Nowadays, consumers are bombarded with an enormous amount of information that ultimately doesn't quite meet their needs. Why? Because the key to success is not the intensity of messages, but rather a holistic approach and the creation of seamlessly interwoven activities that step by step bring the consumer closer to the brand or product.
For 360-degree communication to bring the intended effect, it must be based on activities grounded in 360° marketing. What exactly does that involve? How do you create a synergy effect among the messages being conveyed? Which available tools and channels should you choose to achieve your goals?
Planning Is the Most Important Thing
360° communication is, above all, well-planned communication. It means creating a coherent promotion strategy that uses diverse tools and channels to reach the audience. In 360° communication there are no fixed templates. As the name itself indicates, it should form a whole (a full circle), at the center of which is always the consumer, who receives messages both online and offline. But in the thicket of available tools, is using all of them the key to success? Not at all—creating good communication isn't about "being present" everywhere. The key to success is the consumer, and constructing any activities must begin with understanding their attitudes, needs, behaviors, and emotions. This is the foundation for defining the Big Idea—the concept that will guide the entire campaign.
Keep Your Audience in Suspense
- In 360 communication, it's not about using absolutely every possible medium, but about the synergy effect – says Łukasz Roszkowski of Vamos Media. - A perfect example is the Dunkin' Donuts Flavour Radio campaign carried out in Korea a few years ago. Until then, their coffee shops had been associated mainly with donuts. The goal of the promotion was to encourage people to stop by on their way to work for a morning coffee as well. How did they do it? The terrible traffic jams in Seoul mean that most people commute to work by bus and subway. That's why communication specialists focused on these means of transport as the main place for conveying information about Dunkin' Donuts. The Big Idea of the entire communication was to spread the aroma of coffee in public transport through specially installed atomizers.
Each time a Dunkin' Donuts ad encouraging listeners to stop by one of their coffee shops played on the bus radio, the vehicle filled with the beautiful aroma of coffee. Upon exiting the bus, the first thing consumers encountered was a Dunkin' Donuts ad, and just around the corner was their coffee shop, where they could stop for a morning coffee. What was the effect of the 360 communication? A 16% increase in the number of customers and a 29% increase in coffee sales. The communication effect? Now, when Seoul residents think about buying a morning coffee, Dunkin' Donuts immediately comes to mind. As the Dunkin' Donuts example shows, it's worth using various media in communication so that the person receiving the advertising message can encounter it at least several times. As I mentioned earlier, it's also extremely important to understand consumers' behaviors and habits – says Łukasz Roszkowski. - If an ad is broadcast on television, we usually add online to it to expand reach and connect with the target group. If our budget allows, it's worth using outdoor activities, which typically come in handy, for example, in teaser campaigns – he adds.
Don't Read Tea Leaves
All promotional activities should complement one another and be planned wisely. They should be skillfully selected and then arranged into a puzzle that delivers the planned effects. 360° communication is, above all, a way of thinking about the brand holistically – first there must be the idea, then the choice of tools that will be within consumers' reach. Thinking this way makes it much easier to decide what will be better for the brand: creating a high-budget TV spot or a short film for social media. Of course, everything depends on the budget the client has at their disposal. Sometimes it's worth focusing and directing communication to a selected target group, e.g., by buying advertising on thematic television channels or industry websites, or by using a Google Display Network campaign.
Vamos Media is a media house specializing in creating coherent marketing communication plans, various types of advertising campaigns, and comprehensive media buying advice. It offers a wide range of services that allow for optimizing the budget while reaching target groups. The company was founded in 2015. Its portfolio includes companies such as Lody Bonano, Samsung Brand Store, and Unicell Poland, the manufacturer of paints and construction chemicals under the Primacol brand.
Łukasz Roszkowski – an enthusiast of communication and everything connected with it. Managing Director at Vamos Media, a company specializing in broadly understood marketing communication. He gained professional experience working, among others, at PR agencies in Warsaw. Previously, he worked as a journalist at Kurier Poranny and Gazeta Współczesna. He also wrote about sports for the portals Sportowefakty.pl and reprezentacja.net. After several years spent in Warsaw, he decided to return to his hometown of Białystok and transfer the experience he had gained to the local market.
