Marketing campaigns, influencers, brands, and competitive strategies in the world.
October 9, 2023
1-. To start off, let’s recap the most noteworthy celebrity of 2023, Taylor Swift
Throughout this year’s tour “The Eras Tour” Swift has shown her far reaching grip on the American public audience, especially with younger women. The fandom which has been cultivated for over 17 years through careful attention to social media engagement, public relations, and of course musical talent has developed a singular connection with her core audience. To “Swifties” Taylor is as close to them as any of their friends, they’re able to know almost everything about her, the biggest breakups, and greatest triumphs, which they’ve experienced along with her. What many will brush over as teenage hysteria or another case of an excited fandom, is throwing the baby out with the bath water. What Taylor has proved throughout her career and put on spotlight in this year’s tour is the power that comes with online relationship building. To the point that the audience will follow her into new interests like sports, to “Taylor-gate” because she personally dates NFL player, Travis Kelce.
The almost daily hysteria that is generated by the movements and actions of one person is somewhat daunting to understand, but what’s important to focus on is the exponential rate that people start connecting with you through common experiences, conversations, and by reaching out directly. Over her career, Swift has made it a mission to meet, greet, and get to know her fans on the individual level. She can’t get to all of them, but the effort that she makes to involve her fans in her story is what has developed such a loyal and committed fan base. The quintessential American girl, once a tommy boy now an A list celebrity shows it’s all about making the bonds you build along the way. Making strangers friends and fans family.Edit the content in this column layout so people engage with your email.
2-. Next, we got duped… Oladupé Or more importantly a lot of people are scammed by purchasing products from TikTok influencers, however, that hasn’t stopped marketers from seizing this trend to their own benefit.
For hair care brands like Olaplex, one of TikTok’s most duped products, that meant asserting that the only brand worthy of being its dupe is Olaplex itself.
“Imitation is the highest form of flattery, and I think what we wanted to do is really use this imitation, this discussion around dupes to really have fun with the fact that you can imitate us, but you can’t replicate us,” said Olaplex CMO Charlotte Watson.
On Sept. 25, Olaplex with the help of over 100 earned and paid influencers launched an unboxing campaign around a new fictitious product, Oladupé. The product, which was actually a repackaged bottle of the brand’s Olaplex No. 3, is meant to tease how often Olaplex is duped on TikTok — with the hashtag #Olaplexdupe having over 30 million views alone — while also educating the app’s users about the quality of its products. Just days after launching, the hashtag tied to the campaign, #Oladupe, had already gained over 5.5 million views. The campaign just goes to show how when life gives you lemons, in this case rivals trying to seize on your brands’ popularity, you can always make lemonade. By using this as an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competitors and scammers, Olaplex added even more value and awareness to their brand than leaving scammers to dupe their customers.
Finally, ready for the holidays? Target, Disney, and FAO Schwartz are gearing up for something truly special this year.
Target has unveiled an immersive shoppable experience on its website that lets shoppers explore a virtual room of toys from brands such as Barbie and Play-Doh, the retailer said in an announcement. Continuing its multi-year collaboration with FAO Schwarz, the retailer is offering nearly 140 items co-designed with the iconic toy brand. Mostly priced below $25, the collection ranges from makeup kits and design sets to dolls and other classic toys from FAO Schwarz. The retailer promoted toys priced at less than $25 from brands and franchises like Pokémon, Paw Patrol, Marvel, and Lego. The retailer is also featuring its “most affordable ever” list of top toys. With a weakening American consumer market, this coincides with earlier efforts earlier this year to expand its product assortment priced at $3, $5, $10, and $15.
“We know affordability is top of mind for many of our guests as we head into the holiday season, and we’re committed to delivering exceptional value as they make plans to celebrate with friends and family,” Jill Sando, executive vice president, and chief merchandising officer at Target, said in a statement.
Along with the focus on affordability and collaboration with FAO Schwarz, Target has also teamed up with Disney to launch a limited-edition collection of Disney toys to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary. More than half of the 100-item collection of toys, clothing, accessories, home goods and seasonal decor is priced below $25. What does this mean for our holiday season? Well cheaper prices for presents, a far more competitive market in price placement during the season, and a greater awareness for merchandising brands of both Disney and FAO Schwarz. It also spotlights the fine line that retailers have to cross when the consumer market becomes as shaky as this year’s. By continuing to focus on budget-conscious consumers with its FAO Schwarz and Disney partnerships, while deepening its relationships with the two marquee brands, Target is trying to position themselves as the champion of the holiday season.
Well, that’s this week’s analysis!
We hope you gained new insights and perspectives into the market and players of the week, and we’ll see you again next week.
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