Marketing Alone A Brand It Cannot Change

This blog entry is really written only for CEOs. 

If you fill a marketing slot on the client side or you work on the agency side of the business, you are welcome to read this blog entry… but it’s not been written for you.

Most of the EXPERIENCE client relationships are built with CEOs. 

Marketing people think that they are brand engineers, but in reality they are not. 

If you are moved to get out a poster board and magic marker and jot this down… do it.

Marketing alone a brand it cannot change. 

Two nights ago I saw a new Burger King television commercial.  It was for a new BBQ sandwich. 

It was airing on TruTV. 

I doubt seriously that the new investment group that now owns Burger King often gets out in the field and tours Burger King restaurants. 

Oh I am sure that they have been to a couple of their prototypes, but likely not the ones out there serving the masses.

The media person who placed the spot probably was hired away from Crispin’s media team when the account left the agency. 

Placing the Burger King spot on TruTV was right smack on target with the limited television viewership of the bulk of the Burger King customer base.

The spot however, was a trip through the world of fantasyland… and that was not the intended genre of the film crew.

Crispin and the Burger King CEO at the time got it right.

Burger King restaurants are dated.  The food is glutton tummy fillers.  Single, working class, 24/7 guys are the mainstay of their customer base. 

The new investment group owning Burger King believe that new commercials combined with some new food offerings can replace “Joe the paid-by-the-hour convenience store worker” with the “charming, white freckled-face family from the green-space, suburban home.”

I don’t think so.

My bet is that soon…

(a)  The current agency gets fired and blamed for the falling sales

(b)  Burger King goes back up on the selling block

(c)  The freckled-faced kids aren’t back on the film set doing any follow-up spots

A few Sundays ago, I purchased the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to read while sipping a Starbucks light roast. 

I had a “Tall” Starbucks light roast (that’s a small size) and I knew that the AJC would be quick read since there is truly limited text worth reading.

After 10 minutes, the coffee was gone and I had gotten through the news, but then tripped across an ad insert that caught my attention.

It was the Father’s Day ad insert for JCP… or as we have known it over the years, JC Penney. 

I knew that JC Penney had hired Michael Francis as their brand-change agent.  Michael Francis is the brand changer that propelled the Target brand to become a retail icon. 

Michael had given JC Penney a fresh new brand look including a much cleaner, more 2012 brand name and logo.  He also moved JCP from an endless stream of discounts to an everyday low price model. 

Michael Francis had served as President of JCP for six months.

In this morning’s Wall Street Journal, there is an article titled, “Penney President Out in Shake-Up.”

JCP… that is probably returning soon back to being JC Penney… fired Michael Francis over sputtering sales. 

I think that Michael should pick up the phone and call Alex Bogusky and go have a drink. 

The WSJ goes on to report about how customers were just too much wedded to streams of discounts and could not handle marketing efforts that didn’t showcase price, price, price.

I would suggest that JC Penney step back and go tour its stores, review its product mix, look at its staff and the customer exchange. 

Take along with them that newspaper insert that ran a few weeks ago and hold it up in the middle of the store.

My bet is that there is a large discrepancy between what brand experience is currently being delivered in-store and what that insert conveys.

The power leadership at both JC Penney and Burger King are accountants. 

On the last page of the EXPERIENCE website, I post a simple set of key principles that we ask our partners to embrace.

I encourage CEOs to further ensure that their board, corporate leadership, operational, human resources and financial team members also embrace those core principles. 

The last principle reads, “Make a financial commitment to embark on the journey.”

Financial commitments are important. 

A commitment to embark on the journey and realize just who your brand is and what it can and cannot be is perhaps even more important.

My message to CEOs in this blog is very simple…

Marketing alone a brand it cannot change. 

(oh and p.s. accountants are not brand change agents!)

Moving A Brand Across Genre

I’ve written about it before.

Early that one morning when I received a phone call from a co-worker that said, “go turn on the TV and get a look at the new format the AOL folks created for Headline News.”

I ended up as shocked as my co-worker when we saw what the AOL folks had done to Headline News.  Clearly, they decided Headline News would be the Guinea Pig of their vision to merge the web with the broadcast nets.

I am sorry. 

It is a simple fact. 

