Thinking Global, Acting Local

Nothing new there.

The term has been around for decades now. Whether it be the different blend of Coke in Mexico to the US; the way Nescafe instant coffee tastes different in France than the UK, the fact that The Big Mac is replaced with the Chicken Maharaja Mac in India

In fact, in 2012, MacDonalds announced(1) that with the fact that 40% of Indians being vegetarians, they would also be setting up vegetarian outlets there as well

Of course, this Thinking Global and Acting Local ( sometimes shortened to being Glocal), also applies to advertising



A Ford Focus is launched like this in the UK





But like this in Italy






A Starbucks looks different in York to one in Tokyo

   

So why on earth do some global Brands think Social should be any different?

If you are one of those brands, then here are 9 reasons why you should focus your Facebook activity locally



(1) MacDonalds to beef up in India with meatless menu

It's Not A Conversation If You Don't Say Anything

The Conversation

Thomas Cook 0 - Low Cost Holidays 1

Subject Line of the Week & the Art of Story Telling

Intrigued?

Of course I was. This is what I found

Of course as the UK's number one supplier of bikes, it makes complete sense for Halfords to tie in with the  start of the Tour de France this weekend.

What I then found to be a smart move by Halfords, is that by clicking on the image, you were not sent to a sales message on the website but sent to their Facebook Cycling Community page

Who is Francis?

Well, to find out if an amateur,Francis, could handle the toughest stages of the world's most famous cycling event, watch this video...if you have 15 minutes

The Art of Story Telling

In a post a few months ago on Twitter and the Art of Storytelling,  I highlighted how the Hero of the Story is often the key difference between a Brand Story that is successful and one that is not. Take the Facebook pages of Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. At the time the former having fewer fans than Starbucks but more highly engaged ones.

And the main difference was the Hero of the stories being told. In Starbucks' case it was the brand, while with Dunkin Donuts it was the Customer. This makes sense doesn't it? I am more likely to share a story that has me at the centre of it than a Brand.

Looking at the Halfords page and at Facebook's Talking About This metric, you can see that over 47% of the people who like the page have interacted or engaged with the page in some way

That's a pretty impressive figure when you compare to other brands on Facebook.

If you look at the Facebook statistics on brands from Social Bakers you'll see how difficult it is to get that kind of engagement rate.

Here is a list of the Top 25 brands on Facebook..you do the maths..not one gets anywhere near 47%

Top Brands on Facebook and their PTA - People Talking About
Source Social Bakers July 1st 2012

 Now you could argue that the scale of fans between these top brands and those on the Halfords Cycling Community page is a different league.

But that's the whole point isn't it. No one ever said that communities had to be big to be deemed a success. Story telling to the masses can be inherently bland and very Vanilla. But what Halfords are doing should be commended as they are allowing someone from the community to tell their story to people who would be genuinely interested.

Hence the impressive engagement rate.

So get on your bike and start telling stories where you, the brand, aren't the hero.

We're not interested.

GM Pulls Facebook Adverts

US car giant General Motors (GM) has said it will stop advertising on Facebook

Apparently GM don't believe that paid for advertising on Facebook doesn't influence consumers into buying a car.

Surprise surprise!

I've suggested that previously that ' interruption  marketing ' on social sites isn't a million miles away from old fashioned TV advertising and detracts from the real essence of being social. But there is no denying that ads either on Facebook or TV have some impact.

I think the Ford spokesman captured it perfectly..

 "You just can't buy your way into Facebook. You need to have a credible presence and be doing innovative things."

Of course, it could just be that the ads weren't much good. And of course an ad isn't the only influence on a purchase decision, but one of many.

Putting the Brand at the Heart of the Customer

I know, we all thought that the Customer was the focus. Indeed they are. But to mis-quote from John F Kennedy’s inauguration speech

 ‘And so, my fellow Marketers: ask not what your customer can do for you - ask what you can do for your customer.’

We know that traditionally the model has been for the Brand to have the upper hand in the relationship with it’s customer. But we believe that has changed. Don’t we ? Well yes and no.

Today’s customer no doubt does have more control.
The way they buy has changed
The way they research has changed
And they undoubtedly talk, comment, review our products in a completely different way to say even 5 years ago

Does this put the brand on the back foot? I suggest that actually it’s an opportunity for brands to become as important as ever in customers’ lives.

How? By listening to customers’ needs at every touch point in their journey to whatever they are trying to do. That might be the journey to purchase your product or it might be an opportunity for the brand to help customers in their everyday lives by just making things easier and better.
Yes of course we can sell more by understanding how customers buy, but we can actually sell more just by sometimes being there when customers need help or have a problem.

