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Car Insurance Seen in a Whole New LIght.

7/27/2015

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For some time now, I've been aware of -- and impressed by -- Liberty Mutual's Whole New Light TV campaign.  Every time I see one of their spots, which feature everyday folks musing by a shoreline with the Statue of Liberty in the background, I pay attention. The ads work because of their simplicity, because of  story, because of the “real” talent they’ve chosen and because each spot presents a common insurance frustration that viewers can identify with immediately:

“You’re driving along, having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pickup truck slams into your brand new car.  One second it wasn’t there, and the next second – BOOM! – you had your first accident.  Now you have to make your first claim.  So you talk to your insurance company, and – BOOM! – you’re blindsided for a second time: They won’t give you enough money to replace your brand new car. 


        (pregnant pause)

Don’t those people know you’re already shaken up?”

I love the reference to “those people”.  We all know who they are.

The story goes on:  Liberty Mutual not only replaces the new car but also includes the value of depreciation.  Another spot in the series offers to replace a policyholder’s older car with one a whole model year newer. 

“You should feel good about your choice of insurance,” Liberty Mutual’s Web site informs us.  “That’s why our new campaign aims to shine a light on this otherwise confusing category.”

Amen to that! Insurance, whether auto, health, homeowner or life, all too often seems like a costly crap shoot, despite the assuring words used to sell us our policies.  So it’s refreshing to see a straight-talking sales pitch based on credible slice-of-life situations – without yammering on so much about price (the up to $423 you can save to switch is slipped in toward the end of the spot -- frosting on the cake compared to the main benefit). 

If I hadn’t experienced such consistently good customer service from my State Farm agent over the years, which is a personal rather than corporate competitive appeal, I’d be tempted to give Liberty Mutual a shot at my business because of their common sense advertising – but would be less likely to change companies for a 15% price difference, even if offered up by a cute green gecko. 

Pure and simple, Liberty Mutual has done a superb job of communicating their competitive advantage.  Their tagline is so strong that price may not even matter: car insurance seen in a whole new light. 

TakeAway:  Create an authentic and credible competitive advantage.  Then, present it in terms that people can rally around; they will be more likely to want to buy your product or service.

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner



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Ad Dads Aren't As Stupid Anymore.

6/21/2015

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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


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Subaru Love:  IT'S All About Story.

4/30/2015

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Picture- Image © Brian E. Faulkner -
Tags:  Subaru, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Nikon, Kodak

Do you own a Subaru?  

If so, you probably love it – because a Subaru is versatile, safe, lasts a long time, is great to haul pets around in, performs well, makes a statement about larger community issues and drives you to adventure. 

People write love letters to Subaru:

Dear Subaru,
This morning was cool and although it had not rained, the road was damp from morning dew. I was driving in the left lane of a two lane highway. I came over a crest in the road to find three cars stopped in the right lane …
Somehow, the driver of that Subaru, a 2013 Legacy sedan, not only avoided an almost certainly serious accident – twice – but escaped without a scratch on either him or his car, thanks to the Subaru’s handling. 
My Subie never skidded uncontrollably. It never failed me. I cleared the entire accident scene completely unscathed. I love my Legacy today, not for helping survive an accident but for completely saving me from having one. Thank you Subaru, you've earned my respect, my gratitude and my loyalty.  
Marketers who want customers to maximize the use and enjoyment of their products will do well to take a page from Subaru’s book.   More than any brand of any product category I can think of, Subaru has consistently and successfully painted a compelling picture of customers in their target market – in their advertising and on their Web site.  The idea, of course, is that if you see yourself reflected in product marketing, you’re likely to want to buy that product, which is one reason why Subaru’s conquest sales are so high.

Subaru buyers are relatively young, well-educated and have higher incomes than the average car buyer.  And they are thrifty; according to a 2011 study, 36% of Subaru customers pay cash.   They support causes, too; check out the first Subaru you come to in a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s parking lot.  Its bumpers likely will be festooned with stickers heralding all kinds of political and environmental values. 

Last year, my 30-something daughter and son-in-law, who live in the Pacific Northwest, one of Subaru’s strongest markets, bought a slate gray Subaru Forester.  Their family of three fit the car’s profile to a T, and as you might suspect, they did not choose their Subaru on a whim.  They knew what they wanted and went for it, after riding for years in a blue ’78 Volvo 240 wagon (that my daughter now uses to transport her landscaping tools). 

