March Marketing News You Can Use

MEET BARD, GOOGLE’S ANSWER TO CHATGPT

Key Point: Rumors that ChatGPT will replace Google as the search engine of choice may be overly optimistic. Google announced the rollout of its own chatbot, and the company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, put it like this: “We’ve been working on an experimental conversational AI service, powered by LaMDA, that we’re calling Bard. And today, we’re taking another step forward by opening it up to trusted testers ahead of making it more widely available to the public in the coming weeks.”

A Wired article on the topic notes that “Google plans to make the underlying technology available to developers through an API … but did not offer a timeline.” While many see the move as a desperate response to ChatGPT, it’s more likely that the timing of the announcement may be related, but Google is no stranger to artificial intelligence research. As Pichai wrote, “We have a long history of using AI to improve Search for billions of people.”

LOSS OF CUSTOMER AND MEDIA DATA WARRANTS A NEW APPROACH TO MEASUREMENT

Key Point: Analytics teams are scrambling to overcome obstacles created by developments such as the depreciation of third-party cookies, the popularity of ad blockers, and ever-increasing government regulations that oppose marketers. And while many are content to complain about the developments, others are leveraging them to create new frameworks of measurement. 

Consider this statistic from a Deloitte Digital survey of 800 marketing measurement leaders: “Only about one-third of marketers surveyed say their attribution capabilities are first-rate, and 40% say ensuring data quality is a top challenge in measurement effectiveness.” 

That article goes on to point out that brands see the problem … but that “a lack of qualified vendors is the greatest challenge to improving media measurement.” Media mix modeling (MMM), says that special article by Deloitte, is one of the avenues savvy analytics experts are pursuing.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE MAKES “SURPRISING REBOUND” FROM HISTORIC LOWS

Key Point: Chipotle’s decision to launch a new, limited-time menu item demonstrates not only the power of TikTok, but also the ability of social media in general to affect company decisions. The “Fajita Quesadilla” began as a menu hack developed by two TikTok creators. Marketing Dive says it’s a clear indication of a company’s willingness to “pay homage” to social media influencers.

Here’s the marketing angle: By linking a product to viral content, a brand can leverage the relationship between company and customer. While that’s certainly not a new concept, Chipotle’s move is a clear example of how effective social media channels can be at helping businesses boost sales. That said, many brands are finding menu hacks more of a hassle than a boon.

AMERICANS HAVE CHANGED THE WAY THEY EXERCISE: HERE’S HOW GYMS ARE ADAPTING

Key Point: Leveraging viral content isn’t the only way to tap into a trend — Planet Fitness and other gyms are responding to the rising consumer interest in traditional weightlifting equipment to cut back on the number of treadmills available. The new strategy is to provide more space for resistance training.

CNN Business says the surge is due to several factors

  • New research touts the health benefits of weight training
  • Women are throwing off the idea that weights are only for men
  • Many people have a treadmill at home, but not so many have a bench press or other weightlifting equipment at home

That same article says 2021 gym memberships grew 3.6% over pre-pandemic enrollments, and strength training now leads the list of popular exercises for the ClassPass fitness app — a 94% increase year-over-year. An architect experienced with gym projects said this: “In the past it was ‘let’s cram as much equipment into these rooms as possible. Now it’s ‘how much free space can we add?’”

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