Martin Butler

Individual drone deliveries ...naaaaaah, it wont get of the ground.

2016-09-27T12:10:00.002+01:00

Ashish Thulkar illustrates drone balconies in Mail Online article

As an instrument-rated fixed wing and rotary private pilot I hope I'm wrong ...but I cant see how the world will embrace one-to-one drone deliveries ...even if your preferred pizza choice is stone cold and soggy!
In fact I'd go as far to say I believe this is all one big PR stunt to position a host of brands at the bleedin' edge of technology.

Lets look at the issues as I see them:

1) There's no money in one-on-one individual delivery - the last mile is so expensive. And along with environmental and packaging issues the pressure will mount to encourage click and collect. Most business models are being steered towards 'hub' operations who bundle various goods together to amortise costs. Endorsing the boom of click and collect I've heard talk that customers prefer to collect their goods at a nominated pick-up location, at a time to suit themselves. Much to do with it being seen as more flexible and on customers' terms rather than the retailers' rigid time schedules ...between 5-6pm means you have to be at home then ...available for collection after 2pm is much easier.

2) OK so lets imagine I'm wrong on point one. As a pilot I know the myriad regulatory hoops that need to be jumped through to even be allowed to fly over a built up area - not having 'eyes' in a cockpit will fill the law-makers with horror. So a drone operator without line-of-sight in an urban environment with up to a 2kg load will be viewed (at best) as an accident looking to happen. Please forget all the military applications that use drones - they don't fly near the ground other than at dedicated military airports!

3) OK so lets assume I'm wrong again and one of the civil aviation authorities does give permission to fly in built up areas ...even if 'novelty' premiums can be charged for drone delivery, we know that scale is important to deliver any form of viability and therefore will only be offered in urban areas. We also know around 50 percent of the world's population live in cities and built up areas and I read the other day, this will rise to 70 percent in a generation. Now I was born into retailing and often (same-day) delivered things to customers on a delivery bicycle after school for my parents shops. Most of the time was not spent getting to the address ...but in finding the front door! Think number 27C Basement flat. Or Orchard View 5th and 7th Avenues. You're probably starting to realise why there's no money in the last mile with all the messing around for single item delivery ...hey just ask a post man or women! And that's a point, what about box number addresses ...?

4) OK so lets assume GPS sorts out the addresses with corresponding front doors ....but to be honest I see no evidence of that even in my car's navigation equipment - yes I'm being harsh but you know the problems I'm talking about. So the only way for delivery drones to work is for high density urban dwellers to have drone-designated landing areas in their gardens, and in high rise dwellings: drone-dedicated balconies ...as the UK's Mail Online's excellent article illustrated and mused. For my part this is all pie-in-the-sky and ridiculous. Think sudden gust of wind swirling around a skyscraper. Hey I've landed on elevated helipads and I'm pleased I walked away to tell the tale - done properly it's a real skill usually reserved for the 'best of the best' in the military academies after several years training ...and remember these are invariably with eyes in the cockpit.

5) Hey I love everything else being done with drones. Love their abilities. Love the way they promise to change our lives for the better. Love the idea of offering unbelievable new perspectives on everything from fruit tree monitoring and harvesting to customer tracking initiatives.

But sadly, it wont include one-to-one deliveries.

Once all the tests over 'water' or in the empty landscapes of New Zealand or Belgium have been conducted ...and proved nothing. And once the first 100 successful drone deliveries deposit something to a beautifully manicured garden with a wall high to stop passers-by grabbing the parcel first. I believe the whole idea of one-to-one delivery drones will be kicked into the long grass. The Brands will have received their publicity and the drones will then be free to concentrate on the million other things they can do extraordinarily and uniquely very well.

I hope I'm wrong ...but I know I'm not. It'll never get off the ground!

Winning the war for the modern customer

2016-06-23T10:48:00.001+01:00

2016 is seeing the launch of my third book in the trilogy on the modern customer:

It's not about us

It's all about them

Wow

And I've been delighted with the reception the book and I have been receiving - thank you:

“Wow what a show! Energy, insight, great passion. Martin really got the audience buzzing and he’s got a fantastic story to tell. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Geoff Whyte, Nando’s CEO, Southern Africa.

Born into retail, I have spent a lifetime studying what it takes to succeed when it comes to the modern customer. And as an entrepreneur, a marketer, and more recently author, lecturer and high-end consultant, I have worked with a host of world-famous names. And from everyone's kind feedback I'm honoured to hear I've 'lit fires' in the minds of customer-facing teams and their leaders - inspiring thousands in conferences, business schools and master-classes around the world.

Winning the war

I passionately believe my audiences appreciate working with me more when they enjoy the process - indeed an entire section of my new book interrogates the benefits and 'business case' for joy, happiness and fun in the work place.
"Martin Butler is that rare breed – both an entertainer and educator.”
Jon Bird, The Labstore

My passion is to leave audiences inspired by my 'research and observations' using global best practice, customer insights, expert observations and highly memorable anecdotes. And again from feedback (see Tributes - Engagements of this website) my audiences talk about appreciating the route maps I promote for winning the war for the modern customer ...always finding something everyone can take back to their own organisations to help win the war for the modern customer:

"I defy anyone to have seen Martin Butler and not change something about their approach to business...”

Steve Bradbury, International VP, Stored Value Solutions.

From Melbourne to Mumbai, New Zealand to New York and from keynotes to business schools, I have spoken at events on every continent - I was absolutely delighted to be personally invited to launch my latest book at The World Retail Congresses in both Cape Town and Dubai by the Founder and Chairman.

“The audience was spellbound by his presentation and the buzz it created. Martin really delivered and we were delighted he was able to join us.”

Ian McGarrigle, Founder and Chairman, World Retail Congress.

Winners are obsessed

My new book concludes,

‘With a world turned upside down by technology, customer obsession is everything’

…and I now spend all my time researching, writing and sharing my views globally - obsessively looking to relentlessly understand what it takes to win the war for the ever changing, ever more powerful, modern customer.

“Martin knows the store (modern customers) from both-sides-of-the-till!”

