Your messaging is on point

Welcome once again to Strategize with Sav. We have really fell down the personal brand rabbit hole lately and I think it is time to shift gears. This week we have been discussing message development and placement. This concept may not seem like it is super difficult, but in all reality it takes a lot of strategy. 

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There has always been a misconception that communications and marketing is easy. Oh my friends how wrong you are. Sometimes people's "great" ideas end up causing a lot of headache in the long run. Take for instance how AirBnb planned out an email marketing campaign called "Floating World" that showcased floating homes, water slides, and other fun stays of this nature. Doesn't sound so bad right? Well, this email campaign just so happened to go out at the same time that Hurricane Harvey was destroying homes and neighborhoods in Houston, Texas. What seemed like a cool new email campaign to showcase these awesome stays ended up being very controversial because of timing. While AirBnb could not control the weather, they could have done some strategic planning and not let that email campaign get sent out.

Message development takes a lot more consideration than just being quippy and grabbing an audience's attention. You have to think about current trends, forecast future trends, make sure that you are up to date on current events, politically correct, and are not going to offend anyone in any way with any of your messaging. Then, once you somehow figure out how to do this, you have to now figure out where you are going to deliver this message and who will be doing the delivering. Once again considering all of the aforementioned situations. Doesn't sound so easy after all does it.

So how can strategic communicators make the most out of their messaging and reach more people? Well, we have some options. Something that does not get talked about a lot, but gets utilized a ton is guerrilla marketing. According to Referral Candy, guerrilla marketing is a set of marketing tools, techniques, and practices to connect directly to customers and leave a lasting, memorable impression. The ultimate goal of guerilla marketing is to get customers to remember a brand’s products in a way they are not accustomed to. There are different types of guerrilla marketing as well though. Investopedia lists the six types of guerrilla marketing as:

1. Buzz Marketing

This type of marketing relies heavily on word-of-mouth. This type of marketing is very prevalent in our society today. Especially with the rise of TikTok and influencer culture. Everyone is endorsing something, and the average person can go "viral" overnight. We have even seen some very popular brands shift to this method of marketing lately. It is a genius plan, if it is done right. However, there are times when buzz marketing backfires. Take the Nike/Dylan Mulvaney controversy for example. Using influencers can also be dangerous when they are not transparent about something being an advertisement. TikToker, Mikayla Nogueira has been scrutinized by fans lately about her lack of transparency. Buzz marketing has potential, if the word-of-mouth buzz is organic. 

2. Stealth Marketing

The best example of stealth marketing is product placement in movies and TV shows. I know that I cannot be the only one who watched Sex and the City and thought I just had to have a pair of Manolo Blahnik's, or watched Stranger Things and all of a sudden got a hankering for Eggo waffles. These products are not the star of the show or even a plot line, but they are so stealthily snuck in that we remember them when we think of the show

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3. Ambient Marketing

This type of marketing is where advertisements attempt to blend in to its environment. Similar to advertisements on a bus bench, we are use to them being there so they seem natural, but we all at least look at them.

4. Ambush Marketing

This type of marketing is very in your face when you least expect it. These are several advertisements in a row of the same company, or event sponsors putting their advertisements up all over an event, or, if you live in Central Alabama, Alexander Shunnarah billboards or the Vance Law Firm "Dial 3 for Me" commercial. This marketing technique uses repetition to get the message across.

5. Projection Advertising

This type of advertising consists of blasting large advertisements on the side of boring walls and buildings. Very popular in larger cities, most tourists even find these fun to take pictures in front of. If you have been to Nashville lately, you have probably done this. 

6. Grassroots Marketing

This type of marketing consists of a lot more time and a lot less funds. The people utilizing this form of marketing are the ones out handing out flyers, talking to locals, and setting up at the local coffee shop. They usually tend to have very personal connections to the places they are out in and can connect their cause or company to the people there.

Out of these six different types of guerrilla marketing categories, we can all think of at least one company or advertisement we personally have interacted with that falls into each one. So that alone is proof that they work.

I think the biggest takeaway from the discussion this week is that there is no perfect strategy that will fit every single message and every single company. The role of the strategic communicator is to know the target audience for the message, to know where to reach that audience, and to know what that audience will interact with. Strategic communicators are forever expanding their knowledge. They are staying up to date on what is trending and molding their messages to fit those trends, but to stay on brand. 

There will always be content out in the world. Our job as strategic communicators is to cut through the clutter and provide quality content that gets our message across. Whether we do that in the form of a viral TikTok, a press conference, a wall mural, a flash mob, or even just a selfie video, we have the power to know what avenue is going to be best for the specific content. So next time someone tells you that communication and marketing is "so easy" give them a good ole southern "Bless Your Heart" and know how much power you truly possess.