Monthly Archives: April 2017

How to Make a Green Campaign a Seen Campaign

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Whilst going “green and clean” might be the latest hype and trend (Griskevicius et. al., 2010), there is still some stigma about it. Let’s face it, some people still associate going green with, in the words of my father,  being “a bit of a hippie”. That’s an unfair stigma to attach to cleaning up the industrial mistakes of the previous generations. Some even consider going green as “unmasculine”.

Unfortunately, this stigma leaves many green advocates lacking that luxury aspect we associate with big, successful corporate brands. We don’t particularly like getting our hands dirty, so why should the suited and booted  “big-shot” businessman do it?

Here you’ll find a few tips on how to handle the “non-believers” and overcome the “unconventional image”.

1. Establish your target audience

Every good campaign starts by getting to know the people it’s trying to impress. If you don’t know who your target audience it, you don’t know where to find them; you’ll need to advertise in all the right places. According to Dunlop et. al. (2016), if you’re appealing to the younger generation, you’ll need a strong internet presence. This article provided by comScore explains how to conduct target audience research.

2. Prepare your store front

Whether your company has a physical store, shop, or even just an office for people to visit or call, engage your employees to believe in what they are asked to advocate to the public. Herrenkohl et. al. (1999) conducted a study where he explains the importance of employees understanding company goals and current projects. Nobody wants to advertise something they aren’t convinced by, so make sure everyone involved within the business understands exactly what it is you’re doing, and most importantly why you’re doing it! Remember, these are the people with whom your audience comes into human contact; it’s vital for them to know what they’re talking about, and to be able to answer any questions on the spot.

3. Optimise your website

Make sure your website is easy to look at and navigate. With a new campaign, your website will generally be the first point of contact after people google it to find out more. Make sure it’s easy to find and has its own section on the site. In the Journal of Business Research, Rosen et. al. (2004) discusses that there is a theory that the ideal layout of a website can lead to more revisits!

The page needs to answer all the basic questions and offer a way for the public to ask more (this is also an opportunity for you to plug your social media pages). Feel free to use provocative imagery – your website is your billboard and yours to do with as you please! Make it eye catching and dramatic; a successful campaign is more than just a catchy slogan. However, don’t include too much information because this can be quite daunting to someone who was “just a little bit curious”.

4. Spread out over Social Media Platforms

Use different social media platforms to advertise your campaign and cause. This is where you can interact with the public and truly engage them.

Use Twitter to:

  • Be transparent in hitting your milestones. Share when you’ve “collected 100 tonnes of plastic from the ocean” or “saved 50 Koalas from extinction” – people want to know that they’re actually making a difference, because this will motivate them to continue!
  • Make it simple and convenient for the public to find out what all the “fuss is about”. People don’t want to read through pages and pages of news articles, they just want to know the “jist of it” and the latest updates.
  • Answer any questions from the public and benefit from the real time speed! People will generally only go through the effort of asking a question online if they know they’ll receive an answer quickly. However, remember to remain somewhat consistent with your posting! Burton et. al. (2011) warns that there is a need for strategic consistency to develop your Twitter practice in the article “Interactive or Reactive? Marketing with Twitter”.

Use Facebook to:

  • Get likes! Twitter is no longer the only platform that offers “trending” subjects. Make yourself known and share important media about the issue at hand on your page.
  • Allow people to leave feedback and ratings on your page – another way to interact with the public.
  • If you’re planning to make a viral video, this is the place to share it to inspire and educate your viewers! As people are sharing fewer personal updates, Facebook has become more of a video and article homepage; it’s a great place to promote yourself.

Use Instagram to:

  • Share pictures of your progress! People like to see what’s going on behind the scenes. Miles (2013) explains that you can reach your audience through the power of pictures on Instagram.
  • Use popular hashtags in your posts to attract people who might be interested in what you do and your campaign.
  • Create your own hashtag for people to use when they upload pictures of how they’re contributing or taking part.

