A BLOG ABOUT COMMUNICATING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
  • Brian Faulkner
  • Blog
  • CONTACT

Ad Dads Aren't As Stupid Anymore.

6/21/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture= image © by Brian E. Faulkner -
An article by Michelle Castillo on CNBC.com just prior to Father’s Day claimed that Millennial moms are no longer the sole CEOs of the home and that dads are leaning in to take on more household responsibility (as if such a thing had never happened before!).   Well … maybe now we’ll finally see the end of the “Dumb Husband” TV ads that have plagued our living rooms for such a long time.  You know the ones, where the mom shows up the helpless dad by fixing a faucet, replacing the sink trap without mishap or repairing a light switch -- with ease -- while he bumbles helplessly in the background.

Back in the mid ‘50s, a decade after Rosie the Riveter had retreated back to the home, women were stereotyped as Susie Homemaker.  If the advertising image was to be believed, women did the household chores – including the greatest bulk of child care – while dad did the paying work and his wife dutifully waited for him to come home, in her A-line skirt, peasant blouse and red lipstick.  

My maternal grandmother, who was in her 60s back then, was employed as a department store manager and, most assuredly, did not wear A-line skirts.  She was a working woman and far removed from the sweet, stereotypical granny who smothers her grandchildren with kisses; truth is, she was a tough old Yankee bird very much set in her ways.  This made for tense relations with my Irish-tempered mother, who lived with us in her mother’s house.  But Mom was great.  She stuck up for us whenever it was needed (with Grandma, sometimes to Dad and occasionally to the neighbors) but also nailed us firmly to the door of truth when that was required.  Of course, that meant we couldn’t get away with much, whether within her eyesight or not.  There was another side to that coin, however:  Mom was always there to tend both our physical and emotional wounds.  She was an RN before children came along and didn’t go back to it until we all flew the nest, sometime in the ‘70s.

Now lest you think this Father’s Day reflection is solely about the women of my family, Dad played a looming part in our lives.   He was smart and resourceful – but also demanding – and would tackle just about any kind of chore with vigor, from yard work to repairing the car and rebuilding our decrepit old washing machine several times over.  Which made him totally unlike TV’s inept husband. 

We kids (four brothers spread over ten years) were expected to follow his lead and do some of everything, and it wouldn’t have made any difference had some of us been sisters.  We mowed and clipped the lawn, put out the trash, raked leaves, shoveled snow, weeded the garden and hauled heavy wooden storm windows up two flights of stair to the attic in the spring and back down again in the fall.  We also did the suppertime dishes and couldn’t leave the house until the task was complete.  We dusted furniture, helped with spring cleaning, ran the jet-shaped vacuum cleaner (hateful thing), cleaned our rooms on weekends and made our beds every morning.   We were expected to chip in – without whining.   Dad managed the outside chores, Mom the inside ones.  That’s just how it was in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

My own kids (three daughters, one son) did some work around the house, but not as much demand was put on them as my folks put on me.  Even so, they have grown into successful (even admirable) adults.  Each is diligent and hard-working and appears to have little brook with gender stereotyping, which really is just another form of intellectual dishonesty . 

I doubt that my grandmother ever thought for a moment that she couldn’t do whatever it was she had in mind.  Women of her era worked as teachers, in retail, entertainment, medicine and other professional fields, and it may be that since society didn’t expect much of them outside the home in those days, they expected that much more of themselves.   It just took a while for the times to catch up to the reality (and plain common sense) of considering women as equals in the workplace, although I think their acceptance got retarded to some extent by shrill Feminist voices.   And clearly, the stereotype that a woman’s place is only in the home has yet to vanish entirely. 

It also helped that a second income eventually became critical to family financial success and women began thinking of themselves less as cookie-cutter people and more as individuals, including homemakers.   But then, I think sometime in the ‘80s, TV advertising began depicting men in stereotypical ways just as they had women twenty and thirty years earlier.   To progressive-thinking ad copywriters (men and women), it must have seemed as if justice finally was being served -- and it was up to them to serve it!   The result, therefore, was occasional slice-of-life advertising that presented a softer, more sensitive male persona.  And sometimes an incompetent one.  

When I think of the stereotypical Dumb Husband, I recall a one-time neighbor of ours who pleaded ignorance about anything that remotely resembled a chore; mowing, raking, shoveling, checking the oil on the car, repairing small appliances or fixing that light switch -- all were anathema to him.   His wife did most everything, and rather well, while he bragged to us about how good he was at business (and basketball).  He was an exception who just happened to match an emerging male stereotype.

As brands now seek to engage their diverse customers more authentically, it’s good to see most of the old stereotypes going by the boards – at least in television ads. 

