adding flavor to caribbean marketing mix

8/2/2019 Adding Flavor to Caribbean Marketing Mix

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While th e Caribbean iscertainly diverse, marketerscan use a variety of toolsto reach residents like these(from left) fr om Barbados,Antigua , Trinidad, theBahamas, the Dom inicanRepublic (top) and Grenada.

Adding flavor

marketinmix Simple, cos t-effective strategiescan helpyou reach the diverseaudietices of the region2 8 Loinniunication World May JLine 2009


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by Brevard Nelsono bow does it taste?" Iproud ly asked mymom as she sampledmy at tempt a tadhiloo, a Caribbean

dish made by blending youngspinach leaves, vegetables, berbsand spices. After a long pause,sbe lovingly replied tbat some-thing was sti l l missing. I wentthrough my mental checkl istand realized that, even with al lthe ingredients included, tbedisb just does not taste tbe samewithout her .secret berbs andspices administered seeminglyunscientif ical ly in dashes andpinches.

Back at my desk, ponderingmy freshly cut 2009 budget, Irealized that the challenge fa cingmarketing practit ioners this year

is no di f ferent I rom my t r ying torepl icate Mom's cooking. Howdo we dififerentiate ourselves inthe market by spicing up themix and measure our success inan environment where we areforced to do more with less?

Certainly every situation callsfor a unique solut ion, but tbereare some steps that Caribbeanmarketers can take to demon-strate a higher return on invest-ment. You sti l l need to get theba.sic recipe right, but adjustingtbe ingredients to taste andadding tbat secret spice can giveyou tbe edge.

Most market ing pro fess ion-als for (Caribbean businessesI've spoken to have Identif ied atleast one of the fol lowing asgoals for 2009, with tbe overallcballeng e of f inding a cost-effective wav to achieve them.

1 . Increase return on market inginvestment . Many of us havehad to build business cases tojustify incremental expendituresin some areas or, at the C F O srequest, attempt to apply scien-t i f ic models to calculate ROland explain variances. Fun!Practitioners have realized thatincreasing analytic ,sopblstica-t ion to capture the right datahelps to inform business deci-sions and can facilitate calculat-ing the return on market inginvestment .

2. Generate more quality leadsfor the pipel ine to surpasscustomer acqu is i t i on targets .Some eompanies operat ing intbe Caribbean bave al readyexhausted tbeir organic growthopt ions and are seeking totap into new markets, T he

A number of entre-preneurs have launchedplatforms that showcaseCaribbean content andsolicit user-generatedcontent.

wwwiabccom/cw Communicat ion World May-)une 3ong


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. . . . . . . _ ; . . t ~port; latin amerca & the Caribbean

Caribbean nationalsare passionate and voca!about many things, and

would wil l ingly promotea local brand they believe

inif they are asked!

Cariblogger.com is anaggregate site that al lows blog-gers from around the Caribbean

to post their thoughts.

Caribbean diaspora (Caribbeannationals living outside theregion) is a niarker that somecompanies long ro engagebecause of this group's trad ition-ally higher disposable incomesand greater connectivity. In thecurrent economic environment,however, many Caribbeannationals are repatriating fundsbecause of failing inrcrnationalcapita] markets. (Companies infinancial services, re;il estate andrecruitmen t arc eager to connectwith this audience.

3. Tap into social media. TheInternet pcneiration rate ol17.3 percent in the Caribbean a.sa whole may seem anemic com-pared with the 73.1 percent inNorth America, but some coun-tries like Antigua (8 5.8 percent),Barbados {63.8 percent} andlamaica (33.5 percent) presentopportunities for communica-

Join 0\e Caribbean bk>g network!Leam mo re. See our featuresCaribbean .miiuvana ]in\aKB

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Sign UpVisceral Hatred"

off neck fw - -- ftVilop Sloe*

tors. 1 here has .ilso been expo-nencial growth m Caribbeancommunities on popular socialmedia platforms. C!!aribbeancomm unicators arc aware of thisbu t are somewhat apprehensiveo formalizing a strategy toleverage these coninmniiies,especially to gauge brand awarc-tiess, test new product ideas oreven evaluate brand reputation.However, regional governmeiu.shave committed to developingthe information and communi -cation technology sectors tohelp diversify their economies,which should help increaseInternet penetration rates.

4. Focus on cus tomer engage-men t . We kjiow that it costsmore to get a new customerthan to keep an existing one.But more important, a satishedcustomer is the best ambassadorfor your brand and the cheapestform of ctistomer acquisition.Additionally, internal stakehold-ers are important in spreadingthe word on your behalf, and asstich, com mu niai tors have iden-tified these groups as important .5. Take an integrated approachto communication. Iraditionalmedia still play an importantrole in commtinication in theCaribbean. However, it a com-pany is interested in reaching agroup with specific demograph-ic or geographic characteristics(for example, 18- to i ' l-year-oldmale Caribbean nationals livingabroad), new media wouldbring a more cost-effectivetouch point to the mix,A dash of new mediaTo achieve these goals, Carib-bean communicators should

consider using new media toadd flavor in a measurable way,without draining the budget.The Caribbean Web is stillnascent, btit there are signs ofgrowth. Some regional mediahouses have started siphoningcontent from their traditionalTV, press and radio arnis to sat-isfy the growing appetite foronline content. Iwoexamples ofthis convergence arc [.he JamakaGleaner^ YouTube channel,which serves up local videos onIts web site, and the recentlyrevamped Irinidad Guardianweb site, w hich cross-poll i nacesIts stories with video contentfrom sister TM s t a t ion CNC3 .Most Caribbean web sites havethe standard Web 2.0 tools{RSS feeds, podcasts, webcasts,bookmarking or sharing tools,blog links, etc.), allowing con-tent to be more accessible andenabling a viral spread if userswish to share.