Jon Stine, Global Director Retail Sales, Intel Corporation

A city near you

My world tour continues to Australia and NZ August/September 2016 and do say hello if you're coming to any of my events or please feel free to contact me or my publicity agent Sally Tickner (sallytickner@ntlworld.com) to arrange a chat about anything I could do for your organisation.

Reminder of published works

All my books are published by Management Books 2000 (www.mb2000.com)

1. People don’t buy what you sell …(published 2005)

2. The art of being chosen …(published 2010)

3. and hot-off-the-press, It’s not about us, it’s all about them …(published 2016)

Guest Author: In 2015 Martin was invited to be the guest author writing about the modern customer in ‘Retail Banking’ by Anna Omarini – Tenured Researcher and Senior SDA Professor in the Department of Finance at Bocconi University and Business School, Milan.

All my books are available through good book stores and through Amazon globally.

It's not about us, it's all about them - World Retail Congress Dubai 2016

2016-04-22T15:03:00.001+01:00

Brad Davis, John Gillam, Martin Butler

The World Retail Congress stage in Dubai

Launching my third book on the modern customer - It's not about us, it's all about them - I was incredibly honoured to be joined on stage in Dubai by two award winning leaders featured prominently in the book.

Brad Davis - marketing hall of famer and currently marketing supremo of the sector re-defining and phenomenally successful North American, Opus Bank.

John Gillam - award winning leader of Bunnings, an organisation I believe to be one of the best run retail businesses on the planet. An Australasian 'home improvement' brand that has recently bought the ailing Homebase UK operation.

Drawing from my conclusions I summarised how, "in a world turned upside down by technology, customer obsession is everything." Brad and John then answered a spectrum of questions each in their wonderfully insightful manner.

I'm also delighted to report feedback on the book is beyond amazing ...and I'm looking forward to sharing my research findings with everyone as I travel the world to launch this book - part three in my trilogy on the modern customer!

UK airport retailing - self serving?

2015-11-06T13:59:00.003+00:00

WHSmith September 2015

Just need a little help with my research into authentic customer orientated organisations for my new book launching February 2016.

A) Have all UK airport retailers stopped asking to see passenger's boarding passes since this unnecessary requirement was highlighted in the UK press during the summer of 2015.

B) If they are still asking to see boarding passes for all purchases, do they return the VAT to passengers who are entitled to be refunded? If not ...please name the retailers still requesting your boarding passes as a matter of course when buying goods at the airport.

Please note: Duty Free shops need to see boarding passes as proof of destination.

Thanks for your help....

Chasing down customer obsessed organisations

2015-04-22T11:13:00.000+01:00

Sorry, I've been out of the loop for the last twelve months or so...I've been traveling the world researching for my new book on what it takes to be a truly customer obsessive organisation.
On my last trip alone I had an unbelievable interview on the West Coast of America with a truly rare breed - a banker who totally 'gets' customers - yep a banker.... can't wait put him in my new book. Spoke to a global hotel chain in the Mid-West with an incredible 100% customer satisfaction guarantee and touched base in Dallas with the relatively new boss of Neiman Marcus who's bringing Silicon Valley brain power to this revered, customer-focused brand. Learned a lot from one of Americas largest health care operators about the deeper meaning of 'care' and it's delivery as well as a fascinating insight into the growing movement of Conscious Capitalism from the unbelievable Container Store chain. Spoke to Macys in NYC about how it continues to thrive with world-class transformational leadership and sipped wine with one of the bosses of the global phenomenon, the celebrated food shop/restaurant chain, Eataly.

To all those interviews I haven't mentioned please forgive me - the keyboard now calls if I'm to meet my publication date of beginning 2016.

Department store or dinosaur?

2014-10-11T08:45:00.003+01:00

Selfridges London - featuring unbelievably inspiring and brave promotional sculpture

Is a department store a department store if it closes departments that are failing?

Is the department store business model dead-in-the-water?

Firstly, I think the world is dancing on a pin head. Never let a category name define your business.

A department store is simply a retailer with varying numbers of departments….correction varying numbers of departments relevant to the audience it is trying to appeal.

Looking through the correct end of the telescope, future success is all about customer relevance.

So to me, as a customer, Amazon & Alibaba are as much department stores as Selfridges (voted worlds best) and John Lewis (possibly the most trusted retail brand in the world)…all four, in differing ways, have always put the customer at the heart of their very ‘being’ and all four are phenomenally successful….. all four know they are in the business of being chosen, know precisely why they exist, and relentlessly build their businesses around their customers in a highly emotional, highly differentiated and forensically smart manner.

If you fall short on any one of these evolving customer needs you’ll end up like a dinosaur….big and extinct!

Now what’s the question….

Amazon the poacher is rumoured to be turning gamekeeper.

2014-10-11T08:13:00.001+01:00

Amazon are heavily rumoured to be opening their first store in NYC just before Christmas. (see: Good e Reader news youtube clip)
So is this really the arch-poacher turning gamer-keeper....naaahhh....this is a business that simply wants to be the most customer centric business on the planet. And having almost single-handily invented the successful on-line business model they now understand, better than most, its major weaknesses.
There's a whole bunch of people who like to touch their purchases before they commit and its not always convenient to have things delivered....hence the burgeoning success of click 'n collect.
So this is not fire fighting a nascent business model flaw, its simply Amazon listening to its customers.
This is a business that knows if it ain't broke, break it...it understands success is all about tinkering with the customer experience to make sure you're relentlessly relevant. I love it.
After years of keeping the world's sloppy customer service companies awake a night, there are some who say Amazon are loosing their beauty sleep by the relative upstart:Alibaba ...maybe another reason for Amazon to break as many lores as possible - not least by moving into retail real estate.

I also think the time maybe upon us where we have to factor in the environmental cost of on-line shopping with one-to-one deliveries...but this is a complicated equation and I'll just leave it hanging for the time being!

So special you can only dream about it!

2014-05-28T15:59:00.002+01:00

FA cup final sleepover Wembley stadium box. Metro newspaper photograph.

The UK's FA Cup....the oldest domestic football rivalry and one of the most famous football competitions in the world has always been the stuff of dreams. Minnows slaying giants. Huge premier league sides bursting at the seams with international talent inexplicably loosing to local club sides...for some reason upsets happen all the time and with their parents, children all over Britain can't get enough of this magical football competition.

