Authentic, credible voices now key to success…

By Robert Wheatley

The world’s largest pizza chain knows a thing or two about delivery and convenience. But according to national consumer research, they have much to learn about that other half of the food equation: taste experience. They came in dead last on taste among national chains in a study done by Brand Keys last year.

So in keeping with what we already know about the consumer’s growing savvy-ness concerning quality and flavor experiences, the chain moves to substantially improve its recipes. But more importantly, Domino’s now recognizes that medium and message also matter to the outcome of brand communication.

The chain is going into the maw of the very audience previously doling out the criticism about its not-so-great tasting pies: food bloggers. Yes, into the new-age PR realm Domino’s jumps by inviting outsiders, who are beyond its control to sample, savor and sing through posting live comments at their web site.

According to USA Today’s coverage, Domino’s has tested “dozens of cheeses, 15 sauces and 50 crust-seasoning blends over two years.” Headed towards the biggest pizza consumption occasion of the year the Super Bowl, Russell Weiner , marketing chief at Domino’s said, “The best defense is a good offense.” Amen.

Bravo first to Domino’s for its willingness to take the larger risk of altering the franchise recipe in the name of better quality and taste. Second, coming from its earlier run-in with social media’s sharper knife in the form of stupid YouTube video hijinks, the chain now embraces the paradigm of transparent, conversational communication.

When you’re a $5.5 billion dollar organization there must be great temptation to revert to the old interruption model. But what we know today is that consumers look for validation brand claims and assertions from sources they trust. The rest is routinely tuned out and serves mostly as reminder media. The true convincing comes when others with the right pedigree agree and chime in.

Love the faith and belief that trust is ultimately at the core of successful brand relationships. This will be interesting to watch. What do you think?

Pampers Pulls at Heartstrings…

By Robert Wheatley

For years (wow, has it been that long?) this blog has extolled and showcased the virtues of finding and mining the brands’ higher purpose. A sweet spot that serves as the umbilical chord between a brand and hyper-relevant concerns, issues and passions in the consumer’s life.

And why does this matter? Because anything less than a bond based on this kind of emotionally charged value can lead to commoditization — and the downward spiral of a brand’s core value proposition. So this is a frequent subject here because it is so important to brand building in the digital “consumer-is-in-control” age.

Pampers “pampers” their target’s true needs…

One could assume that Pampers brand is in the business of providing a convenient, absorbent product to help protect baby bottoms. Think of all the investment that must go into diaper materials research to offer comfort while fulfilling the primary dryness mission. Or design engineering to prevent leaks. And what about those closure mechanisms to keep the diaper in place when baby is moving. We can’t forget the cartoon character licenses to dress up the diaper exterior and presumably bring a smile to both baby and mom.

Well the day of feature and benefit selling as we’ve come to know it is over. These things while important are table-stakes. Great design and technology is a given. The competitive formula has evolved and moved on. Successful brands in the years ahead will be those that “matter” to their primary buyers. The brand value proposition is no longer simple math around the analytical facts that ladder up to “superior.”

Emotion precedes logic…

It is vital for brands to determine what their essential meaning can be to users. And that meaning by the way is going to be found beyond simple, analytical distillation of the core product attributes themselves.

Pampers brand has famously arrived at this understanding. What is the core truth for new parents? The awesome, lifelong responsibility they are about to undertake comes with no user manual. Parenting is a big, big transition in life, full of delights, stresses and surprises. Children change everything.

So is Pampers ultimately selling diapers? No. They recognized that the path to “permission” for a brand relationship is tied to how they can best help, assist and support this central parenting mission.

A Parent is Born – what a fantastic statement that simply nails the point. With every first birth a new parent is born, too. The journey Pampers embarks on puts the brand in league with the none-too-trivial concerns their buyers have about caring for their new child.

• There’s simply no end to the extensions and content-deep communications territory this “mission” will yield. To start with they’ve created a documentary series of videos (see them here, here and here) that chronicle the real-life experiences of a brand new family. They are thoughtfully produced with a balance of entertainment value and the transfer of authentic, real parenting experiences.

