by Miriam Hara | Nov 11, 2014 | Agency, Communications, Interactive, Latest
The holiday season is fast approaching and with it comes the decade old question, at least the biggest question around our boardroom table: Should business’ send out traditional paper or digital holiday cards? Believe it or not, it has been a decade (at least!) since digital greeting cards first made their debut.
Over the last three years, at approximately the same time every year, I have written a post about digital holiday cards. It’s a hot topic for me. There is much debate in our office about which direction to take. After all, we are a full service agency with high involvement in both the traditional and digital space.
Digital holiday cards aren’t really new, so does that take the heat off of businesses having to go that route? There was a time when it was perceived that businesses sending traditional paper cards through snail mail was not keeping in step with the changing times. But now, is that still the case? Like everything that goes up, it must come down. And everything new, becomes normal – if not old. Digital used to be called new media and now it’s not new. It’s just another media channel.
So does that open things up for businesses to embrace the traditional holiday greeting card? Will the old paper card have a come back in 2014? Can businesses go retro this holiday season? At 3H Communications, we have always sent out paper holiday cards. We design our own and it’s a project of love. Over the last decade, our cards have been one of the only ones at the table, or more accurately, on our clients’ desks. We have enjoyed this space and the exposure and hope that we will continue to enjoy such vast, open spaces!
That doesn’t mean, for one minute that we don’t embrace the digital – far from it. We have always had a digital component to our paper greeting cards. We ask our clients to go online with a QR code (when they were launched) or a web address prompting engagement to participate in a contest or charity fund raising initiative. This year will be no different.
By combining traditional with digital, we have demonstrated through the years that we are strategic thinkers. We embrace the new yet understand when and when not to use it. We also know what will resonate with our clients. This has shown our clients that we are indeed in step with trends and slightly ahead of the curve. Being a leader means knowing when not to jump on the band wagon when everyone else has. And, knowing to take advantage of the quiet space they’ve left behind.
Over the last three years, email communications have reached an all time high in quantity. I believe the last thing a client wants is to receive another email, even if it’s jam-packed with well wishes. I’m sorry to say that I don’t usually open digital holiday cards sent to me – I am too swamped with other emails. But I do open my paper mail during the holiday season. I love traditional holiday greeting cards and during the month of December, I take the time to open them. There are so few of them now, so each one gets my undivided attention.
So this holiday season are you going traditional or digital? Let me know!
by Miriam Hara | Nov 7, 2014 | Branding, Latest, Marketing
Believable brands, do they exist? If so what makes them believable? At one time or another we’ve all loved specific brands. Brands that ingrain themselves in the hearts and minds of consumers’. Brands that evoke an emotional reaction from consumers on a deep, personable level. Does loving a brand, or caring for a brand also automatically make it believable?
What are believable brands? Or more importantly, what makes for believable brands? I believe that in today’s world, consumers expect brands to care by providing them with information or education without having to purchase anything from them. Why is that? Well Gen Y and now Gen Z have grown up in a world where information, music, movies and books are shareable – and mostly for free! The digital world has provided so many with the ability to bootleg much of what Gen X and the Baby Boomers had to pay for. The new consumer isn’t really conscious of propriety rights, nor do they care. Nothing is contained. Nothing is owned. But the expectation of “receiving” information, advice or knowledge for free is definitely there.
Brands need to step up to the plate and not only talk the talk but walk the walk, in order to become believable brands.
Why? Because the consumers of today have come to expect a relationship with the brands they purchase. The theory of cognitive dissonance has evolved encompassing a longer time frame – perhaps even a continuous time flow. In order for brands to a keep top of mind position with consumers in today’s crowded space, they must maintain their stance consistently, socially talking with their consumers.
To resonate with today’s emerging consumer, brands need to provide information, helpful hints, advice as well as engage in authentic, thought provoking dialogue. It isn’t about selling, it’s about leveraging and owning the category. This is the only way to establish believability.
The social media space has allowed for the constant questioning and assessment of a brand. How can a brand maintain its believability? The customer journey allows for so many touch points which on a whole create the essence of the brand’s believability. These are 1) brand voice 2) brand tone 3) brand promise 4) brand premise. What is equally important for brands to achieve the pinnacle of believability is to maintain consistent exposure through traditional and social media in order to encourage dialogue and to continuously increase reach.
