Stigmas associated with mental health have been breaking down over the last few years, especially through the COVID-19 pandemic as stress, anxiety, and depression have risen to alarmingly high levels. While brands have previously either faced backlash for mental health in marketing campaigns or completely shied away from the topic, now consumers value brands that acknowledge and relate to their personal struggles.
What is SEO marketing? Why is it important? With “67,000 users perform[ing] a Google search every second of everyday,” people have a heavy reliance on the internet for accessing information, communicating, and performing business transactions. Search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential digital marketing strategy for all businesses to increase revenues and gain the attention of customers. It allows businesses to optimize their websites for search engines like Google in order to improve their customers’ experience and their own bottom line.
Last month Disney announced it would begin offering an ad-supported subscription for its video streaming platform, Disney+, by late 2022. Major players in video streaming services like Disney, Paramount Plus, Netflix, and HBO Max are ramping up their pricing strategies in what appears to be a price war. The current battle: how many subscribers can one platform acquire?
From fat-free chips to flavor contests, market research has both failed and supported the well-known potato chip brand, Lay’s, in their product development process. The Wow! “healthy” chip disaster shows that promising market tests don’t always spell success. Crowdsourcing campaigns, while beneficial for increasing customer engagement and boosting short-term revenue streams, can provide inaccurate insight into long-term consumer preferences. This year, Lay’s has released a new product line, Lay’s Layers, but only in two flavors presumably as a large-scale market test for their brand-new chip design.
Taco Bell’s latest advertisement campaign pokes fun at market leader and competitor McDonald’s. The ad features singer Doja Cat escaping from a clown school whose ice cream machines are broken. Sound familiar? Using comparative advertising, influencer and social media marketing, and rewards program incentives, Taco Bell’s recent ad campaign not so subtly asserts their superiority over the fast-food leader plagued by broken ice cream machines.
Every year marketers and customers alike prepare for the largest advertising event in the United States: The Super Bowl. The famous sports event provides a unique mass marketing opportunity to utilize television advertisements to promote everything from chips to cars. This weekend is Super Bowl LVI, and everyone is wondering which of the multimillion-dollar commercials will flop and which will triumph. But why do companies willing spend huge portions of their marketing budgets for a 30-second ad? Super Bowl Sunday is the one time of year that people actually turn on the TV just to watch commercials.
Shipping issues are impacting supply chains in every industry, increasing lead times, and causing companies to rethink their operations in order to get cargo to their customers. Companies have rushed to fill rising demands for imports, leaving ports and roads alike clogged with traffic worsened by labor shortages. In this environment, one business-to-business (B2B) industry, ocean shipping, is turning to airfreight options to ease its struggles.
Fetch Rewards is a company that allows users to earn rewards back on their purchases from several companies, eliminating the need to participate in brand-specific rewards programs. In exchange for a partnership with Fetch Rewards, companies can gain access to certain user data. User data analytics allows companies to strategically target customers based on their purchasing habits and favorite rewards, among other usage metrics. Would you give up data on your spending preferences for appealing rewards and personalized advertisements from your favorite brands?
Known for their tradition and scientific method to pouring the perfect pint, Guinness has mastered product differentiation and strategy. The successful brand originating from Ireland operates globally, brewed in over 60 countries and available in over 150. With a diverse range of products, packaging, and labelling, Guinness sets an example to marketing managers promoting consumer products internationally. By adjusting their products to suit the trends and preferences of different markets, Guinness has been able to appeal to a variety of consumer tastes for over 260 years.
Take a look at your shampoo bottle or an item in your pantry. Is the packaging recyclable? Is it “naturally derived”? Does it come from a “sustainable” brand? Chances are, you are being misled by those labels. In order to meet increased consumer expectations for environmentally friendly products and services and reach net zero emission goals, companies have taken a less than ethical approach when advertising their products: greenwashing.
Marketing Management 