Brand Marketing Archives - Cajam Marketing

The Best Recipe for a Successful Marketing Plan

Jun 8, 2017

As marketing professionals, we tend to look at everything through an advertising filter, even during our off-hours. For fun, we share great subject lines, take screenshots of eye-catching retargeting ads and watch full video ads on YouTube, even when we can skip the ad after four seconds. We pore over “junk” mail and read catalogs cover to cover. We “like” Facebook ads, just to see what happens next.

We even approach the most universal dilemma of the day – “what’s for dinner?” – with a marketing slant. If we were chefs by profession, our take on popular meal kit delivery services would be much different. But as marketers, we are just as interested in the brand building as the perfectly proportioned spice packets.

Here’s what our recent experience with Blue Apron meal kits reminds us about the essential ingredients of effective marketing (as well as incorporating kale into a healthy dinner).

The Main Ingredient: Solve a Problem

Solving a problem is the keystone of all marketing. Blue Apron and other meal kit delivery services offer an easy solution to the common time-consuming challenge of planning, shopping and preparing a meal.

Takeaway: Whatever you are selling, focus on the benefits to the end-user.

Mise En Place: Everything In Place

Top chefs stress the importance of prep time, to make sure all the essential tools and ingredients are in place and easy to find. This same principle applies to building a brand through a well-planned marketing campaign from the start.

While lamenting my lack of a dinner plan to a colleague, she forwarded me a Blue Apron email with a coupon code and said her family was enjoying the service. I was familiar with the brand because I had seen Blue Apron ads on Facebook and noticed some friends were fans. Blue Apron had everything in place to convince me to give them a try: a friend’s recommendation, a coupon code that worked and brand recognition through social media. This was no coincidence; it was a well-coordinated effort to get my business.

Takeaway: Think about where your customers will find you and take the time to develop a consistent, multi-channel marketing plan.

A Good Presentation Makes It More Appetizing

“That looks good!” A great meal employs all the senses – it smells good, looks good, and has a nice texture. Great marketing invokes the senses too. The Blue Apron website is visually pleasing and easy to navigate. The site’s images are beautifully photographed, and the meals look delicious. The shipping box and meal kit are nicely branded. The recipe card is well designed and printed on high quality paper stock. Blue Apron purposefully makes a great presentation at every step, with top quality details you can see, feel and taste.

Takeaway: Pay attention to the details. Good photography, clean design and quality packaging can really make a difference and will set your business above your competitors.

Easy to Follow Recipe

How many times have you scrolled through Pinterest or flipped through a cookbook and ruled out a recipe because it seemed too complicated? Blue Apron simplifies meal preparation – but more importantly, they make it easy to join, select meals and pause meals. They offer free shipping with an exact shipping date. They also make it easy to cancel a plan or contact customer service.

Takeaway: Keep it simple. Make it easy for customers to buy your products. Most customers want to know about return policies and shipping before placing an order, so make sure this information is easy to find.

Share a Meal With Friends

“Try this!” A delicious meal is even better when shared with friends. Blue Apron does a great job of turning happy customers into brand ambassadors through social engagement. They encourage customers to share their meal pictures on Shapchat, Facebook and Instagram. They rely on the power of referrals, allowing members to send free meals to friends and family.

Takeaway: Encourage customers to share pictures, reviews and referrals.

Adjust to Taste

A favorite recipe evolves over time, with substitutions and adjustments. While this blog post was in the works, Internet Retailer published a story about Blue Apron’s recent IPO filing. According to Internet Retailer, Blue Apron spent about 17% of its total operational spending on marketing last year. In fact, Blue Apron warns potential investors of the high cost of acquiring and retaining customers. Notably, Blue Apron reported 92% of revenue in 2016 came from repeat customers.

Takeaway: Customer acquisition can take a big chunk of your budget. Good marketing analytics are necessary to assess the costs and returns of your marketing spend. Just as you modify a recipe to your taste, you’ll need to evaluate and adjust your marketing plan, using analytics to guide you. In addition to marketing, it is also important to consider the other ingredients that affect customer acquisition and retention such as fulfillment, operations and competition.

