tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26906230256754521352023-11-16T03:39:58.797-08:00Marketing Bites - Smile like a baby, bite like a GatorAn Australian Marketing Blog covering brands, advertising, strategy and researchAl Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-57268989253000305792010-01-31T22:26:00.000-08:002010-02-01T05:11:46.471-08:00Premium brands vs supermarket private labels<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0XI8Q-M6xpFjSzU47JjMAn7ZDmKUB0gyPypmdr3ZN1yuMZuf6Y-83nanlFFIwgj_KHwVIgpqO0owoc-yfNbpGEidm-urJSNrpudJuM1EEI5u9UeGs7K7n3zlK4eACePvT3BVb69y_9FJT/s1600-h/GladWrap.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 145px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0XI8Q-M6xpFjSzU47JjMAn7ZDmKUB0gyPypmdr3ZN1yuMZuf6Y-83nanlFFIwgj_KHwVIgpqO0owoc-yfNbpGEidm-urJSNrpudJuM1EEI5u9UeGs7K7n3zlK4eACePvT3BVb69y_9FJT/s320/GladWrap.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433158514596949394" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Premium brands used to only have to battle against each other. Now they have to compete with rivals that are cheaper and readily available. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />For years supermarket store brands, so called private-label brands, were seen as low quality products that were not really comparable to real premium brands. There are still some private labels that are clearly inferior to the brands, but the gap is closing. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />To my mind, retailers’ growing focus on and investment in their own products has come about for several reasons:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">First, these private labels are profitable. They undercut the premium brands but still make a healthy margin. Second, they present an opportunity for retailers to build loyalty with customers; after all, if you love Coles’ muesli, then you have to shop at Coles to buy it. And third, with the rise of discounters like Aldi, supermarket chains have to work harder to retain shoppers who might otherwise be lured away by cheap, no-frills products elsewhere.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Retailers are also inclined to give an increasing proportion of shelf space to their own products. And retailers are not likely to dispel the misplaced view of many of the general public who think private label products are made by the same people who make the more attractively packaged and advertised products that cost more. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />So, with retailer brands increasing share across categories, premium brands face a considerable challenge. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Their task is to convince consumers that they’re paying for more than a nice box and the ad they saw last night.<br /><br />Premium brands, in general, have strong equity and consumer trust and are seen as innovative. Companies like Nivea and Heinz have many years of heritage yet continue to innovate and invest in product development and packaging, making sure they are prominent on the shelf. They invest in advertising to create desirability and differentiation. They do not stand still. They continually seek to justify the fact that they’re more expensive.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />In <span style="font-style: italic;">The Paradox of Choice</span>, Barry Schwartz persuasively makes the case that complexity undermines consumer decision making and increases dissatisfaction. Believing that only new news sells and that people will pay a premium for a brand that fulfills their specific needs, marketers of consumer goods have extended their brands to the point where shoppers are faced with a staggering number of alternatives. And as the number of branded alternatives has increased, so has the amount of marketing communications people see and hear (though, of course, many people now have DVRs and PVRs that allow them to skip TV ads), making it less likely that anyone will remember the advertising for an individual brand.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">In an increasingly cluttered world, the clarity of a brand’s proposition will become ever more important. A clear and differentiated identity will need to be established. In many cases brands that embody a particular belief or set of values perform best. They say, “This is what we believe; join us if you agree”. Research can help to identify what customers really care about and credibly match values to ensure success. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The ultimate goal is to manage premium brands in such a way that they become icon brands. Then there is no need to ask for alternatives; there are no viable rivals. For example, when I want sticky tape, I ask the assistant for Sellotape. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Similarly, at a recent dinner party, I was asked by my cousin’s 20 year-old girlfriend if I had any Gladwrap (cling film). She didn’t know any other cling film brands. Gladwrap was the best, period. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />I worked at DHL some years ago, where we attempted to instill in consumers' minds a perception that DHL was an icon. In research, we found that when DHL users wanted to send a document or parcel they simply “DHL'd it”. This was the language they used. Using this insight we developed a clear and credible campaign that was very successful, and led to increased brand affinity and market share.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />In summary, it’s up to premium brands to out-innovate and out-image retailer brands in order to prosper.</span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-19532393651675394332010-01-12T23:14:00.000-08:002010-01-12T23:21:11.358-08:00Observations, insights and ideas<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUbhZA8-G9-4gL8tULdDOQWzpKm_DPJMTwH0X_PNpNUUKofI8SJp7dsQhb3LGeuO2zIRDkxcCWcKkUD84A0iSO46uU1l7WExJQnEI8H3Aj7Z3fqLCyxqQ02VMTGEunNnrDBTkwl3zyYQq/s1600-h/walkman.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUbhZA8-G9-4gL8tULdDOQWzpKm_DPJMTwH0X_PNpNUUKofI8SJp7dsQhb3LGeuO2zIRDkxcCWcKkUD84A0iSO46uU1l7WExJQnEI8H3Aj7Z3fqLCyxqQ02VMTGEunNnrDBTkwl3zyYQq/s320/walkman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426120204101151010" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">You know us marketers use the term ‘insights’ as if there is no tomorrow. And yet it amazes me how often it is misused.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />To be clear, in market research, we begin with observations of behaviour. These are facts, nuggets of consumer information that can be the raw material for insight generation. For example, US researchers in the 1970s saw kids walking around with big stereos on their shoulders.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />An insight is when we get to the heart of people’s thoughts and feelings. It provides inspiration for business growth. Taking the aforementioned example, the insight was that these kids wanted to listen to their music when on the move. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />So Sony developed the Walkman. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Interestingly though, when it was researched, consumers said they wouldn’t buy it because they couldn’t use it to record music like they could with a traditional tape recorder. But Sony believed in the core insight, pushed on with producing and marketing the product, and the rest, as they say, is history.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />So from an insight comes an idea, in the above example the idea being to produce a small, portable, lightweight machine that can play music (tapes). Good ideas come from great insights which in turn come from deeply understood observations. And good ideas potentially go beyond what consumers say they need. It can require a leap of faith, as in the case of the Walkman.</span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-19809653009634898142010-01-05T21:02:00.000-08:002010-01-05T21:15:21.134-08:00Analysing market research data<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvVOg8M-QQOAbsl7ddBMDaaK99pmznAzZ0iLLaXIqEp7BzuBIKPgi0gHtwAQM_jrOe7vKSyjlmTjQVsNnHh8e9LxQtZ04mw2IENjsCSY1eZJUz1IHy4MPz8SwKey69wn6MaMIjEbT4BdF/s1600-h/correspondance.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvVOg8M-QQOAbsl7ddBMDaaK99pmznAzZ0iLLaXIqEp7BzuBIKPgi0gHtwAQM_jrOe7vKSyjlmTjQVsNnHh8e9LxQtZ04mw2IENjsCSY1eZJUz1IHy4MPz8SwKey69wn6MaMIjEbT4BdF/s320/correspondance.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423490581247667282" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">At a recent Xmas party I attended, a friend of mine, who considered himself quite numerate, asked me how I went about analysing market research data. Did I use the same techniques and steps for each piece of work? And if not, how did it differ? </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Now, I would not describe myself as a statistician, but over the years I have gained an awareness of the methods and techniques that may be employed to tease out insights from data. And so, after a few moments to think, I tried to give an answer in simple, clear terms. It went something like this… </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />There are, to my mind, essentially two basic groups of techniques used to analyse research data:</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />On the one hand there are structural techniques. These identify the relationship among variables, for instance, when a researcher wants to know which product variables are related to one another or how consumers group into homogeneous clusters. Factor analysis, cluster analysis, etc., belong to this class of techniques.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />And then there are functional techniques, that concentrate on how a set of variables influence a variable we are interested in, for example, identifying purchase drivers, and what attributes distinguish users and non-users of a certain brand. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />I went on to say that historically the general approach to data analysis is sequential: first obtain the cross-tabs, then use structural and functional techniques to sharpen our understanding of the data. This approach has been, and will continue to be, useful in analysing data.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />However, at AMR Interactive (a market research agency I worked for some years ago), I came across a new approach that combined the 2 classes of techniques into one single analysis procedure. In doing so, it provides considerable insight into how brands and attributes are related to one another and which attributes (or demographics) are crucial in distinguishing brands. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />In addition, this Correspondence Analysis also provides Perceptual Maps that can be used to strengthen a current brand position or find opportunities for a new or existing brand. It puts important patterns in the data into bold relief by visually depicting the prominent relationships. Richer interpretation of data and more relevant cross-tabs may be generated once we identify the important patterns. </span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-53677700174457931852009-12-01T17:59:00.000-08:002010-01-05T21:17:45.046-08:00The data-driven organisation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDKNSYRyF1bp49z4WqvD1TzVVyL6YY0Ka2jjfDnu6sU9RrKUCV3w_kl4HvqIJBdPsUHOeAxWiUqhOPgua9QXvrA2XbUOzGeTLd6Msxgj7aYb01ABOkwshkdgFdtmmswo8BUDGyvk5XUXxj/s1600-h/data+analysis.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 135px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDKNSYRyF1bp49z4WqvD1TzVVyL6YY0Ka2jjfDnu6sU9RrKUCV3w_kl4HvqIJBdPsUHOeAxWiUqhOPgua9QXvrA2XbUOzGeTLd6Msxgj7aYb01ABOkwshkdgFdtmmswo8BUDGyvk5XUXxj/s320/data+analysis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423491391587422754" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">As I may have mentioned before, I worked a good number of years for DHL (a multinational, wholly owned by Deutsche Post, with an annual turnover of AUD $7bn), in various European senior marketing roles. Since moving to Sydney, I’ve worked on the other side of the fence, both in research and advertising agencies, and, having worked with a number of clients, I’ve come to the view that DHL was a highly data-driven organisation.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">I believe many Australian businesses would benefit from instilling a stronger culture of analysis within their organisation, by adopting some of the following practices employed by DHL:</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />DHL used business goals to drive decision making.<br /><br />One of the common problems with analysing data is that companies look at their numbers without putting them in the context of their overall business. As a result, when they receive an analytics report (often in a crisp, new binder with colourful, attractive charts) they sift through it without knowing what it means to their bottom line. Data-driven organisations make sure that goals and metrics are defined and agreed on, and they communicate them to everyone according to role.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Data-driven organisations never rely solely on gut feelings.<br /><br />For sure, data and research will never give you definitive answers. However, making educated decisions based on analytics-driven insight will help you meet your goals. This doesn’t mean you should throw your experience out the window. But you should be honest with yourself about what you really know and don’t know. I have observed many clients mistake their own personal likes and dislikes for insights in customer behaviour. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Successful data driven organisations spend money in the right places and in the right way. As a result they can justify every marketing dollar they invest and tie it to business goals and KPIs.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">For example, instead of putting millions of dollars every year into a full website redesign, they target their spending according to where it will be most effective. To do this, you first need to identify which aspects of your website are most important in driving your business. Let’s say you have a lead generation site that tries to get visitors interested in you offerings so they will request a meeting with a sales rep. Every upgrade you make to the site should improve the way it converts your visitors into high quality leads. Your efforts may involve highlighting calls to action or streamlining request forms so that it’s easier to separate good prospects from bad. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Companies like DHL that are serious about data also use analytics to maximise their ROI for online and offline initiatives. If you have an underperforming marketing campaign, you should reallocate resources to areas that have a better probability of success. That way you’ll always be sure you’re investing wisely and strategically in areas that drive your business goals. