Best Buy. “We have a situation.”

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January 3, 2012

Look, I’m no genius. When I predict things like the trivestiture of Google (gonna happen) or that Best Buy will suffer at the hands of its current CMO — predicted at the pinnacle of his celebrity – it was just simple brand and marketing logic. Larry Downes’ article in Forbes, on the other hand, is a little bit of a genius. Entitled “Why Best Buy is going out of business…gradually” it is beautifully organized, a story well-told, and emotionally charged. It’s hard to read it without being convinced. (That said, I don’t agree Best Buy is going down, but the case is compelling.)

What I found striking in Mr. Downes’ article was a not-so-new Web phenomenon that occurred after Thanksgiving when Best Buy could not fulfill some online orders. A situation. Here’s the missive they sent to customers:

“Due to overwhelming demand of hot product offerings on BestBuy.com during the November and December time period, we have encountered a situation that has affected redemption of some of our customers’ online orders.”

I was at a start-up not too long ago with some under-cooked technology that fried the night of Beta release. We were a media darling at the time. The response of our CTO was “Due to extraordinary demand, the servers went down and…” Turning negatives in to positives might have worked in 2007 but not in 2011.

No doubt ecommerce has reshuffled the 4Ps. Some might argue Ps have been removed. Others might suggest Ps have been added. I’m sticking with 4. Get them all right — you will still encounter situations but you’ll be prepared to deal. Peace!

Technique Vs. Result.

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Steve Poppe

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January 2, 2012

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the state of education in America and how it can be improved. In brand planning there is research and there is insight. One is a technique, the other a result. In academia there is teaching – a technique, and education the result. Too great a percentage of those in academia are teachers, not educators.

One of my favorite “insights,” mined on behalf of an entertainment property was “a musician is never more in touch with his/her art than when looking into the eyes of the audience.” Immediate feedback is available in the eyes…in the bop. In class, those with the ability to connect with students, to get through – who can see the light in the eyes of students—they are the educators. In all we do, let’s not confuse the technique with the result. Peace!

Scheiße

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Steve Poppe

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December 30, 2011

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This is my last post of 2011. Are you ready? It’s a short one.

No one loves consumers more than I. I study them, they are my living. But consumers don’t know scheiße (German, pronounced shy-zah) about managing brands; let’s stop pretending they do. May peace be upon you.

Segment Differently.

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Steve Poppe

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December 29, 2011

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For strategic planners of a certain stripe (read brand planners) segmentation is not just about physical characteristics, e.g., purchase frequency, amount purchased, price sensitivity. It’s about psychological characteristics. If one tries to pattern people into motivational, psycho-social and cultural groupings, things begin to look different. It is these patterns that provide insights that help create more impactful marketing ideas.

Let’s look at education a little differently. Here are three different student segments. First Impoverished in Body. Those who live in Karachi or Rio or Dharavi….or in crazy poverty in the U.S. Students who worship the ability to learn and better themselves. Kids starved for education, inspiration and opportunity. They sit at the front of the class and shush the other kids. At the other end of the spectrum live the Silver Spoon Kids of Privilege. Bred to succeed, sired for $40,000 a year private high schools, loved and nurtured to be better earners. And in the middle, the third segment, the Public School Majority. What’s the opposite of a Tiger Mom? These kids float through school not to prepare for the future, but because the bus picks them up. No idea about major, a modicum of pride in grades, education for them is not a tool but a pass time. Sports and booty rule the day. (There are a lot of grays I missed, yo understando, but these are okay brackets.)

These segments are palpable. Alive. Rich. Worthy of deep thought for marketing minds. If you are Staples or St. John’s University, Apple or JanSport how do you think about your consumers? And their parents. Segment different. Peace.

Creative that sells.

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Steve Poppe

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December 27, 2011

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Not sure where I first heard the phrase “creative that sells” but it stuck with me. Obviously, the first definition relates to selling marketer’s goods and services. It’s what marketers do: create words, pictures, sounds and motion that inspire feelings and actions to move product. But another definition of “creative that sells” exists — and it relates to agencies making a profit. An agency that puts 100 hours into developing a piece of TV, print or digital creative that doesn’t sell to the client is an agency that has to do it again. That inability to sell creative the first time out costs agencies money…and rep. Unfortunately, creative that does sell the first time out is often safe creative. Repackaged creative. Repurposed, even borrowed creative. It feels familiar because it is familiar.

Creative that sells (first definition) differs from creative that sells (second definition) in that the former is “wild yet fitting.” It moves product because it is untamed and unique but appropriate when offering up claim and proof. Conversely, off the shelf creative and/or wild creative that is not fitting sells to clients but not to consumers. Great creative people know this. Great creative people know when to throw a fish back into the ocean. It may be a great fish, just not for today. Sadly, there are a lot of seine net operators out there and it’s hurting both marketing and agencies. When an idea is right, for the right reasons, and sustains all parties, it will sell. By both definitions.

The best worst job in America.

