Changes in advertising
A combination of two things lead me along the path to working within marketing; my interest in psychology, the reasons people do what they do, and I was pretty good at business studies at GCSE level. You may think that I could have opted to do a degree in psychology and with the vision to open my own practice however a very good business studies teacher showed me how marketing is all about psychology but additionally has a measurable impact upon a business. Impressed by this, I went on to study business at A Level, eventually receiving a BA (Hons) Marketing degree in 2014.
During my time studying for my degree and these first few months of my first marketing job, I have noticed the strong link between marketing and technology, particularly how the continual progression of technology will only help those working in marketing. Experiential marketing has been taken to a whole new level thanks to technology.
At university we were taught that experiential marketing was a strategy that engages all of a customers senses - this is very true, however there was no mention of technology being the facilitator of this. Technology has come so far that customers are now able to experience a virtual reality which is something that brands have tried to achieve in the past e.g. Harry Potter World.Samsung's Galaxy VR headset - Oculus Rift - is a headset created by Oculus VR for 3D gaming purposes.
As you can imagine when someone is wearing this they are a captive audience. It's not like when you advertise on TV and someone can be looking on their phone or tablet or making tea. You have their full attention. This is obviously a great opportunity for marketing professionals to ensure their adverts have the full effect. It allows people who work in marketing and have an interest in psychology, like me, to look at how virtual reality can be used to ensure the ads we create are remembered by those who see them, therefore improving our ROI. An example of this could be virtually riding on a roller coaster for a Disney Land advert or getting a guided tour around a hotel or event venue.
In my opinion there will always be a place for the traditional marketing methods, however if your customer is likely to have a Oculus Rift on their Christmas list then you should be embracing the changes this can make to the very format of an advert. Marketing works when you know your customers behaviour and this needs to be replicated in advertising.
I think there has been a slow uptake in the change that touch screen technology brings to marketing, with most simply replicating their TV ad.You wouldn't put a radio advert onto the TV because it needs to be visual, well the point in touch technology is that its interactive, therefore adverts need to be made more interactive. Interaction within adverts could include giving customers the option as to which version of the advert they want to watch. This will also provide very good market research results and therefore would improve the tailoring of your campaigns.
Start being more creative. Don't ignore technology, embrace it!
During my time studying for my degree and these first few months of my first marketing job, I have noticed the strong link between marketing and technology, particularly how the continual progression of technology will only help those working in marketing. Experiential marketing has been taken to a whole new level thanks to technology.
As you can imagine when someone is wearing this they are a captive audience. It's not like when you advertise on TV and someone can be looking on their phone or tablet or making tea. You have their full attention. This is obviously a great opportunity for marketing professionals to ensure their adverts have the full effect. It allows people who work in marketing and have an interest in psychology, like me, to look at how virtual reality can be used to ensure the ads we create are remembered by those who see them, therefore improving our ROI. An example of this could be virtually riding on a roller coaster for a Disney Land advert or getting a guided tour around a hotel or event venue.
In my opinion there will always be a place for the traditional marketing methods, however if your customer is likely to have a Oculus Rift on their Christmas list then you should be embracing the changes this can make to the very format of an advert. Marketing works when you know your customers behaviour and this needs to be replicated in advertising.
Start being more creative. Don't ignore technology, embrace it!
