Pull up to the drive-thru window, order your Famous Star with a side of machismo and check out “Target Women: Carl’s Jr.”.
Try not too laugh your ribs off. For every mention of "douche" slam a tequila. You'll never recover.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
K-Y: An Intriguing Product Launch
Challenge:
The K-Y brand team wanted to reach beyond menopausal women and target a new generation of consumers—couples, both men and women—to give them the tools they needed to make their intimate moments together more special.
The K-Y brand team wanted to reach beyond menopausal women and target a new generation of consumers—couples, both men and women—to give them the tools they needed to make their intimate moments together more special.
To successfully transform K-Y into an iconic intimacy brand and support its foray into the premium lubricant category, K-Y charged us with devising a multidimensional campaign that included traditional media outreach, influencer marketing programs, unique events, targeted sponsorships and sampling, and product placement in unexpected places.
Insight: We conducted an omnibus survey and study on intimacy and the relationships and interpersonal communication of more than 600 consumers.
These studies showed the importance of intimacy and the significant role it plays in successful and lasting relationships, which served as a great entry point as we talked with the media.
An in-depth analysis of the media through conversations and background research helped us identify the most receptive targets and create personalized approaches. This also gave us an understanding of reporters’ editorial needs and how K-Y could meet those needs.
Action:
• Created a temporary art gallery in New York’s Chelsea district.
• Created a temporary art gallery in New York’s Chelsea district.
Intrigue: The Art of Sensuality displayed works from nine artists. We used the venue to host two major events—an opening reception and a closing celebrity bash.
• Established grassroots buzz and developed an influencer program to enlist the support of brand ambassadors and evangelists before the product launched.
• Positioned K-Y as a leader in intimacy beyond its product and engaged industry specialists to communicate the importance of healthy intimacy and relationships in and out of the bedroom.
• Educated specialists on the benefits of the product and armed them with the K-Y brand’s research and survey statistics.
• Sponsored the Heatherette fashion show during New York Fashion Week as an opportunity to speak to the brand’s target luxury consumer. The product was included in 500 gift bags and handed out at the show, and it was distributed to guests at the after-party.
• Sponsored celebrity blogger Perez Hilton’s birthday bash in Los Angeles.
• Established grassroots buzz and developed an influencer program to enlist the support of brand ambassadors and evangelists before the product launched.
• Positioned K-Y as a leader in intimacy beyond its product and engaged industry specialists to communicate the importance of healthy intimacy and relationships in and out of the bedroom.
• Educated specialists on the benefits of the product and armed them with the K-Y brand’s research and survey statistics.
• Sponsored the Heatherette fashion show during New York Fashion Week as an opportunity to speak to the brand’s target luxury consumer. The product was included in 500 gift bags and handed out at the show, and it was distributed to guests at the after-party.
• Sponsored celebrity blogger Perez Hilton’s birthday bash in Los Angeles. Outcomes: In 2007, Intrigue was the top-selling K-Y product at Walgreens and CVS. In overall drug store sales, K-Y Intrigue came in fourth place behind only Altoids and two new candy bars.
Finally, the pinnacle of K-Y success measurement, these numbers easily surpassed those of Valentine’s Day 2006.
In total, K-Y Intrigue received more than 128 million impressions, including hits on Wall Street Journal.com (WJS.com) and the coveted beauty shots of the product in several women’s magazines. K-Y Intrigue was highlighted in top-tier national outlets, including the TODAY show, Perez Hilton’s birthday bash, New York’s Daily News, New York’s Newsday, Glamour, Women’s Health, Essence, MORE, Redbook and others. Bloggers were writing about K-Y Intrigue; the media now calls K-Y “lubricant” rather than “jelly.” It was clear that we made conversations easier. It was a significant achievement for the brand and for Ogilvy PR.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Six Ways to Build Your Brand Through Customer Service
by Anand Subramaniam
When it comes to brand building, customer service is often the last and most-ignored piece of the puzzle. This is a big mistake--and big missed opportunity.
Aligning customer service and your brand is an essential but under-used way to attract and retain customers, differentiate the business, and boost brand loyalty. Done right, it can create a truly sustainable competitive advantage.
