Global Ethics, a U.K. nonprofit, markets One water (yes, bottled water) to raise money for pumps that provide clean drinking water to a growing number of villages in South Africa and neighboring nations.
Simple logo, simple label, simple premise--good marketing for a good cause. And distribution through Tesco, Waitrose, Total gas stations, and other convenient places puts One water in the right place for grab-and-go purchases as well as regular family shopping trips. Who needs glitz and glam when you can make people feel good by doing good?
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Tapping that big market of non-users
So many marketers want to convert non-users to users, but India's Air Deccan has actually done it. Take a look at how the no-frills airline describes itself. It started with a single airplane and now, according to one published report, will take delivery of a new plane every month for roughly the next 8 years. That's a lot of seats to fill.
No-frills airlines are gobbling up market share across India, which is where non-users come in: On many Air Deccan flights, more than half of the passengers have never flown before. Of course, it helps that Air Deccan is flying to some destinations served by no other airline. Low costs, low fares, new routes, even new channels for ticketing--that's how Air Deccan taps the huge market of non-users.
No-frills airlines are gobbling up market share across India, which is where non-users come in: On many Air Deccan flights, more than half of the passengers have never flown before. Of course, it helps that Air Deccan is flying to some destinations served by no other airline. Low costs, low fares, new routes, even new channels for ticketing--that's how Air Deccan taps the huge market of non-users.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Smart marketing, international style
Dinero Express and Electrolux
As I researched new examples for the new edition of my U.S. text (due out in April) and my European text (due out in June), I came across a number of interesting international examples of smart marketing. Dinero Express and Electrolux serve entirely different markets and their products are worlds apart but both understand good marketing.
Dinero Express. The Spanish bank BBVA is targeting immigrants with special Dinero Express branch offices that remain open 12 hours a day, 364 days a year, offering basic banking services plus affordable extras that this niche market needs, like making cheap international phone calls from the branch. BBVA is expanding in the Americas, as well. For more, look at: BBVA's web site and an International Herald Tribune story.
Electrolux. Sweden's Electrolux is targeting higher-value market segments by analyzing unmet consumer needs, measuring how well its current and proposed household appliances meet those needs, and using metrics to track new product development and introductions. Rather than rely solely on consumer surveys, it uses ethnographic research and then constructs personas representing the targeted segments to help staff members better visualize and understand their customers. For more, see this Business Week story.
Watch this space for additional examples of smart marketing in the coming weeks...
As I researched new examples for the new edition of my U.S. text (due out in April) and my European text (due out in June), I came across a number of interesting international examples of smart marketing. Dinero Express and Electrolux serve entirely different markets and their products are worlds apart but both understand good marketing.
Dinero Express. The Spanish bank BBVA is targeting immigrants with special Dinero Express branch offices that remain open 12 hours a day, 364 days a year, offering basic banking services plus affordable extras that this niche market needs, like making cheap international phone calls from the branch. BBVA is expanding in the Americas, as well. For more, look at: BBVA's web site and an International Herald Tribune story.
Electrolux. Sweden's Electrolux is targeting higher-value market segments by analyzing unmet consumer needs, measuring how well its current and proposed household appliances meet those needs, and using metrics to track new product development and introductions. Rather than rely solely on consumer surveys, it uses ethnographic research and then constructs personas representing the targeted segments to help staff members better visualize and understand their customers. For more, see this Business Week story.
Watch this space for additional examples of smart marketing in the coming weeks...
Saturday, February 24, 2007
The iPod's packaging is clever marketing . . . but too much of a good thing
The iPod's package is a clever marketing tool, as I discovered when I was gifted with one this week. The compact, black-and-white packaging features a full-size rendition of the iPod inside. Actually, two renditions, front and back of packaging.
If you haven't already seen "Pirates of the Caribbean," one side of the box shows Captain Jack Sparrow smiling out from the new larger iPod color screen, inviting you to download the movie. (Presumably, the featured movie will change as Apple makes deals to showcase other movies and TV shows on the box. Take a look at the featured programming on the iPods on Apple's site and you'll see what I mean.)
The reverse side of the box features the Red Hot Chili Peppers album with a song "playing" exactly as it would look on the iPod in use. Great suggestive selling and brand reinforcement.
What's not so clever is the overpackaging. After I popped the iPod out of its nest, I still had to unwrap countless pieces of plastic, open plastic envelopes, and figure out how to pull the earbuds and connectors from their snug hiding places. Remember how 12 clowns used to pop out of the tiny clown car at the circus? That's what it's like to take the iPod packaging apart to get at all the accessories, instruction booklet, etc.
Apple, you know how to make fabulous products. But please rethink your overpackaging to make it more environmentally-friendly!
