Cool Japan!

Super Mario, Doraemon, Pacman and Hello Kitty - to promote the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Japanese government definitely went all out and brought out all their big guns. Seven months ago, Japan stole the spotlight from Brazil as it unveiled its Tokyo 2020 teaser in front of millions of spectators all over the world. Social media and news outlets focused more on Japan's show-stopping promotional video instead of the equally enticing and colorful closing ceremony in Rio. 

After the video went viral online, several of my friends immediately posted about wanting to go to Tokyo to watch the 2020 Summer Olympics. Even I had the urge to book tickets to Tokyo after watching it! By combining video games, animated characters and nostalgia (almost all of us played Super Mario and Pacman at some point, after all!), Japan was able to successfully drum up interest in an event which is slated to happen four years after the promotional video's release.

Also, the use of fictional characters as a promotional tool is in line with the revival of the Japanese government's "Cool Japan" campaign, which aims to promote the Japanese brand overseas through the use of popular Japanese influences; mainly video games, manga and anime.

In addition to the promo video, Japan also launched Instagram accounts (@Tokyo2020 and @beautiful_japan_2020) which showcase the beauty of Japan through photos, in preparation for the 2020 Olympics. 

Airbnb and Cause Marketing

Following his official proclamation early this year, Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States, made headlines all over the world due to his intense anti-immigrant stance. Understandably, a lot of sectors were outraged at his blatant discriminatory remarks. In response to this, several US-based companies went against Trump by publicly releasing statements criticizing the president. Others even went beyond just criticisms. Online vacation rental marketplace Airbnb is one such example.

Following Trump's remarks, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said that the company would offer free housing to refugees affected by Trump's travel ban. In decrying Trump's policies, Airbnb emphasized its company's core mission of creating a world where "anyone can belong anywhere."

I greatly admire Chesky's initiative. By supporting a particular cause which is both very timely and widely discussed all over the world, and by highlighting the company's core mission and values, Airbnb intentionally (or unintentionally) created a marketing wave all over social media, with millions of social media accounts and traditional news outlets sharing and reporting on the company's generous offer. In addition to this, as part of its anti-discriminatory initiative, Airbnb also requires its members to sign non-discriminatory policies while at the same time providing alternate housing for anyone denied accommodation due to race, religion or gender.

By strongly advocating its mission, vision and values, and by acting on it through several initiatives that are relevant to today's issues, Airbnb has managed to endear itself to the eyes of its potential market, and the world as a whole.

The Magic Behind "Beauty and the Beast"

Yes, it's a tale as old as time - yet, years after the release of Disney's animated feature "Beauty and the Beast," kids and adults alike still feel undeniable excitement at the mere mention of the cartoon classic's live action adaptation. It helps that Disney chose one of today's most bankable stars to take on the role of Belle (Emma Watson is as wonderful as ever in her role!), but a lot of the "Beauty and the Beast" live action movie's success could also be attributed to Disney's all out marketing efforts.

Beauty and the Beast stickers on iMessage.

As part of its marketing efforts, Disney released exclusive "Beauty and the Beast" stickers on several social media platforms, most notably on iMessage and Twitter. In addition, Disney further banked on the power of social media by holding a hashtag promo last month wherein lucky winners who tweeted #BeOurGuest could receive or send special rose deliveries as Valentine's day gifts.

What I find the most engaging of all, however, is the interactive marketing promo Disney launched on Twitter. Aside from the specialized stickers and the rose giveaways, Disney, in its official Beauty and the Beast Twitter account, also gave fans the opportunity to receive special messages directly from the live-action movie's cast (Emma Watson, Dan Stevens and Luke Evans), as long as they respond one of the account's tweets (as seen in the photo below).

The interactive factor of Disney's marketing efforts to promote "Beauty and the Beast" make it an excellent form of promotion for the movie. By doing this, social media users (and Disney's potential market) feel more connected to the cast and could thus be more persuaded to see the movie in cinemas. Furthermore, in conjunction with its online marketing efforts, Disney also set up exhibits in various malls worldwide (I actually saw one in Langham Place, Mongkok) to reach out to kids without social media accounts who might not have the opportunity to view its interactive marketing online. By targeting the social media generation as well as the younger generation (kids whose interests are easily captured by colorful, physical displays) and by combining both online and offline marketing, Disney was able to successfully promote its newly released movie to its intended audience.

