An Unexpected Show of Caring.

By

Steve Poppe

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March 26, 2010

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My wife does Yoga at Fitness Incentive in Babylon a couple of mornings a week and she just retuned asking if I would smell her. The instructor, you see, had sprayed some lavender on her at the end of today’s session, saying something about its soothing properties. This was an unexpected show of caring on the part of the instructor.

Marketers would do well to learn from the instructor and offer unexpected demonstrations of caring to customers. Bob Gilbreath, chief marketing strategist at Bridge Worldwide, is building a brand and a movement around Marketing with Meaning. Is an unexpected show of caring marketing with meaning? Most certainly.

Expected

When leaving a store and someone says “thank you for shopping at ____” it’s nice, but not unexpected. While at a restaurant with spoon to mouth and the proprietor sticks his smiling face in asking “Everything alright?” — this may be unexpected but it is not a real show of caring. While at Mary Carrol’s Pub and the bartender buys back after your third quaff, unexpected? Not really. Good business, yes, but not necessarily a show of unexpected or caring.

Caring and thank you are two different things. The latter requires thought; it’s a skill actually. Twitter can be used as an example of unexpected caring, used correctly. A coupon dispenser is not caring. Customer service is not caring, it’s the price of doing business. When Steve Jobs, as was reported in the news yesterday, answers an email to a customer it is unexpected. And it’s caring.

Let’s get on with it marketers! When you leave the building each day ask yourself “What did I do to show a customer – not every customer – I care about them in a surprising way. Lavender anyone?

What to Expect From Ads on Apple iPad.

By

Steve Poppe

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March 25, 2010

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Where to start?

The ads that will adorn the Apple iPad on April 3^rd are going to be pretty interesting. First, if they are good, they’ll be more like selling applications than ads. Those who create selling apps rather than Adobe InDesign and static display ads (iPads don’t take Flash yet) will have the early wins.

Selling Apps

Selling apps that come from ad shops where the creative dept. was the lead (not the media dept.) will also win. That said, brands that team up on the selling app will do even better. Those who team the objective, strategy, measurement, idea, creative, digital production and follow-up are more likely to have an app than an ad. But that takes time, resolve and a new process…which is expensive. Did I mention time? If you started this week, you’re toast. The best iPad selling apps won’t be the result of a great piece of “creative” or creative media buy, they will result from cross-silo efforts.

Super Pasters

Just being there on April 3^rd will be a win for advertisers. There are currently 200,000 pre-orders for iPads. How may of those people do you think have taken the day off? Exactly. Followers of What’s the Idea? know about Posters vs. Pasters. Well, in terms of the tech target, the first people seeing iPad ads will be Super Posters. Their blog posts, vlogs, podcasts and Tweets will abound. The iPad’s first audiences will be techies and those in creative businesses – a very viral and powerful target. And the world will be watching. Interestingly, the first big brands buying ads will be: Unilever, Toyota, Chase, Fidelity, and FedEx — not what you’d expect as a high indexing techie target. Korean Air, on the other hand, that’s a good fit. Should be very interesting. Peace!

What makes your brand important?

By

Steve Poppe

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March 24, 2010

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A new favorite question I use when planning is “What makes your brand important?” When asked of a brand manager or corporate executive it’s a way to cut through the shizz. “Because it has 54% market share” is a business answer not a brand planning answer. “Because it’s a healthy source of protein a working class family can eat for dinner” is important.

Intel

I’ve been paying attention to Intel, who is spending again, wondering what makes it important. Is it that they are in the majority of computers around the world? According to the logic above, no. It makes them powerful but not important. Is it the “rock star” or “our nerds are a different breed” campaigns? Maybe a little, since R&D is a nice spin, but probably not. Is it the so 1980w “Intel inside?” Nope. Is it embedded in the newish tagline “Sponsors of Tomorrow?” Me thinks the answer is yes.

One of the most important things Intel does and owns is the Science Talent Search. Every year around this time Intel announces the top three winners of its contest looking for the best Science minds in America. As this program grows over time and important scientific developments are attributed to its graduates, Intel will grow even greater in brand stature. Can you say Nobel? Pulitzer? Chips and technology is Intel’s business, but the future is what makes Intel important. Bring a better future to life through products and deeds — and you have a powerful, important brand idea.

USNews and World Report.

