Future marketing trends (PBL 7)

During the seventh PBL, we were able to come up with a problem that we were interested in. Therefore we created the following problem: What are trends for future marketing?
The learning objectives to this problem are:

1. What will make good marketing content?
2. How will mobile marketing change in the future?

What will make good marketing content?
Zach Bulygo, a blogger for KISSmetrics, mentions several ingredients that make great content.

1. Create original content: your ideas should be original. Rehashing the same concepts or other posts over and over again is not original. If your content is played out, no one will link to it - and that defeats the purpose of writing content in the first place. There are two rules in life to achieve this: "You get what you pay for" and "If you do not have anything useful to say, then do not say it all". These two points will keep the company on the path of making quality content that will yield returns for years to come. 
2. Always focus on creating strong headlines: a good headline sparks interest and invites readers in. The statistics from Copyblogger prove that 80% of people will read your headlines, but only 20% of those people will read the rest of your content. That is why the headline is as important as the article or post itself. 
3. Make your content actionable: the best content gives the user a sense of how to apply the information; it respects the user and provides them with the assurance that they know best how to use the material. 
4. Be able to provide answers: provide answers to the problems of the users, to what they are looking for. 
5. Be accurate in your reporting and sourcing of information.
6. Create engaging and thought-provoking content: an engaged audience hangs on to your every word and takes in all that you write or say. A few tips: leave users with questions, have an important and promising introduction and people love stories. 

Yoav Vilner mentions on entrepreneur.com some content marketing methods that are used by winning companies:

1. Leveraging influences: influencer marketing is the force of nature shaking the online marketing world. It is expensive and it works. Companies can use the app Mention. Mention allows brands to identify the best influencers for their brand and to know the amount of traction his or her brand will offer. Mention also allows companies to connect with the users directly.
2. Making it move: having a compelling user experience is exactly what your brand needs to draw your customer in and retain them. Interactive content is also a highly useful way for testing audiences' online preferences. 
3. Creating for your customer: 61% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company that delivers personal content that is specific to their wants and needs. 
4. Letting the journey drive content: understand the customer journey so that your brand can improve it. By creating a road map for this epic, you can position your content to tell a consistent story. 

There are also different trends concerning good marketing content.
The first one is user generated content. This content is provided by users and consumers and therefore useful for a company. According to Eric Siu on blog.hubspot.com, this technique allows modern businesses to delegate some of the brand-building responsibilities to their customer. Having users contribute to your content creation has different advantages:

• Consumers are more interested in hearing the views of their peers than reading cleverly written sales messages;
• Consumers trust user-generated content more than all other forms of media. 

For example, Burberry launched a website where users could upload and comment on pictures of people wearing Burberry products. Burberry's e-commerce sales increased 50% year-over-year following the launch of the site.

Another great example is the Starbucks' White Cup Contest launched in April 2014. Customers across the country were asked to doodle on their Starbucks cups and submit pictures as entries. The winning entry would be the template for a new limited edition Starbucks cup. This contest was a great way for Starbucks to earn publicity and prove that it strongly valued customer feedback.

How will mobile marketing change in the future?
The number of mobile users is increasing every year. Therefore it is important to be aware of the mobile marketing and how it will change in the future. Fahad Muhammad mentions some mobile marketing trends on instapage.com.

1. Video ads: mobile video ads increase brand awareness and also help with lead generation. You have to create video ads that your visitors simply cannot ignore. 
2. Text messaging: SMS has a high open and read rate with 90% of people reading a text message within the first three minutes. An eWeek survey also found that over 80% of people are now using text messaging for business purposes. Another trending thing is a Text-to-join campaign. This is a simple strategy a company can use to get potential customers to obtain to a subscriber list and then segment those customers to promote specific orders. 
3. Using Snapchat to cultivate customer relationships: customers are craving for this kind of interaction: an engaging marketing experience they can enjoy seeing - not just a bunch of static ads showing up in their newsfeeds. 
4. Creating app experiences: the app experience is just always better than the mobile friendly experience, especially in terms of flexibility and compatibility. Apps allow your customers to access your service instantly - something that is going to be required for marketers by the end of 2016. 
5. Social mobile shopping: for example on Pinterest, there is a "Buy it" option, so users are able to buy what they like, right then and there. Facebook is also in the process of testing a "Buy button", which will allow customers to buy products directly from their news feeds. 
6. Native adds: these ads do not look like ads at all. They simply appear in the social network newsfeeds like any other post does. For example on Instagram, which is a great network for native advertising. 

Momentology surveyed fifty marketing experts to get their takes on what lies ahead for mobile marketing in the coming year.

• Social networks are getting smaller, for example Facebook, and the more private messaging networks like Snapchat are on the rise. 
• The rise of ad blocking is largely a response to two major consumer concerns: privacy and intrusiveness. Through this rise of ad blocking, companies have to be more creative. 
• Marketers have to be able to find ways to fit their brands into their customers' stories, and not pull the customers into their stories.
• Brands will look to develop more mobile-first employee reward programs that will deliver bite-size training content, boost employee engagement and reward employees for their successful behaviours with digital incentives. 
• Virtual reality will be more prominent, which will be used for both business and gaming. 

Sources
Bulygo, Z. (2012), The nine ingredients that make great content, accessed 7 October 2016, from https://blog.kissmetrics.com/ingredients-of-great-content/

Lacy, L. (2016), Mobile marketing trends 2016: 50 experts on the future of apps, ads & search, accessed 7 October 2016, from https://www.linkdex.com/en-us/inked/mobile-marketing-trends-2016/

Muhammad, F. (2016), 6 mobile marketing trends that you need to get in on, now, accessed 7 October 2016, from https://instapage.com/blog/mobile-marketing-trends-2016

Siu, E. (2015), 10 user generated content campaigns that actually worked, accessed 7 October 2016, from http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/examples-of-user-generated-content#sm.00000nkgrb6dmvf1aq9vntkflqfwo

Vilner, Y (2016), 4 content marketing methods to stay above your competition, accessed 7 October 2016, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/252784

Social Media Marketing (PBL 6)

During the sixth PBL, we came up with the following problem: How to generate revenue with social media marketing (SMM)? This is quite interesting since consumers are not paying anything to use social media. The learning objectives to this problem are:

1. What are the most interesting social media platforms?
2. How can companies utilise social media marketing (methods)? 
3. How to integrate social media marketing to companies marketing strategies and how to monitor them? 

