SOCIAL MEDIA
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
MKT 365 - ADVERTISING AND BEYOND: CUSTOMER-CENTRIC
BRAND DEVELOPMENT
WEEK 9
Introduction:
Social media advertising is a field that represents the blending of traditional and
digital media with the addition of word-of-mouth.
Social media encompasses most types of internet-based applications that focus on
activities and that enable the creation and exchange of content designed both by users and by
brands. Social media sites not only support but also encourage interaction. Marketing
messages on social media sites no longer focus on one-way, dropped messages from a brand
but rather become a dialog between the brand and the customer. Moreover, social media is
no longer an additional aspect of a brand's marketing plan. A 2012 study by research firm
Millward-Brown showed a direct correlation between how successful a company is and how
well it uses social media.
This idea of interactivity is different from other types of digital advertising. Digital
messages like banner ads want online users to click on the ad and be directed to a branded
site. Social media messages can be used for interactivity and to incentivize purchases as
well. But social media ads are also used to build brand-focused user communities. This
community develops positive word-of-mouth for the brand.
Social media is unique in that it includes paid, earned, and owned media. Owned
media is brand-controlled social media, such as a website, blog, or Twitter account. Owned
media is often used to build long-term relationships with customers and increase trust in the
brand. Paid media- a type of media that brands pay to utilize channels - including display
ads on social media sites and search engine marketing. Paid media builds on a foundation set
by the media owner and often directs online users to owned media properties. Earned media
is when customers become channels, sharing content created by the brand. This reflects the
brand's understanding of what it is most interested in and willing to share.
27.1. DEFINITION OF SOCIAL NETWORK SERVICES:
When we think of social media, we specifically think of social network services
(SNS). An SNS has the goal of building and encouraging social networks or social
relationships among people, often people who share interests, activities, or offline
relationships (see table 271). When your business is part of one person's network, your
interactions with that individual are visible to everyone in that network. This means that one
person's conversation can start a series of conversations within that person's social group or
network, resulting in positive word of mouth for your business.
Many brands big and small have an SNS presence as most consumers generally
spend time on the internet. Facebook has over 1.1 billion users who visit their site monthly
and over half of those people visit the site daily. The average Facebook network size is 120
people (meaning that every time a user posts a message on Facebook, it is seen by at least
120 other people). Twitter has 500 million users and 200 million "regular" users (meaning
active accounts or accounts that have posted something in the last month), and 500 million
tweets are posted every day on YouTube reports over 1 billion unique visitors every month,
with each visitor viewing an average of six hours of content per month. One of the newer
social media sites, Pinterest, has around 70 million users worldwide, a remarkable feat for
the site's four-year life. Another fast-growing social network is Instagram, which is owned
by Facebook.
A word of caution: the success of social media can be temporary, with new
applications emerging regularly, all focused on providing new, fun and engaging ways for
people to engage with each other and with brands. The top social networking site in 2007,
MySpace, now contains only 25 million users, with only about 18 percent of them being
active users.
27.2. SNS TYPE:
SNS allows users to share ideas, activities, events and interests within their
respective networks. What this means for media and brand planners is that these campaigns
are not just planned, negotiated and left to run. Campaigns must have consistent engagement
with someone (either at the agency or at the client level) monitoring and participating in
activities on social networking sites. Without this kind of commitment, any campaign on
social networks will fail. There are several different categories of SNS (see table 272). Key
sites for media planners to be familiar with (and which we focus on in this chapter) include:
⚫
Social networking sites, which enable various forms of communication between users and
their networks.
⚫
microblogging sites, which provide short messages, mainly in text form. Microblogs often
limit entries to less than 300 characters, which results in short messages. Microblogging
applications also allow matching links to other websites.
⚫
Multimedia site, which allows us to share photos and video images. Users can tag and
organize content so that others can search and find images.
Other types of social media that media planners need to know include:
⚫
Blog: the term blog is derived from the term weblog, which is a website that is generally
created and maintained by individuals and includes entries of comments, descriptions of
events, or other material such as graphics or videos. Many blogs highlight commentary or
news on a particular topic. Others are more akin to personal online diaries.
⚫
Review and opinion sites: These types of sites allow online users to rate products, services
and businesses (although retail stores and services currently represent the majority of
reviews). Although they rarely accept advertising, companies can create branded accounts to
respond to user reviews and provide information about the brand.
⚫
Geosocial networks: these are tools that use geographic services such as GPS to connect
users who submit their location data to the service either through their computers or, more
likely, through their cell phones. Users can see where their friends frequent, and businesses
can reward visitors who frequently "check in" at their location.
