Posts
Sultry Sally chips are available nationally in Woolworths. Woolworths launched their own (Select) brand of low fat chips in direct competition. I actually welcomed their entry because two of us makes a "Better For You" category. Years ago when I did my MBA we talked about the "Ice Cream Sellers on Bondi Beach". One ice cream seller on Bondi Beach is a vendor; two is a market. Two ice cream sellers will generate more revenue each than one will.
But Woolworths supported the launch of their product with more than $2m of advertising support including prime time TV. The result was that we have been suffering a sales decline for a number of weeks as people switch to the Woolies low fat offering.
The rub here is that if we are to maintain the Woolworth's listing we need to increase sales to demonstrate our worth - difficult when our 'landlord' is also our competitor. It seemed that some traditional advertising was required on our part and in fact Woolworths almost implicitly demanded it.
I am not a huge fan of traditional advertising for new brand launches. I believe people are too busy and not really listening (another blog pot will be necessary to explain why). So to be forced into a position where I have to take a traditional, main media approach is anathema.
This was quickly compounded. I guess if most marketers were asked to focus on traditional advertising these days (and TV was too expensive) the focus would quickly shift to online, and specifically to either search or social media. I have some partners in the business who are most definitely 'old media' types and wouldn't countenance online in a month of Sundays.
One of my partners (Nick Moraitis) has a great relationship with an old advertising war horse - a inductee into the Australian advertising hall of fame - John Singleton (AKA 'Singo"). Singo owns an AM (!!) radio station in Sydney - 2GB. Nick decided, "Timmy, we need to go and see Singo; he'll help us out on 2GB and everyone listens to 2GB".
My heart sank. Strategically, I couldn't think of anything worse. We are talking radio; worse, AM radio; worse still, talk-back radio; even worse, a radio station that everyone knows is only listened to by a few old punters - way, way off target and brand for us.
But I met with Singo and Nick and Ray Hadley, one of their Jock presenters. Most of the discussion revolved around race horses ( a shared interest for all of them), but the bits that didn't and were comprehensible to me, were equally scary - sort of a "Trust us mate, we'll see what we can do" approach.
No, no, no thought I, this is all wrong. But Nick persisted and prevailed. "They are mates", he said, "Everyone listens to 2GB; it's the highest rating station in Sydney".
I braced for the impending disaster as the ink dried on a 6 week deal with 2GB.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
Our phones have been ringing off the hook; NSW Woolworths stores have been emptied of product. It is working like nothing I have seen before. I have been forced to eat my words and humble pie and I couldn't be more grateful.
Every bit of conventional thinking says this can't work - wrong demographic; wrong for the brand; wrong medium; just plain wrong! - but it has.
I love the fact that some old dogs can still teach us 'young 'uns' some old new tricks; I love the fact that the old ways still count for something; I love the fact that I can still be surprised, be wrong and learn from it.
The lessons? Respect and value your elders; be open minded; be prepared to try different things; don't be instantly dismissive; and finally - you are a champion Ray Hadley!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Rethink 2009 - Barcelona
My old friend Martin Lindstrom recommended me (thanks Martin) and, as a result, I was fortunate to be invited to provide a keynote presentation at a marketing conference in Barcelona this month. The conference topic was "Rethink - The Basis of Communication" and was generally about how businesses can deal with marketing in the face of the global crisis.
It was a fantastically interesting event which was made so by the calibre of my fellow speakers.
Martin Oetting, from trnd in Berlin, is an international expert in word-of-mouth marketing (in fact he has just completed a doctoral dissertation on the subject).
Nigel Barlow a British, fortunately now reformed, erstwhile lawyer, had coincidentally written a book called 'Re-think" some years before and was an inspirational proponent of creative thinking. I enjoyed immensely his company and his stimulating ovation.
Steve Hatch is the Managing Director of mediaedge:cia in London. They seem to be doing some very creative and different work (to me, surprisingly so, since they are part of WPP).
Jose Molla, originally from Argentina, but now living in Miami was a swarthy, straight from central casting, Latin American, advertising creative with his own agency called la comunidad.