It is really, really difficult for left-brain techies to understand the genre dynamics authored by right-brain set designers. 

The reason I bring that morning back to life is that I just received the actual rollout issue of HGTV Magazine.  The issue I received back in March was their “beta test” edition. 

In my work with home décor and design clients, I am fueling their marketing precision right now with some very cool target groups that go by nicknames like “High Society Designers,” “Blue Sky Homesteaders,” “Traditional Classics” and “Design Mavens.”

HGTV posts the highest readership with the “Design Mavens.”  This is that mix of DINKS, high-income families and trendy empty-nesters. 

When it comes to magazine readership, “Design Mavens” love to kick back with pubs like Food & Wine, Traditional Home, InStyle, Bon Appétit and Architectural Digest. 

Those pubs have their editorial text, but when you turn to the showcase section of each pub, there are lots of pictures spanning from side-to-side of the pub with some spanning across two full pages.

If you cannot picture this yet, all you need to do is hit the web and go over to Pinterest and take a look at the postings of “Design Mavens.”  Its like walking into the museum of interior design.

HGTV does a very good job with its programming… perhaps, in large part, because of the Canadian ties where it is way too cold most of the year to really care about much outside the front door of the home.

HGTV shows score well with their before-and-afters coupled with great hosts who add personality to the real estate.

 And while set-designers are right-brain driven, most marketing leadership is left-brain driven thanks to the MBA academics who craft the headsets to understand bottomline economics.

So here is where we come to the crux of the issue – literally!

Repeat after me what the consumers voice to marketers 24/7… “Don’t tell me about you… Tell me about me.”

Give me great stories in the magazine about wonderful homes, rooms and spaces that I can fantasize about and transport myself into to share the experience.

While there are some good ideas in the magazine, they are lost in what appears like the television network with uncontrollable ADHD. 

From cover-to-cover it features the personality stars, quips from the shows, featured products and ads promoting the shows. 

Literally the first story is titled “Who will be the next design star” and it features quips and quotes of each of the contestants. 

More than 75% of the articles feature a picture of one of the HGTV hosts and the stories are extensions of the television shows.

What I remember most about the Headline News fiasco is that it just might have been the springboard that got the AOL Team off the Time-Warner production sets.

In many ways, I really hope that I am wrong on this one. 

HGTV, the cable network and HGTV branded retail products are not only clients of mine, but I personally love watching HGTV.  I am addicted to watching many of the shows and craft my evenings around the schedule.

I subscribed to HGTV to add more to my times with Elle Decor, House & Home and Architectural Digest.

My subscription to this magazine is good for eleven more issues. 

To those who read this blog, I promise to provide an update of just what HGTV Magazine evolves into this fall. 

Just remember… for all the mistakes that AOL made with Headline News, that network is still airing!

The News Perspective of Good Ole Boys

How many reading this would put much trust in an article about McDonald’s coffee compared to Starbucks coffee… if Burger King wrote it?

Most every morning I grab a Wall Street Journal, a cup of coffee and a bagel to catch up on what’s all happening out there among peers and colleagues.

In this morning’s WSJ Marketplace, there is a front page article titled, “The Big Doubt Over Facebook.” 

There is also a set of illustrations of the Facebook thumbs-up icon, the American Idol logo, a drawing of People magazine and the New York Times and Yahoo! logos.

Even before reading the article, I made a bet with the guy sitting at the table next to me what the article would say…

(1) It would compare advertising on Facebook with alternative advertising options in conventional media… even with a comparative skew to print publications

(2) It would put an onus on Facebook to prove that advertising on it leads to sales… but place no comparative onus on conventional media

(3) It would feature ad agency commentary on the questionable character of Facebook advertising

Sure enough, I won the bet.

Early in the article, Michael Sprague, CMO of Kia Motors North America is quoted as saying, “if a consumer sees my ad (on Facebook) does that ultimately lead to a new vehicle sale?” 

WSJ then immediately follows the quote with…

“The concerns from Kia and other advertisers underscore the difficulties of measuring results of nascent-forms of social-media advertising.”

Ahhhh… Has the WSJ, other print publications and broadcast media players been able to produce result-producing measurement standards in what is now their post-nascent 40 years plus of being around?

