Integrated marketing can mean different things to different organisations. So thinking about it from a luxury brand perspective, why would it be useful to create an integrated marketing campaign for a promotional video?
Video communication, in the form of a promotional video, provides visual engagement with consumers, enabling vast amounts of information to be communicated in a short space of time (Soma, 2013; Mei et al., 2007). The information in the video can be subtly promoting a brand or product whilst entertaining the target consumer.
Let’s take Chanel with their No 5 perfume advertisements as an apt example. Encapsulating the elegance, class and luxury of the product and the brand, portraying this through the video to the consumer. The short films engage and capture the viewers’ imagination and attention, drawing them into the exuberant lifestyle which they are lead to associate with the perfume, perhaps leading to consumers aspiring to a similar lifestyle which seemed unreachable, but is now achievable through wearing the perfume (Friedman, 2012).
Now we understand that this method of promotion holds a great deal of favour over the traditional printed advertisements, which struggle to demonstrate the same level of information, brand image and engagement with the consumer (Lim et al., 2012; Thackeray et al. 2008). Also not to mention the lack of options and poor feasibility to share the ads with a wider audience, unlike a video which enables instantaneous sharing to an unlimited number of other viewers online (Hennig-Thurau et al, 2004; Burmann, 2010; Thackeray et al., 2008).
So, it’s one thing to have a fantastic promotional video which epitomises the brand and intrigues the consumer but is the video alone enough? Returning to the example of Chanel, their promotional video in 2011 was launched without an integrated campaign. Now if we observe the number of views on YouTube we see that this video received 362,015 views (Chanel YouTube, 2011), which sounds extensive and may, to some, appear successful.
(video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5r5PXBiwR0) (Chanel YouTube, 2011)
However, skip forward three years to an integrated campaign, incorporating Twitter with set hashtags “#theonethatiwant” (Twitter, 2014) and teaser videos on YouTube promoted on Facebook (Chanel Facebook, 2014), and what is the result? A phenomenal increase in video views, totalling 10,084,471 views at the time of publishing this blog (Chanel YouTube, 2014), a significant increase we can all agree.
(Chanel Facebook, 2014)
(Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8asRWe5XNw8) (Chanel YouTube, 2014)
The integration of social media created a buzz and chain of sharing around the video. Consumers could use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube subscriptions to view, share and monitor the promotional video (Christodoulides, 2009; Kim and Ko, 2012; Soma, 2013). Meanwhile, Chanel would be able to monitor which platform of communication was the most successful at engaging with consumers, where these consumers were viewing, their demographics as well as their views, perceptions and interpretations of the promotion and the brand. Through learning more about the consumer as well as interactions and engagement with the consumer, Chanel would be more able to effectively communicate with them going forward (Thorson and Moore, 1996).
Taking what we’ve learned from Chanel, with their increase in views through using an integrated marketing promotion, we could identify other luxury brands which might benefit from this approach also. Currently Jo Malone have a selection of promotional videos lurking on their Facebook profile (Jo Malone Facebook, 2014). However, none of these are featured on YouTube and none incorporate an integrated marketing strategy to promote and publicise the videos nor their purpose in promoting the brand and products. So taking what Chanel have learned between 2011 and 2014, Jo Malone could also be using teaser videos on Facebook and assigning hashtags for tweet engagement to generate excitement and consumer interest around the brand and new product promotions (Kim and Ko, 2012).
So why bother? Why have the integrated campaign to increase views and consumer engagement? Well using promotional videos alongside an integrated social media plan should assist luxury brands in overcoming the perception of “them and us” which can often be found in the luxury retail industry (Yan, 2011). In increasing the opportunities for consumers to get involved with the brands and the promotions, the distance between the consumer and the brand consequently closes and ultimately this leads to a committed and engaged consumer. So what’s the benefit in this, well as a result the brand can learn more about the consumer, what engages them the most, what they enjoy the most in certain promotions and therefore how to better meet their needs and communicate with them going forward which acts as a domino effect for continued improvement and consumer engagement (Thorson and Moore, 1996 and Yan, 2011).
All in all it seems safe to say that video advertising with an integrated social media marketing campaign is a recipe for success in more than one way.
References
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Chanel Facebook (2014) Post “N°5. More to come. October 15th #THEONETHATIWANT, 12th October 2014”. [Online] <https://www.facebook.com/chanel?fref=ts> [accessed 21st March 2015]
Chanel YouTube (2011) Train de Nuit – CHANEL N°5. [Online] <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5r5PXBiwR0> [accessed 21st March 2015]
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