The Marketing of Halloween – Shock, Horror, Ker-ching!

While the tradition of Halloween originated on this side of the pond, it has been commercialised in the United States and grown to become the third highest revenue producing US event, representing around £4 billion pounds a year, with a mean spend of £34 per household (1). In 2011, the UK Halloween market will be worth around £310m and since 2005 it has grown at twice the rate of the US market (1). Yet the average UK household spend is one-third of our US cousins. So how can UK marketers grab a slice of the growing Halloween pumpkin pie?

To drive sales, companies must make Halloween more appealing to customers, and accessible to new customer segments so they embrace Halloween as their own. This will grow and offer everyone a larger slice of the market.  Researching different consumers, their needs, drivers and attitudes to Halloween, the cultural context and origin of Halloween, and observing the range and nature of Halloween offers and promotions around the world provides insights on which to build. Uncovering new needs provides the understanding to create new offers that fulfill those needs too!

Halloween is an abbreviation of All Hallows Even, the night before  All Hallows Day (All Saints Day). It started out as the Celtic celebration of  Samhain when the Celts believed that the border between this world and the ‘other world’ became thin and allowed spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. All Saints Day was founded by Pope Gregory III (690-784) to remember saints and those that have died. It is recognised globally as a time to honour ancestors and departed souls. Wearing costumes and masks originated as a custom to copy the evil spirits or placate them. Begging for food dates from the Middle Ages when the poor would go door- to-door, seeking food in return for prayers for the dead – so called ‘souling’.

Awareness and interest in Halloween is promoted by popular  culture, such as Hollywood movies, The Hollow and Halloween, and the activities of US corporations including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Disney and Wal-Mart. In the UK the Halloween market leader and a key driver of market growth is Asda Wal-Mart. Asda’s Halloween event runs for 6 weeks from late September and much of their merchandise is ‘own-brand’. Book and film series, such as Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, also provide a mainstream cultural crossover – driving growing interest in the ‘undead’ amongst teen girls and middle-aged mums.

These same cultural drivers are also affecting mainland Europe, parts of Asia and Latin America.

So what can you do to grow sales at Halloween?

Understand and build on traditional needs, and create and fulfill
new needs

Consumers range from adults seeking confectionery or gifts to satisfy trick or treaters, adults buying items for a children’s Halloween party, adults for their own parties, day or night out, and children caught up in the fun that have pocket-money to spend. Beyond the traditional activities like carving pumpkins or turnips, and apple bobbing, there are a host of other rich emotional needs that stem from the essence of Halloween. Including a wish to make the most of, or enhance the scary experience, trick or treat friends and neighbours, socialise, look cool, be a good host, and of course, have lots of fun.

These all spark product opportunities. From sweets to skeletons to entertainment, games, food and drink, dressing-up gear and make-up – to go with the pumpkins, turnips, and party food and drink.

Halloween activities, such as carving pumpkin and turnip carving prompt needs for design inspiration, cutters, and carving kits, and tea lights and other special effects.

Trick o’treating, prompts needs for mixed bags of sweets. An area increasingly served, for example, by Swizzels Scary Mix and Cadbury Screme Eggs and Dead Heads. But beyond the sweets, there are many opportunities to enhance the experience, for example, by changing the sensory experience, for example by relying on touch alone (as in the party game) to add intrigue, shock or surprise to the sweet selection process. Or to use sound, light, colour or special effects to add drama to a walk up a garden path.

Needs such as looking cool and socialising seem over-looked. They prompt product ideas for sharing, having a laugh, surprising and bonding. And food and drink, game, entertainment and mobile telephony categories present many start-points.

Excite and engage by creating ‘fun’ areas of terror

The adrenaline rush we get being scared is what motivates us to ‘like’ to be scared. Like riding a roller-coaster. In Western societies, most retail displays incorporate colours and symbols associated with the harvest (orange, pumpkins) or death (black, skeletons, bats).  Toning down the scary nature of the offer and adding more vibrant colours and symbols provides a cultural signpost inviting people to explore and not shy away from the Halloween aisle. For example, including greens, yellows and purples – colours associated with living things, and cuddly ‘full-of-life’ characters. In Asda this year, the theme, inspired by one of the staff members, is ‘Welcome to Monsterville’. Rather than emphasise the bats and skeletons, the displays feature a series of shops including ‘Squidleys Sweetshop’ and ‘Blueys Bo Bakery’.

Auchan in France has taken the ‘fun’ a step further by hosting live entertainment – both a promotion activity as well as a store and brand enhancer.

Marketing Inspiration

Understanding the market, cultural and psychological variables through secondary research, ethnography and primary qualitative research helps marketers better connect with the ways that consumers think and feel, and better meet existing or uncover new needs.

When purchasing is linked to deep cultural and emotional needs, this will have the most profound effect on demand, and enable more inelastic pricing.  Thus helping to insulate from current recessionary pressures.

Understanding and building on the colours, symbols and artefacts associated with Halloween helps attract and engage and drive store traffic and product purchasing.

For retailers, building the in-store experience drives in-store traffic, impulse purchasing and grows the market. It is a key differentiator to compete with online.

While there are presently few dedicated Halloween outlets, both retail or online, this area appears ripe for development.

When the time comes to celebrate Halloween (or any holiday), this presents a new product or brand promotion opportunity, sub-branding occasion or event to engage, excite and drive choice.

Reference:

(1)   The Marketing Directors’ research and analysis based on trade sources

PS: If you’d like to make Halloween a national holiday sign up here!

Sharon Wolf reviews The Marketing Director’s Handbook

Arnold and Tomlinson’s book, The Marketing Director’s Handbook, fully delivers on its subtitle’s promise: “The definitive guide to superior marketing for business and boardroom success.”  Comprehensive, yet written in a lively, jargon-free style, the Handbook offers sensible guidance on topics ranging from setting objectives, planning for the year ahead, measuring marketing performance, managing teams to building brands and succeeding at new product and service development.

Who should have this book on hand?