"As we think about bringing new users to (our products), the way you think about our communication and their behavior is a bit different,” said Jennifer Brown, director of marketing for Unilever (Dove, Hellman’s, Lipton, etc.), quoted in the CNBC.com article.  We're sort of adjusting how we reach clients because of that."

And that’s not limited to gender stereotypes.  The current task of creative copywriters appears dedicated to bringing racial balance to advertising.  As a result, there are more black and brown faces in TV spots (and programming) than ever.  In fact, there now seem to be a greater abundance of these faces than otherwise might have been the case had the advertising industry not fallen so thoroughly into racial stereotyping in its early days and had to make up for lost ground.   Bringing racial balance to advertising is long overdue, from a societal and business sense as well as an expression of intellectual honesty.   To do otherwise is both short-sighted and stupid – as long as marketers don’t overcorrect and create frustrating new stereotypes.

Like the Dumb Husband.  

TakeAway:  Advertise your products and service to real people, because it’s real people who buy them, not some thoughtless stereotype.

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner


0 Comments

Why Airline Travel Should Be More Like Ben & Jerry's.

6/11/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
- Images © by
Picture
Brian E. Faulkner -
Tags:  NetJets, Yahoo News, IATA, Ben & Jerry's, American Airlines, United Airlines, FlyersRights.org, Delta, Southwest, Jet Blue, Spirit Airlines

I hate flying.  Not the soaring, free kind of flying that dreams are made of.   I’m talking about public conveyance, the cramped kind of flying: commercial airline travel, where you’re imprisoned in a long aluminum tube with your fellow inmates for an insane number of hours.   Which isn’t really flying at all but more a kind of suffering you have to endure to get from one place to another without spending days or weeks doing it.
 "Flying commercial” brings up all sorts of mind pictures, most not all that appealing:

* waiting in lines
    - ticket agent lines
    - security lines
    - gate agent lines
    - boarding lines
    - baggage line
    - lines to get in other lines
* overbooking
* carry-on hassles
* cramped aisles
* cramped carry-on space
* cramped seats
* the seatmate crap shoot
* quarrels over seat backs
* make believe food
* bad air
* restrooms that are anything but restful
* weather delays
* crew delays
* tarmac delays
* late arrivals
* missing connections
* sleeping in the terminal

And that’s assuming the technical part of flying goes perfectly – all the doors get closed, the wings are securely fastened and somebody checks to see if there’s gas in the tank.

If I had a NetJets budget, I wouldn’t be concerned about such things.  But I don’t.  And most of us don’t.   Which made me perk up and take notice of this headline on Yahoo News:

           Airlines struggle to please the modern passenger.

According to the article, here are some of concerns expressed during this year’s meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade group for airline execs – keeping in mind that these weren’t complaints from passengers but observations and comments by the execs themselves:
  • More passenger info is needed, especially on mobile devices.  One suggestion was to “offer passengers a behind-the-scenes view of their suitcase as it moves through the airport machinery,” although methinks that could create more concern than certainty.
  • Give people a “nice, reliable experience at a normal price,” one exec said.  Another added: “Make my life easy,” which sounds great except that airlines appear to staff for ordinary flying conditions in a world filled with extraordinary events, the least of which these days is the weather.
  • “Don’t give me a vanilla experience”, one panelist told the IATA gathering.  But is that so bad?  Because  when I buy a pint of Ben & Jerry’s vanilla ice cream, my expectations are met every single time.
  • Another exec spoke of “managing” expectations, which seems like an especially worthy goal – as in no surprises!    Just over half of meeting participants thought the airlines weren’t “doing a good job meeting passenger demands.” 

What are passengers demanding?   Here’s how a reader named Mike put it in the comments section:
“The only issue is how stupidly uncomfortable the experience is.                                                                                 You’re stuck in a tiny seat from which you can’t get up most of the time."  
“THE DAMN SEATS ARE TOO SMALL,” agreed Mr. B (dramatizing his frustration by writing in all caps), “and the answer isn’t smaller carry-ons,” even as the IATA proposes new industry-wide standards for carry-on bags.   The small places in which we now are asked to stow our carry-ons seem to be getting more restricted while people are becoming more frustrated (sometimes even rude) as they seek a spot to stow their briefcase or backpack, often rows away from their seat, causing that much more confusion when it comes time to get off the plane.   And as dissatisfaction increases, seat room and restroom room appear to be shrinking.  

It seems absurd, but perhaps not altogether illogical,that “the two most profitable airlines — American Airlines and United Airlines — have abysmal customer service satisfaction scores,” according to a recent Forbes article, quoting Kendall Creighton, spokesperson for FlyersRights.org , which advocates for air travelers.   “An airline’s customer satisfaction levels appear to be inversely related to profits,” she says.  “The higher the profits, the worse the scores.  The more modest the profits, the higher the customer satisfaction.”   And now the government is proposing new emissions standards for aircraft, which would put additional pressure on price and profit.

