Aardvark’s Marketing

BoostJennifer Nowak

9/7/15

Contents Executive Summary 3 ...............................................................................................

Introduction 3 ........................................................................................................

Research Methods 4 .................................................................................................

Organizational Background 5 .......................................................................................

Area of Strategic Opportunity 6 ...................................................................................

Current Strategic Positioning 8 ....................................................................................

Proposed Strategy 9 .................................................................................................

Strategy Execution 11 ...............................................................................................

Conclusion 13 .........................................................................................................

Appendix 13 ..........................................................................................................

References 16........................................................................................................

Executive Summary

The following paper will explain the background and current positioning of

Aardvark Event Logistics. Aardvark Event Logistics holds a niche market in the event

production world. Their business is doing exceptionally well, but with a few small

tweaks to their marketing efforts, growth could be exponential. In this paper, I will

uncover current marketing trends such as writing shareable content, becoming a great

story teller, dominating the mobile market, using buyer’s personas, and humanizing

the brand. I will also analyze the current position of Aardvark’s marketing efforts.

After analysis of their current position, I will propose possible improvements to

marketing efforts. Finally, I will clearly demonstrate the outcome of these changes.

All changes made will result in a stronger virtual presence and will boost profitability

for Aardvark Event Logistics.

Introduction

In the 21st century, the majority of information regarding businesses is found

online. The majority of consumers search immediately online for the desired

information. Having an excellent virtual presence is crucial to success of modern

businesses. Virtual presence includes multiple social media platforms as well as

personal websites. After working in the marketing department at Aardvark Event

Logistic, I have determined that Aardvark desperately need to reevaluate its virtual

presence. This article will attempt to provide Aardvark with solutions to boost its

marketing efforts. Major focus should be placed on:

•Aardvarkel.com- is dated and does not load correctly on mobile devices.

•Aardvarkel.com and Aadvarkone.com are not connected to one another.

•There is no content posted for search engine optimization.

•The press room only features articles from past years and old awards.

• Social media pages are sporadic and appear detached.

Research Methods

The depth of understanding about Aardvark Event Logistics comes from direct

interaction and evaluation of the company. The understanding of practical ways to

boost their virtual presence comes from extensively reading about experiential

marketing and B2B marketing trends. Some of the best ways to capture a target

audience include posting shareable content, telling of inspirational stories,

dominating the mobile market, writing with a buyer’s persona in mind, and

humanizing the brand. These techniques were acquired through various sources such

as the eventmarketer magazine, ADWEEK magazine, The New Rules of PR by D.M.

Scott, Corporate Communications, 6th Edition, by P.A. Argenti, The Tipping Point:

How Little Thing Make A Big Difference by M. Gladwell, and many other white papers

or academic journals.

Organizational Background

Aardvark event logistics is a mobile marketing tour agency.  They provide their

clients with a fleet of promotional vehicles for tours, provide drivers, logistical

support, DOT and all required permits and insurance, fabrication of graphics, a

warehouse for storage of both the trucks and promotional items, and regular

operational maintenance.  They also the invented the first all-electric mobile tour

vehicle called The Aardy. They consolidate the steps to producing events, mobile

tours and road shows. Aardvark’s goal is to drive down the price of Mobile Marketing,

while raising the bar in innovation, customer support, and logistical support.

 Aardvark has produced over 100 mobile tours and event marketing programs.   The

founder of Aardvark is Larry Borden. Prior to Aardvark, Borden worked for a company

called Spevco, Inc. He created an agency within a custom truck building company.

He was responsible for designing dozens of custom vehicles. Borden also was a tour

manager for GMR Marketing. The idea for Aardvark came from all of his past

experience. Borden realized there was a need in the market for one company to

produce everything that dealt with mobile touring. Aardvark Event Logistics was born

in 2007. The Aardvark team consists of 215 people. They have produced events in

four different countries, but are available to produce any event globally.

Area of Strategic Opportunity

Some of the best ways Aardvark can increase its marketing efforts are through

shareable content, becoming a great story teller, dominating the mobile market,

producing content the reader is looking for, writing with a buyers persona in mind,

and humanizing the brand.

