Chipotle’s Digital Success And Partnership With Sparkfly

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During this episode of “Marketing Today,” I interview Catherine Tabor, founder and CEO of Sparkfly and Nicole West, vice president of digital strategy and product with Chipotle. Chipotle partnered with Sparkfly in 2017 to implement a promotions management platform that streamlined the flow of data to their systems. As a result of the partnership, Chipotle has been able to develop an ecosystem with incredible growth. 

West discusses her years at Chipotle and the company’s growth during that time. She notes that growth has occurred in teams, tools and processes that combine to execute their strategy successfully. “Customers are craving a frictionless, digital experience. The more simple and engaging, the better,” she said. “The things that haven’t changed are just as important. Chipotle remains a purpose-driven company, focused on delivering excellent customer experience and providing the best real ingredients prepared by hand every day.”

Tabor describes Sparkfly’s focus from the beginning as being an “advocate of the brand.” Their goal was to put together a closed-loop attribution platform that connected “in-real-time” merchant POS with 3rd party partners. The goal was “to help brands be successful and understand the performance of the programs they are running,” she told us.

Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”:

  • Nicole shares Chipotle’s growth and digital strategy. (02:31)
  • What was Chipotle trying to solve with their digital and marketing efforts? (04:49) 
  • What are the considerations for bringing on a new service provider or partner? (06:10)
  • What was it about Sparkfly that “sparked” your partnership? (07:06) 
  • Catherine shares the “spark” for Sparkfly. (08:25) 
  • The “glue” that holds together numerous activities. (10:25) 
  • What makes Sparkfly stand out? (11:58) 
  • Nicole shares about the “ally” mentality of Sparkfly. (12:37) 
  • The programs possible at Chipotle due to the partnership with Sparkfly. (14:00) 
  • Why Chipotle stands out as a “digital leader” in the industry. (15:41)  
  • Advice for top-level marketers. (17:40)  
  • Nicole’s past experiences that defined her as a person. (19:47) 
  • Catherine’s past experiences that defined her as a person. (21:42) 
  • What advice would Nicole give her younger self? (24:13) 
  • What advice would Catherine give her younger self? (24:35)  
  • Brands, companies or causes to take notice of. (25:25) 
  • Nicole’s vision for the future of marketing. (27:06)
  • Catherine’s vision for the future of marketing. (27:49)

Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.

Online Shoppers’ Purchasing Habits Are Fragmenting Conversion Funnels

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Amazon is dominant at every stage of US consumers’ purchase journey and search engines are more important for research purposes than purchasing itself, according to a report from ClickZ and Catalyst. The “Understanding Today’s Online Shoppers reflects the fact that new technology and various new shopping platforms have caused conversion funnels to become less streamlined.

The data suggests that now web users discover a brand on one channel, compare it with other options on a second and purchase it through a third, making the buyer’s journey fragmented and less predictable. The report explores the shopping behavior of three groups of online shoppers—low spenders, medium spenders and high spenders. 

Across the board, ecommerce is the channel that more consumers use to discover, research, compare and purchase. Shoppers utilize search engines more than 30 percent of the time when researching price, followed by 20 percent for reviews.  

Amazon is the preferred purchasing channel of low and medium spenders as 75 percent of respondents use Amazon both for brand discovery and product purchase. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they visited Amazon to research, compare and purchase goods, compared to 50 percent last year. Marketers looking to engage shoppers at every aspect of the journey should note that Amazon is not just a shopping platform but also a research engine, eliminating the need to shop or research elsewhere.

The report found that high spenders, 89 percent of which are male, most frequently use social media and shop online and use a more diverse array of channels compared to their lower-spending counterparts. For example, it’s expected their use of visual channels will increase by 74 percent and voice by 30 percent in the coming years. All high spender respondents said that they saw a product on social media then researched it more via search channels. For low spenders, that same number drops by half.

While conversion funnels become increasingly fragmented, one thing remains the same: search is one of the most important marketing channels. Over half (57 percent) of respondents said they use search engines to discover new products. Amazon’s wealth of products and detailed reviews, however, is thought to be skewing results, as consumers are using it as a search engine to discover products. To keep up with the changing role of search, brands should optimize for branded queries and curate a strategy for Amazon that encompasses all stages of the purchase strategy. 

