As per Statista, Digital advertising spending worldwide – including desktop and laptop computers and mobile devices – stood at an estimated 378 billion U.S. dollars in 2020.
This figure is forecast to constantly increase in the coming years, reaching 646 billion U.S. dollars by 2024.
Due to the above projection, Performance marketing has emerged as a branch of digital marketing focused on measurements and return on Investment (On advertising spend).
Considering the increased role of performance marketing in the digital space, it was a delight to host our speaker,” Paul Michel, at our seminar series for the Digital media Marketing program at George Brown College, last week.
In Conversation with Paul Michel
Paul works as a Senior Manager-Performance Marketing at Harry Rosen. He spoke about “Pandemic Pivots” at Harry Rosen and growing Sales Through Digital Channels.”
After his introduction, he spoke about his remarkable journey. He studied Business Management with a major in marketing from Wilfrid Laurier University.
He secured three co-op positions, one in Blackberry and two in General Motors Canada. To expand his marketing knowledge practically, he joined The Aber Group as an Account Coordinator and later as an Account Strategist and Account manager.
Speaking about the value-added experience he gained from working in the agency and handling clients, he shared how he would make recommendations based on the client brief.
It was an exciting learning opportunity for him, but he was interested in moving to the client-side and wanted to be part of various marketing nuances that take place in corporations. He found an opportunity at Harry Rosen and joined the marketing team as Performance Marketing Manager.
The focus of his presentation was the impact of Covid, and his role in helping Harry Rosen pivot away from the impact and closures.
The pandemic has limped Canadian clothing and accessories businesses, with sales down 36.1% year-over-year for the most recent quarter tracked by Statistics Canada.
Covid had a significant impact on the fashion industry, and it was no different for Harry Rosen. The closing of malls and offices on a large scale and the cancellation of celebrations had been devastating for business of all sizes, including Harry Rosen.
The Pandemic Effect on Demand Shift
Paul mentioned that the one upside for the brand was a tremendous surge in online orders, which helped it survive.
He also mentioned that since the pandemic, there has been a gigantic shift in the demand for clothing styles. Since more people are working remotely, demand for business / professional clothes has declined.
As per Paul, the company had responded well but still faces challenges due to work-from-home options and a surge in e-commerce.
During Covid, many Brick-and-mortar stores such as Hudson Bay and Brooks Brothers had to close their retail outlets. Covid has forced retailers to move online with robust technological advancement.
Leveraging Omni channel has become a routine to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience.
This reiterates the role of Performance Marketing Managers, who play a crucial role in measuring the success of paid Campaigns run on social media channels.
“The role of the Digital Marketer needs to evolve beyond a single channel focus to a more integrated & holistic view”- Paul Michel.
According to Paul, Digital marketing is just one component of the Customer Journey. Performance marketing includes both digital and traditional marketing.
Below is a Screenshot from his presentation.
The Harry Rosen Story
It was interesting to hear from Paul, Harry Rosen’s journey from the start. He showed us the video on the brand.
After speaking briefly about Harry Rosen and the brand’s exceptional service, he moved on to the spotlighted topic, “Performance Marketing.”, its role in Harry Rosen’s marketing success, and his accountabilities as a Manager, Performance marketing.
We got to understand the critical difference between Performance marketing and digital marketing. One crucial fact that stood out for me was when he said, “Thinking about the customers first and then trying to integrate the digital marketing” is critical.
He cited that working with diverse teams to align the voice and technique to see if they echo the same idea is one of the primary tasks of a performance manager. This requires integration.
Digital Philosophy at Harry Rosen– Relevance
For Harry Rosen being relevant to customer needs is a significant focus. This is achieved through Segmentation and targeting the right audience for its products. The customers are divided into three major segments, as shown in the following image.
He explained the three images as three distinct market segments- Luxury, Designer, and Fitness. Each image targets a different demographic audience.
This reiterated an essential concept that I had learned in the Database marketing course last semester. Acquiring valuable insight from a realistic example enhanced my understanding of segmentation, positioning, and targeting.
