The customer really is in charge, Part II.

Posted on April 2, 2007 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

"I am the new consumer, and if you want me, you have to engage with me. You have to come to me, and you have to do it on my terms. I am far more intelligent and informed than you, and I am in control. Until you believe that - until you own that - you are worthless."

Those are the words of Gabe Chouinard, a young "freelance" creative on a rant. He is saying what I have been saying. We must recognize that the advertising world has changed and is continuing to change, and the ways we counted on before to reach our customers just don't work as well as they used to. The article published at Adrants is worth reading in its entirety. Yes, it is somewhat rambling, but there is a message in it we need to grasp.

The customer is really in charge? Part III

Posted on April 4, 2007 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

If you have been following my series of posts here and here on how the marketing paradigm is shifting to favor the customer, here is another in that series. This time I present a more balanced view of the problem. Is the customer really in charge?

There is no doubt that the world of marketing is changing, and many of us aren't really sure what the next ten years or even next year will bring. What we do know is it will bring dramatic change driven by technology, the access to information, and the enablement of the consumer to have a voice in the process that goes well beyond his wallet and the decision to buy or not buy your products.

Thanks to the internet, the consumer has a public forum in which to say anything he wants about your company and your brands, be it good or bad. Furthermore, he can search for information about your products that go beyond what you have any control over. This process takes away a large amount of the control the brand owner once had over what was said about his brands.

In this article by Pete Blackshaw he admits that paradigm shift has taken place and is continuing to take place, but he charges that all is not lost, which I would agree with. It is not the end of the marketing world, but it does signal a major change in the marketing world that we as marketers and advertising professionals MUST be aware of and be prepared to adjust our strategy to get maximum effectiveness from it.

All is not lost - yet! But it will be if we fail to recognize the changes taking place and don't adjust to deal with them.

Stay tuned. There will be more said on this subject here in Intel.

Green Packaging - The Coming Storm, Part 1

Posted on April 9, 2007 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

There is a storm brewing concerning packaging. In fact, it is already a category 5 in Europe and headed for the US. The issue is pretty complicated but seems to be focused on what I will call "excessive packaging."

The charge is we are "wasting" resources in these packages that are more package than product. The software companies were once the biggest abusers; big box and not much besides a CD ROM, a warranty card, and whole lot of air inside. They are getting the message and mending their wicked ways.

With Easter just past, the focus has been on Easter egg packaging. (Nothing is sacred!) Europe is all a thither over the issue of how Easter chocolate eggs were packaged. There seems to be far more packaging than chocolate, and they have the stats to prove it!

So, the measure of "excessive" turns out to be the relationship between packaging weight and product weight. That may be fine for those who have heavy products but bad news for those who have very light or very small products that need protection.

And if you produce packaging that complies with Europe's very strict code but does not meet someone's personal idea of PC then you are not ethical? And if you have any doubts about your packaging you can get your ethiscore here.

(I'm not making this up! Check the links!)

Some of this seems so over-wrought and almost silly, but at the same time when the storm hits here it won't be silly at all. And no, I am not saying we should package products with gay abandonment of concern for the environment, but this may be taking things a bit too far, but excess in ALL things seems to be the order of the day.

This is not new. I have been watching this trend for some time now, and it is only getting bigger. Needless to say, there will be more posts on this subject....

Clamshell Packaging

May be hazardous to your health!

Posted on April 9, 2007 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

You know the ones I am talking about, the plastic packages that have on occasion drawn blood and removed flesh from your fingers as you fought it tooth, nail, and knife to give up its contents. There are devices made just for this purpose that offer less risk to life and limb. Here is another, but guess what kind of package it comes in.

Here is a rant on the subject published in Canada. The author is pretty much on target in expressing how most of us feel about these packages.

Yes, the issue is security, but this is taking security to an extreme.

Who owns your brand?

Build brands and sales will follow.

Posted on April 11, 2007 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

Most of you who have built brands would answer that question in the headline, "I do!" I submit then, that the wrong person owns your brand. If the consumer doesn't own your brand, then no one owns it.

