intuitive marketingtake action now

eXeCutive SummarY

whether it’s a new social media site like Foursquare or Groupon, new smart phone apps like Price check by amazon, or the introduction of pop-up retail locations, one thing is certain: the world around us is changing at an accelerated rate and therefore reshaping consumer behavior and lifestyles and how consumers interact with brands. why then would marketing practices remain conventional? it’s time for marketers to seriously consider leveraging the power of intuitive marketing to keep their brands fresh, relevant and engaging or run the risk of being left behind.

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intuitive marketing: take aCtiOn nOw

it’S time tO DePLOY intuitive marketing

as a marketer, intuitive marketing will allow you to make decisions more quickly, execute and change directions more often, know when to test and when not to test, and more fully and quickly deliver on market opportunities and consumer needs.

whY iS thiS an imPerative nOw? beCauSe marketing iS at an imPOrtant infLeCtiOn POint.

First, the world in which we operate is moving faster than ever. the marketplace, retailers, and consumers don’t set their clock to marketers’ annual marketing plan timelines. Brands today need to react more quickly and be more flexible, which means decisions need to be made more quickly. the marketplace and consumers reward speed and change. according to “Brand Bubble,” brands that demonstrate movement and energy have a higher market value and appreciation by consumers, demonstrated in usage and preference growth. “the more energy a brand has… establishes a direct link between brand momentum and creativity, financial earnings, and stock performance.”1 Finally, partly in answer to today’s marketplace environment, Forrester released a report in late 2009 introducing the idea of “adaptive brand marketing,” an approach to marketing management that is “nimbler and more real-time oriented.”

Second, consumers can be heavily engaged with brands. it’s no longer about command and control. case in point - the #3 Facebook page in 2009 was for the brand nutella – only behind President obama and coke in the number one and two positions, respectively – and was created by a consumer fan.2 the PR value of this alone is worth more than the brand’s $300,000 media budget for the year – all generated by a consumer. Pabst Blue Ribbon is another good example – essentially a lost brand until a sub-culture of bike messengers and others took over the brand and made it their beer of choice.3 So, if consumers are going to drive your brand, you better get close to them. it requires developing a relationship, something that can’t be accomplished through an attitudes & Usage study.

third, marketers are being asked to reach further with the same or fewer dollars. we’ve never had more tools in our toolbox to engage with our consumer. it’s hard to do it all, so we must make effective choices. that requires understanding your targets well and what apertures are best to interact with them. and with mediums changing quickly that allow for frequent learning, we need to be quick and flexible in deploying our marketing strategies.

intuitive Marketing is based on having a deep understanding of your brand and a deep understanding of your consumer, all to facilitate speed of decision-making and action.

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Finally, the understanding of how we make decisions has grown to support the importance of the non-rational. it’s not uncommon to accept this in terms of how consumers make decisions, but we seem to resist this common knowledge when it comes to the business world. this isn’t to say that data analysis doesn’t have its place; it’s to say that making gut decisions has its place, too. Frankly, given the environment we operate in, we don’t have time to test every decision we encounter. we need to get comfortable with making intuitive decisions. we also need to understand that these decisions are not based on feelings alone, but rather these feelings are made up of deep, rational understanding. as noted in How We Decide, “…feelings aren’t simply reflections of hard-wired animal instincts…. instead, human emotions are rooted in predictions of highly flexible brain cells, which are constantly adjusting their connections to reflect reality. Every time you make a mistake or encounter something new, your brain cells are busy changing themselves. our emotions are deeply empirical.”4

hOw DO YOu get StarteD with intuitive marketing?

firSt, Define the branD. You must be clear on your brand’s mission, its true north. what problem are you solving for the consumer? How are you distinctively delivering against this need? what are your guiding principles in doing so? what choice are you making in what you will own and stand for in the hearts and minds of consumers? How will you authentically deliver against this promise?

SeCOnD, beCOme One with the branD. if you’re not in love with your brand, then you are working on the wrong

brand. if you don’t love it, how do you expect consumers to? Ms. Lisa Bradner of Forrester Research calls for the creation of brand advocates who “really need to be in charge of the heart and soul of what the brand stands for.”5 we agree wholeheartedly. the closer you are to the brand and take in its meaning, the easier it will be to determine activities that are the right fit for the brand and its consumers.

thirD, unDerStanD YOur COnSumer, intimateLY. You won’t become “intuitive” through research reports and data tables. to get intimate with a consumer, you have to interact with them directly. think about online dating. Most couples don’t decide to get married before they actually meet face to face. as noted in an article in Psychology today, “People never fall in love with categories…. because only [a] real interpersonal process can create the feeling of love. Love is created and maintained by the process of meaningful communications. online dating cannot do so.”6

