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For example, not long ago, I had experienced an issue with Yahoo Mail where a feature I used frequently (i.e. the tab feature that allows you to open multiple e-mails at once) was eliminated.(Granted, I did overuse that feature.)  It’s as if an upgrade to Yahoo meant erasing features.  In addition to being annoyed and realizing a decline in productivity since I had to develop “work-arounds”, I couldn’t understand why Yahoo would actually try to pass off the elimination of features as an upgrade.  I know how much large companies research big product changes. (Or is that now old style marketing?)

In all fairness, Yahoo did offer an option that returned tab functionality, but it was at the expense of other features that I used also. I was being forced to trade off between features that had previously come in one “package”.

Then, I came across this thread.   Suddenly it all began to make sense.  Was I experiencing the dumbing down of technology to meet the needs of the masses – what one commenter dubbed the “Idiot Elite” (which I in fact could be part of given my difficulty in navigating the new changes).  Others argued that in fact, ignoring users is the new mantra, but I had a hard time buying into that.  I kept thinking about Netflix’s faux pas.  (But they survived that didn’t they?)

Yes, I realize that change isn’t easy, but in the past when most products and services changed, I may have had difficulty getting accustomed to the new features, but I rarely sensed an actual downgrade in functionality.  No more.  We have entered a new technological age where dumbing down takes precedence.

From a marketing perspective,  it can make sense if most of your users don’t appreciate or utilize many of the features.  But what if the power users are really the thought leaders?  What if taking away some of their capabilities leads to such a backlash that it impacts the masses?  I guess that’s where companies walk a fine line.  You really need to know your customer base.  That’s where good market research comes in.  After all, I’ve read numerous articles that downplay offering customers too many options.

What do you think?  Do you think features of many technology products or online services and websites are being taken away in favor of simplicity?  Or, in fact, do you believe that ignoring users is the new mantra?

I guess I had an easier time when brown was the new black, and no, I haven’t mistaken brown for orange.

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Here are four quick lessons learned that the Bloomberg article summarized from the Obama campaign and some commentary on each of them.

1. Winning headlines aren’t obvious.  So many of us believe that we can predict winners.  We do it all the time in sports, and we think as marketers and business people, based on experience, we can extrapolate or use history to get to the right answer.  The bottom line is that nothing works better than testing.  And, just because something worked the last time, doesn’t necessarily mean a variation on the same theme will work again, particularly if you’re e-mailing to the same audience.
2. More e-mails don’t necessarily equal more unsubscribes.  Now I know I’ve unsubscribed from many newsletters when my inbox started overflowing.  But you know what, I didn’t unsubscribe from the ones that really matter – only the marginal ones that I didn’t really need or had just subscribed to as an fyi.  Even though I liked the content — I didn’t have time to read it. The lesson learned here is that if your potential clients or customers value the information they are receiving, they won’t unsubscribe — even if you are sending out a lot of e-mails.  People don’t want to unsubscribe from information that’s important to them.  Make sure you are delivering something of value to your customers.  It doesn’t mean that every e-mail will appeal to every person, but they need to believe at least one e-mail that’s coming in the future is going to contain some information that’s relevant to them.
3. Casual headlines work better than formal ones – Now this is an interesting one because I wonder if it translates to other businesses.  It’s certainly a testable proposition.  How casual can you get?  The Obama campaign used something as simple as “Hey”.  I am still amazed that “hey” performed well.
4. Profanity in the headline can increase click-throughs – Again, I’m not sure that this is a good tactic for every business, but I bet it will work for some.  If you have the guts, you might want to try it.

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In this instance, President Barack Obama’s facial expression matched Michelle’s.  Fantastic right, but what if the emotions were opposites?   What if something that really made sense for you from a business perspective was exactly the wrong thing for your customers?  How many times does this happen?   It probably happens more than you think.

The first thing that comes to my mind is the Netflix disaster that happened about a year ago.  Netflix thought that because they dominated the market, they could impose a rate increase that they knew their customers wouldn’t like.  In that instance, what started out as a smile on one side and a frown on the other became two frowns!  Or how about the Applebee’s announcement about the hiring freeze due to Obamacare — wonder how that will turn out???

That’s because win-lose often ultimately results in lose-lose.  And with digital media being what it is, lose-lose is more like LOSE-LOSE! Clearly win-win is the best scenario. Be sure that when you implement a new initiative you end up with a smile on both sides of the table.  How do you accomplish that?  Well here are a few things you could do to dip you toe in the water before jumping in.

