With VP Kamala Harris officially securing the Democratic nomination, the stage is set for a highly captivating election season between Harris and Donald Trump. While the candidates hold vastly different viewpoints, both parties, for the most part, will employ similar marketing strategies to sway voters come November. The core goal of mobilizing support remains the same, however the methods and tools used have evolved significantly over time as digital platforms are increasingly becoming the driving force of all marketing campaigns.

​​Early 20th-century campaigns utilized newspapers and radio, with the 1924 election pioneering radio broadcasts. The 1952 election introduced political ads on television, exemplified by Eisenhower's "I Like Ike'' campaign. The post-Watergate era saw a rise in sophisticated strategies, including targeted marketing and negative ads. The 2008 election marked a digital revolution, propelling Barack Obama from a lesser-known senator from Illinois to the White House by leveraging social media, email marketing, and data analytics to effectively engage supporters. In today’s digitally connected age, it’s fair to say that the way in which campaigns reach potential voters, donors, and supporters has come a long way. (millercenter) (britanica) (standard.edu)

“I Like Ike” 1952 U.S. presidential campaign commercial

In the 2020 election, nearly $9 billion was spent in the battle for the White House, double the amount spent in 2016 (cnbc). This year’s political ad spend is forecasted to land between $10-$12 billion, a 13%-to-30% increase from the 2019-2020 election cycle (collectivemeasures).

If you’re a marketer running paid media this year, we have some considerations and recommendations to help you navigate this election cycle, stretch your budgets further, and fine-tune your tactical plans. Also, if you’re a marketer in the home improvement space, you should be especially mindful of rising costs to reach your target audience. Political ads target homeowners more frequently, as they’re more desirable to reach due to their higher voter turnout rates. (nlic.org)

Inventory

For political advertisers, video is king. This year will see a high demand for ad space on connected TV (CTV), linear TV, online display video, and social platforms. CTV will play a major role in reaching voters and will account for 45% of all digital political ad spend in 2024. In fact, U.S. political CTV ad spend is projected to climb a staggering 600% from 2020 to 2024, rising to $1.56 billion. This significant shift is likely due to several factors: political advertisers adapting to how potential voters consume media, the introduction of ad-supported tiers by streaming services, improved broadband access in rural areas, and marketers recognizing the great potential of CTV. (thecurrent). 

If video is king, then traditional television is the crown, still reigning supreme in the media mix model. Traditional media, which consists of linear TV, is expected to only grow 7.9% from 2020, however it will continue to capture the largest share of the budget, accounting for 71.9% of total ad spend (reuters). Additionally, linear television must adhere to the FCC’s Equal Time Rule, which mandates that if a candidate buys ad time, the channel must offer equal time to other candidates. The rule actually does not mean "equal time" but rather comparable time. The rule mandates that opposing candidates must be given the chance to purchase the same amount of time at the same rate during similar times of the day, which will likely further crowd the channel (dwt). With traditional media still commanding much of the political landscape, many will be vying for a share of the crown.

For non-political marketers looking to avoid crowds, diversification in your advertising channels to buffer against the surge in political ad rates will be key. You should consider investing in environments that don’t allow political ads such as Netflix, Disney+, Xandr, and TikTok. (fathomdelivers).

Timing

According to Basis platform, in the 2022 and 2020 elections, about 50% of the year’s political dollars ran in the 30 days leading up to the election, with 25% running in the ten days leading up to Election Day. It’s important to keep a close eye on ad costs during this period and it might even be worth completely pausing paid media between October 26^th and November 5^th. 

Where

For the presidential election, there are about seven states that will be hotly contested and will see an increased proportion of presidential campaign ads: 

• Arizona
• Georgia
• Michigan
• Nevada
• North Carolina
• Pennsylvania
• Wisconsin

If you’re a marketer running a national campaign, it might be wise to disinvest in these states as CPMs and overall ad costs are likely to rise.

Conclusion

Hopefully, these tips will help you adapt your marketing plans to account for this year’s election cycle. To summarize, you should avoid spending in the channels most impacted – if possible, be mindful of timing, and use geo-targeting to optimize your approach.

