13 posts tagged “innovation”
Burger King is once again under fire. This time for their innovative initiative “Whopper Virgins” - a new advertising campaign featuring “Burger virgins”, impoverished villagers in remote parts of the world, taking part in Whopper versus Big Mac taste tests.
Personally, I must say I applaud their initiate. But I am not “looking underneath the surface”, merely basing my liking to it on the quality of execution and the innovative marketing an. The video you are about to see is - in my opinion - interesting and very well produced. In fact, I would like to know more about the people featured in the movie.
The legatimacy of the testing, which the web site says was conducted by independent, third party testers, isn’t what bothers people. What might irk people is the concept that Burger King is taking its fast-food to people who aren’t used to this type of food in their diets, who aren’t usual subjects to commercialism and who probably don’t really care too much.
Watch the video below and judge for yourself. Feel free to leave comments.
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Customerization is a neologism and can be defined as the customization of products or services through personal interaction between a company or brand and the customer. A company is customerized when it is able to dialogue with individual customers and respond by customizing its products, services and messages on a ”one-to-one” basis. But it is also a form of personalization that allows the customer to modify or tailor a product or service according to their needs.
In my opinion customerization represents a real opportunity for many brands interested in engaging customers and communities of prospects. Customerization certainly does create involvement, is engaging and will, if done properly, become the talk of the town.
I have searched for some (cute) examples. Haven’t found many, but here are a few. If you have more examples, please do share in the comment box below.
Creating your own Heinz Ketchup
Heinz offer a solution where you can customize your message on a number of Heinz products. So far this solution is offered in USA and Canada only. Too bad.
Could even be great for restaurants to promote dessert, coffee or… Or for the company canteen.
For birthdays or other events, this gimmick might be the most talked about experience from the event.
Your face or brand name on an official US stamp
I love this one. And I think it might turn out to be a great add-on for a successful direct mail campaign. I guess you would have to post your direct mail from the USA, though. Hope that some of the European postal companies will pick-up on this soon. How about Swiss Post – they are usually very innovative?
Sure your children, grand children or your friends children will love this one. Or perhaps your chocolate loving spouse ? The image here doesn’t do the concept justice. I think this is one of the customerization products one have to see physically. What happens is that you get a message on one side of an M&M and a picture on the other side. The picture will look like the illustration on the very right. And of course you get to choose your favorite M&M colors. Cute, ehh?
In a new initiative, Michael Leander plan to provide you with one marketing tip pr. day. The tips are delivered through short videos lasting between 2 and 15 minutes.
The very first marketing tip of the day is about Twitter Grader. A neat solution that allow you to grade your Twitter activities. Developed by the US company Hubspot, the solution is free.
To watch the Marketing Tip of The Day at Marketingboss TV - click here
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von Claudia David, Clarity Planning
Jahrelang ging es im Marketing hauptsächlich darum einen hohen Bekanntheitsgrad, eine gute Lage und einen klaren USP zu haben. Dies ist natürlich immer noch wichtig, aber heute wollen die Menschen mehr. Verbraucher verlangen Inspiration und Innovation.
Um dieses Verlangen zu beantworten entwickeln Marken wie auch Händler immer wieder neue Erlebnisse, die zum Kauf und zur Treue anregen sollen.
Folglich suchen Unternehmen nach neuen Möglichkeiten ihre Marken darzustellen um so ihre Position im Markt zu stärken und mit Treue belohnt zu werden.
Markenpflege und Handel verschmelzen. Die Landschaft des Einzelhandels profiliert sich immer mehr durch Unterhaltung und neue Anstöße. Erlebnisreiche Einkaufskonzepte mischen neue Inhalte mit Kommerz.
Der folgende Beitrag soll einfach zum Nachdenken und weiteren Austausch anregen.
Die Welt der Erlebnisse explodiert.
Es gibt die verschiedensten Ansätze, Markenerlebnisse oder Erlebnismarketing zu kreieren. Sie strecken sich von Events, Internet, über Sponsorships, Ausstellungen bis hin zum eigenen Shop. Und genauso vielseitig wie die Form der Darstellung ist auch deren Ansatz.
Nicht der Verkaufsplatz sondern die soziale Gemeinschaft steht im Vordergrund
Apple wie auch Starbucks haben bewusst auf das soziale Umfeld und nicht auf den Verkaufsplatz gesetzt, als sie ihre Läden konzipiert haben.