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />In a data-driven organisation, every team, business unit and individual operates under a unified, global set of standards.<br /><br />To do this, you need to set overall business goals and metrics. Then you assign different groups in the company their own targets and metrics based on how their works impacts the top-level goals. This process continues down the chain of command until it reaches individual employees. In the end, everyone is aware of how their actions contribute to the success of the company. I’ve found that once people and departments have clear and specific metrics to define their success, they tend to have an entirely different (and often much more motivated) approach to their work.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Whenever a data-driven organisation launches an initiative or campaign, it has already put together a forecast of its potential impact on the business and bottom line. When these projects are complete, the organisation also wants to know how the outcome of the project compared to earlier estimates. For this, you need to include a full post-launch analysis in your process. You should not only focus on the outcome but also use the opportunity to look at the forecasting process. Are you making accurate predications and if not, why? </span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-20304895936608926982009-10-28T22:28:00.001-07:002009-11-30T21:31:42.153-08:00Woolies finally get it together<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9Bc04CWgNNIcVNXOVZjqSO7hxI-MuIPhqr1pPtApqR4ZBrgTYAU3N_pozCSVhZDoo1a63a6OF2XzzwDL5VUTJQwd7ef-i3Vq0y0YB-oyXkBRZWCwBiYS9dSdhfeA7r1tLKOIsYWBmFoH/s1600/Copy+of+scn0003.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9Bc04CWgNNIcVNXOVZjqSO7hxI-MuIPhqr1pPtApqR4ZBrgTYAU3N_pozCSVhZDoo1a63a6OF2XzzwDL5VUTJQwd7ef-i3Vq0y0YB-oyXkBRZWCwBiYS9dSdhfeA7r1tLKOIsYWBmFoH/s320/Copy+of+scn0003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410136187398260610" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Woolworths (aka Woolies) are really getting their act together. The big supermarkets in the UK introduced a loyalty card to their customers about 20 years ago. This year Woolies introduced their version – the Everyday loyalty card. After Coles introduced their card, it’s a distinct case of better late than never. And from what I can gather it’s been a great success, which isn’t a surprise.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Woolies has around 4.5 million people signed up to the loyalty program, and is sending an estimated 1 million emails each week to the 3 million who have registered their personal details, according to The Age. Their offering is centred on petrol, with the card a simpler alternative to dockets for providing customers with fuel discounts. Their tie-up with Qantas has apparently given their card a strong boost.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">More importantly, Woolies now have the buying habits and shopping patterns of its customers in a mega-database, which it can, in turn, use to target customers with promotions and offers (and this is important) that are relevant to them. This drives loyalty differentiation.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Having registered online for my Everyday card, I recently received this very good DM piece from Woolies. Essentially it was a solid promotion targeted at and relevant to me: it offered me a good credit card deal with 5% off my groceries for 3 months (this was pertinent because I usually buy my groceries with a credit card) and 40c/litre off my next fuel visit (again, this was attractive because I top up each week).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Above all that though, the look and tone is so right. It’s colourful with not too much text. The informal, un-corporate-like tone is pitch perfect. The first line says, “Hi Alex, Here’s a new offer from Everyday Money that I thought you’d be interested in.” There's no off-putting hard sell here. Just a “thought you might be interested in this” sentiment. And with its “Yours Sincerely, Deborah, Everyday Rewards” sign-off, I was left with the feeling that Deborah was a pal, not a faceless corporate big wig. Nice work Woolies.</span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-88292407226518961522009-09-16T00:05:00.000-07:002009-09-16T00:25:02.835-07:00Entertaining mobility<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSJbxwZIDtOxbRB-uWSvTt2oTQM2ywzWn5J9YUE6umXBnapo5PC1wcYzt8IXdF9SvW-m8szdbLBnDnlvoCNNImHMGwVFvFjTk0_KSR-qqVo53ttzY2jObH9EbfdjFXWwG3AWx0Qdfx3-d/s1600-h/samsungmobile.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 153px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSJbxwZIDtOxbRB-uWSvTt2oTQM2ywzWn5J9YUE6umXBnapo5PC1wcYzt8IXdF9SvW-m8szdbLBnDnlvoCNNImHMGwVFvFjTk0_KSR-qqVo53ttzY2jObH9EbfdjFXWwG3AWx0Qdfx3-d/s320/samsungmobile.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381958981898529554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">I recently read that the US computer game industry is now bigger than Hollywood. Multi-player gaming as well as file sharing, online communities, and user-generated content are redefining entertainment as we know it. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />A key driver of this change is that one-man band of digital devices, the mobile phone. Consumption of games, music and TV on mobile phones is growing along with the uptake of 3G services.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />A recent survey in Europe suggests that 70% of teens use their phones to listen to music, with games and video penetration just behind. The mobile facilitates seamless retailing with ‘purchase and play’ whenever and wherever we feel like it. Handset manufacturers are pushing the next phase of mobile music consumption hard. The Nokia Music Store <a href="http://www.nokiamusic.co.uk/#/manifesto4/">http://www.nokiamusic.co.uk/#/manifesto4/</a> and iTunes <a href="http://www.apple.com/au/itunes/mobile/">http://www.apple.com/au/itunes/mobile/</a> allows you to download music to a mobile. It seems the hardware, the connectivity and marketing dollars are all in place to deliver a new form of music on the move, assuming the price is right.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />From a gaming and video perspective, made for mobile shows and games have created a new usage occasion and a commensurate need to cater for the additional opportunity, increasing the size of the industry. Mobile games will incorporate additional features, such as a GPS, enabling a truly unique gaming experience.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />User-generated content has added a new dimension to entertainment. Cameras on mobiles are enabling opportunistic content creation that can at times have a profound effect on the viewer - think of the recent images, beamed around the globe, of the disgraceful treatment of protesters by authorities in Iran. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Additionally, social networking has become compulsive viewing. The mobile products of both MySpace and Facebook have been hugely successful, allowing you to communicate for less than an SMS, share anything you want instantly through mobile upload and see exactly what everyone in your life is doing all the time. Global CEO Chris De Wolfe said he expects up to 50% of MySpace traffic to be from mobile devices within the next 2 years. Interestingly, he went on to say that users return multiple times per day, indicating snack consumption for the moments in between times.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">It seems unlikely mobile TV will replace home entertainment centres, but it can augment your entertainment experience. For example, in addition to made-for-mobile content, Foxtel iQ has launched a mobile product that allows you to plan your evening’s entertainment from the comfort of anywhere but your lounge <a href="http://www.foxtel.com.au/discover/mobile/default.htm">http://www.foxtel.com.au/discover/mobile/default.htm</a>. It’s a great example of how the mobile platform can act as enabler and add value to other platforms.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">With processing power ever-increasing, you’ll soon be able to continue playing World of Warcraft even when you leave the house. Because of the constraints determined by the size of the handset, it’s debatable though whether the mobile phone will ever replace the mainstream gaming console. However, it looks certain to complement the online variant, with the trading and training of characters being activities that will be managed on a mobile.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">An increased consumer repertoire will continue to grow the entertainment market, specifically the share attributed to mobile. Some of this will be pure entertainment on the handset, but increasingly we shall see cross-over with other entertainment platforms. </span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-25012915228489706022009-08-25T20:21:00.000-07:002009-08-26T06:11:56.896-07:00The impact of web development on brands - some predictions<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy94_BudosD2mRR06FuV3Xqto4lFbt6rS9A0Xqv2aB7u5XzI9MlajAAoqkMzLwm6dJIkxykHvw0gA_GjpONZvVrkSoAQNJnRIpElyfI2Kg5A_enyzwAcVhiHkhNeIRA9e7BIF2fGXSccWw/s1600-h/000518_2656_1088_oslp.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy94_BudosD2mRR06FuV3Xqto4lFbt6rS9A0Xqv2aB7u5XzI9MlajAAoqkMzLwm6dJIkxykHvw0gA_GjpONZvVrkSoAQNJnRIpElyfI2Kg5A_enyzwAcVhiHkhNeIRA9e7BIF2fGXSccWw/s320/000518_2656_1088_oslp.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374110772668122802" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I’ve been thinking a fair bit lately about the future of the web. It’s tough to make predictions, but hey, it’s fun to think about how radically the web will transform our lives and the way brands will need to evolve to attract and retain customers. With computing power doubling every 2 years, it’s predicted that at the current growth rate computers should be equal to the intellectual processing capability of humans by 2019! This seems a bit far fetched to me.<br /><br />Nevertheless there is no doubt that sooner rather than later computers will become super-smart, meaning that the future may be less about what we do as a race but more about what happens to us as a consequence of the technology we have developed. Indeed, it has already begun - many folks claim that visiting virtual worlds helps them understand more about themselves.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The number of people ratings products and services on the web will increase. Only those brands that can monitor and respond effectively to this online scrutiny will prosper. Consumers will discuss benefits rather than features. Niche players will multiply leading to greater diversity of product and offer and, ultimately, consumer choice.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The online space will eat up an ever increasing portion of the sales cake due to lower cost of sales and consumers' buying habits. Brands on the High Street will have to increasingly create innovative, experiential environments to attract customers, like the Apple Store in Sydney or Nike Town in London.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Tools for creative self expression will continue to emerge, allowing for works limited only by the imagination. Brands that celebrate the individual nature of humans will increase. As consumers experience greater variety and diversity, they will tend to value the unconventional over the conservative.</span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-66512058653925703902009-07-21T01:22:00.000-07:002009-08-25T20:35:26.781-07:00The discovery revolution<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtnwXNkFWjzg1z_CrWCebmszMqEAGduVkmczmXJE90ZXkoL3fqCvok4sSnqzOWvWM9qH1ZHX54mpmh75rWMk1RfaccLYwaWNq7mG9hK_aKIA4ZTYkFi9TMU5l6MmKUPc4NX9lpJpX4K7t/s1600-h/discover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 224px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtnwXNkFWjzg1z_CrWCebmszMqEAGduVkmczmXJE90ZXkoL3fqCvok4sSnqzOWvWM9qH1ZHX54mpmh75rWMk1RfaccLYwaWNq7mG9hK_aKIA4ZTYkFi9TMU5l6MmKUPc4NX9lpJpX4K7t/s320/discover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360828657407181586" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">In his now-famous book <span style="font-style: italic;">The Long Tail</span>, Chris Anderson describes how the web is transforming mass markets into millions of niche markets, observing that the "tail of available variety is far longer than we realise" and that "all those niches, when aggregated, can make up a significant market".</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Companies have begun chasing those niche markets. Consumers have found themselves inundated with an unprecedented amount of choice, in music, video, movies, information and products that span a huge range of interests. Add to that the explosive growth of user-generated content (from blogs to <span style="font-style: italic;">You Tube</span> and<span style="font-style: italic;"> Flickr</span>) and you begin to see the problem facing users today: <span style="font-weight: bold;">finding a way to navigate this vast landscape of choice.</span></span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />By using the power of collective intelligence, that is by getting millions of consumers to share their tastes and recommendations, companies going after the niche markets in the long tail are providing ways to ease that navigational problem.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The idea of web discovery is not new. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yahoo</span> began as a portal with pre-selected links to help users find interesting websites by topic. The web outgrew these editorial "best of" lists and instead the best lists became based on the wisdom of the crowd.<br /><br />As Mr Anderson puts it, "millions of regular people are the new tastemakers...These new tastemakers aren't a super-elite of people cooler than us: They are us."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">More importantly, Mr Anderson says that "for the first time in history, we're able to measure the consumption patterns, inclinations and tastes of an entire market of consumers in real time, and just as quickly adjust the market to reflect them".<br /><br />This notion of crowd-sourcing is at the heart of web discovery. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;">With the enormous amount of data and processing power residing on the web today, the discovery process is largely automated. Launched as a browser toolbar, <span style="font-style: italic;">StumbleUpon</span> lets users give thumbs up or down ratings while the tool profiles their tastes. This profile data feeds into a set of algorithms that decide which sites to display next.