In reality what does that mean? Here are a few examples that I've liked recently





As we continue to tighten our belts we still need to eat
– even when we are on the motorway where food is notoriously expensive.
So the Moto app provides us with a Deal of the Day to make prices more palatable.











When tyring to sell a car, webuyanycar.com very kindly
sent me an email confirming my appointment, but also gave me the option to change the appointment time with a link in the email.
In the end I didn't sell my car to them but the service was amazing






I sometimes treat myself to a lovely sandwich from my local deli Mairs. And I can tell you they are amazing!

But on one Saturday lunchtime...

And what did I get back?

So of course I go back!


At the checkout in Sainsbury's,

they automatically compare your baskets branded goods with their main competitors and are honest enough to tell you if your shop would have been cheaper elsewhere.
( Brand Match)


And as a result offer to give you money off on your next visit.







In one way or another, these are examples of great use of different touch-points to enhance the customer experience. Making life easier.

Great examples of eCRM

Great examples of everywhere CRM

It's Official - I Love Space NK apothecary

I didn't dislike Space NK to start with, but over the last 48 hours they have gone above and beyond my expectations after my gripe on Tuesday.

After that post was spotted by their CRM team I received an email apologising for me not getting my Birthday Gift as part of the their N.dulge Rewards Scheme. They then rang me to check my contact details and to explain what had possibly gone wrong and promised that my gift would be with me today, Thursday.

At that point I was happy. Not only was the issue going to be rectified, but someone had read my blog!

So imagine how much more happier I was when this morning rather than a Gift Voucher arriving for me to redeem in store, the ensemble pictured below arrived Special Delivery.

You sent it Special Delivery..Nice..The Handwritten Note...Great... The Goodies.. Fantastic!

Thank you Space NK

The result? A very happy customer, who

- has already been back to the site to look at some treats for the family birthdays coming up
- will show off to his wife about how her favourite store in Harrogate is looking after me
- is blogging about it
- has followed them on both Twitter  ( @iamgfc) and Facebook

The original post talked about how 40% of consumers give their loyalty because their issue is resolved in a way that exceeds expectations.

Count me in that segment ( as well as the segment that smells nice today)

eCRM Muppets

Assuming that the target market was milk purchasers with children in the family that love the Muppets then the latest packaging promotion / eCRM program by Arla for Cravendale milk certainly hit the mark with us.

The promotion that ties in with the recent Disney release of the Muppets Movie, encourages you to collect 20 unique codes and get an 'awesome' ( a little too American?) Kermit backpack as well as enjoying Muppet games and content at Cravendale's milkmatters website .

Of course the website they direct you to via the packaging is milkmatters.co.uk/muppets. But as the promotion has ended as I write this, there is a holding page with some contact details.

 One negative comment to make is that when I actually entered all my codes in ..yes 20..and we now have 12 litres of milk in the fridge!..the copy suggested that I could still collect and claim as long as I saw the special labels in store. Well this morning they were still visible in my local supermarket but the holding page suggests the promotion is over.

But I digress.

I am actually writing in praise of this program despite a few niggles ( although so far as I am yet to receive any follow up communications or indeed my Kermit backpack - do I really need to wait up to 28 days??) .

To start its a a simple mechanic, and I'll assume that the number of codes I need to collect is not just a random number but some how ties in with the business/marketing objectives for the programme - is Cravendale trying  to increase usage?..gain new customers?..increase web traffic?..boost Facebook likes?..

Even if you don't go straight to the muppets page, milkmatters.co.uk offers an option as to whether you want to go to the main website or the promotion ( compare with comparethemarket vs comparethemeerkat) .











Voucher entry is relatively simple ( as long as you can read the code printed on the inside of the label)and in fact you are given a bonus code if you share the promotion on your Facebook page..nice little exchange going on there

As your code is validated,  a new character enters the gallery and after every 5 codes, you unlock a surprise and delight element to keep you excited about the next 5

This is shown both on screen 

and via an email, ensuring I get the reminder next time I go to my inbox






Once I've created my Gonzo toy out of the pdf and a bottle, I'll be sure to share with you.

One more niggle. There is a help section ( great!), but when I emailed saying that 2 of my codes were un readable and hence could not be entered, I didn't get a reply. I know it was Friday afternoon and the promotion ended the next day..but if you're going to offer to help then do!

I was congratulated on collecting my 20 codes




..and the data collections wasn't too much, just enough to get me my backpack and an opportunity to receive Disney emails..not Arla which was surprising. Makes you wonder who had the real clout in pulling together the promotion?

And of course this was confirmed via email.

So I guess I can now sit back and wait for my Disney emails and my lovely Kermit backpack.

