To Market - Creative Reading 2015/16 E-Book

Approaches 17 TO INSPIRE

MARKETING

2015/16

CREATIVE READING *

TO DO YOU

SOMETHING DIFFERENT A1 compilation of the some of the best marketing www.to-market.co.uk hello@to-market.co.uk 020 3281 from 1897 around the world

DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT!

Our creative reading book is all about doing things differently. We’ve gathered some of the best advertising and marketing out there in one place for you to digest and take inspiration from.

Just because big companies have bigger budgets that doesn’t mean you can’t be creative in the way that you promote your business.

Take note of what these companies are doing and think about the logic around their activity. You can be sure that the approach is based on facts gained from research, research, research.

Our favourites include the ThisGirlCan campaign from Sport England and the genuinely information packed article from Lars Lofgren of Kissmetrics – ‘The 6 Best Growth Hacks To Get Customers Without Having To Pay For Them’. It’s a masterclass in what to do and how to do it, with examples.

So, download this year’s e-book onto your tablet, phone, pc or mac and take in the information in a quiet space – preferably on beach somewhere hot!

Jo, Sunita, Tash, Cheryl, Sally, Maureen, Hannah & Josh P.S. Say hello to Mortimer the Marketing Mouse, making his debut in this year’s book!

THE TEAM

Jo Manages and moves client campaigns from conception to completion, keeping all balls juggling! jo@to-market.co.uk

Sunita Book-keeper, Office Manager and master translater of all of Jo’s ideas! sunita@to-market.co.uk

Tash Our lead designer Tash adds a distinctive style and creative flair to our client projects. tash@to-market.co.uk

Cheryl With a head for detail, Cheryl is one of our social media planners and carries out client and agency research. cheryl@to-market.co.uk

Sally Our wordsmith Sally works on client campaigns and special projects. sally@to-market.co.uk

Maureen Coordinator Maureen gets the mechanics of client campaigns prepared and ready for launch. maureen@to-market.co.uk

Hannah Social media planner for our creative clients. hannah@to-market.co.uk

Josh Studio and photography assistant, digital editing and illustrator. josh@to-market.co.uk

INDEX

1

Shop A Lidl Smarter

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Sport England: ThisGirlCan

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Reebok: Subway Pump Battle

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RedBullStratos Jump

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What Brands Can Learn from Taylor Swift

13

Danone Laddish Campaign

15

8 funny and creative examples of advertising and marketing campaigns

20

How Lego Builds Imaginative Content Marketing

23

If Carlsberg Did Billboards

26

Virgin Sexes Up Money

28

Your Brands True Colours

30

6 Very Cool Examples of Experiential Marketing

35

The 6 Best Growth Hacks

44

17 Creative Product Packaging Ideas

51

5 Innovative Mobile Campaigns To Learn From

54

How to Use Video Storytelling In Your Social Media Marketing

58

Marketing Partnerships that Every Business Should Build

LIDL SURPRISES THE HUMBLE TASTE TEST TAKES CENTRE STAGE

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LIDL SURPRISES SHOP A LIDL SMARTER Lidl’s campaign – which has pushed its own branded foods against leading brand giants – focuses quality, trial and value.

trust and loyalty of the nation. It’s also given us recognition in the industry and has set new benchmarks of advertising awareness. “

With a proven history of offering affordable produce, Lidl wanted to ensure that the British public were not discouraged by its remarkably low prices. The cult of the “Lidl Class” has encouraged British shoppers to begin to take notice, with Lidl reporting £3.3 billion in sales in 2013, with the 2014 figure expected to top £4 billion.

“For us it’s about striking the ideal balance of both price and quality. It’s key for us to help people understand that low price does not have to mean low quality. Our business model enables us to offer customers the very best products at the lowest possible prices, and we want to help people understand this through our advertising. It’s so important that people make decisions with their tastebuds, rather than through the outer packaging of a product, which they’re ultimately having to pay for.

In the new ‘Shop a Lidl Smarter’ ads members of the public take part in blind taste tests comparing Lidl products to branded equivalents. The aim is to encourage consumers to “trust in their tastebuds” and avoid paying over the odds for an “inferior tasting” brand name.

The campaign, created by TBWA\London, forms part of a new £20m marketing push that includes print, digital, cinema, social, outdoor and in store.

“At the end of the day we can offer the best prices on the market and will continue to communicate this through our advertising, whilst using real people to get across the message that the quality of our own brand products is second to none.”

The campaign: - TV ads in one 60-second and five 30-second segments, - Print advertising pulled from real comments found on social media.

- Billboard and press creatives with messages posted by delighted customers on Facebook and Twitter such as “Man discovers tastiest steak ever was bought from Lidl”.

- The hashtag #LidlSurprises, meanwhile, encouraging consumers to go online, join the conversation and share their Lidl experiences.

Notes: Research It follows a study by Lidl which claimed that 9,000 shoppers thought the discounter’s products tasted as good or better than branded rivals. To tie in with the campaign the discounter has also launched a brand comparison website to show off the breadth of its offer and give clarity on its comparison methodology.

Arnd Pickhardt, Lidl’s marketing director:

Is Lidl benefiting by placing its ad emphasis on quality?

“It is fair to say that communication across our advertising has helped to change public perception and win over the

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Source: http://marketingweek.com Author: http://www.marketingweek.com/author/ thobbs/

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THISGIRLCAN SPORT ENGLAND GET MORE WOMEN PLAYING SPORT

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SPORT ENGLAND: THISGIRLCAN WE THINK THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST AD CAMPAIGNS RUNNING AT PRESENT! This Girl Can is Sport England’s 2015 nationwide campaign to get women and girls moving, regardless of shape, size and ability.

Their research revealed that there was a huge difference in the number of men and women playing sport. It’s not because females don’t want to get active. Millions of women and girls are afraid to exercise because of fear of judgement.

The response was the groundbreaking This Girl Can campaign. It is the first campaign of its kind to feature women who sweat and jiggle as they exercise. It seeks to tell the real story of women who play sport by using images that are the complete opposite of the idealised and stylised images of women we are now used to seeing.

It comes as research, carried out by Sport England, reveals that at by every measure, fewer women than men play sport regularly – two million fewer 14-40 year olds in total. Despite this, 75 per cent say they want to be more active. In some other European countries, this disparity doesn’t exist.

Further research into what’s stopping women turning their ambitions into reality found that a fear of judgement – on appearance, ability or how they chose to spend time on themselves – puts women of all ages off exercising.

The findings were the driving force behind the campaign’s creation, which aims to empower women and encourage more to get active.

The campaign has clearly captured a nerve: 13 million people have now viewed the flagship This Girl Can film online.

The campaign doesn’t hold back in trying to encourage women to beat their barriers. “Sweating like a pig, feeling like a fox” and “I kick balls, deal with it” are among the hard-hitting lines used in the campaign to prompt a change in attitudes and help boost women’s confidence.

Sport England CEO Jennie Price, said: “The figures on participation are crystal clear. There is a significant gender gap, with two million more men than women exercising or playing sport regularly. I believe we can tackle this gap, because our research shows that 75% of women would like to do more.

“Before we began this campaign, we looked very carefully at what women were saying about why they felt sport and exercise was not for them. Some of the issues, like time and cost, were familiar, but one of the strongest themes was a fear of judgement. Worries about being judged for being the wrong size, not fit enough and not skilled enough came up time and again.

“Every single woman I have talked to about this campaign – and that is now hundreds – has identified with this, and it is that fear of not being ‘good enough’ in some way, and the fear that you are the only one who feels like that, that we want to address.

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SPORT ENGLAND: THISGIRLCAN WE THINK THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST AD CAMPAIGNS RUNNING AT PRESENT! “In This Girl Can we want to tell the real story of women who exercise and play sport. They come in all shapes and sizes and all levels of ability. They have a myriad of reasons for doing what they do. If you are wondering if you should join them – or carry on – this campaign says it really doesn’t matter if you are a bit rubbish or completely brilliant, the main thing is that you are a woman and you are doing something, and that deserves to be celebrated.”

