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Ad Age recently turned to Trone’s head of account planning, Jenny Rowland, for her insights on the affects of a multigenerational household on marketing. As more and more families start to share their houses with parents, in-laws or adult children, marketers have a new opportunity. Click here to read the article and Jenny’s comments.
Most anyone who really knows me knows that I am (moderately) obsessed with getting an iPhone. While trying to wait patiently for my current cell phone contract to expire, I have researched AT&T, previous iPhone models and now the new iPhone 4.
Now with just under a month left in my contract, I am seriously considering taking the leap and signing on the dotted line for the new iPhone 4. As a consumer, I am moving closer to purchasing it. However, with all of the news and talk about the issues it’s having, I continue to weigh my options and consider what the best choice is for me. I also find it interesting what has happened and what is happening in terms of marketing to persuade me in this decision.
Beginning with the product itself, there are many, many reasons why I’d love to have an iPhone. After receiving an iPod Touch last year, I have become very attached to how easy to use and convenient it is. The personal experience I have had with a product very similar to the iPhone is so powerful in getting me to adopt and become familiar with the iPhone itself. It would be so much easier to use an iPhone than a new and different smartphone. Plus, the apps have helped me organize my life, save money and keep up with what’s going on in the news and in social media. I could easily move them onto an iPhone and only have one device instead of both a phone and an iPod Touch.
In terms of word of mouth and consumer recommendations, almost everyone I know who has an iPhone couldn’t live without it. They, too, find it extremely helpful in their daily lives beyond the basics of it just being another smartphone.
The advertising for the iPhone 4 has been overwhelming. Apple’s branding has always resonated with me. The very first FaceTime app commercial was very heartwarming. I’ve seen positive comments about it across Facebook and Twitter.
Of course the iPhone 4 has been plagued with issues in the news. “Antennagate” has seen some iPhone 4 owners struggle with poor reception and dropped calls. Apple’s decision to provide free cases seems to be only a temporary solution. With Consumer Reports not recommending it and competitors joining in the disapproval, the public relations firestorm surrounding iPhone 4’s problems has only increased. And on top of that, the iPhone is still only available through AT&T, which continues to receive complaints about its poor coverage.
In regards to statistics, a recent survey by the International Data Corporation shows 66 percent of current iPhone owners are delaying purchase of the new iPhone 4 due to its antenna problems. However, the issue has not stopped the 74 percent of non-iPhone owners who are moving ahead with purchasing it.
Overall, the experience I’ve had with the iPod Touch, the friends that I know who love their iPhones and the research that I’ve done push me closer to getting one sooner rather than later. I’d love to wait for Verizon to finally provide it through their network, but that has been an unrealized possibility for awhile now. I have to weigh out all of the messages—the great brand and product advertising, the social media talk, the press it has received and the way Apple is handling their public relations issues―with my own perceptions, needs and desires as a consumer. Maybe it’s time for me to take the risk and finally see for myself what all the (good and bad) fuss is all about.
The current economic environment is presenting huge challenges to marketers all over the world. And, the situation isn’t getting any better. Finding more efficient and effective ways to engage customers has never been more important. Companies must make a commitment to remain competitive and uncover opportunities to become even stronger.
An economic downturn is not the time to stop investing in marketing. Instead, companies should be focused on how marketing can help them flourish in a down economy beginning with a hard look at their marketing plan.
Retool your marketing plan. The times have changed and to survive companies need to adapt. And no, that doesn’t mean cutting your marketing budget in half. It means reevaluating how you communicate with customers. Now more than ever your marketing programs must deliver to the bottom line.
Reevaluate your marketing approach. When times are good it’s easy to fall into a routine. When you examine how every dollar is spent you’ll be surprised to see the number of opportunities that present themselves.
Know your customers better than anyone else. Want to spend less money and drive better results from your marketing programs? If you know, I mean really know your customers, then you’ll know exactly when, where, and how to spend marketing dollars. Companies making investments to learn all they can about their customers will see returns.
Your customers are looking for a good value. Do you know what value you provide to your customers? Understanding the challenges your customers face gives you the ability to connect with them on an emotional level. Customers respond when they believe a company understands their struggles and offers solutions to ease their daily stress. Do the research. Your marketing plan will thank you.
Focus on existing customers. Don’t forget about your current customers. Instinct says we need to acquire more customers when times are tough. I’m not saying to stop looking for new customers, but optimizing the relationship with existing customers may be the quickest way to drive new revenue. Opportunities are likely exist for cross-selling and up-selling within your customer database. While the investment to engage current customers is low, the potential revenue impact is high.
Pet owner dependence on the veterinarian is a significant indicator of spending behavior.