I think people “tune-in” to Subaru, and when they buy one, it seems to be an experience-based decision – plus a dash of emotion.

“The brand has a razor-sharp understanding of its owners,” writes MediaPost automotive reporter Karl Greenberg in an article profiling a Subaru TV spot that ran last September.  You may recall the ad:  a hippie grandmother tries to explain her long-ago “Summer of Love” to a young granddaughter, both of them riding in the back of the family Outback while Mom and Dad look on quizzically in the rear view mirror.  In a single creative sweep, Subaru stretches their appeal over two-plus generations while airing a spot people enjoy – and remember.   The entire family ends up hugging a tree.

Subaru is strong on story.  No matter where you go on their Web site, you’re never far from one:
Dear Subaru,
This is the story of my wonderful parents.  After 65 years of working his whole life, my father and my ‘stay at home’ mom embarked upon a cross-country adventure with their dog Buck, a Subaru Outback and a small teardrop trailer … following their dream to travel the country.  After a lot of planning they set off from the Florida Panhandle all the way to Washington State and back.  I cannot help but think they are using their Outback for the EXACT purpose it was made.  They are wonderful people and deserve to enjoy life …”

Nikon gives cameras to ordinary people and then posts their pictures online, a story without words.  Kodak understood that a long time ago; they didn’t sell film as much as they sold pictures.  Story was at the center of their marketing strategy … and should be at yours.   Because it’s the only way to get into people hearts.  And stay there.

“What makes a Subaru a Subaru?” the company asks.   The answer, of course, is … LOVE.   

TakeAway:  Sell the experience, sell the enjoyment.  Sell the pleasure of using your product.  Then the customers you want most will want you, too.

Content © Brian E. Faulkner

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Why Toyota's Camry Is Like The Velveteen Rabbit -- and Cadillac's CT6 Is Not.

4/6/2015

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Picture- image courtesy of Toyota -
Tags:  Toyota Camry, Cadillac CT6, Buick, Ford Fusion, The Velveteen Rabbit

Two creative approaches to automobile advertising have caught my eye of late: spots on TV and online for Cadillac’s revolutionary new CT6 luxury performance sedan and a television / online campaign for Toyota’s competent but non-revolutionary Camry.   One campaign engages the mind, the other tugs at the heart.   One campaign is daring, the other is bold.   One is cool and self-centric, the other warm and other-centric.  Both ads are effective.

Let’s start with Toyota, for whom Saatchi, LA has created a series of spots declaring the heretofore ordinary Camry now to be bold – at least by association, because the car only plays a bit part in the ads.  The real drama happens in stories that wrap themselves around the car: 

A young woman finds B.B. King’s guitar in a storage unit, and after “tracking down a legend” in her Camry, returns it to him. 

Another young woman escapes from her wedding just in time, and the getaway car is … a Camry. 

A man comes to realize that “being a dad is more than being a father” as he reflects on those growing-up moments with his daughter, intercut with scenes of them together in a Camry.

Then there’s Sochi medalist Amy Purdy’s paean to her dad, who not only encouraged her through her many physical trials but donated one of his kidneys to save her life. 

Not to mention the spot featuring Amy competing, dancing and modeling as Mohammed Ali narrates. 
Picture- image courtesy of Cadillac -
This is heartfelt stuff.  And although the Camry spots barely move the cool-meter, they do a good job of whacking you in your emotional center (especially if you’re a dad) – and millions of people seem to like them given the YouTube plays they’ve racked up.   But bold? 

Like Cadillac and other auto brands (Buick has been notably successful), Toyota has been trying to crank up their style to generate wider appeal.  Will their “Bold” campaign help attract new buyers, as cars like Ford’s fast-selling Fusion (with a much cooler name) take a bead on Camry’s sales lead?

Marketing experts are divided.  Some say Toyota is headed in the right direction with their Bold campaign but that turning around brand impression takes years, if not generations.  Other say “not so fast,” a Camry is a Camry and no matter how good it may become, it was born to blend in.

