by Miriam Hara | Feb 9, 2011 | Business Success
Experiential marketing is all about two things: 1) involvement and 2) engagement. This can be a great transition phase for a brand campaign that has run its course. Brand is a living thing, propelled by a living market, and getting the audience involved in your brand campaign is a sure-fire way of holding their attention. Create a deeper dialogue with your consumers.
(Click to see video) Image provided courtesy of the Edmonton Journal, under the creative commons license.
In 2009, James Ready beer ran a consumer-oriented campaign by asking its drinkers “How can James Ready Help You”? The company ended up paying for a wedding in Windsor Ontario, complete with a James Ready beer bottle cake and a stocked bar. Not only did the entire event serve as one large advertisement for the company, it gave James Ready humanity and a good name – advertisements subtly infiltrating the thank you speeches and photographs.
Marketing Magazine also reported a new experiential effort by Lays Chips to enhance their Canadian consumers’ relationship with their brand and to speak to their national identity. “Chip trips” initiated last year, helps Canadians discover Canada by organizing national trip discounts that Lays buyers are exclusively privy to. The product infiltrates the life and experiences of its consumers, ultimately impacting them positively and earning their commitment.
The best way to reach out is to engage. This can be done by any company large or small, independent of product, industry, or service, and the dialogue between crowd and client is getting more and more personal and invested.
mph
by Miriam Hara | Feb 1, 2011 | Branding
Brand is bigger than you realize. Brand is what consumers first see of a product/service… it’s the initial hook…but the follow through is even more important as it is how the brand becomes part of lifestyle.
Image courtesy of kudumomo@Flickr under a creative commons license
Your brand extends to your employees, clients, right down to your outfit. Your shoes are Nikes, your computer is an Apple, and your car is a Honda. You live in brand, and sometimes you don’t even know it – but the lifestyle these companies sell has worked, and that’s why you identify with them. Living in brand is also a way of building recognition. The iconic Nike swoosh, Apple’s…well apple, and Honda’s big H. My company is recognized by purple and mustard yellow. Purple is my brand, and I believe in brand – that’s why I wear purple every day.
This all-inclusive approach stays within marketing rules of simplicity, be direct and convey a single message. This strategy is a great “value-added” approach. But it’s all about the follow through. I wear purple and I get recognized, but if my service and “product” delivery is below par it won’t matter what colour I’m wearing. Luckily, my clients not only recognize purple, they recognize great service, solid work and expertise… and and this association sticks. Purple perfection!
mph
Miriam P. Hara
3H Communications Inc | www.3h.ca
by Miriam Hara | Dec 22, 2010 | Business Success
As the holidays are upon us, I look back in gratitude for the past year, and in this spirit wish you and yours a beautiful holiday season filled with joy and all good things. (more…)
by Miriam Hara | Sep 29, 2010 | Social Media
Social Media Marketing Takes Commitment
It’s not enough to use it, to have a profile in the network – using Social Media Marketing (SMM) , requires the conversation. A lot of where your brand is taken (with aggregation and networking) is outside of your control. It is important to have a strategy, positioning and aligning yourself in the best possible groups, networks and conversations that will speak to your target and open new doors.
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by Miriam Hara | May 19, 2010 | Branding
A little patience and a little change go a long way in brand evolution. I see a brand as a living being. It needs to be nurtured carefully…it needs to sit, crawl, stand and walk before it can run. Some brands are in constant motion, too much, too fast. Working on brands as we do, we forget that the consumer is not as intimate with our brand. They need a little more time to get to know it. Resisting the temptation to change it, to add to it is the hardest part of branding.
Photo by Terry Johnston available under a creative commons license
Yet, I also see the other side of the spectrum. Some brands just sit in the same chair that they have been in for years, losing touch with the times and with consumers. Brand development takes time and it takes ever-so-slight forward movement at certain times of its life, to keep it fresh without losing its flavour or initial contribution.
