|
November 21st, 2008
Matthew Harrison this week lets off steam about the airline industry, arguing that organizations must concentrate their efforts on satisfying core needs before attempting to delight the market with extras.
I left the office three hours before my flight, having cut short an important conversation with a client and having left a report incomplete. On my way to the airport, I called the office 3 times to discuss all of the things I hadn’t done that morning. This was becoming stressful.
Thankfully, I arrived at the airport two hours before my flight was due to leave. Surely this wouldn’t be necessary? Surely no airport, no matter how inefficient, needs two hours to get a passenger from the front door of the terminal to the door of the plane? At the age of 7, I remember myself and a classmate completing the 100 metres three-legged race in one minute and 20 seconds. If this place was run even half as efficiently as that Sports Day back in 1983, then I should be at my gate within 30 minutes, even if I tied myself to another passenger.
Unfortunately yet inevitably, it quickly became clear that most of the next two hours was going to be spent lining up with other naïve, unfortunate souls, being hurried, harried and heckled by the uniforms and droning announcements that inhabit these awful places. I joined the first of many line-ups and tried to suppress my rage. One faceless lump of dejected humanity, we trudged through aviation hell.
90 minutes later, my misery seemed to be coming to an end. I had checked in my bags. I had removed and put back on my coat, jacket, shoes, belt and watch, and brushed the dusty foot-print from the back of my coat. I had thrown my newly-bought Coca-Cola into the bin. I had bought another Coke five minutes later and drunk it before the Fizzy Drinks Police could stop me. But most of all I had stood and waited with my fellow travellers, wondering why it had to be this way.
But now I was free! Just half an hour until my flight! Time to stroll down to the gate and experience the wonders of 21st-century air travel!
If only. I looked up at the screen and almost self-combusted. Glaring at me, taunting me, was the 7-letter word dreaded by anyone who wants to extract a little enjoyment from their short time on this planet: D-E-L-A-Y-E-D. I treated everyone within earshot to an old Anglo-Saxon word with rather fewer letters and decided to head to Borders for a magazine.
As I stomped angrily towards my favourite retail outlet, it struck me that I could spend days in this sorry ‘transport’ hub if I had wanted to (in fact, knowing my luck I probably would be doing). I could buy a suit from some of the finest designers in the world. I could wile away the hours in one of the several bars, or indeed each of the several bars, like many Englishmen before me. I could choose from 50-odd of those things that girls put in their hair to make a pony tail. I could buy a football kit, a hideously expensive hideous watch, my own weight in donuts, a pink iPod, the national flag of 10 different countries, a plug adapter, a mobile phone, or a haircut.
But as I wandered through this neon-lit abomination, it struck me that this airport and the aviation industry in general have got it completely wrong. Rather than making business travel the stress-free, time-efficient process it should be, all they want to do is sell me things I don’t want during the ever-increasing time it now takes to get anywhere. You see, when I go to an airport I don’t want to buy a Ralph Lauren suit. I don’t want to be massaged by a faux-leather chair. I don’t want to add to my music collection, win a Lexus, buy a bikini, have a romantic meal for one, or go to the pub. At most, I want a café that sells cheap coffee and sandwiches quickly, clean washrooms, something to read, and a socket for my laptop. But I’d be more than willing to forego even these small luxuries in exchange for an aviation industry that didn’t waste days of my time each year.
In short, I don’t want to be delighted with extras. I want to be satisfied with the core offering, and air travel is the perfect case study of an industry that has – in my view – lost sight of its core offering and core objective. The key purpose – to transport customers to a given place, by a given time, and for an agreed price – has been supplanted by an altogether less ambitious one: to provide money-spending opportunities to those who are still waiting, holding their fun-sized toothpaste in a transparent bag, for a satisfactory core offering.
The industry reminds me of a flashy sprinter limping down the track in gold shoes, waving flamboyantly at the crowd before coming in last. Or, to use an example from my own industry, a market research company that turns up late for the final presentation but organises a lovely dinner for the clients whilst they are waiting.
It seems to me that business buyers are simple creatures with simple requirements. OK, we may make decisions in a complicated way, involving the views of all and sundry before arriving at a decision. We may even have technically complex needs. But our requirements are essentially pretty simple – good quality, competitive price, timely delivery and availability, from a company we can trust before, during and after the transaction. We don’t seek novelty, we tend not to be impulsive, and we are focused on what we want. The simplicity of our needs, combined with the fact that others in our organizations are expecting us to make the right decision, makes us quite unforgiving when we don’t get what we paid for.