Findings are based on answers from 511 US shoppers from a range of backgrounds spanning all employment types, education levels and household incomes. 

Mattel, Airbnb Create Malibu Barbie Dreamhouse For One-Time Stay

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Airbnb listed a life-size Malibu Barbie Dreamhouse for rent, for a one-time, two-night stay, in honor of Barbie’s 60th anniversary. The ocean-front dream house is available for booking for guests beginning on October 23 for $60 per night. 

A stay at the Barbie Dreamhouse includes various activations for guests that showcase Barbie’s entrepreneurial spirit and appreciation for underrepresented career paths. The Airbnb experience will include a one-on-one fencing session with fencing medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad and a meet-and-greet with celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin as well as hair makeovers courtesy of Atkin’s Mane Addicts Creator Collective. Guests will also be treated to an interactive cooking lesson with Malibu Seaside Chef’s owner and a behind-the-scenes tour of Columbia Memorial Space Center with aerospace engineer and pilot Jill Meyers.

The two bed-two bath mansion is decorated in signature Barbie style with pops of Barbie-pink finishes across the infinity pool, waterslide, personal cinema, sport court, walk-in closet, hobby studio and fully stocked kitchen. A stay is guaranteed to the first fan who reserves when booking opens at 11 a.m. PDT on October 23. The one-time stay will take place from October 27-29. 

As part of the activation, Airbnb is donating to the Barbie Dream Gap Project GoFundMe initiative, an ongoing global effort to give girls the resources and support they need to pursue their passions in life. The Dream Gap Project Fund is based in research that starting at age five, many girls begin to develop limiting self-beliefs. The company established the initiative earlier this year with $250,000. Around the same time, Mattel kicked off a global campaign to commemorate Barbie’s 60th anniversary, enlisting 20 influential women and partnering with organizations that inspire young girls to follow their dreams.

How Brands Are Allocating Their Influencer Marketing Budgets

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Originally published on ION.

(Editor’s note: AList is published by a.network. To get up to speed on the rapid changes affecting the influencer marketing landscape, click here.)

Influencer marketing is considered the most effective channel for delivering return on investment (ROI) for 84 percent of professionals. A majority of these marketers cite brand awareness as the top reason to use influencer marketing followed by driving engagement with the brand and reaching new target audiences. 

Given the influencer marketing industry has reached $5-10 billion, it’s worth noting how brands are allocating their influencer budgets across platforms and activations. By 2020, spending on Instagram influencers is projected to reach $2.3 billion, and while the industry considers it the gold standard for influencer marketing, brands are increasingly challenged to find ways to flip the script on the typical Instagram influencer post as well as leverage other effective platforms to dedicate their budgets to. 

Here we’re exploring what an average influencer budget looks like for brands, the key areas in which marketers are allocating influencer marketing budget and how allocation strategies are shifting, namely why the surge of macro-influencers is swaying marketers toward micro-influencers as cost-effective alternatives.

On their quest to create meaningful connections between product and consumer, brands are seeing the value in increasing their influencer marketing budgets. A study from Linqia showed that in 2016, influencer marketing budgets ranged from $25,000 to $50,000. Fast forward three years and 65 percent of marketers plan to up their influencer marketing budgets in 2019. A 2019 surveyfrom SocialPubli also revealed that 18 percent of advertisers dedicate more than 50 percent of their budget to influencer marketing. 

Despite the rise in fake followers and influencer imposters, brands are gaining high traffic and good-quality customers as a result of influencer marketing. Case in point: 71 percent of marketers rate the quality of customers and traffic from influencer marketing as better than other marketing sources, and their actions prove this. 

On average, more than a quarter of digital marketers said they ran five or more influencer marketing campaigns in 2017 while two-thirds said they ran three or more campaigns in 2018. 

According to an eMarketer report, how brands manage influencer marketing varies as 34 percent of respondents said their agency manages all influencer marketing programs in-house, while 26 percent hire a specialty agency and 20 percent rely on a platform.