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Discovery is burgeoning. Music in a way is all about discovery. Apple's iTunes app <span style="font-style: italic;">Genius</span> recommends new music based on your past purchases. But my favourite music discovery service is <span style="font-style: italic;">MOG</span>, an online community that combines social networking with music, where you can "discover people through music and music through people". You can download an app that can in turn upload the basics of music collection so that MOG can automatically make recommendations. Next thing you know, you'll be inviting your friends to use the service, link to your <span style="font-style: italic;">MOG</span> page and further enhance your music discovery experience.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Another website that provides an innovative approach to entertainment and discovery is <span style="font-style: italic;">Funny or Die</span>, where users get to vote on whether a video is funny. If it is, it stays. If it's not then it's relegated to the "crypt". In a way, <span style="font-style: italic;">Funny or Die</span> represents an attempt to provide some structure for the disjointed content found on sites like <span style="font-style: italic;">YouTube</span>. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />I believe that web discovery is an important business lever for many companies. A sure-fire way to increase revenue is to surprise and delight customers and a fantastic way to do that is to deliver recommendations quickly and with minimal input, gathering preferences that in turn allow a progressively better discovery experience. </span></span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-82624816072967288952009-06-11T18:29:00.000-07:002009-06-11T18:51:06.420-07:00Market research is under threat of extinction<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6fq0pMhg-fNojaQA7Qxd8h14fLz5GI9KVgmBlwNt4JT_4Yv2Lp_blrwnFOul7jzYg1kXQW8oZi8tJfTLG56YuQIxLc4IrbONFu77321znghKq3SBUydo3cEy-LIJQj0Z0MQ9g7qXibcF7/s1600-h/dodo.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 111px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6fq0pMhg-fNojaQA7Qxd8h14fLz5GI9KVgmBlwNt4JT_4Yv2Lp_blrwnFOul7jzYg1kXQW8oZi8tJfTLG56YuQIxLc4IrbONFu77321znghKq3SBUydo3cEy-LIJQj0Z0MQ9g7qXibcF7/s320/dodo.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346249958072912466" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It’s now widely acknowledged that human behaviour is causing climate change. If we don’t stop polluting the earth’s sea, there’ll be no more fish in the sea. If we don’t stop polluting the atmosphere, we’re heading for drought and famine and many more parts of the world will be under water. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Similarly, the ecology of market research is under threat of extinction. In 2007, the Advertising Age in the US reported that 50% of respondents come from less than 5% of the population. And 0.25% of the population supplies more than 32% of responses to online surveys. Clearly, this will not give us a reliable basis to make important business decisions. There appears to be a dangerous slide taking place where market research is dependent on a small number of professional respondents. This means we’ll not have a representative sample that reflects reality. Why? Well as the Advertising Age article put it we’re in a Catch 22 – “No-one really knows whether people who don’t answer surveys are similar to those who do. Because they don’t answer surveys”.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />There is an interesting dichotomy here. Many people are willing to share their opinions and views via blogs and online forums, but not so willing to take part in market research surveys. Let’s face it – market research doesn’t have a good name. Ask around what people think of market research and their unlikely to say that it’s about businesses understanding their customers better so they can provide better products and services. Many people just feel like their being played – some are asked to participate and then later get harassed by sales calls, some are called/emailed out of the blue without opting in to participate. Respondents give their views but nothing changes, like the bank still treats them harshly and charges an exorbitant fee when they go overdrawn a few dollars. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />So how can we use the digital environment to enhance respondent engagement, and what measures can we take to ensure market research has a sustainable future? </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Over recent years, there has been a shift from telephone to online surveys. This has been driven by a number of factors including reduced cost. Many online panels have been created. The better research operators recruit a good number of their panel offline to ensure the panel is representative of the population. They make it clear to their panellists that their details will not be passed on and will be used for market research purposes only. They make it clear that panellists will only take part in approx. 6 surveys a year, and are not paid per survey. Essentially, the better panels are compliant with ESOMAR guidelines. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Perhaps the main benefit of online panels is that it helps researchers to build a trusting relationship with respondents. A panel website with clear communication and the opportunity to feedback on surveys offers vital reassurance for respondents and enhances their engagement with the operator and the survey. Rather than a financial reward per completed survey which encourages professional respondents, entries into a prize draw should be considered or perhaps a non-financial reward. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />A good panel should seek to establish a sense of community – panelists want a sense of belonging to something worthwhile and valued. They want to be part of the process in developing a user friendly and effective survey. Co-operation depends not just on the now, but how the respondent feels about previous surveys. If participants know that this is an ongoing communication, not just a one-off invitation to participate, then they are more likely to give of their best.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />We also need to tailor our research approach to the needs of the specific audience to remove some of the obstacles of participation. There is an array of data collection interfaces available from SMS polls to blogs to asynchronous online discussions. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Mixed mode data collection may be appropriate, for example, where it is important to get a representation of the entire population and not just the research population. An online data collection method might be complemented by an offline method, combined with propensity weighting, which takes account of demographics, beliefs and attitudes. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The development of the web has triggered a social change where consumers are more informed, involved and connected. Marketing is no longer about one-way communication; we seek to engage with consumers and encourage a two-way dialogue with the brand. Research should reflect this too. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Rather than ‘respondents’ we should talk about ‘participants’, which suggests a two-way interaction.<br /><br />We should look to be more creative in engaging with participants. One idea is to invite participants to an event and expose them to issues presented by speakers, video and props. This helps them understand the issues, set the agenda and participate in a more considered and engaged way.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Online blogs via the panel website can be used to encourage debate and discussion on a topic and to give our participants the opportunity to refine/define the topics from research.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">And we should look to make the survey interface a more interesting and enjoyable experience, not just in terms of closed questions with no visuals. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />These measures will not be cheap or easy to implement in the short term, but by doing so, we will get better quality results and greater co-operation from the general public.</span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-1005092855957157012009-05-20T00:56:00.000-07:002009-05-20T01:18:50.243-07:00Modify your consumer research in a recession<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uy2utAklWlK5PodX6rYD4DRzl5CJWtlYpofy2R1CDbn-LfzcBEI2BJIqkIDVYqHr5ZWW6GV3ziU-3XGDAjbxEq6XQijkoFuEyjlgsiJPO-24XobNLE-_A1nucFFZbh8DPYWK67OFchrf/s1600-h/mind+of+the+market2.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 175px; height: 175px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uy2utAklWlK5PodX6rYD4DRzl5CJWtlYpofy2R1CDbn-LfzcBEI2BJIqkIDVYqHr5ZWW6GV3ziU-3XGDAjbxEq6XQijkoFuEyjlgsiJPO-24XobNLE-_A1nucFFZbh8DPYWK67OFchrf/s320/mind+of+the+market2.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337814731398481954" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I’ve just put down Dr Peter Steidel’s recently published book</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > Survive, Exploit, Disrupt – Action Guidelines for Marketing</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> in a Recession</span>. It’s an excellent read and I highly recommend it to executives navigating their way across the stormy waters of the current economic downturn.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">You know there is a theory out there in the land of academia (one, incidentally, to which I adhere to) that argues that recessions are part of the grand evolutionary process. A recession blows across a country or the world weeding out the inefficiencies and the excesses, the bad ideas and sheer human stupidity. This leaves room for the good stuff – good ideas and innovations - to develop and grow leading to the wealth of the future.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Steidel asks us as marketers, what can we do to ensure that we are one of those businesses that evolve, survive and continue to grow?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I’d like to pick out and elaborate on a particular element that Steidel highlights. It is an area that I believe is of particular relevance and importance in the current business environment and should occupy the business leader’s attention. It is this:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Sharpen your understanding of consumers and how they are affected.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">There is one factor that is certain in a recession - consumers review and change their behaviour and buying habits. We do not know the scope, timing or scale of these changes and so it is essential we attempt a well-informed assessment.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This exercise should seek to establish the extent to which consumers will:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">a) Drop out of the market because they cannot afford to buy</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">b) Modify the trade-off decisions they make leading to a change in their consumption patterns</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">c) Not change their purchase patterns significantly</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This assessment falls into the category of understanding what consumers are doing. It should be made on a continuous basis so that as we come out of recession we are able to gauge the way the relationship between the brand and consumers has changed. For instance, some consumers may have switched to own-brand labels (like Woolworth’s ‘Home Brand’) and will stick with them following the recession as they have found the own-brand to be just as good as the brand bought before.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">During a recession we need to know how consumption patterns evolve and the associated pressures that impact on purchasing behaviour. Having a better understanding of how such patterns evolve gives us a better understanding of the consumption patterns of tomorrow.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It therefore seems appropriate to have smaller, ‘dip’ surveys than one big one. Surveys that employ conjoint methodologies help us identify the trade-off consumers make. Many businesses have Data Warehouses that enable the wily Group Planning Manager or Product Manager to analyse shifts in purchase behaviour in terms of product categories, distribution channels, price brackets and so on. This analysis can be supplemented with an appropriate conjoint survey, that further enhances our understanding of consumer trade-off patterns. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We also need a better understanding of how consumers feel and why. In a recession, consumers’ modified purchase behaviour is underpinned by that most powerful of human emotions, fear. They will be fearful of losing their job. Will they be able to pay their mortgage/rent/bills? Will they have to sell their home?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Clearly, the feelings that we need explore are highly emotional and negative. It is highly unlikely that in a focus group, surrounded by strangers in a highly artificial environment, people will talk about their true feelings and motivations. New methods need to be employed such as a technique described by Gerald Zaltman in his book </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >How Customers Think</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. The ‘Mind-of-the-market’ methodology relies on images to open pathways to emotions. Participants are asked to bring images to a one-on-one, in-depth interview and these are discussed. The images act as a metaphor that more accurately describes the participants’ emotions than a verbal and, invariably, rationalised and misleading response.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The point is that in a recession we need to modify the way we do consumer research. Conventional methodologies like focus groups are unlikely to deliver the insights into the emotions that modify the trade-offs consumers make and their purchasing behaviour. Immersion programs, where executives spend time with consumers, are increasingly seen of value, to observe how consumers shop, prepare meals, discuss bills etc. Proctor and Gamble have institutionalised such programs. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">To conclude, recessions change markets. They change consumers’ purchase patterns, which in turn changes consumers’ perceptions, expectations and values. The marketing strategies of the pre-recession period will not wash going forward. Neither will consumer research. It should adapt to unearth the new consumer mindset brought about by the tough economic times. Businesses that invest in sharpening their understanding of how and why consumers alter their purchasing behaviour will be well placed to return to growth.