🍱 Exciting Global Marketing Trends; Own your crazy with Serena Williams, Revive an Indie Bookstore
🍱 Exciting Global Marketing Trends; Own your crazy with Serena Williams, Revive an Indie Bookstore
'We run things, things don't run we'
Hello and welcome back to The Marketing Kable, where I'm taking you along on my journey to discover ideas, voices and campaigns that can inspire us.
something to read
what's trending. Remember those good ole days when trends meant wearing a Kurta with jeans or playing FLAME with classmates? Yeah, well, those days are gone and we are adulting now (urgh). And that means keeping track of global marketing trends so we can stay ahead of the curve.
Today we're reading this juicy report that Deloitte did on marketing trends for 2023. Deloitte spoke to twenty Chief Marketing Officers from all over the world and came away with four trends that could help marketers make their brands even more successful.
Not today, economic instability!
So, what are these CMOs doing to safeguard their companies from economic chaos? They're ramping up their digital game, taking on new markets and exploring different regions, and fine-tuning their customer experience with fancy algorithms and systems.
CMOs are getting their sustainability groove on
Some of them have made sustainability their main jam this year. They're looking to walk the talk by making their internal marketing practices more eco-friendly, selling products and services that won't ruin the planet, and making long-term promises for a more sustainable future.
Creativity is THE superpower
Being creative AF actually helps brands grow. Deloitte talked to over 1,000 executives and found out that companies slaying the game (a.k.a. making bank with annual revenue growth of 10% or more) are more likely to have a mindset that supports creativity.
They don't see it as just a nice-to-have but a necessary ingredient for long-term success. And get this - they're not afraid to take risks and collaborate across different departments to bring those creative ideas to life.
Watch out for the new tech in town
Web3 technologies are the shiny new toys marketers can't wait to play with. The Metaverse is a mashup of different tech that lets you have immersive 3D experiences using AI-powered simulations.
And it's not just the consumer-facing brands getting in on the action - even industries like energy and healthcare are seeing the appeal of the Metaverse. Brands are expecting to use this tech to create seamless connections between the real and virtual worlds in the next couple of years.
Update on this last trend though - Meta just cut another 10,000 jobs and everyone wants to know how much worse this will be for, err, the Metaverse. Seems like just yesterday we were all marvelling at Mark's new Meta legs.
something to watch
crazy is as crazy does. I guarantee if you read the following paragraph without any additional context or details, you'd still know what's being discussed.
“If we show emotion, we’re called dramatic. And if we dream of equal opportunity, delusional. When we’re too good, there’s something wrong with us… And if we get angry, we’re hysterical, irrational or just being crazy.”
You can tell what this is about, right?
Every woman (and men paying attention) have heard a variation of these phrases and adjectives thrown at them when they've gone after something outside the norm.
The new Nike ad has an incredible voiceover by Serena Williams over a montage of badass female athletes crushing it in basketball, soccer, football, and track.
Then, Williams flips the script and points out how these ladies are achieving incredible things that were once thought to be completely nuts.
Who would have thought women could run marathons or throw punches in the ring, right? But that's all old news now.
Winning 23 grand slams and then bouncing back from giving birth like it's nothing? Total madness, according to Williams, as shots of Simone Biles, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Chloe Kim, and the U.S. Women's Soccer team flash on the screen.
At the end of the ad, Williams throws down the gauntlet, daring anyone who calls these women "crazy" to see just how far crazy can take you. Goosebump central.
Just like the Adidas ad we discussed two weeks ago, this is one uplifts you, and preps you for the rest of the day with a new burst of energy and zeal.
something to listen to
light the local lamp. Buckle up frendz, we're going to Harvard!
JK, we're listening to an episode from the Cold Call podcast by Harvard Business Review, which does deep dives into businesses and marketing strategies that stick out in a crowd.
In this episode, host Brian Kenny (Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Harvard Business School), talks to Kwame Spearman, who left his job as a consultant in NYC (gasp!) and decided to take charge of The Tattered Cover, a legendary independent bookstore in his hometown of Denver, Colorado (yes he did).
They're joined by Harvard Business School associate professor Ryan Raffaelli, and the three of them discuss The Tattered Cover's journey to glory in the post-pandemic world. Needless to say, there's lots to learn:
Some background about The Tattered Cover
The way they've described this iconic bookstore, it reminds me of those quaint little places that exist in 90s romcoms where the lovers-to-be cross paths in the Poetry aisle. That classic old book smell envelopes your senses the moment you enter the store, and you're in for a solid three hours, browsing through pages of obscure novels about chimney sweeps and flipping through travelogues written by vivacious colonial-era spinsters making the most of their limited freedom.
The staff, of course, is really into books too and more-than-eager to help you out.
