Fiat needs re-positioning after Pope’s endorsement

We had celebrated the election of Pope Francis in an earlier post and it is a joy to see the”kindness” impact he has been having in the world for not just Catholics, but all people. The Papal visit to the US created  an amazing buzz  and his using a Fiat is a big celebrity endorsement for the brand.

According to the New Yorker, Pope Francis wants  to give the message of frugality, humility and a focus on service by using a car like the Fiat. And that message has come through really powerfully. Anyone in the car market will seriously look at the Fiat in the USA. And don’t be surprised if folks who earlier were considering the Toyota Prius  will consider the Fiat 500.

This is a positioning conundrum for the marketing folks at Fiat. For like all car advertisers in the US they needed to bring some excitement into their product and did so very successfully with the  “blue pill” campaign by the Richards Group.

The positioning conundrum is :

  • Is Fiat a “frugal” brand? Going with the Pope’s usage of the brand and the minimalist image that he sought to convey, there will be a big upsurge in demand from the “frugal” American consumer. Despite stereotypes of American flamboyance there is a sizable segment of “frugal” Americans estimated at 13 Million according to Nielsen PRIZM.
  • Is Fiat for the empty nester baby boomer? Or is the Fiat for the empty nester as embodied in the ad below. This segment is also 8.5 Million with about double the income of the “frugal” segment according to Nielsen PRIZM.

Or can Fiat do both? About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

Starting with “why” is the motivation in publishing any research

Why-StratoServe“Starting with why” is made popular by Simon Sinek as a source of inspiration. It turns out that it is also the first thing you need to spell out if you hope to get your research published- in any field. It is also called the motivation of the research. And your research better be motivated strongly!

In fact, as one Journal Editor pointed out, the peer reviewers look at a) the title b) the abstract and c) introduction where the “why” is spelt out. If by this time, that is 3-4 pages of a 40 page manuscript you have not painted a clear picture of the “why,” your chances of moving forward in the review process plummets to almost zero.

So what is it in the “why” of research that the academic world is so finicky about? Here are some insights for all the budding researchers out there:

  1. Nothing you say is really new: This blogger’s PhD adviser pointed out this rather depressing fact and he had been told by his PhD adviser and so on… If you really went back to the Aristotles’ and Plutos’ of the world you would find a reference to the seed of the idea  somewhere.
  2. Google never draws a blank: Google and Google Scholar does not draw a blank unless you put quotation marks on a long sentence or phrase. And these are early days of indexing the world’s published knowledge.
  3. Summary of what is known and unknown-the literature review: Scholars are expected to present a detailed literature review after the introduction. The introduction however pins down the highlights of what is known and what is unknown about the issue at hand. This overview must be short i.e. a couple of paragraphs that must signal to fellow experts that you know what has been going on in the specific “gap” that you are trying to fill.
  4. Why filling the “gap” in knowledge is important: Just because something is not known is not a good reason to study it. The researcher must spell out the benefits of knowing that sliver of unknown that is claimed in the opening. Striking a fine balance between exaggerated claims of “why” or timid apologies of “why” have to be balanced.
  5. Invoking other calls for research to buttress your “why” can help:  Finding noted scholars who have mentioned the need for future research that support your “why” also helps your cause.

If you think about major pieces of research that scholars in the business disciplines work between 3-5 years to publish, you realize that the intrinsic “why” of the research question is pretty motivating for the intrepid researcher.About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

Five Tips to align your Website content to your Annual Report

Annual Report-Website Tips StratoServeA recent LinkedIn post discussed how there seems to be significant differences between what the biggest companies say on their websites and what they put out on the annual report. Naturally, the annual report is the more recent management thinking on all matters of the organization.

In the pre-Google world one could argue that the audiences for the Annual Report and Website are different. The Annual report is for primarily  investors while the (old) website was a company brochure for prospective customers.