</span></span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-42376774412661853672009-04-28T01:03:00.000-07:002009-04-28T01:09:20.569-07:00Consumer Types Rule<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ye0WA5k5X9qLKcmTdewTyT8Fk1swi8zGoeeRmWBEmX0hS-Sse8RtGp0raagA5gxFZbQlo1JNRWQgiV3QfeANxfqQNuMKwTnpLArQJ1Xk3wvUFUbXCdtBiZJn2JmK3ilrgNWGyXXsNlll/s1600-h/consumers+Mosaic.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ye0WA5k5X9qLKcmTdewTyT8Fk1swi8zGoeeRmWBEmX0hS-Sse8RtGp0raagA5gxFZbQlo1JNRWQgiV3QfeANxfqQNuMKwTnpLArQJ1Xk3wvUFUbXCdtBiZJn2JmK3ilrgNWGyXXsNlll/s320/consumers+Mosaic.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329650958357795394" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Marketing consultants and social watchers love devising new catchy monikers for consumer groups. It goes with the territory. There were the Yuppies, which, for those of you who were trapped under a rather large rock in the 1980s, stood for young urban professionals. And we had the Dinks – double income no kids – another 1980s marketing buzzword. Recent descriptors such as Glams (greying, leisured, affluent and middle-aged) and Nilkies (no income, lots of kids) didn’t have legs and died. The metrosexual burned brightly then faded away when marketers realised that the number of young, sensitive urban males interested in skin-care products had been exaggerated.<br /><br />While such terms as yuppies and dinks have become part of the vernacular, most descriptors have struggled to gain widespread acceptance. Other recent efforts include Oinks (one income, no kids), Tinkies (two incomes, a nanny and kids), Rappies (retired affluent professionals), Sinbads (single income, no boyfriend, absolutely desperate), Sitcoms (single income, two children, outrageous mortgage) and Kippers (Kids in parents pockets eroding retirement savings).<br /><br />But that hasn’t stopped marketers from coming up with new ways to describe consumers. The New York marketing firm Consumer Eyes, which works for companies such as P&G, Kellogg, PepsiCo, released a year or so ago a book entitled Karma Queens that identified nine consumer groups that companies should consider when they develop marketing strategies.<br /><br />Three of the nine types relate to men: Denim Dads – the stay at home fathers focused on achieving a work-life balance; Middle Men – aged 21-35, who have a laid back lifestyle and are happy to be in jobs that are going no-where fast; and Geek Gods – aged 20-35 who have a lot of free time and disposable income.<br /><br />Two of the consumer groups are women: Karma Queens, who in their 40s and 50s are often former hippies, are drawn to products and brands pitched directly at women and focus on mind, body and spirit; and Ms Independents, who have no children, no partner and a high disposable income.<br /><br />The other four consumer types cover both sexes. E-litists are ‘light green’ consumers who worry about the environment, climate change and so on, buy organic food and cycle to work. Parentocrats have a different obsession: their children. They are happy to spend big bucks to get the best of everything for their kids and to push them along in what they see as a highly competitive world.<br /><br />The final two types are Culture Crossers – people who are drawn to book, music, clothes, homewares etc from other cultures, and Innerpreneurs, who are constantly thinking about and working on their next business idea, how to improve both their lives and the world.<br /><br />The descriptors are catchy and might become part of the vernacular. Maybe.<br /><br />The important point to my mind about having descriptors is that it’s more useful to identify consumer ‘types’ than consumer trends.<br /><br />Trends inform you about consumer behaviour without necessarily helping you understand the reasons behind it. Consumer types go further because they identify the consumers who set the trends. Types illuminate the consumer psyche, while trends merely articulate consumer behaviour.<br /><br />For example, let’s suppose you market an upscale cosmetics line. Traditional segmentation might identify your core target as a working female, 25 to 45, urban dweller, with an income of $45k+. But what do you really know about her? Is she sports focused? Which sports? Confident about her looks? Likely to workout or visit a spa more frequently than the typical woman of her age? Could you pick her out at a cocktail party? That’s what consumer typing is really all about.<br /></span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-13894109757354884912009-04-06T22:19:00.000-07:002009-10-27T21:49:58.639-07:00The nuances of B2B research<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7s9OtZDgVdWUleihzhGkR2H6tdIQPGXh8_ltiefQCtgFInumq2UKYbbFOFeqPHNeON_9e3I0qgV8mxH2dos5ApTsMif4YkkBMBmYf4OGE92y8L1HF7Uu0QXEs04xssuem9kJirWtt0MDR/s1600-h/B2B+research.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 285px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7s9OtZDgVdWUleihzhGkR2H6tdIQPGXh8_ltiefQCtgFInumq2UKYbbFOFeqPHNeON_9e3I0qgV8mxH2dos5ApTsMif4YkkBMBmYf4OGE92y8L1HF7Uu0QXEs04xssuem9kJirWtt0MDR/s320/B2B+research.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321816955984153954" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I was recently having a chat with an old pal who'd just landed a vice-president of marketing job in the US working in the B2B sector. He'd got in touch, amongst other things, to ask me about how to approach B2B research. He knew I had worked for the global distribution company DHL as their European Market Research Manager working on both consumer and business research projects and so thought I might be able to give him some pointers. He was right because while working for DHL I found that many agencies failed to understand the nuances of B2B research. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I thought I'd share with you some of the points we discussed. Here are some of the factors you should consider when conducting B2B research.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">1) The challenge of talking to the right person</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The initial step is to determine to whom you want to speak to: it may be the decision-maker, influencer, or the person who does the day-to-day interaction with the organization. One should also consider whether the decision maker is in fact a group and, if so, who are the key stakeholders. Such complex decision making structures often means increased time and cost in conducting the study. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Interview briefing is also critical. Interviewers need to be aware of the barriers and difficulties they may face in reaching the target respondent and apply appropriate techniques to draw out accurate and relevant information from the interviewee. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Once you know who you want to speak to the next step is to think about the most effective method of reaching them, in terms of time and cost whilst maintaining a high probability of quality responses.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">2) Increasingly sophisticated segmentation</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Segmentation is a central pillar of marketing and a term used to describe a variety of different ways in which distinctive, differentiated groups can be identified and profiled within the marketplace. Methods vary and include demographic profiling, behaviour, attitudinal, psychographics, and needs (and/or a combination of these).</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Historically, segmentation has been used more in the B2C sphere than in B2B. However, over recent years a sea change has begun. Increasingly, businesses competing in B2B markets are adopting a more sophisticated approach to segmenting their targets, realising that the single ‘one size fits all’ offering to customers - perhaps supplemented by special arrangements for key accounts - or segmentation based on estimated revenue potential, is just not adequate. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">B2B organizations are looking to gain a more detailed understanding of customer needs with a view to introducing a range of services to match these needs with the goal of drive increased sales and profitability. In simple terms, this customer needs-based segmentation (categorising customers by the kinds of service they would like in future and price sensitivity) supports a customer-focussed culture, a culture which is increasingly seen as the best path to success.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">At DHL, after receiving sign-off from senior management to proceed with the project, I opted for face-to face interviews and a trade off methodology for our customer-needs based research. We gathered detailed customer requirements on pre-defined service features with many different potential levels for each feature. A variety of statistical techniques such as factor and cluster analysis were then used to group customers into segments, each one of which required a distinct service offering. The data were then cross-matched against existing market size data to make sure that each of the segments was large enough to be worth targeting. Follow-up in-depth interviews gave additional information on each segment’s attitudes. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The final step in the process was to implement the needs based segmentation in the field. The data were further analysed and a short subset of questions to be asked of customers were developed to enable the salesforce to allocate customers to the correct segments.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The result of this extensive exercise was increased sales and more satisfied customers.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">3) Ascertain who owns the customer data </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Clearly, a key difference between consumer and business research is that businesses can supply the customer contacts for the survey. Its easy to get drawn into thinking that this will simplify the study. This tendency should be avoided as the process for the the client to access the data may be lengthy and complex as the clientside Market Research Manager speaks to and organises provision of the data to various departments and stakeholders. The researcher needs to be careful to assess the impact this may have on timelines and ask appropriate questions of the client upfront.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In addition, external data may be needed to make a comparison of the organizations performance against the competition. This possibility should also be taken into consideration when planning the project.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">4) B2B is notoriously dry</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A key difficulty of B2B research is that respondents invariably find it dull. The smart researcher should spend some time to enliven and add sparkle to the questionnaire to maximise engagement. Researchers need to think of ways to excite and ignite respondents.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">5) The client’s customer<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">When you want to understand consumers’ beliefs, attitudes, perceptions etc you ask consumers. But B2B research differs in that it entails getting into the mindset of the client’s customer, seeing things from their perspective and not your clients. Again this adds complexity and difficulty and should be taken into consideration when planning B2B research.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">6) Level of organization </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Its important to ascertain the level of organization the study is to cover. It may be that a particular company site, the head office, regional or global is the required target. In each case, the design needs to be modified accordingly.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">7) Don’t forget B2B respondents are people as well</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">There is a tendency to view B2B respondents as a different breed. People are people and B2B respondents do not turn into rational machines for a B2B survey. They are often motivated by the same needs, desires and interests as respondents in a B2C survey. For example, B2B respondents will often select suppliers on the basis of how it will make them look within the organization. I’ve had the experience of working on a project where B2B respondents said that they aim for the best in everything they do at work so they simply chose the best. Another finding was that some people chose to use a brand simply because they were widely regarded as the best in the business and that they would be open to criticism if they chose another supplier.</span></span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-45244747829623401882009-03-10T23:58:00.000-07:002009-10-27T21:50:44.611-07:00The dawning age of thrift<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_j08V8G90s_L2B8rQmlvygL_wYulAJqiEs6lGeJhykghptzaR19tb_rPMlSrGYw16lfH1za_xO00DkNBv8ulH740RKrqAOf7Lz4Kd2bZUS25Poh_ttvJvnIAePzmnAFNggA-lhKf56GNq/s1600-h/thrift_store_shirt-p235529279288360921t5tr_400.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_j08V8G90s_L2B8rQmlvygL_wYulAJqiEs6lGeJhykghptzaR19tb_rPMlSrGYw16lfH1za_xO00DkNBv8ulH740RKrqAOf7Lz4Kd2bZUS25Poh_ttvJvnIAePzmnAFNggA-lhKf56GNq/s320/thrift_store_shirt-p235529279288360921t5tr_400.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311821531250558962" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">My partner and I are regular restaurant goers. We’ll often quite decadently travel a not insignificant distance to go to a great restaurant, like for instance Eschalot in Berrima (a one and a half hour drive south of Sydney). Recently we’ve started to pull our horns in a bit by spending less per head. I’ve also noticed a distinct reduction in the number of empty tables at restaurants. I take this as a clear sign that the global recession has arrived in Australia. