February 21, 2012
Creating Effective In-Store Merchandising For Consumer Electronics
Reed Immer, digital marketing specialist and Carolyn Walker, managing partner at Response Marketing, are here today to talk about creating effective in-store merchandising for consumer electronics.
Carolyn is one of thirty five people in the world who is ‘marketing at retail’ certified and is here to tell us what exactly in-store merchandising is:
In-store Merchandising is a part of a company’s overall shopper marketing program. It’s important to focus on the true path of purchase that consumers take, and notice that the path of purchase usually starts online before the consumer heads to the store. There are many different types of merchandising: disposable, semi-disposable and permanent displays.
- Disposable Displays: These are throw away types of things; shelf talkers, point of purchase materials, counter units, PDQ Trays (selling right at the check out area); anything made out of temporary materials.
- Semi-Permanent Displays: Will usually last around 3-6 months; Shippers and end-caps; anything that is out there trying to sell the product for an extended period of time.
- Permanent Displays: Last for years at a time; great example of category management, think about when you go into Best Buy and go down the Mice and Keyboard aisle and see the displays of Mice that are out for years at a time for the consumer to test before they purchase.
The term in-store merchandising covers a lot, and can have a huge effect on persuading the buyer to purchase or not. How exactly does the persuasion process work? There are three key things that occur: attract, engage, provoke.
- Attract: Display must look good and be visually engaging to spark a consumer’s interest from far away.
- Engage: Interest the consumer in your product; are there benefits for them, does it make their life easier?
- Provoke: Urge the consumer to actually purchase the product; interactivity with display is key. Engage the customer in order to push them to buy.
There are a lot of things brands do to build overall awareness of their products, so consumers can connect from TV/internet ads, all the way through to the store. There is no clear point where this connection to users occurs, but specific strategies are used. Three things are used for this: QR Codes, use of Traditional Digital Media and Geo-Targeting.
- QR Codes: This is becoming more widespread and adopted by the general audience. Customers are scanning these codes, and are then brought to a website or video about the product. As smart phones become more prevalent, these codes will continue to evolve.
- Digital Media: Dr. Scholl’s has recently participated in this by developing custom Orthotics Kiosks in local convenience stores. When consumers are shopping online, a banner will pop up urging a consumer to travel to a local store to try the orthotic’s at the kiosk before purchasing them.
- Geo-Targeting: ‘Checking-In’ through the use of social media. Gap did this about a year ago, where they said any customer who comes to check in at Gap would get a free pair of jeans. This drove consumers to their store.
Carolyn Walker – One of thirty-five people in the world who are Marketing at Retail Certified
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Categories: advertising, agencies, blog, buzz, cause marketing, client-centric service, commercial, consumer awareness, consumer behavior, consumer electronics, customer service, digital marketing, google, innovation, iPhone, Logitech, market research, marketing, merchandise, mobile technology, realtime, Response Marketing, Response Marketing Video Series, t-commerce, technology, television advertising, trends, Viral Videos, youtube
February 15, 2012
Top 5 Things That Matter In Marketing This Week – Healthcare
Reed: Hi I’m Reed Immer our Digital Marketing Specialist, and this is Carolyn Walker the managing partner here at Response Marketing, and these are the five things that matter in marketing this week. This week we are focusing on Healthcare Marketing. Ok so first off, the Walgreen owned Take Care clinics have announced that they will be allowing patients to book appointments at their clinics through an online appointment scheduler and then also through in store kiosks. I think just in terms of brining your business to the digital sphere and allowing your patients to interact with you in a more casual, yet informative and easy to access way is huge for Take Care and Walgreens and I think it offers a ton of potential for other health clinics and what they can do in the digital sphere.