Unfortunately, too many brands are built on unique selling points (USP) and/or price points. That approach appeals to the logical side of the brain and can be successful at building sales. But, it only builds sales and rarely ever builds brands.

"Wait a minute!" you say, "Sales are what I am after!"

If so, you are aiming for the wrong target. You may successfully build sales, but what you build is a house of cards. All it will take to blow your house down is a savvy competitor with a better USP and/or a lower price, and you can start kissing those sales goodbye.

For a brand to be successful it must make an emotional connection with its consumer. It must become an emotional extension of what they believe about themselves and their brand. That translates into ownership and once they own their brand, changing to another is unthinkable. To do so would invalidate everything they stand for.

The objective is not to build sales but to build brands; sales are a byproduct of the successful execution of that process.

Image....

Posted on April 12, 2007 | Permalink

"Give people a taste of Old Crow, and tell them its Old Crow. Then give them another taste of Old Crow, but tell them its Jack Daniel's. Ask them which they prefer. They'll think the two drinks are quite different. They are tasting images."
--David Ogilvy

Vodka Packaging - Less is more....

Posted on April 12, 2007 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

I'm so happy! We are finally moving past that period of over-wrought and over-the-top vodka packaging that has been so popular almost across the board but especially in the high end. I am referring to the frosted, gilded, "blingie" packaging of brands like Grey Goose, Belvedere, Chopin and numerous others who tried unsuccessfully to imitate them.

We have moved into a period of less = more. Take a look at the sampling of new vodka packages hitting the market, like Skyy 90, Boru Vodka, Silk Vodka, and Square One. They are all decorated in a minimalist fashion, which presents the brands as clean and pure. The frosting is mostly gone and the silly illustrations showing through "windows" in the frosting are also disappearing. That design trend has run its course. Goodbye! Good riddance!

I would like to point out that the Rain package, which we designed "way back" in 2000, was the first to shift away from this over-decoration trend. We gave Rain a cleaner look with a modern minimalist logo, which distinguished it from other vodkas out there. Rain stood out on the shelf because of this!

Get a (Second) Life!

Is the real world becoming virtual?

Posted on April 20, 2007 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

WOW! Just came back from a trip to Dallas and read a very interesting article in the Southwest Airlines magazine, Spirit. In it was an article about Second Life, a virtual world online that is becoming very real and looking more and more like a glimpse of the future. And it is spooky!

This is more than a game; for some it is their real world. At Second Life you can be anyone and do anything, good or bad. You can even make money - or lose money - real money! The medium of exchange is the Linden, which like other currencies are pegged to the dollar. At the time this is written about 265 to $1.

Laugh if you want, but early adopters are looking at this virtual world to see how they can use it to sell their real products and make real dollars. Some big brands are participating in Second Life.

But all is not utopia in Second Life. Like the real world it has a dark side, which includes crime, and like the real world a cry for "government," in the form of "el Presidente," Second Life creator Philip Rosedale, to do something about it.

There is even redemption in this virtual world. Where man goes, either as flesh and blood or as pixels, he still has spiritual needs to be filled. Sin in the virtual world is still sin. The Bible teaches if you think it you have in effect done it; you are held accountable for your mental sins as well as the real ones. And there are lots of "mental sins" in the very hedonistic world of Second Life!

Frankly, I am not sure what to make of all this, but I do know it could be important enough that it needs attention given to it to see where it is going and what impact it can have on business. My suspicion is the impact will be significant!

The Third Moment of Truth

Who is in charge?

Posted on April 24, 2007 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

I ran across a good article by Pete Blackshaw on the subject of "letting go" of your brand and "opening up" to its consumers. That is, understanding the power the consumer has over your brand when he makes it his brand.

Mr. Blackshaw questions whether the issue is "letting go" or "opening up", as in opening a real dialog between the brand and the consumer. Maybe it is both?

He frames the issue this way, "What we must let go of are the corporate silos that inhibit real listening and open up the consumer voice. This is measurable and within our reach, and it's far less risky that just starting a blog or waiting to see what shows up next on YouTube."

He makes a good point. Our world is changing, and we need to understand and accommodate for those changes if we are to survive and prosper as businesses.