|
Don Cowley,
Managing Partner, DLCF Integrated
The person
who recruited two guys to streak at an Australian Rugby match with Vodafone
scrawled on their backs probably didn't realise that he was participating
in media-neutral planning. Nor closer to home, does the alcohol watch
dog Portman Group who have recently put screens in the toilets of upmarket
bars warning of the consequences of having fun to excess, probably realise
that it has participated in guerrilla marketing at the moment of truth.
But they
do illustrate a couple of points. Firstly all good strategic thinking
begins with the consumer. Only by understanding how people use your brand
and where consumers acquire the meanings that they attach to brands can
a truly coherent (ie media -neutral) strategic programme be brought into
existence; and secondly, both the 'streaker' event and the ad-in-loo campaign
derive their power from their originality. The second time streakers or
loo's are the medium chosen, the effectiveness will tumble. This is the
reality of strategic planning in marketing. There is no separation between
the cold logical thinking of planning and the idea generation process.
The best operators in our business reach their solution by applying instinct
and intuition to an empathetic understanding of their customer base. The
brands we admire in this business are those who have broken new ground
not necessarily in new media channels but in the way they have used them.
Examples? Well think of Virgin and their use of Richard Branson in the
PR channel or Nike for showing how conventional TV & posters can be made
to project youthful & funky values.
The point
about strategic planning, media-neutral or otherwise, is that it must
not only be right, it must also encourage an environment where ideas can
be generated that challenge conventional assumptions about media use.
The process needs to build in a feedback loop so that as ideas emerge,
they are capable of provoking a reappraisal of the role of each media
channel. But the very flexibility of the planning process demands an extremely
solid and relevant base of brand understanding. In practice cross channel
planning works from the same data as single channel planning but the focus
of interest is slightly different.
3 elements
we regard as particularly important are: Firstly - Where do people get
their brand meanings ? Is it from personal experience (ie. Supermarkets)
or from peer groups (youth brands) or endorsements (sports brands) or
editorial (restaurants, films). My examples are generalisations but in
reality the issue is of course specific to your brand in your market.
The solution, may cut across existing consumer behaviour but it is worth
knowing how brand meanings are acquired before you start.
Secondly
- How do people make buying decisions in the market .In particular what's
the main driver of the purchase decision. It can be either attitudinal
or behavioural. Two simple examples from electrical appliances . Most
sales of steam irons are replacement sales and serious product/brand choice
is usually delayed until the shop visit (lets go shopping) Hence the priority
for marketing communication is point of sale, and the work we do for Tefal
is primarily P.OS. Contrast that with Krups espresso coffee makers whose
practical values are modest but whose social display values are very considerable
(what does this say about me) then the priority is advertising and dm
designed to add brand value rather than create sales.
Thirdly
- Given the brand personality objectives, we try and compile a view of
how the brand should behave. We aim to include elements that will affect
what the brand does as much as what it says. Taking the Krups Espresso
machine example again. The benefit is 'perfect espresso every time' but
implicit in the brand's make-up is an obsession with perfection . All
purchasers are sent a (direct mail) pack, containing the best quality
ground coffee and an exquisite coffee table book ( about coffee) to add
an extra dimension of perfection.
The crucial
stage is when channel strategy and creation come together. We call it'
open creativity' but we might also call it open strategising because the
strategy develops as the creative possibilities of the different channels
emerge.
The starting
point is the task definition, the brand character description, and a sense
of the normal capabilities of each channel. You know - TV (awareness),
direct mail (complete sale), door drops (trial), web-sites (info back
up), PR (credibility). It turns out that the process of channel choice
only comes alive in the context of an idea. For example an unpromising
discussion about how to launch a new light bulb (from Philips) only took
off when someone suggested a two stage door drop where interested householders
left a bag outside their door to receive the (fragile) sample.
The core
group in our open-creativity sessions are agency people / planner /account
management/ creative. Being an integrated agency we are used to thinking
across media boundaries, but it's often useful to include PR people because
they have a different way of thinking and also clients - after all they
are familiar with cross channel decision making.
We do run
formal (usually 2hr) open creativity sessions but it is really a continuous
process, as ideas begin to emerge creative people can 'test' them by exploring
the extent to which they spark off solutions in other media channels.
Creative people don't necessarily find this hard, thinking across channels
usually inspires and liberates. There is of course the issue of craft
skills - writing radio commercials or the 'origami' of dm art direction
- but once the idea is in place these can be addressed.
What about
the other parts of the mix? Data analysts are probably better at helping
task definition than participating in a free-flowing ideas session. There
is a new breed of cross-media planners around but many media agency people
seem happier within a channel rather than across channels. Few agency
teams include experts in contract publishing, product placement or event
management but a good strategist will know the consumer effect of those
kind of media. It's implementation that is the territory of specialists.
Measurement.
I have a feeling that the diversity and fast moving nature of marketing
communication will always defy the industry's desire to quantify an exact
R.O.M.I.
We can
observe and measure consumer effects, but I suspect we will rarely be
able to quantify the effects of channel integration, and almost never
produce an accurate measure of the financial return.
I think
most marketing men keep their jobs because the sales go up. Like it or
not I feel the same will continue to apply to agencies.
(c) Account
Planning Group 1995-2002
|