Carolyn: Yeah, I think it’s unbelievable and I feel like geeze this is a really cool thing, what took so long actually? So you know, if you think about what happens when you yourself go to a doctors appointment and you sit there for a half an hour, forty five minutes kind of waiting for someone to even see you, its really frustrating. And so, for them to offer this service, which I think is really smart, given who is staffing the facilities too, with PA’s and Nurse Practitioner’s it really makes a lot of sense. These are people that aren’t making rounds at hospitals so they can be dedicated to serving people within the Take Care facilities. And so, I just think it’s brilliant, I think there’s a lot more that they can do from a digital stand point. I think the next step would be really smart if they actually reminded people of their appointments via text, I think that’s probably coming down the road. In fact, I was at CES a month ago, the Consumer Electronics Show and they had an entire area dedicated to healthcare technology and what’s happening in that space. I just think you’re going to see a lot of things popping up in the healthcare industry, to make peoples interaction and the way they are serviced by healthcare providers a lot easier in the digital.
Reed: Definitely, and I think especially a service like this and the people who will be using it are finally getting to a digital point where they are comfortable. Like, 10 years ago if this came out, no body would know what’s up. I think now people are really embracing what the possibility of something like this could be.
Carolyn: Absolutely, and I think hopefully long-term, what digital does to healthcare is it reduces the cost. Because your taking care of so many more things, either at home, or over the phone, or over the web and not having actually to go into a provider. What Take Care is doing and their facilities in Walgreens though, is really the first step in a really, really good direction.
Reed: Second up, the Ashland Health clinic in Ashland, Kansas has combated their 8th month long problem of finding nurses, doctors, and administrators for the very rural isolated town in Ashland, Kansas, by offering doctors 8 paid weeks a year of missionary leave. Which would allow them to go anywhere in the world, do whatever sort of service project they want. I think in terms of setting your hospital apart, your brand apart especially in a market like this where small rural towns are competing for qualified practitioners is huge and it just sets your unique value proposition a league above everyone else.
Carolyn: Yeah you know, and I think what they’re doing is niche marketing at its finest, right? It’s not for everybody, if you’re in a bigger town or bigger city where you are trying to attract tons and tons of doctors, its not going to work. But because they only have a couple of positions to fill and by creating a unique way of communicating their brand to the doctors across the country, they’re only probably getting a handful of people who want to do this. But they are getting the right kind of people that believe in what they’re doing and what they’re saying. And they are attracting the right kind of person for their little town. It makes it special and it makes it a little bit different and its something that keeps them separated from all the other small town competitors out there that are also trying to get doctors. So, I think it’s a really smart thing and like I said, I think its niche marketing at it’s finest.
Reed: A recent national assessment of adult literacy has reported that 77 million Americans have below average health literacy skills due to their below average, below 8th grade level reading skills. Again, health literacy is just being able to read doctor’s order, prescription information, basically any sort of health information, that a health provider is giving to a patient to communicate whatever message. And this is a huge problem, because it means that a huge portion of Americans are not understanding what their providers are trying to get across to them. And I think that if these providers want to be successful, they need to make sure that their messaging is as clear as humanly possible and they need to make sure they approach the messaging from the patient perspective, instead of the health perspective.
Carolyn: Yeah I totally agree with you, I think that this is a very common problem that we see in healthcare marketing. If you look at some of the things that certain hospitals have done over the years, you’ll see that they talk about topics and use terminology that is very familiar to them and they forget that they are doctors and nurses and have this education level and have this vernacular, the way they speak is so much different then the late person. No body is on the same page as you, does any body really know what an EKG is? Or how to read a brain scan? I mean, this is a piece of advertising that we saw from Mount Siani, and is anybody really going to recognize it or even how to read this brain scan? I mean come on, its crazy.
Reed: Right, if you’re a doctor it makes perfect sense.
Carolyn: Right? But you have to remember who your audience is and your audience doesn’t know this. As a matter of fact, it probably scares them quite a bit to see something like this. Versus, you know there’s other health care advertising out there. This one is for Mount Siani, and you know its talking about what a repaired heart valve looks like. You know, meet me at the end of the marathon, and that is something that someone can relate to. That takes the scariness out of the medical issue and says ‘hey this is how you’re going to help me and you’re going to get me back to normal’.
Reed: And that’s what people want out of the whole process.
