My Year In Status on Facebook is a neat little app that lets you create a collage of randomly selected status updates from the year.
It would be a bit better if the links from your status updates were active in the collage. Brought back some nice memories though.
Create yours here - My Year In Status on Facebook >>
I read the other day that discounting is the most expensive form of promotion. You can tell by the post title that I would agree but only if we are talking non-B2C.
Not only to do you lose revenue but most likely you have also paid for the discount to be advertised e.g. a newspaper ad. It is especially dangerous if you are a premium brand as I there is something very subtle and reinforcing when a premium brand is never (or very rarely) on sale.
This time of year is tough especially if you work in B2B or B2G (Business to Government). Lots of places are slowing down and shutting down over the Christmas period and consumers are distracted with all things festive. The reaction of poorly prepared and educated marketers and sales staff is to discount to increase activity (and, in theory at least, revenue).
This is a shit idea but at the moment I see lots of businesses offering 2 for 1 deals or 50% off.
If you are in this position in B2B or B2G, and considering such deals, do you really think people are suddenly going to think "Oh, I knew about that offering but never had a need. But now they have a 50% discount I really need it! I know that it is a really busy time of year and I am on leave but they are on sale! I am going to buy it!”
I don’t think so and if you think i am wrong then you are naive. It is does it hurt the bottom line – the opposite of what you are trying to do.
Imagine you run training courses and a course normally costs $2000. At the 2 for 1 or 50% offer it means your revenue per head is $1000 less. That now means that in a quiet period you need to sell twice as many to get to your budget. Remember – the reason you are discounting is because you don;t have enough activity and now you want to double the activity you need to hit budget?
Why would you do that? You only make it harder - not easier!
Mumbrella reported last week that cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s has been named the main villain at the Fame & Shame Awards, organised by campaigning group Parents Jury.
Parents Jury handed out the “Smoke and Mirrors” award to Nutri-Grain which is for the use of claims on children's foods that make an unhealthy product appear healthier than it is. Nutri-Grain won for promoting the sugary cereal as a suitable breakfast cereal for boys who aspire to become elite athletes.
In response, Kellogg’s points out that it is a signatory to the industry’s codes of practice on marketing of food to children and abides by those standards. They also advised that “We take our responsibilities seriously. Nutritional information appears clearly on the product labelling”.
For me, that information comes way too late.
The decision to buy Nutri-Grain has already been made prior to getting to the supermarket and therefore circumvents any negative perception of the product that may be communicated on the package. How many parents who decide to start buying Nutri-Grain will seriously stop and read the nutritional information? Not many because the ad has already convinced them to buy it or maybe the kids have pestered them enough to buy it.
Printing nutritional information on the product simply forces Nutri-Grain to head upstream in the buyer decision process and create positive nutritional messages in a forum where they are not required to be as forthcoming with the truth as they must on packaging.
That’s not rocket science I guess and they are playing within the rules but it makes a mockery of an industry code.
I wonder whether one day TV, print ads etc will be forced to carry nutritional information in those channels? How effective would TV advertising be if the Nutri-Grain ad had to carry a note on the screen that informed us that a 100g serving provides the 32g of sugar at 37% of your recommended daily intake?
For those that work in the advertising industry – would you be scared by this prospect if Nutri-grain was one of your clients?
My boss was in a meeting with client the other day when somebody’s qualifications were being discussed.
Someone piped up with “Just because someone has a knife doesn’t make them a heart surgeon!”
It’s a cracker observation and one that sharply brings into focus the difference between having access to tools and being able to use tools effectively.
Then I saw this video today, from xtranormal, which pretty much shows it in practice.
Enjoy.
It Is All About Publishing Content
With the increase in thought leadership as a strategy to position a company as a trusted expert we are starting to see companies embrace a more public attitude toward publishing what they know. This distils to various content marketing tactics.
While whitepapers have long been a traditional vehicle for thought leadership, blogs have exploded as a much less formal, easily accessible and personal vehicle. Hosting events is also a particularly relevant option. This list is certainly not exhaustive but most tactics have their pros and cons.
