Today, We Acknowledge a Forgotten Friend...

The best way to convert visitors to customers using smart phones is to strike a memorable, lucrative chord.   It’s not enough to merely reach out to your consumer. That is annoying.  Its important to stand out, but giving away the right amount of incentive is absolutely vital as well. I wrote a blog earlier this week where this can be more thoroughly explained.

So what is an example of content that has stuck out to this particular consumer? I actually spent several hours trying to find out the name of this ill forgotten mascot. I remember being a youth and being absolutely consumed by this colourful character. This character, at least for a time completely re invented this brand. So who is this amazing entity? The answer to that is...

Miles was a character. Perhaps a little into himself, but who isn’t.  He blew up so fast, even his highness LeBron James joined in on a series of wacky 60-second adventures. The company at the helm of this 10-inch tall juggernaut? Sprite. The soft drink producer was revitalized and showed a large growth in sales for their parent company, Coca-Cola.

So why is this an example of content that could be used today? If Miles were around today, you could expect him to be the MC of every major promotional event and contest Sprite sponsored. He would probably have his own Twitter handle, @MilesThirst #ShowThemMyMotto. And finally he’d probably have stopped hanging out with Lebron James and maybe pursued a friendship with Derek Rose on his couch, chillin’ with his injury riddled friend.

@MilesThirst: Chillin’ with @DerekRose, first person to tweet me the closest Sprite machine, gets one on me #ShowThemMyMotto #ObeyYourThirst.

Above is what I began this whole thing with. Miles’ Thirst is only one drop in an entire lake of possibilities for other brands. This is how to strike your memorable chord. Above sales, above his brief celebrity status, Miles was much, much more. How? You ask. Well, because it’s been 10 years to date since his inaugural launch, and his message still rings true… Sprite or not; always obey your thirst. 

Content with content... see what I did there?

Content marketing is like inviting your forgotten drug riddled nephew over for an intervention and disguising it as a family reunion barbecue with Creed performing (if you’re into Creed).  No one can blame you for your tact, because sometimes you have to dress up the situation to make it desirable to appealing for the consumer/ drug inflicted degenerate to arrive on the scene with open arms.

“Consumers have shut off the traditional world of marketing. They own a DVR to skip television advertising, often ignore magazine advertising, and now have become so adept at online “surfing” that they can take in online information without a care for banners or buttons (making them irrelevant).”-contentmarketinginstitute.com

I agree with this entirely. Previous generations and even myself as a child used to spectate advertisements intently, because well, we were limited to one screen of viewing. There weren’t many other avenues to venture down while we endured our 90 second respite from our favourite programs.

My Professor Lindsey Fair of my Interactive Web Marketing class made an interesting comment the other day in reference to our modern day viewing experience consisting of, in some cases, three screens. While watching our favourite program in prime time, we can also explore the vast openness of our tablet, laptops and smart phones. From the inception of television until pretty much this decade we as an audience were predominantly a ‘single screen viewing culture’. The previous myriad of modern technology mentioned before provides up to in most cases 3 screens of viewing for the modern couch potato with one being communal (television).

This creates plenty of ways to reach out to your consumer, but with so many things dividing our attention, its become more challenging than ever to create a memorable and captivating message.

With each passing economic quarter, our marketing immune systems get stronger. More traditional methods aren’t reaching their targets at quite the same frequency that they used to. This is because we’ve become desensitized to dated methods. Content marketing has been around for over a century and yet only 60% of businesses today use it.

“While consumers continue to tune out traditional, intrusive marketing communications, they increasingly crave the type of genuine, customer-focused information that content marketing delivers.” -Jayson Demers, Forbes.com

This is a fact that cannot be argued. Consumers want something that’s tailored to them, or at least feels that way. By making content that’s tailored to their interests you leave a memorable impression.  The first example of content marketing was the Furrow. A magazine dedicated to selling and promoting John Deere products. This was great because it reached out to an entire market that normally wouldn’t be exposed to traditional marketing in more densely populated areas. The success has since evolved into a distribution rate of 1.5 million throughout 40 countries globally. It was in essence the most non intrusive way to enter their targets subconscious mind, illuminating the next generation of John Deere products while engaging a customer base in dire need of some attention.

“With content marketing being arguably the most critical piece of an inbound marketing strategy, and with an estimated 60% of businesses employing some form of inbound in their marketing, we’re poised to see explosive growth in the way businesses ‘do’ marketing.”- Jayson Demers, Forbes.com

Content marketing has been around for over a century and yet only 60% of businesses today use it? That was really surprising to me that the message has not caught on.  With the world embracing their new tech so feverishly, it wouldn’t surprise me if content marketing continued to be among one of the fastest growing aspects in future marketing plans. 

Amongst the 60% of companies that employ content marketing, the most astute and fastest to embrace social media have since begun too thrive further. ESPN comes to mind getting there message out there and in turn creating an engaged viewership for their other media outlet, television. They were pioneers in actively plugging their Twitter and Facebook handles amongst the masses, and has lead them to an additional outlet for their created content

“Typically, brands are under the impression that their fans or followers are hanging on to their every word to ‘build a relationship’. This is all sorts of wrong.!”- www.hubba.com/

What a lot of brands fail to bring is reasonable content. The content provides the stimulation, the buzz. If you’ve caught what’s called ‘trend jacking’ that’s just not cool. Try to be unique with your content. At the very least, know your consumer base enough to create content that at least appeals to their unique perspective.

I hate to say it but I don’t want a relationship with Jiffy peanut butter. I don’t want Jiffy calling me to ask how my Friday morning is going or whether or not I like jam better or peanut butter.  The number one reason why people follow brands on social media is for a discount or reward.- www.hubba.com/

Yeah, it helps to give a little. And this to me does not necessarily mean offering more lucrative incentives in the form of cash. There have been examples throughout Twitter history of companies using social media to announce their presence at a distinct and prime location. Offering a prize or voucher to the first person whom acknowledges their existence. It’s pretty brilliant. You don’t even have to win to be a part of the discussion of that particular brand.

“Awe, man I wish I was near Dundas Square to even have a chance to find Carlton the Bear and have a chance to score free Leafs tickets. I mean all for only knowing an answer to the most inane of questions?!?!?”

-       An example of a stimulated consumer still feeling a part of the promotion even though there’s no chance in hell they will be receiving the prize.

I have no proof that such an example has ever occurred. However, if such an event has not, then I’d be really surprised and disappointed in MLSE’s marketing endeavors. #HireMeMLSE.  If I do in fact get a job at MLSE from that hast tag, then this example of content marketing you’ve just read will have paid immediate dividends!


Until next time, this is the ‘nation, talking ‘bout the situation! (All Jersey Shore puns or jokes shall inherently be considered dated and immature, thank you)