The most interesting social media platforms
Of course, everybody knows the most famous social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Instagram. 
There are also interesting, less famous, social media platforms, for example, Yelp. Yelp was founded in 2004 and it helps the user to find great local businesses like restaurants, hair salons or shops. Moreover, you can use it to look for various events. Every business can establish their own account to share photos and messages with other users.
According to seochat.com, there are different new social media platforms. The first one is Blab. This is a social media network for video chatters, like Skype and Google Hangout on Air. Another one is Yik Yak. You can download the app, narrow your location via Google, and communicate with anonymous people in your area. This can be an opportunity for companies to communicate with people and to create brand awareness.

How can companies utilise social media marketing (methods)?
First of all, according to the research of Juhee Kang there are different reasons why companies utilise social media:

1. To build new business models that include a new product marketing channel.
2. To build strong relationships with consumers by overcoming limitations of time and place. 
3. Using it as a tool for exchanging ideas about new offerings, directly listening to product/service comments from consumers, and learning more about consumers' needs. 

According to Bianca van de Ketterij on frankwatching.com, social networking is the number one activity in the worlds, so it is important for companies that they use and utilises it as well. Via social media, the company can share new products, interact with their customers, create campaigns, raise and increase brand awareness and receive feedback.
There are two options to use social media:

• Profile based: these are social sites that are build around a user profile, its connections and status/new updates, for example, Google+, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. These social media platforms work best with services.
• Visual based: these are the social sharing sites where the emphasis is on media, such as pictures or videos. These are for example Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube and Vine. These social media platforms work best with products. 

In the research of Holly Dickson, it is mentioned how to utilise different social media platforms.
First of all, important things to take into account when utilising Twitter are that posting more than a dozen times per day is acceptable and necessary. The most important element is the quality of the content in each tweet. For example, a newspaper should not tweet out every article it produces, but pick and choose the best quality content and present it on Twitter in an engaging and palatable way, not as a headline with a URL. Twitter should be used a place to have a conversation with its readers. There should also be different accounts utilised to cater to niche audiences.

Companies which are on Facebook also create conversations with their customers. They create for example one page where the customer can find all the product of the company and everything and another page which is kind of a helpdesk. Via this page the customer can ask his question and they will have a quick respond (at least, when the company is doing it well).
The research also mentions that Facebook should not be used to broadcast, but rather to engage with users. The company should post every day, but only if it has interesting and engaging content. It is important to remember to build engagement on each post before you start posting more frequently. Thereby, the company should reply to users on social media if they ask something.

Google+ is another social media platform that can be utilised. Google+ has huge potential for business and brands, but it is not yet enough widely used to have as much use Facebook or Twitter do currently. Google+ is similar to Facebook. It should be utilised in order to get gain a solid content base and following so that the company begins to show up in other users Google searches.

Then there is Pinterest. Here the company should curate interesting information about features or topics that are about the company. The key is to engage your audience.

At last, there are different photo sharing networks. It is really important to share high-quality photographs on social media networks. Instagram is the best way to create buzz and loyal followers by using it to share photographs from for example staff. Instagram is perfect to share more personal or behind-the-scenes content gathered. For example for a newspaper it could be the following: the editing process in a newsroom and reporters and photographers on the ground.

The conclusion of the research is that you should not post on social media simply for the sake of posting. Any post on a network must contain quality content or an engaging means of dissemination, such as an interesting question or both.

How to integrate SMM to companies marketing strategies and how to monitor them
Jay  Baer mentions on convinceandconvert.com a three step social media adoption plan to integrate social media into the marketing of a company:

1. Devise an appropriate, tactically-agnostic social media strategy.
2. Audit your current marketing, and add social media ingredients.
3. Where necessary, add new social media programs. 

Jay also mentions five ways to achieve cross-media synergy with social media:

1. Social media + search marketing: create content about your brand, and distribute it as widely as possible. Optimise every piece of content for the search.
2. Social media + Email: add social sharing to your emails. Promote your email program in social media, and vice versa. Use your social initiatives to try out new content approaches, adding the most successful content to your email program.
3. Social media + virtual events: promote your presentation on the social web, for example on Slideshare.net. 
4. Social media + live events: extend your event before and after it happens, using social media. Think about Tweets and other ways that social media can come to life.
5. Social media + market research: via social media, you can easily ask your customers and fans what they think. You can create all-new products via consumer input and you can execute very simple crowdsourcing programs. 

According to seochat.com, there are different dashboards on which companies can monitor the social media they use. An example is Cyfe. Cyfe is a way to make sense of the buzzing social media world: you can archive social media streams and search results, monitor social media statistics and set up reputation management dashboards.
According to getapp.com, there are different apps a company can use to monitor their different social media platforms, like Campaign Monitor, Autopilot, ActiveDEMAND, ActiveCampaign and TargetEveryOne. Coosto is also a tool that companies can use.

Sources
Baer, J. (2016), How to integrate social media into your marketing, accessed 30 September 2016, from http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-strategy/how-to-integrate-social-media-into-your-marketing/

Dickson, H. (2013), How newspapers can utilise social media networks, Degree Bachelor of Science in Journalism, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

getapp.com (2016), Marketing Automation Software, accessed 30 September 2016, from https://www.getapp.com/p/sem/marketing-automation-software?t=Marketing%20Automation%20Software&camp=adw_search&gclid=Cj0KEQjwmri_BRCZpaHkuIH75_IBEiQAIG0rIXga4GxsK2JLpdTmQ-0u0TScNzGgqv6mUxkUWhVXuMQaArQq8P8HAQ

Kang, J. (2011), Social media marketing in the hospitality industry (Graduate Theses and Dissertations), Doctor of Philosophy, Iowa State University, Iowa.

