The Blue

Curdled words - WORDLE?

2011-10-21T21:55:00.001-04:00

I gave my valentine a "StarKiss"

2010-02-15T11:02:00.005-05:00

It was a fun experience although she did not enjoy it, said it felt like an old people kiss :( I loved the experience and the idea of a NEW type of a kiss after - Butterfly kiss, Eskimo kiss, Khumani kiss (after our dog) and so on...

I must say I was inspired but the StarKist advertisement that was such a let down!

The company could have capitalized on the timing and the holiday but I hardly noticed any more than a few spots.

These are perfect opportunities for a brands to create consumer engagement and transcend into a cult.

Nuggets from Silverstein

2010-01-19T11:09:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year to my readers! After a short hiatus I am back to writing and talking about my passion... BRANDS & PEOPLE.

A recent post in the WSJ caught my attention, from the author of Trading up, Treasure Hunt and now What Women Want... Here are some poignant thoughts.

Men typically:
1. Ignore the importance of emotional appeal. Senior male executives often rise to their leadership positions through manufacturing, finance, marketing or product development. They are rewarded and recognized for their ability to identify technical and functional benefits, but they often fail to realize that women buy goods for emotional benefits: How does this purchase make them feel, during the purchase experience and after? Do they feel wise, savvy, intelligent, cared for? Men, by contrast, develop habitual purchasing routines and buy most goods for replacement. This is why women's categories are characterized by ever-shortening fashion cycles while change rolls much more slowly through men's categories.

2. Cut price to build sales. When business slows, male executives will typically cut prices or create promotions to make up for a drop in sales, but this often has the opposite effect than the one desired. Women think of lower-priced goods and services as second rate and assume that the offerer has compromised on quality. Women are in the market every day, physically and online, and are more aware than men are of changes in offerings and shifts in pricing.

3. Don't change offerings from year to year. Executives will skimp on product development, making incremental improvements that are intended to bring short-term payback, rather than gain share over the long haul. They lengthen the product development cycle, making few changes in the product from season to season, and, as a result, have difficulty differentiating their products from those of their competitors and have little news to offer their customers. Women are far more interested than men in what's new, better and novel, and want to be delighted by innovation.

4. Make it pink. Male executives who have success with a product aimed at men, and are uncertain of what women really want, will offer a female version of their male-focused product, by making minor changes in size, shape, packaging, color or marketing strategy. But, because the product is not genuinely created to meet women's needs and challenges, female consumers immediately see through it and reject it.

5. Fail to differentiate. Unless they research and refine, companies find themselves blind to women's needs and dissatisfactions. They offer "me too" goods and wonder why they sit on the shelves.

6. Communicate clumsily. Marketing is often based on stereotypes rather than insight into the real problems women face . Sales and/or service delivery frequently fails to directly target segments of women and meet their needs exactly, finely, prescriptively.

7. Overlook the need for time-saving solutions. According to the BCG research, women identify their main challenge as how to manage time and create balance in their lives. Although men are gradually taking more responsibility at home, women still shoulder the majority of household and childcare tasks. They have, in effect, a job at work and a job at home, so they are constantly making choices and trade-offs and look for product and service solutions that help them make the most of their precious time. Although many products are marketed with the claims that they are designed to save time, bundle tasks and make life easier, few of them actually deliver on those promises.

8. Ignore the importance of community. A sense of community and empathy is lacking from most male-developed products and services. Personal connection and credibility are critically important to key service categories. One satisfied female customer will bring another nine or ten into the fold. Women spend as much time on the Internet now as they do watching television, and, unlike men, much of that time is given over to networking and connecting with others.

9. Forget design aesthetics. Women love color, but men tend to use a black and white palette. Women see every product purchase as a chance for adventure, learning and a way to bring excitement and flair into their lives. In most categories, men are focused on functionality, durability and price.

10. Underestimate the importance of love. Next to time, women place love as the most important aspect of their lives. Married women with children especially have the least time to express their love and, as a result, seek goods and services that let them say "I love you" with care, specificity and empathy.

'I think' & 'I feel' connundrum...

2009-12-14T09:24:00.002-05:00

Stanford Knowledgebase published some recent finding into a study conducted in partnership with University of Illinois, Chicago about brand messages that empathize with the consumer through copy that contains, 'I think' and 'I feel'. They uncovered some interesting insights...

Men tune in when messages contain 'I think' while Women focus on the 'Feel' follow the link for details... Is "Thinking" or "Feeling" More Persuasive?

I could not believe it...

2009-12-11T18:20:00.003-05:00

It sure sounds ridiculous, but I trust the analytical judgment of the investors? Eitherway, Now women can pee while standing.

I hope this is a joke in the woman's emancipation movement?

Mixed format advertising is amazing...

2009-12-08T13:43:00.004-05:00

This old piece from Chiquita is apparently making a come back according to brandchannel.com the interesting mix of DRTV and an infomercial is both educational and catchy.

The Chief Mythologist's view point

2009-12-02T13:27:00.004-05:00

Devdutt Patnaik helps the Future Group understand the shoppers in India, their behaviors and habits.

This is an interesting talk on "the myths that mystify" posted on TED.

Also check an old related post - Mythology MUST influence brand strategy

We sure have all lived through this... thanks again Tom

2009-11-24T11:40:00.001-05:00

I love satire... Thanks Tom!

2009-11-16T11:47:00.003-05:00

Stupidity influenced

2009-11-14T21:41:00.001-05:00

This may not be a huge surprise but stupidity loves company! Here is an example those who watched the show 'Jackass' were most likely to try repeating some of the actions they watched. The show had to caution audience against trying any parts of the show on their own and at home!

Is stupidity really contagious? If humor is lost in translation why isn't stupidity?

Now for the more critical part of this essay, how does a brand target the stupid? Or does the target find the the brand? I am quite sure those that qualify for The Darwin Awards very often don't need to know about them to act and qualify for them!

Sadly organizations too fall prey to being influenced by 'stupid', as much as I have loved Drucker I know Management is not always about doing the right things and leadership is not about doing things right!

The experience brand phenomenon!

2009-11-11T13:16:00.003-05:00

V interesting article in Adage on "How Experiences Are Becoming the New Advertising" and brands like Red Bull, Virgin America, Uniqlo and Guinness Lead the Way!

Red Bull: Red Bull basically pioneered the experiential category. Not only did the brand rise to prominence by sponsoring alternative athletes and lifestyles, it went further by creating its own events, like Red Bull's Flugtag and even its own sports like Red Bull's Crashed Ice, which takes over old Quebec with a mix of hockey and motorcross. Even the brand's website has morphed into a blog, much like today's most popular publishers.

Camper: Most of us in the U.S. think of Camper as purely a comfortable yet stylish shoe brand. But the Spanish company is much more and pursues a brand ethos that's both traditional, cultural and fashion forward simultaneously. Proof: Casa Camper, stylish (but laid back) hotels in Barcelona and Berlin that embodies the brand's essence. Ditto for Camper Together which taps up and coming artists to create one-of-a-kind boutiques.

Guinness: Guinness may be 250 years old, but it's acting like a much, much younger marketer. The company has embraced experiential branding both literally and figuratively with its "It's Alive Inside" positioning. For its anniversary, Guinness offered up Remarkable Experiences, including a trip into space. It also released a pub-finder iPhone application with a social media twist. More impressively, the brand created the Guinness Storehouse, a seven-story building that functions as both museum and pub, that has now become one of Ireland's top tourist attractions. And, more recently, Guinness even wired up its rugby team with RFID tags (including balls and players) to capture a whole range of statistics about how fast, powerfully and effectively the game is played.

UNIQLO: Few companies have so used digital like Uniqlo to both build a brand and breakthrough to new consumers -- and on a truly global scale.The Japanese retailer surprises and delights consumers at every turn, whether through innovative iPhone applications, calendars, e-commerce, stylebooks and microsites. Uniqlo's experiential efforts not only express the brand, but reach new consumers who may live thousands of miles away from the nearest retail location.

Virgin America: Virgin America has gone further than most, ensuring that the experience is the marketing -- and advertising in many cases. The brand targeted tech-savvy consumers early on with its Red system entertainment console and in-flight WiFi. It showed off its dramatic interiors in promotions with Diggnation and YouTube celebrities; became an early adopter of Twitter for customer service; and reinforced its brand values through its simple booking engine on VirginAmerica.com. And now, for the holidays, Virgin America is partnering with Google to offer free WiFi for travelers.

Nike: Nike, of course, has been moving in this experiential direction for a few years. 'We're not in the business of keeping the media companies alive,'' Nike's Trevor Edwards told the New York Times in 2007. ''We're in the business of connecting with consumers.'' And so they have. The company continually earns kudos for consumer experience breakthroughs like Nike+, its online running community; the Human Race, a global running event; and more recently the Livestrong Chalkbot which enabled users to submit a text message that would be painted (digitally) on the route of the Tour de France.

Branding 'Sexiness'

2009-11-10T12:21:00.004-05:00

This is a very powerful video, one with a strong personality and yes of course 'Sexiness'. Sensuality does not have boundaries and without doubt is PERSONAL not limited to someone else's evaluation, judgment or appreciation! - LIAISON

Now for another view on Shoppers

2009-11-10T12:05:00.003-05:00

Segmentation is one of the fundamental building blocks of a marketing program and one of the first steps in presenting a brand with a relevant proposition to the target audience. Segmentation is not how brands perceive shoppers & consumers but how shoppers and consumers perceive themselves... There are obviously 10 ways from Tuesday to skin a cat and so also Segment the target shoppers & consumers.

Here is one shopper segmentation in light of the current economic recession from Decitica -

1. Steadfast Frugalists
2. Involuntary Penny-Pinchers
3. Pragmatic Spenders
4. Apathetic Materialists.

These categories were derived by analyzing the frequency, satisfaction and the self-efficacy associated with a variety of spending, purchase and consumption behaviors.
Steadfast Frugalists
Steadfast Frugalists are committed to self-restraint, engaging in prudence with unequivocal enthusiasm. They make up about one-fifth of the American consumers, representing all income and age groups.
"Marketers will find this group to be the most challenging, as they are the least brand loyal and most likely to discount marketing messages," notes Dr. Srinivas.
Eighty-percent of Steadfast Frugalists say the new behaviors they have adopted will likely stay with them for a long time. This is in contrast to twenty-four percent of Apathetic Materialists who feel this way.
Involuntary Penny-Pinchers
Involuntary Penny-Pinchers, about twenty-nine percent of the population, have been severely affected by the recession. They are mainly made up of households with less than $50,000 in income, with more women than men.
This segment has been forced to embrace thrift like never before. Presently, their actual behaviors do not differ widely from those of Steadfast Frugalists. Where they drastically diverge is in their aversion to expending effort in money-saving strategies. Only seventeen percent find buying store or generic labels to be satisfying, compared to fifty-nine percent of Steadfast Frugalists.
Also, the recession has had a heavy emotional impact on Involuntary Penny-Pinchers; they admit to being more scared (seventy-seven percent), stressed (eighty-one percent) and worried (eighty-seven percent) about the future than other groups.
Pragmatic Spenders
"Pragmatic Spenders are the most attractive group for marketers because of their higher spending power," says Dr. Val Srinivas. "While it is true that they have also curbed their spending, they are the most capable, both psychologically and financially, to willfully resurrect their past spending patterns," he added. This group comprises twenty-nine percent of consumers.
Income has blunted the effects of the recession on this segment. Only twenty-eight percent of Pragmatic Spenders feel the recession has changed what and how they will buy in the future, compared to fifty-five percent of Steadfast Frugalists.
Apathetic Materialists
Apathetic Materialists seem least changed by the recession. They have not embraced the new frugality to the same extent as others and get minimal satisfaction from such behaviors. Only about six percent in this group find price comparison to be satisfying, in contrast to eighty-five percent in the Steadfast Frugalists camp.
The Apathetic Materialists segment has more men (fifty-five percent) and younger consumers (seventy-two percent are below the age of forty). They are the least driven by price: only eight percent admit to being very focused on value compared to thirty percent of Pragmatic Spenders and fifty-two percent of Involuntary Penny-Pinchers.

