MarketingDojo #28: Can You Hear Me? 🔊
The case for audio ads, Amazon's Prime success, McDonalds' is a good sport.
Hello Everyone!
I hope you are having a fantastic Wednesday.
July 19th has a special significance. The first manned mission to the moon entered the lunar orbit on this day in 1969. After a day’s break, the astronauts landed on Moon on 20th July.
Here’s a photo of Buzz Aldrin (the second man on the moon) celebrating 64 years of the Apollo 11 launch. I am a bit confused tho - can anyone explain why he is wearing three watches? 😕
Wrong answers are as welcome as the right ones.
In today’s newsletter, we will cover:
🧩Making it stick - hearing v/s reading
😬McDonald’s is grimacing
🐴An old meme has a brand-new meaning
📈Amazon’s Prime Day results keep getting better
📝A focus group of 1Bn
And lots more.
Today’s newsletter might feel a bit shorter than usual. And if you are curious to know why - you will find the reason right at the end.
If you are feeling generous today, shower me with some likes ❤️❤️. This small gesture goes a long way.
With that, let’s dive right in.
TIL: Product Recommendations Are Better Heard, Not Seen.
As per a study from Standford Business School, auditory recommendations of products are more impactful than written ones.
The researchers were surprised that, across the board, auditory recommendations for products like brownies, blenders, and beer were more influential than textual ones.
While the reasons behind this need more research, one theory is that the fleeting nature of voice recommendations creates a sense of urgency that captures our attention.
The research makes an interesting case for ads on Podcasts, Spotify and even good old radio.
According to Nielsen, 78% of the consumers surveyed don't mind hearing podcast ads, and 62% would consider buying a product after hearing an ad. This ties up neatly with Stanford's research findings around the efficacy of auditory recommendations.
If you haven't already, it might be time to experiment with some audio ads.
The third time's the charm.
Instagram Threads is either doing exceptionally well or on its way to a gradual decline, depending on who you ask.
While the users are just getting used to the new environment, can the brands be far behind? Ads on Threads are still a distant possibility with Zuckerberg's confirmation, but Instagram's branded content tools will be available on Threads soon.
Instagram's branded tools help brands & creators manage paid partnerships. The tools allow creators to use the paid partnership label for branded content & access the creator dashboard. For brands, it will enable the ability to run branded & partnership ads.
Meta is leveraging its strengths across Instagram & Facebook to scale up Threads rapidly.
Mcdonald’s Is Grimacing Its Way To Social Media Glory.
When McDonald's released a limited edition Grimace shake for its mascot's birthday, they had no idea what was coming for them on TikTok.
The shake meant to celebrate their mascot's birthday turned into an absurdist TikTok trend where people pretended to die after drinking it.
Like so.
.This video has 1.7Mn views and counting.
And the hashtag #grimaceshake has over 2.6Bn views!
So how did McDonald's handle the situation as the horror-humour trend started blowing up? Pretty well, I must say.
First, there was this subtle nod on their Twitter handle.
And finally, the social media head for the company addressed the elephant in the room.
No, McDonald's didn't plan it. Yet, as their product became part of a funny, creepy trend, they chose not to step in.
Via this trend, Mcdonalds' gained billions in reach, trended on multiple platforms & enjoyed incremental sales purely by having a sense of humour and demonstrating the rare ability of a brand to let its consumers laugh at its own expense.
A Research You Didn’t Commission.
Speaking about TikTok trends, the Wall Street Journal's article titled American Companies Held Hostage by the Whims of TikTok is a must-read. TikTok has become a massive focus group of over 1 billion people influencing supply chains and research and development.
If you'd rather watch a quick video - here's a quick one from WSJ.
For the longest, unearthing surprising consumer insights seemed affordable only by the P&Gs and Unilevers of the world. It's crazy that brands can now get surprising consumer insights just by watching TikTok trends.
Memetime - The Trojan Horse & Its Three Musketeers.
As a marketer, I love Meta & its advertising capabilities. As a consumer, I am scared of the sea of data the big tech companies have about me.
To appreciate this meme, focus on the guy pulling the Trojan horse. Does he remind you of a certain CEO preparing for a cage fight with Elon Musk?
Not Past Its Prime: Amazon’s Prime Day Sees Yet Another Record High.
Despite the economic pressures, Amazon's Prime Day sales did not disappoint. The online shopping event took place on July 11th and 12th, bringing in an impressive $12.7 billion in sales. That's a 6% increase from last year's sales.
Five Interesting Facts About Prime Day Sales:
Amazon's Prime Day correlate with overall retail sales. A study by Adobe found that for every $1 billion in sales on Amazon Prime Day, overall retail sales increase by an average of $200 million.
Another study by the National Retail Federation found that Amazon Prime Day sales positively impact foot traffic in brick-and-mortar stores. The study found that for every $1 billion in sales on Amazon Prime Day, foot traffic in brick-and-mortar stores increases by an average of 1%.
This year, many companies, including Walmart and Target, hosted their versions of big sales events with lots of discounts.
While Amazon's Prime Day is pretty popular, it's much smaller than Alibaba's Singles Day sale. In 2021, Singles Day sales reached $84.54 billion Gross Merchandise Value (GMV)- seven times bigger than Amazon's Prime Day!
Amazon's Prime Day sees a lot of repeat customers who postpone their purchases to avail of deep discounts. As per a survey, 91% of the consumer surveyed had purchased something during Amazon Prime Day sales, 85% hoped that Prime Day sales would happen twice a year & 63% preferred to wait for Prime Day sales to purchase their products.
Short Stuff:
Mastodon hit the 2Mn users milestone. (Slow & steady, wins the race?)
Twitter paid some of its creators for the first time. (Pleasant surprise)
A new congressional report revealed that some US-based Tax-prepping firms are sharing data with Google & Facebook. (Your tax data might be feeding the algorithm).
Roblox will be coming to Meta's Quest VR headsets starting with an open beta. (Metaverse's dream lives on).
That’s a wrap for this week’s rather short newsletter. Why short? Please read the P.S. 😆
If you learnt something new or found something interesting in this week’s newsletter, do me a favour - drop a comment or leave me a like.
It is a zero-cost way to support the discoverability of MarketingDojo.
See you in your inbox next week.
Ciao
Garima
P.S: What role do insights play in marketing strategy, communications and new product introductions? I answered this question and more during my guest lecture at IIM Lucknow (my Alma Mater) over the weekend.
I had to do this pretty last minute, and it ate away most of my weekend. But overall, it felt good to pay it forward to the first-year students from my campus.
Also, I know how tired I look in that photo - It’s a bad camera angle, but this weekend was exhausting.
