Marketing Unleashed

Why all brand owners, and not just Facebook, should be concerned about growing access of internet by mobile.

2012-05-31T21:20:00.004+01:00

As we see in the news, the Facebook IPO has had a rocky ride. The price fell significantly in the 2 weeks after listing. Some investors are threatening to sue as they were not told, unlike major investors they claim, about a downgraded view on Facebook revenue potential.

The "Facebook" concern: Growth of Mobile access
The concern is that more and more people are accessing Facebook by mobile. The challenge for Facebook is how to generate the same level of revenues they can via traditional PC based access. Facebook has not found a way to run and generate the sort of revenues from ads on mobile platform efficiently. Advertising revenue is key to Facebook business model.

The importance of mobile access of the internet not only to Facebook but to every brand owner was hit home again to me today while attending an Adobe Systems Webinar called "Mobile Matters: Optimising Search for Mobile".

Mobile access of brand sites is growing dramatically
The Webinar pointed out that not only are Smart Phones changing how people access the internet, but that Tablets (like the iPad) are accelerating and driving this even more. And are introducing a different dynamic.

By 2014 One in Five visits to a brand site will be on mobile device (smart phone or tablet)! This excludes traffic to mobile apps.
As a result, 1 in 5 search dollars will be spent on mobile search within a year. It is expected to be at least 16% by year end. Already it is 11% in the UK and 8% in the USA.

When thinking mobile, think about the Tablet and not just the Phone.
Tablet access of brand sites will be greater than that by smart phones by 2013!
Tablet users are also more engaged when using sites than on a Smart Phone, but still less than PC. As a user of all 3, the Tablet does give a better experience as also is more likely to be used when you have more time, while you tend to use a Smart Phone to answer something specific and time sensitive.
Tablet users are using them to shop online, and spend more than those on Smart Phones. 50% more! Interestingly they spend 20% more than visiting sites on a PC. This is likely because they are, by definition as tablet users which are quite costly, more affluent and have more discretionary dollars available to spend. They also use it more in evening and weekends than PC users, and so have more time to explore and spend.

Implications for brand owners:
Deliver right site on all platforms.
Brand owners need to ensure that their site is optimised and works for the needs and how people access them on PCs, Smart Phones and Tablets. This may not mean just being compatible but relevant and works for how they access and use. They may need, and expect, different things and level of information and capabilities.

Not just a site that works on different platforms
Many brands focus on making sure their site works on the different platform, but it is not just about making sites work. But making sure they are meet the different expectations.

What do you think? Please leave a comment on the blog, and if the post got you thinking please share using the sharing buttons.

Further reading: Watch Adobe Mobile Matters webinar or download a PDF of the charts

Is it better to be a "left brain" or "right brain" driven marketer?

2012-05-28T16:03:00.001+01:00

Source: http://blog.marketo.com

Is it better to be a "Left Brain" or "Right Brain" marketer? To be a great marketer like Steve Jobs (Apple), Richard Branson (Virgin), Howard Schultz (Starbucks) and Phil Knight (Nike) do you need to be a "Left" or "Right" Brain Marketer?

I came across a very interesting infographic about this topic entitled "Right Brain vs. Left Brain Marketers". It shows the key differences between them. It then explores how each would approach advertising and communication tasks like TV, Print, Outdoor Billboards and Online.

It is based on the long standing view of how the brain works, with the Right Brain being the more logical, planned and ordered thinking. The Left Brain being the more emotional, less rational and creative.

They conclude that:
Left Brain marketer thinks: "Profit begins with marketing. The best way to measure a marketing campaign's success is through its impact on the bottom-line revenue".
So Logical Left Brain Marketers are focusing on: Differentiating product features with in-use demos and price offers, and then ruthlessly tracking impressions, click-through rates and conversions.

Right Brain marketer thinks: "Marketing is an art, not a science. Its impact is measured with brand loyalty and perception. It can't always be measured with math".
So Right Brain Marketers are focusing on: Differentiating through story telling, imagery and building an emotional connection and reaction to the brand.

I believe that you, of course, need a mix of both to be truly successful as a marketer.

There is a real danger with being too "Right Brain". If you are, you can end up being more of a "brand caretaker" than a true innovator and step change agent. This is because you focus yourself, and those around, you on optimising the present - rather than changing the future. You will be measuring against norms and too focused on what those around you are doing and achieving.
While "Left Brain" marketers have more potential to be true innovators as they focus on what the vision of the brand is. How to make it connect and have greater resonance with consumers. True innovators will be more left brain thinkers, as they have an eye on what they want the brand to be. Without some reality check and measurements, they can go horribly wrong. But they are more likely to be real "brand builders".

I am very sure that Steve Jobs (Apple), Richard Branson (Virgin), Howard Schultz (Starbucks) and Phil Knight (Nike) are more "Left Brain" in habits and approach. What are you?

Please leave your thoughts in the comment section, and share using your favourite social media site (sharing buttons below)

Further reading:
1: Full size version "Right Brain vs. Left Brain Marketers" on Marketo.com site
2: Left Brain and Right Brain explained InfroGrahic on OnlineCollege.org

7 Questions You Need To Ask Yourself Based on the Brandz Top 100 Global Brands List

2012-05-22T17:16:00.000+01:00

Based on the Brandz Top 100 Global Brands list just released, I believe there are at least 7 key questions everyone running a brand needs to ask and answer to help ensure success for their brand. In this posting I look at the major findings, some key success factors and identify the 7 questions you need to ask as a result.

What is the "Brandz Top 100 Global Brands, and do they matter?

WPP and Millward Brown have been working together for the last 6 years on what they call the annual Brandz Top 100 Global Brands list. This is a massive study that is conducted in 30 countries and tries to combine both financial data with both market research on how 30000 consumers each year feel about brands they are aware of and use.

Many challenge the value of these sorts of rankings, for example Tom Ewing of BrainJuicer did just that on Twitter during a webinar on the results saying "These top 100 brands lists are ridiculous - it's like comparing Apple with Orange". While the actual details of the ranking can be argued, I do think that the trends and issues they throw up are always worthy of noting for anyone interested and working on branding.

Having listened to the webinar and reading the report, I believe there are at least 7 key questions everyone running a brand needs to ask and answer.

What did the survey discover?

To get the full detail you can download the results in a link at the bottom of this posting, but here are some key highlights that I took away:

Technology brands dominate the top brands. Apple remains #1 in the rankings, and Facebook is the fastest riser.

Apple was followed by IBM, Google, McDonald's, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Marlboro (cigarettes still in these days!), AT&T, Verizon and China Mobile.
Facebook rose by 74% moving up 16 places to #19. Other big risers were Financial Brands (Visa and Mastercard) and many Prestige/ Luxury Brands (like Rolex, Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, Hermes).

Brands using technology to change the rules of existing categories are also moving up the rankings. An example is Amazon who have used technology to change and transform the book trade, first by selling online and then with eBooks and The Kindle.
Every year, fewer USA/ European originated brands are in the Top 100. Brands originating in emerging regions are growing faster, and even Africa now has a brand in the Top 100.

In 2006, 88% of the Top 100 brands were USA/ Euro originated, but in 2012 only 50% were. Now 1 in 5 of brands in the Top 100 are from fast growing economies.
MTN is Africa's first brand in the Top 100. MTN is Africa's largest mobile phone network. Created in the Mandela era in South Africa, they were the 1st pay-as-you-go provider that made mobile accessible to more than just the rich elite. The services are based on understanding needs of the local population, including micro payments, and proved to be transformational for their users. They did not try and "import" a western approach and mindset. They made sure they adapted the offer to the needs and reality of the market and potential users.

Brands in the Top 100 are getting younger and younger each year. In 2006 the average age of brands in Top 100 was 84 years. By 2012 it was 68 years.

New brands are emerging and taking the place of older and established brands. The power of emerging technology brands and brands using technology to transform categories has one impact, but so do the new brands coming from outside USA/ Europe.

Luxury and Fast Food are the fastest growing categories of brands overall. Although times are tight, people are spending on prestige trusted brands.

Some of the fastest growing brands were luxury brands driven in part by the spending power and desire for "badge" brands to symbolise status in emerging countries.
But also in USA/ Europe where buying trusted quality brands although expensive appeals. Partly as an escape from so much cutting back and austerity. Trends in the study shows that consumers are looking for "considered" purchases - and so focused more and more on brands offering an appealing brand value (both high quality and acceptable price).

What drivers of growth did the study identify as important for growing brands today?

Women on the board. Only 77% of brands in Top 100 had women on their Boards. But this was up significantly since the study started. Brands with women on their board did better than those that did not overall. The study argues that greater diversity leads to better decisions and brand building.
Investment in building a distinctive Brand Experience. Brands that focused not just on cost cutting, but on creating and spending on a distinctive and engaging brand experience around the brand grew more than those that had not. This was key even for Retailers, as consumers with Smartphones can easily price comparison shop, and so the shopping experience becomes even more key.
Focusing on buzz and creating word-of-mouth recommendations. Brands that are embracing social media and looking to build trust by getting more recommendations and endorsements are doing better than those that are focused only on traditional approaches. This is not a surprise as studies show (as I have blogged about before) that consumers rely more on trusted recommendations than on advertising when making purchase decisions.