In my opinion a lot of these segments are sheer common sense and a lot of creative copy in generating segment names that sound profound and titillating at the same time.

Top 10 tactics that make you buy

2009-11-03T16:17:00.002-05:00

Retail marketing article on MSN's Money is interesting... Here are the tidbits

1. Location, location, location
In retailing, as in real estate, location is everything. The milk is at the back of the supermarket for the simple reason that you have to walk past everything in the shop to get to it. There's no dashing in and dashing out again. Instead there's enough time to remember that you also need dishwashing detergent, garbage bags and, oh yes, Tim Tams. The best layouts are designed to keep you moving and often follow a curving path (think of an IKEA store or your local Target). The effect is to have you "wander around".
2. Refer to rule one
While we're on the subject of location, it's no accident that small, incidental purchases are placed close to the cash registers. Magazines, chocolate bars, batteries … the kind of stuff you never remember unless it's staring you in the face. In the same way, lip glosses, scented candles, soaps, those little "comedy" books, key rings and the like will be placed tantalisingly near the counter of specialist shops. It makes it easier for you to say "oh, and this too, thanks". You'll also often see products classified as impulse buys placed at the ends of aisles, making them hard to miss.
3. Smells like teen spirit
Probably bigger in the US than it is here, scent can be used to create a buying ambience. The classic is coffee and freshly baked bread in supermarkets (try smelling either and not feeling hungry), but there have also been cases where sports stores have been scented to smell like locker rooms (supposedly to make you feel like an athlete).
4. My kind of sound
Next time you're shopping, close your eyes and listen to the tempo of the sounds being piped through the aisles. In a traditional department store, the music is likely to be soothing — aimed at slowing you down and encouraging you to linger over the merchandise. Supermarkets play those comfortable, easy hits that have you singing along and probably not sticking as closely to your shopping list as you should. Specialty stores will use music to reflect the kind of customer the retailer is targeting — young, funky boutiques play young, funky music (usually at ear-splitting levels).
5. Show me the money
Visual merchandising (a fancy name for displays) offers more ammunition. By putting items together in an attractive way, or, in the case of home stores, showing a room setting that allows you to imagine the items at your place, retailers are doing the hard work for you. So rather than buying the picture frame you went in the store for, you might buy three (they "group" so nicely) — and perhaps a rug, lamp and cushion to "tie the look together".
This kind of enticement begins with the glossy catalogues that stores now produce. No longer just a photographic show-through of a company's product, the catalogues are selling "see-yourself-here" lifestyle aspirations.
6. Look at me
To make you buy, the retailer has to get you to stop. The more you stop to look at attractive displays or interesting details or "bargain" signs, the more likely it is that extra stuff will find its way into your basket or trolley. To combat this, keep on walking — if it's that interesting, you can always go back later.
7. Shelf possessed
It's no accident that the most expensive items in a supermarket are placed at eye level (or that products aimed at kids are placed about three-feet from the ground). We see therefore we buy. It takes a savvy shopper to know that cheaper products are usually on the bottom shelves. Bend a little and save.
8. Twice as nice
How many times have you been seduced by the supermarket "multi-buy" or the shoe stores "two-for-one" offer? Using the words "two for one" instead of "50 percent off" have been shown to increase purchases by up to 150 percent! Apparently we feel we're getting value rather than simply getting something cheap. Ask yourself this: do you really need two?
9. Size does count
It's very hard to over-shop with a basket — space is at a premium — which is why some retailers push us towards trolleys. Your three-item shopping list — toothpaste, butter, tuna — looks very lonely in a huge trolley and it's hard to avoid the temptation to throw in extra products to keep them company. Before you know it, you've racked up a huge bill.
10. When trying has you buying
Clothes-shopping has many traps for the unwary. From the salesperson who tries to develop "a relationship" with you (so that you trust her judgement and will take her advice on additional purchases) to the little "extras" that are vital to making an outfit "work" — think jewellery, bag, shoes, scarf … and the list goes on. It also seems that simply trying something on can lead to a purchase. It's called "claiming ownership" and the logic goes that once you've had that coat on your back you'll feel less happy about putting it back on the rack. Nobody's suggesting you shouldn't try before you buy, but beware those possessive feelings.

8 Guaranteed Ways To Kill Your Brand

2009-10-27T09:57:00.002-04:00

As important as it is to work a strategy to develop a successful brand, it is important to know avoid the pot holes along the way. This was an interesting article from this morning's MediaPost, cant say I agree with everything 100% but it is not a bad start.

Here are some of the key points.

Myth #1 - Follow the leader

NB - You cannot fail for following the leader! Game Theory has proved the best fail proof strategy is "Monkey see monkey do"

Myth #2 - Better safe than sorry

NB - Test, Test, Test then Act! Better safe than fool hardy.

Myth #3 - Recessions are bad times to introduce new brands
Myth #4 - National brands are dead
Myth #5 - Value = price
Myth #6 - More SKUs = more market share
Myth #7 - Consumers are marketers

NB - Start with listening to Consumers, but marketer holds the controls

Myth #8 - The answers lie in research

NB - Start with research and end with research! Focus on the right questions not just right answers.

Brand Magic

2009-10-21T09:12:00.002-04:00

The article is no new news but a sheer reinforcement of concepts but the ideas are certainly on target. Top lines from the article:

1. Understand the "right brain" of your category.
Marketers always have a deep understanding of their category's "left brain," the numbers and functional benefits. The "right brain" attributes often are unexplored. What visual, sensorial and emotional benefits can your brand deliver and own that work together with your product's attributes to create an unbreakable bond that turns your consumers into brand enthusiasts?
2. Understand the sensorial and emotional palette of your audience.

A lot of research is still left-brain, Q&A-focused. To unveil the magic in your brand, using highly right-brained projective techniques like image sorts, drawing and writing can get at the more elusive sensorial and emotional attributes that are important to your consumer and relevant, meaningful and inspiring in your category.
3. Create a Visual Position.

Brand positions are often created in words, although people primarily experience brands visually. But ... a brand's packaging, advertising and overall presence in the world starts with visual symbolism, not words. And unlike our pets at home, who have heightened senses of smell and hearing, humans are primarily sight-driven. Seventy percent of our sense receptors are in our eyes, and 80% of what we learn about the world comes to us visually, yet most brands do not have a visual position that brings the written positioning and story to life.

Terminologies catching-up with Concepts

2009-10-15T11:24:00.004-04:00

I was at the breakfast table and thinking of an ice breaking phrase for a conversation when I stumbled upon the thought of how terminology and concepts are out of sync. May be even a phase lag where terminology is playing catch-up with concepts!

Here is a classic example "Automobile", as an equipment and term enabled consumers to be 'mobile' without much physical exertion. For a few years now we don't even need to physically travel to be 'mobile' to get from Point A to Point B, participate in dialog, interact broadly beyond just sound. Devices like Mobile-Phones, Networking devices enable us to be in a new place ethereally in a matter of seconds and in many times multiple places simultaneously at the same time.

This gap creates the space for brands to establish metaphors and emotions for consumers to visualize and imagine the possibilities? The more vivid the images and greater the relevance the greater the likelihood of resonance!

You've got to love the simplicity!

2009-10-15T09:15:00.003-04:00

Venky (Rao), Thanks again for the shot...

Plan-Act-Prepare

2009-10-13T11:32:00.003-04:00

Interesting article on Realities of idea diffusion and consumer idea adoption based on concepts from Moore's, Crossing the Chasm & Godin's 'Purple Cow', published by Beakdal.

Here are some real life examples from the article:

Car industry:

One example is the car industry, and companies like General Motors. If they had embraced this plan 5-10 years ago, then they would not have gone bankrupt.

Of course, there are always special cases, where you are creating niche products that go against the norm. But, they too have to change with the times. Even Ferrari is looking into creating more fuel-efficient cars. And cars like the 2010 Fisker Karma are showing the way.
"Web design" (which we need another word for)

The same goes for web design. Instead of a traditional website, your plan should now be to move your content to where people are. While doing that, you should embrace the social world and use your website as a hub (do this now, not tomorrow).

You should also still support the ‘old world' of websites and blogs. But, you should no longer spend any more time creating traditional websites.
Marketing & PR:

It is the same with marketing and PR. Plan for social news. Do social networks, support TV & magazines, and ignore print catalogs?

Fair versus Equal

2009-10-08T08:59:00.001-04:00

Back to the debate of tangibles? Yes, ofcourse!

I know not a lot of people have patience for this math mumbo-jumbo but here is where I was going with the concept. Brand and particularly in the service sector incentivize customers through promotions either to attract or retain them various strategies (popularly refered to as CRM-Customer Relationship Management, a glorified way of nurturing your customer). Even the best laid plans are often abused, the least attractive shoppers often endup with maximum gains and the loyalists miss the cream.

In a debate between fair and equal, the rewards are established fairly from the opint of view of the marketer but redeemed fairly from the point of view of the customer and consumer. Fair is intangible and is obviously a function of the point of view where as equality is tangible and independent of points of view.

So the fnudamental question in my mind was should a brand pursue fairness and run the risk of some very happy customers or equality and averaged happiness across the entire customer base? One option is to establish and offer equality through baseline brand attributes of service, quality, assortment while fairness in community causes. As for the rewards, let the experience be a reward in itself?

'The Daily Prophet' from Harry Potter in real life???

2009-10-01T09:42:00.004-04:00

This could be ground breaking for the traditional print media & communication world, video-in-print ads in select copies of "Entertainment Weekly".

The first-ever video advertisement will be published in a traditional paper magazine in September
Americhip, the developer of video-in-print (multi-sensory marketing), has also created magazine technology that appeals to various senses, including smell.

Fascinating piece in the BBC interview on - YouTube

Let the brand evoke your senses

2009-09-30T16:13:00.004-04:00

Came across an article on FastCompany - Smell This Tag: Olfactory Street Art

Scent is intrinsically tied to memory, and chances are the smell of grass in an underground subway stop would not only be a respite from the urban drag, but evoke memories that would be impossible to recreate with everyday spray paint.

Won't it be great if the so called retail theater were truly a sensory experience with all senses - Visual, Auditory, Olfactory, Taste & Touch... truly 'stimulated'?

Let's enable the shopper & the consumer to live vicariously through our brands!

Integrating culture into the brand's message

2009-09-30T14:21:00.003-04:00

Fabulous ad, hits the IDEA home!!!

Venky, thanks for posting the link.

Mental Floss - 18 Memorable Ad Questions

2009-09-29T11:18:00.003-04:00

Interesting tag lines & slogans posted on Mental Floss, the comments have equally interesting additions...

1. Got milk?
2. Have you driven a Ford lately?
3. Can you hear me now?
4. Where do you want to go today?
5. Do you… Yahoo!?
6. Does she or doesn’t she?
7. Where’s the beef?
8. How do you spell relief?
9. Is it live, or is it Memorex?
10. This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?
11. Aren’t you glad you use Dial? Don’t you wish everyone did?
12. Did somebody say McDonalds?
13. What would you do for a Klondike bar?
14. How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie-Roll center of a Tootsie-Pop?
15. Doesn’t your dog deserve ALPO?
16. Fun anyone?
17. Wassup?!
18. Pardon me. Do you have any Grey Poupon?

from some of the comments posted to the blog...

American Express - Do You Know Me?
Sam Adams - Do you love beer?
What kind of man reads Playboy?
Why Ask Why? (Bud ‘Dry’)
What can Brown do for you?
Do you believe in magic? (McDonald’s)
Are you in good hands?
What’s in YOUR wallet?
Have you played Atari today?
Have you seen my XR-7?
What do you want on your Tombstone?
Southwest Airlines: wanna get away?
Who do you want to be today?
Are those Bugle Boy jeans you’re wearing?
Pepto-Bismol - Do you mind if we talk about…(whispered) diarrhea?
Do you Canoe?
Amex - What will you do?
Mom, do you ever get that…not so fresh feeling?
Do you know where your children are?

Underdog brands

2009-09-25T22:04:00.004-04:00

Brands that start small as underdogs and evolve into a leader, how are they to handle the change in position?

