As a brand marketing consultancy, people pay us to, “call their baby ugly” and discover profitable ways to make it more attractive. It’s not an easy thing to do, especially when the business owners or leaders you’re consulting with happen to be the ones who gave birth to the baby you’re critiquing.
A few months ago, I caught the news and television commercials about how Dominos Pizza executives blatantly called their baby – a pizza pie – ugly. They announced that they had listened to their customers (inside the company and outside the company) and had taken strong, bold steps to clean up their act and improve their product.
I applauded their authentic, open approach and knew if they were true to their words with actions and walked their talk, their honesty would be rewarded in spades.
Here are the steps Dominos took:
1. They first listened to their customers (internal and external) and agreed to take action because they believed what they were hearing – that is, their product was not good. They started to revamp their recipes more than 1.5 years ago following a ton of focus group and social media site criticism. Remember, the first step to transforming (see rehab) a brand or yourself is admitting you have a problem and need help.
2. They “started over” (total transformation) from scratch by revamping their pizza recipe (new sauce and cheese combination and herb-and garlic-flavored crust)
3. They launched an honest documentary style ad campaign (in short, “we’re sorry…we agree with you that our baby tastes like cardboard…we did something remarkable about it…we think you’ll love it…please try us again”)
So what are some of the steps you should take when your company or client is performing poorly and you recognize radical change is needed?
Here are 2 suggestions.
1. Be careful and smart with your language. You need to be careful to not to just slam the poor quality of your brand’s systems, products, people, processes etc., because the people you’re trying to influence may be defensive. Have concrete facts.
2. Concentrate all positive energies on transformational business building ideas. Focus on specific business building ideas to help them achieve their KPIs (key performance indicators).achieve their business objectives. Discuss how you’ve experienced similar challenges and relay to them potential outcomes and blue sky possibilities.
Be a marketing ambassador of hope and handle those ugly babies with kid glove because when you do, their brand parents will adopt your way of thinking!
File this Blog post in your, “What were they thinking” folder!
From very reliable and ticked off sources, I understand that Denny’s restaurants have been airing a disrespectful television commercial degrading the Irish by offering unlimited pancakes or fries in celebration of the ending of the Irish Famine.
Mama Mia!
If this is a joke, it’s not even close to being funny. The Irish Potato famine (An Gorta Mor) which caused the suffering and death of 1.5 million Irish due to forced starvation and related diseases is nothing to celebrate.
It’s a blatant insult to the Irish and they’re mobilizing.
For you Brands involved in Social Media Marketing watch how this unfolds.
I’m sure Denny’s will pull the Ad, and some talking head (whose head and whose mini-me heads should roll) will say, “I take full responsibility…yadda…yadda.”
But, is a simple apology enough? I don’t think so.
Watch the Irish mobilize and give Denny’s their own version of a Grand Slam – the marketing bozos at Denny’s deserve it!
First, they offend African Americans (who knows how many other people since) and are made to pay $54 million in Race Bias Suits, and now this asinine insulting ad?
As a marketer (and a restaurant and hospitaly marketer too), I’ve been amazed by the amount of positive coverage (Super Bowl Ad) in the mainstream marketing media about Denny’s Free One Day Breakfast campaigns.
Full disclosure – I’m 50% Irish and a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. And, I haven’t been a big fan of Denny’s since the African American incident. I go out of my way to get my eggs over medium at a local independent Mom and Pop joints and will continue to do so. I suggest you join me.
FYI – I called the following Denny’s Customer Service number (1.800.733.6697) to demand that they pull this ad off the air, and they said, “I apologize and we’re aware of people’s concerns and we’re working to pull the ad.”
Some answer.
Note: The old days of a customer telling 9-12 people of her negative experience is way over. With Social Media, it could be thousands. Brands need to raise their game, because if/when you pull a stupid act like Denny’s, you’re going to get blasted!
When I caught this headline, “Banned for Bad Tipping” on CNN.com today, I just had to check it out since we do so much work for restaurants and the hospitality industry.
View the story here:
I’m not sure who is right here, but my gut says the customer.