Laut Howard Schulz* dem Gründer der Kette Starbucks, ist das Geschäft von Starbucks nicht der Kaffee, sondern ein Lebenstil,
Auch Steve Jobs* hat gesagt, das er nicht im Computer Geschäft ist, sondern im Lifestyle Business. So ist es auch nicht verwunderlich, das in Apple Stores nicht der Verkauf im Vordergrund steht, sondern der Austausch und das Networking unter Gleichgesinnten.
Design als Erlebnis
Immer mehr Marken beauftragen berühmte Architekten, Künstler und Designer ihre Geschäfte zu gestalten um so Aufmerksamkeit auf sich zu ziehen.
Erinnern Sie sich noch als der erste NikeTown eröffnet wurde? Es wurde als Paradebeispiel angesehen.
Hier ein kleiner Beitrag zu Nike Town Boot Abteilung: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNIxjckrtPE
Auch Prada hat viel Aufruhr mit seinen wunderschönen und mutigen Läden in Tokyo und New York betrieben und wurde schnell zu einer „Must see“ Destination. http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/artikel/671/12659/
Weitere bemerkenswerte Beispiele sind das KaDeWe www.kadewe.com oder die neuesten Shopping- Malls, die Design, Architektur und Angebot immer wieder neu zusammensetzen. http://uk.westfield.com/london/?redirect=no
Aus dem Herzen der Marke
Ich bewundere immer wieder die Marken, die es geschafft haben nicht nur ihr Versprechen lebendig, sondern es zu einem wirklichen Erlebnis zu machen.
„Red Bull gives you Wings“, zeigt uns immer wieder wie die Marke „beflügelt“. http://www.redbull.de/
Das Maggie Kochstudio lädt in seinen eigenen Läden/Restaurants zu Kochkursen ein. www.maggi.de
Ikea macht das Wohnen leichter, und das Einkaufen ebenso. Die Zimmer sind fertig zusammengebaut mit vielen kleinen Ideen bestückt, die Kinder kann man in einer wunderbaren und beaufsichtigten Spielecke lassen. Und zu Essen gibt’s auch was!
Bei der Marke Lego dreht sich alles um Fantasien und Kreativität. Diese manifestieren sich in allen Bereichen; durch innovative Produktideen, im Shop und bei Legoland.
Aber nicht immer ist der Markenkern der erste Ansatzpunkt um ein Markenerlebnis zu kreieren. Manchmal ist er auch nur Teil von einem Größeren. Interessante Beispiel sind hierzu „Die Autostadt“ von Volkswagen, http://www.autostadt.de/portal/site/www/ oder das Guiness Storehouse wo nicht nur die Geschichte der Marke anfaßbar gemacht wird, sondern man auch etwas über seine Trinkgewohnheiten lernen kann. http://www.guinness-storehouse.com/
Zukunft & Visionen anfassbar gemacht
Menschen kaufen Marken aber benutzen Produkte. Und manchmal haben wir einfach viel größere Visionen und Möglichkeiten für die Marke, die man heute noch nicht zeigen kann. Um dieses zu tun, bieten sich Events oder Show-Stores ideal an:
Philips Sense & Simplicity Events: http://www.philips.com/about/brand/thesimplicityevent/index….
Sony Store Tokyo: http://picturetokyo.com/en/location/sony_building.html
Aber braucht jede Marke das Erlebnis als Selbstdarstellung? Und wenn ja, welche Form ist die Beste? Natürlich sollte jeder Schritt in diese Richtung mit der gesamten Marketingstrategie angepasst werden – kurz- und langfristig. Aber trotzdem frage ich mich, ob das Experience Marketing notdürftig oder nur eine andere Option im Gesamt-Mix darstellt?
Quellen: Fast Company, www.Designcouncil.org.uk , www.marketingatretail.com, http://www.gdruk.com/
Ihre Meinung?
Ich würde mich zu Kommentaren, Beispielen oder Fragen sehr freuen.
Vielleicht hätten einige von Ihnen sogar Lust dieses Thema (oder andere) bei einem Glas Wein weiter unter die Lupe zu nehmen?