Past couple elections around the world over the last year got me thinking about a challenge where a political party 'The brand', that played the role of an underdog one that was in minority, represented for the little guy suddenly wins elections and gets to the decision table grows in size and looses its identity as a small meek entity. Real life examples are the guerrilla organization, characterized as a terror group is now a legit party in power in Palestine. Barak Obama is running some of this same risk, promising nimble response to some of the economic problems is not running ever bigger size that slows things down, including lobbyists from every economic corner in the US into his government that he fought against.

What is a brand that has evolved from David into the Goliath to do? How is the brand to continue a successful relationship with its core consumers? Can the brand stay relevant to the cause? Do principles of creative destruction apply to such a scenario?

Mythology MUST influence brand strategy

2009-09-24T14:39:00.004-04:00

This is ABSOLUTELY THE MOST FASCINATING AND VISIONARY IDEA in retailing! Cheers to Mr. Biyani and his team for their bold and ever so bohemian stance. For a developing country like India religion is a a very strong element of who the people are.

"You need science to validate art. But without art, science has no meaning. As CEO, you must keep Kama (creative spirit) and Yama (control) in proper and constant balance in your firm."

Greek mythology (which Western management gurus and motivational speakers heavily borrow from) won't work in India for two reasons: first, Greek myths center on a single character and adulate individual heroism (Heracles, Odysseus, Achilles, etc). Second, they promote absolute values (good vs. bad). But Hindu myths like Ramayana are cast with multiple heroes and imbued with relative values (e.g., Hinduism considers a bad action acceptable if animated by a good intention). In the highly diverse and complex Indian society, internal and external marketing stories won't sink in unless they embody "collective heroism" and non-Manichean values.
"Whole brain" marketing and communication techniques that combine both art (gut feeling, sociology, and even mythology) and science (analytics, business processes) are key for shaping new markets and keeping employees engaged.
As Western companies go after global markets that are increasingly complex and diverse , US and European firms must adopt and adapt stories from Indian mythology to inspire and engage customers and employees

A very interesting and engaging management conversation for sure and given Future Group's success in India, as a marketer I thinking an equally engaging marketing strategy!

Retailers may be waking up to the difference between Shoppers & Consumers?

2009-09-23T11:29:00.004-04:00

Someone is warming up to the SHOPPERS while keeping the CONSUMER equity... ITS NEVER TOO LATE! Interesting article in the WSJ this morning - Teen Stores Cater to the Ones With Money

Retailers Keep Parents in Mind

Wide aisles so that parents with strollers can easily navigate the store
Longer display tables with items folded neatly and stacked in size order to facilitate browsing
Wholesome imaging behind the counter to project a family-friendly brand
Bright lighting so that parents can easily see the merchandise (also, not pictures, but a moderate level of music, which is lowered around back-to-school times when the company knows it will have more parents in the stores)
More cash registers in the middle of the store to help parents make purchases faster

One thing to remember, Moms and Dads are the ones that pay for the shopping and they DESERVE the respect, they need to be PLEASED as much as the consumer!

PKN goes viral

2009-09-23T09:00:00.004-04:00

A very interesting MIN-MAX concept in communicating (Minimum content, Maximum Impact), 20 slides x 20 seconds per slide. The concept is amazing drives you to the brink of creativity and forces diligence by including only those visuals that are absolutely needed.

Pecha Kucha - is Japanese for chit-chat (WIKI about the idea)

Everyone needs an elevator pitch, PK is the elevator pitch or a one pager for the communicator!

What is Neuromarketing?

2009-09-15T15:59:00.001-04:00

From FastCompany - Neuromarketing Hope and Hype

Neuromarketing is the practice of using technology to measure brain activity in consumer subjects in order to inform the development of products and communications--really to inform the brand's 4Ps. The premise is that consumer buying decisions are made in split seconds in the subconscious, emotional part of the brain and that by understanding what we like, don't like, want, fear, are bored by, etc. as indicated by our brain's reactions to brand stimuli, marketers can design products and communications to better meet "unmet" market needs, connect and drive "the buy".

It is commonly accepted that traditional market research is flawed because consumers don't know, can't articulate, or will even lie in a focus group about their purchase motivations. Neuromarketing research removes subjectivity and ambiguity by going right to measuring observable brain behavior. Respondent attention level, emotional engagement and memory storage are common metrics.

Who else but Walter Landor...

2009-09-15T09:18:00.001-04:00

"Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind."

- Walter Landor

Wells Fargo - Brand Gaps!!

2009-09-14T18:52:00.006-04:00

It is a scary world when you have to talk to a service brand where the ingredients of the brand (the very people that make up the brand) say things like "I don't know what he/she may have said... ", Finger pointing and Evasive talk for those people who represent the brand is a poor reflection on the brand whether it is the CEO speaking or the Janitor!

Had a terrible experience with Wells Fargo... As a consumer I am doing business with Wells Fargo (the service brand) and not the individual I am on the phone with or across the counter from a representative of Wells Fargo, and I don't care if it is Joe Anybody? I expect the same integrity, commitment and service from the rank and file as I do with the first individual I run into that represents the brand to me, 'the consumer'.

Here are a few tid-bits:

Employees representing the service side of a brand MUST OWN UP!
The fault of an individual element of a brand is a FAULT ON THE PART OF THE BRAND!
Everyone that works for the enterprise (service brand) IS THE BRAND!
Every employee of the organization, every individual acting on behalf of the organization IS THE BRAND!
Sales is a continuous process, FAIL ME ONCE AND YOU LOSE THE CONSUMER FOREVER!

Is anything permanent?

2009-09-12T13:28:00.002-04:00

This is a very philosophical question "Is anything permanent?" and I believe there are some things that can be. I was thinking about this recently during an engagement, a typical brand strategy project and why a brand deserves to exist and thrive. In a cluttered world why should a product that does roughly the same thing as many others even survive?

I started with first principle...
- What do products need to survive? Customers.
- What attracts customers? Brands.
- Why brands? Brands give people a reason beyond a product
- What kind of a reason? A unique thought, a special place in the mind, an unequivocal emotion!

So in essence as long as emotions exist products survive. Said differently things can be permanent as long as the unique emotion is tied and implicitly associated with the brand the products will last.

A classic example are empires like India, China, Rome, Egypt, etc. came and went but religions and philosophies like Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, etc. have out lasted generations. Abstract concepts outlive time and space!

Five leading consumer trends for 2009 from Mintel

2009-09-08T09:03:00.005-04:00

From Mintel's news posting, are the five leading consumer trends Mintel identified for the rest of 2009 - TRUST, CONTROL, SIMPLICITY, PLAYFULNESS, TRADING UP/DOWN/OVER

Trust
Trust is a paramount concern in 2009, as banks, food manufacturers and government officials suffer from losing people’s trust. In the US, 66% of adults say they have less trust in financial services companies because of recent economic developments. Food companies are at risk too: six in 10 Americans worry about food safety.

In the UK, loss of trust in financial institutions is understandable, but brands are also fighting to establish themselves as trustworthy. Trust is key to keeping customer loyalty because people are seeking out cheaper private label options: Mintel research shows 39% of Brits on a budget look to switch to private label.

Control
When the financial bottom dropped out last year, already-choosy consumers found another reason to grasp for control—security. A Mintel survey of US mass affluent adults shows two in five saying they intend to permanently spend less and decrease their reliance on credit cards, thus increasing control over their finances. Likewise, in the UK, as many as 6 million Brits (13%) intend to increase their savings in the next year or so, while a further 3 million people (6%) who are not current savers intend to start saving soon.

“We see new values taking hold as people adapt to today’s tighter economy. Conservative and pragmatic are in; excess is out. Consumers feel pessimistic about the future, so they’re taking cautious steps to ensure their safety and happiness now,” comments Harry Foster.

Playfulness
Despite negative feelings about the economy and pressure to cut back, people still want to enjoy themselves. In the US, three in five people say they traveled domestically in the past year; but to save money, more travelers visit friends or family, spend time looking for travel bargains or choose cheap transportation.

Additionally, helping people achieve the balance between necessity and pleasure, global manufacturers have been releasing quirky, light-hearted new products*. Today, playfulness offers people a way to escape, engage and build relationships with brands.

Simplicity
In work and play alike, consumers around the world continue seeking simplicity. More than two-thirds of Americans recently told Mintel they’ve been simplifying their lives over the past six months, while nearly nine in 10 think there is “too much emphasis on material things in our society.”

Manufacturers have followed suit globally, launching more products that appease people’s desire for clear functionality, clean ingredient labels and simple packaging. Restaurants, too, have caught onto this trend by offering all-inclusive meal deals that tell people exactly what they’ll get for their money.

Trading down, up and over
Trying to save where they can, consumers continue trading down across spending opportunities. Eight in 10 Americans say they’re cooking at home more now, while a full 52% admit to spending less at restaurants this year than last. Meanwhile, some 54% of Brits are buying more food on special offers, while more than a third (36%) are trading down to budget private label brands.

With so much trading down, however, many consumers also trade up in some instances to reward themselves. Small luxuries such as fine chocolate or perfume are a common treat, while other shoppers purchase gourmet food at the grocery store because it’s still more affordable than eating out.

Mintel analyzes consumer trends annually, pinpointing those with the greatest impact on behavior and beliefs. Watch for Mintel’s 2010 trend predictions later this year.

Generation gaps in selling

2009-09-02T18:15:00.005-04:00

I had a conversation recently about sellers and consumers. Sellers usually end up being older (age) and the buyers range across generations. The gap is addressed on consumer packaged brands through brand architecture in order to adapt positioning by generation but service brands have a tough time. Mainly because concepts of brand architecture driven strategy has not crystallized in the sector compounded by the success metrics that are more often focused on revenues versus sustained long term profits

Here are some examples we discussed. Grocery stores want more and more guests to visit even if it is for a minuscule share of requirements, which means could be simply cherry picking. Restaurants want patrons to visit and eat without realizing the life time value may be marginal. Private schools want to attract families even if they are high maintenance resulting in a lot of nonproductive time investment on the part of the teachers and the administrative staff.

The truth is who does not what growth? Even if it is just revenues that may not be profitable long term? Patrons, guests and consumers don't have a label that would help institutions filter them out, so how is an organization to evaluate its customers fit? Organizations have addressed these opportunities over time some have been strategic while others have learnt through mistakes. here is what has worked...

Leadership is critical because an organization needs to be able to walk away from business if there is not strategic long term benefit! Instituting a consumer and customer centricity in the brand is a must and lastly Measurement of the cost of acquiring and maintaining a customer and consumer.

Online Advertising on Par with TV

2009-08-29T13:32:00.003-04:00

Interesting results from comScore & dunnhumbyUSA. Particularly given the cost of Interactive marketing as compared to traditional Media and the over abundance of supply.

Offline Sales Lift from CPG Brand Advertising Comparison Between TV and Internet Total U.S. Source: Information Resources, Inc. and comScore, Inc.
	TV (IRI)	Internet (comScore)
Sales Lift	+8% over 12 months	+9% over 3 months
Percent of Campaigns Showing Statistically Significant Lift	36%	80%

(Table from comScore Press release of Aug, 17th)

Google had performed a similar study in '08 in partnership with Harris Interactive with similar results.

The balancing act

2009-08-28T11:50:00.002-04:00

When does inspiration change to temptation? Brand and marketing organization I work with are often sitting on the this edge making a choice between being inspired by a successful brand or even brands that have pulled a one off punch. This year has seen a disproportionate number of brands barking up the "Compare & Save", "Taste & Performance test", "Blind test", etc. trees.

The tough part is this transformation from inspiration to temptation is very subtle one that is driven by inertia from a critical threshold of marketers and executives simultaneously impressed by the competitors tactic creating a geometric escalation from inspiration to temptation.

When inspiration transforms into temptation brands run the risk of being "me too"! There is nothing worse than a "Monkey see-Monkey do" brand especially since the tactic progressively gets less effective but more importantly erodes defining identity and equity of the brand!

It is interesting brands don't have to do a whole lot different to combat this affliction... objectivity in evaluating competitors is a priority, a portfolio approach to tactics and finally consolidation of the basics - positioning, segmentation and targeting.

