Behaviour and Context

As advertising has changed, so have the roles of strategists and planners.

We must go ever deeper in pursuit of human understanding, past traditional approaches to customer research and segmentation, beyond understandings of demographics, lifestyles and attitudes. We have to understand why individuals and groups behave as they do in different circumstances and in different contexts. To gather real understanding and insight that can fuel ideas to truly ignite our clients’ businesses.

Luckily there are tools, frameworks and research which allow us to do just that. Some of them much in vogue at the moment.

Behavioural Economics for example, that tells us why social, cognitive and emotional factors mean people don’t behave as rational Economic models suggest they should.

Whilst, Identity Economics explains why people – facing the same economic circumstances – make different choices based on their own identities and the norms they encounter in the contexts of their social, family and working lives.

Academic research in both areas throws up fascinating potential for marketers.

Take the example of consumers in the US and Italy who were asked to either scale up from a plain pizza base by adding toppings or scale down from a fully loaded pizza by removing toppings. In each country consumers ended up with more toppings and a more expensive pizza in the scale down scenario than in the scale up scenario. A result explained through the behavioural principle of ‘loss aversion’.

Or take the experiment that showed consumers who paid a discounted price for an energy drink positioned as increasing mental agility, derived less actual benefit from drinking it (measured in ability to solve puzzles) than consumers who purchased and consumed the exact same product but paid its regular price. Thus showing how the actual efficacy of products – not just the way they make us feel - can be changed by marketing actions such as discounting.

Just a little lateral thinking tells you that such behavioural insights have a plethora of exciting and profitable applications across sectors. From the car industry to retail, software and beyond.

And how, by understanding the role of behaviours and contexts more deeply, it becomes easier to identify where marketing and marketing communications can play a role, and have the biggest impact in today's world.

Behavioural Guilt

As I travel back from Paris on the Eurostar I find myself in reflective mood.

I have an American Express Red card. It’s a great product for a great cause. Trouble is I have yet to use it.

The problem is I have this fantastic Virgin Atlantic black card too. I spend £1, I get two Flying Club miles in return = my miles balance rockets = I get upgrades into Upper Class once a year.

You see my problem? It seems my good old Reflective System wants me to be charitable but my Automatic System (or own self interest) stops me doing it in the moment of payment. And the issue is now compounded as I have not set up a direct debit on the Red card and have forgotten my PIN. Thus making using it in the future even more unlikely as I have added a whole other hassle factor into the mix.

I suspect I am not alone in exhibiting such behaviour, which got me wondering how the Red proposition could be adapted to counter the problem and generate more revenue for the charity.

Personally, I think that when I signed up for the Red card I would have agreed to pay a small monthly ‘fee’ - maybe £2 a month, maybe £5 a month - designed to cover the costs associated with the card whilst guaranteeing a donation income for Red even if I didn’t spend on it. I wasn’t really buying into a credit card at the time so that feels eminently plausible. Hell, I might even have agreed to a ‘Save More Tomorrow’ type mechanic where the ‘fee’ could increase slightly year on year.

I also think that would have acted as a nice little ‘nudge’ to make me more likely to use the card today. The direct debit would have been set-up and a barrier removed.

But as it stands I am not spending on the card and despite the best intentions I am sure my holding the card is costing someone, somewhere some money. So what to do? Well, as I am now through the channel tunnel perhaps I should stop this self-reflection and switch back to a good old Anglo-Saxon mindset for starters. And when I get to St. Pancras I could always just bloody spend on it! Now what was that PIN again .....

A New Agency Model

As I posted a few weeks ago, we’ve been working on a piece of research (to lead into a book) investigating the views of top marketers on the make up of the ideal agency of the future.

The views and opinions we have now gathered been really interesting and we’re taking many of them onboard as we evolve and adapt as an agency network. And so it was good to hear Daryl Fielding, VP of Marketing at Kraft Foods in Europe speaking on the same subject at the recent Marketing Week Annual event.

From our research and the insights Daryl shared, it is clear that as we all strive towards great ideas the collective dynamics of channel proliferation, digital consumption, globalisation, recession and etc etc etc throw up a host of challenges that clients and agency types are working through today.