In January 2009, Trone® reported the results of a consumer study that identified six unique segments of pet owners. These attitudinally and behaviorally based groups displayed distinctly different relationships with their pets which were reflected in their pet-related spending.
As a follow-up, in December 2009, Trone launched another pet owner survey utilizing our opinions@trone database and infrastructure. This study, while confirming the findings of the previous work, uncovered interesting new information about the relationship between pet owners and veterinarians. The degree to which pet owners are dependent on the veterinarian is also a strong predictor of spending behaviors. And, it is not limited to spending exclusively done in the clinic.
Of the 945 pet owners surveyed (559 dog owners and 386 cat owners), 43% of dog and 34% of cat owners were deemed to be veterinarian dependent. Many of the behaviors distinguishing this group were definitional. As you would expect, owners who are veterinarian dependent are appreciably more likely to take their pet to the veterinarian two or more times a year. And they expect to spend significantly more on veterinary services over the lifetime of their pet than do their non-vet-dependent counterparts.
Veterinarian-dependent pet owners and their non-dependent counterparts share many common attributes.
Not surprisingly, dependence on a veterinarian is somewhat income driven. The vet-dependent group was 72% more likely to have an HHI over $75,000. But, households with incomes greater than $75,000 were less than 23% of the sample. Trust in the veterinarian and concern for the pet are even less likely than income to explain the dependence. 95% of the vet-dependent audience indicated a high level of trust in their veterinarian’s recommendations which was mirrored by the 90% of non-vet-dependent respondents who also trust their vet. The study included a number of measures of concern about their pets. On most of the questions there were only marginal differences demonstrated by the two groups. For example, when asked about the importance of protecting their pets from common parasites (fleas, ticks and heartworm), agreement numbers didn’t vary as much as 10% for the two groups.
The level of engagement differences between veterinarian-dependent and non-vet-dependent pet owners is evident in a range of behaviors.
While both groups have modified their pet-related spending as a result of the economic downturn, the veterinarian-dependent group has widened the spending gap. They’ve reduced their already higher spending levels less than the non-vet-dependent segment.
The vet-dependent group demonstrates a higher degree of product brand loyalty. They are 22% more likely to agree with the statement that they shop the stores that carry the brands they like rather than buying the brands that the store they like carries than their non-vet-dependent counterparts. As a result of this attitude, they are much more likely to shop the breadth of available outlets, including online. The sole exception is mass merchants which attract more non-vet-dependent customers in all categories from food (77% v. 56%) to flea and tick medications (43% v. 22%).
Veterinarian-dependent owners are also much more likely to have consulted with their veterinarian on purchases made outside the clinic. For example, they are more than three times as likely to have sought input on non-prescription food choices. And, they are more likely to act on the input they receive. 62% of vet-dependent pet owners have changed a basic product (i.e. food, shampoo, flea/tick treatment, etc.) in the past two years based on advice they received from their vet while only 11% of the non-vet-dependent group has taken such actions.
The challenge for marketers is to influence the influencer.
The challenge for marketers is leveraging the power of this highly influential veterinary group. In some cases the need is obvious. If a product is sold through the vet channel, some degree of engagement is necessary to achieve shelf space. But, taking the relationship beyond the basics and making your brand the preferred and hopefully, recommended choice is key. For products not sold within the veterinary channel the challenge is even greater. How do you engage the veterinarian to speak well of your brand? Must you rely on the pet owner to broach the subject or can your product interject itself into the conversation via the veterinarian? To answer these and the myriad of other questions that arise requires a unique understanding of the brand, the target, the influencer and the environment in which they interact.
If you are interested in connecting with pet owners, email Kimberly, our pet team lead.
At least not young children. That is the sense that I am getting from the new movie being released on October 16, 2009. An adaptation of the classic children’s book, the movie has a darker, more sinister feel than many of the book’s core audience may be ready for. Especially since readers of the book start at about age four.
Let me start by saying that I view this book as one of the most formative of my youth. But what a book leaves up to the imagination of the reader, the movie fills in. And while my imagination when reading this book at age four may have only been able to take me so far, the movie takes the viewer where Spike Jonze, the director, wants you to go. Regardless of your age. So it begs the question, to whom is this movie marketed to? Children, teenagers or maybe adults who grew up with the book? I’m guessing it is more of the latter two. The kind of movie that a parent would take a 14-year-old to, not a 4 year old. Which is definitely not a typical target for movies.
I do however, acknowledge that anything that is truly different and unknown makes people apprehensive. When the book first came out there was a negative reaction. Librarians would not order it and parents were concerned about its dark imagery. But children loved it. Sendak claims that is because it respects kids. It doesn’t talk down to them. So I hope that I stand corrected and that children, young included, actually like this film. That is if parents allow their children to see it.