How visionary and how different was it when the Football Association gave winning youngsters all over Britain the opportunity to sleep with the actual FA cup as part of this nationwide competition.

But now this initiative has been taken to the next level.

On the eve of the impossibly exciting 2014 final one lucky winning family won the chance to sleepover with the FA cup at the hallowed Wembley stadium in one of the executive boxes.

For wide-eyed football fans it doesn't get much better than that.

And of course winning something money can't buy is always a wonderful experience. It speaks loudly and eloquently to feeling very special. In fact, it elevates an experience to a memory. And that's where commercial success is so often found. The really great businesses consciously go out of their way to create memories for their customers, not just transactions. Some last a lifetime, other memories are considerably shorter.

So what imperatives do you have embedded in your business to help create memories? Because the businesses delivering memorable experiences are the ones being chosen by more people, more often...

...and that's worth remembering!

Where's the smart money going?

2014-03-10T10:48:00.000+00:00

We all kinda knew it but now it's official.

Ad revenue for smart phones and tablets in the UK is forecast to beat news print by the end of the year and expected to become the single biggest ad channel by 2017 by beating TV advertising.

There's a great article in the UK's FT newspaper that fleshes-out the reasons.... But really as a customer it's very simple.

What part of easy don't you like?

What part of personalised don't you like?

What part of fast don't you like?

Whether you'll be wearing your device, looking through a devices glasses or sunglasses or simply messing around chatting to others.....the brands you rate or the brands you're likely to like will be talking to you about the things you like....and if you get bored you can delete them. Simple.

I know the UK is near the leading edge of the digital revolution but very soon, all this will be coming to a 'chip' near your market too....so if you want to be chosen....be smart by being prepared and relevant!

Curating not choice

2013-12-23T08:53:00.002+00:00

Curating is the new buzz word for winning and keeping customers...as it happens, it's always been this way but now businesses have finally understood how people feel about choice. Customers want someone to have done all the hard work for them, they want to be informed and surprised ...and they want life to be as easy as possible.

And as I was reading a fabulous end-of-the-year article from Lucy Kellaway in the UK's FT newspaper I was struck just how different blogging is from journalism...I loved it. Packed full of information and insight, someone had crafted a story and turned it into a thought piece. Relevant, succinct, entertaining and gift wrapped in a cogent point of view.

I guess great newspapers (and I use great in its true sense) are great news curators, not just great news editors - and long may that be. You could argue blogging is the 'big data' of information and we all know how useful that is without a boffin to interpret what's hidden in the detail.

The death of newspapers....nahhhh. Maybe just a little less ink on readers' fingers....keep it up Lucy.

Brand or be branded - companies must stand for something

2013-12-01T07:17:00.001+00:00

There are many rules of retail and one right at the top of the list is that you've got to know what you stand for - it's simply not credible to think you can be all things to all people!

And not unreasonably, if you don't go out-of-your way to grab the agenda of what you're wanting to stand for, then the world at large will make one up for themselves....brand or be branded.

Recently I read a rather interesting article in the UK's Daily Mail ONLINE edition that flirts with the problem of not knowing what you stand for. Its not robust research nor did it start out to be, but it did nudge me onto one of my favourite hobby horses. The report compares the fortunes and merchandise of ailing M and S versus burgeoning Primark.

As we know, M and S is the globally famous company (it used to be a brand) that's lost its fashion-way and credentials ....and Primark, the unashamedly cheap and cheerful hi-fashion retailer that's taking over the world wherever it's shops spring up (now even boasting a concession in the uber-trendy and normally expensive Selfidges London flagship store).

I've wondered for a long time why any modern, relevant chain store group would think teenagers looking for fashions would be happy to rub shoulders with mums and grannies (and vice versa) - well M and S clearly do! I've also wondered why anyone would be prepared to fight and scrummage to buy fashions that are 'not' built to last nor be comfortable - well Primark do!

So both brands astound me.

I'm sure M and S have lots of fancy brand strategies that defend their position but I for the life of me I can't think what they stand for that's emotionally compelling and sustainably different...it used to be unassailable quality and price - but it ain't now! And for the record, it strikes me the only thing that a 'middle of the road' positioning conjures up is dead animals and lines that shouldn't be crossed! How I wish they'd give their disillusioned and still adoring public a reason to 'feel' something, a reason 'why' they should choose M and S - let alone merchandise that answers a need and a shopping journey that builds a delightful experience. I simply don't know what they stand for and therefore don't shop there anymore.

And I'm equally sure Primark do have a brand strategy and I bet its ruthlessly simple. And I also bet they'll do everything to strip out costs to deliver unassailable prices on 'bleeding-edge' fashion that's so cheap you probably don't need to wear it many times because you can always afford to buy something new .....and if it's a bit scratchy and uncomfortable it's still worth it at the price! Not a classic brand strategy but you get my drift - boy do they know why they 'exist'. For me the only possible shadow on the horizon for them is ethical trading: the tension between cheap disposable garments and environmental/social consciousness. In my mind I know exactly what they stand for and it's not for me.

So what's my point:

I used to shop at M and S because they were ubiquitous and I wanted underwear and ordinary sweaters and didn't care who I was rubbing shoulders with. But there are many other places to buy that stuff now. Have to say they seem slightly cheaper, with some dodgy fashion statements but now I'm the old guy rubbing shoulders with the youngsters killing time, laughing at the skinny jeans in an out-of-touch shop because its raining outside. I think the place is not good at anything anymore, not good at service and not 'relevant'. It's even lost its edge in the edgy food department compared to Waitrose. I think it's safe and naff. I'm deeply saddened.

I never shop in Primark because it's not for me. It's chaotic, noisy but feels like something is always happening, something I want no part of. I understand its very trendy and ridiculously cheap. But I want well made comfortable gear and this is not the place for someone stareing down the autumn of his life. But I'll continue to admire the place providing it develops a conscience. I'd brand it as trendy with prices are as tight as the shoe-fit. I love them for it....and I know why they exist.

