American Express makes your TV a store
How can you incorporate relevant marketing messages into something consumers already find inherently interesting?
This is not the only example of how American Express is making your television into a virtual store.
The insight and innovation here is something to admire. Consumers would not consider these to be 'commercials' or 'ads' but yet they are still very much marketing messages. Television is huge and still very relevant medium; however, we no longer interact with TV like we used. The rise of the 'second screen' is giving marketers a whole new opportunity to deliver highly relevant content again and it will be very interesting to see how marketers take advantage of that.
Passionate user
One click at a time.
With every click you have a chance to win a prize.
Every (x) many clicks, something appears on the screen to show you are actually progressing.
Every (x) many clicks, a challenge appears to give you an even greater chance of winning.
1,143 clicks and counting.
Sony has created a game, to get gamers to play, to potentially win a game ... and the ENTIRE time, these gamers are being delivered interesting (and potentially relevant) marketing messages.
This seems to be an innovative way of gamifying marketing. The interesting part is that this would not happen without a passionate user.
If your brand created a game like this ... would you find someone who clicks this many times?
Once you find them, how will you nurture them? How will you use them to spread your message and influence others like them to become part of your tribe?
Virality and influence
What is the common theme among these challenges?
Virality and influence.
When you next create original content (either for yourself or your brand), how will you measure it's virality and influence? Do you even care about those things? As a marketer ... should you? W+K seems to think so and they made this:
Virality and influence ... care about them.
A brilliant Halloween idea
Take a look at what was going on at this mall (in Canada) on the 31st of October.
Trick-or-treating ... indoors.
Sometimes, it gets cold in Canada ... so where can your kids (who get super excited to dress up and get candy) go on a cold potentially even wet evening? The mall. Brilliant.
Great for the kids sure ... but think about it from the parent's perspective. Better yet, from the retailer's perspective ... you have the attention of parents, roughly one month before the holiday shopping season begins!
Why not use this opportunity to give them coupons/discounts for future shopping? Why not give THEM a treat?
Care like Gary Vaynerchuk
A couple of days ago, tragedy hit a few parts of the eastern United States. Superstorm Sandy caused some serious damage to various cities, one of which was New York.
It's interesting how in times of tragedy, people seem to band together to win the fight against mother nature. New York was a very interesting case because in some parts of the city, there was electricity and warm/running water; however, some parts were not so lucky.
Many citizens started offering up their electricity to those in need and even offered food, water and shelter. Here is a tweet by someone that I truly admire:
Gary V cares. Gary V has a tribe/company (Vaynermedia) and judging by this tweet, they are like family to him. Everyone should find something or someone to care about like Gary V.
Companies, should not use tragedies as excuses to care, almost over-care about their consumers.
What if companies care about their consumers as much as Gary cares about Vaynermedia?
If you're not already, get into the business of caring.
A cartoon by Hugh MacLeod of Gapingvoid
Putting a Dent in The Universe
A cartoon by Hugh MacLeod of Gapingvoid
Today, the first and only authorized biography of Steve Jobs was launched.
If you are in any way an Apple fanboy or fangirl, this book is a must read. There is certainly a lot to be said about how Jobs made Apple into the successful giant that it is today; however, there has never been enough said about the mindset behind the man ... until today.
Here are two simple things I have learned about marketing by being an Apple fanboy for the past 8 or so years:
1. Less choice, can be a good thing: If you're only launching a single product every year (the iPhone for instance), then it's something that people look forward to ... every year. The build up to the launch event is a spectacle in itself. Also, based on the psychology of choosing ... people are more likely to choose when given fewer options.
2. Sometimes, choosing to not do something, can change everything: Apple chooses to keep iTunes songs proprietary to Apple devices only, it chooses to keep users within an App whenever it can (in-app purchasing) and by choosing to do these things, Apple has built its own ecosystem. This is an ecosystem that a lot of people are turned off by due to its constraints (vs. Android's open system for instance); however, Apple has perfected its ecosystem. Therefore if you choose to buy into it, then your experience will undoubtedly be seamless.
What are some marketing lessons you have learned from Apple? How about some life lessons from Steve Jobs?
A Hot Disruption (Podcast)
Listen to the episode on iTunes
Episode Summary:
On this shorter episode, I am joined by my good friend and regular guest Andrew Baskerville. Baskie and I attempted to discuss three hot topics in the news including the Apple announcement, Amazon announcement and Facebook announcements. Sadly we experienced a technical difficulty and had to cut the show short, it was still fun though. We hope you enjoy the show! (Runtime: 30:00)
Sources for the discussion:
