kirkgaw advertising

01/03/2023

FORBES - With the new year there is a positive outlook and focus on the customer shopping journey. As retailers adjust to a new normal, a seamless experience and hybrid shopping are shaping the future of retail.

Retailers and brands are coming out of a pandemic that has essentially lasted three years. Over the past year, challenges across the supply chain, inflationary pricing, economic uncertainty, and geo-political factors have taxed retailers and squeezed the financials.

Retail Media Networks

Physical retail stores and websites are becoming increasingly crucial as advertising sources for their vendors. Selling marketing space to vendors is a growing revenue stream for retailers and allows them to deepen their relationships with business partners. Ad space sales on websites, in-store displays, mobile applications, and streaming services will continue to grow across more retailers. The most significant growth, however, will come from streaming TV. “Retail Media is moving aggressively to streaming TV, capturing the attention and budgets of major brands,” stated Andrew Lipsman, Principal Analyst of Insider Intelligence.

The three largest U.S. retailers are leaders in optimizing retail media networks. Amazon took advantage earlier on by using its newly acquired Thursday Night Football streaming events to sell advertising space to its vendors and to maximize its marketing efforts. Kroger’s partnership with Roku to sell commercials on the ad-supported CTV becomes even more powerful if the potential merger with Albertsons goes through. Walmart has been working with its vendors on retail media networks for many years and has created its own branded network called Walmart Connect, which made over $2 billion in 2021 revenue. Advertising revenues, excluding website placements, will grow 38% in 2023 to $6.5 billion. “This is the holy grail for advertisers,” said Lipsman.

Social Media Sentiment Monitoring

Social media sentiment monitoring is collecting and analyzing information on how people talk about a retailer or brand on social media. Actively engaged on social media, retailers can better understand data about their customers' sentiments, preferences, and attitudes toward their company and its competitors. Retailers that create a large follower base can use data and sentiment monitoring to understand the consumer mindset better and more accurately forecast trends in shopping behaviors or product preferences. Monitoring social media and expanding social commerce opportunities can create high loyalty with a fan base.

The continuing rise of social commerce presents a burgeoning opportunity for retailers and brands because the hottest leads on TikTok today are people and influencers, not brands. As yet, brands are missing out. Retailers have a golden opportunity to figure out how to create revenue from social media and drive future social commerce if they can secure followings like the top individual influencers. Once retailers figure out the TikTok model, it should become a tremendous source of revenue. Live streaming to showcase events and deliver personalized selling can fuel loyalty with social commerce platforms like TikTok Shop.

Hybrid Shopping And Seamless Shopper Journey

Retailers want to deliver a seamless experience across all shopping methods, including online, in-store, mobile devices, social media, and live streaming. However, providing a holistic view of the shopping journey requires that retailers merge the siloed data across every business function into a synchronized format that all groups can view within an organization, including merchants, marketing, store operations, digital teams, human resources, and finance. All consumer shopping data has to be consistent and accurate; unstructured data needs to be parsed into readable formats and merged with structured data, so decision-makers and automatic processes can take proper actions. By synchronizing the data in near real-time, various groups in an organization can collaborate and build strategies relevant to the core market. Synchronized data allows for precise personalization for individuals and segmented groups of customers. With the phasing out of third-party cookie data by 2024 that has been widely available through Google, retailers will need to ramp up efforts to synchronize the first-party data they have in their data warehouses to deliver a seamless, hybrid shopping journey.

Store Design Shifts And Mixed-use Spaces

Nichole Lucero organizes a display of Cal Bears merchandise at the Target Express store in Berkeley, Calif. on Tuesday, April 7, 2015. The Minneapolis-based big box retailer opened the smaller store near the UC Berkeley campus which caters to the university.

Store designs have been imperative over the past two years as retailers adjust store sizes and dabble in experiential retailing. Larger format stores like Walmart and Target have tested smaller formats like the Target Campus stores or Walmart’s Neighborhood Markets. At the same time, Target recently announced it plans to invest in larger stores that offer 20,000 more square feet of space than its average store and include new store design features. Many retailers are adding features to support new shopping initiatives such as curbside pick-up, fulfillment from stores, and pick-up in-store. Ulta Beauty recently announced its store redesign that will put forth its beauty point of view through merchandising and design elements.