One is a confident retailer the other is not. One knows what it wants to be and the other wants to be everything. One is winning the war by standing for something, the other is loosing it by chasing everyone.

As Steve Jobs famously said 'what wrong are you trying to right' - why should anyone care about what you do ....be sure, be focused ... stand for something.

Stand up for what you believe in: brand or you'll be branded - because being branded is no fun at all !

Future of retail - give them a reason or they'll make it themselves

2013-11-19T07:10:00.001+00:00

If Rolls-Royce are talking about making bits of their jet engines with 3D printers because it'll save time, eventually save money and undoubtedly work just as well, think whats over the horizon for the planet in general and shop keepers in particular!
Another great article from the FT highlights where 3D printing is heading...please click through... and in case you are like me struggling to understand how it all works, think about how bones grow and repair and it kinda becomes clearer. (or not!)

But once you've got the thought of criminals printing their own guns without serial numbers out of your heads just consider the implications for ordinary people wanting ordinary things. Just think if you're an ordinary retailer selling ordinary bit-and-bobs at great prices....then ask yourself what am I doing to make sure customers will still buy from me when they can get something printed at home or in a 3D print brokerage....or more credibly direct from the brand - and hey, it strikes me that many of the world's most impressive retailers are brand-owned flagships already....think Apple, Zara, Nike ....and the FT hints that sports shoes can already be 3D printed.

Sure it all sounds far-fetched but so did the internet just a generation ago and look how many paradigms that's shifted.

Even if you don't agree with the 3D threat, its a great 'sense-check' to see how your business stands up - food shops can ignore this challenge - I think!

To be chosen it's always best to get emotional with customers because people prefer to buy and come back to people they know, trust and like....so what are you waiting for the clocks ticking - guess how it was made!

The future of retail is local - words are slippery, people need touch.

2013-11-10T16:26:00.002+00:00

Robin Dunbar

There's a lot of talk about trust and relationships in modern commerce. And relevantly, many of us may have even heard about one of the very few individuals who've had a number named after them. But please click through to a 20 minute interview I happened across on the: Guardian's website about the Dunbar 150 phenomenon. In truth, it's a bit slow off the mark for a small brain like mine but stay with it - it's absolutely fascinating and essential viewing when developing a competitive strategy in modern business, especially retail.

Evolutionary anthropologist Robin Dunbar tells Aleks Krotoski why even Facebook cannot expand our true social circle and why 150 (give or take) is the maximum number of people any individual can have a relationship of 'trust and obligation' with.

Dunbar's 150 may even give us a clue why local retail may not be as dead as it seems in the face of the digital revolution ....and interestingly, why 'pure play' retailers are looking for physical presence.

As the son of a local shop keeper what Dunbar says resonates powerfully and all adds up - although I didn't realise the figure was 150.

For a long time now I've believed people will use digital shopping to do the research, boring and convenience things on line (replenishment etc) and then enjoy the social, more experiential shopping by buying, trying or 'collecting' interesting or bespoke items in person from a person they kinda like - someone who smiles and helps (and all that stuff the bean-counters have diligently stripped away)! I defy anyone not to enjoy shopping in a genuinely local 'farm shop' especially if the owners recognise you or your kids - even the oddly shaped apples look good, as does the dirt on the potatoes - it's wholesome and feels somehow right!

A couple of years ago, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, confessed the future of retail is local. And as is if on cue, 150 year old Sainsbury's, the UK's second largest and reinvigorated supermarket giant, said 2013 will see it operating more small-format 'local' stores than supermarkets after just 15 years of their introduction.

The Guardian newspaper can always be relied on to produce the goods and I have to say Aleks Krotoski was great. She prodded the impressive Dunbar in the right direction and they both broke the convention of academia by being easily understood! The interview culminates with him agreeing with one of Retail's great lores: 'touch is worth a thousand words' .....and until they can reproduce that digitally, I believe this will give local retail a renewed raison d'etre and consequent renaissance. Rather than always having to travel to city centres, local and neighborhood retail will again provide easy and convenient access to 'touch', 'humanity' and after time, 'trust'.....and contrary to many students of retail, this will be because of its limited catchment and because of on-line....yes on-line!

If executed well and with innovation, success will increasingly come back to local and neighborhood stores because of the time freed-up by on-line not despite it - please try that thought on for size!

Changing face of retail - US$195k for bottle of wine at airport shop!

2013-10-15T08:39:00.002+01:00

Chateau Margaux 2009

The world's most expensive bottle of wine is up for sale exclusively in an airport shop in Dubai.
Why on earth would Chateau Margaux, an unbelievably famous French wine maker, produce a first-ever Balthazar (equivalent to 16 bottles) of its precious 2009 vintage and then decide to flog it in an airport terminal?
Even more incredibly, why would anyone choose to buy this particular bottle when 16 bottles of exactly the same wine would cost a fraction of the price - actually a grand total of around US$25K to be a little more precise?
To get the technical stuff out of the way, Robert Parker, probably the most influential wine critic, gave this vintage 99 points out of 100 and we can confidently expect that to rise as this wine establishes its qualities over the next 100 years or so. And received wisdom states Bordeaux matures particularly well in large format bottles. Incidentally this is not the most expensive wine on a 'per-glass' basis as a 1945 competitor's wine is reportedly worth around US$3-4k per glass!

So why would Chateau Margaux decide to exclusively sell three of its six 2009 vintage Balthazars (three will not be offered for sale) through Le Clos in Dubai's Terminal 3?

Well along with many observers of retail I'm giving this innovative venture free publicity on the strength of its marketing back-story. Globally, Sky TV covered it and no doubt so did many other channels (click: Reuters)....so in truth, even though these bottles will not 'turn' quickly the oxygen of publicity has breathed viability into the venture.
But what's also interesting is why the normally conservative brands of Bordeaux wine are now embracing brazen publicity. And I think we can thank the fashion industry and its catwalk tactics for this - the most outrageous fashion designs are the ones that get reported to the non-cognoscenti(sic). These are the designs that set the tone and build the brand for the less dramatic garments in the collections - the ones that are actually worn to parties and gala events. And why would a brand like Margaux that relies on appreciation and deep understanding go for a retail environment that boasts footfall rather than specialist knowledge?