• 

  Sharon Wolf reviews The Marketing Director’s Handbook

  Aspiring and practicing marketing directors and CMOs

• Account planners
• Brand, product and marketing managers
• Marketing research agency executives
• CEOs and CMOs of tech, biotech, not-for-profits or any industry sector where the marketing discipline is new to your organization

Reader-friendly

In writing a reader-friendly book, Arnold and Tomlinson practice what they preach.  Chapters are amply illustrated with useful charts and tables that succinctly highlight key points made earlier in the chapter or that explain ideas visually. These tables and charts relieve the reader of having to wade through lengthy explanatory text. Page graphics are used to help make this book truly function as a handbook. Icons appear in front of topics through out the text – for example, an auto key symbolises “Where to start” topics, a wrench appears whenever a chapter discusses “Tools and techniques,” and a star graphic always accompanies “Best practices” advice or case examples.

Experience-based advice

I recall a feeling of total paralysis during my first week on the job as an MD for an international accountancy firm. The marketing discipline was new to the organization and I was the firm’s first MD. There was so much to be done and I didn’t know quite where to start. The authors acknowledge this paralytic feeling in Chapter 1, “Starting Out.” Their experience-driven advice and counsel will help newly appointed MDs start out on the right foot. This first chapter defines the MD’s role and offers concrete advice about what to do first, whom you should be getting to know in the organization and how to build the right team to help you get the work done.

Chapter 10, “Structuring the Function” builds on this advice and further
defines key marketing roles and relationships. Another chapter, “Day to Day Management” offers insights based on organizational dynamics and describes best practice processes and protocols. For new marketing  directors, these chapters are among the most valuable in the book, and could well justify the book’s purchase price.

The authors have both client-side MD experience and marketing agency experience in brand planning and services marketing, in particular. This know-how is apparent when they discuss the essentials and nuances of brand management and positioning as well as when they address the marketing and organizational issues related to new product and service development.

When it comes to corporate branding or repositioning, Arnold and Tomlinson offer up a nugget of advice that sounds a bit simplistic and a
bit hackneyed, yet, nevertheless, represents a key challenge for MDs, “Ensure top-team management and buy-in so that brand strategy can be interwoven into organizational strategy.” Although it is left unsaid, without this buy-in, even the most talented MD will be hitting his or her head against a brick wall when trying to implement marketing initiatives. The authors have taken care that readers will learn both strategies and tactics for achieving top management buy-in for their plans. These chapters are also useful for seasoned marketers and researchers who wish to quickly refresh their knowledge about the fundamentals of branding and product innovation. Overall, the authors are detailed and exhaustive in their treatment of branding and product and service development.

The MD and Marketing Research

The discussion of marketing research focuses, as it should, on such issues as selecting and managing marketing research agencies and how to prepare proper briefs so that everyone involved in the project understands the study’s objectives and research questions.

As a qualie, I was particularly interested in how the authors address and explain various qualitative methods. I was happy to see a useful chart that provides an overview of the pros and cons of the full range of the qualitative methods for marketing. They include a similar, handy chart for quantitative methods. Ethnography, pre-task diary homework assignments and semiotics are absent from the pro’s and con’s chart and, instead, are highlighted on a different chart called “Qualitative research strategies and methods.”

Recessionary Realities

For better or worse, Chapter 26, “Rationalisation or Downsizing” will be useful to MDs charged with the unpleasant task of laying employees due to downsizing. This chapter outlines pitfalls to avoid and stresses the importance of being compassionate to both survivors and leavers. This chapter also discusses downsizing strategies in depth as well as morale-
building approaches for employees who survive staff cutbacks.  The massive layoffs associated with today’s global economic recession make this chapter required reading for both practicing and aspiring MDs – and for anyone else in the organization who is involved in staff lay-off decisions such as HR and operations executives.

The Marketing Director’s Handbook is a “must have” for those who care about best practices and who want to learn how to succeed as managers
and change-makers in their organizations.

The Marketing Director’s Handbook is available globally in hardback and ebook formats from Amazon worldwide, The Marketing Directors’ website,  Foyles, Waterstones and good local book stores.

About the author

Sharon Wolf is Managing Director at QualiData Research Inc., of New York and San Francisco. An expert ethnographer, moderator and workshop  leader, Sharon translates research-based insights into powerful marketing,  branding and product innovation strategies for QualiData’s global clients. Her  sector specialties include personal care, fragrances, food, cosmetics,  electronic media and mobility. Previously she was a Marketing Director in professional services.

Sharon launched and served for three years as voluntary Editor-in-Chief for QRCA Views magazine, an award-winning quarterly publication for the marketing research community.  She also served as Program Co-Chair for ESOMAR’s 2002 Global Qualitative Conference. Sharon can be reached at sharon@qualidataresearch.com.

12 of the ‘Best’ Outdoor Marketing Communication Campaigns

I love posters! They can epitomise great marketing communications. Like all communications they must impress clearly. But if viewed from a speeding car, the message must be recognised and understood in milliseconds.  From a technical point of view this requires a single-minded (and hopefully matching) marketing communication strategy and execution. Engaging and motivating via this medium also presents a myriad of creative opportunities.

With consumers exposed to an increasing panoply of media, and over a 1000 messages a day, the task of developing great marketing communications is more challenging today than it has ever been.

There are two key aspects to marketing communications. The first is the message and the second is the medium through which to communicate the message. Here we’ve gathered twelve examples from the world of outdoor (or ambient) media – because they can be easily illustrated, reviewed and used to make a point in a blog!

Araldite – UK. This is one of the first outdoor campaigns to create a stir. It appeared on the Cromwell Road – one of the main arterial roads into London in 1983. The message is that Araldite sticks – very well. Its success lay in the fact that it provided a compelling product demonstration. It also enlivened a medium that was once considered static.

