A Frothy War is Brewing

As many of you know I have posted often on the Starbucks brand, a leader in creating an experience around what was once a commodity.  In fact authors Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore use them to explain how products evolve through an economic progression as they move from commodity to true brand experiences and create consumers willing to pay for those experiences along the way.  The Experience Economy -a seminal read on the topic, is definitely a book that should be on everyone’s shelf.  

McDonald’s has been testing their proverbial stir stick in the coffee cup for a while and now seems to be brewing up a storm with the launch of their McCafé.  As I try and discern McDonald’s marketing strategy, it seems to be all about price and convenience.  No shocker coming from the pioneer of the value meal.  Starbucks won’t be going down without a fight however.  While they can probably match McDonald’s on convenience and location having a pretty similar footprint of stores- they seem to be very protective of the premium price (or economic progression) they have created.

A piece on the Starbucks marketing can be seen here.  It’s a nice warm and frothy (shot in high-def btw - very nice quality) 5 minute piece with Howard and some baristas talking about the Starbucks experience and why it’s better.  Said differently, why they need to defend their turf that they have earned over the last forty years.

Someone once said, “A rising tide floats all boats”.  McDonald’s may be the pirates coming aboard the Starbucks ocean liner.  My only advice to Starbucks is to play your game - don’t play McCafé’s.  If you react to a price strategy against a formidable player in that space like McDonald’s - you’ll come up a cup short.  Tell your story and let consumers decide.

Pardon me while I enjoy my Dunkin’ Donuts home brew.

Get out of survival mode! Your marketing needs to make people feel good.

After taking a year off from blogging I felt I should come back with a post that would if nothing else inspire us all to do better work, smile more often, and approach these challenging times with a better attitude.

First, my apologies for such a long absence.  2008 was probably my roughest year personally and it was hard to stay focused on maintaining a steady stream of creative insight.  But hey, Fish-On Marketing is alive and well and will celebrate our 5^th year at the end of 2009.  And as I always say - The key to life is how well you deal with Plan B. 

Face it, we’re all still kind of battling a hangover from 2008.  Some worse than others.  The only way we’re going to get out of it is by doing better that what we do best – brilliant marketing that connects with consumers in memorable ways.

So I thought I’d come back with a challenge for us all to do work that inspires.  Create products and the marketing that drives them that stirs consumer’s souls, engages their emotional side, and most importantly leaves an impression. The challenge however is that our businesses, the work we produce, and most importantly our creative processes are all on survival mode.   A colleague of mine told me the other day when asked how he was doing, “We’re keeping the doors open.  That’s our goal for ’09. …it’s about all we can hope for.”   They say misery loves company, but this attitude will take you and everyone around you down – fast!  Now I don’t claim to be a Zig Ziglar type motivational guru but we all know that type of “stinking thinking” is very self destructive.  However, what I think will get us out of this mess, at least psychologically, is to take every project we can get our hands on and produce the best marketing experiences that you’ve ever done.  Yes…great work will beget great attitudes.  Winning smiles from clients and their brand customers. 

You may say, No brainer Bud!  But here’s the rub.  Today with many of us, including myself at times, we’re all on survival mode and we must get out of it!  When anyone, particularily animals feel threatened, scared, or may be close to losing life, home, or business…they go into what we know as survival mode.  Many of us including that colleague of mine said that in fact was his goal.  Just survive.  And yes we need to pay bills and keep the lights on.  But here’s the problem.  When we’re in survival mode, our creative mode shuts down.  After all when you’re threatened is not the time to try new things, think outside the box, and get crazy creative.  Because we can’t afford to fail.  No, survival mode is all about being conservative, cautious, and steering clear of risk.  Go with what works, back to basics, and stay very much ”in the box”.  The box is our protection.  But in our business of creativity, the box is sure death. 

Clients come to us for bright ideas, insightful thinking, stellar campaigns and work that resonates and connects with their consumers.  Remember they left the other shop because they were “too much in the same box”.  We must shake the Chicken Little attitude that “The sky is falling”, and instead tell ourselves, “It’s not going to fall on my watch”.

And this is easier said than done.  These are weird times; much is out of our control.  But even though consumers may be hunkering down and holding on to their hard earned cash, they still want products and marketing that dazzles their senses and stimulates their emotions.  And that is what we did best when times were good - and that is what we must do even better when times are bad.

Dunkin’ Donuts knows who they are and who they want to attract

I know I’ve posted a few times about Starbuck’s - the experiential case study in the coffee biz.  However, in an effort to show unbiased attention to the other guys I applaud Dunkin’ Donuts effort to position themselves in a unique and competitively attractive way to the other guys in Seattle.

A recent post from the Hub, interviewed several brand marketers about creating great retail experiences.  One of the panel members was Frances Allen from Dunkin’ Donuts.  A great piece.  What particularly caught my attention was when they addressed the subject of consumer segmentation.  Frances took that question and went on to explain their consumer positioning and consumer target.

How critical is customer segmentation to retail success?

Allen: It’s knowing who you are that is number one. So, we understand completely who Dunkin’ Donuts is and who finds Dunkin’ Donuts appealing. You’ve got to understand the products they want, that fit in with their needs, the service that’s appropriate for them and a value equation that they can feel good about.

It’s certainly not about demographics in our case. When you go to a Dunkin’, you see a construction worker standing behind a nurse standing behind a woman in a power suit. Dunkin’ Donuts has a unique appeal to people who have busy lives. They are working people with places to go.

What Dunkin’ customers want is quick quality. They want to come in and know what they’re going to get. They are not looking to sit around on sofas and chat and have meetings. They have worked a hard day’s wage and want a real down-to-earth quality product at a fair price. That crosses all demographics.

