IS YOUR BRAND FLAWED? GREAT!

As I point out in my book, “If your customer reaches the future before you do, they will leave you behind,” … a great quote from futurist Faith Popcorn. To keep on top of trends I spend time online every week reviewing studies and reports. One of the best website is trendwatching.com. Their monthly “tips” newsletter had an interest take on brand marketing this month.

It’s called FLAWSOME. As defined by Trendwatching, FLAWSOME are brands that are still great despite having flaws; “even being flawed (and being open about it) can be awesome. These are brands that show some empathy, generosity, humility, flexibility, maturity, humor, and (dare we say it) some character and humanity.” According to Trendwatching this new trend is driven by two factors:

HUMAN BRANDS: Everything from disgust at business to the influence of online culture (with its honesty and immediacy), is driving consumers away from bland, boring brands in favor of brands with some personality.

TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH: Consumers are benefiting from almost total and utter transparency (and thus are finding out about flaws anyway), as a result of the torrent of readily available reviews, leaks and ratings.

Here’s a link to the full briefing. Here’s a question for your marketing meeting: How “human” is your brand in responding to and handling your flaws such as bad reviews on YELP, customer complaints, or reversing bad customer decisions?

ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS LOYAL?

Because I launched the first frequent flyer program more than 30 years ago (1980), I’ve worked with numerous firms over the years in developing loyalty programs. But now rewards may not be the best way to grow customer loyalty.

Today your customer is bombarded with benefits, points and prizes. There are 1.8 billion loyalty-program individual memberships in the U.S., with the average household participating in 14.1 programs. Yet more than half of those memberships are inactive, according to an article in Ad Age by Martin Reidy, president of Meredith Xcelerated Marketing.

While rewards have worked for travel and credit cards, where increased frequency and value make the rewards worthwhile, they have been far less effective for other businesses. Why? As Reidy points out, “A successful loyalty strategy is underpinned by the consumer’s connection with your brand. The goal is to create sustained demand.”

Earning customer loyalty requires understanding the way your product/service meets the needs of your most important and loyal customers, not just giving them points for being on your side. How well do you know your best customer? Do you know what they value in your service/product?  Once you know that, you will know how to create a loyal customer and not a shopper.

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A 60% MARKET SHARE?

You try to increase it. That’s another lesson from my Powershift Marketing philosophy, and Apple is a great example of this principle at work. The iPad represented more than 61.5% of world-wide tablet shipments in the third quarter (down from 68.3% in the second quarter, according to market researcher IDC). That’s why the Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is considering a smaller screen iPad at the same time they are preparing to announce a super speedy iPad3 in March.

A decline in market share should immediately alert you that you are not keeping up with your customers’ tastes and desires. In the past year, Apple has seen Samsung Electronics selling its Galaxy Tab in three screen sizes: a 7-inch, an 8.9-inch and a 10.1-inch. Amazon.com Kindle Fire has a 7-inch screen size with a highly competitive price point ($199) that makes tablets accessible to a whole new consumer. Apple realizes that they are falling behind.

Are you falling behind your competition? Another lesson from my book: It’s easy to read your own news releases and think you are doing just fine. But the real measurement of success is your customer’s acceptance of your product or service. Any decline in market share requires immediate action.

THE PRICE FOR CREATIVITY – SUPER BOWL 2012

Having just run a Southern Oregon awards program (On the Mark) for the best locally produced commercials, I must admit I’ve enjoyed all the online contests to select the “best” Super Bowl TV spot. What did you think was the best spot? If you missed a few (or didn’t watch the game), you can find them here.

It was pretty easy for me to pick the worst spot. For me it was Teleflora’s sexist “You can get anything with flowers,” spot featuring supermodel Adriana Lima.Talk about dumb. I also thought that the half-time spot by Chrysler featuring Clint Eastwood should have been a political campaign spot (for either party).

The real ad winner was Doritos and their “Crash the Super Bowl 2012” contest. They have been running this mock amateur contest for years and it’s a very clever idea. Not only do you get every out-of-work film maker trying to win the top prize of $1 million, you get a year of social media “buzz” and fan involvement that Teleflora or Chrysler could only dream about. This year Doritos upped the ante by featuring five “finalist” commercials, plus they gave cash awards to the top three rated spots.

So, what Doritos spot took the top spot on the USA Today Ad Meter or the USA Today Facebook Super Bowl Ad Meter (the criteria for winning the million)? The winning spot, which reportedly cost $20 to produce (I doubt it), was also one of my favorites, Man’s Best Friend.

The marketing take away here? The same message I’ve been sharing with my On the Mark awards. Marketing creativity doesn’t come with an expensive price tag. It comes when someone is willing to think creatively and take risks. This wouldn’t be a bad goal for your businesses in 2012 if you want to be a winner.

THE $3.71 BILLION FACEBOOK SALES JOB

With 845 million users, Facebook is the world’s social media juggernaut. According to the company’s recent IPO filing (and Wall Street Journal reports), it made $1 billion off $3.71 billion in revenues, and 85% of those revenues came from advertising.

That’s why I think the most amazing Facebook factoid is that they have convinced thousands of companies that spending money on Facebook is a good marketing investment. The pitch: Investing in Facebook will build legions of loyal customers that “like” you, want to hear from you daily, and want to buy your products or services. Well, that is simply not true. There is no solid research that shows that Facebook is driving any website traffic or sales revenue. I have one client, which now has 12,000 likes, and they only get .003% of their website traffic from Facebook.

You can thank David Fischer, the company’s vice president of marketing, for doing a masterful job of selling Facebook to your company. A 39-year-old former Google Inc. executive, Fisher’s newest tool “Sponsored Stories,” is really brilliant.

These “paid for posts,” which used to show up on the right side of the screen along with Facebook ads, now are in the middle of the News Feed – along with posts from your friends. Talk about breaking through the clutter. Fisher believes that Sponsored Stores are more relevant because they come from a friend and are taken more seriously than, say, a TV commercial. If you aren’t using Sponsored Stories, you should. If used correctly they can create a word-of-mouth campaign that could reach millions.

Bottom-line: While I still question the revenue generating power of Facebook, it can be a powerful brand builder, and Sponsored Stories and Facebook ads have to be tools in your marketing arsenal. Of course, that’s until Fisher overloads the ad system and 845 million users say, “That’s enough, give me my friends and relatives back.”