Aquasun – UK. In 1983 water resistant sun lotions were new kids on the block, and this ad promoting swimsuits by Aquasun was developed by the Benton and Bowles ad agency and a rookie brand manager. The brand message is that you can get a sun tan while playing in the water. The ad ran in Bristol. It generated lots of attention from local passers-by and the national media.

Cingular Mobile – USA. In the early days of mobile telephony, US mobile (cell) phone company Cingular created this ad to promote one of the differentiating aspects of their service – a lower level of dropped calls

Bic Razor – Germany. Shaving closer has always been an important, but relatively generic benefit of razors. This poster dramatises the benefit and implies a degree of superiority. The poster is blank except for a small logo in the bottom right hand corner without which the brand association may be missed.

Adidas – Germany. This poster (billboard) was placed over a bridge construction site on the way to the Munich airport. Featuring a huge dive by the German goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn, it promotes Adidas brilliance and cool through the 2006 World Cup ‘Impossible Team’.

Pioneer Suspension – India. These large stickers of potholes were placed on the roads of Mumbai (2007). Drivers would slow down expecting to feel a bump but would feel nothing suggesting a very smooth ride. The message ‘feels like a Pioneer suspension’ appears a few metres along the road.

Babol Bubble Gum – Italy. Big Babol bubblegum is clearly communicated as … as it says … ‘big’.

FHM BMW/Mini – Germany. Nice headlamps. The message here is about … well you know. As it says on the bonnet “It’s a guy thing”. A creative collaboration between BMW/Mini and FHM – the men’s magazine.

Lego – Denmark. The name ‘LEGO’ is an abbreviation of the two Danish words ‘leg godt’, meaning ‘play well’. The brand message is about inspiration and self expression. This is one of a number of clever advertisements for its ubiquitous bricks.

Mr. Clean – USA. Mr Clean (Flash in the UK) is household cleaner made by Procter and Gamble. True to form, this ad dramatises the superior cleaning benefits.

Hot Wheels – Columbia. This lifesize funwheel appeared on a highway underpass in Bogota in 2011 and works both to dramatise a fun, engaging and immersive Hot Wheels experience. Similar executions include using huge posters of small boys posted over and alongside highways in Mexico (as if they were watching the cars).

Contagion – The Movie – Canada. The message here is positively revolting, disgusting. It makes my flesh creep yet it intrigues. To promote Steven Soderbergh’s movie Contagion (released September 2011), Warner Brothers Pictures Canada hired microbiologists and immunologists to create a billboard made of growing bacteria in an abandoned shop window in Toronto. Scientists innoculated two rectangular Petri dishes with live bacteria which grew to spell out the name of the movie.

You can watch the making of the Contagion bacteria ‘billboard’, and some of the passer-by’s reactions on the video below.

While we’ve identified just one example of this poster as you can see awareness via You Tube is growing!

Marketing Inspiration

As a checklist to create great marketing communications consider whether your ad (poster or otherwise) achieves the following:

• Cut-though; does it command attention, and engage or involve?
• Comprehension; do you understand the message?
• Benefit driven; does the message suggest a clear and tangible benefit? Does it meet a relevant need?
• Credible; is the benefit message believable, justified by one or more facts?
• Provoke a change in perception or behaviour; are you motivated to think about a brand, think differently about a brand or more inclined to try, buy or repeat buy?

If your poster or billboard campaign arrests in the second or so you have to grab attention outdoors, you have a chance of a winner on your hands. If it fails to arrest, that could be a portent for other media. Consider posters or billboards as a way to pressure test your marketing communication strategy and execution before investing heavily.

Remember Vance Packard’s words – ‘ the medium is also the message’ (1). The nature of the outdoor medium lends itself to high impact, creative executions which say something extra about brands. It’s also highly relevant to those brands that target an outdoor, travelling or car driving demographic, and those purchased more frequently, in other words where daily opportunities to see an ad could drive more regular repeat purchases.

Finally, investing in a single poster site can catalyse extra publicity via public relations.  To help make sure your message is spread by other media or goes ‘viral, try to find an unusual creative idea or ‘angle’ that challenges conventional wisdom, surprises, shocks, entertains or amuses.

Special thanks to Mark Hutchinson for inspiring this article!

References

(1) Packard, Vance; The Hidden Persuaders (1957)

Read more about our approach to develop effective marketing
communications or join the next 2 day Marketing Communications Masterclass that we run for The Chartered Institute of Marketing

TV Programme Development: Creative or Marketing Driven?

Should programmes be developed mostly by illustrators and writers or by marketers and researchers who have discovered what will sell best in the crazily competitive world of children’s media? According to Simon Cowell, “Research just kills creativity because people lie or they say things they think the person wants to hear, or they over think it”. But is he right? Here’s a summary of the ‘heated’ debate that took place at The Children’s Media Conference in July 2011. Moderated by Guy Tomlinson, Managing Director and Consultant, The Marketing Directors , the session involved John Rice, CEO at Jam Media, Shari Donnenfeld, research consultant and Esra Cafer, Vice President Brand Management and Marketing at Chorion Ltd.

According to John Rice, the ideas behind Jam Media’s successful children’s programmes were discovered in different ways.  By serendipity – happy accidents!

PICME started out as a multimedia invitation for John’s daughter Rebecca’s two year birthday party which was sent to friends and family. One was so enthusiastic about it that he even offered to pay for it.

Roy, the badly drawn boy was created in the opposite way to PICME. The film was originated by John’s partner as a parody of his life; as a bitter 28 year old who couldn’t get work in animation because he was so badly drawn. His film was spotted by a CBBC development executive who thought that the fish out of water theme would appeal to the CBBC audience. In the tv series the bitter 28 year old is turned into fun loving everyday boy.

Tilly and Friends is a series of stories by Polly Dunbar. The development of this property involved bringing in a child psychologist and expanding the story world from 16 pages to 26 episodes.

Noddy in Toyland, Enid Blyton, Chorion

Tilly and Friends, Polly Dunbar, Jam Media

Roy the badly drawn boy – Jam Media

PICME – Jam Media

Shari Donnenfeld argued that research should be used to support the creative process, as the process is complex, there are lots of fingers in the creative pie, and it is easy for creatives to be removed from a child’s world.