Of course while enjoying the odd game at milkmatters, and enjoying the Muppet Movie.

ps..x3

1. why are emails not optimised for image blocking?
2. the confirmation email actually has no links what so ever to get me back to your website? Do you not want me back now that I've bought all that milk?
3. why no Twitter ?. 

....someone else has even hijacked the promo to sell voucher codes using Twitter and eBay!

Where Do I Sign Up? 2

Last year I penned a piece on some ideas for a brand's email sign up page Where Do I Sign Up?.

Essentially it boiled down to

1. Make It Easy to find and do – ideally above the fold Top Right, but it’s worth testing this.
2. Provide only one newsletter subscription page that includes information about all available email newsletters
3. Clearly state when users have navigated to the newsletter sign-up process
4. Don’t pre-select any newsletters for users unless they have clicked on a link that named a specific newsletter
5. In multi-step processes, let users know how many steps remain
6. Explain the ‘value proposition’ – what’s in it for me?
7. Manage expectations – what will I get when and how often?
8. Have a clear Privacy Policy and if you use incentives - be transparent
9. Send a confirmation email, or maybe even the last newsletter – but tell the subscriber to look out for it
10. On the confirmation page / email get subscribers to add you to the contacts list!

But of course the brand website is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to where you can begin that email relationship. The opportunities are endless...well, almost....so here are a few suggestions

Point of Sale - A quick request of email address and name with POS integration to your email platform can result in a welcome email literally as the customer walks out of the door

QR Codes - These can just about be added to anything and everything with a link to the registration page. Imagine next time you're in the queue at the cinema..and next to you is poster with a QR code promoting the venue's newsletter?

Facebook - No need to direct fans away from Facebook either. Just register them for the email where they are. But maybe make it look a little more appealing than this Reiss attempt

Twitter - Perhaps promoting the email program with any welcome Tweet to new followers

SMS - Great if perhaps promote using outdoor media at large events such as football games. It's been a very successful tactic at Wembley I know.

Foursquare - Great opportunity to capture email addresses during check-in registrations for promotions and as part of any location based loyalty programme

Apps - An article in the Observer this weekend reminded me about the power of apps ( especially the momentum of Android). It's a real opportunity to grab an email address, especially when you consider that a large number of downloaded apps remain that...downloaded and unused!

Product Registration - We recently purchased a new washing machine and was amazed that at the point of registering my machine for it's guarantee, not no real argument was made for me to give an email address - at the very least offer to send me the Guarantee via email?

In-store - In a previous post I've mentioned this great piece of work by Best Buy and how they used interactive screens in store to capture email addresses from customers who were just about to walk out...and maybe buy elsewehere.

Search for Gianfranco Cuzziol

Book Review : Online Marketing: A User’s Manual by Murray Newlands.

The use of the words ‘user’s manual’ would seem to set the tone for this book, positioning it as some kind of reference piece for those of us involved with the practicalities of online marketing. Indeed, the quote from Chris Brogan on the front cover, “This book is actionable. It’s useful…Murray’s given you all you need to get started”, would back this up.


The book tackles what in the author’s opinion are the basics of online marketing: social media, digital branding, company websites, blogging, online PR and blogger outreach, email marketing, video marketing, affiliate marketing, SEO, digital advertising, with each chapter aiming to cover these various elements. It was inspired by the experience of the author being asked to go away and write the digital strategy for the organisation.

Murray and indeed Chris Brogan both suggest that the book can be read in one or used as a reference book. I decided to use the latter approach to start and dipped into two areas – one where I like to think I know a fair amount, email marketing, and the other where my knowledge is a little more sketchy, video marketing.

The chapter on email left me not really understanding if the book was meant to be a practical guide or a planning guide. There were good ideas on how to use email but they actually didn’t leave me feeling confident that I could give this to someone new to email and let them get on with it. Some of the real basics are missing, which reduced my confidence in the rest of the content.

The idea of having a ‘Tools and Resources’ section at the end of each chapter is great. But that then leads me onto another couple of issues. This book is obviously aimed at the US market so the reference points are American and actually limited in number. There are more useful reference points but they are kept within the main body of each chapter.

So, to video marketing. Again the chapter swung from needing a strategy for your video marketing to making sure your smartphone is charged ready for use to make a video. Reading this piece confirmed another view I had from the chapter about email – that the book lacked consistency in what it was trying to do. Even the flow of the basics seemed a little off, with Strategy third in a list of three after Video Hardware and Software.

