High street brands must merge digital and offline strategies
As published in MadCoUK
In the digital age, brands need to synchronize their marketing message across all channels if they are to rise to the top, argues Tom Stein.
For as far back as the beginnings of the civilized world, there was this thing called "the economy." In 1995/96, a new thing came into being – the "digital, or new, economy."
Thus began a half-decade divide between the so-called old economy and the so-called new one. Many new digital brands were born. Many older traditional brands rushed to extend themselves onto this new digital playing field.
Now, here we are deep into 2001, and the divide between new economy and old economy brands is narrowing. Soon, it will disappear entirely and we will be left with one integrated economy and brandscape. Yet, it will be a far different one than existed six years ago.
The difference is driven by the Internet, which has added new marketing and distribution channels to existing ones. More than ever before, we live in a multi-channel marketing environment ˆ one in which consumers have far greater control.
From the mega-agencies of Manhattan to the Internet agencies of San Francisco, there is a growing emphasis on – and need for – synchronicity when it comes to advertising and marketing.
The notion of online/offline channel and marketing integration has become all the more essential with the huge penetration of the web. It is a notion being turned into compelling reality by many brands. Let me give you a few examples.
"Bricks and mortar" retailer Gap has quickly become a leading "clicks and mortar" retailer by understanding how to create a synchronized brand experience in-store and on the web. Gap aggressively markets its retail stores and Web site. The Web site is featured prominently in all advertising and direct marketing, as well as at every cash register and in-store displays. Web shoppers can return products at stores. Store shoppers can go online to find out-of-stock merchandise not carried by stores. Personalized e-mails promote specials that can be redeemed online or in-store.
Far from cannibalizing store sales, this seamless approach seems to be significantly increasing shopping frequency and overall sales per customer.
From a purely advertising perspective, brands like Nike are synchronizing offline and online ads as never before. In fact, when Nike recently launched a campaign to promote its new cross training shoe, Air Cross II, it did so with TV ads designed to drive viewers to the whatever.nike.com Web site. On the site, viewers could choose their own endings to the TV spots, thus turning a thirty-second, one-way brand message into a thirty-minute brand interaction and dialogue. Very cool stuff. Which, after all, is what Nike is all about, isn't it?
From a channel management standpoint, Volvo uses the web to give consumers a rich experience, while at the same time channeling highly qualified leads to its dealerships… thus adding value to dealers rather than disintermediating them. Here's how: When users go to volvocars.com, they can use a "configurator" to configure the perfect Volvo for their needs. Before using the configurator, the consumer enters his or her zip code so that Volvo can forward a lead to a nearby car dealer. The car dealer, in turn, capitalizes on
the value of a lead from an individual who has just spent 20 minutes "configuring" her Volvo – hardly a casual tire kicker.
As synchronized marketing gathers force, technology and service providers are developing innovative products that help marketers and agencies implement truly integrated offline/online promotions and campaigns.
Engage has introduced a marketing application that enables you to efficiently create targeted online and offline promotions based on customer profile data. The solution effectively lets you draw from a database of creative and production assets, and seamlessly publish it online – as a banner ad, for example – while also creating offline print materials such as a newspaper ad or direct mail piece.
Other companies are enabling marketers to collect integrated campaign response data from multiple online and offline sources such as banners ads or direct mail in order to assess and optimize campaigns going forward.
There are plenty more examples of brand synchronicity and enablers of synchronized marketing – many more than can be included in this brief piece. However, many marketers and agencies still remain clueless as to the benefits of (rather, the need for) this level of integration, let alone how to achieve it. My feeling is that this will change quickly. Indeed, brand leadership will depend upon it.
As published in MadCoUK
In the digital age, brands need to synchronize their marketing message across all channels if they are to rise to the top, argues Tom Stein.
For as far back as the beginnings of the civilized world, there was this thing called "the economy." In 1995/96, a new thing came into being – the "digital, or new, economy."
Thus began a half-decade divide between the so-called old economy and the so-called new one. Many new digital brands were born. Many older traditional brands rushed to extend themselves onto this new digital playing field.
Now, here we are deep into 2001, and the divide between new economy and old economy brands is narrowing. Soon, it will disappear entirely and we will be left with one integrated economy and brandscape. Yet, it will be a far different one than existed six years ago.
The difference is driven by the Internet, which has added new marketing and distribution channels to existing ones. More than ever before, we live in a multi-channel marketing environment ˆ one in which consumers have far greater control.
From the mega-agencies of Manhattan to the Internet agencies of San Francisco, there is a growing emphasis on – and need for – synchronicity when it comes to advertising and marketing.
The notion of online/offline channel and marketing integration has become all the more essential with the huge penetration of the web. It is a notion being turned into compelling reality by many brands. Let me give you a few examples.
"Bricks and mortar" retailer Gap has quickly become a leading "clicks and mortar" retailer by understanding how to create a synchronized brand experience in-store and on the web. Gap aggressively markets its retail stores and Web site. The Web site is featured prominently in all advertising and direct marketing, as well as at every cash register and in-store displays. Web shoppers can return products at stores. Store shoppers can go online to find out-of-stock merchandise not carried by stores. Personalized e-mails promote specials that can be redeemed online or in-store.
Far from cannibalizing store sales, this seamless approach seems to be significantly increasing shopping frequency and overall sales per customer.
From a purely advertising perspective, brands like Nike are synchronizing offline and online ads as never before. In fact, when Nike recently launched a campaign to promote its new cross training shoe, Air Cross II, it did so with TV ads designed to drive viewers to the whatever.nike.com Web site. On the site, viewers could choose their own endings to the TV spots, thus turning a thirty-second, one-way brand message into a thirty-minute brand interaction and dialogue. Very cool stuff. Which, after all, is what Nike is all about, isn't it?
From a channel management standpoint, Volvo uses the web to give consumers a rich experience, while at the same time channeling highly qualified leads to its dealerships… thus adding value to dealers rather than disintermediating them. Here's how: When users go to volvocars.com, they can use a "configurator" to configure the perfect Volvo for their needs. Before using the configurator, the consumer enters his or her zip code so that Volvo can forward a lead to a nearby car dealer. The car dealer, in turn, capitalizes on
the value of a lead from an individual who has just spent 20 minutes "configuring" her Volvo – hardly a casual tire kicker.
As synchronized marketing gathers force, technology and service providers are developing innovative products that help marketers and agencies implement truly integrated offline/online promotions and campaigns.
Engage has introduced a marketing application that enables you to efficiently create targeted online and offline promotions based on customer profile data. The solution effectively lets you draw from a database of creative and production assets, and seamlessly publish it online – as a banner ad, for example – while also creating offline print materials such as a newspaper ad or direct mail piece.
Other companies are enabling marketers to collect integrated campaign response data from multiple online and offline sources such as banners ads or direct mail in order to assess and optimize campaigns going forward.
There are plenty more examples of brand synchronicity and enablers of synchronized marketing – many more than can be included in this brief piece. However, many marketers and agencies still remain clueless as to the benefits of (rather, the need for) this level of integration, let alone how to achieve it. My feeling is that this will change quickly. Indeed, brand leadership will depend upon it.