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Steve Poppe

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December 22, 2011

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One of the most exciting yet scariest jobs in the world is probably CMO of the Magazine Publishers of America. The MPA is an association funded by competing print and online properties that fight one another harder than the GOP and Dems at holiday time. To say the magazine business is changing would be an understatement. But to a great extent, it is also staying the same. All that’s changing is what’s delivered and how. Brilliant photo journalism is still required but now must include video. Great writing, analysis and thought leadership still win that day – but there is a lot more competition (bloggers) and algorithmic noise.

Readers twitch more today than ever before, requiring magazine publishers to anchor them to their sites. And advertises, the lifeblood of the magazine business, are becoming enamored of publishing and content creation. And don’t forget magazines are made from trees, not a particularly forward thinking resource. (Though probably more renewable than circuit boards.)

Herding the powerful magazine cats out of the marble hallway is a challenge. It requires someone who has more power than the cats themselves. Someone who commands respect. Probably not an ink-stained patriarch, but someone with mad vision. Someone who can see beyond the dashboard. Who the Lewis and Clark is? If you thought being CEO of Yahoo was tough, keep your eyes on this search. Peace.

Officious and Dysfunctional Strategies.

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Steve Poppe

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December 21, 2011

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Officious is a wonderful word and one too infrequently used in strategic planning. An adjective, it is defined as: objectionably aggressive in offering one’s unrequested and unwanted services, help, or advice; meddlesome: an officious person. Strategies that lead to this type of brand claim are a blight. Conversely, strategies so soft and huggable consumers cozy up to a tangent in order to get the brand claim, are also a blight. Some might call that borrowed interest.

What does Coke do better than any other soft drink? Refresh. People want to be refreshed, so offering up examples of how and when Coke refreshes in not officious. Telling them Coke is more refreshing (world’s most, more people refresh, more refreshing than…) is. As Coke and Wieden and Kennedy would have you believe today, Coke makes you Happy. That’s borrowed or tangential. It makes for nice advertising and playful Coke machines, but is an indirect sell. When Coke gets back to its core refreshment value and shows us how it refreshes, proves how it refreshes, the advertising will sell more.

The line between officiousness and borrowed, tangential value in not a fine line, ii’s a chasm. So what do so many brand strategies jump to one or the other? It’s dysfunction, is what it is. Peace!

Brand Planting, I mean Planning.

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Steve Poppe

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December 20, 2011

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I’m an idea farmer. A strategic farmer. I assess the ground, rid it of things that will hinder growth, and then I plant. I search for the right kind of idea, make sure it’s clean and healthy, and put it into an environment where it can grow strong. This is what many strategic planners do and where they often stop.

Too often planners hand off the idea and let the elements take over. But ideas need attention. And cultivation. Water and sunshine. They can handle some bad weather, it’s natural, but this is not a “plant and go” business. There are ideas I have planted for corporations a decade ago that are still growing. Their root systems are strong. Long gone is my paper, but those roots are herculean.

There are lots of consultants and freelance planners bouncing around who are in it for the invoice. They plant the seeds and go farm elsewhere. Me, I like to stick around and watch what flowers and bears fruit. I like to use those grown nutrients to sustain additional growth. Strategic planners who seed an idea but don’t get involved with the deliverables – aiding other departments to bring the idea to life — are either poorly managed or cowardly. Life is not easy for an idea farmer.

If you are in the business of redistributing marketing wealth, growing markets, you need someone who plants and cultivates. Peace!

Music in Advertsing.

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Steve Poppe

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December 19, 2011

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It is that time of year when people start talking about the “bests.” In advertising, most agree the two best spots are Deutsch’s Darth Vader spot for Volkswagen and Wieden and Kennedy’s Chrysler ad with Eminen “Imported From Detroit.” Both are car ads but in my opinion what sets these spectacular efforts apart is the use of music.

Music was once a much bigger part of advertising than it is today. Often, it’s a throw-away now. Big ad agencies used to have large music departments with recording studios, op boards and lots of seats for musicians to sit in while awaiting auditions. Today music departments are on someone’s computer. When the spot is 65% complete someone might ask “What kind of music bed do we need?”

Muscle memory is something I always have my clients aspire to in branding and advertising. Associate your work with clear ideas, images, turns-of-a-phrase or something to hum. When I hear Eminem these days I’m ready to buy Detroit. To buy Chrysler. I’m thinking Kid Rock and “In it to win it like Yserman.” Imported From Detroit was is a brilliant brand strategy – but the spot was even better. Poetry and music are still the best ways to deliver a sale. Peace. And RIP Police Officer Peter Figoski.

Job Interview Question.

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Steve Poppe

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December 16, 2011

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One of my favorite interview questions when hiring is “Tell me about me.” It often creates quizzical looks. Perplexed looks. I usually reserve it for half way through the interview and sometimes step out of the interview for a couple of beats so the candidate can look around my office. If I am shined on, that’s telling. If the response is “I just met you.” Another ding.

In the advertising and marketing business, people with good observation and interpretation skills are very valuable. The ability to process information quickly and tell truths, even more so.

One time I almost got into trouble asking the question. For some reason a young lady thought the question bordered on harassment. She lost her cool for a second. I didn’t recommend hiring her, but since as they used to say at McCann she was a “special” (friend of a client), hired she was. She turned out to be quirky indeed.

Try the question out sometime, it’s pretty cool and provides a nice cull of the candidates. Peace.