I agree responding to competitors is important but at times taking the high ground and not responding to such tactics can be the difference between a brand leader and followers.

Two interesting articles in one day....

2009-08-26T11:36:00.005-04:00

Bringing the CMO and CTO together is an excellent opportunity! The only this morning's article "The Great Divide", lacked was the fact that it completely excludes the Marketing point of view? Here are some interesting thoughts I discovered...

While both the CMO & CTO share high-level goals, their priorities differ. Marketers find flexibility and agility most important, while IT execs value stability and continuity.

1. Allow IT to experiment.
2. Give IT a stake in marketing.
3. Let marketers tinker with technology.
4. Mix things up. Systems work better when IT and Marketing work in the same room and share responsibility for uptime.

The CMO's Role in a Customer-Centric Organization - I have been interested in Jay Galbraith's work on organization design for a while (I own and have read all the books he has written), his article in AdAge this morning is very exciting. Here are some nuggets:

"How customer-centric do we need to be?"; At the center of these challenges is the role of the chief marketing officer -- the person who needs to deliver thought leadership, lead the strategy debate and reorganization, and then integrate the various marketing types into a company-wide, customer-centric orientation.

The need for strong thought leadership begins by defining customer centricity. This task is more difficult than simply establishing a company lexicon.

many product-centric companies think that they are customer-centric; They drive their product-development process with customer insights. They use ergonomic and anthropological studies to guide product design. They test the design on focus groups and user groups. They measure customer satisfaction and so on. But at the end of the day, they are still product-centric. Why? Because they are trying to reach as many customers as possible for their product. Their metric is market share and customer retention.

A customer-centric business tries to find as many products and services as possible for the customer. They create solutions and experiences for their customers.

Solutions require customer insight and knowledge in order to create value for the customer segment. In general, the larger the solution -- the more products and services that are combined -- the greater the amount of customer insights and knowledge needed to create that solution.

The CMO's role? To be the thought leader who defines customer centricity and determines if the company is product-centric or customer-centric; The role of the CMO is one of generating and implementing cross-category solutions. The CMO needs to build and establish a robust insight-development process throughout the company to drive the development of solutions. Finally, the CMO will need to bring the brand architecture framework to bear. The CMO needs to have the leadership skills to manage this company-wide community. The CMO typically runs the marketing councils for the company.

all ROUND Engagement with Pampers...

2009-08-24T11:24:00.003-04:00

I was hoping to go for a double entendre, but I am not a copy writer... Thank God!

"A Parent Is Born" is a docu-drama series following a real couple, Suzie and Steve, along their path to parenthood. The series captures the range of challenges, fears, excitement and joys that come with having your first child. The episodes are 4-5 minutes in length and will live on the recently redeveloped Pampers Village Web site, which continues to offer new content and features to delight current parents and parents-to-be where they live, work and play. "A Parent is Born" is an honest, entertaining, portrayal of a couple's amazing journey from the 15th week of pregnancy through the first month post birth.

"Pampers understands there are experiences to be faced long before the baby even comes," said Jodi Allen North American vice president and general manager for Pampers. "The 'A Parent is Born' series is an authentic look at the joy and excitement, as well as the challenges and fears that go along with becoming a parent. We are excited to enhance the Pampers Village Web site and provide consumers with compelling video content that not only informs new parents-to-be, but also provides some nostalgic moments for parents looking back at their own journeys."

"A Parent is Born" 12-part docu-drama video series debuts on www.pampers.com on Aug. 24. Not a new strategy for either Pampers, P&G or most brands but the concept is great in targeting the prospect when she is anxious and prime.

What Does Engagement Really Mean?

2009-08-20T13:46:00.007-04:00

I am currently involved with a project in better understanding the concept of "ENGAGEMENT". This MediaPost Blog: Engage:Hispanics, is a summarization of current work publicly being discussed.

Forrester Research's definition of ENGAGEMENT:
Engagement is measured as the level of involvement, interaction, intimacy and influence a customer has for or with a brand over time.
Metrics:
Involvement tracks site visitors, time spent, page views, reach, frequency, media impressions, etc.
Interaction measures the contributions to blogs, content creation and uploads, and purchases.
Intimacy monitors consumer attitudes, perceptions and feelings about a brand through surveys, service calls and brand studies.
Influence measures the likelihood that consumers will recommend or advocate products or brands. Summarized well with gauges such as Net Promoter Indexes (NPi), brand affinities, etc.

Google Wonder Wheel

2009-08-19T09:59:00.005-04:00

Creativity has been big business! Back when I was with a large global CPG company I even remember one exec asking me to organize for a consistent creative breakthrough... I cant say we were super successful but we certainly we delivered, using something similar to the Google Wonderwheel. Our tools were a lot simpler - The Visual Thesaurus.

A recent video posted on Stanford University's eCorner has additional insights for Creativity and Incremental innovation - What is Creativity?

Google Wonderwheel - Consumer Insights

Breaking retail's addiction to discounting

2009-08-18T10:02:00.002-04:00

It is easier said than done - "Breaking retail's addiction to discounting"! Its not just lack of leadership it is often lack of common sense. Retail has dug its own grave training shoppers and consumers to shop on deals and leadership in retail is often short-sighted without deep understanding of brands and engagement with shoppers inside the store.

Kate Newlin puts forth some interesting points (her example is not new and neither are her points, they are from her 2006 book - Shopportunity):

1. If we're a clothing retailer, we have to hire fashionista/passionistas.
A genuine passionista (of whatever retail genre) is excited about the merchandise not because they're told to be, but because they are excited by it. How can you tell? One of the aspects of finding passionistas is that their avocation is also their vocation.

2. We have to brand the experience, differentiating on elements of style and design.
The most salient emotional benefit of shopping is to feel "lucky," as women describe it over and over. Knowing that feeling lucky is the emotion women desire from a great shopping experience, we can empathize with retailers who try resort to the short cut of price promotion, which surely can elicit the "lucky" response. However, it's those folks who work harder and more creatively to prompt the "I'm lucky I found it" reaction through enhanced shopping experiences who win social as well as financial capital.

3. We have to change the tone, acknowledging that the customer knows the economy is in free-fall.
What customers want is to have a unique proposition. When we bother to do that through service and support or any of a hundred valid means, we automatically de-average price.

"Packaging the sixth sense"

2009-08-17T10:52:00.002-04:00

The Times article refers to an article published in the Journal of Marketing that studied consumers and interaction with product packages.

"When buying products whose selling point is richness or weight, consumers like to see the product image at the bottom or the right of the packaging"

"products that are supposed to be healthy or light — like low-calorie cookies or hand-held video cameras — do better with images at the top of the packaging, or on the left"

Credits to Ernst Dichter for the title of this article. Ernst published a book by the same name in 1975.

Strengthen a Brand Community

2009-08-17T09:36:00.003-04:00

Awesome article from Bandchannel.com - Four Opportunities to Strengthen a Brand Community. The best part of the article is the fact that the four opportunities are not limited to "Online" since most engagement models are technology centric. Here are the top lines:

Needs in Tension Reveal Hidden Opportunities
Keep it..
- practical (get help to get things done)
- emotional (express devotion to my group)
- individual (explore different parts of my identity)
- social (raise the quality of my interactions)

Sustain Passions while Managing Responsibilities
Joining a community is often a means to pursue a hobby or interest
- Paradoxically, the more a community succeeds at providing members multiple ways to engage, the more it increases the potential conflict between spending time with the community and the need to manage responsibilities such as family and career.
- Strong communities head off these issues by providing opportunities to include the family and by making it easy for members to manage their involvement without feeling guilty.

Deepen Experience and Explore New Challenges
Some of the most tangible benefits communities offer are opportunities to deepen knowledge and gain expertise.
- The more the brand enables members to explore their shared passion, the stronger the ties to the community become.

Be an Individual and Part of Something Bigger
Individuals often join communities to test out or develop different aspects of their identities.
- Affiliating with a like-minded group is a good way to explore ideals and decide if they’re really for you.
- Marketing experts have taught us that the best way to do this is by developing a strong brand identity: define a relevant set of values and express them clearly and consistently to attract a loyal following. While this formula works well for attraction, it can be limiting in terms of retention. The very clarity and consistency that build a strong brand can feel confining to those already involved and lead to a desire for escape.

Enjoy Today while Preparing for the Future
The tension between immediate gratification and future rewards has plagued humans for thousands of years. It shows up in every aspect of our lives, and the community sphere is no different.
- Involvement in the community can feel like a distraction or like an impediment to getting on with the serious business of real life.

Discovering these opportunities requires listening to constituents, asking questions and, often, digging beneath the surface to unearth hidden conflicts. Passionate community members are eager to co-create, and engaging people in strengthening their own community is always a winning strategy.

Change Is Hardest in the Middle

2009-08-14T10:57:00.005-04:00

Interesting post on the Harvard Publishing Blog - from the Change Master Rosabeth Kanter. I had an opportunity to present on the topic of Organizational Change to a client and when I read this post, I could not resist by post a slide from my presentation.
Kanter's stages and suggestions align with mine:

• Tune into the environment. What has changed since you began the initiative? Do the original assumptions hold? Is the need still there?
• Check the vision. Does the idea still feel inspiring? Is it big enough to make extra efforts worthwhile?
• Test support. Are supporters still enthusiastic about the mission? Will new partners join the initiative?
• Examine progress. Have promises been kept and milestones passed? Are there early indicators, tangible demonstrations, that this could succeed? Can the next wave of results sustain supporters and silence critics?
• Search for synergies. Can the project work well with other activities? Can it be enhanced by alliances?

I agree with Kanter on the fact that:

Those who master change persist and persevere. They have stamina. They are flexible. They expect obstacles on the road to success and celebrate each milestone. They keep arguing for what matters. And who knows what might happen? Persistence could keep innovations alive, convince companies to avoid draconian cuts, influence hiring managers to take a second look, or even persuade local politicians to save the city zoo.

Online engagement...

2009-08-14T09:53:00.004-04:00

I am an avid GOOGLER, I know what you are thinking? Yes, I searched for the word and found a colloquial English instance of the word. One that means a "regular habitual user of the Google Search Engine", the second one does not apply to me.

Google fascinates me in how it not just organizes data and translates it into knowledge for users like myself but adds to the overall process of creating awareness through fun and exciting tid-bits of visuals. Take for instance the Google logos -

The birth date of Hans Christen Orsted would have been the last thing on my mind this morning but the fun fact gave me a reason to spend additional time on the site, add to the search traffic on Google and visit Wikipedia (not associated with Google) to read up on Orsted's contributions to electro-magnetism, etc. Yesterday it was the Meteor shower and so on.

I know of a very short list of ubiquitous and structured organizers of data and knowledge, starting with Dmitri Mendeleev the developer of the periodic table, Melvil Dewey the developer of the Dewey Decimal library classification system and now Google. Obviously the value addition from Google far exceeds those of Mendeleev and Dewey given the reach and penetration of the internet across the globe and generations today.

Whats most interesting is the subtle yet fun ways the Google engages with the user community giving them reason to spend ever more time on their site as Brand Google aspires to organize knowledge and create wisdom!

Creative logos and subliminal messages

2009-08-13T15:07:00.003-04:00

Ernst Dichter was the first recorded psychoanalyst proposing metaphors to communicate brand and marketing messages. Since logos are the visual side of the brand they offer the opportunity for various hidden messages about the brand, I just came across an old post on the Graphic Design Blog:

Body Wisdom

It is a logo design for a high end day spa… the hands effectively convey relaxing massage integrated with the proximity of the “owl eyes” to clearly say “wisdom”.

Forkwire Logo

Designer - Bojan Stefanovic

Being an Online Food Delivery service, its logo shows a fork formed into an @ symbol! Such a easy logo to remember.

...

Communicating a story to drive towards a meaning

2009-08-12T17:13:00.003-04:00

Cheers to Clive Wilkinson Architects, for a beautiful video on the new JWT office in New York.

Specific meaning needs a specific story, without context stories run the risk of selective perception!