Big companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have embraced blogging, allowing employees to publish to a sanctioned space, as a method of creating or maintaining corporate thought leadership. These companies do not necessarily expect senior management to be the content creators/authors.
The key with the above 3 example tools (blogs, whitepapers, events) is that they are not selling. Thought leadership is not about selling. It is about thinking and sharing those thoughts which in turn shape the market and build trust.
This is an important shift in business in that we need to be far less guarded in sharing of intellectual property or thinking in the P3 field. Jamie Oliver doesn’t keep all his secrets to himself because he is worried that someone will use them to open a restaurant across the street and put him out of business (hat tip Jason Fried). It goes a long way, however, to helping sell cook books and TV shows and as such becoming a thought leader by embracing the exchange of information that can help to propel the business.
Push vs Pull
Think of it in a marketing “push” vs “pull” approach. Push is all about interrupting and convincing the market to buy services. The pull (of clients to a business) is what thought leadership provides because they trust the company and see it as an authority. They are drawn to it.
The Results Of A Thought Leadership Strategy
The tools used to pursue a Thought Leadership strategy will provide and/or contribute to;
The True Test Of Thought Leadership
The true test of a thought leadership strategy, and resulting tactics, is to ask the following six questions.
Ask “Does our thought leadership efforts”:
In conclusion I would like to acknowledge the following sources that contributed to my thinking.
http://www.brittonmanasco.com/
http://www.thoughtleadershipstrategy.net/
http://www.wdfm.com/thought-leadership.php
http://blueflavor.com/blog/2006/jan/04/thought-leadership/
http://andylark.blogs.com/andylark/2010/04/what-is-thought-leadership.html
This is part one of a three part series on using Thought Leadership as a marketing strategy. I won’t pretend that I thought this all up myself. I read far and wide and distilled it all into what I think are the most important elements. I will be sure to name the influential sources at the end of part 3.
What Is Thought Leadership?
It might sound obvious but a thought leader is a recognised leader in the current thinking, advancements and improvements needed in one’s field.
What differentiates a thought leader from any other knowledgeable company/person is the recognition as being at the forefront of understanding and/or application of a discipline(s) and having the confidence to promote or share those ideas.
This means providing both clients and competitors alike with insights which can be actioned or applied to their own work. Thought Leaders have a lot in common in that they have a public outlet for their thoughts (blog, public speaking, whitepapers), have something valuable to say and a commitment to publishing on a regular basis. Thought leaders are committed to being fair and balanced, to sharing experiences and fostering the learning and development of others.
It can be difficult to determine who is a thought leader and who is just a pundit. Essentially, a company/person is simply a pundit if they undertake any ideological discussion or criticism of a problem without presenting solutions that are grounded in some experience.
A Position That Is Granted – Not Claimed
Occupying a thought leadership position is important not only because of the advantages that it provides but also because of the disadvantages that a company would experience if a competitor occupies that position (and becomes more trusted or positions conflicting thoughts/messages).
On the flip side, the market advantage for a company is where thought leadership positions it in the minds of clients. That position is one of a premier provider and trusted advisor in their field.
A Thought Leadership position is, however, perishable. It is granted by the market and it is the market that sees a company as a thought leader (and which the company must work to build/maintain). A company is not a thought leader simply because it claims to be.
Within this is an inherent paradox – what is important to a company/person might not be important to their clients (at least at first). One of the critical roles of a communicator or marketer is to make the case for the thought (thinking about a problem or need). This has an important alignment with the traditional buying‐decision process i.e. awareness.
Occupying a thought leadership position is important not only because of the advantages that it provides but also because of the disadvantages that a company would experience if a competitor occupies that position (and becomes more trusted or positions conflicting thoughts).
An Attractive Strategy
A Thought Leadership strategy is attractive because it is becoming increasingly difficult for companies to communicate and get their message across on a mass scale. Traditional “interruption” methods (i.e. advertising), is working less and less in the consumer market let alone in the business-to-business (B2B) market.
Consumers are increasingly expecting value without an exchange i.e. a purchase. This means that consumers are expecting information about solutions to their problems without having to buy any services.
