🧐Marketing never stops...

Good Friday Morning!

Hope you’re doing well and keeping safe.

With all that is going on in the world, there’s one thing that can never stop. Come what may, marketing is the heart and soul of every business. This is not a start and then stop process. This has been proved time and again with brands making the most out of every opportunity. And that’s exactly what we’ll be talking about in today’s edition.

Get inspired & keep striving for more. :D

Let’s dive in:

In today’s edition:

The surest bet in an unpredictable scenario: IPL’s title sponsor Vivo India
Tapping into changing customer motivations: Dunkin’Donuts
Can advertisers continue to show an unreal, Covid-free world on our screens?
Forbes: Marketing With Empathy: The Need For The Human Touch
Hand-picked tool for the week: Unbounce

Marketing & Advertising

🏏The surest bet in an unpredictable scenario: IPL’s title sponsor Vivo India

Smartphone maker Vivo has always dominated the cricket pitch when it comes to IPL building brand visibility through ads featuring superstars that tick the right boxes through its association with the league. This year it's special as Vivo has returned as IPL's title sponsor after a year for the 2021 edition. Vivo had bagged the title sponsorship rights for the period of 2017-2022 for approximately US$ 341 million, an extension of their two-year association since 2015.

Indian Premier League has been an integral part of Vivo’s marketing strategy. The duration of Vivo IPL holds special significance in the product launch and marketing calendars as it offers a great opportunity to engage with our target audience across the country more effectively. Most of their significant announcements or product launches have been around IPL - be it association with Aamir Khan, the launch of their popular V-series, or the most recent announcement of Virat Kohli as the new brand ambassador.

“IPL is the time when we are at the peak of our brand activations”, says Nipun Marya, Director-Brand Strategy, Vivo India.

He further added, “Our four years of association with the league has helped us connect more meaningfully with our audience and expand our presence across the country. Vivo IPL has played a vital role in catapulting Vivo to being a leading smartphone brand in India. It has helped us tremendously in enhancing Brand Awareness and Brand Salience. Today, Vivo's brand awareness is 100% in the country.”

📊Tapping into changing customer motivations: Dunkin’Donuts

The way customers perceive your products and service can change over time. The COVID-19 pandemic is a great example. For most companies, if they just treated customers the same way they did before the pandemic, they would have overlooked customers’ changing motivations. And those changing motivations affect how potential customers perceive your offer.

Dunkin’ is an example of a company that moved swiftly to tap into new customer motivations. “As COVID-19 struck, Americans wanted to find ways to help and to show support for the frontline heroes. Dunkin’ wanted to give people a way to do so, even without being able to leave home,” said Justin Unger, Director, Strategic Partnerships, Dunkin'.

Created in just days, the DunkinCoffeeBreak.com ecommerce site gave customers a way to show appreciation by sending a virtual coffee break in the form of a Dunkin’ e-gift card. Dunkin’ donated $1 (up to $100,000) for every card purchased at this site to the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation emergency funds, specifically for non-profits helping families affected by COVID-19.

“I think eCommerce, especially in the gift card space, is a key to unlock growth. We saw a tremendous lift in online gift card sales with the addition of DunkinCoffeeBreak.com without any cannibalization to our existing online gift card program. It allowed us to reach new guests and tap into the wealth of information and targeting in the digital world, which you just cannot do with plastic gift cards hanging on pegs,” Unger said.

Communication

🍩Can advertisers continue to show an unreal, Covid-free world on our screens?

Marketers are caught between a rock and a virus. Given the scale and ferocity of the second wave, can advertisers continue to show an unreal, Covid-free world on our screens? Or should we be spared yet another pandering pandemic-themed ad? Here’s what some of the top industry leader and advertisers have to say:

Brands need to find the right blend of “sensitivity and suspension”, says Prasoon Joshi, chairman, McCann WorldGroup Asia and CEO & Chief Creative Officer-McCann World Group India.

Advertising tells stories and stories are of various kinds. Some are about reflecting realities of the here and now, some are suspended in time, reflecting the past, and others are fantastical in nature. So it depends on how you are communicating, which narrative style you are using.

The ‘Be good' focus has shifted to 'Do good' and ‘Show doing good’.

People need products and services, they need entertainment, even if it’s a deflection from the grim visuals of mass cremation. I don’t think there’s much of an intervention required at this front. The need of the hour isn’t another Covid-sensitive ad, says Dheeraj Sinha CEO & Chief Strategy Officer - South Asia, Leo Burnett

Learn more here.

Marktech

🛍️Forbes: Marketing With Empathy: The Need For The Human Touch

People work with people (and businesses) they like. Remarkably, companies tend to forget this mantra and treat their customers and leads as mere transactions instead of living, breathing human beings. Below are three of the best ways in which businesses can establish personal connections with customers to forge relationships and cultivate lifelong brand evangelists.

Remind customers that businesses are human, too: A good marketer should highlight the human side of a business, whether that’s showcasing employees and the people behind the product or perhaps referencing a brand’s humble beginnings.
Ensure your marketing is empathetic: Businesses need to understand that people all over the world just weathered one of the most challenging years of their lives, both mentally and financially. As business leaders, it’s important to realize that each marketing effort is a reflection of your brand. Inconsiderate marketing in a time of strife can do more damage to a company than most people realize. Your business needs to be sensitive to your customers' reality. Be considerate and be aware.
Personalize to meet individual needs: Marketers need to segment audiences based on interests, demographics, and behavior so customers can be presented with the best messaging, which, in turn, can drive engagement and, ultimately, evangelism. If you skip this step, you risk coming off as robotic, sterile, or uncaring. Customers will likely be frustrated if they receive a promo that doesn’t apply to them or see an ad for something they’ve already purchased.

Learn more here.

🔎Hand-picked tool for the week: Unbounce

Your chance to discover some of the most unknown & helpful tools made for marketers like you

Unbounce is an amazing tool for quickly building, tweaking and publishing new landing pages to test. Even if you’re not much of a designer, you can use some of the templates available as a jumping off point, then tweak them to fit your style. Check it out: https://unbounce.com/