I have long been troubled by hearing the interweb and all things digital referred to as “New Media”, and especially the use of “Social Media” as the collective for blogs and social network sites. My problem is with the word ‘Media’ and I admit it may be a generational thing. Media creates a very particular mindset if you entered marketing any time in the last century. You pay for Media, it works by interruption and is generally one way.
We used our brand budget (traditionally 60% of it) to get loosely targeted people to listen to something we felt would win their hearts and minds when they’d rather be doing something else – watching a TV show, reading a magazine or just concentrating on driving their car. Oh I know we tried to make it entertaining and our message had been honed by discourse with a few people in focus groups but nevertheless when it came to media, the more we paid the more we could make people listen.
We spent a bit on PR – Public Relations – but not much in comparison to how much went on media. It would be nice to think we could sit down and have a chat with people, get to know them and let them get to know our brand but how many could we reach this way? One 30 second TVC in Corrie and we’d reach almost everyone. Read the rest of this entry »
Martin Hayward says it’s time to redefine what we really mean by good customer service
I’m beginning to wonder whether our understanding of what constitutes good customer service is going to have to undergo a redefinition, as there seems to be potential for a growing mismatch between what companies and brands believe is good service, and what consumers really fundamentally want.
Talking to older consumers is illuminating as they remember a more local, personalised era of consumption that was slower, probably less efficient, but generally a nicer human experience. Today the onus is less about the experience, but more about the efficiency – speed, choice and minimal face time.
There seems to be a real shift occurring from right brain satisfaction to left brain satisfaction. This is clearly reflected in the metrics of ‘customer satisfaction’ dominated by wait times, transaction length, number of complaints etc. This is understandable as our lives have become commercially busier and more focussed on consumption. The benefits of choice, and value and speed have to date outweighed the declining pleasantness of the interactions.
But where will it go from here? Either the next generation of consumers will accept that there is no time for small talk and pleasantness in dealing with companies and be happy with the cost benefits of this, or maybe we will see a growing demand to be treated as a human being rather than a transaction.
The field of Behavioural Economics has been developing some fascinating insights on how we humans make decisions. According to Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel prize-winning behavioural scientist, we use two very different mental processes, or systems, to make decisions.
System 1 is perceptual and intuitive; it’s fast to react, automatic, associative, effortless and learns gradually over time. System 2 on the other hand is slow to react, effortful, analytical, rule-governed but flexible enough to assimilate and process new information. Studies have shown, however, that our capacity for processing information using System 2 thinking is very limited, and so for much of our decision making, we tend to go with System 1: gut instinct.
This has some fairly profound implications for how we think about advertising. The traditional view is that, in order to be effective, advertising needs to communicate a rationally persuasive message that gains the viewer’s conscious attention. But if behavioural scientists have taught us anything, it’s that many of our decisions and judgements are actually made using the intuitive System 1 gut-feel approach. Read the rest of this entry »
Last Thursday in a low-lit room within Vivat Bacchus, London, played host to an enthralling discussion where entrepreneur George Treves, founder of White Stuff, was put under the spotlight by Alan Mitchell, while a gathering of The Marketing Society members listened intently, chipped in with their own questions and stories, and tasted fine cheeses and wine.
In a lively discussion driven by probing questions from Alan and the audience, George shared his anarchic ways to the marketing profession, claiming to have “never read a marketing book”. White Stuff’s success has been based on creativity and ensuring stability so that George and his business partner, Sean Thomas, were always in charge of their own destiny. George has learnt his trade on the factory floor and insisted that “hard work always comes before success in the dictionary.”
Our members awarded the evening a sky-scraping feedback score of 4.8 out of 5. “Anyone who can turn up in torn jeans and speak so fluently about marketing & his company gets my vote” commented one delegate, while another simply “Loved it!”
We also caught up with Rosie Simons, senior marketing manager from BT, who found White Stuff’s avant garde approach refreshing…
If you are looking for some inspiration for marketing financial services you would do well to keep an eye on South Africa. With its unique first world/third world demographic mix and some highly educated and visionary entrepreneurs this market has consistently produced some great companies and some effective innovations. One of my favourite case studies is OUTsurance. Started in 1998 by Messers Roos, Aron and Otto it has grown to be one of the leaders in short term insurance and has now expanded into commercial insurance and life insurance.
