« Retailers, financial services companies, travel category advertisers… we can match their CRM data with our set top box data panel and use that as a basis for finding their target audiences. They can activate their own customer segmentations, they can use it to find within their customer segmentation more responsive audiences to their advertising message. »

Engagement

Facebook is not for sending traffic to your website. The idea is to engage people who are already there on Facebook, by liking their posts, sharing them, too, and responding to their comments. Your own posts should be designed to get people to know, like and trust you. This is accomplished by posting videos of attorneys volunteering at a community event, by posting photos of your staff appreciation event, and by posting stories that humanize your law firm.

For example, the Shouse Law Group of California, which is very successful at generating new business online, has a Facebook page with cartoons, statistics and scads of glowing reviews by happy clients. Avoid posting self-promotional sales messages. This is akin to a salesman at a cocktail party who pitches everyone he meets to buy insurance. Also, avoid posting your firm’s list of jury verdicts, because it makes potential clients think that they’ll just be a statistic at your firm.

MONTRÉAL — Une tentative de meurtre s’est produite samedi soir dans l’arrondissement de Montréal-Nord, sur l’avenue des Récollets près de la rue Prieur.

Vers 20h30, un homme de 27 ans, qui marchait sur la rue, a été approché par au moins un individu qui a ouvert le feu en sa direction.

La victime, qui a été atteinte d’au moins un projectile selon le Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, a pris la fuite et s’est réfugiée dans un immeuble à logements près du lieu de l’agression.

L’homme a été transporté à l’hôpital et on ne craint pas pour sa vie.

Le SPVM enquête sur cette affaire et aucun suspect n’a été arrêté.

La jeune Selena Sarah Valenzuela a quitté son domicile de Chomedey avec un sac de vêtements le 11 novembre, et n’a pas été revue depuis. D’après le Service de police de Laval, la jeune brune aux yeux bruns « aurait des fréquentations qui laissent craindre pour sa sécurité et pourrait se retrouver dans la région de Montréal ou Ottawa ».

Elle parle français, mesure 1,70 m (5’07 ») et pèse 55 kg (120 livres) et porte une bague en diamant.

Toute information permettant de retracer cette jeune fille sera traitée confidentiellement via la ligne info au 450 662-INFO (4636) ou via le 911 en mentionnant le dossier LVL 161116 072.

Le Service de police de Montréal recherche pour sa part un septuagénaire d’origine asiatique, Wah Tat Hum. L’homme, qui fréquente le casino de Montréal, a quitté son domicile le 22 novembre pour se rendre à un rendez-vous médical, mais n’est jamais revenu chez lui. Il portait alors un pantalon mauve, un manteau turquoise et une tuque noire.

Il mesure 160 cm, pèse 50 kg et doit prendre des médicaments régulièrement.

Toute personne ayant de l’information à communiquer concernant cette disparition peut le faire de façon anonyme et confidentielle avec Info-Crime Montréal au 514 393-1133.

QUÉBEC – Le restaurant Les Frères Toc, situé dans le nord du boulevard Henri-Bourassa à Québec, a encore une fois été défoncé par un véhicule, dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche, alors qu’il venait à peine de rouvrir ses portes après un incident semblable survenu en juin.

Vers 1 h 30 du matin, un véhicule avec deux femmes à bord circulait boulevard du Lac, en direction Sud, raconte le lieutenant Francis Pétrin, de la police de Québec. Le restaurant Les Frères Toc se trouve dans l’axe du boulevard du Lac, sauf que la route bifurque pour aller croiser le boulevard Henri-Bourassa. La voiture a vraisemblablement manqué cette courbe.

Des policiers ont été témoins de la fausse manœuvre. «Ils ont vu le véhicule dans les airs et qui a terminé sa course dans la façade du restaurant», poursuit M. Pétrin. Les quatre fers en l’air, il a embouti l’immeuble.

