In her latest Thursday Night Insight, Simi Dhawan assesses the place of stereotypes and clichés in the world of b2b marketing

Political correctness credibly avoids offending others and yet conflicts with our psychological well-being. Whilst we’re fiercely encouraged – even warned, of the dangers of spurting out some stereotype or saying anything that might come across as casually anti-social, in psychological terms, we could argue that in some cases, our psyche inherently needs to build stereotypes to make sense of the world. Put briefly, the classification scheme in psychology termed “pigeonholing” suggests that we’re so overloaded with information entering our five senses each and every day, that we need to “group” some of it together or, at least, make general inferences (based on previous knowledge) to digest it all. Of course, that is not to overlook the dangers of making wrong assumptions – particularly those based on social stereotypes.

A few weeks ago now, myself and a colleague made our way in the early hours from Manchester to Liverpool, given that Liverpool airport was the nearest location from which we could enjoy a direct flight to Poland, courtesy of “Whizz Air” (recommended – if only for the shocking bright pink theme that runs throughout the logo, aircraft and cabin crew attire). On entry into the main check-in, in full view of all of Liverpool’s finest, was an enlarged poster, advertising a certain ‘commercial sparkling light perry’ that is not unfamiliar to some of us:

Now, whilst I have been unable to source the identical visual delight that graced our eyes that very day, if you imagine the above bottles surrounded by wide-eyed party-clad young females holding wine glasses, then you wouldn’t be too far off. On noticing this advert, I recalled an earlier conversation with my colleague that in the early hours, amongst the check-in counters of many a budget airline, you can often expect to enjoy the gleeful laughter of a “hen do” party or two. With this nostalgic recollection, I couldn’t help but think “good on you, Lambrini, you know your target market!”

About a week later a casual remark from a close friend revealed that Lambrini is actually manufactured in Liverpool – so was this more about inevitable geographical and commercial convenience or was this a targeted marketing ploy?

Still undecided, I went about reviewing other advertising campaigns to see if there was any more evidence to secure a view on how far stereotypes are played upon and it quickly became clear that my original suspicions were right. A few experiences (in front of the box) and conversations (in the pub) later, some interesting observations came to fruition – where the most active stereotypes appeared to play on the differences between males and females.

Amongst my “fieldwork”, the first growing trend I enjoyed was with advertisers seemingly offering females the “upper hand” at the expense of de-masculinising many a slightly ridiculed man. I share a personal favourite, as follows:

- The “Treat It With Respect” Toyota Yaris campaign wherein a young female who is begrudged by her boyfriend’s mistreatment of her beloved car two days before (when he spills some food in it) later gets him back by “accidentally” ruining a picture she takes of him and one of his favoured celebrities they bump into (‘Gaz’ from Supergrass, for those interested). See below link:

The second observation was the slightly shameless “tongue-in-cheek” manner by which advertisers blatantly flog their products by building their campaigns upon a broad cliché. For example:

-The Lynx Excite “Even Angels Will Fall” adverts revolve around vaguely patronising your average male by enticing them into purchasing a deodorant that is so irresistible that it will send a plurality of model-esque females in their direction – angels inclusive:

Whilst it might be easy to try and sabotage an advertiser’s attempt to allure their target consumers by advocating the use of general clichés, I hesitate to do so. It appears that this activity is a complete necessity if you are to successfully plan and execute your marketing activities by following The Four “R’s” Of B2B Marketing, namely:

1. Revenue – Marketers must generate revenue opportunities

2. Reputation – Marketers must build the company’s reputation/brand by engaging customers

3. Relationships – Marketers need to creatively strengthen relationships with customers/partners/media and reduce “distant gaps”

4. Relevant – Marketers must have something meaningful, relevant and of value to customers

Indeed, taking the aforementioned Lynx advert as an example, it does appear as though this brand has been successful in meeting these B2B Marketing guiding principles:

1. Revenue – It targets the advert towards those most likely to purchase the product (men) and makes use of TV as a medium which will easily reach a mass market.

