By: Carrie Becker

Image c/o Flickr Thomas Hawk

Too often we hear stories of brands ignoring new technology and communications tools because they can’t grasp the ROI (or, more often, they don’t want to hear consumers complain!). Then in some unforeseen chain of events the brand must quickly engage the tools to overcome a communications crisis (e.g. Twitter response by new moms’ to poorly positioned Motrin advertising). Fortunately, I have a positive story that may help uncover the benefits of a two-way conversation with your customers.

My husband and I are beer drinkers (which makes it even more rewarding that Wheatley & Timmons handles communication strategy for the Modelo Brewing Group portfolio). Last night, I was winding down my weekend with a beer from a craft beer brewer, Dogfish Head. I’ve had their beer on a number of occasions and always found the same reliable, quality and taste.

Unfortunately, when I just wanted to savor one more sip of the relaxing weekend, my beer had other plans. Something was off and the taste replicated more grape juice flavors than the caramel and vanilla taste I had hoped for.

With a bit of frustration at 8:52pm (cst) I tweeted out “agh! my dogfish head palo santo tastes like grape juice WTF…I’ve had corked wine but don’t know what to call this beer.”

Within three minutes, one of my followers, Matthew Horbund (@mmWine), a wine consultant and blogger, responded that I should ask professional beer writer Ashley Routson (@TheBeerWench) what may be wrong.

Now, I do follow Dogfish Head on Twitter (@dogfishheadbeer) but at this point in the night I didn’t think anyone would be there to solve my problem so I just left it alone (*note to self: in the future, just send a tweet to Dogfish Head. THEY LISTEN!).

By 6:03am, I received a tweet from @dogfishheadbeer, “Not good – can you DM me an email address? Our QC folks would love to get some details from you (bottle data, etc).” From that point, I was quickly put in touch with quality control and was able to offer them the data on the bottle. I was then put in touch with a local rep who picked up the bottle from my house and made a visit to the wine and spirits store where we purchased the bottle.

As a consumer and also a brand strategist, there were a few things that ran through my head throughout this experience:

First, after I drank the off tasting beverage:
I was completely surprised that I was having a poor experience with Dogfish Head, a brewery I trust to always put out quality product. It made me consider that perhaps quality control had slacked. Could I trust my next beer selection with them?

Then, after receiving the first tweet and following rapid correspondence from DogFish Head:
I was completely geeked-out by the amazing commitment the company had to their product and their customers. They used listening tools to seek out what customers are saying. They LISTENED then used the opportunity to make a situation better. Plus, this did not take much additional effort by the customer (me). They sought the information and ran with the response.

This for me is a perfect case of when a company is truly LISTENING and showing commitment to their product and their customers.

Are there any other brands that you feel are good ‘Listeners’?

If you are interested in some additional insight in how to better connect with your consumers, I’d love the opportunity to chat. I love chatting about wine, food and building consumer relationships. Email me: cbecker@wheatleytimmons.com or find me on Twitter: twitter.com/CarrieBecker7

By Carrie Becker

Robert Mondavi Blazes Consumer Engagement at Chicago Gourmet and Beyond

In the wine world, tasting events are the root of all marketing outreach efforts. The entry to participate alone weighs heavily on both time and cost investments. However, there are not many other ways to replace the experience of swirling, sipping and talking with your consumer one-on-one.

Understanding both the importance and the investment, many brands see just getting to the event as crossing the finish line of consumer engagement. But, if you are not activating your brand presence, someone else is stealing your share-of-voice and your next customer.

One brand that I admire for their successful event execution and consumer engagement is the Robert Mondavi brand of wines. Recently, I enjoyed experiencing their brand at the culinary, wine and spirits consumer event, Chicago Gourmet.

Here’s my run down of what Robert Mondavi did right and how you can take some pointers:

On-site Engagement: Education

Don’t just offer a wine sample. Add some value to the consumer experience and your impression will last beyond the event. Robert Mondavi has a beautifully designed traveling event that emulates their brand identity. Within their space they offer a sensory station to learn about the nuances of different varietals and throughout the event they host-cooking demonstrations and wine 101 classes led by their brand ambassadors.

Credibility Building: Spokesperson Sponsorship

What are the sources you trust for information on wine? Trade magazines, Robert Parker ratings, wine analysts, trend reports? Now, who does your consumer trust? You? Well, maybe your winemaker but sorry he/she needs someone else to give your wine a seal of approval. Robert Mondavi cleverly partnered with well-recognized and credited food and wine writer and culinary TV personality, Ted Allen, to elevate their Private Selection portfolio of wine. As their spokesperson, Ted helps spread the brand message leading up to events with local media appearances, integrates in event content as a seminar speaker and is available for giving consumers some very engaging one-on-one consumer time by attending the event.

