The Memorial Models Of The Past... Let's Journey Beyond!

When I started my career working at an ad agency, we called them the “media mavens.” 

I know… I know… I am starting this Blog being gender-biased… but I am only doing true factual journalistic reporting… something many in the press fail to do today.

No joke… there was not a single guy in the media department at this $80 million in billings ad agency. 

When EXPERIENCE has been brought in to work with ad agencies – regional ones and national ones – while there might be a guy or two in the media departments, there are still not many to be found.

In the past several months, we have been working with a “digital shop” in the Southeast that specializes in using social media to “build relationship dialogue” with brand customer groups – folks who recently purchase a product from an online website.

Again, I hate to be gender-biased, but in this “digital shop,” all of the team interfacing with the clients’ customers are male.

The digital team is all Millennial too.

Maybe it’s just me, but there’s a feeling I get when I see just part of the 2018 ad/digital media agency world that says there’s something “just not right” that’s going on.

I am writing this blog post on Memorial Day.  As you read more if this post, you will see just like me, that writing it on Memorial Day is actually very fitting.

Last night, I made dinner at my city house and kicked back with a nice glass of cheap Whole Foods wine and watched Flea Market Flip that airs on HGTV’s sister station, Great American Country.

The network must be going through post-May election day blues because there were a whole bunch of ads promoting GAC, HGTV and DIY-TV programming. 

One of the ads that ran is on that has actually been cited in a host of Emails and two snail-mail letters I’ve sent to leadership at GAC.

It’s the ad that promotes GAC’s Wednesday evening RV show. 

The ad runs over and over and over and over and over and over and over… again in each commercial block at least 5 of 7 nights of prime time GAC TV each week. 

Here we are in the year 2018 and with all the hoopla you read about high tech, artificial intelligence and Millennial geek expertise, the marketing-advertising-digital experts continue to brew the alchemy of strategic thought that “if you bang away enough times with high frequency and reach, consumers will ultimately go out and purchase the product.”

If you think that I am making this up, take a glance at the job postings for digital and marketing talent that runs on job websites today. 

If you think that I am making this up, take an inventory of how many online ads travel with you over the course of a week, let alone a month.

There are some very, very high budget brands that air the same commercials over and over and over again.  The same content.  The same actors.  The same music.  The same old sameness over and over each time.

In the world of technology advancements and lower cost, I would think that producing fresh content would not be an issue.

BUT… then again, there’s a vast array of brands and their brand leadership that live and die by the same dumbmass (note the spelling!) marketing mirage of reach and frequency.

Back in the early 1980s when I started working in the ad agency world, women gravitated to media because of a very gender-biased belief that a good looking lady could sell those male marketing VPs on buying whatever media could look the most charming. 

Just like today in 2018, there’s a very gender-biased thinking set that the geek-looking guy can more brilliantly program the computers to be even smarter in finding more niches of online, mobile and social media to run the banner ads.

On this Memorial Day, we need to honor the past and those who defended it.  In the situation within the marketing world, we need to finally put the mirage to rest and focus on reality and truth.

The truth is really not that scary. 

People connect with brands that emotionally engage and connect.  And just like in human relationships, brands that can evolve with them and be there to support as well as celebrate through the course of their life-journey. 

The truth is not scary… but making the change for many is.

This week, it was announced that the past CEO of JC Penny was leaving and taking on a new role as CEO of Lowe’s.  JC Penny continues to be challenged by generational change.  Lowe’s is facing generational change and competitive challenge. 

Industry after industry clings to their own kind as much as they cling and hold on to the past models of advertising and marketing.

Think about it.

What if Lowe’s hired instead the past CEO of Red Bull.  Or head of sales for Subaru.  Or EVP of marketing of Apple iPhones. 

I can hear the chorus now… “but what do those folks know about house & home supply stores?”

Banks keep hiring bankers.

Healthcare groups keep hiring healthcare execs. 

Automotive keeps hiring automotive peers.

Here too, it’s time to celebrate Memorial Day and venture out beyond the constraints defended. 

I will end this blog post with something that just might be politically incorrect for me given that EXPERIENCE works with a good share of politicians.

However, we are not party-aligned nor issue-aligned. 

On this Memorial Day, focus for a moment on what’s going on in Washington… and even more specifically the White House. 

A different mantra… a different model… a different course of leadership… is all churning up there. 

