All the buzz these days is about native advertising -- aka sponsored content. It appears that marketers have finally caught up with the fact that most of the people clicking on their boxes and banners are actually bots who aren't buying anything.
Waitrose, a British supermarket
chain has announced that they are not only shifting their marketing effort away
from paid to free content, they are also seeking to inspire rather than
sell. They believe that advertising in
general is changing to help people make better choices and be inspiring. Therefore they will be investing heavily in
their weekly newspaper and online tv service.
(Vizard, 2014)
It's an interesting approach,
but at the end of the day, they still need to sell stuff to stay in
business. So what do you think? Will this work? Is it the beginning of a trend?
Vizard, S. (2014, March 27) Waitrose ups content investment as it shifts focus to 'accessible and free' marketing. marketingweek.com Retrieved March 28, 2014, from http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/retail/waitrose-ups-content-investment-as-it-shifts-focus-to-accessible-and-free-marketing/4009898.article
2 comments:
I think that Waitrose's shift from selling to inspiring as well as shifting its marketing effort from paid to free and increasing its content is a good marketing campaign because it will encourage customers' engagement through their effort of inspiring rather than hard selling.
I think this new trend will work, as many other marketers and advertisers try to get consumers to buy their product by engaging them - e.g. PepsiCo Vines, Purdue's microsites.
I think by engaging consumers and inspiring them will result into sales because consumers are already invested in the product or service therefore the next action is to buy. According to Waitrose's marketing director Rupert Thomas, " Content plays a crucial role in consumer perceptions of Waitrose, enabling customers to feel warmer towards the brand." He adds. "What people buy into with us as a brand is an opportunity to engage with us across a broad spectrum. It's about trust in the brand".
So if there's trust in the brand then there's loyalty which will result into buying the product.
G
I agree that it's important for them to sell stuff, but at the same time I think that this strategy might work. Waitrose is putting all their focus on the consumer. As a consumer, we like the focus on us and we like to know that companies are loyal to our needs.
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