The brand is dead Long live the brand Creating winning brands in the word-of-mouth era by @simonpearcelive of @fabricbranding

Are we undergoing a paradigm shift in how companies build brands?

Paradigm shifts are not linear: like plate tectonics, tension builds over time and then energy is released, sometimes quickly

Paradigm shifts occur to resolve accumulated anomalies in data that build up over time

Source:  Thomas  Kuhn,  “The  Structure  of  Scien5fic  Revolu5ons”

TV advertising still has great data:

ROI on TV spend remains within 15 year historic norms, returning 10% on average

(Hu,  Lodish,  Krieger  &  Haya5  Journal  of  Adver.sing  Research)

However, anomalies in the data need to be resolved

47%

Source:  Nielsen  “Global  trust  in  adver5sing”  study,  2011.  n=58,000,  56  countries    

24% for TV

20% for Magazine

25% for Newsprint

Headline “trust in advertising” has

fallen to just

The decline from 2009 to 2011 was a

whopping…

The current situation is not a stable state Social technology is disrupting everything: if you wait until the market is “built” to start to learn new ways of doing things, it will already be too late.

“Marketers may spend millions of dollars on elaborately conceived advertising campaigns, yet often what really makes up a consumer’s mind is not only simple but also free: a word-of-mouth recommendation from a trusted source.”

McKinsey Quarterly, April 2010

McKinsey Quarterly: APRIL 2010 • Jacques Bughin, Jonathan Doogan, and Ole Jørgen Vetvik

…the only factor that is in the “top three” factors across the entire customer journey

McKinsey Quarterly: APRIL 2010 • Jacques Bughin, Jonathan Doogan, and Ole Jørgen Vetvik

…more disruptive than other factors that influence purchase choice: it is more likely to change behavior

Word of mouth is…

…not a one-hit wonder: builds its own momentum over time

Social media is probably making word-of-mouth more important

Getting started now: 7 rules for the word-of-mouth era

#1 Start with the experience, not the talk

50-80% of all word-of-mouth is driven by direct experience with the brand*.

Creating positive, talk-worthy experiences enabled Starbucks to outperform it’s industry for years while typically spending just 1/3 of what the competition spends on their media buys.

*Variations driven by industry and other variables including levels of supporting media Starbucks annual reports and filings; Media Metrics; Keller Fay

#2 Empathy can make you exceptional

Nest came from a process that went beyond clinical “insight”; the design reflects a high level of human empathy and caring. This level of care and attention stands out enough to generate talk value.

Nest is a new kind of thermostat that learns your preferences over time and adapts to you.

#3 Continuously refresh the experience

According to McKinsey research, customers talk more about products early in the lifecycle, so continuous innovation is required to keep products and services feeling fresh

McKinsey Quarterly: APRIL 2010

#4 Surprise matters more than satisfaction

Your experience needs to positively deviate from expectations in order to create talk value.

E.g. In mobile phones, battery life drives satisfaction while design and usability drives word-of-mouth.

McKinsey Quarterly: APRIL 2010

#5 Create your own content

Content travels freely across the “shareable web” – your brand needs to generate it’s own content and make it easy for people to share

#6 Actively participate in culture

This was timed perfectly in the midst of Kim’s saber-rattling

#6(b) Really participate, don’t just copy

FAIL: Late. Derivative. Wrong venue. Added nothing.

#7 Build relationships with influencers

Event-based approaches, like the “World’s Tallest Lego Tower” are an opportunity to activate influencers and brand advocates. Events can be targeted to reach the most influential people and give them something to talk about.

Things

you can do now to get started

#1 Look at your brand strategy

Does your brand stand for an idea worth caring about (and talking about) or is it built solely as a platform for “pushing” features and benefits?

#2 Look at your people

Are your employees your advocates? Have you excited and empowered them enough to create brand “moments of truth” when it really matters?

#3 Look at your customer experience

Is your customer experience predictable or talk-worthy? Is it consciously designed against specific unmet needs & experience goals? Does it stand out?

#4 Look at your level of experience integration

Does your entire organization deliver on brand experience goals or are there disconnects between marketing, IT, customer service, sales, design & ops?

#5 Look at how you use media

Do you “fill” your media buys with messages you want to dictate or do you start with culturally relevant ideas and deploy media in support of those ideas?

Some parting thoughts

We often focus too much on the physical impact of technology and underestimate it’s cultural impact

2001: A Spacy Odyssey overestimated our future engineering prowess and underestimated women

Tech is a powerful enabler; it’s impact on culture far exceeds what you see through a purely functional lens

Photo: Fast Company

Fabric Branding is a Brand Strategy and Experience Design Company

Simon.Pearce@fabricbranding.com www.fabricbranding.com Twitter: @simonpearcelive

We help our clients define brand strategy and design compelling experiences to bring it to life. We work across creative disciplines based on our clients’ needs. We often start by helping our clients diagnose their brand opportunities and develop plans to address them. Feel free to contact us for a consultation: