Trust ,Transparency...and talking Trash

Trust, transparency .... and Talking Trash.

We are living in a time of reduced if not a total rejection of many of the institutions , societal, political or philosophical constructs and beliefs we use for personal and collective value systems.

In 1966 John Lennon famously claimed the Beatles were "more famous than Jesus..." ( source: wikipedia) and whilst a deliberately provocative statement at the time , it is also true today that successive generations have progressively turned away from unquestioning belief in the trustworthiness of the state and its institutions ,figures of authority like politicians, or the media ,placing successively and generationally firstly more trust in certain brands and subsequently currently giving the most weight to the opinions of friends and social media feedback.......the most likely only truly disruptive legacy of social media ..?

On a personal level I prefer to believe we have not entirely replaced rational, evidence based discourse with celebrity and fake news, community with self ,and post WW2 aspirations of peaceful ,global ,borderless citizenship and thinking with unfettered Tribalism and "walls" of all kinds....but that would be straying into politics which is fair game for Twitter rather than Linkedin !

When we address the issues of rebuilding that diminished brand trust I think as do many others that it is obvious that not only do consumers have more choices and information than ever , but that the dynamics of these relationships have been altered beyond the comfort zone of many established businesses by today's technology and the accompanying paradigm shifts in access to new routes to market which consequently opens markets to nimble ,small startups.

It is not too much of an exaggeration to say many across any generational or economic divide believe the state and unrestrained capitalism have to varying degrees failed them ; worse still these people feel that "Big business" is actively and knowingly deceiving and even harming them in the pursuit of profit ,be it in food or indeed the world of pharmaceuticals for instance.

So what is the future for brands that wish to genuinely connect or indeed reconnect , as opposed to simply jumping on the latest bandwidth borne bandwagon....?

The answer is the same as in truth it has always been in any relationship with pretensions of durability and equality..It's more about the real person behind the facade , what you actually do and what you stand for, looking out for them.

Build trust by behaving and espousing values your consumers subscribe to , by delighting your consumer , delivering what you and you alone can do spectacularly well every time.

Like in all the best relationships , there is no room for secrets , silences or half truths; be transparent in what you do and why, respect my aspirations and beliefs..if I say I want organic food in sustainable packaging for example, be totally transparent in providing easy access to all the evidence , because it makes for a happier more durable relationship, and because it builds trust over time. It is no longer acceptable to simply demand trust , provide partial truths , or ignore my questions.

Trust needs to be earned and earned again each time I buy your brand.
Treat consumers with respect and take time to get to know what is important to your consumers if you want a meaningful relationship..I have been pretty disappointed on a number of occasions this year by what I saw as a most corporate type of response to my communications... no evidence of any human voice..
A customer experience /customer journey is more than just a new app, or a new chief customer delight officer, it's about a tone of voice, a way of treating consumers with respect, as in any relationship. Self evidently if you treat me like I have no value to you then we have no relationship going forward...

I'm done talking trash for this year , so may I wish you all the best for the forthcoming Holidays, and ask you to contact me if you would like to see how I might work with you and build your brands in 2018. Thanks for reading my posts during the past year.
Best,
Martin

I'm a Chump ,ok, but don't treat me like one

Just because I am a chump..it doesn't mean you should treat me like one.



Recent experiences have lead me to think about customer service , and to share my contrasting experiences with various companies of very different sizes and business models.


It would seem not all companies value their customers,even if they say they do .

Some apparently seek primarily to cover their own backs if a customer complains, rather than engaging and trying to build a better basis for an ongoing relationship..

You can show respect even when you disagree with the customer. "Cover your back letters "approved by Lawyers probably won't strike an appropriately customer centric view...

Respond promptly,don't allow a complaint to fester, it becomes tougher to resolve positively.

Listen to the nature of the complaint, not everything can be solved by eg a money off coupon

In short don't treat me , your customer, like a chump, even if I know I did behave like one...

So "Hurrah and smiley emojis "for my small on line coffee supplier and for my favourite on line hotel booking site..who get more of my business going forward.

The "Are you kidding me ? "award goes to the bearers of false " failed delivery attempt " notices...we would both prefer you beaming in packages to my living room by teleportation, but failing that please do at least show up at my door when you claim to...it's bad for my blood pressure.

The "Ugly "service award goes to a car hire company ..you upsold me ,I was a chump ,I complained after I got home ,whilst acknowledging my own "chumpness" and did not ask for anything. It took virtually three months and some chasing to get a reply which said in essence: you signed the papers in three places ,all legal, our people did their job, followed process .. sorry it took us so long to get back to you, peak season and all....chump!

