New global trends in branding such as “packaging is everything’, “category ownership’, “free delivery’, “consumer medicine’ and “crowdsourcing’ were examined at the sixth McCann Insight Exchange held on 14 October in Johannesburg.
Other advertising trends highlighted by McCann’s Executive Strategic Planning director Rob van Rooyen were “teaching product usage’, “media portability’ and “mature consumerism’.
Said Van Rooyen: “Mature consumerism is a very interesting trend and refers to, for example, the person who reads the label on the back of a wine bottle. This type of consumer is craving more knowledge and information about products. So mainstream brands should move with this culture, loosen up and have a bit of fun with their advertising and marketing.’
For more on what Van Rooyen had to say about these latest trends read the November issue of Screen Africa.
CEO Andrew Shuttleworth noted that McCann had secured new partners for Insight Exchange events in 2010. “This will allow us to present trends and new ideas from a perspective different to that of traditional advertising. One of the new partners is Milward Brown, a research company involved in the tracking and evaluation of adverts.
“2010 has been a fantastic year for McCann as we have doubled the size of our agency. At the recent Loerie Awards we won two Gold and one Bronze awards. This made us the third most awarded agency at the Loeries in the medium size category.’
As with all its Insight Exchange events, McCann presented a review of five “must read’ books for the industry. Fascinate by Sally Hogshead explores “seven triggers’ that act together or independently to powerfully influence the primitive limbic brain. These triggers are lust, mystique, alarm, prestige, power, vice and trust. When something activates one of these triggers, we’re compelled to focus, whether we want to or not. This will help design marketing messages and initiatives that are captivating to the audience.
In Capitalism 4.0 – The Birth Of A New Economy, Anatole Kaletsky talks about the history of capitalism and how 4.0 will emerge as a melding of market economics with a judicious dose of government involvement. Capitalism’s next iteration will call for adapting to changing environments and issues, and mixing the public and private sectors in working partnerships.
Seth Godin’s Linchpin – Are you Indispensable? maintains that human beings’ biological survival instincts and modern sociological conditioning have combined to create a workforce of rule followers and negative thinkers. A linchpin is an artist “who uses bravery, insight, creativity and boldness to challenge the status quo’. Linchpins try to view the world from other people’s perspectives. They understand they cannot control everything and they are generous with their time, money and talents. Linchpins make a conscious decision to approach life differently.
Marketing in the Age of Google – Your Online Strategy Is Your Business Strategy by Vaness Fox points out that to understand who the global Internet users who conduct 29 million online searches every minute are, you need to develop “searcher personas’. An effective “search acquisition strategy’ depends on defined business goals and compelling web content. Fox stresses that the social media or “new search interfaces’ in your online quest for customers should not be neglected.
Joseph Jaffe’s Flip the Funnel – How to Use Existing Customers to Gain New Ones notes that most companies incorrectly spend the majority of their marketing budgets on mass media advertising and other broad-brush promotional activities. He advises shifting your marketing emphasis from customer acquisition to customer retention, by acknowledging your regulars and showing them that you appreciate their business. Engage in conversations with your clients and facilitate their discussions with each other.