Use Snapchat to:

  • Engage the audience! Create a filter for people to use in certain locations to further promote your cause and brand.  Below is an example of how this technique has successfully been used before:


Source: Wallaroomedia, 2017 “19 creative snapchat campaigns from brands to inspire your snap strategy”

  • Generate a story the public can become a part of! Ask your audience to take a picture of themselves either with your product or doing something related to your cause and feature the best entries on your own story. Here are some examples below:

“During the 2015 VMAs, MTV did a Live Story on Snapchat. This allowed anyone in the area to post pictures and videos to that Live Story, for all to see. Celebrities and audience members shared hilarious behind-the-scenes footage onto the story. About 10 million people tuned in to watch the VMAs on TV, and about 12 million people viewed the story on Snapchat! And at a much cheaper production cost.” (Source: Wallaroomedia, 2017)

Source: Wallaroomedia, 2017 “19 creative snapchat campaigns from brands to inspire your snap strategy”

Source: Wallaroomedia, 2017 “19 creative snapchat campaigns from brands to inspire your snap strategy”

4. Monitor your ads and website

Use software and/or Google Analytics to monitor the success of your ad campaign. This way, you can find out things like:

  • How much time people spend on your website.
  • When it’s the best/most popular time to upload.
  • Which platform is receiving the most clicks/hits.
  • Which forms of media (images/text/video) are most successful on which platform.

Check out this website to see some amazing features Google Analytics has!

Success Story Time

Adidas have worked together with ‘Parley for the Oceans’ (an environmental group that raises awareness for the pollution of the sea) and have managed to create a trainer with an “upper” made of 95% recycled plastic! They’re only releasing 7000 pairs to start with (meaning they’re gonna be costly to say the least) but they’ve got big plans for future releases.

Source: Adidas, 2016

Final Thoughts

These tips don’t apply exclusively to green campaigns, but they can be seen as a starting point for people whose morale to start a green campaign has been lowered due to society’s views about it. Ultimately, you need to know your audience to reach it; as soon as you know this, you can begin spreading your ad campaign across social media. You can focus different kinds of media and posts on different platforms, and use google analytics to adapt and keep track of it all!

And if you just can’t get enough of Social Media campaigns, here are 15 of 2015’s best ones!

 

Resources and Further Reading:

Burton, S. and Soboleva, A., 2011. Interactive or reactive? Marketing with Twitter. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 28(7), pp.491-499.

Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2012. Digital marketing. Pearson Higher Ed.

Chaffey, D. and Smith, P.R., 2012. eMarketing eXcellence: Planning and optimizing your digital marketing. Routledge.

Dunlop, S., Freeman, B. and Jones, S.C., 2016. Marketing to youth in the digital age: The promotion of unhealthy products and health promoting behaviours on social media. Media and Communication, 4(3).

Griskevicius, V., Tybur, J.M. and Van den Bergh, B., 2010. Going green to be seen: status, reputation, and conspicuous conservation. Journal of personality and social psychology, 98(3), p.392.

Herrenkohl, R.C., Judson, G.T. and Heffner, J.A., 1999. Defining and measuring employee empowerment. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 35(3), pp.373-389.

Macarthy, A., 2014. 500 Social Media Marketing Tips: Essential Advice, Hints and Strategy for Business: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and More!. CreateSpace.

Mangold, W.G. and Faulds, D.J., 2009. Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business horizons, 52(4), pp.357-365.

Miles, J., 2013. Instagram power: Build your brand and reach more customers with the power of pictures. McGraw Hill Professional.

Rosen, D.E. and Purinton, E., 2004. Website design: Viewing the web as a cognitive landscape. Journal of Business Research, 57(7), pp.787-794.

The Most Inventive Marketing Media and Digital Campaigns of 2015

http://wallaroomedia.com/12-creative-snapchat-campaigns-from-brands-to-inspire-your-snap-strategy/

McDonalds Monopoly – An Industry Game Changer?

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Pass Go and collect £200

It’s back! A promotion that started three decades ago has once again resurfaced for its annual appearance in people’s households across the world. Since 1987, the fast food chain has been offering cash and stuff prizes, this year ranging from gaming consoles to a brand new car. The contest wasn’t routinely annual until the 90’s, according to McDonalds archivist Mike Bullington.

