E-sports the Experience That Transforms

E-sports is a new rising category that brands should be paying attention to as brands enter into 2019 spotting for new trends. This is an area of tremendous growth as esports become the experience that transforms. According to Newzoo, a provider of esports market data, 22% of male millennials in the U.S. watch competitive esports which is very close to the stats of football, hockey, and baseball. Newzoo also noted that the revenue jumped from $493 million in 2016 to $655 million in 2017, and total revenue exceeded $900 million in 2018.

Price Waterhouse Coopers reported that the average view duration for an esports broadcast is 84 minutes. While ad agency GMR reported, 43% of surveyed esports viewers indicated that they always appreciate when brands reach out through the gaming world -- and another 42% indicated that they usually appreciate brand marketing through gaming channels.

Still not convinced that e-sports will be a strong category to watch for? Well, recently Mastercard became the first global sponsor for the League of Legends global events inking a three-year sponsorship deal.

Riot Games which is the company that is behind League of Legends created an e-sports stadium in South Korea. The complex includes a 500-seat stadium, a fan meeting zone, a 24-hour PC bang (the South Korean term for internet cafe) and a hall of fame featuring jerseys and 3D-printed miniatures of accomplished League of Legends pros.   

The Gaming Stadium hunkered into the market by building the first of its kind stadium in Canada with seating for 250 spectators, 40 gaming stations, casual gaming area open to players, a broadcast facility with a full suite of options, and, food and beverages.

Colleges are even getting in on this trend. Full Sail University is said to be building a $6 million esports arena. The 11,200-square-feet stadium will be known as, “The Fortress,” housing s 500 spectator space, full with the newest technology and space for players to prepare for tournaments. This will be the largest e-sports stadium to be ever built on a college campus.

The e-sporting phenomenon is not only geared towards the US audience but Spain has also jumped onto the ship. The Real Madrid, Bernabéu Stadium announced that it too will be building out a stadium when completed is projected to generate $176.4 million in additional revenue.

Bringing FUBU Back The Classic Way

The iconic streetwear brand, FUBU was the first to fuse hip hop into a mainstream fashion brand in the ’90s, is now making a fierce comeback. One that no one saw coming. The newest exclusive collaboration with Century 21 in NYC launched the brand’s recent capsule collection, “Can’t Resist A Classic.” Michael Wolkoff, CMO of Century 21 states, “Century 21 is so excited to be part of this next chapter in the FUBU brand story. It is our passion to bring our loyal shoppers access to the iconic brands they love and this capsule definitely fits the bill. We can’t wait for the original fans of the brand to line up as well as the next generation of shoppers to discover it in our stores.”

On March 1st the 10-piece Capsule collection was unveiled to the public for the first time. The goal of this collaborative launch was to revitalize the brand, reaching a new and younger demographic. FUBU transformed its classic collection by creating pieces that really captured the hearts of the younger generation. FUBU, known as For Us, By Us, was founded by four brilliant and highly respected entrepreneurs, Daymond John, J. Alexander Martin, Keith Perrin, and Carl Brown, who all had the audacious vision to bring something into the marketplace that was never before seen. Founded in 1992, the story of FUBU started with four friends, from a shoestring budget of $40 to a now whopping $6 billion fashion empire. Vice President of FUBU, Keith Perrin states, “We were in over 5,000 doors globally in the ’90s and today we are taking the E-commerce business model route and collaborating with strategic partners is a natural fit. When the idea came up about reemerging our brand, we felt Century 21’s downtown location was the best fit- if you’re developing a relationship with a brick-and-mortar store you couldn’t ask for a better partner to reach diverse consumers. Century 21 has always been the place to find premium clothes at a good price. Century 21 is just a great overall retail partner.”

The goal of this collaborative launch is to revitalize the brand, reaching a new and younger demographic. FUBU, known as For Us, By Us, was founded by four highly respected entrepreneurs and friends, Daymond John, J. Alexander Martin, Keith Perrin, and Carl Brown, who all had the audacious vision to bring something into the marketplace that was never before seen.

What’s great about the brand is that it is continuously spearheading initiatives that shake the way we view streetwear and championing the voice of the community. One of FUBU’s newest projects includes a partnership with a bulletproof backpack for children. In America, the increase in school shootings has pushed many in the community to find solutions to save our children. Daymond John who’s not only known for his role on Shark Tank but also as one of the founders of FUBU recently stated, “ If the government isn’t going to find ways to save our kids then I’m going to have to buy a book bag for my children to be a little more protected then what’s out there. We always have tried to be the voice of the kids and the voice of the community.”

If you’re wondering what’s the next big thing we can expect to see from FUBU? Daymond hinted at the possibility of more collaborations, eyewear, watches, suits and more. While co-founder J. Alexander Martin says, “because we do things from the heart and from the soul; from the point of the culture. We feel the need and the breadth of how the culture moves and what it wants. We’re giving back to the culture giving them what they want. Going forward we’ll have new products coming in. We have a number of licensing deals, loungewear ... we also have radio, hotels, and more. FUBU is a lifestyle synonymous with the culture of hip hop.