Notes:

Source: https://www.sportengland.org For more about This Girl Can, go to www.thisgirlcan.co.uk where you can find out about the women in the campaign. https://www.sportengland.org/our-work/national-work/ this-girl-can/

The campaign: TV Dedicated website Billboard advertising Social media - facebook, twitter, You Tube Video

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REEBOK: SUBWAY PUMP BATTLE EXPERIENTIAL - GETTING YOUR CUSTOMERS TO EXPERIENCE WHAT YOU DO ...

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REEBOK: SUBWAY PUMP BATTLE EXPERIENTIAL - GETTING YOUR CUSTOMERS TO EXPERIENCE WHAT YOU DO ...

The Campaign One can’t fault Reebok for being opportunistic, especially when it concerns the overall health of a large community of people. So after noticing that 74% of Korean office workers didn’t exercise, Reebok created an active game at locations where office workers congregated every working day - the subway.

In addition to the game and accompanying video, other campaign elements in Korea include social media activations on Facebook and Instagram, as well as an online event.

Why It’s Noteworthy Reebok installed game systems in two of the most popular stations in South Korea and challenged commuters to see who could score the most points by hitting a pump button on two sides of the platform. Two participants challenged each other and the winner received a free pair from Reebok’s newest shoe line.

The brand installed a game on the platform in which two opponents were chosen (seemingly without their prior knowledge) and encouraged to participate. They were only made aware of the activation once their faces flashed up on a screen indicating whether they were player 1 or player 2.

By tying a campaign to a social cause that benefits the brand is what Peter Drucker would call a “most acceptable objective” for a corporation. Reebok’s brilliance here lies in data jacking a real social issue and converting it to publicity for themselves. While most companies won’t have the resources to create a similar campaign, the lesson here is that there are many social issues not being addressed by corporations that could be in order to profit from it.

The Results The campaign was launched to help promote and draw awareness to Reebok’s new footwear line. So far the Reebok Korea video has been viewed 2.6 million times and shared thousands more.a

The campaign: Video Bespoke installation on station platforms Social media - Facebook, Instagram Online event

Notes:

They then had to race to see who could press the highest amount of pump buttons in the time allowed. This certainly got them working up a sweat and was a really clever way to encourage people to get some exercise at a time of day when they otherwise would be inactive.

The participants clearly had a lot of fun and for the victorious the wall opened up to reveal their prize – a pair of Z Pump Fusion trainers.

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Source: http://www.forbes.com/ Author: http://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/

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REDBULL STRATOS JUMP FELIX BAUMGARTNER’S FREE FALL TO EARTH IS ONE OF THE TOP PR AND SPONSORSHIP COUPS OF ALL TIME.

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REDBULLSTRATOS JUMP RED BULL GMBH IS AN AUSTRIAN COMPANY WHICH SELLS THE RED BULL ENERGY DRINK. The company is also known for its sponsorship of a range of sporting events. Felix Baumgartner’s free fall to Earth is one of the top PR and sponsorship coups of all time. It’s huge on many levels and demonstrates how the marriage of many marketing methods - PR, Sponsorship, event (and more) makes think BIG the way to go.

moment by moment. In the three-hour delay before lift-off, we were enticed into playing games to guess where Felix would land, encouraged to send in Tweets (some of which were retweeted by Red Bull Stratos itself) and, of course, there was the back catalogue of Red Bull videos to watch on YouTube if we got a little bored for more than three seconds.

Elspeth Lynn executive creative director, M&C Saatchi Is it an ad, branded content, an event, a partnership, the ultimate PR stunt or a piece of history?

It doesn’t really matter. All I know is: #IwishIddonethat.

On 14 October 2012, Felix Baumgartner jumped 119,846 feet, reaching 834.4mph, with a total free-fall time of four minutes, 19 seconds. Every second was captured using 135 cameras. And one is hard-pressed to find a shot where there isn’t evidence of a Red Bull logo.

Imagine going to the client with this proposal: “So, the idea we want to recommend is taking this slightly mad, relatively unknown dude who has a penchant for base jumping. We’re going to partner with him, and spend a lot of time and effort forming a specialised team. After years of prep, we’ll then have him jump from space, so he reaches sonic speed. And we’re going to perform this live. Yes, live.

Hopefully, he won’t die.”

It’s still too easy for agencies to come up with an ad as a solution. I’m feeling more than a nudge with Red Bull Stratos – it’s a proper kick from behind to remember to be brave and do ideas, not just ads. A Leo Burnett wisely said: “If you always reach for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won’t end up with a handful of mud either.”

Red Bull reached for the stars and not only grabbed them, it ripped them back down to earth at the speed of sound to perform the ultimate execution of “Red Bull gives you wings”.

Noteworthy: 8 million people watched the live stream of Baumgartner breaking the sound barrier by free-falling to Earth from Space above New Mexico.

As a result of this sponsorship, Redbull’s Facebook gained 216,000 Likes, 10,000 comments and 29,000 shares after posting post-jump photos within 40 minutes.

Also half of the worldwide trending topics on Twitter were related to this sponsorship.

Source: http://www.redbullstratos.com/the-mission/ world-record-jump/

The bravery of this idea and client must be applauded. But also the genius of it. It has human endeavour, a potential world record, the risk of death, drama, anticipation, a great location and great casting with Felix – who not only looks the part, he gives a great performance. It has all the magic ingredients of the ultimate story.

Plus, there was all the social media content that came from us being able to genuinely feel part of the action,

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WHAT BRANDS CAN LEARN FROM TAYLOR SWIFT

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WHAT BRANDS CAN LEARN FROM TAYLOR SWIFT Taylor Swift is the first, and still the only, artist to have three albums sell more than 1m in their first week and is recognised on Forbe’s Most Powerful Women in the World list. But beyond all this, she is a master marketer. Here are six things brands can learn from her.

Just because everyone is doing it doesn’t mean that it’s right for you.

Use social media and diversify Swift has mastered the art of social media so well that Vulture dubbed her the “Queen of Celebrity Social Media”.

A master reactor, engager and networker, Taylor regularly interacts with fans and friends that ensures she maintains her position at the top – making her the fourth mostfollowed person on twitter behind Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and President Obama.

She regularly reaches out giving heartfelt advice to brokenhearted fans on Tumblr and Instagram and has told of how her friendship with Lena Dunham was born after one sent the other a message on Twitter.

She used Instagram to tease information about her fifth album 1989, as well as the extensive celebrity cast list for the recent Bad Blood video. Your brand needs to have a voice and an identity across a number of different platforms.

Identify key brand ambassadors The decision to pull her entire catalogue of music from Spotify at the end of 2014 was met with a fair amount of backlash including from Spotify itself who, rather embarrassingly, took to begging the star in the form of carefully curated playlists to rethink her position.

But the decision did not come completely out of left field.

Earlier in the year, Taylor penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal asserting that she believes: “Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for.”

In Taylor’s opinion, Spotify’s remuneration package for artists does not align with her way of thinking and just because other artists believe that it’s fair, doesn’t mean that she should. The fact that Taylor’s music is no longer on Spotify hasn’t affected album sales, to the contrary 1989 was the biggest-selling album of the year in the US. The lesson? Trust your consumers and your instincts; if your decision is authentic to your brand then it will not put people off.

Swift has become known for her ever expanding network of celebrity friends – everyone from Ellie Goulding to Sarah Hyland, Ed Sheeran to Lily Aldridge. She has friends in every sector of the entertainment industry, bridging the gap between music, film, fashion and more.

Beyond the parties and hangouts though, her friends are ambassadors to her brand, tweeting her song lyrics, appearing in her music videos and singing her praises in interviews.

Finding the right ambassador is important for every brand.

You need someone who you can trust to speak on your behalf as well as shares your values.

Collaboration is key Swift started her career as a country music artist. She wrote the majority of the songs on her first three album with minimal participation from other artists.

When she began her transition to the pop world she began working with pop heavy-weights Max Martin and Shellback who helped her turn country tunes into bonafide pop hits.

She also used a number of brand partnerships to promote her new album, 1989. Unreleased tracks were played over commercials for Diet Coke and Target in the lead up to the album’s release.