Even if the owner is correct when he says that his customer is not a good tipper, she still paid her bill for the basic food and service she received.
Now, I consider myself a pretty good tipper, but more and more I’ve been working to get back to tipping based on the quality of service I receive. There are far too many people and businesses in my life (and I’m sure yours too) where they feel entitled to a reward for doing basic or even sub par work.
It’s got to stop.
I’m not sure where or when this entitlement gig got started, but my guess is that it started sometime about 35 years ago in kids sports – especially baseball – where “Tee-ballers” started to hit baseballs off of tees (instead of having the ball pitched to them) and everyone started to get trophies regardless of where their team finished.
Oh yeah, I’m blaming it all on Tee-ball!
In the hospitality business, you’re supposed to be “hospitable” it’s the basic greens fee part of the gig. Tipping is supposed to be based on what someone does over and above the call of duty.
I mean my hot food should be hot and my cold food should be cold. Servers are supposed to deliver my food to me in a reasonable time with no foreign objects in, on or around it right? I’m supposed to tip you for that? C’mon people.
I checked out Magellan’s Worldwide Tipping Guide to see where we American’s rank and right there, I confirmed my suspicion that we American’s are one crazy bunch of people. We tip more than just about every country in the world, and I’ll bet you agree that for the most part your customer satisfaction level with the majority of business and people is average to below average!
The interesting thing about my argument is that the majority of customer satisfaction scores in industries have statistically improved (see American Customer Satisfaction Index here).
Yeah, but my gut and head says that what people say and what people actually do and feel aren’t always coordinated. I believe most people have internalized their customer satisfaction expectations (read – lowered their bar) because for the most part, they’ve been let down so many times that they simply learn to accept and deal with sub par performance.
Here are a few of “Marketing Tips” for you today to help your Brand excel.
Get away from assumptions and entitlements – cast them aside
List your Brand’s basic greens fees of performance
From that list, work up a few cool ideas to “surprise, delight and impress (read – WOW)” your customers> Make sure these ideas are ones that your core customer base considers valuable and are not offered by your competitors.
Implement these new cool ideas.
Now – watch your tip jar explode!
P.S.: Years ago in a performance review session, one of my team members thought she should get a bonus (read tip) because, “I always come to work on time.” She was wrong to assume, but I was more wrong because I wasn’t clear in my expectations of performance training. I never made that mistake again. Big lesson.
Twenty years or so ago, I had several conversations with marketing colleagues about how supermarket chains lacked creativity. The general experience was underwhelming and one that most people dreaded.
During those years, I would take Cadillac, Oldsmobile and McDonald’s clients into Wegman’s supermarkets throughout western, New York to show them how great they were and to learn merchandising, customer service and overall retailing lessons they could take back to their car dealerships and restaurants.
They were amazed that you entered the store through the produce department instead of the typical trip past the cash registers as was the general industry practice way back then. Their merchandising strategies had no peer.
Wegman’s then and now, is one of the most innovative and well-run supermarket chains in America. It’s no surprise to me that they’re ranked #3 on FORTUNE “100 Best Companies to Work For.” They are consistently ranked as one of the top supermarket chains in the country and have received a ton of well deserved awards.
Stew Leonard’s – the world’s largest dairy store – was a hot case study of discussion too.
And way back then, I could not understand why the innovation I saw across the country was not occurring in my own backyard.
About 10 years ago, I got some some luncheon meat from the deli at my hometown Giant Eagle supermarket and was ecstatic to receive it in a plastic bag instead of paper! I mentioned my discovery to a colleague of mine whose spouse worked for the company and told me that the store received the bags as part of some deal and they were simply testing to get some use out of them. Amazing – it was a huge boost to my satisfaction. This little simple new touch was so well received that it quickly spread throughout their stores and became a permanent part of their system.
Well, something must be a bit different in the water these days in Pittsburgh’s three rivers (especially the Allegheny River) because Giant Eagle has been on a tear of remarkably innovative new product launches such as its:
And now, Giant Eagle is testing in four concept stores it’s latest innovation for HBW (health/beauty/wellness) which could become a huge profit center by linking its supermarket pharmacies with its HBW departments. What a stroke of innovative genius.