Understanding Consumer Interests: Contest Engagement

Contests are a dime a dozen and many times miss hitting the core consumer when not honed in on the passions and interests of the consumer. Tapping into the star power of their relevant spokesperson, Ted Allen, Robert Mondavi asked consumers to submit a wine question to Ted for a chance to meet him for dinner at a high-end restaurant. The entry was simple for a wine enthusiast and it weeded out any professional contest applicants when asking a question relevant to the spokesperson and the brand.

(Full disclosure: I was one of the winners. The experience was memorable and you could not fit a more genuine and authentic group of folks in one room. Here again the experience and reach of the brand went beyond the event especially when contest winners like me blogged about the experience on our food and personal blogs.)

How else can you activate consumer engagement at events? How else should you extend the experience beyond an event space footprint?

My quick answer: applying a social media strategy.

Perhaps Robert Mondavi could employ live blogging or vlogging from the event or reward those who follow them on Facebook or Twitter by receiving an incentive when they visit the booth. This extra layer of engagement builds the conversation and strengthens the bond between consumer and brand.

But more on this for a later post.

If you are interested in some additional insight in how to better connect with your consumer at events and beyond, I’d love the opportunity to chat. I love chatting about wine, food and building consumer relationships. Email me: cbecker@wheatleytimmons.com or find me on Twitter: twitter.com/CarrieBecker7

By Robert Wheatley

Great Moments in Trailblazing…

This blog has focused on brand strategy, PR and related media topics since its inception. And as we often cite Trailblazer Brands, a direct nod at our own agency positioning (we help build Trailblazer brands) in the posts, we plan for the foreseeable future to also honor brands that reveal true Trailblazer behaviors.

Our debut accolade goes to Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc. for their recent decision to bring an idea hatched in the Down Under to our shores in support of the Jim Beam brand.

We preach regularly about relevance and its over-arching importance to the effectiveness of brand communications. In the realm of spirits strategy this cannot be understated. Liquor and lifestyle go hand in hand. In Jim Beam’s case their young adult male target is an active Web user.

So the Girlfriend ad (below), created by The Works agency in Sydney is a great tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek spot that at first blush has the appearance of a dating site solicitation. Once you start processing the dialogue, however, you can’t help but laugh. And surprise at the end, its Jim Beam. I saw this Sunday night during the NHL’s All-Star game telecast from Montreal.

Voila in my inbox today is a story from Marketing Daily about the effort and its spot-on extensions: The company is asking consumers to “Remake” and spoof the ad themselves — for a shot at winning $25,000 and a trip to Las Vegas, a showcase of their spot at jimbeam.com.

We can only imagine the fun that will be had in dialing up the irony in other versions of the idea (there are two other spots along similar themes, you can see them here and here). Point is engagement. Adult beverage brands when seen past their liquid and packaging are enablers in the social milieu and personal adventures. They are statements as much as refreshment. So lifestyle associations become critical to aligning a spirit brand with their user’s interests.

Bravo Jim Beam!! Looking forward to watching the next chapter… done right and the talk value opportunity will far outreach the working media investment.

Demanding High Levels of Relevant Creativity to Break Through

Over the last 15 years – and that includes a previous incarnation of this agency — we have worked deeply, extensively in the adult beverage world. First for Labatt USA’s portfolio of import and specialty beers – which included Dos Equis and Rolling Rock brands. Then on to a wonderful engagement with Barton Beers (now Crown Imports LLC) and the Corona franchise, primarily focused on distributor communications. From there we were invited into an incredibly
invigorating challenge as agency for Molson USA, working to reverse
(successfully I should add) a seven year slide of their share and sales
as a one-time top shelf Canadian import brand in the U.S. We were sorry
to say goodbye to this great client following their merger with Coors
to form Molson Coors Brewing Company . Today we’re delighted again to be with the Barton family — this time in the liquor business as agency for Barton Brands the spirits division of US beverage alcohol leader, Constellation Brands .

Insight Experts

Through the years we’ve devoted ourselves, assets, resources along with many evenings/weekends burning the midnight oil to lift business results, grow share, drive distribution and develop relationships with drinkers. The journey has confronted us with some of the most dynamic creative challenges we’ve faced as an agency. And we’ve learned a great deal about how to carefully peel the onion of consumer insight and then leverage that understanding to dial-in brand relevance, hone image and create compelling experiences that excite and engage consumers – the central path to success in this social beverage category.

Competitive With a Big “C”

Imagine a business where hundreds of somewhat similar brands, foreign and domestic, compete for share of the consumer’s mind and wallet. Granted there are segments and niches that allow for some separation and targeting. But for the most part it’s a constant fight for attention in a very crowded field of products that bear similarity in packaging and ingredients. With entry level drinkers trading up to higher quality brands and drinking experiences, virtually all categories are in the consideration set at the same time and clamoring for a piece of the action. Very noisy marketing environment and brand distinctions are often marginalized. It’s an intense battle everyday in the store aisle, cooler as well as in bars and restaurants.