What’s been defined as the working model of the past ends up tossed out with both the baby and the bath water. 

It challenges many. 

And yet… there are some cool things that no one could predict or support that are happening that are driving the U.S. economy and marketplace.

The Media Mavens, the Geek High Techies, the formulaic models of the past… the comfort of coloring in the lines with leadership, the belief in some ways that the world is flat and if you go too far you will fall off the face of the marketplace…

It’s time to let go and journey beyond the conventional. 

Call me.  EXPERIENCE is ready to travel with you!

Is Your Brand Getting Killed By Technology?

If you follow along with the media, you'd think that technology will continue to excel at record pace. 

Shoot… according to the media, customer live interaction with the shopping experience and personal customer service will be gone in the next five years. 

This past Monday’s issue of the Wall Street Journal highlighted technology advancing within a wide array of businesses at an unstoppable pace. 

Shoot, there was a story that Walmart someday soon will be nothing but a place to drive up to and pick up orders made via a smart phone or iPad. 

There was another article that self-driving cars are all the rage with Millennials who have no desire to even engage in driving while they sit in their cars and text friends.

For entertainment value, during the last couple of weeks, I hit a number of the online job posting sites. 

I could care less if the employer was a bank, hospital, hotel group, consumer packaged goods company, insurance group or a B2B manufacturing company… nearly 80% of the postings were for technology and database related jobs.

“CRM” is the acronym that peppers many of the postings.  Shoot, even customer personal interaction and relationship building sports an acronym! 

Customer retention is NOT something that tech-geeks are good at doing.  Management might think so, but many are currently, or soon to, paying the price.

Let’s take a look at Starbucks.  Talk about killing brand equity, Starbucks can take center-stage.

The Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz has conceded his ability to understand and deliver the historic Starbucks EIP or Emotional Ignition Point. 

There is no place in the “third place” anymore.  That kitchen table has since been sold at the brand equity flea market.

Gone are the days of personal interaction at Starbucks replaced with Apple iPads and iPhones, payment apps and mobile drive-thru wired orders.  

Have to pay for the coffee, just swipe that electronic credit card.  A number of Starbucks have replaced the order counter with tap-screen order kiosks. 

Wall Street posted an article yesterday afternoon on its website that Starbucks has entered into a deal with Nestle to sell its coffee on the supermarket shelves. 

This morning, Wall Street is running a follow-up article that Starbucks financial growth has stalled and marketing leadership is going to launch an “online” and “social media” strategy to route customers back in the afternoon.

More times than not, I joke with indie coffee house management when I see how they become transfixed on the historical, ecological and roasting time character of the beans from which they churn out their coffee. 

I tell them that coffee is not their product.  The experiential environment is instead.  The attribute aspects of the coffee means little to vast majority who buy their coffee.

Here is what I saw this weekend…

Indie coffee house… folks sitting out on a patio chatting and interacting with real folk. No iPhones out... iPads and MacBooks stored in the computer bags. 

Starbucks three store fronts down… individuals sitting alone at tables interacting with their computers and folks standing in line interacting on their iPhones. 

I know… I know… my observations are not quantifiable and projectable… but that version of ethnography often is much more on target with key insights than the numbers!

The “Third Place” has now been replaced by the smart phones… right?

Technology has management hooked on the idea of linear progression of advancement and change. 

Brand equity?  Emotional Ignition Points?  Sustainable Brand Engagement?

Sure the buildings, tables and cushiony chairs are still there inside the zillions of Starbucks stores, but the experiential Starbucks brand has faded and the Starbucks brand now sits next to its peers like McDonald’s, Macy’s and Coke. 

As I share with clients and business leadership… do NOT get addicted to the opium of technology. 

Why?

As I have shared in past blog posts, the world does not progress along a route of linear change.  Brand choice is not rationally motivated.  

Brands have a life-line and as they reach market maturity. 

Deciding to capitalize on everything, everywhere and losing focus on equity of investment only accelerates the dismantling and ultimate death of the brand.

EXPERIENCE just received a second project assignment from a brand rooted in its agricultural past.  It’s a brand driven by its organic and eco-sustainable roots.  I am personally excited to be involved in the growth and expansion of this brand.

Sure there's Whole Foods, but its new daddy, Amazon is re-engineering its wardrobe like the show, "What Not To Wear."