The iPod's package is a clever marketing tool, as I discovered when I was gifted with one this week. The compact, black-and-white packaging features a full-size rendition of the iPod inside. Actually, two renditions, front and back of packaging.
If you haven't already seen "Pirates of the Caribbean," one side of the box shows Captain Jack Sparrow smiling out from the new larger iPod color screen, inviting you to download the movie. (Presumably, the featured movie will change as Apple makes deals to showcase other movies and TV shows on the box. Take a look at the featured programming on the iPods on Apple's site and you'll see what I mean.)
The reverse side of the box features the Red Hot Chili Peppers album with a song "playing" exactly as it would look on the iPod in use. Great suggestive selling and brand reinforcement.
What's not so clever is the overpackaging. After I popped the iPod out of its nest, I still had to unwrap countless pieces of plastic, open plastic envelopes, and figure out how to pull the earbuds and connectors from their snug hiding places. Remember how 12 clowns used to pop out of the tiny clown car at the circus? That's what it's like to take the iPod packaging apart to get at all the accessories, instruction booklet, etc.
Apple, you know how to make fabulous products. But please rethink your overpackaging to make it more environmentally-friendly!
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Sustainable marketing
If you haven't heard about sustainable marketing, you will--and soon. It's attracted more attention, especially in Europe, in the past year.
Definitions vary, but basically, sustainable marketing is intended to meet the needs of customers and the organization while protecting the natural environment (and, in fact, supporting sustainability on a number of levels).
Clearly, sustainable marketing is essential for eco-tourism, for instance: unless the marketing effort is an asset to the preservation of the local ecology, tourists will stop coming because the destination will lose the unspoiled atmosphere that made it so appealing in the first place. In other words, sustainable marketing is a kind of balancing act.
Here are links to three recent company reports on sustainability:
SABMiller BP Vivendi
And two links to more information about sustainable marketing:
Smart: Know-Net (practical information about many topics, including sustainability in product marketing, etc.)
Patrick E. Murphy (academic overview of the history of sustainable marketing by a professor at Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame)
If you haven't heard about sustainable marketing, you will--and soon. It's attracted more attention, especially in Europe, in the past year.
Definitions vary, but basically, sustainable marketing is intended to meet the needs of customers and the organization while protecting the natural environment (and, in fact, supporting sustainability on a number of levels).
Clearly, sustainable marketing is essential for eco-tourism, for instance: unless the marketing effort is an asset to the preservation of the local ecology, tourists will stop coming because the destination will lose the unspoiled atmosphere that made it so appealing in the first place. In other words, sustainable marketing is a kind of balancing act.
Here are links to three recent company reports on sustainability:
SABMiller BP Vivendi
And two links to more information about sustainable marketing:
Smart: Know-Net (practical information about many topics, including sustainability in product marketing, etc.)
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Hint to Symantec: Fix Your Customer Service and Support
Bad customer service can undo all the goodwill in the world, as I've said in my marketing planning books. Case in point: Symantec, which triggered an 11-day PC crisis that seems to be at an end.
The whole thing started when I downloaded and tried to install a new version of Symantec Norton Systemworks, which crashed my Windows XP. I called Symantec, paid $$FEE to talk with a tech, and got nowhere because the solution he suggested was to wipe my drive by reinstalling XP. Of course I said no.
After speaking with Dell tech people on and off for more than 3 hours (I have a so-called service contract), I was no closer to a solution. So I called Microsoft and paid $FEE to speak with a series of Windows XP experts for days and days--literally. Finally I got an appointment (appointment!) with a top-level expert who fixed the problem by guiding me through the download of a Symantec removal tool! Too bad Symantec didn't suggest this at the outset, especially since I paid plenty for technical support.
Getting Symantec to change my fee from a repair fee to an installation fee has been a big challenge, to say the least. One of the reps, "Mary," refused to let me speak to her supervisor. The Symantec tech expert who helped me successfully reinstall the Norton software (thanks, Craig!) suggested I call in again to talk with the front-end people about adjusting the fee. Later, perhaps, when I'm prepared to spend another 57 minutes on hold waiting to get someone on the phone. Symantec, your customer service and tech support leave a LOT to be desired. My phone's battery nearly went dead while I waited to talk with a live human being. Goodbye brand image.
Bad customer service can undo all the goodwill in the world, as I've said in my marketing planning books. Case in point: Symantec, which triggered an 11-day PC crisis that seems to be at an end.
The whole thing started when I downloaded and tried to install a new version of Symantec Norton Systemworks, which crashed my Windows XP. I called Symantec, paid $$FEE to talk with a tech, and got nowhere because the solution he suggested was to wipe my drive by reinstalling XP. Of course I said no.
