by Michael Cowen on July 28, 2010
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This is our call to action. And at a surface level this may seem trivial, yet it is the reason most companies are not brand leaders. And the reason is a very simple:
- It is our nature to copy things. It’s what makes us human. As business leaders and marketing experts we look at what has worked for others and believe it will work for us and we get the same results. Sadly this is the downhill fight for mediocrity.
- We are educated to do the same thing, to follow best practice and what is main stream. We go to school, wear the same uniform and conform. We go to university and strive to pass cum laude with other peoples thoughts. This is an argument for obeying the rules and doing the tried and tested.
It’s sad but we are taught to comply rather than dare.
Living In A World Of Technical Marketers
Your customer is not asking you for what they can get from someone else or for conformity. They are looking for something different – all you need to do is dare.
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by Michael Cowen on July 26, 2010
Customer service often comes across as patronising; arrogant; disinterested; rude; indifferent; bored; and a general lack of care.
In South Africa the chances are this is how you are treated when phoning a large company. Their customer service message is simple:
We have so many clients that you don’t count. And yes, we can afford to lose you.
You have no loyalty to this company and your motive now becomes destructive – you will tell everyone you know how bad the company is. You will also move to a new service provider when it suits you.
Yet we are all customers of someone. Ironically the same staff get the same treatment they dish out. Perhaps the easiest way to solve poor customer service is to ask those staff:
How would you like to be treated?
I can guarantee no-one wants a patronising; arrogant; disinterested; rude; indifferent; bored; and a general lack of care customer service person dealing with their problem.
When we say business is about relationships maybe it’s time to be human again. To really focus on the relationship and ask a very simple question:
Treat others as you want to be treated.
Make this your golden rule and you can’t go wrong. I am sure that this may have a spin off effect of appealing to your staffs deeper desires and aspirations. You may just be very surprised to see what happens.
by Michael Cowen on July 15, 2010
Sunday is just around the corner. My wife and I decide we want a few friends around for a Sunday lunch.
But who to invite? Here is how the conversation goes …
- I want to get my old mate from school who I met 30 years ago with his family.
- But she wants to invite the new friend, she made at our eldest son’s school – feels that the two couples will not get on.
- So, I suggest we invite my friend from university.
- She thinks this is a great idea, but again, the two couples will not get on.
- So, I suggest that invite my mate from university and you invite your friend that you met at work.
- No, they won’t mix…. this is getting hard. Like trying manage the seating at our wedding.
And so on it goes. We spend the next half an hour trying to work out whom of our social circle will get on with each other and who we will invite for lunch.
Social Blobs versus Social Propellers
You have had the same chat that my wife and I had. I’m just lucky that we can have a civil chat on this topic as it can be quite testy.
(I’m sure there are a few divorces that have ended, because social circles are not compatible).
Yet when we go online, we create this massive social circle. A one size fits all type of circle.
We add all types of relationships to our Facebook profile from school friends, family, co-work, and so on.
Here is a quick test. Just go and look at your Facebook profile as ask yourself:
- How many people do you actually engage with on a daily or weekly basis?
- How many people do you trust to share different [not intimate] details with over one broadcast
- How many comments are light hearted banter that are pretty meaningless
- Would everyone feel comfortable if you put them all in one room
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by Michael Cowen on July 8, 2010
Ouch! As a marketer I am sure this figure does sit well with you. Yet as marketers we are not sure what our marketing return is.
There is the old saying that 50% of advertising work? We seem to be happy to go with this and every day we see marketers dedicating their budgets to the advertising gods.
So What’s The Real Cost Of Advertising?
As part of my research for www.makingmobilemediawork.com, I came across Graham Brown. Graham Graham Brown is director of Youth Research Partners in London who offers really keen insights into the young minds of the future.
He has a weekly webinar, in which he recently shared some really scary stats:
- an 18-year-old has received 800,000 marketing messages in their life
- they now tune out 95% of all traditional advertising
- about 70% of adverting messages are not trusted [seen stats ranging here from 30-70%]
The Advertising Gods Are Nothing More Than Your Toilet Drain
The numbers by themselves are really scary and if they don’t make you sit up and take a serious look at how you market then I don’t know what will.
But to put this into context and to try and understand the impact on this lets step back and put our marketing into context.
The Brand Equation
As marketers were taught a very simple equation for a brand strategy:
Brand = Product + Identity + Mass Media Broadcast
As an example Colgate toothpaste took fluoride toothpaste, essentially a commodity, and created the idea of Fresh Breath Confidence. This idea has been pushed out through every single different communication medium that has been available to Colgate.
It’s quite clear when we look at the brand value of Colgate toothpaste that this approach has worked very well up till now. The brand is worth It is worth billions of dollars.
But Not To 18-Year-Olds
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by Michael Cowen on July 6, 2010
There is an old saying that is so overused but so true:
If you don’t change what you are doing, you are doing, you will keep getting the same results.
Personally I think that this is the definition of insanity – especially when I look at what most marketers are currently doing.
The problem with marketing is that everything has changed, and most are not even aware of this. They have been trained in a traditional way and become highly effective technicians in applying the cornerstone of traditional marketing. Yet these cornerstones of traditional marketing no longer work very well.
The Traditional Marketing Model is Broken
Most marketers won’t believe when I say that 99 % of traditional media is wasted and most marketing research does not uncover the real reasons why your customers buy. Traditional big budget marketing is no longer the powerhouse solution it used to be.
And these are the reasons for most brand manager’s existence. I guess it is hard to hear that you are no longer relevant – and we have a huge industry with a vested intrest – namely the advertsing, brand and reaserch industries. They are worth billions in any language or currency.
So What Has Changed?
Here are some of the underlying drivers of this change — and why it is important to you:
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by Michael Cowen on July 6, 2010
The traditional media eco-system is going through a major metamorphosis. At first glance it would seem that this is largely driven by the changes of an evolving internet platform and mobile media — something where I think many marketers are taking huge strain just to manage the effects it is having on their brand and media strategies.
Changing Consumer Behaviour
Personally, I think this strain is more about the change in how our consumer are making decisions today. And I think this is the flaw where most media strategies fail.
There is no doubt that there is a symbiotic relationship between the evolving multimedia platforms and consumer behaviour. How consumers make decisions and what influences these decisions has radically evolved from the first TV commercial and marketer’s ability to refine the advertising process.
Today, TV commercials do not have the credibility that they used to. As consumers, we no longer dogmatically believe what a brand says about itself to be true. Now we believe what other consumers say and we the ability to find information in different ways and validate what we want through a peer review system.
How Billions of Dollars Are Being Flushed Down The Toilet
All I have to do is go online validate if I am making the right choice about a product I want. Lets say its a new printer that I am about to buy. It looks like a good product and I know it has a good brand name.
What happens when I use my Blackberry, click through amazon to see what other people say and find 10 bad reviews? I replace the product with one that has good reviews.
For the brand that could mean millions of dollars of advertising investment and years of brand building down the tube. Ouch. And if your consumer believes that you are not being upfront and honest you will pay a severe price.
The Fragmented Media Eco-System
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