Case Study: A Look at Kia's Marketing Campaign

If you asked me a few years ago to tell you the last car I would consider buying, it would be a Kia.  While a Mini Cooper and a Volkswagen Beetle near the top of the list, Kia stood out because of its cheapness, ugly exteriors, and seemingly poor quality.  What changed? Well to start, all we have to do is look at the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

In this contest, Blake Griffin battled his way to the finals only to pull out a 2011 Kia Optima.  He leapt over the hood of the car and slammed the ball home, winning the contest.  I immediately viewed the dunk as a disappointment, because it really wasn't that impressive.  Most NBA players could do the dunk Griffin did, however, the final dunk was not about Griffin at all.  It was about Kia.

Kia brought out their newest model car, the 2011 Optima.  The car received much recognition for its five minute cameo in a place where cars should not be allowed.  This, is one of the greatest marketing tools there is: do something unusual or different with your product to get people to talk about it.  This did not say anything about the Kia product at all; it was just like a celebrity guest appearance in a television series.  And it worked.  20 percent of people who saw the dunk said they'd consider purchasing one 48 hours after the feat was accomplished.  Since then, the Optima has stood atop the new Kia lineup and has set records in sales over the year, while getting stronger each month.

  

Kia now had a popular name associated with its car, and they made sure that Blake Griffin was the face of Kia.  He quickly put out many commercials for Kia, giving the car an appeal to a younger, hipper, and sports-oriented crowd.  Griffin became the only basketball player to be associated with the Kia brand.

But they didn't stop with Griffin, proving their creativeness and marketing techniques to appeal to more people.  Kia released a commercial in the 2012 Super Bowl that garnered lots of attention.  This Kia commercial appealed to a more masculine demographic, showing that the car was to be something that was sought after, not just one to consider purchasing.

While they clearly improved the quality of the product that they were producing with the new Optimas and other cars, the marketing campaign does not go unnoticed.  This marketing campaign by Kia landed it an Effie Award, taking home bronze in the year's most effective marketing, and three over the last three years.

Convince People in 3 Steps

With any kind of marketing campaign, the goal is to lead to sales.  When thinking about any successful marketing campaign, it really comes down into three basic steps, given to me by Nicholas Boothman.  Boothman defines it as the KFC model, and it is something that I think about daily during my life:

1. Know What You Want:  This comes with analyzing your business or marketing campaign and making a goal.  You want to increase sales.  You want to hook a certain client.  You want to recruit that one kid for your fraternity pledge class.  Knowing what you want is one of the easiest things that a person can do (unless you are a girl entering a relationship).

2. Find Out What You Are Getting:  This comes with the ability to understand the current state of the business of campaign.  You must know the factual evidence right in front of you.  For example, I try to sell an advertising space to a local business.  The business does not see the point in advertising in my publication, so they reject me.

3. Change What You Are Doing To Get What You Want: This is where you must be innovative.  A person will fail at times, and that can be okay, but how do they respond?  In this step, you try different methods to get the results that you want.  And you do not stop until step 1 matches step 2.

A lot of marketing is learned through trial and error.  So you must know what you want, see what you are getting, and change what you are doing to get what you want! Three simple steps that can get your marketing and sales campaign running and growing!



These three steps are borrowed from Nicholas Boothman, an author in the UK.

Conquering Interviews

The first few days of this week have started off unlike many weeks for a lot of people.  As I have written in the past, I have two part-time jobs.  While I love them both, the people and the work, I also find myself frustrated looking for full-time employment.  With CollegeBuzzz, I am having to hire interns for the Clemson website.  So yesterday, I went up to Clemson to interview a girl.  I talked to her at a local Starbucks for about 40 minutes, getting to know all about her life, passions, and skills.  Tomorrow, I have an interview for a full-time position in Washington DC.  While I have very little knowledge of the DC area, I have done my homework of this business and the position I would take for them, and I want to share my thoughts of how I am approaching tomorrow.