This platform is perfectly suited to social media channels, such as integration with mommy bloggers for mom-to-mom interaction. Importantly the whole project elevates the brand’s relationship and value to mom and dad. The emotional equity this creates over time is palpable. The unselfishness in the messaging completes the circle of credibility. Nothing comes across as a sales pitch. Because it doesn’t have to!

Stop pitching, start relating…

P&G has determined that treating consumers as objects to sell to isn’t nearly as powerful as treating them as individuals to help, assist and support, and in doing so to earn a valued position on the consumer’s list of brand’s they care about.

It may sound counterintuitive to those who think you must hammer away at benefits. Well, consumers are already better educated and informed than at any other time in human history. The old tell them, tell them again and then tell them what you told them era of selling is done.

So now it’s time to look for the higher purpose for your brand. In doing so you will open the door to a brand related bond. Plus open engagement and conversation with a customer who is actually listening, and that leads to preference. And preference drives sales.

What do you think?

Economy turns attention to other values…

By Robert Wheatley

We have a weekend place in southwest Michigan, about 90 miles from downtown Chicago. It sits in an apple orchard with a small lake in the middle. Above is the view from the end of my dock. It’s serene. Quiet. Every form of wildlife abounds. Eagle, deer, wild turkeys and fox roam the area. The family loves it. We’re spending more down time there these days… It is in some ways a metaphor for how the marketing world is evolving.

In the era of conspicuous consumption people get caught up in things – buying them. They become badges and definers of personal outlook, status and self-image. Consumers morph over time into a form of professional acquirer – homo-shopperoticus — who reaps emotional rewards from adding to the ever-growing stable of goods and services.

You worked hard to play hard, or so the theory goes. The system fed itself and many continued merrily down the path of leveraged prosperity. Then came the crash and things changed – out of necessity the economic collapse forced a reevaluation of what matters. People recognized once again the importance of relationships, families and time together. Our homes have reemerged as havens in the storm. The retrenching on expensive vacations has ushered in an era more about shared family activities than bold-faced travel exotica.

Here is the Michigan house. On weekends inside you’ll find our family playing games together. Talking. Cooking. Reading. Entertaining friends. When the weather cooperates we’re outside rowing on the lake, walking on trails that surround the property. Heading to our neighbors. We’re in a rural area surrounded by farms and vineyards. So small town community celebrations become low-key additions to the entertainment line-up.

Interesting that divorces are on the down stroke now, fueled perhaps by budget realities that make financing separate households less feasible. In the adult beverage business, off-premise distribution (supermarkets, liquor stores) is gaining momentum while on-premise (bars and clubs) slows a bit. People currently consume at social occasions with friends in the home more so than out on the town. Cookbook sales are skyrocketing. Hmmmm?

In the midst of fiscal chaos people look for calm, security, certainty, substance and as a result place more value on tradition and meaning. Brands that recognize this sea-change have an extraordinary opportunity to connect in a new and powerful way with consumers.

Can you facilitate and enable family events and interactions? What language are you using in your messaging strategies? Does it tap into the reservoir of desire for substance, human interaction, authenticity and shared experience? Can you play a role in family traditions? Facilitate communication? People are more grounded now in the understanding that human relationships are an impressive emotional anchor.

Brand relevance is a curious thing because it is so directly tied to acute understanding and insight into the consumer’s needs, wants and passions. As for me I place great priority on my daughters. Brynne (who is about to turn three) and I enjoy some quality time together while having breakfast on the deck. She helped me “cook.” This is where the action is.

Brands that matter do so by acquiring a higher purpose, one built on recognizing people have an intense desire to be a part of something larger than themselves. This is the path to a brand related bond. Now is the time to mine communications pathways that acknowledge and build on this emotional tether.

What do you think?

Pricing sends a message – fast

By Robert Wheatley

In a recent editorial in AdAge, author and consultant Al Ries described the devastating impact of variable pricing on the airline industry and how it worked to effectively commoditize airline brands. His point: “There’s nothing wrong with being a high-end brand. There’s nothing wrong with being a low-end brand. There’s something wrong when you try to be both.”