Cadillac, too, is all about changing prospective buyers’ impression of their brand – and in recent years they appear to have been succeeding for the most part.  In fact, they appear to have just about exorcised the image of the slab-sided, boat big ‘80s and ‘90s models from people’s minds.  Short of buying up and crushing all the clunky old Caddys left on the road, about all Cadillac can do is (1) design cars that truly stand out in their market niche and (2) have something truly bold to say about them.

Thus, the CT6 “Dare Greatly” campaign, created by Publicis Worldwide, a low-key exercise in creative edginess that presents the car in SoHo, slo-mo style.  
  • “How does a fashion intern (Jason Wu) become an arbiter of style?” the spot asks.
  • “How does a college dropout invent the personal computer?” it asks of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
  • “How does a director take 12 years to shoot a film?” the spot asks of “Boyhood” director Richard Linklater.
  • And in conclusion also asks, “How does a 112 year old carmaker reinvent itself?”

The CT6 launch ad, created by Publicis Worldwide and set to Edith Piaf singing Non, je ne regrettes rien (No, I regret nothing), presents thumbnail descriptions of “only those who dare” in a noir-like New York setting that evokes a sense of mystery and glamor as the newest Cadillac lurks in the background, almost as if an afterthought.   

One does not so much “like” this ad as inhabit it – that is, if you’re in the demographic that GM hopes will lust after this car, which has been designed to raise the game against their European competitors, not so much by emulating them but by establishing a new standard of automotive performance and luxury.       

The CT6 and Camry ads both wrap their product in an image they hope will attract buyers – Camry warms the heart and speaks of “love stuff” while Caddy quickens the pulse and addresses the “daring”.

Both carry off their creative well.  But only Cadillac’s approach seems authentic. 

Ironically, I prefer watching the Camry spots (which makes me older-than-cool and more in their target market).  I like Camrys, which perform their middle-ground, mid-sized sedan function admirably and without pretending to be cool. When I rent one on an out-of-town trip, I am assured of enjoying a competent, quality, unpretentious ride.  Which is what makes a Camry a Camry and part of the reason that nameplate remains the best-selling one in the U.S.  

I think of Margary Williams’ story of The Velveteen Rabbit when considering whether Toyota may be missing the strategic mark with its otherwise well-executed Camry creative.  You may recall the story, where a stuffed bunny yearns to become “Real”. 

“Real isn't how you are made,” the rabbit is told. “It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

Camry is already “real” in its market’s mind.  So why go to such lengths to pretend it really is something else?

TakeAway:  Don’t sell bold unless you’ve got bold to sell.  Instead, communicate what’s really real.  Be authentic!

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner



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What's So Mysterious About Business Creativity?

2/23/2015

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PictureImage © by Brian E. Faulkner

Creativity is for people who do creative stuff, right? Artists, who paint and sculpt, write, dance, act and make music. 

“But not me!” you might say, “I’m a business person -- and definitely not creative.”

I recall a client who thought that way.  Said he could hardly draw a straight line so was not creative.  Yet, this man was the most creative businessperson I’ve ever encountered (although I've yet to meet Elon Musk). He thought in odd angles and perceived the future with clarity. He also could share his vision, and in a few short years of very hard work grew his  business from a handful of people in a small office to a national brand that dominated its category.

Is there a connection between creativity and business success?


A 2014 study commissioned by Adobe suggests that “creative companies … outperform in both revenue growth and market share.” The study surveyed more than 300 senior managers in a variety of large global firms and found that “58% of respondents from creative companies (those that encourage creative perspective, practices, and culture) said their revenues have strong growth (10%+ year-over-year) while only 20% of less creative companies reported strong revenue growth. And creative companies are 50% more likely to report a commanding market leadership position."

Clearly, one must be cautious in interpreting findings like this since other success factors also may be at play in these organizations. But it stands to reason that leaders who encourage people to color outside the lines and explore the outer edges of opportunity will foster innovation and growth – and also be great places to work, as the Adobe study also found.