And since this film has been in talks for many years now and only Spike Jonze has gotten Sendak’s approval to bring it to the big screen, let’s hope that their vision will have the same impact on many of today’s children that the book once had on me. And that all this controversy will just make more people go and see it.
Here is an interview with Sendak and Jonze.
So little of advertising is still advertising. But fortunately ideas are still ideas. I’ve collected a few examples here that show off some creative ways that ambient and social media have been used. These are brands that have gone beyond the standard Facebook product page or the CEO Twitter account to bring some creativity back to marketing.
Coffee Company PowerPoint Slide
This coffee company in the Netherlands offered a free cup of coffee to students who slipped a Coffee Company slide into their PowerPoint presentations. Pretty cool to have a word from your sponsor in the middle of your slideshow.
Terminator Salvation Twitter game
This nicely executed movie promotion enticed Twitter users to watch for tweets from @resistance2018 which contained fill-in-the-blank puzzles, word jumbles, and trivia. Players could rack up points by “decoding these transmissions” in a reply tweet.
Papa John’s Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality is one of the most notable new media tricks around. It’s a way of getting a users webcam to trigger a 3-D animation on screen. It really gives you the illusion of a hologram. (Is that redundant?) Papa John’s, GE, and Mini are some of the brands who are already making use of it.
Green Works Reverse Graffiti
This eco-friendly mural was created for the launch of Green Works, a 99% plant-based cleaner. San Francisco’s Broadway Tunnel was the filthy backdrop for the artwork of indigenous plant life, which was cleaned with the product. Pretty amazing product demo.
Milky Way Movie Theater Line Barrier
Although it’s questionable whether or not this was produced, it’s still a really fun idea—a great example of why it pays to think about where your target spends time.
Flea Spray Mall Floor Graphic
This giant floor decal lets the foot traffic on the ground floor of an Indonesian mall become the fleas on the dog. I do wish they had rotated the dog image 180 degrees so he wouldn’t look like a pork chop. And the line could be better. But still-great idea.
Iams Frisbee
While we’re on the topic of dogs, take a look at this cool giveaway from Iams dog food. To promote the healthy and strong dogs message, they created these plastic frisbees to look like 10kg weights to be distributed at dog parks.
STA Travel Facebook Page
Few brands with Facebook pages support their fanbase the way this student-focused travel agency does. They give their page a human voice with lots of interaction, contests, giveaways, etc. Plus, they constantly create incentives for users to become fans, which, when they do, ripples through the networks of Facebook friends.
There’s still so much discussion around marketing through social media and making the most of limited media budgets. We will have to not only master these media options, but continually find new touchpoints as well.
Let’s remember to send a postcard to our old friends Print and Television—let them know we’ll still visit from time to time.
Marketing is about a relationship: the one between the brand and the target market. To be effective, another relationship is also very important to the success of marketing: the one between the client (or, internally, the administration) and the agency (or, internally, the marketing department).
So, for all companies who ever consider being a client or who are already a client of an agency–be it integrated marketing communications, public relations, interactive or advertising–here’s a list of best practices, from the deep, dark recesses of my mind:
- Figure out the best way to communicate with your account representative. For my clients, it’s no secret that I love email. On the other hand, if it’s something imperative, I’d much rather be called, and if it’s considered a crisis, please, please, please call my cell phone. This works great for my clients, because their preferences are the same. Some of our clients like to be connected through social networks–LinkedIn, Facebook–and thus, their account communication practices are different. Communication is the biggest part of client-agency relationship and it has to work well.
- Be responsive . . . For all intents and purposes, we work for you. We are an extension of your team. We are as much a brand ambassador as you and the rest of your employees. Everything we do is for your company’s benefit, so help keep us on track. Respond to emails, voice mails and any other communication in a timely manner. If you’re only speaking with your account representative once a week, you are probably not responsive enough.
- And be involved. A client who is only a ‘rubber stamp’ for the agency does both parties a disservice: the agency’s work isn’t challenged to improve and the client accepts less than they deserve. Ask for time lines, briefs, personas, data. If you don’t understand jargon, ask for clarification. Ask for rationale for suggestions. Participate in status meetings. By thoroughly understanding what an agency is doing, you can save yourself time and money.
- Share your knowledge. We don’t know everything about your company or your brand, although we desperately try to. We are fully aware that you have knowledge that comes from working at the company, day in and day out, that we can never have. Some of this knowledge can be integral to our understanding and your projects, so if you think it might be worth our knowing, please dash off a quick email or call.