To name just a few that come up:

• Is there a lead agency? A good question to start with and if so what is its expertise, experience and remit? And if not, then who is best placed to manage the ‘integration’ process and curates ideas?
• How many people and what kind of people should be given the responsibility for driving out great ideas? We all know it doesn’t work when there are twenty people in the room but if small teams are best how can that be made to work across agencies?
• Is the ‘big idea’ still, too often, born of an old advertising model? Daryl spoke about ‘supercharged TV ideas’ (read Gorilla or Old Spice) versus ideas where advertising becomes the servant of the idea (read Spots and Stripes).
• And fundamentally, do current agency engagement (commercial) models foster the right approach and the best ideas?

So whilst the end goal for most of us remains the same - namely great ideas that create the desired human behaviours and feelings - the way clients and agency partners will get there continues to evolve.

On The Inside

I heard a presentation this morning by Brian Waring, VP of Marketing and Category at Starbucks.

He touched on the brand’s roots and heritage but focused in on more recent initiatives to open the brand up to its customers and enable them to direct the future of the company.

His words reminded of a recent email I received as a result of signing-up for My Starbucks which informed me that the Pumpkin Spice Latte was again available in-store (in the ‘third place’).

Nothing special in that you would say, a straight selling message?

It was of course exactly that but the ‘magic touch’ in the email was that the Pumpkin Spice was not being promoted or available ‘over the counter’ on the menu. The promise was that those in the know could ask for it and with a nudge and a wink the barristers would create it for you.

A ‘nudge nudge, wink wink’ kinda product, only available to those on the inside.

As I said once before, it’s the little things …….

Twitter Utility - For Mum

My mum was down to see her new grandson a couple of weeks ago and asked me what I thought of twitter.

She had read about it in the Daily Mail and couldn’t understand why anyone would need to know that anyone was at Tesco, or that Stephen Fry was following Delia Smith.

I couldn’t really argue with her on those two but I did find myself explaining how it could actually be very useful.

The examples I gave her?

I still love Baker Tweet but that’s an obvious one and probably says something about my consumption of warm bread.

During the recent England – Algeria game the electricity went off in my house and twitter helped me work out where the nearest unaffected pub was still showing the game. Unfortunately space was limited:

http://twitpic.com/1zb0ym

After the recent England – Algeria game the water went off in my house and twitter helped me work out that I was not alone, the electricity cut had caused it and Thames Water were on the case (and blaming the electricity people).

And then of course there was the twitter snow map last winter that helped me see who was bunking off work due to half an inch of the white stuff and who needed food supplies airlifting in due to 6ft of drifting.

http://www.benmarsh.co.uk/snow/

The whole area of social media and networks as utility is clearly nascent and fascinating.

It would be great to see people share other personal examples of twitter utility here ….

Big In Japan

Good to see our Fujitsu brand campaign getting good reviews this week. The teams have worked hard on it.

It’s a campaign designed to kick off the process of building the Japanese company’s profile to better reflect its market position. Fujitsu is the fourth largest IT company in the world - up there with the likes of IBM, HP and Accenture – but does not get the credit (read brand awareness / consideration scores) it deserves.

It is a tough time for many of their CIO customers, something we learned all about when we spent time with a number of them earlier in the year, We saw budgets under massive pressure, too much resource and energy being spent on day-to-day maintenance and operational tasks and as a result those technology leaders who aspire to be viewed as more strategic, business leaders becoming increasingly frustrated. They feel stifled.

So, this was a nice insight and what also became clear is that this feeing is driving the beginnings of a sea-change in the category as people begin to search for new models of IT and technology delivery that take out cost whilst enabling IT to have a more strategic influence on the business rather than being an internal service function.

Fujitsu’s technology leadership and service innovation differentiates them in many areas, especially in the emerging area of cloud technology. As a result, we realised that they could lay claim to the promise of enabling the CIO to get away from his frustrations and reach his ideal future sooner. Hence the campaign idea of ‘Get There Sooner’ that has been executed solidly in print, outdoor, digital outdoor and online so far with more to come.

Love the Vuvuzela. Hate the Generic.

I am not sure if the consistent droan of the vuvuzelas annoys me anymore. Or in fact if it ever did! But listening to colleagues today and Five Live on the way home this evening I know I’m not speaking for everyone.

The BBC team in particular was lucky enough to encounter some very passionate advocates of a complete ban on these most exotic of wind instruments.

