you can do better marketing - the four c's

It is likely that you feel control of your brand slipping through your fingers. Every shelf-set, event, media story, CGC contest – every Like, blog post, Tweet, review, thumbs up (or down) shapes it. Gap’s logo. Pampers’ “chemical burn” crisis. Kevin Smith’s Twitter tirade against Southwest Airlines. Dave Carroll’s YouTube guitar song against United Airlines. The Motrin Moms.

Your brand is dynamic, open-sourced. (So is your company, like it or not.) Yours is one voice among many. Your grip has slipped. Not to worry; it’s normal to feel anxious in times of change. Maybe it’ll pass, like indigestion.

But you are worried. You’re still accountable, even though so much is out of your hands. How can you give up control of your brand without abandoning your business? How can you lead your brand and business, guide it in the right direction, but not have absolute authority?

How can you do better marketing?

Are You HeAring Voices?

In the digital age, marketing is a multi-player conversation between Brand, Consumers, Retailers, Critics and Friends. Digital media has rewired consumer habits – in shopping, socializing, and media consumption – three arenas essential to better marketing. It shifts the balance of voice in marketing conversations.

Control of the conversation started with Brands in the days of mass media; shifted to Retailers with shopper marketing . . . and now rests in the hands of Consumers, who control when, how and where they engage with marketing messages.

Take a look at all of the shifts that have taken place and are taking place in marketing today »

The Four C’s of Better Marketing

Marketing: Then, Now...and Next

PAsT What’s changed: PresenT What’s changing next:

FuTure

Reach Media clutter + product proliferation

Chase On-demand media Be accessible

Promotion Focus on short-term sales

Discounts Consumers seek credibility

Recommendations

Campaigns Retailers push frequency Drive periods Individualized media: a screen in every product

Always on

Single message Consumer generated content = more authors

Orchestrated message Personalization of media mix

Customized message

Features & Benefits Creativity ascends Unique selling proposition

Consumers seek solutions

Offer help

National Brand Mass-merchandise thrives

National retail Regional/Neighborhood specialties have cachet over homogenized retail

Local retail and brands

Brand leads marketing Retail grows, brands compete for space

Channel’s lead marketing

Wireless access = channel agnostic shoppers

Consumer leads marketing

Mass Media Media multiplies, then divides audiences

Fragmented Media On-demand devices: Consumers choose what, when, where

Omnipresent media

Build the Marketing Plan Marketing menus cater to retailers

Buy the marketing components

Consumers inundated with information

Curate the marketing message

This isn’t about directing the conversation, harnessing word of mouth, courting consumers of influence. (Well, maybe a little.) It’s about assessing the Brand’s role and establishing the Brand’s voice, in support of its core community.

The good news is, there are strong Consumer assets to help you calibrate your Brand’s balance of voice to do better marketing:

• Tech-adeptandtake-chargeconsumersthatserve as critics, amplifiers, scouts

• Manymediatoengagethem,allhighlytargeted, and most of it ‘free’

• Consumerappetiteforinformation,conversation, connection

• Agrowingopennesstoparticipateinmarketing overtures that genuinely benefit community

The hard news is, the paradigm shift to do better marketing requires a new philosophy and framework.

The framework starts – and ends – with C. And C. And C. And C.

Take segmentation to the next level – construct user groups

Find and align with the right user groups: Consumers who want and/or need your product; match your geography; share your brand and corporate values. The exercise of pinpointing the common ground between your target consumers and your brand also helps clarify the brand essence. How best to define your target? Demographics, geography, values, life stage, needs state? That depends on how you define your brand: Your core meaning drives your connection point and delineates your target. Segmentation is still important, but it’s only the first step in community-building.

Marketingoncerantop-down:TVreachedmassaudiences, pushed a message, dictated desire. Today, marketing flows bottom-up: individuals drive brand reputation when they discover, interactwith,recommendtheBrand.Manyindividuals aggregate around shared values – that, in turn, builds audience for the compatible Brand.

