Thanksgiving Means Something Different to Marketers

Since Thanksgiving occurred this past Thursday I found this blog post quite relevant. On Tuesday, I was eager to get home to my family and spend a relaxing weekend stuffing my face with turkey and mashed potatoes. I know in the corporate world, many firms closed down for the entire weekend allowing for employees to spend the holiday with friends and loved ones. So, Thursday I was sitting on my couch watching the annual Macy's Day Parade. While watching it, I could not help but think that this was a huge, huge marketing event. So, when I say Thanksgiving means something different to marketers, in a way, it does. Thanksgiving brings upon one of the best marketing opportunities through the Macy's Day Parade.

I found it quite a coincidence that as I watched the parade I thought of all the marketing and advertising involved because I found an article on AdWeek titled: "Why Advertisers Are So Eager for This Year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: NBC
sees stronger demand than ever." It seems as if the parade is the perfect way for brands to advertise since Black Friday begins the next day and what better way to market some deals than a parade that receives an average of 22.6 million viewers each year? Even Dan Lovinger, president of entertainment ad sales at NBCUniversal, said, "It's a great multigenerational viewing experience—you've got families watching in what's about as wholesome an environment as possible, and ultimately what that leads to is superior advertiser demand."

However, what I notice most about the parade, and the article touches upon this, is that families are not necessarily sitting down from 9:00 a.m. to noon watching the parade. They are coming in and out, going to and from the kitchen cooking, while watching the parade. So, how is this parade deemed as an effective marketing media outlet? Well, it is the experience. The article discusses how watching the parade is almost just as much of tradition as cooking the turkey. The Macy's Day Parade has become an American Tradition that produces consistent viewers and what do all advertisers love? Consistent ratings they can depend on, as said by AdWeek.

So, what kind of products are advertised during the American Tradition? While I watched, I saw a range of different products from retail, automotive, wireless, television shows, etc. I mentioned how the parade gets consistent viewers, but that does not even include the thousands of people who physically attend the parade in New York City. Products, ideas, and services are marketed by developing an over-the-top float that travels down Fifth Avenue. For example, I was watching the parade with my father for the most part who pointed out the Mr. Peanut float representing planters. I could see how this brought out a pleasant emotion because that is his favorite snack.

I found the Macy's Day Parade as a really cool way for brands to market themselves through an American Tradition outlet, which sort of relates to the Super Bowl. However, Super Bowl advertising is a whole other level of marketing effort. By no means am I saying that marketers are only focused on the Macy's Day Parade to market their brands, however it is a great opportunity for brands to promote themselves during a happy, fun event, which could ultimately influence a positive emotion in their product, service, or idea.

Deception in Marketing

Marketing and advertising are typically perceived as deceptive. Companies advertise what makes them better than their competitors and upscale those features hoping that consumers will dig more deeply into the product. It's understandable. It is imperative for a marketing communications agency to establish what makes the product the best. Although false advertising is illegal, there are ways to get around it and I have experienced this first hand.

As I have wrote about many times before this blog post, I have worked at Kmart for 5 years now, this being my fifth holiday season. Oh what joy! It isn't fun. The chaos, rude customers, sales not ringing up on the registers, and registers crashing do not make a 10-hour shift on Black Friday all that enjoyable. Aside from that chaos, I never thought I'd see the day where I'd learn from my experiences in regards to learning more about marketing communications. How do all of these customers know what the sales are? It all links back to Kmart's marketing efforts. I think I've previously mentioned this, but I specifically work in the Jewelry Department. This department, aside from Electronics, holds the most expensive items in the store. We have products from 10K White Gold engagement rings all the way to $12.99 sterling silver stud earrings. Anyways, I was so bombarded by all of the people and what I found most interesting is when I would get sentences like "I saw that you're selling [insert item] for [insert price], where is that?" I am firsthand experiencing results from Kmart's marketing efforts.

You must be thinking, where does deception come into this? Well, I said that Kmart's marketing efforts got people into the store, specifically the Jewelry department, but what happens after is where the deception comes into play. I take a look at the flyer they developed for Black Friday deals and looking at the pictures, our jewelry is described as great quality. Trust me, I thank Kmart for providing me with a part-time job for the past five years, but I would not exactly say that our Jewelry is of the best quality. (Sorry!) So, the customer sees these pieces of jewelry advertised looking so pretty and then they come in the store disappointed. This isn't an illegal practice of false advertising, however the advertisements are a little deceiving.