When running a business, it can be all too easy to strictly focus on the bottom line from a financial standpoint. But what about the bottom line from a humanity perspective? And what are the obligations, if any, for companies to contribute to the welfare of others, in ways that fall outside of our core business offerings?

Many would argue that the sole role of a company is to contribute to our economy by generating profits and providing gainful employment. While that is indeed the primary function, it may also be equally true that engaging in philanthropic activities that fall outside the day-to-day operations of your company may have a multiplicative effect on those efforts.

Additionally, to those that have been given much, much is expected in return. My view is that since companies have significant power and enjoy many of the benefits as individuals do in our society, they share in the same responsibility. 

While I have no data as to the improved performance of a company that gives back, I do have an abundance of anecdotal evidence as well as a deeply held belief in this value - regardless of ROI. 

Countless times, I’ve heard friends say that they receive more than they give when volunteering in a food pantry or working a community garden. A heightened sense of purpose and shared camaraderie often result. This is true from a corporate perspective as well. I don’t have to look far to see the cultural impact from my team when they serve together or give their talents to a worthy cause. There is nothing like gathering for pizza on our rooftop after getting our hands dirty from a day doing good work.

Conversations between small business owners as to navigating how, when and where to engage on a corporate level are far less frequent than conversations on cash flow and maximizing EBITDA. So, below are some thought-starters on how to get engaged.

First, find something you believe in.

As a company, does it align to your corporate values and/or connect to your specialization in the marketplace? If you focus on healthcare perhaps you give to those that are uninsured. At S/M, since our agency focuses on home improvement, we support causes that help people who are unhoused.

If possible, take this one step further and integrate your philanthropic passions into your company positioning. At S/M we’ve recently updated our company mission to that end. We’ve committed to focus on home improvement brands that are sustainable in their manufacturing practices. Climate change is the hardest on the poor, so any work we can do to promote brands that lead in this space will lessen the impact of environmental changes brought about through bringing those goods to market.

Secondly, find an organization that needs the unique talents you have to offer.

Not-for-profits often don’t have the budgets that are required to execute their vision. However, your ability to give of time and talent can lift their efforts exponentially. A store designer creating a floorplan for a food pantry can help their operations run more smoothly and serve a greater number of clients.

Thirdly, make it easier for people to serve.

Tangible ways may include creating a committee focused on philanthropy; ours is called “How We Give.” This committee can help determine which partners you give to financially, and plan outings for group service.

Additionally, in support of individual efforts, consider offering service days for your staff that don’t count against their PTO.

Like most companies, we are reluctant to be loud and proud of the efforts we put forth. Personally, I appreciate the humility that accompanies a servant's heart. However, I’d encourage everyone to be more vocal about either their work in this space or desire to do so. Prioritizing and normalizing philanthropy for companies is an admirable goal – one which will hopefully make us a stronger community and make a dent in all that we’d like to see changed in our world.

These days, marketing sustainability isn’t just good for the planet, it’s good for business. According to Zillow’s top home trends for 2022, sustainability is a top priority for young homeowners. For proof, just look at what’s happening in the world of home improvement. From kitchen and bath products to home appliances, from tiles to countertops, from decking materials to lighting, sustainable production practices and eco-friendly features are the order of the day. And the competition is intense.

But if you’re managing a home improvement brand, and you’re relatively new to the sustainability landscape, beware. Making claims of environmental responsibility without certifiable evidence (greenwashing) will damage your brand. Because the fact is, home improvement customers, not to mention the FTC, have been seeing and hearing these claims long enough to know what is credible and what is not.

Sizing up our own home improvement clients

From our own roster of home improvement brands, Delta^® Faucet Company and TimberTech^® decking have two of the strongest green marketing stories to tell. Delta promotes the fact that all of its bathroom faucets and toilets are WaterSense^® labeled. WaterSense is a registered mark of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and it indicates that the labeled product is certified to use at least 20% less water than non-labeled products.

