted customer segments?
A strong, unique selling proposition speaks directly to your target audience, and it tells them exactly why they should purchase your products and services (and in the case of non-profits, it’s why your donors should support your organization, members should join your programs, etc.). A selling proposition is a clear statement of the concrete results a customer will get from purchasing and using your products and services.
A unique selling proposition is a short statement that tells your prospect why they should buy fromyour company. It is focused on outcomes. Your proposition distils all the complexity of the value you provide into an easy-to-remember phrase that your client can easily grasp and remember.
This helps spread word-of-mouth marketing, and it differentiates you from the competition. Keep in mind that your value proposition should identify and remedy an unmet need that your customers face. It should relieve their pain.
Here is a short 5-minute video that will refresh this subject further:
Regardless of the size of your business or the type of industry you are in, your company should have a selling proposition that stands out from your competition. To help you, here are some guidelines to follow in creating one for your business. A strong value proposition does the following:
Creates interest, so that your prospects ask questions and want to learn more. Your value proposition opens the door so that someone might be willing to meet with you instead of blowing you off when you call or mail them for the first time
Differentiates your offer from your competitors’ offers and creates a substantial differential between you and your competitors
Focuses on your customers’ point of view.
Aligns your business operations more closely to customer needs
Increases the quantity and quality of your sales leads and makes conversion to a client much easier
Wins your business greater market share in your targeted segments
Include demonstrated results that will catch the attention of decision-makers
Are you starting to get a feel for a strong, unique selling proposition? It is specific, often citing numbers or percentages. It may include a quick synopsis of your work with similar customers as a proof source and demonstration of your capability. It is a clear statement of the tangible results a customer gets from using your products or services. Its outcome focused and stressed the business value of your offering.
So how do you derive real business differentiation? To build creative, unique selling propositions for your business, consider the following:
Business is a value delivery system. Do you know the ‘value experiences’ your business delivers? You must start by understanding your targeted customer segments well.
The heart of a winning selling proposition is the end-result experiences of value a business intends to deliver to its target customer segments. It needs to be articulated for the client’s value end state … not for your product, service, or business process.
Be your customers … study and creatively infer value by observing / learning from what they do.
Do your claims surpass the value alternatives in the marketplace? Will your customers believe your claims? Does your value differentiate you in the client’s eyes?
Can you validate and deliver your value proposition?
While many businesses have a difficult time deriving one good unique selling proposition, a few have defined multiple unique selling propositions. The best brand we could find with the best multiple selling propositions is Safelite Autoglass.
Have you ever heard of Safelite Autoglass and their business model? They have created The Safelite Advantage™ as a bundle of unique selling propositions providing what consumers have identified as their primary vehicle glass service needs. It’s why leading insurance and fleet companies, as well as more than four million drivers, choose Safelite each year. Let’s examine what this bundle is made up of.
The automobile windshield is a critical part of your vehicle’s safety system, protecting you in the event of a collision or rollover and aiding in proper airbag deployment. When you choose Safelite® – America’s largest vehicle glass specialist – you get the reliability of the Safelite Advantage™.
Selling point … always being there
Glass damage can happen at any hour. Safelite® is always here for customers with 24/7 live representatives in our renowned contact centers, as well as the web and mobile app scheduling.
Selling point examples … knowing who to expect
When you schedule Safelite® mobile service, customers receive peace of mind with our Technician Profile Email, including the technician’s name, photo, and credentials before he or she arrives.
Key selling point … the industry’s only nationwide lifetime guarantee
Safelite® is proud to feature the industry’s only nationwide lifetime guarantee. We back it up with about 5,000 state-of-the-art
MobileGlassShops™ and company stores in all 50 states.
Safelite Advantage
Safelite AutoGlass® repair
Skilled Safelite® technicians can often repair glass damage up to the size of a $1 bill, and the work typically takes less than 30 minutes. If you notice a chip, get your windshield repaired as soon as possible before it cracks and needs replacing. Catch it early and a fast, low-cost repair could be all you need.
If we can’t repair your glass, you can be confident of a top quality windshield replacement.
One of their certified technicians can come directly to your home or office, or you can visit one of more than 300 facilities nationwide. Come to you for the windshield repair or replacement. Now that is a convenience, isn’t it?