Research the Company:  Find out everything that you can about the company before taking an interview with them.  Most importantly, know their mission and industry.  One you find out the outline of the industry and company, get into the details.  Know the locations of the company.  Find out how many employees work for them.  Find out their clients and review their work.  You can even go as far as looking into employees.  Some websites, such as Glassdoor, will give you information of what current and former employees think of the company, as well as look into the process that some of them went through during their interviews.  For example, for tomorrow's interview, I know the work-enviornment, the age of most employees, the company's size, their office locations, the salary expectations, and the chance (or lack of) promotions.

Review the Position Requirements:  Almost always, a person sends in their application to fill a specific role that the company is looking for.  If they give you a description, check it out.  Reading over it before the interview will give you create comfort and a pretty good idea of some of the questions you may be asked.  Be ready to explain how you possess those skills or how you have used them to achieve success in your past.

Research the Recruiter:  If you get the name of the person that is going to be interviewing you, just do a search for them on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google.  (Hopefully they will have a good LinkedIn Profile) Getting to know a few things about the person interviewing you, such as where they went to college, can be of great help to you during the interview. In May, I was being interviewed by the president of a small marketing company.  After discussing that I had attended Furman and lived in Greenville, he asked if I knew his connection to Greenville.  Immediately, I responded that I knew he had attended college there, linking him to one of my previous bosses.  To say the least, he was impressed and I was offered the job a few weeks later.


Create a Good Environment:  If you are in an office setting having a 1:1 interview, then you have no control over this.  If you are having a phone interview, make sure that the setting is quite and has no distractions.  I was interviewed during the middle of my intramural softball games one time.  I had just scored a run, heard my phone ringing, and had to have a conversation right there on the spot.  It was an unneeded challenge and something I will never do again.

Be Yourself:  Do not get nervous.  Relax and realize that they are going to judge you for whatever you say.  You can tell them in a stumbling voice that you have started three companies, or you can state confidently and clearly that you just graduated and are unemployed.  The more confident you are with your answers, the better you will be received by someone that is getting paid to judge you.  Just relax and prepare to achieve a better interview.

5 Tips To Be A Successful Salesman

There are many different types of sales that we must make in our life.  High schoolers may work their summer selling Cutco knives or a 40 year old may have a career out of selling suits at a retail store.  A recent college graduate has to sell himself to a company to get a new job or a college drop-out may have to sell his entrepreneurial idea to local businesses.  As a freshman in college, you may have to present yourself favorably to catch the eye of that perfect girl or, one day, in meeting her parents.  We have to sell ourselves to earn trust in friendships, relationships, and businesses. Knowing that sales are found in many different areas of life, we must be constantly aware of how to make sales.

I wanted to put a picture of a man, or voice I trust. Who better than Morgan Freeman?

1. Establish Trust: Nobody will purchase or believe anything that you say if they cannot trust you.  Establish yourself as a reliable person that can relate well with them.  Provide information about yourself, and know that any question that you ask, you must be able to answer as well.

2. Remember The Little Things: When you are meeting with a customer for a second sale or a boyfriend for a second date, prove that you listened the last time you were together.  Asking little things about their personal life, such as how their kids are, how their last test went, or how their job interview went will make them realize that you care about them.  Caring about your customer outside of the sales situation is vital to making them trust you more . . . leading to more sales.

3. Be Generous At First: While being generous is a trait that you always want to possess, you must be able to draw them in with an act that will make them appreciate you.  This could be something as simple as buying a girl a drink, providing a potential client with a free trial of your service (GoToMeeting),  or giving them a glimpse of your public relations campaign for them and how you can help them out.

4. Care About Your Product:  I know for a fact that I could not sell clothing from Old Navy or happily encourage others to go watch "The Notebook".  The reason you want to sell something to someone is because you like the product that you are selling.  Selling something without caring for it will come across as laziness or a lack of interest to the client, making them not buy into whatever you are selling.

5. Make Them See Their Benefit:  When selling something, the objective is to always fill a need of the consumer.  Make them see what they will get in accepting your offer.  Let them know that if they join your fraternity that they will always have a 60 strong friends.  Make it aware that if they purchase your laptop that it will provide great quality for them.  Prove to them that if they purchase your clothing that it will look good and last for a long time.  If it does not do them any good, they will not buy it.