Sure, some folks seem to have more "creative" genes than others, just as some people have more innate ability to play sports -- or a musical instrument. You can learn how to play baseball or piano, for instance, and even though you might do a fair job at it, there's not much you can do with your skill beyond enjoy it. But even a kernel of creativity can sometimes lead to big things. I recall Colonel Sanders from time to time and his creative approach to preparing, cooking and selling chicken. He started experimenting with his "secret recipe" during the 1930s in Kentucky by offering chicken to patrons of a gas station he owned (at age 40). A variety of learning experiences, several failures and 20 odd years later, he hit the road to sell restaurants on purchasing franchised rights to chicken done his way. Even his gravy was a cut above, enough to make you want to "throw away the durned chicken and just eat the gravy." By the time he set out to sign up franchisees he was nearly broke, but he persisted -- and found not only that people liked his Kentucky Fried Chicken (which was pressure fried instead of pan fried) but that it also boosted sales for the restaurants who chose to buy in. Today, Harlan Sanders' creative approach is the basis for one of the world's most successful brands. 


So how can you put creative thinking to work for your business? 

Kenichi Ohmae, a long-time managing partner with McKinsey & Company, recommended in his Mind of the Strategist that to get a fresh look at a problem or product it helps to break it into bite-sized bits: features, benefits, base assumptions, competitive advantages, market perspective, etc, then reassemble the bits in new ways -- and question everything (a more non-linear approach to S-W-O-T discussions). The mere act of decoupling yourself from predictable thinking can open up new worlds of possibility, as long as you recognize that false starts and frustrations are a valuable part of the process - along with the courage to see your way through.  If that sounds like old-fashioned anything-goes brainstorming, well … it is.  It’s about opening yourself to new thinking based on the knowledge and experience of others.

Edwin Land, of Polaroid fame, observed that most major discoveries at his company were made by people able to take a “fresh, clean look at the old, old knowledge.”  Like a client I consulted to recently, which turned out to have a revolutionary product benefit hidden deep within their story, an uncommunicated competitive advantage with the potential to make a hugely profitable difference to their customers.  It was there all along but just took fresh eyes to see.

Another way to take a clean look at things is through peripheral visioning: looking beyond your normal field of vision, searching outside your comfort zone for fresh perspective … and possibly even enlightenment.  If you run a grocery store, study the machine tool business.  If you’re in the service business, learn all you can about the marketing of consumer products. If you’re a retailer, get to know how non-profits think. If you've been in business practically forever, get to know a few unrelated startups. Read all you can about them. Get curious!  You’ll be surprised how much of what you learn can be applied to your business – that is, if you’re willing to risk leading the way through unexplored territory. If you’re not comfortable doing this yourself, seek out professional creative thinkers and ask them to help (or hire one to think inside your company, as one of my clients did). Wrap people from businesses with different problems and perspectives into your brainstorming, and it won’t be long before you find yourself immersed in a mindspace where stale, predictable thinking gets transformed into creative new possibilities.

My definition of creativity is looking at the ordinary in extraordinary ways (playing off those odd angles).  It's a lot like daydreaming, something society encourages us not to do. Some of my most fruitful ideas come during long drives with my mind in idle.  A twenty-minute nap gets results, too, although it has taken me a long time to get over the guilt of interrupting a “workday” for a brief snooze. But when you consider that business ideas precede success, spending a chunk of your valuable time thinking seems less crazy to those more accustomed to working inside the box. People once thought powered flight was crazy, but two bicycle repairmen brothers from Dayton dared to imagine otherwise.

Albert Einstein once called imagination “the preview of coming attractions.”  So why not get busy imagining your coming business attractions?  Not creative?  

Don’t believe that for a minute! 

TakeAway:  Take the risk of seeing, thinking and learning outside your comfort zone.  The dividends can be extraordinary.

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner




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Price! Price! Price!

2/16/2015

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Tags:  Greentoe.com, Priceline, Consumer Reports, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, J. C. Penney, B&H, B&H Photo, online discount cameras, smartshop.org

Have you ever thought about the difference between price selling and selling price?


Price selling is discounting.  It’s lazy marketing.  And having sale after sale after sale not only takes a bite out of profit but could be a long-term trap (just ask J.C. Penney).

Selling price is price-as-product. 

An intriguing example of price-as-product popped up on my screen this morning: Greentoe.com.   Their ad snagged me because I’ve been fishing around online for cameras and lenses.  So I clicked through to their site, where they immediately offered “the lowest prices available” on brands like Nikon, Canon, Olympus, etc.