This video on YouTube does a fabulous job of connecting the dots. Unfortunately not everyone who visits the JWT offices will have watched this video to understand the metaphor of the tree constructed into the design of the building.

The question is does an artist art that communicates the meaning by the time it translates into a design or in this chase an architecture?

Why are the supers always fighting for something?

2009-08-10T19:48:00.001-04:00

We have all read stories of all the supers - Superman, Supergirl, Spiderman, Robin, Phantom, etc. They are always fighting for something? What is with all the fighting? Why can't they just negotiate through dialog? Isn't there an easy way to communicate and present their proposition? And what about the brands they endorse? Do the brands needs to fight those battles too?

I know the brands are always trying to get across to the consumer and in the process "fight" with the competitors for market share. The anecdotal fight is about gaining the consumers purchase, consumption and possible loyalty all for pricing, the value addition, the difference they deliver. There cant be a negotiation not because the other guy is bad or wont "fight" a fair fight of sorts but any dialog would be considered and treated as market collusion.

I recently came across a retailers add with a 'super' fighting for savings for the shoppers and I wondered who is this super fighting against the manufacturers of brands, other retailers or the merchandisers and management that needs to deliver the profit targets. The primal issue to me is who (which consumer) is this super talking to? I have never been asked by any super what I would like? May be I don't want savings but improved quality of service even if that means a higher price.

Neuromarketing gaining interest

2009-08-03T15:57:00.003-04:00

With growing regulatory restrictions in multiple categories, fragmentation of media, insights into the working of the brain and consumer behavior in-store, Neuromarketing is gain greater favor every day.

Martin Lindstrom added an element of flair to the subject with his book Buyology.

Since upward of 70% of purchase decisions happen at shelf, packaging design and messages inside the trade channels are the perfect candidate to leverage subtle Orwellian, neuromarketing stimulus. Here is another interesting article with valuable insights into neuromarketing as an influencer in package design.

The implicit power of packaging

Is value the quality equivalent of a product?

2009-08-02T14:20:00.001-04:00

Lately I have had several conversations on the topic of VALUE. What is the value from a brand to a consumer? Can the value vary by the brands prospect? Can the value be changed for the consumer by time of day, location, messaging, packaging, pricing?

The answers are all a resounding YES! A brands value to a consumer is what the consumer assigns it. It can vary dramatically by the prospect, the mindset, the perspective, the need state, the purpose and much more.

I have personally experienced that in business and careers. Where one individual investing their heart, sweat and blood gets little back while another one who does little gets significantly more from their career. It is the evaluators perception of the value addition. I hear this from manufacturers all the time, "we have a better quality product, but our competitor gets much more out of the product". The perception of quality like value is not assessed by the delivering organization or individual but the receiver of the product or service.

Recently one of the businesses I am consulting has successfully generated several leads and some closure in selling some of their product but the repeat purchase has not yet happened on that same product. What is fascinating though is the repeat purchase by the same customers has occured for other services from the organization not the one that was initially sold. It is clear that value exists and is obviously perceived by the consumer during the sale but has not realized it in the actual product but instead in the consultative element of the sales itself. Clearly not a scalable solution for the organization and not one that the firm intends to sell.

The challenge is to captivate value and have the consumer realize it into the brand the product or the service!

The power of New Age Media

2009-07-31T11:51:00.002-04:00

Johnny Lee is amazing with his innovations and ideas but the most powerful part of the presentation is his acknowledgment of the proliferation of his idea and diffusion into the masses using new age media and technology.

How do you communicate value to consumers & shoppers?

2009-07-28T13:55:00.001-04:00

This is a age old question for any and everyone who is in sales & marketing!

There is a perpetual quest on part of marketers, salesmen, retailers in communicating and getting acknowledgment of value on part of the consumers and shoppers. Over the years I have come to believe "value" is an experience not a tangible take away not even real bills of money the consumer or shopper may put in their wallets or pocketbooks.

So what is "value"?

The classical marketing concept of value is the difference between benefits and price. Benefits are the intangibles that can be morphed to the solution, the venue, the product, the establishment, the people and so on. There are a number of different schools of philosophy on "value" and "value proposition", the one that I subscribe to believes "value proposition" is the same as "brand positioning" targeted towards businesses versus consumers.

The question still remains; Is the communication of value enough to generate a sale or does the consumer and shopper need to realize the value? What happens when the consumer converts and closes the sale but delays the actual consumption? Is purchase of a branded product or service the proof of value or does it take consumption to realize value?

Pricing... ooh la la

2009-07-27T09:15:00.003-04:00

Dynamic pricing is the holy grail in consumer world, this morning during my drive I heard about Digonex on NPR. I checked out the site and realized there isn't a better time than now for any such solution...

"a proprietary algorithm system, Digital Online Exchange™ continuously identifies the 'sweet spot' where prices follow perceived market value and generate the maximum economic return"

not sure how to respond.... quirky I guess?

2009-07-24T11:36:00.002-04:00

Gillette - Art of shaving

How To Shave Your Groin - Shaving Tips From Gillette

How To Shave Your Armpits - Shaving Tips From Gillette

How to Shave Your Head - Shaving Tips From Gillette

How To Shave Your Back - Shaving Tips From Gillette

How to Shave Your Chest - Shaving Tips From

A “scarcity” mind-set to an “abundance” mind-set

2009-07-17T10:05:00.002-04:00

The concept of "free" is explored with some fine social journalism in an article by Malcom Gladwell in the New Yorker.

Priced to Sell - Is free the future?

An interesting role play exercise

2009-07-15T12:09:00.000-04:00

A recent consulting engagement exposed me to an interesting exercise. One where the team members each write an article about the organization's state a few years down the road. It is a sort of role play where the team members play the role of a journalist writing about the organization. Here was my demo contribution for the team.

XX,000 CEOs at
BY NEIL BHANDAR FOR

Tough economic times can be like a smelting furnace, the intense heat melts away everything, slag and impurities skim to the top, added fillers segregate into their own layers based on their individual specific gravity and the base metal stands by itself. The global Retail sector has experienced a similar smelting from the economic turbulence in 2009.

The smelting caused the slag to rise to the top which is in the process of being washed away; those brands that have a defined unique identity have coagulated into their appropriate layers/positions. The big and the small have each formed their own isotropic layers. market is one such grocery retailer in the greater Philadelphia area that has survived this storm and emerged with its unique and defendable position in the market it serves. Not only was able to plug their leaking customer count but delivered strong growth and continues to give the communities a reason to visit the stores and shop more than they ever did in the past and more than their competitors.

The emergence and survival of is not a happenstance but the result of visionary leadership, strategic planning and a meticulously implemented process over the past year. It is no surprise that organizations as old as (100+ years of existence) have a defined culture one that lives and breaths in every individual employee at . The success of this transformation at has its roots in this culture, the principles and values indoctrinated in every organizational endeavor.

We took time to understand the drivers of this transformation and the investment it took to make this transition happen at . The genesis of ’s success is the feedback loops the organizations established, one that is visible in the figure below.

Every change driver has a feedback loop that enables the organization to experiment, get feedback and fix the gaps quickly. This closed loop system combined with a trusting culture, honest, open communication creates the framework for constant improvement at every level within the organization.

Change Drivers	Benefits
Organizational Capacity	Work life balance
Organizational Capability	Knowledge Continuity & Institutional learning
Measured Deliverables	Intrinsic Motivation
Strategic Plans	Direction & Vision

Change Drivers	Feedback Loop
Organizational Capacity	Succession Planning
Organizational Capability	Individual Development & Lateral growth
Measured Deliverables	Timely, Direct & Actionable Feedback
Strategic Plans	Organizational Transparency

The feedback loop fosters learning, the systems thinking and the closed loop helps break functional silos.

In a conversation with NSB the Director of the Marketing department, NSB shared some of the tactical action plans that the Marketing department has instituted. These tactics though Marketing centric are an evidence of the holistic nature of drivers that have helped .

NSB says “We are a retailer but we behave like a business services company” at every level and every function including Marketing. The Marketing department sets aside time every other week to think of next generation ideas; These ideas include debates over what is the SCA for (Sustainable Competitive Advantage). The discussion includes and is not limited to conversations about how to bring the differentiating attributes to life in the store, success metrics, Operations and Merchandising engagement and buy-in.” NSB went on to share how the strategies developed during 2009 helped plan every week in 20XX far ahead of the start of the year. The store activities, the weekly circular, the promotions, events and sponsorship were all planed in advance. ’s strategies are so clear that make it easy to layout plans ahead of time, changes to the plan are driven purely by competitive activity.

NSB also said “Our strategies are so focused and targeted that changes to our plans from week to week take less than 5% of our time, most times we choose to ignore other grocery competitor’s tactics because we are so unique our guests visit our stores for more than just what is one our shelves and the weeks promotion item”. We spend a disproportionate amount of time out thinking ourselves not our competition.

In talking to members of the marketing department their knowledge of the state of business was quite obvious. Every one knew the P&L numbers, their market share, the competitor’s market share, the revenues and profit targets for the year and everyone literally recited the top 5 strategies for 20XX.

NSB also added “ is a very flat organization and so the staff has a lot of responsibility and ownership, we are all CEOs without the title and pay but the same sense of know how about the market place, the company, the competitors and authority to make quick decisions in the best interest of the shopper and our business”. NSB went on to add “Everyone on the team from communication, insights to brand presents their material like as if it is their own business, they lay out options and refer to actions in terms of their cost, the implications, the cross functional alignment required to make it successful, risks and mitigating strategies in place, you could never tell if this is an analyst or a department head”.

NSB also told us about how the changes has positively affected in the overall approach to pursuing and delivering projects. Marketing no longer thinks of its own deliverables but meticulously lays out the string of tasks and functional owners, then works across functions to get their engagement and alignment. The organizational transparency and deep knowledge of the financials (P&L) creates an interesting dynamics of interactions. The team is eager to take calculated risks and understand the implications to the business from every action before it is initiated. The culture rewards risks taking and honest open communication helps everyone express a point of view as long as it is constructive, actionable and supported by metrics.

Conversations with the Marketing folks revealed no one takes no for an answer and everyone get a voice and everyone is heard, with the type of culture and the processes in place there are always many heads working on a every opportunity and always many solution options to choose from, each solution as great as the next. The toughest part is to decide which option to pursue and who is really running the ship at ?

does have one President but with the energy, ownership and knowledge it appears like every single employee is the CEO!

K@W - Getting to "WOW" in retail

2009-07-08T23:18:00.003-04:00

Published in this week's Knowledge@Wharton is a very insightful study conducted by The Verde Group, Wharton & The retail council of Canada on the - "Discovering 'WOW' -- A Study of Great Retail Shopping Experiences in North America".

The article points to five major areas that contribute to a great shopping experience:

Engagement: being polite, genuinely caring and interested in helping, acknowledging and listening.

Executional excellence: patiently explaining and advising, checking stock, helping to find products, having product knowledge and providing unexpected product quality.

Brand Experience: exciting store design and atmosphere, consistently great product quality, making customers feel they're special and that they always get a deal.

Expediting: being sensitive to customers' time on long check-out lines, being proactive in helping speed the shopping process.

Problem Recovery: helping resolve and compensate for problems, upgrading quality and ensuring complete satisfaction.

Boehm

2009-07-02T12:49:00.000-04:00

Recently I finish a book by Gary Hamel, The Future of Management. I found the book to be interesting, and appreciated the point of view on how modern management is still stuck in the mold developed in the past century and longer by Frederick Winslow Taylor, Adam Smith, etc. That includes functional philosophies of brand management from Procter & Gamble, financial analysis by DuPont, etc. Dr. Hamel convinced me that we continue to perpetuate the old in more ways than we think and yet within the community we operate many of those are appreciated as unique and different.

What is a true innovation? What is true discontinuous breakthrough? Architects with pony tail, Executives in suit, Software programmers with their disheveled appearance, Geeks wearing glasses, Golfers with caps, Truckers with big bellies, Trekies with their funny lingo, Soccer moms driving SUV/minivans, Environmentalists adorning a beard and I can go on and on. All of these individuals appear to be rebels to the normal citizen but within their communities they are conformists to the core, perpetuating the old. How does one define a breakthrough/breakway? This is often the question brands struggle with day in and day out.

