Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
Monday, November 21st, 2011
The recent announcement of Google+ brand pages has marketers asking the obvious question, “Should I bother with another social media channel?” Most companies by now have some sort of presence on Facebook and Twitter. It’s working well for some and not so well with others. It’s safe to say at this point that a lot of time and resources are required to reap the benefits of social media marketing. So why Google+? Well, here are a few unique points:
Google+ has a smaller user base (40 million compared to Facebook’s 800 million). Fewer users can be a positive as there is less clutter and more focus on content itself. Facebook is packed full of updates with all of the integration that is taking place. Google+ is driven more towards professional and industry specific content. Companies may find an easier path to connect with a relevant audience.
Google+ offers unique functionality that Facebook or Twitter do not have available. “Hangouts”, or live audio/video chats, provide a direct opportunity to engage in discussions to get feedback or present exclusive content. Some companies such as Dell are looking into using “Hangouts” as a place for customer support and sales so the customers aren’t required to call on the phone.
Google+ will integrate with other Google offerings. Moving forward, Google will continue to unify its products with Google+. We’ve already seen the integration in its beginning stages with the +1 buttons. Deeper integration with Google Place and Maps, web and image search, and YouTube will come next. The integration will increase a company’s visibility on social media and with organic searches.
Tags:branding, facebook, google, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
According to research from Accenture, almost two-thirds of B2B marketing executives view social media as an important marketing channel. However, only 7% felt that they were leveraging social media very heavily while 9% were not using social media at all. Business-to-business marketers have been acknowledging the value of social media yet have been slower to adopt social media strategies compared to business-to-consumer marketers.
Another study that compares B2B and B2C social media involvement showed that 12% of B2B companies are not using social media compared to 2% of B2C companies. B2B marketers say that technology, tools, metrics, and collaboration could be useful to strengthen their social media programs. Uncertainty of social media is definitely a factor in holding back B2B marketers in getting serious with social media. The fact that it is still a relatively young marketing channel has B2B marketers taking the wait-and-see approach.
It boils down to the age old sales and marketing question, “How much has it contributed to our bottom line?” Like many other marketing efforts, the number is tricky to quantify with social media. Thus, marketers are apprehensive in putting too much time and effort into social media at this time.
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Tags:B2B, B2C, facebook, Marketing, Social Media, social networks, Twitter
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Monday, November 7th, 2011
British artist Greg Burney has exploded on Twitter thanks to a very creative social media marketing strategy. Burney began with around 70 followers before he came up with his Twitter project called #drawmyfollowers. With the project, Greg Burney set out to do a sketch of every single new follower that followed him before November 14. He would then send the sketch to that follower. The message tweeted on October 31 read as such:
Not realizing the impact this was going to have on his Twitter profile, let alone his time, Burney had to ultimately had to tweak his promise. Within two days, he had 700 followers. Some media outlets picked up on it and the followers kept on coming. He then changed his November 14 deadline to promising to sketch his first 3,000 followers. If you’d like to get in on the action, it’s too late. I went to his page this morning and he now has over 5,000 followers. Brilliant!
By thinking outside of the box to use his craft and tie it into the social media platform he wanted to promote, it’s safe to say that it’s mission accomplished for this artist. We sure hope he enjoys sketching- he has his work cutout for him.
Tags:art, drawing, Marketing, sketch, Social Media, tweet, Twitter
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Friday, November 4th, 2011
So what does a company do after the worst quarter in its history? Change the packaging. At least that’s what MillerCoors is doing to Miller Genuine Draft. The new “Black” packaging for MGD highlights the brand’s heritage as the original cold-filtered draft beer in a bottle. MGD has become the beer brand of choice for Millenial consumers (those born between 1980 and 1995) but it’s third-quarter sales have experienced a double-digit decline.
Along with some new ads, the packaging will hit retail shelves in the coming weeks. MillerCoors describes the new packaging as more “stylish” and “internationally-alluring”. At a time when Miller Genuine Draft sales have continued to slide, MillerCoors is expecting the packaging change so help get sales back on track.
Tags:alcohol, beer, Coors, liquor, Miller, packaging
Posted in Marketing, Packaging Design | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 31st, 2011
Next month, Coca-Cola will be turning their iconic red packaging to white. Arctic white that is. Coke is teaming up with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for a bold new campaign to help protect the Arctic home of polar bears. Coca-Cola will be committing up to $3 million to WWF’s polar bear conservation efforts while also asking fans in the US to join in the campaign by texting donations to the cause. The first-ever white packaging for Coke encourages $1 text donations to WWF.
More than 1.4 billion white Coca-Cola cans will help raise awareness and funds marking the first time ever that Coke has changed the color of their red cans. The all-white cans will feature the image of a mother bear and her two cubs making their way across the Arctic. White packaging will be on store shelves through February 2012. Anyone who wants to help the polar bears can text the package code to 357357 to donate $1 to WWF. They also can donate online at ArcticHome.com, starting November 1. Coca-Cola will match all donations made with a package code by March 15, 2012, up to a total of $1 million.
‘Polar bears inspire the imagination. They’re massive, powerful, beautiful and they live nowhere else except the Arctic. Their lives are intimately bound up with sea ice, which is now melting at an alarming rate,’ said Carter Roberts, President and CEO of World Wildlife Fund. ‘By working with Coca-Cola, we can raise the profile of polar bears and what they’re facing, and most importantly, engage people to work with us, to help protect their home.’
