Browse Marketing History via the Wayback Machine

What did some major marketing brands look like on the web 5, 10, or even 20 years ago? You can find out by checking the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.

Not only is this a good way to see the evolution of web design, you can also follow along as logos change, brand ownership changes, and offerings change.

At top, how the Wayback Machine shows the number and timing of Sears.com web pages captured and saved since January, 1997 to today.

At right, the Sears "about us" page in 1997. This is obviously before the acquisition by Kmart was announced in 2004 and completed in 2005. The brand's logo is prominent along the header and navigation is along the bottom as well as via links embedded in the body copy.

At left, the "overview" page from the corporate page of Sears Holdings, which owns Sears and Kmart today.  Navigation is along the side and along the bottom (not shown in this capture).

There is a link to the Sears Archives, where the distinctive blue-and-white logo is prominent at top left of web page. Check this page for the history of the venerable Sears, Roeback & Company, a true pioneer of legacy retailing.

World's Most Valuable Brands

10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . and 1

Brandz is known for ranking the world's brands in terms of their global value. This year's ranking has a surprise in the #8 position.

Here they are, the world's most valuable brands:

10. McDonald's (US-based) - All-day breakfast and healthy menu items have helped keep this brand on the list.

9. IBM (US-based) - Venerable tech brand is leveraging cloud computing and its Watson brand for growth.

8. Tencent (China-based) - Wildly popular WeChat messaging platform has moved this company into the global eye.

7. Visa (US-based) - Plastic is big again...and Costco's switch from Amex to Visa was a boost for growth.

6. AT&T (US-based) - Telecom giant that's trying to get even bigger by acquiring Time Warner. Will the deal go through?

5. Facebook (US-based) - Of course FB is on the top 10 list. Advertising revenue is growing every day, and Facebook Live is increasing its reach.

4. Amazon (US-based) - Surprised that this brand is only #4? I was. This is the home of Alexa, Prime, and Amazon Web Services. Not to mention Amazon Prime Day.

3. Microsoft (US-based) - A mainstay of top 10 brand lists. Tech has been prominent for more than a decade, and Microsoft remains a leader in software and game tech.

2. Apple (US-based) - Often topping brand lists, this year it's #2 despite solid product sales and high brand preferability ratings.

1. Google (US-based) - Often trades places with Apple on brand rankings, this year Google tops the list because of its innovative image and lifestyle tech (AI and more).

Geolocation and Target Marketing

Geolocation is a fascinating tool to consider for your marketing plan. Remember Pokemon Go, and all the marketing hoopla associated with firms that leveraged it? That brief craze brought geolocation into the public eye. Even though the fad has faded, there are many marketing possibilities for geolocation, as smartphone-toting customers go to work, go to school, go on vacation, go shopping, or are simply on the go.

Privacy concerns need to be addressed, of course. Still, by defining the audience, the offer, and the objective, marketers can test and refine their use of geolocation to attract new customers and encourage repeat purchasing.

• Target customers in or near your location. Through geofencing, you can define an area within which you will communicate incentives to visit your venue or buy a particular offering. Coca-Cola sends messages to shoppers' phones while customers are inside Albertsons supermarkets, for instance, directing them to promotional deals in the soft-drink aisle. 
• Have something to say. This is sales promotion territory--meaning the marketing should convey a sense of urgency, such as a limited-time offer. American Eagle Outfitters identifies shoppers entering the mall parking lot and communicates about new products and other news, boosting foot traffic.
• Make location count. Starbucks uses geolocation to transmit the customer's mobile order to the nearest convenient location via the ordering app. Customers like the speed and convenience. Starbucks likes the efficiency. Win-win all the way around.

Marketing Electric Cars to Green Buyers

Tesla has had considerable success targeting green car buyers as it markets its initial two models of luxury all-electric cars, priced about $70k and up.

Now its biggest challenge is to meet the expected tsunami of demand for the popularly-priced all-electric Tesla 3. Starting at about $35,000, this stylish sedan is priced at half of what the other Teslas cost, yet it also carries the cachet of the Tesla brand, no small consideration. So Tesla has been active in the bond market to raise funds for the steep production increase needed to keep up with Tesla 3 demand.

Meanwhile, Tesla is booking way more than 1,000 reservations for the Tesla 3 every day. Delivery won't be for at least a year. This gives competitors like the Nissan Leaf time to appeal to buyers who want to drive green cars. Nissan is leaking bits and pieces of its new 2018 Leaf design to build anticipation and interest.

California is doing its part to encourage green buyers--it's looking at big rebates for all-electic and plug-in hybrids. This would bring the price of electric vehicles down to a level where mainstream buyers would do the math and see the financial benefit as well as the environmental benefit. 

Wristwatches Tick Along on Social Media Marketing

Wristwatches are decidedly old-fashioned--yet their fashion appeal lives on into the 21st century, despite the many substitutes (like the mobile devices everyone totes around, or the smartwatches made by Apple and others).

Retro, antique, and high fashion watches are ticking along on social media marketing. Just days ago, a New York Times article reported on how upscale vintage wristwatches, posted on Instagram, are drawing the interest of collectors and beyond. In fact, expensive vintage watches are selling well despite the many digital substitutes. 

As shown at top, Gucci is using Instagram for an artistic approach to marketing its stylish watches. And it's not the only brand leveraging social media. Swatch has nearly 5 million Facebook fans, for instance, and 771k Instagram followers.

Swatch--which revolutionized the watch market decades ago--is actually doing very well with its fashion watches, even in this digital era. Swatch's CEO says: "In July, our factories are at maximum capacity because the demand coming from our own brands is so strong." Swatch maintains handsome stores in airports and through carefully-selected retail stores.