No question that technology is part of our client's brand... its cultivation, production and harvest of product.  Even in the translation of the brand experience online.

BUT… our new client's focus and priority moves beyond technology with real people and real-time, in-person, interactive experiences.

What?  Computers are smarter than people, right?

My advisement to management reading this blog?

Take a moment and track how much of your operational, marketing and sales investments in the last 24 months are rooted in technology.  Compare that with how much of your investment is placed in actual people. 

The 80/20 rule has rich holistic roots transferable across one business platform to the next. 

If you find that the “80” is rooted in technology… give me a call. 

Your brand equity is in trouble.

Disruptive Change Is Take Place In Front Of Us!

I talk a lot about change, change, change and … change.

Social media is about to go through a major encounter of disruptive change.

Mike Zuckerberg is going to journey to Washington to sit down in front of the Congress.  I hope that the news nets broadcast it live.  

There’s no way a reality show can even begin to capture the drama, emotion, comedy and sequential outcome as will in this case.

Over the years, I have worked a fair amount with high tech talent and personalities.  As linear thinkers of logic and rational thought, they do not cope well with the reality of human society.

The core consumer deliverable of social media is not problematic.  A forum and platform of social exchange between friends.  A forum of conversation.  A forum of sharing of information and news. 

When I make a comparison of social media to phone exchange with access to a 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th … 99^th phone line of dialogue, many folks see the similarity. 

More times than not, I have to sit down many entrepreneurs who cherish their ideas and ground them that ultimately their idea has to generate revenue and their smile is replaced with a frown. 

My bet is that Mike Zuckerberg did not start up Facebook with the idea of a social exchange. 

Zuckerberg’s personality is one driven by human interaction and social exchange.  We seldom see him mingling with the masses.  We seldom hear about him reaching out and participating in mainstream society. 

In fact, go and Google his name and pull up the “Images” result page.  Count how many of those pictures are actually taken outside the background of the Facebook corporate blue background screen.  County home many of those pictures do not have a Zuckerberg holding a mike or have one clip to his T-shirt. 

I ponder if the man owns more than medium gray T-shirts. 

Zuckerberg was lured to the whole idea of being able to collect detailed information from individuals and their exchange with others and then take it and sell it to folks, groups, brands and corporations who would like to ultimately use the information to reach and influence those same individuals.

The idea of innovation actually translating to observing human behavior and creating a product, service and brand that provides an experiential deliverable that satisfies an unmet need has been replaced with a different notion.

A notion that has rallied in close to all of the ad agencies and the digital shops… rallied in many of the universities and institutes of higher learner… rallied in Wall Street and Washington.

A notion driven by a belief that in securing tons of data and dialogue of human beings that communications and information can be crafted and molded for any product, service and/or brand to drive those human beings to desire, want, need, buy and engage in the product, service and or brand.

Boiled down to simple terms… humans are no different from computers and can be programed to respond and react however the “master minds” desire.

Social media is about to go through a major encounter of disruptive change.

The media, marketing teams and even top corporate leadership does not see it yet, but I do think that there are some on Wall Street that do.

This past Friday, Wall Street went through another round of churning and value change.  Facebook and high tech is getting hit … and in some cases, pretty hard, but few understand why.

Disruptive change often occurs when the foundation and rationale behind a driver of change (no pun intended) turns out to be false.

A vast number of folks will not have conversation in a forum where that conversation is an open forum for the masses, let alone those who are going to use that information to try to manipulate their mindsets to engage in things that they individually are not pursuing.

This past week, I made a presentation to a group of free-lance creatives who have formed an alliance group here in Atlanta.  A good share of the individuals in this group once wore the titles of Chief Creative Officer and EVP Art Director for some of the big ad agencies that used to dot the landscape.

I presented the 2018 TRENDCAST Report and the Top 10 trends rattling the business and marketing matrix this year.

There were a lot of head shaking in agreement with what I presented.

The group attending was very intrigued by the evolution of the Millennials into a similar change force as that of their Baby Boomer parents.  The fact that many of the same market dynamics of the 1970s might be arriving center-stage all over again.

The way that Boomers evolved from marching on the streets to shopping in the malls is not too different from what is happening with Millennial parents and their ties to social media. 

Just as it was fun for Boomers to rally with friends for free sex and global peace, once there were a couple of kids in the house, Sesame Street and Toys R Us was soon taking center-stage.