Shareable content is essential because the more people who share a piece of

content, the more people who see it, and the more people who see it- then the more

visitors you’re going to have. Google notices every time something is shared. The

algorithms of Google will rank your site higher if a post is share ( or with luck goes

viral). The closer to page 1 on Google a site becomes, the higher the chances for

more business. Shareable content usually has a captivating title, a unique value,

audience specificity, concise material, and accompanying images and media.

In a highly competitive commercial market, there are simply too many products

(and too many merchants selling the same products) that without influence, failure is

pre-determined. An emotional connection between the potential customer and the

product/company must be created. Inspirational stories are one of the easiest ways

to accomplish an emotional connection. If the reader can connect with the brand on

an emotional level, then brand loyalty is more likely to be created. Stories are

naturally sticky. Inspirational stories are remembered and shared. They take on a life

of their own especially when social media multiplies their effectiveness. The product

should be an element in the story that helps move the character to the end goal.

With more and more people gaining access to smartphones, the mobile web is

rapidly expanding. In America it is almost socially unacceptable to not have a

smartphone on you at all times. Having technology at the tips of your fingertips

allows for quick impulsive searches. However, the majority of websites are designed

to be seen on desktop or laptop browsers. These websites will not look their best on

a small smartphone screen or browse easily. Google defines a mobile friendly sight as

avoiding software not common to mobile devices, having readable text without

zooming, sizing of content to fit screen, and having links that are spaced easily so

that the correct one may be selected. Mobile friendly sites are important because

users will become frustrated and will move on to a site that is easier to read/access

via their smartphone.

According to The Buyer Persona Manifesto, a buyer persona is “an archetype,

composite picture of the real people who buy, or might buy, products like the ones

you sell.” Buyer’s personas help you create more relevant content. I have already

stressed the need to create shareable content and inspirational stories but, how will

you create that without understanding what is important to your target market? The

market today is looking for personalization. Writing with your buyers personas in

mind can help users engage with the brand.

 Humanizing a company’s social media presence to reflect the company’s

mission and inner workings not only helps with brand recognition, but also helps users

feel more connected. When people love or hate something they want to talk about it.

Keep in mind though, social media users want to talk with a real person. They want

their opinion to count for something, otherwise the whole point of posting was

irrelevant.

Current Strategic Positioning

Currently Aardvark is sporadically posting to its social media accounts. The

posts do not have any time line. Three days in a row (June 27, June 29, June 30)

Aardvark posted on Facebook. Then there were a few every other day posts, then

from Aug 1 till Aug 10 there is zero activity. Aardvark is using some #hashtags. The

content on their webpage and social media could be unique enough to want to share,

if restructured slightly. Some pictures are so straight forward they are boring. Not

many people have that much interest in straight forward truck shots, unless you love

the brand in which case #husky #bareminerals is necessary. The press room on

Aardvarkel.com is actually working against the brand. The last update to the news

room was in Dec. 31, 2012. This makes the company look as if it cannot even stay on

top of its’ own affairs.

No storytelling is occurring on Aardvarkel.com. Profiles about people working

here, or stories about how the company was created, do not exist. There was a

recent post about Aardvark’s core values on Facebook, all of which are inspirational.

1- “What’s right for our clients above all else.” 2- “Creators, not duplicators” 3-

“Obsessive attention to detail and planning.” 4- “Proactive NOT reactive.” This is

that most that I can find that addresses the story behind Aardvark. Aardvarkone.com

incorporates some storytelling and humanization by showing individual drivers and

explaining their stories. The two websites are not connected to each other. Aardvark

One is a much better website; but it is the concept that is looking to be dissolved.

Aardvark Black is the push that Aardvark is looking to move forward with and there is

no mention of the idea anywhere.

Aardvarkone.com is easy to operate on a mobile device. Aardvarkel.com is

hard to navigate and hard to read, pictures do not scale to size, links are too close

together, spacing on the home page seems awkward, and font size is too small.

There have not been many original white papers written or published. The

newsroom is out of date. Not many users are posting about Aardvark so the option to

humanize the brand though individual conversations is not happening. However

Aardvark is not posting about their team either which is a lost opportunity.