Another example of this is when I was in charge of making announcements about Jewelry sales over the PA system. The announcements overly described different pieces of jewelry trying to get customers to come on over to the counter. A sample is something like: "Attention Kmart shoppers! Today in our jewelry department we are featuring a beautiful, shiny sterling silver heart-shaped pendant for just $19.99 originally priced at $99.99!" And so on. The cool thing is that these announcements got multiple shoppers to come look at the necklace, but when I took it out of the showcase for them to see it, they quickly passed on it. This just shows the power of marketing. I used the sense of hearing to influence the consumers to paint an image of this necklace in their heads, which made them head on over to please their curiosity. Although the item was not what they imagined, I firsthand experienced the influence of marketing through the sense of hearing. This is something that radio commercials yearn for. In which, now, I understand more thoroughly.

I never knew how much a part-time retail job would actually teach me in terms of relating my experiences to class material. Deception in marketing and advertising is something that I have heard from family and Kmart customers. Ultimately, it can affect sales, just like it did with that sterling silver necklace. If I could say one thing to Kmart's marketing agency it would be to be more real in their marketing efforts.

Should Marketers Target Online Consumers for Black Friday?

As the digital era progresses, it seems as if online communication is the norm, while face-to-face communication becomes an awkward experience. People tend to prefer a text message than a direct phone call. People would rather receive an e-mail than talk face-to-face. The digital obsession with technological advancements greatly impacts the marketing realm and as the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday, quickly approaches, maybe marketers should shift their efforts to promoting online sales instead of traditional in-store commerce.

I have worked in retail for five years and although many people look forward to waking up early the morning following Thanksgiving to spend all of their money, I am different. Something about working Black Friday develops a strong hatred for the national frenzy. There's nothing like a middle-aged women arguing with me because her Lego toy is ringing up $29.99 and not $24.99, as if it's my fault the registers are not working. Anyways, at some point prior to Black Friday, shoppers decide which stores they are willing to wait outside in the freezing cold just for some deals on Christmas presents. This where the marketers come in. Television commercials, radio commercials, e-mail marketing, postcards, magazine advertisements all come into play with the hopes on influencing you to go to their store on Black Friday. But, the way in which consumers purchase products as evolved. This means that the marketing world needs to evolve as well.

Criteo, a company that works with Internet retailers to serve personalized online display advertisements to consumers that have previously visited the advertiser's website, has measured the usage of online shopping via smartphones and tablets over the past year. It was found that online sales from mass retailers on Black Friday 2014 were 275 percent higher than non-holiday periods. These numbers are astonishing and marketers should realize that consumers are becoming loyal online consumers.

Speaking for myself as a consumer, I prefer online. I feel as though this is slowly developing into the norm. Years ago retail stores would open at 5:00 a.m., while now they are opening at midnight. Many people do not enjoy waiting outside in the cold, so why not stay warm inside and get the same great deals online? This is an avenue retailers should consider marketing to consumers. As the years go on and our world becomes more and more technologically advanced, the marketing world has to keep evolving. Marketers must begin to promote online shopping because of convenience, no waiting in line, etc.

Having worked five Black Friday's I can see why consumers may prefer to shop online. The chaos can be too much. From a consumer's perspective, I'd rather shop online, and I think marketers should begin catering their advertising efforts towards online shopping.

Branding a Brand vs. Branding a Person

I have immense interest in integrated marketing communications for athletes and celebrities. Obviously, that is a dream that I will strive for my whole life. It seems nearly impossible to land that dream job. Anyways, all throughout my buyer behavior, promotional strategy, and campaign planning & management classes, I have been forced to focus on marketing for a brand. So, how can I use this information to learn how to market for a person? Do I treat the person as a brand? Do I go through the steps of the creative brief thinking of the person as a brand?

I stumbled upon an article from 2011 on BournCreative. Essentially, it is all about the differences between marketing for a business, a person, and a brand. So, does this insist they are not all the same thing? Do you market differently among them? The answer is yes. Branding for a product versus a person differs greatly. Essentially, for both, you do have to discover those inner layers to find out with the brand or person is all about, but they way it is marketed is completely different. Jennifer Bourn says, "When branding a thing, the brand is built around a single product or a program. With this approach, the visual design, the message, and the marketing all revolve around the branded item. The focus is on how the consumer interacts with it, how it benefits them, and how they feel about it." This all makes sense. Those few sentences describe what I have been learning for the past 11 weeks in my campaign planning and management course.

