Marketing for tech nerds simplified
Marketing Against the Grain: A YouTube Channel for Innovative Marketing Strategies
Are you tired of the same old marketing tactics? Do you want to discover new methods and strategies to give your business an edge? Look no further than "Marketing Against the Grain", a YouTube channel hosted by Kipp Bodnar (HubSpot’s CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (Zapier’s CMO).
This channel leads you down the rabbit hole of marketing trends, growth tactics, and innovation. Along the way, you'll pick up undiscovered strategies to give you that slight edge for success. These are not your typical Twitter thread-regurgitated marketing tactics that everyone is doing. These are new methods, with an unfiltered examination of successful fresh ideas.
One example of their content is an episode titled "The Future Of A.I. Marketing w/ Jasper’s VP Of Marketing (#93)" where Kipp is joined by Meghan Keany Anderson (VP at Jasper AI) to dive into how YOU can be a pioneer in generative AI in 2023. They discuss how generative AI can be a competitive advantage for early adopters, which AI is the most important for marketers, and what role generative AI will have in product marketing, content marketing, and demand gen.
Check out our summary of their latest episode Breaking Down Barbie's 18 months marketing strategy in 22 minutes.
In this video, the hosts discuss the successful marketing strategy employed by Barbie over 18 months. They highlight the importance of careful planning and coordination, as seen through brand partnerships and the use of social media influencers. The hosts emphasize that any brand can achieve similar results with proper planning and understanding of their target audience. They also discuss the importance of creativity, execution, and taking calculated risks in marketing. The Barbie campaign serves as an inspiring example of effective brand marketing, with a clear mission, unconventional investments, and deep customer understanding. Overall, the Barbie team is praised for their successful strategy and anticipated return on investment.
00:00:00 In this section, the hosts discuss Barbie's successful marketing strategy over 18 months. Despite the movie being PG-13 and not specifically targeted towards kids, Barbie managed to generate high sales of related merchandise and toys. The key to their success was careful planning and coordination, as seen with their partnerships with other brands and the extensive use of social media influencers. The hosts highlight the power of effective marketing and emphasize that any brand can achieve similar results with proper planning and understanding of its target audience.
00:05:00 In this section, the speaker discusses the impressive marketing strategy employed by Barbie, including over 100 brand partnerships and licensing their IP to create various products. They also mention the success of in-person experiential marketing events, such as a 3D model of Barbie jumping out of the packaging. Another notable partnership was with Airbnb, where consumers could rent out a Malibu Barbie house. The speaker highlights the importance of creativity and plugging into internet culture, citing the success of movies like The Blair Witch Project with smaller budgets. They emphasize that it's not all about money, but rather careful planning, storytelling, and attention to detail that can make a marketing campaign successful.
00:10:00 In this section, the speaker discusses how brand marketing requires a different approach than iterative marketing. Instead of experimenting with a few things, brand marketing focuses on orchestrating a series of experiences leading up to a big launch. The speaker emphasizes the importance of seeding a brand with the audience and how this requires focus, time, and coordination. The speaker also explains different models for measuring the impact of brand marketing, such as multi-touch attribution, marketing mix modelling, and conversion studies. They suggest that with privacy regulations and changes in data measurement, demand generation will need more consumer measurement over time. The speaker further discusses the overlap between brand and direct response marketing and the efficiency of spending money in that overlap. They assert that brand messaging and product positioning should be the same to create a strong brand and product messaging platform.
00:15:00 In this section, the discussion revolves around the concept of brand and demand generation, and how they intersect in terms of messaging and media buying. The speaker initially presents a Venn diagram, where brand and product positioning are seen as key components of successful advertising. However, another perspective is presented, suggesting that messaging should be tailored to the specific medium being used, such as focusing on awareness in a TV ad versus reminding customers in a direct response ad on social media. The conversation then shifts to analyzing Barbie's marketing campaign, which was successful due to factors such as a clear mission, unconventional investments, deep customer understanding, and a significant investment in building the brand. The importance of tying brand marketing to tangible business outcomes and setting clear measurement goals is also emphasized. Overall, the Barbie campaign serves as a prime example of effective brand marketing.
00:20:00 In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of creativity, execution, and taking big bets in marketing. They mention that CMOs in consumer companies typically have a short lifespan due to the high-risk nature of marketing campaigns. The Barbie marketing team is praised for their calculated approach, where they carefully considered the inputs and maximized their chances of success. The speaker acknowledges that not all marketing efforts will yield the desired results, but emphasizes the importance of having clear goals and aligning all actions towards those goals. They anticipate a significant return on investment for the Barbie campaign, especially when considering merchandise sales. Overall, the Barbie team is commended for their inspiring and successful marketing strategy.
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