MediaPost's Marketing Daily last week published an interview with Dodge president and CEO Ralph Gilles. Gilles took the driver's seat (pun intended - sorry) at Dodge last October, after 16 years rising through the ranks of Chrysler's design team.
Yes, the design team. Not the marketing team.
It doesn't seem that shifting gears (yes, another pun) from product design to marketing is a typical career move for most. And yet the articles and quotes that I've found online seem to indicate that Gilles has a good head for business. So this got me to pondering: what - aside from his MBA from Michigan State - can lead a design guy like Gilles to have potential for success in marketing, or vice versa?
His biggest advantage, I think, is that years of design work breeds a passion for excellence in product quality. Designers** have an intrinsic love for great design - in the case of product designers, this love encompasses aesthetics, certainly, but also engineering, performance, and product features. More marketers would do well to absorb some of their designers' passion for an outstanding product. When marketers become so focused on marketing communications, distribution channels, pricing tactics, and strategic partnerships that they forget about the product, they run into problems. A drive to continually turn out an excellent product (and services) must be the foundation for good marketing.
Conversely, a marketer-turned-designer would bring another key ethos to his design team: a commitment to customer-centricity. Marketers** constantly think about how they can serve customers. What does the customer need and want? What delights the customer? What frustrates the customer? Marketers create products and plan strategy with the customer in mind. More designers would do well to adopt their marketers' dedication to the customer perspective. When they think about the customer's needs first, designers build products to fit the customer's preferences, not just the tastes of the designer.
So yes, moves from designer to marketer or marketer to designer can provide some distinct insight for each of these realms of the business. We would do well to operate with both worlds in mind.
**Note: I almost said "Good designers" and "Good marketers," but I felt that that would be inaccurate. When I refer to a "designer," I mean someone who designs because design was born in them; a "marketer" is someone who does marketing because marketing was born in them. A person doesn't become a designer because she does design work; a designer does design work because a designer is who she is. She loves design; she is good at design; design is her passion; she couldn't imagine doing anything else. Likewise, a person doesn't become a marketer because she does marketing; a marketer does marketing because a marketer is who she is. These people are the true designers and true marketers, and their design work and their marketing is good, and is naturally done from these mindsets I described. I would assert that "bad designers" or "bad marketers" are bad at what they do because they aren't really meant to be designers or marketers at all. Thus, the word "good" is unnecessary to distinguish the designers and marketers to whom I refer in this blog, because true designers and true marketers are good at what they do, and naturally operate from the mindsets I describe.
Showing posts with label excellence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label excellence. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Permission to Buy Your Product
People need permission to buy your product.
Permission from themselves. Permission from their friends, family, religious communities, civic organizations, and sub-cultures. Permission from their peers, colleagues, coworkers, and superiors.
For most routine purchases, for purchases of well-respected brands, and for purchases that are considered to be a "reasonable" cost, this permission isn't usually a hang-up for consumers. Permission has already been granted, in the form of a generally accepted view that this is a "legitimate" purchase.
But for non-standard purchases, for large purchases, for purchases of little-known brands, and for purchases that carry a high "cost" (in terms of price, time, inconvenience, reputation, future success, etc.), permission from self or others isn't automatically guaranteed. And this permission is crucial; without it, the buyer feels like he or she must choose another brand, or abandon the purchase altogether.
Some examples:
As a marketer, how do you provide this permission for consumers to buy your brand?
First, excellence. Second, communication.
The unknown university needs to be excellent in its academic quality, in the credentials of its professors, in the opportunities it provides to students, in the atmosphere on-campus, and in the success of its graduates. And it needs to communicate that excellence to prospective students, to the parents of prospective students, and to the general public.
The obscure "organic" weed killer needs to kill weeds effectively, and needs to do so with less environmental impact than the standard brands. And it needs to communicate to consumers - on its packaging, on its website, and in its advertising - exactly how its ingredients are better for the environment and how its performance compares to the leading brands.
The luxury sports car needs to provide an exceptional, enduring, and fuel-efficient driving experience. And it needs to communicate its performance, its ratings, its gas mileage, and its value through its marketing materials, advertising, and personal sales.
With your own brand - especially if you represent a new company, or a new product, or a new brand - be excellent, and communicate. Give people permission to buy your product.
Permission from themselves. Permission from their friends, family, religious communities, civic organizations, and sub-cultures. Permission from their peers, colleagues, coworkers, and superiors.
For most routine purchases, for purchases of well-respected brands, and for purchases that are considered to be a "reasonable" cost, this permission isn't usually a hang-up for consumers. Permission has already been granted, in the form of a generally accepted view that this is a "legitimate" purchase.
