Roy H. Williams said, “In marketing you must choose between boredom, shouting and seduction.” It is up to you to decide where you fit into that scenario, but let’s face it; no agency can afford to be boring these days. Shouting is better than boring, but not by much. That leaves seduction.
As a savvy marketing professional, you know seduction is a game of cat and mouse. In team project management, how do you translate that into a marketing campaign with teeth? Two words: go interactive.
What is Interactive Marketing?
John Deighton at Harvard offers this definition for interactive marketing. It is the ability to engage your customer, remember what he or she says and form a response that lets them know they were heard.
The Skittles’ Touch Campaign
Now that you know what it is, let’s see interactive marketing in glorious action. Skittles’ Touch campaign made headlines. My favorite was Cage Cop.
Engage your customer: Touch the rainbow. No, really, touch it.
They draw them in with dazzling graphics, but the real selling point is the invitation to get interactive by putting your finger on the screen. What’s going to happen? It is too hard to resist. In Cage Cop, you become a crime fighter – stupid finger.
Skittle has taken this one approach to marketing and created an iconic campaign with a memorable series of interactive videos.” You play tennis with a zombie, swing a werewolf baby, hunt for Bigfoot – I want to eat a bag of Skittles just thinking about it.
Three Big Wins When You Go Interactive
Interactive marketing is challenging, but it pays off in three big ways.
1. Increased sharing – Social minded consumers love to share something that grabs their attention. Interactive marketing enhances the engagement factor and a side effect of that is more sharing via social media.
2. Personalization – Don’t be this guy. Interactive marketing takes something cold and calculating and makes it fun and personal. You seduce the consumer into building a relationship with your client, and really, isn’t that your job?
3. Positive Brand Experience – Let me just say that again. With interactive marketing, you create a positive brand experience. Adverting has a bad rep. It’s commercial. It’s disruptive. It’s dull.
There is nothing negative about the Skittles’ campaign. It made people smile and turned Skittles candies into something more than just M&M’s gone wrong. Through positive reinforcement, a really smart marketing agency made an impact that people will remember in the candy aisle. Taste the Rainbow, indeed.
Tips for Creating Effective Interactive Marketing
The rules don’t change just because you go interactive. You still need to know your target audience and create something that speaks to them directly. The one difference with the interactive approach is to know the technology, too. Skittles kept it simple with a video that will work on any platform. You could make it more interactive and complex, but make sure you do the research, so it works on a variety of channels.
Are looking for a way to spice up your next project? Interactive marketing is just sexy.
Writer Bio: Darla F is a full-time freelance writer who specializes in helping agencies meet their goals by developing creative and engaging content.
