Brands should be thinking more about how their marketing can add value to consumers’ everyday lives, particularly in a world hit by the coronavirus pandemic, says HiSmile’s second in charge Justin Gaggino.
Gaggino, who has worked at the teeth whitening company for more than four years, was speaking at last Friday’s Snap in Conversation virtual panel discussing how COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation for Australian businesses and the long-term impact this has for brands and consumers.
He was joined by Snapchat AUNZ, SEA and HK general manager Kathryn Carter, Retail Doctor Group general manager for consumer insight and projects Anastasia Lloyd-Wallis, and L’oreal AUNZ media director Lyndall Campher.
HiSmile was already comfortable in the digital and ecommerce space when the pandemic forced brands to quickly shift to online channels, with 95% of its traffic coming from mobile. The business saw an uptick in sales during lockdowns, particularly from 35-54 year-olds when it’s traditional demographic would be 18-34 year-olds, according to Gaggino.
The brand, which was founded in 2014, has relied heavily on social media to build its business over the years, using influencers such as Kylie Jenner to exceed a turnover of $100 million by 2018 and amassing some five million social followers.
Gaggino says a key focus for the brand is using their marketing to build a more “emotional connection” with customers rather than to push their products.
“More and more, including Gen Z and Millennials, everyone wants to build a more emotional connection with the brands they want to represent, especially Gen z who actually don't mind being advertised to or talked to by brands,” he said.
“However, they want to work with brands who they feel represent their personality and if anything, sometimes those brands become a big part of who they are as people.
“It’s about truly listening and not so much trying to take, take, take from our marketing but give more. And give value, true value because I think now customers are way more cynical of brands and sneaking marketing ploys.
"It’s more about making sure your intent is their and you’re being honest with your intent, you’re being honest with your customer and about what you're looking to get from them, but also giving them true value they can bring to their day-to-day life and that they can take with them."
L’oreal’s Campher echoed this, saying that while L’oreal, which is growing its direct-to-consumer sites from 4-5 to about 12 next year, has shifted its focus from brand awareness to driving conversion for some of its brands as a result of the pandemic, engagement is still important.
“You’ve got to have both. You’ve got to have both because if you just focus on conversion the whole time, you’re nevering going to fill the top of the funnel,” Campher says.
“We also see things as the top of the funnel, the mid funnel, and the bottom of the funnel and therefore we have this engagement in order to build a brand up which hopefully increases a propensity to purchase our products but you've got to have both.
“They are not mutually exclusive. Because if it’s just conversion, conversion, conversion, I think about what’s happened with Myer and over the years. I used to work on it in an ad agency and I think you have to keep the top of the funnel going and you have to keep the brand love going through and that will lead to conversion, they’re both important.”
Snapchat’s Kathryn Carter says this trend towards brand purpose and connecting with consumers is here to stay.
"One of the distinct shifts that we've seen this year is that people aren't just after products.” Carter says.
“The retail experience isn’t just about purchasing a product, Gen Z and Millennials really want to understand the brand and the elements of sustainability and brand purpose, this is absolutely acute for these cohorts.
“Also this notion of experience, especially when you can't have the physical experience that so many brands invest so much in, augmented reality is a really great tool to be able to bridge that, and we've seen a number of developments from an AR perspective both in terms of increased sophistication and creativity that the canvas provides to brands but also the the ability to tie it into returns.”
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