"Answers": Find Them On LinkedIn

As I have perviously mentioned, LinkedIn is a great way to help jumpstart your future career.  One of the ways that I have learned to used LinkedIn recently is through the "Answers" tab.  "Answers" is a way to ask specific questions to all LinkedIn members.  They are categorized, making it easy to find general of specific topics to help you learn more about the professional world.

How To Check It Out:  To look at the "Answers" page of LinkedIn, just go to the top bar and scroll over "More".  Click on answers and you go to the home page.  This page has a layout with some of the newest and most popular questions in the main section.  On the right hand side, you can browse through general topics and areas of study, such as Health, Marketing, or Business Operations, and then go into subcategories to get more specific questions and answers.

What role can you play? As a recent graduate, I just started using this as an outlet to expand my knowledge and influence within the last few weeks.  Being young and relatively inexperienced in the professional world, a lot of times I just get on a few times a week to read.  I go to the areas that are valuable to me, such as Direct Marketing or Internet Marketing, and just soak in the questions and answers provided by other professionals.  Some are right on, some contradict each other, but thats the beauty of having an individual opinion.  Everyone can provide the answer that they think is best.

You can also participate by answering questions.  Many questions in areas that I have recently studied or have learned about I can provide answers to! It is a great feeling to be able to take something you learn and apply it, whether it is in your work or helping other people.

The other way you can play a role is to ask questions.  A few weeks ago, I got frustrated with my job.  My marketing budget is nonexistent and I just had one of those mornings where you get down on yourself.  So I turned to LinkedIn.  I asked a question that I needed help with.  The next morning when I got on my computer, I had e-mails and LinkedIn responses from 6 people, providing me a great way to learn more about areas of my field that I was unsure about.

Why?  Why should you participate in LinkedIn "Answers"?  Because it helps you become more of a professional.  First, it can help you network with people.  When I posted my question a few weeks ago, my profile views increased drastically.  A few of these people I had personal messaging conversations with, and a few I "Connected" with on LinkedIn.

But most importantly, it helps you grow in areas that you have little or no prior knowledge of.  It helps show that you care about growing as a professional.  Never be satisfied with the knowledge that you have; always strive to learn more from others and through experiments.  One of my favorite quotes is "The day you stop learning is the day you stop growing".

Breaking Bad Strategy: Walter White Teaches Us Success

During my final year at Furman, one of my roommates decided that the two of us should pick a television show to watch over the course of the semester.  After asking a few of his friends and checking on Netflix, Nate decided that we should watch Breaking Bad.  For those of you that do not know, Breaking Bad is an AMC show about Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and starts to cook and sell meth to try to help his family financially.

As you watch the show, the deeper and deeper Walt gets into the drug scene and potential dangers, the more creative and devious he becomes.  Walt constantly lies to his family and friends to get what he wants.  While I obviously do not support his deception and deviousness, Walt is one of the best television examples on how to create new ideas, get out of seemingly impossible situations, and changing the game.  Why is Walt the best in the industry?

1. Product:  Walter White makes a meth product that is more pure than anyone else's.  Because of his chemistry background, he does not sacrifice the quality of the product for quantity or price reduction.  Whenever Walt gets into a tangle in the seasons two and three, he generally gets out of it by letting people know that he is the only one that can make his product, and that it is better than everyone else's. This makes Walt an indispensable part of the business.  Without him, there is no product; with no product, there is a large demand that is not met or satisfied.

Working on his Blue Meth product.

In the business world, you need to make the quality of your product so good that people do that think that they can go without it.  For example, Steve Jobs made Apple the best quality of computers.  People line up outside of Apple stores for a new product that is the most expensive of its kind.  Yes their are cheaper laptops, but will you sacrifice quality for a drop in price.

2. Business Planning: When Walt is about to be murdered by Gus Fring, the leader of meth distribution in the Southwest, Walt is steps ahead of Gus in planning.  He constructs a plan to regain loyalty from his partner Jesse and to kill Gus, eliminating all threats against him.  Walt plays life like it is chess, always knowing his opponent's move before it is made. Even though Walt worked for Gus, he always saw him as an opponent and an enemy rather than a partner.

If you can see into the future and know what the market and competition are going to do, you can adjust your plans and strategy to come out on top.  In the business world, a large part of your success depends on what you do, but if that is all that you focus on, then you will never reach your full potential.  You have to do research about market trends and new things that could impact the supply or the demand of the item, as well as knowing about the competitors' products, marketing, advertising, and service.

