Customer insights are what many marketers need most. Not just the top line data available through traditional research methods, but the real drivers behind the customers' purchase decisions and their brand relationship.
Focus GroupsFocus groups no longer work at uncovering customer needs because customers are not honest in front of other people. Asking people directly what they think doesn't work because on the Web behavior is impulsive and instinctive, rather than careful and considered.¹
SurveysWhat the customer says rarely matches what they do in a real-life setting. As a result, surveys can no longer uncover hidden needs and wants. What's needed is something much deeper.
The Answer: Deep, One-on-One Conversations
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
How to Get More Out of Your Data - Advertising Age - CMO Strategy
How to Get More Out of Your Data - Advertising Age - CMO Strategy: "How to Get More Out of Your Data
Who's the Best Target? If You're Not Fully Leveraging Customer Information, You May Never Know
By Chris Dickey
Published: August 11, 2008
Chris Dickey
Do you really know who your best customer is? You'd be surprised how many marketers find this question difficult to answer. It's often because the answer is buried in structured and unstructured data and requires specialized tools, talents and techniques to uncover.
Who's better: a customer who buys infrequently but at high volume or a customer who buys frequently at mid-volume, speaks positively about the brand across his social network and has high future potential because his purchases are spread across multiple competitors?"
Who's the Best Target? If You're Not Fully Leveraging Customer Information, You May Never Know
By Chris Dickey
Published: August 11, 2008
Chris Dickey
Do you really know who your best customer is? You'd be surprised how many marketers find this question difficult to answer. It's often because the answer is buried in structured and unstructured data and requires specialized tools, talents and techniques to uncover.
Who's better: a customer who buys infrequently but at high volume or a customer who buys frequently at mid-volume, speaks positively about the brand across his social network and has high future potential because his purchases are spread across multiple competitors?"
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Offer Consumers a Meaningful Service
Offer Consumers a Meaningful Service
Understand What Your Target Needs, Deliver It and Stick With It
By Drew Neisser Published: July 28, 2008
Drew NeisserIt's just common sense that if you give a little, you'll usually get a little in return. But to paraphrase President Harry S. Truman, that (inadvertent) font of marketing wisdom, "If common sense were so common, more [marketers] would have it." Marketing is nothing more or less than an exchange of value. The better the value the marketer provides, the more time and attention they'll usually get back from their target. If the value delivered by the marketer is exceptional, then the consumer will pay back the marketer with loyalty and brand evangelism in good times and bad. Marketing as service is about transforming your communications from mere messaging into an exceptional value that consumers will seek out. To quote Ad Age Editor Jonah Bloom, "Marketing as service is where brands actually give consumers something they want or need," as opposed to hitting them over the head with messaging they'd rather zap or ignore. While Ad Age and others have chronicled examples of this savvy approach, no one to my knowledge has put forth a how-to guide for marketing as service, so let's just say, the buck starts here. Because of our relentless desire to cut through, we are an industry that always likes to focus on the latest and greatest. Ironically, much could be learned from the past. As President Truman put it, "There is nothing new in the world except the history [of marketing] you do not know." Ad Age recently reported on a "new path" being pursued by Crocs to help pedestrian explorers with online walking guides. And while Cities by Foot is indeed a fine example of marketing as service, it is by no means a true innovation.