Is the answer to ‘differentiation’ a function of the domain, geography or time? Said differently distinguish from the past or distinguish from my peers? Is innovation the philosophy of being something/someone or not being?

"Consume less by consuming better" - Patagonia

2009-07-02T09:34:00.002-04:00

Very interesting conversation with Yvon Chouinard, the enterprising founder of Patagonia. Sustainable, "NO PACKAGING" on Patagonia underwear and how it helped sell more. Posted on Fastcompany.

the EMOTION & SCIENCE of a brand name

2009-06-23T14:53:00.001-04:00

What is a brand after all?

2009-06-22T11:05:00.010-04:00

I was with some friends chatting over a couple drinks when one of them mentioned his daughter was ready for her first car. The conversation steered towards the lowest common denominator - "Price" and why cars are as expensive as they are?

The cost of all the steel and plastic and the labor in forming the parts of the cars body could not add up to the price of any new car on the market these days. That combined with the after sale service could still not do justice to the overall cost. If the sum of all the parts don't add up to the cost what is the consumer paying for? It MUST be the brand! If the brand is about trust, is that the price tag of trust?

Its funny TRUST is one of those things that if sold has no value but if preserved appreciates without a ceiling. Trust is like an honor badge one that can be associated and put on display and the influence clearly brushes off. I have had this so called "TRUST" experience we my cars, clothes, watches, my masseuse, my butchter, my mechanic, etc. I will pay extra to get their products or services and I have paid more!

How does one know when they are a brand or at least a prime candidate to be one? I believe when the total is greater than sum of parts you are a brand!

Food Inc.

2009-06-19T22:26:00.001-04:00

The much talked about Food Inc. very interesting....

Wisdom from quotations

2009-06-02T07:17:00.000-04:00

A couple days ago I came across two quotes in one day and they seemed to summarize the challenges I was dealing with a client...

Every man is wise when attacked by a mad dog; fewer when pursued by a mad woman; only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion.
- Robertson Davies

This may seem simple, but you need to give customers what they want, not what you think they want. And, if you do this, people will keep coming back.
-Stuart Wilde

Brand Retirement

2009-05-25T15:00:00.000-04:00

I know the first thought that may run through the readers mind is about the slew of products out there for retirement and financial planning? The answer is NO.

I am trying to figure if brands have a life cycle? If they do when is it a time to retire them and along the way extract they equity or even pass it on to the next one in line?

The only real analytical retirement I have noticed is for equipment like cars and buildings. The math measures the return on investment versus the cost of upkeep to justify their existence? Humans retire because of nature induced frailty and their desire to enjoy the investment in life. Brands are obviously not that smart so the idea of enjoyment does not exist! Can brands be compared to non living things like equipment and buildings?

Much like equipment and buildings brands need investments. An investment in the visual element of the brand to connect with the consumer an investment in the emotion and the message that is culturally and time appropriate an investment in the association the brand makes through celebrities, ingredients and other brands. Obviously there is an opportunity to measure the relevant analytics to decide on the right time to retire the brand?

The time it takes to build the trust into a brand rarely ever lends itself to retiring a brand no matter how much it costs to revive the brand or even just steer it in a new younger life stage? As for me, frailty apart I think when I can afford to buy a car cash down at the price of my first house without feeling the pinch I will be ready to retire and enjoy!

Happy “Not being stupid” month!

2009-05-14T14:59:00.000-04:00

It is amazing how we celebrate everything from “Bosses Day”, “Administrative Assistants Day”, “Mothers Day”, “Fathers Day”, “Black history month”, “Asian history month”, “Breast Cancer month” and on and on…

I remember years ago at one of my previous employers we celebrated “Consumer is Boss Day!” this was the day when the consumer rejected NEW Coke for the taste of classic coke. A very interesting concept for a company in the consumer products business but strangely we never celebrate our intelligence?

How about “Not being stupid” Month?

This is not a joke, people just fail to see obvious things! People are averse to learning new concepts, processes, tools. Wouldn’t it be great if for a month we gave up our apprehensions, our prejudices and recognized “NOT stupid” behavior for once?

Years ago I remember going through training on diversity and if memory serves me right it was called “Micro-inequities” the most powerful concept was the feedback component the training introduced. Every time anyone spotted an inequity, the individual was expected to highlight it “that’s a micro-inequity…”. It was immediate, it was behavior changing, it was direct. I don’t know if we really experienced any real change in diversity but the concept was very powerful, one that appealed to my senses.

How about we do the same with stupidity or inequity for an entire month? Imagine how much change we could enable!

Bruises are NO ALWAYS Chevrons

2009-05-02T14:58:00.000-04:00

We talks about our progress, we talk about our achievements, and rarely do we mention our failures? Success can be happenstance and often results in arrogance but failure creates humility and the need to learn what went wrong, where it went wrong, how to avoid the mistakes in the future and lastly what to monitor and what else to closely control.

I don’t want to confuse failures as the motive to grow but the experience and the learning from the experiences as the driver! Obviously those bruises that did not result in any learning are just as good as those arrogant successes.

Failure projects another interesting facet the measure of resilience. A brittle leader is not a leader at all! The quintessential ability of a leader is his or her actions to resurrect from the ashes like a phoenix; nothing tests that better than failure. Leaders are dealers in hope so not just do they have to inspire their team but gather support for their ideas and intentions.

Who am I?

2009-04-29T14:51:00.001-04:00

There are six fundamental question – Who? What? When? Where? How? Why? Some of these are obviously primary, meaning they don’t need a basis for a response like the Who? What? When? Where? How? But Why? is secondary, dependent on response to the first five to provide “meaning”.

Brands need to constantly ask these six fundamental questions to clarify their purpose for existence, the target market, and their consumption. The stronger the foundation and deeper the relevance the brand communicates the greater the success and resonance with the consumer and the market place.

With the amount of literature out there on the topic of self branding. I started to think of these questions with reference to myself.

In a real time world the GPS systems is able to answer “Where am I?” to a prospective employer the relevant question is “Where have I been?”, “When have I been there?” and “What sort of results did I deliver?” in ones resume. My style, my personality and my image is the “How do I perform?”.

Years ago when I was a student working on the UNIX servers I was spooked to ask “who am i” and response would be my login id and any additional information store in my “.whois” file (I hope this is not getting too technical). To a prospective employer it has more to do with “Who knows me?”, “Who do I know?”.

As for the secondary question, Why? The difference across all the elements of – Who? What? When? Where? How? Drives the basis for the final decision. We don’t just buy brands for the function but feeling it brings to us – Joy, Excitement, Comfort and Confidence!

Brand "Me"

2009-04-18T19:59:00.003-04:00

I have no idea how I came upon this but I have been receiving a lot of invites and forward on LinkedIn, so this afternoon Ii was surfing around and there it was. The 44th President of the United States on LinkedIn!

I loved the gesture, I don't think he really needs the visibility nor do I think anyone will request a referral from him on LinkedIn, but I do like the approachability of the worlds most powerful leader on a site like LinkedIn! That says a lot about his marketing team, not wonder they were recognized for their excellence in pulling off a successful campaign.

Microwave inspired leadership.

2009-04-18T14:57:00.000-04:00

I have a toast or a bagel each morning and like always I placed my bagel in the small convective oven and two minutes later the bagel was toasted, like always I took it out of the oven and placed it on my plate, spread some cream cheese. As I bit into it I felt the cold insides of the bagel. Strange as I am I was inspired by the bagel to think of leadership in modern organizations and opportunities.

Most organizations have leadership like the oven. Stuff happens with the heat being turned up which obviously means people do things without an internal commitment. Sometimes what appears like a completed task is just the superficial burn from the convective heat of the oven.

The microwave on the other hand is a very unique device. There is no visible heat but yet the item being microwaved is hot/warm from the inside-out. That’s leadership in principle! Dwight David Eisenhower our 34^th president said it best.

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. “

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Now the Microwave is not perfect either… over heat the food in the microwave and it looses moisture and hardens up but rarely ever visibly burning off like in the oven where as when you over heat the same item in the over and it chars.

Oh boy... & "There is only so much a Marketer can do"

2009-04-15T12:11:00.004-04:00

The not so funny video from Domino's, is evidence when peoples values and ethics or lack of them at work can destroy the core of the brand - Domino's Reacts Cautiously, Quietly to YouTube Gross-Out Video

04/16 - Response from Mr. Doyle, should have been immediate! None the less, here it is.

SUSTAINABILITY? Brain Sensory Food & Calories in the Belly

2009-04-09T08:55:00.003-04:00

I read about the Kroger Marketing Alliance with Feeding America - in MediaPost. Kudos to the brand stewards for strategizing and launching the initiative.

As great as the art work on the website - The Bread Art Project, I have a hard time trying to fathom the fact that there are thousands of people that starve every single day when some of us in the western world can appreciate the finer art in food.

Second harvest was about feeding the hungry, are we now taking the same food to feed the brain through art?

And is the satisfaction from viewing the art the same to a hungry child and a hungry family the same as putting a slice of bread, a toast into their bellies?

I have to applaud the creative senses of the artist but cannot resist saying "The appreciation of this art is in the stomach of the hungry".

The power of simplicity

2009-04-07T10:54:00.002-04:00

From The Washington Post - In the age of lack of trust, food recalls, disease, excesses in information that can be conflicting at most times, etc.... nothing is more powerful that SIMPLICITY. Here is the creative for Tostitos that exemplifies the concept in the ad and the product.

A culture of FEAR

2009-04-04T14:02:00.001-04:00

Organizations are structured like a pyramid which creates the very impetus for someone towards the top to know more than someone else towards the bottom. No organization or institution is structures like a cube or a prism partly because we need some guiding star, a leader. Our psyche is wired to that end!

The unfortunate part of the evolution is the fact that sometimes we will place our self interest ahead of that of the organization/institution. Leadership leverages or abuses the power of information combined with their own wisdom to subjugate the underlings. A culture of fear is not just one where man kills man but really one where I know more than you and I will not tell you until you fall.

Some organizations thrive on this culture of fear. Knowledge and awareness is ones strength and more one protects it the stronger one get. The boss loves the one who knows more, peers are scared for what you know and individuals that report into you look-up to you since you can always tell them what they don’t know. Systems and tools that democratize knowledge are not supported and ideas to proliferate knowledge are discounted.

The most unfortunate outcome is when these individuals that thrive on a culture of fear become role models!

Good time leads to Good Money for brands & Vice Versa for prestige brands

2009-03-25T11:58:00.000-04:00

Focus on Time Sells More Products : Research: Stanford GSB

"It’s Miller Time." "Live Richly." - What do these vastly different marketing campaigns—one selling beer, the other financial services—have in common? They both focus on experiencing, rather than possessing, products.

Here are some of the top lines from the article:

- Because a person’s experience with a product tends to foster feelings of personal connection with it, referring to time typically leads to more favorable attitudes—and to more purchases
- Research identified the different attitudes and behaviors triggered just by mentioning time rather than money
- One explanation is that our relationship with time is much more personal than our relationship with money
- Ultimately, time is a more scarce resource—once it's gone, it's gone—and therefore more meaningful to us
- How we spend our time says so much more about who we are than does how we spend our money.
- One theory is that references to money will always be negative because consumers are reminded of the cost of acquiring a product rather than the pleasure of consuming it.
- When marketing products that consumers buy for prestige value, stressing money spent seems to be more effective. Designer jeans, expensive jewelry, and high-status cars all fall into this category.
- With 'prestige' purchases, consumers feel that possessing the products reflect important aspects of themselves, and get more satisfaction from merely owning the product rather than spending time with it

The most interesting part of the article was an experiment on concert tickets with the comment - "who actually incurred a higher cost in terms of time spent—rated their satisfaction with the concert higher". Might explain the commitment of the Starbucks' consumer.

Rewards, Expectations and Deliverables

2009-03-24T13:56:00.002-04:00

Strange things have happened and aligning rewards with expectations and deliverables is certainly not one of them. Consulting is a fun business, it gives me the ability to see a lot of new things and experience a lot of strange, funny and sometimes stupid concepts.