In the composite decking category, TimberTech makes an advanced product that is almost 100% recycled PVC. In fact, they are the largest vertically integrated recycler of PVC plastic in the U.S. When you add in their composite products, TimberTech currently diverts 500 million pounds of waste from landfills annually, with a goal of using one billion pounds a year by the end of 2026.

Marketing sustainability in kitchen and bath

Delta is hardly the only kitchen and bath brand marketing green innovations. In the water-savings department alone, the range of ingenuity is impressive. This is a direct result of the fact that the average American uses 82 gallons of water a day, and water shortages are becoming more frequent.

Gerber Plumbing Fixtures offers a high-efficiency, water-saving toilet that is rated at 1.28 gpf (gallons per flush) and is WaterSense-certified. The RainStick^® Shower not only recirculates the water you shower with, it uses each drop six times before it goes down the drain. And Moen makes a Smart Shower that warms up your water, then pauses until you’re ready to step in.

Decorative tiles and surfaces have also become more sustainable. Kohler^® WasteLAB has developed decorative brushed and matte tiles that are made from 100% recycled waste—and look like sculpted clay. Crossville^® offers a carbon-neutral porcelain tile collection with six metallic-look finishes. Cosentino^® is also promoting carbon-neutral products with its marble-inspired countertops and surfaces, which incorporate recycled materials from their own manufacturing process.

Home improvement retailers are getting greener too

The home improvement stores where many of these products are sold have also been embracing sustainability. Lowe’s^® recently reported a 49% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions since 2016. (Scope 1 emissions are from fuels burned directly, while Scope 2 emissions come from indirect energy purchased.) They also achieved a 6% reduction in total energy consumption since 2021. As for their suppliers, Lowe’s reports that 86% of them have set sustainability goals.

Not to be outdone, The Home Depot^® was awarded a Green Power Leadership Award from the EPA for 2023. They are currently using 409 million kWh of green power annually, which meets a full 15% of their overall electricity use. This comes on the heels of their 2022 accomplishments—providing retail access to solar panels for more than 7,000 homes, and selling more than 4,000 EV chargers.

Greenwashing leads to black eyes

Unfortunately, many brands try to take advantage of the desire for safer, more eco-friendly products. And some get caught. In 2017, the FTC found four paint brands (including one of the top brands in the U.S.) guilty of false claims that their products were free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To make matters worse, some of their promotions claimed the paints were safe around babies, pregnant women, and other sensitive populations, with no evidence to support those claims. Two of the paint brands even put official-looking environmental seals on their products, without disclosing that they had created and awarded those seals to themselves.

Sometimes, a sustainability claim can be true and still get you into trouble. In 2019, IKEA built what they touted as their most sustainable store yet. And that was true enough. But it soon became public knowledge that to build their state-of-sustainability store, IKEA was responsible for knocking down the most sustainable supermarket in the United Kingdom, a Sainsbury store that was only 17 years old. That is nobody’s idea of sustainability.

Our advice: If you have a credible (and if at all possible, certified) sustainability story to tell, by all means tell it. If not, we recommend you stick to verifiable brand claims until your green claims are legit. Making vaguely green claims will cost you customers and credibility. Both are difficult, and sometimes impossible, to win back.

There’s a chance you’re reading this after clicking on a post in LinkedIn. If that is the case, please accept my apology for adding more AI-related content to your feed. In 2023, AI seems to be equal parts “all anyone can talk about” and “the herald of doom.” I’d like to make my case for AI being something else entirely: a cause for optimism that we should talk and worry about a little bit less.

As someone in the marketing field, I first want to acknowledge what so few in my field are willing to: “AI” is becoming a marketing term. Synthetic consciousness remains elusive and images from AI tools like Midjourney, DALL-E, and Adobe Firefly are not androids painting electric sheep from their dreams. But like all effective marketing, perception has become reality and the “AI revolution” is causing a lot of anxiety. The Writers Guild strikes have brought significant media attention to writing and copy, but anxieties flourish around art and design as well.

