Matthew Gates http://notetoservices.com 3m 828 #contentmarketing
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
Living In A World of Marketing
When a person goes shopping for clothes, food, or any item, they often have a particular brand in mind, before they have even left the house. Whether they are thinking about Kohl’s, Walmart, Target, Nike, New Balance, Adidas, McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, KFC, Pepsi, Coke, or any other brand, they are already sold. Those companies have already done massive marketing, acquired a customer, and made their money without ever selling a single product. They already have a customer, not a potential customer, not a lead, not a possible sale. They have already made the sale just by putting brand recognition into the heads of people. The idea of having someone think about your brand before they have even left the house is very powerful and very expensive, but well worth such an investment.
Companies like McDonalds, Walmart, Nike, and Pepsi spend billions of dollars a year in advertising and marketing campaigns across the Internet, radio, television, billboards, and many other areas, just to put the idea into peoples’ heads. As much as these companies care about making the sale, the very idea of the product these companies sell is just as important. For example, a person who thinks about getting a drink may think about getting a Pepsi over any other drink. They also may buy this Pepsi for their family in bottles, cans, or cases. When they have a party, they may be inclined to buy the Pepsi brand. Pepsi did not have a salesperson in front of that person trying to make a sale. Rather, Pepsi has relied on the fact that they put the idea of their brand into that person’s head. When all is said and done, the billions of dollars that went into marketing was well worth it.
Marketing is everything for your business. It is your brand, your company, and your product. It is what you offer and what you sell to your customers. If you have a product that sells itself, than you are already ahead of the game. If you advertise the product that sells itself, you can only increase sales and do even better. If you are struggling to market your company as a brand, than you and your marketing department need to think outside the box. You need to figure out where you can market yourself and what will get the idea of your company and your product into peoples’ heads.
Many companies have been turning to humor in commercials in order to establish the idea of the brand into peoples’ heads. For example, GEICO has been releasing funny commercials including one that features a camel in an office asking what day it is. Everyone knows that Wednesday is Hump Day. The commercial actually has nothing to do with the product. But in the end, the GEICO name appears. Whose commercial is it with that camel? It’s GEICO. Very simple and effective marketing technique. Another commercial from GEICO has a tree falling in the woods.. with some direct marketing with a woman telling another woman that she can save money on her car insurance, and then stating that trees do make sounds when they fall in the forest, cutting to a scene where a tree is falling in the forest and making a sound. Great marketing. Very funny. Very memorable.
Very little advertising of the actual product. This type of marketing directly and indirectly advertises GEICO. GEICO hardly states what they actually do, only revealing to their audience in most of these commercials that they are a car insurance company. A gecko is their mascot, also having nothing to do with cars. But everyone remembers the gecko and associates it with GEICO. A lot of money went into that type of marketing. People hardly remember what the actual product is at first, but make it funny and memorable, and people are going to develop a curiosity for what the company is and what it does.
Your company may not have millions or billions of dollars like these other companies, but coming up with a memorable commercial, advertisement, or marketing campaign is very possible on a limited budget. It takes creativity and thinking outside the box to come up with something that is so memorable, no one could ever forget. Marketing is effective and is the blood of any company. Without it, no company stands a chance in a world of competition.
This Ebook is brought to you by Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute and covers 100 Content Marketing Examples to inspire your own great content marketing ideas. Good luck with your marketing efforts!
Download: 100 Content Marketing Examples (Right-click for save options)
Disclaimer: You cannot hold me responsible for your now wanting any of the fast food places I mentioned above – those were long in your head before I ever mentioned them!
Matthew Gates is a freelance web designer and currently runs Confessions of the Professions.
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