Domino’s IMC

 

With a host of available digital marketing channels and platforms around such as Google, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, Integrated Marketing have become ever important to the sustainability of businesses. Integrated Marketing is an approach to combine all marketing communications through their channels and tactics so as to create a consistent and seamless experience for customers when interacting with the brand. Increased brand awareness, familiarity and purchase intent can be achieved. Having said that, we shall take a look at the steps Domino’s had taken to ensure the success of their campaigns through Integrated Marketing!

 

 

Step 1: Have a clear understanding of who your target audience is

The main target audience of Domino’s is the lower middle to middle class people. They can range from teenagers to middle age adults who are pizza lovers and like to have frequent group gatherings. As the pizza can be delivered right to the comfort and convenience of their homes or locations. The bigger the group the better it is as they can then order more variety and is able to try a little of everything. The usual order methods are through Domino’s website, phone call and even mobile application. These group of consumers are usually tech savvy as well and regularly uses social media and web services.

 

Step 2: Pick your channels

Some digital marketing channels include Pay-Per-Click advertising, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, Viral Campaigns, Email Marketing and Online Public Relations. Domino’s can be found mainly advertising through television, flyers and most notably social media sites. Television and flyers are generally targeting the older age groups whom do not use social media that frequent while social media and web is for their main target audience which include teenagers, young adults and the middle age group. Domino’s is currently on most major social media sites.

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

Step 3: Have a consistent look

Domino’s usage of fresh and creative contents is consistent throughout their different marketing channels and is a great way to capture consumer’s attention so as to promote their products more effectively. They often use funky and punny images and taglines to captivate their consumers as well and i feel it is a great way of advertising as this added humour brings extra value to the company from the point of view of a consumer. Here are some examples!

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

The idea here is to enhance engagement with consumers so as to make them feel more “involved” and these contents all possess similar look, style, feel and even colour! As their main focus is always still on the pizza itself even though the idea is about something else, it makes following Domino’s everyday a meaningful one.

 

Step 4: Create clear, consistent content that can easily be adapted or repurposed to suit different media or channels

It is important to be consistent throughout different media and channels so as to bring a unified message across and prevent any miscommunication or misinterpretation from happening.

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

What Domino’s had done here is marvellous, same picture, same tagline, same good responses but all on a different platform. The three C’s, Communications, Compelling and Consistent had all been achieved. The punny message that Domino’s is trying to bring across is clear and consistent.

 

Step 5: Ensure that your messaging is integrated

 

As you can see, Domino’s promoting of the their Labor Day campaign through Twitter and Instagram uses similar style and wordings. Although the image is different but it still gives consumers the same kind of warm yet refreshing feeling! The uses #LaborDay to show they are in support of this unique occasion and also provided the link to their partner of this campaign, guru_guru. Link to the contest is also listed for convenience so consumers can view instructions and sign up easily.

 

 

Domino’s YouTube channel did provide link to other major sites as well such as Google Plus, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and their official website. This ensure easy navigation from one media to another. Furthermore, the URLs and title of Domino’s is consistent throughout their different social media sites, with Domino’s Pizza being named.

 

Step 6: Make sure your marketing teams/agencies are working in sync

Of course, for all of these to work out, the people behind the scene are just as important. Regardless of any marketing campaign, communication between each and every member of the team that is working on the project is crucial and everyone should be kept up to date with any updates so as to ensure everyone is heading towards the same direction. These will aid in creating a consistent look and feel across different channels and media.

 

Step 7: Don’t forget to track your campaigns – and coupons

One successful campaign of Domino’s is the tweet-to-eat campaign which allows consumers to order their pizza through twitter messaging. It’s a totally brand-new idea back then and it’s proven to work as well. So, in order for Domino’s to determine how successful a campaign is, they will need to track it. Product reach, engagement level and sales figures are some aspects they need to take note of. There are many ways to do it such as by analytics or tracking system. This also allows Domino’s to adjust and make changes whenever they feel the need to so that they know where to improve on and what is the source of the problem.

 

In conclusion, with the proper use of the seven steps listed above, i believe businesses will have an advantage over their rivals in Integrated Marketing. It is essential for them to continuously engage with their consumers and to create new and fresh contents so as to keep their current supporters satisfied and at the same time bringing in new customers.

 

 

Hope you guys like my post and do feel free to leave a comment below! Thanks! 🙂

Internet of Things

 

In our everyday life, we are exposed to all sorts of objects and one thing we depend heavily on is the Internet. When these two things combine, Internet of Things is form. Internet is embedded into the network of physical devices which allows the exchange of data to form a connection. It is predicted by 2020, there will be tens of billions of devices connected to the internet and they will have a big impact in how we live and work. Let’s take a look at some examples!