But for non-standard purchases, for large purchases, for purchases of little-known brands, and for purchases that carry a high "cost" (in terms of price, time, inconvenience, reputation, future success, etc.), permission from self or others isn't automatically guaranteed. And this permission is crucial; without it, the buyer feels like he or she must choose another brand, or abandon the purchase altogether.
Some examples:
- When a straight-A high school senior is considering an unheard-of college while his friends are applying to Ivy League schools, he needs permission to attend this obscure university. He needs permission from himself (that this school, though small, will provide him the best education he could find); permission from his friends (that they can accept that he has chosen an academically challenging college, although it does not have nearly the reputation of their own); and permission from future employers (that a degree from this university will enable him to get a good job in the future).
- When a mom is trying to take better care of the environment and beautify her home while being a good steward of the family's finances, she needs permission to buy the unfamiliar brand of weed killer that is 20% more expensive than the recognized brands but comes in the ergonomically-shaped green bottle with a name and package that sound environmentally friendly. If she is going to pay 20% extra for a brand she doesn't recognize, she first needs permission from herself and her family (by being sure that the product will work well and will be less harmful to the environment).
- When a husband wants to buy an expensive sports car, he needs permission from himself (that he deserves it, that the car is a good deal) and from his wife (that they have enough money to pay for the car, that the car gets good gas mileage, that the car will last the family a long time).
As a marketer, how do you provide this permission for consumers to buy your brand?
First, excellence. Second, communication.
The unknown university needs to be excellent in its academic quality, in the credentials of its professors, in the opportunities it provides to students, in the atmosphere on-campus, and in the success of its graduates. And it needs to communicate that excellence to prospective students, to the parents of prospective students, and to the general public.
The obscure "organic" weed killer needs to kill weeds effectively, and needs to do so with less environmental impact than the standard brands. And it needs to communicate to consumers - on its packaging, on its website, and in its advertising - exactly how its ingredients are better for the environment and how its performance compares to the leading brands.
The luxury sports car needs to provide an exceptional, enduring, and fuel-efficient driving experience. And it needs to communicate its performance, its ratings, its gas mileage, and its value through its marketing materials, advertising, and personal sales.
With your own brand - especially if you represent a new company, or a new product, or a new brand - be excellent, and communicate. Give people permission to buy your product.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Why Do We Do What We Do?
Gary Chapman would say that my love language is words of affirmation.
As such, few things brighten my day more than when someone pays me a sincere compliment or gives me a word of encouragement. In my work, I seldom feel more satisfied and useful and fulfilled than when a boss or a client or a coworker tells me that I've done an excellent job.
But sometimes, I find myself beginning to do things solely for the prospect of receiving praise for my work. Instead of giving 110% to a task simply because giving 110% is the right thing to do, I begin to give 110% because I want to impress my client, or because I hope that one of my dearest mentors will notice.
As marketers, do we act the same way?
Do we begin to strategize ways that our organization can be amazing, just so that our organization can achieve recognition and media coverage and positive word-of-mouth?
Recognition and media coverage and positive word-of-mouth are wonderful and worthy things, no doubt, but they should not be the reason why we do what we do.
Instead, we should strategize ways to be amazing, just because being amazing is the right thing to do. Because having radical customer service is the right thing to do. Because being dedicated to good stewardship of natural resources is the right thing to do. Because improving the lives of people is the right thing to do. Because designing innovative, aesthetically-pleasing, useful products is the right thing to do. Because creating a wonderful place to work and shop and do business and live is the right thing to do.
When we do amazing things out of a sincere conviction that those are the things we should do, then the recognition and awards and good press and outstanding brand reputation will follow.
When we do amazing things simply because we are pursuing those accolades, then our heart isn't right. And when our heart isn't right toward the things we are doing, sooner or later the facade will break down. Sooner or later customers will realize that our customer service doesn't really care about them the way it is reputed to. Sooner or later our brand experience won't match up to the stunts we pulled, and our customers will become disillusioned - and leave. Sooner or later we will cut a corner or two, and the media will find out, and the bad press will more than destroy the good reputation we had built.
Be exceptional in what your organization does, simply because being exceptional is the right thing to do. When you choose to be exceptional for the right reasons, the real praise and the real devoted customers will follow.
As such, few things brighten my day more than when someone pays me a sincere compliment or gives me a word of encouragement. In my work, I seldom feel more satisfied and useful and fulfilled than when a boss or a client or a coworker tells me that I've done an excellent job.