So, from the learning what are the 7 question I think you should be asking if you want to build your brand into a Top 100 Global Brand?
For me, the study has highlighted that to be successful in building large brands globally there are some trends and challenges that you need to embrace and challenge yourself, and those working on your brand, to ask and answer. For me these are:

Technology: Am I using and looking at how technology can create new services, or new ways to change the "rules" in the category?
Recommendation & Buzz: Am I embracing new media channels like social media to create a dialogue and get trusted recommendations and endorsements for my brand?
Brand Experience: Am I ensuring I create a brand experience around my brand to build differentiation, emotion and loyalty - or am I too focused on cutting costs and the physical benefits and features of my brand?
Value Proposition: Am I ensuring I have the right value proposition for my brand, or am I too focused on just cost and not on the right bundle of quality and price of what the brand offers? Remember, Luxury brands are growing fast even in tough economic times
"Western" Bias: Is my thinking too rooted in "the west" and thinking too much about and looking for inspiration in the "West" versus emerging regions? (Think about how 50% of brands on the Top 100 did not originate in USA & Europe...and every year that percentage grows)
Local insight: Am I truly thinking local and needs of the users when trying to develop my brand globally, or am I just trying to roll out a "western" brand? (Think about how MTN mobile outmaneuvered global Mobile brands by understanding local but using global technology)
Diversity: Am I ensuring I have enough diversity of thinking and points of view working on the strategy and implementation for my brand? While the study talks about lack of women on boards, there are other shades of diversity that will add to thinking as you try and build brands globally.

What do you think? Please leave thoughts and comments below. Please also share this post using the social media buttons below.

Links for more reading:

Influencers versus advocates. Which is more important for your brand?

2012-05-14T17:05:00.001+01:00

Recently I wrote about Influencers (what is online influence, and why is everyone desperate to measure it?). In this posting, I look at what the difference is between an "influencer" and a "brand advocate", and ask if both are important. And argue that "brand advocates" are more important for driving your sales, and how you should engage with them.

With all the focus on “influencers” and the obsession and battle to measure and track their interactions with their networks, there is a risk that marketers confuse INFLENCERS with ADVOCATES. And focus on the wrong one.

ADVOCATES will actually be more key for your brand or business than INFLUENCERS.

Brand Advocates will be more important in driving your brand over time. This is because they have passion for your brand, and will be evangelical about it to others. This will happen without you actually having to incentivise them to do so, unlike Influencers who will usually need to be incentivised in some way. Brand Advocates will do it because they love your brand, and want to spread the word to others.
An ADVOCATE may be an INFLUENCER, but not all INFLUENCERS are ADVOCATES!

What is the difference between an INFLUENCER and an ADVOCATE?

Zuberance, an agency specializing in the area, says that: “A brand Advocate is a highly satisfied customer, or other, who recommends their favourite brands and products without being paid to do so”.
Webopedia definition of Brand Advocate: "In electronic commerce and online advertising, a brand advocate is a person, or customer who talks favorably about a brand or product, and then passes on positive word-of-mouth (WOM) messages about the brand to other people".
eMarketer defines Brand Advocates as: "Brand advocates are consumers who support specific brands and use in-person and online conversations to share their opinions, recommendations and thoughts about a company’s products and services. And brand advocacy is becoming a critical part of the social media marketing mix"

Michael Brito in his book “Smart Business, Social Business” argues that Influencers tend to have a wide reach due to their large social networks, but they need to try and maintain independence and offer unbiased opinions (as they tend to be category bloggers, journalists etc.). Influencers tend to be focused on short term activities and driven by incentives offered. They do not have the health and success of any particular brand close to their heart.

So, Influencers are important to a brand in getting any short-term messages you want shared about the brand. This may be when there is a new product, or other news. Influencers can get any message out fast and to a wide audience.

Brand advocates, on the other hand, have a deeper and more lasting love for and passion for a brand (even if the brand is not incentivising or even talking to them). They will be vocal about the brand through writing reviews, answering questions, having dialogues and will be actively recommending the brand – even with no input or influence from the brand. They have a long-term interest and desire to see the brand’s health growth.

So, Advocates have greater ability to get people to actually try or buy your brand. They act as salesmen and endorsers for the brand by offering enthusiastic, and authentic, advice and encouragement to customers. This they will keep doing over and over, and continuously over time, not just when there is new news from the brand.

Why are ADVOCATES for your brand likely to be more important for your success?

Falling trust in paid-for commercial messages: Every study and report shows that consumers are losing trust in advertising as sources of information and trusted messages to make a purchase decision. They are relying more at recommendations from people they know and trust when making purchase decisions.
Growing trust in recommendations: A recent Nielsen “Global Online Consumer Survey” across 50 countries showed consumers were much more likely to trust recommendations and consumer opinions posted online than paid for advertisements. The pace of this has accelerated.

For example, between 2007 and 2009 consumer trust in recommendations from people they know or trusted grew from 78% to 90%, Consumer opinions online grew from 61% to 70%. However, trust in TV ads fell from 62% to 49%.
In another study by Dr Ferris-Costa (University of Rhode Island) showed that brand advocates are 70% more likely to be seen as a source of reliable information, and 50% more able to create content that influences purchase than other sources. The study also showed that they tend to be very loyal to the brand they are advocates of

What companies can talk about, versus what consumers want to: Another key factor is that, as a study by KRC Research showed, there is an important difference in what companies do and can talk about, and what consumers and users want.

The top topic companies communicate and speak about is “the quality of our product” (88%) while the top issue consumers want to hear and talk about is “how you feel about a product you have purchased” (69%) – versus the benefits and features as such. Advocates can and do talk about how products make them feel and do that with credibility, authority and passion. Companies cannot.

How should you help ADVOCATES get the message out about your brand?

Remember that they love your brand and have huge passion, so once you have identified them the key is to ensure you engage them and reinforce that you see them as valuable. This does not need to mean payment and inducements that you may need to with influencers and magazine journalists. Things you should focus on are:

Asking their opinion on what you are doing, your products, advertising etc.
Use them to input and test out new ideas.
Thank them for their support, by commenting, and contacting them.
Create some form of recognition system, which could be through informal meetings with other advocates, writing and tanking them, early briefing and sharing of new news and products, give them access to a senior member of management.
Create a way to showcase what they are doing through your social media or sites, and within the company.
Give them products or offers that they can share with their networks.
Invite them to your factory and behind scenes activities, and ask their thoughts.

What do you think? Add your comment on the posting, and share on your favourite social media platform using the sharing buttons at end of the post.

Some suggested further reading:

Michael Brito: “Smart Business, Social Business”
Zuberance: “10 Definitions of a Brand Advocate”
NielsenWire: “Global Advertising: Consumers trust real friends and virtual strangers the most”
Womma.org: “The company behind the brand: in reputation we trust”
SocialMediaExaminer.com: “9 reasons your company should use brand advocates: new research”
ClickZ: “12 ways to give your brand advocates a megaphone”

Infographics on Influencers and Brand Advocates:

View my PInterest Board on various infographics on Influencers & Advocates which has:
BuzzAgent: “A Field guide to Brand Advocates”
Zuberance: “Three Surprising Facts about Brand Advocates”
“In Peer Reviews We Trust”

Guest Post: Weetabix (Why UK manufacturing jobs won’t be heading east) and Jaguar (why they should think twice about making cars in China)

2012-05-11T14:09:00.003+01:00

Jonathan Rudd, a UK marketing professional now living and working in Singapore on the Asian business of a major global multi-national, gives another view on the nature of marketing and branding in Asia.

In a previous guest post he wrote about the Beer market and the role of aspiration, in this post: "Weetabix and why UK manufacturing jobs won’t be heading east, and why Jaguar cars might want to think twice about making cars in China".

Bright Foods, the Chinese state controlled food company, has bought a 60% stake in the UK consumers beloved Weetabix breakfast cereal. The new owners have been quoted saying production will be kept in the UK in Northamptonshire, and I would expect the 70 million Weetabix produced annually in Burton Latimer will only go up as a result of this takeover.

This isn’t because there isn’t any wheat in China, or they can’t replicate the manufacturing process and make Weetabix (and Alpen and Ready Brek) much cheaper in China. I bet they can.

And that in itself is the problem with manufacturing things in China for China; replication, or copying. ‘Fakes.’

As I’m sure you’re aware, you can buy a copy of pretty much any desirable western luxury brand’s watch, handbag or accessory on the streets of Shanghai. You can get a fake of almost anything branded and worth having from the West and Japan. Phones, jeans, perfume, but more disturbingly food, drink and even baby powder...

Affluent Chinese don’t want anything made in China; they don’t trust it. You may have read that an Apple store in China got closed down; because it wasn’t an Apple store. Even the staff thought they were working for Apple! I found myself in a bar in the French Concession in Shanghai and there was the option of a $10 USD all you can drink menu. I thought ‘well it’s been a hard day, why not!’ Inside, only the expats drinking from the all you can drink list; the locals kept with the branded stuff.

Whilst status certainly plays a big part in luxury goods, alcohol etc, the moment these brands start producing in China, the Chinese raise an eyebrow. Can they be sure it’s not counterfeit?

It dilutes the prestige, it’s too established too mainstream, but more important for Weetabix as an ingestible it’s also too risky. It may not be a status purchase, but in a country where questions are raised over farming methods, where food comes from, whether it is in fact what is says on the tin, it’s a big concern.

I buy Weetabix in Singapore from time to time. ‘Made in UK’ is blazed over the pack, just like how the origin is dialled up on Italian tomato’s, French cheese, Japanese strawberries etc. To start making this in China will alienate the emerging middle class and relegate the humble Weetabix biscuit to another foodstuff of questionable substance and lacking that desired authenticity.

I was surprised to hear about Jaguar’s announced joint venture with Chery, a state owned Chinese car maker.

On the surface, you can see why it makes sense. If you are a foreign company and want to import something into China, it can be very trying. Lead times for registration are typically over 2 years. The amount of bureaucracy is crippling and without people ‘on the inside’ you may not stand much chance.

However, Jaguar is a luxury car maker and the luxury car market in China is booming! However, whilst there aren’t the same concerns about legitimacy and safety for food, drink, cosmetics and toiletries, it’s the authenticity piece Jaguar need to be concerned about.

