The decision of where to place your marketing message used to be a no-brainer. Your choices included broadcast, print or in store media placements. It was simple and the media was simple. As the use of the “world-wide-web” became mainstream, online advertising was born. Marketers were able to add banner ads, email marketing campaigns and more to their arsenal of media options. Then just as marketers became comfortable with the options in online advertising, we have seen the emergence of Social Media and Mobile Marketing. And these platforms are evolving at pace never seen before.

It is more important then ever to understand your target audience and where they are spending their time consuming media. It is becoming more and more about the user experience everyday.

First Changes

Mobile marketing in its simplest form appears as SMS messaging: the user sends a text message to a short code and receives a pre-programmed response from the advertiser. Advertisers have seen the marketing benefits of Mobile Marketing at the point-of-sale influencing purchasing decisions, building consumer relationships, and providing increased consumer intelligence. It is pretty obvious why technology is evolving at such a rapid pace.

Evolution

Already, Mobile Marketing has evolved from standard SMS messaging techniques to Image Recognition technology. We are also quickly seeing the potential of Augmented Reality in the consumer experience. Take for instance Stella Artois’ Le Bar Guide, where using augmented reality allows a mobile application to overlay the profile of bars surrounding your current location. The recent launch of Apple’s iPad has even further exposed potential Mobile Marketing and its effects on how we look at the very definition of “mobile”, and how advertisers choose to spend marketing dollars. Time, Inc. recently released this video demonstration of how tablets are changing their advertising model.

Mix It Up

And while the world of marketing is ever changing, traditional methods still have a place (Apple’s iPad is advertised on the back cover of my latest issue of National Geographic, after all). Traditional marketing still has relevancy, but it might sit next to some new, technologically savvy neighbors in your annual marketing plan. Proper use and integration of new technologies with older ones will be the key to success.

We’re in the advertising industry, so of course, we have an office full of creative minds. While our design and account staff is highly imaginative, creativity isn’t ALL our business is about. Creative for the sake of being creative accomplishes nothing. It must be backed by research insights and created as a part of a strategic marketing plan. Before a brand dives into any kind of creative campaign, this underlying question must be resolved: “what is going to make a consumer buy this product or service?”

Cue The Cyphers Agency.

The truth is, in advertising, we’re actually in the people business. Here, we’re all about getting in the minds of consumers. It’s critical to know how consumers behave throughout purchase decisions and in life. Beyond their wants and needs, we delve into their personality, values, attitudes and lifestyles. We figure out what really makes them tick. By delving into the activities, interests and opinions of different audiences, we can narrowly define a target audience.

Once all the toiling, researching, surveying and observing is done, we have a clear visualization of the type of people who comprise the target audience. It’s not until we have that narrowly defined audience that we get our real creative and strategic juices flowin’. Then the real fun stuff happens…research insights are coupled with creative and strategic ideas to accomplish the client’s marketing goal. The end result is a fully integrated marketing plan complete with strategy for how to connect with the target audience in a profound way, what to say (ad strategy), how to say it (creative strategy), and where it say it (media strategy).