On a Mission
A day with Mike Harris
Stand for Something
Building trusted brands
The Upside of the Downturn
Ten Management Strategies
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The 5Ss - Brainstorming "What If?" ScenariosFriday 29th May 2009 We are often asked about the techniques we use as an agency for brainstorming differential strategic models. Here are five of the most powerful approaches we use to develop "What If" scenarios:Substitute How can I substitute the product, price, promotion or place or put my current solution/ product/ process to other purposes, potentially in other markets? Synergy What materials, features, processes, people, products or components can I combine? Selection Which parts or characteristics of the product/ process could I change, add or delete? Stretch When I modify the process in some way, what would the impact be on the customer? Swap What would I do if part of the product/process worked in reverse or was produced in a different order? Pleasure and Pain!Thursday 28th May 2009 One excellent way to Create Your Own Space is for your company to become much easier to deal with than your competitors. Separating the 'pleasure' from the 'pain' is one smooth step towards enhanced customer engagement. Disney sums it up perfectly: “When there is both pain and pleasure associated with your service, work extremely hard to separate them by time and geography.” Your prospects want the financial services you are offering. After all, your solutions provide a series of benefits they want and need. More often than not, they solve a serious problem that affords your prospect ‘pain relief’, if not yielding them exciting new opportunities. Deep joy! To neglect employing a call to action or to avoid collecting basic contact data on your web site are both missed opportunities - even marketing crimes. But do you really need that lengthy sign up page? Wouldn’t it be better to collect a detailed level of data after you have made contact and built both trust and permission with your prospect? If the pain of completing a long, highly detailed form is involved before your prospects even feel they know you, they may just end their contact with you right then and there. Many companies have moved towards online quote strategies and these create a new obstacle. These organisations may look technically savvy but the reality is that they have effectively delivered the pain (cost) before the prospect has had any meaningful contact or exposure to your brand. The prospect has all of the information they need to compare with the incumbent lender or other competitors, with no contact, no opportunity to engage with the brand or the brand ambassadors. And no contact means no contract.
Start the dialogue by asking your prospect for less. You’ll gain so much more.
A Gem of an IdeaFriday 22nd May 2009 I went out for a drink this evening with a friend to relax after what had seemed a long but enjoyable week. Our discussions got around to his business and the opportunities for expansion and the issues of capacity he faced. I quizzed him for a while and he said that he appreciated the fact that I don't shy away from asking the tough questions about a business - the uncomfortable, challenging ones.
It made me think that asking the tough questions is the basis for every creative idea. Grit may be uncomfortable and irritating. It’s also the source of a pearl. No grit, no jewel. Only the combination of strategy and creativity can ever result in a gem of an idea. However, it must be remembered that not many oysters grow a pearl. It all depends on capturing the right bit of grit - asking the right question, demanding the right responses. Apart from its role in growing a pearl - tempting to say: a pearl of wisdom - grit can also connote a firmness of mind, an invincible spirit and an unyielding courage or fortitude. I have just learned that the reputation of the financial services industry has fallen to its lowest point in a decade, according to the 10th Annual Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient (RQ) survey. The industry now shares an 11% positive rating with the tobacco industry. Never has the financial services industry needed more grit. Vision – The Real Banking CrisisWednesday 20th May 2009 Recession aside, a lack of differentiation is the most critical issue for the retail banking sector right now. A closer inspection of the various vision statements of the major UK retail banks is revealing. Almost without exception, banks show an undifferentiated, uninspiring approach to defining themselves and why they matter to people – so much so that you could describe it as “the bland leading the bland”. Be Different Be Specific Be Bold Be Memorable It fulfills all of the criteria of being Different, Specific, Bold and Memorable. When I read that vision, expressed as a strapline, I find myself filling in the blanks – making the bank’s offering personal in a way that makes an emotional connection. There is a sense of its strong global presence and perspective. The bank belongs to the world and by implication, the people of the world. They are local and, therefore, closer, implying that they care for their customers and (re-enforced by advertising) that they are an integrated organisation that can help businesses expand internationally. It tells me that they not only know where they are, they know where they are going as a business and a brand and that fills me with confidence.
Be distinctive. Encourage us to draw pictures in our minds so that we may have co-ownership of your vision.
Power ParagraphTuesday 19th May 2009 Today, I'm going to save you time and money by helping you discover the results of a new study by Yale Researchers into the proven power words that people love most. These top twelve words are guaranteed to improve the health of your marketing and it's so easy to apply these words to your campaigns, safe in the knowledge that your business will thrive.
See what I did there!