Mall developers and community leaders are leaning into the concept of mixed-use space that offers shopping, living, dining, and other community spaces that serve a specified market. In Columbus, OH, the business district is developing Gravity, which caters to artists, social innovators, and entrepreneurs. New York’s Governor Hochul recently announced a $26 million mixed-use development to provide high-quality housing and commercial space in Oswego as part of its Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

Consumerism Curtailment

2023 is the year that we will see consumers slowing down — in other words, a consumerism curtailment. Repair, recycling, reuse, and thrifting will grow. Simply put, consumers will buy less stuff and be more invested in understanding the product life cycle. Retailers have already started to address this area by adding pre-owned items to their product assortments. REI has its pre-loved outdoor gear for sale for its members, and lululemon has its Like New program. Levi has worked with Thread-Up for many years, and Walmart has its pre-owned items for sale. Patagonia has been a pioneer in transparency in the supply chain, and Everlane and Eileen Fisher. As Gen Z earns more money and becomes more powerful in voting with their dollars, companies focusing on sustainability will win out. Pre-owned products, recycling, and reusing are becoming more mainstream and increasingly expected by consumers.

Among today’s retail trends, these five are the most relevant for the industry. Other focus areas for retailers will be workforce reshaping (for example, achieving the proper balance of on-site versus remote and creating environments of inclusivity) and community as a pillar of investment and focus. The shopper journey remains center stage as the year winds down and retailers look to the future. - Shelley E. Kohan

10/12/2022

COVID restrictions are over. Time to get out there with people again:

Adding in-person experiences back into the marketing mix needs a new vision as well as adaptability, to effectively blend both digital and the physical connections.

06/01/2021

Elevating ideas, innovating technology, sacrificing the norms! Watch this awesome series on History Channel, hulu, or Philo. The brands that changed the World:

05/02/2021

WELCOME MONKEY OVERLORDS - While you were busy growing your business, creating money-making content, and absolutely slaying your digital sales and marketing goals this past week, here are the big digital marketing news stories you missed:

This week in digital marketing news, Twitter and YouTube saw revenue growth, the senate is mad at social media, podcasting continues to grow, and more.

04/13/2021

One year after COVID shutdowns our economy is improving everywhere you look. We are growing and hit an "inflection point," where the outlook has "brightened substantially" following progress in the COVID-19 vaccination program and strong fiscal and monetary support.

The U.S. economy is about to start growing much more quickly with hiring set to pick up speed as vaccines roll out, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in an interview with CBS.

04/12/2021

Success is not always the same for everyone? Everyone is different. We are not all the same.

A friendly reminder that success looks different in every individual. Some take time, some have instant success, and some take years before even realizing what success means to them. Don't look at your own journey through someone else's lens.

01/29/2021

Hedgefund managers on Wall Street tried to call foul on the stock market yesterday after prices soared for Game Stop and AMC Movie theaters. GameStop a friend of the little guy, and beloved AMC Entertainment fought the Wall Street goliaths beating them at their own game.

The way it works is that an investor, more usually a hedge fund or similar entity trading on behalf of multiple investors, borrows shares to sell at what they think is a high price, only to buy them back at a lower price and profit off the gap between prices.

On Wednesday, GameStop closed at a record high $347.51 following a 135% surge, while AMC shares quadrupled in price as buying by individual investors clashed with Wall Street firms holding short positions.

10/30/2020

GOOD DEALS - Netflix is clearly taking the country’s bifurcated economic situation into account.

The price of its least expensive, Basic plan — offering one, non-HD stream — will remain at $8.99 per month.

The price of its most popular, mid-priced, Standard plan — offering two HD streams — is rising $1 or 8%, from $12.99 to $13.99.

The highest increase has been reserved for those who can afford the Premium plan, which offers four streams and includes 4K Ultra HD content. That price has been hiked by $2 or 12.5%, from $15.99 to $17.99.

Recognizing the economic bifurcation in the U.S., Netflix kept its Basic plan at $8.99 per month, and saved the biggest hike for its Premium plan: up $2, or 12.5%, to $17.99.

09/28/2020

NEW STUDY - Consumers Expect To Shop More Online After COVID-19: by Ray Schultz. Consumers have changed their buying habits forever in response to COVID-19, according to the third annual Selligent Global Connected Consumer Index.

Of the 5,000 individuals polled worldwide, 29% expect to shop more online than in person in the future. Another 35% will stick with both, and 36% give a flat-out no to the question about moving online.

In another finding, 75% say their jobs and income have been harmed by COVID-19. Job losses have affected 79% of women compared to 71% of men. But 82% believe they will be employed again within six months to a year.

Meanwhile, 58% feel remote work will be in their future.

But while 56% plan to make new purchases to support this new lifestyle, they are cautious about non-essential spending, the report says.

They also are nervous about their privacy — 64% say it is more important than the online experience. And that figure dropped ten points from the 2019 study

During this period, 55% unsubscribed from brand emails because they were getting too many. In addition, 20% opted out because it was too long since their last interaction with the brand, 13% because they never signed up and 10% out of loyalty to other brands.