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WHAT BRANDS CAN LEARN FROM TAYLOR SWIFT But it was her appointment as Global Ambassador for the New York Tourism board that helped Swift complete her journey. After all is there a better way to say goodbye to country music and its home, Nashville, than by becoming the Global Ambassador to a different city?

Renovate the house, but keep the foundations In a recent interview with Tavi Gevinson for ELLE magazine Taylor talked about not having any regrets. She said that it would be wrong to destroy the house that she has built with her own hands – that you can redecorate, but the foundations have to stay the same.

Which is true for any brand. Of course it’s important to innovate and transform, but ultimately goals and beliefs have to stay the same, otherwise it appears false.

Consumers need authenticity; lose that and you’ve lost everything.

Reward your best customers Moving genres is a risky move for any artist. You need to ensure that the fan base you’ve spent years cultivating will continue to follow you.

Taylor managed to do this seamlessly by rewarding those who’ve been there since the beginning. She scoured social media channels such as Tumblr, a practice that’s now affectionately known as ‘Taylurking’, in order to identify the most passionate and influential fans.

She then invited them to her house to give them a sneak preview of her upcoming album. She baked cookies, took selfies and allowed them to play with her cats.

She sold herself in this new genre by showing her existing fans that nothing had changed – she was still the same girl they’ve loved from the start. They were then able to go back to the other Swifties and reassure everyone that change is good.

Brands need to remember that while expanding your audience reach is key, you need to be careful not to alienate the consumers who have been there from the start.

Source: http://www.marketingweek.com/ Author: http://www.marketingweek.com/author/sarahmawson/

Notes:

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DANONE BREAKS FROM FEMALEORIENTED MARKETING WITH ‘LADDISH’ CAMPAIGN

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DANONE BREAKS FROM FEMALE-ORIENTED MARKETING WITH ‘LADDISH’ CAMPAIGN Danone yoghurt brand Danio is looking to shake up the yogurt industry with a campaign aimed squarely at men and “laddish humour” rather than the usual healthy messages designed to appeal to women.

The brand is looking to move away from TV advertising for yogurt, which usually directly targets women with a female protagonist and positions it as a snack or “moment of indulgence”.

The campaign includes introduces interactive vending machines as part of its #HungerCry campaign located in London, at both Shoreditch’s Box Park and Spitalfields market.

Niccolo Rigo, Naked’s strategy director for Europe, says that snacks that are popular with men, such as Pepperami and Snickers, focus on satisfying hunger rather than a health message, something danio is also trying to do with #HungerCry.

Participants will be able to win a free portion of Danio by unleashing their hunger cries on the machine.

The campaign is also an effort to position the snack as “an answer to four o’clock hunger” in response to research cited by the brand which showed that 4pm is the key time at which people feel hungry.

Previously the brand has focused on TV campaigns according to Rigo, which, although they have increased awareness of the brand, have no “solved the problem of relevance”.

The campaign will run until 20 July and the vending machine and influencer content will be promoted online, on social and through video on demand.

Promotions in convenience stores will also target consumers “at the moment of purchase”.

“Awareness of the brand is relatively high, so this is all about how we can increase relevancy,” Rigo said.

https://youtu.be/PoF0XFycrBg The #HungerCry campaign, developed by creative agency Naked Communications, will focus on content created during an experiential event in London, which saw the brand’s voice-activated vending machine provide free yogurt to over 400 passersby who proved their hunger by shouting loudly.

Notes:

It will also see the brand tie with social influencers Arron Crascall, Ben Phillips and Anto Sharp, who danio says are “well-loved across the LadBible demographic” and fit with the humorous and down-to-earth personality of the brand.

The trio will perform “hunger cries” in public locations and post them to Vine, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The campaign is an effort for the brand to target 20 to 35 year old men who don’t consider yogurt as a snack, largely due to the way it has been marketed.

Source: http://www.marketingweek.com/ Author: http://www.marketingweek.com/author/ amillington/

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8 FUNNY AND CREATIVE EXAMPLES OF CLEVER ADVERTISING & MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

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8 FUNNY ‘N CREATIVE EXAMPLES OF CLEVER ADVERTISING & MARKETING CAMPAIGNS Someone rightly said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” and this seems to fit in the advertising world. If your ad doesn’t click with the audience within the first few seconds, then your ad is no different from others that do nothing but annoy the audience.

On the other hand, if you learn to marry creativity with marketing, then you have a good chance of making a lasting impression. You don’t have to have a huge budget for a good advertisement, all you need is huge imagination.

We have compiled 8 such impressive examples of good and imaginative advertising and marketing campaigns with the hope that you will find something to draw inspiration from.

Macdonald’s: Bus Stop

Lego

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8 FUNNY ‘N CREATIVE EXAMPLES OF CLEVER ADVERTISING & MARKETING CAMPAIGNS Pantene Anti-Breakage Shampoo

Guerilla marketing For A Fish Restaurant

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8 FUNNY ‘N CREATIVE EXAMPLES OF CLEVER ADVERTISING & MARKETING CAMPAIGNS Oreo: Elevator

Dental Implants

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8 FUNNY ‘N CREATIVE EXAMPLES OF CLEVER ADVERTISING & MARKETING CAMPAIGNS Spiderman … coming soon

(Impossible Is Nothing) : Quit Smoking

Source: http://www.e-junkie.info/

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HOW LEGO BUILDS IMAGINATIVE CONTENT MARKETING

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HOW LEGO BUILDS IMAGINATIVE CONTENT MARKETING The numbers here for this example are huge but read carefully; there are some valuable lessons that can be taken from the Lego approach!

Lego has become the biggest toy company on the planet, and it’s all thanks to a genius content marketing strategy.

In the first half of 2014, the company reported that its sales increased by 11 percent to $2 billion, while Mattel’s earnings floundered. The rise in sales is credited to The Lego Movie, which was released this past February and made $468 million around the globe while kids flocked to the store to grab their toys related to the film.

Lego’s Numbers on Social Media: Before and after The Lego Movie On Instagram, Lego boasts 285k followers. Months before The Lego Movie came out, typical posts would receive around 7k to 10k likes. Now, they’re consistently getting 15k to 22k per post.

When it comes to Twitter, numbers are way up as well.

Photos uploaded to the @LEGO_Group account this past July during Comic Con saw two, three, and four thousand retweets. One year earlier, 56 retweets was considered a high number for the page.

Lego has more than nine million likes on Facebook , and it’s always done well for itself on the site. When a post is popular now, however, the numbers are exponentially higher than they were in the past.

For example, a post on July 20, which featured a Batmobile made of Lego bricks, received over 48k likes and 13,506 shares. In July of 2013, the most popular post, which showcased bricks of the Royal couple and their new baby, got 33k likes and 3,999 shares. Since June of 2013, the page has increased its fan base by more than four million.

As Pablo Smithson of The Guardian points out, The Lego Movie is the definitive content marketing device for the brand. It appeals to both children and adults; the kids want to play with the toys, while the adults connect with the universal message of the film, which is that it’s important to always have an imagination, no matter what age you are.

The brand message is much more than, “Buy our stuff.”

Smithson says, “It is a huge coup to persuade adults essentially to be indoctrinated with the Lego spirit of adventure.”

Though Lego was on social media and producing content before February of this year, it wasn’t until the movie came out that the adult appeal broke into mainstream consciousness. “The point when LEGO got its marketing strategy dead-on is when it started treating adult and child one and the same,” writes EConsultancy’s Christopher Ratcliff. “LEGO’s invitation to its audience is a catch-all policy: ‘Hey come on in, we’re all the same here, we’re just a bunch of people who love LEGO.’”

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HOW LEGO BUILDS IMAGINATIVE CONTENT MARKETING A Look at Lego’s Content

It builds a community around the brand

Along with its social media content, Lego has a variety of original websites relating to its products, as Content Marketing Institute’s Joe Pulizzi noted in a June 2013 article on the brand. He highlighted My Lego Network, a social networking site for Lego fans, and the Lego Star Wars and Ninjago pages, which consist of games, movies, apps, and message boards. There’s also Lord of the Rings, Super Heroes, and Disney Princess sites, all of which contain the same categories as the Ninjago and Star Wars pages.

