Wikis? Widgets? Blogs?

In the quest to stay relevant, marketers are trying to figure out how to harness social media to build their brands and drive sales. Some context on this new marketing platform is a good place to start.

Social media is best understood in conjunction with brand- and direct-marketing platforms. Brand marketing (broadcast, print, outdoor) has always been about pushing out a brand message to the audience. Direct marketing (direct mail and email marketing) is a platform for lead generation. These two types of marketing have a few things in common:

• They're one way—from the brand to the customer

• They're generated from the brand—what the brand wants to say about itself

• They're intended to interrupt the customer

The game changer
With the advent of social media, however, marketing is no longer just about image building and lead generation. Today, it's also about customer engagement. Social marketing is about multi-way—not one-way—communication. This includes channels like blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, social networking sites, and widgets.

Unlike brand and direct marketing, social media marketing is characterized by:

• Brand-to-customer and customer-to-customer

• Participatory, as desired

• Generated by the user

Uncomfortable? For many marketers, yes. Social media marketing means relinquishing control. But the upside can be worth it: marketers who embrace this platform open up the potential for greater credibility and customer loyalty.

Keep the balance right
Social media marketing should be thought of as a companion platform to brand and direct marketing, not a replacement for it. Effective marketing still flows from a compelling brand position, strategic marketing plan, and an integrated tactical mix to reach
the customer. The trick is how to leverage all three to build communications that drive results. We're helping our clients do just that.

One recent example is our work on a national public education campaign about prescription drug abuse among teenagers. Teens call it "pharming," and it's the fastest growing form of substance abuse in the United States. But parents aren't aware it's happening. Our client wanted to change that.

To reach parents, we developed an integrated campaign consisting of the following components:

• Brand marketing including a comprehensive educational website, posters, and brochure

• Direct marketing through targeted online banner ads on sites such as Yahoo! and iVillage to drive site traffic

• Social media marketing that reached out to several hundred influential "mommy bloggers" around the country. We invited them to visit the site, blog about the issue, and help raise awareness among parents. The result? Hundreds of posts that generated third-party credibility and advocacy for the program.

More trends we're watching
Social media is just one of the new marketing trends we're leveraging for our clients. Here are a few others we're watching:

• Mobile devices as ad platforms. Recipients will determine what messages they want to receive and their devices will store information from purchase decisions. Ads will need to cater to this information-gathering behavior.

• Mobile phone apps will allow users to search for everything. Marketers can reach the customer when they express a need for a product or service.

• People will seek advertising that they like—on their own
terms. TV commercials are just too easy to skip and, just as importantly, can’t give the credible, in-depth information consumers increasingly want. They’ll be looking for rich content online.

• Advertising is getting smarter, too! Signs in retail stores will make suggestions based on your wardrobe, and face-reading technology will evaluate consumers to tailor messaging.

All hail the fundamentals
There will always be newer and more effective ways to reach your audience. But the marketing fundamentals of creating a great product or service, crafting a relevant message, and delivering an outstanding customer experience are timeless musts.

BACK TO TOP

Remedy peeps: latest news

There's a new face at Remedy: account supervisor Kelly LaClair. Kelly brings extensive experience developing marketing strategies for national heath brands.

READ MORE ABOUT KELLY

Remedy veteran, David Sieren, has been promoted to associate design director. In his new position, David will play a lead role in setting design strategy and visual development for Remedy clients. They’re in great hands.

READ MORE ABOUT DAVID

Road trip to the 18th century

Remedy designers John Bufalino, Mike Guerin, and David Sieren (pictured below) recently relived part of our nation's typograhic history at the Hamilton Wood Type and Print Museum. In addition to viewing the museum’s premier collection of wood letterforms, our designers manually operated a letterpress rolling ink and manipulating century-old
letterforms—the way fine documents and posters were created in the 1800s.

To learn more about the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, visit www.woodtype.org.

Remedy in Adweek

Studies show napping at
work increases productivity, renews energy and boosts enthusiasm—even better than caffeine. So Remedites Carol McCarthy and Erin Shelton decided to create our "Rejuv Room"—complete
with a massage chair,
aroma therapy candles and
a lulling waterfall. Not only popular among Remedites,
it was the talk of Adweek's daily blog.