The task marketers undertake is harder than most think. Sometimes headlining entertainers are used like Lady Gaga, Usher, or Kenny Chesney. Humor is another technique used to get an audiences attention. The strategy an organization uses depends largely on the target audience and the experience they are trying to create.
Yes, the all important experience should include a discussion covering the features and value of a product or service. However, this information is almost secondary in importance when considering the criticality of a memorable experience. Watch the video below by Virgin Mobile and see a good example of how this company uses humor and a great deal of creative effort to develop a memorable experience.
A Marketing Requirement
Mash-up names of celebrities such as Brangelina for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie make referencing the two stars in one sentence much easier. Then there was Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez creating Bennifer. Yes, these names are to some, rather odd but they are indeed, memorable. Marketing strategies must always be designed to be memorable and the best way to do this is by creating an experience the consumer will relate to or want to remember. As a small example, when we hear a good joke we want to remember it and share it with others.
To ensure your audience is paying attention, marketers must create an micro environment or event, a task which is usually challenging. If this objective is not achieved, the consumer will likely be uninterested and the campaign will fail to generate then needed traffic and ultimately, revenues. So providing an experience that fits the interests and culture of the target audience is critical.
Engagement
Some wonder how effective an online or mobile 'experience' might be thinking measurement is not very simple. The reality is that using mobile and online technology the measurement of engagement can be tracked or traced. Engagement can be measured as seen in a recent study by CBS Interactive which measured the effectiveness of online display advertising. In the report the studies methodology is explained and shows how digital marketing can be analyzed. Similar analysis of mobile campaigns will result in the quantification of engagement.
Experience
Virgin Mobile or VM decided for calculated reasons to join the fictitious stars Spencer Falls and Sarah Carroll creating, Sparah. Seems pretty silly but the thrust of the advertisements are to create a humorous experience with product and service information embedded. Now, these ads are designed for the Television and not mobile devices, but the influence is stressing the Virgin Mobile brand of products in a light and memorable delivery. Some of the ads are funny, like the one below.
So we see VM is working humor into marketing and it works. Humor is a specific strategy that helps the consumer experience and even the engagement factor. Yes, when people talk about an ad it increases engagement. The experience in ads is mandatory in our E-Commerce culture. The better an ad creates a memorable experience the more people will become engaged. Other ways to create engagement will be discussed in future articles.
Take the time and effort in creating an integrated marketing plan and even smaller businesses can succeed in mobile campaigns. Some software can assist in organizing the development of the plan if your experience is limited. Always seek assistance though if unsure about an decision requiring a significant spend. But at this point I hope you get the idea, that the consumers experience is correlated to engagement which leads to traffic and sales. Create the right experience, and your traffic and revenues should increase.
Mobile Marketing Mash -
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Wei-Lun, C., Yuan, S., & Hsu, C. W. (2010). Creating the Experience Economy in E-Commerce. Communications of the ACM, 53(7), 122-127. doi:10.1145/1785414.1785449
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