Brands are paying attention and really following through on their promises to consumers. Like FUBU other brands are also implementing serious social listening to make sure that they are fully aligned with consumers. As Daymond reiterated, “ We need to get data back from everybody to see what they like, don’t like and what they’re looking for.” At the end of the day who can resist a classic? Especially one that’s been THE brand responsible for giving birth to so many fashion brands that fuse hip hop and fashion while still giving consumers a share in the voice.

2019 Trends You Didn't Even Know About

It’s been a massive year of changes as brand experienced some major shifts and industries started to morph into a different set of guidelines. Millennials aren’t the most talked about generation instead the world is embracing for Gen Z’s which some say is basically the millennials on steroids. So what’s in store for 2019?

There’s plenty of articles out there that talks about what trending for 2019 but let’s talk about some of the trends that you didn’t even know existed for next year.

Reframing The Masculinity Conversation
Men have been portrayed in a certain way in the advertising world, the strong muscular adonis with glazed abs. But there’s a shift to creating a multifaceted perspective of masculinity in marketing. You will start to see campaigns making efforts to adapt to a more flexible and compassionate portrayal when it comes to men.

Social Media Wellbeing
Experts have all been saying that using too much social media can have an adverse effect on mental wellness. Tech giants have responded with solutions to help users maintain their sanity. Facebook uses an “online wellbeing” section that includes a Youth Portal, which helps young users use the platform in moderation. Instagram launched a Wellbeing division in April 2018 that has a dedicated team fostering a healthier space to visit. Some of the things this team works on is filtering bullying comments in order to create a kinder community. Google has also launched a Digital Wellbeing initiative back in May 2018 which helps users to find the “right balance” of customer reminders to take a break.  

Petcare Gets Bougie
The global pet product market is estimated to generate a stunning $125 billion in revenue according to Euromonitor. We’re starting to see a huge jump in pet ownership in countries such as China, Mexico, and Brazil. Pet wellness will be a category to be on the lookout for, from CBD oil for cats to California based wellness service AnimalBiome offering personalized testing kits with supplements tackling gut issues for pets. Pet ownership had become a status symbol of adulthood, especially for the Millennials. People are willing to spend as much on their pets as on themselves.

Gen Z Travelers
The travel industry is also gearing up for the newest generation that’s coming into the marketplace. This generation is looking for affordable and authentic experiences as opposed to the millennials who are looking more for Instagrammable experiences.

DNA Cafes
We all love personalization and that’s no different when it comes to our nutrition. This is a category that is on the rise as it starts to explore how to work with artificial intelligence (AI) in order to deliver a unique experience. Habit, an Oakland startup created a diner that invites guests to collect their own biosamples- with over 60 nutrition-related blood, metabolic, and genetic biomarkers-which then is used to determine a personalized nutrition plan while supporting users along the journey.

S-Commerce
We’ve all seen the wild success of e-commerce but here’s a category that quietly making waves. S-Commerce is the newest way in which brands are able to sell on social media. Back in September 2018, Snapchat announced a partnership with Amazon which allows users to “snap” a picture of a product and buy it on Amazon’s site. The app also unveiled a feature for shopable stories in June 2018 which is similar to Instagram.

4 Types of Influencers Brands Need to Know About

Influencers have been a highly sought-after collaboration with brands across a variety of verticals. As the influencer market becomes saturated brands are seeking to work with different kinds of influencers on the market. The goal for brands is ultimately to get the same results while cutting cost.

Here are the 4 types of influencers brands need to know about:

1. Celebrity Influencers
Today you’re seeing more and more influencers with 1 million plus in followers. Brands are keen that these celebrity influencers are seeking high-value sponsorships. They are very aware of their worth and aren’t afraid to ask for it. For brands that have the marketing budget to work with these types of influencers, it’s needless to say that success is wildly guaranteed.

2. Micro Influencers
There’s no clear definition of what constitutes micro influencers. Some say it’s less than 30K in followers while others say it’s less than 300K in followers. A safe rule is any influencer with less than 1 million followers can be considered a micro-influencers. These are the next most sought-after influencers because they are as effective as celebrity influencers but cost much less.

3. Nano Influencers
This is a new category of influencers that are on the rise. Brands are looking towards these smaller influencers with 1K-5K in followers because most of them are willing to post for free in exchange for products/services. Nano influencers are not well known and because of this simple fact, they are willing to work with brands in order to gain the exposure and increase their followers.

4. Employee Influencers
Influencer marketing has become somewhat of a staple for many brands and is also the place where brands look to cut cost while getting the same results. So what’s happening as the influencer marketing space becomes saturated? Brands are looking inward taking the strategy in-house. They are looking at their own employees to see who are already influencers that can help them promote their products. This strategy is extremely cost-effective, promotes employee loyalty and also allows brands to have quality control of the content or post.

Evolution of Brand Loyalty

A brand’s experience is only as valuable as how it’s customers perceive it. As brands grow the evolution of brand loyalty must grow alongside it. Every customer who is loyal to your brand believes that your brand is changing their lives. But that’s not enough to sustain the experience if you don’t provide some kind of perks to those customers who have been by your side they may eventually switch brands.

Loyalty programs can often be dry so how can your brand spruce up your rewards program to those “ride or die” customers without being a snooze fest this holiday?  

