The issue or issues I have with positioning are well documented in this blog. But I still get a lot of resistance when I try to explain to companies that they are wasting their money relying on advertising agencies to manage their brands by developing a positioning strategy. This is because another issue that is … Continue reading »
Recently I’ve met a couple of companies who couldn’t explain why they implemented a customer satisfaction survey and how they used the results! I hope this is the exception, not the rule. If you’ve carried out a customer satisfaction survey, you probably did it because you want to deliver great customer service and believe the … Continue reading »
Building brands has evolved from the one dimensional, top down era where the company controlled the relationship and essentially managed that relationship using broadcasts across mass media such as TV, Out of Home, print and radio with messages and content created to tell you what the company wanted you to know into the bottom up, … Continue reading »
The other day, one of our computers froze. This is a scary moment for most companies and it was even more scary for us as we use Apple computers and it was the first time this happened in 7 years. More worrying, this particular PC is running some expensive design software and auto-save was off! … Continue reading »
If you are in Malaysia or Singapore and you sell stuff to customers, there is one phrase that can ruin your brand. “No stock Lah.” Is repeated time again by poorly trained and disinterested staff. This seemingly innocuous phrase should be banned in your organization. While we’re at it, you should also ban the obligatory … Continue reading »
This is a good place to start a compendium of branding terms because unfortunately, it is where many companies start their brand building. And that’s a shame, no tragedy because it is an expensive exercise in futility to try and build a brand using advertising alone. Advertising can be traced back to around the late … Continue reading »
Brands are defined by the economic, emotional and experiential value they provide to a consumer. If you can’t match the attributes of your brand to those requirements for value, consumers won’t buy it. Cost is a critical element. No matter how much you spend on expensive TV commercials that the agency says will reach the … Continue reading »
According to an Ernst & Young study, the failure rate of new U.S. consumer products is 95%. 95%! Imagine if Boeing or Airbus had a 5% success rate! Yet despite this appalling return, companies spend approximately US$1.5 trillion on marketing, and in particular advertising, annually! A couple of years ago, (before the explosion of social … Continue reading »
In terms of service, Christmas shopping this year has been a roller coaster ride from the highs of the interactions in the luxury stores of Pavillion to the lows of the interactions in the wannabe Malaysian fashion store in Mid Valley. And even though approximately 85% of the interactions have left me frustrated, I want … Continue reading »
The legendary Peter Drucker said it best: “The purpose of business is not to make a sale but to make and keep a customer”. This is what branding is about. It’s not about aquisition, it’s about retention. And the airline industry, and in particular, Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) need to realise this soon otherwise they … Continue reading »
