3 Trends You Should Know About To Survive the Media Meltdown

As an advertising executive, your markets are in a state of massive disruption due to the decrease in content production and the low level accessibility to media channels by both marketers and consumers. As a graduate student from the Medill IMC program, I have found two articles that will provide insights for marketers to stay on top of things.

The first article by Kevin King talks about useful strategies that successful medias adopt today. It summarized 6 key elements for digital trends, including topics on content marketing, influencer marketing and popular transformations such as Blockchain. Also the statement around how mobile is not only shaping our lives but becoming a part of our identity should be deeply considered by marketers as well. In terms of e-commerce, the passage mentioned how this has been changing our lives, once again drawing many insightful predictions for our future digital directions. Here is the link to the article for more details: 6 Digital Trends in 2017 That Will Redefine Influence and Interaction for Marketers 

Source: http://www.stuatkins.com/digital-world/

In the second article, Dave Chaffey shared his holistic views on the ecosystem digital medias have created which circulates through our everyday lives. By linking data charts and graphs with qualitative content, the passage offers a more direct and comprehensive perspective on how media technologies are shaping the marketing trend. The author also provided essentials toolkits that simplify digital marketing down to 8 key techniques which are crucial for businesses to manage their internal affairs. Different techniques may help drive more sales for you that fits multiple dimensioned perspective. Including techniques like AI, IoT, Wearables and more. Here’s the link to the second article: Digital Marketing Trends for 2017     

Based on my review of these two articles and relevant studies I have done at Northwestern University, I have developed three action items that you should incorporate into your business plans. They are:

1. Don’t Adapt, Prepare! -

• Adapting to your environment is the easiest and most comfortable way to fall into traps, marketers should always be aware and prepare for what might come ahead.

2. Strategy Builds Momentum -

• Strategy is what drives a company into action. Without deliberate thinking process, marketers will only be caught off guard if something goes wrong, and with that every hard work will go down the drain.

3. Details Drive Success -

• It is important to be attentive when interacting with the environment around you. All problem solving solutions lies within the subtle mindset.

Stop staring and start grasping bits and pieces of clues around you to prepare for your future marketing agendas.

Alice Liang is currently a graduate student at Northwestern University under the Integrated Marketing Communication program. She will be graduating at the end of 2017 and her specializations are in digital & interactive marketing, brand strategy, customer insights & planning and marketing analytics.  

Contact Info: LinkedIn or Twitter

http://www.marccx.com/category/social-media/

  

Festival Producers: 3 Things to Remember About Social Media

Electronic dance music has seen a sharp rise in popularity and now, festivals look to social media to stay innovative and relevant to festival-goers. I am an undergraduate economics student at Northwestern University with a certificate in integrated marketing, and I have found two articles that stress how important social media is for festival producers to stay ahead of the game.

The Atlantic recently published an article titled How Fashion Co-Opted Coachella by Alexandra Cheney detailing how fashion houses are attracting followers away from the festival grounds and to private parties. The 16-year-old music festival has developed a cult following of sorts. In the days leading up to this festival, fans document their journey to Coachella Valley all over social media, tweeting about who they can’t wait to see to what outfits they plan on wearing. Looks are becoming more important then the actual music being played. Luxury and commercial brands aggressively spend to attract influencers, consumers and “fashionistas” to invite-only pool parties and tented fashion shows. A new trend in festivals is the creation of external parties like these designer house pool parties that add an air of exclusivity that everyone wants a piece of. In fact, many festival-goers go to established events outside of the festival grounds. “No-Chella” has taken over Coachella – being seen and getting that exclusive party-invite can be more important than what is happening on the festival grounds.

http://electronicmidwest.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/coach.jpg

Electronic dance music has been dubbed the music of the millennial generation. We thrive on connectivity. Phil Hudson’s article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle titled TomorrowWorld parent studies EDM fans examines how EDM is becoming a culture and lifestyle for fans. Electronic music thrives on connectivity and fans enhance their experience by sharing their experiences all over social media. Chatter about EDM, music festivals and fan preferences take place on the Internet. With so many festivals emerging across the country, the only way festivals can differentiate themselves is either by bringing in an impressive lineup or by doing something no festival has done before. Electronic music is here to stay and the challenge is in figuring out how to capitalize on the music festival industry.

There are three action points any festival producer should consider.

1. Go Social – The most successful festivals have highly active social accounts with a combination of user-generated content, popular hashtags and festival announcements.

2. Listen Online – With the majority of festival goers online, social listening helps you stay in touch with your fans and hear what they like and dislike.

3. Music First – There’s a reason why they’re called “music festivals” and not “fashion festivals”. Don’t sacrifice your sound for the extra fashion show!

Electronic dance music and the festival culture have taken over the millennial generation. To succeed in the festival industry, producers need to think of ways to stay innovative and relevant in the music scene but without compromising the music. Social listening and paying heavy attention to social media has become a necessity rather than an after-thought for any serious festival producer.

About the Author

I am a Northwestern senior majoring in Economics, minoring in Asian American Studies and completing my certificate in the Integrated Marketing Communications program. I am currently still seeking a post-graduate job in the marketing industry, ideally looking to work in the music festival scene. Feel free to reach out to me via Twitter or drop me a message at katherinekim2015@u.northwestern.edu. I would love to talk more about the changing music scene!