An epiphany moment for me!  You see, I frequent several coffee establishments but wasn’t sure why I went to one over the other.  It now all made sense.  Often the best positioning is the least obvious, but resonates on some deeper emotional and often unconscious level.  As I thought about the times I appreciate Dunkin’ the best, it was when I was in a hurry, stressed, and just needed a great consistent cup of coffee - on the go.  Contrast that with Starbuck’s, where I would go to meet someone, relax, and take it all in - maybe on a couch - or minimally at a much leisurely pace.

This positioning integrates very well with their previous Rachel Ray “On the Go” campaign as well as their new “Keep it Simple” campaign.  It now all makes sense.  I love being an enlightened consumer!

Is this a mall or a trauma center?

Marketing to kids has always been a slippery slope but this one feels like a vertical cliff.  Recently McDonald’s received a lot of negative press for placing subtle advertising on report cards.  And in the face of the childhood obesity epidemic Ronald will now only be promoting healthy snacks such as apple slices and milk.  But this one makes me wonder.

Abercrombie & Fitch has thrown about 10 million dollars to gain exposure, naming rights, and probably more at a new emergency department and trauma center at the Columbus Children’s Hospital in Ohio.  I understand that the company once known for shotguns and waterfowl hunting gear is based there.  I also get that they may see this as their own unique way to give back in a non-offensive way to the kids (and more importantly the parents) that they target.  But where will this lead?

Let’s say your child has a broken arm and is bed ridden in this facility.  Are they provided with A&F designer hospital gowns invariably headed for collectible status?  Coupons in the take home packs.  A&F branded casts?  How about in-room advertising on TV?  Fashion show tours complete with blaring music in the lobby?  Talk about a captive audience.  What does a brand expect (or deserve) for its 10 million dollars?

In my opinion A&F has gone a bit too far with this one.  Grant it there will be an enormous amount of PR generated both positive and certainly negative.  But this is a long-term commitment that contractually has multiple strings attached.  The brand will continually try and push the envelope on this sponsorship deal and while the kids may think it’s cool to be seen in this branded trauma ward - the parents may see it as an annoying intervention of a brand in the wrong place.

A&F would have been better off to set aside their money to help pay for underprivileged kids in this hospital.  Just feels better for everyone involved.

Consumers make the final call

With all the creative shops around I found it interesting that one of the largest beverage brands around has turned to their consumers to make the final pick for a fairly prominent piece of creative -the logo for the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola, the new name of the July Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona on July 5.  It seems like the brand guys in Atlanta are allowing the Coke Zero brand the freedom to go places that the more conservative “red stripe” anchor brand can’t pull off, not the least of which was branded tongue piercing over in Brazil.  But let’s get back to the NASCAR logo.

It seems the folks at Coke Zero had narrowed their logos for the high profile Summer race down to two - probably created by their agencies of record.  However, the final decision was left to the fans and target consumers.  And as the story goes it was a close call - 51% to 49%.  I think it’s great to give consumers (almost 40,000 voted) ownership of a logo that will undoubtely be everywhere those fans look over the next few months - maybe years.  This deal with Coke is part of a fully integrated 10 year deal.

 Lesson learned: trust your consumers with your brand, involve them early in the marketing process, and you usually won’t be steered wrong.  Early and often involvement leads to future engagement and loyalty.

You dance with who brought you - Starbucks getting back to coffee basics.

A recent AP story out of Seattle ran in the business section titled “Starbucks brewing up plan to bring back the romance”.  I’ve always said good marketing strives to build  long term relationships not a lustful few dates.  At the center of those relationship lies consumer passion.  Over the last few years it seems that Starbucks thought its girl was becoming less attractive as competition grew.  Maybe a face lift, more make-up, a new opening line.  All superficial changes that may have proven unnecessary and not really desired by consumers. 

Numbers always looked good because of rapid expansion of new stores.  But a scratch beneath surface showed that its stock has slid more than 50% since 2006 and its most recent quarterly profits rose by a mere 2%.  Heads have rolled with the firing of CEO Jim Donald putting Howard Schultz firmly back in the driver’s seat.  Blame it on greedy revenue growth tactics, conflicting consumer messages or poor leadership Starbuck’s is taking time out to look backward and re-instill the core brand values and consumer experiences the brand was originally built upon .

As I see it, here’s what apparently isn’t working:·        

Stores have gotten cluttered with all sorts of trinkets, teddy bears, coffee machines, and holiday stuff that are taking up space that could provide another table or two for loyal Starbucks fans to extend their experience by sitting and enjoying the product with a friend.  Sandwiches while may have boosted store revenue by about $35,000 annually are average at best and not what most consumers go to Starbucks for in the first place.     

The stores need to smell and sound like fresh coffee being made.  Any effort to hide this sensory experience by blocking the view of the barista, covering up smells with Gorgonzola cheese, or playing music louder than necessary is covering up the ethos of the coffee experience.  Go back to making it the old fashioned way instead of using automatic espresso machines and flavor locked packaging.  Think of Cinnabon and Mrs. Fields’ cookie shops.  Where would they be without the aroma, ovens, and apron-ed cooks?

The specialty coffee market is approaching 13 billion dollars a year.  Here’s the amazing fact – 90% of that is in single cup sales.  So why is Starbuck’s taking up so much room with bags of coffee beans and coffee makers?  Maybe just to support its own internal contest to give away i-pods to the employees at the two stores selling the most pounds of coffee.  A sales incentive that only rewards two stores out of almost 2000?

A test to offer $1 cups of coffee.  For a brand that’s worked hard to get it’s average purchase price over $3, why would you want to discount the price often resulting in discounting equity.  I’m always amazed when strong brands begin heading t=don this slippery slope.  I admire brands like Under Armour that never marks down the price of its quality  products.  Because of this, people position it much higher in their minds than it’s competitive knock-off clothing lines because of this.