But I am going to devote most of this post to a professor of economics. Dr. Kjell (pronounced 'Shell') Nordstrom, hails from Stockholm where he is an Associate Professor at the Institute of International Business at the Stockholm School of Economics. We all know that economics is generally impenetrable to all but economists - I have a Master of Economics degree and still my eyes glaze over usually - but Kjell is not that sort of economist. He is best described as a 'Rock Star' economist because that is how he looks and presents. He was riveting! In fact at the end of his key note speech the room erupted with a standing ovation. I challenge anyone to recall the last time an economics presenter received such approval (even adulation) at a business conference.
Perhaps his talk resonated with me because he gave more articulate voice to many of the views I have long held - he even managed to serendipitously identify as an opportunity, one of the nascent business ventures I have been working on for a while now. With Dr. Jonas Ridderstrale, Kjell is the co-author of Funky Business and Karaoke Capitalism. Both are worth reading and provide a very different perspective on the state of the world and how to make money in business.
I'm not going to try to paraphrase Kjell's analysis or words of wisdom because I simply couldn't do them justice - in fact I will endeavour to get him here for an Aussie tour. But some stimulating thoughts from him:
1. The art of making money is not just to have a great idea but to ensure that idea provides a temporary monopoly; there is no money to be made in competition.
2. The world is dramatically changing - not just in the face of the current economic storm - and those changes will have a profound affect on how we do business. For example, we are becoming more urbanised than ever before in history and urban conurbations are developing cultures of their own. An example - the US is not one market it is a number of cities with very distinct personalities and cultures.
3. How about this one - more than 2/3rds of uni students today (the world over) on average are women. Young men have become emasculated - they have given up. This will have a profound impact on the leadership (and culture) of organisations in the future.
4. The family unit is breaking down. Increasingly (and it is accelerating) the majority of households in cities around the world are sole person households. For example, in Stockholm this is 64% of households. This will have a dramatic impact on the shape of business.
5. Many people have, as result of the crisis, written off the USA as a global economic super power. This is a mistake. The US will continue to dominate as one of the top 3 wealthiest nations on earth because it is the only country in the world which is a true meritocracy and is available to anyone regardless of birth. For example, Arnold Swartzeneger, born in Austria, can become Governor of the 5th largest economy of the world; 86% of people working in Silicon Valley were born outside the US; 9 of the top 10 universities of the world are American.
6. There has been a dramatic shift of power (in everything) from the centre to the periphery. This is demonstrated so powerfully with the web which has empowered (well, let's face it) everyone. This changes fundamentally the nature of business.
And on and on it went. If you can, read his books. Even better, if you can, hear him speak. He throws out pearls of wisdom.
One thing is certain to me. We should not expect the world has changed and will change back again. The world has changed. There is no going back. Businesses which will thrive are those that recognise the change is forever and come up with customer inspired solutions to the new world order.
It was a fantastically interesting event which was made so by the calibre of my fellow speakers.
Martin Oetting, from trnd in Berlin, is an international expert in word-of-mouth marketing (in fact he has just completed a doctoral dissertation on the subject).
Nigel Barlow a British, fortunately now reformed, erstwhile lawyer, had coincidentally written a book called 'Re-think" some years before and was an inspirational proponent of creative thinking. I enjoyed immensely his company and his stimulating ovation.
Steve Hatch is the Managing Director of mediaedge:cia in London. They seem to be doing some very creative and different work (to me, surprisingly so, since they are part of WPP).
Jose Molla, originally from Argentina, but now living in Miami was a swarthy, straight from central casting, Latin American, advertising creative with his own agency called la comunidad.
But I am going to devote most of this post to a professor of economics. Dr. Kjell (pronounced 'Shell') Nordstrom, hails from Stockholm where he is an Associate Professor at the Institute of International Business at the Stockholm School of Economics. We all know that economics is generally impenetrable to all but economists - I have a Master of Economics degree and still my eyes glaze over usually - but Kjell is not that sort of economist. He is best described as a 'Rock Star' economist because that is how he looks and presents. He was riveting! In fact at the end of his key note speech the room erupted with a standing ovation. I challenge anyone to recall the last time an economics presenter received such approval (even adulation) at a business conference.