With this list of strong unique selling propositions, it is evident Safelite understands its value well.
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.
Need some help in capturing more customers from your marketing strategies? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential clients?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And this struggle 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.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improve 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.
More reading on value propositions from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
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 Facebook, Twitter, Quora, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
Is your marketing strategy focused mostly on word of mouth marketing? It definitely should be. It is the best marketing technique in my mind, hands down. The key to its success is the way to get people to talk about you and start the buzz. These are called word of mouth triggers and word of mouth marketing examples will be the focus of this article.
The first thing you need to know about word-of-mouth marketing is this: generating consumers to talk about your business isn’t as random as you think. There’s a science to creating a marketing buzz, and it’s something you can learn to do.
Remember, the main goal of your business is not just to create customers. It is to create customers who then will also create customers (that is, customer advocates). This is the perfect marketing solution for 99 % of all businesses and is why we believe word of mouth marketing is your most important marketing campaign tool.
Word of mouth marketing takes consumers by surprise, makes an indelible impression, and pops up where and when people least expect it. It often has a large targeted audience and often can be accomplished at reduced cost.
By being a little more clever and unpredictable, you challenge consumers who appreciate a little fun in their products.
Let’s examine some excellent ways others have created a marketing buzz. Many of these can be easily copied by your company.
Word of mouth marketing examples … weird experiences
At Catbird Creamery in Maine, when you order a conventional flavor, they’ll insist that you sample something a little more adventurous. And even if you’re going to order vanilla anyway, they want you to at least try the strawberry balsamic, or green tea ginger. Catbird knows that anyone can make a good vanilla, but what makes them stand out is helping their customers see all of the other fantastic flavors they also make.
They’re giving their customers an experience to talk about. Even if the customer doesn’t order the hot pepper flavor they just sampled, they will likely tell others they tried it.
Headsets.com sells headsets and phone accessories, but they are most likely remembered for adding Tootsie Rolls to every order they ship. It’s a great word of mouth tactic and they like feedback. They use it to do something even more special. When customers thank their operator for the Tootsie Rolls received in an order and mentioned their favorite flavor, you can guess that information is noted for the next time.
Little actions to surprise and delight your customers can easily be created all the time. Follow Headsets.com example and treat feedback like a well-oiled machine, carefully gathering the information and doing something about it every time.
Word of mouth ads … mystery
Are you mysterious? Do you think you can be? We looked at how people delight in the puzzle-solving aspect of pattern recognition. Now, let’s go a bit deeper and explore what drives this pattern seeking behavior: curiosity.
Great storytellers know how to turn an ordinary event—say, a trip to the grocer—into a suspenseful one by withholding information. In new relationships, flirtation often involves some element of playful teasing, whether through conversation or more sensual revelations.
And newsrooms have made a science out of crafting irresistible headlines: “Your PC might be infected!” or “Are you prepared for the tax law changes?”
We are captivated by unanswered questions. So try and put this mystery to good use.
Make people feel special
Comodo restaurant in New York encourages customers to snap pictures of their meals and contribute them to an “Instagram Menu” by adding #ComodoMenu to their posts. It’s a great way to collect all of their recommendations and photos in one place, but more importantly, it makes those contributors feel like a part of the restaurant.
Customers are often going to take Instagram photos of their fancy dinners. Why not make the most of that word of mouth by making those customers feel special?
Fleur, a florist shop in Chicago, puts a bucket full of bright balloons by the door of their shop both inside and out, with a handwritten sign that says: “Take a balloon.” That’s all. No logos, no catch. It is just a small action to make people smile. Inside the store, it makes a pretty display, and outside the store, people are likely to ask where you got the balloon.
That’s a simple, fun way to get a conversation started without a marketing message. A bucket full of balloons is a bucket full of word of mouth memories waiting to happen. It doesn’t have to be branded or a part of a larger campaign — in fact, the simpler you make it, the better.
Have you ever tried to create conversation starters? Consider this technique by Krochel Kids Intl. Every product they make has a tag that is signed by the person who made it. They are not the standard garment tag. They are large and prominently displayed on the outside of the clothing. It makes each product one of a kind that makes the clothing stand out.