Much of the worry has been around professional displacement, an understandable fear based on the toll automation has been permitted to take on the industrial sector. The umbrella term “AI” is being used for a lot of developments, and regulation is certainly needed to ensure safeguards around livelihoods, intellectual property, and more. For logo and identity design, however, while I try to evaluate industry developments from a place between cynicism and naivety, I have to confess a watchful sense of optimism. 

Is AI disruptive to design?

Absolutely. But whether the results of that disruption are positive or negative depends on how we integrate it into our organizations. If an organization plans on replacing teams of designers with a single outsourced AI technician, they will reap what they sow. But assuming organizations want to keep up in the market (or better yet, stand out and excel), AI opens up exhilarating possibilities for their creative teams.

A recent example here at Simon/Myers comes to mind. A client’s logo design kickoff had been delayed by an extended name selection process, but the final artwork production deadline remained immovable. Our team saw an opportunity to use AI to produce more options, quickly. 

Using Midjourney, our team crafted meticulous prompts that contained key characteristics of the brand persona, the company’s product offering, the target audience, and the styles of some of history’s best late designers. The results were not logos. The results could never pass for logos. The results were hundreds of images of wildly disparate composition and quality.

While thoroughly unusable as deliverables, these images were immensely helpful to our creative team as inspiration. Rather than digging through our office banks of inspiration or through imagery online, Midjourney took all of the elements we’d be seeking out and combined them in abstract and unexpected ways. What started as a solution to a time crunch became a new avenue for creativity. AI brought fresh thinking to the very beginning of this logo’s creative process, a process that still fully required a human being’s discernment, taste, and skill to produce.  

The fear and hype around AI-generated imagery miss what those in the trades have known for centuries: no creative department will survive if it replaces creatives with AI, just as no plumber will stay in business by firing employees to buy an endoscope. Furthermore, if in-house creative teams start leaning on AI, the work of creative agencies prioritizing the spark and soul of human creativity will become more important than ever.

When used as a tool by creative people, I have seen that AI can bring exhilarating and inventive new ideas to light, elevating the quality of designs to unprecedented new heights. If used as a stand-in for the designer, however, the result is the opposite - incomplete, incoherent, soulless outputs.

Call me an optimist, but I think the former is a lot more likely than the latter.

The digital marketing landscape is vast enough to paralyze any brand marketer, and home improvement brands come with their own unique set of challenges. At Simon/Myers, we shape digital strategies and activations to address the challenges of home and garden clients, particularly those found in big-box stores like Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Ace Hardware. And while every brand is different, many of the pitfalls to avoid and ingredients for success are the same. 

Different target audience? Different digital strategy

Home improvement brands often have three or more target audiences at play, between consumers, pros, and a whole host of professions that may influence brand preference and selection: architects, designers, or even interior decorators or professional organizers. It may seem obvious that these folks have different needs and will need to be reached in different places, but all too often we see home improvement brands repurpose consumer tactics for pros and designers, which is the fastest way to tell those audiences that they see them as an afterthought. 

Each audience requires a unique digital strategy and value proposition. Your website should offer clear and actionable paths for each: How can they find what they need, and what are you asking them to do? If they have to work to figure out the answer to those questions, you have work to do.

Your digital channel and content strategies will vary, too: Designers may be more easily found on inspirational platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, while the pro might be looking for answers to their questions on Reddit, or forums. Designers will value content about design trends more than a pro will, and a pro will value installation FAQs more than a designer will. A riff on the latest social marketing trends may resonate with a young consumer, but will hit differently (read: not at all) for a seasoned pro who doesn’t use TikTok.

Media strategy tips: when and where to advertise

Many of the home improvement brands we’ve partnered with see demand for their products or services peak during certain times of the year. While it’s a no-brainer to align your marketing efforts with these peak demand periods, especially leading up to a product launch, pinpointing these timeframes can be complicated. First-party data like historical sales figures can provide strong indications as to when peak seasonality occurs, but on a more detailed level, online keyword-based tools such as Google Trends or SEMrush can help you glean further insights into larger trends that have regional and day-parting implications. For example, we found that searches for “garden hoses” peaked during weekends from May to July – a helpful insight for our garden hose client.

