Our visit to TargetCast was an
eye opener in terms of the advancements in the pursuit of online and TV audiences.
I understand the complexity of targeting the right consumer but the lengths to
which advertisers, media planners and brands will go to reach them is a little
mind-boggling . All I could think about while Heather and Colette gave their
presentations, besides Steven’s inspiring ability to seamlessly insert his
experience into every topic they touched upon, was the privacy implications of
all these strategies. I know as consumers we cannot be aware of all the ways we
are targeted but I do wonder to what extent the average consumer is aware they
are targeted based on their online/offline shopping, behavioral and viewing
trends?
My “aha” and most intriguing
moment came during the segment when the ladies talked about brands owning their
TV channels to better target and engage with their audience. Upon further
research, I found that this can be an economically and strategically brilliant
move for brands that can afford to do so. I also learnt that some brands
operate their brand owned channels on YouTube and then funnel viewers to their
websites for further engagement. Once the viewers are on their websites, they
can properly monitor their viewing, sharing and buying habits. And apparently
this has been used by marketers since as far back as 2005 and I’m just finding
out in 2013? Jeez…
I found the TargetCast culture to
be different on each level we visited; when we were on the main floor, it
seemed rather structured. The employees were in business casual and sat in
cubicles except the art department and when we went to the second floor, it
seemed like casual Friday with open working areas, which facilitated employee
interactions. I am aware that they do different things on each floor but shouldn’t
the corporate culture be the same no matter what floor you are on?
But, with that being said, it is
still a pretty casual working environment and I have always favored working in
companies like this. However, Media Planning and Buying is not something I am
interested in; it seems a little too technical to me. And I know it was
clarified that I don’t need to be statistician to be good in this field but I think
I’ll pass all the same.
I am beginning to value the
Evolving Industries course in terms of its ability to fuse two worlds together-
the classroom and the Communications field. Some of the things we read in the
reading assignments were brought up during the TargetCast session and they
increased my ability to understand what was being discussed. It’s always
refreshing to be able to apply technical aspects of a course to real world
discussions.
Since I’ve liked Summer’s Eve on
Facebook and joined every other platform they exist on, I have been a little
disappointed to find that they are not really doing much to engage with
consumers. They sent me a welcome email
3 days after I subscribed to their mailing list but I haven’t seen or heard from
them since. I feel like I’m the one who’s targeting them just so I can see if
there’s anything new they’ve been up to. It’s only been a little over a week
though and my TV consumption has significantly decreased since school started
but I still feel abandoned (oh the drama!)
You would think that after the
mixed success from their 2011 advertising campaign and their efforts to reach
digital savvy 20-30 year old women, they would be doing the utmost to engage
with customers.
I was curious to know what their ranking was in the feminine
hygiene brand category but I haven’t found any trustworthy stats; I’ll have to
do some more digging. But it would be interesting to know if their complacency is borne out of being #1 or not really having much competition other than RepHresh.
I’ll be patient (and also increase my TV watching) and hopefully the upcoming weeks will have
the Summer’s Eve marketing team bearing gifts.
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