Welcome
Sample Posts
Blogroll
- Andy Fargnoli’s MKT413 Blog
- Beaton’s Blog
- Blair Blogs
- Blogging with Bunting
- Branding Betsy
- Cherelle Hunter
- Connect the Dots
- House of Ads
- IMKommunications
- Keeping up with Katie
- Kelvin’s IMC Blog
- Liz’s Minute for Marketing
- Losa's (b)Log
- Marketing Marvels
- Nick’s Marketing Corner
- Paul’s Blog
- Robert McIver IMC Blog MKT 413
- Silv’s Stories
- Simplifying Marketing W/ Sam Kahane
- Sofia Ibarra
- The Wonderful World of Marketing
- Thoughts with Scherms
- TO MARKET WE GO
- Tune In With Turek
- victoriaascloset
URLs
Tags
Author Archives: Sofia Ibarra
"Do Us a Flavor"
Customer engagement has taken a big role in marketing; it basically consists of a dialogue with the customers. Companies have to listen to what the customers really need and then smoothly jump into their conversations and provide them with answered questions, solved problems and listening to their ideas. Building a relationship with the clients creates brand value and trust.
 |
| Image from: juxtapost.com |
Engaging with the customer, of course, includes being active in the social world such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube because these are the places the customers dialogue or interact among each other.
“Do Us a Flavor” contest
A perfect example for customer engagement is Frito-Lay’s latest contest called “Do Us a Flavor”. They now have three exotic new flavors created by three different consumers. The contest was launched through Facebook and it consisted of giving consumers the opportunity to propose their idea of a new flavor for Lay’s.
 |
| Image from: brandingmagazine.com |
In total, there were about 3.8 million entries and out of those, three finalists were chosen by a group of judges such as chef Michael Symon and actress/producer Eva Longoria. Frito-Lay chefs had to actually prepare the dishes of the different flavors and then transform them into the chips until they tasted exactly the same as the food.
 |
| Image from: zimbio.com |
The three finalist flavors are Chicken and Waffles, Sriracha (Thai hot sauce), and Cheesy Garlic Bread. The winner will be announced on May 4, whom will be chosen by consumers by voting through Facebook, through Twitter using the hashtags #SaveChickenWaffles, #SaveSriracha, or #SaveGarlicBread, and through texting “VOTE” to 24477 (CHIPS).
 |
| Image from Pinterest.com |
In relation to Don and Heidi Schultz’s book “Creating Customer and Marketplace Value”, the Do Us a Flavor contest follows the Five R’s of Integrated Marketing Communications, which are Relevance, Receptivity, Relationship, Response, and Recognition. For instance, receptivity refers to how open the company is to new ideas and how it wants to communicate with the customer. Instead of guessing what they want, Frito-Lay’s is giving their customers the opportunity of taking over and decide what new flavor they like. They are also creating a relationship with the customer, meaning the customer is the one who decides and the marketer responds.
David Meerman Scott mentions in his book “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” “marketing is not just about one-way broadcast advertising, although advertising can be part of an overall strategy”. Marketing needs to be innovative and develop some kind of friendship between brand and consumer based on needs and mutual respect. Frito-Lay is engaging the customers by encouraging them to come up with creative ideas, and not only will the winner feel like the coolest person for having invented a Lay’s chips flavor but they will also be awarded $1 million or one percent of their flavor’s net sales for 2013, whichever is higher.
There can be different ways of engaging the consumer, starting with helping them solve their problems and letting the customer know they are interested in making their lives better. For example the shoe company Nike. They are not only known as a shoe company but also associated with technology since they have been going through a digital revolution. The company has developed different products to motivate the consumers into becoming better athletes.
 |
| Image from: Kingloaf.com |
For instance, the Nike FuelBand, which uses a sports-tested accelerometer to measure your movement in NikeFuel, a universal metric of activity. This band not only helps the athletes keep track of their progress but also encourages them to try harder.
 |
| Image from: Blisstree.com |
Creating these products keeps the consumer engaged in several Nike products, and Nike achieves this by providing them with the product and helping them solve daily challenges. They use famous athletes as their brand image, this way consumers associate the brand, Nike, with success and will unconsciously feel like they can overcome their challenges by using their product. The brand makes you feel as if you are part of something big by understanding the customer’s needs, and that is what customer engagement is all about: understanding how the customer feels and giving them what they want.
Back to Blogging
Hello again! I have not written in a while but this semester you will be reading as much from me as last semester. I joined an Integrated Marketing Communications class with the same awesome professor as last semester 😉
Just a quick introduction about myself to refresh your memory… My name is Sofia Ibarra and I am a senior in Elon University, majoring in marketing with a minor in communications. I was born and raised in Guatemala and will eventually go back once I graduate, unless I find a job I love in the United States.
I decided to take IMC this semester for several reasons. First of all I love marketing and I find it so interesting to study it. Marketing and the media are in constant change due to the changes in technology and society. We have to constantly be reading and learning about it in order to stay up to date to the innovations. Secondly, I took a similar class last semester with the same professor, Mrs. McAlhany, and I loved her class, how she taught it, and the relationship she has with students.
After taking last semester’s class, I learned that I want to work as a brand manager or something similar. I love figuring out new strategies and tactics on how to make customers notice and value a brand, plus there is so much room for creativity.
One of my favorite companies is Nike; they are always finding new ways to attract the customers’ attention and they do it in the most creative and innovative ways. Here is an article from FastCompany that I found interesting, maybe you will like it too. Enjoy! Nike: the No. 1 most innovative company in 2013
Back to Blogging
Hello again! I have not written in a while but this semester you will be reading as much from me as last semester. I joined an Integrated Marketing Communications class with the same awesome professor as last semester 😉
Just a quick introduction about myself to refresh your memory… My name is Sofia Ibarra and I am a senior in Elon University, majoring in marketing with a minor in communications. I was born and raised in Guatemala and will eventually go back once I graduate, unless I find a job I love in the United States.
I decided to take IMC this semester for several reasons. First of all I love marketing and I find it so interesting to study it. Marketing and the media are in constant change due to the changes in technology and society. We have to constantly be reading and learning about it in order to stay up to date to the innovations. Secondly, I took a similar class last semester with the same professor, Mrs. McAlhany, and I loved her class, how she taught it, and the relationship she has with students.
After taking last semester’s class, I learned that I want to work as a brand manager or something similar. I love figuring out new strategies and tactics on how to make customers notice and value a brand, plus there is so much room for creativity.
One of my favorite companies is Nike; they are always finding new ways to attract the customers’ attention and they do it in the most creative and innovative ways. Here is an article from FastCompany that I found interesting, maybe you will like it too. Enjoy! Nike: the No. 1 most innovative company in 2013