Media executive David Verklin frequently talked about an 'aperture moment' in marketing - the idea of having the right product for the right audience at the right moment. His favorite example (certainly the most cited) is that of an umbrella seller at a subway entrance on a rainy evening. I will add to it the example of a QR-coded poster for the New York Yankees-branded fragrance on a train that takes sport fans to the baseball stadium. In the digital world, it is the deal-clinching coupon that pops up when you're about to leave a website after searching for a product.
The idea of intercepting the right audience with the right product at the right time and place for the right price is simply Marketing 101 and about addressing the 4 P's. Just that it is hard to execute on a consistent basis. In today's omnichannel retail world (a term coined by Darrell Rigby and expanded upon in an HBR article), where consumers can shop anytime and across any channel that meets their need of the moment, it is critical to offer customers and prospects an experience that makes the sale irresistible. Otherwise she is going to click away in a microsecond.
Armed with 'Big Data' and predictive analytics to mine such data, companies are increasingly in the best place they have ever been to intercept customers at the aperture moment in the online and offline worlds. General guidelines on best times to reach different audience groups based on their moods across a day add another layer of sophistication to companies' targeting efforts. In the not-so-distant future, neuroscience may make it possible to guess a specific customer's mental state right before making an offer to her! If a company wants to generate a band of loyal customers - powerful advocates - it should consider building its customer experience as a series of brilliantly executed marketing aperture moments.
What are your favorite examples of brilliant executions that took advantage of a marketing aperture moment?
The idea of intercepting the right audience with the right product at the right time and place for the right price is simply Marketing 101 and about addressing the 4 P's. Just that it is hard to execute on a consistent basis. In today's omnichannel retail world (a term coined by Darrell Rigby and expanded upon in an HBR article), where consumers can shop anytime and across any channel that meets their need of the moment, it is critical to offer customers and prospects an experience that makes the sale irresistible. Otherwise she is going to click away in a microsecond.
Armed with 'Big Data' and predictive analytics to mine such data, companies are increasingly in the best place they have ever been to intercept customers at the aperture moment in the online and offline worlds. General guidelines on best times to reach different audience groups based on their moods across a day add another layer of sophistication to companies' targeting efforts. In the not-so-distant future, neuroscience may make it possible to guess a specific customer's mental state right before making an offer to her! If a company wants to generate a band of loyal customers - powerful advocates - it should consider building its customer experience as a series of brilliantly executed marketing aperture moments.
What are your favorite examples of brilliant executions that took advantage of a marketing aperture moment?
