The Quisenblog

“Our product sucked!”

Not exactly a textbook way of launching an upgraded product image, but definitely attention getting. That’s exactly what Domino’s Pizza is doing. The brand started running spots with clips (I suppose actual verbatims) from customer focus groups where the people panned their pizza: “The crust tastes like cardboard.” “The sauce is like ketchup.” And on and on.

Here’s a 4-minute corporate video that launched the same time as the new campaign.

The brutal honesty of the campaign is refreshing. While many client-types would deem such a strategy “risky,” to me it makes sense on so many levels. For one, Domino’s own research showed that 67% of ITS CUSTOMERS thought its product was in dire need of an upgrade. People didn’t order Domino’s for the quality of the pie. They ordered for the convenience, price and reliability. When you set out to launch a new campaign, you have to start with where your customers are.

Secondly, by taking such a non-conformist tone, Domino’s has been able to attract a ton of attention outside the advertising space. Over 700 daily newspapers covered the campaign. Late night talk show hosts have jumped on board. The campaign has been a trending topic on the Social Media circuit. Any idea what the “value” of this media coverage and conversation is worth?

Most importantly, this campaign provides a “sea change” moment for the brand. Rather than soft pedal a new formulation, the brand is jumping in with both feet, drawing a line in the sand. From this day forward, the brand seems to be saying, we will stand for something different.

Now, of course, the pressure is on Domino’s to pay it off. The proof is in the pizza, to borrow a metaphor. If the “big changes” the brand is promising turn out to be temporary or not so big, and customers’ perceptions of it remain the same, then all this publicity will have been wasted. Worse, they will alienate any new customers that may have come over as the result of this campaign. The brand will have damaged itself but good.

Then again, small risks limit you to small rewards. Bold steps can lead to “curve-jumping” results.

Only time will tell if this campaign from Domino’s is a success. But for the sake of all brands who are content to sell a below-average product, I sincerely hope it will be.

Posted by Mickey

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Mickey On Customers brand association, Customers, Domino's Pizza, focus groups, new campaign, product, successful campaign, Value

This week’s social media blog posts:
Monday: Using Social Media to address your pain points.
Tuesday: Use Social Media to give your customers a seat at the table.
Wednesday: Picking a face for the organization.
Thursday: Picking a face, part 2.
Friday: Give away your expertise.

(This is the seventeenth in our series of Social Media posts for the month of October. We look forward to your feedback on this series.)

As an organization, you have a lot of resources that many visitors and others would find useful. As we mentioned before, most people are using the Internet to find some kind of solution. The most successful Social Media programs are where you help visitors solve problems in ways only you can do it. The knowledge and experience you have around your business and industry is invaluable, and likely can help many, many people, even though you have yet to find a way to “monetize” it.

As an example, let’s say you are a retirement community. You have a lot of experience helping families transition a member to a new and different living environment. You have a lot of knowledge as to what caregivers should be looking for (and avoiding), what the needs of residents and families are, and other information that can give peace of mind and help potential customers make informed decisions. Why not make this kind of “intelligence” available to all who visit your site (and elsewhere on the ‘Net)? This information exchange could take the shape of white papers, a blog, or an online newsletter, or even links to industry-leading information sites. Turn your website from an information-only site into an interactive, dynamic community or a “clearing house” that makes your visitors “smarter” and gives them tools to make confident decisions.

Perspective clientele and their families would come to you in their earliest research phases to educate themselves on the issues involved in the process of finding a great solution to one of life’s more stressful situations. Instead of selling floor plans or amenities, you’ll be in the business of alleviating fears.

You are demonstrating that you understand your customers’ “greater purpose” and you are using your resources to create a solution they can’t find anywhere else. You can repurpose this content in blogs, newsletters, social groups and elsewhere. And as visitors discover this information and find it useful, you’ll find two things will happen: one, they will more often choose to engage with you at a deeper level (in many cases purchase), and two, they will freely share their experience with others and forward your information to them. (Remember the dynamic of Social Media: “receivers” are also “the medium” and are also “creators.”)

This is not selling; no where in this process are you “asking for the order.” What you are doing in this introductory phase is proving value to your prospective customers and building trust. You leave the door open to inquiry, but never is there a “quid pro quo”—“We’ll give you this information, but we expect you to buy from us.”