 

Wearables

 

Wearables devices such as smart watches and fitness bands have increasingly become part of the everyday life with the rapid evolution of consumer lifestyle. These devices are currently used for entertainment, communication and monitoring of physical activities through healthcare applications. We can now answer calls, send message and monitor our heart beat with a simple touch on our wrist. Other notable wearables include Google Glass. A stylish augmented reality spectacle that aim to help users optimize their interactions with the world by using visual, audio and location-based inputs to provide relevant information. Allowing them to know more about their environment, engage with entertainment more seamlessly, and more. For example, when a user enters the airport, they will automatically receive relevant flight status information. Being able to control manually through touchpad or voice commands.

 

Smart Homes

 

According to BI Intelligence, smart home devices are getting more popular as more and more people are exposed to it and taking the step to slowly transform their homes. These smart homes devices include door locks, curtains, light bulbs and even speakers.

 

 

Vehicles

Based on information gathered from the environment, connected vehicles have the ability to sense, analyse and make decisions. These can help to optimize traffic routes and also reducing accidents. Generally providing convenience for drivers and at the same time ensuring their driving experience a safer one. Connected vehicles are aware of each other which will allow a smoother flow of traffic and reducing human error too.

 

 

As we start to incorporate more technologies into our life, so does industries as to keep themselves up to date with the latest trend in order to progress consistently. This enhancement allows for productivity and efficiency gains garnered from improved operational effectiveness as their willingness to harness these tools start to make a difference. We shall now take a look at some industries that are affected by these changes!

 

Healthcare

 

Healthcare providers can take full advantage of Internet of Things to make changes in the lives of patient and improve the level of healthcare provided to patients significantly. In hospitals, IoT biometric devices can monitor vital signs which allow health professionals to oversee an entire ward at the glance of a tablet screen. Or for example, by connecting a machine or medical devices up to the internet, hospital staff can get alerts when repairs are needed and real-time location systems that can track equipment, dispensation of medicine, and even patients and staff.

 

Agriculture

 

Smart agriculture had already taken off among farmers, with drones and sensors being used to facilitate high tech farming to improve the efficiency of their day-to-day work. New IoT-enabled practices such as remote monitoring of crops, equipment and livestock, and obtaining statistics on livestock and produce, looks likely to play a role in helping farmers meet the world’s food demands over the coming years. Automatic water system and greenhouse monitors automatically respond to changes in humidity and temperature. These advances allow the changes to be made in real time, raising the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the process.

 

Manufacturing

 

The manufacturing industry is probably the most affected industry. According to BI Intelligence, it is predicted that global manufacturers will invest $70 billion on IoT solutions in 2020, up from the $29 billion they spent in 2015. Many manufacturers are already using IoT solutions to track assets in their factories, optimize their processes, monitor equipment, and do preventative and predictive maintenance on equipment. The usage of these IoT devices will improve the efficiency and productivity of manufacturing operations.

 

What about Marketing?

After going through these different industries, I’m sure you guys want to know how IoT affect marketing as a whole too. IoT is creating many new marketing opportunities. Marketers can gather more detailed information about consumer behaviour and better predict development of social communities, so they can reach out to prospective customers that previously may not have been available and determine emerging new trends. As well as enhancing customer service by interacting with consumers on a real time basis, personalise in-store experiences of customers and allows marketers to receive useful feedback in an instant.

How Casinos uses Big Data to keep customers going $$$

Many companies are struggling to make every interaction with their customer better than the previous one they had. But with Big Data, anything seems possible! Big Data is usually defined by the “3Vs”. High in Volume, Velocity and Variety. When a set of data is too big that traditional data processing tools can’t be used to process it, this data is known as the Big Data. Through the years, more and more companies are starting to use Big Data analytics for their businesses to stay updated with the current patterns and to predict future trends.

In the modern world where information is power, Big Data stands to play a big part in the development of businesses by gaining valuable insights on their customers. This can improve service and engagement of the company with their customers through the refining of marketing efforts and is made even easier in the digital age we are living in as the more advanced technology allows businesses to find out what they want to know about their customers.

So, let’s take a look at how Casino uses Big Data to their advantage.

 

Casinos have an interesting relationship with their customers. On one hand, they want their customers to lose more than they win in the long term in order to make a profit. But on the other hand, they don’t want their customers to lose too large of an amount in one visit that they decide to stop patronising once and for all. Similarly, they also want to avoid situation whereby customers “strike big” and win a large amount at one go.

