August 2003
MARKETING ANGEL ™
Exploring Consumerspace
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
| Recent columns by Kimberly McCall: | |
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Separating Angels from Demons (July 2003) Successful branding goes beyond the logo (June 2003) Don't let everyday fires consume ambitions (May 2003)
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I have a two-can-a-day Diet Coke w/Lemon-lovin' monkey on my back. On spring vacation in Paris, I sought out my daily fix, only to discover that a Parisian Coke costs about as much as an oil-and filter change in the states. Such a devotee to the brew am I, that I tracked down a duty-free shop where I could load up on DC at the super-low price of about $3/can. But why? Why not just opt for the local brew (that would be wine) and save a few euros? Because I'm loyal to the Coke brand. Coke's marketing acumen allows the company to avoid commoditization and thereby charge a premium for a product that's very much like other soft drinks.
In his new book, "Conquering Consumerspace: Marketing Strategies for a Branded World" (AMACOM 2003) (www.consumerspace.net), Michael R. Solomon explains why people embrace brands such as Coke. "Each of us charts our own identity by picking and choosing the brands that speak to us," explains Solomon. "We reward those that do with our loyalty, our reverence and yes, sometimes even our love."
According to Solomon, we buyers in 2003 prefer companies that sell with us, rather than to us. I asked Solomon about how a small-business marketer can use his consumerspace concepts to solidify bonds with customers.
MarketingAngel: What is consumerspace, and how can a small-biz person put this concept to work?
Michael Solomon: Consumerspace refers to the idea that in today's world, individual consumers actively use products and brands to define their very identities. Because branded information plays such a central role in our lives now, we're more involved in the marketing process than used to be the case. In the old days, companies called the shots. They broadcast glitzy ads to massive market segments, assuming the consumers they lumped into broad demographic categories (such as race or gender) all would respond like automatons, obediently snapping up their me-too, mass-produced products.
In today's consumerspace, firms partner with customers to develop brand personalities and create interactive fantasies. The winners understand that we buy products because of what they mean, rather than what they do. Market share is out, share of mind is in.
Small businesses can use this new orientation to their advantage. Many customers are looking for ways to connect with the companies from which they buy. They don't want to feel like they are nameless cogs in a machine; they want to be able to provide input that will help shape what they buy.
A small business can provide this personalization by focusing upon the relationships it has with its customer base. It can work harder to keep track of its loyal core users, collect information about preferences and past buying patterns, etc. It can even invite customers to participate in decisions, e.g. enlisting panels of consumers who "vote" on new products a store might stock.
A store owner needs to realize that he or she is not just providing a roof with inventory underneath it (especially since in many cases the same or similar products can easily be bought online and most likely cheaper). Instead, the successful retailer provides a haven for people who share common interests, a community of shoppers united by their shared passion for wine, books, or even hardware.
This can be done by hosting events at a store or understanding the other products one's customers buy after they leave the store and forming partnerships with other (non-competing) retailers who carry those products.
For example, a bookstore owner looking to do a cross-promotion might team up with a local wine store or coffee shop, a music retailer and perhaps even the furniture store across the street to create a homey environment for browsers.
Marketing Angel: Branding helps companies cut through the ad clutter. How does a brand influence how people make buying decisions? How can a small biz person use this knowledge to sell?
Michael Solomon: One of the main reasons people look for branded merchandise is that it reduces risk — whether physical (will the product hurt me if it doesn't work right), financial (will I lose money or not get the best value for the dollar?) or social (will the product embarrass me if it doesn't work or doesn't make the kind of statement I want to make about myself?).
A small business can reduce risk in various ways as well. In addition to the possibility of developing its own brands (by offering unique products that have a distinctive identity that stays the same over time), the employees need to offer their own expertise as a "value-added" the customer won't get on a website or in a big department store. Successful salespeople realize that their role is not to just be order-takers, but to act as consultants who help customers navigate the maze of the thousands of product options available to them.
Marketing Angel: You write about atmospherics. What does the term mean, and how can a small-biz person use this technique?
Michael Solomon: Atmospherics refers to the deliberate use of design elements (visual, tactile, odors, etc.) to convey a desired store image. This can be as elaborate as the cutting-edge fixtures etc. you would see in a store like Niketown, but also as simple as the age-old trick used by butchers of displaying meat under an ultraviolet light so that it looks redder (and fresher).
Remember that atmospherics is about more than visually-pleasing designs–that's why Realtors advise clients to bake a loaf of bread just before showing a home to convey a homey feeling via the smell it will give off.
Store owners or service providers first need to think carefully about the image they want people to form in their minds when they think of their business. This image might be sophisticated, cutting-edge, sensual, fun, trustworthy, etc.
Once they decide on how they want to be perceived, they can come closer to communicating this impression by carefully choosing design elements that convey these attributes. These decisions relate to a range of choices like type of flooring, store layout (e.g. cluttered or spacious), colors to use (some are arousing, others calming), the type of music that might be playing in the background, odors in the environment, etc.
Marketing Angel: Back in Advertising 101, I learned about how the ice cubes featured in a certain vodka maker's ad contained a subliminal message. What's the scoop on subliminal messages? Advertising myth or real strategy?
Michael Solomon: Since the 1950's, the majority of the American public has believed that advertisers commonly use subliminal messages, which contain information presented below the level of conscious awareness (like the words "Buy Coke" inserted in a few frames of a movie).
Although some attempts have been made over the years to do this, the reality is that these techniques simply don't work. There's very little evidence that people are capable of processing information presented below the level of conscious awareness. Furthermore, most examples of so-called "subliminal" messages aren't subliminal at all–if you see a message in those ice cubes, it isn't subliminal!
Marketing Angel: What is a brandfest? Is this something that the little guy can use?
Michael Solomon: A brandfest is an event sponsored by a company that brings together users of a brand, e.g. Saturn periodically hosts a big party for owners who come to its Tennessee factory for a weekend.
On a smaller scale, local businesses can do similar things by providing opportunities for customers who share an interest in a product or activity to come together. This can be simple as a hobby store opening its doors one night a week to allow a model train builders' club to meet there. For the cost of donuts and coffee, a store can build bonds with its customers and stoke the fires of their enthusiasm for the products it sells.
Marketing Angel: Any additional ideas about how small- biz marketers can use consumerspace principles?
Michael Solomon: Conquering Consumerspace talks a lot about the importance of word-of-mouth as opposed to traditional advertising, and this principle is crucial for small businesses that don't have mammoth advertising budgets. Getting people to talk about your business and to send others to it is key.
The book includes unconventional ways that marketers have found to get attention such as enlisting "ambassadors;" customers who represent the company to the community.
More generally, anything the business can do to heighten the degree to which its customers can provide input to the business will boost loyalty and interest. When people feel they have a stake in something, they are much more likely to think of themselves as partners in the business, rather than as pawns who are just being sold to.
Kimberly L. McCall (a.k.a. Marketing Angel), is president of McCall Media & Marketing, Inc., a business communications and writing company in Durham. McCall writes the monthly Sales Force column for Entrepreneur magazine, and contributes to inc.com, MarketingProfs.com and The Wall Street Journal’s StartupJournal.com. Sign up for her free e-bulletin at www.MarketingAngel.com or contact McCall at 207-865-0055.