I’m happy the new Giant Eagle has finally landed in “innovation land.” Their story should demonstrate to older established brands that it’s never too late to innovate.
To profitably increase your market share you need to establish an innovation plan and follow it. Don’t wait for competitors to come into your neighborhood to force you to do it. Self inflicted innovation is the preferred route to take.
P.S.: Not all innovations have to be big and expensive – think deli meat plastic bags.
Typically, in times of crisis, most brands fail in their communications before the crisis explodes not during or after it happens. Then, long after the explosive facts are out, whatever a brand does to quell the unfortunate act never seems to be quite enough.
And today, in this ever changing and rapidly growing Social Media Marketing environment we all live in you can get yourself into a whole bunch of trouble.
You can read all about Brand Tiger’s accomplishments and of course buy a ton of stuff. On Facebook, you can also buy Tiger’s Stuff, but 1.3 million fans can’t communicate via Facebook anymore. Well they can (sort of) to posts back in November, but Tiger has not responded. Plus all I can see are positive notes of support. Is Brand Tiger jsut keeping the good and editing out the bad?
Tiger’s been “off the Facebook air” since November 6, 2009. In fact, when you click through to Facebook at times there are no comments since. Tiger is supposedly hiding out in a sex rehab bunker..I mean clinic…so why no more news? An apology? A simple update?
Now Toyota is underway with its largest recall ever and has looked foolish and disorganized in its scrambled up mess of communications. Sure they’ve been “backpeddling” (no pun inteneded) off and online and its certainly not easy while battling legal, economic and staff issues, but tough, they’re a big boy company.
But, you’d think Toyota like Tiger would know better.
Toyota only has about 77,000 Facebook fans and you’d think they’d have a ton more than Ford (79,000), Chevrolet (65,000) and Subaru (31,000 – would have thought they’d have a lot more) and other but they don’t. Heck, Harley-Davidson Motor Company has an amazing 467,000 Facebook fans.
Both Brand Tiger and Brand Toyota Web sites all talk about how great their brands are with no or little regard to their misgivings and what they’re doing to fix things.
Why was it so hard for both brands to fess up early and often – not to mention…don’t do bad things in the first place!
So much about crisis management is learned by all of us at a young age – well, hopefully its taught to us by good, caring parents – such as:
Be good
Don’t lie
If you do something bad (we all do), own up to it immediately in person, apologize and say you’re sorry and promise to make things (and do them) better and promise to not repeat your behavior
When you were a kid, wasn’t your punishment greater and more harsh when you put off owing up to it?
In these ever changing times of social media marketing, it’s more important than ever to have a crisis management plan, because something bad will happen to your Brand – it’s not a matter of if, it’s when.
Here are a few crisis management rules to follow:
You never make friends in crisis, so build your friendship databases and trust bank deposits NOW
Create and continue to work on extensive, ongoing social media outreach efforts
If/when something happens bad to Brand You (Company), come clean, be visible and approachable and meet things head-on.
Tough times never last, but tough people do. To that point, when times get tough you need to reach out to you loyal fans, customers, employees, vendors etc., but you need to create that fan base and it doesn’t happen overnight
The best PR campaign and highest paid strategists can’t prevent all of the mudslinging and brand damage – preventive maintenance is key
What a simple brand promise – so easy and clear to understand.
Think Reddi-Whip aerosol can, but think Pancakes – maybe think both at the same time (hint – writing this during dinnertime – and, I’m a little hungry)!
Anyway, I plan to try NEW Batter Blaster this weekend, after eating up it’s marvelous marketing and unique story for some time now. You can learn a ton about how to effectively create and launch a new product by studying the good folks at Batter Blaster. For example, here are just a few reasons why they’re achieving amazing success:
They created a truly new product that solves a need. Make pancakes easy and quick to make with little waste and mess. Everyone knows that it’s a pain to make pancakes for one or two people – especially in the morning if you work. Most people blow off breakfast – the most important meal of the day – because of a lack of time – so, Batter Blaster to the rescue! Plus, BB cakes must taste pretty good to be able to quickly earn nearly $20 million in 2009 sales when it just got up and running in 2005. Certainly it might not be the best tasting pancake you ever had – taste is a subjective attribute – but balanced on the whole against speed and convenience, it must taste OK and certainly worth a try.
