This week is all about family, friends, turkey, reflection and appreciation. Call us nerds, but at Silver Spur, we’ve been thinking about what we are most thankful for when it comes to marketing and branding. We’ve come up with a list of 5 important moments in marketing history that we are thankful changed the industry forever.
Relationship Marketing
In the past few decades we’ve seen the rise of Relationship Marketing. Instead of talking at customers and telling them why they should buy a product, many brands now work to build a relationship with their customers. Coca Cola is a prime example of relationship marketing. The brand regularly launches campaigns that work to create a bond with their audience–like their recent “America the Beautiful” campaign.
This campaign promoted an inclusion of all races and ethnicities in the United States and framed diversity as a beautiful thing. Coca Cola has made itself relatable for all Americans, and in building relationships with its customers, it is also building brand loyalty.
So, that brings us to our first item:
1. Brand Loyalty–Marketing is not just about products anymore, it is about promoting ideas and values that customers can align with. Consumers have higher standards for brands than they did a few decades ago. We are all looking for brands that can partner with us to make the world better–whether it be through sustainability or philanthropy brands now work to appeal to not just our wants and needs, but also our moral compasses. We love that brands have a larger mission than selling products–we are all in this together, after all!
Now, we all know that an important part of building relationships is sharing experiences, and the same goes for relationship marketing. In order to really reach the next level of a brand-consumer relationship, many brands create experiences to enable customers to gain a better understanding of what they stand for.
2. Experiential Marketing–You’ve heard us say this before, but we feel it can’t be said enough–experiential marketing is where it’s at! We can’t think of a better way for customers to learn about the culture of a brand and to walk away with a stronger brand loyalty than through first-hand experience. We love that marketing experiences like Tour de Fat are here to stay–it makes our job that much more fun!
Social Marketing
Not long after the emergence of Relationship Marketing came the rise of Social Marketing. This type of marketing refers to social and real-time interactions with customers, usually via social media. Thanks to platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, not only do we expect our friends to give us regular life updates and to interact with our own posts, but we have grown to have the same expectation for brands. Here are three things we love have resulted from Social Marketing:
3. Real-time Interaction–There are seemingly endless opportunities when it comes to marketing on social platforms, but one of our favorites is the real-time interactions. Brands can easily answer questions, interact with customers, host giveaways and do fun reveals on various social platforms. One of our favorite places to go for customer service is Twitter…we’ve found that is where you usually get the quickest response!
4. Brand Personalities–With social media and real-time interactions, brands have more opportunity than ever to build their voice. Some brand personalities really go to the extreme–like the “manly” tone of Old Spice or the “millennial” voice of Taco Bell. We love that brands can get creative–and a little goofy on social media.
5. Viral Content–Last but certainly not least, we are thankful for the countless laughs we’ve gotten from viral cat videos, laughing babies and painful wipeouts. The internet has the power to make anything viral, as long as it is the right content. Although you cannot plan for a “viral marketing campaign,” it certainly is fascinating to watch when a brand successfully goes viral. Our favorite example of this is Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign.
So, as you travel to see your loved ones this holiday season, take time to reflect on all the amazing stepping stones that have made the marketing industry what it is today.
…Just kidding–we hope that you AREN’T thinking about marketing on Thursday, but if you DO have some thoughts on what you are grateful for, please share below!
Ride for the brand,
SSM
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