Many creatives think they know kids, yet they are adults, who use razors and drink alcohol, or parents who care for kids.  There are also creatives who act like kids, but even if they do, they still don’t necessarily know what kids are about.

Children inhabit a different world, a more digital world than their parents. They are exposed to multimillion pound movies, games, e-books and ipads; it is hard to know what’s in their heads at a point in time.  The sons and  daughters of creatives inhabit an even more different world. A world where words like 3D and CGI are passed over the dinner table, so these children are neither normal nor representative.

Unlike live entertainers tv programme makers are unable to adapt to live audience responses. A clown for example can easily change his or her act if he dies on his feet. But programme makers can’t. So programme makers need to think like the clown and go and talk to children first.

Doing research with kids is like inviting them to the board-room table. They can input into forming a programme, while not heading the table. Even though children are a worthy audience, research should be used as a creative facilitator, rather than a barrier to creativity or to ‘green-light’ programme development. Kids have the ability to create, are excited to be part of the process, so involve them as partners.

Esra Cafer argued that there is a value in using brand management in the making of tv programmes. Brand marketing is a process that helps define the target, the programme and product offer, communicate that offer to audiences and forge a profitable and enduring relationship with the audience. In other words create brand love!

Chorion starts with characters, settings, worlds and stories already in place, and aims to understand, create, update, and extend brand properties to ensure that audiences love them. Rather than just translate the written word to the screen, research is used to understand and define the brand, the brand DNA, i.e. what makes it unique and appealing. Rather than dampen creativity, this reveals new opportunities and provides guidance to maximise programme and brand relevance.

For example, Make Way for Noddy has a traditional preschool audience of 3 to 5 year olds, but when developing Noddy in Toyland research was used to verify the audience, who they are and what they want. The audience was found to be growing-up and moving on to competitive products, such as Moshi Monsters at the age of 4. This insight helped focus programme development on 3-4 year olds.

Research also helped extend the brand. By revealing that Noddy is a safe brand, to use in home, and not to show off to friends provided the confidence to focus on developing home products such as bedding and pyjamas, rather than lunchboxes or coats.

Programme development inspiration -
creativity, research and marketing make fine bedfellows!

Each programme development project is different. Some will require more creativity and others more research, depending on the stage of development and whether more or less is known about the intended audience.

Development is the most important part of the creative process. Get this right and production will be a breeze.  Remember that it is also partly a numbers game. For every one show in production, have several shows in development, as ideas will always fall by the wayside.

Great ideas can occur over a pint of Guinness or through sheer hard work, but creativity is not the preserve of the few. Creativity cannot be bottled and poured on your cereal at breakfast time but more creative sparks can be found by creating the right conditions and through a more inclusive approach that involves marketers and researchers.

The application of simple brand marketing principles i.e. enabling the audience to be the main arbiter of choice, can be liberating and inform the production of more distinctive and appealing programmes and brands.

Research should play a role, but investment should be tailored to circumstances, challenges, and risks and rewards. Further as each programme property is different and each starts life in a different place, the research and marketing process needs to be adapted.

Conduct informal research with family members and friends by showing them programmes materials before more substantial laboratory-esque research to save time and money. Use the trade to provide insights too. Licensing people, for example, may have insights on the cultural issues and products that work in certain territories.

Design research to fuel the creative process rather than evaluate or dampen it! This means avoiding closed questions such as “don’t you love this green dress?” as this creates a vain attempt to please the researcher. In turn making the results invalid, and so hindering the end product and success.

Involve marketers and researchers at an early stage in the development process (via a short meeting at relatively low cost) to nurture ideas, better represent target audiences’ needs, eliminate biases and obtain more detailed ideas on what sells.  All increases the chance of success.

Use research to shape the ‘brand book’ and guide writers, illustrators and animators who need to know who they are designing for and what they are designing. This helps inform decision making but does not remove control from management teams and creatives who must still decide to make the pilot and develop this into a series.

Aim to create two scripts, a ‘brand book’, a pilot and provide evidence of stand-out and appeal to woo co-funders. While every development will be different, the end game is the same, to get finance.

The Children’s Media Conference takes place every July in Sheffield.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research: The Great Debate? The Jury’s In!

The quantitative vs. qualitative research debate has been going on since the 1970s.  Apparently it’s all about epistemology, a branch of philosophy concerned with the theory of knowledge.   Quantitative research is described as being positivism i.e. scientific and objective.  Qualitative research is interpretivism i.e. non-scientific and subjective.

A summary of the pros and cons of each approach is outlined below.

But there is an academic argument that the two methods cannot and should not work together.

“The chief worry is that the capitulation to “what works” ignores the incompatibility of the competing positivistic and interpretivist epistemological paradigms that purportedly undergird quantitative and qualitative methods, respectively”(1).  Blah, blah, blah…

Really?

Haven’t the two started to overlap already?

The blurring of lines between qualitative and quantitative research has been going on for quite some time.  How many times have you attended research groups and a done a quick ‘tally’ of responses to gain some quantitative guidance?  Or, within a quantitative omnibus, included a few open-ended questions to provide a little more colour? Superficial instances admittedly, but evidence of ‘blurring’ nonetheless.

Perhaps the reason overlap has not been fully acknowledged is because many believe the disciplines still operate separately?  Or is it because as you become a ‘quali’ or a ‘quanti’ researcher you are boxed at birth and compartmentalised?!  So never the twain shall meet? There is some truth in this as many researchers tend to train under one discipline and most large research organisations operate separate quantitative and qualitative departments.

However, from someone “on the ground”, as a qualitative researcher (and perhaps previously somewhat fearsome of quantitative research) it is possible to marry these two approaches together and get extra benefits. There is room for a new model, a better hybrid of qualitative and quantitative research.  Here are some examples:

Qualitative with added quantitative

Qualitative research discussions often include a few ‘wishy-washy’ answers to questions. Thus it can be difficult to discern differences in meaning. For example, in what one person says they ‘like’ versus another, as well as in overall shades of ’like’, ‘love’ etc. Using simple quantitative measures, such as a rating out of 10, provides much more clarity and decision making substance.