But sometimes, I find myself beginning to do things solely for the prospect of receiving praise for my work. Instead of giving 110% to a task simply because giving 110% is the right thing to do, I begin to give 110% because I want to impress my client, or because I hope that one of my dearest mentors will notice.
As marketers, do we act the same way?
Do we begin to strategize ways that our organization can be amazing, just so that our organization can achieve recognition and media coverage and positive word-of-mouth?
Recognition and media coverage and positive word-of-mouth are wonderful and worthy things, no doubt, but they should not be the reason why we do what we do.
Instead, we should strategize ways to be amazing, just because being amazing is the right thing to do. Because having radical customer service is the right thing to do. Because being dedicated to good stewardship of natural resources is the right thing to do. Because improving the lives of people is the right thing to do. Because designing innovative, aesthetically-pleasing, useful products is the right thing to do. Because creating a wonderful place to work and shop and do business and live is the right thing to do.
When we do amazing things out of a sincere conviction that those are the things we should do, then the recognition and awards and good press and outstanding brand reputation will follow.
When we do amazing things simply because we are pursuing those accolades, then our heart isn't right. And when our heart isn't right toward the things we are doing, sooner or later the facade will break down. Sooner or later customers will realize that our customer service doesn't really care about them the way it is reputed to. Sooner or later our brand experience won't match up to the stunts we pulled, and our customers will become disillusioned - and leave. Sooner or later we will cut a corner or two, and the media will find out, and the bad press will more than destroy the good reputation we had built.
Be exceptional in what your organization does, simply because being exceptional is the right thing to do. When you choose to be exceptional for the right reasons, the real praise and the real devoted customers will follow.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Exceptional Customer Service Strikes Again
The story you are about to read is true.
Some of my marketing consulting work recently required me to have some informational booklets professionally printed. I sent the booklet to the printer in two batches - in the first batch, I ordered only one copy, so that I could show it to my client for approval before running the rest of the copies. After I got my client's opinion and made a few changes, I ordered a larger batch of the booklet.
For the first batch, I used a local printing company - let's call it Company A. I had never before worked with Company A, but I had heard of them and was willing to give them a try. Company A was professional, and turned out a great-quality product to me within my four-day deadline. I felt badly that my four-day deadline was a bit short, but I was under a time crunch myself, and was relieved that Company A was able to print my project, with great quality, on time.
Sometime after this first booklet came back from the printer, a friend of mine recommended that I try another printer in town, with whom he had had excellent previous experience. He suggested that I investigate whether this second printer - Company B, let's say - could print my booklet at a lower price than Company A.
I showed my first booklet to Company B, and, sure enough, their price quote per copy was 14% lower than I had paid for the booklet from Company A. Eager to try to save money without sacrificing quality, I placed the order for the second batch of booklets with Company B.
When I placed my order with Company B, my deadline was, unfortunately, even shorter than that for Company A - three business days, rather than four. With Company A, the graphics I sent were able to be printed without any manipulation. With Company B, their designer had to fix a few things for me. Company B then had to show me a proof. I then made one more change. Company B printed another proof. I then gave the okay, and Company B printed five times as many copies as Company A.
My order from Company B was ready for pick-up the very day after I had placed the order.
Company B delivered my project three days earlier, for 14% less per copy, and with more work on the part of the vendor, than Company A.
Guess which vendor will have all of my printing business from now on?
Had the lower price been the only benefit that Company B provided to me, I would have been equally satisfied with both Company A and B. Company A gave me a great product and met my professional expectations; they were satisfactory. Company A was simply a bit more expensive on this project - no hard feelings. On my next print job, I might have gotten bids from both Company A and Company B, and simply selected the less expensive vendor once again.
However, my experience with Company B was so exceptional compared to my completely satisfactory experience with Company A, that it left me with an unequivocal loyalty to one vendor over the other.
Is your organization like Company A? Do you provide a great product? Are you professional? Do you meet your customers' expectations? Do you satisfy your customers?
If so, beware that a Company B doesn't come along and start providing, not only a great product, but an outstanding product. Not only meeting, but exceeding your customers' expectations. Not only being professional, but being servants. Not only satisfying your customers, but delighting your customers.
If your organization currently looks like Company A, I would recommend doing everything in your power to become Company B - quickly.
Some of my marketing consulting work recently required me to have some informational booklets professionally printed. I sent the booklet to the printer in two batches - in the first batch, I ordered only one copy, so that I could show it to my client for approval before running the rest of the copies. After I got my client's opinion and made a few changes, I ordered a larger batch of the booklet.