I know of a huge healthcare organization in NYC whose sole marketing mission is to elevate its position in the annual USNews and World Report Best Hospital rankings. Its goal is not to hire better docs or reduce infection or cure cancer, per say, it’s to raise its rankings. To do the latter, it must do the former, but the rankings is a clear, tight strategy. It’s measureable and brilliant. USNew is an importance maker.

What makes your brand important? Peace?

Optimism vs. Other

Marketing

By

Steve Poppe

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March 23, 2010

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Let’s face it, it’s been a crazy tough economy for everyone. Especially marketers and those in advertising related businesses. Were it not for internet search and social media (ways to keep moving at reduced costs) things would have been even worse.

When money is tight people fall into two distinct categories: optimists and pessimists. The whole pessimism thing is easy to diagnose and figure out. It is an alterable condition cured by the passage of time. The optimism thing is harder to understand. And in business it’s less prevalent. Is it tied to a special neural gene? One thing that goes hand-in-hand with optimism in my view is the ability to view things not just in the here and now but with a historic perspective. Time passes. There is a now, a future and a past. Optimists tend to see them all.

New York University

New York University is an example of an institution surrounding itself with optimism. NYU has grand plans to grow the school’s footprint, stature and academic standing over the next 20 years. They will succeed because of optimism and planning. Do you think the day after healthcare passes and a huge part of the populace is angry is a good time to talk about this huge investment – probably not. That’s optimism.

When you meet marketers and corporate leaders you can often tell immediately which camp they fall into. And trust me it’s always best to do business with optimists. Not those of the “head in the clouds” variety but realists who are builders and forward lookers. Brands, businesses, organizations and departments need good leadership. Optimism and a positive view forward are cornerstones. Steve Jobs? Optimist. Peace it up!

Domino’s Takes on Papa John’s

Marketing

By

Steve Poppe

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March 22, 2010

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Dominos Pizza has invested in a big turnaround and you can see a snapshot here at this link. Management, after listening to customers past and present and realizing it had a product and image problem, decided to reformulate its pizza recipe. Dominos attacked “cardboard crust” and “sauce like catsup” and now has a tasty product story to tell. (You’ve seen the hokey but effective focus group ads, I’m sure.) Ingredients, however, is an important brand component of Papa John’s Pizza, whose tagline is “Better ingredients. Better pizza,” so Dominos is playing catch up.

Recently, Dominos launched some advertising telling us that 3 of its new pizzas win taste tests over Papa Johns. Because of Papa John’s lead in ingredients — a brand idea it has been pushing for a while — I would normally say Papa John’s doesn’t have much to worry about. Taste tests are tactics not strategies. But Papa John’s has been playing lip service to the ingredients strategy for a while now, focusing on sports promotions and price promotions. Plus it has given a lot more brand time to Papa John Schnatter the CEO, which is a distraction. Ingredients equal taste and Papa John’s has lost its momentum.

Dominos is the underdog now and you know how America loves an underdog. This is an interesting fight to watch and one which may have just turned in Dominos favor. Peace!

The Future of Retail.

Marketing

By

Steve Poppe

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March 19, 2010

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Barnes and Noble just appointed the head of its web business CEO. Does that tell you something? Yeah, yeah…it says increased digital emphasis. But let me ask you a question: Do you shop at Sam’s Club, Costco or one of the other big box warehouse stores? How about Wal-Mart? If so, does that store have a greater share of your wallet (SOW) than other stores? I suspect so.

When Stephen Riggio the vice chairman of Barnes and Noble says that for the next 2 years the “net number of stores will not change much” and after that “we’ll have to see” what does that tell you? Certainly a push to digital, but I’m also thinking he’s referring to a retail square footage play. Some of the cheapest books I ever bought were at Costco.

Future of Retail.

Here’s the future of retail – and we may see it happen first in China. The Costcos of the world will create low cost mall like mega stores under one roof with branded experiences for companies such as Barnes and Noble throughout. The experiences will be much less elaborate than at home stores. The floors will be concrete, the mobile search sublime, prices wonderful and it will all, no doubt, occur under a vinyl banner with a bird or two circling overhead. Check-out will be done with scanners and the hardest part of shopping will be getting to your car. This isn’t the Jetsons, it’s the retail future. I think Messrs. Riggio and Lynch are already there, in mind. Peace!

Entertainment in advertising.