That means getting out of the safety of the office and interacting with consumers face to face. conduct ethnographies with your core consumers – go into their homes, participate in their daily lives. execute a sampling event where you can directly talk to your consumers, hear about their lives, and get direct feedback on your product. Be in conversation with your consumers utilizing new technologies such as Facebook and twitter. or, do what wal-Mart did and create a consumer advocacy group – in wal-Mart’s case called “elevenmoms” made up of mom bloggers – that helps them better understand their needs.7 Force yourself to play “a day in the life” of your consumer – make it an adult “consumer field trip” of sorts. There are many ways of bringing your consumer to life – most

we need to get comfortable with making intuitive decisions. we also need to understand that these decisions are not based on feelings alone, but rather these feelings are made up of deep, rational understanding.

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importantly, engage with them so you can truly know them.

fOurth, make it reaL. For this all to work, it needs to be supported with a change in culture and a change in procedure. Leaders need to give latitude for quick decisions, either allowing for quick check-ins or pushing down authority. Get clear on what decisions can be made with “gut data.” a $20 million media plan may need more data and support vs. a $100,000 marketing test. Finally, set aside a percentage of your budget to allow for experiments as your organization gets more comfortable with intuitive marketing.

here are twO eXamPLeS Of branDS that DemOnStrate that theSe PrinCiPLeS Can be Put tO uSe.

branD knOwLeDge, mOve QuiCkLY. it might not be that surprising that when Starbuck’s needed to retrench and redirect, the company fell back on the person who knew the company best – Howard Schulz, the founder. with his knowledge of the company and its original intent, the company made several quick decisions to put it on a path towards recovery. Mr. Schulz himself said, “i knew where all the bones were buried, so i could move quickly” and “there were a number of things i did that perhaps a new ceo couldn’t have done because he wouldn’t have had the license i had.” Schulz invested to remind employees about what the company and the brand stood for, reinvesting in the culture. to remind store managers about the company’s character and values, Schulz took 10,000 of them to new

Leaders need to give latitude for quick decisions, either allowing for quick

check-ins or pushing down authority.

orleans to do community service. “we reinvested in our people, we reinvested in innovation, and we reinvested in the values for the company. another ceo would have focused solely on cutting costs.”8 Starbucks likely would not have rebounded as well as it has if it weren’t for Schulz’s knowledge of the brand and the company. His brand knowledge was critical to the company moving quickly to refocus and realign on priorities.

COnSumer knOwLeDge, mOve QuiCkLY. Back in 2003, General Mills conducted a test – they compared the decision outcome of internal company consumer understanding vs. more formal advertising market research. For an advertising campaign that marketed to ten-year olds, General Mills crafted hypotheses on the considered ad executions based solely on internal insight of the target and then went about conducting the formal market research. The findings – their gut was right. The formal research confirmed their intuitions, and according to Mark Addicks, General Mills’s Chief Marketing Officer, “The only difference was money and time.”9 It just goes to show that an informed gut can allow companies to make decisions quickly.

the future of marketing demands speed. why not utilize our own innate nature to help us succeed in this new world?

Footnotes:

1. The Brand Bubble: The Looming Crisis in Brand Value and How to Avoid It, by John Gerzema and Ed Lebar, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008, p. 35, 51, 54.

2. “Nutella: Web Giant,” by Todd Wasserman, Brand Week, March 14, 2009.

3. Brand Hijack, by Alex Wipperfürth, New York: Penguine Group, 2005, p. 22-23.

4. How We Decide, by Johah Lehrer, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009, p. 39, 41.

5. “Why It’s Time to Do Away With the Brand Manager,” by Jack Neff, Ad Age, October 12, 2009.

6. “Why Online Dating is a Poor Way to Find Love,” by Ken Sun, Psychology Today, July 29, 2010.

7. “Moms Say Marketers Ignore Their Needs” by Jessica Hogue, Brand Week, May 5, 2009.

8. “We Had to Own the Mistakes,” Adi Ignatius, Harvard Business Review, July-August 2010.

9. “Big ‘G’ Identity,” The Hub Magazine, July/August 2009.

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anthem worldwide, a Schawk Strategic Design company, is an integrated global network that provides innovative solutions to articulate, unify and manage brand impact. anthem creates compelling brand experiences by aligning its strategic, creative and executional talent worldwide with the business needs of companies seeking a competitive advantage. anthem offers a full range of branding and design services. For more information on anthem, please visit http://www.anthemww.com.

© 2011 Schawk, inc. all Rights Reserved. no part of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the copyright holder. Schawk is a registered trademark of Schawk, inc. the anthem logo is a trademark of Schawk, inc. all other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.By kathy oneto, Vice President, Brand Strategy