Here are six ways we've seen to use customer service to reinforce brand identity. These methods can be used to align customer service with established brands or to build a brand through customer service.
1. Establish and execute to a brand-aligned customer service intent
Successful companies formulate a strategic intent and execute to that intent for market success; savvy organizations map that strategic intent to a brand intent. While businesses often capture brand intent in their advertising, they ignore it in delivering customer service, whether it is through their websites, contact centers, stores, or branches. This could result in damage to the brand. It is therefore important for C-level executives to launch a brand-aligned customer service initiative to make sure it is implemented across customer-facing and back-office operations.
2. Design brand-aligned processes
Customer service processes often involve multiple steps, tasks, people, and organizations. For instance, contact center customer service includes call routing, interactions, resolution, and fulfillment, and could also include proactive outbound communications, based on pre-determined business rules. High-touch brands should design processes that emphasize human-assisted customer service over self-service, whether it is in a brick-and-mortar environment or in a contact center setting (e.g., phone and web chat). It is also important to ensure that promised service levels are met through robust customer service process management tools. Non-intrusive brands should refrain from aggressive in-person or live chat customer service.
3. Provide brand-aligned human-assisted service
Human-assisted service is here to stay- complex customer service requests and certain transactions require human involvement. Moreover, some customer segments prefer the human touch. As such, it is important for companies to hire and retain brand-aligned people for customer service. HR organizations could match the personality of the brand to the desired personality of frontline reps to ensure brand-aligned agent recruitment and retention.
The knowledge and conversational styles of "role model" (i.e., the most brand-aligned) call center agents can be captured in customer service management systems in the form of knowledge base content and interactive guidance to agents at the point of customer interaction, and even in customer self-service systems. Forward-looking retail and financial services companies are extending such systems to brick-and-mortar stores and branches to improve the effectiveness and brand alignment of in-person customer service
4. Provide brand-aligned self-service
Self-service provides a great opportunity to further build the brand. For example, sophisticated guided-help knowledge base systems and online chatbots modeled after the company's multimedia advertising spokespersons can orchestrate brand-aligned self-service interactions with customers. A hypothetical example would be chatbots modeled after the gecko or the "cavemen" for GEICO and William Shatner for priceline.com. In fact, a leading financial services company in Japan has used a chatbot, modeled after an actor featured in its television commercials.
5. Use brand-aligned metrics
A critical misstep in customer service management is the misalignment of brand strategy and service metrics. For instance, force-fitting Wal-Mart metrics to a Nordstrom brand intent is not a good strategy. High-touch brands should not emphasize throughput metrics such as average call handle times.
6. Brand-align all touchpoints
Most businesses still have interaction, data, and knowledge silos in phone call centers, online service centers, and self-service systems, where the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. Of late, many companies have started unifying customer interactions and knowledge bases into common platforms as the first step to unify customer experience across channels and service agents.
However, most companies have yet to brand-align customer service across communication channels. A unified platform approach to cross-channel customer service and brand alignment can help them get there quickly, and their customers won't have to face Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as they go from one communication channel to another, or from one agent to another
When it comes to brand building, customer service is often the last and most-ignored piece of the puzzle. This is a big mistake--and big missed opportunity.
Aligning customer service and your brand is an essential but under-used way to attract and retain customers, differentiate the business, and boost brand loyalty. Done right, it can create a truly sustainable competitive advantage.
Here are six ways we've seen to use customer service to reinforce brand identity. These methods can be used to align customer service with established brands or to build a brand through customer service.
1. Establish and execute to a brand-aligned customer service intent
Successful companies formulate a strategic intent and execute to that intent for market success; savvy organizations map that strategic intent to a brand intent. While businesses often capture brand intent in their advertising, they ignore it in delivering customer service, whether it is through their websites, contact centers, stores, or branches. This could result in damage to the brand. It is therefore important for C-level executives to launch a brand-aligned customer service initiative to make sure it is implemented across customer-facing and back-office operations.