The customers are given the chance to connect with other like-minded individuals on the Lego sites. Their content, which includes videos, pictures, and message boards, fosters community, which people crave.

On the main Lego site, under Lego Creator, fans are encouraged to post what they’ve made with the bricks and like what their fellow Lego builders have uploaded on the site. The videos show customers what kind of creations they can put together with their own products at home. Fans are also encouraged to the join the Lego Club, where they will be signed up for the Lego Club magazine and gain access to join offline events to meet up with other enthusiasts.

Lego is crowdsourcing and empowering people to create their own content, too. That way, people can feel like they’re part of the company’s legacy. In the end, brand loyalty is increased.

Key Takeaways From Lego’s Strategy Lego gets a lot of things right with their content marketing.

Pulizzi said, “As a toy company, no one else comes close to what LEGO has been able to accomplish with branded content.”

The company is so successful for a number of reasons.

Here are a few, as well as what you can learn from them when carrying out your own content marketing campaigns.

There is a deeper message behind the content As mentioned earlier, the content is guided by a bigger message: It’s crucial that even as an adult, you use your imagination. Adults are able to do this by making their own Lego characters and scenes and posting them on Lego Create. Through the company, they can use their imaginations and feel like kids again.

In your own content, figure out your brand’s deepest message, and then let that guide all of your efforts.

There must be a deeper meaning, or it will risk seeming superficial. What really matters to you and your audience?

Think about how your company can bring your customers together. Online, people are always looking to connect on a more personal level since browsing is often an impersonal experience.

It outsources content creation to customers

Ask your customers to contribute content. You can do this by starting up communities, holding contests, or asking for submissions that you can then show off to other customers.

It showcases current events from a unique perspective On social media, Lego taps into current events and puts their own spin on it. For example, instead of simply posting “Congratulations to Kate and William on their new baby, George,” they built Legos of them all to commemorate the occasion.

Figure out how your brand can tap into what’s going on in the world and put your own twist on it. If done right, it’ll be much more memorable than a status update or tweet acknowledging current events.

Creative and imaginative content like Lego’s can help you build something magnificent.

Source: http://newscred.com/ Author: Kylie Jane Wakefield

Notes:

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IF CARLSBERG DID BILLBOARDS THEY’D DISPENSE FREE BEER – OH WAIT, THEY HAVE.

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IF CARLSBERG DID BILLBOARDS THEY’D DISPENSE FREE BEER – OH WAIT, THEY HAVE Danish brewer Carlsberg has taken its marketing efforts to new heights by installing a billboard that includes a physical beer tap, building on its “If Carlsberg did” tagline.

First launched in the 1970s, the “World According To Carlsberg” campaign, summarised by the tagline of “If Carlsberg did”, was an evolution of probably the best lager advertising in the world. Needless to say, Carlsberg has a history of memorable advertising, and it managed gain worldwide attention by recently creating a billboard dispensing free beer.

Ryan Newey, Fold 7 founder, said: “‘If Carlsberg did’ is an iconic property. Our challenge was to take something that is already so well known and bring it to life in a way that will engage today’s consumer.

“Our ambition was to create the world’s best poster, and one that serves beer could certainly fit the bill.”

Carlsberg erected a poster in Shoreditch that dispensed free beer, kicking off a monthly series of stunts to prove that it does experiential marketing better than its competitors.

Drinkers were all too happy to help themselves to the free booze.

We’ve seen “how Carlsberg would do” nightclubs, banks, weddings, holidays, flatmates and even agents.

Dharmesh Rana, senior brand manager, said: “ ... we want to get the Carlsberg brand in front of as many beer drinkers as possible. To do this, we have to think differently with our approach and can’t just rely on great TV advertising. .. Complementing [the work we do on TV] will be a number of stunts like the poster that will happen all the way through until the end of the year. We’ll pick off key social events and potentially they’ll be things around the big trading months.”

Nic Owen, managing director of 72 and Sunny Amsterdam commented: “If Carlsberg did... was a meme before meme’s existed and has remained as key internet parlance. We’re super excited about making the most of it in a day and age it’s perfectly suited for.”

After being revamped for what the brand deemed younger, trendier drinkers after a four year hiatus, it’s most recent TV advert focused on a “Carlsberg supermarket” and looked to appeal to a wider audience rather than the typical male lager drinker.

Carlsberg UK estimated that by its second day on TV, their “probably the best supermarket in the world” advert had been viewed at least once by 22 per cent of all UK adults.

But what if the company did posters? Shoreditch residents and people passing by soon found out.

Continuing the meme, the advert delivers a unique take on a traditional poster to demonstrate the brand’s desire to be the best. Fold7, who are bringing the iconic phrase back to life, have aimed to bring the brand to life in a fun and engaging way.

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IF CARLSBERG DID BILLBOARDS THEY’D DISPENSE FREE BEER – OH WAIT, THEY HAVE It’s not the first time Carlsberg have put “best” to the test.

In 2013 it ran a prank where the brand tricked people into rescuing their friends from a gambling den.

Source: http://realbusiness.co.uk/ Author: http://realbusiness.co.uk/ShaneSchutte

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ANARCHY IN THE UK BANKING SECTOR! VIRGIN SEXES UP MONEY WITH PISTOLS THEMED CARDS

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ANARCHY IN THE UK BANKING SECTOR! VIRGIN SEXES UP MONEY WITH PISTOLS THEMED CARDS Virgin Money has ramped up efforts to make finance more attractive with a Sex Pistols illustrated credit card.

The bank brand has rolled out an exclusive range of cards, available from today in provocative “Never Mind the Bollocks” and “Anarchy in the UK” album artwork designs.

The illustrated credit cards have been rolled out thirty eight years after the Sex Pistols first signed to Virgin Records, part of the Branson empire. The move is designed to “celebrate Virgin’s heritage and difference.”

“For a long time now, UK banks have all been the same.

They have the same products, the same services and the same attitude towards customers. At Virgin Money, we are aiming to change that,” said Michele Greene, director of cards at Virgin Money.

“The Sex Pistols challenged convention and the established ways of thinking - just as we are doing today in our quest to shake up UK banking,” she claimed.

Richard Branson added:”The Sex Pistols are an iconic band and an important part of Virgin’s history. Virgin Money is a bank that can be proud of its past, and I love the fact that the team have chosen to celebrate it in this way.”

“Even after nearly 40 years, the Sex Pistols power to provoke is undimmed, and we are still being asked to censor the word bollocks in our advertising.”

Source: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/ Author: Sara Spary

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YOUR BRAND’S TRUE COLOURS WHAT DO THE COLOURS YOU USE SAY ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS?

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YOUR BRAND’S TRUE COLOURS WHAT DO THE COLOURS YOU USE SAY ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS? Have you ever considered the importance of colour in branding? Coke is red. UPS is brown. IBM is blue. These corporations understand the proper use of colour is vital to creating a positive image among consumers. Furthermore, colour plays a huge role in memory recall. It stimulates all the senses, instantly conveying a message like no other communication method.

Choosing the right dominant colour for your brand is crucial. This color should appear on all your promotional materials, including your logo and product packaging. As much as possible, the colour you choose should set you apart, work with your industry and image, and tie to your brand promise. It should also take into account colour psychology, which is fairly complex. Colours can mean different things depending on the culture, situation and industry. However, in U.S. advertising at least, studies suggest some universal meanings: Blue: Cool blue is perceived as trustworthy, dependable, fiscally responsible and secure. Strongly associated with the sky and sea, blue is serene and universally wellliked. Blue is an especially popular colour with financial institutions, as its message of stability inspires trust.

Red: Red activates your pituitary gland, increasing your heart rate and causing you to breathe more rapidly.

This visceral response makes red aggressive, energetic, provocative and attention-grabbing. Count on red to evoke a passionate response, albeit not always a favorable one.

For example, red can represent danger or indebtedness.

Green: In general, green connotes health, freshness and serenity. However, green’s meaning varies with its many shades. Deeper greens are associated with wealth or prestige, while light greens are calming.

Yellow: In every society, yellow is associated with the sun.