Give the brand back to the passionate consumers.  To quote Howard Schultz, “We are not just selling coffee…we are selling a coffee drinking experience”.  Anything that detracts from that pure and simple premise is diluting the brand experience and making it less appealing to its loyal consumer base.  Don’t be so concerned with the McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts of the world.  They are ones trying to morph their brands into coffee shops from hamburger and donut shops.  Be authentic and true to your vision and consumers will reward you with passion and loyalty.

Addressing that invariable question, “Now what did we get for this?”

I’ve often said measuring the impact, effectiveness, not to mention efficiencies of brand experiences can be a little like nailing Jello to the wall. It seems that the tactics are evolving at a faster pace than the effective tools to measure them. We all have had that engaging moment with brand experiences where we know it has worked at imprinting a brand mark on our souls, and know that this form of emotionally connected marketing WORKS and get people taking.

But for all the bean counters out there, that gut feel doesn’t always pass muster much less get a program expanded or renewed for another year.  So what’s a brand guy to do?  Well while there are some very sophisticated models to measure purchase intent, awareness, imagery, and recall, they are all custom built programs unique to that experience.  However, if you’re looking for some justification for entering into this brave new world of experiential marketing, take a peek at the attached links.  

Some really smart people have tried to wrap metrics around this slippery methodology and have come up with some facts and assumptions that have me re-convinced that I am in the right discipline with innovative marketing.  A quick read from Marketing Daily summarizing a piece of Jack Morton research.  An executive summary of the survey, with comparative results by geography and industry sector, is available online at jackmorton.com. 

Another great ARF piecefrom Adweek that shows in real numbers how event marketing (a tactic that often lives under the braoder methodology of experientila marketing) can incraese a onsumer’s purchas eintent by up to 52 percent.

And for all you B2B folks, check out this piece from the CMO Council.  The article talks about companies’ ability to develop strong interaction/ engagement with customers has “enormous impact” on their returns, and may actually be the most essential competitive advantage and determinant of their overall business performance”.

If these articles don’t have you convinced to swap your  features and benefits push marketing for more experienced based emotional branding, ….well I guess you may want to go back to your direct mail coupons and get excited when redemption rates exceed 5%.  But don’t tell anyone that most coupons are redeemed by people that are already buying your brand.

Trade Show Trends and Tribulations

Took a month or so off but firmly back in the blog saddle here in sunny Ormond Beach.  I hope everyone enjoyed some down time as I did and are beginning 2008 renewed and refreshed.  I begin this post with a challenge to any brand that exhibits at trade shows.  Having just spent 4 days (almost 40 hours on the show floor) at the North American Veterinary Conference with an animal health client I came back with a few observations and tribulations (defined as an experience that tests one’s endurance, patience, or faith).

Booths are getting bigger but not necessarily better:  It amazes me how much money is spent on the exhibit floor.  Two story conference rooms, massive displays, rotating signs, and the like all create a bidding war for attendee attention.  But bigger is not always better.  The bigger companies are expected to be big but the smaller companies can create memories just as effectively.

I’ll pay you to listen to me:  The tactic du jour was to dangle a trinket like a jump drive, book, or i-pod for 15-30 minutes of attendee time listening to a canned presentation.  Grant it the audio visuals are polished and presenters are definitely professional but we’re still talking at individuals and not doing a lot of listening or two way dialogue.  It amazed me how people would barter their precious time for the smallest of premiums.  Interact, engage, and listen.

Graphics are too copy heavy:  People will give an exhibit approximately 2-3 seconds when passing down the aisle.  Even the speediest of readers will not absorb much more than a short headline.  Don’t list bullets that go on forever.  Save that for the printed collateral material.  Keep it simple.

Create a relaxed inviting atmosphere:  The best of booths are open without barriers between aisle traffic and brand ambassadors.  They also need to create an environment that is inviting and does not look like a sales showroom.  The trade show floor is a very staged and artificial environment that is highly overstimulating and confusing to the senses.  Not the best atmosphere to make a decision.  It’s debatable what most brands want from these expensive marketing events but at best you should strive to create awareness and conversation.  The sales will follow when the attendee is in a buying mode and a more familiar setting such as their office.

Get Creative:  The trade show floor often becomes a sea of sameness.  I applaud any brand that tries to break out and create something memorable.  So often attendees return with a bag of stuff only to pitch 90% of it along with any memories of canned presentations, or conversations.  Think about what you want to accomplish and what you want them to remember.  You don’t always have to bribe them with  tchotchkes - just create an experience - not simply an interaction.

Even in a down economy trade show spending is strong.  Trade shows have their limitations but are still very expensive on a per touch basis.  More money can be wasted before you know it and then you’re back again next year.  Take some serious time to think about what you want them to remember - not what you want them to buy or take.

Hotels dial up the guest experience

Someone once said that we do exactly what we want to do or have to do.  Nothing more and nothing less.  So I really don’t have a very good excuse for such a prolonged absence on the Fish-On blog.  yes it’s been busy and yes there’s the holiday thing, but in reality, I guess I had just not been moved to post.  But that blog blandness has subsided and I thought I’d throw out several items in no particular order that have intrigued me from world of brand building and consumer experiences.

As we enter into a heavy travel season with the holidays how about three examples from the lodging industry:

The Travelodge chain is offering couples called Joseph and Mary in Britain, Ireland and Spain free accommodation this Christmas on proof of marriage and name.

The hotel chain said husbands and wives matching their criteria would get a night’s stay on the house, but with more home comforts than the humble stable of the Christian Nativity story.  Kind of cute and creative. 

As for another example of a hotel taking the safe lodging experience literally, here is a link to Boston’s newest luxury hotel that is a refurbished old historic jail.