With this kind of visual message, your customers don’t have to bring up the subject because their friends usually ask about it.
Word of mouth marketing examples … demonstrate synergy
Synergy is a quality that often gets overlooked, isn’t it? But it can be a very valuable tool in many ways. You don’t have to be a genius to know that student housing is frequently in demand. Likewise, you’d guess that seniors in nursing homes like to have companionship. So to solve both problems, one nursing home in the Netherlands provides a place to stay for college students, rent free, in exchange for visiting with the elderly for 30 hours per month.
Not much in common, you say? At least they have similar needs. Perhaps your customers who seem very different may have more in common than you think.
Surely you have seen the tear-jerker commercials for abused or abandoned puppies or kittens. Not something you’ll often share with friends, is it? North Carolina’s Wake County SPCA tried a very different approach to this problem. They made a lip-synching music video to ABBA’s song “Take a Chance on Me”, with the entire shelter staff and most of the adoptable animals.
A success? It was watched on YouTube over 3.4 million times the last time we looked. Just because others do the standard tear jerking videos doesn’t mean they are popular. Surprise your audience with original things that are fun and approachable like this SPCA did. It may even surprise you.
The typical thrift store or vintage shop isn’t all that glamorous. But they do have one thing on their side when it comes to fashion: lots of rare and one-of-a-kind clothes. Goodwill capitalized on that concept by revamping some of their stores to look like upscale boutiques instead of the place you drop off your oldest clothes. Their new Rare by Goodwill stores are smaller, and they collect some of the more trendy vintage or antique stuff their regular stores have to offer.
Perhaps your business has more in common with your upscale competitors than you think, yes? What can you learn from them about attracting new customers?
Learn more: Small Business Trends
Do something different
Restaurants have a lot of overhead: plates, utensils, pots, pans, glassware, and the like. And this doesn’t last forever either. As table cloths wear out or coffee mugs chip, restaurants have to replace them. But at Cotogna and Quince, two neighboring restaurants in San Francisco, they use this aging inventory as an opportunity. They set out this type of used material for their annual “Smallwares Sidewalk Sale” and invite the community to shop, catch some brunch, and help them clean house.
Now that’s a fantastic way to address a standard problem and turn it into clever marketing. They’re saving a little money, bringing people into their restaurant, and getting rid of stuff they don’t want all at the same time.
When several guys had to give up the 1957 Land Rover they bought together in college, they were disappointed. So when Land Rover saw the boys’ ad for the sale, they bought the car and restored it down to the smallest of details.
But before surprising the guys with the return as a gift, they created a video commercial. Each place in the commercial reflected a memory of a car adventure from the group.
Your customers will often surprise you with many more great memories than you can build yourself. Look for them and put them to good use.
Learn more: Brains on Fire
The bottom line
The triggers of word-of-mouth marketing are all around us. All we have to do is be open-minded in how we look.
Our world is in flux. There is no part of the consumer experience that is untouched. Digital technology is disrupting the marketplace, while changes in our understanding of the psychology of decision-making have overturned centuries of conventional wisdom. Even a brief summary such as this one can make the challenges seem overwhelming.
So what to do? First, start somewhere. It can be one place or the other, but at least start. The change will be unfolding for years and everyone else is as confused as you are.
Now it’s your turn. What is the creative word of mouth marketing ideas from your business?
Need some help in capturing more customers from your social media marketing or advertising? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with your customers?
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.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to innovate your social media strategy?
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising 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.
More inspirational stories from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
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.
Ever written an advertisement, or thought about it? I’ve done marketing for my clients in small businesses for the past 6+ years. In that time I’ve learned a few things about making advertising look professional even on a tight budget. And the real measure of successful advertisement design elements is having customers remember and talk about the message.
Look at this: 2 Biggest Killer Ad Mistakes in Advertisement Design
Many small businesses don’t have a lot of time or resources to have ads professionally made. Marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting and worth talking about and remembering.
Do you ever see a commercial that you liked and watched it? Can you remember the brand? We would love to hear what it was. Would you do us a favor and tell us in the comments section? Our readers and we would appreciate the share.
So what’s a small business to do?
