Mike Baglietto, global head of market insights at next-generation consumer analytics and market intelligence platform NetBase Quid, describes social media as “the world’s largest focus group.” “You are not required to purchase a research report, you don’t have to do a survey. People on social media share anything and everything, and they’re pretty unfiltered, so you can find out exactly how people feel about your brand, competitors, and even your market. 

However, there is a significant distinction between social media and any other focus group, big or small. Once you’ve found out how people perceive your brand, only social media also allows you to change that perception. 

Social media’s top trends

Baglietto was one of the speakers on The Drum’s Consumer & Market Intelligence in 2022: What’s Affecting Your Brand Health? webinar, which was to be co-hosted by NetBase Quid. Baglietto, and his colleague Harvey Raola, NetBase Quid’s global head of media intelligence, discussed the following during the session: 

• This year’s top social media trends
• The mass adoption of augmented reality 
• TikTok and Reddit’s increasing importance
• The need to create a baseline so you can track the health of your brand over time. 
• How influencers and critics might be identified by brand managers
• The necessity to establish a baseline so you can track the health of your brand over time. 
• Baglietto presented the key parameters that marketers could use to assess their brand’s health. 

“There’s the number of posts or mentions about my brand; how do customers feel about it, my net sentiment score; and how many people will really see it, my net potential impressions.” Then there’s the issue of how many people are writing those posts. 

“Then we’ll look into where your audience is talking about your brand, and which social media platforms are hosting those conversations.” We’d also like to investigate the possibilities for your brand on such platforms.”

One of Baglietto’s key points was that different channels appeal to attract a different audiences. For example, the Tiktok audience is more female, whereas the Reddit audience is more male. Rather than creating “social media content” and pushing it out across all channels, marketers need to target their content by channel. 

“The people who follow your brand on Twitter may not be the same people who follow your brand on TikTok or Instagram,” he explained. “So, in order to unlock additional income and  retention possibilities, you need to fully understand who that audience is.”

Do not be concerned about the Kardashians. 

The other major topic for discussion was influencers and in particular micro-influencers. 

“Micro-influencers – the folks with 5,000 to 25,000 followers on social media, generate a lot of potential for your brand and have the most impact,” Baglietto added. “They provide you the ability to connect with them in a genuine way.” It’s fantastic to have a Kardashian tweet about your company. But do customers really take action as a result? If I were an activewear brand, I would search for yoga instructors or personal trainers with a following. They’ll engage their target audience, and they’re true to the category and to my users.”

However, as Ranola pointed out, authenticity is a two-way street. When it came to interacting with Reddit groups, he emphasized the importance of striking a balance between knowledge and promotion. 

“One of the things Reddit is known for is how brutally honest people are and how easily they can spot something that isn’t genuine,” he said. “Toeing the line of being able to provide value while remaining authentic is something that businesses must be very careful about.” I know this from a personal experience at a company I previously worked for, where we were a little bit too salesy and we got called out pretty quickly and banned from the Subreddit we were promoting.” 

Baglietto concluded with a list of recommendations for marketers looking to monitor and improve the health of their brand:

• At least once a month, evaluate your success with all of your important audiences across all of your main channels. 
• Understand the types of content that are most important for each segment on each channel. 
• Look for influencers who have the same personality as your company. 
• In real-time, monitor the response to anything you and your team post, as well as what your influencers post. 
• Make any necessary course corrections. 

The post Improve Your Social Media Brand’s Health With These 5 techniques appeared first on Branditechture.

Call it whatever, ‘brainstorms’ or ‘thought showers’, they’re still the go-to panic button for deadline-driven creatives. 

You’re brainstorming so hard but you can’t seem to hit the right spot. You feel an imaginary barrier to gaining inspiration, you are unable to access your inner creativity. You are not left alone. This situation is so common that it has gotten itself a technical term known as creative block.

I understand it’s never what you want, but there’s surely a reason behind that. Stay with me and you’ll learn why aggressive brainstorming doesn’t work and what you can do instead to harness your full potential and your collective thought.

You would agree with me that the word ‘brainstorming’ feels like it’s been around since like forever, but it was only invented in the 1950s by Alex Osborn. Osborne is a founding member of the advertising agency called BBDO, which was founded in 1928 in New York.  Osborne is the O in BBDO (making him, basically, Don Draper).  Osborn claimed that brainstorming is 50% more productive than thinking alone. But is that really the case?

