We asked some of the Social Media Experts at Worldwide Partners, Inc., to give their opinion of the best current practices around the globe for B2B marketers. Godfrey in Pennsylvania, Mintz & Hoke in Connecticut and Traction Creative in Canada give their ten commandments below. Read More
In spite of the economic limitations, some of the happiest people are found on this continent. Social interaction is an essential component of this happiness: the close bonds and tightly knit communities give meaning to the lives of millions of Latin Americans. The social mentality is easy going, affectionate and engaging. People make friends everywhere and anywhere.
The personal boundaries on sharing information are in general quite loose. Sharing with friends and family is a daily ritual and one, which is more entrenched than in other parts of the world. Latin American culture is one of rituals and gestures, of sharing in joy and in pain, and expressing affection spontaneously in ways, which might be perceived as awkward by other cultures. Read More
What a difference a few years make. No longer is widespread, global economic growth the norm. The Global Village has now solidly become a patchwork quilt of Local Hamlets. Thus, companies are scanning the globe for pockets of opportunity, such as parts of Asia (namely China, Indonesia, India, and, yes, even Myanmar), parts of Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru), and Africa. No longer can global companies allow once-strong markets to carry the weaker markets. As such, multinational companies are and will increasingly be pulling back from mature markets and increasingly prospect for gold in emerging markets for growth. As a result, there are two general areas of opportunities for aggressive, independent agencies: 1) work with multinational, global companies to help them seek out the pockets of gold in the emerging markets in creative, cost-efficient ways, and 2) sniff out the local and regional entrepreneurial companies in the mature markets as they seek to gain a toehold as the multinationals scale back.With this, branding will take on an increasingly local/regional appeal in order to capture the hearts and minds of local-market consumers. Progressive, independent agencies have a unique advantage because they know and understand their local markets, and thus can make the most of a client’s budget – be it multinationals trying to acquire customers and revenue in emerging markets, or start-ups attempting to capture market share in mature markets. But with an increasingly cautious client base, independent agencies will need to have the reach, resources and horsepower to not just get new clients, but to also retain them, while maintaining their inherent passion, flexibility, creativity and collaborative spirit. Think of a colony of highly focused, well-coordinated, never-say-die ants that can each carry 50 times their own weight. That’s what clients will need in 2013.
2 interesting pieces in the news this week.
Does this mean Robots are going to find their way into mainstream market research?
And … does it mean we will dispense with the inconsistency, expense and time associated with interviewing humans?
1. Almax has launched EyeSee mannequins that videos shoppers and categorises them for marketing purposes.
The dolls read facial characteristics using cameras sited in their eyes, and determine age, gender and race to help with targeted marketing while customers are in the store.
The dolls can be programmed to ignore members of staff, are being used by several retailers in Europe and the USA and may get ‘ears’ next to pick up customer comments about products.
2. The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) is being launched – which will study dangers posed by biotechnology, artificial life, nanotechnology and climate change.
Despite being the subject of far-fetched fantasy, researchers said the concept of machines outsmarting us demanded mature attention.
“The seriousness of these risks is difficult to assess, but that in itself seems a cause for concern, given how much is at stake,” the researchers wrote on a website set up for the centre.
Meryl Emma Karenina, Branding Analyst at MakkiMakki Branding Consultant, a member of Worldwide Partners in Jakarta, shares her thoughts:
These days the three words you are most likely to see in the headlines of your CNN online coverage or your weekly business magazine is either ‘Social Media’, ‘Indonesia’, or ‘Boom’. With more than 43 million Facebook accounts and 19 million active Twitter users, Indonesia boasts the second highest number of social media users in Asia.
And if you think these three words have grown so phenomenally that they risk being overused, you would have gotten the wrong idea – at least that is not the perception most Indonesian marketers hold.
Over time, Indonesian marketers have grown more avid on this social media marketing concept. They believe that branding their products right toward the target audience’s playground is the most effective way to bring about real actions. They start hiring their own ‘social media specialist’. They advertise heavily on Facebook and create many interactive communication schemes that they hope would boost consumer experience to the maximum level. They are driven by two tantalizing adjectives: ‘word-of-mouth’ and ‘viral’.
