Not our Lotto predictions, not those dreaded spreadsheets, not my long suffering triskaidekaphobia (fear of a certain unlucky number) and definitely not the number 23 (that low-rated thriller with Jim Carey).
It’s the seventh issue of this little newsletter - and so we’re talking about the number SE7EN.
Why seven, Dom? Well, why the hell not! It’s a super number - especially for marketers.
But, before I get to the real point of this email and why you too should worship this special number,
Here are seven things about the number seven:
Seven is a lucky number in the west
Seven days in a week
Seven seas to sail
Seven wonders of the ancient world
Seven colours in a rainbow
Seven continents to explore
Seven deadly sins
And for marketers, there are the Seven P's:
Product
Price
Promotion
Place
People
Process
Physical Evidence
Whenever it comes to creating your strategy and executing it, the Seven P’s should always remain top of mind in your plan.
And, well that’s great and all, but it’s still not the focus of this email.
Oh no… 🥁
If you want strangers to even consider turning to you and becoming a customer, then you’ll have to play by the rule…
The rule of seven!
On average a stranger needs to come into contact with your brand, no less than seven times before they even consider making a purchase. This is especially true if you’re brand new to the market, as your brand awareness will be at an all time low.
That’s seven interactions, so the more relevant touchpoints you can hit, the better,
A brand we’re incredibly proud to work with, and a best-in-class example of this in my own, personal, un-sponsored opinion is DASH Water. (I promise this is not an ad)
They’ve only been kicking around since 2017, and they’re unignorable, the brand is everywhere!
So as a bit of a case study of their success, here are:
Seven touchpoints that DASH water have absolutely-well-and-truly nailed:
1) Creative OOH done good
These ads have been all over my LinkedIn and Twitter feeds recently, and for good reason:
They stay true to their wonky brand values
The messaging is simple and quick to take in
The wit is tasteful and cheeky
The design is pleasing to the eye (as we say in Newcastle, it’s canny lush)
I’m particularly fond of this wonky bench…
It’s like something out of South Shields fairground’s Crazy Cottage (I live in South Shields in the North East of England if this reference has left you feeling bamboozled):
2) Product sampling in the wild
With experience as an Advocacy Manager and a Global Brand Ambassador for an FMCG brand, I love to see product sampling done to a T.
Here DASH doubles down on their wonky messaging with a Wonky Wednesday event at ‘Good News’ - an experiential pop-up store to celebrate and showcase sustainable brands, just like DASH water.
3) Give it away, give it away, give it away now
It’s a tough job to get your product to stand out at the point of purchase, but it’s even tougher when that purchase is made online.
To boost product sales, DASH decided to give away a year’s supply of their tasty beverages, with a low cost, simple barrier to entry - every can or bottle you purchase at Ocado gets you another entry into the prize draw.
Displayed as a homepage banner with the headline - ‘we ❤️ free stuff’. It’s attention grabbing and I know from experience that this type of activity works wonders for rate of sale.
4) People trust people over brands
They’re all over the socials too, with Youtubers like Caspar Lee and WillNE endorsing their glorious liquid, influencers like ex-apprentice star Luisa Zissman and TV presenter Katie Piper throwing up Instagram Stories, and mountains of UGC (user-generated content) posts all over TikTok and the gram.
People will always trust people over brands, whether you’re in B2B or B2C, make sure you include faces and names in your marketing too. It’s all about trust and authenticity.
5) Store-owned PR
A Waitrose listing is an absolute dream for premium FMCG brands. In this example, DASH make their list of the ‘16 B Corps to have on your radar’.
It supports the brands sustainable positioning, and puts their product right in front of conscious consumers.
6) Standing out with a stunt
This one HAD to make the list, I absolutely love this reactive campaign. If you’ve worked on ATL campaigns too, you’ll know how strict advertising policies can be.
TFL (Transport for London) banned this wonky, misshapen aubergine for appearing in DASH waters OOH (out-of-home). So, not wanting to take no for an answer, the brand decided to use the opportunity to make some noise with a smile-raising-stunt on the underground.
It’s clever, cheeky, and hammers home the point that wonky fruit is beautiful too.
7) Sharing tips and insights with a blog
Well I couldn’t write this newsletter about one of our brands without including just a little piece of our work, could I?
A great way to get people to consider purchasing your product is by giving them something for free. That doesn’t have to be a product sampling or giveaway, like I showcased above. It could be something to read that will help them to understand an issue (reducing food waste), or even learn something new (easy mocktail recipes).
Content optimised for search will make sure that when consumers are typing questions into the oracle (Google), your brand will show up to supply the answers and score traffic as a result.
That’s it from me this month, I hope you enjoyed the read.
If you happened to enjoy the South Shields reference, don’t worry there’ll be plenty more where that came from. After all, our beach was recently named as ‘The Best Beach in the UK’, out of a total of 800 beaches - that’s a pretty decent achievement!
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