By Shashank Bhasker:
For many decades the marketers were challenged in reaching their target groups (TG) with the right media mix for converting top of mind recall at the store level into purchase intent. Let’s revisit the journey cycle. The product is ready and shipped to the store. The marketer thinks of a compelling campaign; brings in a media mix so that his target group sees it on the medium but far away from the place of action. The TG visits the stores and while shopping for other things has to recall his purchase intent for the marketer’s product and take a decision. Don’t you think the journey is too long? This traditional journey of buying behavior is getting outdated with a plethora of options available in the hands of the consumers.
Traditionally certain sectors like clothing, groceries relied more on human resource for selling their products. The personalized human touch was regarded as of prime importance but the scenario is changing rapidly. With the amount of time being spent on smartphones, tablets, social networking sites like Facebook, twitter, Instagram, MySpace etc. the need of the hour is to give the consumers abilities to multi task — seek information online — take decisions and act accordingly. Let us now take a quick look at the upcoming platforms which will be exploited abundantly in near future by all companies:
Location Based Services:
Social apps like Foursquare, Path etc. are going to play a pivotal role in collecting consumer data in near future. These apps can be used by the shopkeepers to send personalized SMS to their target customers if they are there in the vicinity to inform on the latest offers.
Near Field Communication:
It is a set of rules that define the way smartphones or any other NFC device interacts through radio communications by touching them together or placing them in close proximity. Google Wallet allows customers to store their credit card details in a virtual wallet and carry out transactions through NFC enabled devices. This technology can be exploited to share photos, files, have multiplayer gaming and lots more. For marketers it spells a new way to interact with their target group.
Augmented Reality:
It has a huge potential to change the way customers make decisions to buy online especially clothes or jewelry. Online stores should start offering an augmented view of how the dress would look on them. In fact it should not be limited to online shopping even the retail stores can have PCs where they use augmented reality. Saloons can also use this to show how the haircut or style would finally look so that the customer can make an informed decision.
YouTube’s going to lead the way-
Here’s a statistic:
33 Tarzan movies have been made since 1933 while 8950 Tarzan YouTube Videos have been made since 2005. This clearly shows the popularity of this medium today. We find ourselves spending an increased amount of time surfing on the net mainly through our smartphones, tablets or PCs. A large number of trailers are being previewed for upcoming movies and are first aired on YouTube. Even social campaigns are being taken to the next level by sensitizing the audience through interactive videos.
Integrated Marketing:
Brand recall can be improved by showcasing relevant advertisements about your product in every possible front. This includes print media, TVs, mobile phones, apps etc. Bombarding the customer with relevant, catchy & innovative ads will surely pave out a positive impact on the brand for the company. QR codes are a novel way to make the customers interact with the company.
Change the Game is the new platform for marketers to market their products and for consumers the way they interact. Dollar costs of reaching the right audience through traditional medium are increasing by the day. Hence laser sharp advertising and reaching the right audience is the need of the hour.