The Buzz around Buzzfeed's Viral Food Channel

Buzzfeed, a self-proclaimed "social news and entertainment company" continues to dominate the Facebook feeds of avid social media users, with its colorful, trendy content and eye-catching headlines. A quick glance at my Facebook feed would show at least one Buzzfeed content - may it be an article on the latest Taylor Swift song, a "Which Game of Thrones character would you date?" quiz, or - as what this post would eventually highlight - addictive, minute-long cooking videos made simple.

This One-Pot Shrimp and Spinach Fettucine Alfredo recipe already accumulated over 70,000 views after one day.

Since its launch, Tasty, Buzzfeed's recipe channel, has created over 2,000 recipe videos that reach nearly 500 million people a month. For those unfamiliar with Tasty, the channel features a variety of recipes simplified into fuss-free, short (often minute-long) videos. Undeniably, the popularity of these videos on social media has generated a lot of revenue for Buzzfeed, in terms of advertisements and sponsored content. Tasty's formula for success is as simple as its content - it found a way to connect with its audience by leveraging on today's social media "sharing culture" while at the same time creating distinct content different from those usually published by already existing cooking channels. Instead of utilizing the professional-looking "feel" of most cooking videos, Tasty recognized that most millenial users are amateurs, and that what they needed were simple video recipes that they could relate to, instead of the often complicated, formal videos already found on the Internet. By understanding the market well and creating content that its target could connect to, Buzzfeed was able to create an overnight success that is now being emulated by several other online news and content companies, such as Plaid Crafts (which produces arts and crafts videos with a similar style and feel as Buzzfeed's Tasty videos).

The Curious Case of Daniel Wellington

Daniel Wellington, a Swedish brand selling basic quartz watches with minimalist designs, has skyrocketed from a $24,000 business in 2011 to a multi-million dollar watch empire now earning nearly $180 million annually. I've developed a keen fascination with the brand, after having seen the social media explosion brought about by its clever marketing strategy both on Instagram and on Facebook.

Daniel Wellington's #DWPickoftheDay Instagram hashtag campaign raised significant brand awareness in social media.

Honestly speaking, the company introduced nothing new or innovative to the market - after all, affordable yet classy-looking, minimalist watches (Daniel Wellington's current selling point) could be found almost in all fashion retailers worldwide anyway. Yet, curiously enough, whenever I browse through my social media accounts, I would always see at least one person wearing a Daniel Wellington watch. The brand managed to dominate the world of social media seemingly overnight -they were practically everywhere!

The company's marketing tactics were clever in its simplicity - using the power of social media and social media influencers to increase brand awareness and, eventually, sales. Daniel Wellington understood the huge potential of social media influencers in marketing. What it did was send these influencers (accounts with thousands, if not millions, of followers worldwide) free products as gifts, with the only requirement being, that they need to post at least one photo of the product on their feed.

Soon enough, Instagram became flooded with Daniel Wellington photos from social media celebrities. This, then, created a huge buzz around the brand (even I Googled Daniel Wellington watches after seeing several photos on my feed), translating into sales which reached millions of dollars worldwide. Daniel Wellington also used the #DWPickoftheDay hashtag to encourage its followers to post creative photos of them wearing Daniel Wellington watches, thus giving the brand a massive boost in popularity amongst not only the brand's followers, but also the followers of its followers.

All in all, what made Daniel Wellington's marketing campaign a huge success was its clever use of social media and its ability to recognize the power of social media influencers - and at a very little cost to the company, at that. Knowing the millenial mentality of following the hottest trends on the Internet, the huge hype Daniel Wellington created translated almost immediately into sales. Banking on the power of social media "magically" transformed Daniel Wellington to a small watch company to an instant hit among teenagers, university students and young professionals. The fact that they only had to employ hashtags and send out free watches as gifts just proved that creative, effective marketing need not be expensive, as long as you can recognize the right trends and use the right tools to promote your brand.

The Secret Starbucks Ingredient

I used to go to Starbucks almost every day back when I was still studying for my undergraduate degree. Aside from the fact that there's a Starbucks branch conveniently located a few minutes away from where I lived, the relaxing coffee shop vibe of Starbucks made it the ideal hangout place for university students like me. While I'm admittedly unfamiliar with Starbucks' image in Hong Kong or in any other country except my own, back in the Philippines, Starbucks is generally perceived to be an iconic coffee chain offering good quality service and, well, good coffee.

Different Starbucks card designs in the Philippines.

