Enter to Win Online

One popular way of marketing is having your consumers “enter to win” a product of yours. It’s an easy way to gain customers attention and with the giveaway it gets your products out into the consumer’s hands.

I have two examples of how companies have interactively attracted their customers into entering a contest online.

Kawasaki:

The company of Kawasaki came up with a great ad campaign to give away one of their new motorcycles. In this video below, it shows that the consumer can build their own test track, and then they well be entered to win the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R. All they have to do is go to Kawasaki.com and build the track. This adds a form of entertainment so that it isn’t just the boring fill out your name and address like most enter to win games are.




HGTV:
Home and Garden Television is running a contest right now to give away a brand new, fully furnished dream home as well as a car to the winner of the enter to win contest. HGTV has interactively built a webpage so that consumers can get a full tour of the house via 360 degree videos of every room. This gets the consumer involved in the contest by virtually placing them in the house.
By giving the consumer a hand on experience or getting them involved with the contest, you are building your company brand image. The entertainment value of the “enter to win” contest is just one way to gain separation from the competition.

Interactive Banner Ads

So your surfing the internet and you land on a website to browse, but you can’t see anything because an annoying advertisement obstructs your view of the screen. You scroll down to get ride of it, but it slides along with your cursor. You try to close it out, but you can’t find the hidden “X” that is cleverly disguised and you resort to clicking on the ad just to get it off the screen.

Advertisers have become more and more clever with how to entice consumers to visit their websites. One example is as I described in the previous paragraph. Interactive banners can also include gaming advertisements that lure consumers to play a simple game before the ad leads them to the marketed products webpage. Or shadow figures dancing around on the screen to try and attract the consumers’ attention.

More and more people are gaining access online which means more and more exposures to interactive ads. Consumers have been exposed to thousands of different ways of marketing so companies and marketers are trying new and different ways to separate themselves from their competition.

How a lot of interactive banner ads work is a pay per click contract that the advertiser settles with the website it is advertising on. The marketing company pays based on how many people clicks on the ad. The whole objective is to get people to click and that is why they use games or fun entertaining images to get someone to click on it.

Email Marketing

The advantages and disadvantages of marketing through email aka spam.

I check my email on a daily basis as do most people with Internet access. I usually average somewhere between 2 and 8 emails a day. However, out of those emails, I would probably be interested in only 1, sometimes none. Why is this?

Don’t worry; I’m not ignoring the forwarded emails I get from my Grandpa on a daily basis. I love those. Most of the emails that I am getting are SPAM emails, or in other words, email marketing.

What is email marketing?

Marketing through online email serves a purpose of enhancing the relationship of a company with its current or previous customers and to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business. Email marketing is also used to gain new customers, or entice them to purchase a product immediately.

Advantages:

...........1. A mailing list provides the ability to distribute information to a wide range of specific, potential customers at a relatively low cost.

...........2. Short delivery time (i.e. seconds) compared to direct mail (i.e. days).

...........3. Advertisers can reach substantial numbers of e-mail subscribers who have agreed to receive e-mail communications on subjects of interest to them.

...........4. Email messages are easy to track so that companies can measure the effects of their ads.

...........5. E-mail marketing is paper-free.

Disadvantages:

...........1. Many email browsers automatically separate marketing emails into a separate junk folder for users to throw away.

...........2. It’s difficult for observers to distinguish between legitimate and spam e-mail marketing. Spammers try to represent themselves as a legitimate source.

...........3. When sending out mass emails, it is highly non-personable which is an advantage of many marketing tactics.

Email marketing is a great idea for a business to keep in contact with their customer base and send them frequent updates or incentives. However, with all the spam out on the web, consumers are easily confused with what is real and what is garbage.

Online Video Advertising

This next Vlog will show the ways of advertising on videos online. It has become more popular that people are starting to watch videos and TV episodes online. Nearly 72 percent of online households log on for entertainment purposes on a daily basis, and one in ten cites entertainment as the most important internet activity. Enjoy.

-Cal-

Blogging Athletes

As time consuming as a professional sports career is, athletes are finding different ways to reach their fans and promote themselves and their teams.

As a normal person, as compared to the super natural star athletes, I find myself disconnected and in a distant reach from my favorite pro sports stars. I’m sure I’m not the only fan who feels this way.