Instagram’s shopping tools and increased users make it a powerful platform for sponsored posts and videos through influencers. Eighty-nine percent of marketers ranked Instagram as the top strategic platform for influencer marketing followed by 70 percent for YouTube, 45 percent for Facebook, 44 percent for a blog and 33 percent for Twitter. 

Given the ease with which influencers can create sponsored content on Instagram stories, marketers have plans to dedicate even bigger chunks of their budget to Instagram influencer marketing. For example, 69 percent of marketers plan to spend most of their influencer marketing budget on Instagram in 2019, six times more than YouTube.

Instagram is viewed as the gold standard for influencer marketing, making the platform saturated with influencer initiatives and forcing brands to think outside the box when it comes to influencer tactics. 

In the summer of 2018, Olay launched an Instagram campaign featuring nine micro-influencers, urging these women and others to unapologetically be themselves. A 28-day challenge and hashtag #FaceAnything complemented the campaign to encourage consumers to enhance their routines with Olay skincare products and later, go makeup-free at an event. Through the “Fearless 9” and their powerful stories, Olay generated relatability among the millennial female audience, 54 percent of which prefer the natural look.

YouTube came in a close second among the top platforms on which brands are allocating influencer budget. To promote its range of eyewear, Warby Parker successfully used YouTube for an influencer marketing video that strategically highlighted an influencer’s signature quirks. 

YouTube comedian and actor Anna Akana, who boasts 2.4 million subscribers, was the star of Warby Parker’s 60-second video spot which Akana posted to her own channel. The video garnered over 210,000 views, a total of 13,000 likes and comments combined and an engagement rate of 6.7 percent. 

Perhaps the most underutilized platform for influencer marketing budgets is Pinterest. Buick’s “Pinboard to Dashboard” campaign is one reason brands should reevaluate how they approach the platform. To appeal to a younger demographic, the auto company enlisted 10 design, fashion and food bloggers who had no ties to the auto industry to create Pinterest boards displaying how the Buick Encore car could help them express their personal style. The Pinterest campaign generated 17 million unique site visitors. Pinterest’s ability to drive discovery is undeniable as 93 percent of people said they use the platform to research purchases. 

Social platforms may be brimming with influencer content every day, but brands actually strategically time influencer-led activations. 

“We also see brands allocating influencer marketing budgets for certain times of the year or seasons. Interestingly, Q1 and Q2 are when most of the influencer budget is invested. It scales down towards the end of the year as brands and retailers gear for back-to-school and holiday sales campaigns,” PR and influencer marketing strategist working with technology, fashion and beauty brands, Jocelyn Johnson tells AList. 

Johnson points out a Halloween DIY makeup promotion for which NYX Professional Makeup partnered with DC Comics and Warner Bros. The campaign featured five female influencers and one male influencer, each showcasing transformative makeup looks inspired by their favorite DC character with the hashtag #FACESOFDC. The content was amazing and the results were even better—19 Instagram posts and six videos reached more than 2.7 million followers with a 2.6 percent engagement rate.

Beyond social media, brands are spending big bucks on real-world influencer initiatives such as paid trips. Beauty and lifestyle brands Shiseido, Benefit Cosmetics, Revolve and Tatcha have dominated the influencer-led destination scene yet some brands’ influencer vacation strategies are changing. 

For example, Benefit Cosmetics was an early adopter of the all-paid influencer trips, treating macro-influencers to tropical journeys across the globe, filling their hotel rooms with complete collections and organizing on-site activities meant to encourage bonding and user-generated content. 

“I look at Instagram and see someone on a trip and I’m like, ‘Oh my God. I’m going to shoot myself in the head,’ because I’m not spending my marketing budget to send someone to an island to take pictures,” Bernadette Fitzpatrick, Benefit Cosmetics SVP of US marketing told Business of Fashion. 