Create Exclusive Experiences

Today’s consumers want to be part of your brand’s experience, they want to be heard, seen and really understood. So why not provide exclusive fun experiences to those loyal customers who spend a little more with your brand. Maybe you can offer an invite-only behind the scenes of how your product is made, a special excursion for your top spending customers, or even getting creative like offering them a Safari trip for 2.

Embrace the Smartphone

Let’s be honest, who wants to carry an extra card or piece of plastic. Today less is best, but we all carry our phones everywhere. So figuring out how to integrate a loyalty card onto mobile will ensure that customers will always have access to their cards and keep track of points earned.

Membership Perks

Now if you want to take loyalty cards to the next level, why not introduce membership options. Yes! Allowing your customers to be part of a VIP membership speaks to their need for social status. It makes them feel special. Allowing special discounts or free goodies could be part of the perks of being a member of your brand’s super exclusive club.

Personalized Rewards

According to a 2017 research by Deloitte, 44% of consumers would like personalized rewards based on their past purchases. This is a trend that will continue into 2019 as customers seek out those brands that are really willing to cater to their specific needs. So why not apply the same idea to your brand’s loyalty program.

The key to rewards programs is that it needs to be relevant to your customers and what they want. It’s not about your brand but in fact,  you need to keep thinking about what value your brand is bringing to the table that’s going to be meaningful to your customers.

Food Loves Tech, A Fusion of Two Worlds

Today tech is beyond prevalent in what we experience with brands but it was at the recent Food Loves Tech Expo where the fusion of these two worlds collided in a perfect union. Food meet tech, tech meet food. This year we experienced, along with 3,500 other food enthusiasts some innovate brands from SproutsIO, Oatly, Equinox, Bowery Farming, The Honest Bison, Brodo, Real Eats and more.

Brands need to always be creative in how they utilize tech in order to really invite customers to evoke curiosity and engage with them. When it comes to food it’s a very basic need and you normally don’t think of it intertwining with innovative tech. But once it does some really unique brands are born.

Here are some of our favorite experiences:

SproutsIO

Experience a new approach to gardening focused on what you enjoy. Cultivate Personal Produce™ with SproutsIO, an automated indoor growing system. With SproutsIO you’re always growing. Enjoy the benefits of year-round, continuous access to delicious fruits and vegetables cultivated to your taste. Develop flavors that delight your senses and inspire your creativity.

Gotham Greens

Uses technologically advanced, urban greenhouse facilities, located in NYC and Chicago to provide year-round, local supply of premium quality, pesticide-free produce grown with the highest standards of food safety and environmental sustainability.  

Selffee

Uses exclusive technology to create edible food inks to print directly onto food surfaces and beverages to produce a high quality, edible image. They can print directly onto cookies, iced coffee, marshmallows, and more.

Food Loves Tech Expo also featured this year, GE's Connected Kitchen showed how to make the perfect pizza with Chef Duffy, rainbow pasta and Blue Point shared their mission-based beers, like the Good Reef Ale - brewed to help restore NY’s oysters.

The Chobani Incubator also featured some of the most interesting new food brands at this expo such as I Heart Keenwah, Rind, Apiterra Honey and more.

2019 Customer Experience Trends You Won't Want to Miss

The end of Q4 is fast approaching and brands are gearing up for holiday sales while vying at 2019 trends. This year we started to see a shift in brands where the focus is mainly on customer experience. It’s not something new but today’s consumer is asking for a whole different type of experience than say five years ago.

Consumers want to be part of the brand journey, they want to be part of your brand story and most importantly they want to be seen and heard. It means that your brand will need to reshape the way it connects with customers.

Here’s what’s on the horizon for 2019 customer experience trends:

1. Employee Influencer Marketing

We’ve all heard about the wild success of influencer marketing but this is also a category that is becoming quickly saturated. So brands are starting to look inward towards their own employees as influencers. This strategy has plenty of benefits from promoting employee loyalty to cutting cost.

2. Verbal Intelligence

This is a category that will continue to grow year after year so it’s pertinent that brands think about how to integrate this function into their brand experience.

3. Chatbots

Consumers today are no longer demanding but requiring instant gratification and that goes for customer support. Consumers want to be able to instantly access information and help so employing chatbots (if it makes sense for your brand) will be another avenue to grow your customer experience.

4. Sharing Economy

We’ve all heard the saying, “sharing is caring,” and the sharing economy has been a consistent rising star. This trend is mostly driven by Millennials who see this not just as an economic way of living but also as a way of sharing trusted information. It speaks to the fact that our consumers are needing instant gratification, hence brands such as Uber, Netflix, Amazon have become widely popular. It’s through one click of a button that the customer can attain their wants.

5. Know Your Customer

It’s no longer about fitting your customer into a bucket of statistics, you need to get to know them. In order for brands to have longevity in the marketplace, they need to know about their customers’ lives. What problems are they facing, who are they, what are their personalities and many more details which can not be ascertained through simple numbers. Therefore when brands paint a precise picture of who their customers are it creates a personal connection. It also makes personalization of your product or services much easier. This rising demand is prevalent as customer seek out brands that will change their lives for the better.

