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I completely relate to this in that I prefer to spend money on experience such as vacations, concerts, and even Halloween haunted houses rather than material goods such as clothes or knick knacks that lay around the house.  Consumer expectations are quickly evolving and brands need to be aware of this demand so that they can cater to these consumers and create exceptional events that resonate on a personal level.  Several statistics listed in this article include many people want to get away from everyday life, they want to laugh or cry, want to take away stress and anxiety, and want to be involved in social just issues. “This is traced to the stress and lack of trust in institutions and a feeling of disconnect by technology” according the Elena Klau, Chief Strategy and Analytics Officer. So how can brands compete with this? They can talk up a good game but they need to show what they say is true. Should brands change the dynamic of their in-store experience? I remember one of my favorite events with my friends as a teenager was going to a local record store that on every first Friday of the month featured a local band playing in their store. This created a great experience that promoted in-store sales as well as giving customers a “feel good” experience with the live music. Perhaps the retailers could model after something similar. Create monthly events to draw in consumers and offer an experience as well as a product. Retailers could also charge a small fee that would partially be donated to a social justice issue. Or many luxury brands could offer a glass of champagne to consumers who walk in to make they feel important, and catered to.  I think there are ways that brands can compete with this trend they just have to be willing to get more information on consumer needs and be willing to do something about it. 

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According to this article, 47% of consumers would be willing to pay for a shopping experience that exceeded their expectations, however it is noted that geography plays a factor in this. 31% of Americans were willing to pay for exceptional shopping experiences compared to the 81% in China. To me this made sense as Americans prefer the convenience of shopping online out of the comfort of their home. I had an negative shopping experience recently at the mall where I went looking for specific things, and left quickly after entering the mall because the overall atmosphere of the crowds and rude employees who acted like you didn’t exist. I went right home and found what I was looking for online. I try to give in-store shopping the benefit of the doubt, but honestly it is nothing but an annoyance. It seems that retailers and brands have already seen the end result of the emerging e-commerce market and they have given up on trying to please the consumer or make the in-store experience more appealing. They know that retail stores are all shutting down and they make it seem like they don’t want to be there. So why would consumers want to be there? Retailers are more focused on constantly improving online shopping experiences better. Are these brands not aware of the cost of a bad customer experience? It is easier to lose a loyal customer than to gain one. Is it truly e-commerce that is killing in-store retail or is it the bad customer service? I think it is a mix of both, but which one came first? It is comparable to the chicken or the egg scenario.  I don’t have an answer to either questions, but it is interesting to think about. I wonder when this convenience trend came about and if it what was what contributed to the e-commerce world. Bad customer service has always existed, but now sometimes when I go out shopping, I almost anticipate it. Either way, the shift from in-store to online is growing faster and faster for both of these reasons.

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Consumers nowadays are more into renting, reselling, and thrifting more than ever. The more I talk with people my age the more I see a new trend in our generation that seems to not want to buy or own. According to the article in knowledge@wharton, global online clothing rental market is expected to grow annually by over 10% for the next four years. This honestly comes as a surprise to me when it comes to clothing. Personally, the idea of wearing used clothing is not appealing, but then I read further into it and why this trend supports consumer wants and needs and I began to understand the appeal. The secondhand apparel market will double in five years according to the CEO of thredUP. One reason behind this is the growing concern about the negative impact the fashion industry has on the environment. All of the clothing that people get rid of ends up in landfills or incinerated. The ease of use for the online shopping experience and in-store for these thrift shops is another appealing factor. It is well-known that convenience and ease is important when appealing to the consumer. A brand’s big responsibility is to relieve pain points for consumers, which Amazon has taken on quite well. Also, thredUP’s website displays new items every time a user hits refresh. This gives a wide variety of options for consumers, almost like they are walking into a new store every time they hit refresh. This feeds into consumer’s need to constantly know what’s new and to keep up on the latest trends, such as in social media websites. ThredUP is also bringing in other brands onto its platform such as Macy’s and JC Penny. 

This resale apparel market seems to be making quite a name for itself. I am curious if they will be the Amazon of the apparel market. They have picked up on some major trends and expectations of the modern day consumer, that being convenience, ties to social justice issues (the environment), and constantly updating their products to keep the interest of the consumer. It is significant that they have several brands partnering with them as well which will drive in more consumers. Should all retail brands look to partner with these secondhand markets to boost sales and drive in consumers? Seems like quite a risk for many retail brands right now and they would be smart to partner with these secondhand clothing stores. It is a new creative way to approach the market of millennials and generation zers. I think retail brands should have some concerns here as the resale market is predicted to continue to grow over the next several years. 