For example, used within a new product development (NPD) process it can aid selection and refinement and help ensure you are not wasting thousands of hours and pounds barking up the wrong tree!

Rather than asking consumers who ‘likes’ what, by asking them to give a numerical rating on product purchasing intent or to select a number of ‘would definitely try or buy’ product ideas helps focus time and energy on the ideas that matter.  This can provide a more useful ‘gate’ in a typical NPD process and enable better short-listing and prioritisation.

Quantitative with added qualitative

Quantitative data currently uses open-ended questions to explain the numbers. But in many cases it doesn’t explain anything because respondents have failed to fill in the boxes or the responses are insufficiently detailed.  The data of course can also be very costly to collect and cumbersome to analyse.

However, more innovative combination qualitative-quantitative research can be designed to assess and improve products from food and drink to media and beyond. In a recent project, respondents were asked to taste and critique a number of competitive food products. Research was undertaken in a high traffic location so people could be recruited off the street into a hall. After gathering consumers’ responses on a questionnaire it was possible to understand their reasoning as well as explore brand fit and opportunities for product improvement.

This piece of work was hugely beneficial in providing clear guidance and recommendations for product and brand refinement, as well as proving highly cost effective. The same techniques can be equally applied to assess for example, magazines and even service propositions.

It’s the same with packaging research, for example, at the pack refinement stage when a clear read on issues such as stand-out, and the reasoning behind stand-out is required. By co-opting a minimum of 100 consumers to review a mocked-up retail fixture rotated with current packs and proposed new pack designs and asking them to complete a short questionnaire. By identifying the appealing packs and critiquing them within the visual noise of a fixture, a numerical assessment of stand-out can be obtained. Together with a subsequent qualitative discussion to deconstruct and reconstruct each of the pack elements provides understanding behind the quantitative responses.

Marketing Inspiration

There will always be a role for ‘pure’ qualitative and quantitative research approaches but research doesn’t have to be pigeon-holed into either qualitative or quantitative.

Qualitative-quantitative research can be designed to offer the benefits of both. It is possible to benefit from face to face contact with consumers as well as obtain responses from meaningful numbers.  Within this it is possible to establish quotas for consumer types.  It is also possible to achieve time savings and cost savings, and sometimes speed too. Marketers just need to decide what they really need.  Do you need understanding or numbers? Or both? A creative research agency should guide and inspire their client or prospective new client, even if it goes against what is specified in the brief.

What do you think? If you have thoughts or reactions to this article, or would like to find out more about our creative qualitative-quantitative research methods, please call Helen on 01628 400 699 or send an email.

Reference

(1)   Against the quantitative – qualitative incompatibility thesis (or dogmas die hard) by Kenneth R. Howe, Ph.D – Professor of Philosophy at University of Colorado, Boulder Published in the Educational Researcher 17(8) 10-16 1988

Seven Enemies of Innovation; How to Spot and Slay Them

Innovation is the lifeblood of many businesses.   The proportion of sales due to new products from businesses competing in fast moving markets can often be over 50%. Higher still in technology companies. Yet why is it that so many products fail, and what can you do to ensure success? Here are seven enemies of innovation.  Spot them and slay them whenever you can!

Combating enemies of innovation may take more than the force

1. Failure to find or better meet a consumer need

Seventy five percent of products or services fail for this reason (1). This is particularly the case in technology markets where new innovations are often just new features trying to find a consumer need.

Even the famous Sony Walkman originally failed for this reason. The initial consumer response to the ‘Walkman’ was ‘why do I need a portable tape player when I have one at home?’ Only when Sony identified its ability to change consumers’ mood and invested in making the product ‘cool’ did sales start to take-off.

In markets where there are many competitors, new products or services must also better meet consumers’ needs,  identify and create new consumer needs and turn needs into wants.

2. Cultural myopia

The more successful the business the louder is the mantra ‘we’ve always done it this way’.  The more entrenched mindsets and processes become, the greater the risk of quenching the creative flame.  Remember the low-cost airlines effect on national airlines such as British Airways, Amazon’s effect on retail book-stores and Apple itunes’ effect on the music producers. This is where driven individuals, independent innovation teams and external agents can help cut through the malaise.

3. Lack of creativity

For new products to stand-out and be different requires creativity.  While great ideas or discoveries can occur in a Eureka moment (think Newton and apple trees) it is a myth that creativity is the preserve of the few. Everyone can be creative. It just helps to understand what it is and how to do it. Creativity is an ability to make new connections and generate ideas. It is a thinking skill – an ability to think laterally ie from side to side, in a divergent fashion – not just in a linear, logical, convergent fashion.

There are many techniques that can be used generate ideas and solve problems. These including reframing or looking at a problem from a different view-point, understanding and changing the rules in a market, through sensory stimulation and visioning or dreaming. For example, if Ernest Hemingway the writer ever felt bereft of ideas for his stories, he was known to sit in his rocking chair, relax and drift off to sleep. You can try this too. In the absence of a colleague, do as Hemingway did – hold marbles in your hand and work in a room with a wooden floor!

4. Lack of time, determination, or due process

Creativity also requires thinking time – time to create more, and iterate and build ideas.

As well as time, hard work and due process is important.  Creative sessions are useful to kick-start an innovation process, though it is easy to kill ideas and hard to develop them in a few short hours.  Like plants, ideas need to be nourished and given time to thrive otherwise they will die. While 3M discovered their ‘weak’ glue by accident the successful commercialisation of their famous post-it notes took twelve years.  This was in part due to the persistence of its inventor, Spence Silver. He believed passionately that his idea had potential. He eventually connected with another colleague Art Fry, who suggested how his glue could be applied.