- Take risks. You simply can’t run a profitable business without taking risks. In fact, when the business began, you had to take numerous risks: number of employees to hire without knowing whether you really could pay them; signing the lease agreement without knowing whether you’d be in business that long; sharing knowledge without knowing whether it would be leaked and used against you; etc. Agencies have ideas, lots of them. Some are great; some are not. If something sounds great, take a risk. You could be the next “Just Do It” or the next “Eat Mor Chickin.”
- Decide who’ll decide. In every account, a time comes where there’s dissention among client contacts. One person likes the copy, while another wants to change it. Both people have good points, but someone has to make a decision. From the beginning, decide who gets the ultimate decision, who really has the final say, who has to answer should the decision turn out badly.
- Bring us in. Part of our job is to help solve business problems. In fact, we can do quite a bit to assist with problems, but we can’t help if we don’t know. We’ve signed a confidentiality agreement and your business is as important to us as it is to you. If you’re having internal communication issues, we can probably help. If you’re having culture issues, we can probably help. If you’re seeing a decline in volumes, we can probably help. But we can only help if we know there’s a problem and you’re willing to let us help.
- Trust the experts. You hired us because we’re the experts. We have proven experience doing all sorts of things and doing them well. You wouldn’t trust a PR practitioner in a computer server room (neither would we), so please don’t trust an IT person with a press release or an ad design.
- Tell us how we’re doing. Our business is to provide you with great services. If you’re not happy with any aspect, tell us. If you’d like your invoices to come on the 5th of every month, we might be able to accommodate that request. Your concern may be something we’re unaware of or it may be something easily fixed. Just as you evaluate your employees, be sure to evaluate us. Give us feedback on how we’re doing. It doesn’t have to be formal and it’ll improve your relationship with us, as well as the work we provide.
- Have fun! If your relationship with your agency isn’t frequently lighthearted, something’s wrong. You’re both working together to solve problems in a very creative way and creativity thrives in good relationships. The working relationship can be serious, but remember that we’re still teammates. You’re in this for the same goal as we are: improving your business. A little fun along the way will make reaching the goal that much easier.
Martin Buchanan, executive creative director and managing partner at Trone, recently served on the exclusive judging panel for the finals of the 2008 John Caples International Awards. Now in its 31st year, this international advertising contest awards the best in direct and interactive marketing. With international chairs in 53 countries, the annual awards go to individuals comprising teams that have created the most brilliant advertising solutions to real-time marketing problems. On average over 1,000 creative entries are received from more than 30 countries for the annual Caples Awards.
Twitter has blown up on the social media front, so no wonder every brand and their grandmother is joining! Nielsen reported it broke 7 million monthly unique visitors in February, and Google News reported on March 13 that 40,920 news stories citing the microblog were published within 1 hour. However, there are some guidelines that should be set when using it as a marketing tool and not a “social updater.” This is not a tool used for a quick sell. It’s used to build and cultivate relationships.
In your bio, be completely transparent about who your company is and who will be posting; even what you hope to get out of the experience.
Find relevant people to follow…most likely they will follow you back. This will help conversations.
At first, you should relax and sit back. Read conversations going on around you. Slowly engage in these conversations and then as you become more confident you may start conversations on your own related to your business.
Be responsive! And, always give back more than you were asked.
Don’t be overly enthusiastic…too many companies are trying to sell stuff right out of the gate.
If you’re part of an agency representing a brand, let the brand’s employees do the tweeting. They are the ones closest to it.
The Twittersphere is abuzz this morning!
Everyone is talking about what J.R. Cohen, Operations Manager for CoffeeGroundz (@coffeegroundz) Cafe in Houston, TX has done. He’s doubled the clientele to his store. How, you ask? By starting to take drink orders via direct message from Twitter users.
A coffee shop (that also doubles as a lounge at night by serving beer and wine), is the perfect type of business to take advantage of this new medium of communication. The store has free WiFi which makes it convenient for people to linger. WiFi also means that people will have their internet enabled devices there, making it easy for them to simply message the guy at the counter for a drink!
This is a powerful example about how businesses can use new media and social networking to reach with their customers on a different level. They’re not marketing towards them. They’re connecting with customers and creating a relationship, which we all knows leads to brand loyalty.
How are other companies using Twitter to connect with their customers?
- @SouthwestAir – Southwest Airlines offers deals and promotions to Twitter followers.
- @BofA_help – Bank of America is using Twitter to respond and actually solve customer complaints.
- @zappos – Zapos CEO Tony Hsieh uses Twitter to offer coupon codes (that expire quickly so you have to follow him to get the deals) and to stay connected with customers that want to be actively engaged with his brand.
Using new social media platforms to connect with your customers is the wave of the future.
Previously: What is all the Twitter hype about?