Carolyn: And that’s what people want. I think it’s really important for any one in healthcare to remember who their ultimate customer is because they are not going to know the terminology and they are not going to understand everything they know. They’re doctor’s, they’ve spent ‘x’ amount of years getting trained in school and doing rounds and internships and everything else and it’s just not the same, its just not the same. And so while I understand it for the words, the technical words, it also, to your point, goes all the way to, how these people are being spoken to even in their marketing messages. I think it’s really, really critical to remember who your audience is.
Reed: As Facebook has been rapidly expanding and been in the news with its recent IPO offer, also which has been expanded is their age range of users. Where as Facebook obviously started out as a college student social network, over the years it has been expanding and expanding to people in their twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, and then now we are seeing a lot of elderly users on Facebook. And many doctors in hospitals have started recommending that elderly patients connect with each other on social media and also with the hospitals, to combat isolation, loneliness and depression. I think this opens a huge opportunity for more and more doctors to get in the social media communication with their patients especially the elderly ones, to not only communicate information, but also nurture that relationship between patient and provider.
Carolyn: Yeah, I think you know, doctors in hospitals have to be really careful because of HIPPA and what not. But you can have a Facebook presence or social media presence, and do it in such a way, where you’re not diagnosing them or treating them on the social media, but you are helping them, you’re giving them information. We’ve done this with Yale School of medicine, we’ve done it with Western Hospital, we’ve done it with North Stonington Health Center, and so there are ways to have social presence and really help people out. And I think your point about the elderly people or older people getting into social media is dead on. If you look at the numbers, the growth is definitely there, I mean my dad is 70 years old and he’s on it. You know, it’s like everybody’s on social media. And I think that, it has become a great way to connect with other people that have like issues, or are in like demographic groups, or what not. So I think about how, even myself getting onto Facebook, where you grew up with it, I didn’t. I’m reconnecting with friends that I hadn’t spoken to in twenty years or thirty years from high school. It’s just a totally different dynamic that happens with the older generations. And it is a great way to reconnect and feel like your no the only one out there. And you can find old friend and you can find other people. Even, they may be across the country or across the world that have a similar situation that you have. And I think it doesn’t stop at elderly, I think that we are going to see these kind of micro communities pop up inside of Facebook and outside of Facebook. Where people are connecting with common issues, maybe cancer groups, or like your saying the elderly people getting together. It could be a whole host of different things; we did a Facebook group for Yale for polycystic ovarian syndrome. You know, how many people in the world have that? But they are coming together and talking to each other in a single space on Facebook.
Reed: It’s breaking down all of those communication boundaries.
Carolyn: And like you said, not feeling alone. It’s just as good thing to feel like ‘gosh, you know, I am not the only one who’s having this issue or having this concern’.
Reed: Last up, a new documentary, titled ‘Moving Forward’, which chronicles the recovery of professional snow boarder Danny Toumarkine, has been released. And it’s basically a very moving 22 minute long public service announcement about the importance of wearing helmets while snowboarding. And I think what this video, moving forward, portrays is how powerful a public service announcement can be when paired with a very strong narrative, such a s a short video, just giving users that emotional side, that many public service announcements strive for, but ultimately lack.
Carolyn: Yeah it’s huge and I think that, you know, I think its interesting with this story because so many people have jumped on the bandwagon with the video. So you know, Burton is there, medical facilities are behind him, and all kinds of things. And so attaching your brand to such an emotional story is a huge benefit for the brand, but also, just to give support to the story alone, too, right? I mean this is a great message that unfortunately Danny had to go through the trauma of having an accident without his helmet on to realize, you know, ‘hey, I should have put my helmet on and maybe I wouldn’t be in this situation’. But he’s now spinning the whole story into a great cause, and into a great message to kids out there that may think that snowboarding without their helmet is cool and getting them to put it on. And I agree with you, I think that the more that you can connect on an emotional level with your audience the more it’s a stronger benefit between you and your brand and the ultimate customer. And it creates a bond that’s harder to break than just talking about, like your saying, you know, just the functional benefit of wearing a helmet. You’re actually tying it to something really emotional and it makes just a stronger connection and stronger communication piece. And I think, to me, it also speaks just to the power of video in general, right? It’s not just about reading something or seeing something static, it brings it to life. And it makes it such a powerful story. And I think those guys did such a great job and I’m so glad that Danny, after four surgeries recovered and he’s back on the snow again.
