Although we're in the shortest month of the year, there's no shortage of marketing news. This week we'll touch on buzzwords every marketer is hearing (the attention economy, anyone?), where to start when it comes to hyper-personalization, Android's clapback at green bubble haters and how Rhode's viral phone case inspired another brand's viral moment.
So let's get you up to speed — here's everything you need to know *now* within the marketing + creative space.
Consider this newsletter a resource for marketers and creatives, by marketers and creatives. Enjoy!
The 411 on the Attention Economy
Social is an endless scroll. Where to stop? Here we analyze relevant moments, cultural trends and the marketing geniuses behind it all.
The attention economy. A buzzword that is increasingly thrown around as more and more marketing messages are thrown at consumers — but what is it exactly? And what do marketers need to know to effectively consider the attention economy as a part of content strategy?
At its core, the attention economy is the collective human capacity to engage with the many elements in our environments that demand mental focus — from a marketing lens, it's the capacity of consumers to engage with (and grasp) the many marketing messages being thrown their way on a daily basis. As more and more content is saturating people's everyday lives, the brands who effectively cut through the noise come out on top. Here are a few tactics to consider to ensure you don't get lost in the attention economy.
Focus on Brand Story
Though we all know brand is powerful, building a memorable brand story is more important than ever. Why? Firstly, building strong brand recall = processing ease for consumers — i.e. the easier it is to recognize your brand, the easier it is for consumers to process and engage with your brand's content when scrolling through a sea of media. Second? A compelling brand story = a stronger connection with your audience — which makes them more likely to grasp and engage with your content.
Leverage Data
As the marketing landscape becomes more and more saturated, thoughtfully leveraging data becomes more and more important. While we all have our standard KPIs, there are certain metrics that are integral to gauging where you stand in the attention economy. One key metric? Dwell time. Dwell time is most commonly used to gauge the amount of time a user spends on a webpage or reading an email, but has been creeping its way to social as LinkedIn added it as a metric in recent years. Measuring dwell time allows marketers to cut through the 'false engagement' (an accidental 'like', etc.) to see what types of content are capturing a user's attention for an extended period of time. Another metric? Sentiment. Though generally qualitative, measuring sentiment allows marketers to get an understanding of what emotions a piece of content is evoking — if any at all. A lack of sentiment (positive or negative) likely means your content isn't truly grabbing attention — even if a user gave it a quick 'like'.
Tap Into Hyper-Personalization
Lastly, use hyper-personalization as a way to grasp the attention of consumers — and deliver serious value. What is hyper-personalization? A method of leveraging data and AI to tailor marketing messaging individually to meet a customer's wants and needs — i.e. giving consumers an experience that feels totally unique to them. Why does hyper-personalization matter when it comes to the attention economy? It all goes back to the brand-customer relationship, as personalized content builds serious connection and loyalty, evoking the feeling for your consumer that you just 'get' them. So, how can your brand tap into hyper-personalization? Scroll down for tips and tools. ;)
All About Hyper-Personalization – and the Tools to Tap in
Okay, so we just discussed how 'consumer noise' is making it more difficult to capture audience cut-through. With hyper-personalization as a solution, how do you tap in? Let's break it down...
The Overview
The key to nailing hyper-personalization is a winning combination of understanding your customer and leveraging data and AI — including behavior patterns, previous purchases and historical interactions. These learnings allow your brand to send messages, or provide experiences, with that context in mind, so you can not only share the right message to the right person, but at the right time and on the right platform.
So, you have the data — what's next? The content. Once data informs segmentation, creating content specific to each user segment's journey is key. Lastly, of course, comes the delivery. There are several tools and platforms out there that help brands deliver hyper-personalized content — but there are also ways to tap in with internal tools. One brand known as a hyper-personalization powerhouse within their own platform? Spotify — who uses AI to hyper-personalize user experience — one hyper-personalized initiative, Niche Mixes, notably blew up last year.
Tools to Help
With all this info, what are some tools to look to if you're exploring how to hyper-personalize? Here are just a few:
📈 Adobe Experience Cloud: Without the right data, you can't hyper-personalize. Adobe Experience Cloud has a number of tools to help you capture the data you need, including Adobe Target, Adobe Campaign and Adobe Journey Optimizer.
💌 Community.com: Interested in a hyper-personalized SMS experience for your users? Community has got you. Community is an SMS platform that connects brands to their audiences at scale — they do the segmentation and targeting for you, so that you can send personalized messages that just make sense. The platform can even help you build out personalized message responses.
🛍 Tolstoy x Tapcart: Are you an eComm brand looking for hyper-personalized video experiences? Mobile eComm app builder Tapcart has come together with interactive video powerhouse Tolstoy to bring AI-powered personalized video feeds to eComm apps — so every user can have a tailored shopping experience.
The truth is, hyper-personalization is growing, and tools to get there are being added every day. If you haven't considered how to hyper-personalize for your audience, now's the time.
Marketing Wins We <3
Who doesn’t love a marketing win? Below are recent marketing moments we couldn’t help but share — and their main takeaways.
Body Vodka Works at Lightning Speed to Launch Rhode-Inspired Product
In recent weeks, Rhode's hybrid phone case + lip treatment holder has gone viral — a massive marketing move on its own. A result? Brands creating spoof content inspired by the case (i.e. taping essentials to the back of phone cases). However, Body Vodka took the inspiration to the next level, launching a phone case with a Body flask on the back — crediting Rhode for the idea.
💡 Takeaway: This win has several takeaways — go big or go home, seize the moment and give credit where credit is due. While a *lot* of brands spoofed the Rhode phone case, producing an actual product took Body's spoof to the next level.
Android + Ziwe Come Together to Combat iPhone Users' Green Bubble Phobia
This Valentine's Day, Android partnered with Ziwe to encourage people to get over their 'green bubble bias' in the best way — by highlighting how iPhone users are missing out on love due to their refusal to date anyone whose texts are green — even if they're a perfect match in every other way.
💡 Takeaway: Address your challenges head-on. Leaning into topics that many brands would try to distract from — for Android it's people's dislike of green text bubbles — delivers unexpected campaigns that captivate and resonate.
'Saie' Hello to a Blush Pink Salad
In celebration of their shared love of clean beauty and clean living, Saie and Bonberi came together for an exclusive salad dressing collaboration — of course in a beautiful shade of blush pink.
💡 Takeaway: Meet your consumers where they are — even if it's in a space not directly related to your category. When you think of Saie do you think of salad dressing? Not exactly, but the crossover of consumers who value clean beauty and clean eating is massive.
Marketing Jargon
In marketing, it feels like there's a new term being thrown around every day. We've got you! Here are a few you should have on your radar (and mention in your next meeting).
Edutainment: Content intended to both entertain and educate — many revered CeraVe's recent Super Bowl campaign with Michael Cera as an incredibly well-executed piece of edutainment.
Heatmapping: The process of gaining insight into how users interact with a webpage via heatmaps — a visual representation of where users click, scroll or dwell on any given webpage.
Dwell Time: The amount of time a user spends on a particular piece of content — high dwell time = more engaged users.
That wraps issue no. 16 of The Breef POV! Keep an eye on your inbox for the next edition. In the meantime, browse more on The Breefing Room.