For the first batch, I used a local printing company - let's call it Company A. I had never before worked with Company A, but I had heard of them and was willing to give them a try. Company A was professional, and turned out a great-quality product to me within my four-day deadline. I felt badly that my four-day deadline was a bit short, but I was under a time crunch myself, and was relieved that Company A was able to print my project, with great quality, on time.
Sometime after this first booklet came back from the printer, a friend of mine recommended that I try another printer in town, with whom he had had excellent previous experience. He suggested that I investigate whether this second printer - Company B, let's say - could print my booklet at a lower price than Company A.
I showed my first booklet to Company B, and, sure enough, their price quote per copy was 14% lower than I had paid for the booklet from Company A. Eager to try to save money without sacrificing quality, I placed the order for the second batch of booklets with Company B.
When I placed my order with Company B, my deadline was, unfortunately, even shorter than that for Company A - three business days, rather than four. With Company A, the graphics I sent were able to be printed without any manipulation. With Company B, their designer had to fix a few things for me. Company B then had to show me a proof. I then made one more change. Company B printed another proof. I then gave the okay, and Company B printed five times as many copies as Company A.
My order from Company B was ready for pick-up the very day after I had placed the order.
Company B delivered my project three days earlier, for 14% less per copy, and with more work on the part of the vendor, than Company A.
Guess which vendor will have all of my printing business from now on?
Had the lower price been the only benefit that Company B provided to me, I would have been equally satisfied with both Company A and B. Company A gave me a great product and met my professional expectations; they were satisfactory. Company A was simply a bit more expensive on this project - no hard feelings. On my next print job, I might have gotten bids from both Company A and Company B, and simply selected the less expensive vendor once again.
However, my experience with Company B was so exceptional compared to my completely satisfactory experience with Company A, that it left me with an unequivocal loyalty to one vendor over the other.
Is your organization like Company A? Do you provide a great product? Are you professional? Do you meet your customers' expectations? Do you satisfy your customers?
If so, beware that a Company B doesn't come along and start providing, not only a great product, but an outstanding product. Not only meeting, but exceeding your customers' expectations. Not only being professional, but being servants. Not only satisfying your customers, but delighting your customers.
If your organization currently looks like Company A, I would recommend doing everything in your power to become Company B - quickly.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Pre vs. iPhone - part 2
The saga of the Apple iPhone vs. the Palm Pre continues. (To read my first blog post on the matter, click here.) One week after Apple issued the iTunes 8.2.1 update, which blocked non-Apple smartphones (i.e. the Pre) from syncing with iTunes, Palm issued an update of its own. Among other features, the Palm webOS 1.1 re-enables iTunes synchronization. Of course.
I like Apple. It's a good company; it makes good products. Apple rose to fame for good reason - it consistently offered excellent functionality and beautiful, simple design, all for the purpose of providing the best possible user experience.
In personal computing, Apple's graphics remain unparalleled. In digital music, Apple's iPod is to MP3 players as Kleenex is to facial tissues. But in mobile communications, as Anders Bylund of The Motley Fool points out, Apple's iPhone is not the only viable smartphone anymore. The iPhone may or may not remain the best option, but it is certainly no longer the only one.
Mr. Bylund's article of yesterday reminds readers of Apple's famous "1984" Super Bowl commercial, which introduced the Macintosh computer to the world. In the ad, Apple was presented as the young, independent hero who would free the world from the reign of an Orwellian "Big Brother" IBM.
But 25 years later, as Mr. Bylund notes, Apple's recent actions seem more characteristic of "Big Brother" than of the young hero. Bylund has some intriguing speculation into why Apple might be acting this way, but I'll let you read his thoughts on your own.
My only comment is that Apple just needs to stop being so unfriendly. Stop doing things like preventing non-Apple smartphones from syncing with iTunes, and shutting down iPhone apps that use Google Voice. These actions may be within Apple's rights, but they are unbecoming to a company that once prided itself on fighting Big Brother.
So other smartphones are now competitive with the iPhone. So what? Apple knew it would happen. The proper response is not to try to stop the progress of competitors' models - progress which, by the way, attests to the excellence of Apple's products by piggybacking on iTunes and the iPhone. Rather, Apple should stop worrying about competitors and return its focus to pursuing excellence and innovation in function, design, and user experience.
That focus is what made Apple great, and that focus will enable Apple to keep pushing greatness forward. To borrow words from Satchel Paige, don't look back to see what might be gaining on you. Keep pushing forward.