I came across this highly interesting post over at The Influential Marketing Blog. The post is about a resort in Lake Placid, NY.
Because of the “so-called” recession, they have linked their prices to the Dow Jones index. If the index declines, so does their prices. And not only accomodation prices, also restaurant prices.
Now - that is what I call innovation and smart marketing. Well, in fact I think it is one of the best and relevant initiatives I have heard of in a long time.
One comment on Rohit’s blog insist that this won’t have a real impact on the business of the resort. What do you think?
Check out the full story right here - thanks to Rohit of Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence
I had the honor of presenting some ideas on the topic “How to find customers through new media” at EADIM’s first week of training in Brussels last week. EADIM (European Academy for Direct and Interactive Marketing) was founded by Drayton Bird. Yes - that’s right. Advertising legend the late David Ogilvy said he (Drayton Bird) “knows more about direct marketing than anyone in the world. His book about it is pure gold. His speeches are not only informative, but hilariously funny.”
I only spent 2 days in Brussels. But I learned a lot. And a lot more than I expected. And I am going to share what I learned. For now, I am going to sum it all up in 5 important learnings. These learnings are important IF you really want to get ahead in the game of marketing.
To further your career in marketing, you need to become a success at your present marketing job. Once succcessful, you will find yourself in a situation where better jobs will be thrown at you. That is - if you don’t decide to become self-employed in the meantime.
When time allows, I will follow up with more learnings.
But. First things first. Please do forgive my grammatical mistakes. I have only 30 minutes to write this article. So I am bound to make heeps of mistakes. Please do not shoot me.
5 learnings all marketers need to know about career development
1. Know thy audience
I have seen it again and again. Marketers “forget” to define the audience they want to engage and to stay focused on their target market. Most companies have not written a customer strategy - many companies don’t even know what it is. And what is worse; more often than not, we seem to “forget” to care about the needs, wants, dreams, problems and pains of our target group(s). In other words, we all know the learning of the famous Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard - yet we do not apply his wisdom.
In fact in Brussels I too made that terrible mistake. I prepared a presentation targeted at marketing people with 1-3 years experience. An hour later I knew that I should have prepared at presentation relevant to very smart and quite experienced marketing professionals. Because it turned out that EADIM students are just that. They are professionals who have made a smart move by joining EADIM with an objective to become even smarter.
I won’t make that mistake again. Ever.
2. The packaging has changed - but everything is still the same
Having been part of the internet marketing hype for some 12-14 years, I have often heard selfproclaimed internet marketing specialist utter statements such as “old school marketers don’t know jack-all about internet marketing”. And I am ashamed to admit, that I have often agreed with them.
Why?
Because sometimes I tend to avoid confronation. But if you ask EADIM teachers such as Drayton Bird, Malcolm Auld, Professor Srikumar S. Rao and others, they will tell you that nothing has changed. Becoming a succcesful internet marketing person requires a thorough understanding of direct marketing and the very basic principles that have proven themselves for decades. Drayton Bird claims that even todays most successful internet marketers all consider one particular book (written many, many years ago) their Bible.
- Drayton Bird - direct marketing guru and founder of EADIM
Interestingly, if you listen to the wise words of Marshall McLuhan, you will understand that many things have not changed, eventhough we would like to think so.
3. Continued education is the only guarantee that you will improve your results
It is true. And I am ashamed to admit that I haven’t been following that very important principle. You see, I got to a point many years ago where I thought I knew it all. And I know many others whom came to the same conclusion based on their seniority, status and what not.
But it is - of course -all wrong. If you want to continually improve your game, you need to practice. Well, we all do really. And practicing equals studying. Reading books, articles, white papers. Attending well produced seminars, conference, webinars. The fact of the matter is that you can’t know it all. You can’t test anything and everything yourself. That is the reason it is smart to let others inspire you. Awfully simple, isn’t it. Yet - why have so many of us forgotten to continually be open to new knowledge, ideas and innovations?
4. Writing is essential to anybody in marketing
My wife (who is a lot smarter than me) have often told me “Michael, read more. Reading will improve your writing skills”. Fact is, I love writing. I am not very good at it, but I still love it. According to Drayton Bird (who is a writer himself) - as a marketer you are at a great advantage if you are - or become - a good writer. And it makes perfectly sense, doesn’t it?