In order to do so, marketers of casinos are using Big Data and analytics to examine where their customers are spending their money be it at the venue’s restaurant or on a particular casino game. They can then study the patterns which allows them to identify which area to improve on such as which games or machines are more popular, pulling in the most profits or need to be replace. More personal details such as their preferred cuisines, music or any other particular hobby and habits can be identified from Big Data analytics too. This can increase casino’s interaction with their customers which will improve their services and engagement in order to keep the customers satisfied and return for more. In general, Big Data analytics allow casinos to see a bigger picture of the profile of their customers which aids them to measure and improve their performance.

 

 

So how did Casino use Big Data analytics in Marketing? Taking online casino as an example, they mainly use Big Data analytics to create attractive marketing campaign as well as to increase customer loyalty. With the use of cookies, online casino can track Big Data and find out which promotion attract more attention, what types of patterns players use in their games and which game hold a wider appeal to different players. After which online casino can offer enhanced and tailored experience for each and every individual by providing better in-game services such as introducing more entertaining games, giving more rewarding bonuses and providing more efficient customer service,

Be it for online casino or resort casino, both are utilising Big Data analytics to increase customer value so that customers will continue to spend more time and chips and go back for more. This had proven rather effective and I believe businesses will continue to lean towards the Big Data route to improve their product and services.

 

Marketing through mobile ~

I guess we can all agree that the one thing we can’t leave home without is our mobile phone. Mobile phone these days is not just a communication device anymore. It’s our wallet, our handheld gaming device, our newspaper, our alarm clock and even our shopping mall! The countless uses of mobile phone had only increased our reliance on it throughout the years. According to sbr.com.sg, 95% population of Singapore uses mobile phone and spent an average of seven hours on it daily.

Of course, businesses have taken noticed of it and many had started to adopt the mobile marketing strategy. This is probably the faster, most efficient yet less costly method to promote their products and services. Mobile marketing tools include advertisement, coupons, applications, website, payments and location based mobile marketing. Now we look at some companies that succeeded in Singapore by implementing mobile marketing to their business.

 

Mobile coupons

Mobile coupons work most effectively for F&B companies, in particular fast food restaurant, in my opinion. Companies such as Subway and Chope often issues attractive mobile coupons to customer so that they can enjoy even better deals if they purchase the coupon vouchers online or download to flash it when in store.

(Subway,2018)

Subway often issues e coupons to customers for download which can be used for dining in or take away at their outlets. Diners can eat healthy yet enjoy discounts which makes it an attractive option for them. No wonder they have the most outlets worldwide, even more than McDonald’s and Starbucks.

(Wildhoney,2018)

Chope partner with multiple restaurants to bring great deals such as 1 for 1 and 50% off. Users can purchase the e voucher and make a reservation with partnered restaurants through their website. Their terms and conditions encourage people to dine in big groups so that they can enjoy greater discounts which will benefit the restaurant as well. This increases the restaurant’s patronage level which will increase word of mouth marketing.

 

Mobile advertisement

Mobile advertising is a great way for companies to gain awareness of their products and services. They usually advertise through popular websites on their side bars or even on video sharing sites such as Youtube. With a click, it will bring you to their official site where you can browse through the items that caught your attention initially. Companies also uses this tactic to get more downloads for their mobile applications too as some apps gives promo code or discount for first time users.

(Pinoyscreencast,2017)

Companies such as Lazada and Redmart often take advantage of mobile advertising to “bait” users with their promotional or trending items as well as any latest events. As users enter the site or app, they will be introduced to other products and deals which might tempt them to purchase even more.

 

Mobile payment

Mobile payment is slowly becoming more popular in Singapore due to its convenience and effectiveness. People can simply pay through their phone and save the hassle of withdrawing cash as well as enjoying perks such as cashback, discounts and promotion. Although security is still a concern for those not supportive of mobile payment.

(Kopitiambot,2018)

One company that had capitalised on the increased popularity of mobile payment is Grab. Having rolled out Grabpay at the end of 2016, Grab had made improvement consistently to this feature. Users of Grab can now use Grabpay to pay at selected restaurants and retail stores to accumulate points and enjoy special discounts. The Grabrewards system allows users to redeem their Grab points for even more great deals!

 

Each and every mobile marketing tools have their pros and cons. What’s important is for companies to decide which tool is the most suitable for their business model in order to market their product and services more effectively. It’s not necessary to just stick to one but the challenge to sustain increases with every additional.

Hope you guys enjoy my post and please feel free to comment!

 

Pokemon Go went Viral!