Colour My WorldFriday 15th May 2009 Colour can be a significant asset and form a distinctive part of your brand’s visual style. Care should be taken to maintain colour consistency across all applications and to avoid variations in shade and density on different printing surfaces and through different printing methods. Pantone, CMYK, RGB and web colours should be specified in your corporate identity guidelines. All sound advice, however, the colours you choose could be telling your target audience far more than you think:
Pink is always in touch with its feminine side and evokes innocence, softness and health. In business, be aware of its feminine implications and associations. Orange is all about feelings of fun and warm exuberance. In business, orange is ideal as a highlight and shows a positive approach. In business, it appeals to intellectuals and early adopters and is excellent for accenting things. Too much can be unnerving. Green evokes tranquility, health, freshness, sustainability. In business, its deep tones convey status and wealth; its pale tones are soothing. Blue conveys authority and dignity. In business, it implies fiscal responsibility and security. Plus it is universally popular, one one hand an advantage on another, a differentiation issue. Yellow is an optimistic colour that almost always evokes a positive response. Yellow spurs motivation; it stimulates creative and intellectual energy; it's cheerful and easygoing. Purple evokes sophistication, spirituality, costliness, royalty and mystery. In business, it's the ideal choice for reaching both high net worth individuals and creative audiences. Brown conveys a sense of utility. In business, it signifies less important items in documents. White represents purity, truthfulness, being contemporary and refined. In business, it enlivens dark colors and can be refreshing or sterile. Grey stands for authority, practicality and a corporate mentality. In business, it works well for conservative corporate and professional audiences. Black is a serious shade. It can also be distinctive, sophisticated, bold, funky and classic. In business, it creates drama and often makes for a striking background.
Keeping an eye on corporate colours seems like a very bright idea.
Are You Sitting Comfortably?Wednesday 13th May 2009 This is the age of the brand-bite, the era of the authentic brand story. In these days of similar companies with me-too messages, authentic brand stories are our strongest differentiator.
Imagine if the editor of the Financial Times was to tell you that he is going to interview you this afternoon and that it will appear as the lead story. What would that story look like? Are you sitting comfortably? Use the process to tell your story anecdotally with a clear beginning, middle and end:
1. Beginning – What made you start / join the business? What was the vision? Who were the founders? 2. Middle – Who are the characters / heroes? What is the plot? What are your values and beliefs? What are your customers’ stories? Is there a twist to the tale – has your focus changed? 3. End – What is the outcome expressed in customers’ / stakeholders’ terms? What is the defining moment of the story? What is your vision for the future? What is the impact or outcome of your actions?
The result is your authentic brand story that you can tell with passion and belief because you were there. Now, listen carefully as your story becomes my story, becomes our story. For this is how all of the great corporate legends are made. Marketers as StorytellersTuesday 12th May 2009 Since early cave dwellers left their graffiti in Lascaux, we have relied on storytelling to define whom we are. Stories help people learn, absorb, remember and share information and ideas. They have the power to motivate, persuade and inspire, leading to direct collective action.
Compelling stories have far-reaching emotional impact and form a powerful currency in human relationships as they are told and re-told. It makes no sense whatsoever to me that the original and most powerful form of communication and learning – storytelling – does not have a greater place in the world of business finance today.
The Cluetrain Manifesto, a set of 95 theses drawn up as a call to action for every business, states: “Stories are much more compelling than information. Stories differ from information in that they have a start and a finish; they talk about events, not conditions; they imply a deep relationship among the events; stories are about particular humans; and stories are told in a human voice. As markets once again become conversations, marketers need to excel at telling compelling stories.”
In an age where social networking is bringing individuals and communities together and where we need to engage increasingly at an emotional level, financial marketers need to re-learn the art of storytelling.
Once Upon A BrandMonday 11th May 2009 “Nothing else worked. Charts left listeners bemused. Prose remained unread. Dialogue was just too laborious and slow.” Stephen Denning was working as a director at World Bank when he discovered that every time he tried to talk to the board about investing in knowledge management armed with bullet points and spreadsheets, their eyes glazed over.
"Let me tell you something that happened two weeks ago.” Denning discovered his moment of truth as he told the simple story of how one doctor in a village in Zambia could treat malaria by going online to find answers. In that defining moment, his story persuaded senior board members to invest time and money in knowledge sharing, resulting in the World Bank becoming a global leader in this area. His corporate story changed the face of the business he worked in and saved countless lives. What could your brand story do?
