Acuity Frontline Thinking Spring 2014

ISSUE THREE

OVERVIEW:WHAT IS FRONTLINEMARKETING?

EXPERT ADVICE: IMPORTANCE OF THE FRONTLINE APPROACH

FRANCHISE FOCUS: THE 3 KEY STEPS

FRONTLINE THINKING / ISSUE THREE

OVERVIEW / 3

FRONTLINE FOCUS:INTERVIEW WITHSTEPHEN TUCKER

DEALER FOCUS:OPTIMISING THE ONLINE MARKET

INNOVATIONS IN FRONTLINE MARKETING:RETAIL MOBILEMARKETING

FRONTLINE FOCUS: INTERVIEW WITH STEPHEN TUCKER VICE PRESIDENT OF SAEPIO PAGE 10

OVERVIEW:

With most big brands there’s still a real disconnect between national and local marketing. The former looks for ways to establish brand equity, whereas the latter is far more concerned with hitting targets – and getting the bonuses.

We use ‘Frontline’ to describe your franchise network or sales outlets – inevitably parts of your business with their own unique set of challenges. They’re also areas that, more often than not, are focused on ways to increase sales and customer retention.

IS FRONTLINE MARKETING?


WHAT IS FRONTLINE MARKETING? / 5

WHAT

EXPERT ADVICE:

Words of wisdomThis issue’s expert is Anitha Ilangovan, who heads up Acuity’s local marketing team.

As we step into a world of advancing technology, increased audience segmentation and varying definitions of consumer trends and markets; brands in turn need to reflect these changes in their marketing approach. Many campaigns will begin with a key insight, which is then broadcast into large-scale advertising productions from TV to billboards in the hope of maximising revenue. However the problem lies in the relevance of this one key message, which will most likely be seen by millions of disinterested punters as well as the few that you are targeting. At Acuity we can address this disconnect between national and local marketing, and ensure your brand is reaching ALL of your target audience. The question is how?

IMPORTANCE OF THE FRONTLINE APPROACH

“Frontline Marketing approach is

fantastic value”

With audiences varying geographically, socially and economically, it’s important to develop an approach that is targeted and localised, one which creates its own unique synergy with each consumer. By adopting the Acuity Frontline approach, we empower your network to become your local marketing experts; allowing brands to develop closer and more meaningful relationships with their consumer as they begin to explore the different demographics of a target audience, and the subtle nuances between them.

Creating bespoke ads that are tailored to each individual might be viewed as overkill or simply not feasible financially. But, there are cost-effective solutions that will provide effective localisation across a wide-ranging campaign, including for example, regional newspapers, digital, community radio, etc.

This is our area of expertise! The operations team at Acuity has developed various online marketing toolkit systems built specifically for businesses which have a number of outlets needing to localise global marketing materials.

To stay ahead of the competition, brands need to get serious about campaign localisation and constantly reassess the way they approach prospects as the channels continue to evolve and change. And, most importantly, this Frontline Marketing approach is fantastic value compared with the scattergun alternative.


EXPERT ADVICE / 7

3

FRANCHISE FOCUS:THE KEY 3 STEPS

One of the most exciting aspects of business ownership is positive growth. How does that normally take place? Good timing? A well-developed product? Or pure luck? It could be all these things; however the one thing that truly sets a company apart from its competitors is the consistency, quality and efficiency of its marketing.

Franchise marketing focuses on one of the most important business relationships, the one between franchisees and their own customers. These business owners work on the ‘Frontline’ for their business and the brand.

THE KEY STEPS


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They deal with customers on a regular basis and in most cases have the best understanding of what they want and need. Acuity also works using a ‘Frontline’ approach by understanding the unique challenges a franchise network faces and creating the solutions that help further growth opportunities.

3 KEY STEPS HELP BRING THIS TO LIFE

Quality is imperative The theory that high production costs equate to a high quality campaign is rarely true. But no matter how broad (or compact) a campaign plan looks, it is essential that quality is never compromised, something that is easily achieved using our systems that aggregate and amortise costs across multiple users.

Consistency is key When a franchisee purchases a franchise, they are buying into the brand. Maintaining and strengthening that brand identity is fundamental to success and

will help accelerate business growth. If a brand’s message is not consistent amongst franchisees, things become confusing. But balancing consistency with franchisee independence is always a tricky job. Acuity is equipped with ideas, tools and systems to overcome these obstacles and provide a smooth transition to success.

