Monthly Archives: August 2005

Brand Autopsy Supplement

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In my absence next week, I’d like to refer people to John Moore’s Brand Autopsy blog. John has his own entertaining and insightful way of approaching brands and marketing.

One of his favorite “patients” (aka targets) lately has been GM and their employee discount for everyone. While I agree with him on the dangerous addiction to discounts, I’ve noticed a reason this could have been good for GM. It introduced the same no-haggle environment as GM has used with Saturn.

1. This enhances the experience for the customers. No more driving all over town (or way out of town) to ensure you got the best deal. No more hearing, “Let me talk with my manager about that.” or “What will it take to see you drive this car home today?”

2. Creates a sense of reliability. Customers know what to expect and feel confident those expectations will be met. Same reason I know I can eat lunch at Taco Bell for $3. I don’t have to worry whether or not I have enough money. I know before I walk in the door. Hence, I’m qualified before I walk in the door as well.

3. Flat pricing takes emphasis off of dealership prices. This causes them to focus on actually ADDING value to the car-buying experience. Dealerships would be forced to understand what customers want and innovate instead of using price to lure customers onto their lot.

Two problems with this:

1. None of this matters if Detroit puts out shoddy cars.

2. GM already announced they will return to Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price. Instead of employee discounts, they plan to cut the MSRP of the 2006 line across the board. I think that’s even worse.

Say “Welcome back.” to Mr. Haggle.

Oh, and John… take care of my readers will ya?

No Casual Friday Next Week

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Next week, my wife and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. Between the blog and her, she wins – hands down. So, no blue jeans and t-shirt next week as Casual Friday is cancelled.

Don’t fret, it shall return after Labor Day. Sunburn and all.

Temporary Insanity And Its Entertainment Value

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OK, by now this AP story is old news.

Here’s the gist:

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) — A rush to purchase $50 used laptops turned into a violent stampede Tuesday, with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with a folding chair and nearly driven over. One woman went so far to wet herself rather than surrender her place in line.

OK, something had to click in these people’s minds to make them think that these computers were worth all the hassel they endured. Worth the wait. Worth injuring others or sustaining injury. Worth the public embarrassment of wetting yourself. It’s not logical. It’s violently emotional. Akin to temporary insanity. So much so that it even perplexed the director.

“It’s rather strange that we would have such a tremendous response for the purchase of a laptop computer — and laptop computers that probably have less-than- desirable attributes,” said Paul Proto, director of general services for Henrico County. “But I think that people tend to get caught up in the excitement of the event — it almost has an entertainment value.”

This is an incredibly interesting story. It affirms a few beliefs:

1. People do not buy according to logic. They buy based on an emotional response, but justify that decision with logic.

2. Shopping and entertainment often blend.

If you can capitalize on those two points, you can become “worth it” in the minds of your customers. As Apple is worth the premium price. As Starbucks is worth the wait. As a Harley is worth the effort.

You Can’t Do That!

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Do you want to inspire people to be kind, thoughtful, and generous to one another? Apparently the NCAA doesn’t.

Josiah Q. Roe’s article at Irresponsible Journalism points to a story of the NCAA’s inability to recognize what is actually right in college athletics today.

UGA is playing Boise State opening day. Some UGA fans hear about the father of a Boise State player who is currently serving in Iraq. These Georgia fans decide to raise the couple thousand dollars to fly the father home from Iraq so he can see his son play D-1 football ‘gainst Georgia.

The NCAA finds out about it, and check this, put a stop to it because it would be violating the NCAA’s bylaws. In effect, these Bulldog fans would be functioning as boosters for Boise State, so its a no-go. Amazing.

Sometimes rules are meant to be broken.

I agree with Josiah. Do you? Sure you do.

Now:

Do you commendate employees for “breaking the rules” in order to service customers?

Do you hire employees that are willing to “break the rules” if needed?

Or are you more interested in having yes-men working with you and for you?

Do you communicate rules to your employees or do you communicate the heart of your company?

Bottom line: If your employees are unwilling to break the rules of your company when necessary to serve customers, then they’ll break the heart of your company and lose customers instead.

Defending the Right to Prostitute Your Business

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Thanks to Andrea Learned’s posts on Artistic Tile’s ads this week, was one of those weeks where I wish I didn’t restrict myself to only updating this blog on Fridays.

Concerning Artistic Tile’s provocative ads, Carole Fuller (Director of Strategic Marketing for Smith College) decided to contact the tile company’s VP of Marketing. In her email, Carole stated this:

I communicate with about 50,000 smart, educated, well-to-do women who live around major cities, and I lived in northern New Jersey for 22 years. I would be appalled to market to the smart women I know with such sophomoric humor. It’s not funny; it’s just lame.

Sounds like a valid critique from an informed professional. Jan MacLatchie, VP of Marketing at Artistic Tile, included this in her response:

In fact, this campaign, strategically developed to differentiate our brand within the category, was produced by some of the top talents in advertising in the world, and was photographed by one of America’s leading fashion photographers. His work includes the current campaigns of many of the top fashion houses. The theatrical model makers who hand craft our tile costumes are the same people who are creating costumes and set designs for current Broadway plays, feature films and television, including the amazing angel wings you may have seen in HBO’s (Mike Nichols’) adaptation of Tony Kushner’s brilliant and moving “Angels in America”. The copywriter is the same brilliant talent that made Kenneth Cole a household name. While the copy (as well as the idea that anyone would actually wear tile) is certainly tongue-in-cheek, we feel it underscores our key message points of style, selection and service in a memorable, playful way.

Pretty impressive… if these were ads for an HBO original or a Broadway musical. They’re not. They are ads intended to market a high-end tile to a sophisticated audience. Instead of addressing the possibly misguided strategy of these ads, Ms. MacLatchie focuses on the execution. They are beautiful ads which will probably win a few awards for the ad agency. With a little target market feedback and some sharper copy, they probably could have helped Artistic Tile win lifelong customers as well. Alas, I feel as though Ms. Maclatchie is too emotionally invested in the credentials of her ad producers to adjust the campaign. Instead, she’ll likely continue to defend her decisions.

Prostituting Your Business

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Andrea Learned’s series of posts this week points to the dirty grout surrounding these tile ads.

The problem with ads like these is that they work… temporarily. They get attention and may even get a “decent” response (greater than 2% – wow). But, they’re short-sighted. They don’t create long-term conversations with the market that eventually convert into sales.

The problem is that they don’t see the long term effects on their image and reputation.

The best way I can phrase it? They’re prostituting their business.