I learned how segmentation is crucial in deciding an appeal technique for the advertising campaign. He further emphasized on relevancy and integrating it into every sphere of marketing. Working on user intent and providing relevant content is critical.
Digital Journey roadmap at Harry Rosen
- The target audience sets a guide to formulate a Strategy.
- The creative team then decides on the relevant content based on the customer’s intent.
- The media team further takes charge of the distribution of this content.
In the end, he spoke about the lookback window and how success is measured at Harry Rosen. He discussed a few KPIs and how they are implemented and measured at Harry Rosen.
This whole discussion strengthened my knowledge of Digital and overall KPIs. Paul showcased the relationship between both with the following slide.
Prioritization of Digital Needs
The casual Wardrobe had started before the pandemic but has accelerated with lockdowns. Paul mentioned that the brand had seen an uptick in demand for mixed clothes.
Harry Rosen has been pursuing more high-end casual wear. The emphasis is to stay connected by the common threads of personalization and dressing in a way that makes its customers feel their best.
As an aspiring digital marketer, this tone stood out for me immensely. It was excellent education about customer needs, personalization, and building relationships to increase loyalty.
Harry Rosen prioritized the critical areas as part of its digital transformation, such as its e-commerce platform, technology to digitize the customer journey and its CRM, focusing on the customer’s digital experience.
Relevance have been given more emphasis- The brand has shifted from typical traditional marketing of relying on seasonal campaigns run heavily on print media to flexible mini campaigns run frequently on different channels and platforms.
Digital transformation includes a fully optimized website focusing on improving the digital experience for customers through the increased ease of use and upgraded functionality.
It taught me, “It’s all about delivering on the experience that today’s consumer expects”. Providing seamless shopping experience across multi channels with consistency and first-rate experience throughout all touch points is a key for digital marketing success.
Removing frictions and tailoring to personalization and customization of customer needs and service is critical.
Digital Marketer Role- Harry Rosen, case study
As part of our Harry Rosen case study, we were asked to design a media plan for the brand’s surge in the wedding business expected in 2022. The objective was to drive in-store appointment bookings and sales.
Our group was very excited to work on a real-time client case study. We were given approx. Twenty minutes to develop the communication strategies to meet the critical business objectives.
The class was divided into teams, and each group had some remarkable ideas which were quite interesting to observe.
As a team, we had an excellent discussion on meeting the objectives set for the case study. We worked on creating an Audience persona based on the target market segment and discussed the media strategies to be implemented to increase conversions.
We presented the case study to Paul and the class. He liked our suggestions overall and suggested that we broaden the age demographic for the target audience.
In the end, Paul provided each team with his feedback which was quite valuable for us. This was excellent learning for me, as it helped me understand the mindset of a seasoned digital marketer on how to tackle real-time situations.
My key takeaways from the entire presentation, case study, and group participation:
- Provided clarity between Digital and performance marketing
- How to measure Performance marketing and critical Digital and overall Business KPIs
- Common types of Performance marketing
- Being Relevant to the customer’s needs and intent
- Targeting, Segmentation, and Positioning are three Key principles in Performance marketing
- Best practices in Performance marketing
Conclusion
- The digital marketing industry is expanding, and performance marketing can play a critical role in scaling the business by applying the best practices.
- It provides transparency to the advertising dollar spent and success tied to it. With the correct metrics to analyze and measure the advertising spent, a better return on Advertising spend can be attained.
- It helps in the efficient allocation of resources which results in cost-effective campaigns.
- It’s trackable and measurable- easier to measure performance marketers’ achievement in the job.
New Career exploration with Performance Marketing
I am attracted to challenging roles in Digital Marketing, and introduction to Performance Marketing has opened a new career prospect for my preferred Digital marketing roles.
The diversity of marketing mix in Performance marketing is an excellent way to master the skills and become an expert. To work for an organization with solid Performance Marketing roles would be a golden opportunity for me.
The conversation with our speaker, Paul Michel, has inspired me to pursue Performance marketing roles alongside other digital marketing opportunities and apply the key concepts he shared with us while working with real clients.
I would like to end with the following quote “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” — Seth Godin, Founder & CEO, Do You Zoom