Consumers quickly assign quality values to a product or service based on its price. An expensive watch is seen as a higher quality watch. The price sets a perceptual bar. We don’t always want the expensive item. And we don’t always want the cheap item either. If toilet paper is a commodity to some consumers, then cheap is better. The same consumer who buys the luxury watch may also buy the low-end toilet paper. Value means different things to different people.

What remains constant however are people assigning attributes qualitatively to a brand based on its pricing strategy. More expensive usually means better.

Gaps can undermine…

There’s an unyielding temptation in the current economy to drop price to move volume. But if the gaps between normal pricing and promotional pricing get too large, two things happen. First, consumers decide the price was too high to begin with and your equity immediately erodes. Second, they will shop the category looking for price reductions and purchase on that basis, thus the business is commoditized.

What message are you sending about the relative value and quality of your brand based on its pricing strategy?

Street musicians and perceptual value…

Damon Gudaitis of copyblogger had an interesting post today about “anchors.” A form of mental shorthand we use to make decisions quickly about the value of something in front of us. He tells the story of street musicians in Japan that underscores our typical behavior and how pricing anchors work:

“I learned another lesson about anchor pricing when I spent six weeks with my guitar as a street performer in Japan.

I watched two competing guitarists busking weekends in Fukuoka. Both were of similar ability. Both took donations, and also sold CDs. (If you ever plan on becoming a street performer yourself, cut a CD first. It really gets attention and enhances your credibility.)

One musician sold his CD for $20. The other sold his for $6.

Here’s the thing—neither one of them sold very many CDs.

But the musician selling CDs for about the going rate was signaling that his music was worth listening to. The performer selling CDs at way below market value was signaling that his music was junk.

The $20 CD performer got lots of attention. He’d consistently draw crowds of 20-40 people at a time, getting a modest donation from nearly every listener.

The $6 CD guy, about as good as the first, usually only got 2 or 3 people at a time and was clearly busking for love and not money.

And there’s another factor. Street performers fall into two categories: those who get change and those who get bills.

You guessed it. The $20 CD guy not only drew a larger crowd, but that crowd felt he was worth some folding money as a tip. The $6 CD guy heard nothing but the clink of spare change.

The successful busker didn’t accept the existing anchor for street performers, which is a couple of coins.

Instead, he created a new anchor with his $20 CD. That CD created a new context and a new marketing message, and that let him drop a new anchor that was more favorable to him.”

Long story short: pricing is powerful. Pricing says a lot about the worth, quality and value of what you do. If what you’re selling is worth more, then price it accordingly — it’s an important signal. Just watch the temptation to try and be all things to all people. If you’re in the low end, then live there. And ditto at the other. Straddling will undermine the entire proposition.

What do you think?

Never underestimate the need for equity-building efforts

By Robert Wheatley

I love my car. It’s a 2003 Mercedes G 500. If you’ve seen one it’s a retro looking angular box on wheels. Mercedes version of a Hummer-esque off roader gussied up with amenities (best auto sound system I’ve ever had). It’s a truck and drives like one but I really enjoy it. In my advanced age I prefer using Kiehl’s skin care products because they work and I like the story behind the brand. At the end of a rough day (I have plenty of those) I re-orient with a cold Corona beer (yes they’re a client but I liked the product before hand). The vacation-in-a-bottle beach thing is a mental aspiration.

As a passionate home cook I have standards about what I will use. It’s Barilla pasta or I’m not making the recipe. If you put a bag of Cheetos in front of me, it’s gone. Same with Blue Diamond Smokehouse almonds – can’t live without ‘em. My dentist was forever lecturing me about my teeth. He persuaded me to get a Sonic Care toothbrush. Wow, what a difference in the check-ups. I’m sold. I’m a pet fanatic, and have been my entire life. And I’m brand loyal — I have a Newfoundland dog, here he is.