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />People who overconsumed during the past decade are rejecting extravagant lifestyles. Following 9/11 when, in particular in the US, it became patriotic to shop and spend, people are now spending less and more wisely. The penny pinching is showing up in the numbers with personal consumption falling, exacerbated by huge consumer debt ($2.6 trillion in the US). </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Which brings us to what John Maynard Keynes called the paradox of thrift. What’s good for the individual, argued Keynes, can ignite or deepen a recession. But that won’t deter the newly thrifty. It isn’t hard to hear the millions of those in debt exclaim, “I can’t help the economy, I’ve got to help myself”. Thrift has gone in and out of style over the years often sparked by recessions. Indeed the Great Depression marked many and their siblings for life. In the 1930s, it was typical for son’s to see their fathers out of work for years, perpetually hungry, scraping together a living. Those sons today, many who are now in their 80s and wealthy, shop with coupons, drive a Ford and take the subway rather than throwing away money on a taxi. Their baby boomer children grew up without psychological scars from the Depression. And the boomers’ children have come of age in an era of abundance, easy credit and a taste for luxury. “We want to build a culture that’s more hospitable to thrift, so it’s not seen as odd but fostered and nudged along,” says Barbara Whitehead, co-author of For a New Thrift: Confronting the debt culture, a new report from The Institute for American Values, a think tank. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />As joblessness creeps up, many more will receive their own crash course in thriftiness. Some will spend more up front to reap savings over the next few years, like installing expensive but energy sipping light bulbs or solar panels. Some will switch from shaving cream to shaving soap – a relatively small saving per year but a sizable psychological benefit. People are learning the difference between necessities and discretionary spending. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is as applicable now as it ever was. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />People are eating in more, buying more second hand clothes and turning the lights off when they leave the room. In late 2008, Booz & Co conducted a survey of nearly 100 households and found that 43% of respondents said they are eating at home more and 25% said they cutting spending on hobbies and sports activities. In both cases, most said they’d continue doing so even when the economy improves. Much the way the inexorable rise in petrol price have prompted many to forsake SUVs for smaller cars, the likely fall in home values and the size of consumer debt, will make consumers think twice about hitting the mall and lead, I fear to say, to a more lengthy contraction than some commentators would have us believe.</span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-82400127498153915672009-03-04T22:57:00.000-08:002009-10-27T21:51:46.945-07:00The 'Builders' embrace the power of the web<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnExqTdZBZzoelizby2zl6sDA7aByDwgzM8ro9hDI2_FFA1fbEo1S5AtatZKle-wGfyB0n-feSDXM5omuUlRpP_0TbKMjDN6hfaPgT8dOIS-YP1tgcZ1mm35PNNIybmTrwY16QtlKTq5V/s1600-h/closeup-of-old-man-hands-using-computer-mouse-thumb7766550.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnExqTdZBZzoelizby2zl6sDA7aByDwgzM8ro9hDI2_FFA1fbEo1S5AtatZKle-wGfyB0n-feSDXM5omuUlRpP_0TbKMjDN6hfaPgT8dOIS-YP1tgcZ1mm35PNNIybmTrwY16QtlKTq5V/s320/closeup-of-old-man-hands-using-computer-mouse-thumb7766550.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309594665726196498" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">You know there was a time when my parents didn’t have a clue about computers or the web, let alone Skype or IM. Their generation, those born before 1946 (aka the Builders), were used to stuff in the physical world; purposeful machines you could see working, that could be taken apart, fixed and put back together again. The thought of a mysterious black box sitting in the corner with alien, magical powers that allowed you to get in touch with anyone in the world at any time sent shivers up Builders’ spines. The idea of online shopping was attractive because it removed the hassle of driving or calling around to get the best deal. But there was always the nagging security concern - what if someone intercepted my credit card details? What if I pushed the wrong button while entering my details for payment and ordered the wrong thing or paid too much? </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The following is a classic, though admittedly somewhat exaggerated example of my parent’s (actually my Dad’s) first effort to make an online purchase. I have no doubt it’s similar to those efforts of their neighbours and fellow Builders. I guess it’ll strike a chord with my fellow army of Gen Xers who’ve attempted with varying success to educate their ol’ folks of the ways of the web.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">- So have you booked your holiday?<br /></span></span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />- Yes, Dad booked it last night.<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />- Did you manage to book it online, like we talked about?<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />- Yes, he booked it all himself online.<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />- Really, Dad? That’s brave; I thought he was still getting to grips with the computer.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >- Well he sorted out the email; he sent you a message.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >- Yes, 134 actually. Still it’s good he’s using it, we’ve all got to learn hey. Anyway, where you going on your hols?<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />- We’re flying to Milan.<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />- That’s fantastic, it’s a great city. Where are you staying?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >- Well, the hotel is a little way outside Milan itself.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >- Yes?<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />- It’s in Miami.<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />- Dad booked the hotel in Miami but the flights are for Milan?<br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >- Yes, he’s a bit reckless with his mouse. We’re hiring a car so we’ll be able to drive there.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >- From Milan?<br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >- Oh no, not from Milan, we’ve got to pick the car up in Manchester.<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />- Mouse problems again?<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />- No, no, Dad dropped his bifocals on the keyboard. Still, it’ll be a nice long break. Dad spilt his cocoa on the keyboard and some of the number keys started to stick so he’s managed to book the hotel for 33 weeks…<br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >- Oh no…<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />- For 222 people…<br /></span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />I am pleased to say that nowadays my Mum - and Dad – use the web successfully, to search for information, to buy various goods and services, to download files and software. They are also fully Skype literate. As I beam into their UK study all the way from Sydney, it is, amongst other things, a pleasure to see their faces filled wonder; the wonder of this technology and the magic it can perform. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Us marketers need to take note. Builders make up a not insignificant 17% of the Australian population (ABS) and therefore present a great business opportunity. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Though still weary of the computer ‘thing’ in the study, Builders have embraced the web and are demanding more from us, the young upstarts that have upset their apple carts and brought them this pragmatic magic.<br /></span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />(Note: <a href="http://www.mccrindle.com.au/resources.htm">McCrindle Research</a> have excellent papers on generational differences including internet usage trend variances.)<br /></span></span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-92154887130926743992009-02-09T21:57:00.000-08:002009-02-09T22:01:48.695-08:00The Secret of Spin<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4B7Q1FsGi9sSpC365DXWl4wk5Sqgd-o9wtx58QLZt7sQM3VGJ3jYTfZTZCWkXAitZZGf26UocwMmS-KjM_n2WW7PUPEPszNV_y0MoirCqwcnf-DuYG7-NwY8d5ES6XQQguhVldShpQPV2/s1600-h/dreamsfrommyfather.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4B7Q1FsGi9sSpC365DXWl4wk5Sqgd-o9wtx58QLZt7sQM3VGJ3jYTfZTZCWkXAitZZGf26UocwMmS-KjM_n2WW7PUPEPszNV_y0MoirCqwcnf-DuYG7-NwY8d5ES6XQQguhVldShpQPV2/s320/dreamsfrommyfather.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301044245683701746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Just finished reading Barack Obama’s ‘life story’ Dreams from my Father. As he does on the Telly, in his writing he comes across well. I was left with the distinct impression that he is a thoughtful, diligent and considerate person. Above all, he seems like a decent human being who plays with a straight bat. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">But the sceptic in me kept asking, Am I being played, in a good way or bad? For goodness’ sake, he’s a lawyer and a politician (and we all know politicians don’t lie straight in bed). Was the entire book a brilliant piece of spin doctoring? Like a good spin doctor, had he worked out the questions to come, and the kind of replies he needed to make in his build up to be President of the United States.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Some years ago I was told a story by someone who was brilliant at working an angle:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A customs officer stopped a youg boy who was cycling from Mexico into California. Across the handlebars of his bicycle he had two great big sacks. And of course the customs officer threw up his arm – drugs being blatantly taken across the border! “What’s in the bags?” “Sand.” “Oh yeah?” “Yeah.” “All right, let’s empthy the bags out here.” So he emptied the bags out and it was sand.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The customs officer couldn’t see anything wrong, so he let the boy put the sand back in, searched him, and watched him pedal into California. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This happened every week. Every Monday, along came this boy on his bicycle, and the customs officer examined the bags and found nothing wrong. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Finally, the customs officer became so frustrated he said, “ Look, I know your putting something across me here. We examine these bags and search you every time you cross, now what are you taking across the border?”And the boy thought for a moment and said: “New bicycles”.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Now that was a great bit of spin. All the attention was directed onto something else. How do you put an angle on something?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Some of the best examples come in speeches. When Martin Luther King said: “I have a dream, my friends,” it was a great piece of spin doctoring. It was putting the right words in the right place to the right audience. Obama’s more recent “Yes we can” mantra is pure spin. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Spin has been around a long time. I think it was Goebbels who said: “Tell a lie often enough and everyone will believe it”. That’s not true anymore. Sooner or later people are going to start asking: “Is that right? Has the emperor got clothes on?” With greater access to information, people are more sophisticated today and it doesn’t work. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">An example of spin doctoring gone wrong was when Richard Nixon was advised to go on the Telly and say: “I am not a crook”. It was like, if you could fake sincerity then you’ve got it made. But Tricky Dicky looked like a sweaty crook and everybody could see it. It was bad advice.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So what are the characteristics of successful spin doctoring? To my mind, there are few points:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The first is, be genuine. Simple communication and absolute straight up integrity and honesty is key. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Two, it has to be a presentation, not a show. You can’t put on the falsity of a show. Abraham Lincoln said: “I couldn’t be two-faced, because if I had two faces I sure wouldn’t wear this one”. Straight up works best.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Third, you have to understand what your message is. Obama’s message was “Vote for Change”, a clear, simple message that made him different. People instantly knew what he stood for.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Fourth, you have to be able to see yourself as other people see you and be prepared to laugh at yourself. I remember reading a piece by the acerbic Alan Clark, the craggy old Tory MP, who described an official dinner in Peru. The host thought it would be nice to give Alan a British toast, so everyone took up their glasses and said: “Up your bottom.” Sir Alan took up his glass and replied: “Up yours”.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And finally, good spin doctoring is nearly always 90% positive. I remember reading a piece about “that woman” as I call her, Margaret Thatcher. Working on a speech, an advisor said: “I don’t like that bit”. “Don’t you, what would you put in its place?” “Well…” “Don’t waste my time. I’ve got a country to run. If you’ve got something better to suggest, fine, let’s have it. Otherwise, shut up.” Knocking all the time doesn’t attract people to you, doesn’t attract the attention that you’re looking for, doesn’t give the image you want. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Obama’s book meets my criteria. So it was an excellent piece of spin doctoring. Whatever, it felt good reading it. Perhaps, this is the most important thing for a spin doctor to do - make people feel good. Obama has certainly done that.</span></span>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-50910550815382719552009-01-14T04:33:00.000-08:002009-01-14T04:48:24.525-08:00The Importance of Being Nice<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiki4sG8F1C43JWq0za_USZ1I9JdAwsE8EhCw-o74L0g5ERLt5Mk_fLYPQVuOQjUnKIayPLcZY_67XSUaXsqUZqY8ArY6bNnItk2j29k46tMIJN_j6AzRTAXxEzuC6czYj2OHC-nur54s/s1600-h/pic_nice.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291126951599718482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiki4sG8F1C43JWq0za_USZ1I9JdAwsE8EhCw-o74L0g5ERLt5Mk_fLYPQVuOQjUnKIayPLcZY_67XSUaXsqUZqY8ArY6bNnItk2j29k46tMIJN_j6AzRTAXxEzuC6czYj2OHC-nur54s/s320/pic_nice.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">In these tough economic times, I’ve been thinking about corporate reputations and I've come, I think, to a rather compelling theory: nasty companies will become extinct and nice companies will survive and thrive. The reason why nice companies will do well is that they establish attractive reputations. Companies that have reputations for being good employers find it easier to recruit and keep good people. Companies that have reputations for being good citizens are looked upon favourably by consumers. These days, companies that give to charity and are genuinely concerned about the environment tend to attract more customers. Companies that care about their customers as well as their suppliers give to their products and services an additional, and rather special kind of value. Business leaders are getting very interested in this ‘reputation’ value. They’re beginning to see it as an asset on their ‘invisible balance sheets’. Those are the balance sheets accountants can’t see, but which contain the really crucial things like brand values, intellectual property and know-how of employees.