Posts Tagged ‘bbsdigmarket’

17
Apr
2017

Bloggers; building brands to rival celebrities

categories: Uncategorized

Bloggers are the third most trustworthy source of information behind friends and family according to an independent survey of UK consumers commissioned by affiliate network, affilinet (Affili.net, 2015) and many believe influencer or  blogger marketing to be the next big thing in advertising (adweek.com,2015). Online influence has become a valuable tool for the bloggers of today and whether they are modelling the latest new fashion, attending photo shoots or inspiring people through their every day life, the rise of the everyday blogger should not be underestimated. When someone mentions influencer marketing you automatically think of celebrities and their affiliation with certain products. However alongside the rise in blogging when it comes to influencing purchasing decisions, celebrities simply don’t hold the sway they used to. Bloggers have become powerful influencers, leading to retailers rapidly realising the importance of bloggers and increasingly using them for promotions over your favourite celebrities to avoid becoming obsolete in today’s Instagram and Snapchat-obsessed world

Image result for fashion bloggers(Worn Through, 2015)

Bloggers uprising

The trend for bloggers has increased significantly over recent years; today bloggers tend to make use of a wide variety of social networking channels to communicate with their followers and engage online through sites such as Facebook, twitter and Instagram. Blogging is no longer simply about posting an article and watching the comments appear. Bloggers are now posting honest and frank reviews on beauty products, lifestyle changes and fashion, leaving brands open to any form of criticism, meaning partnerships with bloggers would be beneficial to brands in 2017. The purchase behaviour of today’s consumers is increasingly influenced by reviews over traditional forms of advertising, and by participating in blogger outreach campaigns, brands can influence the social conversation around their product offering.

Recently brands have started paying attention to these ‘influencers’ and rightly so, as they should be a crucial part of their marketing and communications strategy, a blogger  is the mutual friend connecting your brand with your target consumers (Matthews, 2013). According to Fashionista, a number of bloggers have signed contracts with prestigious brands as a result of their fashion content creation and overall influence, by merging online and offline worlds, they’re building brands to rival celebrities.  Emily Schuman (Cupcakes & Cashmere), for example, signed a deal with Estee Lauder, and Elin Kling (styled by kling) cooperates with H&M, Urban Outfitters and Gap on several campaigns and projects.

    Image result for elin kling h&m

The downfall of the celebrity influencer 

Brands using celebrities are often hoping for an aspirational connection, even though the lifestyle of a Hollywood star or famous athlete isn’t particularly relatable for most of us. Bloggers, on the other hand, represent a unique intersection of celebrity and “person like me.” When they talk about a product, their audience can relate to the experience. Instead of following suit with traditional advertising techniques, many fashion brands are adopting novel ways of collaborating with influencers to expand brand recognition and promote sales. Consumers no longer feel the same attraction towards celebrity-endorsed commercials overflowing with glamour and luxury as they seem too good to be true. Now, customers look towards a more down to earth pool of inspiration — photographers, Instagram stars, Viners, Youtube celebrities, SnapChat personalities, and these influencers are closer to our lives, which makes the fashion products they are promoting appear more attainable.

So why do bloggers work so well?

Likability: Bloggers are usually chatty and friendly people. They have likeable personalities and many viewers feel like their friends – with their honest opinions and true to life flaws.

Similarity: Consumers are more relatable to the everyday person. They don’t have flawless skin and they aren’t all size 8 skinny models. This authenticity makes them relatable.

Attractiveness: Of course there are many bloggers who share the attractiveness of our favourite celebrities, however bloggers’ down to earth personalities make them relatable as well as pleasing to watch.

Expertise: Bloggers ensure they do their research online, get invited to press trips to see new collections exclusively and test out countless launches, and therefore are the perfect source for up-to-date accurate information in their expertise

Trustworthiness: Sponsored posts are usually clearly marked (with an #ad hashtag) and most bloggers only talk about products they genuinely love; viewers can trust bloggers’ recommendations.

In contrast, celebrities score highly on the attractiveness front of course. But bloggers clearly win when it comes to similarity, likability, expertise and trustworthiness. Consumers are able to relate more to the everyday person and therefore the use of bloggers over celebrities in campaigns offers consumers a more believable and truthful review of a company. Companies are now seeing this relatability, and along with the following on social media which these bloggers collectively have access too, and how this can lead to a positive relationship for both blogger and brand they their research online, get invited to press trips to see new collections exclusively and test out countless launches, and therefore they are the perfect source for up-to-date accurate information in their expertise

References

Adweek.com. (2015). 10 Reasons Why Influencer Marketing is the Next Big Thing. [online] Available at: http://www.adweek.com/digital/10-reasons-why-influencer-marketing-is-the-next-big-thing/ [Accessed 17 Apr. 2017].

Affili.net. (2015). Bloggers trusted more than celebrities, journalists, brands and politicians. [online] Available at: https://www.affili.net/uk/about-affilinet/press-and-news/2015/bloggers-trusted-more-than-celebrities-journalist [Accessed 3 Apr. 2017].