Marketing

By

Steve Poppe

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March 18, 2010

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“Here we are now, entertain us” is a lyric from the Nirvana song Smells Like Teen Spirit. A classic. The need to be entertained is a very human trait. Generally, when you go to the movies or turn on the TV you are seeking entertainment — news shows aside. Is Facebook about entertainment? And if so, what percentage? Forrester or the Altimeter Group should do a research study to find out what people are actually doing on Facebook. It might help with their monetization model.

When people use search engines, what percent of their queries are about entertainment? People read books for entertainment, but many only read nonfiction. Is that entertainment? Humans are complex animals and require different levels of entertainment but one area where we overdo it is in advertising. Just look at the ads on the Super Bowl. Advertising isn’t supposed to make you warm and happy so that when the selling proposition is delivered you are smiling, ads are supposed to make you feel something, then do something.

Ad agents, be they traditional or digital, need to dial down the entertainment factor and dial up the selling factor. Entertainment is easy, especially poor entertainment. Selling and persuading are hard. Consumers need reasons to buy. Peace!

JWT: “Periods suck, the ads don’t have to.”

Marketing

By

Steve Poppe

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March 17, 2010

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Jason DeTurris was the JWT account planner on Schick Quattro this past year and winner of a AAAAs Jay Chiat Award for work that led to inspired, effective creative. His branding idea was “transform your topiary.” You remember the TV spots…they encouraged women to shave and sculpt their nether regions. It was fun, grown up advertising and it sold lots of razors.

Well, I can’t confirm it, but Jason’s back — or at least JWT’s back with some bold women’s advertising for U by Kotex. The idea, targeting women 14-21, is based upon the fact that historically work in the category has been paternalistic. That is to say, it has discussed periods and menstrual products as a single father might with his daughter. Awkwardly. Facilitators of this euphemistic story telling are the TV networks, two of which won’t even run the new work. The spots parody and make fun of old campaigns and their silly demonstrations; the pouring of blue water onto a pad being one.

JWT is breaking ground here and thanks to the web (site created by Organic) is taking a much richer story to young women. In addition, it has created an enemy in fem-care advertising that everyone can rally around – a conversation starter. JWT is going to make some serious bones (I’m reading the Godfather) in the fem-care category and should be a go-to shop for excellent creative (along with Ogilvy) that targets women. Schick and Kimberly Clark (Kotex) prove it. So Jason, is that you?

Brand Planning Sets You Free.

Marketing

By

Steve Poppe

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March 16, 2010

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Following a successful pitch a number of years ago, I was told we won the business because we were bold enough to suggest keeping the previous agency’s tagline. According to one board member who had been with L’Oreal, this was unheard of in the healthcare industry. The brand strategy we pitched was perfectly in synch with the organizations existing tagline, so why get rid of it? The problem was, the incumbent agency’s advertising wasn’t proving the tagline. Their ads were communicating and informing but not in an organized, brand-building fashion.

Marketers have to find a brand promise, believe it, live it and invest in it. It should be supported in news, trade shows, retail, ads, Adwords, tweets, etc. As a client once said to me, all communications need to make deposits in the brand bank. Not random deposits — planned, meted, brand-differentiating deposits, based upon a brand plan. A brand plan is hard to make but simple to follow. It comprises a claim or promise and three discrete support planks. Prove the promise through the planks every day – in messaging and product development – and you will build your brand and market share. The brand plan sets you free. Peace!

Where you at Rock, where you at?

By

Steve Poppe

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March 15, 2010

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RFID stands for radio frequency identification. It is a really haps technology with great marketing upside. If you have a phone that is RFID enabled and walk by a pastry shop with tarts fresh out of the oven, you might get a special alert. “Hot apple tarts.” If you don’t pay attention and continue walking the shop may ping you with a coupon to slow you down. (Nuisance? Perhaps. Smart? Very.)

Checkin

Checkin (a term that foursquare would like to own) is a manual geolocation application that allows your followers on foursquare to know where you are. If you checkin to Mary Carrol’s Irish pub on St. Paddy’s Day, your friends can find you. If Mary’s Carrol’s knows you have lots of friends, they’ll be smart to encourage you to checkin. Should you decide upon stealth mode, don’t do it.

These services subscribe to the marketing view that where you are is more important than what websites you visit. Don’t get me wrong, visiting websites is a directional indicator of interest, but feet on premise or near prem is a big driver of da monies. And thanks to social media apps like foursquare, gowalla, loopt, etc. we marketers have new exciting mobile toys to play with. Peace!