Proposed Strategy

The main things that Aardvark should concentrated on are usage of Sendiable,

web page content, press releases on current tours, and creating stories that humanize

Aardvark.

    Aardvark should really be posting interesting content every day or every other

day. They should not be so close together that users feel like they are spam, nor so

far apart that people are left wondering what Aardvark is doing. The posts should be

related to current tours and events.  Also these should include brand #hashtags and

check-in points.  This would greatly increase the chances of virality.   I would also

begin to manipulate the micro-tagging system that is available within Sendiable.

 Sendiable will track for you who Aardvark’s posts are actually reaching, so that

content can be written accordingly.  By posting at many different times during the day

and then determining engagement, Aardvark can better craft its message and develop

a deeper understanding of their potential clients.

     Aardvarkel.com needs a makeover immediately. The new web site should

address organization of past projects, sharability, press releases, and content.

Rather than sorting past projects by vehicle type, the consumer should have the

option to sort via function or vehicle type.  Every page should have a footer with

share buttons that easily share Aardvarks content on Facebook, Twitter, and

Instagram.  The newsroom should be up to date on all current tours.  Where can the

tour busses be found and what are they doing.  Also appearing in the newsroom should

being information our consumers would directly utilize.  “Top things to think about

while producing a mobile tour.  Reasons mobile tours fail.  Most successful mobile

tours do this…” , these could be some engaging titles for future articles.   Then when

potential clients are searching for information, Aardvark will become the #1 hub for

all mobile tour information. The new web content should be accessible via mobile

phone.  

    To reach a larger audience it would be extremely helpful if press releases were

given to local papers where the tours will be arriving.  The messages should not even

be directly about Aardvark.  It could just mention Aardvark produced the tour.  The

rest of the content could be entirely directed at the client. That way Aardvark is

being exposed to anyone who is interested in our client’s tours.   Writing these press

releases would tie back into the newsroom and give Aardvark ever occurring fresh

information.   Aardvark could probably market these press releases as another feature

it offers.  Anyone looking to do experiential marketing, probably encountered an

awesome event.  They probably say to the intern, “Hey there was a jaw dropping bus

for Joe Fresh that I saw the other day.  Can you look into doing something like that”.

 The next step for the intern would be to look up who/what Joe Fresh is doing.  Why

would Aardvark not be the company to present that information?  That is content

marketing at its finest.

Finally Aardvark needs to show who’s behind it. Perhaps there is an employee

of the month or driver of the month that goes up on Facebook. Users can get to know

Aardvark and what it stands for a little better through the people it hires. Showing

that Aardvark is proud of its employees accomplishes three different tasks. The first

is that it humanizes the brand. The second added benefit is an employee of the

month would improve employee satisfaction. The last benefit is that people love

posting/sharing good parts of themselves. Employees will want to share that with

their friends and family. Then Aardvark is exposed to a new group of potential

clients/hires. The likes and shares just open another outlet for Aardvark.

Strategy Execution

To ensure that social media platforms are kept up to date, preprogramed posts

should be entered up to a month ahead of time. Posts should be submitted a month

in advance to be approved. They must remain consistent with Aardvark’s core values

and strategic goals. Sendiable should be tracked and posts should be tweaked based

on the engagement of users. Reevaluate content once every two months for the first

year. It is imperative that the system has enough information to give accurate

readings. After conclusive findings exist continue to reevaluate but on a month to

month basis. Another way to keep the social media platforms up to date would be to

require truck drivers to upload one picture, with a #brandname, on Aardvarks

Facebook and Instagram pages every week.

Aardvark should personally post and interesting article about one tour currently

on the road and one “how to” type article every week. These articles should also be

uploaded to company’s newsroom, keeping content constantly fresh. The how to

articles should be rich in key words to increase search engine optimization. The

articles should be written with buyer’s personas and micro-tagged data in mind.

Regarding press releases, every tour should have a schedule that it follows with

dates times and locations. A personalized press release should be written to the local

and regional areas for where the tours are taking place. If there is a niche market

that a relationship can be created with, those publications should be informed of the

press releases as well. Those releases should be uploaded immediately into

Aardvark’s news room, along with any publicity that comes from them. Prior to

sending the releases it would be beneficial to read and know a little about the

journalist you are writing to, add their name in the subject line. This gives the

journalist a reason to read your article over the thousands of other emails they

undoubtedly receive every day.