Clear Positioning – Easy, Quick, Better…Fun. Shake, point and shoot! It’s so easy to talk about it – so easy to explain. People get the core value proposition spot on and it’s easy to spread the buzz. Everything about Batter Blaster is easy – their web site, lists recipes, places to find product, product information and it’s a cinch to find contact information too. And, it’s fun – love the 50’s-style jingle when you hit the home page – “Make a better breakfast faster, Batter Blaster! It’s a spot on benefit rich positioning statement that’s easy to remember.
Great use of Public Relations and Social Media – How about 9,000 Facebook fans of Pancakes-in-a-Can! Let’s face it though – it’s a much easier to get coverage and viral buzz when you deliver on your promise!
In this age of iPod, iPhone and now iPad…iWant, INeed, iGotta have me some iPancakes from Batter Blaster because I’m thinking I’m going to love them! At least one time!
I just love this lawsuit kicked off by The North Face – an premium preppy outdoor apparel and gear company – vs. The South Butt – a skunk works operation run by a college kid.
The North Face giant is suing the kid – Jimmy Winkelmann, a University of Missouri college student for trademark infringement, dilution and unfair competition.
The logos and clothing are a bit similar. And, The North Face’s lofty slogan, “Never Stop Exploring” is positioned against the far less lofty and comfortable mission of The South Butt’s which is, “Never Stop Relaxing.”
For The North Face to win, they have to prove that the two brands are confusingly similar. They’ll lose…I’d bet on it. There’s no doubt that the two companies are different. I think the average person knows the difference between a face and a butt. Don’t you?
In the meantime, The South Butt is smoking hot and taking advantage of being bullied – their Web site has earned nearly 20 million Google hits. The South Butt smartly recognized that everyone loves the underdog so they’re making the case well known. And they’ve launched a cool The South Butt Challenge Facebook App to boot!
Jimmy’s going to ride this all the way to the bank and I’ll also bet that he graduates from Mizzou with no school loans!
What’s the marketing lesson? Well, it’s an old and simple one.
The North Face should have left sleeping dogs lie and left Jimmy alone. They’re flaming his fire and contributing to his success by airing their grievance.
This is a classic case of market share leaders making the stupid mistake of identifying and attacking competitors no matter how big or small. They have nothing to gain and more to lose.
In an earlier post, I reported that it was great to see the Gen Y kids driving the tremendous outpouring of financial support for Haiti relief via texting.
Think about this campaign for a moment. It has achieved some amazing accomplishments – in a short period of time – since this devastating earthquake hit Haiti just last week on January 12th:
$24 million has been raised via $10 individual donations to help the Haitian people – 1/5th of the amount the American Red Cross has raised to date – breaking all records by a huge margin. Reference note: After Hurricane Katrina – a mere 4.5 years ago – the ARC only received $120,000 via texting – and Katrina occurred on American soil!
The ARC has built a valuable mobile text database for future marketing communications and financial appeal efforts
The ARC’s core donor base skews older and texting gave the Gen Y folks an easy, quick and convenient channel to offer their support (marketing lesson – treat different people differently)
The campaign execution of the ARC and its mobile firm partner mGive was flawless – amazing too – considering the fact that they started to work on the texting campaign the evening of the earthquake
The viral goodwill spread of the “Text ‘HAITI’ to 90999″ campaign in Social Media channels such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter (100K tweets/retweets)
I’m far from being in the Gen Y segment, but I did text a donation to the ARC and will tell you that it was easy for me to participate. As important, I felt comfortable donating because of the supportive and reinforcing messages I saw on TV news and various high profile broadcasts such as the NFL playoffs and the Golden Globes.
Also, after texting the shortcode “HAITI” to 90999, I was asked me to respond “yes” to confirm my donation and then I received a nice comforting thank you too – nice touch.