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https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/284634

The article titled “Why Before You Buy” is the key to connecting with consumers states that there are three important factors that businesses must take into account if they want to successfully connect with consumers: know your audience, establish your online presence, and make it easy for people to find you. In knowing your audience It then goes further to point out the primary and secondary information that consumers look for when shopping for a brand. Primary consists of price, location, product and secondary consisting of reviews, testimonials, and photos. It states that consumers who base their decisions on secondary information spend twice as much on average compared to those who only look at primary information.  I agree that this is extremely important information that a brand needs to make accessible to the consumer if they want someone to buy the brand. I personally always read reviews on a product extensively and even look for pictures from other consumers so I know exactly what I am getting. I don’t want the hassle of having to return the item if I am unhappy with it. Brands that model after Amazon are on the right page with this. Amazon makes it very easy for a consumer to post a review and picture of the product. You can even search for specific reviews regarding the product. For example if I am buying a computer software system and am trying to find out of it is compatible with Apple computers, you can search for reviews specific to “Apple” or “Mac”. Again, another way of adding to the convenience factor for the consumer since it takes a long time to search through reviews of products. 

Establish your online presence and make it easy for people to find you. I agree these are important, but this is not necessarily the saving factor for a brand. Take department stores such as Macy’s. Their online presence is very accessible, easy to navigate, and well-known to the consumer. However, brand image is still an important consideration to the consumer. Macy’s stores and products are outdated and appeal to older generations that do not make up the majority of the market today. So my question is are these three factors to connect with consumers enough for a brand? I think it is more complex than that. Yes, e-commerce and accessibility are necessary components for brands today but there a major factor as well is marketing strategies and tactics that go deeper to appeal to millennials and generation zers. Know what your audience values and what lifestyle they are looking to embody. Brands should not just provide the primary and secondary information and leave the consumer to figure it out from there. Brands should know who they want to appeal to and what their target market is looking for.

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“How and Why Does Consumer Behavior Change?”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/09/06/how-and-why-does-consumer-behavior-change/#5083dc5786dd 

Getting the message across to the consumer is now even more tricky and precise for brands today than before. Consumers live in fast-paced lives and want their needs met at the simple click of a button. People do not have time to stop in a store, browse, and weigh the pros and cons of a product as many had preferred. According the the article in forbes.com, “an estimated 90% of purchasing decisions are made instinctively.” This is an intimidating statistic for brands and marketers. So, how do you get your message about your brand across to the consumer? The key is to market the brand to reach out to consumers on a subconscious level. Create and think of images and stories that associate positive images with your brand. For example, the Peloton commercials in recent years have done a great job of researching demographics, motives, perceptions, and needs of consumers. Consumers like the convenience out of the comfort of their homes and consumers want to look good and feel good. So, create exercise equipment that an individual can use in the comfort of their home. They use attractive, young men and women and put them on the exercise bike in a beautiful home facing a window with a great view. They also play popular music that motivates the viewer to do just that. Along with this, Peloton heavily advertises to consumers around the holidays for those looking to invest in these kinds of gifts with the idea of a New Year’s resolution just around the corner to get in shape. 

I think a lot of this boils down to the KISS method (keep it simple stupid). Lately there have been an abundance of ads that have an emotional message in them that attempt to touch the hearts of consumers. This however does not necessarily convince the consumer to buy the brand. I can recall several car commercials and banking commercials specifically that feature a sad animal or a sad family member in them that were touching, but in the end of the commercial I couldn’t tell you what the brand communicated about its product. Brands also need to be experts in their ads when influencing consumer behavior. They have just a few seconds to communicate what the brand is, how it will benefit the consumer, and how it will eliminate problems for the consumer. For example, last night I saw a Blue Buffalo cat food commercial in which one neighbor questioned the other one about the product. “What’s so great about the ingredients in Blue Buffalo?” “Isn’t it expensive?” This brand clearly collected specific data on the consumers’ negative feedback about the brand and addressed it and shot it down in their ad with the other neighbor asking questions about the product in a casual conversation. I thought this was a great marketing strategy that many brands should model after. It was simple. In order to create high yield returns on a brand, you need to reach the consumer on a subconscious level that gets the consumer to say “oh year that would be a great thing for me to have” and with the click of a button, it’s added to their cart.

