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Modern marketing is all about starting a conversation with your customers. In a world so consumed by content, one thing consumers actively engage in time and again is conversation; from the superficial to the existential, modern audiences reward interesting conversations through both digital and physical mediums. Digital marketing has skyrocketed the visibility of brand messaging but has also allowed the waters to become overpopulated.
So how do you make your marketing stand out? Let’s take a look at 3 examples of companies starting conversations with their customers, what the impact was and what you can take from them to apply to your own marketing strategies.
Specsavers
This iconic British brand has been absolutely nailing its marketing for years. We all remember the launch of the “Should’ve gone to Specsavers” ad campaign but how are they maintaining that success and iconic status with their current marketing strategies?
They realised a few years ago that reactionary content was wildly popular in the current marketing climate. “Should’ve gone to Specsavers” was always in reaction to something, so much so that it reached a point where the brand didn’t even have to say it and it was still iconic.
They continue to be very banterous and reactionary on their Twitter:
As well as keeping up with pop culture events (like Love Island, Eurovision and the footy) their Twitter acts as their online helpdesk - if you’ve got a complaint or a compliment, Specsavers Twitter is the place to go.
They’ve got someone running the account almost all the time and they’re very attentive to posting and answering any and all tweets they receive. They’ve really embraced their brand personality while also incorporating the personalities of the social media managers - it always feels like a real person is tweeting. Whether it’s a sarcastic reply to another brand or a genuine reply to a customer, they’ve absolutely nailed their voice, which means their marketing benefits from feeling consistent, conversational and genuine.
But Twitter isn’t the only place online where they’ve started conversations with their audience. They also engage with their customers on Instagram in quite a different way than their Twitter. Their Instagram is entirely focused on User Generated Content (UGC) and actually features the products they sell - glasses.
Their Instagram content appeals to a different side of their audience. They’ve created a hashtag that their customers can use to get a chance of being featured on the page. They post selfies that people have taken while wearing their glasses and then hype them up in the description.
They also do product posts featuring glasses that are available to buy - their Instagram acts as their social media touchpoint for paying and prospective customers. Despite their different approaches on the different platforms, they actually work in perfect harmony with one another. Twitter is their online helpdesk/place for customers to provide feedback of any kind and Instagram is the place customers can go to see what they have to offer.
The Specsavers marketing team really knows what they’re doing. Their digital touchpoints serve important purposes while also establishing a clear brand personality and tone of voice. Not every business is able to have the scope and reach of Specsavers but we can all learn from them regardless. Reactionary content that involves their audience and considers their needs, while also having a secure brand personality is what the core of their strategy is built on.
If you want to do it how Specsavers does it you need to commit and you need to remain committed. Just because Specsavers does it well, it doesn’t mean they don’t have low-performing posts…
But they don’t let that stop them. They keep going and they keep doing because they know that’s the best way to grow. Know your voice, know your audience - where are they and what do they want to see? If you can figure that out you’ll be on your way to Specsavers-level marketing in no time!
Thursday
If I asked you to name a dating app what would you say?
Probably something like Tinder or Bumble, which are some of the most popular, mostly through social osmosis. However, most dating apps suffer from feeling very similar to each other. For a lot of people on dating apps, it can feel almost impossible to find someone you’d actually like to go on a date with but it’s the most popular form of dating now, so single people flock to it.
The way to succeed in the online dating industry is to cause pattern interrupt. It works for dating, why not for dating apps too? Bumble benefitted from doing just this when it launched with its “women message first” ideology - but even then people grew tired of the fad and it quickly became just another (popular) dating app.
What Thursday is doing differently from its competitors is daring to be unique. It’s taken marketing and put its own little twist on it, just like it did with modern dating. Their marketing efforts not only create conversations about the app but about dating in general. They know their audience - singles in London and New York who want to meet people and enjoy socialising - which means they can tailor their advertising efforts to those very specific demographics. By advertising on the Tube, they’re reaching their audience of professional Londoners through both conventional and unconventional means.
So, what can we learn from Thursday?
Well, they’re a great example of pattern interrupt creating conversation. Thursday succeeded at doing something unique in an industry where different is common but unique isn’t. Look at your industry - what holes can you fill and how can you improve upon what already exists? Figuring that out will allow you to head conversations you didn’t even know you could have!
Aldi vs M&S: Clash of the Caterpillar Cakes
We all know Colin the caterpillar cake - he’s easily one of M&S’s most popular items and feels just as iconic in British culture as “Should’ve gone to Specsavers.” However, as with anything, other versions of the caterpillar cake concept started to show up in other stores; most notably, Aldi’s Cuthbert the caterpillar cake. In fact, it was so similar to the original that M&S took Aldi to court over it. The two have now settled and the case has been dropped.
Now that Cuthbert is back on shelves and the drama is over - let’s look at why brand conflicts are actually great PR when they’re done right…
While Aldi actively engaged with audiences, and other brands, during this time, M&S stayed relatively silent. However, this suits their perceived brand personalities in British audiences. The lawsuit and Aldi’s reaction sparked a light-hearted conversation in their shared audiences: Colin or Cuthbert?
It’s impossible to know whether this was staged by the two companies, but either way, it created a conversation and was capitalised on (in an entertaining way) by Aldi who couldn’t let Cuthbert go without a fight. The whole situation was completely absurd and captured attentions - I mean, who sues over a chocolate cake, right? But it succeeded in increasing awareness of M&S’s and Aldi’s offerings; including their competing caterpillar cakes.
So, what can we learn from this? First off, don’t start beefing with or suing random brands BUT if you can engage in friendly, tongue-in-cheek banter or competitiveness, then why not! Brand rivalries build loyal customer bases and start interesting conversations which people can join regardless of how lighthearted or genuine they want to be.
Conclusion
It can be hard to build a community in the modern world of marketing, but it doesn’t have to be. Be authentic, be smart, be different, be unique and be interesting - those are all the reasons a modern audience chooses to purchase from a company in the first place. Appeal to your audience by knowing who they are, where they are, what they like to talk about, what they like to do and what they find funny. Once you know your audience and you know your voice, your next marketing move will be (hopefully) pretty obvious.
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