Tags:brands, coca-cola, packaging, polar bear, wildlife
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Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
Flexible packaging consists of bags, envelopes, pouches, sachets, and wraps made of easily yielding materials such as film, foil, or paper sheeting. When filled and sealed, flexible packaging acquires a pliable shape.
A new study shows that flexible packaging demand is expected to grow 3.8% annually, reaching $18.2 billion by 2015. According to the market study by Freedonia Group, the growth will be the result of source reduction efforts by retailers and packaged good firms. Pouches will be the fastest growing sector in the flexible packaging market with an average annual growth of 4.6%.
Tags:bags, envelopes, flexible packaging, pouches
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Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
There’s no doubt that Apples new iPhone 4S is the biggest tech story with its release this week. In fact, Apple announced Monday that the new iPhone sold 1 million in pre-orders the first 24hrs it was available. That was a new record for the company beating their 600,000 pre-orders for the iPhone 4 in 2010.
As the world gets set for the release of iPhone 4S this Friday, we’re now getting a glimpse of the device including its packaging. The iPhone 4S packaging is very similar to the iPhone 4. Check out the photos below.
Apple also announced that they’ll be paying tribute to their recently deceased mastermind CEO, Steve Jobs, with a private event to be held on October 19.
Tags:apple, iPhone, iphone 4S, package design, packaging, Smartphone, Steve Jobs
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Monday, October 10th, 2011
Have you ever wondered which brands are most popular on Facebook? Famecount has a list the shows the most “liked” brands on Facebook worldwide. The keyword is “Like” here. Facebook “Likes” are supposed to have less value in the future as Facebook just launched a new metric called “Talking about”. Pages with a high “Talking about” rating are the ones with the most compelling content because the metric will measure user-initiated activity related to a page. Activities include wall postings, “Likes”, commenting, and sharing a page. Marketers have to focus on coming up with compelling content in order to get users to interact more with their pages to score higher “Talking about” ratings. So while it’s good for a brand to have a lot of “Likes”, it’s better to get consumers “Talking about” them.
Top 10 “Liked” Brands on Facebook:
1. Coca-Cola- 34,563,347
2. Starbucks- 25,490,292
3. Oreo- 23,117,266
4. Red Bull- 22,447,819
5. Converse All-Star- 20,795,216
6. Converse- 20,169,668
7. Skittles- 19,359,111
8. Playstation- 17,448,382
9. Pringles- 15,631,111
10. Victoria’s Secret- 15,365,940
Tags:brands, coca-cola, consumers, facebook, Marketing, Pringles, Starbucks
Posted in Custom Packaging Products, Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
Graphic cigarette packaging has been all over the news in recent months mainly coming out of Australia. But while Australia still waits for senate approval to pass a law requiring graphic packaging for cigarettes, Canada has beat them to the punch.
Sixteen separate graphic warnings, such as a cancer-infected mouth or an emaciated cancer-stricken women, will cover 75 per cent of the front and back of Canada’s cigarette packaging. Every package will also contain a toll-free number making it easier for smokers to get advice about quitting. The big difference between legislation in Canada and Australia is that Canada will still allow companies to use their long-established trademarks and logos to differentiate brands. Australiais calling for plain cigarette packaging with no brand distinction.
The health industry has praised the move while tobacco companies argue that minimal impact from the graphic packaging will be had because the public has been well aware of the health risks of smoking for years. In Australia, tobacco companies say removal of branding on cigarette packaging breaks international trade obligations.
Canada retailers will have until June of 2012 to comply with the new law. If Australia gets the law passed, all cigarette brands will be sold in olive green packaging with graphic warnings sometime in July of 2012.
We don’t like to get political on our blog too often but it begs the question. Is this legislation going to far? Or is it warranted?
Tags:Australia, Canada, cancer, cigarettes, law, packaging, smoking
Posted in Marketing, Packaging Design | No Comments »
Friday, September 23rd, 2011
Facebook has passed 800 million users (which Facebook measures as users that have logged in during the past 30 days). That means Facebook has added about 50 million users since July. For marketers, it’s becoming essential to have a presence on such a giant platform. But some recent changes are going to make it harder for marketers to get the visibility they want. In other words, they’re really going to have to work for it.
The recent list of changes announced by Facebook will put more pressure on advertisers to come up with compelling content and integrate themselves further into consumers’ lives. Going forward, the “Like” button will have a smaller role in marketing.
A big change is that Facebook has added a control in the top right of each story that users can check to unmark a top story. Facebook will use that information over time to automatically edit the feeds. Since users now have more control over their news feeds, brands with boring or irrelevant updates will have lower visibility.
Just getting people to ‘Like’ a brand is now a thing of the past. Now, it’s about getting people to take social actions enabled by that brand. Consumers will be creating a digital autobiography in which brands will have to integrate themselves.
The change will require new thinking from marketers. The Facebook marketing model of old tried to accumulate as many fans and “Likes” as possible which is little less relevant now. Marketers will have to work harder to earn their place in news feeds. Content will need to take a step up. This means marketers will actually have to deliver something of value to a customer rather than just spamming.
Tags:advertising, facebook, Marketing, Social Media, social networking
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