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‘How did Facebook, which prides itself on being able to process billions of data-points…somehow not make the connection that electoral ads paid for in roubles were coming from Russia. Those are two data-points. You put billions of data-points together – you can’t put together roubles with a political ad.’

[Sen. Al Franken to Facebook’s General Counsel at the Senate judiciary subcommittee hearing 31.10.17]

Most Marketing is Bad Because it Ignores the Most Basic Data

Only a minority of brands make highly creative and highly effective marketing communications.

Work that’s distinctive, well-branded, emotional, fame-driving, maybe even award-winning.

Work that will drive sales today, sales for years in the future, and deliver returns far beyond what the CFO would get if she kept the money in the bank.

Getting the balance right between long-term brand-building and short-term sales activation, between creating memories and activating them, is important for maximum commercial effectiveness.

BBH – Sheep Driven Marketing Advice You’ll Flock To

University of North Georgia students devised a complete advertising plan for four lucky nonprofit organizations as part of the graphic design for advertising class. Nonprofits were The Bridge Foundation, Buckhead Christian Ministry, Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation (OCAF), and PAWS Atlanta

University of North Georgia students devised a complete advertising plan for four lucky nonprofit organizations as part of the graphic design for advertising class. Nonprofits were The Bridge Foundation, Buckhead Christian Ministry, Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation (OCAF), and PAWS Atlanta.

Marketing with little or no budget. Reaching a younger generation that gets its information through social media. Finding creative ways for people to volunteer their time or donate their money for a worthy cause. These are a few issues nonprofit organizations deal with on a regular basis.

And so four Georgia nonprofits received some assistance this fall when University of North Georgia (UNG) students selected them as clients for their graphic design for advertising class.

University of North Georgia students in the graphic design for advertising class taught by Mark Taylor, a part-time adjunct faculty member for visual arts at UNG, devised an entire advertising campaign for four nonprofit organizations. The campaign included designing a logo and direct mailer, generating a magazine or newspaper ad and an outdoor billboard, crafting a 15-second radio ad, and producing a 15-second television storyboard concept.

“Brand relevance or customer loyalty,” you ask. Good question.

Loyalty marketing as it has been called is being eclipsed by the new era of Movement Marketing. The old way was based on the idea that people will keep buying the same stuff from a company with incentives.

Yet, according to recent consumer research from Kantar Retail, 71% of consumers now claim that loyalty incentive programs don’t make them loyal at all.

Does your customer retention strategy depend on “buying” loyalty with rewards or discounts? Does loyalty cost you a lot? Does it tell people they get something for nothing?

Rather, with the rise of digital interception strategies, people are increasingly buying why a brand is relevant to their lives and their unique needs at the moment they Google you.

Don’t be loyal to the status quo

To succeed in this era of relevance, marketers and companies must be continuously willing to abandon the old. As new technologies shift customer journeys and expectations, they can (and should) also enhance companies’ abilities to engage with customers in the most relevant ways.

Often, the greatest roadblock is a company’s lack of willingness to transform their processes, organizations, and mindsets as needed.

To overcome that barrier, some companies have shifted from a product-focused mindset to a platform approach.

To become a living business, companies should expand their thinking to include the following five P’s as well: purpose, pride, partnership, protection, and personalization.

These form a simple and comprehensive test of relevance.

The first four extend from the top to the bottom of the psychological hierarchy — from what Maslow called “self-actualization” or fulfilling your full potential, to safety, a more basic need.

The fifth, personalization, enables companies to connect with customers around any of these needs.

Purpose: Customers feel the company shares and advances their values.

Pride: Customers feel proud and inspired to use the company’s products and services.

Partnership: Customers feel the company relates to and works well with them.

Protection: Customers feel secure when doing business with the company.

Personalization: Customers feel their experiences with the company are continuously tailored to their needs and priorities.

Creating bad work is a choice: a choice that too many marketing teams make all the time by focusing on fashionable marketing buzzwords and ignoring the basics.

Four Non Profits Get a Helping Hand from the University of North Georgia

Marketers Should Focus on Brand Relevance and Screw Worrying about Customer Loyalty.