Reed: These are the five things that matter in healthcare marketing this week. Again, I’m Reed Immer, the Digital Marketing Specialist at Response Marketing, and this is Carolyn Walker the Managing Partner at Response Marketing. Thanks for watching.
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Categories: advertising, agencies, clients, consumer awareness, Creative Story Angle, digital marketing, Facebook, interns, market research, marketing, marketing programs, Marketing to Women, North Stonington Health Center, reaching your target audience, Response Marketing, search marketing, social media, Social Networking, social networks, trends, viral marketing, Viral Videos, youtube
February 13, 2012
Don’t Turn Your V-Day into D-Day
Image from http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/jackalope/2012/02/six_inappropriate_valentines_d.php
Candy. Romantic Cards. Sweet nothings being whispered into that special someone’s ear. Every year Valentine’s Day presents a challenge in finding that “out of the box” and “one-of-a-kind” gift whether you’re fresh into a relationship or married for 50 years. So what can you do? In honor of Response’s 10 year anniversary we’re sharing 10 things NOT to do that you may think are cute but will actually just end up getting you in trouble.
10 things not do for Valentine’s Day:
- Claim that you were trying to be cute and wait to give your present until February 15th
- Write the wrong name on the card
- Buy chocolates and proceed to eat the good ones
- Believe your significant other when they say they don’t want anything.
- Shoot your significant other with an actual bow and arrow
- Give candy to a diabetic
- Tip your waiter in heart shaped candy
- Wear a diaper and say you’re cupid
- Recite poetry you can’t pronounce
- Go on a first date
In closing, it would be ill advised to do any of the above and still expect to have someone to go home to. However, if you found these tips clever/interesting/engaging, imagine what we can do for you.
Stay tuned next month for our March top 10 list.
Posted by Michael Ackerson at 2:22 pm | No Comments
Categories: top 10 list, Valentine's Day
January 31, 2012
Celebrate the New Year With These Top 10 Tips
As the New Year begins, it’s most often followed by a New Year’s resolution. A declaration of becoming a better you. The most common decree? To join a gym and start working out so people will mistake you for Brad Pitt/George Clooney/ Megan Fox/Reese Witherspoon/Any other totally hot celebrity. To help you reach your mission and not embarrass yourself in the process while also honoring our 10-year anniversary, Response Marketing has put together a Top 10 list of things not to say in a gym:
- Can I touch your muscles?
- Is “juice bar” code for steroids?
- Is that sweat stain from me?
- I really like your shoes!
- That’s all you can lift?
- Do you get any celebrities at this gym?
- The stuff I take is all-natural
- I’m supposed to lift with my back right?
- I come here for the eye candy.
- It’s been a day. Why don’t I have a 6 pack yet?
In closing, it would be ill advised to say any of the above while combing around the local gym. However, if you found these tips clever/interesting/engaging, imagine what we can do for you.
Stay tuned next month for our February top 10 list.
Posted by Michael Ackerson at 3:57 pm | No Comments
Categories: top 10 list
January 19, 2012
How Will You #makeitcount in 2012?
Whether you’re walking, running, jumping, skipping, skating, drumming, or slam dunking, according to Nike+, “it counts”. Nike+ is giving everyone the chance to “Make It Count” in 2012. How many of us, year after year, make a New Year’s resolution of getting fit, and then find ourselves unmotivated and unsuccessful? I’m assuming a large percentage…Well, in an effort to spread inspiration and motivation for a healthier more physical life; Nike has found a way to combine the physical with the digital once again.