However, for branding a person, things are a bit different. Bourn says, "When branding a person, the brand is built around the charisma, talent, and expertise of a single person. This person is the celebrity face of the brand." This differs greatly from a product because branding a person means they have their own voice. It is easier to discover what lies in that inner layer. The voice is their voice, the marketing and the message comes from them and the visual brand uses their photo and likeness. With this approach, the brand completely revolves around the celebrity or expert, and the team or employees in place exist to support them.

I find it interesting how marketers and publicists position celebrities and athletes. For example, Taylor Swift has built an empire by positioning and marketing herself as the independent female figure of the millennials' time. Or how Justin Bieber's team has repositioned his reputation from bad boy to mature and responsible adult. I feel as though I can apply what I have learned in my marketing classes to understand how celebrities and athletes are presented to the public. There are so many similarities when comparing products and people, but how to position them differs.

Send Your Press Release to the Right People

The relationship between PR people and journalists/reporters/bloggers seems to be an ongoing feud. Reporters get fed up when they hear the beginning of any story pitch because most of the time, PR people are pitching to the wrong people. According to AdWeek: "We’re writing too many press releases and too often, sending them to the wrong people."As I would like to enter the Public Relations field of an Integrated Marketing Communications Firm following graduation, I feel as though this is a topic I should master. How do I get the reporters to write about my client?

I am lucky to have had minimal experience pitching to reporters during my summer internship at Schneider Associates, an Integrated Marketing Communications firm in Boston, MA. I remember the first pitch I did. . My client was the University of Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business. The story I was trying to pitch was from one of the graduate professors who did a study on loyalty programs and their influence on relationship building. I read the study and it was very interesting and informational. So, my internship supervisor came up to me and said, "Natasha, today is the day you will pitch to reporters!" Immediately, my heart was racing and my voice was shaky. All I have heard is how reporters "don't like PR people." It is a stigma that PR people never send press releases or pitch stories to the right reporters. So, how am I sure I'll be contacting the right reporter? How will I convince this reporter that my client's study is worth writing about? I was freaking out.

Bill Byrne, the director of Remedy Communications, wrote an amazing article in AdWeek explaining how to overcome the most common PR mistake. He says, "Regardless of what they [the reporters] cover, the one thing I’m consistently hearing from them is that the press releases they’re receiving just aren’t worthwhile to them." How do we as PR people overcome this? First, we must realize the power of technology. The newspapers, magazines, and radio are not the first medium that people are finding out about news. They are most likely to find out through other forms of mediums like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Second, we can't just send press releases because we can. It needs to be a strategic process. Third, always remember that local news stories go to local media. Trade related stories should be sent to trade media. Fourth, ask yourself is it actually newsworthy. Nine out of ten times your client is going to think everything they do is newsworthy, but you have to sit down and actually think if it is. It's one thing to sell a newsworthy pitch to a reporter. It's another thing selling a newsworthy pitch to a reporter when you know it is not newsworthy.

At the end of they day, everyone makes mistakes. You'll get that reporter that'll say, "I don't write about commercial real estate anymore" and hangs up the phone. It'll happen. The most important thing is not to get discouraged. Ultimately, the client is paying you to produce editorial results, but they also must understand it takes time. Strategic media relations is how to get reporters to write about your pitch. Understand the pitch, find reporters who will want to write about it, and convince them it is worth writing about. Just because the story is newsworthy, that doesn't mean it needs to be sent to a blast of reporters. Find subject-specific reporters and convince them.

Communicating with the Client Isn't Easy

As of right now, my Campaign Planning and Management class is entering its toughest phase. It is the time in which our professor is sending us off into the real world to apply everything we have learned in the past two months to a real-life client. This is my first time doing so, which makes me a bit apprehensive. Over the summer I was frequently exposed to client meetings, however, I was just an intern. I had no voice or role in the meetings. As I witnessed some communications issues, they did not bother me as much because I was only an intern. Now, with my client for class, I am experiencing miscommunication that is impacting my work.

My group for the consulting phase is already facing challenges with the marketing team. When we first met with them they were confused as to why we were even meeting. I thought this was interesting because my Campaign Planning and Management class has been leading up to this phase. The marketing management team did not seem to understand our purpose. So, I took initiative to explain to them what our purpose was.

