“Ding dong, Avon calling!” It’s a marketing slogan that’s still familiar to many of us today, but Avon have admitted that despite their strong brand recognition the company has ‘lost its way’. Facing stiff competition from cosmetic giants such as L’Oreal, and with the way people shop for beauty products changing, Avon have had to come up with a plan. And that includes a rebranding of their offering, the adoption of apps and interactive platforms, and the re-training of its door-to-door sales reps. Yes, the ‘Avon Lady’ is about to become an Influencer.
Avon wants to appeal to the so-called ‘Instagram Generation’ which is why they’re planning to train up to one million of their six million strong sales team on how to use their new platforms. But despite them embracing change in order to reach a new, younger client, somewhat surprisingly comes the news that traditional advertising, i.e. print and radio, is on the rise after being long overlooked by marketers in favour of digital strategies. So what does that mean when it comes to marketing recruitment.
If you’re recruiting for your marketing team or agency, should you be looking for employees whose skills lie in the ‘new media’ camp or should you be once more turning to people with ‘old school’ talents such as branding and offline marketing?
Choosing Where to Invest
Consider this: while many of us waste too much time scrolling through our Instagram feed, data shows people are actually spending less time on social media and are leaving platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat in droves. Conversely, last year print advertising revenue increased for the first time in seven years. Radio and television advertising saw similar growth. But why? What has sparked this change and how could it affect your marketing recruitment strategy?
There are a number of factors but as people leave social media, the supply and demand ratio changes and it becomes more costly for advertisers to engage with potential customers. Trust is also a big issue: hardly a day goes by when fake news, fake accounts and data breaches don’t hit the headlines, meaning people trust online advertising less.
Channel Integration
However a huge amount of users still turn to the internet to find product or service information, and to make that all important purchase. Clearly ignoring a digital advertising strategy would be perilous but thanks to this swing back in favour of traditional advertising, you need to look at utilising both offline and online channels when it comes to marketing.
It’s crucial that your marketing team understands the need to integrate your online and offline strategies in order for you to create cohesive campaigns that work across the board and enable potential clients to engage with your offering no matter whether they’re reading the local newspaper or surfing the web. Take a look at your marketing people today – are there gaps? Have you eschewed more traditional skills for digital ones? If so it could be time to revisit your strategy and consider hiring someone who has the skills to help you grow your organisation via those forgotten channels that are once again bringing in business.
Castle Hill House