Through consistent research and experiences, I learned early enough in my career that brainstorming yields very few creative ideas. 

Common brainstorming problems

As many scientists have proven, the problem or trouble with brainstorms is that your brain is not actually in the best environment or setting to ‘storm’. 

Even with the best-laid preparations (the planning team providing thoughtful insights and territories; guardrails being given to the group), there are still too many human barriers to collective problem-solving. 

Social loafing (doing less in a group setting), cognitive inertia (the world as I see it), introvert (I’m so uncomfortable right now) vs extrovert (here’s another idea!) All psychological and practical reasons why the collectable power of thought is complex and ineffective, include the time constraint (we have only an hour), and production blocking (only one person can speak at a time). 

Not to mention the elephant in the room: truth be told, our finest ideas come to us when we aren’t thinking about them (let’s say, in the shower). 

“Steinbeckian” creativity is revealed in 5 steps

“Once the miracle of creation has occurred, the group can build and extend it, but the group never invents anything,” said Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck in East of Eden, in a time before women were allowed to be wise. 

Inspired by Steinbeck’s thinking, I’ve discovered the ideal approach to mine ideas quickly in a group. 

To begin with, one would need to have a tight creative brief that has already gone through a rigorous strategic process to tighten the space ideation and is pre-shared (and read) by the team 24 hours ahead of time. 

Next, set aside 20 minutes for solo reflection-thinking time. 

The third step involves a 20-minutes brainstorming session with a partner. Having a partner to discuss your ideas with helps you to expand on your own ideas.  

Fourth, a 20-minute ‘download and build’ session for the entire group. Share the greatest ideas from your solo and pair brainstorming sessions with the rest of the group. Any and all builds are accepted. 

Finally, a policy to encourage people to share their idea after the event, which is normally when the best ideas emerge. 

It is crucial to work as a team. 

My favourite story about creativity is from Scott Morrison, founder of Boom and master of creativity unblocking. When a Great Ormond Street consultant saw a Formula One pit stop, he was inspired to improve the way he and his colleagues handled shift changes and handovers.

Putting the right creative minds on the appropriate brief is the ultimate way to get the most creative ideas. Allowing them to take a breath, contemplate, and be inspired by what has already been accomplished in many areas, countries, and industries, helped a long way.

F1’s speed and efficacy were borrowed and used in a hospital setting, and the results were life-changing. An idea is born from an individual and then built on by a group. 

When the effectiveness of the brainstorming is measured against a variety of criteria, such as team motivation and company togetherness, it performs at an entirely different level. It is a great opportunity to bring people together, get them involved, share some sweets, and have some fun. 

The post Can’t Seem to Brainstorm Effectively for Creativity? Here’s a Way Out! appeared first on Branditechture.

Epiphany RBC’s Alfie Adamson opined that it is very important to look at human-to-human conversations.

“Businesses need to find early adopters in the community and persuade them so that they can influence everyone else. We can begin to achieve this by listening to people on social media. Using NetBase Quid, we were able to compile a list of all the keywords from their Twitter profiles.”

You met someone at a party, you were intrigued by them and you would definitely want to learn more about them. What steps would you follow to know more about them, do you;

(a) Ask them a prepared set of multiple-choice questions,

(b) Talk to them, or

(c) Join the discussion they’re having with someone else and listen to learn more about them?

Answer (a) is the approach that traditional market researchers have been adopting for years, according to Alfie Adamson, a senior research consultant at marketing consultancy Epiphany RBC.

Approaches (b) and (c) work together to provide a more modern, conversational approach that produces better data, insights, and ultimately, better business results. 

This was the key message from a recent panel session carried out by a popular marketing publication firm, The Drum. The workshop which was titled ‘Finding the human perspective; how conversation powers insight’, was produced in partnership with AI-powered consumer and market intelligence platform NetBase Quid. 

“When you get these interrogative surveys, which are incredibly tedious and really boring, it’s bad for the whole industry,” Adamson said, “Instead we can actually start having dialogues with individuals and be more engaged, which leads to greater results and deeper insights.” It’s important for the industry to have higher-quality data so you can offer more strategic recommendations.”

