Enjoy this best-selling updated 8^th edition – packed with new material, keeping abreast with AI, AR, VR, MR, MA and other innovative approaches to marketing communications. All integrated with the world’s most popular SOSTAC® Planning methodology that delivers a reassuring sense of order in a chaotic digital world and also that delivers success from better, MarComms’ ‘information-based’ decisions.

In Part 2 – all ten marcomms tactical tools (incl ads, PR, sponsorship, Owned, Earned and Paid Media etc.)  has a sample SOSTAC® Plan at the end of chapter.

Ze Zook and I are so pleased with it.  So much new material including AI integrating with MarComms.  We’ve tried to keep the edutainment angle so readers actually enjoy discovering some cutting-edge examples, tips and tools throughout the book. Thanks to the team at @Kogan Page including: Alison, Donna, Bruna and  Jack, Jeylan, Susie and of course, Helen Kogan.

What New Marketing and What Classic Marketing is in the 8th ed.?

What’s new and what’s old in Marketing Communications 8th ed.?

20% author’s discount can be used legitimately by following these instructions.

1. Go to koganpage.com/MC8
2. Click ‘Add to Cart’
3. Click ‘Checkout’ on the top right corner of the screen.
4. Complete your Billing & Delivery Information
5. Click ‘Continue to Review & Pay’
6. Scroll down to ‘Review Items’
7. In this section, click the ‘Add an offer code’ button – bottom right
8. Enter your code AMK20 in the box provided
9. Scroll down to input your payment information
10. Click the ‘Buy Now’ button at the bottom of the screen.

Enjoy Your Book

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Are we being brainwashed? Is the dark web worse than subliminal seduction in the 1950s when brands embedded subliminal messages to unconsciously manipulate customers into buying their products? The Dark Web manipulates audiences  (some of which involves secret ads sent to perhaps illegally analysed voters/shoppers)  – particularly vulnerable, undecided audiences with secret messages/ads that no one else can see. The messages contain incorrect information – even lies, but are hidden from public eyes. The budgets that pay for some of these ads come from unknown sources and are deemed to be illegal and to have broken the law.

The Dark Web secretly influences opinions, purchases and votes.  It happened with Brexit and it happened with Trump’s 2016 election victory. See ‘How Trump Won’.  Will it happen again? Can it be stopped from happening again? This is marketing gone wrong. Can it be stopped?

And this is the brilliant Welsh journalist,  Carole Cadwalladr, calling out the “Gods of Silicon Valley” by name! I think it is amidst a Silicon Valley audience – perhaps someone can confirm?

Data Manipulation. Unknown/Unsourced funding. Lawbreaking. Changed Opinions & Beliefs. Wins Elections.

Possibly the best Ted Talk yet? Brilliant 15 mins. The transcript is worth revisiting also – all the facts listed in detail.

Carole Cadwalladr TED Talk

If you like this you might like:

How Trump Won  (using the magic marketing formula & Facebook and data)

The Dark Arts Of Marketing – Breaking Down Society to Create a New Culture – Using Data & IRD

How Obama Won Two Presidential Elections

The post Marketing Gone Wrong: Is the Dark Web Worse Than Subliminal Seduction? appeared first on PR Smith Marketing.

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I hope you like these 60″ Thoughts.

Here’s our first two.

They are designed to inspire you and your team. Pass them on if you like them.

Analysis is the critical starting point of strategic thinking.   Visit  www.SOSTAC.org   – if you like this, please pass it on / share it.

Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears

Visit www.SOSTAC.org  – if you like this, please pass it on / share it.

The post 60 Second Thoughts appeared first on PR Smith Marketing.

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Here is some of the text from this shocking interview with Christopher Wylie, who worked for Cambridge Analytica the company that helped Trump and others.  This is part of the current row about data being manipulated unknowingly to us, citizens, and subsequently, us citizens being manipulated into making decisions. This is probably the clearest statement to date as to why we need the GDPR (see my full post on General Data Protection Regulations). You can see How Trump Won using data analysis, precision targeting and then the Magic Marketing Formula, IRD. Please remember that marketing is just a set of management processes and tools which can be used for good or bad.

We would know what kinds of messaging would work 

“We would know what kinds of messaging you would be susceptible to, including the framing of it, the topics, the content, the tone, whether it is scary or not, what you would be susceptible to and where you are going to consume that, and then, how many times we need to touch you with that in order to change how you think about something……

In addition to having data scientists, psychologists and strategists, they also have an entire team of creatives, designers, videographers, photographers…they then create that content.”