Ketterij van de, B. (2014), Which social media platform fits best by your organisation?, accessed 30 September 2016, from
https://www.frankwatching.com/archive/2014/10/31/welk-social-media-platform-past-het-best-bij-jouw-organisatie-infographic/

seochat.com (2016), 7 cool new social media networks, apps & tools to check out in 2016, accessed 30 September 2016, from https://www.seochat.com/c/a/social/7-cool-new-social-media-networks-apps-tools-to-check-out-in-2016/

Writer, S. (2012), The 20 most interesting social networks, accessed 30 September 2016, from https://www.socialbakers.com/blog/808-article-the-20-most-interesting-social-networks

Communication Plan (PBL 5)

During the opening of the fifth PBL, we came up with the following problem: How to create a communication plan/campaign (globally)?
The learning objectives to this problem are:

1. What are communication planning processes?
2. How to construct a unified global campaign?
3. How to translate a message to a global audience? 

According to Hieran.com, a communication plan is a written document that describes the following things:

• What do you want to accomplish with your association communications (objectives)?
• In which ways can those objectives be accomplished (goals, the program of work)?
• To whom will your association communications be addressed (audiences)?
• How will you accomplish your objectives (tools and timetable)?
• How will you measure the results of your program (evaluation)?

According to James Howe on slideshare.net, communication is connecting your audience with the message you are delivering so that it is received, understood and acted upon. A communication plan is a process to help you reach that goal.

What are communication planning processes?
Hieran.com says that there are the following steps to develop an effective communication plan:

1. Conduct a research communication audit: evaluate your current communications. 
2. Define objectives: define your overall communication objectives and the results you want to achieve, such as excellent service to members, member loyalty or improved product delivery.
3. Define audiences: list all the audiences that your association might contact, attempt to influence or serve. Audiences could be members, consumers, related industries and the media. 
4. Define goals: define a program of work for each objective. Goals include general programs, products, or service that you will use to achieve stated objectives. 
5. Identify tools: decide which tools will be used to accomplish stated goals. 
6. Establish a timetable: quantify the results in a calendar grid that outlines roughly what projects will be accomplished and when. 
7. Evaluate the results: it is important that you build a method for measuring results into your plan. The form of the evaluation can, for example, be a monthly report on work in progress or a year-end summary for the annual report. 

According to James Howe on slideshare.net, there are five steps for communications planning.

1. Research and analysis.
2. Outlining the context and objectives. The context consists of the background, the current situation and the communication issues. The goals are the overall changes you wish to cause. The objectives are the short-term, measurable steps you take to reach your goal.
3. Target audiences and key messages. Your target audiences are the people you want to reach. The key messages are what you want to say. 
4. Communicating for understanding and action. In this phase you need to pick your communication tactics, you have to set a timetable and determine your budget. 
5. Evaluate: during this phase, you are going to find out successful you are. 

How to construct a unified global campaign? How to bring an idea to life? 
The Snickers campaign  "You´re not you when you´re hungry" can be seen as a global campaign. Mediacom.co.uk describes how Snickers constructed their campaign and how they brought their idea to life.
First of all, there was the challenge. The challenge here was that people simply were not thinking about buying Snickers when out and about. They needed to remind people why and most importantly when they can enjoy a Snickers.
Then there is the insight. People all have those moments when they are not feeling like themselves: irritable, whiny, bad tempered. Snickers placed the blame for these moments at hunger´s door, positioning Snickers as the hunger busting solution to make sure that people would see Snickers as the solution.
The third thing is the big idea. They made Snickers own these moments, so that every time someone is not feeling themselves, they reach for a Snickers.
As fourth, there is the execution. Snickers used their commercials, which were adapted to the different countries/markets. But most of the time, people do not feel hungry when they are watching TV, so the best way of landing the idea was the leverage of the power of celebrities and people in the public eye. Snickers created a media storm by getting these celebrities to tweet out of character messages and got everyone talking about Snickers. There were also emergency Snicker bars given to commuters at the metro in the morning, so that if they were feeling hungry, they should break the ´emergency glass´ and eat their Snickers. This causes the feeling to the commuters that Snickers is the solution to their hungry and when they are not feeling as themselves.
At last, there are the results. The result for Snickers is that they, over the twelve weeks of the launch campaign, saw an increase in the number of Snickers singles sold in the impulse channel: 705.000 more bars than last year.

How to translate a message to a global audience? 
Due to the internet, the world seems like a smaller place. Doing business internationally is now accomplished with a simple click of a button, and companies enjoy their products and services reaching bigger audiences and gaining customers all over the world.
Martina Iring is giving some tips on ebridgemarketingsolutions.com to shape the marketing of your company so international customers understand and respond to it.

• Research cultural taboos before moving into a marketplace: a logo may be adorably creative in the United States, but at the same time highly offensive in other countries. 
• Show respect to the customer: take a country's primary religious beliefs into account when creating an international marketing initiative. 
• Be concise and specific: use plenty of graphics and visual elements that are familiar to your audience. Be also sure that the meaning of your message in the different languages is good. It happens a lot that meaning is lost as a result of poor translation or trying to be too clever with the messaging. 
• Translation considerations: create various social media accounts in the languages of the audience you serve. This is an easy way to stay connected with your audience. Take also into consideration which parts of your website you are translating.
• Understand how your message translates: you should take measures to ensure that the message still properly promotes your product or service once it is translated. 

Christian Arno also shares a few tips on contentmarketinginstitute.com.

• Identify your core message: the core brand messages should stay the same worldwide, but may be adapted to fit other cultures. The style, brand image, or tone of voice should stay consistent. For example, McDonalds uses the same slogan in every country: "I'm lovin' it". However, in Swiss this is associated with an image of a woman relaxing, alone, listening to music through headphones. On the more colourful Indian site, the same slogan is associated with a family enjoying a trip to the supermarket. 