On a good note, some athletes are finding new ways to communicate with their fans and it benefits both parties. Blogging.
According to Dictionary.com:

1. Blog (blŏg) n. A weblog. intr.v. blogged, blog•ging, blogs
To write entries in, add material to, or maintain a weblog.

Blogging as an athlete is a great form of marketing not only for their personal self, but for their team, organization, and the sport itself. Two well-known sports bloggers are Curt Schilling who recently retired from the MLB Boston Red Sox, and Gilbert Arenas of the NBA Washington Wizards.

These two consistently post blogs throughout their seasons about random topics ranging from the newly elected President Obama to the thoughts on the steroids investigation in sports. With the athlete posting about regular news and topics that everyone reads and hears about, they are making a small connection with the average person or fan.

Athletes are normal people too, just with crazy athletic abilities. It is fun to be able to read their actual thoughts on subjects we understand. This brings them down to our level where we can relate to them on similar subject matter. By doing this, their stock goes up as a fan favorite. They become better known and personable which allows for more people to want to follow them to see how they are doing in their games. This is compared to the less personable athlete who is more distant and harder to relate to.

By the athlete blogging, it not only helps their own stock, but it helps the organization they are a part of. With more fans, they buy more jerseys or apparel, which makes money for the team and the league. Everyone wins.

Importance of a Good Website

Having a website in today’s world is one thing. Having a good website in today’s world is one better.

With the internet accessible all over the globe, websites are available to consumer’s just about anywhere. It is a company’s most constant form of communication with their customers. By having a good website, a company is able to send a high-quality image to their clientele.

What makes a website good?

1. Frequently Updated
2. Easy to use/navigate
3. Unique enough to be remembered
4. Pertains to the target market
5. Conforms with company’s image

You can never make another first impression. Your website is your company’s first impression with numerous prospective consumers. The website should reflect your company in a way that you want your consumers to perceive you. By having a good website, you build customer’s confidence in your company because if you can show that you put effort into a good website, then you are showing that you are serious about having a quality business.

A good website needs to have good content that can connect to your potential customers and make them believe in you and your company mission statement.

Among the pages on your site that you might want to include are an about the company page, a contact page with addresses and phone numbers, a list of services and products (as well as pricing), map and directions to your stores, and an FAQ page.

A lot of people do their research online before completing a purchase or going out for any kind of excursion. By having a good quality website with lots of information and easy navigation, you make it easier on your customers buying experience. This can only benefit your company in the long run.

-Cal-

Advertising in Online Games

This is a vlog that shows a simple example of how advertising in online games can influence a consumer to purchase a product.

Mobile Phone Marketing

It used to be that walking down the street, everyone you’d pass by had their cell phone plastered to their ear engaged in either a business deal or just catching up with friends. Now, however, the times have changed and so have the communication trends.

People of all ages have joined the band wagon of text messaging. According to the Mobile Marketing Association, 40% of US Mobile phone user’s text. In class rooms and meeting rooms around the world people are sneaking a text message underneath the table. I am guilty of it too. It’s a more secretive way to have a conversation without actually talking. Now a day it’s hard not to find a person who is rapidly punching their key pad of their phone.

Question: With consumer’s attention constantly on their hand held toy, how can we as marketers get their attention?

Answer: Why not send ads to them via text messaging?

Communicate with your consumers the way they communicate with each other. It’s quick, easy, and less expensive than a large billboard ad or a national commercial spot.
Companies have already started doing this. Take the new video rental company Red Box for example. Ever Monday, at 10:00 a.m. on the dot, my cell phone vibrates with a new text message giving me a free rental promotional code in case I want to rent a movie for the night. (see picture above) I hardly use it every Monday I get it, but it is simple brand awareness and incentive. When I do feel in the mood to rent a movie, I am going to think of Red Box first because I see their name on my phone every week so the brand name is familiar. Also, by them sending me a free movie, I feel they value me as a consumer and are willing to lose money on that free rental with the risk that I’m going to rent more from them in the future.

One of the more popular advertisements through texting is in-game sporting updates from ESPN or Yahoo sports. Keeping up on your favorite sports team is a high priority for many sports fans. This allows them to find out scores and stats on all sports. By giving consumers this option from their phone, when they actually have access to other forms of technology such as a computer or TV, they will me more prone to visit ESPN or Yahoo because they have been their trusted sporting news feeder.

