For Christian Guzmanthe industry has had a substantial change from the restructuring of brand thinking, where they increasingly prioritize the reception and interaction with the client.
“Technological progress, the internet, the increase in multimedia material and augmented and virtual reality allow us to generate more personalized messages with greater impact, with which we can make our clients participate in the brand experience, and receive feedback not only from the impact that our advertising generates, but what they expect from us and have communication channels to better understand their preferences, tastes and needs. There is an active participation with the brand, and therefore the competition also becomes more aggressive between competitors”.
In terms of strategy, La Salle in 20 years has experienced different movementsfrom the commitment to print media until today, recognizing the multichannel approach, which has led it to evolve in the industry.
“Now we look at multi-channel approaches (print, outdoor, cinema, digital campaigns, etc) that take into account the journey our target audience goes through from prospect to enrolled student. In this journey we identify which media are the most appropriate to spread the precise message according to the need for information that our prospect has at that specific stage, and it is complemented with events and promotional actions to reinforce both the brand positioning and the purchase intention of the target audience.
The academic highlights that 10 years ago they started with digital efforts, a bet that has borne fruit until reaching a digital environment, which generates positioning campaigns and produces a great demand to achieve the enrollment objectives of new entrants.
“Our strategy today includes inbound and outbound marketing efforts, giving priority to the former, because what we are looking for is for the target audience to generate interest in us because of what they experience at the university and what they can become if they decide to opt for U.S. The foregoing is accompanied by a team of advisors (vendors) who accompany the prospect, through events and promotional actions, in the knowledge and conviction of the benefits of our institution, until they achieve their registration”.
Within the three brand positioning strategies are university life as a brand experience, the social impact of graduates and the research potential it represents for external brands. Likewise, it describes that the main advertising media used for positioning issues are: cinema, digital campaigns, advertorials, media forums, corporate and outdoor videos.
However, he recognizes that in this effort to extend the reach of advertising, it is not understood by many within the industry, especially those who still do not understand that multichannel is no longer a proposal, but a reality.
“In this way, greater weight is given to demand generation campaigns as they are those that give an immediate result for the annual objectives, for which reason positioning campaigns receive a lower budget allocation and their effectiveness is questioned more as they are not reflected in the results in a short term”, he points out. “Another important point is to avoid the temptation to fall into practices prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, without understanding the change that this generated worldwide and that the learning obtained in terms of advertising, sales and customer service was taken and that are taking us to a world of hybrid strategies that further strengthen our brand-customer relationship, he adds.
Finally, Christian Guzmán points out the importance that Merca2.0 has had for the advertising industry and comments that perhaps its best contribution is to understand the evolution of advertising not only year after year, but day after day.
“Merca2.0 has been a witness and memory of the history of marketing, advertising and public relations in Mexico. It has become a source of consultation and reference on the most important and current issues in this field, which has allowed many professionals to understand the evolution that has taken place in these 20 years and to be able to build strategies that adapt to changes in the market and the new tendencies that are taking place”.