<br /><br />If we agree that a company’s reputation is its most valuable asset, and if we recognise that reputation consists not of reality but of perceptions, then it is essential for a company to market a strategy. Reputation building and maintenance are going to be key management tasks going forward. It will become routine to acquire reputational assets at every opportunity. Until now, the big question for companies has been: ‘What shall we do?’ Henceforth the big question will be: ‘What am I?’<br /><br />The theoretical part of the argument for how a nice company behaves is based on the theory of games. The game I think models nice businesses very well is ‘The Prisoners Dilemma’. Games theorist Robert Axelrod tried to discover the best strategy – the one that accumulated the highest score by inviting games theorists to enter their strategies in a computer tournament. To cut to the chase, the nice strategy did surprisingly well. (Axelrod defined the nice type of strategy as one that was never the first to make an aggressive move). It was a surprise because the conventional wisdom was to be first to defect (i.e. make an aggressive move). The reason why the conventional solution does badly in our game is that we are playing the repeated version. Players meet each other frequently, as they do in business, and soon establish reputations. A nasty player does well at first, but then gets a reputation for being nasty and finds that no-one wants to play with him any more.<br /><br />The strategy that actually won Axlerod’s tournament he called ‘Tit for Tat’. It always cooperates on the first move and then always repeats what the other player does. Its simplicity is its strength. Other players recognise it; they know that if they’re aggressive it will be aggressive back. They also know that if they’re nice, it will be nice back, and that a long and mutually profitable relationship will begin.<br /><br />It is this kind of niceness I mean when I talk about the nice strategy. It’s a clear, deliberate and disciplined kind of niceness. It’s not woolly, soft, weak niceness. Axelrod attributes Tit for Tat’s success on four qualities: it’s nice, it’s retaliatory, it’s forgiving, and it’s clear. I think all these qualities are desirable in a business strategy.<br /><br />I'm convinced that the dominant business strategy of the future will be nothing other than to behave as a nice company. </span><br /><div></div>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-42767760839726096282008-12-02T22:20:00.000-08:002008-12-03T15:58:50.113-08:00The Rise of the Machines<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5kR1c-t_6aHq3FidYm7aBttlCdm9XswBjgEu05lelMzRmZS_mnT8Yd5Ot7jQ2HrmxXLZuEEq9N_jYUaH2BASvNCR2MkVHaF8b8QPmUptC1qGHnQNrF6cYQ7p5KKzCadjeO12pjSoe4O4/s1600-h/The_Sarah_Connor_Chronicles_poster.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275445968273580130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5kR1c-t_6aHq3FidYm7aBttlCdm9XswBjgEu05lelMzRmZS_mnT8Yd5Ot7jQ2HrmxXLZuEEq9N_jYUaH2BASvNCR2MkVHaF8b8QPmUptC1qGHnQNrF6cYQ7p5KKzCadjeO12pjSoe4O4/s320/The_Sarah_Connor_Chronicles_poster.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Just had my latest fix of sci-fi. Last night I finished the first season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and despite the meaningful glances, clichéd dialogue, cheesy acting and the decidedly annoying voiceover, I enjoyed it. Following the themes set out by the Arnie movies, we see 15 year old John and his mother, Sarah, on the run from cyborg Terminators…<br /><br />Pouty John’s sulky teenager moods and boyish rebellions grate at times - especially when you consider that we’re talking about the future leader of mankind. But we have to bear in mind that he’s been raised by a paranoid (doesn't mean they're not out to get you) control freak mother. He also lives with a kick-arse Terminator protector, Cameron, who's hotter than most real girls - no doubt the producers realised early on the need to appeal to the teenage boy demographic.<br /><br />Watching Cameron adapt to the challenges of the mission is fascinating and bloody funny too. In Cameron’s time period (the future) everything is focused on defeating SKYNET, an artificially intelligent system that has developed a consciousness and is bent on exterminating its creator humankind. Protecting John at all costs means there are few social interactions that don’t involve a battle for survival. This puts her in awkward positions in the present day, not understanding how to relate in a human manner. She grows to understand by watching television and reading, and there is a defining scene where John tells her not to act like a nerd, and she quickly replies with a definition of nerd. John asks her how she knows that, and she tells him she has been reading the dictionary at night. She doesn’t sleep.</span></div><br /><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Ray Kurzweil has written a number of books on non-biological intelligence and biotechnology. His latest work, The Singularity is Near, When Humans Transcend Biology, is an awesome/terrifying text on life in the near future, when nanobots become self-designing and self-replicating members of our society and help us out with everything from hair loss to taking out the rubbish. ‘Within a quarter century, non-biological intelligence will match the range and subtly of human intelligence,’ says Kurzweil. ‘It will then soar past it because of the continuing acceleration of information-based technologies, as well as the ability of machines to instantly share their knowledge. Intelligent nanorobots will be deeply integrated in our bodies, our brains, our environment, overcoming pollution and poverty, providing vastly extended longevity, full-immersion virtual reality incorporating all of the senses (like The Matrix), “experience beaming” (like Being John Malkovich) and enhancing human intelligence. The result will be an intimate merger between the technology-creating species and the technological evolutionary process it spawned.’ </span></div><br /><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">If Kurzweil’s timeline is accurate, by the mid-2020s, we will be on the verge of a nanotechnology revolution. The soldiers of this revolution are the nanobots, blood cell sized robots that can travel through our bloodstream destroying pathogens, removing debris, correcting DNA errors and reversing the aging processes. </span></div><br /><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Plans are currently underway to create medical nanobots that will use our own metabolic energy as a source of power. That means these devices could remain operational as long as we are alive – or longer if they manage to get into human egg or sperm. Any nanobot that develops the ability to propagate in this or any other manner across even one human generation has fulfilled the definition of a non-biological lifeform. A true alien.</span></div><br /><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">There is, of course, opposition from the Church and environmentalists. The virtual worlds of Second Life and World of Warcraft have been attacked multiple times by self-replicating worms called Grey Goo, which clutter the environments and in some cases destroy players’ avatars. The name Grey Goo is itself a reference to the threat of nanotechnology: hypothetically, a self-replicating nanobot could consume the Earth’s resources, transforming our planet into a giant blob of grey goo. </span></div><br /><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So will the future look like Terminator? The Matrix? Blade Runner? It’s inevitable that machines will become ever more powerful. Our interneural connections compute at about 200 transactions per second, at least a million times slower than electronics. With their ability to share their knowledge at lightening speed and ‘think’ in groups, machines will be able to leverage their collective intelligence at a far greater rate than humankind. Then the genie really will be out of the bottle - see <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/11/skynet_takes_control/">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/11/skynet_takes_control/</a></span></div>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-19072748226093563392008-11-03T21:32:00.000-08:002009-10-27T21:52:39.452-07:00Advertising is no longer about the things it sells<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuMDlEAUUH5EsORFYUbNsxZegJOzRHL0Krb7AEuqsKQcaXg2fT37-9QhofYT5COLYDm2yBNAkUYWFNRWbDZMj7rE3Kgk29oeUSnihmB-mI8cy87VPKJeuuD2e3CwoFX1KcUfdt26ZQssVK/s1600-h/Wallpaper2_800x600.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265043802180440418" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 320px; height: 240px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuMDlEAUUH5EsORFYUbNsxZegJOzRHL0Krb7AEuqsKQcaXg2fT37-9QhofYT5COLYDm2yBNAkUYWFNRWbDZMj7rE3Kgk29oeUSnihmB-mI8cy87VPKJeuuD2e3CwoFX1KcUfdt26ZQssVK/s320/Wallpaper2_800x600.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">There was a time when advertisements were about selling us things. There were the women that got over-excited about washing detergent and the chocolate that helped you “work, rest and play”. But it's not like that anymore, is it? Now we get bionic women dressed head to toe in white leather, set against an all-white futuristic landscape, spraying out white paint at a red car that races through the city. At the end of the ad, underneath the car manufacturer's logo, the strapline says 'Fight conformity'.<br /><br />As advertisers we argue that these campaigns are needed to cut-through our media saturated landscape. But we must be careful.<br /><br />Many a time the consumer is at a loss as to what the product is, never mind the brand name. Lately, I’ve seen ads where instead of thinking, ‘I’d like to try/buy that’, I’ve been left wondering what I’ve just seen has to do with the product being flogged.<br /><br />This is propagated by the current tendency to be caught in a self-referential loop where advertising is mostly about advertising. Never mind the stupid soft drink, feel the art direction. ‘Look at me, I’m a really interesting ad’, screams the graffiti-proofed poster which could be for IKEA, a kitchen appliance or a charity. You can never tell… <br /><br />However, there is another, more exciting and appealing trend, where advertising again, it seems, is no longer about the things it sells. Indeed, it’s not even about the things at all.<br /><br />No, it’s about ideas that build positive impressions of your brand, that in turn build brand loyalty, that in turn build an army of consumers that will not only buy your products but keep 'em coming back for more. So the argument goes, if you give people a reason to love your brand, people will (repeatedly) buy your products. In particular, ideas that get people taking about you are held in high esteem, like Cadbury's Gorilla that brilliantly captured the essence of Chocolate - happiness - and generated 3 million views on YouTube (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo</a>)<br /><br />The old paradigm was to identify ideas about brands. The emerging notion is to think of brands as being about ideas. For example, Jeep talked about all the stuff they had done over the past 50 years and summed it up with ‘There is only one Jeep’. In essence, Jeep’s communications focussed on the things it was trying to sell - Jeeps. Jeep decided to re-evaluate this strategy. They took a few steps back, looked at their vehicles and realised a plain truth - their cars were simply about fun. They switched tack with the end line ‘Have fun out there’. There were a bunch of people out there that wanted a fun experience with their SUV. And Jeep wanted to say to them, ‘Yeah, we’re into that too’.<br />The latest brand buzz word is content, as in if you don’t have a cool product then creates cool content that will give your brand the desired positive impressions – it’s not about the things your selling. We talk about giving is the new taking. We talk about legions of marketing aware punters not wanting to be stalked like targets (segments). We talk about them wanting to be surprised and delighted where brands help them in unexpected ways, like, for example, a bank that sets up branded lockers at a beach for them to leave their clothes and stuff while they have a swim.<br /><br />This is all good stuff and successful brands will adopt (if they haven’t already) these approaches…but we mustn’t forget, as well as building positive impressions of the brand, we’re - ultimately - here to flog stuff.<br /><br />To highlight what I'm talking about take the latest campaign from Carlton - 'Made from beer'. It's an ironic, self-referential pastiche that keeps things strikingly concise and simple. It appeals to the sensibilities of the no-nonsense beer drinking audience and will help Carlton stand-out from the bewildering clutter of beer competitor communications. It combines a neat idea with flogging beer. It has sublime balance. </span></div></div>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-32527778666756471982008-10-16T20:55:00.000-07:002008-10-16T21:12:32.156-07:00KIPPERS - prepare to be smoked<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFP_MG_LBLKF3RfOcgMECasONb5grK4zAHOmL84BPhP2BZcjSrG2qh7xWJVFQ9zlJy1ul9tzY8EDwYwtkKkazd5OEwhCjbl7p38qOuVkskKcL6WpDV8HXrY7wFarZ0jltVbAmXxtumnZNG/s1600-h/gecko.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257969056993820706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFP_MG_LBLKF3RfOcgMECasONb5grK4zAHOmL84BPhP2BZcjSrG2qh7xWJVFQ9zlJy1ul9tzY8EDwYwtkKkazd5OEwhCjbl7p38qOuVkskKcL6WpDV8HXrY7wFarZ0jltVbAmXxtumnZNG/s320/gecko.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">And so because of a few greedy financial fat cats who lent money to people who had, at best, a slim hope of making their payments, we’re heading for a global recession where thousands of people will be put out of work and lose their homes. Thousands more around the world will die of poverty and hunger as the developed world pulls in its horns to look after No. 1.<br /><br />In a way I feel reluctant to blame the Gordon Gecko types who triggered this mess. They were playing in a game with certain rules. They played hard, following the rules, in an effort to maximise returns for investors (and themselves). And look where we are - the bursting of an outsized bubble of interlocking debt. Clearly, the rules were not right and with the latest round of billions of dollars being injected into the system, governments around the world have given a clear indication that they have lost faith in the market (and the system). We have witnessed the end of unbridled capitalism. If you don’t believe me, look at the heart of capitalism - the US - where Fannie and Freddie and AIG, both massive, massive financial institutions are now owned by the taxpayer, making them effectively nationalised companies like in a good ol’ communist state such as Cuba.