Chance Card

There are three ways to win; instantly, by entering a code, or by collecting the game pieces. The game pieces are stickers of properties, just like in the original Monopoly, stuck onto selected food and drink items on the McDonalds Menu. Collecting all types of stickers of the same colour can win you a brand new car, cash, a games console or a free meal at McDonalds.

Every time you purchase an item with stickers, there will be one with a code on it. This code can be entered online for similar prizes to those you can get if you collect the game pieces.

Finally, you can have an instant win. This is a sticker that shows what you’ve won the second you peel it off the food or drink item on which it is stuck. This is where you can get discounts, free McFlurrys or Apple pie, Now TV passes (for a month) and other things which aren’t worth winning.

A marketing strategy like this one does not rely on something as uncertain and fluctuant as “customer loyalty”. Instead, it gives any member of the public an even chance to win some pretty desirable prizes. Personally I don’t often treat myself with a Big Mac, but I must say that in the last month I have purchased McDonald’s at least once or twice a week. One might argue that this strategy is sticky.

After conducting a study, The Marketing Store developed the campaign concept after discovering that the majority of McDonalds Customers value life experiences higher than material possessions. It was also discovered that people prefer to have a choice, which is something that was introduced at “every level of the prize pool”. Customers are able to choose their holiday destinations, type of car, or even just between a Cheeseburger or a McFlurry.

Go to Jail

There have been issues with this promotion in the past, where participants were held for “rigging” the contest so that a small group of people win the majority of prizes. They claimed millions in cash, a fleet of cars and various luxury vacations. Trading game pieces is a common (and legal) practice, however considering the sheer amount of stickers printed every year (500 million in 2016) faking a win by stealing game pieces can be easily done. The hype about this time of year has even gotten people digging through trash cans to find unpeeled stickers off other people’s food items.

Community Chest

Starting from a total of $40 million in 1987, McDonalds has come a long way and, according to a McDonalds Spokesperson, now offers a total of $1 billion available in cash and prizes.

 

Utility Rent

McDonald’s partnership with Hasbro (the Monopoly game developer) is now nearly perfect. After thirty years, these two businesses have managed to boost sales beyond compare for two months a year.

Normally, most people would purchase items off the £2 and under menu. Through this winning combination, McDonald’s have now encouraged customers to order off the “more expensive” menu, by letting people know that they are able to maximise their chances by ordering a bigger meal.

Railroad

This worldwide promotion is a huge business opportunity for other companies seeking not only to improve their customer loyalty, but also boost sales and catch the eye of irregular customers.

By maximising potential wins (even if the prize most won is food-related) and making this known to the public, especially the fact that anybody could win a brand new Mini Cooper of their own will get the general public buzzing. Everybody is talking about it, everybody knows it’s happening and it’s all over social media. This “game” gives any member of the public an “equal” chance of winning, and if all that is required is to purchase an item off the cheap McDonald’s menu, then sales will skyrocket without question.

This strategy can easily be compared to gambling, and I must admit that collecting the stickers and entering these little codes online is addictive to say the least. The introduction of new technology can be considered an enabler. This marketing strategy has allowed McDonald’s to:

  1. Acquire customers by boosting interest in winning.
  2. Retain customers – junk food can be just as addictive as gambling, meaning sometimes even “passing” customers may return.
  3. Monetise customers – in order to play, customers must purchase items.

This kind of gambling can come under the term “social gambling”. It is a form of gambling which brings out the competitive side in the players – not only do we want to be the first to win, we also know that there is only a limited amount of each prize.

One could argue that the chances of winning “a prize worth winning” are minimal, but this hasn’t stopped the public from trying. Like they say in gambling, “you’ve got to play to win”.

Further Reading:

http://www.marcomm.news/monopoly-prize-choice-launches-at-mcdonalds-and-for-the-first-time-ever-winners-have-an-exciting-choice-to-make-with-every-single-prize/