Successful innovation is also a numbers game. If you create and assess many ideas the chance of success is greater than if you create and assess just one.  The US Product Development and Management Association (PDMA)(2) found that ten serious ideas or concepts are needed to bring one product to market successfully. Those products that have been nurtured through a rigorous product development process have a greater chance of success with around three quarters being launched compared with just under sixty percent overall.  Considering innovation as a process helps institutionalise or embed it in the corporate culture. At 3M, for example, innovation is defined as ‘a process that creates products that create a new basis of competition’.

5. Lack of team work

While many notable inventions are attributed to lone inventors, success is more often due to the power of teamwork – the combination of several brains focused on delivering a common goal.

Even great brand owners, such as Marks and Spencer have experienced failure; most notably when the decision to stock a pudding or shirt largely depended on the pleasure or not that it gave the Chairman of the company. One of the greatest film makers ever, Stephen Spielberg has also had flops, such as the allegedly self-indulgent comedy ‘1941’.

Assembling a team and creating the conditions for innovation to flourish has inspired many notable successes during the last century. These include the creation of the first jet fighter, the first animated movie, Virgin businesses such as Virgin Atlantic and the Friends tv series.

6. Lack of brand understanding or vision

Brands exist in the eyes of customers not just the management team. Understanding what customers consider existing, latent or potential strengths can be just an important catalyst to innovation as the widely held management view. Understanding perceived brand strengths and weaknesses can reveal new facets of a brand and provide new springboards or foundations for innovation.  Caterpillar has been a leading manufacturer of heavy duty construction vehicles since 1925. Recognising the rugged strength of the brand amongst construction workers and the fact that industrial chic is a recurring theme in the fashion business has enabled successful expansion into footwear. Within the company, footwear is considered a ‘walking machine’ – from professional steel toe capped work boots, to stylish slip-on comfort shoes; and now clothing and toys.

Having a clear idea where you want your business to go focuses team energy and activity. In the 1950s, Sony had a vision to ‘transform the poor worldwide perceptions of Japanese goods’. Today few Western homes will fail to have at least one of their products on display. In the US, Mr. Clean (Flash in the UK, Monsieur Propre in France) has been a leading household cleaner since the late 1950s; in the US the vision is now to extend the brand into car washing.

Mr Clean - the successful household cleaner is now expanding in to car washes

7. Lack of customer involvement

‘Research only dumbs down great ideas’. If we had a pound for every time we’ve heard this message we’d be a very rich people. This viewpoint is most evident in the creative industries. An industry where the gulf between the best and worst performers seems to widen every year.

The assumption is that research means ’focus groups’. Often research perceptions tend to be poor and easily dismissed. Perhaps through poor experience or a belief that the sole purpose or ability of research is to ‘focus’ on a particular topic and evaluate it.  While research can work this way, most consumers, even those as young as three or four, have both an innate creativity and marketing ‘savvy’. Further, all are different; have different backgrounds, beliefs, skills and ways of thinking. Most are naturally social rather than solitary animals and like communing, creating and working with others. This is a boon to the product developer. It means that there is a vast pool of talent waiting to be unleashed on your creative challenge.

Marketing Inspiration

1.       Establish a process for innovation but accept that it could/should be tailored or flexed to different challenges or circumstances.

2.       Create lots of ideas, give them time and conditions to grow. It’s easy to kill ideas but hard to develop them.

3.       Consult and involve diverse constituents in the development process. No-one has a monopoly on good ideas.

4.       Use the right tools and techniques to bring out the best in your team.  Creativity is not the preserve of the few.

5.       Involve consumers in the innovation process. Used in the correct way they can both generate and super-charge ideas.

For more information about The Marketing Directors’ approach to creative market research, product development and brand extension read on.

References:

(1)    Cooper , Robert. G  Winning at New Products, 1993

(2)    Product Development and Management Association, www.pdma.org, 1991

Branding: From Cows to Countries and Beyond

Branding cattle

Over the years, we’ve devised brand strategies for companies, products, services, all forms of media and personalities. Many have a provenance or are associated with a place. And now cities, regions and whole countries are in on the act. The driver is usually to  increase competitiveness in a particular market which means that there is a need to improve recognition and stand-out of an offer. This often goes hand in hand with stakeholders realising that there is a need for a more advanced approach to manage their operations. This thought process inspired early Egyptians around 2000BC to mark their cattle and inspired retailers to promote their names on their goods at the end of the 19th Century. With the growth and increasing number of  ‘emerging’ markets, such as, China, India, Eastern European, South American and African countries, there are new and genuine threats to both developed and other emerging nations.  It’s no wonder then that so many are now embracing the concept of ‘nation branding’.

Why Bother with Nation Branding?

This is the first question nations must ask. According to Hy Mariampolski, “the goal of nation brand marketing is to make positive elements more manifest and place the negative elements into latency” (1). Associated benefits include attracting more tourists, boosting inward investment and exports, attracting talent, enhancing currency stability, international credibility, influence and self-esteem (confidence, pride, ambition, resolve). While easily said, imagine the problems in motivating a modest few thousand people in a company to align their activities to achieve a common and appealing audience take-out. Then magnify that by a few factors of ten with countries and underlying challenges and reasons to bother with nation branding are easy to grasp.

What does Nation Branding mean?

Even when applying brand thinking to packaged goods, there is a popular misconception is that branding is just a logo or advertisement. Of course that is the tip of the iceberg; with organisations and countries there is much more beneath the surface. Thinking about countries as a culture is useful. Richard L Daft defines culture as “a series of values, standard interpretations, insights and ways of thinking that is shared by members and passed on to new members” (2). Another way of thinking about culture is “as ‘glue’ that provides a common understanding to focus and motivate people to a common end.” The term ‘cultural branding’ is useful to apply to the concept of branding nations for it starts to suggest the range of variables that need to be considered and managed. There are many symbols or visible aspects of culture such as the flags of nations, anthems, the landscape, buildings, iconography and dress code. There are the institutions, structures and processes by which the nation is managed. Such as The Queen, Parliaments, local councils, laws, the media landscape, tourist boards, retailers, trade organisations, etc. Underlying both are the accepted behavioural norms – the rules and means by which we conduct ourselves and communicate with others. “How are you today?”, “G’Day mate”, “Top of the morning to you” etc. Finally there are beliefs, accepted truths or opinions about what is or isn’t important. “Healthy living is about eating 5 pieces of fruit a day”, “… drinking (any) water”, “…drinking water with added fluorides” “… playing sport” etc. All of these factors are intertwined, influenced by each other and combine to send a message to other national Governments, media influencers, trade buyers, consumers and tourists.

