Turning Human Understanding into a Business Advantage

Last week ADMA spoke with Rory Sutherland Vice Chairman Ogilvy Group UK around the topic of behavioural economics and how to influence responses.

Marketers have long been searching theories on what impact a person’s decision-making process through consumer physiology. Many scientists are leaning towards neuroscience; however we need to align ourselves to a recognisable and more practical solution and refresh our thinking to turn human understanding into our business and social advantage.

Data has been a key factor for direct marketers in turning this understanding into a workable advantage but according to Rory, you need a model of behaviour first before you start interrogating it and allowing your data to do the work. If you don’t have an interesting model to work with, you may not know the questions to answer.

It Takes Two to Tango – and to Trust

Charles H. Green is founder and CEO of TRUSTED ADVISOR ASSOCIATES 

“Customer trust is down.” You’ve seen plenty of headlines like that, especially in banking. But what does it really mean?

Have companies become less trustworthy? Are customers less willing to trust them? Perhaps it’s both. Assuming someone cares about customer trust, what are they supposed to do about it if the problem isn’t clear to begin with? Rebuilding trust starts with thinking differently.

It Takes Two to Tango
We use the tango metaphor to remind us that for some things in life, more than one party is involved.  It turns out trust is one of those things. For trust to exist, one person has to do the trusting, and the other has to be trusted. And just like leading and following are different in tango, trusting and being trusted are very different roles.

Online Astroturfing: Deceitful Competition for Consumers’ Attention

By Darren Sharp, Senior Consultant, Resonate Solutions

Online astroturfing is the practice of creating fake reviews of products and services for the purpose of building seemingly “grassroots” support for a brand. Competition for consumers’ attention across the wide spectrum of media channels has led some marketers to employ deceitful conduct to give their clients products a positive spin in review sites, Twitter, blogs and other forms of social media.

Word-of-mouth marketing has become such a powerful force that some marketers are willing to go to any means necessary to get an edge over the competition. Yet astroturfing and similar practices are dishonest, unethical and can expose companies to significant consumer backlash, reputational damage and even litigation.

Whitepaper Spotlight: The End of the Line for Marketers

By ADMA’s Multi-Channel Acquisition Council

It seems the marketing industry has always discussed and been divided by “the line”.  It has categorised marketers and agencies as specialists in either above-the-line or below­ the-line, but in recent years, the line is blurring as more marketing efforts take on a full 360° approach.

ADMA’s Multi-Channel Acquisition Council has challenged this ancient thinking through their whitepaper “The line doesn’t exist. An overview of how above-the-line media are becoming direct”.

The whitepaper delves into the various channels and how each are changing and have evolved to become direct.

How is online advertising becoming direct?

Once the realm of annoying pop up banner ads and spam emails, online advertising has had to work hard to rebuild its credibility. Peter Davies from Adconion feels that the online industry has created a rod for its own back by allowing the medium to become over commoditised by concentrating on clicks; “there is more to online than this”.

It is this type of blind  focus on Cost Per Click or Cost Per Acquisition in display advertising  that Peter Davies feels is detrimental because there “is nothing about the user, instead they are focusing on the media objective and only sometimes the business  objective. It should be about knowing who these people are and what messages will make them engage and ultimately purchase a product online or in the real word. That is where demographic targeting, behavioural targeting and retargeting come in.”

Then behavioural targeting finds customers whose online surfing patterns and habits indicate they will respond well to a specific offer. Jupiter Research states that 65% of online shoppers say that they pay more attention to behaviourally targeted advertising, than contextually targeted advertising.

Peter Hunter from iProspect  feels that only about 10-15% of companies are making the most of online  targeting capabilities- “the  full suite of online’s opportunities hasn’t  been  fully explored yet” … so there  are a wealth of opportunities out there  for those  who can get  this right.

How is TV becoming more direct?