Within a single category, some sites offer simple and efficient tools and applications;
others offer more complex ones. Some appeal to younger people, some to older ones. Some
are brand new, and some have been around for quite a while. Most of these sites have their
own analytics systems modeled after Google analytics. At a minimum, these sites will track
followers (different sites have different names, such as friends or fans) and provide some
indication of engagement levels (i.e., interactions between the brand and followers). We
focus the discussion in this book on the most used and most popular services since 2014,
including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and the emerging service Pinterest.
27.3. SOCIAL ADVERTISING AND MEDIA PLANNING:
Since these types of media change daily, one of the roles of the media planner is to
be aware of the various social media offerings available, to track their popularity and their
demographics, and to assess how well the medium will fit the consumer. Working closely
with others in the agency, media planners also need to assess whether there is a commitment
to consistently providing content for social networking sites and also a commitment to
responding to online interactions. As there are varying levels of engagement with social
media, media planners may also be responsible for negotiating media placements on new
media.
27.4. EARLY LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT: THE PRESENCE OF AN SNS:
Many brands are turning to social media by creating simple sites and filling them
with content. Examples include a Facebook page dedicated to the Frosty Wendy's brand, a
Twitter feed outlining new offerings from Barnes & Noble, or a YouTube Video channel for
sports giant Nike. The key to success is to have a large number of people following the SNS.
Many internet users will search for brands they like and choose to join that social network.
Other internet users will see that their friends on SNS like a particular brand and will choose
to follow that brand on SNS as well. This shows that a social networking site can be
established without using cash as long as there is content to populate the site. So, media
planners will monitor the growth of followers and monitor the effects of various content.
27.5. SECOND LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT: SNS ADS
Established SNSs allow advertisements on their sites. These advertisements are
similar to various types of digital advertisements, which are discussed in article 19. An
overview of how the site works is next.q
Facebook:
Advertisers can create highly targeted ads and serve them to audiences on Facebook.
Facebook users provide information about themselves, not only demographic but also
psychographic information. Using Facebook's advertising tools, a media planner can select
demographic characteristics for ads including age, gender, and geographic location;
advertisers can even choose to target people on their birthdays. In addition, targets can be
segmented based on what other types of Facebook sites they have chosen; that is, ads can
attack people who like Rachael Ray shows or "fly fishing" "Ads on Facebook can direct
people to sites on the Facebook network or to sites outside the network.
Twitter:
"Tweets" are paid tweets from advertisers that appear at the top of the Twitter search
results page. "Promoted trends" are updates of the most popular Twitter topics promoted by
advertisers. They initially appear at the bottom of Twitter's Trending topics list and are
clearly marked as "promoted." Users who click on a promoted trend will see Twitter search
results for that topic, with a link to the advertiser's promoted Tweet appearing at the top of
the page. Ratings are based on impressions.
Youtube:
YouTube's live ad plan includes video clips that start 15 seconds after the viewer
starts watching the video. Another option is to place Google AdWords, where advertisers
can choose the keywords or categories in which their ads appear, or can target by geography,
interests, and demographics. Costs are based on CPC bidding (see chapter 19 for more
information on bidding).
Pinterest:
While Pinterest has not yet accepted paid advertising, the "promotion needle" has
moved into the paid test phase. Many brands have Pinterest accounts and showcase 166
merchandise they sell on social networking sites. Brands can also provide pricing
information. For example, cosmetics retailer Sephora uses Pinterest in several ways. First,
on Sephora's site, it encourages customers to "pin" images of Sephora products they buy and
enjoy. The pinned images then appear on consumers' Pinterest boards. Sephora also creates
its own boards, providing more images that people can pin. Pins can track users and update
them on specials and sales at Sephora.
27.6. THIRD LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT: SOCIAL ADVERTISING:
Innovative marketers are looking for new and different ways to integrate traditional
advertising with social networks, referred to as social advertising. According to Internet
advertising agencies, social ads are online ads that incorporate user interactions that
consumers agree to display and share. So, by this definition, a social ad is an ad that contains
information about the user (e.g. a picture or name) that relates to some advertising content.
As a result, it can be viewed as a personal endorsement, almost like a word-of-mouth
message. Examples include display ads with polls. For example, an ad for a movie section
might ask, "are you going to see this movie this weekend?" along with response options such
as "yes," "no," and "not sure." After the individual votes, the responses will appear to him or
her in a new box, along with a number of names of friends who have also voted in the poll.
