Alvin Jimenez » Strategies

Planning for a holiday campaign? Don’t plan too much.

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 01:17:10 +0000

Black Friday? I wish there was such a thing in the Philippines. We’re talking about half-priced laptops and TV’s, free gaming accessories, and REAL freebies. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a country where gadgets have a shelf life (The other day, I saw Samsung series 3 TVs still on display at Ansons). Give or take, this product line more than 3 years old! Sales in our country our characterized by free eco-friendly shopping bags and bumper to bumper traffic near malls.

If you’re planning for a holiday campaign (email or onsite), remember that not everyone like to shop during holidays.

Put yourself in the place of consumer — would you rather shop online or on an out of town trip on Memorial Day weekend? Online retailers have a misconception that long weekends mean higher sales. Apparently, there are many more factors to consider.

In the final tally, same-store sales rose 4.8 percent in the March-April period, below the 5.4 percent average expected by Wall Street. Some retailers, including Limited and Macy’s Inc (M.N), warned that a late Memorial Day could depress May sales while boosting June results.

View whole article here.

Always take into consideration current market conditions when coming up with any campaign. Were sales uncharacteristically strong during a usually weak season? Did something happen recently that should push consumers to spend or hold on to their money? These are just some of the questions you have to ask yourself and your team.

Sure, it makes sense to hold big sales during the usual holidays such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. American culture has already dictated consumer behavior this way. Why don’t you jump the gun against your competitors and hold a sale a day, a week, or even a month early?

Always remember that YOU know the behavior of your consumer best.

Is your target market web savvy enough?

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 06:29:38 +0000

Though it was relatively easy for me to jumpstart my personal blog more than two years ago, I had the privilege of being surrounded by what you can call the “pioneers” in the local Internet Marketing industry. The same cannot be said about your day to day Internet browser.

Even until today, it’s an uphill challenge trying to sell an idea that has nothing to do with traditional media. Once you’re done with all the convincing, you’ll be facing an even bigger challenge — finally deciding what you want to do. During this whole process, have you ever asked yourself if your target market is ready for whatever you’re going to dish out?

I was on my way to the office today when I heard a radio plug about Medicol’s “Winning Board” campaign.

One thing I like about this, is that they go through a very detailed data collection process. One common mistake companies make when trying to run an Internet Marketing initiative, is they always use a shotgun approach (Putting as many of their banners on other high traffic sites in hopes of generating visitors). Though the value to it may not be felt now, companies should start collecting data from their consumers.

Now we can go to the negatives.

The campaign’s value proposition is not compelling enough – Medicol tied up with JobsDB to advertise “The most winning job of the day”. If I were looking for a job, I would go straight to Jobstreet or JobsDB instead.
The campaign’s attempt to become social is half-baked – Aspiring entrepreneurs would rather share their ideas in more established forums such as Pinoyexchange or Entrepeneur Philippines. The E-buddy and MyAyala integration are also weak. As for the user interface, let’s just say I’d rather use Sandbox.
Last, and certainly not the least, the Wordpress interface will not be for everyone – After having spent 10 minutes browsing the site, I still do not understand why I would need Wordpress to browse through the site posts and comments. It feels like a case of let’s put this in there just so we can keep up with the times.

While the attempt at running an online campaign to promote the brand is admirable, I feel like the campaign just has too many elements that the Filipino consumer isn’t ready for. In all honesty Medicol should have just come up with a killer Facebook fan page. At least people would know how to use that.

Christmas can come early online.

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:47:18 +0000

In the Philippines, Halloween and Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated by most. There’s no such thing as Cyber Monday, and Black Friday isn’t what we would say the best retail day of the year. Looking at the subject lines in my inbox, I see that most US retailers (those that survived) showing no signs of the economic storm it had to go through more than a year ago. Spending was down. Jobs were lost. Americans cut corners any way they could.

On our own shores, we experienced our own storm more than a month ago. As rains filled up our streets, washed away cars, houses, and lives, we saw how natural it was for Filipinos to share whatever they could for their countrymen. And then we saw those same people be first in line at one of our local malls’ 3-day sales. It’s funny how people from opposite sides of the globe react to almost similar situations. Most of this is rooted on the belief that Christmas season begins as soon as the “ber months” arrive.

Using consumer behavior in the Philippines as a starting point, here’s a general guideline (or an idea) on how you can become the first mover online in your own market this Holiday season.

Have your Christmas gift pages up and ready - Go look at your numbers and find out which items were fast moving the previous year. Chances are, they’ll get the same attention this year.
Release an early Christmas email. - You might say, well it’s not even Christmas yet. Think about it, while others are gearing up for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday, you’ve already gained a distinct advantage in getting your customer’s attention. Sometimes, being different is the best way to get your market’s attention.
Bump up em’ discounts as soon as December rolls in. - You’ve already started promoting the items on your site, now convince your customers they should follow through with their purchase by giving them better discount options.

You've got to find a way to stand out.

When coming up with an email campaign calendar, always remember the inevitable rise in volume of emails being sent. In most cases, some of your competitors may even have better deals than you do. The most important thing to remember is that there will always be a way to gain more opens, clicks, and purchases (while protecting your company’s profitability margins). All you have to do is be prepared.