I was a chump on that occasion but they didn't seem to get my frustration and the point I was trying to make about upselling as a business practice... all of which made feel like a bigger Chump.



Your customer service is my customer experience and sometimes forms the defining part of your brand perception; it should be a chance to engage and strengthen your business relationship when things haven't gone well with the customer for whatever reason.


Ps : The online travel portal from whose site I originally hired the car have failed to even acknowledge my complaint, after I reached out to them some two months into my complaint to the car hire company..Won't be using them again either!


Pps : As he grew older I used to tease my Dad about his habit of complaining, and now my kids tease me for the same behaviours ;I hope he would side with me in this case . I miss you Dad.

When Tech met packaged goods

(image: the Colossus computer, the work of Alan Turing. courtesy of Wikipedia)


When you look at the above image of Colossus ( source : wikipedia)a pioneering computer built by Alan Turing in the 1940's , it is incredible to think that what I would describe loosely as "Tech" is today being marketed much like packaged consumer goods.

The daily struggles with tech that accompany most of us today however trivial or important show just how much Tech has impacted and changed all our lives since the arrival of mass market offerings and consumer adoption of items such as mobile phones in the early nineties, followed within a few years by the arrival in our homes and workplaces of the internet and personal computers of various types and footprints.

As a long time marketer of branded consumer goods, pretty much exclusively in food and drink, I have been a keen observer of marketing in other categories beyond packaged goods, but perhaps none has evolved as significantly and as quickly as Tech..I am sure marketers of fashion and beauty products which change all the time will disagree with me , but please do explain what I got wrong.

So what are the similarities , what can tech marketers learn from food, and vice versa ?

The classical similarities are all there: product range segmentation tending to hypersegmentation , brand and retailer brands ,route to market choices , pressure on shelf space, promotional noise and for some brands the investments in consumer comms. We can also see the financial pressures on brand owner companies , the emergence of on line only brands in mobile phones who then dance Dell like into omnichannel instead early on ...

Superficially at least Tech categories have a lot of things going for them that most packaged goods brands would love to have , not least the consumer frequency of interraction , the category interest and top of mind that these bring, the opportunity for product innovation compared to many types of packaged goods like food for instance , opportunities for visible self reflection , and last but certainly not least the growth opportunities that come with constant reinvention ,new tech , finite product lifecycles and geographic penetration growth opportunities in populous emerging economies.

And yet it would seem to me that with the notable exception of the Apple brand family there is little or no real brand distinctiveness or stickiness elsewhere in Tech ,which means somewhere along the line that marketing is not as effective as it aims to be in building profitable brand ecosystems. As a personal example ,how many of us non Apple users are brand loyal when we change phones,tablets, pcs ? I ended up buying on functionality and price, not brand for instance and have over the years been disappointed by my misguided brand loyalty in mobile phones for instance ...

So , Tech products are more like packaged goods after all ( schadenfreude ?)... low margin ,limited brand loyalty, interchangeability and all.

Maybe the grass isn't greener in Tech after all....

Big Bad food..

Another week , another Big (Bad)Food story....

With the approach of Halloween ,yet more self inflicted outrage descends on Big Food.

Cue yet more " why did the chicken cross the road ?" type jokes... seriously food and drink industry people, what's going on?


Big Food does not automatically equal bad food, either nutritionally or ethically, and could even be a force for a better world..

The reality of an urban world which is the reality for the majority of people worldwide, is that at a basic level most of us are now essentially reliant on others to produce and distribute the food we buy.

So how come there is so much mistrust if not downright hostility to the larger companies who provide most of what we eat... and how much of the suspicion is justified?

Are the bosses of Big Food really all evil people hell bent on killing us all in the name of a quick buck? who is forcing us all as consumers into dangerous and unhealthy food choices? Is there an unbiaised and trustworthy voice out there ?

Consider GMO crops for instance..I'm not a scientist and simply can't get a clear view amidst all the invective on whether they could play a big role in combatting famine , or whether they are part of a dastardly, commercially driven plot to enslave farmers and turn us all into mutants.

There is unfortunately too much evidence of dubious practices across the production and distribution parts of the supply chain for the food industry to simply ignore or shrug them off.. More concerning is whether these failings are systemic short cuts driven by management , criminality pure and simple , or whether they occur when employees get it wrong occasionally.