Experiencing Brands: The New Norm

It’s imperative in today’s world that customers are experiencing brands, this is the new norm. Brand experiences are the connective tissue between customer and brand. Customers are no longer just looking for a great product and great pricing, they want to know how your brand’s experience can change their lives.

Creative brand experiences translate into retail as well. Recently Guess partnered with Alibaba to launch its first experiential retail store in Hong Kong. Retailers are relying heavily on the use of technology as many stores have started to decrease the display of products while increasing the use of tablets and high definition screens. Guess isn’t the only retail giant shifting the way customers shop.

In NYC there’s a host of retail trailblazers crafting unique in-store experiences.

Coco-Mat

Ultra lux natural bedding brand offers products made from natural materials but some also Vegan, provide customers with nap time appointments. Customers can book a nap session to try out some of the brand’s most exquisite mattress options.

B8ta

The showroom co-branded with Macy’s offering a slew of tech devices from health to home. The products are on display allowing customers to touch and feel as they please.

Adidas

The fifth avenue store offers juice press to bleachers for customers to watch the games. They also offer customers the opportunity to get customized clothing and an indoor track on the retail floor, where you can get your stride analyzed.

Glossier

Disruptive beauty brand and giant created a theater like showroom allowing customers to sample products using interactive mirrors.

Amazon Books

Offers a collection of print books and as well as product demonstrations from Echos, the Fire TV, e-readers and tech toys.

Lululemon

Creates true tranquility in their store offering customers “zen pods” along with a selection of guided meditation.

In the end, brands who fail to humanize themselves will fail at connecting with customers and risk losing market shares rapidly.

Newspapers Get a Reprieve

Could it be true, newspapers are getting a reprieve? We all know that physical newspaper sales have been sliding quickly in the last 5 years as most people consume news digitally. In recent news, fashion brands have quickly harped onto this lost opportunity giving newspapers a breath of fresh air and an increase in sales.

The strategy comes in light when highly coveted fashion brand Supreme decided to co-brand with the New York Post. When the announcement was posted on Instagram, the newspaper that was available for $1 was completely gone within a day. Loyal customers scoured New York City for their copy and flipping it for 15X on eBay. Last year the cult-like fashion brand advertised on the back of NYC MetroCards to further its local brand awareness campaign. Supreme is known to build brand awareness through some not so conventional ways and it clearly shows that it works.

Supreme isn’t the only one taking advantage of this opportunity. Fashion mogul, Alexander Wang also plastered the logo of Page Six on his men’s collection in January this year which debuted at New York Fashion Week.

Last month Saks Fifth Avenue created window displays with mannequins wearing newspaper print which was dedicated to the New York Times and Sacai of Japan. The mannequins sported T-shirts and hoodies with the slogan “Truth: It’s More Important Now Than Ever.”

It leads us to wonder could print be making a major comeback in a not so traditional kind of way? The possibility is there as the dying industry strives to come up with creative strategies and co-branding opportunities in order to drive sales. In the next couple of years, print will start to rely on collaborations such as that of Supreme and Saks as an additional source of revenue. It would also be interesting to see if print co-branding opportunities expand outside fashion and spill over into other industries.

Airplane Food Goes Farm Fresh

If you recently got on a commercial flight it’s probably safe to assume you experienced the not so delectable array of food choice. Here’s the good news because of this ongoing challenge, airline food goes farm fresh pivoting from the normal offerings of crackers and cheese.

So why the sudden change in airplane food? Airliners are starting to recognize that customers are looking for healthy food choices as they travel from destination to destination. In 2017, the U.S. market for health and wellness reached around 167 billion U.S. dollars, with an increase of around four billion U.S. dollars expected in 2018, according to Statista. This surge has left many brands scrambling to incorporate healthy options into their offerings, airlines included.

Here’s what different airlines are offering in order to better attract customers to book their flights.

1. Emirates Airlines

The Dubai-based airline is committed to investing 40 million USD in a 900-acre indoor vertical farm establishment, which produces high quality and chemical-free produce for its airlines and airport lounges. Vertical farms use no sunlight, soil or chemicals, and doesn’t require as much water as a regular farm. Fliers are slated to nosh on Emirates’ farm-fresh meals by December 2019.

2. Delta Airlines

Takes the healthy food spin in a different way by offering local organic produce and meats from local Georgia farmer, Wes, and Charlotte Swancy's Riverview Farms. In addition, they hired celebrity chef Linton Hopkins who’s known for his down-to-earth, farm-fresh Southern fare.

3. JetBlue

Offers it’s Mint class customers the opportunity to taste food from renowned New York restaurant Saxon + Parole and drinks service curated by wine expert Jon Bonné.

4. United Airlines

Has taken the food experience to new heights by offering a more luxury spin with menu choices to the likes of an upscale restaurant such as duck confit ravioli.

Influencer Marketing Fail, Now What?

Does this sound familiar? Your brand finds a great influencer, partner’s with them on an influencer marketing campaign and it fails miserably so now what? This happens all too often as brands get stuck feeling like influencer marketing is a total waste. Most of all they steadfastly decide to not utilize influencers as part of their marketing initiatives.

Influencer marketing is coming to a point of maturity and we’re seeing brands starting to find other creative strategies for building brand awareness. We’ve seen an uptick in brands implementing employee-influencer marketing.