What do you think? What makes for a believable brand?
by Miriam Hara | Nov 5, 2014 | Business Success, Latest, Social Media
The Social Media evolution has enabled people to think differently and perhaps quicker! We at 3H, spend a great deal of our time and energy in the Social Media Channel. It is an exciting channel that is evolving beyond our wildest dreams.
Social Media shouldn’t be intimidating to any business and should be leveraged in marketing and business initiatives. It’s been our experience that with client initiatives the Social Media Channel plays an active role in propelling brand. It’s my hope that by the end of this post, the use of the Social Media Channel will become a clearer and more viable option for you and your business.
In step with the Social Media evolution, Canadians are evolving too.
Consider this: Gen Y is now coming up to bat as they are at the helm of senior roles in business. What they bring with them are very compelling attitudes towards Social Media.
So what does that mean? Both Gen Y and Gen Z are largely responsible for changing the marketing landscape – not only about how to communicate with them but also who is best suited to provide relevant information.
But it’s not just Gen Y and Z who are responsible for this shift. Baby boomers and Gen X are also taking part in this Social Media evolution. How? Think about it, how many of us say “Google it” in one day?
The internet as a platform has enabled us to find answers, to offer solutions and give advice – instantly. The Social Media evolution has propelled content creation and the sharing of content.
Facebook was designed on the premise of building relationships through sharing content via thoughts, photos, comments, links, etc. Now with blogging, Social Media’s cornerstone is content creation. Social Media is the product of this way of thinking – for this social way of thinking. There are so many opportunities for any business to provide information and create a continuous dialogue with Canadians – when and how they want it.
For Canadians the traditional valued sources of information are changing due to the Social Media evolution. The evolution of Social Media has occurred and is now a part of everyday life. It will continue to change, but the evolution of communications now has a new order or a different channel. Social Media is now being fine tuned and we will probably see added bells and whistles. All this to say, in business we must face this new channel openly and strategically. What opportunity! Business needs to get ready for the future now.
Social Media is perfectly poised for companies to start speaking socially to their consumers about their products; while providing value by informing and educating them on their product benefits. Ultimately, to assist them in their “purchasing” journey. Its a marketing media channel that can successfully assist in achieving a number of objectives, one of them is developing relationships with current and future customers. This is the upside and the ROI of developing a social media footprint for business and brands.
It’s time to get out there and be a part of the conversation, today!
by Miriam Hara | Nov 3, 2014 | Latest, Marketing
The year is 2014, and niche marketing has never been so accessible nor marketed. It’s for this very reason that I wish to discuss (or rant rather) about the categorization of the baby boom generation. I propose that individuals between the ages 50 to 54 in the year 2014 (born within 1960 to 1964) be no longer considered part of the “baby boom” generation.
I have never related to the label “baby boomer”. Mostly because I never felt part of this generation. I never shared their childhood history. For the most part, the baby boom generation is defined as anyone born from 1946 to 1964 – that’s an 18 year span! When looking at Gen X, Millennials (Gen Y) and now Gen Z, these generations have at most a 15 year span.
Baby Boomers were inline with The Beatles and hippies – those now between the age of 50-54 were not!
Consider this, when The Beatles came into popularity, those born form 1960 to 1964 were less than five years old! Our experience with The Beatles and our involvement with defining the tide of rock music was inconsequential. The tide had already come and gone by the time we even had a thought or a voice about music!
How about Flower Power and the hippies? Again, those who were born in the last four years of what is considered the baby boom generation had been on the planet less than a decade when that movement hit its peak. All I remember from the Flower Power days is that my mom made me hot pants to wear – I was barely 8 years old… nothing hot about that!
Frankly speaking, by the time I get to retirement, most of the baby boomers will no longer be such a huge segment. And as always, the people that are at the tail end of this formidable generation will be lost and likely forgotten. After all, we road the coattails – we didn’t do any of the driving.
Being part of the last four years of the baby boom generation segment has been problematic. We are the in between segment and I for one have always felt left out. I don’t have much in common with the majority of the baby boomers and I’m not quite part of Generation X. Those born from 1960 to 1964 are caught in a non-generation zone. We may have the same work ethic as the baby boomers, but we definitely don’t have the same psychographics.