The pictures adjacent to the article compare spending $1 million in generating 125 million impressions on Facebook with two, 30-second ads on American Idol, 6.5 full-page color ads in People magazine and 10 full-page color ads in the New York Times.

Course the article says nothing about the ability to post those 125 million impressions with screeners relative to very direct related behavior sets of the Facebook members. 

Perhaps the part of the article that I chuckled over the most was the set of commentary by “chief executives” from the hallowed halls of P&G, Unilever and WPP (“the world’s largest ad company”)… all of which “question the value of their investments” on Facebook.

Wow… I am sure that those are three true experts of the entrepreneurial wave of market inspiration (give me a break!)

Thanks to overseas markets, Unilever has been able to offset stale sales in the U.S. and the WSJ reported earlier this week that P&G is facing sales below projections for the first time this year. 

And perhaps, WPP can join up with the comparative analogy of the WSJ and Burger King… an ad agency group offering critique of a key player that has had pronounced impact on their declining client-sales.

My response can also be boiled down in simple statements…

(1) Show me another media vehicle that reaches 900 million readers-viewers

(2) Show me another media vehicle that provides advertisers with the ability to target their message against real-time behaviors relative to the advertisers product or service

(3) Show me another media vehicle that qualifies “reach” and “impressions” delivery against very specific audience dynamics… far more specific than gender and age

The title of the article perhaps says it all: “The Big Doubt Over Facebook” – maybe that doubt is truly focused more around whether Facebook will join up with the established “good ole boys” clan or start-up a rival gang!

The last perspective I will leave with is that in the same issue of the WSJ there is a full-page color ad for Blackberry that talks in tech talk about something the Blackberry does that “no one else can claim.”

Blackberry has a brand tagline:  “BE BOLD.”

Adjacent to the article about Facebook is a second article titled, “RIM Offers Peek At Its Next Phone” in which the first sentence states “the company is counting on the phone to stop the company’s slide” and that the event “drew a mostly tepid response that heightened concerns about whether the company’s products can compete with the iPhone.”

Ahhhh… you see any comparison in these two stories?

You Don't Reckon They're Cousins?

Two years ago I put a slide into my client “grounding sessions” titled “Rethink and Refocus.”

I call it a Change Wave – a foundation-changer that is rocking boardrooms, operational models and marketing dynamics. 

It causes businesses and brand teams to step back and question conventional models, innovate and create new ones.

There are some who call it a born-again experience. 

Those who do, often live in the shackles of the past and might voice the desire to embrace change, but in reality, unearth what they term as the “tried and true,” dust it off and believe that the past can be resurrected.

Most mornings now I read the Wall Street Journal. 

I give the newspaper a lot of credit.   

They have moved through their “grounding session” and now deliver a richer, more business dynamic news platform that is accessbile in print, online and on-air.

In this morning’s Media & Marketing section there is a story about AOL.

Before I tell you about the WSJ story, let me share a sidelight personal perspective of AOL.

More than 10 years ago, I had a first-hand experience of AOL in its acquisition of my past employer Time-Warner.

AOL acquired Time-Warner because it believed that it could transform the conventional media through the acquisition of a print and broadcast giant.  

It was only weeks after the announcement that a group of AOL techies took over CNN Headline News and unveiled a new look for the struggling news net.

I received a phone call at 5:30am that morning from a colleague who said “you’ve got to see what the (insert term here) those tech-freaks did to Headline News.”

What I saw was a junked-up website airing on the television set.

After nine more months of watching AOL attempt to “re-birth” the networks, I escaped and got out.

Today’s story about AOL is titled, “AOL Pushes To Grab TV Ad Dollars.”

On the surface, its really not a bad idea nor far-fetched venture. 

There is another article in the WSJ today about the Today Show’s winning streak ending.   

NBC and ABC are now battling it out for whatever food falls on the floor after being gobbled up by the cable nets and interactive media.

What AOL is doing is summed up in this quote from the article…

“AOL has teamed up with Nielsen to offer TV-like audience guarantees to marketers based on gross rating points.”

Gross Rating Points are… well gross. 

These are not even Target Rating Points.

Leave it to Beaver.   