“People like you are saving big on photo gear,” claimed the big green headline (the shade of money).  “Set your price and save up to 20%.  Brand new products.  No grey market.  Authorized retailers.  USA warranty included.” 

Does the advent of Greentoe.com mean I’ll no longer have to contend with my local Best Buy’s lackluster camera department?  (http://tinyurl.com/nywuxcx)  Does it mean I won’t have to risk ordering my next camera from one of those slippery big city camera discounters?

Maybe …

“Greentoe.com is the first and only website that allows you to name your own price for products in five categories: photography, appliances, musical instruments, baby items, and home theater,” reports shopsmart.org, an online Consumer Reports “best deals” resource.   They’re doing for consumer products what priceline.com has done for air travel and booking hotel rooms.  And it has the same sort of intrigue.  Will they accept my bid?   Will it be soooo much lower than the price somebody else paid?

Greentoe’s process is simple: 

(1) Submit an offer, on “thousands of products” (and give them your payment info).

(2) “Hundreds of retailers” then are notified of your offer (a green, orange or yellow gauge helps you determine how likely they are to accept – similar to Priceline).

(3) The first retailer to accept gets the sale; the transaction is between buyer and seller. 

If you know precisely what item you want, Greentoe.com may be your cup of tea – that is, if their retail partners have what you’re looking for.  The site’s selection of musical instruments and pro audio equipment is far from comprehensive, but it’s not meant to be.  They know that brick-and-mortar stores always have aged merchandise or overstocks they need to sell, so greentoe.com matches them up with customers who live hundreds or thousands of miles away.   Same for TVs, appliances and other products.

Their customers don’t have to be lucky or do the legwork, the company states in its well written and informative blog
, they “just have to have a little luck to find that deal.”   Greentoe provides the luck.

There is something else.   Once you’ve punched in your payment card numbers, there’s no turning back, so if you’re at all queasy about things like that – or don’t make purchase decisions easily (like me), it might be best to buy elsewhere. 

Heretofore, the place I most likely would have picked to buy a camera is New York’s B&H Photo-Video, especially if I needed help choosing the right one.  B&H has it all:  vast selection, attentive service, technical expertise, free advice and competitive prices.  And, if you live anywhere nearby or are visiting Manhattan, you get to handle the goods before making a purchase decision.  Walking into their 70,000 square foot their store is like entering a dream world of professional photo, video and audio goodies.

You can buy cheaper than B&H, but probably not as well. 

To be sure, there are other excellent purveyors of professional photo, video and audio products – online and off, and some may have as compelling a presentation as B&H, but the positioning of that big store at 34th & 9th has always fascinated me.   They’re not only the largest independent (non-chain) photo-video retailer in America, they also communicate their competitive advantages clearly and set price accordingly -- unlike all too many businesses that only play the price card.   B&H.com appears to command a slight price premium over some other online camera sources, and if so, they more than earn their margins with their compelling added-value.

Greentoe.com’s selling proposition also is compelling, however, so I will keep them in mind when it comes time to buy whatever camera I decide on.  Who knows?  My bid price just might outweigh the loyalty I feel to B&H for sending me all those informative catalogs over the years.  But then again, during the time in my life when I sold audio equipment, it always rankled me when I helped educate a prospect only to see him buy from some discounter instead of me. 

It’s so easy to discount, which is the unfortunate first impulse of many businesses.  In most situations, price selling is mind-numbing, profit crushing and unnecessary – unless, like Greentoe.com, price is your product.

TakeAway:  Does your business or brand have competitive advantages that will attract more qualified customers and allow you to command better margins?  Or are you content to sell principally on price?

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

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Brands Are Not Your Friends ... Sometimes.

2/10/2015

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Tags:  gawker.com, Twitter, Coca-Cola, Coke, AdWeek, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Maytag
The provocative headline “Brands Are Not Your Friends” popped up on my iPad yesterday evening.   So I had to check it out.

The gist of the article (from blog site gawker.com) was that people should not be sucked into treating brands as “Friends” on social media, because brands “exist solely to distract, deceive, and manipulate us out of our money.”