After speaking with Dell tech people on and off for more than 3 hours (I have a so-called service contract), I was no closer to a solution. So I called Microsoft and paid $FEE to speak with a series of Windows XP experts for days and days--literally. Finally I got an appointment (appointment!) with a top-level expert who fixed the problem by guiding me through the download of a Symantec removal tool! Too bad Symantec didn't suggest this at the outset, especially since I paid plenty for technical support.
Getting Symantec to change my fee from a repair fee to an installation fee has been a big challenge, to say the least. One of the reps, "Mary," refused to let me speak to her supervisor. The Symantec tech expert who helped me successfully reinstall the Norton software (thanks, Craig!) suggested I call in again to talk with the front-end people about adjusting the fee. Later, perhaps, when I'm prepared to spend another 57 minutes on hold waiting to get someone on the phone. Symantec, your customer service and tech support leave a LOT to be desired. My phone's battery nearly went dead while I waited to talk with a live human being. Goodbye brand image.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Super software problems
No posts recently because an attempt to install Norton Systemworks 2007 (purchased and downloaded from Symantec) put my PC into a tizzy, apparently corrupting Windows to a serious degree. I've spoken with Symantec's tech people, Dell's tech people and Microsoft's tech people for a total of about 9 hrs. On Wednesday a "Level 2" Windows specialist will call me for a final try at fixing the problem. Symantec will be getting an earful from me, especially since it charged me $69.95 for the privilege of tech expertise and couldn't solve my problem.
Back to marketing posts once I have a working PC. Enjoy the Super Bowl (the ads, anyway). Update: The 2007 Super Bowl ads weren't very exciting, IMHO. I liked the GM robotic arm ad but not the Snickers ad, which was immediately pulled because it offended a lot of people (and they couldn't figure this out beforehand??).
No posts recently because an attempt to install Norton Systemworks 2007 (purchased and downloaded from Symantec) put my PC into a tizzy, apparently corrupting Windows to a serious degree. I've spoken with Symantec's tech people, Dell's tech people and Microsoft's tech people for a total of about 9 hrs. On Wednesday a "Level 2" Windows specialist will call me for a final try at fixing the problem. Symantec will be getting an earful from me, especially since it charged me $69.95 for the privilege of tech expertise and couldn't solve my problem.
Back to marketing posts once I have a working PC. Enjoy the Super Bowl (the ads, anyway). Update: The 2007 Super Bowl ads weren't very exciting, IMHO. I liked the GM robotic arm ad but not the Snickers ad, which was immediately pulled because it offended a lot of people (and they couldn't figure this out beforehand??).
Monday, January 15, 2007
Who opens FSIs any more?
If it's Sunday, it must be FSI day. Twas a time when I opened those FSIs and clipped a few coupons. These days I usually transfer the FSI directly to the recycle bin. Why? Here's what I found in the Valassis FSI for the NY area:
If it's Sunday, it must be FSI day. Twas a time when I opened those FSIs and clipped a few coupons. These days I usually transfer the FSI directly to the recycle bin. Why? Here's what I found in the Valassis FSI for the NY area:
- The cover is uninviting, featuring Puritan's Pride supplements sold by mail, fax, phone, or online with a special code. Even if I were interested, I can't buy these in a store so I just skip the cover.
- Inside front cover is a Citi/AmEx credit card promotion. How many people need yet another credit card? Next page...
- Mrs. T's Pierogies and Finlandia cheese are on p. 3. Yes! Except who has room in the freezer for THREE boxes of Mrs. T's just to save $1? Get real. Coneheads consume in massive quantities, the rest of us buy in ordinary amounts.
- Skip to back cover, a good LensCrafters promotion, which I've gotten via direct mail. Redundant. That's all for Valassis.
- Colorful, inviting cover featuring Emerald premium snacks and a $1-off coupon on 5-oz pkg or larger. Could be worth clipping.
- More national brands I recognize and can find in local supermarkets: Equal, Prego, Wrigley's, Welch's. I'll think about getting my scissors.
- The "big game" is only weeks away, and if I didn't already know that, the football-themed promotions would tip me off. The centerfold is a series of coupons for Smithfield smoked meats, "proud sponsor of Super Bowl XLI." Go Patriots! (OK, that's not in the ad, but it doesn't hurt to wave the flag.)
- Last half of FSI has some brands I actually prefer: Windex, Fantastik, Ziploc. Definitely worth having the scissors handy.
- Back page: Save $1 on any two or any three of the pictured Breakstone's products. The old "load-up" strategy just doesn't work when fridge space is at a premium. I'll stick to coupons where I can buy one or at most two of something.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Meet or Beat Any Price?