Though the brand still hosts these trips, it’s now rethinking its approach and focusing more on video content featuring influencers demonstrating how their products are used on themselves. This year, Benefit Cosmetics hosted its third annual “Benefit Brow Search,” for which it invites 20 contestants to compete for a chance at $50,000, of course, set at a cool venue (this year’s was Oheka Castle, New York). Mega influencers Desi Perkins and Patrick Starrr were among the contest hosts. 

With the rise in costs associated with macro-influencers comes the need to change how influencer marketing dollars are spent. As a result, some brands are shifting their focus to micro-influencers. Working with micro-influencers enables brands to generate high engagement at a lower cost among highly engaged, niche communities. Macro-influencers reach more consumers overall, but micro-influencers have the advantage of cultivating loyal audiences. 

Take Forever 21, for example, who discovered a curvy fashion micro-influencer through a tagged Instagram post and reposted her photo of wearing Forever21Plus jeans. The post on the influencer’s Instagram received 3,583 likes, 86 comments and a whopping 23 percent engagement rate. Reposting the influencer’s content not only helped Forever21Plus promote its clothing but also opened the door to a meaningful influencer relationship with a micro-influencer.

A majority of marketers believe that micro-influencers will be the biggest trend in marketing in 2019 yet the group’s potential is still undervalued. 

“While these groups are on the rise, big brands are still focusing on those who have become professional influencers with huge followings. These macro-influencers tend to be very expensive and can be more challenging to work with. Research is starting to show a rise in engagement rates with micro-influencers—upwards of 60 percent. Brands are also seeing the value in nano-influencers that are more approachable and feel less commercialized. But working with this group comes with a word of warning as many do not have experience working with brands on a professional level,” Johnson notes.

Hyundai Chief Marketing Officer To Step Down

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This week in marketing moves, Hyundai CMO Dean Evans resigns; Stephen Mai leaves Boiler Room; AWAL recording company promotes Aaron Bogucki to VP marketing; Tony Weisman, Dunkin’s CMO, announces he will soon step down from the role; Bonnie Neulight is named chief marketing officer at Rebbl and Bill Zielke appointed first CMO for blockchain payments provider BitPay.

Hyundai CMO Dean Evans Resigns

Hyundai Motor America’s CMO, Dean Evans, announced today that he’ll be resigning to pursue other “career opportunities,” AdWeek reports. 

Evans joined Hyundai in August 2015, and while with the company, he oversaw two Super Bowl commercials. 

Prior to that, Evans spent four years as CMO at Subaru of America and was chief marketing officer of Dealer.com and vice president of marketing of Dealix.com. 

The company had started an immediate headhunt for the new CMO and Brian Smith, Hyundai’s CEO will lead the Hyundai marketing team while a search for a replacement is completed. 

Former Boiler Room CMO Joins Potato Head Family As Global Director Of Content And Marketing

CMO Stephen Mai has left Boiler Room after 19 months. He joined a hospitality brand with outposts in Bali and Hong Kong, Potato Head Family, as global director of content and marketing. 

According to his LinkedIn, Mai previously worked at LadBible as head of marketing, brand design and artist relations and at ASOS as senior brand communications and content strategist. 

He told Campaign about joining the hospitality brand: “Potato Head is an incredibly successful global cultural brand immersed in music, design, art, fashion, travel and sustainability, with venues around the world and a new cultural village in Bali. I’m looking to build on the brand through taking that foundation and creating a platform that connects like-minded people around the world. There are many stories to tell, people to celebrate and artists to platform.”

Aaron Bogucki Promoted To VP Marketing At AWAL 

Kobalt’s recording company, AWAL, has promoted Aaron Bogucki, who joined the company earlier this year as VP, digital marketing, to vice president of marketing. 

Prior to AWAL, Bogucki was VP, digital marketing for Republic Records and at AWAL, he will oversee a more integrated marketing and digital marketing team focused on developing marketing campaigns and audience growth strategy in the UK.

“I’m honored to step into this role to continue AWAL’s commitment to true artist development. Our roster is full of incredible artists who are impacting and shaping culture globally on their own terms, and we’re proud to help them deliver on their artistic vision,” Bogucki said. 