Just let go: T-shirt company Threadless built a business by asking customers to submit designs and vote on the shirts it will print. Perhaps you've heard of the Michelin Guide. Way back in 1900, André Michelin created a driver's guidebook to France to help drivers see the best restaurants of the country while keeping their cars in good shape. It included addresses of places such as gas stations, garages, tire repair shops, and public toilets. Set up 108 years before Cities by Foot, the Michelin Guide remains a quintessential example of marketing as service, educating customers, enhancing their lives and doing so in a highly relevant manner. It's hard to create a meaningful service for your customers and prospects if you don't know all that much about them. And while some might choose to follow President Truman's advice to "Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it," it is essential to have a genuine insight when pursuing marketing as service. Find that insight somewhere within the passions and miseries, the days and nights, the aspirations and disappointments, and the loves and hates of your target universe. Genuine insight will uncover a service that matters, a service the target will truly appreciate. Street credNike 6.0 spent years hangin' with skateboarders before it launched a social network on Loop'd to target them. After struggling for years to crack the code, Nike learned the hard way that this group is keenly sensitive to "posers" and will call out a false note faster than you can say "backside 360 ollie." Not until Nike hired skaters to help create their skate shoes and listened carefully did they gain the street cred required to engage this audience.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Drew Neisser is CEO of interactive shop Renegade. He believes the future of communication resides in the notion of marketing as service -- a concept he preaches about frequently on The Drew Blog.The notion of having a conversation with your customers has almost become a cliché in our industry. It's gotten so bad, I heard four speakers at one marketing conference lecture about the need for a dialogue. Taking inspiration again from that famous haberdasher from Independence, Mo., who said, "Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better," marketers need to strive for something deeper than a conversation, something that gets them truly in sync with their customers' needs and desires. Think in terms of a marketing tango -- a dance that is intimate, memorable and takes two. These "tangos" can happen both offline and online. They can take place on your premises or at events ranging from street encounters to massive exhibitions. Offline, Apple lets its flock play with all its "toys" in their stores and employs teachers that they call concierges at the ready to educate and enlighten. Virtual tangos also come in a variety of shapes and sizes from websites to widgets, virtual worlds to social networks. Visa has created an application for Facebook called the Visa Business Network, which includes tutorials on how small businesses can save money, budget wisely, organize efficiently and, most important, dance with their customers via this ubiquitous social network. Some marketers have expressed concern about losing control of their brand in this newfangled Web 2.0 world. I urge them to consider these prescient words from the first president to address the American people from the White House, "It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." My advice to marketers is to just let go, because you aren't in control anyway. Offer your customers a way to inspire subversive comic books, and reward their creativity with outrageous parties like Colt 45. "The Tales of Colt 45" program, now in its second year, celebrates "the most notable [customer] adventures involving the famed malt liquor" in a four-booklet series that also promote a five-market nightclub tour where new adventures will undoubtedly unfold. Or, like Jones Soda, maintain your cult following by letting your customers design your product labels. Similarly, T-shirt company Threadless has built a reportedly multimillion-dollar business in eight years by encouraging its customers to submit designs and choose the shirts it will print. Best yet is Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade goods. Etsy has over 1 million registered users that it supports creatively with online classes and resource locations and conversationally with forums, blogs and chat rooms. They have also created a request-based marketplace where buyers can post what they want and sellers can bid on the job. In a recommendation economy, all of these represent powerful ways to drive positive word of mouth and build brand loyalty. Marketers have a tendency to get tired of their successes far sooner than most consumers. The reality is that when you hit upon a really good marketing as service program, you need to stick with it for a while. Maybe you can't foresee a 100-year-plus commitment such as Michelin, but how about more than a decade such as Camp Jeep? American Express has offered exclusives for gold- and platinum-card members for more than 20 years, and the BankCab has been driving customers to HSBC for more than six years. And lest we fall victim to the Truman proverb, "Being too good is apt to be uninteresting," keep things fresh with periodic upgrades, ensuring that your marketing buck never stops working for you.
Understand What Your Target Needs, Deliver It and Stick With It
By Drew Neisser Published: July 28, 2008
Drew NeisserIt's just common sense that if you give a little, you'll usually get a little in return. But to paraphrase President Harry S. Truman, that (inadvertent) font of marketing wisdom, "If common sense were so common, more [marketers] would have it." Marketing is nothing more or less than an exchange of value. The better the value the marketer provides, the more time and attention they'll usually get back from their target. If the value delivered by the marketer is exceptional, then the consumer will pay back the marketer with loyalty and brand evangelism in good times and bad. Marketing as service is about transforming your communications from mere messaging into an exceptional value that consumers will seek out. To quote Ad Age Editor Jonah Bloom, "Marketing as service is where brands actually give consumers something they want or need," as opposed to hitting them over the head with messaging they'd rather zap or ignore. While Ad Age and others have chronicled examples of this savvy approach, no one to my knowledge has put forth a how-to guide for marketing as service, so let's just say, the buck starts here. Because of our relentless desire to cut through, we are an industry that always likes to focus on the latest and greatest. Ironically, much could be learned from the past. As President Truman put it, "There is nothing new in the world except the history [of marketing] you do not know." Ad Age recently reported on a "new path" being pursued by Crocs to help pedestrian explorers with online walking guides. And while Cities by Foot is indeed a fine example of marketing as service, it is by no means a true innovation.