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Companies are under even more pressure each year to create the top of the line advertisements to promote their brands. Not only do these ads have to be structured in a way to support and promote the product, they also have to relevant and personalized to attract the consumer. Now with artificial intelligence, companies can deliver the most relevant and real-time ads using algorithms to control when these ads occur and who seems them. It is amazing how algorithms can control and tailor a brand’s advertisement to make it the most effective for the consumer and the company. It seems to be basically bulletproof and with the constant evolving world of technology and increase competition among brands, the choice would be obvious for any company. AI is the new method of delivering advertisements to the world. This unfortunately would put many people out of jobs in this field of work, which is a downside. I certainly am not real keen on a computer doing a human’s work. However, this is the way the world has been changing for the past 15-20 years. Why would a company want to run the risk of mistakes in advertising when they can adapt to the AI that will soon be running the advertising industry? I think that many brands are constantly overthinking their ads and missing steps in catching the consumer’s attention.  I find myself watching T.V. and wondering what that commercial is even about, specifically with some car ads and cologne/perfume ads. Also, most people online will close out of ads the second they pop up or scroll right past them.  With AI, it will continuously update and analyze consumer behavior to make sure the ad is tailored to what consumer behavior suggests. AI suggests that it will do the work more efficiently than an advertising team could do. The other upside to this is that it is way cheaper to install this kind of tech system to deliver advertising rather than pay 20-30 salaries of those that might make up the advertising team. 

I do not think that a computer can be used to solely do the work of a person. It seems like a world run by computers is so far out there, almost out of a science fiction movie. How can a computer possible produce the same content that human creativity and imagination can? People will still always be needed for the teamwork and communication that is involved in advertising. People on these creative teams go out in the world and get inspired by scenery, interactions, people, and historical events that take place every day. A computer cannot have those experiences and feel those emotions. It cannot change its mind or even get silly and crazy like people can when collaborating together to create emotional and creative advertising to touch consumer emotions. As uneasy it can seem to look at how the world is being run by computers more and more each day, I don’t see it being the sole force in the advertising field. Sure, it can be used for efficiency to actually put the ads out there and tailor them to consumer behavior. I also like how the article stated that is can tailor the ads to the weather and time of day so that the consumer and feel more of a connection to the product in the ad. I think companies should stay loyal to their top advertising executives that they have depended on for years, but it is also important to stay ahead of your competition and have the most up-to-date systems and technology in your company. 

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Outdoor advertising seems old-school and outdated. This article pointed out a few very important things to consider when advertising outdoors. I can’t see this targeting a large market of consumers, but it can target a big enough market in a specific way. Billboards obviously will be seen by frequent travelers whether for business or pleasure.  “Online browsers are masters at ignoring pop-up ads and banners”. This means that most digital ads are not even looked at. I know for myself when I was online reading articles this morning, I ignored every pop-up ad because I am trying to get my work done and not get distracted by useless advertisements. However, when traveling on the road or waiting at a train station, people focus their attention on billboards and take a brief moment to look at them. Since there is not a lot to do while riding on the car or waiting for a train or subway, they are likely to pull out their smartphones and look up the product or business.  The other component to a successful ad is execution and making the ad stand out. The article pointed out an example of the Economist that put a light bulb on their ad that lit up when you walked underneath it. My question is, yes there are some important things to consider for outdoor advertising, but does this only work for certain businesses? For example, Cracker Barrel or hotels are perfect for billboard ads. They know people are traveling and want a quick, cheap bite to eat and a place to stay during long road trips, so they can put their location on the billboard for people to know. I do not see this working for small businesses. Another question is how do businesses measure results of the outdoor advertising? There is no real way of knowing who has viewed your ad or what their interests are. If sales go up for a product, the company would not know if this was specifically from the billboard ad.