Get the tech geeks married up with the historic ad media reps who for years have built their sales models around the story that the more reach and frequency, the more effective the advertising.

The more consumers you bang the message into their headset, the more the Zombies will rush out to buy the brand.

Forget the dialogue exchange and relationship dynamics of the market today. 

Forget the ability for rivals like Google and Facebook to micro-target.

Shoot… go embrace the way those aging television reps have been selling their media now for years…

“Rethink and Refocus” causes businesses and brand teams to step back and question conventional models, innovate and create new ones.

Then there are those corporate hi-rise marketing teams that get a thrill each time they look in the mirror and cannot even begin to embrace the Change Wave.

By the way, found out more details over the weekend about Arby’s teaming up with Crsipin Porter after Burger King kissed the agency … and the brand foundation… good bye. 

You don’t reckon that AOL and Burger King are being run by cousins do you?

How Many React To The Challenge Ahead

Shel Sliverstein wrote a great book of poetry title Where The Sidewalk Ends.

I remember reading Shel Silverstein's book titled Where The Sidewalk Ends back when I was in High School and immediately concluded that despite its cartoons and kid feel, it was really a book of poetry for adults. 

Or at least those that permit the child to dwell within.

One of the poems in Where The Sidewalk Ends is titled The Generals.

The poem is about General Bore and General Gore and is a commentary about attempts to negotiate peace among warring parties. 

The poem sets up the two Generals deciding to try something different…

Said General Gore to General Clay,
"We could go to the beach today
And have some ice cream on the way."
"A grand idea," said General Clay.

But as soon as they embark on the journey, they immediately raise concern and barriers…

Said General Gore to General Clay,
"But what if the sea is closed today?
And what if the sand's been blown away?"
"A dreadful thought," said General Clay.

And fears…

Said General Gore to General Clay,
"I've always feared the ocean's spray,
And we may drown!" "It's true, we may.
It chills my blood," said General Clay.

And finally, they end up going back to their tried and true and eventually cease to exist…

Then General Clay charged General Gore
As bullets flew and cannons roared.
And now, alas! there is no more
Of General Clay or General Gore.

Doing what I do today with companies and advertising agencies, I cannot take the poem out of my headset. 

Many companies I have worked with over time have invested in stepping back and taking a journey away from the day-to-day conventional context of their brands and journey out to observe, listen and explore ways to re-charge and re-invigorate.

They dwell for a short time in a different perspective and they realize…also for a short time… that to move their brand forward, change in perspective is a requirement.

Oddly, when ad agencies and PR firms participate, I enjoy seeing creative members smile… but at the same time, I sense management members sitting with a degree of hastened breath.

Then I start hearing words and phrases like “well you know,” “what if this happens,” “can’t do that” and “too risky right now.”

And before you know it… the glimpse of what the brand can be fades and the conventional context of the brand returns… perhaps wearing slightly different clothes…and little to anything changes. 

Here are two things I encountered in the past two weeks that made me think about the poem. 

(1)  I ate lunch in the food court of a mall and observed customer flow at the counter of a past QSR client. 

The client invested a significant amount of money to “re-brand their stores to bring in a new set of customers and compete against a new set of competitors.”

In this mall, one of the new competitors had opened up right next to there franchise location. 

While the new logo looked nice on the past client’s storefront nothing else was incorporated to drive home the brand "at every touch-point of the brand experience."

It made the competitive brand appear distinctive, consistent and competitively superior. 

What I remember most distinctive about this client was upon reviewing the re-branding strategy and receiving a standing applause from franchise owners and staff members, the CEO called me on the phone the next morning and said he could not sleep through the night because the new brand foundation was very troubling to him.

Funny how change breeds bad dreams.  

(2)  When I went to make a deposit to my corporate account, the branch manager of the bank… a client that has recently gone rather quiet…shared with me that she had attended a system-wide meeting to unveil their new brand line.

The new brand line unveiled is “We Mean Business.”

This client also invested a significant amount of money to “re-positioning their banking chain” to reach out to business owners embracing the post-Great Recession marketplace.

I was surprised at just how strong business owners found the positioning platform to be… scoring it high on value, uniqueness and believability. 

