Garage Times

Uncommon eMarketing Tools Make Nicer Waves During Hard Times

A dedicated monitoring and tracking centre gives a boost to manipulating media resources. Hang the stats for now, until some proven measurement tool is accepted, you only want to see sales at your outlets online or in real life. You want to be having honest, sincere conversations with your audience, assuring them of support or giving advice or recommending buys. Any organisation would also want to buy media wisely. That’s where the analytics on both response and contact fronts kicks in. Build your own ratings engine to sync with the ROIs, so expectations are matched with the right budgets.

Without dashboard integration for easier media buys and ad reporting, mobile and social networks advertising will continue to struggle. It is good to see a burgeoning understanding and movement toward integration from key players. Online content requires a basic understanding of the combined use of words, pictures and videostreams. Creative content can be driven by yet another seldom-noticed tactic – product placement. Placements connect a brand directly with content producers and perhaps best overcome fans’ initial objections to advertising. Sponsors should also consider user-gen contests and other means of interacting with viewers which will increase brand lift and long-term sales much better than online video advertising alone. Brand engagement is both powerful and sensitive, so err on the side of caution because word gets around fast.

Making the conversation interactive opens up a whole new world.

In reality-type videos or programs, the main cost comes from hiring talent. Actors should be paid whatever the producer and the network agree on, not their professional rates. With the publicity they have gained from appearing on such a show, and should they then want to continue to make public appearances, they should join a guild. That’s because they have become what one calls a performer. I say that because not all performers are actors, but all actors are performers. This should be the guide when engaging reknown talent to endorse a brand in a production.

Manage the talent, but never forget to manage the budget.

Another powerful tool disguised as a media is the casual game. In the commercial sense, these are free. They are called advergames. The best casual games are free and will always be. Their quality and selection continues to grow, becoming the favored end of casual game play because they are “classics”. Women form the majority of this target segment [66%] almost because their limited attention span and patience for learning dictate that. Measuring demographics is a major challenge for location-specific promotions or activations, but brands do not experience this if uplift and mindshare are the objectives. Many popular casual games like Bejewelled are “brand-agnostic” and make great ambassadors. Majong is used to great effect by juice company Minute Maid where the tiles are designed as juice cartons. Online casual games also make the crossover to mobiles as favourites. Brands then get moved by another viral tactic, word of mouth. Targeting players is a no-brainer, they download it [IP address], play it [consumption], comment on it [feedback], and tell their friends [WOM]. If the mobile element is done well, you already have an opt-in. How you reward loyalty can be made within a “personal conversation” mode. Are you game for a longtail relationship?

Entertainment is addictive. You can make your brand a blockbuster classic.

Thanks to many friends engaged in conversations in the marketing columns, I was inspired to put these favoured tools on the table. If these insights give you a new perspective to how complex e-marketing is, and why measuring media effectiveness is tough, do leave your comments here.

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