Real-Time Marketing has been all the rage since the lights went out in the Superdome during the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVII. We’re all aware of Oreo’s quick response to the blackout. It was their agency 360i, who, armed with a social media war room and lots of dollars, managed to capitalize on a captive audience who could not take their eyes off of a dimly lit Superdome. It was perfect, the message heard ’round the world – Power out? No problem – YOU CAN STILL DUNK IN THE DARK.
So what happened after the tweet heard ’round the world? Lots of brands assembled specialized social media teams, built war rooms and challenged their agencies to bring them an opportunity to cash in on the real-time marketing phenomenon. There is no telling how many monitors were hung from walls in impressive formations, all intent on catching the big moment. This paved way for the phenomeonon that is called as ‘Real Time Marketing’.
What do geeks Think of it?
The definition of Real Time Marketing published by Paul Jasper in Digital Marketing Magazinge states that ‘Real-time marketing (RTM) is the ability for brands to engage with their customers based on real-time information, such as their behaviour and actions on a website, changes to their data, or even external news and breaking events. The latter is most notably seen on social media platforms such as Twitter, with brands like Oreo in particular enhancing its online persona through real-time marketing activities.
This strategy sees brands not only focusing on a fixed marketing strategy that adheres to a strict schedule, but a strategy that is more flexible, focused on breaking news, relevant trends and immediate customer feedback.
What does it mean to you & I?
Real time marketing, in a nutshell, is marketing in response to events that have just occurred. It involves taking advantage of the present, and living in the here and now, and incorporating all of that into a marketing strategy. The Oreo tweet is a prime example of how a brand tapped into a real-time event and sent out a branded message that resonated with audiences. The timing couldn’t have been better; millions of people watch the Super Bowl, giving Oreo a chance to put out a message with enormous reach. Real time marketing is best used in conjunction with social media because of social media’s power of interacting with the masses in real time, right now, as it’s happening (live!). You can quickly respond to an event with a clever remark or a witticism, slap together an eye-catching photo, and voila – get attention for it. This works because we as a society are all about the here and now. We’re all about the latest craze, or the Big Event, or what celebrities are doing, or what’s going on in the world around us in this moment. And whenever a brand can use that energy and capitalize on it with a branded message, magic happens.
Some Examples – Only For U!