<br /><br />But my feeling is that there is something more fundamental going on here. The world is now run on credit and debt (the lack of credit - as banks stop lending to each other for fear the debter will go bust - is the main contributing factor to the global recession). It has become natural for people to be in significant debt. There has been a huge growth in consumer credit, which has amplified the economic </span><span style="font-family:arial;">cycle and prolonged the recent upswing. In the US, consumer indebtedness is a massive 139% of disposable income, while in the UK it is even higher at 173%. The biggest debt we have is a mortgage and I guess, in a way, paying off a mortgage gives the individual a purpose in life. It is the cornerstone of liberal, capitalist, democratic system.<br /><br />And yet the next generation, currently 13-28 year old Generation Y-ers aka KIPPERS (Kids in Parents Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings), have no interest whatsoever in saving, let alone make a pact with the devil and take on a mortgage. The current average credit card debt amongst Gen Y is $5,000 and rising. If they’re short, Mum and Dad fix them up and bail them out. But what happens when Mum and Dad don’t have a job any more, and see their Super halve overnight. I foresee great pain for Gen Y-ers, as they are forced to face reality and see that endless prosperity is not guaranteed.<br /><br />As a result, Gen Y-ers, and consumers in general, will become far more financially aware and will demand simplification of financial products and services. Those banks that respond to this emerging need will be well placed to return to growth after the economy rebounds and enters the next upward cycle.</span> </div></div>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-46430676820573527332008-09-29T01:10:00.000-07:002008-09-30T01:40:04.670-07:00The death of a living legend<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW0Dc0epcxI2vruT8Dp2qBaK2P4msS6CV-pUEeI4R8ZA2D3PNe9ksO2z0SgHNH19IsDA3y8oCxfc7S8a1j5rgns-NyXURd_x897XzXGb5RiEcpEwPWVJ3UgRX-nJ2vbIQ6qCVoqsXMmYA7/s1600-h/paulnewman1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251730562839788498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW0Dc0epcxI2vruT8Dp2qBaK2P4msS6CV-pUEeI4R8ZA2D3PNe9ksO2z0SgHNH19IsDA3y8oCxfc7S8a1j5rgns-NyXURd_x897XzXGb5RiEcpEwPWVJ3UgRX-nJ2vbIQ6qCVoqsXMmYA7/s320/paulnewman1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Last Friday, a living legend died. It was a sad moment when his star twinkled no longer and went out in the sky. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Paul Newman was a class act. He was a totally supercool human being, both on and off the screen. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">I never met the man. And yet through his films, I feel I did. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">This signifies that he was a movie star not an 'Act-or'. He was a brand - irrespective of the part he played, we were absorbed by the magical, charismatic soul that radiated out from those piecing blue Paul Newman eyes. He often played roles that had a laconic, minimalist style - a character style that I particularly like. As a teenager I was attracted to the archetypal shrewd, good-guy outlaw roles he played. He played tough guys who were tough without being violent. He played reluctant, mysterious leaders brimming with charisma. He wasn't a trier - he simply did. He didn't do hard, he did smart.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">He had a selfless humility, being the last to acknowledge that he was anything special (this coming from, in my opinion, the best looking man to have ever walked the planet, who was also endowed with a searing intelligence and rapier wit). He was also a motivated philanthropist via Newman's Own sauces (even those are great). He used his fame and fortune to do good. And he kept himself to himself, shunning the limelight. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Above all he was a bloody good bloke.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">The world is a lesser place with him not in it.</span></div>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-54683164571477667222008-09-18T00:11:00.000-07:002009-10-27T21:53:54.881-07:00Just call us X...literally<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZiu0sxf_UfwcwbSTSJJM-lxQo1Z2cVfvbN4mAVZsNbpFnMATz5sJB1t0c8hXz2J56KqsGHXLmxuMrwdYs2_3CGtNAO0_iN4dG4hk7w6d0XfOaQ-W21vTyRcVf7wLfGX8lQZcb1hz4QYJi/s1600-h/generation+X.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247257019327300770" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZiu0sxf_UfwcwbSTSJJM-lxQo1Z2cVfvbN4mAVZsNbpFnMATz5sJB1t0c8hXz2J56KqsGHXLmxuMrwdYs2_3CGtNAO0_iN4dG4hk7w6d0XfOaQ-W21vTyRcVf7wLfGX8lQZcb1hz4QYJi/s320/generation+X.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">I’m currently working on a presentation for a client. It's about the differences between Generation X and Y, and in my reading, I came across a rather beautiful piece of irony.<br /><br />Originally labelled as the Post Boomers or the Slackers Generation, only the label Generation X has stuck to describe those born from 1965 to 1979. I dipped back into Douglas Coupland’s <em>Generation X</em>, a book written in 1991, right at the time that this new generation were emerging. Ironically, the book was about a generation that defy labels – “just call us X” he said, yet the label has stuck, and spawned the labels for Generation Y and Z.</span> </div></div>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-6762280981212895562008-09-09T00:51:00.000-07:002008-09-11T17:55:32.429-07:00Never Say Never Ever<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv3ApNxf_EFEln0NtFI_Glfiht6kDwZdXZwc6To21zw3bJiRpdNW99yIYwIUhuqxcURxKEeo9pF3uiD7Ffymz97DnJRXEXDtVcPNthMxnCMIasmhlZOE_ax8ZWKajKeQirDwqox5LWB-am/s1600-h/050511_trek_hmed_1p.hmedium"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243926746047009858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv3ApNxf_EFEln0NtFI_Glfiht6kDwZdXZwc6To21zw3bJiRpdNW99yIYwIUhuqxcURxKEeo9pF3uiD7Ffymz97DnJRXEXDtVcPNthMxnCMIasmhlZOE_ax8ZWKajKeQirDwqox5LWB-am/s320/050511_trek_hmed_1p.hmedium" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">I’m feeling decidedly down in the dumps today, for a couple of reasons.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">First, over the past 5 years or so I’ve watched 98, yep, 98 episodes of the Star Trek series ‘Enterprise’ and I've got only 2 more episodes to watch. When I was a kid, I thought Sci-Fi was a load of mumbo-jumbo. I preferred to read factual, historical stuff or novels about interesting characters in unusual situations. My preference was for the US heavyweights – Mailer, Irving, Roth, Wolfe, Updike, you know those guys that you read and you think, feck me, there’s a seriously large and sophisticated brain behind these words. I loved stories, but not stories about green men or bug-eyed aliens.<br /></span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It’s strange then that as I got a bit older, I started to really get into Sci-Fi. One of my favourite episodes from the Enterprise series is when Captain Archer and his crew come upon a planet with 2 races where one is in desperate need of medical and scientific assistance. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">The plot rotates around interfering with a doomed species (Valakians) that dominates a currently lesser but evolving species (Menks) or allowing the species to die and allow the dominated species to evolve on their own without the oppression of the other. </span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Archer meets with Doctor Phlox and asks him to develop a cure. Phlox says that he doesn't think that it would be ethical to give the Valakians a cure because it would interfere with an evolutionary process that has been going on for thousands of years. Based on his genome studies, Phlox sees increasing skills and intelligence in the Menk that quite possibly would leave them the dominant species - provided the Valakians died off. He suggests that Archer simply let nature take its course. Archer isn't happy with his doctor's dilemma. Doctors are supposed to heal. Phlox says he's a scientist, and must be concerned with the larger issues. He then uses an analogy of early Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis and what would have happened if some well-meaning aliens had interfered. When pushed for an answer, Phlox discloses that he has indeed found a cure.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Though he isn't happy about it, Phlox decides to place his trust in the Captain to make the right choice. When he meets with Archer, he asks the Captain to reconsider. Archer says that he spent the night reconsidering, and that his decision went against his principles. He had to remind himself everyday that until a directive was written that outlined what could and couldn't be done, he was in no position to play God. Archer gives the Valakians a medicine that will give them more time to find a cure on their own.</span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Good Sci-Fi is about what-ifs and thought experiments not intergalactic shoot ‘em ups and light sabre duels. When we open our minds and imagine what could be possible we’re halfway to creating a solution. Much of modern physics is built from thought experiments - where experiments can’t be performed due to practical limitations but potential practical and ethical consequences can be examined. (Note to myself: explore the use of thought experiments to explain difficult subjects in layman’s terms.) The thought experiment that I recall most vividly is from my days as a philosophy student and it goes like this: A scientist wants to build a bat from scratch. He/She knows every material aspect that makes up a bat and he knows how to put this material together to make a bat. But because he will never know what it is actually like to be a bat then he cannot be sure that he has really made a bat. </span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In essence, the mix of logic and emotion that combines to make science fiction helps us think the unthinkable; to be innovative, mashing together existing but separate knowledge to create new ways of life and modes of living.</span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Which brings us to my other reason for feeling a tad miffed. At a recent Joint Propulsion Conference in the US, rocket scientists from NASA, the U.S. Air Force and academia doused my (along with humanity’s) interstellar dreams with ice cold water. The scientists analyzed many designs for advanced propulsion and the calculations show that, even using the most theoretical of technologies, reaching the nearest star in a human lifetime is nearly impossible. </span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The main stumbling block concerns propulsion. Utilizing the best rocket engines Earth currently has to offer, it would take 50,000 years to travel the 4.3 light years to Alpha Centauri, our solar system's nearest neighbor. Apparently it would take at least the current energy output of the entire world to send a probe with our best rocket engines to the nearest star.</span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Robert Frisbee, group leader in the Advanced Propulsion Technology Group within NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has put forward a radical design that calls for a long, needle-like spaceship. In its entirety, the spaceship would weigh a gigantic 120 million metric tons including fuel - the Space Shuttle weighs in at a mere 2,000 metric tons. With all that fuel and a super-sophisticated superconducting magnet propulsion system, it would still take nearly 40 years to travel the 4.3 light years to Earth's nearest neighbor, Alpha Centuri, he said. (So with advances in cryogenics we could easily get someone to the next star system within a lifetime!)</span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Interstellar missions are big because of the massive amounts of energy required to get moving fast enough to make the trip in anything like a reasonable amount of time. So big in fact we’d have to mine the outer planets to find enough fuel.</span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Over recent years, scientists like Frisbee, have turned their attention to alternative-propulsion systems that can be developed over a shorter period, say the next 50 years. Nuclear power is a possibility but radioactivity would limit its use to outside Earth's atmosphere, and the politics are positively toxic. Antimatter engines, worm hole drives, warp generating reactors - the conference found most to be utterly unworkable. </span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It’s a bummer – according to the experts, interstellar travel is bloody hard, takes way too long and we’ll die of old age before we get there. But as Frisbee said, ‘It's always science fiction until someone goes out and does it. All it takes is one breakthrough to make the calculations work’.</span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I’ll leave the last word to Dr Who who said, ‘Never say never ever’.</span></div>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-23307452455406618402008-09-04T21:16:00.000-07:002008-09-04T21:31:02.167-07:00Delivering ‘On-brand’ employee behaviour<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJzDUu5M6DD4YbDaOOqseQXlEFbboApz8BVpcrpK54m-QJWPrZ8FM4LhsGh-QgsyOhMG7sSxlHSO4kcv570DavwwAr0gx1mMsn_28Qnr7kpqQVVEqpCq3g2VHGQ8SZKPybrZy2sDAoPnd/s1600-h/bridge1_narrowweb__300x460,0.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242389066314914450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJzDUu5M6DD4YbDaOOqseQXlEFbboApz8BVpcrpK54m-QJWPrZ8FM4LhsGh-QgsyOhMG7sSxlHSO4kcv570DavwwAr0gx1mMsn_28Qnr7kpqQVVEqpCq3g2VHGQ8SZKPybrZy2sDAoPnd/s320/bridge1_narrowweb__300x460,0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">In an increasingly commoditised market place, where people see less and less difference between products, brands have become more important than ever. People buy brands not just products (unless it’s a remarkable, groundbreaking product), so we need to create positive impressions of the brand. Each year businesses spend vast sums on communications to build their brand but very few businesses, particularly those with a heavy service slant, take measures to ensure that consumers have an experience that is commensurate with the expectations raised by the brand. Many advertising campaigns over-promise because businesses do not prepare employees for delivery.