• Getting the language right: when you are writing for a global audience, it is important to use clear language and an easily understood style. People also prefer to browse the web in their mother tongue. According to the research "Can't Read, Won't Buy" of Common Sense Advisory, 85% of the respondents were restrained to buy important products or services, if they could not receive information in their first language. It is important to keep this in mind. 
• Localise: localisation is the process of making the content relevant to a target culture, including correct spelling and the use of local and cultural references. For example, many Asian cultures prefer interactive, colourful websites with pop-up text and videos. The Scandinavian and Nothern European customers, on the other hand, prefer more minimalist, text-heavy designs. 
• Integrate social media and other content marketing: here it is important to keep in mind that popular social networks vary among countries. For example, Qzone, Renren and Tencent Weibo re social media leaders in China, where Facebook and Twitter are still banned. 

Sources
Arno, C. (2012), Create content that effectively crosses cultural and linguistic borders, accessed 25 September 2016, from http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/09/create-content-that-effectively-crosses-cultural-and-linguistic-borders/

Hieran.com (2016), How to develop a communication plan, accessed 22 September 2016, from http://www.hieran.com/comet/howto.html

Howe, J. (2011), 5 steps for communications planning, accessed 22 September 2016, from http://www.slideshare.net/CommunicateAndHowe/5-steps-for-communications-planning-dec-11

Iring, M. (2015), How to effectively communicate your sales message to an international audience, accessed 25 September 2016, from http://www.ebridgemarketingsolutions.com/how-to-effectively-communicate-your-sales-message-to-an-international-audience/

Mediacom.co.uk (2014), Snickers - you´re not you when you´re hungry, accessed 22 September 2016, from http://mediacom.co.uk/en/results/mediacom-case-studies/snickers-youre-not-you-when-youre-hungry.aspx

Brand strategy (PBL 4)

The problem we found during the fourth PBL is brand strategy. The learning objectives to this problem are:

1. What are the brand strategy processes behind strong brands? Explain by example.
2. What are the steps of a repositioning process behind strong brands? Explain by example. 

Brand strategy processes
According to socialmediau.net, the brand strategy process looks like this:

This brand strategy process will be explained by using the example of Albert Heijn, a Dutch supermarket.

Research
Brand audit
The purpose of a brand audit is to gain a fundamental understanding of where your brand stands in its current state. It is like a health test of your brand.
Albert Heijn is known as a more luxury supermarket. The prices of Albert Heijn are not the lowest, but people are willing to buy the products, because of the good quality and exclusivity of the products.

Business objectives
Albert Heijn wants to be the best supermarket in the neighbourhood for everyone. More information about their business objectives can be found under 'Strategy'.

Stakeholder analysis
The most important stakeholder for Albert Heijn is the customer, while this is the person Albert Heijn is working for.
Another important stakeholder is the employee. Albert Heijn wants their employee to know that they are loved and important. Without employees, Albert Heijn can not achieve what they want to achieve.
Other important stakeholders are suppliers, partners and neighbours.

Market analysis
Albert Heijn is the market leader: their market share is 35%. Albert Heijn distinguishes themselves with different formulas for each supermarket. For example, they use one formula for the small villages and another for the big cities.

Strategy
Albert Heijn wants to be the supermarket for everyone: young and old, poor and rich. They also want to help the customer to choose for a better life. To define what a better life is, Albert Heijn wants to be in dialogue with their customers, their employees and their partners.
Albert Heijn wants to be loved and distinguishes themselves in the field of health. The customer is the most important thing for Albert Heijn.
Long story short: Albert Heijn wants to be the best supermarket in the neighbourhood. They want to achieve this to be better every day for the customer, the employee and the neighbour.

Design
Albert Heijn has a unique logo. They also have a typical design for the 'better every day' strategy. When they communicate with their employees about this strategy, they use the colours of this design.

Touchpoints
Albert Heijn has different touchpoints.
First of all, there is the website. On this website, customers can search for all the products Albert Heijn offers. They also can make a list for their grocery shoppings and search for recipes.
Another touchpoint is the commercials via TV and radio. The commercials were very successful because Albert Heijn used the same person in each commercial. Watch it yourself below.

Another touchpoint is the personal 'bonuskaart'. Via this card, the customer has different discounts on products. Besides the discounts who are valid to everyone, each customer also has some personal discounts. Via e-mail Albert Heijn let the customers know which personal discount they have.

Assets
Albert Heijn says that they have the best service and that they are really kind and good to the customer. This is a way how Albert Heijn manages their assets.
The last few years Albert Heijn kind of changed their brand identity. The customer is still the most important thing for Albert Heijn, but they also want to be good for the environment by selling fair trade brands (unfortunately this failed), selling biological products and trying to be better every day.
Albert Heijn communicates their brand strategy via the ways mentioned under touchpoints.

Repositioning process
According to Gregory Pollack onsegmentationstudyguide.com, the repositioning process is a four-phased process:

1. Determining the current status of the brand.
2. What does the brand stand for today?
3. Developing the brand positioning platforms. 
4. Refining the brand positioning and management presentation. 

This four-phased process will help guide the company through the process and allow the company and the brand group to best calibrate based on timing, budget, and resources to get the job done.
The example that is going to be used to explain this process is a brand of Albert Heijn.

Determining the current status of the brand
The brand of Albert Heijn was called "Puur&Eerlijk", which means Pure&Honest. With the name of this brand, Albert Heijn suggested that it was biological as well as it was fair trade. The customer was more and more interested in fair trade and biological food so with this brand, Albert Heijn tried to connect with the customer. They also wanted to distinguish themselves from the competition. At first, this all worked out pretty well for Albert Heijn. After a while, people found out that it was not true what Albert Heijn was selling: the brand pretended to be green and good for the world, but most of the products were not fair trade at all. Therefore, Albert Heijn was forced to stop or change the brand. Albert Heijn chose to change the name of the brand to "Biological". The products of this brand are just biological and not fair trade.