Targeting Team

“That then gets sent to a targeting team, which then injects it into the internet. Websites would be created. Blogs would be created. Whatever it is that we think that this target profile would be receptive to, we would create content on the internet for them to find.

And they see that and they click it and go down the rabbit hole until they start to think something differently. Yea.”

No More ‘Shared Understanding’

“Instead of standing in the public square & saying what you think. And letting people come and listen to you. And have that shared experience as to what your narrative is..

..you are whispering in the ear of each and every voter and you may be whispering one thing to this voter and another thing to another voter” [=IRD].

Creating a Fragmented Society

“We risk fragmenting society in a way where we don’t have any more shared experiences and we don’t have any more shared understanding. If we don’t have any more shared understanding, how can we be a functioning society.

If you want to fundamentally change society, you first have to break it. And it’s only when you break it is when you can remold the pieces into your vision of a new society. This was the weapon that Steve Bannon* wanted to fight his culture war.”

*Trump’s right-hand man – until he sacked him recently!

The Magic Marketing Formula IRD

You might be interested in my full post on General Data Protection Regulations).

Or   How Trump Won using data analysis and then the Magic Marketing Formula, IRD.

See How Obama Won Two Presidential Elections

Either way, please remember that marketing is just a set of tools which can be used for good or bad.

—end—

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‘This seat is taken’ – a clever caption combined with a creative photograph – this image (plus caption) went viral during President Obama’s last campaign.

Recruit The Best People

When president Obama invited Teddy Goff to be his Digital Director, Obama took a big step towards becoming America’s next president.  Goff is the best in the business.

Have a Great Product

Equally, Goff only backed this horse, since he knew he had a great product (Obama) to market. Being a great digital marketer won’t work if you got a lousy product.

Combine Analytics With Creative Thinking

Interestingly Goff and his team spent a lot of time on analytics and segmenting and targeting messages as you’d expect. They spent even more time on creative thinking creatively about how to keep the information fatigued audience excited and invigorated sufficiently to (a) vote (b) encourage a friend to vote (c) perhaps get involved in the campaign. For more on Engagement see the Ladder of Engagement (Smith & Zook 2016, Marketing Communications). Here’s Teddy talking to me about all of the above. I apologise about the video (visual) quality. Please try to ignore it and just listen to what Teddy has to say.

Use Big Data

Everything they did was informed by data.  This helped Goff et al to give their followers a better experience. To serve their supporters with the best experience possible.

With literally, millions of volunteers on the ground. Goff: “We wanted to use the stuff that people were telling us about. So if someone clicks on this email rather than that one, it’s probably because they are a little bit more interested in this, rather than that.” They consequently would segment and target relevant content that matched the precise interests of people with similar interests (segments).  It’s not rocket science. Goff’s team used the knowledge they gathered from digital behaviour to infer broaden patterns e.g. ‘does it seem that people who care about veterans are more likely to vote for the president?’ I apologise about the poor quality visuals – try to focus on what Teddy Goff actually says. It’s gold dust.

So the same principle was applied to offline e.g. millions of volunteers knocking on doors, understanding what were the key issues and interests of undecided voters, helped campaigners to have more relevant conversations. This campaign had to integrate offline with online. For more on integrated marketing communications see the end of this post.

Target Multiple Self Referencing Sub Cultures with Distinct Value Propositions

Ok let’s call it multiple niche marketing! Think about what people care about and the dimensions around which they want to self-organise (group together). Goff and his team tried to create a platform which helped people to organise themselves around particular interests in particular areas e.g. women, interested in a certain issue, all from a certain state. And “let them form connections that they cared about rather than force them into relationships that might not be as meaningful to them.” says  Goff. Apologies for the poor visual quality of this video.

Use The Magic Marketing Formula

This is what I call the ‘Magic Marketing Formula. IRD.

• Identify Needs
• Reflect those needs (through ads, social media or any comms tool)
• Deliver (a reasonable product or service

Once a customer’s (voter’s) need (topic or issue) is identified, it can be reflected by either presenting solutions to that issue or by helping people to set up groups dedicated to this particular issue. This information can be collected from door-to-door conversations or even from digital body language (or click behaviour which is revealed by, for example, spending more time on certain pages/topics/issues than others).

Social media, and facebook in particular, generated 34 million Obama fans who in turn were connected with  98% of the facebook population of the USA. They could reach almost everyone, whereas no other media could do this.