This is particularly important if a company is responsible for making the client conscious of a problem they were not previously thinking about or aware of. Thought Leadership quietly positions a company in a trusted relationship - waiting for the time when a client becomes conscious of a problem and requires a solution.
It’s not necessarily that consumers expect a free solution but instead that they expect to be well educated during the information gathering stage of the buyer decision process. Essentially they are more resistant to being sold to. As such, a company should spend time positioning themselves and softening (educating/informing) the market prior to a sale. This positions the business as a go-to solution with which they have a trusted relationship. Trusted because they see the business as a thought leader willing to contribute to the greater good by sharing their thoughts and information.
Some of this positioning will inherently be to those that do not require a company’s help.That’s OK. When they do have a problem they are more likely to the company. Additionally, as they move between organisations, or are promoted, they will take their view of the company as a thought leader and trusted advisor/partner with them.
Priorities
A Thought Leadership strategy must have the buy-in and ownership of senior management.
Unfortunately, the pressure on senior management to meet monthly budgets can be a major dampener on a deep-seated, long-term thought leadership strategy. The longer-term reputation and trust building resulting from thought leadership does not satisfy the need for immediate results i.e. sales.
One of the biggest issues is the perceived high cost, in time and energy, relative to perceived benefits. Such perceptions can sometimes discourage investment in thought leadership tactics that promise to position a company as thought leaders and a trusted authority. Sometimes, the value may be agreed by all yet efforts to pursue the strategy must be prioritised in the wider context of the business.
The danger in this situation is the company has no choice but to market in conventional ways and rely on product-focused brochures, mass emails, call-to-actions or mass advertising – all of which are aimed at short term revenue. They have no real value for the client and the situation will be no different the following month.
This is part one of a three part series on using Thought Leadership as a marketing strategy. I won’t pretend that I thought this all up myself. I read far and wide and distilled it all into what I think are the most important elements. I will be sure to name the influential sources at the end of part 3.
What Is Thought Leadership?
It might sound obvious but a thought leader is a recognised leader in the current thinking, advancements and improvements needed in one’s field.
What differentiates a thought leader from any other knowledgeable company/person is the recognition as being at the forefront of understanding and/or application of a discipline(s) and having the confidence to promote or share those ideas.
This means providing both clients and competitors alike with insights which can be actioned or applied to their own work. Thought Leaders have a lot in common in that they have a public outlet for their thoughts (blog, public speaking, whitepapers), have something valuable to say and a commitment to publishing on a regular basis. Thought leaders are committed to being fair and balanced, to sharing experiences and fostering the learning and development of others.
It can be difficult to determine who is a thought leader and who is just a pundit. Essentially, a company/person is simply a pundit if they undertake any ideological discussion or criticism of a problem without presenting solutions that are grounded in some experience.
A Position That Is Granted – Not Claimed
Occupying a thought leadership position is important not only because of the advantages that it provides but also because of the disadvantages that a company would experience if a competitor occupies that position (and becomes more trusted or positions conflicting thoughts/messages).
On the flip side, the market advantage for a company is where thought leadership positions it in the minds of clients. That position is one of a premier provider and trusted advisor in their field.
A Thought Leadership position is, however, perishable. It is granted by the market and it is the market that sees a company as a thought leader (and which the company must work to build/maintain). A company is not a thought leader simply because it claims to be.
Within this is an inherent paradox – what is important to a company/person might not be important to their clients (at least at first). One of the critical roles of a communicator or marketer is to make the case for the thought (thinking about a problem or need). This has an important alignment with the traditional buying‐decision process i.e. awareness.
I know I have been slack in keeping regular blog posts coming but thanks to all those people who keep telling me to pull my finger out (just like the voice in my head).
I have some good posts in mind and I promise to be more regular in my postings (uh oh, there it is in writing!). I actually have a series on pursuing a thought leadership strategy that will be ready soon.
But until then, here is my third instalment of WTF Was The Agency Thinking?
This one is from McDonald’s and if you have any idea what they are trying to sell then you are doing better than me!
I have a couple of favourite app games on my iPhone at the moment – One of them is a Soccer free kick game and the other a Rugby Union goal kick game.