Perhaps his talk resonated with me because he gave more articulate voice to many of the views I have long held - he even managed to serendipitously identify as an opportunity, one of the nascent business ventures I have been working on for a while now. With Dr. Jonas Ridderstrale, Kjell is the co-author of Funky Business and Karaoke Capitalism. Both are worth reading and provide a very different perspective on the state of the world and how to make money in business.
I'm not going to try to paraphrase Kjell's analysis or words of wisdom because I simply couldn't do them justice - in fact I will endeavour to get him here for an Aussie tour. But some stimulating thoughts from him:
1. The art of making money is not just to have a great idea but to ensure that idea provides a temporary monopoly; there is no money to be made in competition.
2. The world is dramatically changing - not just in the face of the current economic storm - and those changes will have a profound affect on how we do business. For example, we are becoming more urbanised than ever before in history and urban conurbations are developing cultures of their own. An example - the US is not one market it is a number of cities with very distinct personalities and cultures.
3. How about this one - more than 2/3rds of uni students today (the world over) on average are women. Young men have become emasculated - they have given up. This will have a profound impact on the leadership (and culture) of organisations in the future.
4. The family unit is breaking down. Increasingly (and it is accelerating) the majority of households in cities around the world are sole person households. For example, in Stockholm this is 64% of households. This will have a dramatic impact on the shape of business.
5. Many people have, as result of the crisis, written off the USA as a global economic super power. This is a mistake. The US will continue to dominate as one of the top 3 wealthiest nations on earth because it is the only country in the world which is a true meritocracy and is available to anyone regardless of birth. For example, Arnold Swartzeneger, born in Austria, can become Governor of the 5th largest economy of the world; 86% of people working in Silicon Valley were born outside the US; 9 of the top 10 universities of the world are American.
6. There has been a dramatic shift of power (in everything) from the centre to the periphery. This is demonstrated so powerfully with the web which has empowered (well, let's face it) everyone. This changes fundamentally the nature of business.
And on and on it went. If you can, read his books. Even better, if you can, hear him speak. He throws out pearls of wisdom.
One thing is certain to me. We should not expect the world has changed and will change back again. The world has changed. There is no going back. Businesses which will thrive are those that recognise the change is forever and come up with customer inspired solutions to the new world order.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Bureaucracy (Vodafone) Gone Mad
I have recently travelled to Barcelona to speak at a marketing conference about how marketers can deal with the global crisis (more on that later).
As is usually the case I travelled with a laptop, iPhone and Blackberry (actually two Blackberry's). All worked extremely well at keeping me in constant touch. One of the Blackberry's was a Bold provided by Vodafone which I have been using for a few months now. The other was my old Blackberry (clunky) provided by Telstra.
I love the Blackberry Bold and choose it over the iPhone for email. The Bold was provided to me by Vodafone as part of a wider deal (involving a number of staff phones) I have with them, and, despite the initial problems getting it provisioned by Vodafone, has previously functioned flawlessly.
I went the long way to Barcelona across the top of Europe, via Helsinki, and had no problems with the Bold working in Bangkok, Helsinki or Barcelona. Things fell apart though on my return journey.
I arrived for a 7 hour layover in Bangkok and there was no service on the Bold. I tried rebooting a number of times but still no emails despite the fact that it was clearly showing a network connection and signal strength.
Annoyingly I had to resort to email on my iPhone (I had packed the backup Telstra Blackberry in my checked luggage figuring I wouldn't need it, so I had no choice). One of the emails was a transcribed voice message from my office phone system, from Vodafone, asking me to call them on an Australian 1800 number (which was of course not accessible from overseas). I guessed I knew what the problem was and thought, since I had 7 hours to kill anyway, I might as well try and resolve it.