BR - Brand RealisationFriday 08th May 2009 I was talking with a PR hack last week, who reminded me of what must amount to the most audacious pitch of all time. So the story goes, an advertising agency was invited to pitch for the British Rail account, as it had just come up for tender. The incumbent agency was expected to win and the agency quoted here was something of a 'wildcard' inclusion. When the BR team arrived at the agency, they did not receive the customary polite greeting. Instead, they were were met by a disinterested receptionist sitting at her desk, filing her nails and smoking a cigarette. She then made the entire executive team wait until she had finished reading the newspaper, before pointing them dismissively in the direction of a waiting room that was full of dirty cups and rubbish. The tea provided was undrinkable.
As legend has it, they were made to wait for at least twenty minutes and just as they got up to leave, the ad agency MD came in bold as brass and said: “This is how your customers perceive British Rail's service. We intend to change that for you.” They then opened the doors of the boardroom to reveal their vision of the future of BR. The agency was hired immediately and started work that week.
Once again, the unreasonable, disruptive and bold move won the day. Some might call it high risk, the biggest risk would have been to play it safe!
Mind Your LanguageThursday 07th May 2009 I read a great blog by B2B marketing, which highlights the need to Create Your Own Space through language. They state that practically every press release she receives seems to contain the words: ‘dynamic’, ‘exciting’, ‘groundbreaking’, ‘maximising’, ‘market leader’ and ‘innovative’. According to the dictionary, being innovative is about “producing something like nothing done or experienced or created before”. Claire rightly points out that "This is kind of ironic given that the word seems to crop up in just about every other press release. It’s like whoever is writing a release just plonks the word in when they can’t think what else to put there. Very innovative!"
"And in the past month alone, I must have been contacted by the “market leaders” of at least five different email marketing specialist companies. I’m no mathematician, but that doesn’t quite seem to add up."
It’s time to Create Your Own Space by using language more innovatively (see what I did there!). The way in which to achieve a differentiated position is to develop the Core Essence, Brand Pillars, Elevator Pitch and Unique Value Proposition (UVP). This can only be pulled through to Engagement once you have your own Brand Thesaurus, a unified language set to be applied by everyone across the entire organisation from reception to C-level. For a brand to become successful, the Brand Thesaurus does not start and finish with the ubiquitous press release or marketing collateral but must be cascaded into every business conversation - internally and externally. Assured Branding SuccessWednesday 06th May 2009 Emotional connection to insurance brands is extremely low, according to a study by Interbrand: "Less than one in five consumers say that their insurance brand has never disappointed them. (The top brand on this measure disappointed two thirds of its customers at some time. All brands below the top eight on this measure disappointed over 90% of their customers.)" With the introduction of comparison sites such as GoComapare.com and Confused.com, price is inevitably becoming heightened as the major point of difference in the insurance industry. The winners in this market are those that create their own space through strong brand differentiation. They will achieve this: Ads Build Confidence for Financial BrandsTuesday 05th May 2009 At a time when financial institutions are pulling back on their advertising a new study from Nielsen IAG shows that consumer confidence in the long-term health of these companies is dramatically influenced by advertising and marketing efforts. Details from the study, including charts and a video of Richard Khaleel, EVP of Nielsen IAG’s Financial practice, are available at Nielsen Wire: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/nielsen-news/financial-company-ads-out-of-sight-out-of-business When asked about their own banks, insurance companies and investment firms, 55% of respondents who said they had seen more advertising for their financial institution reported having “complete confidence” in the financial health and soundness of their financial company and only 18% said they had “little or no confidence” in their company. However, among those who said they had seen less advertising, only 18% had “complete confidence” in their financial company and 45% said they had “little or no confidence” in their company. “This research shows that ‘out of sight’ can mean ‘out of business,” said Richard Khaleel, EVP of Nielsen IAG’s Financial practice. “The current economic climate makes it more important than ever for financial institutions to bolster confidence among their clients and this study clearly demonstrates the link between advertising and confidence levels. With constant scrutiny on the industry it’s clear that taking control of the message in advertising and press can make all the difference for a brand.” What have we been saying? Accelerate whilst others are braking! The A-Z of Financial MarketingMonday 04th May 2009 Attribute – The distinctive characteristic financial marketers aim to own in their customer’s mind Differentiation is purpose of marketingFriday 01st May 2009 The Financial Brand (US) has had some tough things to say about differentiation in financial services markets."Human beings are hard-wired to notice things that stand out. There are only a few basic principles that drive all successful brands. You must be able to consistently deliver something relevant to consumers that’s different than what your competitors provide. And hopefully, your strategy isn’t something your competitors can easily copy. The more your brand meets these criteria, the more successful you will be. But of all the components fueling a strong brand, the most critical is differentiation." We would go further to say that differentiation is the entire purpose of marketing. Controversial perhaps - we believe, incontravertible. |
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