2. Reputation – It consistently falls in line with other campaigns e.g. ‘the Lynx effect’ which similarly follows the theme of a deodorant that enhances male desirability from the opposite sex. (However, does this alienate non-heterosexual consumers?)

3. Relationships – By offering some level of consistency, this, in turn, enhances the brand image of Lynx. It makes it more memorable and clear to understand what the brand is about – avoiding any ambiguity or “distant gaps”.

4. Relevant – Although it is built around the male stereotype that within their “psyche” exists the shallow desire to attract the attention of beautiful women, it is altogether presented in a very “tongue-in-cheek” fashion. Often overly enthusiastic and quite openly a visual satire with angels dropping from heaven whilst passers-by look up in the sky in awe. In this way, it does not ridicule the brand or bore viewers, but entertains and makes us smile.

In B2B market research, whilst we approach each project from an objective stance, we would be lying if we told you that we never involve any common sense in our analysis. In a recent European research project examining bathroom usage of general home-owners, it would have been impossible to not have an expectation on “activities carried out in the bathroom” and was therefore a reassuring finding that more males than females trim their beards each morning (suggesting our data was representative of our prior understanding!)

However, it is often good research practice to include a few “sense check” questions in any survey, to help validate the accuracy of your data in general, where if something looks out of the ordinary, then you can assess your approach. In this respect, taking human experience and general judgements into consideration (even those that could sit inside a common finding or cliché) is not a disadvantage – but a valuable skill. In short, research is not an exercise employed to unveil a host of new surprises to the marketers commissioning any project; rather, it exists to further refine and build on our pre-existing thoughts and inferences. To further demonstrate my view that clichés can work in our favour, I (in clichéd fashion) end with a quote by the eminently wise Stephen Fry:

“It is a cliché that most clichés are true, but then like most clichés, that cliché is untrue.”

Gerry Caffrey’s first Thursday Night Insight explains why politics should never be ignored.

At B2B International we conduct many market assessments for companies considering expanding into new countries with their products. Our analysis for these studies routinely examines many market forces. Among these are political and regulatory trends at work in each country. Events over the past few months in places like Egypt underscore how important it is to obtain a firm grasp of the political situation before investing. Companies considering entering the UK, for example, would want to take a hard look at the UK’s new Bribery Act. Likewise, in Brazil you need to understand their Congress’s multi-party alliances. Companies more than ever need to increase their level of analysis towards making a careful evaluation of how these forces impact their ability to meet business goals efficiently.

A few months ago we completed a project for a manufacturer of energy-generating equipment. They needed an assessment of the opportunity in India, China, U.S. and several other economies. As would be expected, each country had its own set of market forces at work. Remarkably, for all the countries we studied, the key control point driving market success was not macroeconomic trends, nor was there any lack of demand for the client’s product in these countries. The most important driver turned out to be each country’s respective government policy on “green energy” – in some cases evolving rapidly – making the difference in the economics of projects involving turbines. Our recommendation to the client going forward was to monitor each country’s shifting policies and laws closely, especially those linked to energy policy and related tax breaks/incentives and, prior to investing in entering a market, to conduct a thorough political analysis.

Coincidentally, at the same time as we were working on the project, the point of this Thursday Night Insight was highlighted in a long Economist magazine article entitled “Businesspeople Need to Think Harder About Political Risk”. The article summarizes things quite succinctly:

The most important advice is to take politics seriously. Oil and mining companies have always done this. Royal Dutch Shell has run a profitable business in Nigeria for more than 50 years despite a dangerous and volatile environment. “New economy” companies have tended to be much more naïve. …. Companies need to go further than just buying advice. They need to put more emphasis on local knowledge … ”

In his first Thursday Night Insight, Dan Attivissimo this week discusses the merits of playing to your strengths.

Early in life we are conditioned to improve our weaknesses rather than enhance our strengths. As an example, as students (at least when I was a student) it’s all too common that parents and teachers spend more time and extra effort on subjects that are below our higher subject averages. (A subject with a B- will receive more attention than a subject with an A.)