Cupcakes & Cashmere. (2012). Estée Lauder and Cupcakes and Cashmere. [online] Available at: http://cupcakesandcashmere.com/beauty/estee-lauder-and-cupcakes-and-cashmere [Accessed 5 Apr. 2017].

Matthews, K (2013). The Definitive Guide to Influencer Targeting. [online] Available at: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/guide-to-influencer-targeting/ [Accessed 17 Apr. 2017].

Worn Through. (2015). You Should Be Reading: Fashion Blogging and Vlogging. [online] Available at: http://www.wornthrough.com/2015/03/you-should-be-reading-fashion-blogging-and-vlogging/ [Accessed 17 Apr. 2017].

04
Nov
2016

Free Tacos and Tequila; a critique of Wahaccas email marketing

categories: Uncategorized

Wahacca is a Mexican restaurant which has recently moved down to Brighton offering Mexican street food and fruity cocktails. Following in its Mexican roots Wahacca have used the holiday ‘Day of the Dead’ to create an email marketing promotion to draw people in to the restaurant. This email example is a promotional email from Wahacca currently promoting the deal where if you order one dish from the menu you also receive free tequila and tacos if you show this email.

email

Subject Line

Any student who sees the title ‘free tacos and tequila’ is instantly drawn to such an inviting email, therefore as soon as the email came through I opened it immediately. Having the word “free” in an email can sometimes be seen in junk or scam emails therefore when creating a subject line like this you need to ensure that as soon as the customer opens the email they know it’s not scam and Wahacca does this by making sure the terms and conditions were clear when you first open the email, just to prove its legitimate!

Design & Images

The email is clear, concise and does what it says on the tin! As soon as you open the email you see the words “Free Tacos and Tequila” right in the middle of the page in clear white and blue text, which also fits the day of the dead theme. The pink background fits with the Wahacca branding and also keeps with the theme once you click on the landing page, it has also incorporated the day of the dead skulls which are a well-known image within that event, ensuring people know it’s a reason to celebrate! The lack of imagery on the email apart from ‘free tacos and tequila’ means that is isn’t 100% obvious where the email is from but the use of colours to match Wahacca’s branding has helped make it clearer to the audience where to gain this promotion as well as the landing page link.

Call to action

The link to the booking page is under Wahacca’s homepage therefore the email is also advertising there website as well as urging you to come in to the restaurant. Once you click on the link you are first taken to the booking screen showing you all the different locations and along the side you can see all the different tabs for the website including its home page, about Wahacca and events. When the audience click on the link to the Wahacca landing page it also asks for personal information when booking a table. This is a clever way of gathering data from the Wahacca customer as this data capture can be used in future emails where Wahacca will be able to personalise your emails and make them more specific towards you based on your purchases. The landing page is clear and relevant and continues to work with the Reach–Act–Convert–Engage model by converting the audience to book a table for the event and therefore engaging with Wahacca and purchasing there services, which also backed up by Ellis-Chadwick, Fiona and Doherty, Neil F. (2012) in their study of emails and there use of hyperlinks and interactivity to initially attract customers’ attention and then encourage further interest.

This email is an example of a promotional email triggered by an event and is trying to attract people in to the restaurant to celebrate day of the dead. Within the email is a link within the phrase “book now”, this is the obvious call to action from the promotional email, this is encouraging people to book a table as soon as the email gets to their inbox as the bold wording “now” makes the audience think that tables might not be available if they don’t. This is a clever use of marketing as people will be the most keen to visit the restaurant and use this promotion as soon as they read the email, especially as its advertising free food and drink, which is always appealing. In order to engage with the offer the email asks you to put in personal details such as your name, email address and address.

landing-page

Personalisation

A follow up email “Sorry…Taco delay” was then sent a few days later which showed a weakness within Wahaccas marketing. Although I had already put in my personal details there was a lack of personalisation within this second email, which was also telling me that they were delaying their promotion! The email stuck to the original promotional emails theme showing the connection and who the email was from before you even read the content which shows good branding from Wahacca.

follow-up-email

Key Critics

I believe this promotional email works well for the audience, it advertises the promotion well and entices the customers with the idea of celebration and free food, however the lack of personalisation within the emails could hold potential customers back as the email can just look very generic. My suggestion to Wahacca would be to use the information that the audience has provided within further emails, as studies have shown the use of personalisation through data mining is the most effective way to ensure customer satisfaction and increase loyalty (Sterne and Priore, 2000) and therefore will engage more in further promotions and events, especially as the information has already been given to them in the initial sign up stage.

References

Ellis-Chadwick, Fiona and Doherty, Neil F. (2012). Web advertising: the role of email marketing. Journal of Business Research, 65(6) pp. 843–848.

Sterne, J. and Priore, A. (2000). Email marketing. New York [u.a.]: Wiley.