His name is Goliath – appropriate don’t you think, given he weighs 170 pounds? I have been a Newf fan for 15 years. Best dog breed on the planet. I could talk for hours about them. My soup is Campbell’s, and my tissue is Kleenex . My computer is an Apple and I’ve been a diehard for over 20 years. Honestly the Apple reflects my non-conforming outlook on life and career devotion to a creative business. I appreciate design esthetics so Apple gets major props for that.

Sure the economy has created trade-offs for my family and me. We do less of some things like travel. We’ve cut way back on home improvements. We’re not replacing things that are getting a little shop worn. But brands that matter still do and they’re not falling off the menu. Why? Because so much of how we define ourselves is expressed in our likes and interests, and brands play a real big role there.

A recent Harris Interactive Equi-Trend study suggests that in the current economic hurricane, as Warren Buffet describes it, we tighten our grip around brands we enjoy. Marketing Daily ran a piece about the study. Says Harris: “Brand equity does not lose potency when money is tight.” Interestingly comfort foods and staples got the highest brand equity scores – Hershey’s, Crayola, even Arm & Hammer baking soda. In categories like airlines, Southwest got high marks. It was Sony in electronics and Grey Goose in spirits.

The prevailing view is that brand loyalty goes out the window with the budget bath water in a recession. NOT SO. It is entirely conditional. Loyalty’s core essence is grounded in value to the user. Wes brown, an analyst with Iceology in LA says people tend to stick with what they know and while a cheaper alternative may exist, they are hesitant to risk failure from something they don’t know as well.

So for any organization considering cutbacks and diminished investments in brand building, think twice. And for those who in a state of panic reach for steep price reductions, be careful lest you dilute your equity. Remember that people love their brands and investments in building those relationships are not playing fast and loose with available assets. If anything its vital to your future. Brands that plow ahead in the storm, by far and away, come out healthier than their conservative brethren.

I’m “gripping,” are you? What do you think?

General Mills Mines Relevance

By Robert Wheatley

When marketers work to identify a higher purpose and thereby imbue their brand with greater meaning, a whole new world of opportunity unfolds to develop that ever-elusive relationship with consumers. The challenge: finding the sweet spot of relevance to the lifestyle concerns and passions of your best customers. Here’s an example of great thinking at work from our friends at General Mills.

My three and six-year old daughters like books. Every night the ritual at bedside involves two or three titles told with great flourish by my wife, Kristen or me. We routinely replenish the bookrack with new titles, given their daily appetite for stories. Equally we feel this is a good thing as parents to do and remain hopeful the devotion to reading will create a life-long interest in books.

Please note the importance of the children’s welfare to parents and doing things actively to support their development!!

Cheerios. Yes its cereal, and also finger food for the very young. Both daughters eat it dry as a snack. So Cheerios is in the consideration set for our kids. The goal of General Mills is to sell me more Cheerios, more often and over a longer period of time. Sure Cheerios can re-fresh their proposition with flavor and form line extensions. But this happens quite a lot in food land so while we take note of it, this is not working to dial up our general attitude towards the brand.

But wait!!!

Cheerios launches a contest to search out and identify new potential authors for children’s titles via a literacy program called “Spoonfuls of Stories.” Further the brand distributes 35 million paperback editions of selected books inside cereal boxes. Enter the parallel cause related layer – Cheerios to date has also donated $3 million to a nonprofit called First Book that provides books to low-income families.

Cheerios now intersects with my behavior as a parent to read to my kids on a daily basis. This act is important to me. The brand’s behavior aligns with mine in an area quite separate from diet but resting squarely in the zone of relevance. Now we have something powerful that ties the brand relationship together.

This is precisely what we mean by “higher purpose.” Engagement and the opportunity for a relationship must begin with the consumer granting permission. And this access is an outcome of brands that enable and support the keen aspirations of their users. This takes the brand relationship past commerce and into dialogue. Telling me about the natural ingredients in a cereal is one thing, but helping me with a key-parenting goal is entirely another. This is the intent of our own proprietary Trailblazer planning model – to uncover insights that help brands rise above “selling” and into mattering.

Bravo Cheerios….