According to the Forbes article, Jet Blue has the highest passenger satisfaction scores and the lowest profit margin.  Spirit Airlines, whose ironic tagline is Less Money. More Go, had the highest margin and lowest customer satisfaction, while “Delta and Southwest have managed to strike a balance between profits and happy passengers.”

I have a suggestion:  In the interest of communicating clear competitive advantage, each airline could post a simple graphic at critical passenger touch points, from ticketing through to the baggage carousel.  The graphic would consist of ten stacked rectangles, one each for the top 10 measures of airline customer satisfaction.  Each rectangle’s color would change as customer satisfaction ebbs and flows, from angry red for poor performance through shades of yellow to leafy green for superior performance.  Data could be gleaned from in-flight customer surveys taken every day, on paper, through passenger devices or even later online.   The information should include date of service, flight number / seat number and accumulate over time.

I challenge each of these airlines, in fact the entire airline industry, to put their heads together and create what might be called the Airline Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a numerical way of communicating the same info the colored rectangles do.   Perhaps the IATA will choose to lead the way.  Such measures surely will be more effective in raising airline industry expectations – and performance -- than making “standardized” carry-on bags even smaller!

TakeAway:  If your business, brand or product satisfies – even delights – customers, let the world know about it.  

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

0 Comments

Pricing Prestidigitation: One Nissan, Two Prices.

6/5/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture- Nissan image -
Tags:  Nissan Rogue, Rogue Select, Infiniti G37, Q40, Q50, Acura Integra
I thought what I was reading was possibly ... bogus.  If it had been April 3rd instead of June 3rd, I’d have been pretty certain somebody was attempting to snooker me.  The article was published on Jalopnik.com, a site for fans of high-performance automobiles with occasional pieces about mainstream auto marketing, fast fighter planes, dumb drivers and generally hoonish fun with cars.

Since the article’s author, Doug DeMuro, has been known to add a dash of silliness to his writing (he's a former manager with Porsche Cars North America), I thought it likely that his claim of Nissan selling two versions of its popular Rogue SUV at the same time might have been written with a sly wink.

DeMuro cited a press briefing in Nashville some two years ago during which a Nissan exec casually mentioned that “Oh by the way, we’re not cancelling the old Rogue. We’re just going to keep it around and sell it to people on a tighter budget.”

He’d never heard of anything like that.  Nor had I, which is why his Jalopnik article at first seemed like a put-on.

So I called an old friend at the local Nissan store, who confirmed that it was indeed true that Nissan had two different Rogues for sale.   I checked out the dealer’s web site to see this new car novelty for myself.  And there they were, the current Rouge and the previous model (now called Rogue Select) offered side by side.  And both were selling quite briskly, thank you!   In fact, Rogue was the 14th best-selling vehicle in the country during May (presumably both models together).

DeMuro further piqued my curiosity by mentioning a similar marketing strategy over at Nissan’s high-line Infiniti brand.  Sure enough, the strong selling, long running G37 four-door has been renamed the Q40 and is being offered for less money (with attractive lease terms) alongside its eventual replacement, the Q50, a kissin’-cousin of a car  outfitted with more advanced cabin style and electronics as well as a small increase in horsepower .

During our conversation, my friend and I swapped stories about times when arrival of the new models used to be a big deal.  My dad worked at a Dodge-Plymouth dealership, and we got to see the new cars before the public did, which was a great coup for us kids.  Nowadays, however, the new models arrive largely without fanfare – so much so, apparently, that Nissan has slipped two new cars into the marketplace while keeping the old model around for a while and giving it a nameplate switcheroo – with a similar strategy at Infiniti.

There have been other examples of car companies selling last year’s model after the new ones have been launched.  The 2013 Chevy Impala remains available to fleet buyers through this year, apparently to keep Chevrolet’s sales to rental car companies cranked without diminishing appeal (or resale value) of the much improved 2014-15 Impala.

I can see the sense in what Chevy is doing, but I truly must admire Nissan’s play!   Not only does the company save money, because much of the Rogue Select tooling has long been paid for, but car buyers get more choice.   People who don’t want to pay something like $3,000 more for the “regular” Rogue – and would prefer not to buy used – now have another option.  

Will this less-is-more strategy migrate to other car brands?   I hope so, because it makes good marketing sense from the perspective of both buyer and seller. 

Perhaps some day in the not too distant future we’ll be able to purchase not only last year’s car brand new but also models from two or three iterations back – improved in performance and safety but looking essentially the same.  DeMuro suggests bringing back an Acura favorite, the Integra coupe, discontinued in 2006.   My son certainly would agree after driving one quite enthusiastically until a new baby in the family dictated not only their move to a roomier (and considerably older and safer) four-door Mercedes. 