How to Change a Nation Brand?

The notion or image of a brand is defined by its audiences – what they think and feel about a nation. Where national stereotypes are entrenched in minds they are difficult to change. So the start-point is to understand those views – what’s good and strong and what’s weak and poor? Then to define what the brand should be in the future. To be credible and believable it must be rooted in a truth and flexed to consolidate or re-express the good and design-out the poor. To change and embed the new stronger and more vibrant image in audiences’ minds takes time. Ensuring consistent and appealing communication through media and people requires the consistent application of communication and behavioural guidelines amongst organisations and individuals representing a nation’s interests. Like organisation culture change programmes, aligning national hearts and minds to a common goal and outcome, requires a multi-year effort. Establish guidelines to ensure that the sum of the parts reinforces the whole. For example, a brand architecture that defines the role and messaging of the Tourist Board, to the role and messaging of the Board of Trade and other bodies. Create a ‘brand book’ (or more usefully a website) that defines the symbols and images used online, in brochures and literature, in exhibitions and so on.

In 1995 Scotland was one of the first nations to embrace the concept of branding (3) though direction and momentum behind the initiative has changed with inevitable changes of Government. Since devolution of power to the Scottish Government in 2004 the concept of branding has gained in significance though much remains to be achieved to embed understanding and align the various national stakeholders.

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Marketing Inspiration

A nation brand is the sum of all of its parts; symbols, institutions, behaviours and beliefs. The terminology is relatively new but the underlying brand concepts are familiar.

Lessons that apply to successful brands in all walks of life apply to nation brands. They thrive through clear and distinctive communications and offerings that engage and exceed the expectations of their customers or audiences.

Building nation brands requires consistent, coordinated and concerted effort over time – by engaging audiences and stakeholders to create a vision for the brand. And by inspiring and uniting national organisations and individuals to create and implement plans to deliver the brand. This is where the difficulty lies.

The next branding challenge: Planet Earth? The Kryptonians had better look out!

References

(1) Hy Mariampolski, MD, QualiData Research Inc. New York, ‘Selling Brand Brazil’, Coppead School of Business, University of Rio De Janiero, Rio De Janeiro, April 2010

(2) Richard L. Daft, ‘Essentials of Organization Theory and Design’, South Western College Pub, 2000

(3) Reproduced by courtesy of the Scottish Government

Read more about The Marketing Directors’ brand marketing consultancy services.

Briefing, Selecting and Managing Marketing Agencies

Marketing agencies will be the bane and boon of your life. With careful management they can transform the performance of your brand, your business and yourself.

To get the most out of agencies be clear about your objectives and needs, understand your agency and work at the relationship.

Be clear about your objectives

When briefing agencies be as open as you can. The more an agency understands your needs and issues the more they should be able to help you. Prepare a written brief; the process of doing so will help you clarify issues and opportunities and engage and gain agreement and support from your colleagues.

Understanding agencies

The agency landscape is constantly changing. At one end of the spectrum there are the agency groups owned by the likes of WPP and Omnicom. At the other there is an ever changing mix of independent and up and coming agencies. Keep abreast of the changes.

Monitor the people moves especially if it is happening in one of your agencies. Check out the odd new agency that catches your eye.  The nature of the profession means that there are good people to be found in many places and those that are most vigilant stand to benefit the most.

In terms of cost, understand how remuneration works. The more intellectual or consulting agencies work on a mainly time cost basis. Database marketing and campaign communication agencies tend to be time and/or cost-plus. Marketing implementation services are more price list driven, for example pay-per-click plus fixed fee. Overall, expect to pay more for those with London offices  and less in the suburbs or rural areas. Expect to pay more for a heavy duty management team, those with an overseas management structure and those that belong to a quoted group. Less layers and complexity means less cost.

Manage marketing strategy and execution

Developing creative and truly integrated marketing campaigns  requires strong agency management. Campaigns can fail for either strategic or executional reasons and a poor brief is often seen as a reason to reinvent your strategy.  Great communications are underpinned by robust insights and a clear and compelling brand positioning. All agencies say they do this – but brand or marketing communication strategy is a specialist skill and most do not.   Seek specialist help when needed and if you are working across multiple media, use your management skills to ensure collaborative working, set the tone and define and manage demarcation lines.

Build good relationships

Having seen the world from both sides of the fence, if you are paying an agency to help you, never be in doubt that they are on your side. But remember that agency people are human  – they’ll work harder for you if they like you. So build good relationships; let your agency know that you are on their side – and if the work is deserving, give the occasional thank-you. Good relationships can return benefits in many ways, for example in terms of profile and career advancement!

For more insights on briefing, selecting and managing agencies, read The Marketing Director’s Handbook. It has been acclaimed as a book that all directors should read and that all marketing directors should keep close to hand.  It is now available in hardback and ebook (epub) formats.

For a downloadable one pager on how to brief market research agencies follow this link to The Market Researchers website.

© 2010 The Marketing Directors

The Fishy Idea that turned into a Brand

It is a downer returning home from your holidays.  You know all good things must come to an end;  you expect a tedious wait at the airport and expect a journey that can be tiring in the extreme.

So it was with squeals of delight that we discovered the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company at our departure airport.  “That’s the company founded by Forrest Gump” shouted the little one.

