60 Second Articles:

1. Crack The Marketing Code By Answering These 10 Critical Questions
2. Look Who’s Talking — Not The Movie
3. The 60 Second Close: Is It Time For “Retro” Marketing?

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1.  Crack The Marketing Code By Answering These 10 Critical Questions

1. Does your company have a unique “story” to tell that makes it stand out from the competition?
2. Does your company offer a product, a service or an experience that is not only of value, but is memorable enough to break through the advertising clutter and be heard by your target audience?
3. Does your company employ a team of goodwill ambassadors who have a passion for the company’s culture, philosophy and the product?
4. Does your company understand what business it is really in? (Southwest Airlines is not in the airline business, but in the business of providing people a safe, fun and memorable way to get to their destination.)
5. Does your company understand the lifetime value of a customer and the exorbitant costs of gaining new customers versus retaining current customers? Does your company have a customer retention strategy?
6. Does your company know who its best customers are, not by demographics, but by their first name? How is your company rewarding the best customers for their valued loyalty?
7. Does your team have not only an intimate knowledge of your product and service, but an understanding of what’s most profitable — not in terms of percentages, but in real dollars and cents?
8. Does your company strive to make a difference in your community, where your customers live and work?
9. Does your company have a “face” – a personality, a CEO, a President or an owner to which customers can relate to and readily access?
10. While everyone loves first impressions, does your company leave an everlasting final impression with customers that creates memorable conversations and encourages repeat purchases?

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2.   Look Who’s Talking — Not The Movie 

• Here’s an instant and reliable way to find out if anyone’s talking about you or your company on Facebook or Twitter. It’s a new search engine called Kurrently, at www.Kurrently.com.
• Test it yourself by sending out a tweet and then go to Kurrently and do a search for a keyword within that tweet. Presto, you’ll be found. Now, test it with other keywords that are relevant to your business. It’s quite possible that people are talking about your product without you even knowing about it.

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3.  The 60 Second Close: Is It Time For “Retro” Marketing?

• Incorporating TV, radio, print, direct mail and billboards into your advertising plan almost seems “retro” because no one talks about traditional advertising anymore. It’s not the “in-thing” and it just doesn’t seem glamorous like it used to be.
• Contrary to what the many pundits are saying, we strongly advocate that when targeted properly, “retro marketing” still works and it works even better once you’ve cracked the all-important marketing code.
• Crack the code then develop your sales-building plan. It’s your model for real growth and profitability. Need some help? We can show you how to get there … now much faster than ever. 

Awareness as a success metric is a cop-out. It continues to be used because creating a consumer action requires consumers to change their behaviors. That is no easy task. Few of us enjoy change and even fewer want to instigate it.

In most product categories, consumers are locked in automatic behaviors. Creating consumer behavior change requires that marketers break through the inertia and create new behaviors. This task is not as daunting as one may think. It starts by deeply understanding a consumer—not only their wants and needs, but how they make decisions.  A familiarity with their mental models is essential because it allows marketers to discern the opportune times to disrupt consumer inertia. It is then possible to provide consumers compelling rationale to act. Good marketers go one step further—they give consumers a reason to keep acting.  (Action always trumps inaction, remember?)

Marketers are not always judged by the degree to which they change behavior. They should be.

The idiosyncrasies, both rational and irrational, of consumer-brand relationships often rival that of Hollywood’s most salacious couples. It is no wonder why those of us in the marketing community spend so much time trying to better understand them.

Consumers are not always ideal partners. They expect a lot from their brands, but are not always good at communicating their needs. When brands don’t deliver on some expectation, the consumer may employ the silent treatment, or worse, give in to another brand’s advances.  The consumer of course, may say—“it’s not you, it’s me,” but we all know that’s a ruse. It’s always you.

Even in the best environments, the consumer-brand relationship is a tumultuous one to manage. Unfortunately, we are not living in a best-case environment. Greece is facing financial ruin; the results will undoubtedly wreak havoc on all global markets. The gulf coast may soon become an ecological and financial disaster thanks to the millions of gallons of crude oil that are currently flowing out of what’s left of BP’s oil rig.  The unemployment rate continues to hover at 10%. We just cannot catch a break.

The consumer-brand relationship mirrors real-life relationships. Added stressors create tension, miscommunications, hurt feelings, and some nights on the couch. Speaking as a relationship coach–it is a good time to re-evaluate what you’re bringing to the table.

We at Northlich conducted in-depth consumer research to understand what lingering effects the recession would have. Our findings surprised us, especially in regards to the changing dynamic of the consumer-brand relationship.  Now is a great time to revisit it. Click here to view the PDF.