The basis of their business idea was a simple consumer insight that with insurance you are forever paying in and very rarely get anything out. So they introduced the idea of cash pay-outs if you have a good no-claims record. And to drive home the message they called the company OUTsurance – get it? Well, everyone did. They used all the usual aspects of a successful business model in insurance – high levels of customer service, approachable style and simple language and of course smart underwriting that allows them to target best value premiums at the best risks. This was the basis of Directline’s success but they went one step further with this idea of insurance where you get something out, captured not just in their name but also in consistent and high profile communications that have a kind of “we’re on your side” attitude. Read the rest of this entry »
Difficult market conditions brought about by the recession, increasing health concerns among the public and a reliance on promotions to drive sales were putting pressure on the Robinsons Fruit Shoot brand. Priyanka Kanse, BBH, who were the Agency behind this campaign, shows her gratitude on the Awards for Excellence night…
To counter perceptions that the drink was unhealthy, and to fuel sales, Britvic Soft Drinks decided to appeal to children and mums by championing ’skills’ development.
This was based on the insight that purchasing preferences among mothers were driven by what their children wanted.
Martin George, group marketing director, BUPA and a judge at this year’s Marketing Society Awards for Excellence talks to Elen Lewis about the importance of recruiting different kind of people and reveals his guilty pleasure – watching Coronation Street with his family.
What advice would you offer to Marketing Society members looking to become the leaders of tomorrow?
Never stop learning.
What three things can all marketers do to drive the growth of their business?
Know your customers better than anyone else; remember revenue is not profit; be permanently restless.
What’s the biggest mistake you made in business and what did you learn from it?
Don’t always recruit people with the same skills as you.
What do you wish you had known at the beginning of your marketing career?
Every experience is part of life’s education.
If you hadn’t been in business, what would you have done?
I would have loved to write…..if only I had any talent!
What is your guilty pleasure?
Watching Coronation Street with my wife and three daughters.
What book is sitting on your bedside table?
Lots of books on running faster with less training.
Alan Giles, chairman of Fat Face, uses a new appointment to help suggest a more sophisticated approach is needed for oline retailing.
“So there is life after journalism. Jessica Brown, the highly rated editor of rag trade magazine Drapers, has just been appointed as Head of Fashion for Amazon’s UK business.
In the early days of online retailing there was a prevailing wisdom that customers needed to be enticed on to the site by compelling editorial content, and that would lead to an opportunity to sell them stuff. In the early days of HMV’s online business in Japan, there was a team of writers producing such copy, including one of the most respected writers on jazz in Tokyo. That sort of approach fell out of favour as retailers concluded that such editorial material simply got in the way of a focused, efficient shopping process – with Amazon itself setting the standard on uncluttered browsing and checkout processes.
Jessica’s appointment suggests that the online market leader has concluded that in a maturing market a more sophisticated approach is needed, particularly to compete with the explosive growth of Asos. Fashion writers elsewhere will be watching this development with interest, while updating their CVs.
Am I really such an idiot that I have no clue what I want to buy until I’m actually on the way to the shops, or even in the shop? Are my lifetime preferences built up from so many £millions of brand-building budgets and personal experience and recommendations from trusted friends and family really going to be overwhelmed by a little promotional offer as I pass an aisle or a high street store?
Paul Berney, CMO of Mobile Marketing Association, says that understanding people is still the foundation of success in marketing, no matter what the channel – but that mobile is offering another route to them.
Last year at a conference in Cologne, a very clever US advertising exec put up a slide with a 2,000-year-old quote that I unashamedly stole and have been using ever since. In around 80 BC the Roman philosopher Cicero said:
“If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings, and speak my words.”
To me it serves as a great reminder that some things never change and it could easily be applied to the role of customer insight in marketing.
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I have long been troubled by hearing the interweb and all things digital referred to as “New Media”, and especially the use of “Social Media” as the collective for blogs and social network sites. My problem is with the word ‘Media’ and I admit it may be a generational thing. Media creates a very particular mindset if you entered marketing any time in the last century. You pay for Media, it works by interruption and is generally one way.
Martin George, group marketing director, BUPA and a judge at this year’s Marketing Society Awards for Excellence talks to Elen Lewis about the importance of recruiting different kind of people and reveals his guilty pleasure – watching Coronation Street with his family.
Paul Berney, CMO of Mobile Marketing Association, says that understanding people is still the foundation of success in marketing, no matter what the channel – but that mobile is offering another route to them.
