MV newsletter - January 2005

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As you have probably recently had some vacation, you may feel that the only person you wish to help is yourself as you try to catch up.

But we think we have an interesting proposition for you, whether you are a client or an agency, large or small.

It has long been recognised (well, it is called “memor loci”, which being in Latin gives you a clue) that people remember things best by linking those memories to a place. Those who can recall all 52 cards in a shuffled pack in the right sequence usually do so by imagining each card in a certain place along a journey.

There was a psychological experiment where a group of people were taken down into a diving bell to memorise a list of words. After a break, the group was split into two. One lot went to the beach, the others went back into the diving bell. They were then asked to recall the list of words. Those in the diving bell recalled significantly more words than those on the beach (or perhaps those on the beach had better things to do).

Another thing that is widely recognised is that if you interact with information you remember it much better than if you receive it passively. In another experiment, one group was asked just to listen, while the second group typed on a dummy keyboard. When it came to recalling what had been said, those on the keyboards were no dummies after all.

So where are the big bucks spent – TV advertising? This takes place in the home, miles away from the point of purchase both geographically and conceptually. It is a passive medium (until iTV takes off), and only about a quarter of the people in front of the screen are paying any attention to the broadcast. Finally, the medium itself is about entertainment, so in Europe at least, TV ads are still more about entertainment than about selling.

What we are proposing is the recognition that the best place to promote a product is at the point of sale. This should be good news for retailers, as it turns them into major media owners rather than marginally profitable distributors.

Secondly, the process should be interactive. People should be asked to do something in response to the communication, rather than just watching it. Some retailers are currently setting up large screens in their stores to promote products, and it does work, but it is still a passive experience.

Finally, we propose that the activity is linked to an individual through a loyalty card. If you can do this, you can directly link the communication to the subsequent purchase, should there be one, through the card.

So imagine yourself sitting at your desk, wanting to run some direct advertising, or a product demonstration, or a survey, targeted at your competitor’s customers in specific stores in the next two hours. With the system we are proposing, you could do exactly that.

Better still, the whole process is infinitely scaleable. You could schedule 20 dialogues as a test. If that seemed to get the response you wanted, you could schedule another 50, then 200, then 1,000 and so on.

And finally our guess is that this sort of activity would not need to be as polished as most advertising formats, so you could get away with repurposing stock footage.

So there you have it:

1. quick and cheap to produce
2. targeted at specific types of customers (e.g. competitor’s customers)
3. directly at point of sale
4. published into the stores within half-an-hour of your pressing the button
5. real-time results
6. infinitely scaleable
7. fully measurable and accountable through to sales within that store

And if you think you could help us, or want to discuss the idea, please contact enquiries@mudvalley.co.uk, just as fast as you like.

A few things to play with………….

One good way to learn things is through games, so if you are looking for some branding games to play, look no further.

If you would like to take a step further, and assess your marketing communications process at no charge, you may wish to spend 10 minutes completing nvigorate’s “marketing health check”. If you run the survey and provide your details, they will give you a blow-by-blow analysis of your results versus the average of all other respondents, and some key pointers as to where to focus.

Branding in the HBR………….

We have been trying to find room to mention a couple of articles in the September 2004 edition of the Harvard Business Review since, well, September 2004.

The first is called “How global brands compete”, and suggests that global brands are evaluated against three things:

1. perceived quality
2. the global myth – the extent to which they make us believe that we belong to a global community
3. social responsibility – how appropriately and beneficially they wield their power

In terms of the global myth, the article quotes four key consumer segments:

• Global citizens (55%), who regard global reach as a sign of quality and innovation, and as a potential power for good or evil
• Global dreamers (23%), who are global brand groupies
• Antiglobals (13%), who distrust the ethics of global companies, and particularly dislike American values
• Global agnostics (8%), who ignore whether a brand is global or local – or say they do

The second article is called “Customer-centred brand management”, and preaches that we should pay attention to Customer Equity not Brand Equity. In other words, if there is a moment when customer needs split from brand values, we should follow the customer.

The advice they give us is:

1. place your customers ahead of your brands
2. build brands around customer segments, not product features
3. make your brands as narrow as possible to optimise their clarity
4. extend the brand according to customer needs, not product similarities

Phew, we can file that edition now.

Comparing apples and oranges

iMedia have just published an article the argues that you can compare online and offline advertising performance if you ignore the clicks, and whirrs, and impressions, and focus on the resultant sales.

We agree, and our Better-than-guessing™ Communications Assessment tool seeks to do just that.

And finally…………..

If you are a fan of bizarre product labelling, a toilet brush has just won the Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch wacky award.

It carries a warning label “Do not use for personal hygiene”.

We wish you a very happy and prosperous year.

• Belgium tel: +32 (0)2 747 0945
• France tel: +33 (0)1 76 63 74 09
• UK tel: +44 (0)208 099 7385

or by e-mail at enquiries@mudvalley.co.uk.

© 2005, Mud Valley ™ brand marketing community.

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