Recently during an engagement I had an opportunity to better understand some performance metrics for a large national retailer. The part that was most enlightening was the knowledge of the performance indicators and a mental contrast with a street hawker merchandising and selling their wares… the result was the inspiration for this essay.

	Street Hawker Retail (typical from a Developing Market)	Large Retailer (typical to a Developed Market)
Image
Not in the KPIs	· Customer satisfaction · Customer experience · Customer communication · Vendor satisfaction/partnership	· Customer satisfaction · Customer experience · Customer communication · Vendor partnership/partnership
KPIs	· Revenues · Profits · Units · Identical sales to previous day	· Revenues · Profits · Units · Identical sales to year ago · GMROI · Inventory turns

Challenging the frontiers of AGE

2009-03-24T12:12:00.003-04:00

This morning I read another mention of how anti-aging is not just a beauticare phenomenon but a business strategy (my alma mater) MIT has a lab that is researching opportunities as the generation ages and nature starts to challenge the way consumers do day to day tasks.

The article from the Boston Globe - Growing old is the New frontier, sheds light from research and efforts at MIT.

As boomers around the world age, the richest consumer generation has new FUNCTIONAL needs and brands need to respond with solutions to capitalize on the opportunity. Here is a old post from my blog on how it is happening in the retail world in Germany.

War in the Boardroom

2009-03-23T14:17:00.002-04:00

I scanned through the powerpoint slides on slide share about a week ago and this morning USA Today summarized some of the examples from the book. The synopsis of the book was great may be now I need to read it in entirety

War in the Boardroom

View more presentations from Laura Ries.

•Management deals in reality; marketing, in perception. Most managers believe that producing a better product is the key to success. Yet, time and again, new products with perfect benchmarks fail, such as Volkswagen's Phaeton (a luxury car with top ratings) and beverage Miller Clear. Miller Clear tasted like regular beer, if you closed your eyes. "(But) when you drank Miller Clear with your eyes wide open," the Rieses write, "it tasted like watery beer. Perception always trumps reality."

•Management focuses on the product; marketing, on the brand.

Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola are similar soft drinks. Although Pepsi consistently wins blind taste tests, Coke outsells Pepsi by more than 50% in the USA, and even more internationally.

•Management wants a diversified market strategy; marketers prefer to focus in one area. Motorola introduced the first commercially available mobile phone in 1983, while Nokia came later to the cellphone market. However, Nokia began selling off non-cellphone holdings, while Motorola added computers, radio, even satellite communications. By 1998, Nokia could boast cellphone supremacy.

•Management targets the center of the market, while marketing targets the ends. Management sees the market as a bell curve with a large middle; marketers see it as bifurcated between a low end and high end.

Southwest Airlines succeeded by ignoring the first-class market and sticking to discount fares. Kmart failed by attempting to target the middle ground between low prices (Wal-Mart's specialty) and designer goods (Target's specialty).

•Management wants better products, while marketing wants different products. Management's response to a rival is often to try to do the same thing better. The marketing response is to do something different and create a new mental category.

Rather than fight Ivory Soap's pureness campaign, Dove responded with "cleansing cream." Rather than fight the hardware of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Nintendo released the Wii. It's still a video game system, but it creates its own category — as well as more sales and profits than the other consoles.

•Management wants a single brand; marketing wants many brands. Management wants the big brand name on everything to justify the money spent on brand recognition. Marketing wants to launch new brands, because often the new product isn't a good match for the old brand name.

Xerox was well-known in copiers, but Xerox computers fell flat. Kodak was a leader in film photography, but Kodak digital cameras didn't move. On the other hand, Levi's launched a workplace casual line with Dockers, and Toyota managed a luxury brand called Lexus. No doubt a "Toyota Elite" would have gone the way of VW's Phaeton.

The Analytics Chasm

2009-03-20T13:53:00.004-04:00

I often wonder what makes a strong candidate for an Analytics role? I know what has gotten me excited during presentations… it is the ability of an individual to narrate a story. One of my favorite presentations is the NPD eating trends by Harry Balzer. Harry does a fascinating job when it comes to narrating the story and connecting the data and insights.

The chasm between reality and analytic insights has often made me uncomfortable. How much of the insight are truly data and the social, anthropological elements contributing to “SPIN”?

Certainly a business driven by analytics is build on a sound base! The easiest way to cross the chasm is to try a little, test a little, try some more and test some more until you are ready to go all the way. A culture of analytics without the a culture of risk taking is like going to a fine dining restaurant with a severe hangover.

Consumer driven product lifecycle

2009-03-19T09:03:00.004-04:00

This is a very interesting view of the product life cycle. In the past I have written about the brand manager as a driver in the rear seat, this is a classic example of what could be happening and the need to constantly steer the brand in the desired direction.

Not all is lost there is hope for the Brand Steward and it is called BRAND ARCHITECTURE.

Geo segmentation

2009-03-14T19:32:00.001-04:00

The Organization Triad

2009-03-12T09:32:00.002-04:00

Over the years I have run into three types of organizations and the other as I sat to think about them I visualized them in a triad.

1. Stable organization with controlled change
2. Evolving organization with experimental change
3. Metastasized organization with no change

1. Stable organization with controlled change: Are the ones that are extremely successful with a defined culture and strong foundation of institutionalized knowledge. They are able to attract top talent and sometimes competitive pressures inside the organizations can get caustic but always push individuals to perform better than expectations
2. Evolving organization with experimental change: These organizations are always trying to understand why things are not working at the highest levels of performance? A definitive culture is lacking, knowledge is not usually institutionalized, fear prevails across all the ranks creating the need to try new things without giving anything a fair chance of success and leadership gaps exist at many levels within the organization
3. Metastasized organization with no change: These organizations are in a very sick state. Talent has suffered, leadership is very often in denial on many issues, and most people like to play the blame game. Issues tackled are symptoms and the root cause continues to fester. Poor leadership is often the root cause – MOKITA is a fact here. Short term thinking leads to shortfalls and is perpetuated, no one wants to tie a bell around the cats neck.

Making a promise & keeping it!

2009-03-09T20:14:00.002-04:00

For the old but still relevant and in fashion... from a German grocery store. Appealing to a segment and staying relevant in every way.

Personal expression is catching up with Barbie!

2009-03-06T13:01:00.013-05:00

Nothing is more personal than the individual, their personality, their appearance! The marketers at Mattel are making Barbie relevant (...Oh this is surely not for the 3-10 yr old that has to look up to Mom & Dad for the $20 toy but the 30-60 yr old bird out of the nest that can drop $200 if interested) to the new sense of personal expression through tattoos and piercings.

"Totally Pierced Barbie"
"Totally Stylin' Tattoos Barbie"

The article made reference to another blog that mentioned the divorce with Ken a couple years ago and the possibility of a "Divorced Barbie"?

The agency BRANDTRUST published some research on the topic of Tattoos (called Indelible) that calls for a deeper meaning that just Barbie with a tattoo but none the less; here are some of the top-lines from their work:

Tattoos are clear statements of willing nonconformity, and refute any suspicion that failure to fit in is unintended. A tattoo thus transforms someone who sticks out into someone who stands out.

Tattoos illustrate a map of the wearer’s life.

Tattoo artists are the ultimate arbiters of who will join this tribe. They guide people to an understanding of the meaning of the tattoos

The first tattoo takes on significance of the same sort as coming-of-age rituals in traditional cultures.

tattoo is the opposite of a mask. Although tattoos visually cover the skin, they reveal their owners

You don’t get tattooed for other people. You get tattooed for something within yourself. The only way to get this thing that lives inside of you out is to get tattooed.”

Now that is a BOLD, UNAPOLOGETIC BRAND, kudos to the team at Mattel! (pictures of Barbie from over the years)

Frito applies Neuro marketing

2009-03-04T13:29:00.003-05:00

Top lines from the the editorial on the article - The Female Brain

Women’s brains have more distributed functions than men, especially for language and memory. Women’s brains have stronger connections between the two hemispheres.
Women have a larger hippocampus, a major area of the brain that is involved in memory function. Women rely more heavily on brain areas that contain mirror neurons during empathic interaction. Mirror neurons enable a person to feel what they see another person is feeling.

WOMEN MEN

Look for landmarks Look for targets

Look for connections Zone in on the target

Explore territory Systematize, make maps

Are relational Are spatial

“When women are depressed, they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country.” - Comedian, Elayne Boosler

Productivity tools and the loss

2009-03-02T09:10:00.000-05:00

I always hear people complain about receiving too much email or addiction to the Blackberry what surprises me is that these are some of the same system/tools/devices that are supposed to improve productivity and performance. Is the power of these brands and the value being lost because of the user’s lack of expertise in taming these productivity improvement tools? If productivity improvement is the value proposition should training stretch beyond just the manual and a quick reference guide be part of the product?

It is amazing how few of the capabilities of the systems and tools users know and leverage. It often amazes me that the manufacturers of these brands invest more into research and development while adoption of some of the advanced features and capabilities that are at the core of the value proposition (in existing models/versions) fade away by the wayside for the dominant cross section of the user community.

When does it makes sense for the brand stewards to focus on training the user community and reprioritize the messaging, visuals and launches?

This is one classic challenge with most software companies where the brand marketers are focused on new versions, new tools, new launches when there is a community of users are frustrated because the product does not deliver to expectations and forces them to make compromises and trade-offs especially when there are minor settings that can help alleviate the root cause of the issue.

Is it time to get back to the drawing board in trying to figure out what is the scope of Marketing and how it aligns with the Value proposition?

Simplify your finances from American Express!

2009-02-23T18:55:00.002-05:00

Home Run but The American Express Marketers! Simplify your finances

American Express once over extended at the peak of the economic growth and carried away by momentum is now trying to help itself and the consumer.

Enroll now to simplify your finances.

Enroll by February 28, 2009.

Pay off your entire balance between March 1, 2009 and April 30, 2009, and we will send you a $300 value prepaid card1 to thank you2. Enrolling in this promotion will automatically cancel your account

Do we really know ‘Ownership?’

2009-02-22T09:04:00.000-05:00

It is one word in the corporate world that’s over exposed and obviously unclear. It is sad when you think about it especially since it is the only thing that really gets things done and makes stuff happen? Anyway some recent experiences motivated me to contemplate on ‘ownership’ and the rest was this essay.... it is funny how that happens.

So what really is ownership? Every organization I have ever consulted with asks its employees to ‘Take OWNERSHIP’, ‘Be a player’, ‘Don’t be a spectator’ and yet… I am not saying anything any further? What does it really mean to be a player, to take ownership? Every day works is getting done, tasks are being completed, we are sending out emails, printing pages of reports, creating billions and billions of bits-bytes of data. I was at dinner recently with some dear friends and in conversations we started to talk about juggling and somehow the concept of OWNERSHIP was loud and clear in my mind.

When the juggler juggles there are many things he or she has to be aware of, anticipate and respond to. Everything from the wind drag if her or she is outside to making sure the object being juggled don’t hit into each other, the synchronicity with which the items are swung up in air, ensuring the receiving hand is in position to accept the descending item and so on. In so many ways similar to how organizations operate. Every task has an element of marketing, sales, product supply, financial control, reporting and logistics and yet when individuals complete their deliverables and hand-off they often miss the coordination of the juggler. Resulting in the items falling to the ground!

Ownership has to be holistic an unfortunate irony of the word itself while still ensuring that there is no power grab and everyone over compensates ensuring a flawless delivery. I am proposing shared ownership but with a grain of salt “a common yard is never swept”!

THE Pepsi Doc!

2009-02-12T11:37:00.004-05:00

'Breathtaking' Is One Word for Purported Arnell Pepsi Doc

Great story and even better communicated via the document.

Marketing Strategy: Presenting 25 Years of Marketing Truth and Research

2009-02-10T10:58:00.004-05:00

Interesting article on the 25 years anniversary of ISBM (Institute for the Study of Business Markets)-Marketing Truth on Research . The article mentioned B2B truths but they are as relevant to B2C.

My favorite was:

"Integrated" means everything looks the same. Integrated really means everything works in tight concert around your brand to drive toward the same objective.

