Millennials are a huge target audience for many companies. Being that they have such a huge dependence on social media and digital marketing, it comes as no surprise that companies are looking to utilize these new, interactive outlets to gain their support.
One campaign that recently emerged was a result of a collaboration between Google and Burberry. The name of the partnership is "Burberry Kisses" and encourages consumers to perfect their best kissy-face selfie by "making out with their phone". Sounds a little bizarre if you ask me, but apparently it is a hit with the millennials who, according to the Bloomberg Businessweek article, are "into that sort of thing".
The campaign was executed through Google's Art, Copy & Code project, a series of partnerships designed to show how brands express themselves in a diversified, yet connected world. Consumers are prompted to literally kiss their phone and watch as their lips are digitally transformed in one of five Burberry lip shades. Next, the kisser can then send their lips to whomever they want along with a personalized message.
If kissing your phone grosses you out due to sanitary reasons, you can also use a webcam to get the same results. This all seems a little weird, but the reality of it is that the millennial generation are in fact fans of digital advertising campaigns and companies are competing to come up with the most creative approaches.
Another interesting campaign I came across today stems from the genius of Kate Spade and Ebay. The new Kate Spade line is called Kate Spade Saturday and is accompanied by four digitally enhanced "window shops" in lower Manhattan. The window shops are completely digital and have touch screen technology set up so that customers can see the products in different colors and sizes. To me, this makes a lot of sense and I definitely see it as the future of window-shopping. My prediction is that it will immediately be a hit with the younger generation and eventually, the older generation as well due to its many capabilities. To read the full article, click here.
It is evident that quite often, in order to see success, a company must make a consumer fall in love with their brand. Consumers cannot just be in love with a certain product for this to work, but rather they must love the brand as a whole. For example, it is not enough for a consumer to love the iPhone 5. Instead, they need to have passion for Apple as a whole and be an advocate for any product or service that the company creates.
Researchers from the Global Branding Center at USC's Mashall School of Business decided to get to the bottom of why some brands are able to create this bond, while others fail miserably. First, the researchers took a look at brands that they felt a strong connection with. Park, the director of the Global Branding Center, admitted that he felt a strong connection to the Pittsburg Steelers despite the fact that they did not even know he existed.
Next, a series of surveys were conducted by Park and his team of people's feelings surrounding Apple, England's Manchester United, and Austrians' supermarket-buying behaviors. In the end, the findings were published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology and concluded that consumers fall in love due to the "narrowing of the psychological distance" between the consumer and the brand. In essence, people must identify with the brand and see it as a vital expansion of themselves. Finally, the researchers came up with a list of steps to help companies achieve this love connection:
- Enticing Self Benefits: Attract consumers by using one or more of the five senses to reel them in. For example, does the product smell good or taste good? Do consumers get pleasure from simply looking at it?
- Enabling Self Benefits: Does the brand positively influence a consumers' life? Does it make their lives easier or more enjoyable? The brand must do something that consumers will appreciate for their own well-being.
- Enriching Self Benefits: The consumer must relate to the brand in some way. They must have similar values or principles. The example cited in the article is Nike's "Just Do It'. Many people relate to this saying because they know that it takes hard work and determination to achieve their fitness goals. Therefore, they see a strong connection between consumers and their products.
To read the full article, click here.
