| Using online video to stand out on the internet shelf |
By: Chris Gorell Barnes, CEO of Adjust Your Set
|
Posted: Thursday, August 26, 2010 3:49 pm
|
We all know that to maximise brand effectiveness the identity of a brand must be consistent across every consumer touch-point. But in such an information-rich, fragmented and increasingly social media landscape, how does an FMCG communicate brand values effectively across these touch-points, while delivering a consistent brand experience? And when so many competing products sit alongside each other on the shelf, how are we to differentiate? The in-store POS is important, but consumers are increasingly responding to brand values and online personality as well.
Most consumers will already have decided which brands they are likely to buy, before even entering the store. So the communication of the brand values and story must happen way before they get there. Cisco VNI Forecast has predicted that 90% of web traffic will be video by 2014 and according to comScore, brands using online video see lifts of anywhere from 20 % - 40 % in terms of incremental buying. From our work with major retail brands including Marks & Spencer, Thomas Pink and lastminute.com, we know that creating engaging stories through online video, and inserting those videos directly into own-branded websites and social media platforms is a very successful way of conveying brand values, developing consumer conversations and building brand loyalty. After all, the major stores have their loyalty schemes, why not you?
The latest weapon in the marketer’s armoury is social media, and online video can foster passionate audiences here as it is both engaging and measurable. Yet few brands are using video effectively in this space. This could be because despite the considerable investment social media is attracting, it is still considered by many to be a zero sum game. Once an online community is established, marketers believe they are supposed to listen to what consumers tell them and respond in a meaningful way. But there is far more to it than that. Brands must take a lead.
Starbucks recently announced that it had 10 million Facebook fans, but what will they do with these fans now they are there? Maybe it has something in mind, maybe not, but it’s surprising how many companies don’t. Nestle discovered how social can go badly wrong when it built a “community,” then simply served “fans” with press releases, ending up in the middle of an eco-scandal that created incredibly negative PR for the brand. And as Dr Pepper discovered in the “one girl two cups” fiasco, not thinking things through in the social space can lead to a world of pain.
For the FMCG building loyalty directly with consumers can be a challenge as they are jostling not just with competitors, but also the store. Larger store chains are developing their own brand stories often at odds with those of the FMCG on their shelves, so for them developing engaging conversations with consumers directly via online is vital.
So some brands have developed their own video campaigns, and syndicated them to a range of online destinations in order to form direct relationships with their audience away from the store. A notable example is a company called Blendtec who came up with a simple “Will it Blend?” concept to demonstrate the quality of their product range in a light-hearted way. Blentec created and seeded a range of quirky videos onto YouTube featuring their CEO trying to blend a range of unusual items such as gardening implements, in a humorous way while demonstrating the power of their devices. Through doing this they increased sales of their products by over 700%. This method is not a million miles away from experiential marketing, as the campaign not only gave a virtual sample of the product, but also provided the ultimate brand ambassador to present it.
From what we have seen working with M&S, online video is an extremely good way to manage a store brand and also increase sales of specific product ranges within those stores, by telling the underlying stories behind the products.
For example, rather than interview a sales manager or actor talking about how tasty a cake is, the video shows the factory where they are made, interviews the bakery team, meets the lady who individually ices each cake and so on. This builds a human presence around the product that consumers can connect to. This online video content can then be shown either through the store website or syndicated within social media or other third party sites. It can also be distributed via outdoor, devices like mobiles and games consoles, or even, for higher ticket items, at POS.
Increasingly, the content formats are getting closer to traditional TV, so it works well to adapt well-known entertainment formats like makeover shows and migrate these into a branded experience. We recently produced a mini-series for M&S where Myleene Klass gave shoppers advice on clothes and suggested items that would suit them from M&S ranges. This provides useful information about a brand, whilst being entertainment in its own right, and I expect to see a growth in this crossover of mainstream entertainment and brands in the future.
As an example, say, Coca Cola is sponsoring a Lady Gaga concert, why not webcast it straight into the Facebook groups of both as a way to directly engage with the fans? The combined audience would be greater than most broadcasters could deliver and highly targeted.
Through the work we have been doing with M&S we have seen significant increases in both sales and engagement through online video, increasing basket sizes by an average of 23%, and a doubling of repeat views and time spent on site. There is a huge opportunity for FMCG brands to tap into this new marketing phenomenon and connect with consumers, so they are always top of mind wherever and whenever the customer wishes to buy.
The eye line is still the buy line, but the consumer’s view has just radically moved. |
|
Printer-friendly format
Use the following icons to post this article on social networking and bookmarking sites |
Login and voice your opinion!
|
Digg
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Reddit
Technorati
Newsvine
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo!