I find it really odd that these great, and highly addictive games, are not branded. It seems the perfect fit to reinforce the brand connection and/or tribalism that sports fans have. I think if they were branded it would strengthen the emotional connection and even make them more addictive. Plus there is the obvious revenue stream for the clubs or brands.
Here are my favourite app games at the moment and an example of a great fit. Click on the icon or the title to download the game.
 | Flick Football by Neon Play - $1.19 Awesome free kick game with walls set-up and plenty of ability to “bend it like Beckham” My high score is 25126 | Perfect for any Soccer team but more importantly a massive missed opportunity with the World Cup just finished. Could be customised to go head-to-head against all 32 teams at the Cup. | |
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| Flick Kick Rugby by PikPok $1.19 If penalty goals weren’t enough in the real world then get your fill here. Includes cool rugby quotes. My best sudden death score is 362 | Great for Super 14, Guinness Premiership and Heineken Cup clubs. Could even incorporate real scenarios to kick goals from where a player has in the game and include video footage into the story. | |
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| Virtual Horse Racing 3D by Nateni.com $2.99 Seriously addictive. Start with a $1000 and bet on 8 horse races with all the trimmings of tris, quins etc. I am up to $5,919,918,330!!! | Emirates and the Melbourne Cup would be a perfect fit! Could be customised to include current horses but what about Makybe Diva vs Archer vs Phar Lap! Would it be legal/moral for the TAB to sponsor this app? | |
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| Footy Flick – by E. Potter & E. Lancaster FREE Fairly basic but a nice touch where you can throw grass up to check the wind. The crowd even throws cans at you sometimes. My best is | Obvious fit would be AFL teams and could be customised so I could be the Buddy Show every night! | |
 | A nice surfing game where you can pull big airs and spins. A little addictive trying to see how many 360s you can pull of one air! 33-23-221 | This one would be a nice fit for a surf label such as Billabong, Rip Curl or Quicksilver. |
Surely a club or brand could just approach the makers of the app to tweak it to carry club colours, games scenarios, players etc and promote it through their sites?
If you ask most people they will agree that sport is business these days. It’s big business no matter how you look at it.
However, it has sometimes been an uneasy fit as the long traditions and tribalism's of sport are pushed together with the quest for the almighty dollar. Granted, there are aspects that work perfectly but it came into sharp focus this week just how unlike sport can be compared to a traditional business.
Imagine if you had a massive customer base and they were fairly captive, not completely, but that your product has been used by them, their families and their friends for so long that it has become part of who they are. Technically they could stop using your product but they are so attached to it that it wouldn’t even cross their mind.You’ve been so successful for so long and you are safe in the knowledge that your revenue streams are safe.
Sound like the perfect business right?
But it comes to your attention that there is a fault with your product that pisses a lot of people off. Thing is, you don’t really care. Why change it? People will still buy the product. Worst thing is, from the customers view point, is that its so bloody easy to fix that they just really think you are a wanker for not fixing it especially when similar businesses have done their best to fix the exact same problem. A lot of your customers feel really pissed off and angry that you could let this happen.
2 points if you have guessed what the business is.
FIFA.
This week we saw two unexplainable errors from the referees and linesman. Both could be easily fixed with introduction of video technology. But the reality is that FIFA are so pompous and arrogant that they really don’t give a flying whatsit about the fans (the customers). They are happy for the game to be wrecked and write it off as “that’s just football”.
Bet we wish we could all tell the boss “that’s just business” when something went wrong and absolve ourselves of any responsibility.
They’ll alk about introducing technology at a meeting and they’ll make a decision because they believe they know best. And that is why the marriage of sport and business is sometimes rocky because it’ll be the wrong decision because it will be based on what they think and not what the fans think. Any normal business would conduct the first step of marketing – conduct some market research.
All FIFA need to do is some market research to determine if it is what the customers want. Assuming they want video technology then trail it in small segments then roll it out when needed.
That’s what any normal business would do.
Just like the last post in the series, I was scared watching this ad!
