Marketing technology is increasingly enabling marketers to be more strategic and direct their investments more effectively. But marketers also face challenges as they implement new strategies and integrate new technologies. More than half feel “overwhelmed” by the sheer amount of mar-tech data they’re now confronted with, according to Accenture Research. Meanwhile, only about a third of marketers globally believe the CEO of their company recognizes the revenue and cost-saving potential of investing in mar tech, and the majority think the mar-tech industry itself is evolving faster than their company’s use of it. Still, nearly seven in 10 marketers are turning to mar tech to increase overall ROI, and nearly half are doing so to improve their marketing efficiency.
What is different today, though, is that companies have become much more adept at identifying their top customers and knowing which psychological buttons to push. The goal is to create extravagance and exclusivity for the select few, even if it stirs up resentment elsewhere. In fact, research has shown, a little envy can be good for the bottom line.
When top-dollar travelers switch planes in Atlanta, New York and other cities, Delta ferries them between terminals in a Porsche, what the airline calls a “surprise-and-delight service.” Last month, Walt Disney World began offering after-hours access to visitors who want to avoid the crowds. In other words, you basically get the Magic Kingdom to yourself. When Royal Caribbean ships call at Labadee (pictured below), the cruise line’s private resort in Haiti, elite guests get their own special beach club away from fellow travelers — an enclave within an enclave.
Ok, sounds low tech compared to mobile and social advertising, but pretty effective in terms of reach per $ of investment
“The message cannot be shut off, as many forms of advertising can, and the message is displayed at all hours of the day and night, depending on where the vehicle is driven and parked. With a vehicle wrap, companies find they reach more than 95 percent of drivers in their geographical region, as most people spend time on the roadways.”
And before you call it low-tech see what this Popular Mechanics slide show says about the advanced chemistry which makes it possible
“Modem adhesive reaches its most sticky state after 24 hours, making it repositionable. The vinyl itself, a highly formable ‘cast” vinyl, has channels to allow air to escape, eliminating bubbles. A factory laminate coating can make the vinyl wrap last up to 10 years. Finally, vinyl called
supercast can stretch up to 40 percent, so it can be molded
around curves and sharp bumper edges.”
In a 2007 purchase of medicines from Merck KGaA, drugmaker Mylan picked up a decades-old product, the EpiPen auto injector for food allergy and bee-sting emergencies. Management first thought to divest the aging device, which logged only $200 million in revenue. Then Heather Bresch, now Mylan’s chief executive officer, hit on the idea of using old-fashioned marketing in part to boost sales among concerned parents of children with allergies. That started EpiPen, which delivers about $1 worth of the hormone epinephrine, on a run that’s resulted in its becoming a $1 billion-a-year product that clobbers its rivals and provides about 40 percent of Mylan’s operating profits, says researcher ABR|Healthco. EpiPen margins were 55 percent in 2014, up from 9 percent in 2008, ABR|Healthco estimates.
A host of new companies founded or staffed by brain researchers have some advice for advertisers: Read your customers’ minds. In a world of ever-shrinking attention spans, where consumers flit through social media sites and skip right past online ads, advertisers are turning to neuroscience to better understand how to steer buyers toward their products.
“People are not governed by the rational side of their brains, so the majority of purchase decisions are made irrationally,” says Itiel Dror, a Harvard-trained neuroscientist engaged by London consultants BrandOpus to test the redesign of a logo for Canada’s McCain Foods Ltd.
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