Relevance Paramount

This business simply can’t turn solely on analytical points of difference. My hops are the best. Barley, too. And I use the purest water. Ok. So does the other guy. Yes, respect for the liquid should be a consideration in how brands are presented. But in the end the decision to “wear” a beverage brand is an emotional one and related to a form of magnetism between user and brand image. Then again all brands are really a reflection of how the consumer “FEELS” about them.

Corona, one of the best-positioned brands in the business, is fundamentally about a $3.00 vacation in a bottle. An amalgamation of imagery cues around the consumer’s intense emotional affection for relaxation, the sandy beach, palm trees, good times and kicking back. It is relevant and aspiration-al for most young adults in their hectic lifestyles. Corona is now the sixth largest brand by volume (foreign AND domestic) in the U.S. Just amazing.

Application to Effective Brand Communications

There are important guidelines here for consumer brands generally because consumers now hold the power to opt in or out of engagement. Virtually all markets are facing intense pressures of commoditization as retailers push price, categories mature and points of difference between brands collapse. Engagement today is more of a one-to-one proposition – how brands can become an enabler of lifestyle interests and passions.

Mining the core thread of brand DNA and lifestyle relevance –

At no other time in modern marketing has consumer insight been more important. Brands must identify a “higher purpose” that transcends the transactional nature of the seller/buyer paradigm. Brand relationships are created and maintained on a different level. The pathway to relevance can only be built on understanding of the consumer’s own interests and creating linkage between those interests and the brand. The tricky part is to do this in a manner that relates to the specific DNA ingredients of the brand itself.

Narrowcasting not broadcasting –

The era of mass marketing is essentially dead. There’s more to be gained investing in core users and working to build brand evangelists from those heavy users in the fan base than shotgun blasts of broad based communication in an attempt to lure in everyone on the planet. This issue is especially nettlesome for marketers of larger consumable product categories who feel locked-in to a tractor beam of wanting to be all things to all people all the time. Can the few be as important as the many? The answer is yes. And it should be mentioned that heavy user groups are not necessarily small in numbers either. In the end more is to be gained by focusing on invested fans than trying to tackle those who don’t care and aren’t listening.

Touching the brand –

A related subject to narrowcasting is the deployment of brand experiences and events that allow consumers to make contact with a brand personally. The proximity is important and the ability of a brand to be a partner with its users by intersecting with and enabling their interests and passions is the key to cultivating relationships. Calphalon cookware’s cooking school in Chicago, a foodie paradise, is a wonderful example of marrying the brand with consumer passions for creativity and self-expression in the kitchen.

Everything Matters –

Brand behaviors should be driven from immersion in a complete view of a brand’s radically unique proposition. Consistency in how this view is communicated is then essential and that requires synergy across all touch points from package to Internet to communications to customer service. Even employees count in this scenario. This issue is the great truth serum because so often brand communications is more focused on the current campaign and less on creating a 360-degree point of view – the acid test of how powerful an idea really is. If the concept can drive brand behavior at all levels then you’re on to something big.

If adult beverage businesses are good breeding grounds for this kind of thinking, what other categories also require focus on brand behavior platforms and mining emotional touch points?

Mexican Beer? What brand is first in your head?

For many it would be Corona, the leading Mexican import and share leader of the entire import beer category. People buy categories first and the top of mind brands within those mental brackets. Energy drink: it’s Red Bull. Heavy motorcycles: it’s Harley. European style coffee drinks: it’s Starbucks. And so on. In the February 19th edition of AdAge, marketing guru, Al Ries, has a wonderful column on category creation and its central role in successful brand and business strategy. His example is Nintendo’s runaway success with Wii – not a better or more powerful video-game console, a different one that represents development of a new category in the digital gaming battle.

“There is no best auto company, there is no best car. You’re really competing now to be unique. One can still be a large company by meeting a very well chosen set of needs. Whole Foods is not trying to be a great food retailer. It is trying to meet the needs of a certain set of customers. Those customers view the 183-store chain’s eco-friendly ethos as representative of a healthy, socially responsible lifestyle they want to identify with.” Michael Porter, Harvard Business School.

The driving force behind uniqueness can be best expressed as the search for different. The outcome of that search most certainly can be the launch of a new category where a brand rightfully claims its innovation and leadership mantle. As Ries said in his column: “Marketing is a battle of categories…Creating a category and then branding that category in such a way that your brand is perceived as the innovator and leader is the essence of marketing today…The brand is only a marker for the category itself.”

So often the conversation in branding circles is about being better. Who is going to argue with continuous improvement, right? But the battleground has changed with product proliferation (too many products chasing too few consumers) and commoditization forces working to turn brands into blands. The first order of business these days is no longer just differentiation — it’s radical differentiation. And the end game is the development of new categories that a brand can be number one in.

This is the ultimate re-definition of thinking outside the box — by creating new boxes that in turn become the mental shorthand for consumer brand selection and preference.