We all like to delight our customers, but this is an extremely difficult thing to achieve in the unglamorous world of b2b marketing. Far better to focus on meeting the key needs of the key customers. Only once that has been achieved should we spend time and resource on measures that at best delay frustration with your core offering, and at worst simply irritate and alienate your client base.
Posted in
Aviation, USA, Matt Harrison, Customer Satisfaction, Market Research |
Comments:
None Yet »
November 19th, 2008
Packaging is one of the key elements in the marketing mix that allows you to differentiate your product. Indeed, when we conduct new product development research, packaging is one of the areas where we see some of the greatest examples of innovation.
The packaging of a product plays an integral role in many sectors, not least the food & drinks industry.
An innovative and unique form of packaging that has caught our eye recently is that of a major player in the beverages marketplace.
MillerCoors has introduced cold-activated packaging across its Coors Light product range. The Rocky Mountains logo of this brand is printed in thermochromatic ink that turns blue when the bottle or can has been chilled to the perfect temperature.
This packaging has been seen on some products in the Coors Light range over the last year, but is now to be rolled out to include all sizes of cans and bottles in the product range.
Whilst some might argue that this is gimmick, there is no doubt that the true beer connoisseur appreciates his or her beer being served at the optimum temperature. The company has attributed this – and other – package innovations to higher sales.
Posted in
Packaging, Corporate Identity, Marketing, Branding |
Comments:
None Yet »
November 18th, 2008
Debates always rage in the marketing and advertising world as to the best forms of advertising and promotion. Online? Print? TV? Promotional items? Of course the truth is there is no one correct strategy. Different methods will work for different companies at different times. Usually the best solution is to combine several different forms of advertising/promotion which complement each other and provide a consistent message.
Yet a new study released by the Advertising Specialty Institute has – perhaps unsurprisingly – underlined the importance of advertising specialty items and promotional products can play in this marketing mix. According to the ASI report, pens, bags, t-shirts and other such gifts beat TV, radio and print advertising as the most cost-effective advertising medium available.
Some of the key findings of the research, which polled 600 business travellers, include:
- 84% of respondents recall the advertiser on a product they receive.
- 42% have a better impression of an advertiser after being given a promotional item.
- 24% say they are more likely to do business with a company after receiving a promotional product; indeed 62% of respondents claim to have done so.
- 81% of promotional gift items were kept because they were viewed as useful (with more than three-quarters having kept them for about seven months).
- The average cost-per-impression of a promotional product is $0.004, making it less expensive per impression than nearly any other media. (According to Nielsen Media data, the CPI for a national magazine ad is $0.033; a newspaper ad is $0.0129; a prime time TV ad is $0.019; a cable TV ad is $0.007; a syndicated TV ad is $0.006; and a spot radio ad is $0.005).
With a comparatively low CPI, the report concludes that advertising specialties offer marketers a more favorable ROI than many other popular media. High recall rates and increased intent to make a purchase from the promotional advertiser are also positives.
Advertising specialties, or promotional products, are defined as gift or incentive items branded with a corporate logo or message. The industry has a 13% share of the advertising marketplace, with US$19.6 billion in sales for 2007.
Posted in
Marketing, Advertising Research |
Comments:
None Yet »
November 17th, 2008
In a recent article in BUSINESSWEEK, the Harvard Business School guru on competitive strategy, Michael E. Porter, gave his view on why America needs an economic strategy.
His article offers useful insights on the determinants of long-term prosperity for the United States and from this we can pick out many aspects that are pertinent to the long-term growth of business. We have extracted some of the key points and linked them to a business perspective:
- Strategy embodies clear priorities, based on understanding the strengths we need to preserve and the weaknesses that threaten our prosperity. From a business perspective, every company should be able to acknowledge its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. While this may sound simple, many companies struggle to recognize these. From a market research point of view, much of the research we conduct uncovers the strengths and weaknesses of companies from the customers’ perspective – the one that really matters. In addition, market research frequently reveals unmet needs in a market and therefore uncovers opportunities for companies that are well positioned to fulfill these needs. Hence market research assists companies to better understand and improve their competitive position, and is instrumental in providing independent market intelligence upon which company strategies can be based.