After a five-year, $150 million renovation, the old Charles Street jail is now a luxury hotel for guests who can afford to pay anywhere from $319 a night for the lowest-priced room to $5,500 for the presidential suite. The hotel, at the foot of Boston’s stately Beacon Hill neighborhood, opened in September.

Architects took pains to preserve many features of the 156-year-old stone building and its history.

The old sally port, where guards once brought prisoners from paddy wagons to their cells, is being converted into the entrance to a new restaurant, Scampo, which is Italian for “escape.”

In another restaurant, named Clink, diners can look through original bars from cell doors and windows as they order smoked lobster bisque or citrus poached prawns from waiters and waitresses wearing shirts with prison numbers. The hotel bar, Alibi, is built in the jail’s former drunk tank.

It’s apparentthat the hotel industry has exhausted its competitive advantages with cushy beds and pillows, office amenities for the business travelers, and free breakfasts and hors d’oeuvres - the next new frontier as Pine and Gilmore would say - is the experience.  And you don’t have to refurbish an old historic dwelling.  How about the Le Meridian chain

Le Meridien would like to be viewed as a haven for hipsters and other creative types — perhaps a European version of the W Hotels chain. Both are part of the Starwood Hotel chain , which also includes brands like Sheraton, Westin, and the W.

Le Meridien has hired a French contemporary art expert, Jérôme Sans, for a newly created position as cultural curator. His job will be to pull together artists, photographers, filmmakers and chefs who will work with Le Meridien and help imbue it with some concrete brand attributes.

In the future, Le Meridien would like to be viewed as a haven for hipsters and other creative types — perhaps a European version of the W Hotels chain. Both are part of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, which also includes brands like Sheraton and Westin.

Le Meridien has hired a French contemporary art expert, Jérôme Sans, for a newly created position as cultural curator. His job will be to pull together artists, photographers, filmmakers and chefs who will work with Le Meridien and help imbue it with some concrete brand attributes.

Just look at the little things like key cards.  No element has been overlooked when it comes to applying innovative and artistic design.  Design that is aimed to stimulate our senses and tickle our fancy.

So as we travel over the river and through the woods this holiday season, take a look at the hotel industry and how it’s trying to be more than just a “home away from home” for its guests. 

Would you perosnally read your copy to your customer?

At the risk of inciting envy, this is the time of year I really enjoy Florida - 78 degrees in November with cobalt blue skies and a light ocean breeze.  But anyway, I was traveling around the other day in my top-down Jeep when I see another of my Jeep brethren in my rear view window.  If you need enlightenment on the Jeep Nation please read my post from a few months ago.  Anyway this guy and girl pull up beside me at a traffic light and yell over at me.  “Hey, we’re not from around here.  Where can we get a nice lunch?”  Having seen their California licence plate, I had already pegged them as tourists and so their request seemed more than legit.  What followed was an interesting combination of thin slicing (a term from Malcolm Gladwell’s book - Blink), market research, and the incredible power of word of mouth recommendation.  All in a matter of maybe a minute at a traffic light.

Our little berg has lots of quaint little lunch spots, so when posed with the original question, my retort was naturally - “What are you guys hungry for?” hoping to narrow my list.  His answer, “Something authentic, you know - no fast food chains”.  OK, so I have all the data I need from my target consumer.  The usual suspects of burger and sub shops have just been eliminated.  Some quick assumptions relative to their visual demographics and West Coast personality, eliminated a few more.  When I finally landed on my favorite lunch spot that I personally thought they would enjoy, an incredible sense of power came over me.  I was actually going to be responsible for their first impression in my little town, responsible for quenching their hunger, and perhaps provide for a memorable experience.  Lots of weight on my proverbial “word of mouth” shoulders.  I directed them to a nice little lunch spot that was just up the road.  Nice deli style sandwiches, tables outside to eat, and a great little old-style deli experience in my estimation. 

We both pulled away from the light giving each other a friendly wave.  Over the next few minutes I reflected on what had just happened from a marketing POV.   I had delivered to a consumer a word of mouth recommendation that within minutes was acted upon.  It was the purest form of communication.  No filters, Tivos, extraneous background clutter, meaningless copy etc..  But maybe what was most enlightening as I drove back to my office was the amount of thought I had put into this recommendation.  Not measured in time, as the entire conversation took place within one cycle of a traffic light.  But the seriousness of thought and true personal involvement I felt in my recommendation.  This was a stranger to my town.  Connected by our joint passion for Jeeps, and simply looking for a good lunch.  I held his first impression of this little beach town in my hands. 

What if all marketers viewed their next ad as if they were personally going to show a print ad, read a television script, or hold up a billboard to an individual?  An individual that could look them in the eye and ask questions.  In that scenario would we as marketers be willing to deliver such a personal recommendation to a new visitor in the community.  Nothing to hide behind, the marketing would be tied to our reputation.  I think under that scenario, marketing would be just a little bit better if we took such personal ownership and translated our traditional mediums through a word of mouth experiential model.

 Just for kicks I thought I’d drive by the little sandwich shop.  Even though it was a bit out of my way, I was curious if they were there.  As I drove by the couple were sitting out on the picnic tables, Jeep parked nearby, and they both threw out the universal two thumbs up.  Influential recommendation leading to trial.  The strongest form of advertising had just proven itself once again.   I drove away and felt the power of persuasion.

The Buzz about Burt’s Bees and Bleach - Another Great Brand Story Gets a New Ending

This may be more of a note to self for future reference in a year or so.  It seems as though Burt’s Bees wonderful line of personal care products (my personal favorite being their lip balm) will be sold to Clorox for $925 million in cash.

According to the Burt’s Bees website it’s all good:

A Letter to Our Loyal Customers:  As you’ve probably heard by now, we at Burt’s Bees are entering an exciting new chapter in our lives as a result of the recent sale of the company to The Clorox Company. It’s a great opportunity to help us better deliver against our mission of making truly natural personal products available to everyone, everywhere.