Learn more about Marketing Analytics.

Amazon’s Market Share: Why Brand Marketing Still Matters to Retailers

Jun 9, 2016

With Amazon credited with about a third of U.S. online retail sales and estimated to contribute .51 cents of every dollar in U.S. e-commerce growth, (source: Internet Retailer) the relevance of brand – apart from the mighty Amazon® brand – may seem to be eroding. However, considering Amazon’s huge market share, the differentiating value of brand is more important than ever.

To a small retailer, Amazon can be both a friend and a foe. Building a brand is one of the best strategies for concurrently competing with Amazon as a retailer and partnering with Amazon as a seller. A brand name separates a product from the pack and helps a product get found. According to a Forrester Research study, about one third of all online product searches in the U.S. start at Amazon. Brand names have the distinct advantage of showing up in search results, based on the search terms shoppers use.

What Does Brand Mean?

Brand is not just a catchy name or cool logo; it’s the association of good feelings with the name that makes shoppers choose a particular product or service. A common marketing adage is shoppers buy on emotion and justify a purchase with logic. We choose one brand over another because the product looks better, feels better, smells better, tastes better or promises to make us better. We choose a brand because of this personal connection formed by our own senses, a feeling of “it’s right for me.”

Brand is just as important for the shoppers who are less swayed by emotion and more influenced by price. To many shoppers, the Amazon brand is associated with reliable service, value and selection. Value-seeking shoppers don’t always buy the cheapest offerings on Amazon. Instead, they use emotions to sort through the products, looking at reseller ratings, brands they trust and product reviews at a site where they feel they belong. The feeling of brand as a shared community is especially true for the millions of Amazon Prime members who subscribe to brand loyalty with an annual fee.

How Do You Get People to Pay More For a Name?

As a marketing professional, I know brand building strategies. As a shopper, I fall for them every time. Recently, I stood in the grocery store condiments aisle, weighing the pros and cons of which bottle of Worcestershire sauce to buy. The Lea & Perrins® bottle caught my eye, as its iconic paper wrap reminded me of my mom. It’s the brand my mother always bought to make her delicious grilled hamburgers. This bottle costs 50% more than the other Worcestershire sauce brands, but emotion and brand beat budget.

Lea & Perrins sets a great example of effective brand building.

The iconic Lea & Perrins® paper-wrapped bottle.

Perceived Value

The Lea & Perrins unique packaging adds perceived value and sends the right message of quality: this brand has put a lot of thought and care into their product. Plus, the product looks better than the other brands on the grocery store shelf (or Amazon search results), so it’s easy to assume it will taste better too.

Unique Story

“The Famous Paper Wrap” story is printed on the Lea & Perrins packaging, inviting the consumer to be part of the rich heritage of this brand, which dates back to 1837. This feeling of shared history strengthens brand loyalty. Not only is this the brand my mother used, but it’s also the brand my grandmother and generations before her used. I must continue the tradition.

Consistent Messaging

Lea & Perrins conveys the premium packaging = quality message on all their marketing channels, making good use of the clever tag line “Unwrap the Flavor.” The same messages of quality and tradition (plus the same recipe my mother used) are easy to find on the official Lea & Perrins website – as well as their brand page at Amazon.

Make a Name For Yourself

For a new business that hasn’t been around since 1837, the same principles apply:

Make your name synonymous with the value your products offer.
Tell a unique story to differentiate your product from the others.
Consistently reflect these values and narrative in every detail of your business – your customer service team, your packaging, your emails, your website and your social media channels.

Building a Brand on Amazon

It may seem counterintuitive for new or smaller businesses to gain brand awareness in Amazon’s massive marketplace, but with the right product ads, product listings and messaging, it can be a very lucrative way to grow a business.

With over 24 years of experience, Cajam Marketing can help you develop and nurture your brand. Our online marketplace specialists can guide you through selling and advertising on Amazon, Houzz, Jet and other digital marketplaces. Learn more.