Why creating DEMAND from consumers is the best marketing tool!

I don't know about you but everywhere I've driven, every TV show I've watched and every social media channel I've browsed in the last couple of weeks, I can't help but noticed McDonald's new marketing campaign, whether it be in outdoor advertising, TV and radio ads or paid posts across Facebook and Twitter;

Post by McDonald's.

@krpickersgill @McDonalds trouble is when you get one it will look nothing like that, more like it's just been stood on or run over!!
— Keith J Last (@kentishmale) December 15, 2014

Yes, the McRib is back! Now, I can't say I'm a regular McDonalds visitor myself, but judging the hype on social media, this was a clearly loved product. The McRib product is often introduced for limited periods of time and then taken off the menu. Clearly the marketing spend around bringing the McRib back has been huge as I have seen it just about everywhere! By creating these touchpoints, consumers can build their excitement and remember the product everywhere they go.

Now, one may argue why do McDonalds created this 'limited-time-only' product? If it's so popular- why don't they just keep it on the menu year-round? 

Well, from what I can tell, when it was on the menu permanently, the sales were low... yet not low enough to keep it off forever... so here are the reasons I believe that the intermittent reintroduction of McRib is a great marketing strategy;

1. It creates a sense of urgency in the consumer: It's available for a limited time only! The consumer must stock up if they want to make the most of the product whilst it's still around. The great thing about food is that it's perishable... so customers can go back to McDonalds as many times as possible in the time period in order to repurchase.
2. Nostalgia: Customers may remember the product from the past and want to relive perceived 'happier times'... this also applies to brands who have executed this brilliantly e.g. Cadbury's Wispa
3. Retains customers who may not be regular customers: Customers who might not regularly make trips to McDonalds may do so purely to purchase the McGrill- this therefore brings in extra custom and the potential to retain them further/ up or cross-sell.
4. Creates a great talking point: We all know social mentions and shares are fundamental to establishing an online presence, therefore something which consumers feel their peers may talk about/ something which they perceive to be 'safe' to discuss like McDonalds food.... is likely to be highly discussed. This also applies to the offline world.
5. Something new, but not a risk: New products can hit it off with consumers, but their sales are usually low to begin with due to consumers fearing trying something new. However, the fact that McDonalds have brought this back because it was so well loved in the past, which is a message highly reiterated in their marketing communications activity for McGrill, consumers are much more likely to buy it. When your peers like something- you are likely to want to like it too!
6. Customers feel like they have achieved something: By creating a 'hype' or an upstorm about bringing the product back, customers feel like they have caused this and therefore they feel a better connection with the brand as they feel as though their needs are being listened to. Effectively, this is the case, but it also brings more awareness and talk around the brand itself

This is the kind of genius marketing I get excited about!! So simple yet so effective!

Stephanie

Vine

 If you haven't heard of/used/had a look at Vine then you need to get on it! It's a new social media site which I think is going to take off very fast! I would say the site is a cross between twitter, instagram and youtube and it allows users to post a six-second video clip and share with other users.

Many celebs, dance groups and wanna-be singers have taken to Vine to provide entertaining and informative content. I did have a go myself but I don't think I'm funny enough!

So clearly with the huge level of entertaining content on social media platforms at the moment- organisations are finding different ways to slide their marketing content in amongst the others.

As vine only provides content creators with a six-second limit, it separates the best, most creative and unique marketing teams from the weak. Companies have to get their thinking caps on in order for their content to be liked, revined and shared.

A suprising company that I saw on the list was Natwest bank....
They used the application to answer customer's frequently asked questions on twitter- a creative way to engage with customers! This meant that customers could find the answers without having to go on the natwest website or google the questions for themselves!

Will definitely make natwest stand out and the vines can be reshared on facebook and twitter for a higher coverage!

 Another interesting vine from Puma which captures attention...


 Bacardi UK showing how brands can be creative with the Vine app.


And finally doritos showing how vine can be used to engage consumers and INVOLVE them in campaigns.

Vine is a fabulous tool used by marketers and I hope you agree!


Steph

Voucher Sites

Hey,

Soo recently I have been sllllightly addicted to Groupon....
If you're not aware Groupon is a site which users can register in order to receive discounts on products and services in their local area. You receive an email every day (I think) with offers and can purchase the vouchers straight from the email. I get three- one each for Portsmouth, Bristol and Manchester!