Related post: Ten Deadly Sins of Advertising Design
Here are 12 essential ad design elements we rely on to create effective advertisement messages. These messages include the best examples of each that we could find. Great way to learn and stimulate design ideas.
Grab and hold viewers’ attention
Interesting information gets and holds attention. Keep in mind that people don’t read ads. They know what interests them. Be different, avoid normalcy at all costs.
Stand out is the mantra. It’s OK to be controversial and to create conversation through the ‘buzz.’ Headlines are the first place for attention.
Funny. Memorable. Manly. The keys for success from the ‘Will It Blend’ marketing campaign. And certainly something you’ll want to do for a networked market. Like Blendtec did very successfully.
Tom Dickson, is the star of the videos. You see him put different crazy things in the blender and say “Will it blend? That is the question”.
While the item is blending, he smiles and waits for the process to end. When it does, he empties the contents and the subtitle “Yes! It blends”appears.
Once the videos got rolling, Blendtec engaged their fans seeking ideas for things to blend. Fans become more fanatical when their favorite brands go out of their way to invite them in on the fun.
A unique selling point that truly discriminates you from your competition. It is essential that you give your customers reasons to select you.
Paint the picture of value and make the value stand out. Have you seen any of the recent Dawn TV commercials?
They started as YouTube videos and grew out of the success on that platform.
If not, you should invest 1 minute now and check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9qLIz1SJsk
Two of the most practical value propositions we have seen in a while are shared in 10 seconds. As the volunteers are cleaning oil off the ducks, they state that Dawn Liquid effectively cuts grease and is gentle.
Don’t need to say much as the video does the talking. Powerful.
Make the message as clean and straightforward as possible. You cannot overachieve on the simplicity of the message.
A message that the reader will quickly understand. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words.
Have you seen the recent Apple iPhone5 TV ad?
If not, you should invest 1 minute now and check it out. It will prove helpful in reviewing our ad analysis.
Superb visuals and visuals are so simple that you quickly grasp them and don’t lose interest. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words.
And the music has a way to keep you tied in. Creating customer interest does get any simpler than this, does it?
A very simple, yet interesting design, don’t you think? And the real message at the end that is very soft not selling.
How to design a print ad … be relevant
Keep in mind that one message does not fit all. It starts with knowing
It starts with understanding your target market. Here the target market is families with young children and people with a high focus on car safety. Certainly relevant to this market.
Successful advertisement design … define your positioning
Your positioning is the current frame of reference. Make comparisons to your competitors if you can solidly substantiate the claim.
The Amazon Kindle certainly knows who its principal rival is and takes his head on as its strategy. An excellent move we believe.
The Kindle has three key advantages in comparison to the Apple iPad air. It is 20% lighter, has 1 million more pixels resulting in the better quality picture, and is 24% less expensive. So powerful, yes?
Check out this ad here:
Emotional influence and persuasion
Budweiser puppy love that was, by most accounts, the biggest winner of the 2014 Super Bowl. There are no better means of control or the power of persuasion than emotion. Hands down the best, in our opinion.
Experiences that trigger our emotions are saved and consolidated in lasting memory. Why?
Simply because the emotions generated by the experiences signal our brains that the skills are important to remember. Check out this ad here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlNO2trC-mk
There are eight basic, universal emotions – joy, surprise, anticipation, acceptance, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust. Successful appeals to these basic emotions consolidate stories and the desired calls to action in the lasting memories of audiences.
This puppy love commercial focuses on emotional appeal in grand fashion. It is the secret of this ad’s success. The focus of the advocacy helps create emotional support, doesn’t it?
Visual advertisement design elements
Use pictures/visuals to convey the message much better than words. “Seeing is believing” and “actions speak louder than words” are two common sayings that reflect a bias and preference for visual presentation.
Here is a four minute Samsung ad with 15-20 new features shown on their phone. No talking. And so simple that you quickly grasp the features and don’t lose interest.
And the coordinated music has a way to keep you tied in. Creating customer interest doesn’t get any simpler than this, does it? A very simple, yet interesting design, don’t you think?
These ads subtly grab and hold attention based on a great music soundtrack, no speaking, and a total reliance of superb visuals. Letting the visuals totally carry the messages.
Creating customer interest doesn’t get any simpler than this, does it? A very simple, yet interesting design, don’t you think? Couldn’t be better in our opinion.