This new journey gives us the energy and the resources to do even more. Not only will we be able to accelerate our growth, but this will also help us to grow the natural personal care category in general, furthering our commitment to The Greater Good.

You can keep counting on Burt’s Bees in the ways you always have. We will always stay steadfast behind our values and commitment to making the best natural personal care products with the most environmentally sensitive packaging and nature-safe manufacturing processes. And, above all, we’ll continue on with our social mission to make people’s lives better every day, naturally.

It’s your desire to improve your well-being and the world around you that has given us the support to take this next step. We thank you and ask for your continued support so we can keep the Burt’s Bees hive buzzing.

Felt a bit coerced and forced.  Sounded like corporate PR guy takes off his pin stripe suit, puts on khakis and Crocs and writes a release for the “greenies”. 

Burt’s products were built on a great story.  Founded in 1984 by Roxanne Quimby and Burt Shavitz, Burt’s Bees grew from a roadside operation in Maine to a thriving business in the NC Tech Triangle.  Customers felt so good about putting a product as natural as bees wax on their bodies; and the environmental story the company crafted around it was just as strong.  It was all about setting the highest in natural standards, preserving our environment, and a commitment to to the health and well being of our earth and its people.  Contrast that with Clorox bleach, which is all about germ free and clean through harsh chemicals, wrapped of course in a warm and fuzzy white cotton blanket. 

I guess time will tell but it just disappoints me when these great little experiential brands sell out their souls and their stories for financial gain.  If you listen to the PR spin coming form Clorox I guess it all makes sense: 

“We plan to run the business semi-independently,” says Clorox spokesperson Dan Staublin. “We will be bringing our skills and strengths to the relationship, but we know that we have a lot to learn from Burt’s Bees about personal products, sustainability and the green platform.”

That approach will extend to marketing. “We will bring our expertise in brand building and building retail relationships, but Burt’s Bees will continue to work with the creative agencies it currently works with, and its overall marketing approach and direction will continue going forward,” Staublin says.

And full disclosure here, Burt’s Bees founders had already sold the business in 2003 to AEA Investors, a New York private equity group.  However that acquisition isn’t generating the type of visibility or scrutiny that the Clorox acquisition has.  And all branding aside, I guess it makes sense on the surface.  With the green movement beginning to hit its stride even in Main Street Wal*Marts across the country, it has kind of caught the big brands flat footed.  Rather than try and create products that meet these needs, they find it easier to line up these strategic acquisitions.  I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of this. 

I just hope that the great brand stories built by entrepreneurial visionaries aren’t lost as they become assimilated into the big CPG machines.  I just don’t want to see an on-pack promotion where they strap a free sample of Burt’s Thoroughly Therapeutic Honey & Grapeseed Oil Hand Creme to a gallon of Clorox Bleach to lessen the harsh effects on a woman’s tender hands.

You don’t have to touch it to feel it - Print can be experiential too.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, experiential marketing is not always reserved to live three dimensional events and sexy brand experiences.  Good creative capable of evoking feeling, can (when done well) exhibit itself through more traditional mediums like print and television.  When I speak about this topic I normally use more dramatic examples like this one below from Mothers Against Drink Drivers in a campaign to raise awareness amongst high school teens during graduation.

And there are several others that shock to make consumers feel, like child abuse, drug abuse, and anti-smoking campaigns to name a few.  But I stumbled across this cool new campaign from Canadian Club in MediaPost which I thought showed how marketing in print can be experiential.  

Now I have to admit, I am not a fan of the brown water - theirs or any one else’s.  Yet as a marketer I would only imagine that Canadian Club (or CC as you may remember it) had an issue with their brand becoming a bit dated, stodgy and ultimately less relevant to today’s twenty somethings.  

Having spent a few years in brand management with the Purina Dog Chow brand I can totally relate to brands where tenure in the marketplace is a double edge sword.  So Canadian Club apparently wanted to re-stage itself with a younger audience.  What better way to reconnect than to show images of what could be just about anybody’s Dad (including mine) in scenes that show what a loose and cool time the 50s and 60s were. 

Canadian Club Whisky launched its first national ad campaign in almost 20 years and it’s damn good. “Damn Right 

Your Dad Drank It” uses imagery from the 1960s and 1970s and provocative taglines to remind consumers that their dads were once cool and stylish — as is Canadian Club. Many of the pictures used in the campaign came from employees’ photo albums. “Your Mom Wasn’t Your Dad’s First,” begins one attention-grabbing ad. “Your Dad Was Not a Metrosexual,” “Your Dad Never Got a Pedicure” and “Damn Right Your Great-Great Grandad Drank It,” read other headlines. Ads launch in the November issues of Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated and Sporting News, and December issues of Playboy, Men’s Journal, Esquire, Outside and Men’s Fitness. Click here and here to see the ads. Energy BBDO created the campaign; Zenithmedia and Moxie Interactive handled the media buying.

As I’ve mentioned before, great brands tell a story.  BTW, anyone looking for a good read on the subject should pick-up Legendary Brands by Laurence Vincent. 

AS Canadian Club approaches its 150th anniversary, they’d like to remind today’s guys that the men that came before them knew what they were doing.  The really cool and retro images (even the dusty Polaroids) translate the CC story so well in print.  A story they hope will have meaning, relevance, and connectedness - to the male 20 somethings it is targeted at.  I would think what CC is striving for is a bit of Rat Pack, bad boy image.  Maybe the other side of your Dad that was kept from the kids, but you can kind of relate to due in part to a DNA fast forward into your social scenes.  The old film cameras are now digital SLRs, and the hair-dos a bit more subdued, but the good times haven’t changed much; we just call them social communities. 

