September 2, 2024
3 min
The modern marketing mix is being pickpocketed of its most basic value, something that has been so fundamental that nobody ever thought to safeguard it. And the biggest irony of all is that we’re the culprit - the architects of our own marketing demise.
Our obsession with digital dashboards, boosted numbers and stonking great programmatic ad budgets has meant that we often forget first principles: how can we get our product in front of the people who might love it?
And yes, I am aware of the false economy of decrying Ads as a reason marketing is suffering, particularly when they drive business, and lots of it. Because the reason they’ve leached into every marketing teams’ daily tasks is because they are effective.
So don’t think we’re saying you should all crunch our Google Ads account into a proverbial ball of paper and lob it in the trash, because that would be equally shortsighted.
The underlying issue is that metrics are tangible, easily quantifiable and therefore are surefire ways of proving effective marketing. But switch your mindset to the first time you opened an iPhone box, or when you tried a really delicious sample at Costco and then ended up buying it.
How easily can you quantify the pleasure involved when you plopped your new phone out of it's obsessively neat packaging and saw the Apple logo light up for the first time?
And that’s what we’re talking about. Sure you could track the iPhone sales or rely on an in-store rep’s feedback about how the sampling went down. But there’s more to the mix. The best marketing is experiential and delivers something that you can’t quite put your finger on.
So look through your product offering. How can you up the ante and make your experience more tactile and lasting? For parenting brands, we offer an at-home sampling box that’s built around this concept. Showcasing products as they were meant to be seen, in the calm, open environment of the family home.
But if you’re looking elsewhere, how can you reinvigorate your UX through packaging or tailored messaging around how users use your service? For primarily digital brands, Spotfiy Wrapped is a great example of something tailored, tactile and loved, without ever leaving a user’s phone.
Of course, this kind of first-principle marketing isn’t about leaving programmatic ad spend behind. It’s about augmenting it. Filling the gaps that will otherwise go unnoticed.
Except they won’t. Just like how you remember the feeling when really good marketing grabs you and makes your day better, your customers will remember it too. That’s what really sets a brand apart and is arguably one of the most neglected, but core pillars of long-term success.
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