Aside from being a well-known brand worldwide, part of what made Starbucks the success that it is back in my home country was the Starbucks Card - a stored value card customers could use to pay for any Starbucks product or merchandise. Back when it was first introduced in the Philippines, customers were given certain rewards (such as free drinks, for instance) upon accumulating enough stars for every purchase of a Starbucks beverage or food item. In order to encourage customers to register online, cardholders were given complimentary drinks upon registration. In addition, once registered, customers could easily track their "points," view their transaction history, reload online and even protect their balance if they lose their cards. Registered customers are also given exclusive, personalized offers every now and then either via email or SMS. All in all, the benefits of being a cardholder, as advertised by Starbucks, definitely outweigh the cons (if there are any, at all). You need not pay any annual or monthly membership fee and the one-time payment for the card is automatically transferred as a balance to your account.

The Starbucks Card app on Facebook.

In my opinion, what makes this marketing tactic highly successful is the brand's integration of its loyalty card program with the power of social media and technology. Aside from having a physical rewards card, cardholders are given additional Starbucks Rewards features via the brand's Starbucks Card app, which is available on Facebook's platform and is also downloadable on the IOS and Android App Stores. By encouraging customers to download such apps for extra rewards and features, Starbucks could also monitor consumer behavior and track trends in its customers' preferences. Aside from this, Starbucks also regularly holds social media promotions every now and then, asking customers to share certain hashtags which would enable them to receive freebies from the coffee chain. By going all out on its rewards program and its advertising campaigns, Starbucks is able to successfully retain customer loyalty, while maintaining its edge among its newer competitors.

Tinder + Marketing: A match made in heaven?

The advent of dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble, and OkCupid changed not only the modern dating scene, but also the marketing landscape for numerous branding campaigns. With over 50 million active users worldwide (with millenials comprising a majority of its user base), Tinder's platform could prove to be a powerful marketing tool for various brands.

The fundamental premise of Tinder is simple: the app shows profiles of various users near you (the selection can be narrowed down based on gender, age and distance), and if you like what you see, you swipe right. If not, you swipe left to "pass." If both users swipe right - then it's a match! You could start messaging each other thereafter. What initially started as a "taboo" dating app has now evolved into a mainstream platform for, well, meeting people.

One of my favorite US TV shows, Suits, decided to capitalize on Tinder's huge user base in 2013 by promoting its third season via the app. Targeting Tinder's young users, the hit TV show partnered with the app in order to show its main characters - either Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) or Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) as potential matches. If users "like" the characters' profiles by swiping right, they'll be given exclusive access to content and sneak peeks from the show.

While Tinder might seem to be all fun and games, it can also be used to promote certain causes. This, I believe, would be especially effective in reaching out to younger audiences, considering the age range of a majority of Tinder users. Amnesty International, for instance used the app to raise awareness about forced marriages. It created profiles illustrating oppressed women around the world; thereby raising awareness and, hopefully, inspiring involvement from the apps' users.

Overall, I believe using a dating app as a marketing platform is a creative and impressive way to promote a certain brand targeting the younger generation (also dubbed the "Tinder generation). It can catch attention; it has a wide, worldwide reach; and it connects with what millenials think is "hip" or "trendy" at the moment. Moreover, aside from being a relatively inexpensive platform for marketing, given the novelty of the concept, brands are given more leeway to be as creative as they can in creating their interactive content to attract users.

Nowadays, it seems like everyone is on Tinder - even Deadpool!

Foodpanda and Mobile Marketing

Foodpanda, a relatively young but immensely successful global company launched in 2012, offers an online food delivery service which allows customers to order from nearby partner restaurants via Foodpanda's mobile app or website. I have long been a Foodpanda customer in the Philippines, and though using its service obviously costs more than actually going to a restaurant and placing an order in person, I believe the convenience and ease the service provides makes the additional fee worth it.

Foodpanda and Mobile Marketing

From my observation, one factor that has enabled Foodpanda to become the huge success that it is now was its ability to successfully capitalize on the public's heavy reliance on smartphones. In fact, in line with its mobile-first strategy, Foodpanda recently decided get rid of phone ordering in favor of purely web and mobile orders.

An example of one of Foodpanda's many mobile discount alerts.