Should the marketing savvy Nissan is exhibiting today spread to other auto brands, perhaps not too far down the road we’ll find ourselves having taken a much-needed stop toward eliminating planned obsolescence altogether.

-O-

TakeAway: What's old can also be new in today's marketing world. 

(To see a “new” old Mustang, see my post, Experience Mustang -- All Over Again:  http://www.brianefaulkner.com/blog/experience-mustang-all-over-again

 Content © by Brian E. Faulkner


0 Comments

TaglineS 101: Nobody Says It Better Than Dr. Hansen.

6/1/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture- Image © by Brian E. Faulkner -
Tags:  Carolina Men's Clinic, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Camel cigarettes.
Driving north from Charlotte on 1-77 last week my ear caught a radio commercial for The Carolina Men’s Clinic, which is said to be unusually effective at helping men overcome their E.D. issues.  I listened all the way through the spot because I was too tired to reach over and change the station -- stuck in the predictable afternoon clot of traffic where lanes constrict from three to two, an event so normal that the traffic reporters pretty much ignore it.   

I find E.D. commercials particularly irksome, whether on radio or TV, especially since I’m not in the market for release from this particular misery.  But what grabbed my attention this time was the clinic’s claim that “even urologists trust Dr. Hansen to fix their E.D.” 

What a great line, akin to a shoe store bragging about how many podiatrists shop there.   I liked the line so much that I laughed out loud and began listening for the clinic’s spot during subsequent trips to Charlotte.

I have no idea how well the good doc’s treatment works (they claim a 92% success rate vs. a substantial failure rate for the branded pills hawked on TV) and remain mystified how a board certified family practice physician with a background in osteopathy established a clinic to treat men with sexual dysfunction in the first place.   It may be as simple as finding a need and filling it; the need certainly seems to be there.

Another thing I liked about his spot was the promise of a non-intimidating experience -- plus proof in the pudding: treatment guaranteed to work or you get your $199 fee back.  Dr. Hansen may be effective (or not), but either way there’s a lesson here to learn about communicating competitive advantage: 

     (1)  Understand what sets your product or service apart from everybody else’s.

     (2)  State your difference in a few compelling, memorable, authentic words.

     (3)  If possible, have your tagline tell a story.

When I was a young teen being led astray by the tobacco industry, an R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company ad claimed that doctors preferred smoking Camel cigarettes.   I ended up smoking them, too, lured in part by my parents’ example and by RJR's compelling ad, even though their proposition made no sense.  But lots of people smoked in those days; it was socially acceptable – even expected.   So how bad could it be if More Doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette (according to a nationwide survey)?   T
he toughest guys and most elegant women in the movies all smoked ...

I don’t know how well Dr. Hansen’s bit of clever copywriting is working for him, but the lesson here is clear:  his radio spot DID get my attention and DID make me remember what sets the Carolina Men’s Clinic apart, thanks to a handful of ear-catching, memorable words.     

Dr. Hansen doesn’t use the “urologist” claim as a formal tagline, but dontcha think he should?

TakeAway:  A tagline that tells a solid strategic story gathers ears and changes minds.


Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

0 Comments



    sample blog:

    This is a sample blog  for writer Brian E. Faulkner.   It presents stories about brands that do a good job communicating competitive advantage. Stories have been gleaned from the business press, personal experience and occasional interviews. Updates are made from time to time, and every so often there will be a post of general interest -- about things like success, passion, social trends, etc. 

    Author

    Brian Faulkner is a writer and strategic communication consultant who helps business clients explain their competitive advantage in compelling and enduring ways.
     
    He also is a five-time Emmy award winning Public Television writer & narrator for a highly-rated and well-loved magazine series.

    Picture
    Image © by Brian E. Faulkner

    Categories

    All
    Advertising
    Authenticity
    Brand Branding
    Brand & Branding
    Brand Names
    Business Culture
    Competitive Advantage
    Competitive Advantage
    Competitive Factors
    Content
    Creativity
    Culture
    Customer Satisfaction
    Differentiation
    Experience
    Flexibility
    Future
    Innovation
    Key Message
    Leadership
    Luxury
    Marketable Truth
    Marketing
    Passion
    Politics
    Positioning
    Price
    Quality
    Sales
    Service
    Small Business Marketing
    Story
    Strategic Thinking
    Taglines
    Team
    Technology
    Trends
    Values
    Vision

    Archives

    July 2019
    January 2019
    November 2016
    February 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2012
    October 2011
    March 2011

    RSS Feed

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner.   All rights reserved.