Sunday, September 27, 2009

Marketing that Worked

I recently found myself buying something specifically because of some marketing.

I must have seen this Super Bowl commercial 20 times previously, but last time I saw it something clicked.



Soda/Pop and cola commercials have rarely influenced me mostly because I have never really felt that I could even distinguish between Pepsi and Coca Cola. Recently though (and it may be due to a more sensitive palette from wine/beer tastings) I have found some taste differences between regular and diet colas. I realized that diet colas often have a different taste that is not quite as appealing as their sugary counterparts. This mixed in with seeing the above commercial convinced me to buy a 12 pack of Pepsi Max yesterday. (And I don't even drink soda/pop that often).

So, why did this marketing effort work? The key is having a message that fits in personally and/or fills a void with someone. For me it was a connection that I can have a diet cola (and the caloric savings that entails) along with the taste and enjoyment that a regular cola gives. As well, the commercial tells me that I can still be manly and buy this soda, which is important for men my age.

The key is to let your marketing efforts make a connection with someone. I can watch a commercial for Bumpits but that does not mean I'm going to go out and purchase a set (or two for the price of one). It doesn't make a connection with me, it might for a different audience but not for everyone.

The last part of this concept is that you need to choose your audience. If you try to market to everyone you will end up marketing to no one. If that Pepsi Max commercial had more of a feminine angle it would not have had the same message, and it would be much less effective. Because different audiences are different it is difficult if not impossible to make a connection with everyone using the same marketing message.

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