I propose that this sub-segment of the baby boom generation be called Generation V – because we have always been caught in a vortex! We have been and continue to be very present, very viable and very economically prolific. We are the ones that are young enough to mesh with Gen X, and still hip enough to communicate with Gen Y. However, we are also old enough to influence Gen Z aspirationally!
I’m speaking to all of you born in the 1960 to 1964, four year window. What do you think of where you stand within the generations?
by Miriam Hara | Oct 29, 2014 | Latest, Social Media
The Social Media space understandably generates a lot of buzz. There are a lot of opinions about what it’s all about and with that come many misconceptions. I would like to share some of those misconceptions with you here.
In keeping with the timing of Halloween, here is a few “trick or truths?” about the Social Media space.
The Social Media space is all about popularity – TRICK
Social Media isn’t a popularity contest – unless being popular is the objective or the definition of popularity is specified. There are many objectives that the Social Media space can assist with, one of which is counting the likes on a Facebook page. So defining your goals is crucial to evaluating the success of a Social Media campaign.
The Social Media space takes commitment – TRUTH
Social Media shouldn’t be another task on the brand manager’s desk. Social Media is comprised of many segments of a business: Communications, PR, customer service, marketing and sales. It takes a dedicated team that makes Social Media “their” priority – bringing other people into the mix to assist in growing the Social Media footprint. It also takes real-time management to measure the efforts and shift priorities if need be.
The Social Media space is about taking risks – TRICK
B
e risk informed, not risk adverse. Social Media is an emerging channel, so like it or not, there are a lot of unknowns – so there are going to be errors. Understanding the consumer’s journey and being present when the consumer needs information is key. But understanding the potential pitfalls of Social Media initiatives is equally as important. In addition to strategic planning and execution tactics, you need to be prepared. This allows for the development of contingency plans. Risk informed, in any business or industry, is expected – in Social Media, it’s the norm.
The Social Media space is about adding value – TRUTH
The Social Media space is the perfect forum to shift Canadians’ perception and to dialogue with consumers, today. Any business or brand needs to have a voice on Social Media. I view Social Media as a marketing media channel that can assist in achieving any number of objectives.
In summary, the premise of Social Media is about adding value to people’s lives. This is achieved by providing information, advice or opinions without the expectation of anything in return. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t an upside or ROI. Providing information, engaging with consumers and as a result, creating and facilitating relationships is something that can be achieved through the Social Media space – and that can be of extreme value to business.
Click here to download the Social Media eBook.
by Miriam Hara | Oct 27, 2014 | Branding, Latest, Marketing
Brand shapers and makers would like to believe that they own brand perception. However, that simply is not true. Any brand’s perception by definition does not belong to the marketing teams in the offices or the manufactures. Brands are created by consumers. Many brands have been propelled to brand status by providing consumers with a better mouse trap. Think “Kleenex” or “Post-It Notes”. By developing and building new categories with breakthrough, innovative products, these brands had not only developed the category, but ultimately had to defend their market position. But not before they became brands, rather not before consumers defined them as brands. If the consumer says it’s a brand, well, it’s a brand.
At the risk of stating the obvious, brand perception belongs to the consumer.
Yet time and time again, we as marketers and brand makers forget that basic premise. Marketers forget that the brand, more specifically the perception of the brand, is something that we cannot fully dictate or control. We can gently nudge it, define the core premise, accentuate and emphasize its features, build a story, maintain its tone, style and approach – but how consumers respond to all this stimuli is not ours to control.
There is a misconception that the brands we manage, create and advertise are viewed by consumers in the same way that we view them. And that is not necessarily true. We place labels on our brands and assume that just because we see things in a certain way, consumers will as well. That is where we are mistaken. At the core of it all, we are too close to the brands that we are responsible for. Our brand perception is not that of the consumer.
As marketers we create a brand vision and apply a lot of effort to develop that vision into an entity that we believe consumers will connect with. Sometimes they do, but often they don’t and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Once a brand vision is developed, it becomes its own persona. The brand develops its own relationship with consumers. Each consumer has their own brand relationship and as a result creates a unique brand reality. Essentially, that’s what brand perception is all about.