My group, consisting of two other girls, is serving as a marketing communications consulting firm. The marketing management team has a client, who is Litron. Then, essentially, they "outsourced" for their promotional campaign and that is where my group comes in. However, as I tried to explain this to them, I saw we were at a standstill. I tried to explain what was going on in even simpler terms. I said that they were in charge of 3 P's (price, product, place), while my team is in charge of 1 P (promotion). Once I said that, I saw more understanding facial expressions.

Since the first meeting did not go so well, I am nervous about what the rest of the semester entails. I do not want miscommunication and ineffective meetings to affect my group's creativity and work ethic. For the first two months of Campaign Planning and Management, I feel as if we have grown into marketing communications professionals and have a lot to offer to Litron's marketing plan. The reason that the lack of cohesiveness impacts our campaign is because the marketing management's work directly affects our work. Professor Spotts has done a great job emphasizing that their positioning, missions, objectives are all things we cannot change. They serve as the guidelines for our promotional campaign. But, if the first meeting suggest ineffective communication, how can it get better?

This is a situation I know I will experience many times throughout my career. It is inevitable that when I am dealing with cliens that there will be miscommunication. It definitely is not easy. It is not easy to be on the same page, but it is something that will get better with experience and application. This phase of my Campaign Planning and Management class is the beginning to my consulting career and it can only go up from here.

Why Do We Fear Sharing Our Ideas?

Today in class, we got the opportunity to present our month-long ideas in a final one-minute web video. I felt as if it was the time to showcase our little baby that we had been working on for awhile now. As we sat in class, I knew my group and I were thinking: "Is there more we could have done?" "What if we included more peripheral cues?" "Will the audience feel the emotion we attempted to evoke in them?" A million and one questions come flooding in as the time comes to present. How do we know if your idea is the best idea?

I believe people fear sharing their ideas because of rejection. Human beings are terrified of being rejected. It could be rejection from a romantic interest or rejection from a job interview. Humans do not like to hear that there is something out there that is better than us. That is where the fear comes from. I have a real life example that pertains to my PR/Marketing internship over the summer in Boston, MA. Over the course of the summer, myself and three other interns had a project. We were given one of their clients (The University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business) and then told to do a promotional campaign for them. We were also told that the last day of my internship we had to present our campaign pitch to the CEO and the other executives. Yes, I was nervous. (Now that I think about it, having my Campaign Planning and Management class before my internship would have been a lot of help!) The reason I was so nervous is because I was terrified to get rejected of our ideas by the CEO, Joan Schneider. She is a Public Relations and Integrated Marketing Communications guru!

The presentation day came and I could not think straight. Obviously they had to schedule the presentation at the end of the day, which made me even more nervous as the day progressed. Once the presentation concluded and my palms stopped sweating, Joan looked at us and said: "This is brilliant." Who would've thought?! This is the reason why I should not fear my creative ideas because confidence can result in the best ideas I've ever thought of. However, if I were to have been rejected, I cannot lose sight on the fact that the BIG idea comes from the generate of millions of smaller ideas. Throughout my entire career I am going to develop my best, most creative ideas, but, at the same time, I will come up with some lame ones, too.

I believe as I get older and more confident in my creative work I won't be scared to share my ideas to others. As long as I can confidently explain the vision in my head, then others will follow along with me. After developing and filming a web video for Oreos, I realized how difficult it is to get what is going on in my head into a video/commercial. The ultimate goal is for others to see the vision that I see, which is another fear in sharing my ideas.

It seems as if I chose the industry that is all about sharing ideas and being creative. If I am afraid to share my ideas, how will I succeed? Confidence is key. Professor Spotts showed my class different visuals provided by creative from ad agencies. What I took from that is that little ideas ultimately develop the big idea. It is important not be to discouraged by the failure of the smaller ideas because they only lead to the big idea, which will be the best idea.

Marketing Plan vs. Marketing Communications Plan

My sophomore year at Western New England University I took a Principles of Marketing class just to fulfill a requirement. Little did I know, marketing would become my area of interest as a grow into my career. The first thing that Professor Elam asked my class was: "What is marketing? What comes to mind when you think of marketing?" Some answers were advertising, promotions, commercials, etc. I agreed with my classmates, but marketing is so much more than I have learned. So, the first concept we learned was the 4 P's of the marketing mix. They are price, product, promotion, and place (distribution). However, as the semester in Professor Elam's class progressed, I realized I was not interested in the pricing of products or where to distribute them. What was I interested in? I wanted to learn more about how to promote the product successfully. This when I was taught the difference between the marketing plan and the marketing communications plan.