The neon sign was first to catch the eye.  It shouts all American and come and look at me.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Neon Signage

Then the merchandise. So what could a company that originated in shrimp fishing possibly have to offer? Lots more than we imagined. The little one tried on a snug fitting t-shirt emblazoned with the company logo – in a trice she was transformed into a cool able seaman on Bubba’s boat.  Then we found some shrimp plush toys. And lots of sporting goods including football jerseys, water bottles, table tennis bats – all stuff connected to the Forrest Gump film based on the novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The miscellany and colourful displays invited browsing.

Bubba Gump Shrimps in the Market

Bubba Gump Table Tennis Bats (Paddles) in the Market

Bubba Gump Market - Some of the sayings

We had to discover more. The diner itself was like a shack. Wooden beams holding up a corrugated iron roof. Three different ‘rooms’ decorated with US car number plates and signs outlining simple morals or beliefs:

“When all else fails, try doing what the captain suggested”

“A promise is a promise”

“If the customer wants vanilla, give him vanilla”

To get the waiters’ attention, we were invited to display the sign “Stop Forrest Stop” and when we were happy to display the sign “Run Forrest Run”. We ordered “Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Heaven”. The choice was essentially shrimp or shrimp. Either boiled, broiled, fried, baked, sauteed, steamed or barbecued. But hey that’s what makes the difference. The coconut shrimp were devine as were the shrimp balls.

With the family engaged we enjoyed a happy hour reliving and conversing about the film. As the little one remarked; “this would be a great place to go with a first date.”

Staff and customers at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Cancun, Mexico

 

 

Marketing Inspiration

Turn ideas in winning business concepts by developing the story

At the heart of every great business or brand lies a great idea. The idea behind the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company is born of a the character and content of the film and novel. It has been built into a compelling  and above all distinctive business proposition by creating a story based on the Forrest Gump film.

Attract and engage consumers through attention getting packaging and display

From signage through to the physical environment, products and people, experiencing the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company is like peeling back the layers of an onion to reveal the magic of the brand within. While we don’t know whether the brand was conceptualised using the proverbial ‘brand onion’ and ‘customer journey’, it is possible to glimpse their application to interpret, and potential to engineer great brand experiences. 

Accelerate awareness and demand by including magical moments and encourage word of mouth

The combination of lots of little things adds up to a memorable experience – one that you want to tell your friends about. The staff were part of the fun – they had to be included in our photographs!

Ensure commercial success by proving the business model and driving international roll out

The business was formed as long ago as 1996 and was proven in the US before expanding to Mexico and Asia. There are now 33 sites with sales in the region of $5.5m per location per annum. That’s pretty high with the merchandise adding value beyond what might be expected from a pure play restaurant. As the company’s website says, the idea was inspired by Paramount Pictures and turned into a concept by Rusty Pelican Restaurants. This then led to a ‘licensing agreement’ based on the motion picture property.

For more information on how to create and deliver a compelling and distinctive brand experience check out our brand positioning services and marketing capability courses.

And as Forrest would say, “that’s all I have to say about that.”

All photographs © Guy Tomlinson 2010

B2B vs. B2C Marketing – What Works Best on the Dance Floor?

Marketing a product to an individual consumer rather than to a business is often a very different proposition. Or is it? The growth of digital media means that there is an increasing number of channels and methods from which to chose. So how should marketers approach the task of engaging and winning customers? It’s a bit like learning a dance.

Comparing B2C and B2B marketing

 

The differences between B2b and B2c marketing

 

Businesses that Sell to Consumers

The challenge of B2C marketing is to build product awareness and convert browsers into buyers.  As it’s usually a ‘low involvement’ purchase, say to buy a confectionery bar, marketing campaigns must capture the consumer’s interest immediately.   Typically mass promotion activities like tv and press advertising are employed.  In addition, special offers such as discounts or vouchers help  ‘activate’ the purchase. The challenge is to establish an effective one step routine.

In the online world, an email or search marketing campaign is required to get consumers to click and buy. The email or advertisement will take the consumer to a landing page on a web site that is designed to sell the product. The purchasing process must be simple and easy, for example, by integrating the shopping basket and checkout page. Any more than a couple of clicks and the customer will go to another shop.

Businesses that Sell to Businesses

The goal of B2B marketing is also to convert prospects into customers but the purchase is usually more considered.  More decision makers are usually involved and the challenge is to engage and educate the target audience and build relationships. To succeed a B2B company must generate and nurture leads over a more elongated period. A careless or quick step could mean a lost partner (or customer).  The challenge is to establish an effective multi-step relationship building routine.

In the online world, an email campaign or online advertising campaign can drive prospects to a website but is less likely to achieve an immediate sale.  The eventual goal should be to secure a meeting with a sales representative in order to discuss the customer’s businesses requirements in more detail and guide him, her or them to completion of the sale. By providing information about the products and services, benefits, features, possibly pricing, and contact information the customer can be reassured and his or her trust won.  Conceiving marketing activity as one of several  steps in a longer, integrated, multi-step campaign that includes awareness and relationship building via direct mail, newsletters, video promotion, webinars, virtual exhibitions, conferences or live events and social media such as Twitter or Linked In will be more likely to persuade.

Marketing Inspiration

While there are differences in B2B and B2C marketing, the principles about engaging and building customer relationships remain the same. At the outset understand the customer journey from the customer’s point of view.  Understand the sources of information and the selection criteria that the customer uses. Understand the triggers and barriers to building awareness and relationships, through to the sale. At each step along the journey, consider how the experience that your brand delivers is or can be different or better than your competitors.

If you are a B2B marketer learn how to dance the marketing 2 or 3 step. If you are a B2C marketer while you may have mastered a 1 step routine, a 2 or 3 step routine may enhance your ability to build stronger customer relationships.  Determine the appropriate messages, media and timing to intervene and attract and engage customers at each step on the journey. In so doing you will be better able to invest your resources where they really make a difference.

Give us a call to find out more about our marketing consultancy services can help you understand your customer’s journey and put together a marketing routine that really make a difference to your business.