Connecting with Consumers

Connecting with consumers has never been more challenging. However, are we doing everything we can to deeply connect on the rational and emotional benefits of our products?

In a recent book, Marketing Metaphoria: What Deep Metaphors Reveal about the Minds of Consumers, the authors Gerald Zaltman and Lindsay Zaltman, discuss seven of the most commonly used deep metaphors that companies use to deeply connect with consumers.

Below is an excerpt from an interview conducted with the authors:

Q: What are deep metaphors?
A: Deep metaphors are basic frames or orientations we have toward the world around us. They are "deep" because they are largely unconscious and universal. They are "metaphors" because they recast everything we think about, hear, say, and do. Because deep metaphors shape the way we engage the world, an understanding of them is necessary to explain why we think and act as we do.
While relatively few in number, much like core emotions, each deep metaphor may take many different forms. For example, balance may involve social, psychological, physical, and aesthetic themes. The small number of deep metaphors, each with many variations, and often working together, constitute a silent but rich and powerful language of thought and expression.
It is a language that marketers must learn to speak if they are to understand and connect meaningfully with their customers.

Q: What to your mind are a few effective marketing campaigns that have utilized knowledge of deep metaphors? What did they do that was unusual or insightful?
A: Two classic campaigns come to mind. One is Coca-Cola's "I'd like to teach the world to sing," which invokes the deep metaphor of connection and the ability of the brand to bring diverse people together. It also engaged the deep metaphor of social balance by stressing with a music metaphor the concept of harmony.
A second campaign is the Michelin tire ad portraying the tire as a container—another deep metaphor—of safety for one's family, especially children. The last version of the ad, which ran for many years, showed a child positioned within a tire on a wet surface accompanied by several pairs of animals. This invoked imagery of Noah's Ark, one of the most famous containers of all time that withstood a major catastrophe.

Connecting with Consumers Using Deep Metaphors

What's on your t-shirt?

If you read enough about marketing you will get advice on positioning, brand essence, vision statements, brand ideas, one word equity concepts, brand manifestos and who knows what else.

Q: What's the point to all this?

A: To simply and memorably communicate what your product is and why consumers should buy it.

Let's move away from all the jargon and discuss the best way to figure this out.

There are two exercises on this post that every brand should conduct.

1) Write a 30 second TV spot - This is the elevator speech - If you can't sell your brand in 30 seconds then something is wrong.
http://www.idea-sandbox.com/blog/2007/01/elevator_pitch_your_tv_show_op.html

2) Brand T Shirt - Make it quick and memorable!
http://wheresthesausage.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/02/writing_your_br.html

Does all this replace positioning statements and unique selling propositions?

Probably not, but people sure will remember what your brand is all about and how to communicate it quickly.

Marketing Innovation

The words Marketing and Innovation are and will always be indelibly linked.  In light of the daily marketing assault on consumers it is imperative to find innovative ways to communicate your brand message.

In 7 Things Innovators Do That You Don't, the author provides tips that will keep innovation top of mind.

http://open-source-innovation.com

Building a Brand with Widgets

What is a blog named Fundamental Marketing doing talking about widgets?

Because, they have the potential to be the ultimate branding experience for consumers.

Traditional advertising mediums are great and essential. Doing them the right way still remains the most important aspect of a marketing campaign. The downside of traditional media is the limited interaction with consumers. A brand is not a logo, or a name, a brand is the feeling a customer has when engaging the brand. A brand is created through communication and a mutual relationship with consumers.

Widgets have the ability provide a truely unique brand experience. They can provide interaction through visual and audio means. They are viral and can live and grow throughout networks. A great case study of how A&E used widgets for promotion of the hit show, Parking Wars, is attached.

http://www.businessweek.com/print/technology/content/feb2008/tc20080303_000743.htm

Innovating the Customer Experience

Apple, Amazon, Starbucks and Target have become the gold standard for creating an exceptional customer experience.  These companies use positive customer experience to differentiate their respective brands and thus create fiercely loyal bases.  Every company would answer yes to the question, "Do you strive to create a positive customer experience?"  But how many can say they achieve this goal?  According to a recent article not that many in the United States.

The key to creating long lasting impact through positive customer experience comes from integrating this concept into the core culture of an organization.  A great example is Mark Cuban the owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.  Cuban took over a losing organization and from the top down worked to create an enjoyable experience for the fans.  He would greet fans at the door, sit in the cheap seats, publish his email address on the scoreboard and personally answer every correspondence.  This type of culture permeates through organizations, helping them reach their aspirational goals.

The link also uncovers some other great case studies on the power of customer loyalty.

Innovating the Customer Experience

Who would throw a snowball at Santa Claus?

The fans of Philadelphia are the worst in the country, they hurled snowballs at Santa Claus!

In the new book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, brothers Chip and Dan Heath, define why some ideas stick and others don't. They say that for an idea to become "sticky", a term borrowed from Malcome Gladwell in the The Tipping Point, it must be presented as a Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional Story. The authors were able to identify some common threads of stories, events and myths that have stood the test of time. One urban legend that fits the bill is the famous Halloween story of people putting razor blades in apples. It was so widespread, I remember taking my candy to the hospital for an X-ray. Wonder if Hilary Clinton's Universal Health Care Plan will cover this? This legend became out of hand and in 1985 an ABC News poll showed that 60 percent of parents worried that their children might be victimized. The authors note, that same year researchers studied every reported Halloween incident since 1958 and found it to be a myth!

I would imagine that the Heath Brothers are not big Philadelphia Eagles fans because there is no more "sticky" story than the Eagles fans pelting Santa Claus with Snowballs. This story has been told and retold thousands of times and has portrayed the Philadelphia fans as the worst in the country. In a new book titled The Great Philadelphia Fan Book, co-authors Glen Macnow and Anthony L. Gargano set the record straight on what happened on that cold December day in 1968. The Eagles were in the midst of a horrendous season and the team owner Jerry Wolman was considered public enemy number one. The Eagles were finishing off a 2-12 season and residing firmly in last place in last place. Yet there were over 58,000 fans that showed up. The halftime show was supposed to be a Christmas pageant but due to bad weather team officals sent a 19-year-old fan wearing a bad Santa suit on the field with the introduction of "The Philadelphia Eagles wish you a Merry Christmas." Macnow, who recently tracked down 'Santa' said, "Santa had it coming for a different reason actually, Santa was a surrogate that day for Jerry Wolman and others. The poor kid just happened to be representing the frustrations." The 19-year-old 'Santa', Frank Olivo, says he has no hard feelings. "I'm a Philadelphia fan, I knew what was what. I thought it was funny,"

So were the actions of a few frustrated fans, on that fateful day, really that bad? Keep in mind, this happened 40 years ago and is still being talked about today! Even more astounding, this story is the main reason why Philadelphia fans are portrayed as being the worst in the country. Talk about "sticky!"

Made to Stick

I just finished a great new book, Made to Stick.  First of all is has one of the coolest covers you will ever see.  There has been a lot of recent talk of successful marketing tactics that extend reach to other senses such as taste and touch.  I was in the bookstore and just had to reach out and touch this book, it has a piece of duct tape on the front that looks and feels like the real deal.  With all that being said, the content is even better.  

I won't attempt a book review but one concept I have to discuss is called The Curse of Knowledge.  This is a concept that I have faced many times in my career.  The premise is simple, people get too close to a concept, product or idea often times feel the need to share every piece of information they have gathered.  This is quite obviously detrimental when selling almost any product or service.  You don't need all the background information on why something is great, just tell me why it is great.

There are many other great learnings in this excellent and well researched book.

http://www/madetostick.com/blog/