I know that this is old school artwork but surely these were scary even in their time? WTF Was The Agency Thinking?
A few weeks ago I wrote about a bad customer service experience and pondered if "a great product or service is an excuse for bad service”
Interestingly, I was recently at one of the competitors of the restaurant I received bad customer service from. Here’s what happened.
Mrs Oyster and I took little Oyster (18 months) out for dinner to La Porchetta at Tuggeranong, Canberra. As usual, the guys behind the counter said “g’day” even though they weren’t going to seat us. A waitress showed us to a table and promptly got us a high chair. She offered us drinks and we obliged.
A couple of minutes later a second waitress came past and offered us drinks. Not smooth but better to have two drink offers than none, right?
Soon little Oyster’s dinner arrived and I accidentally knocked my beer over while helping him eat. Once I returned the bottle to it’s rightful position I didn’t even have time to turn around and ask for a cloth before a waitress arrived and took care of the spillage.
They obliged nicely when I asked for some tap water in his bottle.
So far we were proving a little high maintenance but nothing a family heading out for dinner would expect. But what happened next was pure customer service gold.
Little oyster was being a shit and wouldn’t eat his dinner properly. This went on for a few minutes before a waitress arrived and offered some sauce, “kids love tomato sauce on anything” she said. It worked a treat as he got to dunk his food into the sauce before trying to get it in his mouth.
Then she noticed that Little Oyster was using a big person’s fork and returned with a kids size fork to make it easier (for all involved).
This type of customer service, above and beyond, is what made our dinner a much nicer experience.
La Porchetta is fairly similar to Zeffirelli but the great product is enhanced by La Porchetta’s customer service and damaged by Zeffirelli’s.
I suppose a lot of what happened at La Porchetta is as much to do with the general attitude of the staff (rather than some sort of systematic training). However, in a broader sense, the opportunity for any business is to understand what your customer’s “expect” and deliver above it. You don’t have to deliver much more, maybe only 1%, maybe a kids fork and some sauce, but boy does it create a great experience and positive word of mouth!
In comparison, I haven’t even had a response from Zeffirelli despite emailing them my post. Just a “sorry, we’ll try harder next time” would be nice. They are lucky that they make such great calzone because if La Porchetta made calzone then I wouldn't have to go near Zeffirelli’s again. Hint hint La Porchetta ;)
You have probably seen the Tooheys New ads on TV positioning Tooheys new as the official currency of the beer economy. They are ok, made me chuckle the first time I saw them – especially the one where the bloke is helping his mate clear toxic waste and they drop the barrel and his mate pegs it!
Tooheys have been running some topical print ads in the paper as part of the campaign. There is a cracker one that relates to the Melbourne Storm Salary cap scandal that I ripped out of a paper at a cafe but am still to retrieve it from the bottom of my son’s pram.
Tooheys ran these two ads in last Wednesday’s paper – State of Origin Day. Loved them.
I’m a massive Leeds United fan – the club where Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka became household names. In recent times they have gone from being a top 4 team to being relegated from the English Premiership and then from the Championship to spend 3 seasons in League 1 (3rd division).
Two weekends ago they won promotion and are now back in the Championship with an eye firmly on the Premiership where they belong.
They are a massive brand with fan clubs all over the world - the biggest global fanbase of any English Club outside of the Premier League. This week they are attempting to capitalise on the support of the club to try and propel the club’s theme song “Leeds, Leeds, Leeds”, sometimes called Marching on Together, into the number 1 spot.
A Facebook site, titled Celebrate Promotion by making Leeds, Leeds, Leeds (Marching On Together) number one, quickly amasses 30,000 fans and apparently many wasted little time in downloading the track.
The song has been digitally remastered and was released on Sunday. leedsunited.com report that “The club's anthem quickly hit number one in the Amazon Download chart and was also faring well in the iTunes chart and the play.com chart.” Currently it sits at 8 in the UK iTunes chart.
They are estimating that around 50,000 downloads would be enough to take the song to the top of the charts next weekend or 30, 000 to keep it in the top 10.