The problem I envisaged was that I have NEVER received a bill from Vodafone and therefore have never paid them. I knew sooner or later I would have to pay but figured it wasn't my role to beg them for a bill. I had given them all my contact details (home and office) when I signed up, and clearly they at least knew my office phone number, so I wasn't trying to avoid them or my fiduciary duties.
I found a way to get my laptop online in Bangkok airport and went digging on the web for a Vodafone contact number I could call from overseas. I finally tracked one down and made the call.
I got through to "Laura" their inept human interface to an IVR system. I, like almost any sane consumer, hate IVR systems and I hate them even more when they dress them up with a faux helpful and cheerful human voice interface who asks me to simply 'say the thing I need'. I speak perfectly good English and I have a well remunerated public speaking career which attests to it, yet 'Laura' and her ilk never seem to comprehend my requests. The result is an increasingly frustrating farce where 'she' repeatedly tells me "I'm sorry I didn't understand that, can you say again what you want - it is a good idea to speak slowly and simply'. Grrrrrr!!!! There is never simple enough language to make 'Laura' understand.
This sort of obfuscation is fine when you are calling them on their 1800 number, and it is not costing you anything, but it is maddening when you are calling from overseas and it is costing you global roaming charges.
Eventually I got through to the right sort of IVR option but Laura wasn't going to put me through to a real person until I had provided my PIN number security code. When 'Laura' asked for my PIN number my heart sank because I had no idea at all what it was. I have a great head for numbers and knew it wasn't just a case of my forgetfulness - I have never had a Vodafone PIN. I vainly tried a few of the 'old faithfuls' only to be told in a very condescending manner by 'Laura' that the numbers were incorrect.
Thank heavens (or so I thought) 'Laura' gave up in frustration and put me through to a real person. The first question I was asked by the real person - "Tom" - was, you guessed it, my PIN number. "I have no idea at all", was my plaintive reply. "Well try guessing", said Tom. "I've been guessing for the last half hour and Laura tells me all my guesses are wrong, what's the point in trying again with you Tom?" was my response. "Try anyway". So I did. Of course, all my guesses were incorrect.
Tom refused to talk to me unless I could identify 'myself' with a PIN number - he was concerned about my privacy. Well, I wasn't going to let it go at that. I told him I was in Bangkok and my beloved Blackberry wasn't working. He managed to confirm that for me. I suggested that the reason might be because they had cut it off because I hadn't paid the bill. He was more cagey with that one because he didn't want to reveal anything to me but it was clear that was the case. I played my trump card - "But Tom, I am returning your call - you called me to talk about this". He begrudgingly admitted he (personally) had called and left a message but he still couldn't talk to me because I couldn't identify myself. I asked him how on earth I would know he called me unless I was the person who he called but he still wouldn't budge.
I tried a different tack - "Look Tom, I'm happy to pay any outstanding bill to get my Blackberry working again, just switch the Blackberry back on and email it to me and I'll pay it - I don't know where the bills have been going but I have never received one." He admitted that he could "see, from the files at least 3 potential reasons why my bills weren't getting to me, but [he] still couldn't discuss it [with me] because I couldn't provide the PIN" and so he didn't know who I was. He offered to talk to to his supervisor if he could put me on (expensive) hold for a couple of minutes.
He came back and said that his supervisor had told him that if I could fax him, on Company letterhead, a letter signed by a Company director, requesting them to release to me my PIN he could do so and then I could call back and talk to him. I lost it at this point and suggested common sense should prevail - I was in Bangkok airport, not near a fax machine or printer and in any event I didn't have a letterhead (at all - who does these days?) . This brought us to a grinding impasse.
He went back to his supervisor who proposed a cunning plan - 'How about I nominate a $ figure I would be prepared to pay to have my Blackberry service reinstated and, if that was acceptable to them, I could pay it via credit card over the phone and then we could both sort it all out when I got back to Australia.' I dismissed this for the obvious nonsense it was.
I suggested a number of alternatives - how about I email you a letter including my company ABN? How will you do that said he - from my Optus iPhone of course! That might work, he admitted. Is there any other way I asked - how about you ask me for my date of birth, the colour of my eyes, my mother's maiden name, the name of my first pet or first car? No, Tom wouldn't have any of that.
