SAN JUAN, PR -The most effective marketing strategies begin with brand-building rather than channel selection, according to Ritu Trivedi, client president at WPP Group’s Mindshare.
It makes sense that brands’ natural “channel-agnosticism” is even more ingrained given the endless complexity associated with the variety of media pathways consumers are constantly jumping around to.
“What they’re thinking about is branding, building brands, and what that long-term strategy really needs to be,” Trivedi told Beet.tv’s Rob Williams at the Beet Retreat San Juan.
The “Four Cs” framework
Trivedi outlined Mindshare’s overarching approach to marketing strategy, which revolves around what the agency calls the “Four Cs”
“The first ‘C’ being culture and culture needs to be the foundation of everything we do,” she said. “The remaining three Cs are about content, community, and commerce.”
This framework, which Mindshare also refers to as “worldbuilding,” creates a foundation for meaningful consumer connections that transcend individual channels or tactics.
“If they’re not playing within culture, if they’re not building content or opportunities which really allow the consumer to engage with them, if they’re not building communities that allow people to come together and really think about the brand and the brand adds value back to these communities… a combination of these is what really makes a marketer stand out,’ Trivedi said.
Balancing commerce and brand relationships
As commerce capabilities expand across media channels, Trivedi cautioned against over-emphasizing transactions at the expense of emotional connections.
“I keep going back to the [fact that] marketers really need to build that brand relationship with the consumer,” Trivedi noted. “And if you have a strong emotional relationship, but you also make your product easily accessible, you’re bound to get the sale,” she noted. “But not every impression should be about the sale.”
This perspective holds particular relevance as retail media networks, social commerce, and shoppable TV gain prominence in the marketing landscape.
“Just because we can, doesn’t mean it should be,” Trivedi said. “If you have that nice story arc, you have the emotional relationship, you’re adding value to a consumer’s life, they will come to you. And if you’re also making it easily accessible for me to shop it in retail, shop it online, then you’re also just making sure I close the deal.”
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