• Market Research – One of the best ways to find out if your customer base will be receptive to a proposed change is to do some market research.  If your budget doesn’t allow for a formal quantitative study, qualitative work may provide an option.  At a minimum, conducting a few customer interviews yourself could point out some things you may have missed.
• Scenario Planning – Some internal brainstorming around possible resulting scenarios could shed more light on the situation.  It could be that the chances of an adverse outcome could be fairly high, and in that case, you’ll want to know the financial impact on your business.
• Test Markets or Phased Roll-outs – If the situation allows, you may want to roll-out a new initiative in phases.  This will allow you to get a sense of how your customer base responds to a given initiative without a full blown launch.

So…..keep this picture in mind next time you get ready to jump into a new initiative.  Make sure everybody’s happy, or at least make sure you’re informed about who won’t be smiling.

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It seems that Jay Leno from the Tonight Show, does extremely well with middle America, crucial for the Ohio vote, while The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has the best ratings in late night among 18 to 49 year-olds.

By taking advantage of these venues, it becomes clear that these segments are important to the Obama camp and that they are taking action to reach them. It also becomes clear that either the segment isn’t critical to Romney or that his camp has chosen not to seek them out in their preferred venue.

When it comes to marketing, it’s all about knowing where your target audience is, what their preferred venue is, and being there to deliver the message.  How many companies are devoting resources to Facebook when they really should be focusing more on LinkedIn because that’s where their audience is most likely to seek out information?

A really interesting example came up with one of my clients in the craft industry.  She explained to me the importance of Ravelry, a social network for people interested in fiber arts.  This incredibly tight-knit community (no pun intended), played a phenomenal role in the launch of her knitting shop and has become their number one referrer.

Another example is Mountain Dew’s sponsorship of action sports with their Dew Tour.  They opted for free admission in order to expand the event audience and provided a venue for direct exposure between action sports sponsors and their fans with stellar results.

The examples above really underscore the importance of knowing where your customers seek out information no matter what size business you run. It may not be all that obvious, but if you aren’t where your customers or prospects seek out information – it’s going to be difficult to reach them.  You have to play in their sandbox.  After all, inbound marketing is all about being found, and it’s a lot easier to get found when you’re operating in the same arena.

The best way to find out where your customers and potential customers look for information is to ask them.  If you have a media or advertising agency, of course they can help you with this task, but if you’re a smaller player, survey your customers.  If you have a sales force, make sure this is one of the items on their list of questions to ask.  If you have employees that come into direct contact with customers, be sure that they are asking how that customer found you and what websites, magazines, or other resources they use to seek out information.  Also, find out where they seek out entertainment, radio stations they listen to, television shows they watch, places they frequent, and events they attend.    Then take the next step to ensure that you are in the places that  matter.

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Hurricane Sandy has been slow moving, and the states in the path of the storm have had several days to prepare.  The utility companies have brought in back-up support.  The state and local leadership teams have established in-depth, informative websites with links to key information.  Residents in the affected areas have rushed to the stores to stock up on flashlights and water.  But how many times will we have this much “advance notification” of a pending disaster?

Branding disasters can take many shapes and forms ranging from simple customer service disasters or  self-imposed marketing faux pas to incidents that impact the lives of your customers and/or employees.  Now that we’re in the internet age, disasters can strike when we least expect them and they can happen fast!  That’s why it’s essential that you have a disaster preparedness plan in place to ensure that everyone’s on the same page and you’re prepared with the appropriate response.

Step 1 – Implement Best Practices to “Weather the Storm”

This one is basic.  Don’t build a straw house in a brick house zone.  In other words, ensure that you are following established best practices in providing your service or constructing your product.  This will take you a long way in weathering a storm.  Whether you are manufacturing a product or providing a service, make sure that you have adequate quality control systems in place, and make sure that you stay abreast of the latest technology. Just think of all the buildings that have survived earthquakes because of the building and construction standards in place.  Though it happened many years ago, I am reminded of Union Carbide’s Bhopal disaster, one of the largest industrial accidents in history, where half a million people were exposed to a deadly gas and thousands of lives were lost.  Not only did they handle the PR following the disaster poorly, but in fact, the disaster occurred because of a horrendous disregard for safety and maintenance.  Another rather basic example is the Titanic….imagine if they had equipped the ship with the proper number of life boats.

So…dot your i’s and cross your t’s when it comes to implementing best practices for your industry.

Step 2 – Monitor, Monitor, Monitor

Imagine what would happen if we didn’t have technology in place to know when a storm was coming.  With the internet, we can implement monitoring systems so that we will be among the first to know if there is a problem with our brand.  Put Google alerts in place to track your brand.  Check out the Twittersphere and monitor your brand mentions.  Additionally, there is software in place that you can use to monitor your Brand’s status.  Dreamgrow lists 54 tools you can use to monitor your brand image online.  That way, when a problem crops up, you’ll be among the first to know.

