Mar 9, 2012 | Change, Lean, Marketing
Out with the old mass market advertising and business model, and in with the new.
I shave, it costs a fortune, so much that I switched to disposable shavers without all the fatuous claims and high prices of the big brands. Each morning when I look in the mirror to shave I see a 60 year old bloke, a bit worse for wear, the square jaw rounded by too much living, extensive forehead, and none of this will be changed by using a 5 dollar blade instead of one that costs 50 cents.
However, I never saw the disruptive marketing opportunity demonstrated by this story about the Dollar Shave Club, but it is blindingly obvious when pointed out, in this case by my e-buddy Bill Waddell.
What other categories are so ripe for change?
Shampoo & conditioner, household cleaners, personal hygiene, are the three that jump to my mind, all associated with vanity.
The FMCG business model has changed, and for high value products that are easily mailed, like shavers, is breaking. A few categories are yet to have their margins decimated by a combination of house-brands and direct e-sales, but it will not be too long. Anything that can be sourced via the web, where the savings are sufficiently significant to off-set the inconvenience of having to remember to make a few clicks on your device, is at risk.
The fancy, expensive nonsensical advertising appealing to vanity rather than real consumer benefits, that support these products has had its day.
Mar 8, 2012 | Customers, Sales
As a marketer my basic mantra has been “see it through the customers eyes”, simple and effective.
Recently while mentoring a great young sales person for a client, I noticed that even though she asked the right questions at the right time, and used the information returned to progress the sales process very well, she had less success closing than I would have expected.
On reflection, she was failing because of the language she was using.
Her language reflected that of her employer, and in it were embedded the jargon and descriptive nuances that were used to communicate a complex product amongst themselves, and it was not necessarily the language her prospects used amongst themselves. Although the differences were small, they were important, not just for the clarity of understanding that was communicated, but importantly for the comfort of the prospect, who was reassured that there was no ambiguity at play.
It became clear that in addition to the marketing mantra, there needs to be a sales one as well, “speak using the customers voice”.
By so doing, you avoid the pitfalls of the same words having slightly different meanings and implications in different contexts, and by using the customers voice back to them, you enhance the opportunity to build the rapport so important to building a relationship.
Mar 7, 2012 | Social Media
The social tools of the net do not create collaboration, that urge is hard-wired into us. The net simply removes the barriers, and changes the rules about the means.
Now we no longer have to be able to have personal “face time” be in the same geography, or even share anything beyond the single purpose of the collaboration to make collaboration work, but I am yet to see an example where the collaboration is optimised without that face to face element.
Humans are social animals, so there will never be an adequate 100% substitute for the face -to-face interaction that enables the emotional connection so important to collaboration.
SM tools offer a huge benefit to enterprises of all types, but they are not the end, just a far better means than we have had until now.
The latest offering is Pinterest, which has come from nowhere in a very short time, the early adopter crowd are figuring out how best to use it, but it is just another tool to add to the box. It has its uses, but remember the old adage that if you want to drive a nail, a screwdriver is not of much use.
Mar 6, 2012 | Innovation, Leadership
It is pretty easy to avoid making that confronting customer call, stand up and articulate an idea at odds with the boss, conduct an experiment conventional wisdom says will fail. The price for not doing this stuff is pretty low, few will critisise, but there will be little pay-off as well.
It takes intellectual bravery to confront the natural reluctance to stand out from the herd, make yourself vulnerable, be different, but without that bravery, nothing changes, and little new value creation will happen. As George Bernard Shaw said, “all great things start as blasphemies”
Mar 5, 2012 | Communication, Leadership
If you cannot state your mission in a very few words, perhaps less than 10, able to be expressed in 30 seconds, the time it takes for a ride in an elevator to the 30th floor, where the big boys live, try again.
I see many mission and purpose statements that are full of jargon and weasel words, that really convey little but the perceived need to make everybody happy, to conform to the latest fad management book, but by the time it gets to the factory floor, where it really matters, it means nothing.
To be effective, a mission statement should be a reflection of what all those in the business feel, what needs to be built, the answer to the question, “what are we doing here?”
So it is easy to wordsmith a statement, but it takes persistence, leadership, and determination to make any use of it.
