Data Mining for New Business

January 21st, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

This is one of my favorite stories about data mining. Although there’s probably a certain degree of urban myth to it, it’s still a case worth sharing.

As the story goes, Wall Mart while doing an exercise in data mining, compared data from their loyalty card scheme with data from their point of sale systems. In doing this they found an interesting opportunity to connect sales of two seemingly completely unrelated items. One was beer and the other was diapers.

Men are often sent to the supermarket to shop for their baby before the weekend, and a natural product to market to men, is beer. Because of this finding, Wall Mart experimented with moving part of the beer section up next to the diaper section. The result was reportedly a big boost in beer sales.

Here are four questions to ask yourself:

  1. Does your company collect all relevant data?
  2. Does the marketing department have access to it?
  3. Do you use the data and compare data sets?
  4. What do you do with the findings?

I find that many companies aren’t really sure who are buying their products. You may be targeting a special market and segment, but do you have solid data to back up whether they end up being the primary customer, or if your products are actually purchased by someone else?

Some years ago LEGO found out that more than a quarter of their main products were purchased by adults, for adults, rather than for kids. Imagine what that did to the way they approached their marketing!

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Marketing to New Parents

January 18th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

When you become a parent, as I have since my last blog post, you start realizing whole new worlds of product categories you never paid attention to before. If you are a man, you’ll need a lot of things for the baby, yet you have absolutely no clue about the differences between the different brands on offer.

I don’t recall any of my male friends being quite so lost at anything, as when they first started shopping for their new family. It is therefore not surprising that a whole industry of baby related brands from Pampers (Procter & Gamble) to Huggies (Kimberly-Clark) take advantage of this seemingly uneducated market. Even Jeep is in on it, offering a brand of baby carriers (though I highly doubt they are made for off-road purposes).

But how are they marketed?

Words-of-mouth and personal recommendations are, not surprisingly, very big in this market. Perhaps even the biggest of all consumer markets. Specialty shops are important too. But for the day-to-day items, many consumers prefer to try before they buy. Therefore most brands turn to testing, and in Denmark, where I am currently based, new parents are inundated with offers to join free membership clubs owned by the respective brands.

Mutual for almost all clubs is an almost endless line of emails offering tips and suggestions, as well as free trials of diapers, lotions, small toys and more. Mutual for those brands, the membership or loyalty clubs represent a significant chunk of their annual marketing spending.

The catch?

I’m literally still struggling to un-subscribe to each of the newsletters I was recommended to sign up for, so this is one person, who won’t pass on those same recommendations.

All of s sudden, I am very happy I don’t use my personal email address to sign up for newsletters.

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Diamonds are a girl’s best friend

July 3rd, 2012 § 1 comment § permalink

Imagine if the company you worked for managed to convince all people in the western world that they needed at least one of your product.

Apple may be successful in getting people to aspire for their products, but even they have yet to accomplish associating them with one of our most sought after emotions.

Here’s what I am referring to:
When you are proposing to your special someone (assuming you are a man here), you in all likelihood already know that you need to do so with a diamond ring. When you go to the shop, they may even have a guide, explaining how much to spend on that ring. Here you will probably hear that two months wages is the tradition (and who are you to go against traditions, right). Even if you are simply buying a friendship ring, you are likely to be offered rings that allow you to add one diamond for every year of your relationship, thus making you a return customer up front.

While all of these things seem like traditions, they are rooted in clever marketing that have spanned for decades.

In branding you have to be able to sum up the benefits of your brand in one or two words. De Beers don’t have to brand their company, as much as they need to brand their products, and diamonds = love, even more than Harley Davidson = Freedom or McDonald’s = Family.

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The Hollywood Sign

June 30th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

A good story is hard to pass by, and today I have one worth sharing here.

This is the story about what is arguably not only the most famous sign in the world, but one, which has also stood the test of time to become a symbol of the glamorous film industry, and the life of the rich and famous. Yes, this is the story of the Hollywood sign.

Little known to most people, that sign started its life almost 89 years ago, promoting real estate for a company called Hollywoodland Property. For 25 years it stood towering on the hillside, until the company went bust. Local resident demanded it removed because the 4000 light bulbs that kept it illuminated disturbed their night sleep. Thanks to an insightful fellow at the city council the signed stayed, but the light bulbs and the letters L.A.N. and D went.

Enter playboy magnate Hugh Hefner and friends in 1979. They raised funds to replace the decrepit looking sign with a new one, thus adding to the story of the world’s most famous sign.

Sometimes it’s worth remembering that a good symbol isn’t necessarily developed by expensive agencies. It is like a puzzle that just fits, where each part helps to build a bigger and more interesting tale.

And that’s where all good brands start. With a good story.

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Knowing What to Ask, And Listen For, From Consumers

May 9th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

If someone asked you back in 2006 if you would be willing to pay twice the amount for a phone than you did then, would you have said yes?

What if they then asked you if you would be willing to upgrade it every 1 or 2 years, at full price?

