“Multi Channel Marketing is promoting and selling anywhere your customers buy. Beyond advertising, it brings commerce to various channels – namely, marketplaces, social media, messaging apps, and online communities – where your target market already spends their time.” (Orendorff, 2018).
This is a great quote that outlines the basic idea of what large retailers use to sell their customers consumable content. Creating natural purchase paths allows a wider spread of online marketing for these brands. However, we must not get this confused with omni-channel marketing as this strategy works seamlessly and allows for a tailored experience. A key step is creating a multi channel experience in the initial stages is understanding where their most valuable audiences exist.

There are multiple benefits of using this strategy especially for increasing engagement and driving positive brand interactions. Depending on the target audience will change what channels are going to become most effective.
Under Armour are a great example of using multi channels for personalisation to their consumers. Their digital footprint especially on social media is massive featuring celebrity endorsements on numerous posts. From Hollywood actors to professional athletes, they don’t shy away from brand awareness. This tactic quickly grabs the viewers attention by recognition of said celebrities. In 2015, the company bought the well-known ‘MyFitnessPal’ app allowing a secondary channel for the company to reach their audience. This step made Under Armour the number one company for fitness tracking.
They also created an official Under Armour app called ‘UA Shop’ which is a retail app designed around customisation and lifestyle-based recommendations. Research shows that only 25% of consumers get the personal shopping experience they crave, therefore, this was more the reason for the app to give the experience people want. This advantage made the app get rated so highly and brings more customers to the brand. (nexcess.net, 2022).

Another great example of multi channel user experience is Apple and their customer service. Apple is a ‘click-and-motar’ retailer which means they operate both physical and online stores. However, rather than the physical stores being designed for sales, they are targeting the eCommerce business which accounts for the majority of their sales. This allows their stores to function as support points for the overall Apple experience and customers feel they don’t have to make a purchase when visiting. In general, this brings a wider audience and further drives more brand immersion.
Apple’s strategy is built around specific branding guidelines allowing a consistent visual style across all marketing materials in addition to their website, apps, and retail stores. Even their devices explore elements of a common design language. The company overall do a lot of multi channel marketing to give their audience a very ‘Apple’ experience no matter which sales channel is delivering it. (nexcess.net, 2022).
The final example I want to explore is more of a personal one and uses a local night club brand called Welly. Every week I always receive spam post which consists of leaflets of events happening at Welly during the week. This time I had one come through marketing the overall club and their Jelly Thursday which is Indie music. The leaflet drew my attention due to the bright pink exterior and the spaceship graphics. I saw at the bottom was a web link and 2 social media accounts which I chose to explore.

Sadly the website was very outdated and it took me a while to find relevant information out about this specific ‘Jelly’ night they are advertising. They also don’t allow for you to buy online tickets which I would’ve thought the whole reason would be for their multi-channel strategy. Luckily, their social media accounts (especially Instagram) proved to be more informative and follow this strategy clearer. One of the first images I recognised was the original spaceship graphic from the flyer but also numerous more highlight reels and links that feature the word Jelly in. The bio contained a clear link to purchase tickets to the event which proves this multi-channel marketing was successful in the end. The whole process from physical copy to online could’ve been more seamless but overall worked.
To conclude, multi-channel marketing is essential to brands wanting to provide a positive user experience and to spread their brand awareness to multiple audiences.
References
nexcess.net, 2022. 5 Examples of Brands with Great Multi-Channel Marketing Strategies. [Online]
Available at: https://www.nexcess.net/woocommerce-resource/channel-strategy/#:~:text=Also%20of%20note%2C%20Apple%E2%80%99s%20multi-channel%20marketing%20strategy%20is,hardware%20share%20elements%20of%20a%20common%20design%20language.
[Accessed 08 October 2022].
Orendorff, A., 2018. Mullti-Channel Marketing: Defintion, Data, and a Strategy to Sell Anywhere. [Online]
Available at: https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/multi-channel-marketing#:~:text=Multi-Channel%20Marketing%3A%20Definition%2C%20Data%2C%20and%20a%20Strategy%20to,2%202.%20Identification%3A%20Where%20Does%20a%20Multi-Channel%20Start%3F
[Accessed 08 October 2022].
Bhasin, H., 2019. How to develop a Multi Channel Marketing Campaing?. [Online] Available at: https://www.marketing91.com/multi-channel-marketing-campaign/
[Accessed 08 October 2022].
Fenech, S., 2019. Tak a peek inside the new-look Apple Store in Bondi. [Online]
Available at: https://www.techguide.com.au/news/computers-news/take-look-inside-new-look-apple-store-bondi/
[Accessed 08 October 2022].
Kinports, N., 2018. Finding the Perfect Brand Ambassador: The Under Armour Turnaround Story. [Online]
Available at: https://lonelybrand.com/blog/finding-the-perfect-brand-ambassador/
[Accessed 08 October 2022].
Millon, L., 2018. Under Armour admet que 150 millions d’utilisateurs sont affectés par le hack de MyFitnessPal. [Online]
Available at: https://www.stuffi.fr/under-armour-150-millions-utilisateurs-hack-myfitnesspal/
[Accessed 08 October 2022].
play.google.com, n.d. Under Armour – Athletic Shoes. [Online]
Available at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ua.shop
[Accessed 08 October 2022].
Staff, M. N., 2021. Apple India’s Online Store Gets A Design Refresh To Ease Navigation Across Product Pages. [Online]
Available at: https://in.mashable.com/tech/23964/apple-indias-online-store-gets-a-design-refresh-to-ease-navigation-across-product-pages
[Accessed 08 October 2022].