Tony Weisman Announces Departure From Dunkin’

Tony Wesiman will step down from his role as chief marketing officer of the quick service restaurant chain, effective December 1. Weisman has been with Dunkin’ for two years and was responsible for leading the company’s rebrand in 2018. He was previously a CMO at Draftclub Chicago and spent 10 years as a CEO, DigitasLBi North America at Digitas. 

“I am proud of what we accomplished over the past 2+ years including our rebranding to Dunkin’, introducing new menu items like the Beyond Sausage Sandwich, relaunching and doubling our espresso business, transitioning from foam to paper cups and bringing in new talent and agencies to modernize the Brand,” Weisman said in a blog post.

Rebbl Taps Bonnie Neulight As Chief Marketing Officer 

This week, Bonnie Neulight joins Rebbl as chief marketing officer. 

Neulight brings to the company over 20 years of experience in brand management and innovation. She previously held the role of chief marketing officer at Mezzetta Foods and several marketing positions at The J.M. Smucker Co. and Del Monte Foods, Inc.

“Joining the Rebbl team at this upswing in momentum lets me jump right in and do what I love to do. For me, coming to Rebbl at this exhilarating time, under [Michele Kessler’s] leadership, gives me such inspiration to work with this fast-growing brand that is also deeply purpose-driven,” Neulight said. 

BitPay Welcomes Its First CMO 

BitPay, a global blockchain payments provider, added Bill Zielke as the company’s first chief marketing officer, Yahoo Finance reports. 

Most recently, Zielke was chief marketing officer at venture-backed startups Ingo Money and Forter, and in his new role with BitPay, he will be in charge of executing the company’s marketing strategy in order to support the company’s growth, build a consumer brand and cultivate increased cryptocurrency acceptance and use.  

Zielke said, “The future of payments is on the blockchain and BitPay is at the forefront of blockchain-payment technology globally. My career goals have been to [help] cutting edge companies build and launch new products into new markets to grow. BitPay has the opportunity to disrupt the current global payments market as blockchain is superior and less expensive than traditional payment processing methods because every transaction is verified, recorded and stored on a public, tamper-resistant ledger.”

Check out our careers section for executive job openings and to post your own staffing needs.

Editor’s Note: Our weekly careers post is updated daily. This installment is updated until Friday, October 18. Have a new hire tip? We’re looking for senior executive role changes in marketing and media. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.

Job Vacancies 

Chief Marketing Officer ThirdLoveSan Francisco, CA
Vice President, Film MarketingNew York UniversityBrooklyn, NY
Chief Communications And Marketing OfficerUC San DiegoSan Diego, CA
Senior Vice President Of MarketingClear Channel OutdoorNew York, NY
SVP–Creative MarketingWalt Disney TelevisionBurbank, CA
Vice President, Marketing Int’l International Distribution And ProductionsSony Pictures Entertainment Inc.Culver City, CA

Make sure to check back for updates on our Careers page.

Snapchat’s New ‘Dynamic Ads’ Bring Automated Personalization To Platform

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This week, Snapchat introduces templated ads that allow marketers to create ads that look visually native to the platform and LinkedIn rolls out a free events tool that members can use to facilitate in-person meet-ups.

Snapchat’s New Dynamic Ads Bring Automated Personalization To The Platform

According to a company post, ecommerce advertisers can now choose from five unique ad templates without the need for design skills.

Why it matters: The mobile-native templates will help brands deliver ads at scale while maintaining authenticity and creativity, two elements the platform’s young users value. The feature will also increase the relevancy of ads across Snapchat. 

The details: Dynamic Ads’ five templates are designed to showcase products visually and make advertisers’ ads look native to the platform, eliminating the need to manually create Snapchat ads. Dynamic Ads also allow marketers to sync a product catalog, select an audience for prospecting or re-engagement and will deliver the ad in real-time. Brands can continuously tailor their audience’s shopping experience because as changes to products occur, the ads adjust accordingly, allowing brands to run always-on campaigns.

LinkedIn Introduces Events Tool For Real-World Professional Meet-Ups

The events tool gives members the capacity to create and manage events with global members on mobile or desktop.