What does the brand stand for today
At first, the customers did not trust the brand "Biological", because the brand Pure&Honest was not pure and honest at all, so why should the customer trust Albert Heijn that the brand "Biological" is biological?
Luckily for Albert Heijn, there are different labels which say if a product is really biological. Below you can see the labels which are on an Albert Heijn biological product and which prove that the product is really biological.

Due to this labels, the customers are sure that the products are biological and therefore the products sell really well now. People are convinced that biological products are better for themselves and for the world, so they want to buy it. Albert Heijn did a good job to have this biological brand because due to this brand they can connect with what the customer wants.

Developing the brand positioning platforms
During this phase, three questions have to be answered:

• Who do we want our brand to be?
• What benefits will it deliver to the consumer?
• How will we promote this brand product purchase, collection, and user patterns?

First of all, Albert Heijn wants their brand "Biological" to be truly biological because they did not a great job with Pure&Honest and they have to make up for that.
The customers are more and more interested in biological food, so the benefit for the customer is that Albert Heijn now offers biological products.
The promotion of this brand was done really well. In all the supermarkets of Albert Heijn, there were huge signs where to find the biological products. The commercial of Albert Heijn also shows what the biological products look like. Thereby, the commercial shows different farmers who provide the biological products. It is shown how much they love their job and how good they are for their animals. After seeing the farmers, the commercials shows different customers who are very happy with the brand. By means of this commercial, Albert Heijn tries to convince the customer that this brand is really biological and that the customer can be sure that it is true this time.

Refining the brand positioning and management presentation
The most important thing in this phase is to ensure that the communication to the customer is consistent. Therefore, all employees and partners have to feel the same way about the brand. Albert Heijn did this by having different meetings in each supermarket for the employees. During this meeting, the employees were told that this brand is truly biological and they also got more information about the brand. This was helpful, because if a customer had any questions about the brand, the employees were able to answer them in the same way.
The partners and suppliers of Albert Heijn were also informed about the new brand. Most of the partners and suppliers visited the different farmers to be sure that the brand was truly biological.

Sources
Pollack, G. (2008), The power of brand repositioning: a four-phased process, accessed 20 September 2016, from http://www.marketingprofs.com/8/power-of-brand-repositioning-four-phased-process-pollack.asp

Socialmediau.net (2016), SMU 101 session 4: intro to brand strategy, accessed 16 September 2016, from http://socialmediau.net/course-menu/intro-to-branding/15-smu101-session4-brand-strategy

Brand Identity (PBL 3)

The problem we found during the third PBL is: How to transfer a brand identity in order to maximise profits?
The learning objectives that came out of this problem are:

1. What is branding/brand identity/brand image?
2. Methods, how to, brand identity models.
3. Good/bad examples.

What is branding/brand identity/brand image?
The Business Dictionary defines branding as the process which is involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers' mind, mainly through advertising campaign with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.
According to Entrepreneur, branding is the marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products.

The Business Dictionary defines brand identity as the visible elements of a brand, such as colours, design, logotype and symbol, that together identify and distinguish the brand in the consumers' mind.

According to the Management Study Guide, brand image is the current view of the customers about a brand. It can be defined as a unique bundle of associations within the minds of target customers.

Brand identity and brand image are not the same. Below you can see the differences between this two according to Management Study Guide.

Methods, how to, brand identity models
Entrepreneur says that to define your brand, it requires at least answers to the following questions:

• What is your company's mission?
• What are the benefits and features of your products and services?
• What do your customers and prospects already think of your company?
• What qualities do you want them to associate with your company? 

When you have defined your brand, you can get the word out. There are a few simple, time-tested tips to do this:

• Get a great logo that you place everywhere.
• Write down your brand messaging: every employee should be aware of your brand attributes.
• Integrate your brand: branding extends to every aspect of your business, from how you answer the phone to what your salespeople wear to your e-mail signature. 
• Create a voice for your company that reflects your brand. 
• Develop a tagline: write a memorable, meaningful and concise statement that captures the essence of your brand. 
• Design templates and create brand standards for your marketing materials: use the same colour scheme, logo placement and look. 
• Be true to your brand: customers will not return to your if you do not deliver on your brand promise.
• Be consistent! 

Brand identity was mentioned for the first time in Europe by Kapferer in 1986. Professor Jean-Noël Kapferer represents brand image as a six-sided prism.

The six aspects of this prism are divided into two dimensions:
1. The constructed source vs. the constructed receiver: a well-presented brand has to be seen as a person as well as the stereotypical user.
2. Externalisation vs. internalisation: a brand has social aspects that define its external expression (physique, relationship and reflection) and aspects that are incorporated into the brand itself (personality, culture and self-image).

Kapferer says the following about his model: "Strong brand are capable of weaving all aspects into an effective whole in order to create a concise, clear and appealing brand identity."
The aspects of the Brand Identity Prism are the following:

• Physique: the set of the brand's physical features, which are evoked in people's mind when the brand name is mentioned. This has to be considered the basis of the brand. 
• Personality: the brand's character. This can be realised by using a specific style of writing, using specific design features or a person. 
• Culture: the system of values and basic principles on which a brand has to base its behaviour. Many associations are linked to the country of origin. 
• Relationship: a brand can symbolise a certain relationship between people. 
• Reflection: this references to the stereotypical user of the brand and it is the source for identification. 
• Self-image: this is a kind of a mirror the target group holds up to itself. For example, Lacoste users see themselves as members of a sports club, even if they do not actively play any sports, and a Porsche driver will think that others will think he is rich because he can afford such a car. 

David A. Aaker's brand identity elaboration model is intended to elaborate the identity of a brand. The idea is to convert the aspirational image a brand is to emanate into four elements:

1. Strategic imperatives: a strategic investment in a business resource or programme needed to achieve or maintain the required image. What systems and programmes must the company implement to make that what they are known for happen? 
2. Proof points: programmes, initiatives and resources which are already available within a company that can be deployed to make the identity tangible. 
3. Internal role models: programmes, events, stories or people that fit the brand identity and can reinforce it. 
4. External role models: these are found by assuming a wider perspective, for example by looking at other brands and companies. These external role models have a greater impact on the brand. 