A Jaguar car is a luxury big ticket item. ‘Made in Britain’ is a key USP of the product and brings with it the heritage, authenticity and status of having a Jaguar. To be made domestically by a state controlled company (the government isn’t exactly trusted in China) would really put a dent in the sumptuous new XF’s bonnet.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/telipogon

Even dogs in a dog shelter need to understand good communication! What can the Thinkbox Harvey ads teach us old marketing dogs?

2012-05-02T18:17:00.000+01:00

Harvey the dog is cooking....

Who should be better at showing the power of TV than the industry group set up to promote TV advertising?
You would think and hope so, so what has the UK group called ThinkBox, proven and shown about TV advertising through their series of ads about a dog called Harvey?

Thinkbox is the organization that promotes the use of TV by advertisers in the UK. Their first ad to promote TV ad usage launched in 2011 an shows a couple going to a dog shelter to find a new dog. All are cute. All are appealing. All you want. But one dog stands out.

TV watchers voted it as the best ad of the year in 2011

On the main commercial channel in the UK (ITV1), in a "best ads of the year" show, a panel of 8000 viewers chose the Harvey Dog Shelter ad as the ad of the year. So they proved they know what makes a great TV ad.

Interesting that the TV industry managed to create an ad to promote use of TV advertising, so really targeted at clients was loved by consumers. Which also probably reinforces another view of mine that you try and approach your advertising with a consumer, not a marketer hat on..

What does this and the Ad teach us about creating great communication?
What really struck me was not about using TV as such, BUT the bigger point that YOU NEED TO STAND OUT WHEN COMPETING! Many products and services are largely the same, no matter what category you are in.

You must stand out when competing.

To do that, you must be different from the rest.

You must be remembered.

To do that, you must have appeal and a connection.

You need to take risks

To do that, you need to not be bound by established rules of the category - you need to remember you have to compete and stand out among all the ads - not just those in your category. You have to stand out from everything on TV.

It seems this is true even for dogs in a dog shelter! The Thinkbox ad showed 3 key things I believe:

Stand out: They were all cute and appealing. But one stood out. He was different from the rest. Instead of just using a sorry look, Harvey entertained and promised more.
Remembered: He made sure he was remembered by doing the unexpected and surprising
Take risks: I also love that the client bought this. It is charming, funny, watchable and memorable - and without doing the expected. In the past ads promoting TV use have relied on using clips and extracts from other liked and strong ads. So "of the category" and expected. This campaign takes risks

What were ThinkBox trying to show?
This is the official stuff about the first ad from Thinkbox: Thinkbox's second TV ad has been created by The Red Brick Road and directed by multi-award winning director Andy McLeod of Rattling Stick. Starring the multi-talented and extremely smart Harvey, it's designed to show, in an engaging way, the power of TV advertising to affect people's decisions. Whereas Thinkbox's first ad focused on television's ability to create long-term memories, and hence value, for brands; the new one is essentially about TV driving instant success in a competitive market.

Harvey and Rabbit follow-up ad in 2012
In 2012 a second ad in the series was launched, where Harvey shows us the importance of your best friend. Again it not only stands out, is memorable and again they take a risk:

Your thoughts? Please leave comment on the blog.
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What is online influence, and why is everyone desperate to measure it?

2012-05-01T16:34:00.001+01:00

Influence. This is the new must have, and sought after, attribute online.

It has been reported that some hotels in Las Vegas, for example, check on how influential their guests are in social media - and give them better rooms and attention if they are. This is in the hope that they will influence others to chose their hotel.

As social media becomes mainstream, there is a need and desire by companies to find out who they should focus on to get the most impact.
Influence is the latest hot topic when it comes to online activity, especially in the social media arena. With everyone and their mother (literally, their mothers!) now engaging in social activity online through tools like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, the challenge has become for brands and companies to know who they need to focus their efforts on to have the most effect.

The battle is on to work out how best to identify and measure influence.
The importance of "Influencers" has emerged, and it is a hotly fought territory as online innovators, major tracking companies and bloggers and social media publishers are trying to figure out what constitutes "influence". But also more importantly how to measure it. All are seeking to define the key measure, and to take ownership of it, as the "currency to measure influence". There is potentially a lot of money to be made by the one that can create and own that standard of measure.

In this posting, I am going to look at some of the most talked about ones emerging. In a future posting, I will explore the difference between "influencers" and "advocates" and why both are important - and why both are key and when to use them.

What is an online "influencer"?
Michael Brito in his book "Smart Business, Social Business" defines influencers as: "An influencer is someone with significant social capital - that is, influencers have sizeable audience on the social web...(they) are considered influencers because of their level of influence on the community reading their content"

I think influencers have these attributes:

Have an ability to affect the purchase decisions.
Are seen as being an expert or specialist in a defined category or area (e.g. on fashion, or books etc).
Have a big network of followers who are interested in that area, and so they can reach a lot of your target customer.
Interact with their followers regularly, and so able to influence purchase decisions frequently.
Are trusted and respected for their opinions, advice and recommendation not only due to their expertise, but also by being seen as being objective and independent from commercial pressure/ inducements.
Have an ability to get people that follow them to get involved and to act - as they have been proven to be persuasive and effective.

Many organizations are trying to create the standard for measuring influence online.
There are many trying to do just this. One common trait is they are looking to create a new proprietary measure or "currency" to measure influence.

The main big global ones across total social media web:

Klout: "The standard for influence"
Probably the best known and most talked about is Klout, who bill themselves as "the standard for influence". They create a score based on your usage, how many people you reach and what they do with your content across a number of social networks. You are classified by different types. At time of writing this I was a "specialist" which they define as: "You may not be a celebrity, but within your area of expertise your opinion is second to none. Your content is likely focused around a specific topic or industry with a focused, highly-engaged audience".

Kred: "Measurable influence. Real-time transparent community based influence measure"
The challenger to Klout, Kred was based in the same office block at time it was set up. Kred has 2 key measures: Kred Influence measures a user’s relative ability to inspire action from others like retweeting, replies or new follows.

Kred Outreach measures generosity and rewards actions like engagement with others and willingness to spread the message.

PeerIndex: "understand your social capital"
Peerindex measure:, Authority (measure of trust; calculating how much others rely on your recommendations and opinion in general and on particular topics), Audience (indication of your reach taking into account the relative size of your audience to the size of the audiences of others). and Activity (how much you do that is related to the topic communities you are part of). The highest score overall is 100. They seem to only really measure Twitter and are really the 3rd choice behind the other 2 approaches.

Edelman BlogLevel

Edelman is a PR and Social Media agency that craeted BlogLevel that is trying to define a new standard in the influence that blogs have, by building in readership, links and also social media. They say: BlogLevel is unique in that it recognises that in order to measure a blog’s influence it needs to capture information beyond the traditional method of 'authority of inbound links' to also include discussion of the blog on social media platforms and use of SEO.

More topic and category specific
Then there are more category and even site specific attempts to define influence related not just to the whole web - but to try and make it much more specific to a topic - but also try and build in other measures than just sharing of content and number of followers.

For example a Travel site TravelwithaMate.com has created their won score pulling in various measures of both social media but also the traffic and volume of the blogger's site traffic.
This is my one on the left, where they try and quantify the quality of content and visitors.

The big watch out?
In my view though, the potential issue or flaw is that all tend to rely very heavily on the extent to which content or blogs get comments or are shared on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and so rely very heavily on the assumption that sharing content equals quality and influence - as they cannot measure impact otherwise.
It is hard to see what else can be measured, but I am not entirely convinced sharing is the be all and end all of influence.

What do you think about influencers, their role and measurement? Please leave a comment on the blog posting and share using the sharing buttons below

Is it just me but are there footballers shirtless or in underwear everywhere in ads? So, what does it mean?

2012-04-28T07:27:00.000+01:00

I thought it was time to do an update on the popular topic of shirtless and semi-naked men and footballers in advertising!

Why? Well for one reason the topic is still one of the most visited and read, which is quite interesting when you consider all the other riveting articles and thoughts about marketing on this blog...

The most read article on my blog online (rather than read by people who get email alerts with the articles in) by far is the one titled: Is it just me, or are there more naked men in ads these days?

Men are now very much fair game to be treated as sex objects to sell things. It used to be that women were used and felt exploited, but there is much greater use of men - a cultural change? I have created a Board collects ads that use men as sex objects in ads on Pinterest (and so here is also the content that those that came to the blog looking for something other than marketing and communication tips!)

However, there are some key marketing principles we can learn when it comes to marketing and advertising:

Attracting a lot of audience? The terms “men”, “naked”, "shirtless", "footballers" linked together are popular search terms online (and sex related terms are still right up there in the top search topics overall consistently). Sex interests people, and so that gets traffic to the site - but it begs the question if you use sex to sell you may attract a larger amount of traffic and audience - but is it going to attract your core target? It stops and attracts people, but you need to attract the right target - not just a large volume of traffic. People coming to the site through those terms may be large in volume - but the content and message they are seeking is not what this blog is "selling" - and so time spent and loyalty is low. Volume of traffic is not everything in marketing - it is about using tools to attract the right target.
Stopping power in any communication is the key first step? Semi naked footballers, especially celebrity ones, will stop people of all ages and sexes when they come across them. One of the first key steps in any successful communication is getting people to stop and take notice of what you are trying to say or sell. There is so much noise out there, you need to get people to stop and lean forward to see what you have to say. Shirtless men do that and are popular, so that likely explains while more naked and shirtless men appear in adverts, as they have stopping power - especially when well known footballers.
Is stopping people and getting them to take notice enough though? You then need a relevant and compelling message. It is easy to use tricks like footballers in underwear or shirtless to attract an audience and get people to stop and tale notice, but unless you are selling underwear is it valuable? You need to have a message that is relevant and linked, so if you selling underwear and the inspiration and recommendation that they are worn by football stars then that likely is. If you are trying to communicate marketing tips and advice it probably is not. Those seeking to look at footballers shirtless will not have got this far in the post for example.