Is the answer to tax,restrict or even ban all "unhealthy" foods, treating them the same as alcohol and tobacco? Or outlawing the unnecessary use of pesticides antibiotics or ingredients? Is the use of Blockchain technology for purposes of transparency and traceability as powerful a force for good as proponents would suggest ?

To oversimplify the big picture solutions: If consumers are sufficiently educated on diet and nutrition to make considered and informed decisions the demand for more unhealthy foods should begin to reduce.
Similarly ,once consumers are better informed about what has gone into the food they are eating they are more likely to reject unethical practices , unecessary ingredients and additives and vote with their wallets.

P is for.....

How many P's does it take ?

In business and especially in debates involving marketing it is hard these days to avoid reference to the notion of the" Four P's ", mostly to deride them as obsolete....

I have recently encountered reference to the 7 P' s for the first time , by the inclusion of people, process,and physical environment to the original four P's.
I will leave theorizing to others , but here is my take on it...Are we headed the way of shaving devices, with ever more blades required to complete the same task ?

Whilst it is both healthy and necessary for business and business theory and practice to constantly be challenged and to evolve in line with changes in customer wishes and behaviours,technology and competitive landscape , surely the single greatest imperative ,namely delivering superior customer satisfaction remains unchanged.

I don't wish to appear completely closed to the necessary and continuing debate about marketing and business theory , so in the interest of fairness here are a couple of other P's that others have referenced when discussing business and marketing..

Purpose... lots written ,nothing constructive to add as I struggle philosophically speaking to stay on the benefits ladder which transforms as a random but recent example fizzy pop ( beginning with P ...)to somehow changing the world for the better.

My friendly sparring partner during my time at Lactalis Mclelland Jim McGregor often referred to marketing as" ( coloured) Pencils......"and yes ,he was in charge of the ministry of Promotions.

A certain Richard Branson weighed in recently on Linkedin with the comment that he doesn't do Presentations, preferring authenticity above script; I so wish I had had the chance to work with you Sir Richard....

My personal favourite P doesn't get nearly enough love , so in closing I leave you with PASSION, without which our work is cold and grey, and unlikely to spark engagement with either colleagues or customers.....which is what Brandbuilding is about.

Dear Alexa,Bixby, Siri....

Dear Alexa , Bixby and Siri, we need to have a serious conversation about us...

Some write with bright eyed enthusiasm of a Tech enabled future where our busy lives are made "easier" , like maybe an updated real life version of The Jetsons.....or perhaps being British I imagine it closer to Wallace and Gromit.

Tom Goodwin for instance writes about tech and innovation in a sceptical way I enjoy and can relate to ; increasingly though I feel uneasy about this topic at a basic level ,and what if not how this future needs to look like if it is to be a force for good ....

Not only is a commonly presented vision of this future pretty shallow looking , but there are for now a number of major issues that I feel are not properly addressed relating to our individual identities and personal data.

Amidst all the well meaning words devoted to the need for Purpose, it strikes me that a technologically driven future which benefits only urbanistas like myself and the profits of the companies serving me easier and better customer experiences is not exactly making a difference where it really matters....You may well say there has been a trickle down benefit in eg technologies around things like mobile phones for instance, but it is unlikely that mobile phones came about primarily to help those in societies with broken or missing infrastructure.

At a more basic level however I am unhappy about what I perceive as an unacceptable price to pay to become a part of the Tech future, namely the need to surrender ever larger chunks of our identities , our private selves to anonymous on line places and organisations where they are not fully secure from misuse by others, nor indeed our own anymore.

So Adieu then to you Alexa, Bixby, Siri..it's not you it's me ; I'll turn the lights off on my way out thanks.

Combining New and Natural in food innovation is hard

Combining New and Natural is tricky in food innovation, given consumer demands for great taste allied to natural and healthy on the one hand and unprocessed on the other ....all wrapped up in transparency and a no compromise mentality.... great challenge!

Geography/ culture and History:

This area has been a popular route these past few years with as just two examples the increased interest shown in historical products that had fallen out of favour like eg spelt flour, or products used in one country ,culture or region introduced into other such as Tofu or Quinoa.

Conversely, the introduction of more non dairy products based on plants into traditional Dairy countries and a reverse movement of Dairy products into countries like China shows that this type of axis is promising on an international scale ; witness recent pronouncements on the growth of coconut based products by the Pret a manger chain as a major growth driver in the UK.

There are going to be limits however; I'm sceptical for instance about the likelihood of bugs becoming the next big thing in protein , certainly in my household.