Key Insights

• Understand, quantify, demonstrate and document customer value. This, the heart of marketing to businesses, continues as a major ISBM issue. When both seller and buyer focus on creating value and sharing its profitable benefits, everyone wins. That should be self-evident, but it isn't when sales organizations still have "stories to tell," sell on the basis of price and fail to listen carefully to what customers say.

• Go beyond what customers say. Business customers often can't (or won't) express what really concerns them or explain the real opportunities they have to add value to their offerings. Finding their hot buttons, and understanding how different purchasing influencers work together on buying teams, are of special importance in business-to-business markets. Some of the techniques enjoying more popularity as business marketers become more sophisticated:

• Studying the customer's business design closely for robust clues.

• Practicing reflexive thinking. You cannot really understand customers, partners and competitors unless you put yourself in their position.

• Visiting customers and examining their processes closely for potential efficiencies their people might have missed—problems that your offering can solve.

• Applying the discipline of Voice of the Customer research.

• Going downstream to the customers of your direct customers value chain—visibility—to learn how your offering adds value that resonates at more than one level of the pipeline.

• Going beyond established research techniques (such as satisfaction studies and conjoint analysis) to probe hidden, intangible factors and deep emotional needs with non-directive tools (such as ZMET).

• Your customers can develop valuable new offerings for you…if you let them. Customer co-development programs and studying how your most innovative and unusual customers actually use your product will spur innovation in market-oriented directions.

• Take a long- as well as a short-term view of markets. Despite constant pressure for short-term results, the truly important marketing initiatives have long-lasting impact. Marketing communications, research, training and other marketing programs create asset values regardless of accounting conventions that expense all marketing costs. Even in times of economic recession, marketing is a necessary investment in the future—even more powerful when competitors fail to invest.

• Implement STP. Following the discipline and logic of "segmenting," "targeting" and "positioning" ensures marketing efficiency and focus. In any market, there's no such thing as the "right" or "best" segmentation. It depends on the firm’s workable options for delivering and promoting customer-specific value drivers.

• Never doubt the power of brands in business markets. A brand name built and nurtured to connote value opens business customer doors and impresses buying decision makers. B2B branding dynamics are complex compared to consumer brands, particularly across value chains as with "ingredient branding." Remember that:

• Attacking a well-entrenched competitive brand head-on is futile.

• Brands belong to customers, not to companies. Brand values live in the mind of the customer and determine how the customer feels about using and "experiencing" the brand.

• "Customer experience engineering," a component of the branding alchemy, speaks to subtle but powerful motivators marketers can associate with their brands.

• Messing around with a successful brand is commercial suicide.

• Keep the right customers, lose the wrong customers. Firing a customer—particularly a large one, or one with a personal relationship to your company's people—is painful but necessary triage in business marketing wars. Customers who do not receive genuine value in the relationship won't stick around for long, anyway. Customers unwilling to pay a fair premium for the value they receive only steal your profit.

• People go where they're led and do what they're paid to do. Staffers do what they are measured on and compensated for, so successful implementation can occur only if you align metrics and compensation with your goals. It's well known that, as the expression goes, "salespeople are coin-operated." Yet respect, empowerment and recognition for people are essential throughout the organization.

Scrap Obsolete Thinking

Fortunately, old-fashioned and dysfunctional notions keep losing ground as business marketers improve their skills, strategies and sophistication. Bid farewell to obsolete "rules" such as:

• Communications are from "us" to "them"—or they're a dialogue initiated by the supplier firm. Marketing communications actually are becoming more of a "pull" experience as customers take the initiative to search for the information they need. Venerable models such as AIDA (attention > interest > desire > action) and DAGMAR (defining advertising goals for measured advertising results) fail to describe the communication dynamics of a digitally networked world.

• Cost and price have a fundamental relationship. They never did. Price should be based on value. Selling on price usually means giving away value and profit.

• Segmentation is easy. It's not. The obvious ways of categorizing customers—e.g., industry, size and location—usually fail to improve marketing efficiency, and often reduce it.

• The 4 Ps. They worked in the 1950s, but cannot describe the communication and value chain processes at work in today's complex business markets.

• Stick to your technical core competence and outsource everything else. Owning and controlling every aspect of your customer's experience should be among your core competencies.

• Six Sigma has an answer for everything. It doesn't, despite what the zealots insist.

• People understand what "marketing" is, and "brand," and "innovation," and… The assumption that anyone in the discipline shares the same definitions and language that you do is almost always wrong. The truth, as George Bernard Shaw once observed: "The greatest danger in communication is the illusion that it's happened."

• "Creative" equals "cute," and drives behavior change. No. People still really want to know, "What's in it for me?"

The disloyalty cards

2009-02-10T10:09:00.001-05:00

Since the stellar success of Tesco and their relationship with Dunn & Humby that made the headlines, businesses have gone crazy with loyalty cards, loyalty programs and loyalty hooks for consumers and shoppers. What is the true value of a loyalty card program? Does CRM start with a loyalty card or end with a loyalty card?

Recently I came across an interesting article ‘Rewards that Reward’ in the Journal (may need subscription) that reviewed opportunities with some of the long standing loyalty card programs.

“The biggest problem with loyalty programs, we would argue, is that most retailers adopt a one-size-fits-all approach: They use monetary rewards to encourage repeat purchases. But product discounts won't change buying behavior in the long run in shoppers who value things like personalized service, convenience or shopping pleasure more. These types of consumers may change their behavior to access the price promotion, but they likely will revert back to their regular brands or buying habits shortly thereafter, resulting in, at best, a temporary change in sales and market share.”

The article also identified some obvious issues like, “sameness between programs”; the lack of differentiated from the “me too” syndrome in the retail environment means several loyalty card holders have more than one loyalty card (often competitors)! Rarely do loyalty cards really help develop loyalty?

Is there an issue with the programs or the lack of leadership? Isn’t there someone out there that wants to get in bed with the best shoppers and ignoring all others? I haven’t seen one yet? That’s not to say one wont be ready to step up and deliver!

Chk out these pics of a typical loyalty card holders wallet.

Marketing In a Recession - ANA

2009-02-05T15:04:00.000-05:00

Marketing In a Recession time for back to basics - from the ANA Marketing Maestros

Insights – Know your customer better than anyone else in your organization. Understand their unarticulated needs, those they cannot tell you about, but formulate how they act, or would act. To discover these hidden gems requires living with your customers, seeing how they act and react. Knowing your customer is the key to making everything else happen.
Be a Growth Champion – Elevate the role of marketing; be the force within your organization that turns marketing into a profit generator. Innovate. Find new revenue streams building both top and bottom lines. Marketing has the innate ability to create revenue, but it takes a big idea to do so. And that takes guts, determination and a desire to lead, not just serve. Finally, make sure you are on the same page as your CEO. Too many marketers are still doing stuff versus providing their management with the ideas that will drive the company’s agenda. Be strategic, not tactical. No one gets rewarded today for having completed a number of projects. Did the action you took drive shareholder value, build brand equity, or create a new stream of revenue? If not, don’t do those things any more.
Segment – You cannot be everything to everyone. Focus on who your target is, what is your brand DNA, and how your brand can satisfy the target you’ve chosen better than your competitors.
Market Internally – Partnerships are critical. Marketers today must bring internal and external teams together. The sum is greater than the whole. First, other team members not only have great ideas, but they also make executing ideas easier if they are on board. Secondly, every member of your organization is in marketing. From the phone operator to the delivery team – if anyone does not put the customer first, then all else will eventually fail.
Measure – knowing what’s working and what's not is the only way to ensure we continually put our resources (both money and people) against the right objectives. If you cannot measure your results or are not going to change your direction when you receive feedback, don’t take any action. Only do what you can prove will work. Not sure? Then adopt a test, fail, expand methodology.

White Rainbow

2009-02-04T13:08:00.000-05:00

Watched a fantastic foreign film recently by the same name. The essence was there is a rainbow in the sky every single day but it is only visible when it rains; As a man of science I know it is the dispersion of light from the moisture (light refraction) in the air right after the rains that makes the colors visible.

Leadership is much like that!

It is the ability to draw images in sand and then bring them to life; it is the ability to identify talent and develop it; it is the ability to align people, resources against opportunities that will take organizations to the next level!

Yes, it is not much different from moving the prism and place it at the right angle against white light to bring out the colors to the fullest and the best!

Reading Your Mind - CBS 60 mins

2009-01-31T00:05:00.004-05:00

Neuromarketing is a rapidly growing area, CBS ran a segment on Jan 5th during the 60 minutes episode that evening.

What is more interesting is the area of Neuroeconomics!

Another viral... for positioning

2009-01-27T20:23:00.003-05:00

It was Bud that was the 'Best friend' & now it is Jim Bean... that is the 'Best Girlfriend'

The Customer Service Disconnect!

2009-01-27T09:37:00.003-05:00

A recent survey conducted by the CMO council found some disconnects between the role of the CMO and the focus on Customer Service -

The most critical role a CMO can play in an organization: to own every facet of listening, learning, interacting, engaging, and optimizing the relationship with the customer, and understanding where the attrition, pain and aggravation is, and doing this in real time.

Viral - Viral - Viral & Funny!

2009-01-23T12:10:00.000-05:00

From DUREX...

Driving change with history

2009-01-23T10:50:00.002-05:00

Have worked for an academy company I know the power of a strong culture! There is no denying the power of its distinctiveness and the resilience from its indoctrination. That being said like everything else history and culture is a two edged sword! The size and scale of the Titanic caused its demise so also with history and culture. The inertia of culture and history can help gain momentum for change or create the resistance from change.

Drawing on principles from ‘Just In Time’ production of driving down the water level to the point of being able to see the rocks that obstruct the streamlining of the flow? Using history and culture to drive the change itself? I think,YES! A compelling vision a relevant and unifying mission combined with the right strategy; organizational structure; staff; recognition/rewards; work and communication processes can result in right behaviors. Lastly communication through metaphors that bring concepts and ideas to life can not be underestimated!

The most compelling change starts from within and what better than history to drive it!

Truspect in organizations

2009-01-21T11:20:00.000-05:00

The other day I was wondering if trust flow from bottom to top or top to bottom in an organization? So also respect, does respect flow top to bottom or bottom to top?

The team has to respect its leadership! Leadership, not just for their openness to learn, honesty, transparency, speed to action, judicious risk taking, as organizational figureheads and their industry knowledge but more importantly as humans! The same is true of the leadership’s respect for the team particularly when entrusting them with authority and accountability. Way too many will supposedly ‘entrust’ and ‘empower’ their teams only to stifle them with a constant need to track progress and micro manage. Respect and trust to are the two sides of the same coin!

What is the most logical flow of trust in organizations? Can respect help influence and enable the direction of this flow? Given the relationship between trust and respect one can not survive without the other! Trust can certainly help develop respect so also respect can help build trust. Are there traits necessary for the genesis of trust some visible and some invisible like - Career experiences, education, intellect, persona, title, etc. or can trust stand for itself? Respect can sometimes be misinterpreted for fear but trust is rarely misconstrued.

Respect can start with a positive base but trust clearly needs to be invested into from zero, leadership cannot withdraw from the trust capital without having created a base.

A Dimensional View of Experiential Marketing - Brandchannel.com

2009-01-19T09:08:00.004-05:00

Interesting article in Experiential Marketing, but the question remains:

Is it all about Experiences?
What happens to the traditional channels of awareness building?
Is more the merrier, where and how to prioritize?

I am Spartacus!

2009-01-13T08:47:00.001-05:00

Interesting article on shared leadership! Here is the top line.

TO LEAD, CREATE A SHARED VISION

An attribute that most distinguishes leaders from nonleaders: Being forward-looking—envisioning exciting possibilities and enlisting others in a shared view of the future.
Constituents want visions of the future that reflect their own aspirations. They want to hear how their dreams will come true and their hopes will be fulfilled.
The only visions that take hold are shared visions

WOMEN	MEN
Look for landmarks	Look for targets
Look for connections	Zone in on the target
Explore territory	Systematize, make maps
Are relational	Are spatial