Just let go: T-shirt company Threadless built a business by asking customers to submit designs and vote on the shirts it will print. Perhaps you've heard of the Michelin Guide. Way back in 1900, André Michelin created a driver's guidebook to France to help drivers see the best restaurants of the country while keeping their cars in good shape. It included addresses of places such as gas stations, garages, tire repair shops, and public toilets. Set up 108 years before Cities by Foot, the Michelin Guide remains a quintessential example of marketing as service, educating customers, enhancing their lives and doing so in a highly relevant manner. It's hard to create a meaningful service for your customers and prospects if you don't know all that much about them. And while some might choose to follow President Truman's advice to "Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it," it is essential to have a genuine insight when pursuing marketing as service. Find that insight somewhere within the passions and miseries, the days and nights, the aspirations and disappointments, and the loves and hates of your target universe. Genuine insight will uncover a service that matters, a service the target will truly appreciate. Street credNike 6.0 spent years hangin' with skateboarders before it launched a social network on Loop'd to target them. After struggling for years to crack the code, Nike learned the hard way that this group is keenly sensitive to "posers" and will call out a false note faster than you can say "backside 360 ollie." Not until Nike hired skaters to help create their skate shoes and listened carefully did they gain the street cred required to engage this audience.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Drew Neisser is CEO of interactive shop Renegade. He believes the future of communication resides in the notion of marketing as service -- a concept he preaches about frequently on The Drew Blog.The notion of having a conversation with your customers has almost become a cliché in our industry. It's gotten so bad, I heard four speakers at one marketing conference lecture about the need for a dialogue. Taking inspiration again from that famous haberdasher from Independence, Mo., who said, "Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better," marketers need to strive for something deeper than a conversation, something that gets them truly in sync with their customers' needs and desires. Think in terms of a marketing tango -- a dance that is intimate, memorable and takes two. These "tangos" can happen both offline and online. They can take place on your premises or at events ranging from street encounters to massive exhibitions. Offline, Apple lets its flock play with all its "toys" in their stores and employs teachers that they call concierges at the ready to educate and enlighten. Virtual tangos also come in a variety of shapes and sizes from websites to widgets, virtual worlds to social networks. Visa has created an application for Facebook called the Visa Business Network, which includes tutorials on how small businesses can save money, budget wisely, organize efficiently and, most important, dance with their customers via this ubiquitous social network. Some marketers have expressed concern about losing control of their brand in this newfangled Web 2.0 world. I urge them to consider these prescient words from the first president to address the American people from the White House, "It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." My advice to marketers is to just let go, because you aren't in control anyway. Offer your customers a way to inspire subversive comic books, and reward their creativity with outrageous parties like Colt 45. "The Tales of Colt 45" program, now in its second year, celebrates "the most notable [customer] adventures involving the famed malt liquor" in a four-booklet series that also promote a five-market nightclub tour where new adventures will undoubtedly unfold. Or, like Jones Soda, maintain your cult following by letting your customers design your product labels. Similarly, T-shirt company Threadless has built a reportedly multimillion-dollar business in eight years by encouraging its customers to submit designs and choose the shirts it will print. Best yet is Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade goods. Etsy has over 1 million registered users that it supports creatively with online classes and resource locations and conversationally with forums, blogs and chat rooms. They have also created a request-based marketplace where buyers can post what they want and sellers can bid on the job. In a recommendation economy, all of these represent powerful ways to drive positive word of mouth and build brand loyalty. Marketers have a tendency to get tired of their successes far sooner than most consumers. The reality is that when you hit upon a really good marketing as service program, you need to stick with it for a while. Maybe you can't foresee a 100-year-plus commitment such as Michelin, but how about more than a decade such as Camp Jeep? American Express has offered exclusives for gold- and platinum-card members for more than 20 years, and the BankCab has been driving customers to HSBC for more than six years. And lest we fall victim to the Truman proverb, "Being too good is apt to be uninteresting," keep things fresh with periodic upgrades, ensuring that your marketing buck never stops working for you.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Value Innvovation Logic
Value innovation logic
By Albert T. VilladolidPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 22:08:00 07/20/2008
BUSINESS MANAGERS who use conventional logic are often thinking of how they can catch up and stay ahead of their competition. They focus on building competitive advantages aimed at beating competitors. They pay attention to retaining and expanding their customer base through further segmentation and customization. They make sure that their organizations leverage their existing assets and capabilities.
