Category: Behavior Marketing

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Facebook Embraces Its Image as an MCU Villain With Proposed Rebrand to Metaverse

Facebook is planning to rebrand itself with a new name focused on the “Metaverse.”

Set aside that the name sounds like an MCU villain, the idea behind the metaverse is to create a space similar to the internet, where – according to CNN – users (via digital avatars) can walk around and interact with one another in real time.

Much like Second Life, users could engage in a virtual meeting with remote colleagues as their avatars, and then walk over to a virtual Starbucks to meet up with a friend who lives in another country. The goal is to combine virtual and augmented reality into a new online space.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on stage at an Oculus developers conference in 2016. Copyright: Glenn Chapmann/AFP via Getty Images

As a colleague said when I mentioned this news, “A name that reinforces global domination doesn’t seem in their best interest at the moment.” The social media company has come under fire from regulators over its business practices. As Facebook wants to be known for more than social media, the company plans to announce the new name next week, the Verge reported.

It’s no surprise that Facebook wants to rebrand – and it makes sense that they are leaning into AR and VR. As 5G continues to gain critical mass, we will see a new Internet when our devices will be able to process larger files, including VR and AR, at much faster speeds. So, from a big picture standpoint, this kind of brand evolution is hardly a surprise.

The use of avatars and augmented reality will transform brand engagement. The impact on everything from healthcare and hospitality to engineering and gaming will be unimaginable.

Verizon Ventures is already looking to create new education and training applications that utilize 5G and mobile edge compute for immersive VR experiences in a partnership with Dreamscape. And, Snapchat just announced a new AR content studio to help brands develop platform agnostic experiences.

If you aren’t gearing up for this brave new world and how it will transform your customer’s journey and brand experiences, you need to get ready. In the meantime, contact me if you’d like to know how this will transform your brand. I’m happy to connect you with the experts at my agency.

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Apps Behavior Marketing Consumer Habits Marketing PR Public Relations

Connected Comms Selected to Launch Used Toy Trading App, Operation Playtime

Screen Shot 2020-03-27 at 12.29.26 PMNew App Allows Parents to Pass Along Toys Their Kids’ Old Toys, Keeping Them In the Hands of Children Who Want Them and Out of Our Country’s Landfills

ATLANTA, GA – March 27, 2020 – The virtual public relations and marketing agency, Connected Comms has been selected to introduce Operation Playtime, a new app that helps parents easily pass along their children’ old toys to kids who want them.  

“Currently, 80% of all plastic toys end up in landfills in this country,” said Jennifer Jones-Mitchell, Founder of Connected Comms. “And, that’s just the plastic toys. Consider all the new toy packaging from covers to those little plastic ties that seem to be on every section of new toys. Operation Playtime is a new app where parents can easily pass along all those toys their kids have outgrown. You can earn a few dollars for your trouble (capped at $20 per toy) or choose to donate the toys to daycare centers. As a parent myself, I can tell you, we have closest full of old toys that would be new to a child who wants them.”

Operation Playtime was created by Brian DePass, an advertising executive and father of two who recognized that his house was filled with toys his kids no longer want and decided to create an easy way for parents to pass along those toys to kids who would love them.

Connected Comms will lead media relations, content and social media marketing, influencer programs, leveraging a staple of virtually connected public relations and marketing professionals across the country.  

About Operation Playtime

Operation Playtime is a new app available for download today. The app lets parents pass along used toys to other kids. Parents can sell each used toy in increments of $5.00, capped at a total sale of $20 per toy, or they can choose to donate the used toys to daycare centers. The app is easy to use and 

About Connected Comms

Connected Comms is a virtual public relations and marketing agency that focuses on creating coverage, content and conversation that converts calls to action. Headquartered in Atlanta, Connected Comms leverages a virtually connected workforce across the country. By eliminating the costly overhead of traditional agencies, Connected Comms ensures every penny of our clients’ budgets go toward the client work, not marble lobbies and high-rise views. Learn more: https://www.connectedcomms.com.