Research update for the social media age

According to Adamson, his company, Epiphany’s technique is still based on the old model of primary and secondary research, but it has been updated for the social media age. 

“If you’re looking at primary research, it’s very important to look at human-to-human conversations,” he said. “if you question customers, you’ll get really poor quality information, they aren’t ready to engage with you. 

“Then there’s secondary research, which is what’s already out there, and a lot of it comes from online content”. However, there are a lot of posts going on right now. For example, over half a million tweets are sent out every minute on the internet, it can be tough to decide what to focus on, but conversions and, of course, NetBase Quid can assist.”

Adamson cited a recent project in which Epiphany was requested to investigate ‘entertainment bingers’, or people who stream movies on demand on a regular basis. 

Prior research, the group revealed they sampled males who were located in the UK and interested in movies and TV. 

Using NetBase Quid, we were able to compile a list of all the keywords from the group’s Twitter profiles, revealing their passions, favourite brands, and people that inspire them. 

“Then you’ll be able to see that this is a functioning community, and you’ll be able to figure out what makes them tick, what motivates them, and what they all have in common.” We can begin to achieve this by listening to people on social media. 

Influencing the influencers

According to Adamson, all of this is important because it allows businesses to find early adopters in the community and persuade them so that they can influence everyone else. 

“We’ve all seen the innovation diffusion curve, which shows how you progress from the inventors to early adopters to the late majority. And the reason we begin with the most viable communities is that the innovators, the 2.5% at the beginning of the curve, are the ones that can truly lead to your value.

“Because once you have a thorough understanding of the demographic, you can start looking for commonalities and what motivates them, and you can start engaging with them online.” And if you truly understand what these folks are about, you’ll have greater word-of-mouth and more consumer resonance. 

Fast-fashion brands Asos and Boohoo, are two companies that excel at this, according to Adamson.  They’ve identified a persona known as ‘Daytime socializers,’ who are young British women who tweet about socializing, eating out, having a girl’s night out, and having a good time. They also promote Asos and Boohoo on the internet. 

“Boohoo and Asos recognize that these are viable communities; they tap into the relevant and current culture, with the content that they’re putting out there, and they’re really having a conversation with these daytime socializers,” he said.  

Primary and Secondary Research and The Social Listening Technique

Another important point highlighted by Adamson is that primary and secondary research must be used in combination, but how they are employed will vary depending on the project. For example, if you’re creating a survey and aren’t sure what questions to ask, you may utilize a technique known as social listening to discover a target audience online, learn more about them, and figure out what questions you should ask. 

Social listening (or social media listening) refers to the process of identifying and assessing what is being said about a company, individual, product or brand on the internet.

If you’re evaluating primary research, you may enhance it with instances of what your target audience is talkimg about online using social listening. Ultimately, the key, according to Adamson, is to engage with your potential customers. 

“The more customers interact with you, whether through primary or secondary research, the stronger their bond with your firm will be, and the more money you’ll make.”

The post Treating Customers Like You Met at a Party: Crazy Lead Conversion Secrets appeared first on Branditechture.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has recently kicked out a Paddy Power ad after it was found to be “encouraging harmful gambling behavior.” 

Just so you know, Paddy Power (https://www.paddypower.com)/ is an online betting (or gambling) platform.

A scene from the video commercial shows a young man in a living room gambling on Paddy Power’s ‘Wonder Wheel’ game via his smartphone while his family is present. He takes a brief break from his phone to thank his partner’s mother for bringing him a drink before returning to gambling on his phone. 

A voice-over says: “With Paddy Wonder Wheel, you receive a free spin with a chance to win cash rewards every single day.” The man’s partner asks him: ” Do you think I will end up looking like my mum?” He replies while looking at his phone, “I hope so,”  before appearing to realize what he said was inappropriate. The voice-over then concludes; “So no matter how badly you stuff it up, you’ll always get another chance with Paddy Power games.”

There were complaints that the advertisement depicted someone so preoccupied with gambling that they made an inappropriate remark in the conversation, and that it portrayed gambling as taking precedence in life and thus was irresponsible. 

