This Week: Hannah Davis – BANGS shoes
Sephora Goes Digital
In this ever-expanding age of technology, Sephora is taking advantage of the many new ways to promote their brand digitally. From mobile applications to skin-color-recognition devices, Sephora is focusing on differentiating itself from its competitors.Johnna Marcus, director of digital and mobile marketing, said Sephora’s “strategy is and always has been about providing the best shopping experience regardless of where the customer is.” Sephora has developed iOS apps for the iPhone and iPad; the different devices have apps with different features.
While both apps stress the importance of shopping being convenient for customers, the iPad app goes much more in depth. It has articles that focus on current beauty trends; the hope is that a customer will read the article and be motivated to buy a product. The iPhone app, on the other hand, has a barcode scanning feature. The customer can scan a code on a product in the store and see reviews, ratings, and other information about the product.
In addition to the incorporation of mobile apps, Sephora’s website has been upgraded. Earlier this week, Sephora launched its new site, focusing on personalizing shopping for the customer. Customers can choose to let Sephora track their searches and purchases, and when they go into the store, salespeople can use that data to help them make another purchase.
Sephora and Pantone LLC, a company known worldwide for its technology for the accurate communication of color, partnered to create Sephora’s most innovative technological advancement yet: Color IQ. Sephora calls Color IQ “the most advanced foundation matching tool in North American beauty retail.” The Color IQ system consists of a device that scans the surface of your skin and selects, out of Sephora’s thousands of foundations, the color that perfectly matches your skin.
In taking advantage of all of the different kinds of technologies available, Sephora puts itself ahead of its competition. While some companies are struggling to adapt, Sephora is thriving. Will their use of technology revolutionize the beauty industry? Only time will tell.
-Zarah Mohamed
2013-14 President & Vice President Application
This Week at BUMKC
The Importance of Content Marketing
After having several guest speakers come in to discuss the importance of their brand reputation through social media, it is vital to highlight several key aspects of this type of marketing. Companies need to be on the leading edge of social and Internet culture. They have to constantly be up to date regarding which strategies to use to strengthen their brand and to reinforce consumer connection through social media efforts. As such, companies have to constantly spread the word through content marketing in order to keep people’s attention as they move from screen to screen. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 91% of B2B marketers and 86% of B2C marketers employ content marketing techniques and more than half of both groups plan to increase their efforts in 2013.
Content marketing may be blooming, yet it is still a new business concept. Companies are still trying to figure out which strategies to use to figure our how to create sophisticated content that get people excited about a product or service!
But how is this brought about? An article by Katherine Duncan reveals key points as to how to marketers can employ a creative approach through content marketing in lieu of spending thousands of dollars to buy advertising or keywords.
- Celebrate variety.
Do not limit your online content to blog postings or case studies. Consider offering product comparisons and rethink common elements of your website.
Facilitate the storytelling process by employing quick videos, artwork, and catchy photographs. Learn about the most innovative, creative ads and rethink their approaches. Then execute your own ideas and run them!
- Set high standards.
Remember that effective content generates and nurtures leads. Communicate with consumers with stories and blogs that don’t sound like propaganda. Part of the secret is avoiding being too promotional. Rollout prevalent features that set your brand apart to communicate with consumers. Come to BUMKC and attend speaker conferences to get some exciting ideas!
- Share wisely.
Connect with others on various networks (Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) to build your brand’s presence. It’s important to know how to share your content across appropriate social media channels. Take action via shares and comments as well.
Content marketing is, indeed, one of the best marketing approaches nowadays and in upcoming years. The first two points should be extremely emphasized. The tricky part, however, is capturing your audience and retaining them. If you follow these tips, you are in the right direction towards spreading the core message of your brand successfully!
-Thais De Azambuja
Demitrios Salpoglou from Boardwalk Properties
College Athletics: Marketing’s Secret Weapon
While we’re busy taking copious notes, writing essay after essay, and having study sessions with friends, we often lose sight of what brought us to Boston University – or any university – in the first place. What made us take an interest in our universities? What made us research the school further and take a tour, or look into its programs because we’d heard the university’s name before?
When it comes down to it, our college search was driven by brand recognition. Boston University is a brand. It sells the name of the university and all of its programs, along with the characteristics one might associate with it. Just like corporations across America, universities and colleges must develop marketing strategies that persuade students to apply. But aside from word-of-mouth and facts, what can a university do to promote itself?
A recent study by the Harvard Business School study points to collegiate athletes as having a “dynamic advertising effect”. The study found that when a school’s football team increased its skill level from mediocre to great, the number of applicants rose by 18.7 percent. The study says that this effect is similar to what would result if tuition were decreased by 3.8 percent or if higher-level faculty were hired and paid 5 percent more. In a country that places an emphasis on the rankings and desirability of educational institutions, these numbers are extremely significant.
Interestingly, this study is not the first to take notice of athletics’ effect on applicants. Back in 1984, Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie made a Hail Mary that resulted in not only a tremendous win, but also in a 30 percent increase in applications just two years later. Since then, the effect has become known as the “Flutie Effect.” But what does a game-winning touchdown have to do with college admissions? Think about it: impressive athletics leads to media coverage, media coverage leads to name recognition, and name recognition leads to people researching and later applying to those very colleges.
Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. Many great colleges have mediocre football teams and some, such as Boston University, don’t even have one. But think about those colleges that are big players in the NCAA world – Penn State, University of Michigan, Ohio State. These colleges are famous to us mostly because of their successful athletics teams. These schools have benefitted from their athletic abilities to gain brand recognition and advertising. With successful athletics comes interest from media, from a wide variety of citizens, and from a huge number of potential students. Keep rooting for your team – you’re rooting for your school’s marketing department, too!
-Shannon Clark
Chuck Murphy from Boston Interactive
What it’s like to be a Campus Ambassador
As a campus ambassador for ReadyU this semester, I have learned a lot about not only what it takes to represent a company on campus, but also about ReadyU itself. Almost everyone knows about Procter & Gamble and its products such as Tide, Venus, Herbal Essences, CoverGirl and Duracell. However, many people have not heard about ReadyU itself. ReadyU is Procter & Gamble’s college platform that is run across the nation in about 100 different campuses. This campaign aims to essentially improve the lives of college students by providing them with information and products and that will help them in their everyday life while increasing brand awareness and purchase consideration for its products.
There are two campus ambassadors at BU and our job includes different tasks such promoting ReadyU via social media as well as planning and executing events where we give out Procter & Gamble samples. Personally, this position has given me an opportunity to gain on-hands experience in my major by allowing me to create my own guerilla marketing events and define what are the best ways to reach Boston University students. I have also learned many new PR techniques and ways of reaching out to people via the complex social world and have had the opportunity to meet a lot of new people. So far this has definitely been a very enriching experience from which I continue to learn new things everyday.
-Carolina Navarrete