“They’re annoying ...” said Mick from Bristol.

“It’s like a mosquito in your ear...” said Tony from Leeds.

“It sounds like a schoolboy international...” said Matt.

And my particular favourite: “I can’t hear the England fans singing and chanting on TV ...” said Fabio (OK. I didn’t quite catch this chap’s name).

Now I live close to the Heathrow flight path in TW1 so I probably get used to background noise quicker than most BUT surely, surely, surely the noise and atmosphere created will be one of the key elements that will make this World Cup what it will become –special and unique.

The alternative - to ban the vuvuzela - is to celebrate the generic. To long for a World Cup just like the last one and the one to come.

Think about it. Ban the vuvuzela? Where would we go next? Or perhaps more pertinently, what would our memories be made of if we had previously thought like this?

Let’s take to our time machines, go back to Buenos Aries in 1978 for example and outlaw ticker tape. We could then set a course for the Azteca stadium in 1986 and stop people from standing up and throwing their arms in the air.

Yes it’s a simple point yet I’m amazed to see the volume of counter arguments running rampant on twitter and the wires.

This World Cup will be great in spite of global brands that sponsor it and the global media owners that cover it. It will be great because of a 30-yard pile driver from someone we least expect, a dazzling piece of artistry from a Messi or Kaka, a crazed celebration from Maradona and inevitably a penalty shoot-out for England.

But more than that it will be great because of what Africa and African culture brings to it. It will be great because of the vuvuzela!

A little over two weeks ago I stepped on to one of Stellios’s flying Orange machines and left these fine shores for a two week break in Crete (where, just for reference, cash is king and restaurants on the south coast have a lower propensity to show pictures of the dishes on their menus).

Reflecting on a few of the things that happened whilst I was away:

> Ash cloud returned, blew over, returned, blew over …
> Greece went bust
> Greece was rescued
> The UK voted
> The UK was thrown into political turmoil
> The Eagles sent the Owls down

Oh, and one other thing - The World Cup bandwagon got well and truly rolling!

Back in London this week and I feel I can’t move for brands getting in on the act of hyping both the event and England’s chances (2nd round exit to Germany?).

For some brands the link to World Cup 2010 is clear. Adidas? Check. Carlsberg? Yes I can see their relevance to the competition too and the “teamtalk” execution is certainly rousing if it fails to quite get the hairs on the back of my neck standing as high on a second viewing.

But Kit Kat and Mars though? C’mon! Give me a break …. (sorry!)

Anyway, the brand that has executed a World Cup idea most beautifully has to be Louis Vuitton. It’s here and it’s cool. It has Zidane, Pele and Maradona in it so how could it not be? Even if their link to the beautiful game is tenuous at best!

http://www.louisvuittonjourneys.com/legends

The Planner’s Psyche

A couple of weeks into a search or a new Planning Director for our London office I am already tired of hearing that ‘planners just aren’t moving jobs at the moment’.

It’s a cool role with a great team, great clients and a generous package for someone doing a similar ATL / Integrated / Digital role today (or wanting to step up from a Senior Planner position) but the CVs just aren’t flying in.

Apparently it’s all down to the economic environment and a natural tendency of planners to be more cautious as a result. Really? I thought Sir Martin had called the bottom?

Anyway, the hunt goes on ……. richard.mabbott@gyrohsr.com

Brand v Demand - Summit, Research and Lord Heseltine

Last week over 100 delegates attended our (Gyro:HSR's) first B2B Marketing Summit in the UK.

The event was held in Manchester Town Hall, a fantastic venue which – Danny our Manchester MD assures me - harks back to when the city was last a commercial power house. We had some fantastic speakers from some great brands including Fujitsu, Google, HSS and Pearson along with our own Rick Segal and the legend that is Michael Heseltine.

I had the pleasure of sharing the stage (albeit a good hour or so after he spoke) with Lord Heseltine to host a panel debate on the theme of the event:

Brand v Demand – do brand custodians too often disinvest their brands in favour of short term demand generating activities?

We had conducted qualitative research with clients and contacts through 2009 and used the findings to stimulate the debate. In my mind the question is somewhat of a false dichotomy but there are still interesting views from both sides of the fence.

We have produced a summary report of the findings which people are welcome to download at:

http://www.brandordemand.com/

There is also the opportunity to share your point of view should you fancy.