INDUSTRY NEWS AND UPDATES
1)Another Day, Another Ambassador
Myntra, one of India's leading fashion, beauty, and lifestyle e-commerce platforms, has announced Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. This move aims to highlight the brand's focus on "Trend-First Fashion" and bring attention to its unique offerings. Shah Rukh Khan, known as "King Khan," is a highly respected and popular figure in Indian cinema, and his association with Myntra is expected to elevate the brand's visibility and appeal to a wider audience.
The partnership is part of Myntra's "Trend IRL" campaign, which aims to showcase the latest fashion trends and styles. With Shah Rukh Khan on board, Myntra hopes to create a lasting impression on its customers and solidify its position as a trendsetter in the Indian fashion industry.
2)PayTm ?! Up ?!
Paytm's stock price surged 7% on Thursday after the company announced a partnership with Samsung, integrating Samsung Wallet into the Paytm app. This move allows Galaxy smartphone users to purchase bus and airline tickets, as well as movie and event tickets, directly through Samsung Wallet without needing to switch between multiple apps.
The partnership aims to enhance consumer convenience by providing a seamless, integrated booking experience directly through Samsung Wallet, facilitating access to a wide range of services through Paytm. The stock has rebounded more than 20% over the past week, with the recent surge largely due to a change in the circuit filter. Additionally, Paytm has received IRDAI's approval to withdraw its application to register as a general insurance company, further boosting investor confidence.
3)Coke and Starbucks…
Coca-Cola and Starbucks have filed trademark applications in Russia to protect their intellectual property rights after exiting the country in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The beverage giant Coca-Cola filed three trademark applications in April, while Starbucks submitted eight similar applications towards the end of May. This move aims to safeguard their trademark rights and maintain their brand presence in Russia despite their exit from the market. The companies have taken this step to protect their intellectual property assets globally, ensuring their continued brand recognition and value in the regions.
EXPERT INSIGHTS
Something from Tim Ferris
Tim Ferriss, a renowned author and podcaster, has shared valuable insights on marketing through his various projects and ventures. He emphasizes the importance of building clientele and mitigating risk by experimenting with low-cost approaches, such as food trucks or popups, and gathering feedback from early adopters.
Ferriss also highlights the significance of raising awareness for new productivity tools by observing people using them and encouraging feedback, rather than just asking for opinions. He stresses the need for marketers to be ruthlessly selective about the books they read, preferring older books for timeless wisdom, and to drop uninteresting books without guilt.
Additionally, Ferriss recommends the low-information diet, avoiding push news and social media notifications, and using curated newsletters for information gathering. He also shares insights on marketing strategies, including the importance of setting ultra-high prices, leveraging social media, and building a strong personal brand.
Ferriss discusses marketing principles such as the importance of identifying your ideal customer, building relationships, and creating high-quality content. He also emphasizes the need to be different and stand out in a crowded market.
LATEST MARKETING TRENDS AND ANALYTICS
The latest marketing trends with data according to Google Trends 2024-25 indicate a shift towards voice search, multisearch, and generative AI. Voice search is becoming increasingly popular, with predictions that there will be 8.4 billion voice assistants by 2024.
Multisearch, which involves using images and text simultaneously, is also trending, making search more natural and intuitive.
Generative AI is transforming the way information is organized, and marketers should consider how to leverage this technology to provide clear and direct answers in each channel.
Accurate product data and high-quality images are crucial for visual search, and marketers should ensure their product data is up-to-date and comprehensive.
Seasonal trends are also important, with certain keywords and topics being more popular during specific times of the year. Long-tail keywords are more specific and better reflect user intent, making them a valuable target for marketers.
Competitor analysis is also crucial, with Google Trends allowing businesses to compare their brand with competitors and identify areas for improvement.
Customer feedback is essential for guiding marketing decisions, and marketers should use data from Google Trends to validate their research and align product offerings with customer needs.
CREATIVE CAMPAIGNS
Chanel's Mother's Day campaign featured illustrations of their iconic products drawn by the children of their employees. The inspiration for this campaign came from the kids who would often draw the classic beauty products as they passed by the office. The illustrations were not limited to social media but were also displayed on billboards and the company's website. This campaign was seen as a powerful and nostalgic move, capturing the youthfulness and sentimentality of homemade holiday cards.
The Zomato and Blinkit billboard campaign featuring the playful slogans "Kheer mangoge, kheer denge" (Ask for kheer, we'll give you kheer) and "Doodh mangoge, doodh denge" (Ask for milk, we'll give you milk) was a highly successful and creative marketing collaboration.
The campaign went viral on social media, with many users praising the brands' clever wordplay and engaging marketing approach. Other brands quickly jumped on the trend, creating their own versions of the "doodh-kheer" messaging.
The campaign was seen as an effective way for the two companies, which are owned by the same parent organization, to promote their services in a fun and memorable way. It demonstrated their ability to capitalize on popular culture references and trends to connect with consumers.
MARKETING BOOKS, TOOLS AND OTHER RELEVANT STUFF
Books
1)Decoding your customer’s mind - https://amzn.to/3Rt92pH
The book "Decoding Your Customer's Mind" by Vibhor Asri is a comprehensive guide to understanding customer behavior and psychology. It emphasizes the importance of knowing your target market deeply, beyond just what they say they want. The book highlights how many marketers fail to understand their customers, leading to ineffective marketing strategies. It provides insights into how to position products and services in the customer's mind, build a profile of the ideal customer, and develop persuasive communication. The book also covers how to differentiate products from competitors, predict customer behavior, and create a powerful marketing system. By understanding the customer's mind, entrepreneurs and marketers can develop targeted strategies to increase sales and build loyalty.
2)Don’t sell , make them buy - https://amzn.to/3KKhmxH
A must-read for all those looking to be successful in selling and negotiating. Selling is a skill. Salespeople must learn to be flexible and focus on skill development rather than making sales a step-by-step process or a tool. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to the task, and rigid and scripted interactions are likely to put off the customer. Selling skills need to keep pace with consumerism traits. Salespeople have to understand consumer needs better and build relationships with customers faster, more so in the post-Covid world. In Don’t Sell, Make Them Buy, R. Mukund, an industry expert who has spent over twenty years in sales and customer service training, helps readers understand human interactions from a salesperson’s perspective. Every sales call, he says, is a challenge to test a salesperson’s skills.With his vast range of experience, he provides effective strategies to make selling to customers an enjoyable and easy experience. The extensive case studies and real-life sales situations the author narrates are guaranteed to help readers develop unique methods to sharpen their selling skills.This is an essential guide for all those keen on creating long-lasting relationships with their customers as well as experts looking to upskill their selling and negotiating skills.
Tools
1)Unbounce - https://unbounce.com/
Unbounce is a comprehensive marketing tool designed to help users create, optimize, and test landing pages to boost conversions. It offers a drag-and-drop builder, A/B testing, and visitor segmentation to enhance the performance of landing pages. Unbounce integrates with various platforms, including email marketing tools and CRM systems, and provides robust analytics features for data-driven decision-making. The tool is particularly valuable for businesses and marketers focused on optimizing their landing pages to increase conversions, offering a robust set of features like drag-and-drop page builders, A/B testing, and AI-powered optimization tools.
2)Typeform - https://www.typeform.com/
Typeform is a flexible marketing tool that enables users to collect customer information through surveys, forms, and questionnaires in a conversational manner. It offers a range of features, including a web-based platform for designing forms without coding, integrations with popular platforms like Slack, Google Sheets, and Mailchimp, and robust analytics for data-driven decision-making. Typeform is particularly useful for businesses seeking to streamline their marketing workflows and gather valuable customer insights.