Social advertising is currently evolving to produce new and exciting models of
consumer engagement. In the summer of 2010, perhaps the most talked about commercial
was one for Old Spice, featuring former NFL player Yesaya Mustafa. (Mustafa reprised his
role in the English version of the ad in 2014.) The ad ran on network and cable television,
but also on YouTube and Facebook sites. As people began to interact with the ad, the agency
listened to comments and questions, and they created new content in which Mustafa
responded to questions. And in the finale (and what some critics called brilliant), the ads
spoke to people directly, starting with a "get well soon" message to Digg founder Kevin
Rose and other personalized messages to online celebrities like Perez Hilton, as well as to
movie and sports stars. When the campaign ended in mid-July, fans were disappointed to see
it go, and a key challenge for social ads was identified: the ability to maintain a community
around them. Old Spice took on that challenge by creating a 2012 campaign with Terry's
crew, a retired NFL football player. The campaign featured a video of the crew playing
musical instruments by stretching their muscles. After watching the video, viewers could
then use their keyboards to play their own songs. There will be many commercials with the
crew planned.
As most media planners will quickly see, social advertising is similar to widespread
video and other types of video messaging - messages that move quickly through Internet
channels with little traditional advertising support (although in the old Spice case, traditional
television advertising didn't hurt if the viral element was initiated). Combining content with
social media sites, and then measuring and monitoring the effects, will be a key element in
the work of media planners.
27.7. PRICING OPTIONS:
In addition to traditional cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-thousand (CPM) pricing,
discussed earlier in this book, several other pricing options are being considered and
occasionally implemented by some advertisers. These include:
⚫
Cost-per-Install: with this option, which is similar to cost-per-click, advertisers pay every
time a user downloads and installs a widget or app on a computer or smartphone. While this
guarantees content distribution, it does not guarantee that users will interact with the content.
⚫
Cost-action: advertisers pay every time a user takes a specific action, such as becoming a fan
or friend, posting to a professor, viewing a video, or playing a game. This works best when a
single, specific action is desired.
⚫
Cost per engagement: advertisers pay each time an engagement takes place within a certain
period of time, such as submitting user-generated content, interactions with content, votes,
and reviews and ratings.
27.8. THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA:
With new apps being invented all the time, it is hard to predict the future of social
media. One of the applications mentioned at the beginning of this article, social networking,
also known as "lo-jadi" for "socializing with location", seems poised to become a major
advertising vehicle. Applications such as the social network Tumblr, digital advertising,
direct marketing, and games. Users "check in" when they visit physical locations such as
restaurants, bars, and retail stores, and their status is sent to people in their own network.
When they check in, they receive incentives such as badges and awards based on the
frequency of visits, as well as offers from recognized businesses.
Many new SNSs are being developed, and it is important to see whether they
succeed or not. One example is a site called Medium, which was developed in 2012 by Ev
Williams, who founded both bloggers and Twitter. Medium allows content that is longer
than a tweet, but shorter than a blog. Another is Viddy, a site that contains user-generated
videos of 15 seconds or less. Videos tend to be shot using cell phones, and the Viddy site
allows users to create special effects to enhance the appearance of their content. Viddy has
been bought by Fullscreen, so whether or not the app will remain to be seen (Kafka 2014).
When new SNSs come online, tracking how they develop from an advertising
perspective is important. For example, in early 2014, Pinterest did not have paid advertising,
but brands took advantage of the opportunity to publish visual images of their products and
for others to share those images. Pinterest now collects data to make recommendations to
users, similar to tools used by sites like Amazon and Netflix. New employees on the site
indicate advertising opportunities are imminent.
Another SNS emergence is sites that want to be portals. Social networks such as
Facebook and Twitter do not like to think of themselves as websites; rather, they see
themselves as standalone applications that can organize the user's entire web experience.
Facebook, in particular, is moving towards becoming the "center" - given the fact that
Facebook usage dominates online time for many individuals. One way Facebook is doing
this is through a program called Facebook connections, which is not a media channel but
rather software that integrates the Facebook experience into branded sites. At a basic level, a
user can log into branded sites via Facebook, saving them the need to have multiple logins
and usernames. At a more effective level, users indicate their preference for specific brands
using the Facebook "like" feature on the branded site, and the brand uses this information to
send specific branded messages via Facebook. A cosmetics e-tailer like Sephora, for
example, will see that one person likes two specific brands and buys a lot of mascara, and
the ads and other messages delivered via Facebook will be focused on those purchases.