They have ridiculous discounts off days out, beauty and hair treatments, gifts and holidays. Obviously the site is great for consumers as they can get vouchers for up to 80% of the recommended retail value. In order for the coupon to be “active” a minimum number of people must purchase the coupon, which means that if enough people don't sign up to buy it- no one gets the offer.

Retailers, restaurants and beauty salons set up the offer with groupon, whilst they provide the marketing, client base and sales. Clearly this provides them with exposure, awareness from their target audience and new customers.

But how beneficial is the use of groupon for businesses??

Groupon splits each voucher sale 50/50 with the provider of the service, so for a haircut which might have a retail value of £40, sold on groupon for £15- the retailer receives £7.50. I doubt this covers their costs, so it is a risk to take in order to market yourself.

I would be interested to discover how many of the groupon voucher buyers actually return to the retailers and pay full price at a later date for the same service they received at an 80% discount....
To be honest I doubt that the kind of consumer that Groupon attracts is the type to want to pay full price.Often, the vouchers offered are similar week-in week-out from highlights and a hair cut to super car experiences, therefore when I'm using Groupon I would rather wait a few weeks for the voucher I want to be posted rather than pay full price at a salon I may have visited previously.

I suspect many consumers or 'bargain hunters' may use the same tactic, therefore I question whether groupon can provide a positive return on investment for companies. However, it could suit companies that have low variable costs of goods sold e.g. events, museums, spas, etc – where adding one additional customer does not add a high cost for the business.

I would be interested to see the ROI from companies which have used Groupon and other similar voucher sites in order to promote their services. I might be pleasantly surprised......

Just my thoughts,
Steph

Customer service

When you think of marketing- customer service probably isn't the 1st thing that springs to mind or some people might not even realise how big of a part of marketing customer service actually is.
But although attracting customers to your brand and making them aware of your products is important; whats fundamental to the success of a brand is customer retention.

Have you ever noticed that the most profitable retailers are always the ones who provide impeccable customer service instore- Apple, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Boots, John Lewis are all fantastic at it. I really do believe it's forefront to success and keeping your customer.

I had a particularly pleasant experience in Boots recently- one which surprised me.

I'm usually a MAC devotee and always buy my make-up in there, however after visiting the Debenhams store in Bristol and having a really rude sales assistant more interested in chatting too her friend and what was behind the till than actually finding me the product I needed, I decided to leave the store. I had actually intended to make quite a large purchase that day but I was so disappointed in the way she had dealt with me that I decided to leave- to be honest I have visited loads of MAC counters, in London, Birmingham, Manchester and the Trafford Centre and have never experienced any treatment like I had in there. However the Bristol staff have always let me down- sometimes blatantly having had just come back from a fag break (not nice when they breathe it in your face) or just generally not been interested in me as a customer.

Anyway, so I decided to try a different counter and went to try Boots instead this time, not only to get my advantage card points (most successful loyalty scheme ever) but by this point I was sick of Debenhams! I had heard great things about the Clinique products in blogs and wanted to give it a try- but as I hadn't tried them before I was slightly apprehensive- however the sales assistant was amazing and talked me through the products- she had amazing product knowledge and I explained my apprehension at spending a lot of money on products I hadn't tried before and she put me totally at ease by taking my phone number and offering to call me a few days later and then scheduling an appointment a few weeks later where she would check I liked them and see if I had any problems and if not she said I could return the products!!

I was astonished at how well she treated me- no hard sell and she really did look after me, seriously a different treatment from the MAC counter!!! Will definitely be returning to the Clinique counter.

Good customer service not only means that customers are more likely to return- they are also likely to spend more money!

Yet- even when you get these loyal customers- good customer service is neccessary as even one bad experience can put a customer off for life. Especially with the extent of social media today- 1 bad tweet, facebook post or youtube video can be detremental to the reputation of a brand. It isn't just a bad customer service experience shared with one person- it's shared with the WHOLE WORLD.
Similar to my blog post of public relations- posts and shares about negative news regarding a brand are FAR more likely to be shared than positive ones.

Take this video:



It currently has 650,000 views- all seen how poor hollister's customer service can be- although this may have been one isolated case, it has been seen by thousands and provided a negative association not only with the brand, but with the staff and customers may think twice about buying from Hollister in the future.

This just indicates the extent to how important customer service is in the first place. And at the end of the day- good training and brand values to begin with which are set in place in all areas of the business means there is less for the PR department to have to deal with and ultimately- less to clean up afterwards


Steph x