Simple.

Dubai airport totally understands what it wants to stand for. It wants to literally be the world's 'hub'. It wants to be chosen as the place to swop planes. And to do that it needs to offer world-class everything.
Sure, everything must be operationally smooth but to be truly chosen, it needs to offer world-class emotional precision - for everyone. Not just duty-free booze, perfume and pizza but an enriching experience where people look-forward to spending time stretching their legs and spending as much as they are able to afford. And first class passengers need to be surprised and delighted too...step forward the breathtakingly expensive watch counters and the world-first most expensive bottle of wine - and now start thinking catwalk tactics.
Congratulations to Dubai airport for understanding the importance of knowing what it wants to stand for and its determined path to delivering a grand ambition. Congratulations to Le Clos, the specialist retailer, who is selling this bottle along with a myriad of tempting upmarket booze (I have shopped there many times and find their customer care impeccable) and congratulations to Chateau Margaux for some creative marketing and innovation thinking.

Now think about some of the 'ordinary' retail experiences in your local areas. Where staff are being cut back and the same-old, same-old, keeps being re-hashed. Where there's no emotional connection, where product is more important than service and where retailers don't get why you're buying on-line from someone else rather than coming to their uninspiring shopping experiences to buy exactly the same things.

The world and retail isn't changing, it's already changed, and it'll change again, and again - if it isn't new and exciting, it isn't happening!

'Me-tail'....go ahead, make my day!

2013-09-26T13:45:00.000+01:00

Bespoke Magnums - old fashioned and leading edge retail!

Another brilliant bit of 'old-fashioned' leading-edge retail brought to the world's attention by my good buddy from down-under, Jon Bird.

Please simply click through to Jon's blog to find out how Unilever, the world famous FMCG company, is teaching experienced retailers how to run shops and excite customers by bravely customising an old favourite.

Currently a series of pop-up shops for Magnum ice creams, Unilever’s new venture is soooo right, on soooo many levels and as Jon points out, soooo 'me-tail' - the very essence of what the modern customer is looking for these days.

Different and fun, it gives customers reason to choose the product and at the same time re-evaluate the brand. It builds depth, richness and 'values' to the Magnum name that can easily be lost in the frozen wastes of a supermarket’s commodity orientated chiller-cabinet.

Why does this old trick of customising ice cream excite me?

Well, with a few notable exceptions, it strikes me that it's the world's manufacturers and producers that are creating the most on-trend retail experiences - think Nike, Burberry, Nespresso and of course Apple...even think Tesla eco-friendly American electric cars sold in ordinary shops in ordinary shopping malls!....and never forget, Zara, the world's largest fashion retailer who first and foremost is a manufacturer and who only decided to open stores to ensure the customer experience matched the level of dedication and thought that went into its fashions.

There's a lot of intellectual talk about dinosaurs in the high streets and shopping malls around the world - personally I think more in Darwinian terms. For me business success, and therefore survival, is all about adapting at speed – listening to customers and paying attention to what they’ve said, and dare I say, listening between the lines of what they've said to surprise them!

The customer (like never before) is in total control.

There’s now an absolute need to entertain and make life as easy as possible for customers, an imperative to be relentlessly relevant to their lives. The winners perpetually ask themselves is this as easy as possible for our customers, are they enjoying the experience, are we delivering change in a totally stimulating and differentiating manner? And if all this difference can be delivered with a 'point of view' that emotionally engages customers, then, and only then, do you have a fighting chance of survival, a fighting chance of success.

And just in case you might be wondering who can help you deliver the direction you need to take, try talking to your most important customers - they’re on your payroll. The world’s most successful companies do, they're busily shifting their emotional centre of gravity to the contact point with their customers, using and acting on the rich feedback from the people who serve their customers (be that physical or digital: in person or through algorithms).

Manufactures making life tough for retailers – enjoying turning the tables - now that's a paradigm shift!

Well we all know ice cream can give you a headache, but we also know if you point a Magnum in the right direction, it can make your day!

Sensory marketing - it makes perfect sense.

2013-06-04T08:36:00.000+01:00

We all know it's going on but few of us really think about sensory marketing. It's one of the key tools in a marketer's armoury to persuade us; to get us to choose and prefer their products. It's a fascinating 'dark art' and arguably one of the last, legal, unfair advantages a business can enjoy.
If you're interested in the cutting edge of this scientific and emotion-laden approach to selling (and you should be), please click through to a brilliant article in the UK's FT website....it's common sense, and therefore makes perfect sense, but you gotta love the way professors, scientists and marketing men are 'as one' around the world in trying to persuade us, subconsciously, to choose their products - did you realise how important the spray sound of an aerosol might be?

And if you're really interested in exploring the sensory spectrum click through to 'Humans have a lot more than 5 senses' by Daven Hiskey...this too, is fascinating.

M&S isn't concentrating!

2013-04-16T18:47:00.000+01:00

For those of you who don't know, the bravest of all tag lines must be for Marmite. The polarising marketing for this, famously British, sticky dark brown mixture of yeast and vegetable extracts used for spread and flavouring is: you either love it or hate it. The forensic insight and incredible thing is, babies choose from a very, very early age and never change their minds. Some adore it, some propel it back to the giver with force….with families divided for life!

Strange then that London’s Oxford Street, one of the worlds most famous shopping districts, chose to encourage ‘everyone’ to enjoy the festive spirit by allowing Marmite to own the apologetic and meagre 2012 Christmas street decorations. Personally, I suspect the only thing going for these lights was they met the ‘not too over the top’ brief in these times of austerity. I hated it.

And stranger still, when walking down this atmosphere-less street in late November 2012, I happened into one of Marks and Spencer’s celebrated stores. Oh how I wanted my Christmas to be lifted by this self proclaimed ‘Pantheon store’ with a warm, inviting celebration of all that is uplifting at this time of giving and theatrical goodwill.