Why are footballers increasingly going shirtless and in underwear in ads?

Footballers are happy to embrace the trend by stripping off (excuse the pun) and using their talent and talents to sell underwear. It seems to be a growing trend that is increasingly bringing together the world of football heroes and designer underwear. In fact, almost compulsory? I assume it is very attractive financially for both them and the brands they advertise.

In fact it is becoming so common, it almost looks like it is part of the career path of a successful footballer!

First Fredrik Ljungberg for Calvin Klein, then David Beckham with Armani, and then Ronaldo replaced David in 2010 as Beckham expands into his own line of briefs for H&M. As a side event to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, D & G launched a range of underwear using members of the Italian Football team The range is called CALCIO, which someone told me is Italian for football - and so looks like the perfect marriage.

Usually the brands also made videos of the making of the ad, that have been posted on YouTube and have been circulated virally extensively. You can watch example of the sort of video towards the end of the blog posting.

But who are they targeting?

I wonder if the main target are men wanting some of the sport champion winning power to wear off on them. Or for women to buy them hoping the more athletic and virile sport star will project onto their man. I wrote a blog about that in relation to that topic based on the Ronaldo/ Armani

Either way it is an interesting trend. Is success on the football field going to be measured by how fast you can get an underwear contract?

(1) They certainly do stand out and get noticed. My lasting impression still of the American Academy of Dermatology congress in San Francisco in 2009 was not the subtle but relevant Aveeno posters plaster on bus shelters announcing it was the natural brand dermatologists recognised, or the facial filler brand whose name I forget, but the zillions of David Beckham posters twice life size lying around everywhere you turned.

(2) They stand out from the sea of anonymous toned men appearing not only on underwear but many other items. Having a naked/ near naked man no longer is enough as so many now seem to be doing it, you need people to remember who you are - and associating a football star very publically helps with that. Especially as it seems that almost none of the ads talk about benefits and features of the product, just the look. So it is all about brand recognition and aspiration.

100 Professional Footballers in underwear ad prove my point:

And if to prove the point that being an underwear model is the career of choice of footballers (or that they are good at selling underwear), the Belgian designer and reported football fan Dirk Bikkemberg had 100 professional footballers pose in underwear in a sort of art installation to launch his new range.

Dolce&Gabbana Italian Footballers and Calcio Underwear
In their words: "have more on Calcio and our five favourite Italian footballers: Antonio Di Natale, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Claudio Marchisio, Federico Marchetti and Domenico Criscito. We have followed every movement of these sculptured bodies and captured tantalizing hints of well-groomed flesh while they were following Mariano Vivancos instructions. Sexy, attractive, the Calcio Dolce & Gabbana man will surely survive the World Cup"

Read More: Just who are they targeting with thsoe Ronaldo/ Aramani ads?

What do you think? Please leave a comment or share this post using the sharing buttons below.

Is Saatchi CEO right, and marketing and strategy is dead?

2012-04-27T11:40:00.000+01:00

At a speech to the UK IoD (Institute of Directors), the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi (Kevin Roberts) declared that “Marketing is dead” The Drum Magazine reports. He went on to declare that “in today’s crazy world strategy is dead, the big idea is dead, management is dead and marketing, as we know, it is also dead”.

Of course he was trying to be provocative and create a reaction, but within all his hype and bluster I do think there are some important ideas and things that any company, brand and marketing leader needs to think about and act on.

Here are the 6 things that his challenge raised for me that I believe need to be acted on if any brand or company wants to succeed now and in the future:

Things are getting faster and faster. You need to able to move fast and be more nimble and reactive.

To be able to move and react fast it does mean though that you, and everyone in the organization, needs to be much MORE sure and completely crystal clear about what you stand for and offer. If you are not, you will have chaos and wasted efforts. This means that..

Strategy is more important than ever– knowing what you are - and not.

The “and what we are not” is also important, so you do not waste efforts.
Far from “strategy being dead” it has to be very much alive, and communicated to everyone. Everyone needs to know especially as you will need to….

Execute that strategy across many platforms and in many different ways.

The day of consumer pull marketing through use of a big TV ad and perhaps some cut and paste of the imagery into a Press ad are gone.
Consumers will and expect to access and use so many different media, and for different things and so each has to play a role and be on strategy. As there will be many elements, instead of just one big one to promote your brand or business you need..

You need one key idea or thought, to ensure the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

I disagree with him you do not need one core big idea. But this idea needs to be specific and differentiated – but also needs to be very simple and open.
Ideally it should only be one or a few words that the teams can then execute appropriate to the channel or mechanism – versus cut and paste of the flagship TV execution.
So, for example, the Compeed adhesive plaster brand has “with Compeed, be unstoppable”. This is specific but also open enough that people can execute in many varied ways – but the core benefit and idea all adds back to one core idea. This is key as…

Leaders in marketing and management, especially as they get more and more senior, have to learn to let go more.

Things move too fast and change too fast to be able to hold things tight and approve every little thing. You don’t have months to develop a TV or Print ad, your organization has to react and act fast.
This can only be done if you as a leader are clear what your brand or business is about and have a clear vision. Like him, I agree that the vision needs to be inspiring and motivating as…

You need a motivating vision and belief. Your teams need to be inspired and will respond more to something that excites them emotionally.

Like apple and Steve Jobs did when he keep telling people they were not about making great computers and devices, they were about helping their users to change the world.
Products and services are hard to differentiate just on benefits ad features as they can be replicated so fast, or improved on by the competition. You need to see them as the base line, the must haves. You need to lead with an inspiring vision and belief that employees and consumers will identify with and engage with.

Can only young marketers drive social media and digital marketing?

2012-04-24T17:41:00.000+01:00

An article on the Marketing Week website this week has caused a bit of a rumpus and comment, including from me! It argued that age was now a major issue for success in marketing, due to the perception that younger people had better understanding - and so an ability to drive digital marketing activities better.

This a theme I have blogged about before in posts like: "Where on earth do all the over 40 year old marketing and advertising people go to? And why?"

What caused that debate to break out?

The article that ignited the debate was entitled "Aging marketers risk being out of touch". Christoph Michalski, president of the global hygiene category at SCA spoke about how "older" marketing people were less likely to do well as they grew up with the 30-second TV ad, and did not understand digital.
He was commenting on a report that "older marketers face age discrimination" and that over 50s felt they were being discriminated more than ever in favour of younger marketers due to the perceived belief that "younger" folks understood and where more able to handle digital media than older marketers. The belief being that discrimination would get worse.

This drove me a bit crazy! At age 52 I know that I am miles more active digitally than most of the people I worked with - irrespective of their age. Having started using tools as they emerged and by constantly experimenting. It is not just about age.

Why do I believe that age and ability to drive digital is not linked?

Forward Looking Attitude is not Age Linked. All successful marketers know that success is about constantly looking forward, and never assuming what you did in the past will work tomorrow. This was as true in the day of the 30 second TV ad as now. Attitude not age determines this.

The risk is that if you are older you may have had things that worked for you and got you promoted, and may start to slip in this regard.
But any successful and ambitious person knows that if you stick only with what worked and are not constantly challenging, innovating and evolving - you will not continue to be successful. You cannot win a race by standing still. It just happens that digital and online is what you need to do now.

Everyone wanting to use digital has to understand it is in state of constant change, and be on top of that change.

No matter how young or old you are, you need to be constantly updating and learning. The pace of change is huge and will be for some time.
New tools and applications emerge - and disappear. Habits and expectations change as consumers adopt and adapt. This is not just about age. For what you use today will be different tomorrow.

Consumers do not die at 35. The demographics and disposable income is in older age groups, and we need to avoid just thinking about early adopters.

Marketing and marketing teams do tend to be younger in age and attitude, and there is a tendency to target young. Even when I was selling anti-age products the idea that over 60% of sales were to over 55s and 60 year olds seemed a worry. But it should not be. This is where the population is and where the money is.
And so understanding not just the early adopter needs and habits, but also the mainstream is key. The risk in the digital space is that there may be a tendency and trend to focus on the latest tool, and not the mainstream.

The story was picked up pin the new Storify site with added thoughts from Twitter, Facebook and comments on the article.

Love to hear your thoughts. Post a comment...

In marketing, advertising and business the winners did not follow others! What are the 3 habits you need to avoid?

2012-04-17T15:51:00.000+01:00

Image by: http://thegoldguys.blogspot.co.uk/

Observation: Winners do not follow!

When you think about great successes in business, politics, on TV or in the cinema - or in any other field for that matter - you will find that they succeeded and won by challenging the status quo. They took, or found, a new angle or take on the situation. They did not just follow others around them.

The great brands and businesses, and even political leaders, that are seen as inspiring and successful have done that by challenging and changing the world or industry about them. They succeeded by LEADING and NOT BY FOLLOWING others. Think of Steve Jobs and Apple, Richard Branson and Virgin or even Pampers Diapers (who changed how mothers cared and changed babies completely with a better, faster and easier way with their disposable diapers).

Insight: Winners offer something unique and differentiated

The leaders in any category do not get there by following. By definition to win you will have to stand out, offer something unique and different. You cannot be a copy of the others that you are competing with. You may do fine if you follow, but you are unlikely to win. The same is true in any race.

You have to have the courage to challenge the comfortable approach and the “safe option”. This can be anything from challenging the category norms in advertising and the media mix, through to totally rewriting the rules of the category.

