Email marketing vs. SPAM
Today I opened my inbox to read again dozens of emails from perfect strangers to me who speak as my best friends and even recommend me to buy their medicines although I feel completely healthy. They also promise me to get back my ex. What would my husband say about that?!
Why some marketers still think that once they were good to reach my email they definitely have right to use it? I didn’t ask them, I don’t expect any email, I’m not sick, and in any case I don’t plan to get back the ex.
Does the fact that emailing is for free means that email marketing is free? Definitely not!
My time is worth money and I read all the emails in my inbox. So, I lose time and money while doing this. Furthermore, I feel used or exploited. Why a total unknown company considers to occupy my time with its corporate problems and low sales? It’s annoying!
Regularly unasked emails from a worldwide unknown company are a spam – annoying spam which disturbs us daily.
As a digital marketer I work online – my inbox is part of the office equipment. There are all my customers, competitors, news reports which I track and which interest me. I can’t perceive any letter received in my inbox without being wished as a brand reputation tool. It’s the opposite!
Even if it looks like a brilliant idea, spam marketing is not.
Winning a new customer takes time. Any new customer is a long-term investment. Marketing research, exploring the client, its desires and needs before offering the appropriate marketing and advertising builds a special connection. This is a brand reputation. This kind of approach sells.
How nice it would be if all the companies were honest, open and clear with their customers and invest in brand communication.
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Euro RSCG 4d Bulgaria is based in Sofia, 18 Ivan Vazov street.
We are specialists in digital strategy and consultant in communication online.
Our clients are the largest companies worldwide such as Carrefour, Volkswagen, Societe generale, Edenred BACB, Eon, Solvay, etc
Our main team comprise of Nicolas Galand, Alexandre Glas, Biliana Bogdanova, Zdravko Totinov, Martin Zhelyazkov.
You can send us an email to contact@eurorscg4d.bg or find us on Twitter @4d_bulgaria
Merchandising: A solution for your brand ?
I know… the title of this new post is again a terrible solecism. Yes, using strange word in the digital sphere is definitely a national sport. I believe that more the terms sound complicated, more digital specialists feel good… reading my title for this post; I’m obviously part of them.
However, thanks to Wikipedia; I will not need to explain you in details what mean tie-in. You will “click and know”. By the way we can say that now with Internet, knowledge is more “nearby”, but it’s another topic for another post another day.
So, after a simple “click and know” I found the following: “Merchandising and/or tie-in”: fact to offer alternative products branded; nowadays it’s mainly used by the Hollywood film factory; but most of the brands are using this tool for brand awareness.
Here, I will not try to explain you the difference between merchandising, tie-in, free souvenir, branded product for sale; promotional gifts as you will go back to Vbox7 watching the new video clip of the Octopus. I will just give my feeling of the general vision of “branded product” and how important it is for a company to think about it. Then to know what gifts, online shop, promotion products will be the most suitable for you; we need a meeting. 
From my point of view, we can distinct three types of tie-in: the limited edition replicas; the pure advertising product to assist in marketing the brand promotion and the “prestige” branding accessories.
My favorite one is definitely the limited edition replicas of objects from the brand. First, I believe that all tie-in is linked to it. For example, a pure advertising product yesterday becomes a replica; like the branded accessories which could also become replica in the future. It could even happen that a worthless object becomes on E-bay a really precious and expensive item thanks to the time and trends.
For instance, I could go to my attic, to open one of my dusty childhood boxes and find incredible objects that remind me so many things:
- a small Volkswagen Beetle as a key holder brought from Mexico 10 years ago
- a t-shirt “British Telecom” that looks really cool today
- a hat Windows 95 from Microsoft
- a 80’ poster from Societe Generale with a slogan: ”from writing to computer”.
These objects today sound really vintage and trendy. But when I had them, they were also really great for me; they were modern and useful. When the advertising product becomes the replica; the advertising effect is working at every moment; the brand has won.
At the bottom of my dusty box, I found a movie accessory, the famous light saber from Star Wars! All of us, during our youth, we dreamed about becoming a Jedi or Darth Vader. And if we had the chance to get the light-saber (bad plastic quality and ridiculous color) we were ready to fight the evil like Luke Skywalker. Cinema branded products are always the most significant marketing product to assist movie promotion in marketing. These days, try to escape from Shrek or from Toy story when you are walking in the streets, it’s just impossible.
But now, looking at my fantastic saber with my professional eyes, I’m also seeing branding, merchandising, advertising and tie-in. Should I feel stupid of my child behavior? I didn’t understand that advertising agencies were operating into my favorite childhood feelings. Whatever I know from now thanks to my experiences, I still like this object.
Today I have to say that by principle; I like the brand and/or the products connected to the ones of my youth. I like them thanks to the feeling I’ve got looking at the current advertisement. I have to confess that I even own a Volkswagen and my bank is still the same since 20 years. Hazard?
Now, with the new Internet behavior of the customers; brands are offering more and online shopping tools. It’s getting much easier for everyone to buy and/or to get branded product. And I believe that the third type of tie-in, the “prestige” branding accessories as a new business core is really suiting perfectly the new Internet trend.
For example, Mercedes; which is the figure of luxury, style and elegance. They are offering great online shop to their fans and real connoisseurs. You can find new categories by accessories and many gift ideas. When the name of the brand is enough to attract the attention, it is really good idea to provide extra products and to use the customers to advertise the brand and its success. We have all seen Ferrari accessories, Bentley watches or towels, and other luxury brand making luxury advertising product. People are advertising the product to other customers. We use to call “earned media” between advertising specialists.
Concerning luxury brand, we can see that the demand of online sales increases. An online shop definitely adds value to the brand awareness. With the one of Mercedes for example, the challenge is to transfer the atmosphere of luxury brands into the Internet as well as to sell the fashion goods online.
Most of the well known names need brand awareness; not only luxury brand but every kind of companies can use this marketing instrument. Consumer satisfaction is a work of every day and communication needs to be in perpetual evolution. Great online shop with new products branded is the perfect tool for it.
Let’s go back to work but before; as a professional, I will check into the boxes of my children to look which brand succeeds to attract young customers via tie-in. I will check also around me to see, as an educated adult, what branded products I’m using.
As an individual; I may offer a Mercedes gift to my father that loves the brand (he never got enough money to buy the car , like nice cufflinks for example. But, right now I’m going to have a lunch in the restaurant next door, they are offering cups for free for each meal bought, it’s great for the office. It’s raining… I’ll take my Volkswagen umbrella.
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Euro RSCG 4d Bulgaria is based in Sofia, 18 Ivan Vazov street.
We are specialists in digital strategy and consultant in communication online.
Our clients are the largest companies worldwide such as Carrefour, Volkswagen, Societe generale, Edenred BACB, Eon, Solvay, etc
Our main team comprise of Nicolas Galand, Alexandre Glas, Biliana Bogdanova, Zdravko Totinov, Martin Zhelyazkov.
You can send us an email to contact@eurorscg4d.bg or find us on Twitter @4d_bulgaria