It’s certainly a great strategy during a time of strong engagement with the supporters not to mention the income it can generate for the club. If 50, 000 people download it at $1.69 that’s $84 500.00
Even though I already had the old version (current play count = 100) I still bought a copy. Get yours here then pump up the stereo and wind down the window!
It would be a massive guerrilla marketing achievement considering the original song was a b-side released in 1972.
This is the second ad in my WTF Was The Agency Thinking series.
I was scared watching this ad and kept waiting for the doll to produce a knife!
The little girls in the ad looked scared and not excited about the noise the doll is making!
WTF Was The Agency Thinking?
This is the first instalment of my “WTF Was The Agency Thinking” series.
First cab of the rank is kinder surprise. Whoever worked on this ad was either off their chops on drugs or had some serious psychological problems.
Chochadooby! Seriously creepy …
Sorry for the lack of posts lately but I have been busier than a one legged man in an arse kicking contest … Ok, back to the blog.
Zeffirelli is a cracker Italian family restaurant known for its down to earth, delicious food and generous sizes at great prices. They have their marketing mix (the 4 Ps anyway, not really the 7 Ps of customer service as you’ll see as you read on") pretty much bang on and as a result they are always busy.
I rang them two Friday’s ago and is often the case with a busy restaurant the person answering the phone quickly said “please hold”. That’s cool, I know they are busy and appreciate they answered the phone (after all, it took about 10 goes to get through as it was constantly engaged).
So I held.
And held.
For about 10 minutes.
That doesn’t seem to long but when it is a Friday night, and your in your car, wanting to order dinner so you can get home and see your family, and your on you mobile … well it seemed like a year.
I could hear, in the background, other calls being answered and unless they have about 10 lines into the place then people were definitely getting served before me. Then, I am pretty sure I heard one staff member say to another “that phone is off the hook” and then I heard a voice “Hello Zeffirelli, what can I get you?”
I responded with “Mate, I have been on hold for 10 minutes”
“Yeah, sorry about that, we are really busy” (“no shit!” I thought, “It definitely wouldn't have been because you forgot about me would it?”).
“How long for 2 calzones?” I said. “Oh about 25 minutes” he said.
“They’d be almost ready if you had of served me quickly wouldn’t they? Oh ok, I’ll have 2 Calzones thanks” I said
“Home delivery or pick-up?” he asked
“Oh yeah, home delivery, that’ll be better, I can head home and you can drop it off. How much is that?” I asked
“$8.50” he said. Holy shit $8.50 to deliver 2 calzones! But I ordered home delivery anyway. NOTE: Here is a great opportunity to say “Home delivery will be free of charge as a sorry for making you wait 10 minutes on the phone”
I gave him my phone number, my house number and my street. Then I told him my suburb. “Oh we don’t deliver to that suburb” he said.
“Really” I queried, “what does you add say about delivery?”
“I dunno, what does it say?” he asked.
“It says you deliver all over Canberra and this is definitely the closest store to my suburb” I said. As evidence I present you you a picture/ad from their website.
“Oh, ok, I’ll just check if we can deliver there” and he put down the phone.
By now I had had enough. I hung up.
NOTE: Here is a great opportunity to ring back (remember I gave my number when placing the order) and say “Hi mate, really sorry for stuffing you around, we’ll get your calzones out ASAP and delivery will be free of charge as a sorry for making you wait 10 minutes on the phone and for me not knowing what we promise in our ads.”
Now, this bloke was clearly so busy that he really didn’t care if I got looked after or not. They obviously had a full house and plenty of other orders to fill.
So my question is, and it is a serious one, don’t be too quick to jump to an answer but “Is being so busy, or having such a cracker product/service, an excuse for bad customer service?”
I mean, if you have so much business then does it really matter if you piss a few customers off?
I have just spent a few weeks in snowy England for Christmas and made the following marketing observations.
This one isn’t really a a marketing observation but interesting nonetheless. Once when I was in England somebody told me that all houses who have a TV have to pay for a TV licence. The government checks this by sending a van around where they point a scanner at the house to see if you have a TV but haven’t paid a licence. I thought they were pulling my leg but apparently it is true. A licence costs $250 per year!
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