There are 3 big habits that lead to a follow not leader mentality:

Incremental Innovation Syndrome: One of the founders of Google argues that true innovation in a category is unlikely to come from the players in a category. This is because they have vested interests and investments, and end up focusing on optimizing the present with incremental changes – and not at looking at solving the need in a totally different way.
Past Successes Syndrome: The saying goes that “nothing causes failure like success” and that “insanity is keep doing the same thing and expecting to get better results”. A big success makes it harder to change and challenge the way you do things, and so you often are then opening the way for others to do just that.
Telling people what you think they want to hear: A major risk is that companies, brands (and especially politicians seeking re-election) use focus groups and research segmentation to work out what people they are targeting think - and then try and act and say more what they think these same people then want to hear. Instead of really listening and then taking a leadership approach and bring a true and a solution they did not even really expect or know they wanted. I once read a great article in “The Times” in 2007 by a columnist called Matthew Paris that argues that people are looking for leadership:

“Marketing politics, marketing personality, marketing toothpaste, marketing a football club: they’re all converging on the same game of finding out where your audience would like you to be, and locating yourself there. The electorate are unnerved by too much of this. It starts them asking what you’re really for, and where the real you is to be found… beneath the appeal of slick, professional crafting of brands, narratives and messages, there is an aching hunger for authenticity”.

Action

Leaders do not win by following the pack, the past or by trying to just say more of what they think people want to hear or get.
To win you will need to focus on leading not following. You need to lead the way based on what you can bring or do that is unique, different and distinctive from those you compete with – but still relevant and meeting the needs.
Always ask yourself and challenge your teams to ask: are we leading this, or just following?

What are the 4 main activities your consumer seeks digital to make easier, better & faster?

2012-04-10T15:05:00.000+01:00

I believe there is a very simple - but validated approach - for you as you consider the role of digital to build your brand or company. I use, and recommend, a straightforward way of thinking based on simple consumer habits and needs. It tries to ensure you are always putting the consumer/ customer first. Of course, this should always be the basis of marketing initiatives - but we can be distracted..

I originally developed these thoughts right back in 2003, when I was a Global eBusiness leader, and trying to help guide brand leaders across the company on use of the internet. They worked then, and still apply today. Fundamental to the approach was:

Focus on WHAT people want to and like to do. Not what they could do.
Do not focus on the HOW they can do things, or what is available now. Accept that the HOW will constantly change over time based on technology, available methods and so on. You may need to invent a new HOW!

The danger is that the "how" is what diverts the focus of senior leaders, marketing teams and agencies. It is easy to get focused on the tools available and hot right now. You see this at many industry events and conferences where the focus is often too much on the shiny new tools.

Here is the analysis you should make:

Assume that the consumer has four main uses of digital media to make their life easier, more efficient and faster. Let’s look at each in turn – their roles, applications and then the opportunities they present:

1. Interaction

People are social animals and want to engage and interact. So not surprisingly, they mostly go online to interact – with email still being the most common tool. Instant messaging, community sites, chat and other what are now called "social media" are all growing fast.
It is not surprising then that many of the big successes are those that enable interaction. Think Facebook. Think Pinterest. Think Twitter even.

2. Transactions

This doesn’t just mean shopping – although online retail is the area that gets the publicity. The real powerhouses are actually things that enable and simplify and make transacting easier, faster and simpler: like online banking (faster and more convenient than queuing at your high street branch), price comparisons and peer-to-peer activities - such as where consumers transact with each other in goods (eBay), information or money (PayPal).

3. Research and education

The starting point for many people on the Internet to find out things are search engines. Google, Bing are among the most-visited group of sites. Though YouTube is actually one of the biggest sites having searches submitted by users.
Sites that consumers associate with education, research and learning are second in popularity only to online transaction sites.
There is an important trend though now emerging, and this is the role of online recommendations by those they trust online, be they people active in social media sites, blogs or formal review sites like Tripadvisor (though this site has some issues to address on reliability it seems from some

4. Entertainment

When thinking about digital media for entertainment, many people tend to think of the much-publicised music downloading and some of the issues around that. But the powerhouse and biggest growing trend in e-entertainment is actually watching video online. One of the most down things online is watching video, from sites like YouTube.

Actions and Implications?

Can you or should your brand or business be active in any of these 4 areas the consumers wants to be engaged with?
As your consumers are online, ready to interact, chat and engage with you in as close to real time as possible, you need to find the best way to do that for your business.
Do not try and build "destinations" yourself. Too many brands have burned piles of money trying to build destination sites, you need to focus on having a presence and relationship with those applications and places where your target customers are going already.
You need to ensure your sites or products are listed well and high up in search engines by making use of search engine optimisation and listings. But increasingly you need to have advocates and find ways for people to recommend and share thoughts ion your company. Many brands and companies are seeing fast growth in the amount of traffic coming from social media sites.

Focus on the four main areas of digital media and channels that the consumer operates in: interaction, transactions, research/ information and entertainment. Look at each in turn and see what the implications and opportunities are for your brand, product or company.

Interrogation of your product as way to win? As anything new to your consumer is new.

2012-04-03T17:52:00.000+01:00

I wanted to share one of the underused techniques and tools that, if used with discipline and enthusiasm, can help you build your brand without actually changing anything!

It is one of my "top tips" for marketers.

It is based on an observation that there is a constant drive these days for new products. The mantra is all about the need for "innovation, innovation, innovation". Marketing teams are under a constant pressure to identify new products and extensions. However, the rate of failure of new products and extensions is staggeringly high and, depending on sources, as many as 9 out of 10 new products and extensions fail in the marketplace.

New products are a lot of work, cost a lot of time and resources. They are a huge risk. Of course they are important, but are not the only approach and thing brand building marketers need to look at.

The issue is that too many see "innovation" as being only about new products and product changes. However, all too often we ignore the fact that new claims, benefits and stories can be as big and offer much less risk and effort.

Hence over the years my challenge to marketing teams I work with has been to interrogate your formulations/ product. You may be surprised at what you find.

Constantly sit down with people who know the formulations and product inside out and together challenge what you have. Ask questions like:

Find out how they are put together.
What story or claim you could make.
Ask what clinicals or other documents that have been done.
Keep asking what can we say?
What can this do?
How is this different from our competition?

In David Ogilivy’s book "Ogilvy on Advertising" he talks about how the line in one of his most famous print ads for Rolls Royce (even at 60 miles an hour all you can hear is the clock ticking) came from one of the technical manuals he had read. He used to try and get close to the engineers, the formulators and people close to the detail of the products he advertised to find the news, the nuggets and surprising angles.

One of the most successful examples of this in my career was for Johnsons Baby Oil. A product that when I took it on was told that it was basically mineral oil and fragrance and would eventually die as a product. It had been used for tanning, which people realized it was not advised ands it's relevance and future looked numbered. We did the interrogation, and our regulatory leader suggest we look at an old clinical which said that "when used on wet skin baby oil seals in up to 10x more moisture than lotions and creams when used on dry skin".

This somewhat clumsy sounding sentence we used, and dramatically grew the business. And I mean dramatically. Bigger than any new product we launched for years to come. This shows that innovation and new-ness does not just have to come from a new product. It can be a new claim, a new way to use a product - if fact anything that is NEW to a consumer is NEW.

So your fairly generic product could be harboring a fortune in untapped sales and share if you interrogate it.

Do you have any other examples? Please leave comment on the posting

Below is not the original ad, but a more recent example showing how the claim is still used years later

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Online and Social Media Rule #1: Know your audience!

2012-04-02T09:38:00.000+01:00

As companies and brands integrate and use more social media and digital as part of their marketing mix, all of us need to always make sure that we stay user focused (consumer or customer based on your business). We need to ensure that we do not get distracted, and chase, the hot and sexy new tools and toys at the expense of what our target needs and is doing.

We need to have good insights and understanding of what our target is doing, consuming online and what they want to do and needs.

Sounds obvious? It is. But it struck me, as I attend more industry events and read more blogs and business sites, that the focus tends to be on what you as a company or brand can do online and with social media - and not on the user.

I was very interested then in a presentation by Global Web Index at the Social Media Conference at London Olympia, that focused on the user and had some key points to make about this topic. They collect ongoing vast amounts of online usage across the world, and draw insights and conclusions about trends.

For me the following were some key issues and my thoughts on the implications for marketers, but I think I can boil them down into 2 simple ones:

#1: Every consumer experience when they use social media, like Facebook and Twitter, is DIFFERENT. This is because it is driven by their interests, who they are friends with or follow, what pages they have liked and so on. Unlike other media, where the experience is set and fairly generic, everyone has a different experience. To be noticed and seen, you need to understand this - and ensure you are part of that experience by having them engage and follow/ like your brand or company.

#2: Beware the hype and buzz, and understand what your specific target is using - and make sure you doing that! For example, there is a lot of noise about Twitter - but actually only 22% of people online actually use it. Therefore you need to understand where and what they are doing and tailor what you do as a brand towards these. For example, the main activities that people are doing online, of all ages are:

Watching videos (by far the biggest activity) - about 70%

Reading or posting product reviews - about 53%

Managing their social network profile - about 51%

Uploading and sharing photos - about 50% (Hence also likely why Pinterest has caught people's imagination so fast!)

So as a brand, you need to think about how you can be part of your target consumer experience in social media and online. They are going to need to "opt-you-in" versus your ability to force your way in, as you can with TV ads, posters or Print ads. They decide if you appear in their news or Twitter feed.

But it is also more likely that your consumer is watching videos, reading and posting reviews and uploading and sharing photos in some way. Are you as a brand ensuring you are part of that experience?

Here is the full presentation by Global Web Index with lots of data:

The key to making your business a social media success is knowing your customers – practical insights from GlobalWebIndex at Social Media World Forum Europe 2012

View more presentations from GlobalWebIndex

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Infographics: What are they? When should they be used? Only good for B-2-B? Some answers!

2012-03-28T19:22:00.000+01:00

Infographics

Infographics….or is that info-graphics? But despite the correct grammar, what the hell are they, and should you care and be using them? And how can you get one about yourself for free!

"Infographics" seem to to be the new tool and toy that everyone is into doing. But what exactly is an "info-graphic"? When should you use one? Are they important? Do they have a use for communication with customers and consumers?