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Facebook may seem like it is a declining trend given the newer social media platforms of Instagram and Snapchat, however after reading this article, the fact that there are billions of users signing in monthly suggests that this site is not going anywhere anytime soon.  In analyzing the 5 reasons of why companies should be advertising on Facebook, I want to look at it from a goal of advertising to increase revenue for a company.  The most significant one is the first reason “It is the fastest way to reach a large amount of people in a short amount of time”. Now I am almost certain that most of those people are scrolling right past the ads. If you’re lucky, they might spend a couple of seconds looking at it to know what it is. Taking this into consideration, a commercial that is over a minute long will likely not be looked at by the common Facebook user. It would have to be a quick ad lasting a couple of seconds or just a print ad.  The ad also needs to catch the viewers’ attention, which goes into the next 2 reasons of “Targeting your ads based on just about anything” and “Having an unlimited database of information”.  Companies considering to utilize Facebook for advertising need to target consumers based on their competition. For example, if Bulleit Whiskey wants to re-position itself based on competitors, they need to look at those on Facebook who like/follow pages such as Tullamore Dew, Johnnie Walker, or Jim Beam.  I consider Bulleit to be a high-quality whiskey, so it should target those who are high-end whiskey drinkers. It could even look at those on Facebook that have visited whiskey distilleries and been tagged there. The next reason “There’s a good chance you’ll reach your target audience on Facebook” is important to consider as well because you can based your advertising on any target market such as, males, females, parents, or children.  This can be useful around the holidays with parents and kids look for Christmas gifts. If Xbox or playstation puts their advertising out to parents and kids, it is likely that it will get shared between the two and lead to an increase in views and sales for the products. The final reason “It is easy for your audience to get in touch with you” is not one I am totally sold on. Yes it is good to know that a businesses’ response time is posted on their page, but I don’t know of many people who post questions or comments on the company Facebook page.  The question at the end of all this is, do most consumers turn to Amazon for purchases for the product anyway?  Is there a way for brands to more successfully advertise on sites like Amazon? It is a quicker, more convenient way to buy products. I don’t know of many people that use facebook for more information on a product or business. I think most of the time they turn to Amazon or even the company website for more information.

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Apple’s advertising has consistently stood out ever since it put out its silhouettes commercials in the 2000s. However, it seems each year, it is the same routine with Apple of putting out the same product of the newest iPhone that everyone must have. I do agree that each new iPhone that comes out each year is more advanced, has better camera quality, is faster, etc. But they are all the same similar product each year. I could see this trend starting to slow down Apple’s sales and move them further down in the market. However, the picture placed above caught my eye. Apple is taking a different approach to marketing its products, which is based on privacy. They are reminding their consumers that they do not make money off their products from selling users’ information and that their products have always been and always are focused around privacy. I think this is a genius way to place yourself in the market, especially in today’s world. People are very wary of their tech products and social media sites and making sure their information is not out in the open to the public.  Apple reminds its consumers of this with a giant billboard in Las Vegas playing off the saying of “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”.  The billboard is also recognizable of Apple’s advertising style by focusing on simplicity, big bold words, and a big picture of the product.  It stands out. I personally am reassured by this as I am an Apple products owner and have been for several years. Apple has always let consumers know that they are the top of the line, luxury product. They stand out among the rest. This goes back to their ads of “crazy ones” and even the 1984 commercial.  This ad pictured above stating “What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone” placed near the Las Vegas Convention center where thousands of people probably travel through daily will be seen by a large market share, especially during the CES convention.  Apple really nailed it with this ad and the placement of it. I think this could be a great way to market Apple from a privacy standpoint by putting these ads in heavily traveled areas, such as airports and major U.S. cities with a lively nightlife. It will ensure those who see it that Apple will never use its consumers’ personal information for money.

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Zucker states in his article that magazine ads are the foundation of print ads. I think this holds true. Although advertisements on TV and online are ever-evolving and getting more creative and innovative every year, I think the basis of how advertising is done is in print ads. 

Zucker attached an article about David Ogilvy and his 7 commandments of advertising. I think the first one sums it all up: “Your role is to sell, don’t let anything distract you from the sole purpose of advertising.” I often find myself watching cable TV or Hulu and after watching it I’ll ask myself “What was that even about?!” Some of the advertisements are so far out there, such as perfume/cologne commercials that they totally miss the point of why they are spending millions of dollars in the first place on the ad, which is to sell the product and make viewers aware of it. If you are confusing your viewers with your commercials, then you are missing the concept. Print ads in magazines or newspapers simply show you what they are about. They have a nice big color picture of the product, such as the perfume bottle, and list the brand on it. Plain and simple. I think this goes back to the KISS principle (Keep it Simple Stupid). Ogilvy also states that the goal of the ad is not to come up with the most witty or clever statement, it is to simply explain the product to viewers. 

This brings into question, will print advertising still exist in 10 or 20 years? More and more companies are trying to go paperless. Verizon even offers a discount to customers if they opt for paperless billing statements. Magazines are even more expensive at $7.99 each. That is a lot of money to spend when you can just read it online for free. Personally, since Zucker stated that Print advertising is declining, I think we will slowly see magazines disappear off the shelves, 1. if they are not selling and 2. If ad agencies are opting for digital ads over print ads.