TV is at a pivotal stage in its lifecycle where it needs to adapt. TV has historically been seen as one of the most effective mediums for mass communication, but in today’s world of interactivity, it has to change to still be relevant. Advertisers are demanding greater targeting and accountability, which will be the way of the future. TV will become more direct – much like a computer IP address leaving advertising and marketing more targeted and relevant.

One interesting point from the whitepaper was the fact that TV is becoming a two way medium capable of direct marketing rather than just a one way medium of advertiser message to consumer’. Only time will tell with this medium can offer marketers….

How is radio advertising becoming direct?

When TV was launched, many thought radio would die. Reality has turned out far from that as radio continues to play an integral part in the lives of many Australians.

From a marketer’s perspective, radio has some distinct targeting advantages. Radio is a live omnipresent medium that is consumed at home, at work, and in the car, offering unique day-part targeting opportunities. Ralph Van Dijk from  radio specialist agency Eardrum  claims that with radio  “we know what they  are doing at that point in time, and can tailor  our creative accordingly to be more targeted, relevant and effective.”

In terms of direct response, the link between radio and online is well established, which according to Nielsen, over 80% of people who hear a relevant radio commercial referring to a website have visited that website  as a result.  Digital radio means more channels, more listeners, and from an advertiser’s point of view, this all means customer segments are now easier to target. More channels means brands  have the opportunity to develop integrated branded programming to add  value to distinct customer segments.

How is mobile becoming direct?

Mobile has always seen itself as having a highly personal relationship with its user­ the consumer. Marcus Giles from Telstra Media states that the power of the consumer is continually growing and consumers should be seen as partners, especially as they can reject you before they have even met you! Getting consumers to “self-select” their interest for relevant opportunities is key. For example Audi used Telstra Mobile to reach their specific target customer for the launch of a new Audi. Direct  integration into Audi’s CRM system provided a real time view on customer queries, meaning that a hot lead could be acted upon  almost immediately. Morgan Stanley’s renowned Internet analyst, Mary Meeker believes “more users may connect via mobile devices than desktop PCs within 5 years”.  This statement is already becoming reality in Australia­ Telstra reports that approximately 75% of users to some high profile online properties

In summary, the whitepaper discusses the personal and portable nature of mobile which allows marketers to be relevant and valuable based on the consumer’s location, behaviour and current situation.

How is print advertising becoming direct?

Print media is one of the earliest forms of communication. In fact you could say that print -media launched mass media and marketing from what had been up until then one to one communication. Joe Talcott from News Ltd said in the whitepaper that press is often labelled as “the poster boy for a dying media” but Joe feels this is far from reality. Peter Hunter from iProspect highlights how offline also drives online. “In the past we have seen clients stop their offline advertising, because search was delivering the results. However when they stopped advertising, all of a sudden the search results dropped off.”  Peter Hunter feels that about 67% of search comes from an offline source such as direct mail and so stopping this source is not recommended.

Conclusion

This paper has shown that each of what was seen as the “traditional above-the-line” mediums are fast becoming capable of direct marketing, signalling the end of the line. Traditional mass market channels have to adapt to a more interactive landscape to remain relevant. The old patterns of dominance are changing given the greater insight into consumer behaviour that is now available with intelligence.

It’s clear from the whitepaper that increasingly sophisticated and selective consumers can abandon channels if they fail to stay relevant. Even the supposedly ‘new’ technologies are re-inventing themselves and their application to adapt to this rapidly changing environment. It’s an exciting time to be in direct marketing -some channels will prove to be less effective than others in the increasingly crowded media landscape, but all will provide greater insight into consumer behaviour. All channels now have the capability to be direct it is now up to the marketer to adapt their thinking and finally remove “the line” for good.

The whitepaper was produced by Allison Ells and Chris Maloney from ADMA’s Multi-Channel Acquisition Council. Click here to view the full whitepaper on ADMA Dialogue.