You are a smart organization. Social Media gives you the opportunity to it off.

Posted by Mickey

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Mickey Social Media audience engagement, availability, community, knowledge, solutions, trust, useful content, Value

This week’s social media blog posts:
Monday: Using Social Media to address your pain points.
Tuesday: Use Social Media to give your customers a seat at the table.
Wednesday: Picking a face for the organization.
Thursday: Picking a face, part 2.
Friday: Give away your expertise.

(This is the fourteenth in our series of Social Media posts for the month of October. We look forward to your feedback on this series.)

For some people, a car is a way to get around town, a breakfast cereal is something you eat in the morning, and a radio station is something you listen to on your way to work.

For others, some of the brands they drive, eat or listen to are as much a part of who they are as the hairstyle they have or the hobbies they love.

Social Media gives brands the opportunity to create a place for those who are passionate about the brand to meet, share and give feedback. It is an opportunity to “look into the lives” of your most passionate users, and engage them in a way that makes your product offerings even more relevant to them.

Here is an example of a brand engaging with its followers on a much deeper level. It is the Facebook page of indie/alternative rock station KEXP in Seattle. By looking at the content provided by fans, it becomes obvious that for the passionate follower, KEXP is not in the music-delivery business, the station is in the “lifestyle” business—interested in the cultural and lifestyle interests of its followers. This helps shape the product of the station itself, and creates a deeper connection within the community. Suddenly being a KEXP person speaks not only to one’s preferences in music, but as a description of his overall lifestyle.

Feedback from visitors and fans can be interpreted as an invitation to engage at a deeper level. It is important to understand what of value your community is getting from you, then find ways to provide more of that for them. And of course, it is important to listen. Use MySpace, Facebook or Twitter as forums for consumers to convey passion for the brands. Monitor the commentary and adjust the marketing messages accordingly. Ask opinions. All this is just another way of saying to your most passionate followers “we hear you.”

Posted by Mickey

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Mickey Social Media brand connections, brand engagement, brand passion, lifestyle, opinions, Value

An important distinction to make in these days of “value driven consumers” is: what, exactly constitutes value?

There are really two types of value with which marketers should concern themselves–inherent value and added value.

Inherent value is the anticipated value of your product. Every product or service is perceived to have a certain amount of “value,” and it’s up to the consumer to really define what this inherent value is. On the other hand, there is “added value”—somewhat unexpected features or functionality to add to the perceived usefulness of your offerings.

Technically, “absolute value” can be reduced to a mathematical equation: the functionality you receive from a product or service, divided by its monetary costs to you.

If you think of value as this equation, then there are two variables you can address: the functionality, and the cost. The easy way to increase value (and the way most marketers are prone to do it) is to lower the cost, either through a direct price drop, a lower cost of ownership or discounts on your first or future transactions.

While discounting can improve relative value and may stimulate immediate sales, it is not truly “adding value.” It is a tactic to improve the relative value of your offerings in the short run, and is often done at the expense of your margins.

Before you sign off on a discount strategy, think ahead a bit and ask yourself what happens in the mid- and long-term. Have you subjugated yourself to forever being the “low cost” brand? Is this a winning strategy in your category, or does another competitor already have that position staked out? Or is this a temporary tactic to clear inventory, steal market share or give you a short-term boost in the marketplace? Are you willing to accept the “churn out” when your pricing returns to “normal?” It’s a good idea to figure this out up front, as raising prices later without adding additional value can be a tough sell.

On the other end of the equation “adding value” is exactly that: adding something of value to the customer to enhance the product’s or service’s usefulness and help separate you from the competition in your customers’ minds.

The Apple iPhone provides a wonderful example. Yes, Apple lowered its retail price, thus improving its value. But it’s the apps from the App Store—the ones that can help you find your car, comparison shop or find the nearest clean restroom—that “add” value.

So before you resign yourself to cutting prices in order to enhance your value proposition, ask if there a way to add some new kind of functionality or unexpected features that will be embraced and appreciated by customers.

Posted by Mickey

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Mickey On Customers, Ramblings Branding, Consumers, Discounts, iPhone, marketing, Products, Service, Value