3. Loyalty: Even though it builds slowly and is a very rocky road, the relationship between Walt and his co-worker Jesse is a vital part of the success of their business.  Multiple times during the show, Walt or Jesse save each others lives because they consider themselves a package deal.  This is how they end up beating Gus and ultimately having their business succeed.

In a working environment, you need to be around people that you can trust. Having people that you know will come through for you in tough situations makes everything much easier.  If you have loyal people, then the likelihood that you succeed are much better.

4. Risk: Walter is not afraid to put his neck on the line.  He believes in his products and does whatever he can to get them out to people.  In this past episode, Walter and Jesse even robbed a train to secure the most key ingredient of their product: methylamine.

Sometimes, you may have risks that you must take to make your business more successful.  Before doing these though, you must master the business planning aspect, understanding the consequences of your potential actions and decisions.  For example, a few years ago, Tropicana changed its logo and the outburst was enormous.  Sales dropped dramatically and an uproar was created among its customers.  Always play the devil advocate and do a cost-benefit analysis before any move is made.

Instagram For Businesses?

Everyone’s talking about Instagram after the recent $1 billion Facebook acquisition.  In just 2 years the app has aquired more than 50 million users and has become a staple of high school and college kids.  With all of the great filters that allow for pictures to look so much better than they actually are, one big question remains: Is Instagram useful for businesses?

This is a topic that I know very little about.  First, I want to give my few thoughts on Instagram and business.  After those thoughts, I am providing insight and examples of other people.

Instagram is something that can be very useful.  The business success stories that I have witnessed with Instagram all involve fashion in some sort.  Why?  Fashion items are easy to take pictures of.  You can put it on a hanger, a person, a pet, or a nice backdrop, and the picture does the talking for itself.  People see what they are getting with the item, and if they like the way it looks, then generally that is enough to buy it, or at least like it.  

Coach, the famous purse company has 48 thousand Instagram followers.  They generally post about one picture a day, and leave it at that.  The consistency of their posting has made them an Instagram success.  On a smaller scale, a local start-up in the Carolinas called Good Ole Boys has done a great job of taking pictures of their gear and creating a comfort appeal around the brand.  They may not have the largest fan base, but they post consistently, interact with followers, and show their items in ways that make people interested in the product.

After doing research, I have realized that my assumptions are pretty much true.  With digital photography being a great way to show advertisements, many fashion companies use Instagram successfully.  Taking a picture of a dress or pair of shoes and attaching a link to an online shopping cart is an easy way to increase sales.  MyHauteCloset is an example of a fashion blogger who was given many items to model and ended up making a nice fashion business just through Instagram. 

The other industry that appears to have done this is sports teams.  Teams like the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Braves have succeeded on Instagram because they are sports and entertainment focused.  A lot of people enjoy looking at photos of their favorite athletes as they play the game they love or goof around in the clubhouse.  Sports teams also use it to recap and post photos of promotional events; for example the Atlanta Braves recently had a Star Wars night, and their Instagram shows some photos of fans in Star Wars apparel. 

Instagram really has become almost a hybrid of Twitter and Pinterest.  You post pictures that appeal to you and you make them look pretty through filters.  Then you can comment under them in a short text or post them at somebody.  While Instagram will never overpass a Twitter with text or a Facebook with profiles, it is a handy, mobile application that can connect people on a smaller level.  Maybe it will get much bigger.  Maybe the boom of the Instagram bomb will continue to spread outward, but for now, Instagram is not a do or die social medium for the business world.  If you are in the fashion industry, I definitely think that it would be beneficial to have it.  Otherwise, do with it as you please.  As for me, if I ever get more than 1,000 Instagram followers (@justinsthomason), I will run a 5K in a Batman suit. 

Why College Students Need LinkedIn

I remember last November when I began to search for jobs.  I applied to a few places over Thanksgiving and Christmas break, receiving response e-mails or phone calls to try back in a few months.  When March came, I began to apply for more places, with still little luck.  As April came around, I started to use LinkedIn a lot more.  I had used it some since the middle of my junior year, but just like many things in life, such as working out or shooting a basketball, if you don't use it, you lose it.