For example, Equinox Fitness, which owns Equinox gyms Pure Yoga, SoulCycle, and Blink Fitness recently launched a new talent management agency for employees. Following in its footsteps are other big box brands such as Everlane, Kate Space and Macy’s which have all created a dedicated influencer program that sources from their employees.

So why exactly are brands starting to embrace this approach?

1. Cost-cutting

It’s much more cost effective to hire employees who are easily available than working with influencers who can charge up to thousands of dollars per post, review, or video.

2. Employee Loyalty

This is also a way for brands to form long-term loyalty with employees while showing appreciation for their affiliation with the brand.

3. Quality Control of Content

Employees who are currently on your team are already familiar with the brand and its marketing initiative. Therefore creating content that aligns with the brand will be much easier while sending out a cohesive message.

Two distinct strategies of employee-influencer marketing are currently used, either creating a dedicated program such as Equinox or using Macy’s Style Crew program. The second strategy is featuring employees on social media like Everlane and Kate Spade.

Macy’s model allows over 300 employees to create video clips that are developed around employees’ interests while featuring related products which are carried at Macy’s. While Everlane’s model features their head of social media modeling new styles or making announcements on Instagram.

Color Psychology and Customers

In marketing, color psychology and customers are strong indicators of how brands connect with people. Colors have the ability to shift our moods, tell a story, create an experience and even change the way we feel. Part of branding encompasses the meticulous research of which colors best suit brands based on industry as well as what emotions they want to convey to the audience. 

As brands, it can be confusing which colors best suits your message and image. So we’ve broken it down for you here: 

Blue 
So what feeling do you get from seeing this color? 
The color blue is a calming color that promotes communications, dependability, and trust. 

Green
What about this color? How do you feel about seeing this? 
It’s a color that’s refreshing, natural, clean or even healthy. 
Do you ever notice that brands in the health industry tend to use this color?

White
It a neutral color that shows simplicity and gives off a youthful and economical effect or even being peaceful. 

Black
Black is a sinister color that is powerful, serious, and a classic choice of sophistication. This color works well for high-end luxury products but beware it can also make the product be perceived as heavy. 

Red
Red taps into increasing the heart rate causing you to breathe more quickly. This response makes the color energetic, provocative, and grabs your attention. Using red can evoke passion but it can also represent danger or anger. 

Pink 
Different intensities of pink convey different meanings. If you want to show energy, youthfulness, fun or excitement hot pink is the way to go. Hot pink is a favorite for trendy products for women and girls. It is suggested for less expensive items as well. A dusty pink can appear to be sentimental while lighter pinks are romantic. 

Yellow
Yellow is the color of positivity, happiness, light, optimism, and warmth. Certain intensities of yellow can promote creative thought and warmth. This eye-catching color is one that the eye sees before any other color so they are great to use for point-of-purchase displays. 

Orange
Invites exuberance, cheer, vitality, fun, and a childlike energy. Light shades can be attractive to an upscale market while peach tones work great with restaurants, beauty, and healthcare organizations. 

Brown 
This earth tone color evokes stability, simplicity, and durability. Or it can create a negative response to your audience who might view it as dirty. If you’re looking to use this color for an upscale look terracotta is the way to go. Brown is also great at concealing dirt so it’s a good color for trucking and industrial companies. 

Purple
This is a favorite for brands that are creative. It represents royalty, mystery, sophistication, and spirituality. On the other hand, lavender creates nostalgia and sentimentality. 

4 Powerful Ways Brands Are Getting Emo

Why are we so obsessed with emotions? It doesn’t matter if you’re an average person or a big-time brand we’re all constantly trying to understand emotions and learn how to tap into it. Why? You see the most powerful thing about emotions when you learn to tap into them you can motivate others to take massive action.

If you’re thinking well who cares, that’s grimy. Well, guess what? Whether you like it or not your emotions are being analyzed, processed and learned at every moment. Behind all the algorithms there’s a whole system learning about your likes, dislikes and figuring out how to manipulate your emotions.

According to the NY Times, “Facebook Tinkers with Users” Emotions” using your newsfeed. Marketers are always looking for the edge in order to increase brand awareness and ultimately sales. On the front end marketers are using words to tap into your feelings and here’s what they’re saying to evoke emotions:

TRENDSETTING- “Be like your favorite celeb”

TRUST- “There are no hidden costs”

FEAR/ FOMO- “Don’t get left behind”

VALUE- “There’s nothing else better than this”

BELONGING- “Join now and see what everyone is talking about”

TIME- “Do your taxes in half the time”

LEADERSHIP- “Be the first to take advantage of this special offer”

GUILT- “Your contribution can provide clean water for these children”

INSTANT GRATIFICATION- “Call today, speak to a representative today”

So if you’re looking to get emotional with your customers remember to:

1. Inspire

Understand what motivates your target customer. Keep in mind that we as people have 6 fundamental needs: certainty, significance, variety, love and connection, growth, contribution — which determines how we feel about ourselves, how we feel about others, and how we experience brands. When people are inspired there’s a sense of pride. Brands that have done well with the inspiration messaging has been Nike and Gatorade.