Back-to-School Shoppers Are in the Stores

My search for "back-to-school shopping" returned 324 million results. Here are the top 4 from the list--all ads. Zappos, Walmart, Retailmenot (coupon site), and Staples. Zappos is promoting its "fast and free shipping," and its "huge selection." The others are promoting "save, save, save."

The LA Times notes that BTS is an $84 billion market (research by the National Retail Federation). And other research indicates that lots of shoppers are looking at price promotions carefully.

Most important, many BTS shoppers prefer to buy in person, to see, touch, and evaluate merchandise rather than click to buy. And when children are part of the process, they want a say in what gets purchased (which in some cases, results in a higher transaction amount). Legacy retailing is the beneficiary of this consumer behavior pattern.

Despite supply lists provided by schools, BTS shopping still needs organization. And that's where physical stores are doing their part to group merchandise needed by students for easy access. Nearly every store has a college dorm section, and a separate school supplies section. School days begin in a matter of days. Stores are ready to outfit students in advance, attracting shoppers to malls and big-box retail locations alike.

CMO Issues: Accountability and Metrics

Accountability still counts!

 

Chief marketing officers are under pressure as never before to be accountable for results. This is nothing new, really, but with more marketing tools at their disposal and the constraint of carefully-controlled budgets, accountability is a priority.

This means that metrics have to be chosen and applied to enable CMOs to track, measure, and evaluate marketing campaigns in great detail. No wonder CMOs are examining media and social media metrics to be sure that these reflect the reality of how campaigns are performing and avoid misleading, fraudulent, and imprecise measures.

Meanwhile, social media platforms are introducing better metrics and analysis tools to enable measurement and performance assessment. This is crucial, because CMOs must be able to trust the numbers. However, despite closer scrutiny of marketing tactics and results, a few CMOs are either choosing inappropriate/old-fashioned metrics or not selecting metrics at all.

Another way to look at accountability is through the lens of big-picture marketing goals. Some businesses use the Net Promoter Score to see how marketing affects the customer experience and willingness to recommend the brand or organization. No matter which metrics you apply, be sure you are measuring what matters--and include interim benchmarks in your marketing, so you can adjust campaigns if preliminary results aren't close to present targets.

The Celebrity Face of Tourism Australia

Celebrities bring star power when they serve as the face of tourism for a destination, in traditional media and in social media.

For example, the actor who plays Thor in Marvel movies, Chris Hemsworth, is the high-profile celebrity face of Tourism Australia. Interviewed by the New York Times, he gave his top reason for tourists to visit Australia: "Besides the sights, the people are also a draw. They are so welcoming."

Aussies are pleased and proud to have this actor represent them in tourism marketing, through ads, interviews, and other tools. In fact, Hemsworth has generated widespread media interest in Australia tourism around the world.

Hemsworth has nearly 11 million Instagram followers and frequently posts with the tag @Australia to promote the country to tourists and fans. He and his wife both mention Australia on social media, leading to hundreds of millions of impressions and positive associations for the destination. Some percentage of the many people reached by the ads or social media mentions will be influenced and then book a trip or extend a trip, resulting in a boost for Australia's tourism businesses.

US Auto Market Share Brawl

If Toyota is correct and the US auto market has peaked, meaning that total sales by all industry participants combined will barely budge in 2017, then market share is the name of the game. The only way for one company or brand to show growth is by taking share away from a different company or brand (including cannibalizing a brand in the parent's portfolio).

This situation will have a major influence on automaker's US marketing plans for the coming 18-24 months. So far, the signs point to a plateau.

For starters, consumers will likely benefit from increased financial incentives (rebates, for instance) as dealers and brands court switchers or try to hold onto usually brand-loyal customers. Dealers are also benefiting from manufacturers' financial incentives, which they may or may not pass along to consumers in the form of reduced effective pricing.

A table on the Wall Street Journal site shows that sales of light trucks are picking up speed vs sales of passenger cars. Gas prices are low, so even though SUVs and pickups don't deliver fuel efficiency equivalent to cars, buyers are returning to their truck-buying habits.

As a result, the market share brawl is not just a matter of, say, GM vs Toyota, but also cars vs SUVs and pickups, plus gas vs hybrids vs electric. How to stand out? For example, for differentiation and to appeal to targeted segments, Volvo is going all electric by 2019. What complicates this brawl is the aggressive entry of Tesla and its popularly-priced electric car (image at top). The market share brawl is underway!

Big Beer Brands, Craft Beers, and Consumer Behavior

Craft beers are trendy and popular, as well as locally-known--which is why beer giants like Anheuser-Busch InBev are swallowing up many smaller brands. Above, logo of A-B InBev's Blue Point Brewing Co, founded in 1998 and serving the Long Island, NY area.

Fortune magazine has a map and video showing the extent of the "drink local, buy global" trend, including the news that A-B InBev recently purchased its 10th craft brand (Wicked Weed Brewing, based in North Carolina).

A-B InBev seeks two ingredients in craft beer acquisitions: (1) variety, so the parent's product portfolio isn't too heavily weighted toward one type or another; and (2) owners who are interested in working with a deep-pocketed, marketing-savvy parent for growth.

Craft beers aren't the huge growth niche they were a few years ago, but they're still growing. As the extent of involvement by beer giants becomes more widely known, will craft beer lovers be put off or will they be able to judge each brand and brew on its own merits? Marketers will be watching for clues to consumer behavior, attitudes, and actions as competition becomes even more intense between beer brands.