The Before:

Before LinkedIn, I was very immature.

LinkedIn helped me mature.  I know that seems weird . . .  a website helped me grow up . . . but it did.  I began applying to jobs, making more contacts, learning more about potential industries, and updating my profile.  While the positions that I currently hold did not come through LinkedIn, I was offered some job positions through the website.  My advice to current college students or recent graduates: use LinkedIn.

1. LinkedIn helps you get your stuff together.  Having a profile on LinkedIn that is incomplete is a terrible representation of yourself.  If you apply to any jobs or have anyone looking at your profile, it is motivation to make your profile complete.  Updating your experience with job titles, companies, dates, and job description are great.  The more experience that you have, the better.

2. LinkedIn teaches you basics about resumes and applications.  I applied to approximately twenty-five jobs on LinkedIn.  With those numbers, you realize that some do not respond, some send you a courtesy thank you, and others are interested in potentially hiring you.  Submitting a cover letter is not an option; it is a necessity. Changing your cover letter and resume from application to application are vital.  Responding to people's e-mails, while this should be common knowledge, are also critical to advancing in the job process.  Show them that you are qualified and that you care.

3. Another great aspect of LinkedIn is company pages.  As a college student looking for job in a specific field, I used LinkedIn to check out companies.  You can see their company description, connections they have with you, the size of their company, and other information that will help you get a basic understanding of what they do.  You can follow a company to stay updated on what they are doing and see job positions that they need to fill.

4. Grow your connections.  LinkedIn is not a Facebook or a Twitter, you do not post what you ate for lunch or pictures of your last sorority function that you don't remember.  Think of it as a Facebook with a coat and tie.  You want people to see you as a professional.  Look into the people around your age, reconnecting with those fraternity brothers that graduated a few years ahead of you or people that you knew in an industry you are interested in.  Then, connect with other professionals, such as your previous bosses, professors, or family contacts.  This will help people know that you are entering, or close to entering, the professional world.  A few family friends on LinkedIn messaged me asking about my interests and qualifications, saying they could keep an eye out for potential jobs for me.

The After:

LinkedIn made me grow up, become professional, dress nicer, and be better with the ladies (slight exaggeration).

Why Should You Blog?

When I was in college, I used to think blogging was a funny idea.  I believed that it was just a way to write a bunch of crap that nobody cared about.  I was forced to start a blog for my Digital Communications class, and over this semester I learned to appreciate the art of blogging.  A degree and three semesters later, I decided that I would create my own personal blog. I try to blog about specific topics (marketing, relationships, sales, social media) that will help people and encourage them think differently, while using my creativity to add my own view to my advice.  The result: Social Spaghetti, a mixing of ideas and thoughts that help people connect in society in a blog format.

These are the reasons that I started to blog:

1) Establish Yourself as an Expert While I know that I am nowhere close to an expert in the fields of marketing, social media, and relationships, they are fields I am interested in and have some knowledge about.  Even though I am young, I still have valuable experiences and advice that I can give people.  You can learn from my mistakes, take some advice from my thoughts, and avoid some potential blunders.  The more you talk about a certain topic, the more people will listen to you.  They know what to expect if you are consistent with your topic and provide some quality advice.

2) Stand Out From The Crowd  In this economy, any way you can stand out from the crowd is a good thing.  I've thoroughly enjoyed blogging the past month because it helps me to distinguish myself from the crowd.  Every new blog post means that I have learned something new, whether this is through personal experience, observation, or reading other material.  The more I can learn, the better off I will be in the future.  The day that you stop learning is the day you stop growing.

3) Connecting with Similar People  Like I mentioned previously, if you are consistent with your content, then people that share the same interests will come and read it.  If you look at my Twitter account (@MarketingYoung), you can see that the majority of my followers are connecting with marketing, social media, blogging, and advertising.  I read a lot of their daily blogs, and hopefully, they read mine as well. Reading, commenting, or replying to these people has helped me make connections across the global marketing community.

