Considerations by Assia Grazioli-Venier, Founder & CEO Flypaper.tv
Over the last few months, companies have reviewed their budgets for 2009. Cost cuts are likely across the board; from overheads to advertising. In order to generate the same awareness and purchase-intent, ad buyers are going to have to adapt and develop new plans for success. If ad-buyers are going to be successful, they must now put digital at the heart of their campaigns.
The natural reaction of many brands during a recession is to go into hiding. Marketing activity is reduced, which means that they become less visible to the consumer. However, just because things are tough, it certainly doesn’t mean that consumers stop buying. It is just that their buying habits change. They focus on the necessities, they look for offers and they are attracted by anything that saves them money. Invisible brands therefore run the risk of missing out on sales and worse disconnecting from their audience altogether.
The question therefore is how to market to your audience successfully during this tough economic period. It is likely that consumers are now foregoing ‘lets go out’ activities, they prefer to stay at home, choosing instead to escape into entertainment via TV, the Internet and their mobile phones. Digital platforms therefore present strong channels through which to connect and engage with consumers.
When considering digital as a marketing vehicle, it is important that brands consider the following:
Content Production
Pursue quality content. Be stimulating and interesting so that you grab the consumer’s attention. Do not focus on making the sell, but instead on being entertaining. Ensure that your brand message within your content is integrated effectively and creatively at the very start. Also make sure the brand is harmonised with the story and narrated in an interactive and engaging way.
Don’t cut costs and take shortcuts. Although content remains king, quality is most certainly its queen and employing one and not the other, you run the risk of producing disengaging content that could potentially harm your brand image.
Choose a content producer that fits with the values of your own company. Make sure that they put as much energy into the creation of quality content as you do in the creation of your product or service.
Advertising Innovation
Go beyond the norm and be innovative. Online video units should not stand alone; they need to be part of a creative and interactive ecosystem. Integrate new media with old media, banners with overlays, social networks with destination video sites. Think activation. It is imperative that ads become more interactive and activate the viewer and stimulates them into some kind of action that connects them with your brand.
Remember that consumers are still living and breathing and they still need to buy products. Therefore choose to advertise the products that are essential to cash-strapped audiences.
Syndication
Being bold in syndication is key. Super-syndicate so that it reaches viewers wherever and whenever. Digital offers a broad range of channels through which to connect and create relationships with your audience. The key is to understand first where your audience is residing and then to choose the channels that reach out to them.
Now more than ever, digital represents the primary channel for savvy marketers to reach their customers. It is cost effective and simple to produce content for digital channels and as consumer belts tighten, more people will be turning to these channels. By laying the foundation of a strong digital strategy now, brands will reap the rewards when the difficult economic period is over.
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January 23rd, 2009 at 5:49 pm
[...] for how the media climate is going to change. (Also read our recent Jan ‘09 article: Going Digital During a Recession [...]
January 26th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
[...] Going Digital During a Recession [...]
February 24th, 2009 at 2:40 am
[...] increase in video consumption can be attributed in large part to the recession, as more people prefer to stay at home and entertain themselves through TV and Online’s cheap [...]