Over the years, Nike has proved itself an innovative company with its fun, customizable running shoes, gear, and more. One of their current popular products is the Nike+. The Nike+ software includes a chip that is inserted into the inside of a Nike running shoe, designed for this purpose, which then sync’s with your iPod. The chip is able to track your movement such as running distance, calories burned, pace, etc. Also, when you plug in your iPod to your computer, it gives you the option to share your results online. Nike+ further features options such as setting goals and “coaching” for your specific workout. Nike realized the success and popularity of Nike+ and decided to expand upon this idea.
Today, Nike launched the Nike+ FuelBand. This high tech wristband is meant to be worn throughout the day and tracks people’s daily movements. With this band, there is a strip of LED lights that go from red to green as you reach your goal. Your goal is measured in “points” or “fuel”. You can set how many fuel points you want to achieve that day, and you can see your progress right on your wrist. This product’s purpose is to motivate and inspire a healthy lifestyle, and make it a fun technology gadget at the same time. The FuelBand is truly for anyone with a goal of being more active. Check out the video below to learn more. You can also follow Nike on Twitter and provide workout inspiration for others at #makeitcount. The FuelBand is available for pre-order on Nikestore.com.
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Categories: Uncategorized
January 12, 2012
CES: Connect Everyone Socially
Made it to CES, the Consumer Electronics Show. Lots of discussion and products centered around “connectivity.” Headphones that connect you to your music, Ultrabooks that have the productivity of a laptop and the portability of a tablet connected to your phone, your car, your television, Ultrathin and Ultra high definition TV’s that connect you to content that is so life like it’s hard to believe it’s not real, computers in cars that connect you to every digital asset you can imagine.
I was able to sit in on a couple of sessions that were extremely interesting to me. The first one was with the president of Best Buy. Here are a few of the highlights (in my opinion):
- Best Buy has a ridiculous amount of data, but they aren’t doing enough with it. They are underutilizing technology that could help them parse through the data and give them good information that they can act on.
- Best Buy is betting on health care moving into the home with digital equipment that can help monitor critical vitals and be electronically shared with a nurse/doctor in real time.
- They are concerned about the environment. Recycling electronics is a big initative for them as well as energy efficient products.
- They plan to do a better job listening to employees for feedback.
- Digital marketing is a playing a bigger and bigger part of what they do.
- They plan to have more, but smaller stores (e.g. Best Buy Mobile)
- They are working with maufacturers to make packaging easier to open.
- They feel that their “accessory” sales are largely unplanned, impulse purchases.
More to come from CES…
Posted by Carolyn Walker at 11:47 am | No Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
January 5, 2012
Pique Your "Pinterest"
Have you heard of Pinterest yet? Well if you haven’t, then you had better educate yourself on the latest craze that is taking the social media world by storm and was recently named one of TIME Magazine’s “50 Best Websites of 2011.” Though the site is still extremely young and is currently “invite-only”, it has seen its membership base grow almost 300% during the last quarter of 2011, and it now boasts a total of over 4 million active users. The company also received $27 million in venture funds this past October, only furthering the notion that Pinterest is truly taking off.
So what is Pinterest? To put it quite simply, it is a social media website that allows users to post and share online images in an organized manner in an effort to find others who share the same interests. Users are able to upload images found online to their “Board” by using the “PinIt” button or they can simply upload an image from their PC.Images can also be organized into separate Boards that focus on specific subjects and categories, making it simple to find others who have created similar visuals.
Users can also interact with others by liking a certain Pin, commenting on it, or even by “Repinning” the image to their own respective Board. Furthermore, if a user finds a certain Board that they are particularly interested in then they have the option of following that Board (and/or the profile of the user that created it) for future updates and enjoyment.
The images found within the site cover virtually any subject one could possibly think of, and the site can be used for a multitude of purposes. Though Pinterest can be used solely for entertainment, it also has some very useful and beneficial applications depending on the type of user engaging with it. People can use the Boards that they create as a way to organize ideas and important visual aids all in one simple online format. For example, artists can use their Boards as inspiration for future work, designers can pin all of the latest fashions to a certain Board in order to use it as a basis for their own creations, and those interested in culinary arts can create vivid online cook books. Boards can even be used as simple reminder lists of things one may need when engaging with a certain project or when trying to achieve an important life goal. The possibilities are truly endless.