An info graphic is a visual way of sharing data. The theory is that people are more likely to look at it and digest it if it looks engaging and interesting. It is also a way of getting a lot of data and messages into one document - instead of number of pages or charts.

They seem to have been used mostly in the business-to-business world, as a selling aide, presentation aide, take-away and to show expertise, credentials or to communicate learning from studies and research. There are many floating about online that are about online marketing, mobile and social media. But they are starting to enter the world of more business-to-consumer where companies want to share more data and information about their product or service, instead of brochures or leaflets.

Probably the best way to explain them is to give some examples of some that I ahem come across that illustrate what they are being used for. I have started to collect examples of interesting and informative ones in a Pinterest Board that you may want to review and follow so you can see as new ones get added and commented upon: click here

Infographic #1: "6 Reasons to visualise your data and use info-graphics in the first place" (created by J6design.com.au)

What better example than one that explains why you should use them in the first place. It reminds us that 83% of learning occurs visually, and people remember only 20% of what they read. People are suffering information overload and info-graphics tend to be shared - so your message gets out to a wider audience. Click on the image to see a larger version you can read!

Infographic: 6 Reasons to visualise your data

Info-graphic #2: "The behaviour of today's tech-based travel aficionado" which shows how you can communicate a lot of data in a visual way. (Created by Lab42).

This shows how you can use them to get a huge amount of information across and still be engaging and interesting.

Infographic: Behavior of today's tech-based travel aficionado

Info-graphic #3: More consumer targeted approach: "Transatlantic Crossing with Cunard" which they use to communicate a lot of information about the Queen Mary 2 and what travellers can expect on a crossing.

Infographic: Cunard's The Journey is the Destination"

Info-graphic #4: Personalised profiles and data.

"What about me? A picture of my digital life". Intel's free info-graphic generator uses your Facebook, and if you want also your Twitter and YouTube activity, to create an info-graphic showing a profile of your digital life.

This shows how the info-graphic approach could be used by companies, brands and medical or other services to help capture and summarise complex personal profiles to use with patents, customers and consumers. Below is the one the Intel system generated about me:

Info-graphice: Gary's digital life (thanks to Intel)

The info-graphic looks to become a fixture in communication both in B-2-B but also there seems to be more B-2-C options and opportunities. Thoughts? To levee a comment on the blog posting click here

Some links:

The Intel create an Infographic: A picture of my digital life: click here

Cool Infographics Blog: http://www.coolinfographics.com/

The anatomy of an info-graphic (5 key steps to create): click here

Do you know the 7 social media trends that could transform your online strategy?

2012-03-27T12:42:00.000+01:00

Patrick Salyer from Gigya talking at Social Media London

Patrick Sayler from Gigya gave a talk at the Social Media Forum (London Olympia) on Social Media trends, and their implications for brand and company sites and digital strategy. He raised some really exciting and important factors, and not surprisingly his talk attracted a large audience - all madly making notes!

This is my takeout and thoughts on Patrick's 7 Key Trends in Social Media and why they are important:

#1: Social is taking over search. Discovery increasingly how people are finding sites and content by seeing what their online contacts are looking at and recommending. Many sites are starting to see more traffic coming from this than from search engines. Implication: Ensuring you have content that people want to share and recommend, and making it easy for them to do so.

#2: Life streaming. People are starting to share more and more about who they are, what they are doing and when doing it through social tools. They are literally streaming their life in realtime! Implications: How to design sites and content that is informed by this and delivered at relevant time.

#3: People bringing their "real" identity online. People used to hide behind "fake" personas online. But now, through things like Facebook, they are exposing their real identities and information. Implications: You can now better tailor and target content through this data.

#4: Users want personalised social based experiences. Linked to the above point, people are expecting a more targeted and personal experience that addresses what they are interested in. Implications: Many sites now let you sign in using one of your social profiles (like Facebook and Twitter), and this is something all should seek to do as provides the information to tailor experiences and content better.

#5: Users want to interact with friends wherever they are online. People are by nature social animals and like to interact with their friends and others they share interests or affiliations with. They are expecting this. Implications: Sites need to provide the ability to enable this, such as adding the ability for suers to invite their friends into chat or interactions on the site in realtime.

#6: It's all about influencers. Not everyone is equal online. Some people are more influential than others through the networks and influence they have. Sites like Klout and Kred try and measure this. Implications: Brands and sites need to attract and find ways to get the more influential online users to recommend and help drive users to the site.

#7: Social "gamification" drives engagement. Getting users to engage with your site and content is always a challenge, but the use of games can help a great deal. Facebook found this when games like "Angry Birds" as an app on the site, and also Foursquare enables this. Implications: How can you get users to engage more through activities and games.

Patrick said that sites and brands that focus on these factors have seen on average the following results:

Sites using social network sign-ons (like using your Facebook or Twitter user log-in) have seen on average +23% registrations.
Users logging in with their social networks spend on average +52% more time on the site (as you can personalise the experience more).
Users logging in with social networks on average view +179% more pages.

Thought and comments? Leave a comment on the blog posting!

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Guest Post: An European view of Beer ads in Asia!

2012-03-27T06:44:00.000+01:00

This is a guest post by Jonathan Rudd. A UK national now based in Singapore working for a major multi-national, who shares his observations on one of his passions: beer

Tiger beer. Have you heard of it? Probably. Have you tried it?

In fact if you drink beer, what motivated you the last time you switched brands? Perhaps it was image? You wanted to try a new exotic beer to elevate you from the mass brands like Carling / Fosters? Packaging? Curiosity?

I’m going to take a few moments now to offer my thoughts on the brand "Tiger" and how, despite their exotic, premium positioning in Europe (£4.20 a pint) they are facing a similar problem to the mass brands like Carling and Fosters in the UK and trying to elevate and drive the brand upwards in the Asian market.

Throughout Asia, status is everything, and luxury brands like Gucci are admired and highly desirable. This attitude also extends to beer. For example, I was in a bar in Manila sipping my bottle of domestic San Miguel Pilsner (a bargain 70 peso`s / about £1) while some girls were drinking BODDINGTON`s (slowly, and shuddering after every sip) and at 320 peso`s a piece! Despite not enjoying the experience (evident from the post sip grimace) Boddington’s has a status in the market as it is only available in exclusive outlets, has heritage and tradition and exudes a sense of international sophistication and therefore status.

Like San Miguel in Philippines, Tiger faces the same challenge in their domestic market, and due to the much higher percentage of wealthy individuals in Singapore it`s a much bigger problem. Tiger tends to be associated with groups of old men who sit in coffee shops where they can get 3 big bottles for 15 SGD. At the same time, in Singapore’s upmarket bars they are demanding the same amount for one pint. But there are also a goring numbers of international brands entering the market charging a similar price, but positioning based on hundreds of years of heritage and unique brewing processes linked to certain crops in Europe. Tiger are seeing young affluent consumers switching to these brands in droves.

In a bid to counter this, Tiger are capitalising on their strong export business and have created a campaign of ads that harnesses the big / core idea that young and "in the know" Europeans socialise with Tiger. They are hoping that if they can convince local drinkers that is Europeans, who come from the same place as the foreign brands stealing Tiger’s share, drink Tiger they can elevate Tigers social standing and credentials. An example of the outdoor poster ad is shown here.

What do you think? I see the linkage between the core idea, the visual dramatisation and the key copy words (Here's to living it up. Here's to Tiger time). But the creative execution requires a lot of work. An outdoor poster ad has to have real stopping power and clarity of message. Here, the key copy words are barely readable, the floating packshot and glass full of beer tucked up in the top right corner unnoticeable. The ad is actually trying to demonstrate a variety of social occasions where (mainly) Europeans are `living it up` with Tiger, but there is just far too much going on. It`s cluttered, difficult to navigate and easy to ignore. To reference Gary`s post on 15 March on what makes a great ad, I think this ad is not engaging or intriguing. However I think the core idea is a good one and if executed differently has the potential to make Singaporeans think about Tiger in a new and fresh way.

Now take a moment to compare this ad to another OOH beer execution, this time from Suntory in Japan:

The core idea doesn’t seem to be anything too creative. But from the talent, wardrobe and photography we know the brand is looking to personify itself as refined, distinguished and artistic. The dramatization of the appetizing golden liquid on the greyscale background with the light shining through the glass that seamlessly navigates the audience to the packshot in the bottom right is as impactful as it is simple. The talent is a famous actor used to personify the brand values. Whilst this adds to the image, what impresses me with this ad is the standout, simplicity and ultimately desirability. Not just in the brand values the ad is communicating to me, but also because the drink looks delicious! You can guess the first beer I ordered that evening...

Both of these ads are part of much bigger campaigns, and I am evaluating them as standalone creative, and I don’t have access to share or sales numbers. But as individual executions, for me they are worlds apart. The Tiger ad has client interference written all over it......maybe that is why so busy and cluttered as they tried to get everything in - weakening the interesting idea.

Finally, I’ll leave you with another execution again from Japan; this time from Kirin. The on-pack copy says ‘for your happy home, a delicious, malty brew brings smiles to your table.’ Make of that what you will....

Kirin Beer Ad - Japan

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The 6 key drivers of the growth in Digital Advertising. Know what they are?