Heureusement, les deux personnes dans le véhicule s’en tirent avec des blessures qui semblaient mineures. Elles ont été conduites à l’hôpital en ambulance. Un prélèvement sanguin a été demandé sur la conductrice d’une cinquantaine d’années afin de vérifier la présence d’alcool.

Troisième fois

C’est troisième fois que le restaurant est endommagé par un véhicule. Le 29 août 2008, un automobiliste qui a omis de faire son arrêt avait démoli la façade du restaurant. Le carrefour aurait été réaménagé par la suite, ce qui n’a pas empêché les deux autres accidents.

Le 9 juin dernier, un gros véhicule récréatif a subi un ennui mécanique et a terminé sa course dans le restaurant. Plusieurs personnes ont fait des tours d’ambulance pour des blessures légères.

Le propriétaire avait estimé les dommages à 300 000 $.

Le restaurant n’était rouvert que depuis quelques semaines, soit depuis que les travaux avaient été terminés après l’accident de cet été.

As the amount of money spent on producing videogames has increased, the funding for marketing has gone through the roof as publishers produce high-quality television adverts and embark on social-media campaigns. Although marketing is a necessity for new videogames, the current marketing culture has led to grandiose claims by developers and near impossible expectations for new games. This is problematic as customers are given false impressions and games publishers and developers lose the trust of their fan bases. This begs the question, what is to be done about videogames marketing? Well it may be possible that a look at the marketing tactics employed in the film industry could be the solution to the current videogame marketing culture.

On October 16^th 2016, Rockstar Games changed its Twitter cover photo to a faded black logo with a red background. An inconspicuous change, yet it led to speculation from fans of the Red Dead Redemption series, hoping for the announcement of a new game in the franchise. Fans were granted that wish two days later when Rockstar posted the trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2 on their Twitter page. This news trended on Facebook and Twitter, the story was covered by news media websites and within weeks YouTube channels had posted in-depth analyses of the trailer. Rockstar had started their new marketing campaign with a bang and the hype around the game had appeared overnight.

Despite the wide coverage of this story, the end of the trailer states that Red Dead Redemption 2 will not be released until Fall 2017, at least a year away. That means that there will be months of speculation as fans consume any little bit of information Rockstar releases, sometimes jumping to conclusions with only the tiniest shred of evidence, and building up expectations of the game. This marketing style implemented by Rockstar is just one example of a trend within the videogames industry, in which companies announce upcoming titles long in advance; whilst creating a buzz around the new titles. Another example is of Fallout 4. Bethesda posted a countdown clock on their website without giving any information as to what it was for. Instantly, fans of the Fallout series assumed that it was counting down to an announcement of a new Fallout game. When the countdown finished, the trailer for Fallout 4 started to play, marking the start of a marketing campaign that included a live-streamed showcase to start E3, television adverts, posters in city centres, a series of short videos and several pre-order bonuses depending on how much customers spent and at which store they bought the game from.

The problem with this form of marketing within the video games industry is that creates an environment in which fans are desperate for more information and expectations increase as the release date approaches. This desire for information leads to embellished claims by developers in interviews. During an interview at E3, Fallout 4’s lead producer Jeff Gardiner claimed that he had played the game for nearly 400 hours, suggesting that Fallout 4 was set to be a big game with lots of content. However, Fallout 4 lacked the depth of previous installments, relying on ‘radiant’ quests which were just simple tasks that were repeated with no real impact on the game other than gaining some experience. Whilst on the Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert, the founder of Hello Games stated that players of the game No Man’s Sky would be able to meet each other in the enormous game universe, although it would be highly unlikely given the scale of the game. However, this was debunked when two live-streamers realised they were close to each other and attempted to find each other. Despite being in what seemed to be the exact same space, neither could see the other. This created speculation that Stephen Colbert may have been overstating the games capabilities.