So, after nearly 2 hours on the phone, I hadn't gotten anywhere with Tom. I tried the only thing which provided a glimmer of hope and sent him an email from my iPhone. I didn't receive a response.
And still haven't! It has been a week now since I have been back. I've tried emailing and calling but they still can't talk to me because I still don't know my PIN, which to the best of my knowledge, I have never set up in any event.
I still have received no invoices anywhere and my Vodafone Blackberry is still down for the count.
The day I arrived back in OZ I popped around to Telstra and upgraded my old, spare Blackberry for a Bold. So for the last week I have been happily using a Blackberry Bold again but with a different carrier.
I guess I'll wait and see what Vodafone does. At least I know they correctly have my office telephone number but I haven't received any calls from them. Even if I did I am sure the first question they would ask is my PIN - stalemate again.
There are so many things wrong with Vodafone evident from this story that I don't know where to begin to summarise them. I would have thought that in this challenging economic time it was more imperative than ever to apply common sense; collect cash from your customers; provide exceptional service and so on. Not Vodafone. Heaven help them - if you have shares, sell!
As is usually the case I travelled with a laptop, iPhone and Blackberry (actually two Blackberry's). All worked extremely well at keeping me in constant touch. One of the Blackberry's was a Bold provided by Vodafone which I have been using for a few months now. The other was my old Blackberry (clunky) provided by Telstra.
I love the Blackberry Bold and choose it over the iPhone for email. The Bold was provided to me by Vodafone as part of a wider deal (involving a number of staff phones) I have with them, and, despite the initial problems getting it provisioned by Vodafone, has previously functioned flawlessly.
I went the long way to Barcelona across the top of Europe, via Helsinki, and had no problems with the Bold working in Bangkok, Helsinki or Barcelona. Things fell apart though on my return journey.
I arrived for a 7 hour layover in Bangkok and there was no service on the Bold. I tried rebooting a number of times but still no emails despite the fact that it was clearly showing a network connection and signal strength.
Annoyingly I had to resort to email on my iPhone (I had packed the backup Telstra Blackberry in my checked luggage figuring I wouldn't need it, so I had no choice). One of the emails was a transcribed voice message from my office phone system, from Vodafone, asking me to call them on an Australian 1800 number (which was of course not accessible from overseas). I guessed I knew what the problem was and thought, since I had 7 hours to kill anyway, I might as well try and resolve it.
The problem I envisaged was that I have NEVER received a bill from Vodafone and therefore have never paid them. I knew sooner or later I would have to pay but figured it wasn't my role to beg them for a bill. I had given them all my contact details (home and office) when I signed up, and clearly they at least knew my office phone number, so I wasn't trying to avoid them or my fiduciary duties.
I found a way to get my laptop online in Bangkok airport and went digging on the web for a Vodafone contact number I could call from overseas. I finally tracked one down and made the call.
I got through to "Laura" their inept human interface to an IVR system. I, like almost any sane consumer, hate IVR systems and I hate them even more when they dress them up with a faux helpful and cheerful human voice interface who asks me to simply 'say the thing I need'. I speak perfectly good English and I have a well remunerated public speaking career which attests to it, yet 'Laura' and her ilk never seem to comprehend my requests. The result is an increasingly frustrating farce where 'she' repeatedly tells me "I'm sorry I didn't understand that, can you say again what you want - it is a good idea to speak slowly and simply'. Grrrrrr!!!! There is never simple enough language to make 'Laura' understand.
This sort of obfuscation is fine when you are calling them on their 1800 number, and it is not costing you anything, but it is maddening when you are calling from overseas and it is costing you global roaming charges.
Eventually I got through to the right sort of IVR option but Laura wasn't going to put me through to a real person until I had provided my PIN number security code. When 'Laura' asked for my PIN number my heart sank because I had no idea at all what it was. I have a great head for numbers and knew it wasn't just a case of my forgetfulness - I have never had a Vodafone PIN. I vainly tried a few of the 'old faithfuls' only to be told in a very condescending manner by 'Laura' that the numbers were incorrect.
