Nowadays, it is hard to deny that companies tend to use various marketing strategies to draw customers’ attention. Greenwashing is considered to be one of these ways, which implies that a company confuses a customer by creating an image of an ecologically-oriented organization. Cause washing, in general, is a modern tendency: corporations openly stand for a particular issue, gaining the attention of their clients, competitors, and even the press.
In my opinion, the example of the Italian company Diesel clearly demonstrates greenwashing. The clothing manufacturer drew a response by launching the “Global Warming Ready” advertising campaign (Macleod, 2007). The company touched upon the environmental problem in the photos of models in the post-global warming surroundings. People in the pictures look fashionable and carefree; the world itself is esthetically attractive despite the seriousness of the problem (Macleod, 2007). Therefore, I suppose that the company was not sincerely concerned about the environment but tried to draw the attention of the masses.
The real concern about the issue would mean informing customers about the consequences of global warming and promoting environmental measures. I think that the company’s possible goal was to gain fame, either in a positive or a negative way. Today, customers tend to value the transparency and honesty of the brand producer (Solomon, 2015). They may become less attracted to the brand, which can lead the company to financial losses. Environmentally-focused strategy definitely comes to the front; however, I would not buy the products of the company that uses the serious global warming issue for self-promotion.
It is possible to say that companies may use ineffective ways of advertising. Even if a company is concerned about an important problem, it is essential to express genuine interest. Being honest with customers is vital: people appreciate the sincere concern of companies about crucial issues. The example of Diesel shows that such advertisement methods should be used wisely; otherwise, together with gaining the attention of the masses, the corporation may face financial decrease or lose clients.
Marketing Analytics
Effective and creative advertisements have always been the basis of companies’ success in the market. Television commercials, posts, banners, and other types of self-promotion help corporations emphasize the benefits of their products or services and draw customers’ attention. However, behind a good marketing strategy, there is profound research, data collection, and statistical analysis. Marketing specialists evaluate the current marketing situation, take polls, and forecast advertising tendencies.
Marketing analytics is aimed at collecting information and evaluating statistics to define appropriate marketing solutions. Professionals suggest using marketing analytics correctly and applying different ways of data collection. They emphasize the importance of predicting the outcomes of marketing campaigns and planning the advertisement strategies consequently (Vein, 2014). As marketing success can be influenced by many insignificant factors, it is important to examine them as well and chose the most significant aspects (Nichols, 2013). To sum up, an integrated approach is the key to the successful overall performance of the company in the market.
As I see it, marketing analytics, in general, is a science: like every scientific discipline, it has aims, methods, and areas of research. Analysts deal with numbers and evaluate the situation from different points of view, which makes marketing analytics resemble exact science. At the same time, creativity plays an important role in marketing because some issues require intellectual flexibility. Even though the art side of marketing draws more attention, the scientific side appeals more to me, as it is what all creative advertisements and effective slogans depend on.
To conclude, marketing is a complicated discipline that can be called science; though, it also has the art side that draws most of the customers’ attention. At the same time, even the most creative results wouldn’t exist without hard and meticulous work with data, software, and clients themselves. Therefore, the role of proper marketing research should not be underestimated, as it can significantly influence the overall marketing performance of a company.
References
Macleod, D. (2007). Diesel global warming ready. Inspiration Room. Web.
Nichols, W. (2013). Advertising analytics 2.0. Harvard Business Review. Web.
Solomon, M. (2015). Truthiness and consequences: today’s consumer trend of values-based shopping. Forbes. Web.
Vein, J. (2014). An advanced marketing analytics cheat sheet for CEOs. Forbes. Web.