Paddy Power refuted the claims, saying the ad implied dedication to family life by portraying the scene of a traditional family setting in which a young man had dutifully gone to his girlfriend’s parent’s house for Sunday lunch. 

The image also showed that the family had finished their lunch and were now free to do their own thing after everyone has retired to the living room. They said this was indicated by the mother serving coffee, the father doing a crossword, and the young man playing a game on his phone while he sat next to his girlfriend on the sofa. It was noted that the man had not left the room to play the game alone or tried to hide it from his girlfriend. 

Paddy Power stated that they did not believe the sentence “So no matter how badly you stuff it up, you’ll always get another chance with Paddy Power games” encouraged repeated gambling in the face of loss. 

It said that the statement should be viewed in the context of the entire ad, which is referred to the fact that the young man had “stuffed it up” by making a comment to his girlfriend about her mother, and that line explicitly referenced a real-life example of stuffing up and did not refer to losing a bet. 

In its verdict, The ASA acknowledged the family members were enjoying activities after lunch, and while the young man’s focus throughout the ad was generally directed toward the screen of his phone,  he did not look up to thank his girlfriend’s mother for making him coffee before returning to his game. 

However, it considered the young man then became so engrossed in his gambling game that he made an unintentional and humiliating remark out loud, which was clearly not his intent and was clearly caused by his distraction and investment in the gambling game. It was reported that the young man instantly realized he had made a mistake and apologized to his girlfriend, but that moment was brief and he quickly returned to his phone to continue the gambling game and celebrate a win, while his girlfriend remained angry and embarrassed. 

Although the ASA acknowledged that it was a brief moment, it found that the commercial depicted gambling as taking priority in life over the family since most viewers would understand that distraction caused by gambling had caused an embarrassing error at a family gathering. 

According to the CAP and BCAP Codes, gambling marketing communications or advertisements must not depict, condone, or encouraged gambling conduct that is socially irresponsible or could result in financial, social, or emotional harm.

The CAP and BCAP’s Advertising Codes on Gambling Advertising: Responsibility and Problem Gambling also states that marketers should take care to avoid trivializing gambling and avoid the impression that the decision to gamble should be taken lightly, for example by not encouraging repetitive participation. 

As a result, the ad will not be repeated in its current form. 

It’s not the first time the ASA has slammed a Paddy Power commercial. In March, a radio commercial was found to be deceptive due to a muddled portrayal of significant circumstances. 

The post Paddy Power Ad Banned For Prioritizing Gambling Above Family appeared first on Branditechture.

Just so you know, the Salvation Army is a non-profit organisation that works around the world to collect and distribute second-hand clothing.

The organization “takes on” the luxury fashion house Balenciaga which recently launched its Paris Sneaker line that includes 100 pairs of limited-edition ‘destroyed’ sneakers priced at $1,850 each. 

Truly Destroyed Shoe. 📷 Carli Hermes/The Salvation Army

Shot by photographer Carli Hermes, the shoe contains a unique description like John’s Truly Destroyed all-purpose shoe, and product details like freezing winter has worn out effect, not waterproof, detached sole, various holes for warm weather, and painful fit.

Cloudfactory, an Amsterndam-based creative agency, directed and created the campaign, and all the funds raised will go directly to The Dutch Salvation Army’s mission to help people in need rebuild their lives. 

“Of course, the fashion world is all about how clothes and shoes appear,” Thamar Keuning, marketing and communications head of Salvation Army ReShare, (Leger des Hells ReShare in the Netherlands), stated. High fashion, or, for that matter, Balenciaga, can be wonderful in terms of innovation and variety.

It is, however, occasionally at odds with what clothing signifies to the vast majority of the individuals we work with, which is purely functional. The destroyed shoes of a homeless person opposite the high-fashion products of this fashion industry represent the world’s inequality both literally and symbolically. 

“It’s a good thing that the conversation is changed from a fashion gimmick and fuss to real social concern, such as the enormous number of homeless people in the Netherlands – there are currently 32,000! For years, we have advocated for the housing of homeless people as well as the problem is now receiving the international attention it deserves as a result of initiatives like these.”

“I’m not against Balenciaga’s destroyed sneakers at all. They were successful in capturing everyone’s attention. 