Northlich and MRSI Release Research Results to Define the New Next Normal

CINCINNATI (January 19, 2010) – Northlich and Marketing Research Services, Inc.  (MRSI) announced today the availability of its highly-anticipated qualitative and quantitative research study results, which uncover today’s consumer grocery shopping attitudes and behaviors triggered by the recession and their implications for the future. As part of Northlich’s study to define the “New Next Normal” for the future grocery shopper, these findings will offer marketers across the nation key insights to re-strategize their engagement campaigns.

 “These findings have major implications for today’s marketers and beyond,” said Brian Newberry, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Northlich. “It’s no surprise that the landscape of marketing will change drastically as a result of consumers’ attitudes and behaviors, but our goal is to help businesses understand how to utilize these insights to reshape their strategies.”

In early October 2009, Northlich and MRSI engaged in discussions with consumers ages 18-64 to uncover their grocery shopping habits before and during the recession. This study aimed to gain key insights around which of these behaviors would survive post-recession.

The research findings from Northlich and MRSI suggest that in an effort to reduce expenses, 80-90 percent of consumers have developed grocery shopping habits they are considerably proud of. Furthermore, these behaviors will remain constant, regardless of how the economic situation may be impacting their peers and the nation’s consumers.

While marketers everywhere are challenged with understanding today’s consumer shopping habits, Northlich’s findings specifically address how the consumer value equation has changed, how shopping habits differ among generations, shifts in brand loyalty and decisions made in-stores.

“Northlich’s strategic insights team has identified several underlying motivators that influence consumers’ selections of brands,” said Newberry. “We invite companies to utilize these insights to help influence behaviors and create meaningful and relevant connections between their brands and consumers.”

Individuals or companies interested in obtaining a copy of Northlich’s research results and learning how these findings can influence brand strategies should contact Ashley Walters at (513) 762-1783 or awalters@northlich.com.

Northlich is nationally recognized for Rehavior™, its proprietary approach to understanding and changing existing behaviors, as well as establishing new behaviors that have a direct impact on brand growth. To learn more about Rehavior and how this approach has helped brands combat the changing consumer landscape visit www.northlich.com.

To learn more about the New Next Normal, follow us on Twitter, visit us on LinkedIn or watch us on YouTube.

From our social media analysis, we saw negative sentiment scores exceeding 70% for most bank brands, passionate posts on the evils and unfairness of bank fees, and horror stories on customer service. Comments like the following are typical in the social media space:

PNC’s management should be ashamed of they way they steal and treat their customers. I signed up for PNC banks $101 offer. They immediately started stealing from my account. It was a nightmare I was charged fees for having an account. We never received the $101 from PNC. PNC Customer service is slow and rude. I asked to close the newly opened account and they charged me another $50.

When we measured planned behavior, we got a completely different story. Only 4% of consumers said they planned to change their bank in the next 12 months. So outrage does not translate to behavior change. How do you reconcile the contradiction of perceptions and behavior? The first is to realize that inertia is the overriding characteristic for many categories, including financial services. This inertia is the product of consumers feeling financially illiterate, the pain and complexity of changing banks, and the lack of differentiation among banking brands.

Thus, banking behavior has become automatic. Breaking through inertia to change category behavior is a key issue for many brands. Banks should know it will require more than a toaster to change behavior.

I can only assume our seven years of helping change behavior and culture in Ohio through our Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation work was ever-so-slightly edged out by Ground Zero’s nine years of the same in California. It was a fair fight and we lost. Which brings me to my request of you, Ground Zero:

Don’t make it a fair fight in New York.

Big Tobacco isn’t fighting fair, why should you? Have you seen Camel’s dissolvable tobacco, candy-like Orbs? Or Virginia Slims’ glamorous, lipstick-like purse packs? I’m concerned that you seemed possibly a little too nice during our quick exchange at the Albany airport. I’m hoping there’s a mean streak in there.

As I told the panel at the pitch… Ever since one of my very best friends in the whole world—my Grandpa, LeRoy Knapp—died from lung cancer a few days before Christmas when I was ten years old, this cause has been personal to me. And as we poured our passion into the Ohio movement over the years, it only got more personal.

So, Ground Zero, though you’re 2500 miles away from Poughkeepsie, make the work you do for the state of New York personal. Don’t care about awards or recognition, though I’m sure you’ll get much of both. And don’t care about fighting fair, though politically it will be hard not to. I just ask that you care about one thing—ending tobacco use. That’s it. Make it your mission. Make it a movement. Just make it happen.

Right now I’m sitting drinking some Oolong tea straight—no sugar or artificial sweeteners.  I skipped the aspartame because I want to avoid the cancer health officials tell me is coming, and I’m avoiding the sugar because I don’t want to become obese.

That’s right—obese.  I have spent the last few weeks pouring over obesity-focused papers and articles and have realized that under the current standard, the BMI classifies me as overweight—never mind that I am a size 30 and wear a small most days.  I am not alone. Officials now claim that more than two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, with the majority classified as obese.

