The Extraordinary Experience*

The brands we hate

In line with my previous post on demarketing, Mike Lee, a marketing lecturer from the University of Auckland is making a significant contribution to loyalty research with his thesis on ‘The Brands We Love to Hate’. Lee recently told Research magazine:
“I believe it is more important to not be hated than it is to be loved” says Lee. “Just think of a restaurant you really love and one that you really hate. What are the chances of you always going to the one you love? Now what are the chances of you always avoiding the one you hate? There needs to be more attention paid to the areas where the brand may not be doing so well. By having an idea of why some people may be avoiding your brand,you can pre-empt any large-scale problems.” Chief Experience Officers obsessed with client satisfaction, it is time to think about those who hate your brand (and will share it with a dozen of friends)!

Fire your clients: the concept of demarketing

You too can get rid of clients who are wasting your time and your ressources! Demarket to your unprofitable clients. That is, discourage them to buy from you! Here is how: 

http://www.iveybusinessjournal.com/view_article.asp?intArticle_ID=625

250 People in front of the Apple store in Chicago last week

No less than 250 people were waiting in front of the Apple store last week in order to be the first ones to enjoy the new I phone. According to a friend of mine (who has been brave enough to count how many people were waiting), the first one arrived at 3pm the previous day! Spot number 15, which was up for sale for a few $100’s, is now an empty bit of sidewalk…

Ben Mc Connell gives a talk on Citizen Marketers

For those of you who don’t know them yet, Ben Mc Connell and Jackie Huba are speakers, consultants and the authors of Citizen Marketers, when people are the message. I was lucky enough to attend Ben’s presentation of the book this week at the Chicago BMA (Business Marketing Association) chapter. By the way, Ben and Jackie are on a book tour all over the US until May, you will find more info at: http://www.churchofthecustomer.com/blog/2007/01/quick_update_on.html.

I wanted to share with you the key points covered by Ben, before you desert my blog to visit theirs and buy the book!

48 million people create content in the US. Many of them do so through online communities such as My Space, You Tube and so forth. These ‘amateurs’ (they are not journalists or practitioners) constitute ‘the amateur culture’. When the amateur culture meets traditional marketing, amateurs become citizen marketers. The democratisation of the Internet and the rise of broadband have boosted the growth of this group.

Word of mouth generated through these ‘social media’ (where people can talk to one another) has become much more powerful than messages broadcasted on TV, radio or in newspapers.

Furthermore, with so many people creating content, ‘control is now out of control’. This obliges companies to communicate as carefully with citizen marketers as with journalists.

Finally, these social media are ruled by inequality, as only 1% of users engage in creating content. For example, a blog with 100,000 readers might expect to receive contributions from only 1,000 of them. I already feel better about the number of people contributing to mine!

River West Brands revitalizes dormant brands

RWB is an brand acquisition firm that focuses on reviving dormant brands through a different business model.  One which involves acquiring the rights to the dormant brands. The process involves revitalizing the brand by giving it a modern relevance and recreating a business model adapted to today’s market place. RWB teams up with manufacturers, retailers and designers in order to create a successful strategy. RWB claims to assume most, if not all of the necessary costs and time and gets compensated mostly through royalties. Sometimes, RWB takes an equity stake in the companies it works for. Other services include brand representation and creating brands for manufacturers, retailers and distributors. In a nutshell, RWB is another good example of a firm that could hardly be more involved in delivering ROI, instead of only charging design and ideas.

See also: www.riverwestbrands.com

Fahrenheit 212 takes responsibility for its clients' bottom line

Fahrenheit 212 is an innovation agency founded by advertising veterans. Their philosophy is called Idea Led Innovation.  This philosophy involves finding new ideas and coming up with new products using the client’s existing assets (for example: a production plant).  Step 1: They fully immerse themselves in the client’s problems, its market environment and assets. Also at this stage an agreement is made with the client about how the agency should be rewarded.  Generally, a significant share of Fahrenheit 212’s earnings is based on its results. Step 2: The agency comes up with ideas that could be deployed quickly. Step 3: The ideas are selected and the feasibility and costs are assessed. Step 4: Fahrenheit 212 helps with the graphic and industrial design.  Most importantly, it then assists its clients with building a marketing strategy and a sales pitch for the new product. In a nutshell, Fahrenheit 212 is a compromise between a traditional innovation agency, a branding agency and a marketing consultancy, with a fee structure inspired by the Payment By Result model. It looks like these guys have a clear competitive advantage...