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Behavior Marketing Brand Management Cause Marketing Consumer Products Marketing PR Public Relations

Racists’ Attack on Honey Pot Drives Increased Sales as Boycott Fails

As some of you know, Target released an ad in February celebrating a black woman–owned company that sells feminine products and it sparked a flood of negative online reviews where people and bots accused the company of being “racist” to white people. Yes, you read that right. Apparently, spotlighting an African-American owned business is now considered racist by racists.

It seems the biggest outrage came from a moment in the ad where Honey Pot Founder, Beatrice Dixon said,

“The reason why it’s so important for Honey Pot to do well, is so the next black girl that comes up with a great idea, she could have a better opportunity. That means a lot to me.”

This, apparently, prompted some folks to effectively lose their minds online. Some of the negative reviews posted on TrustPilot include:

“I can’t support a company in good faith that is openly racist about their customers.”

“Black girls are empowered using this product… I guess whites girls aren’t. I’ll be letting Target know about this racist company.”

Now, we’ve seen boycotts over the years drive consumer losses and negative press and reviews effectively force brands to either change their ways or present the appearance of change. A great example is the #DeleteUber campaign which initially evolved from stories of misogyny and gender discrimination within the company. When hundred of thousands of consumers shared the #DeleteUber hashtag, Lyft saw a 30% increase in riders and Uber riders dropped by more than 10%, which ignited the ousting of Uber’s Founder.

In the case of Honey Pot, however, the racist agenda backfired as their comments and nasty reviews inspired even greater support for the brand. In fact, Dixon just announced the plant-based feminine hygiene line has seen sales jump to 20%-30% since the backlash began. And, Dixon said as of today, her company’s sales were 50% higher than what they would be on a typical day.

In fact, it seems the boycott actually created greater brand awareness for Honey Pot as seen by these Tweets:

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Meanwhile, Dixon isn’t taking the boycott personally. She told Buzzfeed,

“I can’t expect them to understand the plight of what it is to be a black woman co-founder in business. Black-owned businesses do not get a lot of support from the venture capital world. That’s why it was important for me to talk about the success of the Honey Pot Company in empowering black girls to start their businesses, so that black women entrepreneurs could refer to my company when they’re raising money or selling and running their companies.When things like this happen, things change.”

This is such a remarkable example of the power of the online boycott and online reviews driving sales, even if that wasn’t the original intent.

View the original Target ad here:

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Behavior Marketing Brand Management Case Study Cause Marketing Consumer Habits Marketing Strategy PR Public Relations

Chewy Creates Personal Brand Connections For Grieving Pet Owners

Earlier this week, I blogged about the importance of creating personalized brand experiences for your customers. Today, I heard a story describing how the pet brand, Chewy, does exactly that.

Screen Shot 2020-01-24 at 1.29.54 PMMost of us know that pets are more than just pets, they are family. And, losing a pet can be devastating. When Laura Waltenburg’s sister’s two dogs passed away suddenly, she was crushed. To add insult to injury, her sister had just placed a large order of dog food for the pair from Chewy.

Of course, with both of her beloved pups gone, Laura’s sister had no use for the dog food anymore, so she asked to return the food for a refund. Laura explains on Facebook:

“My sister and brother-in-law tragically lost both of their dogs this past weekend. After this happened, they received two 40-pound bags of dog food that they had ordered from the Chewy company. My brother-in-law sent them an email requesting permission to send the dog food back for a refund, minus the shipping cost.”

The company not only refunded the couple’s money and asked them to donate the food to a local shelter; Chewy also sent a condolence bouquet with a card and asked for photos of the couple’s dogs to add to their online customer memorial. 

This is not the first time that Chewy has honored the fallen pets of their customers. When dog owner Joseph Inabnet’s precious Bailey died, Chewy was there for him during the grieving process. After paying him back for some prescription dog food for his dog, the company told him to donate the rest and even sent Inabnet a condolences card and an oil painting of his dog.

In another incident, the company also sent one woman a beautiful canvas picture of her beloved dog after she lost her battle with cancer. The company had been following the dog’s 4-year battle with cancer.