Be Relevant – Target Different Segments With Different Messages

Goff’s team worked hard to break their audiences into dozens of discrete segments – so they could target more relevant messages to each group. They also never sat back. They kept trying to keep the connection, keep the engagement, keep the relationship with individuals. Look at the subject lines (headlines) in this fascinating graphic from NY Mag

Subject lines form Obama’s emails worked hard to keep the relationship engaging and friendly

Treat Your Staff Well

You might have noticed Teddy saying earlier (in the first video) that their primary focus in this campaign was on their supporters. Many of these were volunteers. Many of the rest could at least spread the word. As they say in business: ‘Happy Employees = Happy Customers = Happy Shareholders’, well you could argue the same principle applies here too.

Or perhaps there are alternative tactics such as Democrat, Hilary Clinton secretly funding, Republican, Donald Trump?

A SOSTAC® Summary Of The Election Campaign

PR Smith’s SOSTAC(r) Planning System

Situation Analysis: Team Obama used Data Analytics & Big Data to analyse the situation in great detail. In fact, all ‘decisions were data driven. Key issues are analysed and identified. Key phrases are analysed and identified so they can be used (or reflected) during the campaign. undecided voters were analysed and their key issues identified.

Objectives: Clear objectives were broken down from quarterly goals, to monthly goals, to weekly goals and daily goals.

Strategy: Most of the strategic components of TOPPP SITE were used. President Obama was positioned as an agent of change. [Positioning] Interestingly Teddy’s team focussed primarily on supporters. Segmenting them and serving them very carefully with relevant content. [Targeting]. Engaging them with regular relevant content. Engaging them by empowering them to set up and run their own clusters [Engagement]. He ensured he had a developed, credible product (Obama) before attempting to raise visibility [Sequence]. When he needed to raise visibility, he prioritised social media since it could reach parts of America that traditional media simply could not [Tactical Tools]. He used analytics and big data (all their ‘decisions were driven by data’) [Process]. Offline was integrated with online events and activities e.g. The President dining with 3 dollar voters was an offline event but when video recorded, it generated a lot of coverage online via social media [Integration].

Tactics: This the details of strategy, e.g. the marketing mix. At the heart of this is the product. Obama was a good product.In fact Teddy Goff recommendation to young people in marketing is to ensure you have a good product before doing any marketing. All the other elements of the mix needed to be managed carefully.

Action: This is the details of tactics. How to ensure continual excellent execution, day in, day out. This can be a work culture (so treat staff well) e.g. a relentless A/B culture continually testing and improving to find what works half a percentage better, and then optimising on what works best. it can also include checklists, procedures, training & motivation plus internal communications to ensure excellent execution.

Control: The objectives set earlier were  broken down and measured continually. A team was allocated to monitor and report on key variables on a daily basis e.g. any blips in sentiment analysis (an aggregate score of the mood of the American nation with reference to the presidential candidates) would have been spotted and brought to the attention of the campaign team.

For more on SOSTAC® Planning System and Certified SOSTAC® Planners see www.PRSmith.org/SOSTAC

See How Trump Won

See The Dark Arts Of Marketing – Breaking Down Society to Create a New Culture – Using Data & IRD

For more on Integrated Marketing Communications, The Ladder Of Engagement, Social Media , Marketing Content, Big Data, Segmentation, the Magic Marketing Formula and how to write the perfect plan see Marketing Communications, by myself and Ze Zook.

The 3 Things You Can Learn From Jeb Bush’s Disaster by Chris Matyszczyk

1. Understand Your Customer and Your Competitor

Bush seemed to grasp neither. He, like many other professional politicians, had no idea why Donald Trump was so popular. He therefore had no idea how to compete. Should he ignore him? Should he try and fight him toe-to-toe? Should he appeal to his essential reasonableness? In the end, Bush fell between all stools. He had no feel for a market that was fueled by anger at the system, rather than at any specific issue or policy. He came as off as slightly bemused and unable to cope alone. Trump was right. When you have to bring your mom and your brother on stage, you’ve lost confidence in yourself.

2. Develop Credibility Before Raising Visibility

‘They’re learning this one in Silicon Valley too. They think that all they need to do is raise a ton of money from gullible VCs and everything will be fine. Bush seemed to have the largest coffers. However, the more money was coughed up, the more the candidate stumbled. Until he was humbled. In the end, it’s the person and the idea that is tested. It isn’t the scale of finance behind them. Bush was too nervous in front of the camera and had no idea how to handle the fact that his brother had been something of a controversial figure when he was president. Strategy and execution are more important than money.’