But I soon realised how clever the powers that be were to let Marmite set the tone outside. Marks and Spencer had also decided to major on ‘not too over the top’ and cleverly predict that if customers weren’t going to like their fashions and housewares (down 3.8% on last years disappointing figures) they weren’t going to bother to spend money trying to get customers in a Christmassy mood - presumably saving the money to underpin profits. What I saw was about as penny-pinching and soulless as anything I’ve ever seen from a major retail brand and shows a business without confidence - it was perfunctory at best. I hated it more than Marmite's festivities!

On a brighter note and in the interest of balanced-blogging (if there is such a thing) Marks and Spencer had marginally better food sales – so the hackneyed observations about turkeys and Christmas have been put on the back burner.

Increasingly I’ve felt Marks and Spencer doesn’t really know what it ‘stands for’ and for what it's worth, my view is the only stuff you ever find in the 'middle-of-the-road' are dead animals and lines people mustn’t cross. Oh, how life is being sucked out of this famous retailer (presumably on cost-cutting grounds), oh, how nice it would be for this wonderful institution to grab hold of the customer agenda again. And oh, how nice it would be to be able to talk to a sales person on the shop floor, so they could then let management know what customers love and hate and importantly how they’re feeling - that's a festive oh,oh,oh ....but these are all at the heart of Zara's phenomenal success along with all the others stealing customers from Marks and Spencer.

Modern retail demands you embrace and celebrate emotions. Be brave, be different, make life easy but most of all, don't just listen, conentrate on what your customers are feeling – if you do, they’ll love you, if you don’t they’ll leave you…..maybe Marmite was simply an inspired aide memoire to all the retailers on Oxford Street – but somehow I think not.

Ron Johnson. Too much, too soon.

2013-04-12T09:18:00.000+01:00

An overdose of the right medicine will always damage the patient. And this is precisely what has happened to JCPenney.

Ron Johnson has been sacked from his 18 month tenure as boss of the iconic American department store group JCPenney. He knew what had to be done to transform the business from a weary discounter into a vibrant retailer - all he did wrong, was do it all at once.

How many times have I heard a business wanting to look after its loyal, core customers but attract new ones? I call it the retail conundrum - typically retail leaders ask how they can move forward without changing too much? How they can attract new and dynamic merchandise and still be on sale 52 weeks a year. Or how they can attract younger customers who'll seamlessly take over from ageing customers.

The answer is simple - you can't be all things to all people.

Fundamentally at the heart of JCPenny's current problems lay EDLP. When I interviewed the legendary President of Wal-Mart, Jack Shewmaker, he confided in me that he was almost sacked 40 years ago during the early years of Every Day Low Pricing (EDLP) transformation. The business suffered hugely before gaining traction...but Sam Walton saw in the young Shewmaker a lateral thinker and creative retailer. Even after Jack's celebrated retirement from Wal-Mart 35 years later, he travelled the world counselling organisations from health-care to footwear that ditching discounts for EDLP takes 10 years and an intolerable injection of pain. Imploring strategists not to start down that track until the investors were truly on board and aware of the time scale - he also counselled it was worth the ‘pain’ because eventually it implicated cost savings into the equation of business - big time.

Some may even argue the phenomenally successful John Lewis Partnership led the way with EDLP with their quaintly titled 'never knowingly undersold'.....not sure I understand the words but I understand the sentiment of building trust into the business of being chosen by customers! And trust was what Ron Johnson was interested in, not tearing up coupons or cancelling discounts but the integrity generated from EDLP. For too long, JCPenney was convinced bargain hunting, everyday, was the shopping experience of the future. It isn’t. It’s the backward looking, thin end of the wedge and a sticking plaster in the absence of differentiation – to completely mix all my metaphors.

Ron Johnson knew he had to re-establish trust and integrity if JCPenney was going to future-proof itself. He also knew the only way to attract new customers was to do lots of new things. He knew he couldn't do that without new and exciting product in a new and exciting environment and he also knew that 'hot' merchandise manufacturers don't want to be associated with cut and slash prices (simply put, this damages their brand).

Knowing all these things - he was in the process of doing all these things - all at the same time. And guess what, some things got done sooner than others. The new pricing policy hit before the new merchandice and stores did! So the old established customers didn't like it and the newer customers hadn't had a chance to grow to like it. And most importantly and not wrongly, the trustees of the public investment in JCPenney got spooked.

Returning to medical parlance, I would have prescribed some localised testing. Maybe a 'patch' test in a discreet and defined region to highlight any side-effects and quantify how long the patient might be in trauma - Jack Shewmaker would have advised 10 years. But I’m not so sure these days. Financed by the rest of the company, regional testing could have been aimed at giving local people a reason to trust JCPenney's pricing integrity again, giving them permission to believe in EDLP when it’s combined with a totally different kind of retail offering….allowing customers to luxuriate in ‘difference’…almost difference for the sake of difference dare I say. Difference that challenges and enlivens their normal shopping expeditions....you should have heard some of Ron Johnson's customer experience ideas - mind blowing! And all importantly, a different shopping experience that attracts different and exciting merchandise offerings. That’s how I read Ron Johnson’s dream.

For me the world of retail needs more of Ron Johnson’s dreams and less of his financial acumen – the modern customer is delighted to be weaned off discounts by exciting merchandise, revolutionary experiences and ‘difference’. But it all comes down to the bottom line….you’ve got to keep the patient alive long enough to benefit from the medicine.

And that’s the conundrum.

The war for winning customers

2013-02-26T06:43:00.000+00:00

In the business of customer service, it's common sense to have people serving customers.
Excuses of high costs and minimum wages is no reason to ignore or worse still, fail your customers in a race to the bottom with poor service.

Flooding your business with sales people is a start, but not the answer either - only great sales people make a great difference.

Success is all about creating a business with emotional vibrancy….creating a reason for the best sales people to choose your business to work for (….or more accurately, work with!)…and while pay is important, research shows it isn’t the most important thing to great sales people these days. The really great businesses go out of their way to choose and employ on attitude and aptitude not simply CVs, qualifications or availability. The really great businesses create a 'point of view' that not only resonates with customers but more importantly, resonates with their workforce. Apple is the master of this but take Timberland with their commitment to the great outdoors – they give their workforce up to 40 hours paid time per year to help their communities on approved outdoor projects etc…..you gotta love it, their workforce do!

