Brand Marketing

By nickjohnson - July 17th, 2013

More evidence that multi-channel marketing is becoming the norm in the age of the accessible consumer

We at Incite have long banged the drum for a more aggressive adoption of multi-channel strategies in marketing and communications departments. Our own research has found that 43% of marcomms executives are now managing 6 or more marketing channels. And a key finding from our recent white paper on the future of marketing and communications looks in depth at how multi-channel is impacting on marcomms strategy.

A recent report from Forrester lends weight to the argument that multi-channel's importance is increasing in marcomms departments across the USA. There's detail on the report here, but we've pulled together some of the more useful statistics for you:

1. 25% of marketers assess themselves as 'mature' multichannel practitioners, while a further 39% characterise themselves as 'in transition'
2. B2B companies lag behind their B2C counterparts in adoption - 69% of B2Cs report they're either mature or transitioning, versus only 59% of B2Bs
3. Measurement is becoming more advanced, and marketers are evolving a more holistic set of metrics. There has been an increase in measurement of metrics like lead nurturing, customer retention, and new account generation.
4. 9.5% of marketers say that 50%+ of revenue can be attributed to automated marketing techniques

Latest Bellweather report shows significant increase in marketing budgets

The most recent IPA Bellwether survey has encouraging news for marketing departments across the world. Large companies are becoming much more aggressive at increasing marketing budgets after a period of caution. 22% of polled companies reported an increase to marketing budgets, against 15% who said budgets were being reduced. The net 7.3% increase is the highest since Q3 2007.

For more detail on the findings from the report, along with reaction from the IPA and Markit, the reports author, head here.

Companies keep making mistakes with Vine

iMedia Connection have pulled together a collection of the worst Vines posted by brands. The offenders they highlight? USA Today, Trident Gum, General Electric, Malibu Rum, Wheat Thins, Americn Apparel and NASCAR

And what's the key advice for brands new to Vine?

1. Don't be boring
2. Remember to use sound
3. Don't use Vine if images will suffice
4. Don't try to cram too much in

For the full article (and all the offending Vines) head over to iMedia Connection.

How your brand can use Instagram - with examples from Nike, MTV and ASOS

The Direct Marketing Association have recently posted an article highlighting some of the more successful Instagram campaigns from big brands. And there were a lot to choose from. According to the DMA, 67 of Interbrand's Top 100 Brands are now on Instagram.

Three of the leading companies according to the group are

1. MTV: Through consistent use of appropriate hashtags, the company could innovate their use of Instagram as a voting mechanism before their Move Awards. At the Awards themselves, they hired a photographer specifically to post to Instagram. The resulting 78 photos were liked and commented on over 16,000 times.
2. ASOS: The online fashion retailer has an easier time of it than most. It taps into vanity by encouraging customers to share photos of their style - riding on the current wave of enthusiasm for 'selfies'. The best submissions are then featured on ASOS.com. The brand not only engages consumers in this way, but can use the influx of photos as an indicator of broader customer interest.
3. Nike: The sportswear giant has leveraged their pre-existing brand strength, amassing 1.5m followers on the network yet posting only 575 times. However, the brand has done well, integrating Instagram tightly with other marketing - and even their products. Their new 'PHOTOiD' service allows customers to use an Instagram photo as a color palette when designing their customizable pair of Nike ID shoes. These shoes can then be bought - or just shated.

That's all for this week. Tune in next Wednesday for more news, analysis and case studies from the cutting edge of marketing and communications.