Communicating with your consumer’s the way they communicate with each other is a great way to steal their attention and gain brand awareness for your company. Be tasteful in your advertising as to not turn your customer’s away with the annoyance of a pesky marketer. Give them rewards such as a free movie rental with Red Box, or help them with something they are passionate about such as sports with ESPN or Yahoo.

-Cal-

Marketing On The Move

Marketing on the move is a more efficient way to get your name out there than the normal stationary marketing.

I sold my car about 3 years ago. When I began the journey, I put a couple of ads in a local car magazine for 3 weeks resulting in just one call. After no success, I decided to just write straight on the windows of my car and after driving around for 2 days with it written all over the windows, I sold it.

This is a simple example of how mobile marketing works. Get your logo, name, brand, etc. out and about and more people will be exposed to it helping increase your brand awareness which is a main goal of many companies.

One company that comes to my mind when I think of mobile marketing is Red Bull. On numerous occasions, I have encountered the Red Bull car and the sales reps who are handing out free cans of Red Bull. This gets the product into consumer’s hands so that when they are faced with a purchasing decision later on, they might remember the Red Bull they had before and that might have more of an influence on which drink they choose.

Bud Light and Monster Energy Drink are two other beverage companies that do a similar style of mobile marketing. Both owned and operated by Anheuser Busch, the two beverage giants are reinventing the term, “pimp my ride.”

Bud Light MXT:
This supped up truck comes equipped with 3 flat screen TV’s, a state-of-the-art sound system, an Xbox 360, Guitar Hero III, and a promotional tent. All of these added features contribute to the marketing campaign for Bud Light. Parking this vehicle at events all over the nation can attract numerous consumers of all ages. On one hand, this can be good because your mixing beer with entertainment for the of age adults which is something that Bud Light seems to being striving to do. On the other hand, with the gaming systems, the majority of gamers that play those kinds of games are under the legal drinking age and this could entice them to illegal actions. Bud Light needs to be careful of what audience they are focusing towards.

Monster Truck:
Monster Energy Drink has a similar tactic to Red Bull. They have a scaled down, “Monster Truck”, fittingly named for their product that drives around and makes appearances at promotional events as well. The sales reps hand out free cans of Monster in hopes of gaining more energy drink consumers. By having the logo plastered all over this large vehicle, consumers are exposed to the brand image and logo over and over which becomes engrained into their memory. So when they do go to a convenient store or grocery center, they recognize the logo and might be more apt to buy the product that they have heard of or tried before. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

By having your company’s logo and image on the move as opposed to a stationary billboard, it gives you more of a chance at increasing brand awareness and gaining a larger customer base.

-Cal-

Virtual Viewing

Viewing products online has stepped up to a whole new level.

In the “old days” when consumers were shopping online, they would get one static image of the potential product they wanted to buy. They might have really gotten lucky and been able to get a side view as well.

But this is 2009, 20 years after the World Wide Web was introduced and several years after online shopping really took off. Companies participating in online shopping are starting to step up their game. Take Nike’s basketball shoe website for example. For their new shoe line, “The Six”, they offer a 360 degree, 3D image of a shoe which includes a close-up, close enough to see the stitching and texture of the shoe. Just by dragging the scroll bar across, it gives the consumer the feeling of literally holding the shoe and examining it in their hand. This brings a whole new meaning to the online shopping world. It’s just like standing in the store and rotating the shoe in your hand. By allowing consumers to virtually “hold” the product in their hands without

physically being in the store, companies such as Nike are:

..........A.) Giving the consumer confidence in their potential purchase.

..........B.) Enticing the consumer to visit a nearby store to buy Nike shoes.

..........C.) Having the upper-hand in the new-age online shopping market.

This is the next step into online shopping if companies want to compete with the already advanced ones. Smaller companies might not have the budget amounts as the larger ones, but they can find similar ways to virtually affect the consumer. One way is to take several images of one product at different angles and allow the consumer to access these images to get different views. You might even be able to take a video that continuously runs and rotates the product.

Who knows, maybe the next breakthrough is to make realistic holograms of the products where you can reach out and touch them from your computer chair.

-Cal-