The New Marketing Mix Was Never So Complicated
You remember the marketing mix from your advertising classes: “The marketing mix refers to the set of actions or tactics that a company uses to promote its brand in the market.”
If I remember my college marketing classes, the definition was based on the fact that you consumed one medium at a time. As with everything, the internet has disrupted this notion. 45% of people say they use another digital devise while watching TV. With nearly half of the audience holding a smart device in their hand while watching TV would change how people watch TV.
In my early career in TV, there was a saying “Tease don’t tell” for promotion and anchor news ads during the day. But now, with the power of phone, I just look up what is teased. The Today Show was teasing a video “you will not believe what this dog can do on skis.” I just did a quick search and found the video on YouTube and watched while in the commercial break.
You also need to be more aware of sound in your advertising. Since people may not be looking at the screen, make sure the audio sells your message.
You may also want to provide key words for people to look up. More than 70% of people using a digital device say they look up information related to content they are seeing. Tell them what to search when they are getting ready to look.
It’s a new, messy marketing mix.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