Thus, it communicates optimism, positivism, light and warmth. Certain shades seem to motivate and stimulate creative thought and energy. The eye sees bright yellows before any other colour, making them great for point-ofpurchase displays.

Purple: Purple is a colour favored by creative types. With its blend of passionate red and tranquil blue, it evokes mystery, sophistication, spirituality and royalty. Lavender evokes nostalgia and sentimentality.

Pink: Pink’s message varies by intensity. Hot pinks convey energy, youthfulness, fun and excitement and are recommended for less expensive or trendy products for women or girls. Dusty pinks appear sentimental. Lighter pinks are more romantic.

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Orange: Cheerful orange evokes exuberance, fun and vitality. With the drama of red plus the cheer of yellow, orange is viewed as gregarious and often childlike.

Research indicates its lighter shades appeal to an upscale market. Peach tones work well with health care, restaurants and beauty salons.

Brown: This earthy colour conveys simplicity, durability and stability. It can also elicit a negative response from consumers who relate to it as dirty. Certain shades of brown, like terracotta, can convey an upscale look.

From a functional perspective, brown tends to hide dirt, making it a logical choice for some trucking and industrial companies.

Black: Black is serious, bold, powerful and classic. It creates drama and connotes sophistication. Black works well for expensive products, but can also make a product look heavy.

White: White connotes simplicity, cleanliness and purity.

The human eye views white as a brilliant colour, so it immediately catches the eye in signage. White is often used with infant and health-related products.

All the colours above can be categorized into two basic categories: warm and cold. In general, warm colours, like red and yellow, send an outgoing, energetic message, while cool colours, like blue, are calmer and more reserved. However, brightening a cool colour increases its vibrancy and reduces its reserve.

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/ Author: http://www.entrepreneur.com/author/johnwilliams

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6 VERY COOL EXAMPLES OF EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

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6 VERY COOL EXAMPLES OF EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING Experiential marketing, what is it good for?

The premise is to create a closer bond between the consumer and the brand by immersing them in a fun and memorable experience.

If a brand event stirs genuine positive emotions within people then they are more likely to associate those emotions with that brand, which is more effective than just showing them a Facebook ad or something.

Occasionally the line blurs between experiential marketing and a straightforward PR stunt, but I’m not here to waste time quibbling over definitions.

Samsung Running from mid July to early September the ‘Samsung Studios’ focused on demonstrating the new Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note.

Visitors could play with Samsung’s Olympic Games app or have their photo taken on the Galaxy S3 and instantly turned into a personalised badge.

There was also a competition to win an S3 and an aroundthe-world trip if people could be bothered to return every day to collect special pin badges.

This post was inspired by a new Vans project that’s opening in Central London at the beginning of August as a celebration of art, skateboarding, BMX and street culture.

This video gives a teaser of what lies in store at the ‘House of Vans’: And here are 10 other great examples of experiential marketing. I’ve included relevant success metrics where they are available, but others I’ve included just because I think they’re pretty darn cool...

Analysis showed that half the visitors spent between six and ten minutes at the Samsung Studio, while the average interaction was 7 minutes 45 seconds.

For those in the market for a new phone, the average interaction was 8 minutes 15 seconds.

Among various other results, nine of out ten visitors claimed to be more likely to consider a Samsung phone as a result of having interacted with the Samsung Studio.

And just over a third (35%) said they are much more likely to consider Samsung.

Notably, no products were sold at the Studios.

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6 VERY COOL EXAMPLES OF EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING Doc McStuffin’s check up clinic Doc McStuffin is a Disney Channel TV show about a sixyear-old girl who heals toys out of her imaginary clinic.

Almost 8,000 children took part in the experience, 75% of whom rated it as ‘excellent’ (I’m assuming they surveyed their parents).

If you’ve not heard of it, I’ll get my seven-year-old niece to sing you the theme tune.

Most importantly, it created a 5.3% increase in the propensity to buy merchandise.

To promote the upcoming second series and increase merchandise sales Disney recreated Doc’s clinic in Tesco, Smyths and Toys R Us in the UK. Children were given a 10-minute immersive experience where they took the role of Doc and diagnosed what was wrong with Big Ted. Children waiting for their turn were able to play with Doc McStuffin merchandise, do colouring in, or watch clips from the TV show.

Adidas and Derrick Rose Pop-up stores aren’t a new concept, but Adidas’ ‘D Rose Jump Store’ in London was a cut above the rest.

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose was in attendance to challenge fans to win a pair of free trainers by taking them off a shelf that happened to be 10 foot in the air.

It’s a relevant, exciting and memorable experience for all the kids who took part. This video gives a brilliant summary:

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6 VERY COOL EXAMPLES OF EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING TNT When TV station TNT launched in Belgium in 2012 it created this little slice of mayhem in a quiet town square to tie in with its “We know drama” tagline.

It’s had more than 50m views in two years, so it’s been a runaway viral success. But how many people watched the TV channel as a result?

Game of Thrones This one possibly veers more towards being a PR stunt rather than experiential marketing, but it’s still very cool.

UK movie and TV streaming service Blinkbox dumped a dragon’s skull on a Dorset beach to coincide with the release of Game of Thrones series three.

On the day Game of Thrones launched on Blinkbox the company saw a 632% year-on-year revenue increase and achieved its biggest ever day of trading.

Whether that’s down purely to the massive popularity of Game of Thrones or this PR stunt is debateable.

It was the size of a London bus so naturally gained quite a lot of attention, with around 250 pieces of press coverage appearing in all.

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6 VERY COOL EXAMPLES OF EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING The Simpsons Movie Okay, so this is an old example, but I really liked it so here it is.

Back in 2007 20th Century Fox partnered with 7-Eleven to transform 12 of its stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the shop run

by Apu in The Simpsons.

The Kwik-E-Marts offered limited quantities of KrustyO’s cereal, Buzz Cola, and Squishee frozen drinks.

A special edition of a Radioactive Man comic book was also produced just for 7-Eleven, while life-size citizens of Springfield could be seen in the stores.

It was all to promote the release of The Simpsons Movie.

Source: https://econsultancy.com Author: https://econsultancy.com/blog/authors/david-moth/

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THE 6 BEST GROWTH HACKS TO GET CUSTOMERS WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY FOR THEM

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THE 6 BEST GROWTH HACKS TO GET CUSTOMERS WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY FOR THEM Growing a business is no easy feat. Every penny counts.

So how fast is fast?

This article by Lars Lofgren, Marketing Analyst at KISSmetricsMarketing Analyst is a real gem and genuinely tells you how to bring in new customers.

Ideally, you want a page load time of under 2 seconds.

For the vast majority of sites out there, this is a feasible load time that you can get at a reasonable cost. It’s a nice sweet spot before you have to pull out the expensive Jedi site tricks to get any faster.

Check out this article for tactics on how to speed up your site.

2. Social Proof

But what if we could “hack” our growth? Instead of paying $20 to acquire a new customer, we could focus on projects that continue to bring us new customers long after we’ve finished improving. Paying for the hack once and enjoying growth long after the fact sounds like a good deal to me.

Well, that’s exactly what I’m going to show you how to do.

By the time you reach the end of this article, you’ll know: 1. What a viral loop needs in order to actually work 2. How to use social proof to get more customers 3. What a high-growth home page looks like 4. The main challenges from product integrations Let’s get started and dive right into the first growth hack: site speed!

1. Site Speed A slow site turns customers away. It has a direct impact on your wallet. In fact, “a 1 second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.”

I’ve even seen tests where a 500ms delay dropped conversions by 10%.

Your site should OOZE social proof. Seriously, it should be everywhere. Put it on your home page, your landing pages, your account signups, and your thank you pages.

If you have a blank spot on your site and you’re not sure what to do with it, use some social proof.

See, we use the actions of others to guide us through decisions in our daily lives. Whenever we’re uncertain about which action we should take, we automatically look to those around us for guidance. If you’re at a fancy restaurant that has silverware you’ve never seen before, you’ll look at other people to see how they’re doing it.

Not only do we look to others for help, we also look to them for reassurance. When we see people taking the same action we have, it calms our fears and tells us that we’re going in the right direction.