Today – and tomorrow – the best way to engage, build and converse with the Brand community islocal,local,local.Marketersthataretunedinto individuals and their sense of community with each other can find profitable common ground with the community; have a real impact


Now, marketers can maintain a voice only if they embrace the new dynamic of consumer-led conversation. The best approach? A four-step process:

1. communiTY-build2. curATe3. cAPTiVATe4. cAregiVe

1. COMMUNITy BUILD

AcTions To consider:

• Segment: define the various constituents who you care about (brand lovers, brand evangelists, brand haters, underdeveloped etc), and determine where they ‘live’

• Eavesdrop: Talk with these communities face to face, through qualitative and quantitative research, to home in on their values

• Refine: Examine which community values intersect with your Brand’s, and build marketing strategy on that foundation

• Recruit: Engage the most active and passionate members of the community to shape and share the Brand’s voice/message

• Nurture: feed your communities; ask them for input an ideas; give them insider information; treatthemasyourconstituents.Advocatesare made, not born.

Go beyond positioning and utilize all of your brand’s assets

Manageallthebrand’sassets–generatedby you and by others: social media but also brand image, events, consumer reviews, PR, partnerships, display and design, plus consumer-generated mash ups, tributes and parodies. Your brand may have rich history, bring some of it back. Packaging. Patents. Famous users. Animpressiveproductionfacility.AnarticulateCEO. Be thorough in tracking down all of the assets.

Curators (from the Latin curare, “to care”) find the best, most useful and compelling elements and then makes connections between them – organizing and presenting a collection in a way that brings new understanding, new value to their audience.


THe decision ecosYsTem• Manypointsofinfluence--referrals,past

experience, new news, specific solutions, impulse

• Consumersconstantlyshareinformation…andinfluenceothers

• Brandscancreatearippleeffectinmanycirclesofinfluence:reachmanyshoppersin many directions, all at once

Think of it this way – segmentation is a noun; community-building is a verb. These days, it’s better to think more about the verbs than the nouns.

2. CURATe

on shared values; and develop an authentic voice within the community. With geographic communities, be local to the neighborhood. With virtual communities, be local to the most important shared interest.

It’s the way to maintain a share of voice with consumers who tap the Decision Ecosystem – definedbyMcKinseyas“acloudofinformationfrom all sources, available anytime” – to choose brands and make purchases.

Andremember,yourbrandisn’taproduct;it’samission statement. There’s a lot to curate if you think in the broadest scope. • P&G:“Touchinglives,improvinglife.”

• WalMart:“Savepeoplemoneysotheycanlive better.”

• Nike:“Bringinspirationandinnovationtoevery athlete in the world.”

• Facebook:“Givepeoplethepowertoshare and make the world more open and connected.”

• Starbucks:“Inspireandnurturethehumanspirit - one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.”

• McDonald’s:“Beourcustomers’favoriteplaceand way to eat.”


• Summarize: Capture your Brand’s mission in a single, action-oriented statement. Let it be the description of your brand’s ‘museum exhibit’, and refer to it often to guide strategy and execution.

• Enlistadvocates:Within your organization, and your community. Sadly, over two-thirds of employees either do not understand or arenotcommittedtotheirbrand(CMATStudy). In consumer-led marketing, it’s crucial that everyone affiliated with the Brand can respond quickly, intelligently and wholeheartedly to consumers. Take the time to teach the Brand mission internally

• Centralizeassets:Maintainanup-to-datedatabase of all Brand assets generated by you and others. Think of it as a stylebook on steroids

Sometimes Curators do best by admitting they’rewrong.RememberDomino’sMakeover?Domino’s admitted its pizza tasted bad, changed the recipe … and asked consumers to weigh in. Same-store sales rose 14% in the first quarter. Forgiveness is a great way to build community because it’s a sign of an authentic relationship. Domino’s advanced the conversation through itscommunity:Itrecruited“TasteBudBountyHunters,” who wrote up a list of friends that hadn’t yet tried the new pizza; the one to convertthemost“tastebuds”earnedayear’sworth of pizza. Domino’s ran radio ads and airplanebannerspersonalizedbyname:“JohnAnderson,tryDomino’snewpizza.”


