Its ok to be 'Good Enough'

So I finally relented, and tried Starbucks Via today. Over the last 5 years my pallet has adapted to love only Espresso based coffee, but that was not an available option at an event I attended today.

Out of curiosity I tried Via instead of the brewed Coffee option, and was stunned to find it so drinkable. So much so that I was tempted enough to have a refill - an unexpected positive experience. Yet it wasn't really so unexpected, because they keep telling me it tastes better than brewed coffee...but that just was not believable until now.

For sceptics of Via like myself they could have done much more to get me to try it, to provoke me out of my apathy/rejection.

But how ? As I follow Starbucks on Twitter, they could have sent me a DM or @ message, and I wouldn't have minded that, because I'm enough of a fan to follow them. If they had incentivized me I probably would have driven to a store flashed my Iphone app and tried a free sample, but they didn't.
Ultimately they had my permission to change my mind because I had already reached out to them through my Twitter follow and my Iphone app, but in the end they got me by accident.

I struggle with the fact that by only delivering a 'good enough' (according to me) product they managed to change my perception and make me an advocate. I also struggle with how Starbucks is re-framing its coffee Equity. Do they stand for great tasting coffee or good enough coffee ? Do they stand for a great experience or more frequent good enough experiences ? I think you know which one to choose here ...right ?

The World's softest sock

So what makes a great claim?

1.It must be simple
2.It needs to have stopping power
3.It needs to be believable, (or at least make you feel that its believable)
4.It needs to make you buy
5.It needs to make you come back and buy again

Well this one certainly meets all 5 criteria. My wife has purchased 4 pairs of these socks in the last 4 months, and at c. $8-10 a pair (in stores) they certainly are high margin for the manufacturer and retailer alike.

I cannot figure out how they substantiate this claim "world's softest sock", unless of course they test each and every sock in the world for softness (unlikely)…..or perhaps this counts as ‘marketing puffery’ (more likely)?

In any case its fantastic marketing, because it works !

Mraketing – how to make Sreach work for you….

So now I got your attention didn’t I ! Think about it - how often do you miss-spell a word in an email – 50% of the time ? How about miss-spelling a word in a search ? I would guess its MOST of the time.

So If marketing is about gaining attention, and search marketing is about defining and choosing the optimum words for your 'bsusines' or 'barnd'…then you may be missing a trick by not actively buying miss-spelled words.

Simply, get someone to type your top 5 search words out 20 times, and keep the mistakes for some of your key words!

I credit this highly original thought to the great guys at the Marketing over Coffee site and podcast ….listen to the show dated 16th Sept (at 06:25) to learn more….

Trial: The holy grail !

Remember the last time you tried a new brand or product - how did you feel?

Let me take you back a week
As a happy Coke zero consumer, (and an occasional Sprite zero drinker) I happened to be thirsty and needed a drink whilst shopping in Target. So on auto pilot I searched for Coke zero and couldn’t find it in the chillers by the checkout (I don’t like Diet Coke).

A sudden appearance
Now, all of a sudden I noticed diet Pepsi. Why did I notice ? Well in the last few months Pepsi has rolled out new designs across the lineup, and they just seem to attract me that little bit more, and as they were the same price as Coke I thought why not try diet Pepsi. Why am I telling you all this, well it’s because I absolutely love diet Pepsi, in fact I prefer it to Coke Zero.

I have defected from Coke zero after one trial of diet Pepsi !

The Power of New
As a brand manager this experience troubles me. It seems that my action was sparked by 3 things:
a) there was no real risk to my decision, after all I was thirsty, so I was desperate to consume anything cold and wet.
b) no incremental cost - ie diet Pepsi was the same price as the Coke equivalent, BUT
c) there was something new and interesting about Pepsi. The new packaging design made me feel different about Pepsi, it made me think differently about Pepsi, it helped interest me enough to try Pepsi.

What's going through your mind ? Do diet Pepsi know that their taste beats Coke zero ? Am I going to revert back to Coke ? Why doesn't Target have Coke Zero in the chillers ?

It feels liberating to try something new, and I guess Pepsi were counting on that simple response.ix74wmjf2r

Billboard.com – how to refresh brand equity without alienating your consumers

As a music fan one of the sites I visit almost on a daily basis is billboard with core brand equity elements of the 'authority', and 'champion' of the music industry. It’s a great portal for sales and shipment data, charts, news, reviews and general music industry gossip. So on Saturday when I logged in – I was surprised to see a radical site redesign. Granted the old site was tired and driven by banner ad’s, but was easy to navigate and content rich.

A New Business Model

With focus on downloading music (via lala.com), I sense a change of business model – to actively generate user revenue and return visits vs. the ad driven model.

Is it the same brand?
I’m not sure that I like the new ‘MySpace’ feel which undermines the ‘authority’ brand value. The brand clearly needs to evolve and perhaps has succeeded - I have already opened a www.Lala.com account and downloaded music (by Alexi Murdoch).

Marketing works !

This could prove to be a classic marketing case study where a brand:
a) Reinvents itself by refreshing its equity - but not straying too far (simply by adding ‘first choice’) as an additional equity element
b) Ensures it understand how to engage and retain consumers
c) Drives the top and bottom line

Bravo to the marketing folks at Billboard.