If you own stock in companies like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Reddit, get ready to sell it. 

Washington is coming on strong and the fact that Facebook actually opened up access to members of the current President’s campaign team only adds fuel to the fire.

Speaking of the current President… many say he has limited understanding of the manners and etiquette of the Washington establishment. 

Okay… maybe not, but at least he knows how to converse and share what he means. 

Get ready to see a tech geek take the stage in Washington with no prompters and no PR folks glued to his sides.

Entertainment Tonight comes to CNN.

Last week, I also met with a guy that is working with an ad agency that claims a specialty in healthcare marketing. 

This guy is “pioneering” a database modeling system that will take individual patient information and craft routes of strategy to keep the patient healthy and well.  The routes shared sure sounded like behavior changes individually crafted and enforced.

To get the model completed, the team has identified a need to get more specific and updated demographic, psychographic and media use information – not about the marketplace, not about specific audience groups… but instead, on an individual level. 

As I sat there listening to this guy, I wondered if they used the term “trans-gender” in any context to describe database miners wanting to employ group marketing strategy. 

What business leadership needs to begin to grapple with is the process of re-focusing back again on the fundamentals of business beginning with letting go of the false image that human beings can be manipulated through database and interactive online strategy to purchase a product, service and/or brand.

Understand that lots of those dollars that have been channeled over to those digital teams just might register a higher return value if instead they are channeled against market discovery.

A discovery path of going out and listening to audience groups, watching and observing them as they encounter their daily life and work schedules, asking them for feedback and input about how brands deliver against need and gaining insight into what emotions fuel their interaction with like products and services currently.

The title I go by “Discovery Chief” matches well with what I have a passion to do. 

If you want to go down that discovery path with some of those digital dollars that are not resulting in much of a sustainable return… give me a call… 404.245.9378. 

Be Brave Enough To Capitalize On The Next Wave Of Change

This past month, I have had the opportunity to work with a few companies with some very cool new venture ideas. 

It’s funny… all of the teams are essentially regional brands – not large massive national corporate brands – instead brands that are visible in a number of states in categories that some might label as conventional and uninspiring.

What’s cool, is that the owners-CEOs all see through the standard mass markets and know that the marketplace is at a tipping point of change… and opportunity.

In the last blog, I highlighted some of the really stupid things that the ad agencies are doing… and in large part, actions coached on by the internal marketing teams.

A lot of brand categories today are on the downward slope of market maturity and brand saturation. 

One of the new ventures is a very cool way to bring to life brand alternatives in the supermarket and restaurant business. 

Talk about market saturation and maturity. Talk about a couple categories begging for innovation and alternative offerings!

What the fast food brands are doing today is driven by the mission call to “be everything for everybody” and “forget about the brand’s historic USP – unique selling proposition" – a term that solidifies the MBA-marketing mantra. 

Taco Bell is rolling out French fries.  Arby’s – Where’s The Meat – is rolling out fish sandwiches.  Pizza Hut is promoting a pizza that's actually a hamburger.

McDonald’s made the front page of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) with its mission to “become the next Chic-fil-A.”

I read the online edition of the WSJ every morning with my bagel and coffee.  

When I saw the headline about McDonald's, I thought… well maybe McDonald’s is going to start bringing meals to the table or maybe McDonald’s is going to close down on Sundays or maybe McDonald’s is going to become a moral guardian and hire just kids who have found Jesus.

When I went and read the article, I found out that I was completely off in my assumptions. 

The BGO – or Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious – is that McDonald’s is on a mission to overtake Chic-fil-A as the number one fast food restaurant offering chicken sandwiches. 

I am not making that up.

Market saturation and maturity goes way beyond fast food restaurants. 

You got Kroger’s trying to be Walmart and Target trying to be Kroger’s.

You’ve got hardware stores trying to be gift shops and home accessory stores trying to be hardware stores.

Big Lot’s trying to be Party City and PetSmart trying to be home entertainment.

Enough is enough… literally!

What tickled me about these new clients is that they are digging into market indicators that I also dig into and say, “wow!”

If you have checked out our TRENDCAST or attended one of the presentations, in 2018… and probably all the way through to at least the next 10 years… Millennials forming family, seeking to buy a house and sink down roots along with another surge of kids… is going to rattle the market. 