Interview: Crowdsourced Creativity for the Uninspired Marketer

Interview with David Alberts, Chief Creative Officer, MOFILM (uk)

Crowdsourcing has been an incredibly popular topic last year and will inevitably be a hotter topic this year as even more brands and agencies jump on the band wagon. This morning ADMA spoke to the Chief Creative Officer, David Alberts at MOFILM (UK), who are the curators of what is known as ‘crowdsourced creativity’, on the topic of crowdsourcing and his thoughts on the future. MOFILM – which is effectively the world’s largest creative department – is giving traditional ABL advertising and the creative industry a run for their money by supplying an endless source of fresh inspiring films and advertisements; all developed by the very people that brands view as their customer.  In fewer than three years, MOFILM has crowdsourced a community of more than 35,000 creative prosumers (producer-consumer) to produce 8,000+ advertisements and films for the world’s leading organisations.

David joined the MOFILM team after previously working for the full service agency, Grey London, where he found himself recommending TV and big budget advertising in which he thought if the roles were reversed i.e. he was the client, it wasn’t the thing he would invest in. In a world of new media, and with a record number of prosumers with access to digital cameras etc, there are fewer roadblocks for people to crack into the industry. “The the way the world is now, it used to be the cost of cameras etc. that used to be the barrier for people coming into industry, now it’s a different world” said Alberts. Now working at Mofilm, Alberts has access to over 35,000 film makers on the books; the result being that brands can get totally fresh, cheaper and innovative ideas by leveraging the power of these creative crowds.

When I asked Alberts if he thought crowdsourcing was the way of the future for marketing and advertising, he responded by reciting what Paul Edwards, Strategic Director at General Motors said when asked the same question at Cannes last year: ‘At the moment it works very well with my agencies, but who knows in the future.”

One interesting but obvious fact Alberts made was that there’s ‘currently a huge demand for content, and not enough supply’. So what does the future hold? There’s no doubt that crowdsourced content is in its element; it’s a wonderful way to source creativity outside the confines of the marketing and advertising industry’s walls. The counter argument is that it’s a good excuse for brands and agencies to use when they can’t come up with the creative thinking themselves. Not to mention it comes at a fraction of what’s normally paid for creative work.

Is crowdsourcing here to stay? Or will it die out as consumers feel the work and lack of return? Would love to hear your thoughts!

David is the Chief Creative Officer at MOFILM.

MOFILM work for top-tier brands, such as Coca Cola, Samsung and Chevrolet…

Watch out for a full interview with David through the ADMA Dialogue, this March.

Maximising your Acquisition Performance through Digital in a Changing Landscape

Presentation Spotlight: Allyson Hohman, Marketing Manager – Digital, SEEK

Allyson recently spoke at ADMA’s Multi-Channel Acquisition seminar and made some very interesting points about acquisition; the way it was approached a few years ago, and what we should be aspiring to now and in the future. In short, it’s clear that change is here to stay.

The Biochemistry of Temptation

By Crawford Hollingworth.

As consumers, we’re all familiar with that irrational urge to buy something that’s not good for us or that we don’t really need. Some blame peer pressure, others the power of marketing. But Crawford Hollingworth says bio-chemistry has a lot to answer for.

As Oscar Wilde wrote: “I can resist everything except temptation.” In this piece, I want to delve a little into the evidence that exists around self-control and how science is delivering some real breakthrough insights into why we find temptation so difficult to overcome.

Customer Satisfaction – Important Points to Remember

By Mina Karpouzas.

Anyone managing a contact centre would agree that it’s not all about call centre metrics that make a contact centre function.

Contact centres of yester years were designed to be transactional and only designed to handle call after call.  Service level was the only real target to measuring efficiency and satisfaction. Now a days contact centres are more advanced.  There are more targets coupled with the variety of tools and systems at our disposal.  This makes contact centres of today somewhat of a challenge.

One important target which is at the forefront is the voice of the customer, better known as customer satisfaction.

Moving from Ad-hoc Activity to Engagement Programs

By Roger Luxton, Alterian.

