Long Term vs. Short Term Marketing
5 in 5 - Brave & Heart HeartBeat #113 ❤️
Struggle to get your noggin around long-term and short-term marketing? Don't worry, us too (sometimes.)
It's especially relevant during Pride month, a magical time in which companies capitalise on the “trending” topic of the moment (without much concern for the meaning of Pride) to meet short-term goals, and then return to business as usual in July (Pride, what Pride?).
Which is the better tactic? Are they actually different? Can you do both at once?
Let’s get into it.
#1 - Can We Do Both?
Usually, no. Need more info? Okay fine.
So, the basic idea is that brand and sale objectives are so different that you can’t fulfil both at once. Low prices and offers sell, for example, but they don’t lend value to a luxury brand.
But we know that both are necessary, so there are two ways of going about it.
1 – By separating work into two connected units. Different budgets and tactics are used for the two different goals. The long-term cultivated brand is of course evoked in the short-term ads - it's usually more expensive and more telling, complex to manage.
2 – By swaying from one to the other - in times of feast, build your brand, in times of famine, forget brand, shift em quick! This is the "easier" approach, but tends to wax and wane your brand alongside your sales.
The ever wise Mark Ritson, however, goes with number 1. The two games are connected, but they need to be played very differently.
The best brand campaigns do this by having a variation on one long running theme, and whichever ones came to mind when you read that are the ones doing it very right.
The Best Of Both Worlds
#2 - Personalised Advertising Doesn’t Work
The personified example of short-term marketing, usually brought on by ourselves by either subscribing to a brand newsletter or just simply giving them our email… is personalised advertising.
You know, that email that you get that says ‘Hi “Name” do you want to buy this thing?’.
Does it make you want to buy that thing? No. I mean, no more than you already did, right?
Marketers seem to think that personalised targeting in its many forms is superior to mass media reach, because it’s new and sexy. However, these are the same people praising the merits of story-telling and not realising how the two directly contradict each other.
Powerful story-telling is universal, and it’s power comes from the amount of people that know these stories and how it makes them feel.
As opposed to just nudging them in the direction of your brand, give them a reason to be interested, or it’s not going to be enough.
Hi Do You Have A Moment To Talk About Jesus
#3 - Is This Phone Bugged?
Yes and no. Advertisers are listening to you, in one way or another, but not necessarily through your mic. Relieved? You shouldn’t be, the scariest part about it is that advertisers don’t even need to listen to know everything about your life.
These ads can target you and exactly what you like, who you are and where you are thanks to a profile that has been built up of you over time, thanks to big-time data harvesters Facebook and google who build "models" of you and people like you.
Facebook is of course the worst here, with Zuckerburg even having been accused of exploiting traumas in their advertising policies. All in a day’s work… can we say bye Sheryl instead of bye Felicia now? Too soon?
These kind of ads are called “behavioural advertising” and when you bring it back to our topic du jour this is short-term marketing that may even leave a stain on their brand. That’s why most of these targeted ads come from low cost brands with nothing to lose, think cheaper lower end, or even amazon.
Every Day Is Watergate
#4 - Advertising is cancelled.
Another Mark Ritson article appearing here, because the man just keeps hitting it out of the park, and this time his musings on the “advertising backlash”.
Advertising has become a dirty word, everyone wants to be a “brand builder” or a “marketing communication expert” or a “storytelling strategist”. Well kids do you know what those things all have in common? Yes, they’re advertising.
It seems that in the short-term vs. long-term makerting debate, short-term advertising is getting a bad rep, and long-term brand building is seen as a noble quest.
Well, the long and short of it is that a brand still has to make money, and although the CMO of pepsi recently dissed advertising as being a one-sided conversation, and thinks brands should create “opt-in” experiences to stay relevant, there is no way in hell he would rely on that for his bottom line.
That's Over It's Cancelled
#5 - A Practical Example
And finally, to end today’s Ted talk, a practical example.
Stella Artois’ newest ad makes a point of showing that their newest release is “au natural” by ensuring that everyone in the advert is stark naked. That’s new, and in the short-term it advertises their new beer to us.
It also uses the iconic Stella Artois branding. The atmosphere is European, they talk about Belgium, Eric Cantona isn’t in it (or the seagulls) but you can almost hear his mad yet dulcet tones just by looking at the screen. The long-term brand building is present.
Stella Artois’ long-term brand building and storytelling is even more notable when you think about their brand connotations for younger generations, European and slightly fancy but also down to earth and funny. Compared to what slight older buyers may think of when they think of the word Stella. We won't spell it out here, but hey, Google it.
Their brand is re-built, and their new beer successfully advertised. Woo.
Naked European Beer, What's Not To Love?
Bonus
Pride month has just begun, but the twitter content and memes are already firing it up.
Enjoy.