Why it matters: LinkedIn events could help the platform create another revenue stream down the line by adding premium memberships, making it a potential competitor of Eventbrite.

The details: To create an event, members must click on the “Community” panel on the left side of the newsfeed. After adding event details, organizers can invite guests using search filters, track attendees and invitees as well as post updates and interact with attendees. Anyone can join the event if they receive an invitation and members who have joined the event can also invite people from their own networks to attend. LinkedIn events will be available starting with English-speaking markets first over the next few days.

Twitter Introduces New Restrictions On Tweets From World Leaders Who Break Platform Rules

In a company blog post, Twitter provided clear insights into how it will address content from world leaders on the platform if that content violates its user policy or includes threatening or violent messages.

Why it matters: In June, Twitter said it wouldn’t remove certain Tweets of world leaders that broke its rules if there was a clear public interest in keeping them up. After user outcry, the platform updated its criteria.

The details: Twitter outlined scenarios that will result in the removal of tweets of world leaders. They include: promotion of terrorism, clear and direct threats of violence against an individual, posting private information such as home address and non-public personal phone number, posting or sharing intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent, engaging in behaviors relating to child sexual exploitation or encouraging or promoting self-harm. A tweet from Twitter’s safety page said that users will not be able to like, reply, share or retweet the tweets in question but will still be able to retweet with comment. Twitter also expanded on its decision-making process in its updated help center page. 

iOS Users Can Now Share Favorite Reddit Content To Snapchat

According to TechCrunch, a new integration allows sharing of text, link and image-based posts from Reddit’s “Safe for Work” forums.

Why it matters: Reddit is trying to encourage Snapchat’s younger users to use the platform given that a majority of its audience is a bit older (34 percent are 30-49 years old and 25 percent are 50-64 years old). Given Reddit’s growing ad business, estimated to reach $100 million in revenue, the platform must balance out its demographics and enhance usage to remain competitive. 

The details: Reddit users must have Snapchat installed on their iOS device to use the new feature which enables a “Share” icon on posts in the Reddit app that allows users to then post to Snapchat. People can send the post to a group of select friends or to their story for all friends to view it. The integration includes a new sticker featuring the Reddit logo and source information. 

Study Reveals Why Users Deactivate Their Social Media Accounts 

A GlobalWebIndex study that surveyed 1,000 US and UK users found that younger consumers are more likely to deactivate their accounts as compared to older users. 

Why it matters: People are becoming more cautious of what they share online given the increase in digital bullying as well as privacy and data breaches. 

The details: The study showed that 48 percent of users aged between 16 and 24 have temporarily deactivated their accounts (compared to just 30 percent of users aged 55-64). Multiple factors for deactivation include losing interest in posts shared by others (26 percent), the desire to spend time doing other things (25 percent) and fearing the repercussions social media can have on their image (25 percent).

Editor’s Note: Our weekly social media news post is updated daily. This installment will be updated until Friday, October 18. Have a news tip? We’re looking for changes to and news surrounding social media platforms as they relate to marketing. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.

Fact-Based Thinking To Improve Your Brand’s Health With Wiemer Snijders

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During this episode of “Marketing Today,” I interview Wiemer Snijders, author, editor and curator of the book “Eat Your Greens: Fact-Based Thinking To Improve Your Brand’s Health.” With an emphasis on a scientific-based, self-learning, Snijders brought together a collection of incredible people to share a variety of perspectives on topics around branding and marketing. Today on the show, Snijders talks about the creation of the book, what it took to pull it together and the insights from innovative thinkers, especially those who base their findings on scientific facts. 

Snijders explains the structure of the “Eat Your Greens” and why he wanted to structure it in an easily digestible way. He wanted to provide a means for people to quickly pick up the book, read some short, topic-based articles and challenge them to dive into those topics further. It’s very much like “looking at a selection of painters from a certain period or style, indulging in small portions and exiting a richer person,” he notes.