museum-QuAliTY brAnd curATion• NikeBetterWorld.com

• Amazon.com

• AmericanExpressOPEN

• BestBuydisplays,ads,partnerships

• Penzey’sSpicescatalogwith customer recipes

• Domino’sMakeover

It’s a museum-worthy, strategic approach that goesbeyond“contentcuration”(anexerciseincollecting, editing and repeating positive social media).Thisistherenaissanceof“marcom”,marketingcommunications.Marcomusedtobe viewed as a staff or support role. But as the brand curators, the marcom team has an important job in organizing the brand’s assets in order to bring new value to their audience.

Build the brand’s assets for the benefit of the community. Track, evaluate, and share useful parts of the brand conversation with the wider community. Help your audience save time; provide context for your community; add value. Reinforce shared values with current consumers; reach new users; build credibility of your brand’s voice; fortify brand equity.

Movebeyond‘activation’andreallyofferirresistibility

Grabyourcommunity.Beinsightfulandauthentic in communicating with members. Provide relevance and value: information, experiences, entertainment, connections with like-minded others, opportunities to engage

deeper in the community. be A cATAlYsT.

ConsiderStouffer’s“Let’sFixDinner”campaign.The Nestle brand promotes family dinner as a way to help kids navigate the hazards of growing up – bullying, drugs, eating disorders. The strategy is based on research that shows that kids in families that routinely eat dinner together are less likely to drink, smoke or use drugs.

The marketplace is right: In a poor economy, consumers eat at home more, and busy families are likely to buy more frozen food. But the community mood is right, too: Parents want to raise healthy, confident kids, and bonding over dinner is an easy step.

The campaign launched with a challenge to families: Let’s serve 1 million meals at the family table. Stouffer’s partnered with the National CenteronAddictionandSubstanceAbuse(CASA)atColumbiaUniversity;createdaWebsite with activities, conversation-starters, family activities; recruited 15 leading mommy bloggers for a roundtable panel to tackle the barriers on families eating together. Stouffer’s Dinner Club, a points program, lets members redeempointsforfamily-friendlygoodies(DVDs,song downloads, movie tickets, photos, lunch bags) or donate points to Habitat for Humanity. “Wearepassionateaboutpromotingthepower of the dinner table to create short- and long-term benefits for families,” said Stouffer’s marketing director Brett White.

What you want is content that pulls people in, that appeals to your communities in the most relevant way, delivered with resonance. Pull your communities in rather than pushing your brand out.

One way to pull people in and be captivating isthroughacompellingbrandstoryline.Abrand story creates the scope of what your Brand stands for, and dictates why the brand is captivating:


3. CAPTIVATe

besT brAnd sTories

• Wonder: National Geographic, Kodak

• Exploration: Avatar, IBM, Lego

• Love: see Kevin Robert’s book, Lovemarks

• Redemption: Chrysler (“Imported from Detroit”)

• The Struggle for Freedom: MTV, Nike

• Control: American Express, Verizon, eBay

• Heroism: US Army, Playstation

• Rebellion Against Authority: Harley-Davidson, Mountain Dew

• Joy/Happiness: Coca Cola

• Justice: The Innocence Project

• Caring/Giving: State Farm, Johnson & Johnson

• Awakening: GE Ecomagination

• Trust: Michelin

• Fulfillment: Gillette’s ‘The Best a Man Can Get’, Mercedes

• The Real Truth: Dove

• Friendship: Budweiser, M&M’s, Starbucks

• Discovery: Trader Joe’s


• Craft your story: write a screenplay for your brand, beyond the positioning. Develop the storyline, the plot, the players.