Increasingly, more Indonesians are getting their news from what they see on their Facebook timeline. They get updates and information about events and things happening around their lives simply by scrolling down their Twitter pages. They also follow certain brands’ social media accounts as they want people to see them being associated with those brands. But after the initial Facebook ‘Like’, just how many of them really come back and regularly check-in? Do they actually submit their answers on the ‘Fun Personality Quiz’ available on the brand’s account? Recently, a brand of feminine wash with over 80,000 Facebook ‘Likes’ which posted a voucher-based sales promotion managed to get only three clicking the ‘Like’ button. Yes, three.
Popularity does not always equal profitability. Marketers endlessly search for, and adopt, new platforms to reach their consumers. But, the investment may not rewarded with clear and demonstrable ROIs. Yet the fact that no one has overthrown Facebook’s number one position in the top five websites visited by Indonesians, combined with the considerably easier (and cheaper) kind of investment this social media channel offers is simply blocking their minds from exploring new alternatives and other media.
Social media has to be managed properly or it can become the brand’s double-edged sword. Once launched, full commitment is needed. The marketer needs to actively create relevant content and interaction that give the consumers an advantage; while consistently keeping to the brand’s central idea. And, the marketer needs to communicate in a way that their target audience will perceive them as being human. The marketer needs to sound as friendly and approachable as they can. Because after all, this is a social media – not a one-way TV commercial.
When combined with the renowned Indonesians’ highly collectivist characteristic, marketers also need to realize that social media, in essence, is the place for people to express their thoughts to their own network, communicate with their peers, collect useful information from their opinion leaders and even show off their newest haircut to their colleagues. The attention conduit is jam-packed. Without content that guarantees relevant (and positive) consumer experience, any brand’s off-the-cuff or half-attempts at social media may bring more harm than good.
Casper Bierman of Van Diemen Communication Brokers in the Netherlands wondered if agencies could take advantage of building apps in lower-wage countries. By surveying the agencies within Worldwide Partners, Inc., representing all regions of the world, he shares what he discovered.
New product technical development can be very expensive. Fifteen years ago such was the case with developing websites. Nowadays, we see the same trend when it comes to apps. Almost all our clients want them, until they realize what they cost. As an agency, we are interested in outsourcing certain stages of the technical development to countries where wages are lower. This is why we asked 20 leading Worldwide Partners, Inc. agencies in 20 countries to share their experiences about this topic. To get even more input, we asked them to share experiences with outsourcing web development as well. Our expectations were that the results would be similar to app development.
We received a lot of interesting responses. However, not all of them were positive. It appears rather difficult to transfer the advantages of low wages into profit for the end product. In some low-wage countries, a lot of people utilize smartphones, which has resulted in a rise of reliable suppliers. Nevertheless, most of the agencies have run into managerial issues that make outsourcing less interesting. For example, language creates a problem in terms of correspondence and translation costs. Another problem agencies experience pertains having to communicate so many times with the foreign agency that all cost advantages disappear.
A slightly more positive attitude exists among the agencies when the concept and design phase are developed by the lead agency. “The coding and building phase can then be done anywhere in the world,” one agency claimed. The agencies perceive lower costs as being most interesting, and also the possible chance for faster development. However, these same agencies also see potentially higher costs, as every item needs to be checked more extensively when outsourced. In general, it can be said that the outsourcing of app development is not always cheaper. And this is without taking currency fluctuations into consideration.
Most of the experience that the agencies have had come from mismatches in quality and communication. It could be interesting to utilize outsourcing when the agencies have local representation, like is the case when using local network partners. This helps eliminate many of the problems with communication when the partners know each other personally and share the same values and working methods. Skype, too, can play a key role to communicate better.
Nonetheless, when an agency finds the right partner, they can get first-class work for their customers. Outsourcing also offers the key advantage of allowing the business to focus on its core abilities, enabling them to perform better, save time for clients and provide agencies with more resources that can present different ideas and applications. In conclusion, outsourcing can help build a mutually beneficial relationship that provides sustainable growth for both parties.
Today mar
ks the day 946 years after William I, also known as William the Conqueror, landed in England prior to the Battle of Hastings.
Having conquered England William took on a very complex administration and simplified it. Historians still debate William’s legacy. Undoubtedly the impact on England of William’s conquest was profound; changes in the Church, aristocracy, culture, and language of the country that have persisted into modern times.