Snijders describes the setup and the broad “briefing” for the book. He told people, “you can write about anything, you just have to back it up with facts.” The first chapter was designed to focus on the fundamental ways we make choices as consumers. How do you approach the reality that “about 40 percent of your customers are going to only buy once, in five years?” How does that shape what we do in marketing? Snijders also shares the importance of evaluating and growing that group of people. How do you actually measure effective advertising? Snijders shares incredible insights on how to use the limited amount of time we have to share our messages.

Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”

  • What was the reasoning behind building a compilation book? (01:48) 
  • How did Wiemer find and pick those who would appear in the book (04:24) 
  • An interesting answer to whether Wiemer has a favorite chapter (06:31)
  • Who do we need to hear from next? (07:05)
  • The 1st Chapter and “set up” for the book (08:25)
  • The fundamental and well-established things in customer choice (08:55) 
  • The “banana” visual of distribution (13:41) 
  • Focusing on value-based marketing (18:21)
  • Why Wiemer focuses on “purpose” and “unique selling propositions” (22:54)
  • Why the “Essence of Branding” is so vital (28:10)
  • Exciting insights into consumer purchasing behaviors (30:02) 
  • What opportunities does Wiemer see for marketers today? (32:09)
  • Digging into the idea of “creative publicity” (33:27) 
  • What defines and makes up Wiemers’s past? (35:47) 
  • What personally drives Wiemer? (38:27)
  • Wiemer’s advice to his younger self (39:58)
  • Who should we follow or take notice of? (40:50)
  • What does the future of marketing look like? (43:44) 

Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.

Direct-To-Consumer Is A Skill, Not A Business Unit

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Originally published at AW360 by Andrew Heddle.

No other area of business has seen such exciting growth and visible success as Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) commerce. In the past decade over 3,500 new brands have sprung up in every sector of the economy, and they are raising an estimated $4 billion in capital along the way—$4 billion that they have used to eat away share from brands that once exclusively dominated consumer industries. The effect of new entrants has never been more widespread, so keenly felt by incumbents, and so enthusiastically embraced by consumers.

As organizations like the IAB call DTC “The Future of Retail,” it’s no surprise to see large brands and retailers paying attention. Companies like Timberland, REI, Under Armor are finding success in expanded DTC channels to recapture market share. While it’s tempting for brands to simply ape the tactics that are outwardly visible from successful DTC brands, the truth is that much of what makes DTC experiences so persuasive and valuable is invisible from the outside.

Retailers or brands who view DTC as merely a channel strategy are oversimplifying and missing the value of the underlying trend in a big way. It’s not about increasing distribution, adding technology or improving supply chain; it’s about transforming customer experience and the corporate culture that enables it.

What is truly driving the meteoric rise of DTC? It’s the enduring reminder that consumer experience matters most. And now, more than ever, consumers demand better. DTC addresses fundamental demands from consumers like frictionless retail, brand experience, product innovation and personalization. Embracing the resources and sustained effort required to deliver today’s DTC experiences is critical for enterprise retailers looking to serve their customers and address emerging competitive threats.

That drive is precisely why creating a DTC experience is neither simple nor benign. Larger legacy enterprises and brands have a lot to lose through the thoughtless development and execution of DTC experiences that deliver no value to customers and create confusion in the marketplace. Our first piece of advice to brands seeking to develop DTC experiences is to swear a kind of Hippocratic Oath. “First, do no harm.”

What harm can a bad experience do?  

Many brands make the mistake of believing that DTC success is a matter of installing the right technology and establishing a delivery capability to deliver their existing products in the standard pack sizes. Native DTC brands have ably demonstrated that DTC is a skill, not simply another business unit or capability. DTC strategy is not just a matter of adding a buy button. While the user interface and the user experience are important components, DTC commerce experience is built upon the desire to deliver a great end to end customer experience for the business. Business is a value delivery system not just a product delivery system.

Positive experiences create value for customers, the brand, channel partners, the organization and shareholders. High-performing DTC brands are able to see the thread through the whole experience on behalf of the customer, rather than see the experience as a series of hand-offs. Critically and inevitably, customer experience will live or die by the culture and organization that underpins a brand. DTC DNA identifies the core skills and cultural dispositions needed in each area of the business so that executives at brands and retailers can use them to build compelling experiences and corporate cultures to deliver them.