2. Design brand-aligned processes
Customer service processes often involve multiple steps, tasks, people, and organizations. For instance, contact center customer service includes call routing, interactions, resolution, and fulfillment, and could also include proactive outbound communications, based on pre-determined business rules. High-touch brands should design processes that emphasize human-assisted customer service over self-service, whether it is in a brick-and-mortar environment or in a contact center setting (e.g., phone and web chat). It is also important to ensure that promised service levels are met through robust customer service process management tools. Non-intrusive brands should refrain from aggressive in-person or live chat customer service.
3. Provide brand-aligned human-assisted service
Human-assisted service is here to stay- complex customer service requests and certain transactions require human involvement. Moreover, some customer segments prefer the human touch. As such, it is important for companies to hire and retain brand-aligned people for customer service. HR organizations could match the personality of the brand to the desired personality of frontline reps to ensure brand-aligned agent recruitment and retention.
The knowledge and conversational styles of "role model" (i.e., the most brand-aligned) call center agents can be captured in customer service management systems in the form of knowledge base content and interactive guidance to agents at the point of customer interaction, and even in customer self-service systems. Forward-looking retail and financial services companies are extending such systems to brick-and-mortar stores and branches to improve the effectiveness and brand alignment of in-person customer service
4. Provide brand-aligned self-service
Self-service provides a great opportunity to further build the brand. For example, sophisticated guided-help knowledge base systems and online chatbots modeled after the company's multimedia advertising spokespersons can orchestrate brand-aligned self-service interactions with customers. A hypothetical example would be chatbots modeled after the gecko or the "cavemen" for GEICO and William Shatner for priceline.com. In fact, a leading financial services company in Japan has used a chatbot, modeled after an actor featured in its television commercials.
5. Use brand-aligned metrics
A critical misstep in customer service management is the misalignment of brand strategy and service metrics. For instance, force-fitting Wal-Mart metrics to a Nordstrom brand intent is not a good strategy. High-touch brands should not emphasize throughput metrics such as average call handle times.
6. Brand-align all touchpoints
Most businesses still have interaction, data, and knowledge silos in phone call centers, online service centers, and self-service systems, where the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. Of late, many companies have started unifying customer interactions and knowledge bases into common platforms as the first step to unify customer experience across channels and service agents.
However, most companies have yet to brand-align customer service across communication channels. A unified platform approach to cross-channel customer service and brand alignment can help them get there quickly, and their customers won't have to face Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as they go from one communication channel to another, or from one agent to another
no name::: Who?
by Reneé Alexander April 6, 2009 issue
Even though it’s been on grocery store shelves for three decades, Loblaw Companies Ltd. is confident its no name brand is nowhere near its expiry date.
The Toronto-based grocery giant recently relaunched the iconic brand and its unmistakeable plain black printing on yellow packaging.
The Toronto-based grocery giant recently relaunched the iconic brand and its unmistakeable plain black printing on yellow packaging.
Company officials say the move was made to coincide with no name’s 30th birthday, and refocusing on a no-frills value brand at a time when the economy is in freefall is obviously prudent.
Three hundred products were repackaged during the first six weeks of the year—items such as bathroom tissue, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, ketchup and canned tomato sauce—and another 2,600, including pet food, paper plates and cereals, will be recast in the old-is-new-again packaging throughout the rest of 2009. (When no name was first born, it had just 16 products.)
“Imagine going down a grocery aisle. There are so many colours. You’ll be able to spot no name almost immediately,” says David Primorac, Loblaw’s senior director of public relations. “We chose products that would be best suited to the economic conditions. We wanted to start with pantry items, everyday items.”
He says no name’s packaging changes every few years, and the company’s marketing department decided the time was right to go retro.
“We wanted to bring back the original color palette. It’s something recognizable and it’s easy for consumers. We’ve created a bit of a buzz around the packaging,” he says.
“We wanted to bring back the original color palette. It’s something recognizable and it’s easy for consumers. We’ve created a bit of a buzz around the packaging,” he says.
The brand has always been associated with the color yellow, and all packaging is primarily that color complemented by a simple graphical layout. Over the years, the packaging has become more detailed, utilizing a no name logo and photography of the product.
The company’s campaign includes advertisements starring CEO Galen Weston Jr. touting the money that can be saved by replacing national brands with no name ones in your shopping cart.