This is a story of theory and reality. Theory: What happens to competition when rivals say they'll "meet or beat" any advertised price (or, in rarer cases, any unadvertised price)? Hal R. Varian writes about this in today's New York Times, citing a pre-publication version of an academic paper you can read here: "On the Use of Low-Price Guarantees to Discourage Price Cutting."
In examining newspaper ads for tires, the researchers found that low-price marketers offered to match any price (advertised or not) about 14% of the time. On the other hand, the low-price marketers offered to match a competitor's advertised price about 75% of the time. If you, as a customer, come in with a rival's super-sale flyer in your hand, the low-price marketer will match or beat it. If you don't know about any lower advertised prices, you'll simply pay the low-price marketer's regular (presumably low) price.
Reality: I bought a sewing machine at Costco.com during a special sale, after a web search that found the same machine at similar prices elsewhere but with a longer wait for delivery. The machine was to be delivered on Tuesday afternoon. That morning, I received an e-mail from Costco, saying:
Recently, our buyers were able to negotiate an additional savings for this item. It is Costco's policy to always pass on the savings to our members. As such, we will be issuing a credit in the amount of $20.00 (plus tax, where applicable) to the credit card used when placing this order.
Even before the sewing machine had arrived, Costco refunded my $21 (tax, you know). I never had to look for any other marketers' special deals, advertised or not. Don't you like Costco's system?
This is a story of theory and reality. Theory: What happens to competition when rivals say they'll "meet or beat" any advertised price (or, in rarer cases, any unadvertised price)? Hal R. Varian writes about this in today's New York Times, citing a pre-publication version of an academic paper you can read here: "On the Use of Low-Price Guarantees to Discourage Price Cutting."
In examining newspaper ads for tires, the researchers found that low-price marketers offered to match any price (advertised or not) about 14% of the time. On the other hand, the low-price marketers offered to match a competitor's advertised price about 75% of the time. If you, as a customer, come in with a rival's super-sale flyer in your hand, the low-price marketer will match or beat it. If you don't know about any lower advertised prices, you'll simply pay the low-price marketer's regular (presumably low) price.
Reality: I bought a sewing machine at Costco.com during a special sale, after a web search that found the same machine at similar prices elsewhere but with a longer wait for delivery. The machine was to be delivered on Tuesday afternoon. That morning, I received an e-mail from Costco, saying:
Recently, our buyers were able to negotiate an additional savings for this item. It is Costco's policy to always pass on the savings to our members. As such, we will be issuing a credit in the amount of $20.00 (plus tax, where applicable) to the credit card used when placing this order.
Even before the sewing machine had arrived, Costco refunded my $21 (tax, you know). I never had to look for any other marketers' special deals, advertised or not. Don't you like Costco's system?
Monday, January 1, 2007
Holiday Roundup
There's nothing like shopping from the comfort of your own keyboard, especially when it's so easy to find promotions and bargains. Before I pressed the "buy" button at any retail site, I opened a separate browser window and searched for the retailer's name plus the keyword "coupon." Up popped places like Dealcatcher, which collect and post promotional codes from hundreds of sites.
Best Buy did a good job of handling gift returns/exchanges: an employee standing just inside the front door put a hot-pink sticker on any item being brought in for return; shoppers were told to pick out a replacement and then go to the customer service desk to complete the transaction. I had no problem exchanging the Stargate set I had received as a gift (which, horror of horrors, came with DVDs from both seasons 1 and 9!) and I was also able to buy additional items right at the customer service counter (instead of being directed to a separate checkout).
Good digital photo prints at good prices--fast! Thanks to an article in PC Magazine, I found Sony's ImageStation site and ordered 150 prints of holiday photos. Prints were sale-priced at a mere 10 cents each and shipping was cheap too. Best of all: the prints arrived in under 3 days, packaged very safely and professionally.
Happy new year!
There's nothing like shopping from the comfort of your own keyboard, especially when it's so easy to find promotions and bargains. Before I pressed the "buy" button at any retail site, I opened a separate browser window and searched for the retailer's name plus the keyword "coupon." Up popped places like Dealcatcher, which collect and post promotional codes from hundreds of sites.
Best Buy did a good job of handling gift returns/exchanges: an employee standing just inside the front door put a hot-pink sticker on any item being brought in for return; shoppers were told to pick out a replacement and then go to the customer service desk to complete the transaction. I had no problem exchanging the Stargate set I had received as a gift (which, horror of horrors, came with DVDs from both seasons 1 and 9!) and I was also able to buy additional items right at the customer service counter (instead of being directed to a separate checkout).
Good digital photo prints at good prices--fast! Thanks to an article in PC Magazine, I found Sony's ImageStation site and ordered 150 prints of holiday photos. Prints were sale-priced at a mere 10 cents each and shipping was cheap too. Best of all: the prints arrived in under 3 days, packaged very safely and professionally.
Happy new year!