Articles with images get 94% more views than those without. And posts with videos attract 3X more inbound links than plain text posts.
A study by 3M showed that 90% of the information sent to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text.
Tell a story
A good story has a beginning where a sympathetic character encounters a complicating situation. It has a middle where the character confronts and attempts to resolve the situation. And it has an end where the outcome is revealed.
It does not interpret or explain the action in the story for the audience.
Instead, a good story allows each member of the public to understand the story as he or she understands the work.
This is why people find good stories so appealing and why they find advertising that merely conveys facts and information boring.
Here is a link to the Guinness ad video to refresh you or for you to review in case you haven’t seen it.
Guinness’s marketing strategy has flipped traditional beer advertising on its head by getting rid of the template. Instead it tells a story – a real story – that connects with people.
The responses were overwhelmingly positive. Customers and particularly the target customers are looking for meaningful stories.
The marketing strategy certainly is addressing this end state in our opinion.
Clearly, link your messages
Link them to your brand. Remember the AFLAC duck, E-Trade’s talking baby, or the Geico gecko? These are great linkages to the brands.
Anyone who has watched television in the United States even briefly knows the Geico brand. Whether talking British geckos, erudite cavemen, greasy-haired announcers with mock baritones, all of them running gags. Gags used to get the company’s name to stick in peoples’ heads.
Make your ad a component
Your ads should be integrated elements of an integrated marketing campaign. Remember, stop interrupting what people interested in, and be what people are interested in.
It was in early 2009 when IBM began its Smarter Planet marketing campaign strategy. At the time, the plan seemed very ambitious. We might say maybe even a bit risky, even for IBM.
But their success was based on a plan to build out a long-term campaign.
To do this, they defined a theme around their vision (Smarter Planet). They used the idea to craft a marketing strategy connecting and integrating many smaller marketing objectives and tactics as they could.
They also linked their core competencies to this theme, vision, and challenge. Apparently, they made sure they were all apparent to their customers.
This very successful campaign continued for seven years.
Coordinate identifiable music
A great ad design element is to match what viewers see with what they hear.
People expect and prefer coordinated audio and visual messages.
Why? Simply because those messages are easier to process and understand. Audio and visual messages that are out-of-sync may gain attention, but customers usually find them uncomfortable.
The bottom line
So remember this:
You just can’t say it. You have to get people to say it to each other.
– James Farley, CMO Ford
It is not what advertising does with the consumer; it is what the consumer does after reading the advertisement. After looking over these enablers … how much have you learned?
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is entirely up to you.
It’s up to you to keep improving your innovation and creativity in ad designs. 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 struggle 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.
Need some help in capturing more customers from your advertising? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with your clients?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
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 advertising from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
What to Expect from a Creative Advertising Strategy
Creative Secrets from Budweiser Advertising Examples
Prudential Ad Makes Visualization Design Central to Story
Ten Deadly Sins of Advertising Design
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.
What are your favorite brands? Which ones do you follow closely and learn the most from? When choosing to learn from others’ marketing successes, it is always helpful to choose great brands to follow. We follow Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategies.
Why? because of their creativeness and unique approach to customer focus.
Steve Jobs liked to say that it’s not enough to kill bad ideas, you have to kill good ones too. That’s because the good strategy is about making choices and it takes more than intelligence or even instinct, it takes discipline, one of Jobs’ most overlooked qualities.
Marketing strategy is particularly difficult because, as I’ve noted before, the rules have changed. A generation ago, brands mostly strove to create buzz and “drive awareness,” now they need to build compelling experiences that keep consumers engaged.
However, the old tasks have not gone away. We still need to run TV ads and in-store promotions, man conference booths, and hand out brochures, but now on top of that, we have a whole new world of algorithms, apps, and devices to master.
There is a spiritual aspect to our lives … when we give we receive, when a business does something good for somebody, that somebody feels good about them.
– Ben Cohen
If you want to effectively build your personal brand, you have to center everything around a story.
And not just any story, yourstory.
Meet Ben and Jerrys. They have been successfully executing their social marketing strategy and plan very early in social commerce. For over 20 years their strategies have played a significant role in their growth.