2. Aspire

This is a way to tap into your customers' lofty goals, their wildest dreams, and biggest wishes. Some people might want financial freedom, a nice car, or a big house whatever your customer’s dream marketers must understand that this is about hope or desire that your brand can fulfill.

3. Express Love

Humans are built to connect and the most powerful emotion in the world is love. By expressing love you are connecting with everyone universally. It’s the same idea as laughter and sadness is a universal language. The best way to humanize a brand is to show how your brand can better the lives of others, bring joy, and makes someone’s life easier or better.

4. Celebrating Your Milestones

If your brand is celebrating 30 years in business this is a great way to connect with customers. Even creating a brand story around this milestone alongside celebrating milestones with your customers can really bring the story to life.

4 Ways to Win The Customer Experience

Brands are racing for ways to win the customer experience as more of us are looking at brands that take us on a journey. Today’s customer isn’t just price shopping they are willing to pay for experiences and great ones at that.

When customers have a positive experience with your brand they are likely to share it and as well become returning customers. Today it’s not enough to just have a great product or service but every step of the customer’s journey needs to be thought out from the point of view of the customer. We all know our customers are the backbone of any thriving business.

So let’s take a look at how brands can create experiences that matter.

1. Personalize

Customers don’t all want the same thing. Who doesn’t like to have something that no one else does? Though each customer is unique if you’re looking to engage your customers for the long term you need to make this a priority because consumers are demanding that brands make the effort to really get to know their wants and needs. So things such as keeping track of their past purchases, making suggestions of new products based on their purchase history, or even allowing the customer to be part of the creation of products are all ways of personalization.

2. Make The Experience Seamless

Whether it’s online or offline customers want ease. The easier you make the buying process or even the return process the more it enhances the experience. This idea trickles down to your customer service reps as well. When customers get on the phone with someone on your team they expect your team to help solve their problem concisely and quickly.

3. Understanding Your Customers

As brands, we’re always looking at data and sales. But these are only part of the story. You have to also understand who your customer is, not just their HHI, age, level of education etc. Get to know their likes, words or phrases their using to describe a problem your brand solves, and even dedicating someone to actively listen on social media to comments will help you better understand customers’ mindset.

Another way is to create a customer persona, giving a potential customer a name and lifestyle description. This will help your team to understand and recognize who they are dealing with.

4. Customer Feedback

In order to know if your customer experience is a winner or a loser, you’ll need to get feedback. Ideally, you want to capture immediate feedback after an interaction. It’s best to attach feedback to your team members in order to recognize those who are making an impact.

Building Brands For Women

Women have long been the "must get" demographic who makes most of the buying decisions while marketers are constantly trying to figure out how to build brands for women. Often times brands implore strategy that isn’t viable or doesn’t resonate with women.

Lately, we’re seeing cult-like indie brands on the rise and the reason s that they are relating to women on a level that connects wholeheartedly with them while truly understanding the pain points. According to Kathleen Griffith of Forbes Magazine, "80% of women saying they don’t trust brands anymore, and this tension has grown over time, with 42% saying they trust brands less than they did 20 years ago. No longer are women loyal without reason — they’re less forgiving of brands in general. Women are abandoning brands at a greater rate than ever, and once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.”

1. Connect With Women Emotionally

Not only is it women but most consumers are moved by a brand that connects with them emotionally. This is why brand experiences have become the driving force in marketing and there’s an uptick in advertising spend when it comes to building experiences.

2. Show Instead of Tell

Stats don’t move us. We need to know how it can benefit us in a way that’s entertaining, fun, and engaging. It’s important to be upfront, show how your brand can make a woman’s life better, especially for mothers. Moms have very limited time juggling career and family so they want to know how you can make her life easier.

3. Keep It Simple

Women don’t want to sieve through a mountain of choices. We’re looking for just the right choice. Many times when women are presented with too many choices they either tend to abandon the brand or save it for later research and never come back.

4. Don’t Be So Obvious If You’re Targeting Us

Be subtle, women know when they ’re being targeted and it doesn’t feel great. Instead, brands should create organic ways of capturing the attention of women.

5. Pink Isn’t Always The Answer

Many marketers get it confused and think that women are attracted to the color pink. The color actually doesn’t always entice women, what does move us is the design and quality of products.

Co-Branding The Next It Trend?

There always seems to be a new marketing trend on the horizon so is co-branding the next “it” trend? Whether you call it a partnership, collaboration or anything in that realm it all falls under the marketing concept of co-branding. So what exactly makes co-branding the next it thing?

As more brands clamor into the marketplace, the competition will become stiff. In order for newcomers to quickly scale their brand, they’ll adopt co-branding as a way to build brand awareness and customers. The idea is to work with another brand that reaches a similar customer as your brand yet doesn’t compete for the customer’s attention.

What exactly are the benefits of co-branding and how do you even start looking for a brand partner?

1. Reach New Customers

When you partner with the right brand you will have an opportunity to reach new customers that you wouldn’t have reached alone. This also allows your brand the opportunity to engage with these new customers to not just potentially make a sale but also get inspiration to better your brand.