Today, things have changed and the website is for all folks who might simple Google the company and these could include employees, job applicants, prospective and current: customers,suppliers,alliance partners,investors,students etc.

Given the importance and the position of the company website when it is searched online, here are five tips to better align your website content to your annual report:

  1. Understand your Annual Report process: In most organizations, the CEO would ask the different CxO’s (Chief  functional Officers like Marketing,Supply Chain, HR,Operations etc.)  coordinated  by the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) to come up with (a) what was achieved last year (b) what is planned-budgeted next year and in the next few years. In other words, the annual report is a true picture of what top management is trying to do in both a strategic and operational sense. It is thus a simple place to start looking at the website content.
  2. Your Annual Report drives website content: Your annual report should be driving the website content and website content should reflect what you are actually trying to do that you have already articulated in the annual report. We exclude any customer, supplier or employee portals that you might have that have many associated back end processes.
  3. However, do not delete web content: No one is ever happy with their website content, but resist the urge to delete stuff unless things have completely changed. It’s far better to give some context to things that are no longer relevant. For e.g. you might have a product line that is discontinued and replaced with new product lines. However, you have some arrangement for spares and services in place for customers involved with the old product line. This page can be deep inside your website but is very valuable to customers who have the earlier versions of your product. Besides, the content helps your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for the product category.
  4. Think transparency and big goals  : A key to aligning annual reports to websites is to “think transparency” in the information age. Once decisions are taken, implementation is far easier if all the stuff is on the website. Exclusions are (a) competitive matters that you don’t want to share like your trade secrets (b) privacy related matters that are possibly harmful to stakeholders like employee or customer details.
  5. Think Execution- even employees search the website first: The best reason for keeping annual report themes and website content aligned well is to help execute the Board and CEO vision. Just look at the Google Analytics data for how many times employees search for stuff on the corporate website. Merely spelling out the operational stuff clearly (for example a downloadable form for purchase requests) can vastly improve execution of strategy visualized in the Annual Report. About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

What is your sustainable competitive advantage?

Blockbuster Sustainable Competitive Advantage-StratoServeHere is an old Blockbuster video membership  card, what nostalgia!

Renting video cassettes from Blockbuster video seems like so long ago ..

How Internet affects business is one of our favorite topics but there is an underlying larger idea in strategy. That idea is sustainable competitive advantage by which a business maintains  enduring success.

Competition to Blockbuster involved competitors  like the “no late fee” Netflix model of DVD’s – home delivered. Now Netflix sustains its competitive advantage through  better distribution via online digital delivery on demand. The inability of Blockbuster video rentals to recognize and adapt to market and technology changes made it extinct.

There are several researchers that have developed ideas around sustainable competitive advantage  including Prahlad and Hamel that was covered in an earlier post about core competence. However, core competence is more inward looking than the idea of sustainable competitive advantage –an idea attributed to Jay Barney. Jay Barney’s 1991 article is cited a mind-boggling 41,000 + times, in scholarly journals in HR, Economics and Finance, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and pretty much all the Business School disciplines. Obviously, the idea strikes a chord and here is a simplified guide to understanding the idea of sustainable competitive advantage as it applies to your business. But first some examples:

Jay Barney mentions in a later video about the fallacy in the SWOT method of strategy where you do not enter businesses that in an industry that is not growing,has too much competition, poor margins etc. Instead think of Wal-Mart that is the most successful company among the discount retailers; even as K-Mart had to declare bankruptcy. Wal-Mart is able to sustain competitive advantage due to its great supply chain management including close co-ordination with suppliers through technology and face-to-face collaboration. In fact, multi-national Wal-Mart suppliers (eg. Nestle) have offices in Wal-Mart headquarters at Arkansas. If Wal-Mart thinks of entering a new world market where Nestle is already there, it asks the Arkansas Nestle office to call in their managers for training with Wal-Mart systems and methods much before the first Wal-Mart store opens in the new global market.  Talk about building an advance  supplier team. Similarly, while the rest of US airlines weep for the industry they are in, South-West Airlines has turned a profit every quarter- the sustainable competitive secret might be the Herb Keller recipe of “THE low cost airline” covered in an earlier post.

