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1 Minute Advice: How CMOs See the Current and Future State of Marketing

The American Marketing Association, Deloitte LLP and Duke University's Fuqua School of Business sponsored the August 2019 "CMO Survey," a twice annually, long-running survey of Chief Marketing Officers. The survey generated 341 responses from U.S. for-profit companies and 95 percent of respondents were VP-level and above. A few interesting data points:

• Companies are bullish on marketing, with marketing budgets expected to grow by 8.7 percent next year.
• Marketing leaders believe new technologies have strengthened the importance of marketing in their companies, but they struggle with being forward-looking: Two out of three executives say they tend to focus on "managing the present" rather than "preparing for the future."
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having an impact on marketing; there has been a 27 percent increase in the use of AI over last year.
• The percentage of the marketing budget spent on mobile marketing is significantly increasing and expected to grow over 70 percent in the next five years.

More about the survey here: https://cmosurvey.org/

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Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Danger Signs for Legacy Brands

In retail, the once great legacy brand, Sears, is virtually gone now. In the CPG world, the renowned legacy brand Gillette is struggling. While the reasons may vary, these and other legacy brands are in danger in today's volatile brand world, according to professors at the Wharton School.

Professor Santiago Gallino thinks "...these brands are breaking up with the customers. I think that at some point the customer decides to pack up and leave. To me, it looks like the brands are consistently giving the customer the signal that they are done with them, that they are not going … to give them what they expect from the brand and what they used to offer.”

Professor Barbara E. Kahn sees digital marketing as another reason: "...digitally native vertical brands go to millennials with an emotional, branded story that speaks to their lifestyles. Legacy brands didn’t see the change and didn’t change fast enough.” Still, she thinks it's possible for legacy brands to leverage the relationship they once had with consumers: "I think nostalgia will always be around. People tend to become more nostalgic during recessions; they long for the good old days and have a positivity bias about the past. They only remember the good things, so you see it in advertising, and market share of nostalgic brands picks up in less prosperous times.”

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Is "Showrooming" Still a Problem for Retailers?

Brick-and-mortar retailers are always concerned when they see store visitors taking out their phones. Some of these shoppers are "showrooming" when they are in a traditional retailer. That means they have come to the store with the intent to check out a product's attributes but then look it up online to see where they can buy it at a lower price.

New research from Google is somewhat encouraging; it suggests that, while some mobile shoppers are indeed showrooming, others may actually be searching for more information about the store itself. In fact, Google has discovered "that people no longer follow a predictable and straight path to purchase." More shoppers are using mobile search before they even go to a store to look up hours, locations and other details. Google has found that " shoppers continue to hunt for deals while they’re in-store, and search online for things like '[retailer name] + in store coupons'..."

More good news regarding in-store mobile search, according to Google: "In-store shoppers are 4X more likely to search on Google for the retail brand of the store they’re currently in compared to the next highest competitor, and there are 6X more Google searches for the retailer than for 'amazon." The bottom line is that retailers need to be sure all relevant store and product information is easy to find online -- and also create a positive in-store shopping experience.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Keeping a Brand Fresh with Gen Z

Research suggests that members of Gen Z (ages 8 through 22) are more oriented toward advertising-free experiences, and that they sometimes don't even respond to traditionally branded products. That's why Doritos has launched an unusual and unconventional campaign that actually excludes the product's brand name and logo. Instead an "anti-ad" created for YouTube features the triangular-shaped snack and an unbranded bag. In a tweet, the company said, "It's the chip so iconic...we don't need to name it."

The brand, which is owned by PepsiCo, is confident the Gen Z audience will recognize the shape of the Doritos chip and connect with the campaign. While it could be a risky strategy, it could also stand out and differentiate the brand. Only time will tell.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Hotel Brands Proliferate

One category of brands seems to be exploding non-stop: hotel brands. According to The New York Times, hotel brands add brands at a blistering pace to differentiate their offerings and appeal to different audiences. As of June 2018, reports hotel research firm STR, there were 180 hotel chains with more than five U.S. properties.