This overwhelmingly positive experience led me to spread the ARC’s good word and to feel more comfortable using this channel in the future.
Strong brand promise, ease, convenience, simple message and trust are the hallmarks of success for the ARC’s texting campaign and they could be put to good use for your brand’s future success too.
About 10 years ago, I made a huge change in a long time relationship. After about a 15 year relationship, I divorced my dry cleaner because they wouldn’t stop busting my buttons!
Time and time again, when I’d button my shirt, the buttons – especially on the collar and sleeves – would crumble in my hands and seemingly disappear into thin air.
Now, to be fair, my old dry cleaner (and a few others I tried) would replace my buttons free of charge, but how does that help when you’re on the road or running late for a meeting? More often than not when traveling, I wouldn’t even have buttons on my sleeves or collar!
Stupid me. I put up with poor service because of habit. I, like so many of you simply avoided change.
Well, I’ve been married to Sam’s Cleaners & Tailoring (412.343-4933 – 1604 Cochran Road, Pittsburgh) – yes married…I’m that loyal - for about 10 years! I’d bet that Sam busts people’s buttons too, but you’d never know it. They carefully inspect their work before returning their customer’s clothes.
Plus, they’re nicer and they even know my name!
I spent thousands of dollars over the years with my old dry cleaner and the interesting thing is that they never contacted my once to find out why I stopped going to them. They never contacted me despite the amount of my business and despite the fact that they have all of my contact information! Amazing!
The other amazing thing is that I’ve never received a discount at Sam’s and I’ve told at least 50 people how great they are and never received a commission. And, I’ll continue to spread positive word of mouth without expecting anything back from Sam’s. No bother.
A couple questions.
How many brands do you spread positive WOM for that are like Sam’s?
How many of you are busting your customer’s buttons and know it or don’t know it?
For those of you who have a marketing plan that you follow, do you have a retention and win-back plan?
Now can Sam do a better job marketing? Sure, we call can. But, when you deliver flawlessly on the core basic brand promise of your business in a nice and friendly fashion, in the majority of businesses you’re already far ahead of the game.
Take Sam’s lesson to heart and stop busting your customer’s buttons.
P.S.: Always remember if you want people to buzz about you, do something buzzworthy!
If you think young people these days are inconsiderate, selfish, concerned with only themselves and wear their “pants on the ground“…think again.
Soon after the devastating Haiti earthquake hit, @RedCross tweeted: “You can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts in #haiti.”
Kudos to the Red Cross marketing folks for being prepared (excellent online disaster newsroom) and recognizing the fundraising opportunity available to them in this terrible time of crisis.
And, much more kudos to the kids that drove this “texting bus” because they’re the ones credited with leading this Red Cross effort which has raised over $10 million for the cause since this record breaking mobile fundraiser was launched last Tuesday.
This is a great example of using technology to build rather than destroy.
Watch text marketing grow from this effort and put in on your list of things to test for your business too!
P.S.: Here is a list of 8 ways you can help Haiti by texting:
Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross
Text HAITI to 25383 to donate $5 to International Rescue Committee
Text HAITI to 45678 to donate $5 to the Salvation Army in Canada
Text HAITI to 20222 to donate $10 through the Clinton Foundation
Text HAITI to 864833 to donate $5 to The United Way
Text CERF to 90999 to donate $5 to The United Nations Foundation
Text DISASTER to 90999 to donate $10 to Compassion International
Text RELIEF to 30644 (to connect with Catholic Relief Services who will instruct you how to donate money with your credit card)
BrandMill is a marketing consulting and coaching firm that builds strong brands because we're Pittsburgh strong. Like our hometown, the word that defines us is strength. We've excelled for 25+ years despite radical changes in the marketing industry, economy, communications and technologies. Our people are made from tough stuff. We don't cut corners and we don't take shortcuts. We work smart, hard and fast to help brands build, retain and win-back business. Our principled core values are honesty, integrity, decency, loyalty, dedication, servant leadership and keeping our promises. If business as usual is not building your business, let us share our strength and build your brand. We promise to give you our all.