Their example was Coca-Cola’s “MakeItHappy” Twitter campaign aired during the Super Bowl.  According to AdWeek.com, the brand’s goal was to encourage Twitter users to “mark negative tweets with the #MakeItHappy hashtag. Then, Coke turned those words into cute art images using ASCII lettering code.”

All well and good … creative and harmless you might say, and very much in line with the frothy, friendly good-time image Coke likes to project.   But Gawker apparently was nearly struck dumb with the perceived idiocy of the campaign, which they presumed was designed to “trick you into buying more Coke,” although company marketers likely would not have put it that way. 

So Gawker, which appears to trade in provocative takes on celebrities and media, came up with some digital skullduggery, which I will allow AdWeek’s writer to explain out of my fear of inaccurately describing something I barely understand:

“Gawker created a Twitter bot, @MeinCoke, which tweeted (quotes from) Mein Kampf at Coca-Cola to see if the brand would turn lines from Hitler's autobiographical manifesto into art.”  It worked, and Coke quit the campaign.

“It's unfortunate that Gawker is trying to turn this campaign into something that it isn't,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson told AdWeek. “Building a bot that attempts to spread hate through #MakeItHappy is a perfect example of the pervasive online negativity Coca-Cola wanted to address with this campaign."

All this collective mindlessness got me to thinking about brands and whether they are, in fact, our friends.  And my conclusion is … sometimes.   Is Coca-Cola my friend?   Not really.  Their product does not nourish and even may be harmful, given the 800 cans of soft drinks that American males consume every year, according to recent stats.  Consumption by both males and females reportedly has been rising since the ‘70s. 

My point here is not to make trolls out of Coca-Cola or any other soft drink marketer; we are free to make, sell and consume most anything we want here in this country.   And if we consider some products to be harmful, we also are free to not consume them.

In synch with what I have termed Marketable Truth in blog posts on this site and in my consulting work, it may be useful to have consumers decide whether brands actually keep their promises.  If somebody sells you a tool and it breaks, their brand claim is not authentic – but if it lasts for 25 years like our Maytag washer did, it earns a high score.  If a retailer claims great service but doesn’t deliver, they get a low score, which may prompt them to improve. 

So why not place brands on a “promise continuum”?   Call it the Brand Performance Index (or the Real Thing Index, should you prefer) – and you be the judge.  

Products like fresh fruits and vegetables likely would score high, except maybe for broccoli if you’re under 10 or are George H. W. Bush.  Soft drinks would score low -- or would they?   They might score high if people believe they’re getting the refreshing promise they expected from their Coke or Pepsi or Mountain Dew, or even a lifestyle boost.  Same goes for my favorite single malt whiskey!

So it’s up to us to decide, not some marketer … or even Michael Bloomberg.  Brand promise is best measured by consumer experience.

TakeAway:  How would your brand score on the Real Thing Index?

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner




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Budweiser Scores With Super Bowl Ad.

2/2/2015

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I’m not one for gushy ads, so when I watched Super Bowl XLIX yesterday, I looked for spots with solid strategic bite.  Not lifestyle stuff.  Not cuddly cute.  Not outrageously obscure (there was more than a few of those). I was on the lookout for ads with a clear benefits story -- although, like most everybody else on the planet, I did enjoy watching the Budweiser puppy find his way back home.

Yeah, yeah … I know it’s all about entertainment and ego, but Tom Brady and company provided enough of that to even satisfy my dad, a dedicated Patriots fan who’s been gone nearly four years now. Wherever he’s hanging out these days, I’d bet that last minute interception by Malcom Butler raised him and inch or two off his recliner! 
I didn’t see ALL the ads, no doubt, given several beverage refill breaks and more than a few old-man visits to the smallest room in the house.  But there were several spots that caught my marketer’s eye, especially Brewed the Hard Way, one of two other Bud ads that ran during the evening.

“Brewed” popped up in the third quarter as viewers were wondering which way the Tilt-A-Whirl game was going to go.  By then, we’d been served more than our share of emotionally-saturated spots, some truly inexplicable ads and a few that tried hard to sell something it was not – that means you, Toyota Camry.  And things had pretty much come back to earth after Katy Perry’s 12-minute entertainment extravaganza.