Frustration with Washington and the Press and the continued surge of the techies broadcasting how the computers and apps are smarter than the humans is rekindling a need for a sense of direction and control…. a sense of containment… a sense of locale. 

I am writing this post on a Sunday.  This afternoon I visited six area furniture and second-hand retail stores.  In some ways, I was not surprised that in many of the stores, I was close to the oldest customer among a large majority of Millennials.

In each store, I asked the Millennials about shopping and what they were buying for their homes.

Here’s a summary of what I scribbled down on a “composition tablet” I carry around with me…

* Nearly all the Millennials purchased the vast majority of their furniture and at least half of their home accessories like kitchenware and dinnerware, lighting, rugs and even some of the bed linens from flea markets and second-hand stores

* Many reference IKEA as the source of what they had in their homes and were now replacing

* At least half told me about people at the stores they got to know that they “consult with” as they move to enhance other rooms in the now owned homes

* While Pinterest was mentioned often, they also talked about finding ideas in magazines – I am not making this up!

* About half talked about watching HGTV and about a third talked about watching DIY-TV

When I asked the Millennials how they were getting familiar with their new neighborhood they mentioned PTAs, HOAs, places of worship and local pubs and restaurants.

When they mentioned pubs and restaurants, I asked them if they were brands they had grown up with or new brands.  Response was quick to qualify that these were “local,” “new,” and “indie” or “long-time” places “in the neighborhood.”

For one of the cool new ventures we are working with, I plotted out a statement that Nielsen tracks where panel participants can rate the statement on a 5 point agree or disagree spectrum.  The statement references a preference to shop more local brands vs. large national brands.

Not only was the index of “strongly agree” high among Millennial DINKs as well as Millennial family start-ups we label as “Millennial Nesters,” high indices of “strongly agree” also showed up among high income families and Baby Boomer “new” empty-nesters. 

My 4-year-old niece uses “faces” to rate items and ideas.  One of the faces has a big smile; another of the faces has a big frown. 

This past week, those trading on Wall Street gave Walmart a big frown face for their attempt to expand into online retail through the corporate acquisition of Jet.com.  As a result, Walmart experienced the biggest one-day drop in its stock value ever in its trading history.

When I watched TV with my niece and the Arby’s fish sandwich commercial aired, she gave drew a big frown face.

When I asked her what she thought about McDonald’s becoming the next Chic-fil-A she quickly asked if McDonald’s would still serve hamburgers. 

When I asked her if she wanted French fries from Taco Bell, she called me the crazy uncle.

I told Lyris (that’s her name) that someday she will be the CEO of a very successful entrepreneurial venture.  She responded back and asked if being a CEO meant that she would still be able to ride a bike.  I told her that those who get out from behind their desks and hang with those in the neighborhoods will be the winners. 

She said she loves it when we go and visit the neighbors and she gets a chance to have tea with them.

Trust me, there are days when I think about how nice having a standard set agenda might be.  I think about just how much money that the CEOs and corporate giants like Omnicom and Publicis rake in producing those idiot commercials – not that I have an opinion set!

But then I think about how much I get charged up leading the edge of change and I realize quickly why it is I get out of bed every morning and take on a new day.

If you read this and share common thoughts, call me at 404.245.9378 and let's craft the next wave of brand success!

“The Masses Are 'Stupid'… Bad Assumption"

 Hillary, in part, lost her bid for the presidency because she viewed the masses as the “Deplorable” and “Irredeemable.”

Those who claim Manhattan, San Francisco Bay and Hollywood as their home base share a similar, rather perverted viewpoint of the world, too.

So it’s not much a surprise that a large portion of the creative produced by the BIG AD AGENCIES is literally killing brand equity.

Freud would have a ball with many of the copywriters and production teams that bring us ad commercial series like the Dr. Pepper game day vendor, the GIECO Insurance gecko-lizard, Progressive saleswoman Flo and the myriad other character-spokesperson-voice-overs. 

Freud would quickly summarize that many seek to replace their production staff positions with a deeper desired role of Hollywood producer. 

On the client side too, there are CMOs and marketing teams that crave to do more than commute daily to dwell in their cubicle offices.  They are the ones that beg to go meet with the ad agency so that they call spend time in their funky, ping-bong table, quasi-coffee café, open-forum think-tanks.