I was not surprised at just how quickly the bank took the positioning opportunity and crafted it into a statement of self-proclamation. 

I was not surprised at how quickly the agency closed the door and embraced a “yes Mr. Client whatever you want it to be” service mode.

Funny how simply changing the pro-noun from “We” to “You” can move a brand forward versus entrap it further in current market category disdain.

Now not all of the clients or ad agencies I work with fit into the scenario of the poem. 

I have a client that is in the home design business that is embracing a new way of viewing their marketplace, opportunity and retail mix.

I have two physician practices that are both brave enough to be innovating and moving their practices beyond the model that is quickly fading from the scene.

I head over this next week to work with a new financial services client that is ready to change most anything from its operational model, site locations… shoot even their brand name and logo if needed to embrace market changes… and evolving opportunities.

I have written in this blog about the ripple effect and how once stones stop dropping into the water, the water eventually goes back to being still and undisturbed.

The race to win never stops. 

If your role on the brand team is very comfortable and you already know the answers and strategy that works, maybe its time to get up and go to the beach today.

Millennial Home Making

The EXPERIENCE 2012 TRENDCAST Report notes…Millennials are discovering that they may have to actually revamp and invent ways to define their home-base.

The current issue of Dwell Magazine showcases how two Millennials created their new homes.

They found very cheap loft warehouse space and actually live in 10’x10’ wooden “rooms” they purchased at a Big Box retailer. 

They heat the boxes independently and use a community bath located down the hall.

Key to the space is that they have wireless Internet that they can access when working on the pic-nic tables or when curled up in their goose-down sleeping bags from IKEA.

Here are some observations of how other Millennials are making space function as their home…

Space is a neutral requirement and in some ways, the smaller, the better.

The demand for reasonably-priced new urban housing has driven unit sizes down in comparison to historic trends, so rents remain affordable to middle-income earners. 

The average new two bedroom apartment being built post-Great Recession is in the 800-950 square foot range, compared to 1,000 to 1,200 square feet back before 2009… and it has more to do with demand than construction financials.

In fact, two thirds of Millennials surveyed by American Multifamily, a California Developer, said they prefer a studio apartment to a roommate situation. 

Pre-set room use and labels are out and space flexibility is hip.

Terms previous generations used like “family room,” “master bedroom,” “dining room” and “study” are out.  

Keeping Room is an oxymoron. 

Flexible floor plans are gaining ground, with studios and “convertible” one bedrooms among the most popular unit types in new urban developments.

Furniture is quickly following suit as well with work-stations that also serve as entertainment centers and sofas that convert quickly (and easily) to sleep space. 

Last night HGTV aired a segment on making a study both a home office and hobby room. 

In some ways, Millennials might have received great counsel from their Boomer parents who were the first to make the dining room do double duty as the billiard parlor with the aid of a nice 4’ x 8’ piece of plywood.

Fido is not only the Millennial parent’s replacement-child, but also the preferred partner of choice among the Millennials.

Only a few years ago, dogs were banned from many apartment buildings. 

Now, renting and pet ownership go hand-in-hand, because renters are no longer willing to wait until they “move to the suburbs and settle down” to start living. 

Pet space – complete with bedding and automatic water bowls – may be even more important than true bedroom space.

Private pet parks will be one of the main outdoor attractions at many “leased home space” developments.

Some “transitional” neighborhoods are engaging in heated debate whether it is more important for a park to have pet space or the kids play-grounds.

My vote is for the pet space.

Work is inseparable from home-life…and visa versa!

High technology connections are great… free Internet access gets Millennials to sign the lease contract.

Gym space is nice, but onsite free internet cafes complete with lattes and juice bars are more important.

Conference rooms mean little.  Communal workspace translates to social comfort.

Many Millennials think nothing of working accounting Excel files, texting their Facebook friends and sipping on an apple-carrot-Red Bull smoothie at the same time.

Car space is a secondary priority.

Millennials prefer to drive less or take public transportation.

Two- and Three-car garage space is not even a concept in many Millennial mindsets. 

Bicycle space and bike racks are more important. 

Residents who bike or walk to work instead of commuting by car can pocket an extra $7,500 to $12,500 per year… and perhaps even more in 2012 as gas prices continue to climb!