No Man’s Sky has been the subject of criticism about another marketing technique used within the games industry, that is the use of misleading materials in trailers. It was claimed that Hello Games used promotion materials that were supposed to represent the completed game but were not actually taken from the finished version of the game, a practice known as ‘bullshots’. Consequently, they are the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority. This is not the only case of these tactics being used by a games developer. There was significant anticipation for the release of Watch Dogs, however it soon came out that the games graphics were weaker than the graphics of the trailer; which was supposedly showing gameplay. This discovery was met with criticism from consumers and critics alike.

The use of non-gameplay footage in trailers also poses a problem for consumers. Although game trailers state when a trailer is using footage that is not gameplay, it is still misleading to the consumer. The Battlefield 1 trailer that has been seen on UK TV channels states that none of the footage used is gameplay. Although it clearly states this, the footage used gives the impression of an action-packed game with beautiful graphics and dynamic gameplay, without actually showing what the game looks like. Technically they are letting the buyer beware, but it is still misleading. Furthermore, fans tend to want trailers with actual gameplay, rather than cinematic shots, as they would want to see what the game looks like.

It is clear that these marketing techniques have negative consequences for consumers. They are misled into buying games through embellishment of comments during interviews; they watch trailers that consist of non-gameplay footage or bullshots; and they must wait for months for games to be released whilst being bombarded with marketing ploys. Furthermore, these techniques create immense hype that builds up expectations that, when not met, lead to disappointment and frustration.

What is less clear, is the impact of these techniques on game publishers and developers. These techniques are employed to build up hype for a game to increase pre-orders. However, when the hype of these games is not met, and customers have to deal with unachieved expectations, they lose trust in the companies. Watch Dogs was highly anticipated as one of the first new IPs (intellectual property) for the current generation of consoles, but was met with generally average reviews and a rather negative reputation. This in turn has effected the sales of Watch Dogs 2. Most critics believe that whilst Watch Dogs 2 has its flaws, it is a substantial improvement on the original. Despite this, the pre-orders of Watch Dogs 2 were below the expectations of Ubisoft. This is likely due to initial scepticism of the game because of the marketing of the first Watch Dogs.

Therefore, the current climate of marketing within the videogames industry needs to adjust. It is possible that looking at the marketing techniques used by the film industry could provide the solution. The marketing of films is by no means perfect. Trailers often consist of the best parts of the film and in some cases, social media websites are used to build hype, increasing expectations which are not achieved, Suicide Squad comes to mind. However, there are still lessons to be learned.

Firstly, video games should be announced at least a year or two in advance, but that is not when the marketing campaign should start. Films tend to be announced years ahead of release, Marvel have already announced the next 8 films they will release including ‘Captain Marvel’ which will not be released until 2019. Games companies could do this too, to inform fans and consumers of upcoming releases, instead of shrouding them in mystery until a grand reveal followed by a long marketing campaign.

Secondly, video games should not start their marketing campaigns until a few months before the release of the game. The longer the campaign, the more marketing materials used, the greater the expectations and so the more likely consumers will be disappointed. Films normally advertise a month or so before their release, why do video games need to start over a year before the release? A marketing campaign can be done effectively in a shorter period of time. Moreover, this would stop marketing campaigns of games from overlapping.

Finally, only use footage from the game itself. To use footage that is not from the game is misleading to consumers, even if the trailer states that the footage is not gameplay. Not only is it not consumer friendly, it goes against the wishes of gamers who desire actual gameplay. Although film trailers are often criticised for using the best clips of the film, at least the footage used is from the film.

Marketing in the videogames industry has started to become more prevalent within mainstream media such as television adverts. This is good as it helps to fight against claims that videogames are for children, and reinforces videogames’ claim as a legitimate form of media that adults can engage in. However, the marketing techniques employed are becoming increasingly consumer unfriendly. In order to maintain the trust in the games industry by customers, publishers need to change their methods quickly or face a decline in pre-orders and possibly sales.