Day-parting: The practice of scheduling ad campaigns to run only at certain times, on certain days, or at certain times on specific days to make ads more appealing and relevant to users and essentially show ads when users are most likely to convert.

Your ideal media channels for paid advertising will be determined by your primary marketing objective and your target audience. For brand awareness, social, display, and OLV channels are typically the most efficient choices. If your focus is on sales or lead generation though, lower funnel tactics such as paid search, shopping ads, retail media networks, and even establishing commission-based structures for influencers can yield better results.

Winning with your retail partners

Most home improvement brands rely heavily on retailer partnerships, which are fueled through sales. This doesn’t mean home and garden brand marketers get to wash their hands of these players, though – our clients are often tasked with supporting their sales teams with brand assets, and seeking out marketing opportunities with key retailers.

We partner with clients to create digital toolkits, or packages of display, social, and email assets for retailers to use with their customers. These assets may highlight a promotion, or amplify a campaign or priority brand message. Providing these assets gives you more control over how your brand shows up across different digital properties and builds goodwill with your partners. Win-win, right?

Beyond these toolkits, many retailers offer advertising opportunities on their owned and affiliated properties – or their retail media network. While they can be expensive, placements on retail media networks have the advantage of reaching your audience when their intent to purchase is high. And these networks can give you access to rich, first-party purchase data. Yes, please.

Authenticity and diversity: the keys to a successful influencer marketing strategy

The global influencer market has doubled since 2019 (Source: Statista) and with it, so has the number of influencers. Finding quality partnerships is harder than ever before, but here are two strategies that we’ve found helpful for our clients: 

1.     If you have the budget, a variety of influencer marketing platforms can help you find accredited content creators with past reviews and allow you to dig into metrics such as engagement rate, average performance per sponsored post, and approximate fake follower percentages. 

2.     Once you’ve compiled your list, you’ll need to begin outreach. Many influencer platforms and vendors provide influencer outreach services, but we’ve found that reaching out to these influencers either directly or through an agency partner allows you to get to know them better. Are they responsive? Are they excited to work with your brand? More importantly, this approach can help fuel future collaborations and establish longer-term partnerships.

Lastly, partnering with a variety of influencers ensures increased reach and exposure to your different audience profiles. Expert DIYers and industry pros with cult-like followings should be first on your list due to their strong influence on consumer preference, but depending on how large your audience is, more general homeowner and lifestyle influencers may be worth exploring. These folks have the potential to reach a less industry-savvy audience that may not follow niche DIY or professional accounts.

Simple, right?

The joy and the curse of digital marketing is that the options are endless – and endlessly changing. There will never be a one-size-fits-all approach to digital marketing in the home improvement space, but we hope some of the insights and tips we’ve gathered here help make all those options a little less daunting. Questions? Looking for a partner to do some of that heavy lifting? You know where to find us.

Introduction

As a Creative Director of experience design, operating at the intersection of physical and digital realms, I am acutely aware of the impact that digital technology can have on our physical world, and it remains a constant consideration in my work. What truly captured my attention at RICE 2023 was not the introduction of new technology to further inundate an already overwhelming marketing environment, but rather the application of technology used as a subtractive approach, aimed at alleviating burdens on consumers and addressing subconscious areas that often go unnoticed but wield considerable and significant difference.

Sensory Design 3.0

One session in particular that stood out to me was the exploration of Sensory Design, particularly its real-life applications compared to its utilization in web3 world building. Sensory design is all about focusing on subtle details that resonate subconsciously with users. It’s about harmonizing with the senses to help the users reach their functional, emotional, and social needs. A noteworthy progression was highlighted, starting from Sensory Design 1.0 exemplified by Abercrombie & Fitch's use of signature fragrances in their stores, followed by 2.0 seen in Starbucks' creation of cozy environments through jazz soundtracks and subsequent album sales. However, the session delved into the realm of Sensory Design 3.0, emphasizing behavioral change, enabling customers to fulfill their purposes, and optimizing environments for enhanced well-being. 