For employee of the month, the team should highlight an individual on the

team that has done an exceptional job or exceeded expectations. There should be a

background story on the individual, some general data (ie-time with company,

favorite tour they ever worked, weird fact), and a picture of them hard at work.

Their work should also be memorialized/awarded. A pin or an engraved plaque, to

keep in the home office, can make all the difference in employee satisfaction.

Conclusion

If Aardvark can meet all of the proposed strategies, they will surely reap the

benefits. These proposed improvements will increase brand recognition as experts of

event logistics. Search engine rankings will steadily increase from consistent posts.

Aardvark will be exposed to a larger fan base and potential customer base through the

virality of social media. Search engine ratings, brand recognition, and increasing

potential clientele will result in profit.

Appendix An example of a potential employee of the month post:

References Argenti, P. A. (2012). Corporate Communication, 6th Edition. Boston: McGraw

Hill Irwin. ------This book helped me understand the importance of having great media

relations. It demonstrated the need for companies to develop a system and a bond with a reporter to effectively communicate its message. This book also helped me grasp the importance of translucency in our global market.

Chapman, Lee. "2015 Marketing Trends to Prioritize For Now." Smart Marketing Blog Top 3 B2B Marketing Trends to Prioritize for 2015 Comments. 4 Sept. 2014. Web. 29 May 2015. <http://www.trewmarketing.com/smartmarketingblog/marketing-trends/2015-marketing-trends-to-prioritize/#sthash.HdYql1ck.dpuf>.

------This article walked me though the current stratigies and differences with B2B marketing. Prior to this article I would not have thought about things like mobile domination. Having a working mobile site seems so obvious, that it is forgettable.

DeMers, Jayson. "What Makes Content Shareable & Why It Matters for SEO." Search Engine Watch. N.p., Aug. 2014. Web. 10 Aug. 2015. <http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2358558/what-makes-content-shareable-why-it-matters-for-seo>. ------ This article helped me find the building blocks that creating readable information. It also provided me with background information necessary to understand how Google ranks its web pages. Without understanding how Google determines that one cannot optimize its web content.

Gladwell, M. (2002). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ------ This book helped me understand virality and what makes a story stick. This is the inspiration for my point of storytelling. Gladwell clearly explains why story telling is of such importance.

Madoxx, Kate. "Seven B-to-B Marketing Trends That Will Shape 2015." Advertising Age BtoB RSS. 13 Jan. 2015. Web. 29 May 2015. <http://adage.com/article/btob/b-b-marketing-trends-shape-2015/296518/>. ------- This article reinforced concepts that I had previously read about marketing trends. How B2B marketing should be treated differently then B2C marketing. It was another rephrasing of other articles, but when things are worded differently by people it produces deeper understanding.

Scott, D.M. (2013). The New Rules of PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly. Hoboken, NJ. John Wiley & Sons.

------- This book gave me a reference for keeping up newsrooms. It breaks down how to develop a connection with a journalist/get them to write about your company. Finally it gives you the basics on writing a truly great press release.

Thibeault, Jason. "Why Storytelling Is So Important to Marketing." REThink. N.p., 05 May 2015. Web. 10 Aug. 2015. <http://www.rethinkeverythingblog.com/2015/05/05/why-storytelling-is-so-important-to-marketing/>. ------ This article talks about storytelling and gives great examples. It talks about the need for stories to communicate company values. Basically the product should be presented as a second element that helps main characters move along. Stories help people remember the product, because we can relate to the story.

Wells, Monica. "Top 10 B2B Marketing Trends for 2015." Top 10 B2B Marketing Trends for 2015. 19 Jan. 2015. Web. 29 May 2015. <http://www.b2bmarketing.net/blog/posts/2015/01/19/top-10-b2b-marketing-trends-201>. ------- This article reinforced concepts that I had previously read about marketing trends. How B2B marketing should be treated differently than B2C marketing. It was another rephrasing of other articles, but when things are worded differently by people it produces deeper understanding.