2. Create Unique Marketing Campaigns

This is the opportunity to allow you to come up with unique marketing strategies with your partner brand. Here you can test different marketing campaigns to see what will resonate with customers. Cross promoting contests on social media is a sure way to gain eyeballs for both brands, as well as increasing followers.

3. Be Clear on Your Brand Values

It very important that you are clear on what your brand values are because you want to make sure these values also align with your partner brand. If they don’t then the partnership won’t work. Brand values are simply what your brand believes in and that usually comes from the founder or CEO.

4. Authenticity With Your Partner Brand

Be clear with your partner brand what you’re looking to gain for the partnership. Is it sales? Profit sharing? Or maybe it’s something else. Make sure its spoken about early on before you launch a campaign together.

5. Platform to Beta Test

This could also be a great opportunity for your brand to have a platform to beta test any new product or services on a small scale.

3 Ways Brands Redefine The Customer Experience

Brands, our customer's needs, and wants are constantly evolving at a faster pace that we can keep up. It’s key to be able to identify what your customer's specific needs are in order to better connect with them. Whether you’re actively listening on social media or offline, brands need to be limber in order to adjust accordingly.

The way customers experience your brand is key to building a sustainable brand for the long game. There are too many brands out there that are overnight sensations and gone the next. So if you’re looking to play the long game here’s what your brand can do.

1. AR That Brand

Augmented reality may be in its infancy but more brands are experimenting with it to create an experience that will stand out with endless possibilities. When it comes to shopping, some fashion brands have taken on the position of creating an entire experience which allows customers to shop online as if they were in a store. Sephora’s Visual Artist tools on its app allow you to try on lipstick and even eyelashes before you purchase the products. Buying furniture? Wayfair has created a 3D simulation on how furniture would look in a room allowing customers to better visualize the products in a space.

2. Save Time and Personalization

Consumers now are expecting these features from brands. Part of creating an experience you always want to ask yourself, is your brand saving the customer time? Or is it grabbing their attention at each step of the customer’s experience? When it comes to personalization, customers only want what relevant to them. In order to connect with customers, you need to market your brand in a way that is relevant to your customers. Successful personalization happens when there is a deep understanding of who your customer is, their preferences, likes, and dislikes. It’s no longer just about simple demographic information but it's about the customers’ mindset.

3. CEO’s Are More Involved in The Customer Experience

CEOs and founders set the tone of any business and when they are involved with the customer experience it shows customers that brands care. Every successful brand from Amazon to Starbucks all have CEOs who are very active in the customer experience process and also actively listening to customers’ needs.

Chatbots and Their Influence On Marketing

Contributor Writer: Josh Wardini

Technology has come a long way and with it the birth of artificial intelligence. When Alan Turing came up with the Turing Test back in 1950, you could not have believed that the world will soon come to rely on artificial intelligence. Today, artificial intelligence has led to the development of chatbots. Chatbots have become a core part of the major brands that you love and cherish. Especially, when it comes to marketing.

Marketing is a phenomenon as old as time itself. Proper marketing will always give you top figures in your sales department. Of course, in the digital world, we live in today, customer service is a huge part of marketing. Convenience is a huge part of marketing. You do not want to use the services of a brand that has difficulty addressing your queries. You want to get total and maximum value for your money.

Chatbots have become a huge part of marketing a brand via reliable customer services. From 2015 till 2016, the global chatbot market increased by 622%. In dollar terms, the industry is projected to reach an estimated $1.225 billion by 2025. You might not like it but chatbots are here to stay, and many brands like Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus are not at all shy about following the movement. https://www.16best.net/blog/chatbots-gone-wild/

Amazon was the first brand to hop on the chatbot movement. Its virtual assistant Alexa was developed in 2014. Alexa can chat with you, play music for you, set alarms for you and provide you with weather and traffic updates, among other things. Today, that success has paved the way for other brands. Alexa boosted sales for Amazon massively after its implementation. A proof that chatbots are the future of brand marketing.

Google is another brand that makes use of chatbots, and this is one of its major selling points. Google maps already have chatbots that give you direction while driving and it plans to implement better technology in self-driving cars. You can also have conversations with Google's voice assistant.

Microsoft and Apple have not been left behind. Microsoft has Cortana while Apple has perhaps the most popular chatbot in history - Siri. You cannot deny the fact that Siri has been the reason many people decide to purchase Apple phones. A perfect marriage of marketing and chatbots.

Even brands that are not software geared make use of chatbots. Sephora uses less intrusive chatbots to make suggestions about products and deals. Starbucks allows you to place orders with Alexa. It also has 'My Starbucks Barista' which allows you to place orders and set pick up locations.

  Numbers That Back Up the Advantage of Chatbots in Other Sectors

• Chatbots save up to 44 minutes per customer inquiry when compared to traditional call centers

• $0.7 will be saved per interaction with a chatbot by 2022

• Chatbots meet 20% of banking needs without any form of human contact

• $0.019 million has been saved so far by chatbots in banking and healthcare sectors

• This figure is estimated to reach $8 billion by 2020

Chatbot Opinions Among the General Populace

• 96% of people believe chatbots are here to stay for good

• 56% of people think chatbots will soon begin to outperform humans

• 80% of major brands plan to build a chatbot

• 47% of consumers would buy items recommended by a chatbot

Diversity: A Buzzword or Are Brands For Real?

