In this episode, Pooja Midha, GM of Effectv welcomes Sophia Ahmad, CMO of Xfinity to talk about the role of reach in a targeted world. They discuss the importance of reaching and building new customers while using all the modern tools and data available to drive results.
The world of advertising and the advent of more actionable data has moved towards more targeting and precision. But has the pendulum swung too far and is branding taking too much of a backseat these days? A study of the world’s largest brands reveals 88% of growth comes from acquiring new customer so savvy marketers have to plan and execute both upper funnel branding and lower funnel activations in order to drive sustainable outcomes.
As Sophia says, “For me, it has to be a balance across both prospects and existing customers. Admittedly, the stories we tell are slightly different, but the outcomes should be the same, which is they see that we have a service that they need and that we are good value for money.”
We live in a world where marketers have an infinite choice of media channels and targeting options, which makes the attaining the right balance of branding and performance even more challenging. The alignment with content and events can often be a key part of delivering your message and being part of a moment in time.
Sports are a great anchor for many media plans, especially for brands looking to engage audiences at scale and showcase their creativity, and sometimes humor. As Pooja and Sophia discuss, sports is a communal experience with people often watching in groups, which not only helps drive the conversation and resonance, but also helps humor to be impactful.
Sophia shares, “We recently invested in some local markets during the Super Bowl. And you see the metrics that it delivers. We want customers to really engage in our message and, and…the co-viewing experience just makes it even more likely that someone will engage.”
Pooja added, “You’re much more likely to laugh when you’re with other people and share that moment together and then that imprints something really special.”
A framework that Effectv uses to help clients think about the challenge of full funnel strategies that drive the right blend of awareness and customer acquisition is as follows:
- Be Known– get the attention of your potential customers
- Be Memorable– connect with potential customers so they consider you
- Be Consistent– repeat your message so you remain top of mind over time
The final piece of the puzzle is to make sure we are measuring all of this activity in the right way. When asked what advice would Sophia give to marketers to focus their efforts, she says “my advice for all advertisers would be a real focus on…measurement and a holistic view across the marketplace.”
Pooja reinforces this view: “We need to continue to measure so we can get smarter and do it better each time.”