By Robert Wheatley

Race to reduce may deepen the floor…

Coupons and deals are everywhere. If everything is on deal all the time, then certainly there’s no distinctiveness to be found in the deal. The deal soon becomes the new floor. And the floor may stick over time: 10 percent down is the new flat?

Last time we looked a dollar still had a hundred cents in it. So the deal dollars come off the top of the budget, making the remaining kettle of funds smaller. And in the interest of achieving volume goals, the margin side of the P&L takes a hit. But we all know that margins are dear to owners, be they investors of the public variety or families and individuals of the private kind.

In the end profits get restored and budgets shrink to accommodate. Fewer dollars then are available for innovation, research into consumer behaviors and needs and other tools used to build equity and attract new business. The steamroll effect of this can leave brands vulnerable to rivals less enamored with habitual deep discounting.

Value re-defined

Value is not just price. Valuable-ness comes from relevance to the consumer’s needs. And in a difficult economy, finding the relationship footing with consumers who wield tighter wallets means that value can still translate effectively when looked at through a lens that sees beyond coupons and discounts. Here are three paths:

1. In parallel
Procter and Gamble has deployed the formula for this in their Tide Total Care campaign. The twist on value is helping consumers get more mileage out of their clothing investment. The value message is there but not tied solely to price as motivator to buy. Is there a value proposition that runs alongside the benefits of product use?

2. Empathy
Hyundai’s Buyer Assurance Program, now imitated by other auto brands, aims to put the brand in league with the real world concerns of buyers. It says I know what you’re facing and I’m there with you. We can help take the risk out of this major purchase. How can you mine alignment with uncertainty and anxiety in tangible, meaningful ways that tell consumers you understand their plight?

3. Emotion
Consumers may try to remain objective in times like these, but we are emotional creatures and will respond with the heart as much as the head. We know people are spending more time with families, eating at home more often, looking for those areas where control can still be exerted. Simple pleasures and moments of gratification that offer comfort and social interaction can be powerful when everything else looks uncertain. Can you sync up with the emotional tenor of the moment and link brand use to enabling occasions of escape, enjoyment and serenity?

By Robert Wheatley

The cosmic at work on planet earth

This post may feel a bit like convening with the spirits or consulting the stars, but there is merit and consequence, we believe between proper, moral, ethical behavior and “good things will happen to you” and your business.

Otherworldly phenomenon…

An agency management consultant we know and respect, David Baker, made an interesting comment to us about the at times murky world of new business development activity. He said: you can’t know from one day to the next when a prospective client is actually ready and motivated to buy your services. His comment came in a conversation about what he believes is a lot of misguided attempts to “sell” agency services. He correctly asserts that agency services are bought and not sold.

However, he also said that there’s an almost cosmic, otherworldly connection between the act of purposeful outreach and opportunities for growth. His point: even though some activities may appear to be shots in the proverbial dark, there is a corollary relationship over time between conscious effort (sweat) and opportunity (result). You cannot necessarily quantify or calculate exactly how action “A” leads to “B” but it routinely does, so you proceed down this trail with a measure of faith that your labor will be rewarded. And sometimes from places you least expect.

Faith?

Similarly are there forces at work in business we cannot fully understand and measure that make the case for ethical behavior and the moral high ground? I believe the answer is absolutely YES. There are plenty of opportunities in business to take a darker path, as Seth Godin discusses in a recent post.

There is an interesting dynamic at play around us that underscores the wisdom and value of ethical actions. It may seem that bad guys like Bernie Madoff routinely make out like bandits — and others with less obvious criminal intents may also work hard to reap benefits from business practices that fly on the edge of moral judgment (some argue this condition is at the foundation of a few Wall Street meltdowns).

The world is a curious place and the rationale for moral conduct has a lot going for it beyond the religious undertones it’s almost always associated with or how you were brought up. Truthfulness, doing the right thing if you will, is somehow at work like a natural order just below the surface at all times. The old saying, “what goes around comes around” has been proven more often and in more ways that I can count.