Of the consumers polled, 32% open from 1-25% of emails they receive. Another 26% open 25-50%, and 19% of respondents open 50-75%. Only 10% open 75-99% and a lowly 6% open everything.

However, 76% welcome real-time mail or app updates on delays or change in shipping.

Consumers in the following countries prefer email for purchase updates:

North America — 57%
Belgium — 72%
France — 56%
Germany — 51%
Italy — 56%
Netherlands — 65%
Spain — 53%
UK — 64%

Among the generations, 69% of boomers prefer email for purchase updates, versus 64% of Gen Xers, 57% of millennial an 41% of Gen Z.

In contrast, only 18% of boomers want mobile, compared to 29% of Gen Xers, 36% of the millennial cohort and 48% of Gen Z.

In addition, the following percentages say email is their preferred way to contact customer service:

North America — 28%
Belgium — 50%
France — 34%
Germany — 36%
Italy — 33%
Netherlands — 36%
Spain — 21%
UK — 37%

Finally, 52% of consumers are spending most on digital and non-digital entertainment such as alcohol to fight boredom.

In fact, one in five millennials is spending most of their non-discretionary funds on booze. Regionally, 27% of Americans prioritize alcohol, compared to 14% in Europe.

04/25/2020

Brand Intimacy Is Key As COVID-19 Impacts Media And Entertainment

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased our need for escapism.
As people isolate and stay at home during these unprecedented times, they are looking for new sources of distraction and comfort.
This has a direct impact on the media & entertainment industry, and specifically on streaming services. These services are becoming increasingly important and relevant in today's climate.

The media & entertainment industry already ranked first for the third year in a row in MBLM's Brand Intimacy 2020 Study, which is the largest study of brands based on emotions. The study, now in its 10th year, reveals that streaming platforms dominated the industry, with Amazon Prime topping the industry followed by Disney and Netflix.

Brand Intimacy is defined as the emotional science that measures the bonds we form with the brands we use and love. This new paradigm is even more important today as brands must adjust their roles and applicability during these challenging times.

In addition, according to the study, the top intimate brands in the U.S. continued to significantly outperform the top brands in the Fortune 500 and S&P indices in both revenue and profit over the past 10 years.

While (or because) movie theaters are closed, concerts put on hold, sports games are paused and the production of movies and TV shows is suspended for the time being, our reliance on other parts of the industry such as streaming services continues to increase.
According to a survey of 2,000 Americans done by OnePoll for streaming service Tubi, Americans are spending eight hours streaming content daily, and the average survey respondent has four services, while 38% have five or more.

Brands that are part of this ecosystem are seeing positive benefits from this increased demand. Walt Disney has added 50 million subscribers to Disney+, which only launched in November 2019. Netflix has seen its stocks rise to a new record on April 15th.
Amazon is bolstering its streaming content and has added child and family-friendly content for free, with some HBO shows and Warner Bros. movies, as well as CBSN, a digital news channel.
While content, gaming and streaming brands are generally booming, ESPN and other sports brands and apps have experienced a 40% decline in use.

The demand presents a unique opportunity for brands in this landscape to stream content that can create strong bonds with consumers, which can continue once the pandemic eases.
We believe this new, diverse content will help distinguish brands in this space. Netflix is doing interesting things to build social bonds with Netflix Party, and AT&T has added Epix, Starz, Cinemax and HBO for free for their users.

In our study, one core element of Brand Intimacy is archetypes, with six key archetypes, patterns or markers consistently present among intimate brands. They are: fulfillment, identity, enhancement, ritual, nostalgia and nostalgia -- and each brand has its own DNA code of what makes them connect with users.

Ritual, which relates to a brand being ingrained into daily actions, was the top archetype for the media & entertainment brands in our study. We expect this to remain key. However, we anticipate that brands that are altering their offerings may alter their Brand Intimacy profile as well.

As our stay-at-home orders continue and our behaviors are changing, we believe that three archetypes may become more significant: indulgence -- which relates to creating a close relationship centered around moments of pampering and gratification -- identity -- which reflects shared values or brands that have an aspirational quality -- and nostalgia, hearkening to warm memories, may all become more important.

The media & entertainment industry is already a Brand Intimacy powerhouse, and we expect many brands to evolve and advance their offerings and to be among those that succeed in our post-pandemic world. - Mario Natarelli

04/07/2020

Innovating new products during the slumping economy helps to grow market share.

Companies that raised ad budgets during the 1974-75 recession gained market share and increased sales or at least prevented erosion, said research published in the "Harvard Business Review."