It’s about people.

Remember, when it comes to brands and cultivating unique identities:

It’s about people -- it’s humans, in human systems, pursuing human endeavors.

NY Times on WOMM

An interesting article about word of mouth marketing in today's New York Times.

Obviously, researchers want to better understand how people really feel about brands, products, and/or services. Are people advocates for their product? Are they aware of the service? As a side note, from the vantage point of my soapbox, remember awareness (buzz) does not mean advocacy.

I found the article interesting, but would like to know more about the connections one makes with a product or service – what’s driving meaning, motive, identity, or emotion for those keeping a diary? Are WOMM firms looking at that or are they providing a slightly more sophisticated version of Yahoo Buzz or Google Zeitgeist?

I still see some potential after we have filters that can change data-driven noise to actionable information and knowledge. Until then:

BoldMouth has joined with a software company, BuzzLogic, to create a product available in January that will help companies monitor what people say about them on Internet sites. Tracking consumer chatter, though, does not always provide companies with solutions, said Heather Dougherty, senior retail analyst for Nielsen/NetRatings.

“Everyone knows that word of mouth is important, and it’s something that goes on all the time,” Ms. Dougherty said. “But being able to really harness it can be very difficult.”

Holiday Branding

As Thanksgiving rapidly approaches and we’re deep into the throes of the holiday season, the topic of holiday branding or brand modification came up. Jason and I started discussing holiday/seasonal branding. Jason seemed to have a bit of a bah humbug attitude towards it. I have to say, that I’m for it when it is done well. In this case, done well means:
- it doesn’t send a competing message (devalue the core brand identity)
- it doesn’t generate noise and interrupt the desired customer experience
- it doesn’t violate “here and now” phenomena
- it provides complimentary novelty – keeping the identity and experience fresh
- it positively reinforces the brand and, wait for it… creates value.

Some examples of companies that do it well:
- Caribou Coffee – they utilize snowflakes that involve their Caribou icon and the online store has holiday lights in the header that match the rustic feel of their stores.
- Google – they do a great job of modifying their logo on special days (holidays, the Olympics, etc.) with what they refer to as Google doodles. CNN had a piece about Dennis Hwang, Google’s logo artist, last summer.
- Amazon – which may modify their header but doesn’t change their IA or target area is another good example.

I think part of the success and appeal is that it connects many of us. Alone, it won’t create community, but it is a bit of wink or a tip of the hat that says we’re in this together. In some ways this is like breweries offering seasonal beers. It's the same/comfortable brand year 'round, but there's something special to help mark the seasons. In the case of Summit, I’m a big fan of their IPA and Grand, which are available year ‘round. I really enjoy their Mai Bock, which marks the start of Spring, and their Winter Ale, which helps get you through a long Minnesota Winter. Summit modified their labeling recently and now uses a standard logo and only modifies the name banner. I was a fan of their old Winter logo (pictured above) as that met my criteria for effective holiday novelty.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

More Field Links

Thanks to honorary field agent Jason, I have two more resources for you to enjoy.

First, UX Mag, a great resource for user experience information. Second, Think Vitamin providing "nourishment to help the web grow.

Around the web, shiny new things for you to read.

A few things from the web worth checking out. Well, of course there’s a lot more, but here are things that (don't involve K-Fed) as a reader of this blog, you may appreciate.

1. Via honorary field agent Rett, The Ad Feed (also found in the Field Links section) is an aggregator for ad industry related content from providers such as Ad Age and Ad Week.

2. 37 Signals has a great (meta-) post about “flow.” If you are interested in designing a great customer experience, better understanding art, jazz, or building a unique identity, check it out.

3. As a reminder The Vulture is always a good read.

Megabus, a pragmatic travel option

Recently, a relative came to visit us from Chicago. She took Megabus and her roundtrip tickets only cost $16.00. When it comes to Midwest travel. That's a lot of bang for the bus.

Seth's take on a righteous restaurant

Recently on Seth Godin’s blog he talked about a restaurant where he enjoys to eating lunch, as the food is healthy and the restaurant allows substitutions and combinations of ingredients. I highlight the post because it’s another example of Righteous, Social, or Pragmatic frames for customer segments. You can read the entire post from Seth here.

He states: "People who care about what they eat go somewhere on purpose. People who don't care, go close or cheap."

In other terms, those that eat healthy are righteous about what they eat and where they go. People who are pragmatic (emotional detachment, ease of use, bang for the buck, etc.) about their choice “go close or cheap.” It's not always about money, but it is always about value.

Do you know your value proposition when it comes to your customer segments?


Takeaways:
1. Righteous, Social, Pragmatic positioning (Symbographics) offer ways to avoid scavenger hunts and the false hopes created by researchers trying to invent a new category of consumers.
2. Symbographics provide a richer understanding of your customers and will take you much further than demographics, psychographics or sociographics.

Volvo Asks…

Who would you give a Volvo to? If you’re Volvo, no one. What seems to be set up as a contest, to elicit responses “about the people you want to help protect by putting them in one of the safest cars on the planet,” is just another advert.

Their site was recently updated, after some recent backlash, to put “this isn’t a contest” on the flash dominated splash page. Previously, you had to dig into the FAQs to get this question and answer:

Is there a Volvo vehicle being given away as part of the "Who Would You Give A Volvo To?" campaign?

No. The WWYGAVT campaign is intended to make people think about the safety initiatives Volvo has taken in vehicle development and therefore why they would consider a Volvo for the special individuals in their lives.

C'mon, you're using the word "give" as you troll for submissions -- that's the base premise of many sticky, consumer-generated, community building, hubster kind of promotions.

As A Christmas Story, the Jean Shepherd gem, is just around the corner, this seems to be a be-sure-to-drink-your-Ovaltine type of promotion. When Ralphie waits and waits for his Little Orphan Annie secret decoder ring – now he can decode the message. What does Annie need? Poor Ralphie has his optimism dashed when it’s a promo for Ovaltine– “son of a bitch, a commercial.” I’m sure most of you know the scene, if not watch TNT for any span of time on December 24.

So back to Volvo, is this simply an awareness campaign? How does this drive or support their symbolic identity of safety? Is it a way to gather in-depth, robust, ethnographies about potential customers? Do prize pigs taint your data?

Too many questions, not enough Volvos.

The take aways:
1. Not all buzz is good buzz. Sure, we’re talking about you guys, but I don’t think this is going to convert into sales.
2. Related to “buzz,” awareness does not equate to sales or advocacy.