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October 21, 2005

It (Better Be) in The Mail…

Has the Internet finally saturated America? Based on a recent study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the answer may be yes. It looks like the proportion of America adults who have never used the Internet has stabilized at around one-fifth of the population.

22%: The percentage of “disconnected adults” in 2005
23%: The percentage of “disconnected adults” in 2002

This indicates several things of interest to marketers.

First, those who are online are getting more experienced, savvier and smarter about the Internet as each month goes by. 79% of Internet users have been online 4 years or more.

Second, there is still a significant portion of the population that many marketers cannot ignore. Though older, less educated and less affluent as a group, the buying power of this group is still substantial.

Still, I’d think before positioning any new products to an audience that’s literally dying off….

Comments (0) | Posted by MCorp. at 10:41 AM | Permalink

October 18, 2005

How Some Customers Take Ownership of Their Relationship With Your Brand…

The Not-So-Rose-Colored-Glasses of “www.yourbrand.typepad.com”
Though passionate customers are not a new phenomenon, some brands aren’t quite sure what to do with those bloggers who’ve taken to both proselytizing and vilifying individual brands. Typically, passionate customers are viewed as a good thing. In fact, many brand marketers look to those “living” in the loyalty and advocacy stages of the Customer Relationship as the ultimate customers.

After all, the stats for keeping loyal customers are compelling. Loyal customers are those who stick with your brand over the long term, even if they’re not getting the best price. They tend to transact and invest more over time as their income grows, or as they devote an increasingly larger “share of wallet” to a company they feel good about. In fact, a recent Accenture study of top executives puts “increasing customer loyalty and retention” at number 5 on the Top 10 Business Issues for Senior Executives. (Though this beats out number 8, “increasing shareholder value,” We’ll see what happens when it’s time to post the quarterlies…).

At the same time, these “brand bloggers” aren’t blindly loyal. They look at the good, and the bad. Many seem to view it as their job to help their brands improve. Blogs such as Jim Romenesko’s at starbucksgossip.typepad.com look at topics ranging from favorite flavors to the way Starbuck’s treats it’s employees. And at hackingnetflix.com blog, readers learn about service quality, stock market performance, and competition. These folks are seriously involved, and the brands they – and hundreds of others – are blogging about, should take them seriously as well.

For the last several years, we’ve talked about how ownership of brands is moving from the product itself to the people behind the brand. And this trend continues, as individual consumers take ownership even further, by pointing out some of the flaws in their favorite brands.

Yes, sometimes the news can hurt when a loved one tells you that shirt you love looks like something left over from high-school, or that you’ve got bad breath. Worse yet, that you’ve put on a couple of pounds. But it is the thought that counts, and these loyal customers have something worth saying. In many cases, they really are just trying to help. That’s why this is such a great opportunity for smart brands to watch, learn and change as a result.

[…I wonder if there’s a blog for In-n-Out fans?]

Comments (0) | Posted by MCorp. at 10:26 AM | Permalink

October 11, 2005

More on Differentiation: Building Aspirational Brands

The more similar competing organizations are, the more important any difference becomes. And when meaningful differences are difficult (or impossible) to find in a product or service, the market will find differences outside of them.

Your customers will define you, if you don’t define yourself.
That’s why, for many organizations, the key to success is differentiation. Even if nearly identical in many ways to other competitive offerings, your prospects and customers do perceive differences. And these differences influence purchase decisions, and relationships.

But how do you define these differences? You start by gathering information, and understanding the essence of your brand as perceived both internally by your employees and externally by your customers, and the market.

Where do you want to go… tomorrow?
This research, and analysis of the data that must both drive and validate your approach, doesn’t tell the whole story.

It’s relatively easy to capture both “present state” and “aspirational” brand attributes, values, and differentiators if you are smart, are a research expert (or have a team at your disposal) and understand both your business, and the underpinnings of high-performing brands. But what isn’t easy – perhaps impossible – is to create true differentiation by relying totally on what exists today.

Startegy+Creativity
Yes, building a brand based on “present state” values and attributes takes both strategic acumen and research skill. But defining a brand that truly says “We’re Different; We’re Better; We’re Special” takes something more. It takes creativity. Simply interpreting the numbers without a focused creative lens won’t drive the type of category-defining brand that many high-performing organizations wish to become.

As Harry Beckwith points out in the book Selling the Invisible, "Create the possible service; don't just create what the market needs or wants. Create what it would love."

Creative? I plead guilty. But creativity with a purpose, grounded in solid, proven methodologies that allow a confident leveraging of who you are and who you wish to be, with a focus on who you have the potential of becoming.

Comments (1) | Posted by MCorp. at 8:50 AM | Permalink

October 10, 2005

Taking a Position on Positioning

I had a phone call this week from a prospective Client that made me want to briefly discuss something that's really important. Basic Marketing 101 important. You see, this isn't the first time I've had this conversation with smart, competent people that should really know better.

Me: "...So what’s your competitive position?"
Marketing Director: "We provide personal service, and are extremely flexible."
Me: "How's that position you in your marketspace?"
Marketing Director: "What do you mean exactly?" (Said in a tone that found it surprising that I didn't know what they meant. Doesn't EVERYONE know what positioning is?).
Me: "Well" says I, "To take a position, you should be positioned against something; for you, that would be your competition. In short, how does your position of service and flexibility differentiate you from your competition in the eyes of your customers? To put it another way, what do you do different, or better, than them?"
Marketing Director: "Well, we're much more flexible than them on products x and y, and our service is really great. But on products a, b, c and d, they really do a better job. Is that what you mean?"
Me: "Not exactly..."

I won't belabor the point. Suffice to say that a re-read of Jack Trout's book Positioning: the Battle for Your Mind might not be a bad idea for this firm. The fact is, the importance of differentiation - and positioning firms and products based on these points - is still misunderstood by many companies that rely on messages and strategies that don’t enable them to stand out in the marketplace because they’re making claims or “positioning” themselves on top of, or underneath, their competition.

Companies stand out by claiming (or creating) a space they can defend, and let the world (their customers) know that they own it. Yes, it must be relevant, believable and all that. And you may need to own different positions for different segments, products or divisions. That’s OK. After all, that what marketers do, right? It’s called marketing strategy, 101.

Comments (0) | Posted by MCorp. at 12:31 PM | Permalink