If those had been the questions, chances are you would have said no. I’m guessing that Apple was a lot smarter in their research before launching (and pricing) the iPhone.

What if someone asked you if you would be willing to pay $300 for a designer garbage bin? Or how about paying a dollar for a bottle of water?

Well, Apple (and other companies) used smart marketing and a strong brand to make us want to pay through the roof for a phone. We happily pay $1 or more for a bottle of liquid gold and Vipp, a Danish company designing luxury kitchen and bath ware, charges $300 for their designer bins. They sell very well, and customers place them in the most prominent place in the kitchen, for everyone to see.

In all of those cases, the obvious questions were not the ones consumers were asked to answer. So why is it that so much of the research we see every day only touches the surface and that no one seem to question the reasons behind the answers?

Consumer research is tricky, and knowing what to ask, how to ask it and what to listen for, is key.

A 21-year old woman is likely to purchase an expensive designer bag due to a variety of reasons; a combination of life experiences, her level of self-confidence, the people she spends her time with, and, perhaps most of all, an innate need to show that she has ‘made it’, to people in her circle. However she will never tell you that. Instead she is likely to tell you, in full honesty, that she bought it because of its quality and design.

Why?

Because people’s emotions are tightly connected to their actions, and very often we are not able to articulate why we do something.

Close to 95% of our thoughts are unconscious, meaning we are unaware of them. Therefore it is very difficult to find out why people behave the way they do. Certainly you need more than a questionnaire to determine a root cause.

80% of new products or services fail within 6-months or do significantly worse than estimated.

I wonder why?

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About Greatness

May 6th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

“To achieve greatness, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.” ~Arthur Ashe.

Sometimes it worth remembering the simple things (in work and life).

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A first in 81 Years: London Underground Map Shows Name of Sponsor

May 6th, 2012 § 1 comment § permalink

This morning I woke up to the news, that for the first time since being created in 1931, the London Underground map carries the name of a sponsor.

Naturally, it is not really the map itself that matters here, as much as the fact that a sponsor, in this case Dubai based Emirates Airlines, have sponsored two underground stations in London. This is quite a big thing, and not exactly underground marketing (pardon the pun!). It is always difficult to be first off the mark on something like this, so kudos to Emirates for achieving the sponsorship. However once something like this has been done one time, it is much easier to sponsor (rename) another station, and another and another…

Still, this is London, and although an increasing amount of commercialization on the Tube no doubt brings in a lot of money for the City of London, I was surprised to see the change of name.

How do you feel about this? Are we marketing people starting to overdoing it? And do you think it makes sense for an Emirates to sponsor subway stations or does it all lie in ‘transport of people’?

The Economist has the full story.

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Using Switching Barriers to You Advantage

April 14th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

Have you thought about how committed you are to different brands? Are all your shirts of the same label? Do your last three cars come from the same company? Have you religiously been using the same detergent since you first moved out of home?

'I'm a Mac campaign. Developed to counter switching barriers.

30 years ago, you may have answered yes, but today with heavy competition and so many brands to fill our every need, it is increasingly difficult for brands to create switching barriers; That is barriers, which makes it seem to difficult, time-consuming or expensive for consumers to swap brands.

When I worked in the Middle East recently I experienced that almost all teens there used Blackberry smart phones and that Android and IOS was virtually unknown. It turned out that the reason was Blackberry Messenger. Blackberry Messenger was the first good app that let you send free, pictures and video files to other people. Conveniently, it is only available on Blackberry, so if all of your friends uses Blackberry Messenger to communicate, why would you get another brand of smart phone? In other words, back then at least, Blackberry did an excellent job and created a lot of loyalty.

On the other hand I have, mostly by coincidence, owned three Philips TV’s in the past five years. Despite exterior design similarities, each of them had totally different type of remote controls and operation. Therefore when I need a new TV, I will have no reason to stick with Phillips, because everyone at my household will need to get to know new controls anyway. Clearly Phillips missed an opportunity here.

Consumer electronics and anything that has a lot of buttons and settings are still something that scares a lot of people. Here Apple is one company, which has done a terrific job in minimising switching costs. Since their comeback with iMac they have realised that rather than selling to first-time computer customers, their task was to convince Windows users to switch to Mac. The whole strategy behind their successful Mac vs. PC campaign was based on creating fun ways to counter the most common fears Windows users have when considering a switch (remember “Hi, I’m a PC?”). To this day, they dedicate a lot of efforts in targeting those very fears.

The most read stories on this blog are the ones that relate to the Apple brand, and one of the questions I get the most is what lies at the core of that brand. Well here it is; it is not design or creative advertising as some may think. It is the concept of creating a unique user experience, which is carried across all of their products. Firstly because it makes it easier to be loyal to Apple (remember the Phillips remote control problem), thereby making it less appealing to move away from the brand. Secondly to create a strong communication that switching to Apple is easy and in fact provides an even better experience than whichever brand you were using before.

