: #RoadTo2021: 7 marketing lessons from 2020 you should apply to 2021 #IndiaNEWS #Indian Social Media dentsu Indias Vishal Nicholas pens down marketing lessons for A&M professionals as they embark

Posted in: #Indian #IndiaNEWS #RoadTo2021

#RoadTo2021 : 7 marketing lessons from 2020 you should apply to 2021 #IndiaNEWS #Indian Social Media
dentsu Indias Vishal Nicholas pens down marketing lessons for A&M professionals as they embark on the journey called 2021.

What was so interesting about 2020 wasn’t that digital became a necessity finally but the ripple effects around it — the other changes starting to take place, other myths being built and busted as the year drew to a close. So here are some marketing lessons I picked up along the way in 2020 which may gain greater importance in 2021.

‘Digital’ is not a marketing strategy in 2021

A myth that got perpetuated in 2020 and is slowly beginning to unravel was the belief that digital is a magic wand and all marketers have to do is to wave it. Nothing could be further from the truth. “We’re investing heavily in digital marketing??? is not a strategy as digital in 2021 is a world with many strategic options. Social media is just one aspect of digital. First-party data strategies to boost profitable growth, CX, e-commerce as a new avenue of awareness, D2C are equal parts of a digital strategy that we must make choices between as resources are finite. The choices that you make and the choices that you sacrifice within the gamut of options available in the digital universe will define your strategy.

The shift from USP to MSP

With all the hype around data-driven advertising leading to personalized communications, few realise the subtle resultant effect on one of the iconic marketing concepts of the broadcast era – the USP. When you personalize communications to different segments, you aren’t focusing on the lowest common denominator anymore. You instead need MSPs or Multiple Selling Propositions that have the desired effect on each segment which may have very different need states. Take Amazon for example, to non-users, they may position the brand on variety (A to Z), to regular users, Amazon may stand for speed, to Prime members who get early access to products the brand may stand for exclusivity. Maybe it’s time to articulate your brand’s MSPs if you have started the personalisation journey.

Brand personality/tone of voice is the new brand positioning

While MSPs solve for one problem, they also create another – you don’t want the brand to start looking like it has a multiple personality disorder. So how do you get to stay true to the idea of MSPs and yet, have audiences feel similarly about your brand?

The answer lies in the brand’s personality or tone of voice. It unifies the brand across its different consumer segments and MSPs. Virgin is a great example of a brand that straddles different categories and even industries with different selling propositions and yet everyone feels the same way about Virgin thanks to its irreverent, cheeky tone of voice.