Moreover, they allow their industries' traditional boundaries to determine their firm's product and service offerings. While all these efforts are sound business measures, management research have indicated that this conventional logic have often resulted in less successful organizations as compared to organizations who use a different kind of logic, the value innovation logic.
By Albert T. VilladolidPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 22:08:00 07/20/2008
BUSINESS MANAGERS who use conventional logic are often thinking of how they can catch up and stay ahead of their competition. They focus on building competitive advantages aimed at beating competitors. They pay attention to retaining and expanding their customer base through further segmentation and customization. They make sure that their organizations leverage their existing assets and capabilities.
Moreover, they allow their industries' traditional boundaries to determine their firm's product and service offerings. While all these efforts are sound business measures, management research have indicated that this conventional logic have often resulted in less successful organizations as compared to organizations who use a different kind of logic, the value innovation logic.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Survey Finds CFOs Skeptical of Their Own Firms' ROI Claims - Advertising Age - News
Survey Finds CFOs Skeptical of Their Own Firms' ROI Claims
ANA Confronts Lack of Confidence at Marketing Accountability Conference
By Bradley Johnson
Published: July 15, 2008
DANA POINT, Calif. (AdAge.com) -- Financial executives don't think there's much truth in advertising.
According to a new study, six in 10 financial executives believe their companies' marketing departments have an inadequate understanding of financial controls, and seven in 10 said their companies don't use marketing inputs and forecasts in financial guidance to Wall Street or in public disclosures."
ANA Confronts Lack of Confidence at Marketing Accountability Conference
By Bradley Johnson
Published: July 15, 2008
DANA POINT, Calif. (AdAge.com) -- Financial executives don't think there's much truth in advertising.
According to a new study, six in 10 financial executives believe their companies' marketing departments have an inadequate understanding of financial controls, and seven in 10 said their companies don't use marketing inputs and forecasts in financial guidance to Wall Street or in public disclosures."
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
More People Use Internet in New Ways, Embrace Web 2.0 - MarketingVOX
2008 » Jul » 15 » More People Use Internet in New Ways, Embrace Web 2.0...
More People Use Internet in New Ways, Embrace Web 2.0
'Net garners plenty of love
Nearly a quarter of the world's population (some 1.4 billion people) will use the internet on a regular basis in 2008. That number is expected to surpass 1.9 billion, or 30 percent of the world's population, in 2012, according to IDC's Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast, MarketingCharts reports.
'The internet will have added its second billion users over a span of about eight years, a testament to both its universal appeal and its availability,' said John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC."
More People Use Internet in New Ways, Embrace Web 2.0
'Net garners plenty of love
Nearly a quarter of the world's population (some 1.4 billion people) will use the internet on a regular basis in 2008. That number is expected to surpass 1.9 billion, or 30 percent of the world's population, in 2012, according to IDC's Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast, MarketingCharts reports.
'The internet will have added its second billion users over a span of about eight years, a testament to both its universal appeal and its availability,' said John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC."
Thursday, June 26, 2008
PR News Online :: Digital PR Report :: How-To :: How Content is Being Consumed (Hint: Online)
"How Content is Being Consumed (Hint: Online)
June 5, 2008
The E-Media Circus: The overwhelming majority of media and entertainment industry leaders generate revenue from new forms of media, according to Accenture's 2008 Global Media Content Survey. The poll revealed that such revenue has grown tremendously, even though it is proportionally small (less than 10% compared to older media). In fact:"
June 5, 2008
The E-Media Circus: The overwhelming majority of media and entertainment industry leaders generate revenue from new forms of media, according to Accenture's 2008 Global Media Content Survey. The poll revealed that such revenue has grown tremendously, even though it is proportionally small (less than 10% compared to older media). In fact:"
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