HMV’s Head of Marketing has urged brands to focus on getting solid results from advertising spending.
According to Patrizia Leighton, firms must ensure “every single pound” they spend on advertising generates returns.
“I need to sweat that spend as hard as possible and convert to a purchase or get somebody into a store,” she insisted.
HMV has been heavily focused on building a positive brand image after it fell into administration four years ago.
However, the company survived this turbulent period, which Ms Leighton believes is partly down to it “sticking to the things it is good at.”
“One of our big focuses is on giving each store a local feel,” she commented.
“Each store is filled with staff recommendations and we try to host compelling events and work with social media influencers to create word-of-mouth buzz.”
Ms Leighton also noted that HMV has earned results by communicating its brand heritage, as it dates back to 1921.
“It is great to have that history and yes, we have a lot of consumers who are passionate about the brand,” she said.
However, Ms Leighton stressed that a brand’s existence “isn’t justified just from being there before.”
She went on to state that HMV’s ad spend is lower than it was pre-administration, which has meant it has had to target its message “really carefully at the right moments to the right people/”
This approach has reaped results, as Ms Leighton said it is successfully bringing in a younger audience and aligning itself to a revival in the vinyl music market.
HMV has also overhauled its ecommerce platform, which has led to online sales going up by more than two-thirds over the last year, and has begun publishing relevant content on its website.
“The majority of our competitors aren’t necessarily in both the retail space and the content space,” Ms Leighton added. “That gives us an advantage.”
HMV’s marketing boss on bringing the brand back from the brink Marketing Week