To entice more customers to order through Foodpanda, the company regularly sends promo emails, as well as mobile alerts, via the company's mobile app. They also make use of social media promotions, such as giving out discount codes on Facebook and Twitter during special events or holidays. I personally receive regular email and mobile discount alerts on my phone, and while the frequency of this may be bothersome for others*, I believe that for most Foodpanda customers - those who work on a tight schedule and have little to no time to drop by restaurants - regular discount alerts are a good way of retaining loyalty. In addition, this allows Foodpanda to promote its new partner-restaurants, as well as new food offerings from its existing partners.

Foodpanda also gives its users special deals depending on location.

Indeed, by leveraging on the public's high dependence on smartphones and data, as well as today's increasingly fast-paced lifestyle, Foodpanda has been able to - and, I believe, will continue to - successfully penetrate the growing tech-savvy, food delivery market.

*Customers are always given a choice to stop receiving alerts and emails.

The Pokemon GO Fever: How Businesses Capitalized on the Poke Craze

Pokemon GO, a mobile game based on the worldwide hit cartoon of the same name, has soared to exceptional heights a mere few days after its release. The game works by using your phone's real-world location via GPS tracking, as well as augmented reality technology to make it seem like there actually are Pokemon lurking around near you. The goal is to go out, explore and catch these creatures, whose locations are scattered everywhere in the real world.

A restaurant offers an exclusive promo to Pokemon GO players.

As players of all ages - me, included - jumped into the Pokemon GO bandwagon, companies began to recognize the potential boost this could bring to their businesses. By combining an established brand with the wonders of technology (which fulfilled the childhood dream of many to "catch" a Pokemon in the real world), Niantic, Pokemon GO's developer, was able to create both an exciting game and a powerful marketing tool.

In the Philippines, for instance, shopping malls used Pokemon "lure parties" to pull in customers into their establishments. These lure parties made use of an in-game add-on, called the Lure Module, which attracts several Pokemon to an area for a limited number of time. Using a Lure Module inside their places of business, thus, would attract Pokemon players (aka potential customers) who would evidently want to catch more Pokemon to level up. Restaurants, on the other hand, used certain in-game features to offer customers and avid Pokemon GO players discounts and freebies.

Popular Philippine mall chain Ayala advertising a lure drop party to attract customers.

Using the Pokemon GO fever has been a wise move for various businesses, considering that a single lure module only costs a few dollars to purchase in-game. This marketing tool is ingenious in its approach - by utilizing the "pull" of an already popular game, combined with the wide reach of social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, to promote its offers, businesses were able to use an inexpensive yet effective marketing tactic to attract more customers to their establishments.

Always: #LikeAGirl

"What does it mean to do something #LikeAGirl?"

This question, first posed in feminine hygiene brand Always' ad in 2014, elicited a flurry of responses and reactions after its initial 60-second airing during the Super Bowl. Reminiscent of Dove's empowering Real Beauty campaign, the #LikeAGirl ad - which eventually branched into a full-fledged marketing campaign - sought to break the negative stereotypes associated with being a girl.

The #LikeAGirl video showed how various young men, women, and children interpreted a series of actions - such as running, throwing, and fighting - when asked to perform them "like a girl" would. Interestingly and regrettably, most of those in the commercial interpreted "like a girl" as a demeaning phrase which devalued female strength (case in point: a majority of the older participants exhibited exaggeratedly weak portrayals), while the young girls who were asked to perform the same actions viewed the directive as an empowering statement which highlighted their own capabilities as girls.

Always and Women Empowerment

Always' campaign proved to be powerful not only in terms of the message it intended to promote, but also in the way it was introduced to the public. The ad aired during the Super Bowl, an event which attracts hundreds of millions of viewers yearly, not only in the United States, but around the world as well. Moreover, while the Super Bowl's viewership is generally deemed to be largely male-dominated, data in 2014 show that female viewers accounted for at least 46 percent of the Super Bowl viewing audience - making it a powerful tool in terms of spreading an advertising message.

Aside from the spot-on ad placement, the ad's execution style, which touched upon a pervasive, and very real issue which often limits women's capabilities, successfully made an emotional impact on its viewers, so much so that three years after the ad first aired, people still actively share the #LikeAGirl campaign video on social media*. The ad was also able to spawn various social media responses from women using the #LikeAGirl hashtag, thereby creating massive exposure for the brand.

The success of this marketing campaign lies in its advertising message - Always chose not to merely hawk feminine care products to the public; rather, what it did was highlight an issue important to women, and create a relevant and empowering message that has resonated among its target customers even up to this day. 

*This blog post was actually inspired by a #LikeAGirl video one of my friends posted on Facebook over the weekend - three years after the original ad first aired.