Your sustainable competitive advantage is:

  • Something that only you do well: This could be a trade secret (your secret pizza sauce, the Coke formula) or the very customized supply chain management (Wal-Mart), infusing the total quality culture right to the janitor (Toyota) or gritty bootstrap entrepreneur-ing  that creates value from very little. Identifying your unique resource is easy. First, think of your industry and classify the “given” ingredients that are bare necessities to compete. These could include a website, a phone contact etc. that are givens. Second, you look  for that special unique thing that you have and customers value-but competitors don’t have and can’t copy easily.
  • Your customers value (i.e. are willing to pay for) :The combination of what you do uniquely well might really be creating customer value. This includes back end activities like supply chain at Wal-Mart.If you have a pizza store, no matter how how good your pizza sauce, you cannot succeed in all segments of  the pizza business if you don’t offer delivery(a given). Remember that customers appreciate value of your “special” offering only if the rest of the “givens” exist. Those customers who value an average pizza with delivery- will be lost if you don’t offer delivery.
  • Your competitors cannot copy easily: This one is tricky. Competitors can start a discount store like Wal-Mart but the years of building sustained supplier relationships and constant supply chain technology upgrades, to cut total cost, is not easy to replicate.
  • Moving with the times and with the final consumer : The more upstream B2B you are, the more the need to keep track of changing consumer tastes. That is if you supply sugar to Coca-Cola, you should have started thinking long ago when declines in sugared beverages started.It took years for Wal-Mart to realize the power of Amazon with the consumer but it has now upped its online game. Similarly, Netflix started moving to online delivery in good time and Best Buy will surprise you with pricing that matches Amazon for products that you can touch and feel as you “showroom” i.e. search your smart phone for Amazon prices from the Best Buy store. McDonald’s is finally going for healthier options as Coca Cola launches milk !

Agreed that nothing lasts forever, but understanding your sustainable competitive advantage is a great way to change track even as the world changes faster than ever.About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

The secret to repeat customers: ” We take pride in our work”

Repeat Customer Secret-We take pride in out Work-StratoServe

Recently we were talking to a business owner  who has lots of new customers that come in but don’t seem to become regular customers. The new customers come in through special deals advertised online including Groupon/LivingSocial deals.  The owner is concerned because a solid core clientele does not seem to be developing. The restaurant owner says: repeat customers pay the bills and are therefore crucial to any business.

So we set out to ask some service providers that we know have great repeat customers. On the pure service end was a hairdresser and on the product and service end was an electrician. In both cases a surprisingly common answer:

We take pride in our work… and ensure that the customer is happy…

-Businesses who have lots of repeat customers-

It seems so exciting to attract new customers, yet it is far more profitable to keep customers.  And the underlying pride in the work they do, seems to be the reason for retaining loyal customers.

Here is what businesses seem to mean when they say “pride” in their work:

  1. They listen : First they really listen to the customer’s requirements/problem. Second, they try to uncover underlying needs that are not stated.
  2. They repeat what they understood: They repeat what they understood. Thus, in a “take pride” restaurant if the customer wanted the sauce on the side and not in the food- the waiter repeats this while confirming the order.
  3. Customer requirements are communicated internally: Going with the sauce example, the kitchen knows  that the sauce is to be on the side. When food is served merely repeating a very minor request (sauce on the side) can simply charm the customer. This becomes very important if the server is different from the waiter who took the order.
  4. Do it right the first time: The initial time that “pride” businesses take in understanding customer needs, goes a long way in getting it right the first time.
  5. Stand by your work and service recovery: Yet mistakes can happen (e.g. at very busy times). “Pride” businesses stand by their work and fix mistakes immediately. Owning up to a mistake and making it right is called “service recovery” and that goes a long way to keep happy customers.

