Welcome to the online version of the July edition of “Added Value Edits” our monthly newsletter on culture-shaping marketing and innovation.
This month, we take a look at the new Social landscape and how the most progressive brands are showing up. Ranging from Pinterest’s play in online retailing and Oreo’s drive to build cultural relevance to the product innovation of Lego and Nivea and the communication strategies of Microsoft and Cacharel, there is plenty to draw inspiration from. This month’s Edits moves the conversation forward.
Chatbots and the Future of Conversation Between Brands and Customers
We are fast approaching a world where social media channels will be used to manage all interactions between brands and customers. While the technology will be automated to deliver service at scale, the exciting part is that it will feel like a personalized experience that beautifully fits into the way you live your life. Click here to read what Added Value’s Brand & Social Media expert, Andrea Stocks, has to say.
5 Ways to Win With a Social Media Strategy
The social media landscape is constantly evolving and it’s sometimes difficult for businesses to keep track of. Click here to discover the 5 key principles Added Value’s social media expert Stromi Lof came up with, which businesses should follow for successful social media strategy.
Oreo builds cultural relevance
A few years ago, America’s favorite cookie brand realized their marketing communications were basic, product-centric and culturally irrelevant. They understood the opportunity was to actually drive culture. Social media has been key in allowing Oreo to participate in discussions, share their vision and quickly react to cultural phenomena. This new strategy gave birth to the Daily Twist campaign, and the famous Superbowl blackout tweet. Read Added Value’s Creating Cultural Value study about how brands can better engage consumers.
GoPro embraces live-streaming by partnering with Periscope
If you have any interest in social media, you cannot have missed the recent excitement around live-streaming – whether through the boom of dedicated apps such as Periscope, or the new ‘live’ features added by major players like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube. GoPro has always been focused on lifestyle and user-generated content, and has now partnered with Periscope, enabling users to live-stream their prowess directly from their GoPro. Check out here how to GoLive and Gopro with Periscope.
Lego Ideas empowers its creative fan base
Serious Lego fans are dedicated and extremely creative. The company understood what a great asset they represent and launched the Lego Ideas website, a platform where fans can showcase their greatest original constructions. They are then encouraged to share their concept and gather as many votes as they can. If you reach 10,000 votes, Lego reviews the idea with a view to making it an actual playset to be distributed worldwide. Discover how to build your social brand with the Lego model.
Pinterest and online retailing
Most social media players are developing ‘buy’ buttons and virtual shop features. Pinterest has lagged so far, but no more, positioning the platform between social media and online retailers. Both big retailers and small businesses seem to welcome the move: the former because they can now answer a mobile shopping unmet need; the latter because they can still rely on Pinterest to reach new customers, while maximizing their conversion rates. Read the case study of how adding Buyable Pins on Pinterest allowed FlyAway BlueJay to reach new customers, drive leads and achieve their sales goals.
Microsoft’s non-product-related strategy
Microsoft’s digital strategy is tailored to the specificities of each social media platform. But there is one common guideline: products do not come first. Most posts focus on the human aspect of the company. When showcasing products, it is largely to explain how they helped to inspire brilliant people to accomplish great achievements. They also share content from third-party accounts, showcasing what other people and companies do and say. Discover how Microsoft uses social media.
Social media, Millennials and reciprocity
The old ‘funnel’ approach to marketing no longer cuts it with the expectations of highly sought-after Millennials: this generation is looking for reciprocity. Fortunately for contemporary marketers, social media tools facilitate just that: maintaining the dialogue between the brand and consumers, and encouraging communications between consumers themselves. Read on how Millennials are changing the face of marketing forever.
Nivea and product innovation
Social media are a great place to start researching trends, competition and consumer feedbacks – in a cost-and-time-effective way. Doing social listening work made Nivea realize they had got consumers’ concerns about deodorant all wrong. For their customers, what mattered most was not scent or the length of protection, but the stains left by residues on their clothes. The new product they formulated as a result was the most successful launch Nivea ever experienced. Read about other great findings social listening can provide in this article written by Added Value’s Andrea Hackett-Stocks.
Co-creation and Cacharel’s Amor Amor
Cacharel creates fragrances for Millennial women. To promote the best seller Amor Amor, the brand empowered their fans by allowing them to co-create the commercial. People were invited to enter a digital casting exercise by uploading a video on a dedicated platform. Cacharel picked the new face of the fragrance from those participants who managed to get the most votes. Fans subsequently had the chance to vote and choose the storyline of the film.
Get in touch if you’d like to hear how Added Value can help you think about navigating the new social landscape.
Written by Jonathan Hall, Global Chief Innovation Officer, Added Value @HallCJonathan
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