Since when did ice cream become an integrated marketing strategy? When it became a marketing tool to understand customers, according to Ami Anderson, director of marketing excellence, General Mills.
The maker of some of the most recognizable brand names in America — from Cheetos to Haagen-Dazs to Betty Crocker — believes that their products are keys to improving customer understanding so they can deliver marketing that is more relevant.
Speaking at the Incite SummitEast conference, Anderson explained that General Mills has been moving from “promise” to “purpose” in its integrated marketing messaging.
“One of the things that’s changed in past couple of years is how we build our brand architectures,” she disclosed. “At the top of the house used to be our brand’s ‘Promise’ — which was more like a higher order benefit. Now the top of the house is the brand’s ‘Purpose’— what is the brand’s purpose? What problem are you solving for our consumers?”
And therein lies the lesson for all companies, as large as General Mills or as small as a one-person shop: Companies must focus their integrated marketing on their customers not on their own brands.
A Great Product Not Longer Is Good Enough
Customers today want more than simply good products. Not even great products win market share anymore. They want brands to understand them, their lifestyles and give them solutions to problems that plague them.
“I think that consumers are now bombarded with messages,” Anderson taught. “If you just interrupt them, they won’t be interested. But if you’re solving a problem for them, they become interested.”
You don’t have to solve major problems for your customers to win their loyalty. Simply make their lives easier.
For example, General Mills learned through research that approximately 60 percent of people don’t know at 4 p.m. what they will eat for dinner. So they began an integrated marketing campaign promoting a recipe they called “Unsloppy Joes” that consumers could make in approximately 30 minutes using General Mills products.
“This is useful information and people like it,” Anderson said. “They are getting a solution to a problem they have.”
You don’t need to be one of the world’s largest food companies to solve customer problems. You simply need to understand your customer base, listen to their requests and respond with simple solutions that show you understand their lifestyles and care about their needs.
One of the easiest ways for small-to-midsize marketers to do this is to conduct surveys. Try it out at your next networking event or tradeshow. We provided guidelines in, “Amp Up Trade Show Marketing Effectiveness with Surveys.” One more tip: Try offering survey-takers a reward for sharing their feedback. Promotional products that brand your company can reinforce the goodwill you have built up.
