HYBRID MARKETING: THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS

Hybrid marketing.  It’s not a term you hear very often.  So it may seem odd that here at Mango!, we’ve built our entire agency around the concept.  But what exactly does ‘hybrid marketing’ mean?

To us, hybrid marketing is the fusing together of various disciplines of marketing, and the joining of tools to create comprehensive strategies.  Our hybrid approach takes two distinct forms, macro and micro.

MACRO HYBRID:

From a macro level, we see the marketing environment fragmenting into two distinct segments, each with their own unique benefits and ways of reaching audiences:

• Traditional Marketing: Traditional efforts, which include TV, radio and print advertising, offline PR and other tools., achieves success by maximizing the gross number of impressions.  In other words, the more times people see a message, the more likely they’ll be to recall the brand and/or take action.  Traditional efforts form a wave pattern, with impressions peaking as campaign efforts increase, and bottoming out as campaigns go dark. Communication is one sided, with the brand sending pre-formulated messages, and consumers having little to no ability to interact.
• Social Media Communications: Rather than rely on impressions, success in the social space is measured by engagement, creating connections with online audiences through two-way conversation. Rather than form a wave, social media communications creates a step-pattern over time, as more consumers are drawn to the brand and relationships with individuals are created.  Communication is two-way and consumers have the opportunity to actively interact with the brand, giving them a voice in everything from marketing and service to product development.

Copyright Perspectives on Social Media Marketing

Many brands take the position that marketing strategies require making a decision between these two disciplines, as though they can’t possibly work together.  Mango! sees it differently.  Traditional marketing and social media communications can compliment each other, and when brought together allow brands to reach wider audiences through more touch points, creating a stronger emotional connection.

MICRO HYBRID:

Within each discipline, it’s typically common for agencies to specialize in one type of service or another.  We’ve built Mango! with the belief that specialization equals limitation – being open to all forms of marketing communication options allows for greater integration, reduced bias (we don’t only push any one way of doing things), and increased opportunities to promote your brand.  More precisely, the micro portion of our hybrid model blends together four distinct areas of service:

• Brand Building: For new brands or existing brands that need to evolve, our brand building services will not only develop the aesthetic elements of your brand (including all collateral needs), but will help firm up your promise, personality and unique qualities.
• PR/Communications: Our communications services will reach your target public(s) and create more customized and humanized stories, whether we’re working with journalists, bloggers, or your customers .  Through in-depth strategy and planning, we can identify a brand’s point of engagement in the social sphere.  Exclusive tools including our Mango! Engagement Grid, allow us to listen carefully to find the people you need to reach and track ongoing conversations, parlaying this information into highly specific communication points for maintaining market relevance through two-way consumer dialog.
• Marketing/Advertising: Mango!’s marketing services uses a series of one-way communication vehicles to deliver carefully crafted messages to your audience, including on and offline advertising, direct mail and e-mail blasts, guerilla marketing, viral efforts and more.  Campaigns can be run for both external and internal audiences.
• Web: The Web is quickly becoming the heart of any campaign effort.  Today’s consumer buying cycle includes a trip to a brand’s Web site before making a decision to purchase.  Whether first point of client contact is through offline marketing or online communication, a visit to your site prior to purchase is inevitable.  Mango! won’t just build or enhance your site in a vacuum, but will think through the best ways to leverage this space as the pivotal point of consumer consideration. 

HYBRID FLEXIBILITY:

Our hybrid model has been designed to be as flexible as possible – there’s no pre-set strategy that we force fit our clients into.  Each client brings with them different needs and challenges.  Depending on need, audience and budget, our hybrid model can be used as a whole to leverage the power of integration, or it can be ripped apart to take advantage of individual services.  We’ve got the options, and we’ll put together the right mix of services that make the most sense for your brand.