There has also been an increase in social network product placement. Integrating
brands into social experiences is a challenge, but one that certain companies are trying to
overcome
27.9. SUMMARY:
Instead of disrupting the user experience, brands need to find ways to become part of
the user experience when they participate in SNS. The evolving digital landscape is a
challenging yet exciting environment that can allow brands to be creative and for media
planners to achieve new levels of engagement with consumers.
DIRECT RESPONSE:
Every ad has to get a response. So, what is the difference between direct response
media and just plain media? The industry is currently struggling with this question, and there
are many different opinions on the answer.
The direct marketing association (DMA) has defined direct marketing as "any direct
communication designed to generate a response in the form of an order, a request for more
information and/or a visit to a store or place of business to purchase a specific product or
service." Others consider it a scalable marketing system that uses one or more advertising
media to build a transaction and relationship database.
Direct response differs from other media in two areas. The first is that direct
response media is an interactive marketing system. It connects buyers and sellers directly.
Most advertising campaigns use media to help persuade consumers to take action. Direct
response media is a channel for action. Instead of asking you to go to a store to buy
something, direct response media is a store where you can buy something.
The second area where direct response differs from other media is how it is
measured. Media is usually measured by how many people it reaches. Advertising
measurement is measured in the form of brand measures and sales measures. But that
assumes that advertising is one element of a series of tools to generate sales. Direct response
media has a quick and measurable response. This response can take many forms, from
responding to a mail offer, calling on the phone, or going to a website. The point is that
direct response media is measured by transactions and not reach.
28.1. LANSCAPE ON DIRECT RESPONSE:
Is it any wonder that direct response media is a favorite among marketing directors?
Unlike the advertising world, direct response is accountable. Managers know what their
return on investment (ROI) is. In a world where ROI reigns supreme, direct response media
is king.
That's why direct response is big business. As Ad Age reported in 2012, direct
marketing's cut of advertising companies was about $5 billion. 17.4 percent of total ad
revenue on top of digital, public relations, and promotions.
In fact, as table 28.1 shows, the top direct response advertising councils all have
more than $100 million in individual revenue. To put this in perspective, the top two
agencies, Acxiom and Epsilon, are larger than the top two general advertising agencies in
the US. The largest revenue advertising agency in the US in 2014 was McCann Erickson,
with revenues of $450 million. Acxiom is almost 50 percent larger than McCann Erickson,
while Epsilon is comparable in size.
In addition, direct response has increasingly become part of the advertising mix. It
has made steady gains while other media have shrunk. Direct response, once the bastion of
mail order or exciting late-night television products, has now moved into the mainstream.
Large national advertisers like Proter & Gamble have used direct response to market some
of their larger brands.
28.2. THE ROLE OF DATA-DRIVEN MARKETING:
Increased direct response is linked to the use of database marketing. Database
marketers build and maintain a wealth of information about current and prospective
customers. With the increase in personal information available and the ability to collect this
information through computer technology, marketers can communicate with individuals
personally using a variety of media.
A good database allows marketers to profile and segment their customers and
prospects. It provides them with the knowledge of who their customers and prospects are,
when they have purchased, how much they have purchased, and how to best communicate
with them.
This leads to CRM, or customer relationship management programs to which direct
response campaigns are tied. Direct response is associated with generating the initial sale,
whereas CRM programs are associated with subsequent sales. In building more and more
sales from the same customer, marketers establish a relationship with that customer. The
more purchase history, the more marketers can anticipate what the customer needs or wants.
This is why direct response and CRM play a big role in many integrated marketing
communications programs.
By profiling or segmenting databases, marketers can gain efficiencies from
marketing dollars that are difficult to achieve in other ways. One of the basic ways that
marketers segment their customer database is through the RFM method. RFM stands for
recency, frequency, and monetary. It is used to identify the best customers and those most
likely to buy again. Those best customers are usually those who have bought recently and
frequently, and spend the most money. Through this type of segmentation, a marketer can
choose to serve the most profitable customers.
By using the database as a learning tool, marketplaces can constantly test different
media, offers, and message creatives to continuously improve their return on investment.
28.3. TYPES OF DIRECT RESPONSE:
Ads that ask consumers to provide direct feedback to the sender are called direct
response ads. Any medium can be used for direct response advertising. While the most
commonly used direct response mediums are direct correspondence, catalogs, and television,
the array of digital mediums that correspond to each of their traditional counterparts is
growing rapidly.
1) Broadcast: Live Broadcast:
Who hasn't seen an infomercial? Infomercials are 30 or 60 minute paid programs on
television that sell everything from fitness equipment to kitchen appliances to get-rich-quick
schemes. Direct response television is mostly associated with the Ron Propeils of the world
(think Veggiematic, pocket fisherman, and so on). However, many brands still use direct
response television as an important part of their marketing mix. Some of the recent big
brands using direct response (DR) on television include Dell, Allstate, and Tide.