Every time I see the Chevrolet ads with the focus group man, I want to throw up. 

The loon ad agency that produces the ads is a division of McCann called “Commonwealth//McCann” – that is exactly how they format the name.

AdAge notes them as the “global agency of record for Chevrolet” and describes them as “innovative” and “an open forum” team.

I know.  I know.

I get upset because the focus group facilitator rips off what I do.

When I shared with a table of friends how stupid I felt that the ads were last week, they immediately responded back with, “well how do you think an insurance sales person feels when they see the duck, or the newt or Flo?”

No… that is actually not why I think that agency producing them is a bunch of loons... not that I am opinionated nor speak my mind.  

Just like the immediate “wows” expressed by the “characters that are real and not actors” is not the reason I want to throw up.

Just like the newest ad that showcases a focus group discussion taking place on an entrance ramp to the LA Freeway in the middle of afternoon rush hour… is not the reason I want to throw up. 

The reason why I want to throw up is that the focus and the mission of the Chevy brand… the brand equity and brand culture… the essence of the brand EIP or Emotional Ignition Point… that is all pushed aside by both the marketing mavens client side and the ad team within the ad agency…

…To live in the fantasy world of the present thinking that they are all actually the next breed of Hollywood producers with a storyline series and high personality, featured actor.   

Two weeks ago when I drove from Atlanta to Nashville, I stopped off and got gas in Kimball Tennessee.  There’s a large, super-size Walmart and a Chrysler dealer just across the street from where I got the gas. 

As I was filling up the tank, I watched the folks looking at cars in the Chrysler lot and wondered just how many of those Commonwealth // McCann creative and production folk ever have stepped out of their open-forum work space and walked and talked at dealer lots.

Okay, maybe they went to a dealer lot in Hoboken, but did they go to one in Albany or Norfolk or Knoxville or Norman, Mesa or Medford? 

I doubt if any have done so. 

What makes me throw up is that this is where brands that ARE IN TROUBLE focus today. 

Staying on cars for one moment longer, this morning I ran into two guys who recently each purchased a new KIA Sorrento.  They are now big fans and brand endorsers of KIA. 

One of my cars is a KIA Sorrento. 

They asked me if I loved my KIA as they love their KIA and I said, “nope.”

I then went on to explain how way too much is automated and high tech.  I showcased how whenever the temperature hits 40 degrees, a red light warning icon lights up on the dashboard right next to the speedometer to let me know that the roads might ice. 

They claimed that their new KIAs don’t have that feature.  Since mine is a 2017 and their KIAs are 2018, I think that the new ones do have that feature.  Given that I am about 15 years younger than either of the two guys, my bet is that they cannot see it even when it lights up.

The masses are not only NOT STUPID, they are changing the framework of the marketplace as I script this blog and you out there are reading it.

Just as I watched the folks walking the lot at the Chrysler dealership, this past week I took a couple of hours and went and visited a mall out in the metro that many think is soon being torn down. 

I watched people and talked to people. 

I asked them what was it about the mall that drew their car to take them to it (that’s a Chevy pun, by the way.)

In addition to using terms like “convenience” and phrases like “variety of stores,” they went on to talk about how nice it was to simply go somewhere, take time to walk around and get away from the house and work.

They talked about how sometimes they meet up with friends or family at the mall and they actually have more than a text line of conversation.

They talked about how they enjoyed sorting through stuff on the shelves and trying on clothes at the department stores.

The malls are coming back to life as I write this post.

Just as the “masses,” “the great unwashed” and the “deplorables” are refueling malls, they are also purchasing lots of baby products and un-prepared food items to actually cook and tools at the hardware stores and videos for the DVDs and books – actually printed hard-cover books – at the bookstores.

Corporate investment is coming back BIG TIME just as we enter 2018. 

When I person at the coffee table this morning told me that people would no longer be driving the next wave of industry in the U.S. and that it would all be automated by machines… I quickly asked what was the nature of the company that has many major markets sitting with bated breath to hear where its opening a second HQ. 

That company that is forecasting the hiring of 50,000 new employees is a company that many believe is totally, 100% staffed by high-tech automation. (Amazon if you don't catch much news)

And one last commentary about the absurd perceptions of those that dwell in the confines of their mobile apps and Google created town squares…

If “someday more than 80% of all shopping will be competed on the Internet,” how will the products get from the warehouse to the home pantry?