Basically, if you haven’t checked out Pinterest yet, I suggest that you do so. Also be sure to think of ways that you could use the site to market your own brand. The site does not have any features tailored specifically toward the business world, such as Facebook or Google+ brand pages, but the site could prove quite beneficial to marketers everywhere with a little creativity and ingenuity. That is because with the incredible upsurge in membership and usage rates that the site has seen recently, it certainly has the potential to be a big player in the digital marketing landscape as the site continues to grow and expand.
So what are you “Pinterested” in?
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Categories: Uncategorized
December 8, 2011
Get Your Own Word Cloud
The visualization of data is a great way to quickly see information in a much more palatable way than typical charts. Word Clouds are all over the place and show how prominent specific words are in a web page or other outlet with text. You can create your own word cloud through Wordle. Just enter your web page URL or copy and paste any text and Wordle will instantly generate a word cloud for you. Then you can customize the colors, fonts, layout and more. Above is our word cloud from this blog.
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Categories: Uncategorized
November 28, 2011
Getting Your Brand Out Of The Slammer
Small business owners take notes at expo: wtnh.com
A couple weeks ago, Response brought branding to a personal level. At the Greater New Haven Chamber business expo, we had the opportunity to show off our skills and abilities to other local businesses. Considering we are a creative bunch, we wanted to create an exhibitor booth that people would remember! No detail was spared in the creation of our booth. The prison theme we created included everything from fake plastic handcuffs, orange jumpsuits, and an opportunity to get your mug shot taken. Our goal was to “un-cuff your creative”. We wanted to remind people that branding is a key element in marketing your company and it offers the ability to be creative and fun.
We decided to create a mini sweepstakes campaign to engage the expo attendees. The plan was to have people to “brand” themselves and decide who they think they are, or who they represent. From here, we had a mug-shot backdrop, with magnetic letter boards. People would write their “brand” with the magnetic letters on the board and get their “mug-shot” taken. We then wanted to capture their e-mail information, so we can e-mail the picture to them. Furthermore, to integrate social media, if people had Facebook accounts, they could “like” Response on Facebook and afterwards if they made their photo their profile picture, we entered them in a raffle to win a webcam.
As a creative advertising agency, we wanted to create a buzz about our company amongst all of the other exhibitors. We wanted people to leave the expo remembering who we are, even if they did not participate in our campaign. We made sure that everyone who came to our booth received information about our company such as a link to our website and Facebook page, as well as contact information. I think we did an exceptional job of getting noticed, and beyond this, when people receive their pictures via e-mail and Facebook, our brand hopefully resonated with them even more.
To see all of the mug-shot photos, “Like” Response Marketing on Facebook.
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Categories: Uncategorized
November 8, 2011
Google+ Launches Much Anticipated Brand Pages
- The site’s “Circles” feature allows for companies to segment their brand page followers into different categories which will allow them to target certain posts and informational material toward specific group members. Facebook also allows page administrators to target a certain portion of their audience, but it is much easier to do so on Google+.
- The “Hangouts” feature will allow businesses to interact with their followers face-to-face via video chat. This is a revolutionary tool in the digital marketing world because it allows for companies to build more personal relationships with their customers and provides them with a brand new outlet for engagement.
- The “Direct Connect” feature incorporates Google’s social network with its search engine by allowing users to find brand pages in an instant. When a user types in “+” followed by a company, product, or celebrity name, the user is then automatically directed to the subject’s Google+ brand page. It is the only operator that instantly reroutes users to a specific brand page after text is entered into a search box. Furthermore, for brands that sell directly, Google+ may become more important than Facebook because of the SEO implications. With Google’s domination of the search landscape, it’s only natural that “Plus” will help feed that machine.
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Categories: Uncategorized