Happy customers come back, generate referrals through word of mouth and social media.As a bonus, happy loyal customers sustain the motivation of the “take pride in our work” team work of the business.

About StratoServe.

What Google AdWords cannot do for you: Customer Engagement

A question that we get asked often is : ” Can Google AdWords help us get customers?” Our short answer is “Yes” and then in deeper discussion … the but –starts coming in. Google AdWords (or any other form of advertising for that matter) cannot engage your customer after they arrive at your website.

What Google AdWords really does well is to show your ad when people are searching for your product or service. This is huge because if they click on your ad, they arrive at a page on your website that meets their needs almost perfectly. In the physical world it is like getting a customer to walk into your store. Let us understand the customer’s behavior after she enters your say brick and mortar store:

Two things can happen after a person walks into your say brick and mortar store: Engaging Customers-StratoServe

  1. The customer does not buy: This is not all bad news because the customer became aware of your store and its offerings.
  2. The customer buys:The customer buys and that is great. It shows that the customer liked your products and services, the service provided by your floor sales staff and the feeling or “ambiance” of the store.

There are two corresponding tasks that become important for the business:

  1. Changing your offering –if it makes sense:When customers walk in and browse your products but do not buy – is a great opportunity. It is worthwhile to try and find out if changing some things might switch a significant number of store visitors to buyers. These could include low cost changes like better lighting or simply more smiles or more complicated things like adding a new line. If adding a new line is expected to add lots of new customers at good margins , then it makes sense. On the other hand if adding a new line will mean distracting your workforce without convincing sales numbers, it probably is not a good idea. Incidentally, understanding web visitors and their buying behavior is far easier through Google Analytics than the physical world.
  2. Build Customer Engagement for buyers: Building customer engagement starts with a “wow” experience in the first encounter. It motivates the customer to come back for more, spread the word among friends and through social media and remember you the next time the customer is in the market for your product or service. Seeing permission and including the customer on your email list and Business Facebook and other social media pages is a great idea at check out.

To summarize, advertising does an essential job of getting your word out and getting the customer in the door (or website with Google AdWords). However, constant work is needed to engage the customer as a lifetime customer. About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

Big Data at work: Surgeon ratings by patient outcome data available online

Surgeon Ratings -StratoServeSurgeons ratings by patient outcome data is now available online. ProPublica unveiled the Surgeon Scorecard recently for 8 elective procedures.

People check online ratings all the time and for major stuff like knee replacements you can bet that patients will  research online. We already have specialized ratings doctors,lawyers, restaurants (Yelp), airline routes (Routehappy), vacation trips (Trip Advisor),plumbers and electricians ( Angies List ), colleges(US News, Princeton Review), movies (Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB),  etc. . Then there is the omnibus Google review that can influence customer choice. All of these ratings reflect the customer’s perception of the service experience.

So what makes surgeons’  ratings with patient outcome data special?  This is the start of a trend to measure and rate services by performance data and not perceptions alone.

This is a momentous shift as ratings are based on all customer data and not merely on opinions  of  those (only 0.5% customers post opinions on Amazon according to Quora) who post an opinion online. Here are some things all service businesses might want to consider as big data finds its way to online reviews:

