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10 Alternative Marketing Trends for 2007, Part II
Marketers are constantly watching for alternative
methods that can give them a competitive edge in
over-crowded markets. Drew Neisser, CEO for Renegade
Marketing, explains the last five trends that will
rise fastest in 2007.
6. Eco-everything
Marketers will adopt eco-friendly green strategies
across the board in 2007. Wal-Mart seems to be
leading the way with its new "Embrace the Earth"
mission that pushes sustainability on its vendors.
Suddenly Wal-Mart is the world's largest buyer of
organic cotton, fair trade coffee, and
energy-efficient light bulbs. Thousands of companies
- from P&G to J&J to Black & Decker - will be forced
to examine the greenness of their manufacturing and
distribution processes. In addition to the
environmental impact, the sales impact could be
enormous.
7. More user-generated content
User-generated content (UGC) seemed to be all the
rage in 2006. Everyone from Doritos to Mentos,
MasterCard to Panasonic, Chevy to Oreos, offered
user generated content programs. And not without
good reason. Consumers really responded. The UGC
program that Renegade created for Panasonic was
great for engaging the action sports community.
Mentos's effort to ride the wave of consumer
interest in watching Coke bottle geysers has created
a corresponding explosion in sales (up 17% over the
previous year). Looking ahead, however, marketers
will need to raise the stakes if they hope to get
consumers involved in such campaigns. One way will
be to offer cash (or other incentives), not just for
the winners as Doritos is doing, but for all UGC
that other consumers end up watching. This "pay for
play" approach is certainly gaining traction with
the emergence of Current TV (which is paying for
ads) and Revver.com (which is paying for content).
Creative consumers will undoubtedly follow the
money.
8. No more lines
For years, marketers have been dividing their
communication budgets into "above the line" and
"below the line" buckets. More recently, the
division has focused on offline versus online
activity. Hopefully, 2007 will be the year that
marketers say "forget the lines" and look at their
communications as one continuous conversation that
seamlessly weaves across media turning prospects
into customers and ultimately into brand advocates.
To achieve this, marketers will need a new approach
to strategy development and product management,
creating briefs that embrace multi-channel ideation
and managers that seek ideas rather than tactics.
Unilever is a leader in this area and the results
have been extraordinary, setting the standard with
programs like Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty and
the Axe Effect campaign.
9. Daring to be digital
2007 will be the proving ground for a number of
emerging digital media weapons from mash-ups to RSS
to virtual worlds. Google led the way with map-based
mash-ups like the one it executed for the second
Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Zillow.com created
quite a stir with its mash-up of real estate sales
data and mapping software, providing instant value
estimates for just about every address in America.
With RSS feeds just about everywhere, consumers can
control how they access content. For example, on
Expedia you can get personalized travel deals
delivered wherever and whenever you want them. And
virtual worlds such as SecondLife.com are
progressing well, attracting hundreds of thousands
of players - and forward-thinking marketers such
American Apparel and Wells Fargo (both of whom set
up virtual stores there for virtual commerce). While
none of these new media approaches are likely to
conquer the world by themselves, for the right
companies each approach could play a key role in the
year's marketing mix.
10. Innovation triumphs
Innovation will propel marketers and agencies to new
heights of success in 2007. On the client side,
companies can't afford to keep pushing the same
products while competitors rush to market with less
expensive copies. Apple continues to be the poster
child for innovation, bringing out new iPods and
Macintoshes that are faster, cheaper, smaller and
cooler before competitors can even respond to
previous iterations. Agencies also have an
opportunity to use their considerable skills in both
understanding consumers and culture, and producing
remarkable ideas to help organizations change the
way they operate. To innovate, companies of all
kinds will need to extend their core competencies to
new arenas. The opportunities for innovation abound,
and the only impediment is the willingness to go for
it.
-As published
in thewisemarketer.com. Founded in 1996, Renegade
creates ideas and campaigns that cut across all
channels, bringing something of a guerrilla
mentality to each project.
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