Marketers Love Technology

     Technology has forever changed the way we engage with content.  It has connected us across platforms and across countries.  “Today Internet access is so central to how people interact with one another, create and share information, and conduct business that the United Nations has called broadband connectivity a basic human right on par with food, shelter, and education,” said Juniper Networks (Anonymous, 2015).  This means that people are modernizing and adopting a new way of life and values, influenced by technology.

According to sociology guide, modernization “indicates a change in people's food habits, dress habits, speaking styles, tastes, choices, preferences, ideas, values, recreational activities and so on” (Impact of Technology Change, n.d.).  So, the way we dress, what we watch, and what we buy in western countries now impact what people do across the world and vice versa. 

        As marketers, we need to reach global audiences via technology, the internet, mobile devices, and social media.  All of these go hand in hand because with the internet we would not be able to access social media, online videos, and global websites.

     Many brands are now turning to a global marketing campaigns, because they know the world is small.  We have friends across continents, we access content across the pond, and we travel to many countries.  If a brand does its job correctly, consumers will have the same experience no matter what country they are in.   

     One brand that does this really well is French designer, Christian Louboutin.  Their website allows you to select the country that you prefer, but the experiences is the same across each.  Louboutin offers high quality videos, compelling pictures, and beautiful products.  They are most known for the red soled shoes that many celebrities around the world wear. 

    They also have an impressive social media presence that includes daily posts with pictures, videos, and in various languages. This brand also encourages their followers to post user generated content, in fact in their recent campaign they asked consumers to post their content for the opportunity to be featured by the brand.  Brittany Mills, The director of digital marketing and services of Mobiquity, said this about the campaign “I believe that they trying to engage their fans in a different way, something that still has an online/social benefit, but fun as well.  Christian Louboutin has an amazing luxury brand image and consumers and shoppers associate their brand as high-end and aspirational. By downloading and participating in this campaign they can show their affinity of the brand even if they can’t afford the product” (Jones, 2015).  Louboutin has successfully created a global image via the internet and social media.

            Technology and user generated contact has given power of brand to the people, across continents!

References

Anonymous. (2015). The Life Changing Side of Information Managment. Information Managment, April.

Impact of Technology Change. (n.d.). Retrieved from Sociology Guide: http://www.sociologyguide.com/social-change/impact-of-technology-change.php

Jones, S. (2015, March 9). Christian Louboutin prompts user-generated content with printable puppets. Retrieved from Luxury Daily: http://www.luxurydaily.com/christian-louboutin-prompts-user-generated-content-with-printable-puppets/

How social caused modern day work of communicators to evolve

Today the landscape for communicators has shifted with onset of social media and customization because now audiences expect personalization.  This has shifted how communicators create their “go to market” strategies because they can no longer create generic marketing campaigns (Solis, 2015).   To further explain the broad reach of social media, sixty-seven percent of US citizens ages 12 and up use social media of some type with  57 percent of all American adults are using Facebook (King, 2015).  Social media is where audiences organically spend their time, so it would make sense for marketers to reach their audiences where they choose to participate.  The video as the end of this blog gives various views on how social media has changed communicators.  This selection is enlightening because it shows how different generations feel about the changes. 

I have 16 years of marketing experiences and I have seen first-hand the shift in how to reach our consumers.  In fact, our new moto is “experiences are the new currency”.  This means we can no longer create a television commercial and expect to build a relationship, but now we are expected to create engaging content that our consumers want.  They have a choice when comes to brands, so it is now up to us to ensure it is our brand.  This means we can not only create a television spot but we have to give more content that is engaging.  For example, when we shoot commercials we also include behind the scenes to encourage our follows to spend time with our brand.  I was in this video, which was terrifying because I am used to being behind the camera.  This was my first experience of trying to put a face to a marketing department.

As we as communicators evolve, there are  few Disruptive trends for 2016 that help shed light on how the playing field is changing:

• New technology companies will focus on strategy and programmatic context in deliver customized advertising instead of trying to reach mass markets.
• Optimized mobile tracking capabilities; allowing marketers to target the correct consumers and the right time and be able to change mobile strategies if something is not working
•  Brands must think like their customers to create custom content.  Gone are the days where a mass marketing approach will continue to work (Solis, 2015)

Most companies now have entire social media departments that did not exist years ago. I had the fortunate opportunity to launch or social media team after educating our executives on its return on investment.  Most executives think that social engagement has value and improved marketing (84%),  and increased sales and market share (81%) (Walker, 2012).  Social media has dramatically shifted marketing, what will be the next major shift?

References

King, D. L. (2015). Why Use Social Media. Library Technology Reports.

Solis, B. (2015, January 19). 25 Disruptive Technology Trends 2015-2016. Retrieved from Brian Solis: http://www.briansolis.com/2015/01/25-disruptive-technology-trends-2015-2016/

Walker, P. (2012, March 28). Socially Engaged Companies See 4X Greater Business Impact. Retrieved from Pulse Point Group: http://www.pulsepointgroup.com/2012/03/socially-engaged-companies-see-4x-greater-business-impact/