Got a problem you cant fix - invent a program

Spent two days in a workshop on loyalty for a client, there was lots of clever thinking, but one conclusion was there is no such thing as loyalty marketing. You either have a specific loyalty program or you just do your job properly - which means getting brand .... service ... in store experience ... smart cross selling ... CRM processes right. And in many cases if you desperately need a loyalty program it probably means you have got something wrong somewhere in your core offering. Another case of marketing covering up organisational dis-function. Remarkably common.

My other conclusion is there is an obsession with measurement and data to the point that businesses wont implement an initiative if they cant measure impact - even if they think it is right thing to do. It was an example someone cited from IKEA that got us thinking. One store manager decided not to keep a list of FAQs from customers for review. They just act immediately. So if a customer asks whether a table comes in oak as well pine, they immediately change the labelling to indicate the information. A culture of immediate response, it just isn't automated, and impossible to measure impact.

The future of CRM

Understandably businesses are increasingly obsessed with customer loyalty - both emotional and financial. Customers are harder to win over, as the mantra goes - they are in control.

So how long will it be before businesses offer customers stock to stay loyal. It is the perfect arrangement. If you like us you can be part of us, every time you buy something you get a little bit of us in return. And of course customers will be less tempted to go somewhere else because they will feel the company is 'theirs' - even if they only own 10 shares. It does not have to be tricky. Take Tesco, they could buy back stock and hand it over to customers for club card points at the year end. 'I go there so often i should have shares in the place' will be a reality.

The means of production will fall into the hands of the workers to paraphrase the German bloke - it would just be ironic that shares the symbol of capitalism will be the mechanic that makes it real.

Light at the end of the tunnel

I have not written anything in the last month because in the words of a colleague - I have even got bored with myself. Don't be silly, that is not possible! But i know what they meant. I don't know whether this is a common affliction in marketing, I suspect it is.

The problem is similar to the one in the 90s when we all talked about the wonderful world of what CRM technologies would deliver. We could all talk an infinitely better game than any clients internal system would let us deliver. And even today when businesses undergo a CRM audit or CRM capability analysis, the good ones score 40% or even lower. That wouldn't even get you an A* in media studies.

The same is happening with digital. We can can create a wonderful vision of tags, cookies, virtual databases, personalised web environments and collaborative filtering (what amazon do) but delivering is a bit tricky. The frustration is the deliverable gets diluted and can be miles away from what we can do or are allowed to - unless of course you are a pure play e-commerce or your business is doing badly enough to force you to re-engineer yourself.

That i am afraid is the silver lining upbeat swing at the end of the downbeat article, some organisations have no choice but to do things differently. Lack of budget focuses the mind. However i am an optimist - eventually.

And no I am not thinking about my clients.

Only positive cheery comments please.

Tech marketing = drug dealing

Just get it in the hands of your customers and they wont be able to give up the habit suppose that's why all the games retailers have the demo consoles in store.

But here is a great digital example. A chumby is a wi-fi device on which you can run apps, facebook, ebay, radio, transport information, news feeds, webcams. Keep it in the kitchen. They cost about £100.

But the really neat thing is that you can run a virtual chumby on your pc before you buy. Technology isn't real until you experience it.

This illustrates another point about digital making relationship marketing before the sale simpler and more cost effective.

Thanks to Rory Sutherland for showing me his virtual Chumby. If you want to set yours up go to www.chumby.com .

Big budgets can lead to lazy marketing

Some marketers have too much money. If they had limited budget they would :-

(1) Make sure the website was a focal point of the business
(2) Invest time in creating interesting content covering the category, events to video.
(3) Get a few staff to blog their little socks off
(4) Optimise the site for organic search
(5) Share as much as possible with key influencers
(6) Capture customer data, give customers a personal service, do CRM, maximise retention
(7) Give their brand personality
(8) Develop affiliate relationships - old style and new style affiliates
(9) Link, link, link

... and so on and so on

If they have too much money they :-

(a) Do big ads and talk about big ideas, (not lots of great little ideas)
(b) Run regular DM programs, saying the same thing to the same prospects again and again.
(c) Do lots of paid search
(d) Try to sell off the page
(e) Talk about being customer centric
(f) Copy their nearest competitors

Technorati Profile

Reinvigorating Brand Santa

Santa has won the hearts and minds of his customers. But growth is fuelled by population expansion, retention rates are average at best. The customer relationship starts round year three and fades year 7 to year 9.

Santa is privately owned so there is no financial reporting requirement. The business model is hazy; it is not clear how Santa makes its money. To grow the business you require cashflow or substantial capital. Property lease back is a non starter; they only seem to have seasonal concessions within a variety of retail outlets. Lapland HQ is not practical for other businesses of this scale. Opportunity cost of these assets would seem to be close to zero.

The solution to turning Santa around must lie on the revenue side of the equation. Here are our recommendations.

1. Santa, St Nicholas, Father Christmas, Papai Noel, Babbo Natale – the different names dilute the brand. Choose one name and stick to it. It worked for Snickers. Whilst a name that resonates with the Chinese market is tempting we feel an English name provides the greatest global reach. SantaServices gives you brand stretch.

2. Create added value services e.g. charge for different delivery options, delivering on Christmas Day should be the premium not the standard service. Charge for returns? Provide warranties? It estimated that 15% of presents are damaged on Christmas Day.

3. Merchandise yourself e.g. replica kits for children; think laterally! What would be the equivalent of the soccer away strip? What about a light suit for hotter climates. Don’t be a slave to red.

4. Investigate sponsorship opportunities. Formula 1 would offer the best benchmark. Look for brand synergies, but obviously avoid competitors like DHL, red letters days unless there is a clear income opportunity.

5. Branding. Make sure santaservices.com is on all packaging and clothing. “This present was bought you to by Santaservices.com”.

6. Embrace digital. Letters posted up chimneys is a nice touch but difficult to believe it is practical. How do you manage surges in activity? And of course it doesn’t feel very 21cn. Email has to be the way forward. Make the website work harder, a personalised web experience is essential. And of course this year we are expecting mobile technologies to take off so integrating SMS is a must.

7. Brand experience days help your best customers embrace the brand. It is probably Pizza Express No.1 marketing activity.

8. Business is over-reliant on one man; no one is going to invest in a business without a clear accession plan. Consider an X-Santa factor show.

9. Give Mrs Santa more of a role cf Cameron and Brown. Older men into children can be perceived as unusual e.g. Michael Jackson.

10. One day a year! Enormous opportunity even if we don’t go 24x7x365. Of course it is possible more frequent Christmases may be difficult to market but the core competence is distribution and logistics. Look to provide corporate outsourcing solutions.

11. Develop retention program for teenage into adult years, you know all about random acts of kindness. Put the Christmas back into CRM.

12. Appearance is everything. Looking that comfortable in the present climate does not seem appropriate. Even Puff daddy is forgoing bling in concession to the crunch. Obesity and children is a hot topic. Think about going on TV with Gok or Gillian Mckeith.

And finally, don’t get pissed in public and learn to dance Salsa.

Please feel free to add advice, Santa does read every comment. In the next few weeks we will be discussing God, Germany and WH Smiths.