Marketing Trends for 2012

In a fast-paced digital age, marketing is becoming more targeted through a variety of channels...but also more cluttered. With competitors vying for the same parts of the market share, it's becoming more difficult for companies to distinguish themselves and be successful at selling products.

Socialmediatoday.com recently posted an entry on how companies can set themselves apart in the coming year. They outline the top communications and PR strategies for 2012 and what they feel can be the most innovative ways to sell products.

5 tips are outlined for marketing success in the coming year:

1. Digital First
2. Decentralize Social Media
3. "I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends"
4. Customize This!
5. Brand News World

These 5 tactics will help companies get their part of the intended market share, according to Socialmediatoday.com's research.

They say that by getting content online first before any other medium is crucial. Potential customers look at the web first, so to appeal to these eager customers, companies need to post first and print later.

Secondly, companies need to decide if social media will give them return on their investments. Social media only works if the target audience is active on these platforms, otherwise the time is not well spent here.

Companies should also use buzz marketing and use their friend contacts to help get the word out about their products. Positive personal testimonials often go a lot farther than ads.

By using customizable advertising tactics, companies can appeal to customers who appreciate novelty. The less generic, the more products can stand out and appeal to potential buyers.

Lastly, companies should begin to think like journalists: tell stories instead of creating graphic adds. People are more socially inclined and are captivated by stories. No one wants to be conned into buying a product by coerced and manipulative ads. But people can relate to and be moved by stories.

Socialmediatoday argues that using these ideas rather than traditional marketing has a potentially higher affect than the tactics in the past. I in part agree. Eventually customers will be conditioned to old ways of advertising and will be less likely to buy. Companies need to be innovative if they are to survive in a dog-eat-dog market.

*Photo courtesy of Socialmediatoday.com

Domino's: Create Pizza on iPad and Order for Delivery

Domino's Facebook

Domino's Pizza Hero app virtually allows customers to make pizza on their iPads.

The Domino's Pizza Hero is an app for the iPad that is essentially a game that teaches you how to make pizzas. The app leads you through the steps of making a pizza such as kneading the dough, spreading the sauce, sprinkling the cheese etc. Go through pizza school, play through 11 levels and survive "the rush."

The game is great, but is there more to this than just making a virtual pizza to get the highest points? Actually, there is! The app also allows consumers to create their own pizza to be sent in and ordered for pickup or delivery.



For integrated marketing and communications, creativity and changing with the times is essential for a business to be successful. Domino's of an app on a device that is always growing such as the iPad, is very smart. Not only does the app intrigue the consumer to play the game and compete with others, but it entices them to order pizza as well.

This app is one of the first that has a game involved while still allowing the consumer to order a pizza in the middle of the fun.

How Social Networks (Might) Change Marketing

An article on Adweek.com shows that social networks like Facebook are helping shape the marketing industry. Of course, this is not new information. Companies utilize social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Tumblr, but in relation to the effectiveness of these platforms in marketing, a new angle is being taken.

What some businesses are hoping to do is use platforms like Facebook that will show pop-up ads when potential customers get near stores. Although this idea seems popular with some companies, the annoyance level may be high for some customers. It's really a hit or miss with the target audience.

Paul Adams, Facebook's brand experience manager, says, "It's a really stupid idea."

The integration of ads in social media is no new concept, but the way it's being done is relatively innovative. Normally ads on Facebook are generated by user interests on their profiles. Now ads will be generated based on location, specifically with those with mobile apps. Exposure rates are high, but are they as effective as other kinds of marketing?

Word-of-mouth marketing, or buzz marketing, is often more powerful than that of common advertising. A potential customer is more likely to take the advice of a friend on a product than to be conned into its use by an advertisement. This is often true with lower investment purchases, such as small appliances or technologies. But higher end purchases that require more facts and research may bring different results with this kind of pop-up advertising. It could be a gateway to certain products. But time will tell whether or not this kind of advertising can be effective.

Sickweather is in the forecast

A new kind of 'social network' is seeking to capitalize on the cold/flu-ridden.

Sickweather is startup business that both tracks diseases and functions as a social network. This network scans various social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, and looks for illnesses that could be affecting those in your community. Adweek has referred to this as "social media for hypochondriacs" due to its ability to detect and filter real time updates of people reporting illnesses.

Using algorithm technologies, this system compares the real time data against other sources, including its own online community (in which you actively participate in by signing up with a login and password and contribute to their database) and creates "maps" of sickness to alert users of their potential risks.

The system claims to be able to track everything from simple colds to chronic illnesses, and even depression. This tool allows the worrisome to check on the health of their friends and families at any time (permitting that they update their status via Sickweather).

What's interesting about this hybrid social media is how it plans to make money as a startup business. It's hoping to earn revenue by strategically placing ads on health sites, targeted to "suburban moms, business travelers and others who actively dodge illness" who may use this tool. This symptom-targeted advertising also plans on hosting healthcare providers on its own site.

Since this is a startup business their IMC approach is different. They haven't yet become established enough to fully utilize all outlets of strategic marketing communications. However, what they do have going for them is their use of certain outlets to hit a specific target audience. They're positioning themselves to be specialized in a field where there are a lot of health-alert sites and social media platforms. But instead of just being a source of information, they're a business. And they are using other publications (like Adweek) and news releases to promote themselves.

Overall, Sickweather's strategies are still pretty pliable. They seem to be in the trial stages of their development, but with any luck, they may get featured in ad space on online healthcare sites and begin to profit from the hypochondriac market.

Photo credit: http://news.discovery.com/infectious-diseases/

Social Media Calls for a Change in Marketing Approachs

The innovation of social media has not only changed our social lives, but the way companies market their brand or product. Now social media acts as the interaction between the company and the consumer without road blocks.

Today companies, school organizations, artists, musicians and more all use social media as a marketing tool. This use of social media is going to be utilized more and more in the near future and has already had an apparent effect on even established brands.

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese decided to start a new campaign recently and use the newer free promotional tools social media has to offer.

The campaign is directed towards an older generation, which shares the notion that Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is not only loved by kids, but by adults as well. Kraft released a TV commercial with a new slogan "you know you love it," showing an adult's love for the product.



With the start of a new campaign underway, Kraft had to develop new ways to promote their product. They did this by aiming at Twitter because of the platforms popularity with more of the adult audience.

So far Kraft has done 3 programs in an effort to build social media engagement: Mac & Jinx, Mac & Cheese TV and Smile Tagging.

I think that campaigns such as these will become more prevalent with companies and integrating social media into the overall marketing plan will start to take hold as well. Businesses should take note that times are changing and social media is now taking a place in the marketing world.

All 3 of Kraft's programs call for Twitter users to tweet about mac & cheese or to be engaged in an activity to win something from the company. For more of an overview on Kraft's new campaign and the success they have had using Twitter, check out Todd Wasserman's blog that gives an overview of Kraft and it's new campaign and programs on Masable.