Trend was among the top in 2017 for engagement, visibility and awareness.
Using brand ambassadors and influencer marketing held a pole position in the last year’s leading marketing trends, as companies turned to well known people on social media to market products.
Such influencer marketing was among the top trends in 2017 in achieving engagement, visibility and awareness of a brand.
For instance, in its launch during December, iPhone X drew on the services of popular influencers, such as Patricia Kihoro and Joy Kendi, in a bid to engage online consumers.
The marketing paid off, delivering the iPhone X as a trending topic on Twitter Kenya, reported by @trendskenya on December 15, 2017, the day of the launch, according to Redington Kenya, the main distributors of Apple products in East Africa and Kenya
“Using the hashtag #iPhoneXKe, the influencers, in conjunction with other guests, tweeted live videos, pictures and memes, among others, about the event. It was done to amplify the launch communications and create awareness of the event,” reported Redington Kenya.
“Our analytical tool to measure the impact and reach of the campaign on Twitter showed that the hashtag had a total of 1,383 tweets between December 15-17.
It had 7,339,187 potential impacts — the number of times the hashtag could have been seen by Twitter users and it had a potential reach of 3,189,681 — the number of people who could have seen the hashtag.”
Another key trend in advertising this year was mystery/suspenseful marketing.
This saw marketers withhold the details of the product at the onset, instead releasing a picture or a phrase related to the product, in a bid to stimulate the interest of consumers and prompt them to research more on the product.
According to research on the features of suspenseful advertisements by Iowa State University in the US, suspense in commercials arouses curiosity and maintains consumer interest, and then deepens the audience’s impression of the products or brands that appear in the advertisements.
“Suspenseful advertisements motivate audiences to anticipate the end of the narrative to accumulate their attention, hence the brand or product may get a relatively higher level of attention when they appear at the end of the advertisement compared to a product in a non-suspenseful advertisement,” reported Iowa State University.
Proctor & Gamble used this strategy recently when unveiling its new baby diapers, Pampers Hello Comfort.
In a series of online advertisements, it ran the statement; “I spy with my little eye something yellow, gold and white. For enhanced dryness and better comfort! Stay tuned for something new is on its way…”
Pictured in the advertisement was a product covered with a silk gold sheet, disguising exactly what the new product was as a way of getting its target market’s interest.
In 2017, Kenyan companies also sought to increase their consumer base and compete strategically by expanding geographically.
A French supermarket chain, for instance, opened two stores last year; at the Two Rivers Mall and Thika Road Mall, after opening its first store in May 2016 at the Hub Karen while coffee chain Java House opened its 55th store in Kericho, having also expanded in areas such as Nanyuki, Naivasha, Kisumu and Nakuru.
NIC Bank, similarly, opened its 34th branch in Rosslyn Riviera Mall, Limuru Road in February and its 35th in Kiambu, Ciata City Mall in July 2017, as part of its plans to grow its customer account numbers and remain competitive.
Across the many marketing strategies employed in 2017 by Kenyan brands, marketers resorted to tactics that would give them a competitive edge in the market and garner consumer interest.
In this, 2018 will see more and unique strategies ahead.
- African Laughter
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