And how authentic - another badge of strong brands.  CC actually used many of the images pulled from employees family photo albums.  So even though the experiential enlightened often thumb our noses at traditional mediums in favor of the bright shiny objects like events, guerrilla, sampling, viral buzz, Web 2.0 an all the other buzz words - including buzz marketing.  Don’t think that print is incapable of creating an experience.  As long as it’s experience-based (as opposed to features and benefits product focused) and really good creative.

Great sampling: A “Cutter” is more than just a pitch in baseball.

A little down time with the blog due to some travel and a Dell meltdown that I should have foreseen.  Lesson learned:  Back up often!!

But anyway, we’re up and running again and I thought I’d throw out a post about a great little piece of sampling done last night at Jacobs’ Field, the home of the Cleveland Indians.  A 4-2 win for the Indians puts them up 2 games to 1.  But as a marketer, that’s not what I remembered when I saw the highlights. 

A little background for the non-sports world:  It was the first game at Jacobs Field since an invasion of midges pestered Joba Chamberlain and the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the first round of the Divisional playoffs. “The Bug Game” was still fresh in everybody’s minds last night.  In fact some called it the Indian’s secret weapon in their win over the Yankees.

Cutter, an insect repellent brand of Spectrum brands based out of St. Louis, MO seized upon the marketing opportunity by handing out small repellent towelettes to all 44,402 fans in attendance.  Fortunately the weather stayed just cool enough to keep the midges down.  But the Cutter brand had made just as much of a statement in the stands as the Indians did on the field.   All for pennies worth of product to each fan. 

“We’re keeping the midges on the mound,” said Stephanie Strawbridge, hired by Cutter to wear a black and yellow bumblebee costume and pass out the bug repellent near the stadium. “That’s our secret weapon.”

Midges breed on the outskirts of lakes during warm fall weather. When temperatures reached an unseasonable 80 degrees on Oct. 5 with the Yankees in town, the bugs visited the ballpark just in time to distract Chamberlain into throwing two wild pitches as the Indians came back to win 2-1 in 11 innings.

Temperatures were only in the upper 60s Monday, but Gary Ramey, a divisional vice president for Cutter, which is made by St. Louis-based Spectrum Brands, was hoping it was warm enough for the pests to come back out.

What a great way to expose over 44,000 fans to your product, even if it proved unnecessary.  Sampling that is relevant and meaningful at the point of use.  It has all the makings of what great sampling programs should strive for.  Add a small dose of PR and you’ve got yourself an experience worthy of conversation.

Get the Word Out

Mark Twain once said, “Facts are stubborn.”  Well how about the enlightening analysis below pulled from the Nielsen Online Global Consumer Study from April of this year.  More of a reinforcement of what we may have already known, but I always like to support opinions with facts.

 To quote a summary piece on this from Retail Wire:

 The recommendation of someone else remains the most trusted source of information when consumers decide which products and services to buy,” said David McCallum, the global managing director for Nielsen’s Customized Research Services, in a statement. “Even though new media technologies are playing a role in ‘globalizing’ society, many purchasing decisions are still based on firmly held national and cultural attitudes. Furthermore, given that nothing travels faster than bad news - with estimates that reports of bad experiences outnumber good service reports by as many as 5:1 - the importance of responsive, high quality customer service is yet again highlighted.”

The survey of 26,486 internet users across 47 markets in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East probed consumers attitudes on 13 forms of advertising. Other findings:

• Traditional advertising channels continue to retain consumers’ trust. Newspapers rank second worldwide in credible advertising mediums while television and radio each ranked above 50 percent;
• Brand web sites were trusted by 60 percent of respondents, but brand sponsorships were only trusted by only 49 percent;
• E-media advertising received particularly low trust grades: search engine ads, 34 percent; online banner ads, 26 percent; and text ads on mobile phones, 18 percent. “E-mails I signed up for” rated 49 percent.

Some of you may be going well, “duh”, we all knew that word of mouth trumped just about everything else and is very powerful.  No wonder it’s the most trusted source.  After all it’s about as authentic and real as it gets.  But here’s the rub.  Why do we keep trying to influence word of mouth and harness it.  This is where I may disagree with such “sanctioning bodies” like the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

You can’t create word of mouth any more than control it.  Word of Mouth is the end product of a remarkable and memorable consumer experience.  As I like to say it comes after the = sign.  It is not created in some brand strategy Petri dish.  There is an old saying in small businesses that never really tires that goes, “If you like the service you received,  tell a friend.  If you don’t tell me”.  Me being the proprietor of course.

It’s simple in concept yet very difficult in execution.  Consumer’s words come from their mouths -not ours as brand marketers.  We can facilitate it and respond to it, but we can not create their words anymore than we can create their mouths.  What we can do is create an engaging experience worthy of discussion. 

From the simplest retail and transaction customer service experience to other related touch points like on-line, brands need to make it fun, stimulating, and pleasurable to do business with them and use their products.  That’s what people talk about.  The ordinary and mundane seldom gets a mention around the proverbial water cooler. 

And much to the dismay of price discounters….people don’t usually start a meaningful conversation with what they paid for something.  Not to slam the success of our friends in Bentonville, but price is very seldom a firm foundation for a remarkable brand experience.

Marketing is seduction.  Treat them like it’s your first date…every time.  Make them want to tell their friends how HOT you are!

Higher education that thinks like a brand

I recently spoke to the Ad Club of the Triad in Greensboro, North Carolina.  A nice AAF group from the third district.  A good presentation and some very interesting dialogue before and after.  Something came up in one of our discussions that I felt worthy of a blog post.  It seems that High Point University is located not too far from Greensboro.  A small private liberal arts school with about 3000 students.  I believe I had followed them in college basketball at some point and may have seen a sign coming through the airport, but I wouldn’t consider myself very familiar with the school, its setting, or their academics.  And those aren’t even the topics we spoke about. 