Before we get started, let me ask you a question. Have you ever tried the Ben and Jerrys experiencc? Can you tell us about it in the comments section? We would really appreciate it.
An introduction to Ben and Jerrys is unnecessary, isn’t it?
With more than 600 retail locations in 34 countries, the ice cream scoop shop is the picture of success.
Ben and Jerrys marketing strategies rode the baby boomer trend in the late 1980s. This was during the swelling ranks of mid-age social media professionals. They created the need where people could share and enjoy a unique ice cream dessert with friends and colleagues.
In our opinion, the company has changed the way companies market themselves to customers. Here is how we feel they have been so successful:
Ben and Jerrys marketing strategies market segmentation
The company has stayed with the upper-scale of the ice cream market, competing on product quality rather than convenience or price.
That strategy was the case with its closest competitors. They target customers with high end ice cream tastes and unique flavors.
The company continues to focus on its original product bundle that includes great ice cream, unique flavors, quality service, and a nice environment to hang around.
They keep their focus on paying attention to the details of great execution and service.
Ben and Jerrys marketing with social media
One of the earliest adopters of the use of social media for marketing and social commerce, Ben and Jerry’s has certainly taken a leadership position in social engagement.
Their social media strategy is built around their company web site and 6 additional social platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, G+, Instagram, and YouTube.
Ben and Jerry’s have clearly embraced the social realm. With a strong presence on multiple social networks, the brand has set a high bar when it comes to being social and engaging its customers.
They are at or near the top of nearly every major brand ranking in social commerce.
Ben and Jerry’s ability to wear so many hats on corporate success, “local” favorite, and Internet sensation warrants close examination.
Related: Marriott Marketing Makes Customer Experience the Difference Maker
What makes this company so good at being social and executing a great marketing strategy? And what can it teach us? Here are our thoughts on these questions:
Customer collaboration
Collaboration with customers is used to obtain customer ideas on new flavors. Fans inspired the best-selling Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavors.
Customer relationships
Instead of solely focusing efforts on accumulating new customers, it cultivates its current relationships. This ensures more fans/followers in the long run, as well as the continued existence of brand advocates.
This holds true across the board. In-store experiences are highly valued, along with online engagement, emphasizing the importance of customer service.
Interactive customer engagement
Engagement is a high priority for the brand and they continually look for new ways to collect inputs from customers. A good current example is their ‘Scoop Truck’, which travels around the country giving out free samples of new products and soliciting customer inputs.
They believe in letting customer engagement and conversation occur as naturally as possible.
They listen carefully, observe, and apply new ideas from what they learn.
Encourage sharing
Happy customers are eager to share good experiences and offers. For example, frequent promotions garner an extraordinary amount of engagement on social media through comments, “likes,” and shares.
Social mission focus
Ben and Jerry’s brand has always chosen a social mission. A social mission to stand for and stand behind.
One great example of an issue they got behind was supporting the push to get corporate dollars out of politics … www.getthedoughout.org.
Experience customization
Ben and Jerry’s provides its unique experience through programs such as personalized ice cream flavors, and localized store experiences.
Their social sites, in particular Pinterest and Instagram, encourage users to share their Ben and Jerry’s moments’ which are shared on all their social sites.
Giving consumers a charitable reason to buy that ice cream cone or package is beneficial for all.
The takeaway from Ben and Jerry’s is to know your customer and tie that in with what matters in the world.
So, pay attention to how your brand can fit into trending topics.
Showing customer appreciation
Always looking to show appreciation for their customers. The lead in quote to this article from Ben Cohen says it all about their culture and success at showing customers appreciation.
Whether we are discussing businesses that are social, the best at engaging customers, or being great at a social commerce business, there are few businesses in the class of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream.
Being social is a core component of Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategies. It is the integrating ingredient of their online and online to traditional marketing/media.
Not all businesses can go to the extent that Ben and Jerry’s does. But they can support local issues and do weekly online promotions to increase customer engagement. Always looking to gain new customers and convert good customers to advocates.
The bottom line
Lots of ideas here that can be easily replicated. Which ones do you feel could benefit your business? How could you improve the Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategy for your business?
Give it a try and show some patience. You will be surprised at how well at works!