“We’re saying, ‘if you need to control your monthly expenses, you can do it on your grocery bill. Look to no name, you’ll find similar quality products that will save you money,’” he says, noting a shopping cart of no name products is about 20 percent cheaper than a cart of corresponding national brands.
“It’s also a call-out to our customers. We’re saying these are great, quality products. Why don’t you revisit what is considered the original economy powerhouse brand?”
“We’re saying, ‘if you need to control your monthly expenses, you can do it on your grocery bill. Look to no name, you’ll find similar quality products that will save you money,’” he says, noting a shopping cart of no name products is about 20 percent cheaper than a cart of corresponding national brands.
“It’s also a call-out to our customers. We’re saying these are great, quality products. Why don’t you revisit what is considered the original economy powerhouse brand?”
Primorac says no name is being targeted to, well, pretty much everybody.
“People are price conscious, it doesn’t matter what their demographic or income level is. They’re paying attention to the financial situation in their own home. People who bought no name when it first came out, we think they’ll buy it again,” he says.
Loblaw is putting its money where its mouth is by offering a money-back guarantee on all no name products if customers aren’t satisfied with their quality.
“People are price conscious, it doesn’t matter what their demographic or income level is. They’re paying attention to the financial situation in their own home. People who bought no name when it first came out, we think they’ll buy it again,” he says.
Loblaw is putting its money where its mouth is by offering a money-back guarantee on all no name products if customers aren’t satisfied with their quality.
Loblaw doesn’t release the recent marketshare figures of no name, but it’s generally considered to be between 10 and 20 percent of its sales. To give an indication of no name’s strength, one study showed Pampers used to have 85 percent market share before no name’s brand of diapers were launched. With the private label diapers on the scene, that number plummeted to 18 percent.
Raj Manchanda, a marketing professor at the I.H. Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba, says many consumers will be willing to trade “down” to no name on products where there isn’t a lot of differentiation with national brands, such as pasta sauce, ketchup or dog food.
The funny thing is, many leadings brands and their generic versions are made by the same manufacturer, he says.
The funny thing is, many leadings brands and their generic versions are made by the same manufacturer, he says.
“Consumers may firmly believe (a particular) brand of dog food is the best because that’s the perception that has been created through marketing,” he says. “When price becomes so important, you’re willing to say, ‘maybe there isn’t any difference between apple juices.’”
Manchanda says he likes Loblaw’s strategy of adding a little bit of excitement and a retro vibe to the shopping process.
Manchanda says he likes Loblaw’s strategy of adding a little bit of excitement and a retro vibe to the shopping process.
“Even though it’s not the most exciting packaging, it still breaks through the clutter and gets your attention. It reminds people about a value proposition,” he says.
Manchanda says no name carries some significant cachet with consumers because they believe its products sell at the lowest price possible. No name won’t, however, have the same kind of brand proposition with higher-end products, such as perfume, because of the image consumers want to convey.
Manchanda says no name carries some significant cachet with consumers because they believe its products sell at the lowest price possible. No name won’t, however, have the same kind of brand proposition with higher-end products, such as perfume, because of the image consumers want to convey.
“We buy perfume because it’s how we express ourselves and feel about ourselves. We’re making a personal statement,” he says.
Surprisingly enough, there may even be some snob appeal to no name products for consumers who want to be perceived as savvy shoppers.
“One of the reasons consumers use coupons isn’t just the savings but because they feel they’re smart and getting better prices than others. There could very well be an element of that (with no name),” Manchanda says.
Renée Alexander is a freelance business and lifestyle writer based in Winnipeg, Canada.
Surprisingly enough, there may even be some snob appeal to no name products for consumers who want to be perceived as savvy shoppers.
“One of the reasons consumers use coupons isn’t just the savings but because they feel they’re smart and getting better prices than others. There could very well be an element of that (with no name),” Manchanda says.
Renée Alexander is a freelance business and lifestyle writer based in Winnipeg, Canada.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
LensCrafters::: Sees More
Challenge: Transform a brand perceived as a discount retailer into a trend setting purveyor of stylish specs for fashionistas and people looking to make a fashion statement by wearing optical eyewear to create a desired “look.”
