AmCham Macedonia Fall 2014 (Issue 43) | Page 15

ANALYSIS A particularly important confirmation that Alkaloid’s social network efforts are on target, was our receipt of the Golden Sempler Award given at the SEMPL media event in Slovenia in 2013. The international jury declared the "Becutan Keepsake Journal" campaign a winner in the “Best Social Network Campaign” category. This campaign was created to honour the tradition of creating memory books while taking advantage of new technological trends. The campaign garnered huge interest throughout the region immediately after its launch; more than 10,000 keepsake journals have been created so far. Users aren’t satisfied with old-fashioned marketing messages; they need something more. That “more” is one of the biggest marketing trends called “content marketing.” greetings to all parents, regardless of whether they were part of our Facebook community or not. The emotions conveyed in the greeting card hit their mark and it became a viral hit in a matter of days. This positive experiment in content marketing encouraged us to integrate similar elements in our new website, as a unique online space where we offer customers everything they need. Therefore, the new Becutan website, which is in the final stage of its preparation, will not just promote our products, but will be primarily dedicated to parents. We expect our target audience to visit our website primarily to connect with other community members and share their personal experiences. While doing this, they will also be able to access information on our products, if they want to. With the development of social networks, people’s habits and expectations are evolving as well; there is a tendency for users to outgrow or lose interest in social networks. Users aren’t satisfied with old-fashioned marketing messages; they need something more. That "more" is one of the biggest marketing trends called "content marketing." The idea is that brands create and share relevant content that brings customer value, thus building a long-term relationship with customers. It is important to point out that content marketing is not aimed at directly generating sales; instead, they are meant to increase brand loyalty by offering quality content to its target audience. We were really intrigued by this type of unobtrusive communication, since practically no other Macedonian brand had taken this marketing approach. This inspired us to convey our New Year’s greetings for 2014 in a different way, by means of the most widely used video service, YouTube. "The Most Sincere New Year’s Greeting Card" was a short video in whi