2012-03-23T15:46:00.000Z

I watched a Webinar by eMarketer (who collect and analyse online data and have for years) called "Digital Ad Trends-What's Behind the Spending Boom". It revealed some new trends which have some implications I felt for brand owners to consider as they think about their digital approach and strategy. So here is my take out from that webinar, and my thoughts:

One of the key messages they made was that TV is still the dominant, and most powerful, mass media tool for driving awareness and for impact. But digital advertising is now a major tool chosen by brands, and for many brands is - and is growing still in large double digit levels. I think this is important for all to remember, I have commented about this a few times. The key is carefully deciding the role of each within any mix of communication.

eMarketer believe that there are 6 key factors driving the large growth in digital advertising:

More Time: Consumers are spending more and more time online, and so brands are looking to be where their consumers are investing their time and attention.
More Inventory: A side effect of the amount of time consumers are spending online means that there is more "inventory" and opportunities for site owners to sell more ads.
More Measurability: Brand owners are looking to quantify their investment in these tough times, and online makes it easy to provide data and metrics on usage and how consumers act.
More Video: The growth of broadband, and technology developments, has also made the use of video based ads possible. These are popular with brand owners looking to build not only awareness but also a brand image and feel.
More Mobile: Smart phones have made mobile access of Internet easier and better. Increasingly consumers are using the Internet "on-the-go" and this also enables more location based activity.
More Brand Owners: Companies are actively looking to use digital as part of their communication and marketing mix, and so looking to be actively advertising online.
More Budget: Due to the above, and helped by the push that it seems every major company CEO is making, we are seeing the release of and move budgets diverted into digital advertising. There is more money looking to be spent, and this is fuelling the growth.

There are some industry trends that are if note an interest that are happening as a consequence of the growth factors:

Consolidation. The digital as space is very concentrated, and seems to be getting even more so. Top 10 have over 70% of revenues..Top-5 media companies getting 67% of digital ad spend (Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo! & AOL). Google dominates, largely due to the strong use of search based advertising.
Search remains the dominant form of digital advertising, and is half of the spend. And is likely to stay at that sort of level. Search is popular as is seen as a great form as (1) appears in context when consumers are actively looking for a topic and (2) is effectively "opt-in" advertising as the consumer has to click on the link to find out more.
Display advertising is growing fast. This is driven by brands who not want to build brand image and get brand messages across, and are not always necessarily looking to dried a click through sale (for example a shampoo sold in grocery may be looking to build awareness and image)
Video is the fastest growing format, as a result of the drive to build awareness and image by brands

It seems that digital advertising is starting to become part of the communication mix of brands, with TV still being the key for driving awareness fast - and still likely to be the best medium for creating a brand image. However, with the growing ability to buy and use video formats online, digital starts to offer more opportunities. The key is that the consumer is spending more time online, and your brand needs to be where there are. I do believe that for brands able to use TV this is an exciting time. TV can be used to drive awareness and image and drive people online for detailed information and to purchase.

What do you think? Leave a comment on the blog posting!

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Should your creative briefs be more like briefs or boxer shorts?

2012-03-22T14:35:00.000Z

Boxers of briefs?

I read a comment recently that the more senior, experienced and visionary that you are in marketing, the shorter the brief that you give to your communication or ad agency is.

Through my career I have noted that this is true. Advertising briefs are more like essays if coming from junior marketers, and more likely to be a few key thoughts that you could fit on a post-it note if from someone senior, experienced with a clear vision about what the brand is about.

I really believe that when writing a brief, it is best to be like the briefs we wear. Ensure that they are covering and supporting the bare essentials. Unlike boxers that cover much more territory, but can leave things hanging free.

A long communication brief can be dangerous! As it then allows the creatives an opportunity to make strategic choices - instead of marketers. Marketers should be closest to their consumer, their brand and their market, and so they should be making the key strategic choice on what they want to communicate, and own, in the mind of their target customer.

I really believe that the best thing to give a creative person is a highly constraining brief. This means that the only escape is for them to engage their creativity to solve it. Put a creative person into a tiny box - and let them create a way out with a surprising solution.

Maurice Saatchi, of the communication group Saatchi & Saatchi fame, argued as far back as 2006, that brands should be able to express what they want to stand for in just one word. They then need to express that one word through their communication to establish and own one thought in a consumer's mind.

He said "When a company owns one precise thought in the consumer’s mind, it sets the context for everything and there should be no distinction between brand, product, service and experience". Consumers will not recall and remember more than one clear thought for your brand. Saatchi practiced this approach and came up with some of the most powerful and enduring slogans and thoughts in advertising history like "Labour is not working" and "The world's favourite airline".

I have always tried to ask the teams I have worked with to write their creative brief on a post-it note. I am trying to make that the small post-it note instead of the 2 or 3 pages usually written.

This was reinforced by a Creative Director of DDB Paris I worked with a few years ago, who said that all he and his creatives really needed to create great advertising was a simple expression of 2 key things:

(1) What do you want to say?

(2) How do you want to say it?

I think there has to be a 3rd:

(3) WHO do you want to say it to?

He felt that was part of (1).

Every time I look at ad test results or brand health monitor or tracking, it always reminds me that time after time it is proven that consumers can only take out one clear thing about any brand. It is us as marketers that try and make things too complex, as we try and cram in all we know about the brand.

Many is the time I have seen brand teams rant that the agency work is "not on brief". But most of the time if one looks at the original brief there is more than one promises. The creatives have focused, and picked, on one of them in the ad. If as marketers they had focused and forced themselves to be very clear about the one key promise (and word) they wanted to ensure the brand owned, then work is much less likely to be off brief.

The post-it note approach works as a technique as it forces choices. It also checks if the story all links and flows through the WHAT you want to say into HOW you want to say it into WHO do you want to be talking to.

That is why when thinking of writing any creative brief for new communication we should be thinking of briefs. Think about covering the fundamentals only, rather than those boxers that cover more territory but risk things hanging loose…

Thoughts and comments? Leave a comment on the post!

Is the death of "user generated" content coming? And soon?

2012-03-20T09:45:00.000Z

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrjoro/

All good things must come to an end. So goes the saying. And is the end of user generated content heading that way?

I think it probably is likely where unmoderated and validated user generated content is heading.

I believe that as social media, blogging, twitter and review sites have become more and more mainstream, it has and is becoming less and less powerful, insightful and helpful. This is because instead of a few really passionate people, with deep understanding and knowledge of a topic or area carefully crafting and writing about a topic, there has is a growing trend for people to post reviews and content that lacks depth and balance, and tends to either "gush" or "vent". This makes for less powerful, and less helpful, advice and comment to guide and to get help from.

A Nielsen study showed that 90% of people trust recommendations from people they know, and about 70% trusted recommendations from trusted online reviews. The key being "people they know" and "trusted online reviews"...

The time for more validated and "expert" reviews is coming. I believe that this will grow in importance. The "experts" will still be passionate amateurs who have experiences and knowledge to share, but there will increasingly be some form of credentials or validation about their capability and expertise. This may be ratings, volume of postings or some form of 3rd Party endorsement or confirmation. It will help to cut through the increasing noise and volume of data being pushed out. It will also help to ensure the honesty and accuracy of the information and advice.

The experience with one of the biggest user content generated sites, Tripadvisor, illustrates the need for this. There have been many discussions and reports of the use of false reviews on hotels, and even reviewers trying to blackmail hotel and restaurant owners into giving freebies in return for favourable reviews. There is though, I believe, as equally frustrating and annoying trend that makes the user content less valuable and meaningful. The "gush" and "vent" syndrome as I call it..

For example, some friends who run a Guest House in Cape Town, who are usually the #1 or #2 rated in hotels in that city, are finding that TripAdvisor is becoming less helpful and powerful for them. This is because the reviews now tend to be less in depth, less considered and less helpful. They are seeing reviews that are just a few words or sentences gushing about how lovely it is, or a few lines on what they hated. The reviews lack substance and lack depth of content. Unlike years ago where more geeky and passionate people would invest time in their commentary, reviews and try and be more helpful and informative.

I have found when trying to research a problem - or find out about an area I need some help with - be it how to chose the right Apple Mac or solve a problem that you have to wade through piles of "stuff" and nonsense. There is a lot of noise that has to be waded through, and much of it is not very helpful (or accurate) ideas and suggestions. Increasingly you need to find experts with history and time of doing things.

I have found that my various blogs and even my videos of travel and hotel rooms on YouTube are growing in traffic and usage. I have been running them since 2005 and so there is history and so people (I suspect) are coming as they know there is depth there.

I think that the huge explosion in social media which encourages everyone to post and comment is the new SPAM! Just like it ruined email, it is ruining user generated content. Increasingly it is clogging up the system, and opening ways to a new way to emerge. More likely more validated and expert screening, and emeregence of more monitored and expert content.

What do you think? Post a thought and comment in the blog.

Your wife, husband, mother and YOU are idiots when it comes to understanding advertising! What should you do?

2012-03-15T10:28:00.000Z

Your wife, husband, mother, partner and you are all idiots!

That is, at least, what many marketers seem to think when it comes to creating and evaluating communication and ads targeted at you. It is so much easier to assume that your consumer is an idiot, and then to develop and use ads that are basically your copy strategy set to some images. The more explicit and basic the better? This will help the poor idiots who see them to get your message. Be explicit and spell it out to them - in detail.

However, this is also probably the dumbest way to approach advertising and communication. I am sure people can give examples of ads that work by treating their target as an idiot (incapable of understanding anything other than the most explicit and basic approach). It is, though, unlikely to engage your target. It is unlikely to build something more significant in their minds about the brand.

Through my career, I have tried to an approach that I first came across in one of my most favourite books on advertising when assessing advertising proposals from the agency. The book is "Ogilvy on Advertising" by the inspiring David Ogilvy. In this book he spoke about how "the consumer is not an idiot, she is your wife". This thought really made an impression on me.

I realised that I needed to force myself, and my teams, from always buying the comfortable, which is going for ads that spells out my strategy in a linear fashion. But instead to force myself to look at what the out-take of the ad was:

Is the ad is engaging people?
Intriguing people?
Getting them to think about the brand in a new and fresh way?
Have a better and more lasting impact and effect?

I try to look and approach ads with my consumer eyes. The ads I like are always the ones that engage, intrigue, impress or make me think. They interest me. They are not the ones that have the strategy spelt out with some pictures added. People are attracted to ads that stop them first, involve them and make them think and get engaged.

