👀 How Tony Chocolonely grew without paid advertising
What they did: The title of this article from Marketing Week is actually “how Tony Chocolonely grew without spending a penny on marketing”, but that’s misleading (and inaccurate). They didn’t spend money on paid advertising, but paid advertising is not the only function of or investment in marketing that businesses make. Tony’s absolutely invested in marketing. In fact, you could argue that they were marketing-LED in their approach to growth. Their entire business has been built on the back of their point of differentiation in the market - their brand purpose. “We’re an impact company that makes chocolate, not a chocolate company that makes impact”. That’s marketing. As is the bright colour wrappers they use, the funky font, and the claims their make about making the chocolate supply chain “100% slave-free”.
This is something we’re passionate about as we see so many businesses getting it wrong.
👉Marketing is not just a distribution function - it’s an innovation function 👈
It’s the bridge between the product’s benefit and the needs of the customer, built over the cultural ocean of today. So many businesses are leaving growth on the table because they only think of marketing as “that thing you turn on once you have a great product”. Yes, you need a great product, but you also need great marketing to realise your full potential as a business. Headlines like this contribute to that misunderstanding. Tony’s is a great challenger brand - one that’s been carefully crafted and invested in, even if they haven’t spent money on paid advertising.
What it means for you: Where can marketing play a larger innovation role in your business outside of distribution?
💥 Walmart evolves its digital marketing strategy
What they did: COVID changed categories more than almost any other event in our lifetime. For many businesses, it was fatal. For some businesses (anything ecomm/digital) it was a big boost. For most businesses, it was a rollercoaster, and many are still trying to adapt to the ‘new normal’. Walmart is one of of them.
This article from the WSJ takes a look at how Walmart is trying to win back pharmacy customers it lost post-pandemic. Millions of customers came in to Walmarts during the pandemic for tests and vaccines, but that behaviour has not continued now that the worst seems to be behind us.
The most interesting part of the article is buried in the middle where it takes about how Walmart is planning to use data and targeting as part of this new strategy. They’re grouping customers into “communities” based on needs and preferences, not demographics.
For example, “efficiency enthusiasts”—customers who are often digitally connected and want to get their shopping done as fast as possible - will be targeted with ads about picking up online orders at their local stores. And “support seekers, - who may need more pharmacy support - would be targeted with marketing around a store’s pharmacy services.
Demographics are, at best, a proxy for customer needs. But it’s needs that drive purchase (and perception) change. It’s like the old quote - “people don’t want a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole in the wall”.
What it means for you: How can you focus your customer segmentation and media buying based on needs, not demographics?
💀Why Liquid Death doesn’t chase social media trends
What they did: Ugh, we know - we’re now part of the Liquid Death bandwagon…but we can’t help it! I mean, it’s a $700M canned water company people - all built on brand!!! Who knows what the future holds for them, but for now they’re one of the best examples of a classic challenger that’s found and owned a clear point of differentiation in a crowded market. So yea, we’ll keep watching and reporting on what they’re doing and what we can all learn from it.
In a recent panel interview, the VP of Creative Strategy for Liquid Death talked about how and why the brand doesn’t focus on chasing social trends. There has been an entire industry (and many careers) built on “real-time marketing” over the last decade-plus. Ever since the Oreo ‘dunk in the dark’ moment, brands and (more aggressively) agencies have been climbing over themselves to win the industry and consumer kudos that come with some smart, witty, quick reaction or retort to trending topics or news in social. Some have done it well, most have not. And yet, they almost all still try - bless ‘em.
But not Liquid Death! And actually, it makes sense and it’s clearly working for them…essentially they’re focused on the customer. As this VP shared, they’re trying to “win the day” with people by being “the best thing someone sees on their social feed one day at a time”. If you think about it, all the trend-jacking is a bit of a distraction from what actually matters - adding value to the audience you’re trying to reach through your marketing activity. That’s another way of saying “win the day” with people.
Sure, it helps when you have a CEO who’s willing to get a tattoo of a random customers’ face, but maybe you can find your version of that?
What it means for you: How can you ‘win the day’ with your audience today?