DTC is a skill to be developed more than it is a business unit to be spun up. Brands must understand the value of all of the elements that create the lived experience of the brand to develop true customer advocacy.

Social Media Adspend Will Surpass That Of Print For First Time This Year

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Advertisers will spend more on social media than on print for the first time ever this year, according to Zenith’s “Advertising Expenditure Forecasts.” Social media adspend will grow 20 percent this year to reach $84 billion while ad expenditure on magazines and newspapers combined will decrease six percent to $69 billion.

The report also found that social media will be the third largest channel for advertising this year, capturing a 13 percent share of global adspend, followed by television (29 percent) and paid search (17 percent). Television advertising, however, will slip from $182 billion in 2019 to $180 billion in 2021 due to shrinking ratings in key markets.

The current US ad market makes up about half of global adspend growth at 48 percent with expectations for it having held steady at 5.7 percent growth since Zenith’s June edition of the report. That figure is in part due to targeting abilities of online platforms used by small businesses and digital brands who are investing heavily in paid search. Growing at eight percent a year, paid search advertising will also reach new heights this year as Zenith predicts it will surpass $100 billion for the first time.

Given the current political and economic uncertainty, Zenith downgraded its expectations for 2019 for global adspend. Unlike its prediction of a 4.6 percent increase in global adspend in June, this year’s prediction for global ad spend is a 4.4 percent increase. 

Similarly, forecasts for Europe have also been downgraded due to poor economic performance in key markets. The UK and Germany saw a decline in Q2 while Russia’s year-on-year growth has fallen below one percent. As a result, Zenith forecasts a 1.9 percent growth in adspend in Western Europe, down from 2.4 percent in June. Predicted adspend growth in Central and Eastern Europe have also fallen from 6.1 percent to 4.7 percent. The report attributes the decline to the absence of sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and Winter Olympics as well as an overall weakened economy.

Jimmy John’s Launches Multichannel Campaign, Snapchat AR Game To Promote Little Subs

BY

Jimmy John’s is launching a multichannel campaign to promote its $3 Little John subs via a Snapchat Lens and mobile game that uses augmented reality (AR). A national television spot, posted to the brand’s YouTube, featuring rapper Lil’ Jon further complements the campaign. Little John subs are “skinny mini-versions” of the sandwich chain’s seven original sandwiches, making them the first permanent value addition to the chain’s menu in its 36-year history.

To play the Jimmy John’s AR game, Snapchat users must catch as many falling sandwiches—which have been digitally shrunk—as they can in their mouths within 30 seconds. The game uses AR technology to overlay images on live selfies, which users can snap from the game and share on the platform. Encouraging users to play the game and share selfies increases the campaign’s reach among Snapchat’s younger audience for that 70 percent of users add AR effects to images they share on the app—according to Snapchat’s Q1 company metrics.

Creating a sponsored Snapchat filter-game for its $3 little subs marks one of Jimmy John’s many moves to attract younger consumers. In 2018, the company introduced tap-and-go payments to emphasize mobile orders. To highlight its commitment to ensuring freshness, the company also created a 30-second video spot that read aloud negative tweets about Grubhub and Seamless. 

Jimmy John’s recently took its delivery efforts a step further with a contest giving one fan up to $250,000 to go toward buying a home inside a Jimmy John’s delivery zone. Given Jimmy John’s strict delivery zones—which don’t utilize third-party delivery services and only deliver up to five minutes of its stores—it employed “The Home in the Zone” contest. From August 12-October 4, consumers could enter the contest by writing a 250-word essay saying why they want to move into a Jimmy John’s delivery zone. The contest held three rounds before selecting a grand prize winner.

According to QSR Magazine, on September 25, Jimmy John’s announced its acquisition from Inspire Brands, the parent company to Sonic Drive-In, Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and Rusty Taco. Jimmy John’s has more than 2,800 locations across 43 states and, according to Technomic, is the 30th largest US restaurant chain with 2017 sales reaching nearly $2.36 billion.