More than 20 years ago, I secured one of my first advertising clients (Fagor) because the CEO thought I was a good copy writer. But I wasn’t, I am sure. I wrote the copy for a brochure promoting some inferior washing machine only because no one else had the time. But he insisted. And while he debated heavily about every offer we made for various advertising/agency services, he paid handsomely for my copy writing.
I recommend reading Drayton Bird’s bestselling book Commonsense Direct & Interactive Marketing to learn what you can gain from becoming a better writer.
5. Testing is still friggin’ important
I live in a small country. Small countries are at a great disadvantage when it comes to testing. Nevertheless. Testing is more important than ever. So why don’t we prioritize testing. Lack of time? Lack of budget? Insufficient knowledge about testing principles?
I think it’s all of the above, or no less than a combination.
It is difficult to excel in marketing, if you do not apply testing relentlessly. And if you think about it, I think you will agree. The cost of testing is likely to be a mere fraction of your total investment in any given marketing effort. No matter your marketing instrumentation, testing will enable you to improve your Return on Marketing Investment.
Of course you knew all that, didn’t you?
Well, I thought I did too. Yet, in Brussels last week I made all these mistakes while addressing an exclusive audience of smart EADIM students from some 10-12 countries. People who travelled from far away places to learn more about direct and interactive marketing from a faculty including numerious highly respected marketing gurus.
Now I know I need to get back in the game, but differently this time. So I hereby declare to abide by these rules:
1. I want to understand my target group and their needs before doing anything else. If I do not understand whom they are, and what they need, how will I be able to effectively convince them?
2. I am going to trust what others have learned before me; the basic principles of direct marketing still apply even if the media or medium is new.
3. I will continually educate myself by reading books, articles, attending seminars, conferences and such.
4. Even if I am awfully bad at it, I am going to force myself to write more, blog more, comment more on other peoples thoughts and ideas.
5. I am not God. Therefore I need to test my marketing in order to decide which approach will work best.
Discover the benefits of customer focus and the link with customer loyalty and profitability..
Has this ever happened to you? You’re in a hurry. You want to complete your business and the person serving you is preoccupied with something other than serving you. Then when you are served, you might get an insincere apology for the delay followed by the completion of your transaction. If asked to describe this experience you would likely respond “That’s typical” or “It’s nothing more and probably a little less than I expected.”
Welcome to the world of the average consumer.
Most people will probably tell you that good service is just common sense. They would also invariably say “For something so common, it sure is hard to find!” Edward R. Murrow said it very well: “What is obscure, we eventually see. What is obvious usually takes a little longer.”
Research from a litany of reliable sources tells us that the primary reason that customers switch their loyalty from one company to another, in the range of 40% to 68%, is because of a perceived attitude of indifference on the part of the service provider. Sure, some leave because of price, or product quality, or other personal reasons; but the vast majority leave because of Poor Service.
These days, customers are really in the driver’s seat. The options and choices of similar products at similar prices at similar quality levels are greater than ever.
Advances in technology, reductions in production time and access to global distribution mean that products and services can be duplicated and customized faster than ever before. And your customers know this!
Consumers have more choices than ever before. This creates an interesting challenge. How do you create value when customers today are not seeing much difference in the choices they are offered?
Customers tend to look at value from four perspectives:
- the Price of the product or service,
- the Quality of the product or service,
- the degree of Innovation offered by the product and
- the Service provided to customers.
The quality of products continues to improve universally and competitors have developed the ability to duplicate even the most complex of those products. Innovation attracts younger consumers but no sooner do we see one innovation, than someone else comes along and clones it plus adds a few more bells and whistles.
Businesses stand to reap massive rewards by regularly reviewing the strategies that enable them to consistently create value for their customers.
This, by implication, requires employees to have a keen understanding of the actual and potential nature and value of existing and prospective customers.
Green is everywhere. But is green marketing here to stay?
This video shows you the six sins of greenwashing and how you can avoid getting exploited by false environmental claims. Dave Michael Garg reveals the truth behind green marketing, including an up close look at General Motors (GM) and other car companies.
See this educational program and many others like it at Marketingboss TV
Geek Squad is a hugely popular PC repair (etc) service. The company developed their own unique culture, which has been very successful. Geek Squad founder Robert Stephens shares the story at the London Marketing Society.
