Why your marketing strategy needs to get ‘Phygital’

13 Nov Why your marketing strategy needs to get ‘Phygital’

I don’t want to scare you, but the oldest millennials are 38 years old. Generation Z is the group that follows us/them — those born after 1996. The oldest Generation Z-ers are 23 years-old and graduating from university and entering the job market.

Both of these groups are typically classed as digital natives, this is especially true of Generation Z. Even the oldest millennials have spent a significant portion of their lives being hyperconnected — the internet, social media, instant messaging, and a plethora of technology at our constantly texting fingertips. Admittedly this is to varying degrees of sophistication — shoutout to the Nokia 3210 and Snake.

When marketers consider their strategies, we are often guilty of viewing digital marketing solutions, and offline tools as two separate hemispheres. This may have worked when people went online in a fixed place (their desktop computer), but for digital natives, this simply doesn’t cut it.

This has spawned the frankly horrific mashup term ‘phygital.’ This phrase is as accurate as it is unpleasant to say.

According to a Google survey, 82% of smartphone users turn to their phones when making an in-store purchase. Conversely, 22% of shoppers view items online and go to a store to make the purchase. I can see the logic behind this, there is currently no substitute for trying something on or having a tangible experience. Especially for high-value purchases.

14% of our life in the UK is spent looking at our phone screens, this is higher for Generation Z. As a result, we exist in a hybrid reality where the lines between online and offline worlds are blurred.

Marketing strategies must reflect this and blend the digital and physical worlds together to form a seamless experience.

Chris Ames summarises this brilliantly:

“What’s better: shopping online or in-person? Short answer: yes.”

I know what you’re thinking.

You think I’m going to mention QR codes, don’t you?

Well… I am.

QR codes have an undeserved reputation as a bit naff. The digital marketing tool that ‘cool dads’ who think they are down with the kids will mention.

Since 2017 when Apple and Android devices integrated QR code readers into the camera, they have had a new lease of marketing life. Snapcodes also act as an excellent gateway between the digital and analogue worlds for those attached continuously to the internet.

Fanta has been very successful with their Halloween marketing for a number of years using Snapcodes to give customers access to unique seasonal filters.

It’s not just QR codes that link these two marketing realms. Augmented Reality has moved from the wildly ambitious essays of marketing students and the brands that seemingly have a bottomless marketing budget.

Now it’s affordable and effective for many brands to incorporate mixed realities into their strategy. As millennials and generation Z increasingly don’t differentiate their offline and online experiences.

Offline marketing doesn’t just exist to raise awareness and drive physical visits to a shop, or a website visit when the individual is sat at their computer. We are a species that now demands instant gratification. And data.

For marketers, with bespoke campaign codes, you can track the engagement of particular offline marketing with the accuracy generally attributed to a social media campaign.

When you’re planning your next marketing campaigns and the journey you want people to take, picture an audience that flits between the digital and real worlds seamlessly. Remember your audience doesn’t see them as different but as a single entity.

In a digital native world, why wouldn’t you want to use all the tools in your arsenal to keep your sales funnel topped up, or to attract the biggest market possible?

WRITTEN BY
Adam Brummitt