  1. Does your industry segment have the data and the motivation ? Medicare has patient data and the surgeon data and an interest in reducing costs. Surgery complications means more bills for medicare. The same should apply to insurance auto repair services where customer satisfaction and costs are important. There is likely to continue to be a data gap for direct to customer billing relationships like plumbers where data of how many faucets(taps) continue to leak after a plumbers’ visit is unlikely to become available.
  2. Perceptions of the 0.5% will continue to matter online: Perceptions of the 0.5% customers who report an opinion online will continue to matter. These are folks who are vocal online and care enough to post a review online. Dissatisfaction resolution should therefore be a major focus for all businesses because if you address dissatisfaction you are doing “service recovery” and that helps unhappy customers happy and in case some of these are online reviewers – their story will help your business and you will probably get a good review in the bargain.
  3. Be alert to the context of your services: Service providers miss the context of their services. Two examples
    1. (a)  a great dentist misses the turn-off annoying behavior of their office staff, who constantly chase patients for a $1 payment short payment  that they failed to collect at the office.Patients defect only due to the accounts receivable folks.
    2. (b)  If a customer faces parking problems for your  restaurant – it rubs off on your restaurant quality. Not addressing the parking problem is bad for business.
  4. Follow-up is critical: Follow-up after service is critical because if something is wrong- people will tell you. Auto dealer services are good at doing this and non-response to surveys from customers is fine, because you can be sure your service was satisfactory at least. We are sure that with the Surgeon Scorecard, surgeons will become more active in managing post-operative care because any lapse will directly and publicly reflect on their ratings.

To summarize, we can expect big data to find its way into performance ratings sooner where transaction data is available (e.g. Medicare for surgeons). Meanwhile, managing perceptions of  customers will continue to matter.About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.
About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

B2B Marketing: Derived Demand web content can help show that you “get” it

Derived Demand Web Content-StratoServeThink about marketing anything B2B – and you’ll find derived demand at work. Your web content should reflect that you “get” what your B2B customer is trying to do for their customers. Derived demand is defined as : demand for a B2B product is derived from the demand that your B2B customer receives from their customer. Also see an earlier post on Derived Demand.For example, imagine you  are a car tire maker (eg. Michelin, Bridgestone etc.) and supply to auto manufacturers (eg. Ford,GM,Toyota etc.). If new car demand goes up- you can see your OEM (Original Equipment Manufacture) tire sales go up. You would be selling tires for the replacement market through distributors. If people change tires you’ll see that demand going up as well. Derived demand is thus about the links in the downstream supply chain ending with a customer buying something for her personal use. All B2B demand can thus be understood in context of final consumer demand.

A car tire maker has two B2B audiences viz. (a) the auto companies where the tire is supplied as OEM and (b) the tire dealers who stock different tire brands.And you can be sure that the sales teams that service these two market segments, have a  fair understanding of the priorities of the direct B2B customer as well as their B2C customers. Thus, an auto maker might be interested in having Just-in-Time (JIT) deliveries and not pay for too much in car- factory inventory. The tire distributor might want more payment credit. Both B2B customers also know a lot about what B2C customers are going through. ….if only the sales contacts were encouraged to find out and marketing people reached out to the car dealers (who actually deal with B2C for the car company).

In all of this, there seems to be large gaps on the website of the B2B marketer. Despite knowing a lot about the derived demand market , there is not enough explained on B2B websites about how well they really understand the final customer. The knowledge is there in organizations, just not on their websites.

“We really don’t care if our B2B market is happy, who has the time to get through the entire downstream value chain” many businesses tell us.

But guess what – think of any business that has disappeared (most recently because of  the Internet disruption) – and you can be sure that the leaders ignored the behavior changes of the final consumer. After all, their B2B customer appeared happy or at least indifferent. A good way to consciously keep on top of your final customers changing needs is to have  sections, including blogs,  on your B2B website that are helpful to your  final consumer. The content helps your SEO as well .  About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

If you are not in it – you can’t win it: Advertising and the “Consideration Set”

Consideration Set-StratoServeA common question we get asked is : “How do we get into the “consideration set” of our target market?” The consideration set is the number of brands the customer will consider buying and is also called the evoked brand set. If your customer is looking for your product or service, your brand must come up for consideration.To be considered by a customer, she needs to be first -aware of your brand and know it sufficiently to consider it. Thus to paraphrase a famous saying:

If you are not in it (the consideration set) you cannot win it (the customer’s business)!

To understand the nature of the customer’s choice challenges think of the car market. Recall the car brands you are aware of (your awareness set), the ones you will consider buying (your consideration set), your narrowed choice where you will probably visit the respective dealers (your choice set). Now be surprised by the number of car brands out there at Autosaur.