With a hard-driving fuzz guitar underlay and shots of Bud being made -- and enjoyed, flashes of text declared Budweiser a “macho beer, not brewed to be fussed over”, a brew for “drinking, not dissecting.”  Bud, the spot declared, is for “people who like to drink beer brewed the hard way.  Let them sip their pumpkin peach ale.  We’ll be brewing us some golden suds …"

“This is an affirmation of what Budweiser is, not an attack on what it isn't,” Brian Perkins, Budweiser’s VP of Marketing, told Robert Haynes-Perkins of the NY Drink Examiner.  “We're hoping to touch a chord with the person who wants the truth about how we make Budweiser and why it's great.

“We love craft beer” (and Anheuser-Busch acquires and sells some),” Perkins told the reporter.  "I think that the prevailing dialectic is that small must be better, and big must be bad.  That's the generally accepted trend. For us, big is good. It's not arrogant, it's just saying that it's great to brew a beer that so many people enjoy … it doesn't mean there's less care, less quality or less passion from the people who make it."

That’s tapping into the brand's Marketable Truth©.  And even though it scored only 5.15 (out of 10) on USA Today’s Ad Meter, I thought the ad was a strategic touchdown with its Brewed The Hard Way tagline.

There were a few other Super Bowl ads with solid positioning (of those I actually saw). 

GM’s new Colorado truck ads scored in my book by telling a story that revealed the cool truck guy vs. the less cool compact car guy.  The benefits story was subtle, but it worked -- although it only placed #39 on USA Today’s list.

I also like Sprint’s “Apology” ad (#34) because it directly called out the other carriers for being “really expensive,” offered to cut people’s wireless rates in half compared to Verizon and AT&T and gave them a way to make that happen.  They also used a whiny goat and a braying donkey to make a visual point about their competitor’s pricing.

And then there was GoDaddy’s “Working” spot (#55), which presented a direct, no-nonsense benefits story vs. the in-your-face, sexually charged approach they’ve used in previous Super Bowl ads.  It didn’t score very well with the public, however, which no doubt would like to have gazed upon Danica Patrick one more time or scored a smooch from Bar Rafaeli.  

Clearly, the ads I appreciated for their strategic punch were not favorites in the eyes of viewers who were more interested in being entertained than being convinced on the spot to change their mind about a product or buy something on the strength of product benefits.  

Fortunately for Budweiser, the public will be seeing more of “Brewed”. 

TakeAway:  In the long run, benefits-laden, positioning-driven advertising wins over creative fluff – unless, of course, a spot has both, like Apple’s famous “1984” MacIntosh ad during Super Bowl XVIII.   Little did anyone viewing that game know how much the world was about to change.


Content © by Brian E. Faulkner              

Marketable Truth © by Brian E. Faulkner

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"Quality" Razor Doesn't QUite Cut It.

1/28/2015

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Picture
I’m a sucker for quality.  A finely polished product surface will get me every time.  I love the satisfying sound a car door makes when it closes properly (and the window operators don’t rattle like they did on some older American cars).  Not to mention underwear T-shirts that don’t shrink with their first wash (even using cold water and a low dryer setting).  And razor blades that glide smoothly over your face while effortlessly removing that morning’s growth.

So I was pretty excited to hear about Harry’s Razors.  They’ve been around going on two years and have popped up recently online.  Read their well-crafted ad copy and you’d think you’ve found shaving Nirvana:

Like most of you, we’ve long had to choose between over-priced,
over-marketed razors that disrespect your intelligence,
and low quality, cheap razors that disrespect your face.
We knew there had to be a better way,
so we created Harry’s as a return to the essential:
a great shave at a fair price.
I wanted one - right away.  Problem is I no longer shave, thanks to a 5-year-old beard I trim once a week – if that.   But during my many decades of shaving, I mostly used the cheap blue grocery store blades that lasted about three days before they reared up and tried to bite my face off. 

So the Harry’s ad caught my eye.  It had a quality look and made quality promises:
We spent over a year meticulously crafting our first Harry’s line.
Our blades are made by German engineers with decades of experience honing high-grade steel.
Our handles were designed to blend timeless simplicity and modern ergonomics.
Our shaving cream comes from the same chemists who make creams for high-end brands.
The result: a set of modern shaving products made with respect for the tradition of a good, clean shave.
Since I was not going to try them myself, I consulted razorpedia.com for Harry’s Razor reviews.  