Under the leadership of their president Nido Quebin,  has turned High Point University in less than three years into… well, a brand.  And a brand that delivers a wonderful experience for faculty, students, and parents a like.  My Ad Fed colleagues spoke about all the great experiences that High Point had built into its campus, like lemonade stands and valet parking after 9pm to assure the safety of students.  It was just enough to whet my appetite to know more about this educational leader, change agent, and brand builder.  Grabbing a burger after the presentation I quickly went back to my room and Googled Nido and his University.  It was an enlightening web surf and I grabbed a short summary from Terry Paulson’s change and leadership blog that summarized some of their experiential efforts.

With new students just arriving at HPU, Nido and his team knew how frustrating that first day could be. He worked at changing that, “Positive experiences create brand. We want people to have a positive experience every three minutes when they first bring their kids to the university. We had bands playing music, free food and drinks at the kiosks around the grounds, free ice cream from our ice cream truck, and people ready to help with carts to carry luggage and boxes.” Nido was there walking the grounds, shaking hands, giving high-fives, talking to parents and students. The faculty and staff at the university joined in to make the WOW experience!

Nido realizes that initial experiences need to be sustained and institutionalized in a hundred different ways. Nido shared, “We have a Director of WOW at High Point University. Their job is to find the un-WOW and make it WOW. When a student first visits a campus, you have three minutes to make an impression. For the average student, it’s either ‘I feel at home’ or ‘Get me out of here!’ Since mothers are truly in charge, we focus on ‘What would momma say?’ Momma wants nice people, good food and a safe campus.” Nido has instituted WOW cards that people can give to anyone who provides a WOW experience. He and his team are committed to leaving a trail of tangibles that reinforce the HPU brand. The HPU Promise is contagious–”At HPU, every student receives an extraordinary education in a fun environment with caring people.”

Nido highlighted three WOWs that are making a big difference to students: “The best three things we did to create WOW were to bring a branded ice cream truck and kiosks for free ice cream, food and drinks, free car washes on the weekend and valet parking for students after 9 PM.” The food and drink kiosks and the ice cream truck sell the value of generosity. The valet parking sells the value of safety and security; even on a safe campus, HPU goes above and beyond to ensure the safety of its students. Because of the dirt from all the new construction and renovation, the free car washes on Saturday show the value of respect for the students’ property.

A leader of an institution that thinks of it as a brand.  How refreshing.  You don’t have to make or sell a packaged good to think like, or lead your business like a brand.  With all the choices in colleges for kids, here’s a man that knows he needs to stand for something different.  He’s not one of the larger schools in the state like NC State, Duke, or UNC.  No, High Point only has about 3000 students.  But last year their freshman class had almost 40% higher enrollment than their previous class of freshmen.  Something’s working.  Simple brand principles like positioning, personality, core essences, and consumer experiences should not be limited to the classroom in the college of business.  A wonderful case study is happening every day at High Point.  With two kids entering college in the next few years, as a parent I would certainly like to think that High Point would make the short list.  It just sounds like a fun place to go to school.

YOUniversal Branding Anyone?

I throw out a cautionary note as I watch the YOUniversal branding wave crest.  And take it from a surfer like myself.  Waves are fun to ride but eventually break and dribble up on the beach only to be followed by another one.  But enough saltwater metaphors.  YOUniversal branding, a name I believe coined by trendwatching, a snippet of which is below:

“At the core of all consumer trends is the new consumer, who creates his or her own playground, own comfort zone, own universe. It’s the ‘empowered’ and ‘better informed’ and ’switched on’ consumer combined into something profound, something we’ve dubbed MASTER OF THE YOUNIVERSE. At the core is control: psychologists don’t agree on much, except for the belief that human beings want to be in charge of their own destiny. Or at least have the illusion of being in charge.

And all of this is well and good and I totally get the whole consumer generated content wave and the empowered consumer or prosumer.  What I don’t get is when  large brands, which should have the resources to know (and do) better take the easy and lazy way out, try and communicate universally (in a generic way) to this new segment of one.

ATT welcomes me to my world delivered.

Not sure what they’re delivering just to me, other than a new bland, I mean brand camapign. 

McDonald’s tells me that “I’m lovin’ it”.  Love is a pretty strong emotion.  Not sure I would connect it to their fast food dining experience. 

 To quote Mike Roberts, president of McDonald’s USA:

“Our 13,500 U.S. restaurants are uniting behind this new brand message and energy. We are focused on bringing the i’m lovin’ it theme to life not only in our advertising but also for every customer who visits our restaurants. This world-class marketing strategy is the latest element of our overall plan to continue revitalizing McDonald’s for our customers through compelling food choices, great service and restaurant operations, motivating value and exciting new restaurant decors.” 

In contrast,  Apple the king of customization has built a global brand franchise around the “I” prefix.  Start with brilliant, yet simple design and devices that come to the consumer all alike (except for colors perhaps).  Then each product quickly becomes a blank canvas evolving into a unique portrait of that consumer reflected in their preferences in skins, play lists, and ring tones not to mention a pletheora of cosmetic accouterments. 

Now I’m lovin’ that.  A much better approach to a unique customer experience.  If you’re a brand don’t tell me what you’re going to do for me.  I’ll be the judge of that.  And brands, watch your use of pronouns.  Have a conversation with your consumers don’t just talk to them.

Wal*Mart gets a smiley face lift

A recent article in Advertising Age talks about Wal*Mart going through a bit of a subtle re-positioning, or at least beginning the process with a lifestyle oriented “freshen-up” of  its tag line.  It seems that after 19 years the famous tag line “Always low prices..always” often accompanied by the smiley face will be given a face lift of sorts. 