It’s been an incredible year for digital marketing. 2016 saw numerous ups, downs, and unexpected trends. As we kick off 2017, prepare to see some game-changing opportunities and exciting developments that may impact your marketing plans.

Live platforms

Live platforms like Periscope, Meerkat, and Facebook Live have emerged over the past couple of years, quickly becoming a popular way to engage with customers. Live streaming hasn’t fully taken off yet, but expect it to boom in 2017. New live streaming platforms, better content, faster connection speeds, and bigger data plans, will lower the barriers for adoption. Additionally, advancements in live stream technologies will encourage more brands to test out new ad products in the space.

While we expect to witness a rise in live streaming, we’ve already seen more than a handful of failed attempts. Earlier this year, the Grammy Awards live stream failed, citing technical glitches; cord cutters who eagerly aimed to catch the music industry’s important night were furious and lashed out on social media. Other live streams like Twitter’s Thursday Night Football saw some initial success. In an average minute of the game, 243,000 people streamed the game via Twitter, but those numbers paled in comparison to TV, which reached 15.4 million watchers on the NFL Network and CBS. While we might anticipate significant growth in live streaming, it remains to be seen if it will rival audiences on television.

Augmented reality apps

Augmented reality (AR) has been the talk of the town this year. Over the summer, we witnessed an AR cultural phenomenon with Pokémon Go. The nostalgic game was a hit worldwide, garnering over 720,000 downloads on peak days and 650 million installs within 80 days of launch. In turn, it has excited a lot of marketers, apps, and consumers about the future of AR. BIC has dabbled with AR, inspiring kids’ creativity by bringing drawings to life on its app, DrawyBook. We expect to see brands continuing to experiment with AR in different ways, from retail outlets enriching customer shopping to travel agencies facilitating bookings. Get ready for more direct use of AR within apps, both immersive experiences and tangentially related ones.

Even though the potential for AR is huge, we’ve only seen one phenomenal story so far. This begs the question of whether AR in general will go the way of the failed attempts of Google Glass and 3D TV. It’s a complex technology, challenging to implement for brands, and is only now starting to be adopted by consumers en masse.

Chatbots

Believe it or not, chatbots have been around for decades. But in 2017, we’re expecting chatbots to improve significantly and to be used in new ways. China-based messaging platform WeChat has pioneered the way brands use chatbots to interact with their consumers. The app is a go-to hub for consumer needs like banking, hailing cabs, and even booking doctor appointments. Over the past few months, the Western world, where we’ve seen a tremendous amount of bot development, has been playing catch-up. Facebook has invested in the burgeoning bot industry, rolling out tools for businesses and developers to build bots on its messaging platform. So far, the social media giant has unleashed a 30,000-strong bot army that provides news updates, sends flowers, responds to users in a personalized way, and much more. We expect this trend to continue into the new year.

Even with rapid development, chatbots are, at best, still imperfect. They can be slow, have difficulties understanding questions, and don’t always interact using conversational language. We’ve seen a lot of chatbot failures, which have alienated some customers from certain brands. Earlier this year, Microsoft’s chatbot on Twitter, known as Tay, crashed and burned. What started off as playful and engaging conversations quickly flew off the rails when Tay began making offensive, racist, and misogynistic comments. The bot was pulled off the Internet about 16 hours after its launch. But despite the many bot failures, chatbots could still dominate the future of messaging apps. Their future depends on the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Immersive video

Immersive viewing experiences could really break ground in 2017. Videos are no longer just one dimensional, as shoppable films and 360° videos break the fourth wall and immerse viewers. Early adopters include auto and real estate, where 360° has been around for a while. It’s time for other industries to get in on the action. GoPro released viral spherical videos that give viewers a unique experience of surfing an enormous tube. Shoppable videos are similarly immersing users. Recently, lifestyle brand Ted Baker released a spy-themed entirely shoppable film, Mission Impeccable, that dominated its home page. The Guy Ritchie shoppable collaboration allowed viewers to add items to their online carts with a simple click, switching up the usual online shopping experience. And we can’t forget about the immersive video disruption brought to you by Snapchat and its Spectacles. This product gives people even more control to shoot and share their videos in the moment.