I like Apple. It's a good company; it makes good products. Apple rose to fame for good reason - it consistently offered excellent functionality and beautiful, simple design, all for the purpose of providing the best possible user experience.
In personal computing, Apple's graphics remain unparalleled. In digital music, Apple's iPod is to MP3 players as Kleenex is to facial tissues. But in mobile communications, as Anders Bylund of The Motley Fool points out, Apple's iPhone is not the only viable smartphone anymore. The iPhone may or may not remain the best option, but it is certainly no longer the only one.
Mr. Bylund's article of yesterday reminds readers of Apple's famous "1984" Super Bowl commercial, which introduced the Macintosh computer to the world. In the ad, Apple was presented as the young, independent hero who would free the world from the reign of an Orwellian "Big Brother" IBM.
But 25 years later, as Mr. Bylund notes, Apple's recent actions seem more characteristic of "Big Brother" than of the young hero. Bylund has some intriguing speculation into why Apple might be acting this way, but I'll let you read his thoughts on your own.
My only comment is that Apple just needs to stop being so unfriendly. Stop doing things like preventing non-Apple smartphones from syncing with iTunes, and shutting down iPhone apps that use Google Voice. These actions may be within Apple's rights, but they are unbecoming to a company that once prided itself on fighting Big Brother.
So other smartphones are now competitive with the iPhone. So what? Apple knew it would happen. The proper response is not to try to stop the progress of competitors' models - progress which, by the way, attests to the excellence of Apple's products by piggybacking on iTunes and the iPhone. Rather, Apple should stop worrying about competitors and return its focus to pursuing excellence and innovation in function, design, and user experience.
That focus is what made Apple great, and that focus will enable Apple to keep pushing greatness forward. To borrow words from Satchel Paige, don't look back to see what might be gaining on you. Keep pushing forward.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A Burst of Creativity
Customers are tired of boring. They are tired of mediocre, status quo products, services, and marketing. Successful brands are those that are remarkable, creative, and exceptionally good at something. Because people are attracted to great work. And consumers want to identify themselves with something outstanding.
So, is your brand exceptionally good at something? Does your design team (or supply chain management, or finance department, or HR) exhibit superb innovation? Are your marketing communications creative, reaching customers in a fun way?
Or does it seem that your creativity has dried up?
Perhaps your company is like many - it's a good company. But not exceptionally good. Not great at anything. Not noted for creativity or innovation or the pursuit of excellence.
Do you need a boost to get those creative juices flowing again?
While it may be difficult to teach someone how to be creative, it seems to me that one of the best ways to stir up creativity is to immerse oneself in the creativity of others. Surround yourself with creative people and creative work.
Visit websites that showcase creative advertising, design, and marketing - try creativity-online.com, www.luerzersarchive.us, www.oneclub.org, and adsoftheworld.com for starters. Check out what innovative companies are doing - and not just in your own industry. Look at artwork - on Flickr, at artists' studios, in art museums. Search YouTube for old Super Bowl ads, funny videos, and top-rated tv commercials. Ask your friends to tell you the funniest thing they've seen, heard, or experienced recently. Read the comics. Tour a cathedral or historic mansion. Sit at a park and watch children playing. Lie on the grass and look at cloud shapes.
Surround yourself with creativity and excellence. Be inspired. Pursue greatness.
So, is your brand exceptionally good at something? Does your design team (or supply chain management, or finance department, or HR) exhibit superb innovation? Are your marketing communications creative, reaching customers in a fun way?
Or does it seem that your creativity has dried up?
Perhaps your company is like many - it's a good company. But not exceptionally good. Not great at anything. Not noted for creativity or innovation or the pursuit of excellence.
Do you need a boost to get those creative juices flowing again?
While it may be difficult to teach someone how to be creative, it seems to me that one of the best ways to stir up creativity is to immerse oneself in the creativity of others. Surround yourself with creative people and creative work.
Visit websites that showcase creative advertising, design, and marketing - try creativity-online.com, www.luerzersarchive.us, www.oneclub.org, and adsoftheworld.com for starters. Check out what innovative companies are doing - and not just in your own industry. Look at artwork - on Flickr, at artists' studios, in art museums. Search YouTube for old Super Bowl ads, funny videos, and top-rated tv commercials. Ask your friends to tell you the funniest thing they've seen, heard, or experienced recently. Read the comics. Tour a cathedral or historic mansion. Sit at a park and watch children playing. Lie on the grass and look at cloud shapes.
Surround yourself with creativity and excellence. Be inspired. Pursue greatness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