In its first big push from its new shop, Martin Agency, the Bentonville behemoth is scrapping its happy-face logo, which has been in use for 19 years, from its TV spots and trading in its “Always Low Prices” motto for a new one. The new tag-line, “Save Money. Live Better,” will be rolled out onto everything from receipts to shopping bags. Wal-Mart’s new tack signals a scaling back of recent attempts to go upscale, and marks a return to its traditional emphasis on low prices.

Many of you may have noticed their subtle shift over the last year or so as they apparently were trying to lure in a more upscale sophisticated shopper with trendier designer brands and a more polished approach to their advertising.  And if anyone in Bentonville is listening, here’s my problem with that.  

After indelibly etching the Wal*Mart brand in consumer’s brains as the low-cost leader they wanted to go after a more upscale shopper.  A shopper that probably loathes the Wal*Mart experience - if you could call it that.  A shopper that would gladly pay double what they just saved just to get out of the store and feel clean.  Literally and emotionally.   Let’s just say it.  Wal*Mart wants to be a Tar*Mart with Martha Stewart, Cindy Crawford, and HGTV on board as influential endorsers.  Can we say, “All things to all people.” 

Here’s the marketing conundrum, and I’ve argued this point many times with my academic friends.  Brands don’t position themselves…consumers do.  As sharp brand stewards and marketers we can establish what amounts to little more than guard rails to guide our consumer down a path.  But ultimately the consumer positions the brand in their mind based on their experience with the brand.  That experience includes the brand promise and whether it lives up to it.  It also includes all marketing communications, user and shopping experience, and price value equations just to name a few components.  And let me reiterate the consumer’s perception is the brand’s reality. 

Brand managers can sit around a room and look at positioning maps till they see spots; but we can only guide our brands, we can’t drive them to an ideal “sweet spot” .  So if Wal*Mart wants to be perceived differently it will take more than just a tag line change or a smiley face lift.  I guess if we end up with a few extra coins in our pocket because we shopped at Wal*Mart, our lives are supposed to be better.  In what way?

How about some research?

Defining experiential marketing and how it’s best utilized is kind of like nailing Jello to the wall.  The street’s full of buzz about it but there’s not always a tremendous amount of factual insight. 

The folks at Nielsen Business Media who publish such great reads as Adweek and Brandweek have partnered with the Experiential Marketing Forum to try and gain some clarity on the topic.

The publications will also be running a special Experiential Marketing section probably sometime in November.

This will be a very broad study with an international reach, and Adweek and Brandweek will be releasing the research cross-platform. The result will be an epic study and white paper that will help everyone more effectively sell their innovative programs through to their clients.

Click here to go to the survey

A rising tide floats all boats.

Don’t just take it from me…

I always like to feature interesting articles from really smart people way above my pay grade that “get it” and espouse the value and benefit of experiential marketing.

A recent article  from Fortune magazine interviews Shelly Lazarus, the CEO of advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather.  Lots of great stuff but one quote worth mentioning:

 We’re living in a world now where consumers are bombarded with thousands of commercial messages - they’re everywhere you look. Unless you can cut through that and engage someone, I think you are lost. Consumers are now clearly in control. They control what they hear and see, when, and where. You have to find ways to allow them to actively engage with you, or the money you spend is wasted.

Couldn’t't have said it better myself.

A Predisposed Nose

An interesting post from Stuart Elliott of the NY Times on the innovative marketing of Chanel’s newest fragrance line summarized below:

Marketers of luxury brands have been laggards in advertising online because they have considered the traditional media better showcases for their glamorous, glitzy pitches. Now, Chanel is joining the ranks of brands with big Internet presences, devoting a considerable part of a sensual new global campaign to efforts in the new media.

The campaign, for the Coco Mademoiselle fragrance, includes ads on Web sites like eonline.com, instyle.com, nymag.com and nytimes.com as well as search-engine marketing on Google and Yahoo.

There is also a special Web site mademoiselle-forever.com where computer users are able to watch video clips as well as get a virtual tour of the Paris apartment of the designer Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel.

To generate “buzz” about the special Web site, Chanel has been communicating with the writers of 200 blogs around the world, including Beauty Addict (beautyaddict.blogspot.com), Blogdorf Goodman (blogdorfgoodman.blogspot.com) and Kristopher Dukes (kristopherdukes.com). The bloggers received a mysterious box offering them a preview of the special Web site along with an inside look at the making of a sexy commercial that is the centerpiece of the campaign, featuring the young actress Keira Knightley.

More than a dozen bloggers were even invited to Paris, to receive an actual tour of the Chanel apartment.

The full article can be found here.

What I found interesting is the use of  on-line media, social networks, blogs and influentials to promote the new Chanel perfume Coco Mademoiselle.   Here’s a product category that really lends itself to experiential marketing and finally someone is going beyond the scratch & sniff ads in the high priced fashion mags.

Not being a perfume wearer myself, what intrigues me is how imagery, social chatter, recommendations, brand names, and even a tour of the designer’s home can predispose a consumer’s senses to expect a certain smell.  I’m not sure what I would expect this perfume to smell like much less be able to describe that fragrance, but it’s interesting how marketing can get your nose properly “set up” to have a brand deliver on an olfactory promise.   Great experiential campaigns engage as many senses as they can to deliver on the brand promise.  With each additional sense, the consumer becomes more involved and more immersed in the essence of Chanel.

Think of other great brands in the food, wine, music or even clothing (tactile) categories that market through one sense (sight or sound) only to pay off that marketing through another (taste smell or touch).   And hopefully everything connects in a meaningful way inside the consumer’s mind.

As my friend Erik Hauser says, “Good experiential marketing doesn’t always have to be touched (in a live event sense) to be felt”.