<br /><br />To build a successful brand it’s critical that you gear your people up to deliver the experience the brand promises. A brand creates certain expectations that are more often than not let down by frontline employees who fail to deliver the brand promise. Many compelling advertising campaigns are undercut and corporate brands are tarnished when a customer encounters a surly employee or is trapped in the voice-mail maze of ‘customer service’.<br /><br />Strong brands are built on the actions of employees over time. Leading companies fully understand the value of continually engaging employees as their ‘brand ambassadors’. They spot the points where employees’ behaviour has the most impact on perceptions of the brand, and they can identify the organizational barriers that prevent employees from fully supporting the brand. Most importantly, they have developed processes that enable employees to ‘deliver the brand’ effectively and consistently.<br /><br />There are a number of factors that are driving the need for a sharper focus on the links between employee behaviour and brand image delivery.<br /><br />There are more customer touchpoints than ever before. Customers interact with companies via more and more channels ATL, BTL, website, mobile, Customer Services, Sales and so on. Each affect channels has an impact on the customer’s experience.<br /><br />Approximately a third of corporate costs are employee costs. Astute business leaders conduct an on-going examination of productivity and pressure on management to generate greater value from employees.<br /><br />When employees know how they fit into the organisation's success and understand the benefits of brand alignment they tend to be more satisfied. The result is lower churn, lower recruitment costs and, of course, the benefits associated with staff continuity.<br /><br />But I guess ultimately its about the growth of the service economy. Manufacturing in developed countries is in decline. Service industries are contributing >70% of GDP. Looking at the automotive industry, most manufacturers make their money from servicing not from flogging cars. (Why then doesn’t a brand position itself as offering a superior ownership experience?)<br /><br />Linking employee behaviour to the brand promise helps businesses pull in the same direction. This will help to increase conversion rates, customer loyalty and advocacy, word of mouth and ultimately sales. In my experience, many large organisations don’t communicate to frontline staff how they fit into achieving the company’s brand and, ultimately, financial objectives.<br /><br />By properly aligning employee behaviour (‘on-brand’ behaviour), business vision and brand positioning, an organisation can build a brand that is more credible, more durable and effective, and more clearly differentiated than anything it can achieve with a standalone killer ad campaign or a hot new product. When I say alignment I mean, 1) Employees understand the business’ aims (what needs to be achieved), 2) Employees understand the brand (how the organization wants to be perceived), and 3) Employees know how to behave (to deliver an experience that fulfils the brand promise).<br /><br />I’d like to give an example of a company that does this well…but to tell you the truth I’m finding it hard to give you one. The company that came nearest to it for me most recently is Mazda. I’ve been taking my Mazda for a service at the same service centre for the past 2 years and I’ve always found the staff to be very professional, knowledgeable and courteous. When I called their customer service line I had a similar experience. I was treated as a valued customer. This is in stark contrast to when I bought the car. I had a painful and protracted 3 hour negotiation with the sales staff. At one point the salesman asked for my credit card to show I was serious, which I promptly handed over. Later, when I got up to leave because we couldn’t make a deal, he accused me of wasting his time. Deal finally done, I felt like I’d been hit with every slippery sales trick in the book – not a nice feeling and most definitely a dampener on the new car excitement vibe. Upon reflection, I figured that Mazda had a firmer control on their call centre than on their franchised dealers.<br /><br />So aligned employee behaviour is a key enabler of brand differentiation…but it isn’t easy to achieve.<br /><br />Employees are not hard-wired to deliver experiences that are automatically aligned to the brand; unchecked their responses are largely driven by their personalities. Marketing - the function responsible for developing and implementing the brand - does not control the touchpoints and the employees that have the crucial interactions with customers. Few companies’ internal communication efforts reinforce brand strategy efforts. And employees often don’t see research data; employees often aren’t engaged in the process of defining the behaviours they believe will lead to better alignment of brand positioning and image attributes.<br /><br />CEOs need to mandate a path to brand enthusiasm; a roadmap to change employee behaviour in line with the brand promise.<br /><br />Taking an approach from Kim and Mauborgne’s seminal work Blue Ocean Strategy, to make alignment happen, you need to recruit Kingpins, the persuasive, respected influencers in the organization. Once you have these guys, all the other pins will come toppling down. It also helps that because there are usually only a small number of kingpins, it is relatively easy for the Chief Exec to identify and motivate them.<br /><br />Broadly, and in brief, I see 4 steps to the journey, taking place over 1 to 2 years. The first is to develop a change attitude and educate the workforce about brands (its role and benefits) via the Kingpins. This should include an understanding of the company’s emphasis on delivering an aligned brand experience. The second step is to build knowledge about the brand positioning components, familiarize staff with examples of excellent brand experiences delivered through employees and highlight expectations of behaviour. The third step is to urge employees to believe that they can personally make a difference and that it is in their interest to deliver the brand. Compensation systems should be modified to encourage employees to deliver the brand via incentives and performance reviews. It should be made clear to staff that they will recognized and rewarded for excellence in customer service that reinforces brand image delivery. The final step is for all employees to deliver; to become brand ambassadors that actively and enthusiastically deliver the brand promise and experience to customers.<br /><br />There is much to be gained from an alignment program, and much to be lost if an organisation fails to do so.</span></div></div>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-637384894453891792008-08-25T23:34:00.000-07:002009-10-27T21:53:19.920-07:00All Hail Fragmentation<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgBG-W8sNaiaaoau2pO_L6h6Q65XwqXVkI_UODSaqnOz9Mn8EvpPynaiK5ovgg_vzZiQdnY3KUQurUJ1wwEWzJR3f3IsgsdGUqrJBEAg38ANdJvC0m7JlSA4Hj2mftE9LqHIU4nq3EPK6/s1600-h/fragment1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238711522363407426" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgBG-W8sNaiaaoau2pO_L6h6Q65XwqXVkI_UODSaqnOz9Mn8EvpPynaiK5ovgg_vzZiQdnY3KUQurUJ1wwEWzJR3f3IsgsdGUqrJBEAg38ANdJvC0m7JlSA4Hj2mftE9LqHIU4nq3EPK6/s320/fragment1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">As the years pass and you begin to see more candles than cake, is it not part of the human condition to become more philosophical about life, the universe and everything?<br /><br />The trouble is that these days its damn hard to find the time to do this kinda stuff when us marketers are making it increasingly difficult to know yourself physically, let alone philosophically.<br /><br />Like millions of other humanoids, I trudge along, with forlorn face and tail between legs, to the local ballbusting supermarket to do the weekly shop. I decided, in advance of my latest shop, to turn the trudge into something positive; to engage in and soak up the Woolies experience, and see what I could learn about myself. And so there I stood in the shampoo aisle - auto pilot switched off, flying on manual. By the time I got to the end of the aisle all that I knew about myself was that I knew less.<br /><br />Apparently, there are 20 types of hair. Which category did mine fall into? What is dull? How lifeless is lifeless, how unmanageable unmanageable? Is greasy oiler than oily or is oily oiler than greasy? Did it need revitalising, enriching or conditioning? Did it need body?<br /><br />I gave up; inertia had set in. I finally grabbed a Head and Shoulders that I’d used - I suppose quite successfully - before. But I swear next time I’ll go for that one with the PH balance and guacamole protein.<br /><br />I moved on to toothpaste. Did I have sensitive teeth? How would I know? Were my teeth cruel, brutal even? How discoloured should my teeth be before special care should be taken to whiten them? How tender do my gums have to be before I need to take some special gunk to fix them? Did I need a pump action? Did I need to defeat Tartar?<br /><br />The deodorants needed to know if I had mild or heavy perspiration. Well, I thought, it depends on the circumstances. Mmmm…I should go for the heavy to be on the safe side…but what if I have frivolous perspiration; will my pores snap shut and my impermeable body slowly swell with incarcerated sweat? Bath gel: if I go for the delicate version, what if the dirt refuses to budge?<br /><br />Let us all rise and hail our new leader, Fragmentation, a term which loosely covers the seemingly inexorable disintegration and demise of mass market economics, social organisation, political stability and the nuclear family, the unified self, the nature and grounds of knowledge, and inevitably, the all-pervasive, disconnected arrays of vivid images generated by the increasingly hydra-headed media. As Walter (aka John Goodman) said in the movie, <em>The Big Lebowski</em>, am I wrong dude? Maybe, but you can’t argue that the fragmentation of markets into smaller and smaller segments, each with its compliment of carefully positioned products, is everywhere apparent. Even in the new car market you can have any colour, engine size, bodywork variant, trim level, sound system, safety features and optional extras you like. 20 years ago there were a few toothpaste brands, in Woolies I counted more than 30.<br /><br />Paralleling the proliferation of products, and reinforcing the trend of micro-marketing, distribution channels and advertising media have multiplied. We’ve witnessed the rise of niche retailers that stock a narrow but in-depth assortment of specific product categories. We’ve also witnessed <em>The Long Tail</em>, a phrase first uttered by Chris Anderson to describe the niche strategy of businesses such as Amazon that sell a large number of items in relatively small quantities. In addition, the number of locational options has exploded with out-of-town outlet centres and retail parks, not to mention dedicated shopping channels and, of course, online shopping.<br /><br />Advertising options have also burgeoned as a result of the proliferation of everything from local free-sheets and ‘lifestyle’ magazines targeted at specialist audiences to the web. Pay TV has contributed to the demise of broadcasting and the rise of narrowcasting, where highly focussed messages can be delivered to specific groups of people. There is more advertising space than ever before (think about your local hospital, airport or health club). Jameson’s predication, as set out in his 1985 work <em>The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism</em>, of a ‘perceptual present’, a world of fleeting, fragmented images of hallucinogenic intensity, seems remarkably prescient. With proliferation come challenges for us marketers as it becomes ever more difficult to cut-through and get our brand messages across. There are some tricks you can employ, but I’ll leave that topic for another post. </span></div>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2690623025675452135.post-50439830417968967122008-08-21T23:42:00.000-07:002009-10-27T21:51:11.979-07:00Thx Herr Peemoeller<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSxgLTOTv8fUg0rsY7HwrgnnH0R4TkvYK146U4QwZUO6wepGd5KEBV9rmxzixUrhyEib658zF9VJZkIr11ZMjmVtV_wTfJDYvtC2Qf4iixaSzFSYbgOF_1WagDGLtQcDczA7KpyV3mrhcR/s1600-h/Up_1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237229524216778002" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSxgLTOTv8fUg0rsY7HwrgnnH0R4TkvYK146U4QwZUO6wepGd5KEBV9rmxzixUrhyEib658zF9VJZkIr11ZMjmVtV_wTfJDYvtC2Qf4iixaSzFSYbgOF_1WagDGLtQcDczA7KpyV3mrhcR/s320/Up_1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">It may be un-eco-friendly, and I must say I don’t feel absolutely comfortable about this, but I like cars. My Dad is one of those practical-type Dads who given a few tools can repair just about anything. Just now he pulled the faulty driver’s seat out of his relatively new car and fixed it. I can remember many a time on a cold, winter’s morning begrudgingly handing him spanners and ratchets while he was under the hood graunching his knuckles. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm not interested in how cars work. I like to look at them and listen to them. I like to blow my hair back. And I like the thought that they are a means of escape; that they </span><span style="font-family:arial;">represent freedom and possibility. Thinking of cars as just a method to get from A to B is totally wrong. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">My brothers also like cars. From Triumph Stags to Porsches, from Beemers to Jags. So it runs in the family – we like cars.<br /><br />I thank the Lord then that Henry Ford ignored the “focus group” findings. As he put it, “If I had listened to my customers I would’ve invented a faster horse”.<br /><br />But if there’s one thing I really dislike about cars then it’s car parks. Now I know they’ve come on a bit lately, but in the main they are piss-stinking, soulless, depressing, concrete-grey-ugly eye-sores. Not to mention the fact that they tend to bring out the worse in humanity, what with the parking space psychology swiftly leading to parking space fury.<br /><br />And so it was with a more than a little pleasure that I come across this by designer </span><a href="http://de-war.de/"><span style="font-family:arial;">Axel Peemoeller</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> who has worked out the math to create, optically directional car park signage that appears to hang in the air. Found in the car park of the Eureka Tower in Melbourne, there's no technowizardy here, just a man with a can of paint and a few severely skewed letters. The result: mindbending, v smart and surely a Eureka moment. Perhaps a car manufacturer that wishes to position itself as innovative could join up with Mr Pee to create these signs across all major car parks in Australia…Whatever, well done Mr Pee, and thx for making my car park experience just a little bit less painful.</span></div>Al Druetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11348738321846032681noreply@blogger.com0