These are also the ads that people talk about, both physically but also through social media - thereby increasing the spread and awareness of your message.

Why is it when we are presented with copy we think as a marketer, are are more comfortable treating our consumers as idiots? Why don't we try and evaluate and choose copy with more of our consumer filter on?

This is why when I see copy for the first time from the agency, the first thing I always note and feedback on is "my gut feelings". How the copy made me FEEL. Then I go into thinking with a more rational hat on (is there an idea? Is it on brief? Is it talking to the right target?)

This is really important. We need to try and not leave the consumer at the front door of the office when we walk into it. We need to bring them with us, and think about how we can stand out and engage them more and better.

The recent Guardian newspaper ad is an interesting example of this. They took the story of the "Three Little Pigs", and the wolf that blew their house down - and imagined how it may play out in the modern world of media and social media interactions. This is a long version of the ad if you have not seen it:

On another note, David Ogilvy had many great quotes and sound bites about how to approach communication and advertising in general. On the ProBlogger.com site there is a great article where he discusses 10 of the very best that is worth reviewing. They are inspiring and clever at the same time. To read the posting: click here

What do you think? Please use the links at the bottom of this blog post to tweet, comment, share and get your thought across!

Advertising: legal, decent, honest and truthful. Does time change what is acceptable in advertising?

2012-03-13T17:32:00.000Z

An ad banned by the ASA for Ryanair as seen as too sexist (2012)

It seems that never a week goes by without the Advertising Regulators (The ASA in the case of the UK) having to ban or get a brand advertiser to change or remove claims made in some ad that has run on TV or in Print. Some brands, like Ryanair, actively try and get banned and get controversy as part of their PR activity. While other brands in very competitive fields, like beauty and skincare, are constantly trying to push the boundaries of what promises and claims they make.

The ASA aims to keep all advertisers and ads: legal, decent, honest and truthful.

But, there is no doubt that having your ad banned or criticised can help drive publicity and get additional coverage, that can drive awareness way beyond what the original ad could ever do. And as Oscar Wilde said, some feel that "there is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that is NOT being talked about". This is definitely the view and approach of Michael O'Leary of Ryanair. He believes that as long as the publicity reinforces their no frills/ low cost then this is a job well done.

However, this topic got me thinking about how things that can be seen as appropriate or acceptable are also a function of time and society attitudes, as well as legal and language. So here are some examples of ads that today would be seen as totally wrong and inappropriate, but did run and were acceptable to the media owners, advertisers, the authorities and consumers. But would likely not be now.

There would likely break the ASA aims to keep advertising as: legal, decent, honest and truthful.

Category 1: Sexist beyond anything that would be acceptable today. This is actually the category that is easiest to find examples of. Some cracking examples below:

If your husband ever finds out, you're not store testing for fresher coffee. If he discovers you're taking chances on getting flat, stale coffee.. woe be unto you!

Men are better than women. Indoors women are useful - even pleasant. On a mountain they are something of a drag

The Chef does everything but cook - that's what wives are for. I'm giving my wife a Kenwood Chef

Category 2: Promoting something seen as no longer socially acceptable or advisable, and where even the category is prohibited from advertising in some countries. The most obvious is smoking, but there is also other examples like practices with children (like the Cola ad below)

24 hours a day your doctor is "on duty"..guarding health..protecting and prolonging life... More Doctors smoke Camels that any other Cigarette"

For a better start in life start Cola earlier. How soon is too soon? Laboratory tests over the last few years have proven that babies who start drinking soda during that early formative period have a much higher chance if gaining acceptance and fitting in during those awkward pre-teen and teen years

Category 3: Promoting children in a sexy manner - "sexploitation". A hot topic nowadays, where many advertisers still come under criticism. But not as blatant as this ad?

Love's Baby Soft. Because innocence is sexier than you think

Category 4: When language has changed meaning. Words and language evolves, and takes on new meanings and connotations. The ad below maybe a bit obvious, but a "gay" cruise would mean something very different today!

Every voyage a Gay Cruise......

Category 5: Just plain old illegal now!

Want to see more examples of sexist, inappropriate ads? Visit my Pinterest Board on the topic that has many more examples: click here

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Subscribe to my European Podcast Award winning Marketing Podcast series. It is free!

2012-03-12T14:17:00.000Z

My Marketing Unleashed Podcast voted #4 Best Business Podcast (UK) 2011

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Sainsbury's CEO: Every price can be matched in half a day, every nice new product copied within a quarter. So how can marketers compete?

2012-03-06T14:32:00.002Z

Justin King, the head of Sainsbury's (the large UK supermarket chain) was interviewed in The Times this week, and I found many of his thoughts and comments of great interest for marketers and brand builders - as they reinforced some of the recent postings and on-going messages in this blog.

He stressed that everyone needs to really focus on having a "real competitive point of difference". And that you need to "move to things that differentiate your product beyond price".

He points out: "Every price can be matched in half a day, every nice new products can be copied within a quarter". I think his point is that every marketer, retailer and brand owner needs to be very focused on what their real competitive point of difference will be. This is key as items like price, and even most innovations, can be replicated and negated very fast by the competition.

For those familiar with my thinking, this really resonates with my on-going message around thinking what is for your brand and business:

What are your order loser - or losers? The thing or things that if you get wrong will mean consumer will not try you - or not buy you again. This could be things like quality, performance, safety, or not delivering as well as your competition. It can also be things like not being in-stock or unreliable back-up service.
What are your order qualifiers? These are the things you need to deliver and have to have to compete, and be put on the consumer's consideration list. In the case of supermarkets, Justin King argues in his interview that this means offering comparable prices to the other supermarkets - especially on brands. Many retailers and brand owners focus on these areas and think they are the basis of competition, but they are not. They just get you on the consideration list. They will not mean you win.
What are your order winners? This is your true competitive advantage. It is the thing you must get right. It is the thing (or things) that you do better and more distinctly than your competition. It may not be actual benefits and features of your product. It could be how you do things, your social responsibility programs - and (in the case of brands) it could also be the aspiration and desire of the brand itself. We know in the UK that the largest supermarket (Tesco) has been losing share recently despite very aggressive price activity - but this was matched by the others - and they lost share and traffic due to poor store experience and service versus others. So sometimes, your order winner and competitive advantage may be different to what your product delivers to the consumer in rational "benefits and features" required in the category.

It is very easy to get caught up into the battle to compete against your competition by focusing on matching their prices, copying or emulating their new products as quick as you can - or by trying to get that slightly better claim or result (like we keep seeing anti-age creams addressing the 5 then the 7 and then the 10 signs of ageing) - but one needs to think if the performance aspects of your product are possibly more in the "order qualifiers" territory - and that your competitive advantage may be something more surprising and differentiated. Like say an incredible aesthetic experience, back-up service or advice, ethical and social responsibility and so on.

Do you know what the real "order winners" for your product and the category you operate in are?

You can read more on Order Losers, Qualifiers and Winners by clicking here

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To succeed in marketing, your brand needs to be noticed in rush hour. Differentiation is key.

2012-03-03T13:52:00.000Z

Standing out in rush hour is not easy...

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In some training I used to do on advertising, I used to talk about how there is roughly 365 new skincare/ personal care products and extensions launched every year.

This meant that on average your new product or extension would only be new for a day. And so within 24 hours there would be something new.

However, it gets worse and worse every day as companies seek growth in these tough times and are trying to bring more and more new products to market. In fact, latest data shows that at least 850 new personal care products are launched per year. That means you are only new for less than half a day if you are lucky.....

And if you launch in the mass market channels in most countries, all the launches are crammed into only 2 launch month in many cases. As the large supermarket and drug stores want to keep the logistics and workload of changing shelf layouts across thousands of stores to as manageable a process as possible

So when agencies talk about clutter, they really mean it. Not only is there clutter in the amount of messages that the consumer is seeing every day, but there are hundreds of different and new things for people to explore constantly.

But it does mean that whatever you do, you really do need to stand out and be noticed. You cannot be a shy wall flower. You MUST stand out. You MUST think carefully and be bold. You have to stand out.

The analogy to think about is to think about rush hour. We have all been at a main city train station or tube station, for example, and seen the volumes of people piling off a train that has just arrived. It is hard to pick anyone in particular out in that mass of people, who are all pretty much dressed the same, in the current work or fashion and colours - and this sea of similarity comes charging towards you. You tend to just see a mass of people, and not notice anyone in particular. If you do, it tends to be the odd person that is dressed differently, very tall or has something that makes them "pop" and so stands out in the mass of sameness. Eventually if you waiting for someone, you may pick them out.Though usually they see you first and draw your attention (something a brand cannot do!).

I encourage you to think of your challenge as you think about your brand, and how to be noticed, is how can you make it stand out in a similar volume of news like a mass of people pouring off a train at rush hour. Imagine your message has to stand out in this vast crowd of similarly dressed and looking messages and product promises. You need to be able to be noticed and stand out in that sea of grey and similarity. The reality is that often in marketing we tend to feel most comfortable sticking with the trends, what the competition are doing. What has worked in the past. We start with a mindset of the category norms, the familiar codes and looks - and find it hard to break or change them.

The reality is that to really stand out, you need to be different. Different enough to be noticed. But not different enough to not be appealing. A tough balance. But it has to be done. Especially when the other scary statistic is that up to 90% of new launches fail or fall well below expectations.

Differentiation is key if you want to succeed. You cannot succeed by being the same as others. You have to stand out in a crowd, but you have to still be appealing and relevant and desirable. It takes skill and creativity. So to increase your chance of success and avoiding pretty much everything you work on failing, as with 90% of new products failing means you could do, you need to think about standing out in rush hour.

I did a talk on the importance of being different at a Marketing Forum event which may also help, and this is a PDF of that talk: What makes you different?