Ben and Jerry’s is one of many businesses we can learn from. Please post your comments below, offering questions or your own great examples of social marketing strategies.
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.
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 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:
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.
Like David Freemantle says, feelings have a critical role in this regard. Few of any ads will make an emotional appeal. They will try to amuse and dazzle more than touch the heart.
Which factor do you feel is most effective in drawing attention to your advertisements? There are many to choose from, aren’t they?
Leo Burnett’s fledgling firm got off to an inauspicious start when it opened in 1935. With one client account, a staff of eight, and a bowl of apples in reception, cynics said that he would soon be selling those apples on the street.
Yet, even in the midst of the Great Depression, the firm survived, and Burnett, along with other pioneers such as David Ogilvy and Bill Bernbach helped create the consumer culture that defined the post-war economy. Those halcyon days are now long gone.
If you’re in advertising, then The Advertising Effect: How to Change Behaviour is probably one of the best books you can read on your craft right now. It’s Nudge for advertisers.
Outlining ten evidence-based effective advertising strategies, each with a scientific underpinning, Adam Ferrier (psychologist and founder of Naked) is up there. He is up there with fellow Antipodean Byron Sharp regarding must-reads for marketers.
Feelings have a critical role in the way customers are influenced.
David Freemantle
Related post: What to Expect from a Creative Advertising Strategy
This is a critical missed opportunity in our view. We have studied and evaluated commercials for more than five years.
Our focus is somewhat unique; we aren’t interested in entertainment value, we are interested in business impact. We study each spot and evaluate its power to build the business and the brand.
What is the best advertising media design you have ever put to work for your business? We would love to hear about it. As a favor, please share it below. It would be greatly appreciated by our readers and us.
While emotional spots are not common, they are some of the most active we have seen. Consider these emotional spots:
Jeep
Last year Jeep ran a remarkable commercial saluting the troops fighting overseas. The ad was grave and emotional. It noted,
“There will be a seat left open, a light left on, a favorite dinner waiting, a warm bed made…because in your home, in our hearts; you’ve been missed. You’ve been needed, you’ve been cried for, prayed for. You are the reason we push on.”
Jeep touched deep emotions about loss and longing. And the spot worked to build the brand; it made people feel proud of Jeep and its values.
Perhaps more than any other advertiser, Budweiser knows the power of emotion. Over the years the brand has run a series of emotional spots featuring the iconic Clydesdales.
The 2013 spot, for example, highlighted the emotional bond between a horse and its trainer. It was one of the top spots of the year.
It isn’t easy to create an emotional spot for any commercial. Many environments are fun and energetic, and people aren’t primed for serious themes.
And, in many ways, the safe approach that many brands will take is to air the funny and lively commercials.
But, if we are lucky, some brands will tap into our emotions. And if they do it well they will emerge as some of the most efficient spots. Here are eight great examples we have reviewed recently that certainly touched and won our hearts.
Related post: Creative Secrets from Budweiser Advertising Examples
Extraordinary commercials … Guinness
In this commercial, Guinness uses an inspiring story to convey its emotional influence. Like great stories, it has a beginning where sympathetic characters encounter a complicating situation.
It has a middle where the characters confront and attempt to resolve the situation.
And it has an end where the outcome is revealed. It does not interpret or explain the action in the story for the audience.
Instead, a good story allows each member of the public to understand the story and its emotion as he or she understands the action. This is why people find good, emotional stories so appealing. It is why they find advertising that merely conveys facts and information boring.
Here is the Guinness ad video to refresh you or for you to review in case you haven’t seen it.
Guinness’s marketing story based on emotion has flipped traditional beer advertising on its head by getting rid of the template. Instead, it tells a real emotional story – that connects with people.
The responses were overwhelmingly positive … customers and particularly the target customers are looking for meaningful stories. The emotion in this marketing strategy certainly is addressing this end state in our opinion.
Breathtaking commercials … Zillow
The family in this ad is looking for a new home using the real estate company Zillow. It eventually can find exactly what they are looking for.
What the mother and children don’t expect is what is waiting for them on moving day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHLoWctz8q4
Some of the best emotional stories effectively use the element of emotional surprise like Zillow has done here.
