Radio's 5 Customers
Labels: Customers, John Parikhal, Media Trend Watching, Radio, Radio-Info, Tom Taylor
"Radio is at the tipping point, and it doesn’t want to know much about the way its customers are changing."
Joint Communications' John Parikhal tells Tom Taylor of Radio-Info.com in yesterday's daily newsletter he's worried about radio tuning out its listeners:"Internet companies are checking out the customer six ways to Sunday. But radio will tell you they don't have the money to research their customer. I truly think we’re at the tipping point, because for any business, you have to know who your customers are.
For radio, it's 5 different customers:
#1 - Wall Street or another 'lender'.
#2 – The advertiser. And radio should focus a lot more on the advertiser, because it has given them very short shrift. The more innovative companies are trying to become the digital and media marketing experts for the local guy, to help them move more product. Their competition is Craigslist and emerging online city directories.
#3 - The FCC, and I sense that radio will be hearing from them within a year.
#4 - The employees. With a few notable exceptions, they have been treated the way no customer should ever be treated. This whirlwind of firings and layoffs has nothing to do with performance, and the message it sends is very negative. People are now very, very wary about making radio a career.
#5 - The listener. But radio thinks 'all we have to do is keep the listeners we’ve got.' That’s a fool's game. You have to grow the pie, and to do that, you need to know more about your listener than their favorite songs or that they like sports on the radio. The listener doesn't care that radio is in a recession and won't invest in understanding their changing needs."
posted by Unknown @ Thursday, April 16, 2009,
,
Tribes and Brand Building...Plus Seth Godin about Twitter
Labels: brand building, Customers, Marketing, Purple Cow, Seth Godin, social media, TED2009, Tribes, Twitter
Twitter just jumped its total number of users in the last couple of weeks -- from 6 million to 8 million -- due to more mainstream media coverage (The Daily Show, morning radio shows, newspapers, many others). Leading "Tribes" maven and Senior Purple Cow Seth Godin refuses to tweet. To find out why, go to the 9:15 mark of this Ted 2009 conference interview (February 5, 2009):
Whether or not you use Twitter, social media needs to be part of your modern marketing plan. To marketing messages to have impact today, they need to feed into consumer's needs for convenience, connection, community and control. They want to be fans and to share through positive word of mouth. The key is provide content for your brand's most passionate users to help spread the word and praise.
That's how you get customers in your store today.
Marketing Sherpa says in a recent survey that over 90% of companies believe social media is most effective in building brand reputation and awareness, with direct marketing objectives falling into the second tier expectations.
Spotting upcoming social networking trends is important in the world of word-of-mouth campaigning. Brand enthusiasm is an essential ingredient when building brand awareness. It immediately has the strongest potential of converting into sales and extended customer loyalty.
Just as Seth Godin believes. You may not see him posting Twitter...but, believe me, he loves seeing his fans tweet about him and his books.
Hey, if you are a fan of this article, tweet it!
posted by Unknown @ Wednesday, March 11, 2009,
,
Brand Building: The Seven Essential Connections
Labels: brand building, Branding, Customers, Jointblog, Marketing, Seven Essential Connections, X Factor
New media has shifted marketing perception suggesting the rules for brand building have dramatically changed.
Actually, the rules haven't changed -- and neither has the end goal. Rather, it's the methods and choices used to build those brands that have changed the way brands are marketed, with some new powerful tools gaining popularity and other previously-strong tools losing power (or already lost it).
Here's what remains as true and essential today as always: for significant and meaningful brand building connections and branding engagement, brands have to share common ground with the desired customer.
What does this mean?
The relationship between brand and customer must represent something real to the customer; otherwise, the brand doesn't matter in the customer's world. Miss this connection and you certainly won't motivate brand advocates.
Successfully-built brands have to be genuine and based on the real values and vision of the brand. Larger brand audiences and market share dominance happen when the brand links distribution of the brand intention with the brands perception.
It's the bedrock of trust and common ground, allowing the relationship between brand and consumer to grow and prosper.
What are the Seven Essental Connections for Successful Customer Brand Building? The brand MUST share with the customer:
1) Life values (self-identity)
2) Core "roots" (history, heritage, religion, etc.)
3) Cause (forward-moving purpose)
4) Mutual interests and/or benefits (time spent together)
5) Lifestyle (community)
6) Hobbies (interactivity)
7) Preferences (like and shared dislikes)
Brands that connect with customers on all seven levels consistently are engaged. And yes, bottom line results are important just as it is for owners with brands not fully engaged . Look at some of the biggest successes: Apple, for example. BMW and Toyota (including the new Scions) for cars and Ford for trucks. Even TV shows like American Idol, Lost, Heroes, 24, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Each connect on all seven levels...and deliver financial results and customer buzz.
But not all brands connect on all seven levels.
Why not?
Most brands don't consciously concentrate on servicing, staffing or budgeting the brand on those 7 levels. Which is too bad; if they did, the brand would earn the cherished "X Factor"...that special extra oomph in brand value making it superior than any competitor.
How well is your brand connecting?
posted by Unknown @ Monday, March 26, 2007,
,
Lessons in Customer Brand Building
Labels: Advertising, Apple, brand building, Branding, Coca Cola, CRM, Customers, Truthy
In brand building, do you:
1) Teach with facts (without emotion, except perhaps subtle guilt or "do this now" commands)?
...or...
2) Promote with truthiness (with twisty wordplay of "wishful" results, even if unlikely)?
...or...
3) Create product/customer relationship opportunities (allowing the consumer to attach their own aspirations and value)?
Successful brand building is more than just associating a product with a brand message. Successful brand building results occur when a customer associates a product with a brand message...and agrees that union has continued value and meaning to that customer.
iTunes, the iPod and "Hello I'm a Mac" MacBoy all are extensions of Apple's "Think Different" brand building proposition led by Steve Jobs...attracting loyal fans who love the product and love being associated with the product.
Coca Cola has been "The Real Thing" for 80 years, even while they tried to teach the world to sing.
What is your primary brand message doing for your customers: teaching, being truthy or creating relationships?
Have you media trend watched today?
posted by Unknown @ Saturday, March 03, 2007,
,