There’s only room for one ‘cheapest’ retailer in a category and you can bet your bottom dollar that retailer will be the one with the least overheads – step forward digital players. But really interestingly, customers aren’t always looking for cheapest – don’t confuse price for value.

In the war of winning customers, emotion is the most powerful tool to be chosen, and its an art.

Future of retail - people like to buy from people they like

2013-02-21T06:46:00.000+00:00

Another brilliant blog from Jon Bird in his piece for InsideRetail Asia - a must read in the debate about the future of retail….personally from my travels around the world I find the retail future is currently being shaped out of low hanging fruit, arrogance and relevance. Not physical versus on-line.
Let me explain in reverse order:

‘Relevance’ - simply put, some things lend themselves perfectly to on-line and that’s simply the way of the world – just like some retail experiences don’t lend themselves to self-service and some do. If what you’re selling perfectly suits an on-line world much better than a physical world, move on, the people who were selling wooden tennis rackets have.

‘Arrogance’ - over the recent past, retailers have become incredibly arrogant, doing things that suited their bottom line and not their customers. Take for instance same-day home delivery (boy on a delivery bicycle etc) or free garment alterations or (the one that always cracks me up) would I like to have my new bed delivered because there's an extra $50 charge - no thanks I was thinking of carrying it home? Then there's the complete absence of sales assistants that truly know what they were talking about…or even dare I say, experienced sales assistants on the sales floor empowered to make decisions, there to make the buying process a joy and pleasure. Each of these little emotional triggers have been cut away in the march for profits – we have been told it’s to keep prices lower but we as customers know it’s about bottom-line.

‘Low hanging fruit’ – retailers the world over have simply been asleep to the threat of pure-play operators. It’s a mistake to draw a straight line from the last 5-10 years and expect the trend to continue upwards and away from ‘retailers’. The successful retailers will ‘morph’ into multi-channel operators and then do it a good deal better than the individual parts are being done today. The brilliant Jon Stine from Cisco more accurately calls multi-channel: ‘channels of influence’. With each channel seamlessly influencing the purchase when the customer wants, how the customer wants.

So for what it’s worth my view is that the low hanging fruit has been picked, the pure play operators are looking for physical presence because they now know that’s what their customers now need on the journey to deliver greater service and commercial success. Successful retailers are eschewing anything that talks about ‘their’ agenda and instead, celebrating their customers' agendas and for these operators there’s not a hint of arrogance anywhere in their culture. And finally, in true Darwinian style, successful retailers are ensuring they’re relentlessly relevant, adapting how they work and what they offer in order to survive, in order to succeed. Because to succeed, profits in this day-and-age must be an outcome, not a purpose. 100 years ago, Gordon Selfridge opened the eponymous department store in London claiming it was a place for people to gather and then, if they saw something they liked, to buy it. Selfridges still leads the way, with the ultimate flattery of Apple Retail executives rumoured to be loving it and inspired by it! The reality is successful Retail will always move-on but some things remain the same – given the choice, most people like to buy from people they like. And it’s easier to like someone you can see.

Seething intolerance of poor service

2013-01-29T04:38:00.001+00:00

2013 has started well speaking at a great conference organised by the global giant: Stored Value Solutions - the gift card, loyalty and pre-paid card specialists. I love working for visionary companies who champion excellence and celebrate industry-wide innovation....there was much talk at the conference about the 'digital wallet' and associated customer behavioural changes - love it!
Steve Bradbery International VP for product solutions was kind enough to drop me a note thanking me for my lecture and I thought I'd start the year with his comments:

“The measure of a successful conference is for the audience to go back to work and act on what they have learnd – to change. I defy anyone not to have seen Martin Butler and change something about their approach to business.
Martin’s passion is infectious, reminding us what we love about business and challenging the audience to be as good as they should be. His message is as effective for the CEO as it is to the staff on the shop floor. He has an engaging, humorous style but bubbling under the surface is a seething intolerance of poor service and a clear understanding of where that responsibility lies.
Not only will Martin be good for your business but he is a rare breed of speaker that you can see over again to reinforce those core essentials of business which we forget at our peril.”

Thanks Steve and the worldwide team at SVS.

see Martin Butler: Biog' page
see Martin Butler: Tributes - Book
see Martin Butler: Tributes - Conference talks
see Martin Butler: Recent lecture topics
see Martin Butler: In action

'Both sides of the till' - Jon Stine, Cisco

2012-12-07T06:20:00.000+00:00

The great thing about speaking around the world is you share the stage with some really great business 'minds'....and Jon Stine, Director, Internet Business Solutions Group at Cisco Systems Inc is truly world-class. Described as operating 'at the intersection of business and technology', few people on the planet know more about how retailers can win in an increasingly digitised environment. If you can't get to hear him in person, do follow his blog. Absolutely fascinating!

I lectured along side Jon in Australia before moving onto New Zealand and South Africa .....and he was kind enough to drop me a note about my presentations:

"When Martin Butler addresses his audiences it’s not a presentation as much as an interaction – a high-energy sharing of real-life stories and insight, gleaned from years of experience, and expressed with wit and humor, that immerses audiences in the lessons of high-performance retailing. Martin knows the store from 'both sides of the till'. He knows what makes a store work (or not). And best of all, he knows how to communicate it in a way that delights, inspires, and is remembered."

Love your description of 'both sides of the till' Jon....hope we can work together again soon. Thank you for taking the time to write to me.

Jon Bird - a unique retail talent

2012-12-06T11:58:00.000+00:00

Jon Bird is a renowned student of global retailing and a wonderfully talented creative hotshot from Sydney. And when those two talents collide you know you're going to enjoy listening to him and learn a lot! He is a thought provoking and fascinating blogger too. I had the pleasure of working with Jon for part of my recent world lecture tour and he was kind enough to send me a note which included the following:

"Martin Butler is that rare breed – both an entertainer and an educator. No-one 'works a room' like Martin; I have had the pleasure of seeing him present on many occasions, and he instantly has the audience relaxed and 'on-side' and often has them in stitches (humour is a powerful tool). Martin is equally at home in a boardroom or a conference room, and I have seen him enthral an audience of a dozen as easily as he captivates a crowd of 850. But the 'show' is just a means to an end. Martin is passionate about retail and genuinely wants the audience to 'geddit' (as he puts it); to understand what is at the heart of 'The Art of Being Chosen' in retail and then take that knowledge to make a difference in their businesses. I thoroughly recommend Martin to anyone considering a conference or change program within a retail business."

