Marketing the Rules have Changed

My daughter, I�m told, is a typical Gen Y. She rarely watches T.V. and therefore misses out on T.V. advertising, she does not read a newspaper and also misses out on that form of advertising and when she goes shopping she is cynical of most in-store advertising. How does the market get their message out to her and the rest of Gen Y? They do, very successfully; they in fact reward her with gifts when she actively does the marketing for a product. Savvy promoters realise that the one thing she is addicted to is community with her friends via the computer in her bedroom. If they can catch her attention via the computer they can then develop a �viral� marketing strategy to grow their business. Claire and the Street Team I guess nearly every one reading this article is not aware of Claire Clarke. Claire is sponsored by �Emily The Strange� (have I still lost you) which is a clothing and fashion range aimed specifically at Generation Y. Claire and Bluestone Records have developed an intriguing marketing campaign which could be adapted for other industries. My daughter discovered Claire via �myspace.com�, the most hit website for the youth market. Let me reverse this, Claire contacted my daughter via �My Space� and asked her what she thought of her music and invited her to a local music gig. By getting my daughter onto Claire�s My Space webpage, the singer could establish a viral marketing campaign. Claire developed the Street Team, her own marketing organisation using the actual customer. Basically, she sets challenges to spread the word. Each challenge provides points. The more points the person accumulates the bigger the prize. Examples of the Challenges The first challenge, or mission to use the jargon, was to print out as many Claire flyers as you like from her webpage and distribute them at local CD stores, schools, libraries and around the community, achieve this and you get 10 points. Another challenge was to attend Claire’s video clip as an extra, the more people you invited, the more points you receive. To get the points you need to take a photo and put it on Claire’s website as proof that you were there. If my daughter advertises Claire on her �My Space� webpage via banners or songs she once again recieves more points. The prizes include a T-Shirt (for 50 points), a cap (for 150 points), a copy of her CD (for 300 points) and so on. By the way all these items promote Claire on them. You get rewarded with material that increases the promotion. Paul McCartney and a cup of Coffee Not only do I have a challenge keeping up with my daughters retail marketing concepts, but I had a more serious problem when it came to my wife. She is a Paul McCartney fan, and we live in Perth. In case you are unaware of my dilemma, Paul’s new C.D. was only launched via Starbucks coffee shops and we do not have Starbucks in Perth. It is estimated that Starbucks could sell 5.5 million copies. Paul’s historical target market has been Baby Boomers who traditionally would go to a �record shop� to obtain a C.D. But, Paul wishes to hit a new market, the Jones Generation, who are part of the coffee set. Paul and Starbucks have joined forces to produce and release his C.D. This may well be a future trend, the coffee shop, as well as ipod downloads are eating away at the CD store marketshare. In todays complex market you need to be an entreupeneur and think outside the box. It is not about captital, in fact if you’re clever you can actually pass that cost onto your customers and advocates. The challenge is what are the unique tipping points that can make a difference to your marketing campaign. John Stanley is an internationally recognised conference speaker and retail consultant with over 25 years experience in 18 countries. He has authored several successful marketing and retail books including the best seller Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know. John’s retail experience covers hands-on retailing in supermarkets, hardware stores, garden centres, farmers markets and drug stores. For more information John Stanley and his services visit his website www.johnstanley.cc