If those semi-trucks on the tollways and outer belts and interstates and side-roads drive you a bit nutty now… just wait.

The nuggets of insight that will drive brands forward is not sitting on the iPhones nor in the creative circles of Madison Avenue and Michigan Avenue, nor Hollywood and the Silicon Valley. 

Nope. 

Those nuggets of insight can be found where the masses today dwell.  Those nuggets can be found in backyards and houses of worship and neighborhood restaurant dinner tables and yes... even in the malls. 

EXPERIENCE in 2018... Our Focus With Brand Leadership

Welcome to 2018!

The last Blog post was all about five of the 2018 TRENDCAST Trends. This Blog is about how EXPERIENCE will embrace and seek out 2018 opportunity... 

#1 – We will focus more on mid-size brands and their leadership teams. 

In 2017, we saw more large brands merge with their historic competitors to form large behemoth corporations. 

Brands that own retail space.  Large holding companies absorbing fast food brands.  Media companies gobbling up like media or other media firms.  Retailers continuing to merge together and become one comprehensive brand. 

Brand differentiation gets kissed good-bye.  More C-level direction and control shifts over to the financial MBAs. 

A small share of C-level leadership – and it’s a very small share – understand that the brands merging together are not only at the height of market maturity, but even on the downward spiral of declining growth. 

TLC has a show called the “My 600-lb. Life.” These merged corporate behemoths could be showcased in that series.

I have highlighted the non-sense that leadership resorts to within these merged mega-brands. 

There’s a pizza mega-giant whose whole business is about home delivery that is running a $60 million+ television campaign about how they have torn down the old store fronts and built new ones. 

There’s merged television networks that have elected to cross-share programming between their networks.  Does the programming fit under the unique network brand equity?  What’s brand equity the MBA CFO asks, “we are saving production costs by extending the reach of the programming.”

There’s fast food restaurants combining menus and others that are splitting the store fronts into half one restaurant and half another.

There’s hotels and resorts that have one logo on the outdoor signage and another brand logo on the room décor and a third logo on the complimentary breakfasts and desserts.

When I went Christmas shopping this year, I was struck by how the same clothing lines are in many of the different stores until it finally hit me that the brand name on the store fronts are all owned by the same corporate holding company.

Over the course of the last five years, EXPERIENCE has worked with a higher number of large corporate brands vs. regional and new start-up brands. 

While the CEOs that have brought us to the table share similar passions and drive to move beyond the conventional, MBA modeled, slow-moving leadership of the past, the same CEOs quickly discover just how difficult it is to make change happen because of the behemoth size of their corporations.

No question that the big corporations have big budgets to spend. 

The large ad agencies function as reinforcement for the layers and layers and layers of internal marketing and brand “leadership.” 

The thought of an ad agency rocking the boat and challenging conventional thought that is challenged in moving the behemoth, newly merged corporate brands forward… well for all their talk about keen strategy and creative innovation, those same ad agencies are challenged with paying for those posh, “novel” office space. 

CP&G, a “creative, brand strategy and digital agency” just signed a new contract extending their relationship with that pizza mega-giant running the ads about its new store fronts through 2020.  Yup… the agency telling the pizza mega-giant that the ad content the Dominos is dictating to convey is meaningless to consumers and risk the agency’s contract extension? 

Hell no. 

Here at EXPERIENCE, the audience that drives our mission and reason for existence is the consumer marketplace. 

So in 2018, our business focus will shift over to mid-size brands and new brands that can capitalize on the true drivers of change.  Corporate structures that are fluid and can be molded and shaped.  Leadership that has a passion for the brand vs. an MBA financial model of the past.

The BIG brands and corporations are no longer able to capitalize quickly and adapt. 

What we are seeing with politics where the age-old political models are driven by a mis-matched, past engineered patchwork of mechanics is quickly moving to the business landscape. 

#2 – We will not fear confronting false predictions of change vs. what is really taking place in the marketplace.

I subscribe to a number of the online editions published by American City Business Journals including their weeklies that service Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham and Charlotte.  In addition, I subscribe to Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company and Wired. 