• Translate intention into action: Execute the Brand storyline in the marketplace – at retail, at home, in public gathering places (online andoff).Giveyouraudienceaplatformtoacton their intentions for the community, too

• Provide experiences: Local events bring like-minded individuals together, with the Brand as host

• Translate activation into captivation: look at your marketing plan and eliminate all elements and activities that are not truly captivating to your communities. Or, take all of the activation elements and upgrade them to be captivating.

• Act, evaluate, repeat:Getcandidfeedback,take it to heart, and get back out there with a responsive, authentic voice

To paraphrase, ‘Ask not what your target audience can do for you, but what you can do for your communities”

Pay attention to your communities. Be helpful, be active and involved, know what’s going on; knowwhatmatters.Knowwhatresonateswithmembers of your community. Be responsive. Be in on the values; be in on the jokes. Offer a hand, a suggestion, a friendly tip.

LookatJambaJuice,theleaderinthemultimillion-dollar fruit smoothie business. JambasuddenlyfounditselfpittedagainstMcDonald’swithitsbig-ticketlaunchofMcCafesmoothies.WhatdoesDaviddowhenGoliathsets up a smoothie blender?

Jambacouldn’tmatchMcDonald’sadbudget.Itsmessage had to build its own momentum.SoJambaproducedanadparodysohilariouslysarcastic that folks just had to pass it on. Cheeseburger Chill seemed as real as any SNL commercial. Were cheeseburger smoothies for real?Viewerswenttocheeseburgerchill.comtofindoutandgotcouponsforrealJambasmoothies.Viralseeding,Facebook,searchmarketing, Twitter, blogger outreach and e-mail blasts spread the word.

Peoplelovedbeinginonthejoke.Jamba’sviral video popped up everywhere, picking up $11 million in free media, nearly half a million viewers, and 807,000 Facebook fans. Franchiseeslovedit.Jambareinforceditsownhealthy lifestyle positioning (and its sense of humor),andkeptsalessteadyasGoliath came in.


4. CAReGIVe

Look at Zappos – a company that really cares. AndAmazon–theygooutoftheirwaytobehelpful.Yes,thisiscustomerservice.Andit’salso the best kind of marketing. Because it’s helpful.Asmentionedearlier,don’tpushyourbrand, pull your community.

This isn’t altruism, because being altruistic raises suspicions and raises questions about motive and sincerity. But it isn’t brand selfishness either, trying to push messages and transactions. It’s really enlightened self-interest: When the brand does the right thing, people take note and aremorelikelytobeloyal.And,it’sjustgoodbusiness.

Everything is rated these days, and everyone is a rater. The world is Zagat-ized. Where do you want your brand to be ranked?Pepsi Refresh is workinghardonthis.SoisLibertyMutualandits“ResponsibilityProject,”andU.S.Cellularandits“BeliefProject.”Thesearen’tjustcause-marketing efforts; they go deeper into the brand ethos, and show that the company really is trying to be helpful and supportive of its community.


• Ask: What does your community want to accomplish, and how can your Brand help?

• Stick around:Authenticcommitmentwinsrespect.Aimformutualloyalty

• Surprise people: When you know your audience well, you can give them what they want before they know they want it


It’s the role of marketing now to take cues from consumers. Do it well, and don’t apologizeforit.Being“responsive”doesn’tmeanplayingdefense–itmeansbeingready, anytime, with the information, offers, and action that consumers seek. Build communities. Curate your brand’s assets. Captivate them with relevance. Care about them and help them.

You cAn do beTTer THAn segmenTATion... go For communiTY building

do beTTer THAn PosiTioning...curATe

do beTTer THAn AcTiVATion...cAPTiVATe

do beTTer THAn being A cAreTAker...be A cAregiVer

I welcome your thoughts and ideas and questions, anytime, in any of the multiplicity of communication vehicles!

JimHolbrook

CONCLUSION

[email protected]@neighboragency.com

twitter: @jimholbrooklinkedin: Jim Holbrookslideshare: jimholbrookfacebook: Jim Holbrook

you can do better marketing - the four c's

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