Just by including social proof in your site, you’ll encourage people to become a customer and you’ll reassure them at each step of the process.

Here’s the social proof “tools of the trade”: Testimonials Good ol’ testimonials, the most popular (and one of the most effective) type of social proof.

We know businesses are biased and that they’ll always put themselves in the best light. So your marketing message is always much more powerful if someone else says it. You can overcome that skepticism by getting quotes from past customers.

Most likely, your site isn’t just facing a 1 second delay; it’s probably 2-3 seconds slower than it could be. Simply by reducing the time it takes for your pages to load, you could increase conversions by 15-21%. With just one growth hack, that’s a 15% increase in your customer growth this year.

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THE 6 BEST GROWTH HACKS TO GET CUSTOMERS WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY FOR THEM Here is an example:

Logos There’s two popular ways to do this. The first option is to use the logos of your biggest clients.

Your second option is to use logos from the biggest media sources that have talked about you.

But let’s say that you don’t have any big name clients. In fact, you don’t have ANY clients. And the media hasn’t mentioned you at all. Is there a way to still use authoritative logos?

Absolutely. Use logos of products and services that you or your product work with. So if your product integrates with Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo Mail, put those logos on your site. And if you provide freelance services, you could display the logos of products that you have experience with in your field. It won’t have the same punch as listing well-known companies as your clients but it definitely helps.

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THE 6 BEST GROWTH HACKS TO GET CUSTOMERS WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY FOR THEM Customer Statistics How many customers have used your business this month? As you soon as you reach a respectable volume, definitely get that number in front of people.

You get names, locations, and how recently they signup up. For someone on the fence that’s trying to decide whether or not to finish filling out the form, this social proof gives great reassurance that other people are also doing the exact same process right now.

37signals uses social proof by telling us how many customers are using Basecamp right on the basecamp homepage:

Another good option is to display the number of Twitter followers, email subscribers, and Facebook fans you have.

Here’s how SEOmoz has used this on their blog:

Case Studies This is a more developed version of the testimonial.

But instead of using an entire quote from one of your customers, you tell their story.

Generally, a case study will start by describing the problem of the customer. Then you’ll tell the story of how that customer used your product or service to achieve everything they were looking for.

When you weave quotes, benefits of your product, and details on how the customer solved their problem into a cohesive story, it’s easy for other people to see how they’ll benefit.

Here are some examples from great case studies: • How Hyundai Increased Requests for Test Drive by 62% Using Multivariate Testing • Signups Increased by 60% After Actually Removing the Signup Form • The 20-Something Who Quit Her Job and Made $50,000 • “How I Nearly Doubled My Salary as an Introvert”

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THE 6 BEST GROWTH HACKS TO GET CUSTOMERS WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY FOR THEM 3. On Ramp Programs How are new customers introduced to your business?

If someone buys a product from your ecommerce store, do you treat them the same as someone that’s already purchased dozens of products from you?

And what about people that sign up for the free trials of your SaaS product? Do they get the same experience as your power users?

When someone becomes a customer for the first time, they will critique everything you do. It’s a critical juncture.

Either you’ll fulfill their needs and they’ll become a loyal customer or something will be missing and you’ll lose them forever. You only have one shot to turn a new customer into a loyal fan.

There’s a couple of ways to ensure that you keep as many customers as possible.

The New User Experience (NUX) Brand new customers have different needs that your regular customers. So if you have a SaaS product, give new customers a unique user experience that helps them start using your product.

Go ahead and give them a step-by-step process to get started, call out critical features they should be aware of, and help them navigate everything.

This is exactly what Airbnb does when you create a new account. First, you get a welcome box that offers a quick tour:

As soon as you click on the “take a tour of this page” button, you get a popup explaining one of the features of the page:

Email Drip Campaigns Whenever someone gives you their email, you should have a series of emails that get sent to them on a predefined schedule. We call it a drip campaign, because the emails consistently drip to your customers one at a time.

This is the perfect point to give your new customers valuable content that they weren’t expecting (this builds more trust) and you can also start introducing them to other

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products or features of your product. A popular model is to use a 3:1 ratio between valuable content and other offers. In other words, try sending three emails right after someone becomes a customer that helps them solve their problems. On the 4th email, provide an offer for another product of yours. Be sure to test different ratios with your customers to see what they get the most value from.

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THE 6 BEST GROWTH HACKS TO GET CUSTOMERS WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY FOR THEM 4. Barebones Home Pages Many visitors won’t enter your site through the home page.

They’ll hit some random page you’ve worked your SEO magic on. Or maybe they find a page that was shared by one of their friends.

Dropbox There’s a video and a call to action button telling you to download the product. That’s it. No fuss or tomfoolery here:

But as soon as they become even slightly interested in your offer, they’ll go straight to the home page to figure out what you’re all about. That’s when you either make the sale or they disappear forever.

For most sites, the home page is by far the most complicated page on the entire site. There are videos, hundreds of links, multiple calls to action, and a general mess of random stuff. So when visitors are making the critical decision on whether or not to bring your business into their lives, why are you making it difficult for them to make a decision? Remember, people are risk averse and their default decision is to turn away. They’re looking for an excuse to walk out the door.

It’s your job to give them a reason to stay. And a complicated home page will never help you do this.

Go bare bones on your home page. Cut it down to the essential elements. This includes one headline to describe your value proposition and a call to action. Everything else is secondary.

Let’s go through some of the companies that have achieved unbelievable user growth rates in the last couple of years. This is how the big dogs do it: Twitter Over the last few years, Twitter has definitely matured into a robust social media platform with plenty of features. Surely they must need a complicated home page to convey the full value of Twitter to new people? Right?

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Nope, it’s as simple as it gets: Two sentences of copy, a single photo, and sign up/sign in boxes. Nothing more.

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THE 6 BEST GROWTH HACKS TO GET CUSTOMERS WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY FOR THEM Quora What about Quora? Most people still don’t know what Quora is since it hasn’t quite gone mainstream.

But instead of trying to say everything, they also focus on the bare essentials:

Facebook We all know that Facebook is eating the world. Well, their home page has helped them do it. I strongly encourage you to log out of Facebook (GASP! Say it ain’t so!) and take a peek at their home page. You’ll find this:

There’s a two lines of copy about Facebook Mobile and the entire form to create an account. Even with the briefest of glances, I know exactly what I need to do next (fill out the form). Do you want to be the next Zuck?

Then start learning from the guy and chop your home page down. Be ruthless.

Groupon The daily deal space and dozens of knock-offs and competitors all vying for the same market space. With so much competition, Groupon had to find a way to grow just to stay alive.

One headline, one dropdown to select your city, and one button to go to the next step. Dead simple.

And guess what, they used a bare bones home page to help them do it:

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THE 6 BEST GROWTH HACKS TO GET CUSTOMERS WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY FOR THEM 5. Product Integrations This is where the pros play. Instead of trying to build a customer base from scratch, why not piggy back off what other businesses have already done?

This is exactly what Spotify did when they launched in the US. Instead of building their user base from scratch, they were one of the first companies to integrate their product into the Facebook News Feed.

Here are some of the best platform integrations we’ve seen: • • • •

Paypal and Ebay Zynga and Facebook Spotify and Facebook Airbnb and Craigslist

This may seem like a shortcut to growth but there are still plenty of challenges to overcome.

Where do you make your stand?

Each platform is different and you don’t have the time or resources to go after all of them. Maybe you decide to build your product on iOS. But Apple’s App Store is ruthlessly competitive. It can be nearly impossible to break into the Top 10 App lists.

Or maybe you go the Facebook route. But now you’ll have to deal with a developer platform that’s always in flux. Your integration works today but maybe it breaks tomorrow.

Can you get out?

Once you pick a platform, it can be nearly impossible to back out if it turns into a bad match.

Let’s say you were convinced 2 years ago that the Blackberry market was perfect for your product. So you blocked off several months of time for your engineering team to adapt your product to that platform. But now you’re not even sure if RIMM will survive another 6 months.

And you desperately need your engineers to focus on other high-priority tasks but you’re forced to maintain a dead-end integration. How do you tell your Blackberry customers that you’ll no longer be supporting them?