 

 

Remember walking up and down the streets of orchard road? No, we are not shopping but hunting for our Pokemon! Pokemon Go took Singapore by storm in August 2016 and became the hottest topic/activity in town for at least a month. The mobile game was launched in over 80 countries and garnered over 100 million downloads within three weeks of its launch. This had resulted in crowds gathering in parks and shopping centres.

So how did Pokemon Go attracted so much attention within this short span of time? The answer is Viral Marketing. Going viral means news about the company is circulated considerably faster than usual and is shared and discussed more by the followers too. Today we will take a look at Jonah Berger’s Six Stepps to virality and let’s see how many does Pokemon Go fulfil!

 

 

1. Social Currency

Pokemon Go leverage on its game mechanics to ensure people can spend hours after hours on the game. Players felt a sense of achievement whenever a rare Pokemon is caught as they can “show off” to their family and friends. Player’s game level, Pokedex and Pokemon’s combat power(cp) is evidence of their progress which further encourage social comparison. These motivates the players to work harder and spend more time in order to “better off” other players.

2. Triggers

Back then when you see a crowd gathering or rushing to a place, I’m sure there’s only one thing in your mind. A rare Pokemon is nearby! As the saying goes “top of the mind leads to tip of tongue.” Following the crowd often leads to a good find.

3. Emotions

When Pokemon Go was first launched, there is a lot of excitement mainly because the game uses augmented reality which enable players to see virtual Pokemon in real-world locations so it feels like you are inside the Pokemon game. This is a rather fresh concept and what makes it stand out from other games is that it actually gets people outside to exercise and socialise with other players.

4. Public

Conformity is a human tendency to follow what the majority are doing. In the month when Pokemon Go was launched, it literally changes our lives. We played the game wherever we went, from shopping malls to parks, playgrounds, landmarks and didn’t even mind camping at the same location for hours! From young to old we played day and night, even when we were walking, jogging and even in the vehicle! I guess even if you hate Pokemon, you still have to join in the fun!

 

However, the big question here is whether Pokemon Go a success? They got off to a flying start with the fresh ideas, high anticipation and viral marketing but they did also lost a lot of players in a short period of time when more and more expectations started to pile on them. Pokemon Go could not hold the interest of the players once they caught that few “rare” Pokemon and they didn’t come up with updates fast enough. As people started quitting the game, many follow suits.

So, instead of using viral marketing, will Pokemon Go be more successful if they adopt a longer term or safer marketing approach? Please let me know in the comment below!

 

What type of social media user are you?

 

(Similarweb, 2018)

 

Have you ever wonder what people spent their hours on the internet on? According to Similarweb’s ranking of top websites based on Singapore, sites such as Google, Youtube and Facebook came out top. It’s no surprise since most of us will visit these sites at least once per day. However, what’s intriguing is that social media websites dominates the list. This further enforced the claim that social media is slowly taking over our lives.

Okay, having been introduced to the power of social media, now let us take a look at a fascinating framework. The Social Consumption/Creation Matrix categorizes social media user types according to their degree of social media consumption and creation. This framework had been mainly used for Facebook users but I believe it can be apply to social media as a whole too.

 

(Tuten and Solomon, 2013)

 

The 4 social media user types are:

Entertainment Chasers

These are the group of people with both low level of creation and consumption. Entertainment chasers invest their time and effort on social media wisely therefore will only participate if there’s something rewarding. Trending social entertainments such videos, news, contests and games will most likely attract their attention. They also hardly create any content but are the people you wanna go to for any latest ongoing deals.

Connection Seekers

Although connection seekers are low content creators, but their high level of engagement is crucial to the continuous development of social media. Social media is a great place to keep in touch with our family and friends as we can socialise and build relationships. Outings and events are also often being organised through connection seekers.

Attention Seekers

Attention seekers are usually “celebrities” with already a high number of followers and they create contents that they can promote it efficiently through their means. They are motivated by controversial topics that can make them stand out with the purpose of gathering attention and admiration from the public. Usually living the glamorous lifestyle which they are not afraid of showing it off.

Devotees

Devotees invest a lot of their time creating contents on social media. Almost everything is of an interest to them. They immerse themselves on social media constantly to share their opinions and interact with brands. A perfect example will be brand ambassadors.

 

Every user type has their own characteristics, but I believe some of us might even be a mixture of two (or more)! I mean it can be difficult to distinguish ourselves from the user types as many of us use social media for more than one purpose. So, the question here is how reliable is this framework in grouping us based on our social media uses and should addition user types be added to differentiate our roles more accurately?

Do let me know in the comment below what do you think about this post!!