trust me i'm marketing

Winning Back TrustThrough Mail

A creative perspective

Who is this person?

www.directnewideas.com

What’s happened to brands?

What’s happened to brands?

• Mercedes make a car that falls over

• Ford make cars that crash• Firestone make tyres that

burst

On the subject of cars…

Brands are up to no good

• Nestle dressed women up as nurses to hand out free samples of powder milk to breast-feeding mums.

• Just enough for them to stop lactating. And then have to buy the Nestle formula.

• Nike exploit child labour

Poisoning our children

Poisoning us

Brands are dishonest

Coca-Cola tried to fool us

Kraft lied

There will be consequences

The banks…

The banks

The people we don’t trust don’t trust each other

Dick Fuld

Politicians lie

Politicians lie

Lack of trust

• In 2000 4 in 10 consumers showed preference to one brand. In 2007, fewer than 1 in 10.

• Carlson Marketing: trust in brands is down 50% since 2000.

• The Henley centre reports that trust in 16 of the UK’s 17 largest, brands is reduced.

• Only 20% of brands are trustworthy according to Gerzema and Lebar

A big brand crash waiting to happen

How do people tell brands what they feel?

Brands have powerful enemies

And these are tough times

So, what is trust?

• It develops over time• So it’s a relationship• In which you can be

wrong as well as right• With give and take• Being open and honest

5 ways to rebuild trust

1. Through values

2. Through ethics

3. Through constancy

4. Through intimacy

5. Through creativity

Brands have to have values

• Values provide a platform for

• a consistent message• An ongoing

conversation• Create talkability• A theme with which to

interact with customers/staff

Not just attributes

Recognisable values

In everything they do

Virgin

The letter as brand

communication

Honda

It starts with the brand

Keeping the relationship going

Dirt is good

But better in Direct Mail

How to start talking about values?

• Repositioning helps• Some brands have turned

disaster into triumph• And found their values

Jet Blue screwed up

They wrote to say sorry

Innocent’s ethics looked dodgy

They wrote to explain

• Mitchell and his colleagues tirelessly tracked down and contacted every negative blogger on their web site, to personally explain the logic of the deal.

“Having the blog, as well as inviting people to ring us on the Banana Phone, is all about keeping in touch with our customers and inviting them to engage with us,” says Mitchell. He believes such communication is key to keeping Innocent grounded as it grows.

Eurostar stranded passengers

• .

Mail is fundamental to their recovery

2. The importance of ethics

Ethical brands

• Most ethical• The Co-Op• The Bodyshop• BBC• Marks & Spencer• Waitrose

• Least ethical• McDonald’s• Burger King• Ryan Air• Nike• Shell

Better get some ethics

• Brands are learning they had better get some ethics fast

• Or face the consequences

Nestle goes Fairtrade

Ethics – not for everyone

Yet!

• The digital revolution is making business more accountable

Compare and contrast

Corporate social responsibility

HD loves HB

Musica

3. Trust through constancy

• Most of the money goes on acquisition

• Few awards for retention• You shouldn’t be surprised

your customers desert you

Retention v acquisition

CRM doesn’t come cheap

Baileys

Surprise and Delight

Saying thank you goes a long way

Saying thank you goes a long way

4. Through intimacy

• It’s about being personal• The connection real people make with each other

Real people saved Microsoft

A real farmer for Birdseye

A real farmer for Birdseye

The chubby grocer

Conversation

Dole introduce you to the real grower

What does personal mean?

PersonALITY

Having a distinct tone of voice

It’s knowing

Personal means you know me

5. Through creativity

• Creativity has been democratised• It shows you care• You’ve spent time and money

Is any response more direct than a laugh?

It engages at once

The envelope is a poster

The beginning of an experience

It tells a story

Involves you

It engages the senses

A postcard that purrs

A letter you can eat

Why are these exceptions?

• Authenticity• Reality• Personality

Problem: data or creativity?

• Clients are buying data• Not creativity• Aided and abetted by media agencies• Media agencies sell success as a result of appropriate

placement • All summed up in ROI

ROI

• Who doesn’t want a return on their investment?

• It is such a reductive concept• Trying to be predictive• i.e. Let’s do what we did last

time• Based on what everyone else

is doing• Allows marketers to feel in

control• Unambitious

Return on Idea

• You need an idea about the brand• You need an idea about who you

are talking to and what you want to say to them

• Finally you need a creative idea that will engage

Burger King’s idea

Return on idea. From….

To….

Return on Idea from Cadbury

Return on Idea from Cadbury

Dove

Dove - Return on Idea

Strategem - Return on Idea

In summary:

• Be a bit more human• Ask, how can we do stuff that people will like?• So they will want us as a brand friend?

The creative perspective