This is exactly what Zynga is facing right now as demand for Facebook games wanes. A huge portion of Zynga’s growth came from Facebook but now it’s going to be very difficult to chart a new course.

Each platform has its own quirks and formulas for success.

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THE 6 BEST GROWTH HACKS TO GET CUSTOMERS WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY FOR THEM 6. Viral Loops This is the holy grail of growth hacking. In fact, it’s the dream of any marketer. A viral loop means that if you start with 10 customers, they’ll bring more than 10 other customers to you. Each batch of new customers gets larger and larger as you go viral.

To be all shmancy pants about this, we say that we have a viral coefficient of more than 1.

If you have a viral coefficient of 1, that means that on average, each customer gets one more person to also become a customer. You’ve just doubled the effectiveness of every marketing campaign you’ll run.

If the viral coefficient is below 1, that means your growth will stall sooner or later without an injection of new customers from marketing.

Here’s the deal: building a legitimate viral loop that actually works is just about impossible. For it to work, you virality needs to be a fundamental part of your product. Taking an existing product and attempting to bolt on a viral loop just doesn’t work. People never go for it. Let’s go through a real example to see how this works.

Skype has an amazing viral loop that’s built into the fabric of its product. Once you’ve started to use the product, you’ll encourage friends and family to join you so everyone can easily keep in touch. As they start Skyping with you, they’ll encourage people in their network to also use it.

Before long, Skype gets bought by Microsoft for $8.56 billion.

Other products that have virality built into the product include: • Ebay • Craigslist • Dropbox (shared folders) • Facebook • Twitter • LinkedIn • Paypal • Youtube • Groupon

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When a product produces a viral loop, ridiculous growth is possible. Here’s the bad news: your business probably doesn’t have a viral loop. And if you try to force one onto your customers, you’ll probably just annoy them and turn prospects away. Some products are ideal for sharing, others aren’t.

Now, that’s not to say you shouldn’t increase your viral coefficient. Using refer-a-friend campaigns and making your product shareable could increase your viral coefficient from 0.2 to 0.6. Will you have a viral loop? No. But your marketing will be WAY more profitable.

The Bottom Line Most companies try to grow by paying for each customer they acquire. If you get the margins right, this is definitely a viable strategy.

Or you can hack your way to growth. You’ll have to pay for the talent and time to set up the hack. But once everything’s in place, you can continue to enjoy the increased growth with little or no maintenance.

When you’re ready to jump down this rabbit hole, consider these growth hacks: • Increase site speed • Use social proof • Build an on-ramp program • Use a bare-bones home page • Integrate your product with the right platform • Increase your viral coefficient

Source: https://blog.kissmetrics.com Author: Lars Lofgren

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17 CREATIVE PRODUCT PACKAGING IDEAS

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CREATIVE PRODUCT PACKAGING IDEAS Creative and appealing package design don’t only attract customers but it also plays an important role in branding. We’ve gathered a selection of some of the the most creative product packaging ideas for you!

1. Muffin

2. Headphones

3. Honey jar

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CREATIVE PRODUCT PACKAGING IDEAS

4. Smirnoff bottle

5. Spaghetti

6. Cutlery

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CREATIVE PRODUCT PACKAGING IDEAS 7. Tea bags

8. Laundry detergent

9. Juice

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10. Lunch bag

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CREATIVE PRODUCT PACKAGING IDEAS 11. Tea bags

12. Tissues

13. Paper bag

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CREATIVE PRODUCT PACKAGING IDEAS 14. Hairpins

15. Water resistant watch

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CREATIVE PRODUCT PACKAGING IDEAS 16. Parmesan

17. Protein buns

Source: http://vivas.us/

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5 INNOVATIVE MOBILE MARKETING CAMPAIGNS TO LEARN FROM

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5 INNOVATIVE MOBILE MARKETING CAMPAIGNS TO LEARN FROM “Mobile marketing” used to just refer to phones, but that’s no longer the case. These days, you could be referring to an iPad or maybe no phone at all. Your marketing campaign could be embedded in an app or a QR code or a Facebook link or maybe a combination of all three.

2. Diesel’s Facebook-Enabled QR Codes

As the definition of mobile evolves, marketers have an opportunity to stake out some new turf — the segment is so new that no rulebook exists yet. Because of the openended nature of the technology, there are really no limits to your ideas.

Of course, the Wild West can be intimidating, too. That’s why we’re showcasing some recent examples that might inspire you to try something different with your mobile marketing campaign.

1. Renault’s Phone-Less Facebook Checkin

A program by clothier Diesel offered a twist on the Renault idea. Instead of offering phone-less access to Facebook, it let consumers use QR Codes to do the same thing. In this case, if you “liked” a product, you got a discount on it, which seems like a fair exchange for basically advertising the item to all your Facebook friends.

If near field communications takes off, you could take this idea even further and eliminate the QR Codes. Or you could offer the “like” discounting for phone-less Facebook access.

Innovation: Linking QR codes to Facebook “likes.”

3. Macy’s QR Code Explanations on YouTube When Macy’s launched a QR Code program in February, Sure, a lot of people have the Facebook app on their smartphones, but why limit yourself? That was the thinking behind a promotion for Renault during the Amsterdam Motor Show in April. Attendees were given RFID-enabled cards that they could use to check in to pillars near Renault’s cars. Then, they could check in on Facebook and “like” various models.

Renault wasn’t the first brand to try its hand at phone-less mobile Facebook access. In summer 2010, Coca-Cola launched a program at its amusement park in Israel that let kids check in and “like” various attractions.

Innovation: Realizing that Facebook checkins don’t require a phone or a PC.

the brand was careful not to leave its customers behind.

Since not everyone who shops at the department store is necessarily tech-savvy, the brand released a video on YouTube explaining the program to the laypeople. Macy’s also made sure that you could still participate in the program even if you don’t have a smartphone — which is the case for about 70% of Americans — by texting.

Innovation: Recognizing that many target customers aren’t very tech savvy.

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5 INNOVATIVE MOBILE MARKETING CAMPAIGNS TO LEARN FROM 4. Starbucks Mobile Payments

5. Coldwell Banker’s “Branded Video” Ad

In many cases, a mobile campaign is mostly a novelty and consumers are excited by the newness of using their phones in a different way. But back in January, Starbucks introduced a program that made it easier for customers to buy coffee. The brand was ahead of the curve on mobile payments, a segment that is still in its infancy in the U.S.

Realtor Coldwell Banker promoted its iPad app in late May with a new Google ad format called “Branded Video” that featured a clickable video ad. The ad, pictured above, appeared as a banner or as an interstitial before an app.

Instead of just launching video, consumers had the option to click to see more. The campaign saw interaction rates of upward of 7%, which is much higher than the standard 0.01% click-through rate for banners.

In March, Starbucks revealed that the plan, which relied on customers using the Starbucks Card Mobile iPhone and BlackBerry apps, was a success. Some 3 million people at that point had paid using the app. For customers, there’s a clear benefit to using the technology — it lets you pay faster.

Innovation: Employing an innovative new ad format.

Innovation: Providing utility, rather than just novelty in a mobile app.

Source: http://mashable.com/ Author: http://mashable.com/people/todd-wasserman/

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HOW TO USE VIDEO STORYTELLING IN YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

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HOW TO USE VIDEO STORYTELLING IN YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING Do you use video on your social channels?

#3: Tell Personal Stories

Looking for ways to connect with your audience?

Gary Vaynerchuk is known for stories and video from his Wine Library TV days, and he’s always innovating in the online video space.

Telling stories with video increases engagement, triggers social sharing and gives people a reason to talk about you online and offline.

In this article you’ll learn of eight ways to combine storytelling, video and social media.

On Facebook, he regularly posts videos that include personal stories as a way to connect with his audience.

His videos motivate viewers and teach important, hardwon lessons about entrepreneurship and marketing.

#1: Post Stories From Your Customers On Airbnb‘s Facebook page, the company posts video stories about places around the world, as told by Airbnb hosts. This is a great way to produce engaging and interesting content, and create an emotional connection between your customers and prospects and your company.