3. The Logo Matters.

One of Bush’s very first steps was to attempt to hide his Bushness. Instead, he released a logo that was garlanded with an exclamation point. Jeb! That exclamation point was everything Jeb Bush isn’t — except for perhaps slightly old-fashioned. The logo came from the past. The Republican electorate is worried about the future. The logo suggested tradition, when people were sick of politicians’ tradition of doing nothing while lining their own pockets. The logo shouted, whereas Jeb Bush twitched and bristled. Your branding should reflect you. Yes, like Donald Trump’s gold faucets.

See more on How Target Marketing using up to 200 variables Can Save Money & Boost Results.

For more frequent topical tit bits see PR Smith Marketing on facebook or just connect with me on twitter @pr_smith

The post How Obama Won Two U.S. Presidential Elections appeared first on PR Smith Marketing.

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The Enormous Impact of Age & Gender Detection

Marketers must not ignore the enormous impact delivered by the new Age & Gender detection tools.  Yes it’s back to basics ie demographics. Knowing ‘Who?’ is your customer is one of 3 critical questions alongside ‘Why’ (they buy/visit/bounce) & also ‘How’ (they buy).  All marketers answer these questions. Good news: It’s getting easier to identify your customer demographics which, in turn allows some marketers to create competitive advantage by getting closer to their customers and helping them with more and more relevant information.

Here’s  some tools that help detect age and gender of your audiences:

• Facial recognition software*: uses rules similar to those rules we use when identifying if someone is male or female and whether they are old or young
• Microsoft:  App   How Old Do I Look
• Google Analytics: Free customer analytics
• Facebook insights: Free customer insights
• DOTS Name Validation 2 determines gender from your name
• Commercial Analytics like Japan’s NEC (deliver age, gender, behaviour & more for $900 p.m.)

* Facial Recognition Software will improve. However, it currently has some flaws. I used ‘How Old Do I Look?’ called  How-Old.net and inserted the photo on the left below. I promise you I am not 64 (thanks ‘How Old’ robot)!

What can we do with these new demographic analytics?

• see who’s buying your product
• see who’s visiting but not buying
• create tailored pages for different genders/ages (This is part of my magic marketing formula: IRD)
• create tailored email for  different genders/ages (IRD ditto)
• other suggestions are welcome (please post a comment/suggestion – below)

The Magic Marketing Formula (IRD)

Many years ago it dawned upon me that there is a simple, yet powerful magic marketing formula. I call it IRD: Identify needs, Reflect them & then Deliver a reasonable product or service. We can apply it here by identifying ‘Who’ and then helping them with much more relevant content/messages/products/services. See how IRD works in:  Shock TV Ad Uses Magic Formula & Goes Viral .

Use Demographics & Be At The Forefront Of Digital Marketing

As Alexis Ternoy says in his excellent post* ‘Someday, using demographic data in your marketing strategy will be non-negotiable, just as having an online presence has become today. Start collecting it, tweak your analytics software to make use of it, and you’ll be putting yourself at the forefront of online marketing.’  Temoy, A. (2015) The Marketer’s Latest Tool: Age And Gender Detection, Digital Doughnut 30 July.

You might also like:

Shock TV Ad Uses Magic Formula & Goes Viral  to see the Magic marketing Formula being used to change behaviour and save lives by stopping speeding driver.

How To Target Very Very Specific Audiences On Facebook – the power of facebook profiling

You can get a detailed list of customer analytical tools (many of them are free) in the SOSTAC ® Guide To Your Perfect Digital Marketing Plan (paperback or ebook).

The post New Analytic Tools: Age & Gender Detection appeared first on PR Smith Marketing.

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This is just the start of the facebook filters or segmentation variables that allow you to target, very precisely, your ads on facebook.

Click here to see how precise you can get, if, you know your customers (who they are, why they buy/don’t buy or visit/don’t visit & how they buy).

If you have any examples of how tight your advertising targeting is, or can be, please tell me (scroll down to ‘Leave A Comment’) and I’ll publish it, here and, with your permission, perhaps in one of my books which I am constantly updating.

You might also be interested in 10 Useful Ways Big Data Is Used – That You Probably Didn’t Know

Don’t miss any new posts – add your email to ‘Keep Up To Date’ (on the right).

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