By elaborating the four elements mentioned above, a clear picture of the brand identity emerges, with clearly identified weaknesses a company needs to work on.

Examples
A good example of a company who has a clear brand identity is Starbucks (based on the Brand Identity Prism of Kapferer).

• Physique: Starbucks is product-oriented, has good quality coffee and has a soft and cosy atmosphere (green colours).
• Personality: Starbucks is quality-oriented, traditional and federative.
• Culture: commitment and respect are being central within Starbucks.
• Relationship: within Starbucks, this is known as proximity, personalisation, friendship and conviviality. 
• Reflection: the typical user of Starbucks is connected, qualitative and traditional. 
• Self-image: the users of Starbucks see themselves as quality-oriented, environmentally and ethically responsible. 

The first bad example of brand identity is Urban Outfitters. The store sold a "vintage" Kent State University sweatshirt, featuring fake blood splatters. This was a bad idea because in 1970 four students died at Kent State during an anti-war protest.

Another bad example is Pizza Hut. In 2009, Pizza Hut tried to rebrand by calling themselves "The Hut". However, Pizza Hut is known for their pizzas so this attempt was predicted to go wrong.

The iced tea company Arizona tried to sell cheese dip products. Obviously, this was a bad idea, because the brand was clearly ill-suited for this new market: Arizona tea drinkers did not really want a cheese dip product.

On National Women's Day, Bic tells women to think like a man.

23 April 1985: Coca Cola announces that they are changing the formula for the world's most popular soft drink. This is the first formula change in 99 years, but the consumers felt a bond with their Coca Cola and they did not want anyone, including The Coca Cola Company to change it.
By June 1985, Coca Cola was getting 1.500 calls a day on its consumer hotline, compared with 400 a day before the taste change. People seemed to hold any Coca Cola employee personally responsible for the change.
In July 1985 Coca Cola announces that the "old" Coca Cola returns and the consumers applauded the decision.

Sources
Aaker (2010), Improve your brand I.D., accessed 9 September 2016, from http://www.eurib.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Documenten/PDF/Identiteit_en_Imago_ENGELS/s_-_Brand_Identity_Elaboration_model_van_Aaker__EN_.pdf

Business Dictionary (2016), Brand identity, accessed 9 September 2016, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand-identity.html

Business Dictionary (2016), Branding, accessed 9 September 2016, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/branding.html

Cikin, Z., (2014), Kapferer Brand Identity Prism, accessed 9 September 2016, from http://www.slideshare.net/Zeynepkn/kapferer-brand-identity-prism

Entrepreneur (2016), Branding, accessed 9 September 2016, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/branding

Management Study Guide (2016), Brand Identity vs. Brand Image, accessed 9 September 2016, from http://www.managementstudyguide.com/identity-vs-image.htm

Management Study Guide (2016), Brand image, accessed 9 September 2016, from http://www.managementstudyguide.com/brand-image.htm

Integrated Marketing Communication (PBL 2)

During the second PBL we came up with the following problem: How can a company use integrated marketing communication in the most effective way?
We created three learning objectives which can help us to find a solution or an answer to the problem:

1. What is Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)?
2. What are the elements of successful integrated marketing communication?
3. Find some examples. Why do you like or dislike them?

What is integrated marketing communication?
The business dictionary defines IMC as an approach to achieving the objectives of a marketing campaign, through a well-coordinated use of different promotional methods that are intended to reinforce each other.

The American Association of Advertising Agencies defines IMC as a "comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum communication impact." They also mention that the primary idea behind an IMC strategy is to create a seamless experience for consumers across different aspects of the marketing mix.
IMC is the coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools, avenues, and sources within a company into a seamless program that maximises the impact on consumer and other end users at a minimal cost.

According to MMC Learning there are different levels of integration which help to strengthen Integrated Communications:

• Horizontal integration: for example, production, finance, distribution and communications should work together and be conscious that their decisions and actions send messages to customers. 
• Data integration: different departments as sales, direct mail and advertising can help each other through data integration. Therefore a marketing information system is needed which collects and shares relevant data across the different departments. 
• Vertical integration: marketing and communication objectives must support the higher level corporate objectives and corporate missions. 
• Internal integration: keep all staff informed and motivated about any new developments from new advertisements to new corporate identities, new service standards and new strategic partners. 
• External integration: this requires external partners such as advertising and PR agencies to work closely together to deliver a single seamless solution and an integrated message. 

Elements of successful integrated marketing communication
Management Study Guide says that there are various components of integrated marketing communication:

• The foundation: detailed analysis of both the product as well as the target market. As a marketer, you need to know the needs, attitudes and expectations of the target customers as well as the competitor`s activities. 
• The corporate culture: the features of the products and services ought to be in line with the work culture of the organisation. 
• Brand focus: this is the corporate identity of the brand.
• Consumer experience: what does the consumer feel about the product? A consumer is likely to buy a product which has a good packaging and looks attractive, so products need to meet and exceed customer expectations. 
• Communication tools: these are various modes of promoting a particular brand such as advertising, direct selling and promoting through social media. 
• Promotional tools: these are trade promotions, personal selling and all the other tools brand are promoted through. 
• Integration tools: an organisation need to have specific software, like customer relationship management, which helps in measuring the effectiveness of various IMC tools. 