What is the marketing plan? The marketing plan consists of concrete points that we, as marketing communications consultants, cannot change. As marketing communications consultants, we must ask questions. The questions never end. Essentially, our client is the marketing team, and the marketing team's client is the brand. The marketing team outsources to us, the marketing communications consultants. It is then that we meet with the marketing team and ask questions. These questions include: How are you positioning the brand? What are you trying to accomplish? That is where we can determine which areas of the consumer pathway the product is trying to achieve, which ultimately leads to the communications objectives. However, it is important to note that when asking the marketing team such questions, that you make them say it to your face. This is a topic that Professor Spotts touched upon. If the marketing team says "it's in the documents," that is not acceptable. The marketing communications team must get the answer out of them from their own voice. This allows for the the marketing communications team to hear their plans with the emotion they want to evoke. 

What is the marketing communications plan? A lot. I don't really know how else to explain it. In my opinion, my Campaign Planning and Management class should be a year long course. The best way to describe the marketing communications plan is by the creative brief. This document covers all of the important aspects when developing a promotional campaign. There is collecting the backstory, the who, what, why, how, where, when, metrics, budget, and mandatories. Don't think that if you develop a creative brief then that is your campaign. It may seem like an easy outline to fill out, but the depth of research and analysis required to get the best understanding of the product's layers is just the beginning of a great campaign. There's a lot that goes into it.

The overall difference between the two is that the marketing plan consists of the price (how much to sell the product for), product (packaging), and place (where to distribute it). The marketing communications plan solely focuses on the promotions piece. Now, it is important to understand that just because the marketing communications plan is just one P of the marketing mix does not mean that it is less work. My Campaign Planning and Management class has made sure to inform me that a lot goes into planning a promotional campaign for a product. Ultimately, without the marketing plan there is no marketing communications plan and without the marketing communications plan there is no marketing plan. 

What is the Message Story?

More than half of my fall semester in my Campaign Planning and Development class is already over. I look back and I think to myself: Wow, I have really learned so much. An important point I have learned is the whole point of a marketing communications plan is to get the brand's message out to the right people at the right time. The most popular way to do so is through stories. The message story seems like an easy concept to understand; however, it consists of three separate questions.

The first question: What are you going to say? The answer to this question stems from the extensive research found while developing and collecting the backstory of the client's product. For example, for my team consulting project, my client is the MK 421 class whose client is Litron. In order to answer that question, I must directly ask the MK 421 class what they want to accomplish for Litron. What are their objectives? Once I know what the objectives are, I can see what is going to be said for Litron. Professor Spotts constantly stressed how important the first part of the creative brief really is. It is when I can fully understand my client's inner layer and how I can align that layer with the prospect's inner layer. If I can discover Litron's inner layer and match that with the objectives, I will have a clear understanding on what I'm going to say through the message story.

The second question: Why are you going to say it? The answer to this question falls under the justification and reasoning for what is said in the message. As my previous post discussed, so much goes into a 30-second commercial. The peripheral cues all have meaning. Every little thing has meaning. So determining why I am going to say certain things in a message for Litron falls under the conceptual summary. The conceptual summary provides reasoning behind each and every little thing involved in the communications plan. For example, in regards to Oreo, nostalgia helps explain many communications plans for their commercials in the past and today.

The third question: How are you going to say it? The answer to this question relates to the book Brand Media Strategy. There are numerous media channels (television, newspaper, magazine, etc.) that serve a different purpose in the consumer pathway. The consumer pathway is a helpful took that aids in determining what the client wants to achieve. It could be awareness, consumption, relationship building, etc. Each medium succeeds in different areas of the consumer pathway. For example, in class I determined that Oreos should focus on promoting consumption, which is enhancing the consumer experience. Then, I could see that events/guerilla marketing and shopper marketing work best in promoting consumption. This is how marketers can effectively determine how they will deliver the message story.

From the beginning of class, my classmates and I were taught the importance of telling a brand's message like a story. These three questions help implement the client's story in an effective way for consumer to connect with the brand's message.