Of course, your brand may not lend itself so easily to this kind of customer engagement. But, finding ways to create genuine personal connections with your customers; something that only your brand can do for and with them, drives the kind of customer loyalty that lasts.

If you need help finding ways to create deep and meaningful customer connections, email me at Connected Comms.

 

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Advertising Apps Behavior Marketing Brand Management business marketing Cause Marketing Consumer Habits Consumer Products Content Marketing Corporate Communications Data mining Digital Media Marketing Marketing Strategy Mobile Marketing PR Public Relations

Personalization Is The Marketing Trend for 2020

three-effective-approaches2020 will be the year of personalized marketing as consumers now expect brand experiences to be designed just for them and the real-time data available today allows companies to deliver unique messages to an increasingly micro-targeted audience. But, what does this look like for brands?

APPS DELIVER PERSONAL CONNECTIONS

More brands will develop and release custom apps to deliver fully personalized experiences for their customers, delivering the convenience and custom content that drives deep connections. Brands should also explore partner apps for content sharing. Younger generations are moving away from large, public-facing social media platforms and are seeking out personalized experiences through interest-driven apps. For example, instead of joining a Facebook group for runners, younger generations prefer the personalized experience of Nike’s Running Club app. These interest-specific apps need expert content. Identifying the right partners to share your brand’s content will be crucial to creating personalized connections, amplifying brand reach and, ultimately, driving calls to action.

CONTENT CONNECTS IN A MEANINGFUL WAY

Speaking of content, it will become more personalized as well. Live streaming is going to continue to grow and is a terrific way to create personalized brand moments. Dynamic adaptive content will also become more valuable, especially for brands where location plays a large role in consumer engagement. Enabling web content to change based on individual demographics, behaviors and preferences ensures you deliver content that is personalized, valuable and meaningful to each consumer. 

CONVERSATIONAL SEARCH KICKS OFF CUSTOMER JOURNEYS

Brands should also consider how personalization impacts search. As more people use voice search, personalized, conversational queries will kick-off the customer journey. After hitting his toe on a chair, a guy isn’t going to find his phone, open Google and type “broken toe.” Instead, he will shout, “Alexa, how do I know if my toe is broken?” For this example, healthcare brands should ensure all content is tagged and titled for conversational search – e.g. a video titled “How to know if my toe is broken.” This is true for locational search as well. In keeping with the healthcare category, people are going to ask, “Hey Siri, where can I get a flu shot?” By optimizing content for geo-tagged conversational search, brands can deliver these consumers right to their doors; early adopters will be the winners here. 

MICRO-INFLUENCERS CREATE DEEPER CONNECTIONS

We are also seeing personalization impact influencers and media relations. The days of the Kardashians’ $100,000 brand tweet are over. Consumers are more interested in micro-influencers who create more personal interactions. Influencers with just a few thousand relevant followers who can authentically speak to consumers’ experiences will have a greater impact than the celebrity with 20 million followers.

ADAPTIVE DYNAMIC CONTENT DEFINES MEDIA PITCHING

Online media outlets are also leveraging dynamic adaptive content to serve up the stories each individual wants to see. In other words, what you see on CNN’s homepage is different from what I see, based on my recent clicks. So, it’s imperative that marketers understand, not just where target consumers get their news, but also the types of stories they want to see and pitch accordingly.

SHARE VALUES CREATE CUSTOMER CONNECTIONS

Finally, personalization means sharing the values of your customers. 85% of consumers seek out brands that support the causes they care about. This can be tricky terrain given the varying demographics and polarization of communities today. Identifying a universal cause or isolating values that speak to all consumers will be critical. But, it will be even more important to see cause marketing promoted in a personal way that is customized to each customer.

The bottom line is the macro trend of personalization will play out in a myriad of micro ways. Identifying the right strategies that deliver personal connections with your consumers will be the driver of brand preference and loyalty.

If you need help defining your personalization marketing strategy, visit Connected Comms or email me directly Jennifer (at) connected comms dot com.