In an era of smart phones and maturing "millennials," options like inserting brands into popular online games and shooting interesting YouTube videos have become viable options, said Alan Epstein, principal [image-nocss] of The Epstein Group, St. Louis.
Retailers may find marketing and ad dollars better spent trying to understand and engage consumers in an ongoing basis, especially with the tools coming to light in today's digital age, Epstein told a session group of 75 attendees yesterday. About 600 retailers, suppliers and consultants gathered for the annual conference.
Effective marketing and loyalty programs focus on creating an emotional connection to the brand, Epstein said. Brand value increases the more retailers engage the customer, with the most successful brands achieving within the consumer the status of self expression. "It's the point where a person feels a brand 'expresses who I am'," he said.
Most consumers who become brand advocates no longer hold price as a factor in their buying decision. In addition, they tend to spend considerably more than the casual buyer and "spread the word" about the brand.
Engaging current customers has become more affordable in an online, digital age, he said, especially as the generation now maturing into adulthood is already adept at personal technology.
Describing millennials, or the demographic of 77 million U.S. consumers between 18 and 30, Epstein said most are accustomed to video games and cell phones, see technology as enhancing the quality of their lives, get their news from the Internet, "value shop" using price-comparing websites and get new-product advice mostly from word of mouth among friends in social-media circles.
"Americans are spending as much time online as they do on TV," Epstein said, "with 60% of people who watch TV also going on the Internet an average 4 hours and 11 minutes a day."
Epstein noted a number of ways retailers could use technology to identify and engage consumers as a way to develop brand advocates: Surveys taken inside the store or outside using company databases. Focus groups. Advertising on web portals, or popular websites. Making certain the retailer's website is "optimized" for online searches, with all the proper reference tags in place to lure consumers. Email programs that collect and utilize customers' emails for promotional and engagement purposes. Mobile marketing as an emerging and potentially effective way to issue coupons and communicate specials. Social "gaming" as a new way for retailers to engage consumers with retailers actually inserting their brands into online games. It's a new day, Epstein said. "You have to reach people on their terms because they have the ability to get information the way they want it."
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