Efficiency is crucialAs the market becomes more saturated, franchises need an effective strategy to stand out from the crowd. Ensuring the same, high quality marketing output from one location to the next is one of the critical roles a franchisor has to tackle. So, it’s important to establish a cost-effective solution that can be replicated efficiently, targeting the core audience locally and reducing significant wastage. This way, the message stays clear and all parties are happy.

THE KEY STEPS

What are some of the unique challenges big brands face in localising their marketing strategy and how do you help them overcome them?

Big brands want their target audience to have a single brand experience whether the communication is coming from the brand or a local marketer. Accomplishing this requires strong coordination and communications. With so many local marketers involved, the brand marketer needs a platform that creates the corporate and local connection.

What is it that national brands typically ask you for? What are they expecting? How do you manage that?

National brands want an easy-to-use marketing resource for their local marketers. They want consistent brand

messaging in all markets at all times and they want quality campaigns that perform. Often, their “local marketers” aren’t marketers at all but restaurant managers, HVAC shop owners, parts store managers or some other front line manager or leader. Saepio designs its user interface for these individuals so they can create very robust marketing campaigns that are fully brand compliant in very little time and with very little expertise required.

What do you feel are the biggest struggles for new local outlets who are trying to build their client base whilst still trying to maintain their brand identity?

The biggest struggle is staying focused on the long-term business drivers after the initial launch campaign has concluded. New local outlets often feel like they must keep investing in awareness advertising to

leverage the strength, value and goodwill of the corporate brand. However, how your early customers experience the brand’s promise through exceptional service and communications is far more important at this stage. These experiences will drive word-of-mouth marketing and establish the new outlet as the “face” or preferred access point for the brand in the local market. In order to focus on providing the exceptional service and communications at this early stage, it is critical that any advertising materials be extremely easy and quick to create.

How can local outlets of big businesses use social media platforms to enhance their local search visibility (directly or indirectly)?

We’re a big fan of a “strategic social” approach for large brands. Social engagement on behalf of the local outlet

FRONTLINE FOCUS:INTERVIEW - SAEPIO

Saepio Technologies, from Kansas City, has been delivering industry-leading technology for over 13 years while serving more than 150 brands. Saepio’s singular focus is on creating technology and services that allow companies to deliver distributed marketing campaigns that are easy, engaging, and effective. As Acuity is the exclusive European reseller of Saepio technologies, we decided to speak to Stephen Tucker, Vice President at Saepio to find out his thoughts on the Frontline approach and the challenges big brands face today.

WITH STEPHEN TUCKER, VICE PRESIDENT – SAEPIO


FRONTLINE FOCUS / 11

can be powerful but can usually be completed just as effectively by an astute, disciplined corporate team without the risk of a misstep by a well-intentioned local marketer that does a lot of harm across multiple markets.

Strategic social – the inclusion of social posts, blogs and published news releases as part of a broader campaign – can occur in a much more controlled manner via a local marketing management platform and still effectively drive business traffic and support local search marketing.

In the Marketing & Advertising world, there’s always a lot of talk about KPIs – are there any KPIs that are uniquely local that encourage growth of national brands?

There are some interesting KPI potentials around local involvement in marketing content selection. It takes some discipline to monitor the impact of blending corporate insight and local intuition but the findings can really help motivate the right level and type of local involvement.

What local brand campaign has inspired you recently?Audi’s introduction of the A3 in North America has been nothing short of spectacular, but then what would you expect from Audi? What people didn’t see was the just-as-impressive manner in which Audi used a dealer marketing

online storefront and a dynamic content creation platform to automate content creation for the local market versions of the multi-channel campaign.

How have you worked with Acuity to address the disconnect between local and national marketing?

Acuity can apply best-practice knowledge to local marketing in a way very few others can. They truly understand how important a solid technical foundation is to blending corporate and local marketers into a single brand marketing team. We work with them on that front. But they also know, as do we, from dozens and dozens of program implementations that technology alone won’t lead to corporate and local bliss. It’s process + technology + people that come together to make brand value explode at the local level.