Even though The Tattered Cover has been around for more than 51 years, they still care about giving their customers the best service by finding them the perfect book
A little something about the resilience of Independent bookstores
Independent bookstores are a tough bunch. In the 80s, big mall chains like B. Dalton and Walden Books started popping up, then in the 90s, big box stores like Barnes & Noble and Borders took over.
To make matters worse, in 1995 Amazon.com was created and by 2007 e-readers like the Kindle and Nook were popular. People thought independent bookstores and printed books were doomed.
By 2009, the number of independent bookstores in the US was at its lowest point. But in 2010, something happened, and their numbers started going up again. It's been a decade since, and independent bookstores are still going strong.
What do they get right?
Independent bookstores are doing well again because they understand the importance of community and have been leading the movement of shopping local. They also have specific practices like curating books for the local area and hosting events to bring people together. By doing this, they offer a unique value proposition that can't be found with a simple click on Amazon.
Braving the storm
The Tattered Cover is a business that operates on small margins, but it's worth saving because it provides an important community service. After the pandemic, people are looking for experiences and independent bookstores are a great way to provide that. By getting more foot traffic and creating awareness, the business can make a profit. People want to continue going out and participating in the world, and businesses that can figure that out will be successful.
What do we take away from this?
When things get tough for an industry, they gotta switch things up to make their stuff worth more to the people buying it. It's not just about what it can do; it's about how it makes you feel.
Like why people still buy old-fashioned watches even though they're not as good at telling time as a digital one, it's 'cause they love the craft.
And now, folks are into vinyl records again because it says something about who they are. Buying from local stores is a way bookshops are reinventing themselves because it makes customers feel like they're supporting their community. And that's a way for bookstores differentiate themselves from online giants like Amazon.
something to inspire
to celeb or not to celeb. Random childhood memory time: Once when I was around 7 years old, I took a family trip to visit my aunt, uncle and cousin in New Delhi. They'd just moved into a new home, and their furniture and bedding were all topsy turvy.
One morning, I was given a bowl of Kellogs' Chocos and milk for breakfast (oh to be young and blissfully unaware of the dangers of sugar and processed foods).
After a couple of spoonfuls, I decided to get up from the floor and ceremonially knocked the half-full bowl over with my foot. My uncle scolded me for making a mess, but I was more upset about the Chocos. I loved, loved, LOVED Chocos. And most cereals. I still do, but have (mostly) abandoned them in pursuit of healthier breakfast foods.
Surreal, a U.K. based cereal brand claims that with their product, cereal fans like me won't have to say goodbye to all that crunchy goodness. Their cereal boasts a hefty dose of 12-13 grams of protein derived from plants in each serving, while containing no sugar, high amounts of fiber, and low levels of carbohydrates.
The brand has recently gone viral for a simple but singular trick they used in their latest campaign. Glance at their billboards and you'll find that Michael Jordan loves this stuff. Serena has it for breakfast. It's also Dwayne Johnson's No 1, and Ronaldo's official cereal.
But...
If you take a closer look you'll spot asterisks that tell a different story altogether.
Surreal Cereal didn't have the cash to actually hire these famous people, so they hit the streets and found regular folks with names like celebrities to taste test their cereal and give it rave reviews. If you have a sense of humour (unlike the people throwing stones in LinkedIn comments), you'll see it for what it is - an unorthodox twist on a typical marketing tactic- the celebrity endorsement.
It's the kind of campaign you don't forget once you've looked at it, and it makes you smirk by yourself in public (we all need more of that in this dark grey world).
something to learn
unlock LinkedIn. Another edition of The Marketing Kable, another thing I hate: networking on LinkedIn. I'm not a social person, and whatever conviviality I can fake in real-life situations totally evaporates in online spaces. But, as young marketers, we need to be on LinkedIn. We need to know how it works, at least.
So that's what we're trying to learn today, from this video by Kyle Milan. Milan has two decades of experience in Industrial Sales and Marketing, and he made a short and sweet YouTube video about how to get a grip on LinkedIn.
Just like other social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Insta, there's some fancy AI stuff going on behind the scenes.
But here's the thing: LinkedIn doesn't spill the beans on how their algorithm works, so we gotta rely on tests to figure it out.
So, when you post something on LinkedIn, it only gets shown to a small percentage of your connections at first. And if it gets engagement, then LinkedIn will show it to more people.
But if you really want to boost your engagement, here's a hack: tell one person to post something and then get others to like or share it. That way, LinkedIn will think it's hot stuff and show it to more folks.
LinkedIn's all about delivering relevant content to its users, and their algorithms keep things safe and smooth for everyone. So, it's important to create and share content that's on point and do it often.
And don't forget to be consistent, 'cause you never know when the folks you're trying to reach will pop up.
That's it for this edition of The Marketing Kable. If you received this newsletter as a forward, do consider signing up. It's forever free and just for you.