What is shocking to me is that I was not really surprised.  We have been battling the bulge for years.  Even Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys New York and media personality, was recently quoted as saying that he loves Americans because they remind him of “little houses.” Ouch.

We are reaching the tipping point.  Legislation has been introduced that will require food chains to post the calorie counts on their menu boards; the “heaviest” states now boast obesity rates greater than 30%; and childhood obesity rates have tripled in the last 20 years.  My question is: how will consumers and marketers alike respond to the obesity storm?

I predict this will begin to influence more than whether or not to supersize—all retailers are going to see changes in consumer behavior.  Will they spend more on better-for-you options? Support brands that tout weight-loss initiatives? Do nothing?

In my role as resident Rehaviorist, I aim to find out.  I’ll post my thoughts and findings here. 

Changing consumer behavior requires a plan that pierces through consumer unconsciousness and paves the way for a new routine.  As I’ve stated in a previous post, new research has shown that 95% of consumer behavior is driven by the unconscious minds.  As marketers, our first job is to shake consumers into consciousness (unless, we are trying to perpetuate a current behavior.)  Getting consumers to make a conscious buying decision requires a disruption in the normal buying process.  One strategy that disrupts the buying process is reciprocity. 

The rule of reciprocity states – we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided to us. The rule of reciprocity came about mainly as a survival mechanism. Human beings had to rely on social exchange to build trust and a community — “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. We’ll both look out for each other.”

Robert Cialdini identified reciprocity as one of the six weapons of influence in his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.  However, reciprocity was beautifully illustrated recently by my nine and ten year old sons. During our neighborhood garage sale, my boys set up a lemonade stand.  After days of preparation they were ready with fresh lemonade, homemade cookies and bottled water.  After two hours and many shoppers refusing to make eye contact, they had made a total of fifty cents. Discouraged, they offered a shopper a free cookie and lemonade. Much to their surprise she gave them a dollar! By the time they gave away all their “free” lemonade and cookies, they made twelve bucks! 

Reciprocity is a powerful strategy to get consumers to change a behavior. A free offer, one that has a high perceived value, can breakthrough consumer unconsciousness and lead to the first step in changing a behavior. 

Behavioral economists and cogitative psychologist identified two cognitive processes that guide how we think:

• Reflexive (or automatic) process
• Reflective (or controlled)

As marketers and communicators, understanding how cognitive processes work and work together can be the difference between success and failure.

Automatic System
The automatic system is emotional, habitual and unconscious. It is our brain working on autopilot. This cogitative process is associated with the oldest parts of our brain — the part we share with lizards! The automatic system is a coping mechanism for us to deal with complex environments. It enables us to perform many tasks at one time. This was demonstrated to me this morning as the person in the car next to me driving, talking on the phone and applying lipstick all at the same time. Thankfully, the automatic system was firing on all cylinders!

Controlled System
The controlled system is rational, logical and conscious. It is our brain in an active mode (think problem solving). This cogitative process is personified by Mr. Spock. This system helps us make difficult decisions — one decision at a time. Multitasking is not allowed (the automatic system kicks in to handle all other additional tasks).

As marketers, our norm is to appeal the controlled system — tell a logical, rational story that entertains and informs the consumer. Give them plenty of reasons to believe. Our work is talking to the conscious mind, not the unconscious mind that will ultimately control 95% of consumer behavior.

Here are three things marketers can do to understand and benefit from this unconscious consumer behavior.

1. For a product or brand to succeed, it must first make a connection with the existing concepts in the unconscious mind. Marketers must do a better job of understanding the cognitive cues that fire an automatic cognitive response.
2. Most consumer research is based on exploring conscious thought. It is during that consciousness, that consumers rationalized their behavior, thereby misleading marketers. Research techniques that are observational and explore the automatic cognitive process will provide much truer insights.
3. Most advertising and marketing programs are designed to change perceptions or attitudes or the conscious mind. Marketers should be exploring how they change behaviors or create new behaviors.

What is the objective of most advertising communication? Usually, it’s “raise awareness,” “change perceptions,” generate trial.” Most campaigns are measured on their effectiveness in these areas, without a mention of the most significant impact to the bottom line: Consumer behavior.

At Northlich, we fundamentally believe that, in order to generate sustainable brand growth, we must affect consumer behavior. Not only change it, but establish new behaviors that lead to new, stronger relationships with brands. This belief led us to create the Northlich rehavior brand engagement process. 

At Northlich, we don’t believe behavior change is affected by simple changes in communications strategies and marketing alone, and as such our ideas don’t automatically begin or end there. We look at all aspects of brand engagement from product innovation to brand experience. Each of which can play a critical role in affecting shifts in perceptions, paradigms, preference and ultimately behavior. Our Northlich “rehaviorists” engage people by creating brand experiences that are relevant and meaningful to them, ultimately inspiring and motivating both action and ongoing interaction.