Mass adoption of immersive video will depend on new technology that could be developed in 2017. At the moment, distribution of these video types is limited to a few platforms, such as YouTube 360° and shoppable video. For brands, pre-roll is still the largest source of inventory, and it has limited capabilities to implement  immersive video. Brands need to understand that although immersive content can engage users in exciting ways, it is restricted to a few available platforms.

Beyond viewability

Brands tend to use viewability to measure success. While it’s important to ensure that a brand’s video campaign attracts eyes, viewability is table stakes and doesn’t necessarily move the needle. It’s time for brands to move away from media-based outcomes, such as views or clicks, and shift towards tangible business objectives such as sign-ups, downloads, and purchases.

To focus on business objectives, agencies must go beyond CPMs in favor of performance-based metrics. Additionally, the industry needs to develop reliable attribution models to help connect the dots for marketers. Attribution technology is improving, but it is not foolproof.

These trends aren’t new. They do, however, reflect massive growth and a transformation to a more sophisticated and focused online advertising marketplace. Brands would be wise to stay abreast of these trends in 2017, as it will be an exciting and action-packed year.

Mitchell Reichgut is CEO of Jun Group. He has worked in the advertising industry for two decades on both the creative and agency sides.

By Anthony O’Brien

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November 28, 2016

It’s fair to say that marketing is a subjective discipline. That said, it’s remarkable how often businesses settle on a marketing approach that mirrors the strategies and messages used by the competition.

It’s not exactly a surprising outcome either, given the time and effort many firms, whether they’re in hamburgers or financial planning, invest in tracking their rivals. The trouble is that by following the immediate competition too closely, it makes it difficult for clients to differentiate between the competing market offerings. In this situation, final buying decisions are often made according to which is cheapest.

Look outside the box

The smart organisations look outside the box for their marketing inspiration, to other industries. For financial planners, I don’t mean necessarily mean copying lock, stock and barrel the approach used by market leaders such as McDonald’s, Harvey Norman or Myer. The secret is to look at the different approaches to marketing used by firms in other quarters that could be put to good work by financial planners

What should you look for?

Start your research by looking at marketing activities that are targeting a similar client base to you. For example, if young families are a key segment for you, look at other firms that are zeroing in on this group?

You might look to travel, for example, and the campaigns they run. One of my firm’s clients, Boundround.com is an excellent Australian travel business that’s become a valuable source for family holiday tips. Boundround has a lifestyle edge and has delivered some savvy social media campaigns targeting family decision makers.

Also consider, for example, the number of brands using video. They build engaging content utilising a storytelling approach to convey their messages. Video is a perfect medium for financial planning, an industry with a reputation for complexity. Yet video still appears to be an underutilised resource by many financial planning firms.

US airline JetBlue is known for cheeky, edgy campaigns that achieve results. The airline has achieved some success by using infographics to tell its story quickly and effectively. Given our attention span is now collectively a measly 8 seconds, a simple infographic can convey interesting facts and figures in an easily digestible way.

At the end of the day, how other brands interact with their clients is a very useful marketing resource. It’s a measure that can give you different ideas for achieving cut through with your clients.

Don’t be afraid to look beyond your industry for ideas. In this age of almost constant marketing overload, my advice, follow the Fleetwood Mac song and go your own way.

TOPICS:  marketing

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  See also

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  How learning to back himself put Canion on the path to success
  
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  Ethical questions at the core of who we are
  
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  Three trends that will change how you market your services
  

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  The bottom line – how effective is your marketing?
  
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  Your brand: it’s hard to build and easy to destroy
  
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  Is social media marketing effective? Yes, but not on its own
  
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  Selling – a ‘live by the sword, die by the sword’ proposition
  

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