“However, I’m in where I can help the homeless – the number of whom appears to be one on the rise again, with such a fantastic idea. The backstory appeals to me. This isn’t only about photography for me – it’s also about art direction. Because the concept is solid, I believe I could develop it further in photography.”

Cloudfactory’s creative director Julio Alvarez, added: “We have a lot of respect for Demna Gvasaline’s vision, the creative director of Balenciaga, and what he is doing with the Balenciaga brand – they often tap brilliantly into the (pop) culture,” We recognize that the fashion industry has its codes, and we are not here to pass judgment. 

“It gives us a good starting point for bringing a tougher reality to the news.”

The post Ad of the Day: Salvation Army Throws Shade at Balenciaga’s ‘Destroyed Shoes’ Collection appeared first on Branditechture.

SUMMARY 

• The Hard Mtn Dew ad campaign, which is a six-video series, directed by David Laden of Hungry Man, shows the extreme to which enthusiasts will travel to get their hands on a can.
• Missouri has joined the list of states that can legally distribute the beverage.
• Mtn Dew has never been packaged with alcohol since its creation in 1940.
• The core consumer demographic is largely made up of young males between their mid-30s and under.
• Each serving contains no caffeine or added sugar and is 5% alcohol.
• Their commercial will air on streaming, digital, and social media in states where the drink is currently sold.

Hard Mtn Dew is here, and its commercial launch is guaranteed to be a hit! The six-video series, directed by David Laden of Hungry Man, shows the extreme to which enthusiasts will travel to get their hands on a can.

At the 0:06 seconds mark of the video, an employee was shown unloading a shipment of Hard Mountain Dew to a liquor store when a man dressed in a formal attire appears out of nowhere and grabs one. He took a big risk as he dashes through a piece of glass held by two other workers, shattering it. 

Another feature is the same guy triumphantly holding his Hard Mtn Dew, which he earned through hard labor, and then a woman dressed in yoga attire leaps down from the top of the liquor store to steal it. 

Hard Mtn Dew is celebrating the launch of its seventh state, Missouri, with the promotion. Missouri has joined the list of states that can legally distribute the beverage, which includes Tennessee, Florida, lowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Minnesota. By the end of the summer, the drink will be accessible in nine states, according to Beverage Digest. 

Hard Mtn Dew is now available in four familiar flavors: Original, Baja Blast, Blast Cherry, and Watermelon, all of which contain 5% alcohol. The beverage’s 4 variants all contain no caffeine or added sugar, and each serving has 100 calories. 

The highly-anticipated drink first arrived on the scene in February, causing cases to fly off the shelves wherever they were sold. The PepsiCo-owned brand has NEVER been packaged with alcohol since its creation in 1940, despite being developed as a mixer, according to Beverage Digest editor, Duane Stanford.

This new ‘hard’ version was developed in collaboration with Boston Beer, the same company that manufacturers Truly Hard Seltzer. 

Hard Mtn Dew’s core consumer demographic, Stanford says, is largely made up of young males between their mid-30s and under, who hunt, fish, and play video games. From Mtn Dew Game Fuel to camouflage soda cans, the business has already nailed these groups by developing select affinity products. 

“it’s almost as Mtn Dew is going to its roots with this release, they have a built-in audience who will, at the very least, be willing to try it out, in addition to well-established brand identification,” Stanford said. “Only the passage of time will tell.”

Despite its historic release, Hard Mtn Dew’s official release will come later than what fans anticipated. According to Stanford, these delays are mostly due to the laws surrounding alcohol distribution, which vary state by state and each requires alcohol distributors to obtain certain federal permits and commercial licenses. 

He added, ‘They’re also learning the business as they go.”Because alcohol is new territory for them, so they should take a slower, measured approach with its launch. Hard Mtn Dew’s commercial will air on streaming, digital, and social media in states where the drink is currently sold, with the ad campaign likely to grow as more states is revealed. 

The post Alcoholic Beverage, Hard Mtn Dew Releases its First Commercial Ad appeared first on Branditechture.

Brands are increasingly looking for high-quality audience intelligence to help them drive forward their international campaign planning. However, there is a rising dissatisfaction alongside this demand, which is that reliable, rich, and cost-effective customer data isn’t available in one location to achieve this.