The Conquest brought the kingdom into closer contact with France and forged ties between France and England that lasted throughout the Middle Ages. Another consequence of William’s invasion was the sundering of the formerly close ties between England and Scandinavia.
Some claim that the Conquest was the single most radical change in European history between the Fall of Rome and the 20th century.
William is seen simultaneously as one of the creators of England’s greatness or as inflicting one of the greatest defeats in English history.
What do you think?
And what would William make of the England of today?
We’ve all had the pleasure of submitting to a full-body scan before you can board a plane with one of those full-body scanners. But now, that scanning technology looks like it will actually be put to a friendly rather than a fearful use – at least for most.
My daughter recently took a part-time job with a company called Me-Ality while attending university in Los Angeles.
In short, you step into the Me-Ality body scanner, and the machine reads your measurements for jeans, tops, shirts, suits, dresses, etc., spits out a card with your exact sizes and also tells you which stores in the shopping mall carry your exact size and style. This is especially helpful since most clothing manufacturers, especially women’s clothes, do not follow the same guidelines for consistent sizing. So no more guessing, no more trying on 30 different pairs of jeans and no more anxiety about trying on clothes in general, which I understand from having two girls and my wife can be very stressful and full of anxiety, no matter what size you are.
For me, being tall, Me-Ality is a Godsend because I have to go to 10-15 stores before I can find pants long enough to fit. I’d step into Me-Ality in a heartbeat.
So certainly, scanners like Me-Ality are helpful on a personal level. But the retail and brand marketing possibilities with something like Me-Ality are what really get me excited. In short, what couldn’t you do on that little receipt that pops out of the machine and/or on and near the scanner itself? Co-branding with retailers, clothing manufacturers and shopping malls; complementary brand/retail cross-promotions; frequency scan/shop/buy discounts; money-savings promotions; seasonal specials; smartphone promotions; geo-locators; social media conversations about Me-Ality/things bought because of Me-Ality; green marketing (saves you from running all over town burning fuel to find what you want), healthy food marketing; etc., etc. The list is virtually limitless. To say this potentially changes everything about retail clothes marketing is an understatement.
OK, now think about how this same technology could be applied to other industries! “Mr. Moffatt, just step right into the scanner and we’ll be able to tell you exactly which model of car best suits your size and is most comfortable for you to drive.” Or, office chairs, or beds (firmness, size, etc.), home furnishings (couches, chairs)… Virtually anything that your body needs to fit into comfortably, the applications represented by the scanning technology of companies like Me-Ality are endless.
So the next time, you dread ‘assuming the position’ to get onto a plane, just think. You may be able to pass through the necessary security screening while also subtlety finding out where in the airport shopping area to find the perfect shirt or skirt for that all-important, upcoming business meeting. So airport security screeners also become personal shoppers? Oops. Sorry. That really is more fearful than friendly!
The Nielsen Global Consumer report shows some very interesting, and also worrisome facts about consumers trust in Advertising. There is no doubt that as media messages continue to multiply endlessly, consumer confidence continues to erode. However, in Latin America, the trend is much slower than in the rest of the world, which I think still leaves open an opportunity to work proactively, to keep that trust. The study evaluates trust in 19 earned paid and owned advertising methods, and in 17 of those, consumers in Latin America reported the highest trust. It is worth noting that over 60% of Latin America Consumers trust content in traditional mass media such as TV, magazine and newspaper ads.
This level of trust extends to social media, where countries with high penetration, such as Brazil and México, exhibit very high levels of trust. However, Latin Americans show the lowest credibility on consumer opinions posted on line.
It is questionable to adscribe it to lower education, since other developing regions have lower scores than Latin America Is this a less jaded population? Have the Latin America ad agencies and advertisers done a better job at maintaining credibility? It is hard to answer. However, the findings do confirm, that there are still great opportunities for learning the lessons from the countries where trust has been lost, and preventing those actions. Latin America is a land of opportunities for current and incoming brands. Its high economic and consumer growth along with trust in advertising, substantiate a business case for advertising investment. These are fun times, times for growth, times to consolidate credibility and future with the new middle class.
© Haymarket Media Group Ltd.