Some men liked them and credited Harry’s for eliminating razor burn.  Others did not like the product for reasons that ranged from “dull after three days” to rust on the blades, slippery handles and poor value compared to products available at retail – not to mention Harry’s shave cream, which nobody seemed to like.

I, too, was disappointed – that so many of the reviewers were disappointed.  Because I like Harry’s sell.  It's creative, credible and makes you want to try the product.   But as one reviewer opined, the company seems “more concerned with marketing brand association and identification than with how their razor works.”

Harry’s differentiation is threefold:  (1) a great shave, (2) a fair price, and (3) direct sales.  Unfortunately, razorpedia reviewers suggest that the product needs refinement and isn’t always the best value.  That leaves direct selling as the lead dog pulling this sled, which likely will be enough to establish a market beachhead for Harry’s while they improve the product. 

I hope so.   Because I want to see these entrepreneurs succeed.

As for me, I’m still on the lookout for an underwear T that won’t shrink with that first wash!  Don’t you just hate how they ride up on your tummy?

TakeAway:  Don’t make a quality claim unless your product absolutely, positively lives up to it.
     
Content © by Brian E. Faulkner 
 

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New Whole Foods Tagline Nails It!

11/3/2014

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PictureImage © by Brian E. Faulkner
Two words at the bottom of our Whole Foods sales receipt caught my eye yesterday:

            VALUES MATTER.

“What’s up with this?” we asked the nearest WFM team member.

“You know, values – the things people believe.  They matter.  That’s what Whole Foods is all about.”

Of course.  Whole Foods Market has hung its mostly organic hat on that for years.  A tilt toward unadulterated, un-manufactured foods has been their stock in trade ever since John Mackey and his wife started their first store in 1978.  Company “values” still encompass trust and the greater good … and attract a refreshing variety of both staff and customers.

But these days, Whole Foods Market® is far from alone in offering organic fare.  Even the most mundane mainstream grocer now carries some organics, and the leaders among them have gone in heavy for it – even Walmart, for heaven’s sake!   Not to mention a plethora of “natural foods” competitors out there who would like to eat WFM’s lunch. 

So Whole Foods needs a way to stand out … again.

That very evening, the first Whole Foods TV ad we’d ever seen popped into our living room (which either means we’ve missed ‘em when they’ve run before or they’ve just starting running in our area).  The spot talked about how values matter, profiled a family-owned farm and touched on organics’ companion differentiator, local providers – another difference that’s becoming less different these days as mainstream grocery marketers climb on the “local” bandwagon.

“America’s Healthiest Grocery Store,” declared the tagline at the end of the spot, nailing down in only four words what America has been saying about Whole Foods for a long time.  Witness this quote from Health Magazine in 2008, which asked a group of health experts to pick the Top 10 healthiest grocery stores (Whole Foods was #1):

“Whole Foods has the whole package -- from an extraordinary selection of fresh conventional and organic fruit and vegetables to delicious prepared foods with healthy ingredients and clear labeling. Whole Foods puts a premium on products that are grown or produced locally (read: super fresh).”

The Whole Foods tagline is a home-run.  It includes all “10 qualities of an effective tagline”— at least as I’ve perceived them over the years.

  1.  Simple – uses as few words as possible.
  2.  Direct – makes a strong, unambiguous declaration-
  3.  Compelling – connects to both head and heart.      
  4.  Authentic – grounded in Marketable Truth©.  
  5.  Strategic – sets your brand apart.
  6.  Personal – talks about customer wants and needs.
  7.  Meaningful – expresses tangible benefits.   
  8.  Visual – attracts eye and ear.
  9.  Memorable – sticks in the mind.
10.  Enduring – works as long as the truth lasts.

I’d like to think that the new Whole Foods “tagline” is a keeper.  Could be a test.  Or just an ad campaign theme. 

But based on this short presentation on Whole Foods' web site (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/values-matter), I’d say America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” is a keeper.  They simply may be sneaking it in under the “Values Matter” banner. 

It should be a keeper, because it tells the truth … and tells it well.

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner      Marketable Truth © by Brian E. Faulkner

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    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. 

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    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.

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