- In dealing with a crisis, experience teaches us that steps to address the immediate problem must support a long-term strategy. Indeed short-term solutions do not necessarily lead to long-term success. In times of crisis, companies should be cautious not to act in haste and jeopardize their future prosperity. Virtually every business decision should be made with the longer term in mind.
- The American economy has performed remarkably well, but our continued competitiveness has become fragile. From a business perspective, if a company appears to be performing well at the present time, it cannot be taken for granted that it will continue to perform well. Companies should always seek new ways of retaining and boosting market share, ultimately bettering the competition.
- The US remains uniquely good at coaxing innovation out of its research and translating those innovations into commercial products. The need to innovate to survive is often the mantra of those who are successful in business. This is because innovation by its very nature means doing things differently. In three years’ time, if a company looks the same as it does today, it will be dead in ten years. Every company needs to innovate to stay ahead. The words “research” and “translating” are key here, for research is crucial to uncover potential opportunities, and the translation of innovation into commercial products is paramount in obtaining a return on investment, for research should always aim to suggest actions to improve a company’s offering or positioning.
- The problem is not so much that other nations are threatening the US but that the US lacks a coherent strategy for addressing its own challenges. From a business perspective, whatever challenges a company may face, such as lack of brand recognition, defecting customers or decreasing profit margins, a coherent strategy is required to deal with these challenges, as opposed to meager and piecemeal actions which many companies consider easier but which are rarely successful in the medium to long term.
To read the article, please click here.
Posted in
USA, Profitability, Economic Downturn, Recession, Market Research USA |
Comments:
None Yet »
November 14th, 2008
Paul Hague has this week been contemplating whether, after some 40 years in the market research industry, he can truly call himself a master in his chosen profession?
I used to work with a marketing trainer who introduced his session by saying “Most of the fundamentals of marketing I can teach you in three days – but it will take you a lifetime to master”.
I was reminded of this homily recently when I heard an interview with Malcolm Gladwell, the author of best selling management books Blink and Tipping Point. This academic and guru claimed that you must spend 10,000 hours honing your skills if you want to be a success at anything.
He backs up his theory by citing sports stars such as Boris Becker, Jonny Wilkinson, Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters, who have all become world-beaters because of the obsessive devotion they have shown to their game since childhood.
In his new book Outliers: The Story of Success, Gladwell says that if you examine the greatest athletes, entrepreneurs, musicians and scientists, you will notice they only emerged after spending at least three hours a day for ten years practicing.
He claims that the principle holds everywhere. You can’t become a grand chess master without your 10,000 hours of homework; you need to start playing the piano at 4 if you want to début in Carnegie Hall at 15, and so on.
Of course, innate ability, work ethic, the age you start to learn and a good dose of luck all play a role, but it is the repetitive practicing of the craft that gives you mastery.
This got me thinking about market research and how long it takes to master our craft. There are no formal apprenticeships in this job, most people fall into it and if they like it they stay, sometimes for only a few years before moving on, usually into some broader field of marketing. Assuming that there are 200 working days in the year and we have our heads down grafting for seven hours each of those days, this means there are 1,400 working hours in a year so we should reach mastery of our craft in around seven years by applying the 10,000 hour rule.
Of course, every hour of every day is not spent on pure market research. In this job we spend a good deal of time solving logistical problems. However, Gladwell has a point; it probably does take us around seven years before we have seen a wide variety of different market research problems and become good at solving them.
And where does that leave someone like me? With 40 years spent on the front line of market research, all of them at a frenetic pace, managing and doing the work, it ought to mean that I am the Yehudi Menuhin of the business. I have done my 10,000 hours five or six times over.
The trouble is, it doesn’t feel like it. Every job seems more and more challenging. This is no bad thing – in fact, it is this adrenalin rush you get from the job that has kept me interested over the years. Certainly past experiences are helpful in giving us hints and wrinkles that we can use, but there is nearly always a new learning in every job – something that you hadn’t anticipated or that surprises you. And whereas for a footballer the goalposts always do remain 24 feet apart, in market research they are always changing. More emerging countries to research, more new techniques to apply, more to learn about e-research, another new software programme to master. So, buckle down Paul, you are not there yet – there are still 9,999 hours to go. Phew!
Posted in
Marketing, Paul Hague, Thursday Night Insight, Market Research |
Comments:
None Yet »
|