A few years ago marketing seemed comparatively easy. There were fewer channels, less accountability, and decent sized teams. Marketing seemed as though it was the ideal job. However, marketers are under pressure like never before, expected to deliver more with often less resources. The smart marketing teams have recognised the need to bolster productivity by shifting away from ad-hoc communications and toward clearly planned and automated engagement programs for activities such as customer welcome, upsell or retention. From my experience seeing a number of customer engagement agencies, marketing Sersice providers and clients try to set up automated programs, I offer five golden rules for success.

1. Plan the Journey. The first step is the most important, it’s about ‘white boarding’ the phases of a journey. Importantly both the route that you’d ideally like to follow, but also all those points where the customer might decide not to respond, reply or engage with you. Planning for all eventualities and deciding on communications or tactics required at each stage will make it easier to implement. Often this planning can benefit from the expert input of agencies or partners.

2. Choose the Right Technology. Once you have the plan together, it’s about using the right technology to automatically manage the different phases and analyse performance. After all, if each journey requires human intervention then it isn’t going to be practical without a bigger team. Ideally, this technology should be easy to use by a marketing campaign team, rather than just a technical team.

3. Start Simply. I’d also strongly advocate not being too ambitious too soon. Much better to build a slightly simpler journey, with plans to learn and evolve, rather than trying to create a 100 phase program straight away. By being realistic it will be faster to be set up and start creating early pay back. Equally, if you have a few different programs you wish to run, start off with one or two, and then roll out the others as your first ones start working.

4. Measure Results. As soon as a program starts, the ability to measure performance will be critical. To obtain a clear scientific assessment of the new program versus your previous approach, use control groups. Put 50% of new customers through your new customer program and the other 50% receiving previous types of contact. Keeping a clear sight of the results and adapting activity is vital.

5. Adapt based on Customer Behaviour. As well as overall results, it is equally important to understand the behaviour of different groups of customers. Are they engaging as you expected? Do certain segments behave differently? What implications does this have for your program? As you start to assess and analyse this behaviour, you will inevitably look to adapt your plans accordingly, making it even more relevant for each segment and individual.

If you follow these five golden rules, you should be able to deliver a better customer experience and undertake more activities, whilst generating a better return on investment. Do you have any other rules to live by?

Posted by Roger Luxton, Principal Business Solutions Consultant,  Alterian

Putting Customers at the Heart of Your Analytics Strategy

By Rusty Warner.

Consumers have changed. Their expectations have evolved and they have become more demanding.

Some are motivated purely by price, while others remain fiercely loyal to certain brands. Others want to understand “green” or “fair trade” or “cruelty free” aspects of various products to ensure their purchase decisions are politically correct. For some, the decision will hinge on the “cool factor” of the brand.

Many consumers will take advantage of digital channels to learn about products or services before making a decision to purchase, with the transaction occurring in a shop. This process is known as “ROBO”  Research Online, Buy Offline. However, today this may be more accurately described as “REBA” Research Everywhere, Buy Anywhere – as consumers look to every channel for information and expect to purchase products and services in the manner most convenient to them.

Given these challenges, how can marketers keep pace with these ever-changing demands of the consumer? Do you have the tools to deliver the right message, to the right person, at the right time, across the right channel? Actually, you’d better make that channels, since multi-channel is no longer good enough; marketing messages must be orchestrated cross-channel as well.

Let’s say three people visit your website or interact with your brand in some way…

• Do you know which one is an existing customer?
  If so, do you know if he or she is profitable to your brand?
• Do you have an up-to-date record of purchase history?
• Do you know what he or she is likely to purchase next?
• If none of them is a current customer, how do you determine which one(s) exhibit the best characteristics to become target prospect(s)?
• How do you follow-up?
• How do you decide the appropriate messaging?
• What channel do you use to deliver it?

These are the questions marketing organisations must answer every single day in order to engage and build relationships with their customers. Putting customers at the heart of your analytics strategy will provide actionable insights to drive successful decision-making.

For more on how to apply analytics to your customer engagement programs, join the ADMA webinar “Putting customers at the heart of your analytics strategy” on December 1^st at 10.00am (EST). Register here.

Article supplied by Rusty Warner, Alterian.