So what do you spend on advertising to get your word out, if you are not a big brand? Here are three suggestions that are almost free:

  1. Social Media helps: Social media helps but don’t assume that your business efforts on social media or content creation is “free,” and paid advertising costs money. For we fail to account for the time that our people spend on the so called “free” social media. Yes, when your organization members help out with the social media and web presence there is the unique benefit of engaging your people with the market and therefore becoming better at customer service and at what they do. However, in larger organizations the politics of social media fear can make hearty participation difficult (Is my post appropriate?Do I have the bandwidth to deal with the fallout of this post?).
  2. Some advertising is free- get on “Google My Business”:  For local businesses, it is easy to get onto Google local searches. You may not be on top of the page but at least your business will get listed. Remember that the top spots may be Ads or organic searches. Organic search top results is what is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), that is a long consistent process of quality content building, as pointed out in an earlier post on tagging images for SEO.
  3. Free ad impressions in Google AdWords and YouTube Advertising: Being visible when people are searching or engaged with content helps build brand awareness. So don’t discount the free impressions of ads and the ad before the skip on YouTube. Unlike traditional advertising where you pay for impressions, in pay per click advertising like Google AdWords, you pay only when some clicks on your ad and arrives at your website.

Just being considered is huge, because “if you are not in it (the consideration set)” you cannot win it (the customer’s business)”! About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

“Awkward” money moments avoided: Tenth Yale Customer Insights Conference 2015

YaleCIC2015-StratoServeThe Tenth Yale Customer Insights Conference 2015 (#YaleInsights15) continued to excel and evolve by connecting thought leaders in marketing practice and academia. And it is a lot of connecting to do as technology innovations allow digital marketing and consumer behavior to change faster than ever before.

A big idea that came up at the conference was about “Awkward” money moments.

What are Awkward Money Moments?  These are moments that are embarrassing and relate to money and a list appears at Life-Hacker. These include a declined credit card in a social setting, being asked to contribute equally at a dinner where you did not drink all that expensive wine and our favorite about bill and tipping awkwardness during service encounters. Before the recession it was taboo in America to talk about awkward money moments, but now people have become more frank in discussing the topic. Generally in collective societies (e.g. Asia) you are expected to play along on social cues. Thus, if you are on a first date  and you decline drinks and ask for water, the waiter puts you on the spot by offering plain tap water(free) , bottled water (expensive) and premium sparkling branded water like Perrier(very expensive). You cannot start looking at either the menu for prices or at your date or at the waiter….an awkward moment indeed.

Social Sharing and Mobile: Mobile has simply taken off with more searches coming from mobile and there were several presentations on this tectonic shift. But it was the Guided Discussion between Richelle Parham (former CMO,EBay), Bob Adams ( Senior Director Visa) and Beth Storz (discussion moderator and President Ideas to go) that got us to the “Awkward money” moment of the conference.

The discussants talked about how Uber and Airbnb remove the awkward money moment in the taxi and hotel transactions. For example, even taxes come as a surprise in hotel bills and the customer feels awkward raising the issue since you are automatically checked out and find the bill under your door on checkout day.Most hotels will not tell you the taxes at booking time. Pre-paying Airbnb is delightful as the awkwardness goes away.

On Uber,you have a good idea of what you’ll pay for a car trip and when Uber’s algorithm charges you more for rush hour etc. the awkwardness of dealing with the driver is removed. You can always call Uber to complain vigorously.Controlling bad behavior by customers, Uber drivers can rate passengers. So as a passenger,if you are late,mean etc. and have a poor rating – the next Uber driver will be cautious in accepting your call. Another awkward encounter avoided from the Uber driver’s point of view!

As the mobile economy evolves we can be sure that many more awkward moment avoiders will become popular.

There is much more to report from the tenth anniversary of the Yale Consumer Insights Conference 2015 and more in later posts.About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

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