Step 3 – Develop an Action Plan

And lastly, you need to have a plan in place for how you will handle a disaster.  Begin by identifying potential disasters that could occur and develop a plan for dealing with each of them.  Cover all your bases from an IT disaster to a customer service disaster to a office incident to a product mishap.  Leave no stone unturned.

Undoubtedly, going through this process will have an added benefit of helping you to identify some opportunities to improve several facets of your operation.

Of course we all hope a brand HURRICANE will never strike, but being prepared for one is the best defense.

image courtesy of Special K Files

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1. Desired Outcome:  A redesigned package that more clearly communicates aspects A & C of our brand positioning.
2. How/where we will use it:?   Replace current packaging.

But sometimes, it’s not so clear.  Let’s say for example you are implementing a customer satisfaction survey.  Perhaps you have decided you want to use it to enhance your employees performance, but what about using it as a source for customer testimonials.  If you don’t think about all the ways you want to use the data upfront, you might not collect it in the right way.

It’s in your best interest to spend some time thinking about not only the what, but also the how. That way, you’re more likely to design your project correctly, set the proper objectives and get information that you can actually put to use!

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There were a few truisms that stood out:

1. The best companies, in other words the ones that are winning and holding onto their turf don’t  slash their marketing budgets when the going got tough.  There may be some cuts, but no slashing.  Once you determine what’s needed to support your business – do a thorough assessment before you slash, otherwise you may be cutting sales!
2. The best companies know when to “throw in the towel” and don’t bother throwing good money after bad.  Sometimes, even “pet” projects need to be cut.  The key to knowing what to cut is having specific goals, and measuring versus achievement of those goals.  Find out which programs aren’t working hard enough.  Do an ROI analysis.  If you can’t do a precise ROI, try your best to determine how customers are finding their way to your business.  Market Research is a great tool for this.  And when you’re done with this analysis, take the next step.  Fund what works; trim what doesn’t.  It sounds simple, but it’s really not the way things get done in many places.  What about your place of business?
3. Short term thinking equals short term results.  I think about the whole issue of education, and how far behind the U.S. is falling, yet, state after state is making drastic cuts in education.  This is clearly short term thinking.  When you are in a period of rapid change.  You can’t neglect knowledge management.  Well, actually you can, but the results will speak for themselves.
4. The winners take care of and leverage their assets.  Whether it’s human assets, brand assets, equipment assets.  When you neglect something it reflects the neglect.  When you don’t leverage an asset, you waste it.  Is there a person on your staff who has skills you aren’t taking advantage of?  Is there a brand that can be leveraged across multiple platforms?  Be sure you are asking these questions when you are trying to stretch the budget.
5. Look at the area where you are spending the biggest portion of your dollars first.  Cuts there will be smaller on a percentage basis and you may be able to better tolerate them.  With the U.S., it’s our defense budget.  But often, the entire defense budget is off-limits – Congress won’t even look at it.  Don’t let anything be off limits.  Look at the total picture when it comes to determining where to cut.
6. And lastly, the poorest performers, well they did the opposite of the five points listed above.

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Rewind — high school. How often did you try this line on your parents? “But all my friends can do it!” “The whole class is going!” Chances are your parents didn’t buy it, and neither should you. The bottom line is, you can follow a crowd right into a disastrous situation.

Fast forward to now — whenever I hear someone say “everybody’s doing it” I notice that it’s usually just another way of saying “I’m doing something I’m not completely comfortable with ethically”. It’s simply a justification for questionable behavior. Our position here at Asage Marketing is to embrace transparency, and avoid the situation of having to lie to your customers by investing in brand integrity.

What does it mean to invest in brand integrity?

Own up to it when you make a mistake, and more importantly make amends! Make the customer want to come back even thought there may have been a problem.
Do your homework. For example: if you are a restaurant, and your customers are looking for gluten-free or other special options, find out how much it will cost you to provide that service, and whether your customer is willing to pay the premium price required. Or, identify an affordable alternative, and promote it.
Work through “what if” scenarios. If you do, you’ll find that you’re much more prepared to address customer issues when they occur, and notice I said “when” not “if”.
Don’t panic when something goes wrong. It’s natural to want to protect your company or brand, but customers know this world’s not perfect. Find a way to communicate that won’t scare people away.
The bottom line is, you can’t protect your brand with lies. Once the lie is uncovered, you’ve lost consumer trust.

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