We’re searching for the most pressing marketing insights this week.
The Modern Advertiser’s Blind Spot: How To Avoid Missing The Mark For Consumers
Ad Age
Sprout Social’s “Social Index” report revealed that 89 percent of consumers will buy from a brand they follow, perhaps suggesting that marketers are sidetracked by virtual content creation over practicality, namely equipping customers to make informed purchases.
Why it matters: Founder and president of Ideas That Evoke, Kelly Ehlers, reminds brands to make their products the main attraction, not memes or free downloads. To align your market accordingly, Ehlers suggests evaluating the motive, mindset and strength of the platforms you’re using, refocusing your efforts on customer service through proactively solving problems and showing gratitude for continued loyalty and posting relevant information that keeps the purchase cycle top-of-mind.
Ranking How National Economies Adapt To Remote Work
MIT Sloan Management Review
MIT recently analyzed the economic impact of remote work in 30 countries and found that national economies like Spain, Ireland and the US—where 10 percent of the labor force represents workers in high-proximity personal services and occupations, such as barbers, dentists and flight attendants—will see a bigger impact from social distancing. However, internet quality, experience working from home and demographics outweigh developed economies’ more risk-prone occupational mixes.
Why it matters: MIT’s research notes that “developing countries have the advantage of fewer service-oriented jobs that require close proximity, but internet infrastructure gives developed economies a substantial advantage.”
5 Things Every CMO Needs To Know About How AR And VR Are Changing Marketing
Forbes
Many marketers will soon need to determine how to integrate virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) into their marketing mix as these emerging technologies develop more rapidly.
Why it matters: VR and AR have the ability to add deeper context to the customer experience, be it in the form of virtually trying on clothes, converting static images to 3D images, engaging with virtual influencers, transforming company storefronts into virtual showrooms and testing employees in manufacturing on different parts of a virtual line without physically putting them at risk.
Female CMO Salaries Eclipsed Men’s In 2019, Study Finds
Marketing Dive
According to a new study from the CMO Council, in 2019, female marketing executives reported higher pay than men. On average, female executives’ salaries were about $213,000 and their bonuses $56,000, while their male counterparts earned an average of $210,000 and bonuses of $53,000.
At companies with over 250 employees, marketer salaries of both men and women averaged $236,000; at companies with 50 to 249 employees, marketer salaries averaged $180,000; and for smaller companies with 10 to 49 employees, marketer salaries averaged $103,000.
Why it matters: The report supports recent research from Spencer Stuart, which found that the percentage of female CMOs at the 100 most advertised brands grew from 36 percent to 43 percent in 2018.
Unilever Takes Heat For Fair & Lovely In India As It Criticizes Racial Injustice Elsewhere
Ad Age
After contributing $1 million to racial justice initiatives through its various brands, Unilever is getting backlash from two dozen change.org petitions calling on the company to stop producing and marketing Fair & Lovely, a brand it sells in India that creates skin-lightening cream.
Why it matters: In 2019, Fair & Lovely made over $500 million in sales in India alone. In February, the government there proposed an amendment to existing advertising laws that would make ads promoting fair skin illegal.
Unemployment By Design: Building Resilience In A World Disrupted
Forbes
After his eleven-year run with Edelman came to an abrupt end due to COVID-19, David Armano has found that there are three interesting pathways to approach unemployment by design as a way to develop resilience: every day presents an opportunity to unlearn an old habit and master a new one, lean into the unknown and embrace change by updating your current role on LinkedIn and approach each day as an iteration to your strategy.
Why it matters: Unemployment in the US has risen higher during COVID than it did during two years of the great recession, with nearly 21 million people currently classified as unemployed.
The Pandemic Will Impact How And Why Consumers Exercise
Adweek
Fitness companies have found creative ways to engage their customers in lockdowns by offering online services and live streaming workouts on social media. However, as gyms reopen, experts predict the industry will continue to feel the effects of this digital disruption.
Why it matters: To meet their members where they are, fitness brands should focus on a hybrid of in-person and digital services while being cognizant of the fact that many consumers are even more dedicated to staying in shape than before the pandemic.
Creativity Awards Winners Revealed: Ad Age Digital Edition
Ad Age
Winners of the 2020 AdAge Creativity Awards include: HBO’s Game of Thrones #ForTheThrone campaign for best content marketing of the year; Microsoft/Xbox’s adaptive controller for tech innovation of the year and best work for good; Skittles’ “Broadway the Rainbow” and Wendy’s “Keeping Fortnite Fresh” for experiential campaigns of the year; and Popeyes’ tiny but mighty chicken sandwich wars tweet.
Why it matters: Popeyes’ chicken sandwich wars tweet helped the company double its Twitter following and receive 1.1 million mentions.
Good Leadership Hinges On “Organizational Intelligence”
Harvard Business Review
Organizational intelligence consists of five competencies: sending messages that reinforce strategy; fostering an understanding of “who we are,” using “action strategy” rather than consensus building to pursue strategic goals, rebelling from the top by recognizing what aspects of the status quo need to be challenged and staging moments of theater that will communicate and reinforce an ethos.
Why it matters: Leaders often fail because they don’t know how to get the company to do what they want, or they lack organizational intelligence (OQ).