If you act and operate morally, responsibly in your personal life and business dealings, there is a functionality to it that works alongside the conscience we’re raised with. Congruently bad behavior over time often leads to bad outcomes. This curious balance and force tempers the rush to greed that can motivate bad decisions and judgments.

Do nice guys finish first?

So does faith operate in the business world? Absolutely. Doesn’t mean we recommend tossing your efforts aside in favor of waiting for miracles. Rather the actions and efforts you undertake, if done in a spirit of right, fair, helpful, generous truthful, lawful and correct — lead to outcomes that generate benefits for individuals and business.

You agree?

By Robert Wheatley

Generational shift ushers in new era

With uncertain market conditions, upheaval in traditional communications channels and consumer behavior in a constant state of flux, it simply doesn’t pay to assume what you did this year and the “rules” that governed your strategic thinking, should remain unchanged in the year ahead.

Continued expansion of niche markets and the evolution of sub-segments of consumer “tribes” will remain as a constant. The product development world still favors mass customization and segmentation in nearly every category. Consumers also show an unrelenting desire to congregate socially in communities of shared interest.

That said there are over-arching trends that should be considered as we look towards communicating effectively in 2009. Roy Williams had an insightful post in November at his Monday Morning Memo blog that built off a book titled Generations, published in 2003. The book chronicles a curious behavior in Western society the authors assert is as predictable as the sunrise and set: a generational pendulum swing that moves back and forth between an Idealist mindset and a Civic perspective.

Baby boomers (I am one of them) may have been one of the most obvious examples of this collective attitude shift when, in 1963 a new era of Idealism was introduced. Says Williams – “By the end of 2008 there won’t be a Baby Boomer left in America. The last reluctant holdout will finally admit that Woodstock is over, Kennedy is dead and the Idealism of the 60’s was a wistful dream.” Williams makes the case the final move to the other side of the pendulum swing, — to a Civic point of view — will be complete at the end of this year.

This new global mindset should be factored into communications and selling strategy in the year ahead. Here in summary are several of Williams’ recommendations:

Efficiency is the new service

With busy lifestyles getting busier and communications technology allowing for instant access to information on what products to buy and where, consumers will be looking for a combination of quality, price and quickness. In this scenario, efficiency in customer interaction wins out over high touch, relationship selling.

Authenticity reigns supreme

Today’s consumer comes equipped with the most highly refined bullshit detector ever devised. It is sensitive, accurate and always on. So in today’s era of “conversational” marketing and consumer control if you don’t or won’t admit a mistake or misstep, they may not believe the other things you have to say. Keep it real!!

Horizontal connectedness

Gone now are the days of defined and categorized vertical social worlds. Labels like white collar, blue collar are not salient. The new American dream isn’t about pulling ahead of others, it’s about being a productive team member. Winning is less important than belonging.

The new mass media is… word of mouth

Technology is empowering. It is also unforgiving in its ability to facilitate radical change. Now we have instant access to everything. Viral marketing was not created by an agency. It is an outgrowth of a horizontally connected world where people share their discoveries, and work to help each other avoid mistakes.

Stop boasting

Talk is cheap. And as we’ve said repeatedly in this blog, actions speak louder than words. Telling people what you believe is not the same as showing them. What are the “proofs of claim” in your communications? How can consumers experience these things for themselves? Messaging about how great you are is less compelling.

So here’s the call to action for 2009: what higher strategic purpose can your brand align itself with that transcends the obvious “I’m trying to make a sale here” interaction with consumers? How can you be more genuine, authentic, credible with consumers who expect brands they prefer to be a reflection of their own needs and passions?

Says Williams – “In the words of Bill Bernbach, I’ve got a great gimmick. Let’s tell the truth.”

Can “Value Attribution” Confound Brand Communications?

Note: forgive the long post, but this stuff was too interesting not to pass along…

For the most part we operate as marketers and communicators day-in and day-out with a built in assumption that consumers listen to us, understand us and act accordingly. Of course, there’s ongoing debate about the real level of listening. Well, it also seems there’s the possibility that our messages are misconstrued or misunderstood or misinterpreted due to some funny ways humans operate to process information.

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