Radio is also a large direct response medium. Like television, radio has paid
programming that provides content and then sells products. And radio is the home of radio
broadcasters and commentators like Dave Ramsey who pitch various products. On the
digital side, video and audio podcasts are a popular way to gain traction in the market.
A number of media channels provide free content in video or audio podcasts as a
way of enticing consumers to subscribe to content they pay for. The Wall Street Journal,
Barron's, and other media channels regularly provide podcasts as a marketing tool to acquire
future customers.
2) Print: Print
Since long ago, print has had a number of direct response advertisers featuring
coupons or toll-free numbers as response mechanisms. Print is also a delivery mechanism
for large-scale couponing efforts and product insertion.
The introduction of the iPad and similar tablet devices took print into a new world of
direct response. Traditional one-dimensional print ads can now be dynamic, where
consumers can click on a website in the ad to purchase the product directly. The tablet is a
convergent media delivery system that combines the best of brand media with direct
response.
3) Mail: Direct Message
Direct mail is the grandfather of direct response advertising. Nearly a quarter of all
direct response advertising is spent on some form of direct mail, which is followed by
catalogs, the next largest category of direct response. Catalogs are big business with nearly
10 billion of them hitting the mail every year.
As the cost of paper and post increases, marketers are turning to digital alternatives
for postal activities. Email Marketing is a rising category of direct response because it is
easy to do and very cost-effective. However, with the rise of spam and more sophisticated
spam filters, non-consent-based emails are quickly falling out of favor with marketers.
However, permission-based emails are one of the keys to a multiple-channel direct response
plan. Just as traditional postal mail is moving to email, paper catalogs are moving to digital
catalogs and sophisticated e-commerce sites. Many retailers have a tail-tail component to
their business, which is controlled by direct response media.
4) Out-of-Home:
Most people think of billboards when they think of out-of-home media. But there are
a number of direct response mechanisms that reside outside the home. Simple "take-ones"
located in retail stores and other public places are examples of out-of-home tactics.
Billboards featuring text response can be made into effective direct response vehicles.
Interactive digital kiosks found in shopping malls or at ballparks are examples of
how the electronic form of an old medium can breathe new life into a vehicle.
5) Directory:
Response is not always the most glamorous medium. That's especially true of the
directory category. Telephone yellow pages are an old-fashioned but still effective direct
response vehicle. Although paper directories are fading, their electronic counterparts such as
Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs) and car search have gained considerable traction. Clearly, the
most frequently used direct response vehicle today is search engine marketing (SEM).
Business searches on Google alone are the dominant form of direct response.
6) Size and Cost:
Unlike other media, direct response media has its own measurement system and
currency. Most media is bought on a cost per thousand (CPM) basis. A media audience has a
certain CPM value. Multiplying the number of viewers by the CPM will result in the unit
cost of the media. The measure of efficiency, then, is how low the CPM is. The idea of a
media plan is to reach the largest number of consumers for the least amount of money.
Direct response media, on the other hand, is not based on CPM. It is based on cost-
per-response. That response-per-response could be cost-per-lead or it could be cost-per-sale.
However, the key concept is that every media vehicle purchased is based on behavioral cost.
Success in the world of direct response is based on keeping the cost-per-lead or sale
down. Unlike other media, the idea of direct response is to get the most leads or sales for the
least amount of money. This actually means reducing the overall number of consumers - but
reaching more active consumers.
Most direct response campaigns have a test phase where media buyers commit funds
to various media or vehicles within a given medium. Based on this initial investment, the
media buyer then determines the optimum cost-per-lead or sales from which future costs are
derived. Instead of negotiating with media based on CPM, media buyers will negotiate based
on cost or sales. Media partners are priced based on sales or activity and not their total
audience.
Each program back then had a specific commercial unit cost. For example, the M-F
9a-7p daypart cost $300. So, every time it went on commercial air, HYPO's workout cost
$300. The balance of analysis is response. Just read, the M-F 9a-7p program generates 30
leads. By dividing the leads by the unit cost of $300, you have get a cost-per-lead (CPL) of
10 dollars ($300/30 = $10). The next column shows the percentage of 30 consumers who
bought the product. In this case, it's 40 percent or 12 customers (30×.40=12). Those 12
customers each bought the HYPO workout product for 50 dollars, making the total sales for
this product on this day $600 ($50 million 12 = $600). The ROI is 100 percent. This is
calculated first by subtracting total advertising costs by total sales and second by dividing
incremental sales by advertising costs ($600 - $300 = $300 and $300 = 100 = 100%).