What has often helped this movement has been the opportunity to offer built in health benefit associations for these new around here products....


Health benefits help in both existing and new foods:

The explosion in the various categories of "free from " foods says all you need to know about the interest in lactose free ,gluten free, dairy free, sugar free vegetarian and vegan foods , with over 50% of British homes now buying into the various claimed health and wellness or ethical benefits , as opposed to this being the result of a rise in medical diagnoses . Although often not completely new , free from versions do open up pre existing categories to new or lapsed buyers rather than cannibalise a given market.

Similarly,interest generated in a very traditional product category such as oats centred around newly claimed cholesterol reducing benefits and has helped spark a raft of more contemporary developments in both the traditional oats core hot and cold cereals market and beyond into areas such as so called dairy free oat"milk".Similarly ,health claims around a claimed antibiotic effect have definitely helped the sales of Manuka Honey . Witness also ,the successful new market established by new products containing natural plant extracts which help cholesterol reduction meets the consumer criteria of new and Natural....Similarly ,significant consumer interest and market growth were seen by the launch of added health benefits with the launch of e.g. probiotic yogurts, or the introduction of smoothies.


As a word of caution there was a rush a few years ago to add Fish oil Omega 3 into a great many products , some of which sat uneasily with consumers and which failed...by what logic for example was fish oil added to liquid cows milk? It is fine to remove fat or other ingredients from an existing product ,or indeed reinforce existing ingredients , but beware tinkering.....consumers do look at ingredients lists .


Genuinely new foods however are trickier because they are often at odds with either consumer acceptance of the use of technology in food , or because they push boundaries too far for consumer acceptance.

Consider for instance the genuinely new food that is Quorn, a plant based myco protein ingredient that is similar to tofu in its infinite ability to be transformed . The Quorn business is a long term endeavour for sure , but gaining traction over time ,and successive owners. No one however talks much about the technological background and history......Compare that technically based entirely new product success with the unwillingness of the British public to embrace Ostrich meat ,which was much hyped as a healthier new meat in the late 20th Century.


Cleaning up one's act:


Pretty much a given these days simply to stay in the game , and whether it is reducing sugar or fat , embracing sustainability or fairtrade, sourcing local ,reducing carbon footprint, animal welfare , no to growth hormones in animals, reducing packaging waste ....just about everyone is actively pursuing this....making this axis generally a poor differentiator or source of innovation. Witness the advertising money spent by e.g. makers of breakfast cereals generally to change perceptions from junk food to wholesome by adding wholegrain to all their products as just one example.

This route also has risks.... if consumers dislike the taste of the reformulation this can be tricky ,Just ask the people at companies behind Lucozade or Heinz brands about this balancing act as it applies to sugar and/or salt reduction. However laudable it may be to make food choices healthier, our taste buds need reeducation over time...

Consumer willingness to accept a "technology over natural" compromise plays a big role. Sugar / calorie free drinks for example rely on consumer desire for guilt free outweighing any of the concerns that regularly make the headlines about potential health side effects of artificial sweeteners..


Food Technology , science and consumers:

Global Heavy hitters are now coming to market with hybrids that blur the boundaries of food and life science,beauty companies are selling beauty from within drinks in Asia ( collagen or Aloe Vera drinks ); food supplements are being repackaged ,retargeted and resited in store from e.g. bodybuilding in an attempt to make them more mainstream.

Then there are pure technologically based attempts to innovate ,and this is where things get tricky....most consumers don't really want to know , generally it is felt the less technology and additives used in our food the better...no GM crops, no pesticides, no meat grown in a lab.... but being fickle we don't want compromises on year round availability, shorter shelf life, uglier looking fruit and vegetables, and so on.

Some other technologies like eg the use of cold pressing of juice or raw instead of cooked chocolate make intuitive sense and may indeed being taste and health benefits.


It is worth pointing out that one of the arguably good things that the EU authorities have done is to outlaw health claims that are not deemed to be scientifically proven , by which I mean it protects consumers .


So where's the point in this ramble, and where's the branding angle?

In the teeth of a major decline in the belief in and value added of brands generally in many countries , it is now a given that not only must food brands be transparent and honest like never before, but that they must innovate like never before to try and help sustain relevant value added versus private label as well as other competing brands.

I would suggest this has more to do with taste than technology per se. So , greater focus on and respect for our consumers whatever their idiosyncrasies and apparent contradictions..and small incremental steps if you want us to embrace new foods and new technology...but no bugs for me thanks..