Zappo’s CEO Tony Heish is an advocate for building your brand on next to nothing marketing budget. In today’s market, that sounds like a great plan but not one General Mills will be using.
During an interview with Adweek, Heish mentions the explosive impact of worth of mouth marketing. Of course Zappos encompasses workers who are well versed at social networking on Twitter and Facebook, which helps spreads the brands good reputation farther. So why would General Mills up their ad spending in 2009 if a company like Zappos isn’t?
Tony Heish notes that 75 percent of customers are returning. Which is a huge success in building a strong customer loyalty base. The loyal customers in turn can connect with the brand and the company online, which means Zappos is tapping the largest working force next to baby boomers, Generation Y.
Generation Y is more than a huge workforce, it’s also a huge consumer market. This generation is also the savviest online users, spending more time online then in front of the TV. This is the market Zappos is tapping into which General MIlls is deciding to target a different generation.
By contrast General MIlls’ increased ad spending is reported to be concentrated on daytime TV and print ads. Both adverting avenues that most likely won’t tap into the 9-5 working force of Generation Y. General MIlls does mention more internet marketing for 2009, but if you take Zappo’s approach, internet brand building should cost next to nothing.
Which company do you think takes the best approach for 2009? Will companies that concentrate more on word of mouth and social networking viral marketing be the winner next Dec? Will General MIlls be able to tap into Generation Y using old school techiniques?
It sounds like General Mills is looking to continue its branding strategy towards the stay at home moms who are grocery shopping for the family. It’s not their demographic I think that needs to change, but how they reach that demo. It would be smart of them to begin transitioning into Social Media and Internet buys to work on both the house moms who are now surfing away for deals and the Gen-Y crowd who is getting product recommendations and peer references on the sites. Getting into this space is tricky and Zappos didn’t appear over night. Their strategy is strong and their presence is growing every time they not only get a sale, but a hire into the company.
If I was General Mills, I would begin to experiment with mommy bloggers, mobile coupons and really listening to what their consumers and that of their competition’s consumers are saying to formulate a real plan of attack.
Diverse Internet marketing companies emerge with diverse marketing strategies. Surfeit of such websites culminate into stiff marketing and availability of online marketing strategies at the competitive ranges.
This article is not factual and the people at Brand Experience should be careful publicizing these types of articles. Zappos spends millions of dollars each year on traditional advirtising such as TV and magazines. I 100% agree they do a great job with word-of-mouth marketing – but to state they are “building your brand on next to nothing marketing budget” is absurd. Buiding a brand such as Zappos takes a lot of money – and they have spent a lot of money. People like Brand Experience need to quit buying into the Zappos spin and look a little deeper.
@Bob. This article is simply comparing what Heish said during an interview with Adweek and an article on General Mills expected spending for 2009 advertising. Heish himself credits in the Adweek article that Zappos reaps huge success from word of mouth reputation. No where in the post does Brand Experience claim that Zappo’s spends nothing on advertising or even gives specifics on what Zappos does spend on print and television advertising. It is a simple compare and contrast to get people thinking and discussing how great customer experience gives back to your organization. Brand Experience is an advocate for great research and development of creating, employing, and delivering top customer experience that strengthens a brands reputation. Really, Heish’s point of how important customer experience just as paid advertising is the focus of the post.