Trends
Global branding, design and consumer trend observations from In-a-Nutshell
Personalised packaging
A couple of examples from Contagious of how brands are tapping into the personalisation trend:
Get Well Soup from Heinz - After Liking the brand on Facebook, fans can send their sick friends a customised can of soup to help them get well soon. Through We Are Social, London, The Get Well Soup campaign lets Facebook users select a flavour - Cream of Chicken or Cream of Tomato - and enter the name of their unwell friend: Bob, for example. They can then send the can of soup, with the usual Heinz label altered with a message saying 'Get well soon Bob' to Bob. The service costs £1.99 and Bob will receive his soup in three to four working days.
Friday, 27 January 2012 14:11
Facebook is dead for Gen Y - What's next?
Writing for MediaPost’s Engage:GenY blog, Patrick Evans, Gen Y member and marketing to Gen Y consumers as marketing and communications manager at STA Travel, the youth travel company, argues that companies must look beyond Facebook to target GenY consumers.
That in 2004 the exclusivity of Facebook to just college students was its main attraction, but that now with more than 800 million members, that is gone.
He says, “The minute your mom or uncle or person who you faked being friends with at work because you didn't want to hurt their feelings decided to ‘friend’ you on Facebook, it was over. You couldn't outright reject their invitation without causing serious offline world faux pas and it wasn't really worth adjusting your settings constantly so that you could hide things you only wanted to share with certain people. The content of what my friends post is dramatically different now than it was seven years ago too - and it's not just because of maturation. There is a potential for misinterpretation and embarrassment around every corner. It became too much of a hassle to post much at all”.
Friday, 27 January 2012 14:07
Social retailing
Retail Customer Experience looks at the rise of social retailing:
Nathalie Gaveau, founder of the social shopping application, argues that most retailers are now looking to social media to help cultivate loyal customers, but that beyond a few forward-thinking brands, very little has been done in the direction of truly social shopping:
"Like" and beyond - Brands first started setting up "Fan pages" on Facebook to increase awareness and create an online community. In some cases these were even started by fans of the brand. Coca-Cola, for example, hadn't perceived the importance of doing so, until two fans took the initiative of setting-up a non-official Coca-Cola page on Facebook. With such pages, customers can learn about new products, brand events, current promotions and offers. But their dialogue often goes only one way, as evidenced by the extremely low engagement rate for well-liked brands. Facebook and other social networks can be much more than a B2C tool; to fully take advantage of social media, it is key to establish a real relationship with the customers with a two-way dialogue.
Let your fans speak - It is actually customers that are now going to create the trends and set the tone, not brands or distributors. The average customer is increasingly becoming the one to decide which products are trending and what is worth buying. They are enjoying – relishing, even – being empowered to create buzz and sing the praises of their favorite products and services, therefore driving sales vs. being passive consumers that have historically been on the receiving end of ad campaigns.
The retailers best using social networking are not just talking at but listening to their fans -- and adapting what they're delivering in real-time based on consumer engagement. By doing this, not only do brands collect invaluable information to shape their product and marketing strategy, they also increase their customer's loyalty.
Friday, 27 January 2012 14:00
Facebook commerce holds promise for retailers
Source: Emarketer
Social networks don’t account for much ecommerce yet, but heavy Facebook users see it as a one-stop shop.
Krista Garcia, eMarketer analyst and author of the new report, “Facebook Commerce: Reaching Shoppers Where They Socialize” says that it is not surprising that shopping and socializing - activities that complement each other in the real world - are beginning to converge online as well. “As social media, and Facebook in particular, plays a larger role in consumers’ lives, people are becoming accustomed to performing routine tasks like reading news, watching videos and listening to music, as well as discovering products and shopping, all while staying logged in to a single site. Instead of compartmentalizing daily routines, social media users are treating Facebook as a one-stop platform”.
Retailers are still in the early stages of using social media as a sales vehicle, but the channel is poised for growth. Booz & Company estimated that $1 billion in goods would be sold through social media in the US in 2011. That figure is expected to triple in 2012 and reach $14 billion by 2015.
Friday, 27 January 2012 13:51
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