Thank heavens (or so I thought) 'Laura' gave up in frustration and put me through to a real person. The first question I was asked by the real person - "Tom" - was, you guessed it, my PIN number. "I have no idea at all", was my plaintive reply. "Well try guessing", said Tom. "I've been guessing for the last half hour and Laura tells me all my guesses are wrong, what's the point in trying again with you Tom?" was my response. "Try anyway". So I did. Of course, all my guesses were incorrect.
Tom refused to talk to me unless I could identify 'myself' with a PIN number - he was concerned about my privacy. Well, I wasn't going to let it go at that. I told him I was in Bangkok and my beloved Blackberry wasn't working. He managed to confirm that for me. I suggested that the reason might be because they had cut it off because I hadn't paid the bill. He was more cagey with that one because he didn't want to reveal anything to me but it was clear that was the case. I played my trump card - "But Tom, I am returning your call - you called me to talk about this". He begrudgingly admitted he (personally) had called and left a message but he still couldn't talk to me because I couldn't identify myself. I asked him how on earth I would know he called me unless I was the person who he called but he still wouldn't budge.
I tried a different tack - "Look Tom, I'm happy to pay any outstanding bill to get my Blackberry working again, just switch the Blackberry back on and email it to me and I'll pay it - I don't know where the bills have been going but I have never received one." He admitted that he could "see, from the files at least 3 potential reasons why my bills weren't getting to me, but [he] still couldn't discuss it [with me] because I couldn't provide the PIN" and so he didn't know who I was. He offered to talk to to his supervisor if he could put me on (expensive) hold for a couple of minutes.
He came back and said that his supervisor had told him that if I could fax him, on Company letterhead, a letter signed by a Company director, requesting them to release to me my PIN he could do so and then I could call back and talk to him. I lost it at this point and suggested common sense should prevail - I was in Bangkok airport, not near a fax machine or printer and in any event I didn't have a letterhead (at all - who does these days?) . This brought us to a grinding impasse.
He went back to his supervisor who proposed a cunning plan - 'How about I nominate a $ figure I would be prepared to pay to have my Blackberry service reinstated and, if that was acceptable to them, I could pay it via credit card over the phone and then we could both sort it all out when I got back to Australia.' I dismissed this for the obvious nonsense it was.
I suggested a number of alternatives - how about I email you a letter including my company ABN? How will you do that said he - from my Optus iPhone of course! That might work, he admitted. Is there any other way I asked - how about you ask me for my date of birth, the colour of my eyes, my mother's maiden name, the name of my first pet or first car? No, Tom wouldn't have any of that.
So, after nearly 2 hours on the phone, I hadn't gotten anywhere with Tom. I tried the only thing which provided a glimmer of hope and sent him an email from my iPhone. I didn't receive a response.
And still haven't! It has been a week now since I have been back. I've tried emailing and calling but they still can't talk to me because I still don't know my PIN, which to the best of my knowledge, I have never set up in any event.
I still have received no invoices anywhere and my Vodafone Blackberry is still down for the count.
The day I arrived back in OZ I popped around to Telstra and upgraded my old, spare Blackberry for a Bold. So for the last week I have been happily using a Blackberry Bold again but with a different carrier.
I guess I'll wait and see what Vodafone does. At least I know they correctly have my office telephone number but I haven't received any calls from them. Even if I did I am sure the first question they would ask is my PIN - stalemate again.
There are so many things wrong with Vodafone evident from this story that I don't know where to begin to summarise them. I would have thought that in this challenging economic time it was more imperative than ever to apply common sense; collect cash from your customers; provide exceptional service and so on. Not Vodafone. Heaven help them - if you have shares, sell!
March 2009 Already!!??
No excuse I know, but I have been extraordinarily busy and I note my last post was December 2008. Perhaps I need a March New Year's resolution (there surely must be some form of New Year kicked off in March - if not I'll settle on St. Patrick's Day) to be more diligent in my attendance.
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