Now, I am not making an argument for letting grades slip below average or even suggesting how parents and teachers educate children. I will ask this though – what if more time was spent enhancing the skills in the subject receiving a higher grade? What if the student who is excellent with percentages and decimals was now taught how to apply that knowledge to basic financial concepts? What if the student who has a gift for writing spent extra time learning how to develop stories? One may become a future all-star accountant and the other an industry-renowned journalist!

What does all this have to do with the B2B industry?

I also think that companies can apply these truths to their business. Companies, like people, also have a set of strengths, but typically they are drawn up before the company becomes operational (through a brilliant idea, business plan, mission statement, goals, objectives, experience, and refinement over time, etc.). After all, it’s what distinguishes a company from its competitors. Unfortunately, just like some students, businesses sometimes allocate more resources toward improving their weaknesses as opposed to enhancing their strengths. How many times have companies invested in product lines or services so far-removed from their core business that it becomes a failure before it even takes off? Or worse, continue to invest money and human capital into a division that isn’t competitive or profitable!

My hypothesis is, those who truly excel in certain activities, whether professional, personal, or sport, are those who have developed and perfected what they are naturally good at. So why can’t the same idea apply to businesses operating in the B2B industry?

What if companies focused more on developing their core strengths rather than expanding into a variety of unchartered territory, eventually reaching death by diversification? What if companies focused on being the best in a particular industry as opposed to having a small market presence in many industries?

Jim Collins’ book, Good to Great, makes a great point that companies with long-term, sustainable growth achieved their greatness by being experts at understanding and investing into what they are strong in, what they are known for, and being the best at it. If certain opportunities didn’t fit within a company’s strong area it simply wasn’t pursued, saving the company from possible disastrous debacles.

What I have found in my recent experience is that people and companies are not all that different when it comes to exploring, developing, and exploiting strengths. Both can find their strengths through a systematic way of asking the proper questions and analyzing the answers (market research). Once a set of strengths has been established, both people and companies seem to perform better when they operate within relative distance of their core strengths.

I say don’t just play the cards you’re dealt, but play your best cards!!!

5 days on and Peter Mullarkey is still trying to get over the disappointment of Manchester United’s loss in the Champions League Final. He hopes that by reading his TNI you will not be disappointed in business.

Special events should be celebrated and Saturday night was no exception. Manchester United & Barcelona, the two finest team in the world, came together to do battle in the Champions League Final.

Two years had passed since that night in Rome, a lesson in football was all we walked away with, a 2-0 defeat which I still feel was jinxed by my meal of paella that evening! So it was with great hope and excitement that I entrusted my emotions to the men in red, white and black for the rematch.

All the words beforehand were positive, the team stayed fit and the preparation had all been about this game since winning the record 19th Premier League. I honestly thought that the lessons had been learnt since 2009.

After a hearty Lancashire hotpot (good omen, or so I thought), I took to my lucky seat, all the usual pre-match rituals were taking place, all the while feeling that tonight would be the night to lift our 4th European Trophy.

The game kicked off, we pressed well, won the ball, looked lively and pressured them into making mistakes with their passing. It was a great start, 7 minutes of real promise… yet it can all fall apart in front of your eyes.

After the 90 minutes, I could have no arguments; Barcelona yet again delivered a master class in how to play the beautiful game.

It left me feeling disappointed at something that I could never control, I tried my best, singing, shouting and willing them on, even though they were 180 miles away.
But in business we have more control over disappointing results. When something isn’t working a strategy can be created for how to improve.

Conducting customer satisfaction market research can help you to identify the areas to which more focus is required.

B2B Internationals are experts in this area having conducted hundreds of studies over the past 12 years. We have developed vital and informative tools, such as IMPSAT®, NPS and Correlation Analysis, and with our services we can help develop any disappointing areas into strengths. All the while playing up your successes, such as a 19th Premier League Title!