4) To Have Fun  Will I ever be a top blogger in the field of marketing, social media, and relationships? Very doubtful.  I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't get some kind of enjoyment from it.  Whether it is analyzing how a TV show can teach you about something (Lost or Suits) or looking at the world of social media, I like the things I am talking about.  If you do not want to read about Stealth Marketing, then you can skip that blog post or not read it at all.  But if you ever lost the enjoyment of writing or thinking of creative articles, then my blog would slowly become outdated and disappear.

Why Use Twitter: Your Following

Everyone knows that Twitter has taken off in the last two years.  With over 250 million users, Twitter is a great way to post personal opinions and get your word out.  But is it good for businesses? Does it work for small businesses? Does it matter if you already have a social media presence on other platforms that are successful?

The answer to all of these is absolutely.  Twitter is a great tool for small businesses, large businesses, or any sized business in between.  The reason I say this though is not because of what you say, it is because of what you don't say.  Whether you are a business that deals with products or services, Twitter is of great value to you because of ability listen.

Check on the Consumers:  As I have mentioned previously, the consumer runs your business. Whether you run a business that sells products or services, or you work B2B or B2C, Twitter allows you to listen in to your customers.  Being able to check on them is invaluable to a business.  You can see their view on your industry, your company & products, or your competitors.

Check on the Competition: The goal of a successful business is to supply a solution that meets a demand of the consumer.  Once that is accomplished, then your goal is to be the best solution in that category.  Being present on Twitter allows for you to check in on the competition.  Follow those companies that are similar to you and compete for the same consumers.  You can see how they interact with customers, new products, events they host, or information or blogs they supply to their followers.  This will allow for you to look at what does and does not work.

Check on the Industry: So you check on the good guys (buyers of your service) and the bad guys (those competitors that you wish didn't exist), now you can check on the the things that can influence the battle.  This could be the passing of a new medical device tax that makes you not be able to expand your company locally, a drought that damages and dwindles your crops, or a new technology that changes the game. Being able to keep tabs on anything that can change the business is vital to know as soon as possible, and Twitter is a great source for immediate and continuous news.

As seen, Twitter is a great tool for listening to the conversation.  You can listen to people and understand more about how you stand in the market and how to better serve your clients.  So many times during our lives, personally or professionally, we talk and never take the time to listen.  Whether you have a yell or a whisper on Twitter, make sure to hear what others are saying.

Why Does Social Media Matter?

My current marketing position has been a struggle to say the least.  I was hired right out of college to create a marketing campaign for a company that had never attempted any kind of marketing.  When I took the job, I realized that there was another catch: I did not have a budget.  My first response: What can I possibly do without anyone else to teach me and without any money to work with?

Luckily, over a few weeks, I began to get VERY involved on the internet.  I knew a lot about social media and knew that this might be the outlet that I could use to drive results.  So my current response is: What can I do to impress my company and clients while successfully marketing with no budget?

Look no further, the answer is social media.  Social media has a wide number of different platforms, allowing businesses to successfully select what they want to do.  Do you want to make videos? YouTube. Are you trying to create articles of content? Blog. Facebook. Are you trying to get a quick following and spread the word? Facebook. Twitter.  Trying to be a wedding planner? Pinterest (Sorry, I had to add this one).

Social media provides us with a rare opportunity to connect directly with people.  We can get linked up with businesses or individuals.  We can form great relationships while getting to know a lot about a company or person.  So these are my reasons of why a business should use social media:

Free This is probably the most obvious one, especially in my position. Most, not all, of social media is free.  You can get more performance out of them through paying more (LinkedIn members, Facebook Ads, Twitter Promotions), but you do not have to pay anything to start.  All you need to do is sign up and get a good user name.  Generally, something short and sweet will do the trick.  Think about your market and products when creating a name.

People WILL See You  Sometimes you may have to branch out and follow people first or try to connect with them, but they generally will respond.  If you provide good content, whether it is general or specific (USA Olympic information or a Rome Braves game review), people will take notice.  It helps you create great word of mouth marketing!

Trials  Social media allow for you to test out some new and creative ideas before running them in more costly places.  Why have something bomb in the pages of TIME magazine? Just put it on a Facebook page and monitor the reach and engagement of the public.

Caution: Social media and marketing campaigns take time.  Do not automatically get discouraged if it does not take off.  Very few things happen overnight, so keep you head up and relax.  If not, then its back to the drawing board.