Another way to evaluate it is that it costs 25 dollars for every sale made.
So, today was very successful. Compare this to the next day, M-Su 5p-12a. Here, the
buyer paid $600 for a commercial but only made $625 in sales. In this case, the sales did not
cover the cost of the purchased media. This particular media placement was not as effective
as the previous one.
Armed with this information, media buyers know that the average cost-to-lead is
$15. Forty-two percent of those leads are insights on sales with an average cost-per-sale of
$35. Media buyers might work with the media to set the benchmark on cost-per-lead to no
more than $15 or even lower. And, media buyers might tell the television media partner that
because certain days are much better than others, he will buy more ads on the better days.
This type of analysis and concept can be used with every medium. So, in the
interactive area, it might be cost-per-click and then cost-per-sale. In the print area, it would
be cost-per-lead and then cost-per-sale. Other media will also be the same. Direct response
advertisers look at each media buy in two ways. The first is the amount they make for each
ad; the second is the learning gained from each media placement. Each placement
opportunity is one step closer to optimizing their investment.
Push and pull direct response advertising purchases differ from brand or promotional
messages. In the case of the latter, media placement is done at a specific time when the
message is most relevant. For direct response, placement is done based on making the most
money regardless of the timing. If that means scheduling all your broadcast ads after
midnight, then so be it.
Direct response media buyers are evaluating media based on cost and response. If the
price is too high on a highly responsive media vehicle, the media buyer will not agree to
place the schedule. It is better to save dollars than to buy media inventory on which you will
not make a profit.
This media buying strategy is the opposite of a brand strategy. In a brand strategy,
you look to buy media that is popular with consumers. These may be high demand media
where many advertisers are supporting the media vehicle. In direct response, you look to buy
media that has weak advertising demand. The weaker the demand, the more likely you are to
get a favorable rate at which you can make the biggest profit.
7) Creative Unit:
As we have discussed, direct response advertising is different from branded
advertising. Brand advertising is designed to continue building favor over time. It has a
cumulative effect. Direct response ads have to pay each time they are run.
Because of these differences, the direct response creative unit is more involved than
branded messaging. It is unlikely that a direct response advertiser can develop a compelling
story and call to action in a 15-second television commercial. Yet brand advertisers regularly
use these long units to communicate brand differences.
Size may not always make a difference in print advertising. A small ad with the right
phone number or shipping address can get as many responses as a full-page large ad. Or, a
quarter-page ad with a coupon can generate as much as a full-page ad. Every brand and offer
is unique.
Determining the optimal creative message, offer, and size or length are key variables
that direct response advertisers are constantly testing. Combined with media placement,
these become the tests for direct response campaigns.
Where there are key creative unit implications for media teams is in the broadcast
category. There are three types of creative units: short-form units, long-form units, and paid
programs. Short-form units are commercials that are 30 or 60 seconds long. These are
commercial units that are also popular with branded messages. Long-form units are
commercials that are 2 minutes, 5 minutes, or any other length of time. They are longer than
the standard size but they are not paid programming. Paid programming buys 30 minutes or
an hour of program time in one piece. The logical extension of long-form advertising is an
entire network devoted to direct sales. Home Shopping Network and QVC are the two main
networks that have provided forums for the sale of products of all kinds over the last decade.
Everything from jewelry to collectibles to general merchandise was sold on the airwaves.
The principle of direct response is to constantly look for opportunities where you can
maximize return on investment. This means that media teams and creative teams must
constantly look for ways to improve performance.
8) Future of Direct Response:
Direct response has moved from a mainstream advertising field to a mainstream one.
The growth of direct response should be faster than brand advertising in the coming years.
There are several trends fueling that growth.
9) Convergence in Media:
There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a convergent media revolution. With
new devices that combine print immersion, broadcast emotion, and Internet response, all
types of media can become interactive. Print ads can be opened directly to purchase products
on a website. Television programs will offer technology to dive deeper and purchase
products. Radio will have voice-activated buying opportunities. So, direct response will turn
into a call to action for what is traditional brand advertising.
10) Cell Phones and Social Media:
The rise of mobile media will greatly enhance direct response capabilities. By
triangulating your location through your phone, marketers can push offers to you while you
are driving or walking in front of a store. With more access large to media via mobile, the
ability to add this dimension to existing dimensions is a marketer's dream come true.
Social media is the new frontier for direct response advertisers. On social media
platforms, pay-per-click direct response advertising is part of the advertising landscape.