Following on with a more traditional reading of the book from cover to cover, it is an easy read and does give a good introduction to all the areas of online marketing. I’m sure the reader would be more confident to approach each subject in more depth after taking in the whole. That is particularly true if you are a complete novice to the areas of online marketing. So its audience is probably restricted to individuals in very small organisations who are just venturing into the world of online. I would say that in larger organisations the level of knowledge already held in the marketing, PR and IT departments already surpasses what is in this book. The real trick missed here is how you actually pull all these online strands together to create a single online marketing strategy for your organisation.

Of course, the other issue with any book that covers the digital space is that it will be pretty much out of date as soon as it hits Amazon. A way to overcome this would have been to create an online version of the book that could be regularly updated as the world moves on.

This is a good start but probably not as useful as reading up on the topics online or investing in books dedicated to each section. There are good examples in some chapters but these are lacking in others. For me the topics are covered in too little detail and not in a consistent manner. It would seem to be Murray Newland’s blog set down on paper.

This review first appeared on the Marketing Society Blog

From Crowd Sourcing to Crowd Tapping

A new way for Brands to connect with and reward consumers
Essentially it allows rewarding of actions like completing surveys, voting polls, participating in a live-online discussions or sharing brand-related content with a few friends via social media and the Crowdtap platform. The reward points  can be redeemed for things like  Amazon gift cards, or  donations to a charity. 


 


www.crowdtap.it

Love Me or Like Me...Just Follow Me

In a previous post I talked about best practice in terms of un-subscription pages. One of the suggestions was to give subscribers the opportunity to follow your brand via another channel such as Facebook or Twitter.


Of course ideally you don't want subscribers to un-subscribe, but what if you notice that they are not engaging with your emails? Should you try and head off the un-subscribe at the pass?


Recently I've not been opening my Habitat emails - not because I've fallen out of love with them, but just because I'm not buying for the house. They have spotted the lack of engagement and I received a very interesting email from them this morning. The subject line was 'Love Habitat? Like us on Facebook!' and the main image and copy looked like this

'We noticed you're not loving our emails, so why not like us on Facebook instead?'


I think this is a great example of using email engagement data to keep subscribers engaged with the brand..one way or another

IKEA 365 Campaign -

It seems that IKEA are running a 365 day long campaign - thats longer than the shelving they sell, when I get my hands on them!!

Not seen it how they have tied it in with Social, Mobile and bringing the global local, but a great opportunity missed if they don't integrate with other channels

An A to Z of eCRM - S

S is for Social

Social is everywhere but it is not the same thing to everyone.

Social has become big at double speed because it gives people a way of doing what comes naturally to them, expressing themselves, whether that be the sharing of stories, complaining, giving advice or just generally hanging out for no real reason.

But you can’t crowbar Social into your Marketing Programmes. It’s either a natural fit or it isn’t.

It doesn’t have to involve a ‘conversation’ between you and the consumer, but it could be a way of you giving the consumers an opportunity to talk with each other, or just allow people to win stuff!!

So for Social don’t just see Facebook and Twitter. Also see blogs, communities, forums, ratings and reviews and so on.

An A to Z of eCRM - F

F is for Fan, Friend or Follower

We all love to have fans, friends and followers. But let’s not collect them for the sake of it. The question should never be at the outset, ‘How many Fans should I have?’

What do the three Fs give us?

Well, they attract others, like gravity; the bigger the mass the bigger the pull.

They exert influence, so we need to be able to help them exert the right influence.

They buy – well, hopefully they buy.

All of the above are forms of engagement, which ultimately is what we are aiming to achieve.

Followers = Vanity, Engagement = Beauty; but remember that Engagement is in the eye of the beholder.

What has my email marketing programme got to do with CRM and Customer Experience?

In the bad old days ( or good old days if your hat was thrown in the ring with TV and Print), brands spoke at customers, interrupting their daily lives in the hope that it would cause a reaction . That reaction being that they would purchase your product, based on how the message defined the brand.

You could also argue that email marketers followed a similar route. The substantially cheaper version of ‘’spray and pray’’ was adopted by many brands and indeed encouraged by email service providers who hid behind a very thin veil of targeting to justify a great deal of finger wagging at those unaccountable ATL marketers.

But obviously the world has changed .The ‘advertising' landscape has changed alongside. And it has changed from a communications perspective in a number of ways.

It Was All About The Conversation

Groundswell co-author Josh Bernoff displays a new Social Technographics ladder that adds another type of participant — the Conversationalist — or someone who updates their status updates and participates in quick conversations on Twitter and Facebook. I guess that makes iamgfc a Conversationalist too 

Thanks to Jason Falls for originally commenting on this

Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere ?

Had an interesting conversation the other day about Social Media and what conversations could be had in them. The Big 3, LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace were compared to Work, Home and the Pub! I thought a very simple and useful way of deciding where you should be having what conversation with your customers