Mastercard’s chief marketing officer and president of the World Federation of Advertisers, Raja Rajamannar, says in a recent interview with The Drum, “if you go out and spray advertisement and pray that people will respond, or that they will connect, that’s very inefficient for the marketers and annoying and irrelevant to the customers.

Yougov Logo

YouGov has launched the Global Profiles  to address this advertiser demand need. The new dataset aids businesses and their agency partners understand their global audiences. The Global Profiles Tool includes over 1,000 questions asked of respondents in 43 global markets, and provides a consistent picture of people’s views, sentiments, behaviors, and habits, allowing targeted campaigns and partnerships to have a greater impact across all media channels.

In a tough world where media consumption is shifting and people’s perspectives are becoming more complex, Julian Newby, global sector head of agencies and media at YouGov, discusses how businesses can acquire a deeper, broader understanding of their audiences across global markets.

With the debut of the Global Profiles Tool, how are you satisfying the needs of brands?

The feedback we’ve been getting is that there’s a lot of frustration in the marketplace due to the thinness of the global dataset available. Now we are offering something that will help to alleviate a lot of that frustration.

According to our agency partners, they love Profiles, our local market product, but found multi-market analysis more difficult. So we took a thousand questions, made them globally uniform where possible, and has everyone answer them to create a fully-squared dataset.

What does the product add to the market that isn’t already there?

We took those thousand questions and turned them into a single product that is updated quarterly, has its own dashboard and interface, and is available in 43 countries. It’s large in comparison to previous offerings – three to four times the number of questions as the next rival using a completely global dataset.

People used to have a lot of options, but they didn’t have a lot of depth. We have a lot to give here. With what came previously, it was tough to obtain any insight, but this is big enough – you’ve got all the attitudinal questions, together with more than 150 pretty robust media questions.

Could you elaborate on the scope of these audience questions?

It is particularly strong in two areas. The first is attitudinal statements, which you’ll need to create sophisticated segmentations. Global Profiles has over 700 of them, covering everything from electric automobiles to the latest technology, travel, entertainment, and the environment.

Then there’s the question of media consumption, which we’ve fully overhauled. We collaborated closely with some of the major outlets to cover all of the major channels, as well as newer ones like music streaming and podcasts, and to raise tough questions about social media. We looked at key indicators including frequency, recency, and time spent across all channels, as well as device and format usage.

Will this have an impact on local markets as well?

Absolutely, one of the most intriguing aspects is that the respondents are also the backbone of our local markets. So if I’m a global marketer or an agency person generating an audience and audience and writing a beautiful multi-market strategy, which this tool is ideal for, I can then provide that exact audience to my local markets and they can copy it exactly since the dataset is the same.

Local markets may then combine it with the massive volumes of data in local profiled to give it texture and strength, feeding into the granularity of the publication, TV shows, and social media that people consume. That’s a very strong aspect.

The quality of customer data provided is a hot topic in the industry. What steps have you made to improve the quality of your work?

Any survey that takes more than 16 minutes to complete has a significant decline in respondent number and quality. So, in a YouGov-style manner, we’ve divided the questions into a total of 11, 15-minutes surveys. To be included in the dataset, people must answer all 11 questions, however, our method ensures that we obtain as many as possible completed with high quality as a metric.

Furthermore, having and maintaining a research panel of over 17 million people gives us a significant edge because we can devote a significant amount of time and effort to producing a high-quality product. In my opinion, no one else could have done this as well as YouGov has in terms of quality and care we’ve taken.

Global Profiles was also created in collaboration with our large agency partners, who have really helped to construct it in such a way that it might be highly valuable to them.

Finally, how are you making the Global Profiles Tool available to agencies and advertisers? Have you innovated in any way?

We normally sell to our local markets on an enterprise level. If you purchase Profiles as a client, you will only have to pay once, and everyone in your organization will be able to use it. However, with Global Profiles, we’re selling by the seat, if you buy a minimum of five, you can put them anywhere in the world. That’s a departure from our usual model which is more flexible and cost-effective, and it suits the need of global planning units within agencies and brands, which often operate out of two or three global hubs.

The post YouGov’s Global Profiles Can Help You Gain Deeper Understanding Of Your Global Audience appeared first on Branditechture.