It seems like everywhere you turn there’s that gawking word “diversity,” is it just a buzzword or are brands for real? Inclusion isn’t a new concept but it's been pushed to the forefront as brands scramble to understand how to either capitalize on it, implement it and or revamp a better brand message.

Every industry seems to have its challenges while making small steps in the right direction. We see some brands blunder the efforts while others have systematically managed to excel. Brands such as Netflix are doing it from the inside out, hiring more women in executive positions while other brands are starting from the outside with their customers, working inward to their team.

So which brands are getting diversity right? There’s no real answer to this one but there are industries making visible changes and strides for inclusiveness

Fashion

The fashion industry has always been under extreme scrutiny when it comes to runway models and ad campaigns. It’s quite prevalent when brands such as The Knot selects only blond hair blue eyed models at a recent model casting call. But the mainstream fashion show, NYFW has made a point to include transgender, curvy, and mature models in the past two seasons which starts to exemplify the shifting paradigm of what is now defines fashion and beauty.

According to Sergio Delavicci, SAG/AFTRA actor and internationally published model who has walked over 250 shows including New York Fashion Week said, “The fashion world constantly changes. However, with the rate and direction it’s currently going I think ad campaigns will continue to feature transgenders, curvy models, mature models, LGBT models as long as they fit the brand. At the end of the day, we are all unique and talented.”

Fashion Week Brooklyn is also another mainstream Fashion Runway Show that touts diversity across the board while supporting emerging talents which was prevalent in this season’s show, “Haute Brooklyn.”  

Tech

Tech has been long been criticized for it’s “bro” culture that hasn’t been as inclusive as many companies give off. For example, 50% of employees at Apple and Google are still white. Based on Apple’s recent diversity report, minorities employed at the company grew from just 19% in 2014 to 23% in 2017. While the tech giant claims that 50% of its new hires in the US this year were from underrepresented groups in tech.

Hospitality

Hospitality is also making a shift when Time Asma Hotel in Dubai announced that it will open this year with 80% of its staff attributed to women.  

Beauty

While beauty brands have received as much criticism as the fashion industry, Covergirl made strides to feature the first ever male spokesmodel. Glossier which exploded onto the beauty scene for its famed approach of women empowering women in the purchasing cycle.

Publishing

Has also begun to embrace diversity in a big way when National Geographic Magazine featured the first transgender child on its cover, it gained widespread support and popularity. Playboy has also featured its first transgender playmate.

Fast Food

This is an industry that many haven’t paid attention to. A local Los Angeles El Pollo Loco restaurant vowed to only hire transgender staff members. Owner Michaela Mendelsohn stated, “I am a trans owner supporting trans people.”

In the end, diversity is what the new consumer is looking for in brands. They want to be part of your brand’s story and not just a piece of the story. It’s time your brand starts to consider your diversity strategy whether it’s in house or how you market.

Marriott Hotel Experiences Life With You

Today’s traveler wants the creature comforts of home so the solution, Marriott Hotels experiences life with you. What that means is that they have created guest rooms that provide you with a variety of ways to keep up with life even on the go.

We’ve all come across guest rooms where it was dingy lacking something that we needed whether it’s that flimsy notepad to write down our midnight ideas or that green juice that you always have for breakfast. In sweeps Marriott, they have solutions and want to solve some of their guests’ travel woes.

California  

Marriott has transformed the shower door to a digital notepad. Many of us have brilliant ideas that come to us during the show but never a place to write them down. Here’s how it works: once the doors get steamy enough, guests can draw or write on it. Your masterpiece will then be emailed right to your inbox and your moment of inspiration won’t be lost. This shower door is currently being tested and is designed with business travelers in mind.

This idea came after Marriot survey their guests and discovered that many of their business guests said that most of their inspiration comes while showering. You can check out this shower door in action through their “Splash of Brilliance” campaign.

Atlanta

The hotel chain has also adopted a healthy hotel to help travelers maintain a health focus lifestyle even on the go. Guests rooms include items such as:

• Air purification to reduce pollen allergens, mold spores and other particulates and microbes in the air

• Aromatherapy all-natural essential oils to create a calm, mood-enhancing environment

• Circadian mood lighting for guests to personalize the in-room light environment to enhance sleep, energy, and productivity

• Cleaning protocol that uses non-toxic cleaning products and UV lighting to reduce bacteria, viruses and other microbes

• Specialized lighting including a dawn simulator to gently wake you, energizing light to suppress melatonin and reduce jet lag and longwave night lighting to minimize sleep disruption

• Stay Well Shower Infuser that reduces chlorine to keep hair and skin soft and smooth

• Stay Well™ mattress and encasements with natural memory foam for optimal support and comfort to help maintain a more enjoyable sleep environment

• Stay Well mobile app with information about in-room features, a Jet Lag tool and complimentary Cleveland Clinic Wellness programs

The hotel chain has been disrupting the industry with consistent out of the box approach to rooms attracting more and more travelers. So what exactly is the lesson here? As a brand you want to listen to your customers, find out what they are missing and come up with a unique solution to stand out in a crowd. The key is to create experiences.