Looking a couple years down the road, what developments do you think are most likely to influence the way people find information about local outlets/franchises?

Word of mouth and search. We’ll have different ways to optimize it, different ways to promote it, and maybe different names for it. But word of mouth and search will help us find what we’re looking for. Once we’ve connected, the convergence of big data, real time decision engines and real-time dynamic content assembly

technology will keep us coming back and spending more. Is there a local marketing tool you feel that national brands are overlooking? Or is there anything that they do or use that makes you want to say, “STOP! Don’t do that anymore.”

It’s painful to watch brands that are stuck in traditional localization processes. The days of one production artist, one machine and one output should be WAY behind us, but they’re not. We have one client that REALLY gets this. Through a really intelligent application of marketing asset management philosophy, they have slightly more than 50 core templates that enable more than 7 million ad permutations. But most aren’t like them. Rethinking how content gets done seems too big a mental mountain for them and in those cases, yes, I want to scream STOP! There’s a much better way.

For more information about Sapeio, call Anitha now on 01923 244 241 or email [email protected].

WITH STEPHEN TUCKER, VICE PRESIDENT – SAEPIO

DEALER FOCUS:ONLINE MARKETING

AUTOMOTIVE

OPTIMISING THE ONLINE MARKET


DEALER FOCUS / 13

As customer and product loyalty progressively declines across various sectors, it’s key for automotive dealers to continue to fine-tune their online marketing strategy. The refinement of internet search and the ease of accessibility to local content make it simple for car dealers to connect with customers in their local area. The early days of online automotive shopping led to dealers jumping on the internet bandwagon to expand their market share. Many of those dealers were from rural areas without the resources to compete and often found themselves ‘lost’ in broadcast commercial messaging. Many of these early adopters have become internet megastores due to the expertise they have acquired in capturing long-distance customers. Recent studies have shown that although customers will visit an average of six dealerships in the purchasing process, they will visit only one of each brand.

Today’s dealers need to position their business to be the ‘one’ they visit. A few key frontline initiatives allow this to be done efficiently: • Ensure dealership website is optimised

to capitalise on local business. • Ensure website is optimised for local

keyword searches (e.g. use your loacation in your offer).

• Provide easily accessible content that satisfies consumer needs.

• Allow consumers to interact with dealership staff easily online.

Ultimately, the ‘deal’ will be instrumental in the final decision, but the dealership’s website is a vital step on the journey, so make the experience relevant, localised and reassuring.

INNOVATIONS IN FRONTLINE MARKETING:MOBILE MARKETING

The retail sector has seen a huge shift to mobile marketing due to the continuing trend of consumers being constantly connected to their smartphones and tablets. Retail brands have begun to capitalise on sthis trend as mobile technology creates a more fluid path to purchase. However, product inventory can be a major hindrance.

For example, suppose you are looking to buy a specific sports shoe and would like the latest version in a certain colour... there may be a number of retailers carrying it, but do they have the exact model, colour, size, fit and style preferred?

The usual ways to find out is to either phone up stores or go check in their local branch. But what if the consumer could immediately be directed to the right

store? Or get that information after they express interest in the product by clicking the ad in their mobile device? Through the combination of product inventory data and location-based mobile ads allowing consumers to engage not only with clicks, but also with physical movement along the path to purchase, the shopper, the brand and the local retailer will all be satisfied.

New technologies and mobile marketing platforms help integrate with retailer inventory systems, allowing product marketers to advertise products based on real-time availability. Consumer brands can now develop and implement a truly hyper-localised marketing strategy to increase product awareness and drive sales significantly. Creating access to the real-time availability of products and brands across stores can help make this possible, encompassing

everything from clothing to electronics to health products and beverages.The result is a win for brands, retailers and consumers:

• Brands benefit from increased local awareness of their existing and new products combined with product availability data that motivates consumers to engage and become regular customers.

• Retailers get more local traffic in-store and increase sales.

• Consumers quickly and easily find exactly what they want at a convenient location where they can buy their product.

Call Anitha now to find out more on 01923 244 241 or email [email protected]

RETAIL MOBILE MARKETING A SHOPPER’S PARADISE?


INNOVATIONS IN FRONTLINE MARKETING / 15

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Acuity Frontline Thinking Spring 2014