Proximity to hourly car rental stations is more of a deciding factor of where to live in the cities.  

A place to park the car is more important in the burbs… and proximity to an electrical charging plug is more important than electronic garage door openers.

What does it mean for marketers?

While Millennials may mature like older generations and buy houses in the suburbs, they may not. 

Time will answer questions about the housing demand from the Millennial generation, and what type of housing they’ll prefer. 

For now, everyone from the real estate developers to the home good retailers should pay attention how these 20-somethings and early 30-somethings think. 

Their Boomer parents changed the business models… and no question their kids -- the Millennials -- will too!

Learnings From The Political Race

I write and talk a lot about generational groups.

Maybe it’s because I am a Boomer myself that I seem to feel a calling to report what I observe.  Boomers get a rush out of “discovery” observations!

Sitting here post the Nevada primary, I cannot overlook a set of observations.

Whether you support him or not, clearly Obama pitted the Millennials against the Boomers. 

He rallied them with tapping into their social media and online sites.  More on those stats later…

I would probably also give him an “A” because he raised the bar above rational thought and tapped instead into the Millennial emotions of “change.”

I am first to say I would NOT give Obama an “A” for achievement.

Here are three armchair observations…

(1) Throwing Stones

We have two MBA-headset Republicans that have reverted to the “who can accuse the other the most” paradigm of the past. 

Forget the brand platform.  Forget the emotional drives. 

Bring back the Coke-Pepsi model and shoot from the hip.

The boys are back to fighting it out in the parking lot.

One thing for sure… the boys are not alone… many brands cling onto the same approach. 

You simply do not want to be one of them.

(2) Watch as the dissenters unite

Alternative brands that challenge convention continue to rattle the marketplace. 

All you have to do is turn on your television set and count how many of the top programs are “real time TV” versus “planned series.”

From Apple to MINI to Red Bull to Chipotle, alternative brands are posting higher “Q-Scores” (awareness and likeability) than the staid, giant brands of the past.

While Romney may believe he has the lead… many of the alternative candidates from Sarah Palin to Hermann Cain are uniting behind an alternative candidate. 

I hope that at some point, the boys stop throwing the food across the table, step back and think about what happened in the 2010 Election Year.

(3) Dwelling in the past

When brands have limited distinctive elements to communicate about their personality, you start seeing ads either…

(a)  Scattered with words like “quality,” “accessibility” and “value”

(b)  Showcasing their “made in America” roots

In addition to the message, the communications media mix reverts back to the “mass media” paradigm… the more I spend on top rated TV, the more likely I will be elected.

Forget the interactive media… reaching 70%+ at least 4 or more times, will get voters to switch.

Its not like Obama doesn’t forget things too… as far as his promises are concerned and his two years of total congressional control… but Obama did reach beyond the old model of mass media and bond with his voter block through social media.

Here is where Obama’s Facebook following stands today… Sunday February 5^th, 2012…24,878,080 members.  Nearly 25 MILLION members. 

His claims to be “in control” might just have some merit.

While the First Lady has less… it ain’t bad either… 6,488,949.

Okay… they’ve been campaigning before, but they still have a sizable lead…

Sarah Palin has 3,269,031 members and Mit Romney has 1,409,501.

Mit probably needs to bring on a Social Media VP to assist in combating Obama among the Twitter-clickers.

Romney clearly is ahead of the pack with social media… here are the other three still in the race:

** Newt -- 265,933

** Santorum -- 96,139

** Ron Paul -- 814,376

The line that Ron Paul has a devoted few is well illustrated in his membership numbers.

Bob Dole came out a few days ago tearing down Newt Gingrich.  Too bad Newt’s campaign guy didn’t go back against dear Old Bob and say the guy is history. 

Bob Dole’s Facebook membership is 2,486.  I heard that the dial-up Internet access really moves slow on the social media sites.

Sooooo….

The way I will end this blog post is simply to say… there are a lot of lessons to learn from watching the politicians. 

But… if I were teaching a marketing class as I write this, I would tell those Millennial graduate students to watch the Super Bowl tonight… interesting commercials, hitting and grinding that scores and some good times to text to your Facebook friends.

Something much more exciting than watching politicians in the mud pit.