Direct response brands are experimenting with their own social media platforms where they
can sell their products and build a community of followers.
11) Mobile Payment:
The ability for consumers to pay for goods and services whenever or wherever they
want is another boon to the world of direct response. As technology accelerates the
accessibility between electronic payments and security and privacy, the opportunity to make
sales is greatly increased. Electronic payment systems like PayPal are being tested via
mobile devices as well as live streaming. Both Comcast, the largest cable system in the US,
and TiVo, a popular digital video recording device, have begun integrating PayPal into their
systems so that consumers can quickly order and pay for products without leaving their
couches.
28.4. SUMMARY:
The ability for consumers to pay for goods and services whenever or wherever they
want is another boon to the world of direct response. As technology accelerates the
accessibility between electronic payments and security and privacy, the opportunity to make
sales is greatly increased. Electronic payment systems like PayPal are being tested via
mobile devices as well as live streaming. Both Comcast, the largest cable system in the US,
and TiVo, a popular digital video recording device, have begun integrating PayPal into their
systems so that consumers can quickly order and pay for products without leaving their
couches.
ALTERNATIVE MEDIA :
Alternative media is in some ways a catchall term for different types of media
opportunities that do not easily fit into the other categories discussed in this book. However,
a better definition is that alternative media are opportunities that are generally not part of the
main target campaign but are used:
1) For special and one-time promotions such as product launches
2) To reach specific (and generally hard-to-reach) audiences
3) To deliver messages through non-traditional media channels
The term alternative media is now used interchangeably with the term guerrilla
marketing, coined as an unconventional promotional system that relies on time, energy and
imagination rather than large marketing budgets. These messages, which appear in
unexpected places, may surprise the audience (in a positive way) and thus make a positive
impression. They can also shape public relations and media coverage. In general, the
messages are quite simple and easy to understand. The main objective of alternative media
advertising is to have an impact in a short timeframe, and as a result many guerrilla
campaigns are highly localized in narrow traffic areas and use the element of surprise to
engage people. The message has an impact on the surrounding environment and often causes
the person experiencing the message to want to share it with others - that's the concept of
buzz.
Planning and approval for alternative media requires some creativity on the part of
the planner. In particular, the planner must be able to compare the pros, cons, and media
value of the alternative medium to the traditional medium that the client understands (and
likely utilizes). Often times, this type of benchmarking must be done in the absence of a
robust measure of size other than that provided by the medium itself - third parties to
measure alternative media are scarce.
29.1. Alternative Media Types:
Many types of media vehicles were initially alternative vehicles but then transitioned
into the mainstream as they grew in popularity. Advertising in video games, for example,
started as an alternative medium and is now considered a mainstream vehicle. Companies
are coming up with new ideas about where to place ads all the time. However, these
innovative practices fall into a few clear categories, which we will discuss here.
29.2. Surrounding Environment Media:
Ambient media messages are delivered through an object. In some ways, ambient
media is the next step in the evolution of outdoor advertising, where messages are delivered
to consumers outside the home at a micro level (see tables 29.1 and 29.2). Instead of being
open to messages passing by on billboards, consumers are more susceptible to messages
while they are using the object that carries the message. In general, the primary purpose of
the object (such as a coffee cup sleeve) is not simply a media channel. For some
environmental media, customers carry the object and message with them as they move
throughout their day. This allows exposure of the message to others they encounter as they
walk or take the elevator to thqeir work. For example, a coffee sleeve is viewed by a primary
user (coffee drinker) and up to six secondary users.
These messages are often for local businesses other than the coffee shop or restaurant
where the object is distributed, but can also be used for national campaigns. As these objects
are often taken away from the establishment, the messages can include a url or phone
number so that people can follow the message. Often people are surprised to see messages
for other brands in the place where the food is purchased, which increases interest and
engagement. Placement doesn't stop at paper objects, though; one company sells sponsored
messages in fortune cookies.
Nightclubs and Bars:
These messages reach younger consumers in a social setting, and are often taken
away from the venue as a memento of the evening.
Pharmacies:
Messages were placed on pouches containing prescription drugs purchased at
pharmacies. The benefits are the same as environmental media in restaurants, with the added
benefit of an implied endorsement from the pharmacy. If the prescription is picked up inside
the pharmacy, the customer will carry a personalized billboard that serves as a reminder
message as he or she walks to the front door. Medicine bag advertising has been seen as
particularly effective when advertising pharmaceutical products or promoting brands related
to healthcare and wellness.