A number of entrepreneurshave launched platforms thatshowcase Caribbean contentand .solicit tiser-generated con-tent. The Caribbean communi-ties on establisbed social mediaplatforms such as Facebook andIli'i have grown exponeniiatly,and video-sharing applicationsare part ol the online diet of theaverage Caribbean consumer.Blogs now otitnu mb er (he tradi-tional media web sites in theCaribbean, giving citizens avoice and more power. Sites likeblogoria.com and cariblogger.com aggregate blogs and pro-vide a platform upon whichC^aribbean bloggers can build.These inlluenccrs are the newcatalysts of behavioral change,an d the growth in this area can-no t be ignored.

3 0 ; oniriiunicotion World* May-June 2009 wwwidbc com/cw


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Iraditional media are greattor mass communication, but itis often difficult to quantityaccual returns on investment torthese channels or to measure thesuccess ot a campaign. In thisenvironment , marketers arelooking for easy, cheap andmeasurable scrategies to achievecheir goals, and a dash ot newmedia may just do the trick.Add water and stirIn stirring new media intothe marketing mix, c o m m u -nicators should recalibrate theoverall marketing strategy toensure cliac che combined tac-tics work synergiscically andmore cfFeetivcly. Other com-plementary, low-cost strategiescan be adopted to achieve vourgoals, such as:

Permission ma rketin g. F.ngag-ing customers clirough permis-sion marketing opens up newways to cross-sell and up-scllproducts and services. In thismethod, customers are asked toopt in to receive the inForma-tion, implicitly giving the mar-keter the right to send targetedad s in the area o interese.Permission marketing h;Ls itsown techniques to incre;ise sign-up s and, when used in tandemwich other new-m edia strategies,can increase returns. Ic tends tobe more efficient, since ads aresent only to people who areinterested in them.

Word of mouth. A compre-hensive online word-ot-mouthstratcg)' is probably the mosicost-efFeccive way to increasebrand awareness, build loyaltyand uicimacely atfect che bottomline. Caribbean nationals arepassionate and vocal aboutmany things, and would will-

ingly promote a local brand cheybelieve init they are asked!Paid advertising. Even withsmaller budgets, communica-tors can teach niche marketsthrough targeted online adver-tising. Facebook and Google'sAdwords allow marketers co runtargeted campaigns and allowyou to set your maximumbudget. Some marketers mayalso wish to advercise onCaribbeaii-centric sites.Measuring cupsIc's import;mt to have a frame-work set up to measure the suc-cess or tailute oF a strategy. Asuse oFthe Internet evolves, so domeasurement models. Simplyput: Online marketing ROl =Net benefit derived / Cost ofachieving tha t benefit

Suitable "net beneFits" ofonline marketing invescmentsmighc be:Improved conversion rate([sales/ number ot clicksl x I),chat is, the percentage of visi-tors who have been successfullyconverted to customers. Thismetric is easier to calculate withnew media, since technologyallows us to track a click allth e way through to FulFillment.Data captured can be used tocross-sell or up-sell to existingcustomers ro extend cheir lite-time value.

Better insight into the peoplewho interact with the brand.Analytical software gives mar-keters a sharper look at tbetarget audience's behavioralpatterns, demographics, loca-tion and moresomething chatis hiirdcr to discern troni tradi-tional media.Increased number of s i g n -

ups on the web site, whether ic

caribbean-airlines.comRobbers attackWood brooklimers

IS For a newsletter or just fortiirther communication. Thesepeople have given explicit per-mission to he marketed to.Increased number of uniqueusers/visitors to the web s i te .Some comm unicators may havemetrics rhar track unique usersas part of their scorecards, andnew-media strategics can helpachieve these.

Increased links back to theweb site, which increases searchengine rankings.A meas urement mode l isonly as good as the dacaentered, and the onus is on themarketer to capture data accu-rately. Practitioners can nowad d che necessary numhirrs cosupporc che request tor cnorefunds or iistily a shitt co newmedia. With proper ingredientmeasurement , the calLiloo canbe flavored to taste and enjoyedby all.

The Trinidad Guardian's web sitefeatures prin t stories as well asvideo content from the news-paper's sister TV station, CNC3.

about the authorBrevard Nelson isa co-founderand vice president of customeracquisit ion and engagement atCaribbean Ideas L td. He is alsothe vice president of brandingand visual communication forlABC/Trinidad and Tob ago.

www iabccom/cw Comn-iunication World Mav-June 2009 3 1


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adding flavor to caribbean marketing mix

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