The great Tom Fishburne at marketoonist.com delivers yet again with a useful reminder for marketers…

Here we go again. Marketers are circling around a hot new social media property heralded to be the next big thing. One representative FOMO headline — ‘Brands not on TikTok in 2019 will be left behind.”

From a marketing perspective, TikTok promises a perfect storm of big numbers (500 million monthly active numbers and record app downloads), a hard to reach young demographic (Generation Z), and high engagement. The New York Times wrote a fascinating article on the impact of TikTok on social media at large: “How TikTok Is Rewriting the World.”

You can read the whole thing at “tiktok and the next big thing”.

At the risk of coming across as a complete marketing dinosaur…I confess I had never heard of TikTok before coming across Tom’s cartoon and article.  Then again, I’m not a “Gen Z”. But it does mean that if, for some reason, I was your target audience, then you wouldn’t have much success reaching me through TikTok.

Now, TIkTok may possibly turn out to be a great opportunity for marketers. However, before investing time and money in exploring this avenue, it’s probably worth reviewing these points… [Read more…]

Here’s our regular look ahead at the coming month, April 2019…

…and the events, holidays and anniversaries that a smart marketer can use as the foundation for an event-driven campaign or marketing promotion.

This year Easter falls late…

…with Easter Sunday falling on April 21.

The other prominent event of general interest this month is…

…”April Fool’s Day” (a day for practical jokes and spreading hoaxes) on the first of the month.

It’s also “Shakespeare Day” on April 23 which is also “English Language Day” and “World Book and Copyright Day”.

Other events of note… [Read more…]

While I wouldn’t claim to be a Bear Grylls, hard-core outdoor type…

…I do have an enthusiasm for the outdoors and I do go for a ramble or a short hike on a fairly regular basis. That’s enough to inspire a reasonably keen interest in outdoor kit in general and walking gear in particular.

Now, while Craghoppers is my current first choice for much kit…I’m pretty familiar with most of the outdoor gear brands. So, when I saw this headline…

“Who Was Helly Hansen”

…I recognised the name and was interested enough to click on the link to read the story…

“How one Norwegian sailor sparked a 140-year story of outdoor clothing innovation, from canvas cloaks to ultralight insulators.”

I’m drawing this ad to your attention because it’s an example of… [Read more…]

Time to look ahead at the month of March 2019 at the events anniversaries and holidays that we can use to build a marketing calendar for campaigns, product launches or promotions.

The main occasion of general interest is St Patrick’s Day on March 17. Plenty of scope for ideas based around luck, good fortune and finding that elusive “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow.

There is also the change of season with the March Equinox (March 20 at 21.58 UT). Daylight Savings Time changes this month as well in many countries.

Easter falls late this year (April 19 – 22)…and in the UK it’s “Mother’s Day” on Sunday, March 31.

Moving on to other events…

Let’s take a look at the coming month of February 2019 for the various holidays, events and anniversaries that smart marketers can use as the basis for a promotion or campaign and to create a marketing calendar for February 2019.

Valentine’s Day (February 14) is the standout occasion for the month pretty much everywhere. Remember also “Groundhog Day” (February 2), now part of the popular consciousness thanks to the classic Bill Murray movie.

It’s also Chinese New Year, that starts on Tuesday, February 5 to bring in the Year of the Pig. Chinese New Year is actually celebrated for 15 consecutive days, but the first three days are most important. The 15th and final day, Chap Goh Mei is also a big event, where houses are decorated with an abundance of brightly coloured lights. It is a way of ending with a grand finale rather than the festivities just fading away gradually.

In the world of entertainment…the 91st Academy Awards (the “Oscars”) take place on February 24th.

Looking a little further ahead…Easter falls late this year (April 19-22) but it’s not too soon to prepare. My local supermarket had Easter merchandise on the shelves straight after New Year!

Looking at general events…