School:
Messages can be placed on the covers of books that teachers make available to
students in the library and classroom. The messages are open to students every time they
pick up their texts.
Clothing:
Although brands have been putting their names on the clothes they sell for decades, a
new twist has emerged where brands pay people to wear their branded clothes. KFC, for
example, pays college women to wear sweatpants with the logo for its double sandwich
product on the seat of the sweatpants.
29.3. PUBLIC SPACE MARKETING:
Similar to outdoor advertising, public space marketing provides messages in public
outdoor locations. The difference is that, rather than using pre-printed posters, messages are
placed on the sidewalk using non-permanent techniques. Placed in crowded locations, they
receive high attention and can generate buzz. For example, Allure magazine uses stickers to
announce the availability of a new issue; placed near newsstands, they direct shoppers to
purchase.
29.4. WAIT MARKETING:
Based on the popularity of in-store advertising at checkout, some companies have
developed media channels to reach people while they are waiting in line. This is called wait
marketing. These good listeners usually welcome the messages, most likely because there is
nothing else to do while waiting. The advertising messages are integrated into existing
content (such as ESPN and CNN reports), and are often ads for products sold in nearby
stores (such as a store affiliated with a gas station).
29.5. WORD-OF-MOUTH ADVERTISING:
While word-of-mouth is not new, the act of providing a message passed from one
person to another is growing in popularity. This can happen in person (when someone passes
on a message to a friend, colleague or family member) or electronically, when it is known as
WOM.
Word-of-mouth marketing can happen organically. When customers are very happy
with a product, service, or retail establishment, they tell people that they know about it, and
that endorsement is a positive motivation for others to consider the purchase or sale as well.
Paying for WOM includes recruiting people to use and promote the product to their family,
friends, and colleagues, or perhaps even to strangers. Depending on the type of campaign,
individuals may or may not disclose that they are part of the promotion.
For example, the firm bzzagen asks individuals to become buzz agents for different
products. Buzz agents are sent new products (such as a new book release) and tell friends
and family about the product, and/or write reviews on the buzz agent's website. Agents write
reports covering who they told and what they said, and receive incentives and rewards for
their participation.
Key elements of a word-of-mouth campaign include finding the right people to talk
about the product - that is, people who are good communicators and who, by and large, have
many acquaintances. Providing these people not only with the product but also with product
information allows them to make persuasive reviews or recommendations. Monitoring
activities, such as reports written for bzzagen agents, is also important. You want to be able
to track how WOM moves through the network. As a result, this type of campaign does not
come cheap, and a campaign that uses 1,000 agents costs a minimum of 150,000 US dollars.
29.6. STREET MARKETING:
This new type of alternative media conveys a message to a specific audience through
a team either performing a service or distributing products in a specific place. It differs from
traditional examples (where a single individual hands out free samples to passers-by) in that
consumers are encouraged to take the time to engage in a marketing experience to receive a
branded message. These events usually take place in crowded shopping areas, parks and
beaches, busy work areas in city centers, and nightclubs and bars.
Street marketing is, in a way, a sponsored version of something known as a flash
mob, which is a large group of people who gather suddenly in a public place, perform an
unusual and pointless (but definitely flashy) act for a short time, then disperse. The term
flash mob is generally only applied to gatherings organized through telecommunications,
social media, or viral e-mail, not advertisers. However, today's flash-branded mobs are
becoming increasingly prominent.
To promote the new drink, drink marketer Fuze teamed up with their agency to send
costumed street teams across New York on a doubledecker bus. The bus advertised the drink
and dropped the teams off at various locations around the city where they put on a show
demonstrating how two things come together (green and black tea). T-Mobile filmed the
flash mob and used it in a traditional television commercial.
29.7. SIZE:
These alternative vehicles are rarely part of a third-party monitoring program, so it is
important that metrics are set prior to the event and that actual deliveries are tallied during
the campaign. Agencies using companies that specialize in guerrilla marketing should be
able to request some data for comparison purposes. Specifically, some of the metrics to be
examined include:
1) Impression: how many people saw the marketing campaign
2) Response: how many people used the stamp during the campaign
3) Conversion: how many people bought something as a result of the campaign (measuring
coupons or other coded items)
4) Buzz: comments on social media
Look carefully at the estimated impression and see if it seems reasonable to you, and then
look for comparable media to make a CPM comparison (see table 29.3 for some places to
start). What is the future of alternative media? Stated simply, anything goes. Brands and
agencies will work together to find unique and engaging user experiences, to introduce new
brands, and to strengthen customer loyalty. Creativity is key, and creative media planners
can blaze a trail in this area.