According to Roslyn Frenz on eHow, IMC has eight major elements:

1. Corporate image: a company's corporate image sums up the publicly established characteristics of the business. This includes what the company claims it does best, logos, policies and company culture. The corporate image sets the tone for the rest of the IMC program.
2. Branding: IMC creates branding and is aided by existing branding.
3. Market segmentation: many elements of IMC plans are tailored to meet the requirements of specific market segments.
4. Advertising: crafting advertising messages to reach the target segment is essential to IMC plans. The more appealing the advertising, the more likely it will be to catch the attention of market segment members. 
5. Media selection: the organisation should select the type of advertising mediums that will best feature the IMC and brand messages. 
6. Promotional tools: IMC uses promotional tools to enhance branding and attract market segments. 
7. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): CRM programs are designed to instil long-term loyalty in existing customers. 
8. Public Relations: PR protects the brand and the corporate image by creating publicity that builds a positive impression of the organisation and by reducing the impact of negative elements related to the business. 

Karen S. Johnson writes on www.yourbusiness.azcentral.com that IMC consists of four elements:

1. Public Relations: PR is used to create and foster relationships with publics that are important to the organisation. It also builds a credible reputation and favourable image. 
2. Advertising: the advertising of the organisation should reinforce the messages that they convey through public relations to increase comprehensions and retention. Advertising is different of PR because you pay a channel to place your message. 
3. Sales promotion: these are elements that are part of the marketing and sales plan of the organisation. Designing the sales promotion techniques in a way that they integrate with the other communication elements, keep the messages of the organisation cohesive and it can boost the promotion efforts. 
4. Direct mail: direct mail targets specific audiences so that the efforts of the organisation are more targeted. 

Another source (softdrinkcolawar.blogspot.fi) adds two more elements to the elements mentioned by Karen S. Johnson:

1. Direct Marketing
2. Interactive media and social media

Examples of Integrated Marketing Communication
Here I will mention some examples of companies who did a great job in applying IMC. I also will mention some companies who did not understand the idea of IMC.

The first company who did a great job in using IMC is Coca Cola. For the argumentation, I will use some of the elements Karen S. Johnson and softdrinkcolawar.blogspot.fi mentioned.

• Advertising: the slogans of Coca Cola are known by consumers all over the world. Think of "Open Happiness" and "Taste the feeling". Coca Cola uses for example TV commercials and billboards to achieve that everyone knows them and their slogans. Below you can see an example of a billboard of Coca Cola in London.

• Direct marketing: Coca Cola has offerings through partnerships such as restaurants, hotels and supermarkets. 
• Interactive marketing and social media: the website of Coca Cola is interactive and entertaining. They also use Facebook in a good way. They have a different facebook for each country so to communication to the customers in each country is best and each customer can be helped in their own language if they have any comments or questions.
  Coca Cola also uses a lot of interaction through PR. As an example, you can watch a campaign they used in Korea. 

• Sales promotion: Coca Cola uses for example discounts in supermarkets, merchandising and return back allowance to distinguish from their competitors. 
• Public Relations: Coca Cola uses PR in its strategy through sponsoring events like music and cinema. 

The second company I think is a good example of how to use IMC, is Always with their #likeagirl campaign. Watch their video below.

The Youtube film has been viewed more than 850.000.000 times in more than 150 countries. The hashtag was used countless times on Facebook and Twitter.  This is an example of how to use different channels to promote your company. And due to this campaign, Always makes and does have a connection with their consumers.

The campaign of McDonalds using the hashtags #McDStories and #MeetTheFarmers is an example of how you can use IMC the wrong way. Although McDonalds attempted to use IMC in a good way, Twitter users did not like the campaign and used the opportunity to slam the brand by saying that they rather eat their own diarrhea than eat at McDonalds and that the chicken nuggets of McDonalds are made of the same things which are used for building materials.

Lidl also has a campaign of which I think they do not use IMC very well. The campaign is called Lidl Surprises and it was the trigger for this PBL. In the commercial they use #LidlSurprises, but by the consumers of Lidl,  this hashtag is not used to spread positive things about Lidl.
Thereby, I think Lidl makes it themselves really hard to surprise their customers in their supermarkets. When you have watched the commercial, you really expect that the next time you are going to Lidl, they will surprise you, but it is not a surprise that they sell champaign or bread, and it is not a surprise that they offer the lowest prices.
Besides, I think the environment in which the video is recorded, does not fit the environment of the Lidl supermarkets. The environment in the video is cosy with all the people enjoying their food and with the sellers all friendly, but when you go to a Lidl supermarket, the supermarket does not look that cosy and most of the time the sellers are really efficient and not friendly. I think this causes an unpleasant surprise.

Sources
Boundless.com (2016), accessed 2 September 2016, from https://www.boundless.com/marketing/textbooks/boundless-marketing-textbook/integrated-marketing-communications-12/introduction-to-integrated-marketing-communications-81/introduction-to-integrated-marketing-communications-403-4061/

Business Dictionary (2016), Definiton IMC, accessed 2 September 2016, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/integrated-marketing-communications-IMC.html

Frenz, R. (2016), 8 Major Elements of Marketing Communication & IMC, accessed 3 September 2016, from http://www.ehow.com/info_8361708_8-elements-marketing-communication-imc.html

Johnson, K.S., Elements of Integrated Marketing Communication, accessed 3 September 2016, from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/elements-integrated-marketing-communication-3805.html

Management Study Guide (2016), Integrated Marketing Communications, accessed 2 September 2016, from http://www.managementstudyguide.com/integrated-marketing-communications.htm

MMC Learning (2016), Integrated Marketing Communications, accessed 2 September 2016, from http://multimediamarketing.com/mkc/marketingcommunications/

West Virginia University (2016), What is Integrated Marketing Communications?, accessed 2 September 2016, from http://imc.wvu.edu/about/what_is_imc

Storytelling (PBL 1)

During the first PBL we came up with the following problem: how can a corporation inspire or share their message most effectively by storytelling?
The learning objectives are supposed to be a guide to a solution to the problem. The learning objectives are:

1. What are the elements of good corporate stories?
2. What are the most effective corporate communication channels?
3. What is the target audience of the corporations?

In this blog, I will find literature to answer the learning objectives.