Insight: 
• Appoint style guru Lloyd Boston as the company’s first “Chief Style Officer”
• Place the LensCrafters brand in high-fashion events (New York Fashion Week)
• Build credibility among key fashion editors and influencers through in-store editor events
• Appoint style guru Lloyd Boston as the company’s first “Chief Style Officer”
• Place the LensCrafters brand in high-fashion events (New York Fashion Week)
• Build credibility among key fashion editors and influencers through in-store editor events
Action:
• Utilized stylist Lloyd Boston as LensCrafters “Chief Style Officer” by having him give eyewear makeovers on ABC’s The View and co-host WE Women’s Entertainment Television offering fashion and style commentary during the Oscars
• Launched the LensCrafters 5th Avenue flagship store at 45th and 5th in Manhattan
• Built the “Eye On Style Transformation Station”– a mobile replica of the 5th Avenue LensCrafters flagship store to allow consumers to “eye-cessorize” with LensCrafters luxury brands. The Transformation station was present at numerous New York Fashion Week events
• Utilized stylist Lloyd Boston as LensCrafters “Chief Style Officer” by having him give eyewear makeovers on ABC’s The View and co-host WE Women’s Entertainment Television offering fashion and style commentary during the Oscars
• Launched the LensCrafters 5th Avenue flagship store at 45th and 5th in Manhattan
• Built the “Eye On Style Transformation Station”– a mobile replica of the 5th Avenue LensCrafters flagship store to allow consumers to “eye-cessorize” with LensCrafters luxury brands. The Transformation station was present at numerous New York Fashion Week events
Outcomes:
• Wall Street Journal front-page article positions LensCrafters as leading the charge in optical glasses as the latest “must-have” trend in fashion accessories
• The New York Times front-page article on LensCrafters flagship store opening
• Provided over 300 editors and fashion influencers with designer frames during New York Fashion Week
• Celebrities like Jamie Foxx, The Pussycat Dolls and Denise Richards were all gifted with designer eyeglasses
• Wall Street Journal front-page article positions LensCrafters as leading the charge in optical glasses as the latest “must-have” trend in fashion accessories
• The New York Times front-page article on LensCrafters flagship store opening
• Provided over 300 editors and fashion influencers with designer frames during New York Fashion Week
• Celebrities like Jamie Foxx, The Pussycat Dolls and Denise Richards were all gifted with designer eyeglasses
American Home Furnishings Alliance
Challenge: in 1998, when Americans’ disposable income was high and McMansions were emerging, yet Americans were not focused on the home as a haven for their growing families. Furniture was simply not top of mind. AHFA wanted to increase purchase by educating consumers about the importance of furniture to their lives and homes.
We began with comprehensive consumer research. We learned that homeowners did not understand or trust their own sense of style and that women were afraid of making the wrong furniture choices. ‘Furniture fear’ kept people living with furnishings that did not reflect their personalities or lifestyles.
Insight: Everyone has a “tipping point” when it comes to needing a new piece of furniture – it may be the addition of a new child or when a child leaves home – or even when someone says, “I just can’t take looking at this old chair one more day!”
Action:
•Developed publicity-driving press kits addressing the furniture needs of multiple groups – from empty nesters, to parents, to people have small living spaces. Our media kits featured national opinion poll results, product photography and advice from industry experts.
•Created two award-winning Web sites – one for consumers to help them find their furniture styles (www.FindYourFurniture.com) and one for the news media from which to gather sources information for stories (www.ahfanews.com).
•Helped AHFA provide news and information resulting from Furniture Market, the twice per year High Point, North Carolina event that determines the future of furniture fashion. Currently we are working with the furniture industry to encourage Americans to donate their safe, underutilized
Outcomes:
•There has been a 180 degree shift in consumer attitudes and behaviors. According to independently conducted new 2008 qualitative research, 10 years after our benchmark research, consumers are highly motivated buyers, confident in their choice of furniture and rely on their own sense of style for furniture purchases.
•AFHA is viewed as the authority on home furnishings trends by America’s home and lifestyle media corps.
•AHFA has secured more than 2 billion impressions, including numerous placements in long-lead magazines and daily newspaper home sections. The industry has also been covered on “Oprah.”
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