Each of the publications is addicted to march in unison with the same tune…

1. (1)  All of the Millennial generation is just exiting college and will continue to do so for many more years to come
2. (2)  The Internet is replacing the store fronts of the past and soon everyone will use the Internet for consumer purchases
3. (3)  The intown communities of today are evolving into luxury destinations that will drive all the business trends of the future
4. (4)  Corporate leadership is extremely brilliant in every move they elect to make
5. (5)  Soon technology will drive everything we do – literally with self-driving cars and trucks -- and the labor force of the past will be gone

If a trend forecast reinforces what they construct and reinforce, they embrace it quickly.  If a trend forecast challenges the that model, they either discount the source as unreliable or simply ignore it.

Our 2018 TRENDCAST challenges a whole lot of conventional thinking.  What is emerging right in our midst is already rattling the marketplace and a notable share of the marketplace cannot figure out what is driving the change.

I get a kick out of the recent articles in the WSJ, NY Times and Washington Post.  They ran articles that highlight changing statistics and then quickly make stupid statements like all market changes are attributed to the Internet.

EXPERIENCE doesn’t just wet the index finger and sense the direction and speed of the wind, we invest a sizeable amount of money each year in securing some of the most leading statistics tracked.

In 2018, EXPERIENCE will launch a line of market reports under the INFORUM brand name.  The reports will not only include the greatest and latest market statistics, but also a perspective of what the information means in terms of impact upon the brand whose leadership requested the report.

We are not an ad agency nor a digital shop so we are not bound to see market change and trends only through the perspective of the marketing sunglasses.

#3 – We will further integrate the cyclical change model into strategic guidance

What got me energized to script this blog the way that I have in large part can be attributed to the rag publication called Atlanta Magazine.

Atlanta Magazine is not unlike any of its publication families or like pubs produced by other media-promotional companies… they are all glorified promotional mailers the are filled with advertorial and similar ad sponsors. 

The current issue is anchored around “Atlanta in 2040.”  Here’s a share of what the advertorial writers highlight:

1. (1)  Our jackets could answer the phone (that’s the way the writers scripted it… not me)
2. (2)  Everything will be customized
3. (3)  Suburbs will learn to share
4. (4)  We won’t report to the office every day
5. (5)  Delivery food will improve

Wow.  I hear a group of middle school kids that hang out at the local coffee house make similar predictions in their essays. 

The best Atlanta prediction is that the official city of Atlanta will be “the largest city in the nation” by 2040.  The official city of Atlanta posts a new 2018 population of 466,512 residents and is growing at a rate of 5.74% over the next five years.

The official city of New York, the largest city in the nation posts a new 2018 population of 8,598,697. 

Atlanta magazine needs to purchase a new solar-powered calculator before it publishes any more predictions. 

Change is NOT linear, but rather cyclical.  Parts of the past re-surface and the influence of past dynamics re-appear. 

In 2018, we will work with clients in understanding the dynamics of like dynamics when the Boomer began forming families and having kids back in the 1970s and 1980s. 

Business need to place less attention on artificial intelligence and more focus on transferrable insight into factors that affected brand growth and development during comparative time cycles.

When I started my career back in 1981, I worked with a baking products brand called Martha White Foods.  The brand challenge was to craft product, distribution models and branding that could bring Martha White into a sense of connectivity with the growing share of Baby Boomer moms.

We are working with three brands right now on how to embrace the new Millennial moms.

One of the clients that EXPERIENCE has worked with a lot in the past 10 years is Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.  Children’s hired a new ad agency about two years ago.  The new agency launched a new brand campaign in 2017 focused around the Emotional Ignition Point that “Moms know.” 

Millennials seek out a sense of self-control and a sense of personal signature… thanks in part to how technology “invades their lives” … and thanks in part to their Boom “helicopter” parents.

Children’s Healthcare leadership has a viewpoint anchored by cyclical change.

Just a quick FYI… in 2018, 96% of all first-time moms will be Millennials.  The other 3.5% will actually be Zoomers!  And believe it or not, the other 0.5% will be GenXers.  

Sooooo….

If you are a new evolving brand or a middle-size brand seeking to capitalize on the big competitors who move very slow… call us.

If you wish to really know what are the true change agents of the marketplace and the impact they are having right now on your brand and how to strategically capitalize on them… call us.

If you ponder how the dynamics of past change operated and how the human marketplace evolves today… call us.

Call this number… 404.245.9378… and I promise that it will me answering the phone… no assistant… no admin… no automated service center… promise!