The key characteristics of lovemarks

This is a cool deck that brings to light the key characteristics of lovemarks . Thanks to Brand Autopsy. Enjoy...

Starbucks is pushing the mountain experience too high

Away in Michigan this week, I decided to treat myself with a complimentary cup of tea when arriving at my hotel. The tea sachet (‘Tazo’, brought to me by Starbucks) read:

‘A single cup of Tazo calm has been known to have the same effect as sitting for 45 minutes in a mountain meadow on a sunny day with your shoes off’

The Starbucks cardboard cup read:

‘High up, where the mountains meet the sky, Starbucks journeys to find the best coffee beans in the world’

The funny thing is that I was staying at the airport, so my feet were still firmly anchored to the ground at the time I read these lines. I was trying to imagine what would be written on the (Starbucks) cup that would be served to me on board. Maybe ‘Higher up, above the clouds, Starbucks roasts its coffee beans with the heat of the sun’. The tea sachet could read: ‘This subtle blend of stardust has the same effect as sitting on the moon’.

I think Starbucks should take it easy with this mountain concept.

Lessons on branding from Dog the bounty hunter

Dog (Duane) Chapman is the star of the TV reality show ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’, broadcasted on A&E every Tuesday evening (by the way, A&E apparently stands for ‘Arts and Entertainment’; they must broadcast the ‘art’ bit at 4am, as I have only watched ‘entertainment’ on this channel).

If you scratch behind the bullet-proof jacket and the sunglasses you find out that Dog is a great brand.   

Dog is clearly positioned, away from the other ‘cop type’ TV shows. Instead of competing on impressive gear and weapons, Dog has developed his very own fashion style (Hawaiian shirts and bullet-proofs jackets, native American jewellery) and carries only pepper spray. Dog likes his apparel so much that he didn’t mind turning up at his wedding rehearsal wearing his gear.

Dog can be instantly associated with specific added values

q       Dog is a family man. A proud father of 9 kids, Dog also works with his brother, wife and some of his sons.

q       Dog believes in God and often prays before going bounty hunting.

q       Dog used to be a bad boy (he actually went to prison in Texas) but is now on the other side.

q       Dog adds value by creating a relationship with the fugitives. Once captured, he does not hesitate to lecture them on how to get their life back in order, reflecting on his own experience. More often than not, fugitives seem to be thankful to him even if his primary job is to send them to prison.

Dog maintains a high standard quality of service; you would never see him failing to catch a fugitive. Furthermore, he satisfies both functional and emotional needs (most fugitives could be captured by simply knocking at their door, but Dog likes to jump on them with 3 or 4 of his associates). Last but not least, Dog’s brand is legally guaranteed (well, sort of). Dog is a Bail Recovery Agent (let’s face it, ‘Bounty hunter’ sounds much more cool) and carries a big star around his neck.

Just to let you know, Dog is also available for motivational seminars, coaching and counselling…

Segolene Royal is a ‘Lovemark’

The French will elect a new president in only 4 months. I assume it will be a new one, as the current president (J Chirac) is now 74 and has been involved in politics since he’s been old enough to vote. From a marketer’s standpoint, Segolene Royal, the official candidate for the Parti Socialiste (left wing) is doing well. Thanks to the facts that she is a good looking woman, dresses well and speaks a language that people can actually understand, she gets plenty of press coverage. What’s new (in French standard) is that Royal is on the cover of ‘people’ magazines, appealing to a wider audience than traditional intellectual publications.

The biggest advertising agencies and most respected spin doctors are just astonished by ‘the Madone’. Kevin Roberts from Saatchi and Saatchi argues that ‘La gazelle’ is now a ‘lovemark’: The link between Royal and her audience is emotional rather than rational, based on confidence and performance on one hand, and on her sensuality and a certain sense of mystery on the other…