Major hotel chains have brands across many segments, from budget to luxury. For example, Hilton and Hyatt each offer 17 brands. Marriott now has 30 brands after its acquisition of Starwood hotels in 2016. Some of Marriott's brands actually compete with one another, but they've retained them all. “We were able to push these brands apart and continue to provide varied experiences,” says Tina Edmondson, Marriott's global brand officer. Phil Cordell, Hilton's global head of brand development, warns, “If brands get too focused on a specific segment, that’s where things can run off the rails in the longer term...“The more you have, the more you have to be incredibly disciplined in ensuring that difference is there. Bigger isn’t always better.”

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: McKinsey's Considerations to Modernize Marketing

Marketing innovation is proceeding at a blistering pace, particularly when it comes to digital marketing. This requires marketers to keep up with modern demands. Consulting firm McKinsey shares six "governing considerations to modernize marketing" that could help organizations' marketing function excel:

1. How to centralize guidance and oversight
2. How to bring together marketing and IT (heart and brain)
3. How to build collaboration and agility
4. How to reinvent HR to meet talent demands
5. How to build flexibility into resource planning
6. How to make cultural change a continuous task.

According to McKinsey, "Modernizing marketing is a process that relies on multiple factors for success. Only by understanding what these are and by focusing on how to address them can marketers hope to get real value from digital."

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: What "Brand Loyalty" Really Means

Marketing Charts reports on Nielsen data that indicates more than half of U.S. shoppers believe they are exhibiting loyalty to a product if they have purchased it at least three times. But only 9 percent of U.S. consumers say they are loyal to brands or products they have always bought. Among U.S. consumers, 55 percent say they sometimes try new brands and products.

Why do consumers switch brands instead of remaining loyal? On a global scale, 38 percent of consumers will choose a new brand or product because of "value for money," while 32 percent say "price or promotion" causes them to switch. Other studies confirm that loyalty to a single brand has waned. A survey of U.S. consumers indicated that a whopping 86 percent said they are open to switching brands, with 72 percent saying that when they make a purchase, they consider 2 to 4 brands.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Three Rules of Social Media Engagement

As a marketer, engaging with prospects and customers via social media is essential today. Creating true engagement, however, requires adherence to certain rules. Writing for Social Media Examiner, Luria Petrucci identifies three of the most vital rules for social media engagement:

1. Be consistent - "You must consistently create quality social media content for people to want to engage with you."
2. Ask specific questions - "Too often, marketers think they’re asking for engagement when, in fact, they’re not. If you’re not getting super-specific with your request for people to comment, chances are they won’t."
3. Include an element of fun - "What works today is personality. A sense of fun and your unique personality is what will drive engagement more than anything else because people don’t engage unless they enjoy the content or feel something about it. "

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Brands Need to be Cautious with Consumer Data

As data privacy and data breaches continue to make news, it heightens consumer awareness of how personal data is being used. A recent survey of consumers by content management solutions provider Acquia reveals that 65 percent of respondents will abandon a brand that is dishonest about how a consumer's personal data is being used. Still, consumers are generally willing to share their data with brands: almost half (49 percent) will share personal data with brands that have a physical store, but 59 percent say they wait at least a month before doing so.

A more telling statistic from the survey is that 65 percent of consumers don't know how brands are using their personal data. Tom Wentworth, a senior VP at Acquia, tells MediaPost, “Brands have a responsibility to educate consumers about data usage, proving that they can trust the Internet again," indicating that we are at "the beginning of a new paradigm where businesses need to find personalized ways to engage consumers without going too far."

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Eco-friendly Packaging on the Rise

In response to the groundswell of concern around plastics, large consumer companies are starting to think creatively about eco-friendly packaging. Two encouraging examples:

1. Nestle has come up with a special recyclable polymer-coated paper that can be used in high-speed packaging production but degrades within six months in the ocean. Even more impressive is the fact that the company is making the technology available to food manufacturers rather than patenting it.
2. PepsiCo is using a 100% recycled product for one of its water brands and will introduce aluminum can packaging for its Aquafina brand to eventually replace plastic bottles.

In addition to these examples, an industry movement is underway in a pilot program that tests the concept of multi-use containers being reused and returned by the consumer. Sounds like the good ol' days of glass milk bottles, doesn't it? Everything old is new again!

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?