For instance, imagine yourself staying in a luxurious 5-star hotel with exceptional service, a beautiful room, and a bed that feels like a cloud. Every detail seems to be carefully considered until, in the middle of the night, you find yourself lying awake due to the disturbance caused by the glow of a blue light from the alarm clock. Or the blinking light from the microwave, the rattling noise of the mini-fridge, or the window treatment that doesn't quite close all the way. As a hotel brand, you can create the perfect hotel room, but overlooking these small details means missing the mark on your customers' most fundamental need: a good night's sleep. 

Nissan heard their customers' feedback loud and clear when they introduced their electric car, Leaf EV, to the market. While the car itself was great and worked perfectly, one detail was overlooked—how parents use a car ride to lull their little ones to sleep. Unfortunately, the quietness of the Leaf EV didn't have the same soothing effect. Realizing the importance of this issue, Nissan collaborated with Tom Middleton, a sound designer and sleep coach, to create lullaby tracks using sounds that combined interior and exterior recordings from the Leaf with specially crafted "combustion-engine frequencies" that only children can hear. This thoughtful approach addressed a seemingly small detail but significantly enhanced the overall experience for families using the Leaf EV.

In both the hotel industry and the automotive market, these overlooked elements directly affect customers' well-being, whether it's the quality of their sleep or the comfort of their children. These instances of seemingly small details having significant impacts resonate deeply with a broader macro theme: wellness.

Wellness

In this post-pandemic world, the need for wellness has become more pronounced, arising from our collective experience of burnout. One area that addresses this quite well, with a beautiful blend of sensory design and the integration of technology, is the kitchen and bath industry.

While wellness is not a new trend, its evolution over the years has been noteworthy. It began with biophilic design, emphasizing the integration of plants and greenery to bring the outdoors inside, fostering a connection with nature. This was followed by the embrace of digital detox and mindfulness, incorporating elements like soothing soaking tubs to promote relaxation and mental well-being. Today, the wellness experience has reached new heights, driven by the seamless incorporation of technology. A current trend that’s on the rise is the use of tech for automation in the home, specifically the bathroom, bringing a new dimension to the concept of wellness in our living spaces. Routines and sensory experiences can now be precisely programmed and automated, allowing us to create various worlds of wellness with ease. Picture your early morning routine with heated floors, crisp lighting, personalized music, and a shower set at the perfect temperature. Alternatively, envision an evening of relaxation with ambient mood lighting, soothing music, and a steam shower to unwind. These personalized sensory experiences are made possible through technology, empowering us to curate our own personalized oasis right in our bathrooms.

Crossover into Retail

This trend of embracing wellness and technology has not only transformed our homes but is now influencing the retail space as well. Another intriguing session at RICE delved into Walmart's innovative approach of "conversation commerce" through their Store No. 8 initiative. Instead of relying on the retailer's workflow by using their traditional websites and apps, Walmart uses technology in a subtractive approach to remove burdens and seamlessly integrate into the customer's daily routines. 

This means that their customers who are busy and constantly on the go can effortlessly connect with Walmart through conversational experiences where and when needed. Just like sending a text message asking someone to pick up a forgotten item, or telling their voice activated assistants to add last minute items to their shopping list - these can go directly to Walmart, crossing off to-do list items in a few seconds. This also includes texting Walmart to return your recent purchase, or navigation help while shopping in-store. This user-centric approach eliminates the need for customers to take an additional step in their shopping process, making shopping even more convenient and accessible. 

Conclusion 

The concept of Invisible Design, with its focus on technology-driven wellness and its impact on the customer experience, is what truly resonated with me at RICE 2023. As Jared Spool stated, “When design is done right, it becomes invisible, as it seamlessly blends into our lives, enhancing experiences without drawing unnecessary attention.” Going beyond the tangible features and considering how every aspect of a product or service contributes to ALL customer needs is a necessity for brands interested in a deeper emotional connection with their audience, ultimately nurturing a loyal and satisfied customer base in a wellness-driven world. Overall, the convergence of wellness, sensory design, and technology in retail is reshaping the customer shopping journey, offering a harmonious blend of convenience, personalization, and emotional well-being.