Thanks Jon.....

Business success needs emotion – you can take that to the bank.

2012-11-14T09:57:00.000+00:00

Most of the businesses that look after customers’ best, are the world’s best retailers.

They fight for customers in the biggest and most diverse market sector on the planet and thrive in what must be the most competitive environment. The really successful lead with vision, innovation and flair - moving at pace they succeed because they care passionately about their customers. They enjoy the trust of their committed followers because they earn the right to serve their customers.

The businesses who fail usually don’t care enough, usually only tickling the soft underbelly of issues. Often looking through the wrong end of the telescope and championing their businesses as if their customers depended on it - rather than the other way round. The bottom line is, a business can only be customer centric if the boss loves customers. Believes in customers and realizes all organisations are in the business of ‘being chosen’.

The really great businesses choose to be chosen by emotional edge, articulated through an easily understood Point of View - with the entire business marching in unison to its beat. The truly, truly great businesses seem to also embrace something higher, always understanding profits are an outcome not a purpose. Amazon has a grand ambition to be the most customer centric business on the planet and Apple was driven during its halcyon days by an almost pathological need to be different – profits flow when purpose is passionately executed.

How often do we see businesses ‘kicking kittens’ as a quick non-heartfelt fix – you know, hurriedly replacing junior members of organisations with people who ‘get-it’ only to then have the stuffing squeezed out of them by bosses who clearly don’t.

Imagine if banks brought in senior people - very, very senior people who love customers nearly as much as doing sums. Imagine for one moment, if the world’s banks were populated by leaders who get ‘emotion’ and not just the technical definition of the word – embracing the soul needed to deliver it through their organisations. Imagine what heights banks could soar. All the boring stuff done on-line, leaving the workforce to engage with customers about money as an enabler, rather than a commodity. Money as a dream maker not a mill-stone. Even talking to kids in schools about debt and responsibility or sponsoring small business education programmes rather than golf tournaments. Just imagine how pivotal banks could be to achieving a richer life for all in every sense.

Oh hell, let me finish with one last thought that my buddy, Russell Zimmerman and I discussed the other day when I was in Oz. Rather than the cold, poorly staffed outlets that use the misnomer of ‘retail’ banking, let’s finally imagine shopping centres or fancy malls having banks as anchors, crammed full of really friendly people who really get-it! People empowered to give honest and friendly advice based on experience not exams, advice based on life not commission. Beautiful, user-friendly centres open precisely when people need to talk about their lives. Open and staffed by people who are allowed to care about customers. Open and pumping life back into customers’ dreams, pumping life back into the communities they serve. Because for the people out shopping on any given day the future isn’t about tomorrow, it’s about the decisions they make today.

What a wonderful purpose for these banks to aspire…..

....but there I go again, getting misty eyed emotional.

Head or heart – it’s the same thing!

2012-11-13T09:00:00.000+00:00

As I travel the world championing customer centricity I have a policy not to dish the dirt on specific companies and I’m not going to break this rule for the David Jones department Store in Sydney!

But what I am going to do is explain in ‘bean-counter’ terms why ‘head’ things are the absolute entry level for customer service and fundamentally the same as ‘heart’ things when it comes to being chosen by customers.

Those who have heard me bang-on about ‘winning’ being all about emotional edge, relentless relevance and deliberate difference in my workshops and lectures will know I passionately believe modern business success is all about being chosen through an emotional connection with customers – but I do sometimes see a glazed look or two in my audiences when it comes to these touchy, feely, things….so lets look at customers from the other end of the telescope – the rational (head) decisions they're asked to make and see where this takes us....it isn't sophisticated thinking but serves a purpose and uses numbers, so that'll appeal to some.

Let me talk about my lonely battle with 100 buttons.

The average men’s casual shirt has up to 10 buttons when you include front, button-down collar and cuffs. On my recent Sydney shopping mission to a department store closest to my CBD hotel (rational decision because I wasn't motivated to seek my favourite store) I personally managed to find (all on my own without any assistance) just the casual shirt I was looking for. And in my usual size. Proud of myself, I grabbed the shirt and unbuttoned it on my way to the changing rooms exotically and economically tucked behind Calvin Klein's self service underwear and strewn with coat hangers. I unbuttoned my own shirt and put the new shirt on and buttoned it up. For those of you interested in sums, that’s 30 shirt buttons I’d either done up, or undone.

Unfortunately the shirt I’d chosen was a bit tight. So I unbuttoned it and put my old shirt back on and….yes buttoned it up. Found the larger size shirt and unbuttoned it as I made my way back to the changing room, took my own shirt off and buttoned up the new shirt….again for the numerically gifted that’s a running total approaching 80 buttons either done up or undone.

Now I really liked this new shirt and wanted to keep it on but like the good customer I am, I had read the apocalyptic warnings about exploding ink dyes if I tampered with my new shirt, so I unbuttoned it and put my own shirt back on with fingers I’m sure were bleeding.

That’s a grand total nearing 100 buttons to buy one shirt….what bit of that sounds easy, fast or a fitting tribute to something promising to make me cool (sorry that’s emotional, so forget I said that). Critically what bit of that makes it easy for me to buy another shirt while in the mood, what bit of that makes me look forward to coming back?

And probably most fundamentally: what part of my (hopefully one-off) Friday afternoon shopping experience satisfies the ‘purpose’ of department stores – to encourage multiple purchases - actually, sorry, the purpose of a department store is to encourage ‘linked’ multiple purchases.

So I have only one thing to say to leaders who think fundamental service isn’t important to the physical shopping expedition, to leaders who fail to understand the simplest, most rational needs of their customers and instead complain about unfair pricing of internet shopping, the global financial crisis or the cost of high minimum wages…….

….button-it!