Bell
Have you seen the remarkable branding video design from this South African business? The Bell’s TV commercial features a father whose intrepid spirit demonstrates just what it takes to be a real man of character.
The video 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. It certainly finds 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.
Experiences that trigger our emotions are saved and consolidated in lasting memory. Why you ask?
It is because the emotions generated by the experiences signal our brains that the skills are important to remember. Certainly, there is that kind of emotion in this story, isn’t there?
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VteDp3IK-60
Apple
Apple makes the messages as clean and straightforward as possible in this ad. You cannot overachieve on the simplicity of the message.
A message that the reader will quickly understand. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words.
Have you seen the Apple iPhone5 TV ad? If not, you should invest 1 minute now and check it out. It will grab you with the simplicity of the emotional influence.
Budweiser
The Budweiser puppy love commercial was, by most accounts, the biggest winner of the 2014 Super Bowl. There are no better means of influence or the power of persuasion than emotion for animals.
Hands down the best, in our opinion.
Experiences that trigger our emotions are saved and consolidated in lasting memory. It is because the emotions generated by the experiences signal our brains that the skills are important to remember. Check out this ad here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlNO2trC-mk
There are eight basic, universal emotions – joy, surprise, anticipation, acceptance, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust. Successful appeals to these basic emotions consolidate stories and the desired calls to action in the lasting memories of audiences.
Remarkable isn’t always the same. Get in the habit of doing the “unsafe” thing every time you have the opportunity is the best way to see what’s working and what’s not.
The key to being remembered is remarkable. Don’t let your marketing take the back seat; stand out like Budweiser does in this commercial.
This puppy love commercial focuses on emotional appeal in grand fashion. It is the secret of this business’s success.
Use breathtaking commercials … Samsung
In this great commercial, Samsung uses pictures/visuals to convey the message much better than words. “Seeing is believing” and “actions speak louder than words” are two common sayings that reflect a bias and preference for visual presentation.
Here is a four minute Samsung ad with 15-20 new features shown for their iPhone. No talking. And so simple that you quickly grasp the features and don’t lose interest.
And the coordinated music has a way to keep you tied in emotionally. Creating customer interest doesn’t get any simpler than this, does it? A very simple, yet clever design, don’t you think?
Creating customer interest doesn’t get any simpler yet still emotional based on the music, does it? A great ad design emotional element is to match what viewers see with what they hear.
People expect and prefer coordinated audio and visual messages because those messages are easier to process, feel, and understand.
A very simple, yet interesting design.
Dawn emotional appeal
Dawn emotional appeal
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. Something you don’t see very often.
Interesting information, well presented, showing emotion, always holds attention, yes? Keep in mind that people don’t watch ads … they watch what interests them. Your ad messages must be compelling to your target communities.
This message certainly grabs and holds attention based on emotion, superb visuals, and great issue advocacy.
Letting the visuals be the best influencer. People will watch, remember and most likely talk about, won’t they?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9qLIz1SJsk
The recent Dawn TV commercials started as YouTube videos and grew out of the success shown on that platform.
Use breathtaking commercials … Chrysler Dodge
“And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said ‘I need a caretaker.’ So God made a farmer,” preached Paul Harvey in the advertisement’s opening lines.
The message delivered by Harvey’s oratory became immediately clear: It was a celebration of the hard work of America’s farmers.
The two-minute advertisement for Dodge Ram, which paid tribute to America’s farmers and was composed entirely of still photographs depicting the farming industry, won the hearts and minds of viewers by evoking strong emotion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdR5TOhHJGM
Harvey’s narration, patterned on the Biblical account of the creation, was taken from a 1978 speech, “So God made a farmer,” which Harvey gave to a national convention of the Future Farmers of America. It was set to a collection of stark, still photographs — both color and black and white — of farmers at work.
As the advertisement concludes with the still image of a brand new Dodge Ram against the backdrop of a U.S. farm, we are reminded of one final message: “To the farmer in all of us.”
Key takeaways
The higher degree of emotion creates the more differentiation and makes it easier for your brand to project uniqueness and its word of mouth messages.
Emotion is the secret language of the brain. Work on emotion if you want to improve your persuasion or influence.
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.
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 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 advertising from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
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 Facebook, Twitter, Quora, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