Post video stories from your customers to create a personal connection with other viewers.

#2: Create a Fictional Series Creating a fictional video series is another way to integrate your brand with a story that entertains your audience.

Kate Spade New York created a video series called #missadventure, which it hosts on Facebook, Instagram and on its own website. The series, which stars actress Anna Kendrick, combines the company’s products with an engaging storyline that follows the character’s misadventures in and around a ritzy hotel. And of course, her handbags and accessories are from Kate Spade.

#4: Shoot Documentary-Style Video Another way to tell stories with video is to shoot in a documentary style. This can be a short documentary video or a series of true stories about something that would interest your audience.

Create a fictional series to promote your brand while you entertain your audience at the same time.

Chipotle created a documentary-style video series around Major League Soccer, featuring Harry Shipp of the Chicago Fire.

You don’t have to hire a professional actor to produce a fictional video series, but decent acting and a compelling story definitely go a long way.

Shoot a documentary-style video to tell a story that will interest your viewers.

Documentary-style video can be very intriguing, and it doesn’t have to involve a star. It can feature anyone who is involved in something of interest to your audience.

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HOW TO USE VIDEO STORYTELLING IN YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING #5: Interview Guests

#6: Take Viewers Behind the Scenes

An interview or video podcast is a great way to draw out stories from industry thought leaders, customers or partners. Michael Hyatt posts portions of his video podcast interviews on his Facebook page as teasers.

People love to see “how the sausage is made.” Behindthe-scenes videos work for businesses that sell services (for example, show how your company creates a social media strategy) and products (see the example below).

Do a video interview or podcast with influential people in your industry your viewers want to learn more about.

Ed Sbragia, an internationally recognized winemaker, tells the story of a wine set in the barrel room. The video is short and inexpensively made, but this is the kind of content that engages viewers.

Video interviews don’t require a big budget. Just make sure you have good questions and an engaging guest.

Give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at an intriguing aspect of your business.

If you’re interested in giving viewers a peek at your business, look for natural storytellers on your team who can get in front of the camera and tell stories.

#7: Create Animated Stories Another option for social videos is to develop an animated story, similar to what Chipotle has been doing with its video series Back to the Start and The Scarecrow.

You could hire a video production company that specializes in animation, but there are also a number of tools you can use to create animated videos, including GoAnimate, Powtoon and MakeWebVideo.

Tell a compelling story through animation.

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HOW TO USE VIDEO STORYTELLING IN YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING #8: Show Viewers How to Do Something

Other Stories to Tell With Video

The Home Depot does a great job of telling project-related stories from the customer’s point of view. In this video, Caitlin takes viewers through her project from start to finish and provides visuals to go with her story.

There are a lot of interesting ways to integrate storytelling into your social videos. In addition to those featured above, here are some other stories that are well suited for video: • Create a single video or a series of videos to highlight humorous situations related to your business or industry.

• If your company’s beginnings would make an interesting story, have the founder tell that story on video.

• Are your employees involved in interesting activities or challenges? Consider featuring those stories in your social videos.

• Tell a fictional but realistic story on video to educate viewers about your industry.

• Find a way to combine reality TV–style video with something relevant to your audience.

Over to You Seeing people accomplish their goals will inspire many of your viewers. Your videos can teach them how to do a project and highlight the tools they’ll need to gather to do the job.

According to the 2015 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 72% of marketers plan to use more video in their social channels. What types of videos will get the attention of your audience? Creating videos that tell stories is a powerful way to connect with your audience on an emotional level and increase engagement with your content.

Although the examples in this article focus on Facebook, you can apply many of these ideas to other social media platforms, as well as to your blog.

Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com Author: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/author/ tom-treanor/

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MARKETING PARTNERSHIPS THAT EVERY SMALL BUSINESS SHOULD BUILD

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MARKETING PARTNERSHIPS THAT EVERY SMALL BUSINESS SHOULD BUILD Revenue partners These could simply be the critical A1 customers, the ones that demand specialist services and need ‘business unusual’ rather than ‘business as usual’. They may justify a tailored package or their very own account manager. A revenue partner may also be a valuable re-seller or maybe a key sales channel (say a specialist retail chain), or a vital sponsor. If you have referrers (affiliates) then make sure you reward them for passing trade your way and look to explore how they can send even more business to your checkout.

Think: Are you really looking after your most valuable (and hard to replace) revenue streams as partners. Why don’t you now build special plans for managing them better?

Partnerships and alliances are good for business. Big business has always known this — from McDonald’s building global co-promotions with Coca-Cola and Walt Disney, to Nike building trainers that talk to your iPhone. But alliances can bring significant benefits for small firms too as Andrew Armour explains.

Laptops are bundled with anti-virus software. The local gym membership gives you discount vouchers for a sports store when you join. And more simply, the pub working with the local sports clubs so that the after match drink is always held in the right bar. Partnerships. Alliances.

Collaboration. Building smart relationships has always made good business sense but now it’s more important than ever and the opportunities are everywhere — if you look for and manage them properly.

So what is a marketing partner? Partnerships are unique and often high risk and high value relationships. Quite simply, they can be difficult and expensive to replicate, not least for your competitors. And because they are different from the normal customer and supplier relationships, they need boutique plans and strong relationships. You can always win new customers and find new suppliers but partners are high value — and high risk too.

Here are the marketing partnerships that every small business can look to build. Get them right and you get the same collaborative advantage over your competition that big business has used for years.

Product partners Essential suppliers are also, like vital revenue partners, difficult to replace. It could be a key product that you distribute exclusively or a vital component — such as technology or packaging. If it is truly critical then you need specialist relationship management. Consider building a Service Level Agreement (SLA) scheduling stock calls, regular monthly reports and quarterly reviews. Alternatively, consider bundling, a tactic that has been at the heart of the PC and software business marketing, adding something that fits perfectly with your product to add value to your end consumer.

Think: Can you build joint plans and encourage a better flow of communication with your key suppliers — to make sure you avoid nasty stock surprises and maximise new opportunities before your competition does?

Alliances These allow partners to collaborate and exchange value, building and sharing plenty of smart marketing benefits.

A group of retailers who get together to build a late night Christmas shopping promotion is an alliance. It needs collaboration, it’s simple and effective. Who is a good fit with your business? What service is the next along from yours that is a natural add on? This can be as simple as a hairdressers knowing local wedding planners and nail bars and building a joint offer for brides.

Think: Who are the local market or service allies that you can build a smart relationship with?

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MARKETING PARTNERSHIPS THAT EVERY SMALL BUSINESS SHOULD BUILD Promotional and PR partnerships These enable you to leverage additional value by tailoring your marketing activities to fit with those from another business. Remember: cash is not the only currency. Your marketing value could be free product, access to your database or your event. At best, you can get a lot from doing something very simple, such as swapping coupons or allowing some links from your website to your partners.

And remember, offering your product or service for free is an easy way to leverage and negotiate publicity in local media promotions and at local events. Smart brands don’t pay cash — they offer promotional support or product in return for the same type of package that you would normally pay for.

Think: What can you offer and leverage with a promotional partner?

Finally, remember that these tactics are used by big brands because they are cost effective, add value and they work.

Isn’t it time you added them to your marketing mix too?

Source: http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk Author: http://andrewarmour.com/

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AN AGENCY JUST FOR SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES

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AN AGENCY JUST FOR SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES To Market is an east London based marketing agency that specialises in working with growing creative, food and technology businesses.

We capitalise on traditional and cutting edge marketing techniques and work with the unique, innovative and individual in the small to medium sized business sector, helping brilliant business owners achieve their ambitions.

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To Market. We plan your marketing and do it for you.

Call 020 3281 1897 to arrange your marketing audit.

Or Request a free telephone consultation

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RE SOUR CES E-Junkie - http://www.e-junkie.info/ Entrepreneur – http://www.entrepreneur.com Forbes – http://www.forbes.com Kissmetrics - https://blog.kissmetrics.com/ Marketing Week – http://www.marketingweek.com Marketing – http://www.marketing.com Marketing Donut – http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk Marketing Magazine – http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk Real Business – http://realbusiness.co.uk Social Media Examiner – http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com

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