Elements of good corporate stories
There are different sources who tell us something about the elements of good corporate stories. The first source (O'Leary, 2011) tells us that these elements are:

• Passion: it is important to tell stories around issues your audience cares about;
• A protagonist: this is the company or the product/service of the company;
• An antagonist: what is the issue or challenge that the company has been built to address? This can be for example a cultural issue or an industry problem;
• The revelation: it is important to tell your audience something they do not know, share something unexpected;
• The transformation: what is the impact of your story? What is different as a result of the story your company is telling?

In my opinion, the Western Sydney University has all these elements worked up very well in their corporate story.

As you can see, they tell a story the audience cares about (passion). Everyone thinks using child soldiers is wrong (an antagonist) and everyone is happy to see when the child is rescued and when Western Sydney took him in. Due to the university, where he gets his law degree (the protagonist), he is able to help others (transformation).

Another source (Gunelius, 2014) defines the following five elements of a good corporate story:

1. Identifiable character: it is important that the story has a primary character who the audience can relate to and identify with.
2. Problem/conflict: the core conflict must be a problem that the product/service of the company can solve.
3. Beginning: the beginning must offer the information the audience needs to identify with the primary character and to understand why the core conflict matters to him.
4. Middle: here you can get more detailed. Here you have to look for opportunities to create situations, settings, and secondary characters that lead the primary character to the solution of the core problem.
5. End: the solution needs to be mirrored or translated to a solution of the audience's problem. Here you can mention your brand, products or services (in)directly at the end of your brand story, but be careful that you do not turn your interesting brand story into a self-promotional piece.

Pixar filmmaker Andrew Stanton compared storytelling to telling a joke: "It is knowing your punchline, your ending, knowing that everything you're saying, from the first sentence to the last, is leading to a singular goal." Based on this statement there are the following core elements of a great business story:

• Get to the point: know the results you are driving for, identify the points you want to make;
• Get over your conflict aversion: make sure there is a structure in your story, make sure the fundamentals are in place;
• Get emotional: identify the kinds of emotions you want your audience to feel. Do not be afraid to share what is real and true to you;
• Find your hero: identify the hero and give him a conflict to overcome;
• Prize the details: the more the audience feels and sees what you are describing, the more they will like the story;
• Challenge your audience: since you have a purpose in telling your business story, end your story with a question that will compel your audience to take action.

The commercial of Nikon is a great example of a good corporate story which includes the elements mentioned above. For example, Nikon gets to the point: the commercial is all about capturing the moment the audience cares for (emotional). You can also see a lot of details and after watching the commercial, you have the feeling you really need a Nikon camera to capture the moments you care for (challenge your audience).

The most effective corporate communication channels
There are a lot of communication channels a corporation can choose to tell their story, for example posters, events, videos, games and social media. But which one is the most effective?

There are four steps that can help you choose the most effective communication channel (Hadjistoyanova, 2016):

1. Add channels into the mix as necessary, to reach specific audiences: think about which non-traditional channels are best for the different audiences you want to reach.
2. Add and use different channels more frequently as they become more popular: do research on current stakeholder behaviours in new channels, what channels they use and which are influential.
3. Experiment with new channels to determine their effectiveness before starting to use them frequently: measure the use of the new channels as you experiment with them.
4. Evaluate your channel options and select the channel mix that is most appropriate for your objective and target audience of the message: identify which channels are best suited for your communication objectives.

Based on the above, we can conclude that the most effective communication channel is not the same for every corporation. To determine which communication channel is most effective for your corporation, you should do research on the stakeholder behaviours, experiment with new channels and evaluate your channel options.

However, the objective is focused on storytelling in the form of a video. The Warton School of Business found that sales prospects are 72% more likely to purchase a product or service when a video is involved. They mention that one of the best ways to raise brand awareness is through the use of videos. Videos are effective because they entertain and instruct. You can communicate the message of your corporation quickly and easily, in a format that people prefer and enjoy. 

The target audience of corporations
Smart corporations do not attempt to market everything to everyone, because it is not an efficient use of time and money, and it is not effective. Defined market segments help companies define their target audiences.
There are 7 steps that can help you to define your market (Entrepreneur, 2013):

1. Make a wish list: with who do you want to do business? Identify the geographic range and the types of business or customers you want your business to target. For example, targeting teenagers is not specific enough; African American teenagers with family incomes of €30.000,- and up, is.
2. Focus: clarify what you want to sell and remember: you can not be all things to all people, and smaller is bigger.
3. Describe the customer's worldview: when you look at the world from your customer's perspective, you can identify what they need or want.
4. Synthesise: in this stage, your niche should begin to take shape as your ideas and the wants and needs of the customer merge to create something new.
5. Evaluate: it is important  to evaluate your proposed service or product to see if it takes you where you want to go, if somebody else wants it and if it is a one of a kind.
6. Test: once you have a match between niche and product, you should test-market it. This can be done by offering samples. With this testing, you find out if this market is the market you defined and want to serve.
7. Go for it: it is time to implement your idea and to sell your product or service to your target audience.

Audience targeting is critical for a successful marketing plan, because when the corporation has defined its targets, it is time to figure out what to tell them and how to spread the word.

Sources
Bergeron (2016), How effective are videos?, accessed 30 August 2016, from http://contagious-ideas.com/effective-videos/

Echostories.com (2015), Storytelling fundamentals, accessed 30 August 2016, from http://www.echostories.com/storytelling-fundamentals-core-elements-of-a-great-business-story/

Entrepreneur (2013), Defining your market in 7 steps, accessed 30 August 2016, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225656

Frog Dog (2012), Know your audience: market segmentation and customer targeting, accessed 30 August 2016, from http://frog-dog.com/know-your-audience-market-segmentation-and-customer-targeting/

Hadjistoyanova (2016), Choosing the right communication channel, accessed 30 August 2016, from https://www.cebglobal.com/blogs/corporate-communications-four-steps-to-choosing-the-right-communication-channel/

O'Leary (2011), The 5 elements of a good company story, accessed 30 August 2016, from http://www.businessinsider.com/the-5-elements-of-a-good-company-story-2011-4?r=US&IR=T&IR=T