Interestingly, some people say that the best thing that ever happened to Apple was Microsoft Office. Why, because it made switching to a Mac less troublesome. I tend to agree. If you don’t agree, check this page on their website. http://www.apple.com/why-mac/

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Real vs. Percieved Value

March 25th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

What makes you choose a car these days? Is the top speed of the car, the size of the engine, the number of buttons on the dashboard or something less tangible? Do you have a basic list of requirements that you shop around with or do you already have a list of preferred or top-of-mind brands for your short list?

Well when it comes to smart phones, Microsoft is betting that, at least for the blokes, it’s what on the inside that counts. According to The Verge, this weekend Microsoft is offering any person who walks into a Microsoft store in the US, the opportunity to participate in a Windows Phone speed test. That is, a ‘one-on-one’ test between your phone and one running Microsoft’s mobile operating system. If your phone ends up being faster than a Windows phone, Microsoft will give you a PC worth 1000USD. If you loose (and most likely you will), Microsoft will give you a free Windows Phone, – without contract. Either way, you walk away with a new smart phone or a new PC.

Naturally Microsoft reserve also the rights to use the looser examples (I.E. you) for advertising.

At Mobile World Congress in Spain a few weeks ago, Microsoft handed out 100€ to anyone who had a smart phone that could match their phone in speed, so it looks like they are serious with this promo too.

The question is, how important are technical features vs. brand here, and what is the likelihood that reason and logic will prevail over perceived value? After all brand value is very much perceived.

A key objective of Microsoft is no doubt to enable as many people as possible to try out their phones, and that is not such a bad thing at all if you come from a background, of being considered a minor brand. And compared to IOS and Android, Microsoft Mobile is the young kid on the block.

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Mobile World Congress

March 11th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

Mobile World Congress 2012

Mobile World Congress 2012

At the beginning of the month, I spent a week in Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress. This is Europe’s largest annual B2B showcase for the mobile industry and the big players such as Google, HTC and Nokia all use the occasion to make a big splash and launch some pretty interesting products and ideas to the 60,000+ business people who attended.

As this is a branding blog, not a mobile technology blog, I won’t dwell too much on the event, other than to say it is absolutely key for the business of the brands that are there. Both because their business customers are there and because all the key journalists and industry analysts attend.

When this is said, I was very surprised that one brand that stood out spectacularly for having one of the cheapest stands, and that was none other than M&C Saatchi Mobile (see below). I wondered what a division of perhaps the best known ad agency in the world was doing with a booth like this? Perhaps we will never know.

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Super Bowl, Movie Stars and Politics

February 7th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

A funny thing happened after Super Bowl this year. It included nothing less than the idea of the American dream, The President, the American news media and a true American movie star. And, pulling the strings from behind the scenes; an American car brand.

Chrysler's 2012 Super Bowl ad discussed at CNN.com

The new media in the U.S is buzzing with talks about a video, which was shown in the highly expensive ad break during this year’s Super Bowl final. Although the video may not have initially appeared like it, it was a television ad, with one of the most clever and timely brand messages I have seen in a long time.

If you represent an American car brand, and you want to connect with your stakeholders (including customers and staff) on an emotional level after years of failed sales results, layoffs and having been saved only by getting mammoth loans by congress, one of the best faces that will help get your message across is that of Clint Eastwood. That is exactly what Chrysler did in a two-minute halftime ad with the message ‘It’s halftime in America, too’.

The ad was so good, that it got both media and politicians speculating, whether it was in fact a political message, made to support President Obama’s election campaign, in return saving the Detroit car brand a few years back.

It probably wasn’t (because it was Bush, not Obama who signed those checks back then), but that’s not the point here. The real story is that Chrysler managed to reposition their brand message to resonate so well with the America that it’s almost too good to believe.

In the video Clint Eastwood is talking about Chrysler fighting back, and in signing on to do that, he gets the thumbs up from the staff who works there, and I bet most of the American’s who almost naturally agree with his message. It is, I think, a great example of a brand, which has risen to the challenge, and developed a very strong message, relevant and authentic to the environment it is in.

Chrysler says “Just One Person can start a chain reaction that reaches thousands”. They are right about the message, but wrong about the numbers. As of today, the video has been watched over 4 million times on YouTube.

From creating an excellent two-minute ad to getting the country’s top politicians and media talking about it and re-running it, is no mean task.

Thumbs up to Chrysler on this one.

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Nice Superbowl fun from Coke

January 27th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

Here’s a nice bit of on-brand TV advertising slated for the not-so quiet advertising period around Super Bowl (link opens in a separate window)! This year Coke have created a different campaign, hoping that sports fans will tune in to the bears’ website, and follow their game commentary. The marketing guys at Coke have also created two different ads, and will decide only just before the ad break, which ad suits the progress of the game best, then run it.

Not an easy, or cheap, task for Coke or the television network, but probably one, which is going to create a bit of buzz.

Party Guests

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