Pepsi's terrible ad shows the dangers of in-house agencies and leaving creativity to non-experts.
Last week the ad world was all of a flutter over an ad by Pepsi starring Kendall Jenner.
It is probably the worst ad you will see this year. (A competitive field, to be sure).
Or indeed you may never see it, as Pepsi have quite rightly pulled the ad and apologized to everyone involved including Kendall Jenner for “putting her in this position.”
How did a global brand like Pepsi put themselves into this position? The ad it screened is so culturally tone-deaf that Saturday Night Live have done a skit about it and everyone is laughing at them.
Pepsi made one simple, but very significant mistake. They thought anyone could make creative work. They were so very, very wrong.
Have you seen the ad? It’s hilariously bad. In case you were on vacation last week, here’s how it goes: for…
7 Web Design Trends You Can't Ignore in 2017
What do some of the top web designers have up their sleeves for 2017? In an industry that thrives on innovation and creativity, it's no surprise that the web design trends that are sure to make an impact in 2017 both push boundaries and embrace clean simplicity.
This infographic explores seven trends that are sure to make a big impact in the web design world this year. There's something for every style of designer here, from clean and tidy to chaotic and daring.
It starts with open composition, a style in which elements appear to be leaving the screen, giving visitors the impression that elements still exist somewhere outside the monitor. A trippy and intriguing concept.
Asymmetry might be more up your alley if you like to colour outside the lines every now and then.…
Chart of the Day: New Smart Insights research comparing how businesses manage their email marketing activities
Email marketing remains one of today’s core customer communications channels with analytics showing that, for most types of business, alongside search marketing, it is one of the main drivers of customer acquisition - for generating new online sales and leads. While the beauty of email marketing is that you can quickly start by sending promotional emails and newsletters, businesses will only get the full potential delivered by their email service providers they choose if they deploy marketing automation.
In a major, global research project with our partners GetResponse, Content Marketing Institute and Holistic Email Marketing, we were interested to see how many businesses are taking full advantage of email marketing capabilities. The free research report Email Marketing and Marketing Automation Excellence 2017 was published this week and included the views of over 2,500 marketers - thank…
Chart of the Day: The amount of time people spend using messaging apps in Europe, Latin America & Asia has grown by up to 10 times that of the USA
In a recent report by ComScore measuring the percentage of time the average user spends using messenger apps versus all other mobile activity found that people outside the USA, UK and Canada spend significantly more of their time on mobile using these apps. The messenger apps included in the report were the 5 key apps globally, Facebook messenger (with over a billion installs on Android - who doesn't have this on their phones), WhatsApp (and this one), Line, WeChat & QQ messenger.
These 5 apps share 1.4% of all mobile minutes in the USA and 2.3% in the UK, but when you compare that against 15.8% in Mexico and 14.9% in Indonesia the difference is staggering.
…
Customer expectations are rising fast. Meet them or die.
Today, website visitors expect more than ever before from your website as they compare your user experience against the leaders from different sectors like Amazon, Facebook, HubSpot or Uber. Yet, often there are common flaws in how websites are designed and implemented which means they don't support your communications goals and the customer journey.
While mistakes may not be fatal, if you think of every design or content mistake you make as a defect in the customer journey, that will be repeated thousands of time or more if it's not fixed, it's not going to help you compete since research shows that bad experiences mean that visitors or customers won't return.
The quality of the Customer and User Experiences that businesses deliver through their customer-facing websites is now vital in most industries. The website experience must support the whole customer lifecycle from acquiring customers…
Chart of the day: User researchers are taking advantage of multiple user experience (UX) research techniques
A study discovering the UX research techniques used most often reveals that researchers are using multiple methods with key techniques and emerging techniques equally important.
Task analysis, journey mapping, design reviews, user stories and prototype testing are the most popular methods. You can click on the chart below to see an enlarged version.
The study by NNG, leaders in UX research, also found:
Surveys are still heavily used, providing reliability
Remote user testing is not as popular as in-person research
Diary studies are used by just 2 in 10 (22%) researchers and just under half (47%) use search log analysis.
Researchers seem committed to using multiple techniques, which should continue to increase the quality of user research, experience and conversions.
Source: NNG - the study is referenced here and …
Now mobile is the norm, marketers need to re-think how they approach a broad range of tactics
By the end of last year there were 2 billion mobile users worldwide. This amounts to 400% growth in just a decade and the figure is bound to have increased since this date. 80% of internet users access it via their mobile phones and this should be a huge warning signal to all businesses that their marketing, sales and communications strategies must all have a 'mobile-first' focus.
All business owners have had it drummed into them that their website must be responsive, it’s what customers expect, and whilst this is true , it can’t stop there. Your entire strategy needs to be based on the assumption that users could be viewing your online communications, emails, social posts and more from practically any device, and more than likely a smartphone or tablet. How is…
The why and how of omni-channel B2B marketing
Omni-channel marketing is a buzz phrase that is used interchangeably with other phrases such as cross-channel marketing; multichannel marketing and my preferred term integrated marketing.
Omni-channel is a complex, customer-centric approach to marketing. It's all about thinking holistically in terms of customer experience, interactions, and messaging.
From a B2B perspective, it is about being relevant in all the places a customer wants or expects to find you. This, although the use of ‘omni’ implies it, doesn’t necessarily mean everywhere!
A seamless omni-channel experience
What does a seamless omni-channel experience look like?
It looks connected and joined up. That is to say if, on a given day or week, you visited a website, a Facebook page, saw an ad (print, banner or retargeted), received an email, saw a POS in-store, they would be all be talking about the same thing.
Omni-channel marketing works totally irrespective of the channel rather than merely…
Take note of these 5 tips for keeping your campaigns relevant to newer generations
A lot has been said about millennials. You know who I mean, you’ll have seen the definition a million times: those born between 1985 and 2000, the youngest of whom will not know what the back of a stamp tastes like, the generation for whom everything is Google'able and for whom there’s no lack of answers for life’s mysteries, big and small.
What makes this generation particularly interesting for marketing professionals is that, thanks to social media and cookies, this generation is easier to read, understand and know than generations past and, not only that, but they’ve been shown to be a more loyal group than their ancestors but, what about millennials and email? Is email still relevant?
Millennials and email
At Benchmark Email, we are particularly interested in…
New tools for outreach, video marketing, market segmentation and more
In the ever-evolving digital world, keeping up with the tricks of the trade is crucial. Marketing is no longer a one-way communication from brands, but a dialogue between brands, customers, influencers and various other stakeholders. To ensure that your brand is a part of this conversation, you need to stay on top of the game with your digital media strategy.
Throughout this year, brands will see a confluence between traditional and digital media channels as there will be parity in the kind of messaging planned for both kinds of outlets. More brands will look for ways to share data from paid media with real-time content across channels in a similar manner.
Further, there will be a greater need to generate more relevant and shareable content for all digital platforms, so that it consistently drives traffic to your landing pages and websites.
Here are the…
