I was reviewing our agency’s “Next New Normal” study—for about the one-hundredth time—and reflecting on our discoveries. It is a study of recession driven frugality behavior among consumers age 18-64. In general, we found that consumers are even more determined to maintain relationships with their favorite brands in tough times. They spend hours of personal time tracking down bargains for their favorite brands. They also shop three or four retailers to find the best deal, subscribe to online coupon networks, and even set aside time each day to plan shopping trips.

That’s when I realized how much my own shopping habits had changed. I’ve been planning my family’s meals more, creating lists and shopping strictly from them. And I’ve met people like me. Just this weekend, I was in the checkout line behind a savvy shopper who handed the clerk a stack of coupons. I mean, a stack! I couldn’t believe my luck. Here was the consumer from our “Next New Normal” study! I immediately asked about her shopping habits and she proudly shared her savings strategy. Each week she sets a savings goal and achieves it with coupons, without compromising on her favorite brands. Her savings that day – $177 off $280! I congratulated her on her impressive frugality skills and walked away inspired. Talk about seeing marketing results firsthand!

Are you part of the “Next New Normal”?

In the St. Francis lobby, I noticed a wall of innovation. There were firsts for so many areas – the first in the area to purchase an X-ray machine, establish an intensive care unit, conduct a heart transplant, purchase a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner, among others. The physical element of the display itself was rather underwhelming to be honest, but the events it celebrated were amazing.

After this observation and speaking with the staff, we learned that St. Francis has always been a leader in the area (and even beyond the area), but they were too humble to speak of it. It’s a faith-based institution, run in the past by a nun who sounded pretty firm.

The innovation was such an integral part of who they were that they didn’t even see it as something to spend a lot of time talking about. It was just necessary to deliver the utmost patient care.

The net of our immersion led us to realize that the story of St. Francis – not only their compassionate care but also their rich history of innovation – needed to be told. Like something in your hometown, people around the hospital had taken it for granted. We needed to ask them to take another look. And that was part of the creative inspiration behind our campaign.

But I also think one other story of our shoot for the robotics campaign is interesting. We had talent there to portray the patients, but I was amazed by the care the nurses (real St. Francis nurses) gave to people who were essentially faking being sick. I remember telling the charge nurse, “If I’m ever sick, bring me to St. Francis.”

It was this story of innovation and care that we really wanted to bring to life. Have a look and see what you think of where we ended up.

At Northlich, we are in the business of creating behavior change. We’ve learned through experience that in order to succeed, three things must happen. First, to see the desired behavior change as a process, not just a goal that you have to do. It will enrich you. Second, to recognize behavior strongholds and break through the inertia. You know inertia. That emotional state of comfort that unconsciously forms our habits. To break it, set small attainable goals that you can achieve. Too often, big steps overwhelm and discourage us from persevering. You’ve heard the adage, “start small, you’ll get there.” Well, the same is true for keeping resolutions.

These are just three of the principles we use to create behavior changing strategies for our clients and for ourselves. We call it Rehavior®. It is the way we approach things at Northlich. If you would like to learn how we can help you change behavior, please contact me at (513) 762-1717.

Anyone in healthcare marketing can attest that hospitals face a number of challenges these days, but these obstacles can’t always be overcome in the traditional ways. With increasing competition, the rise of the digital space and a changing population, it takes a unique approach to surmounting them… it takes a movement. So when I saw Northlich had a “rehavior movement” I had to learn more.

Understanding consumers (and physicians for that matter) and going beyond just changing their perceptions—changing their behaviors—is really what hospitals need. Consumers don’t always go to the hospital of their choice; instead, they are often influenced by their physicians or insurance plans who tell them where to go. So it’s not necessarily easy to get them to change this behavior. Yet, Northlich has successfully done just that for a number of healthcare systems. Through its proprietary “rehavior” process, Northlich has found a way to break this automatic behavior. I was impressed with Northlich’s ability to gain audience insights that enable healthcare organizations to more effectively drive results.

Not only did Northlich’s unique capabilities catch my eye, but the fact they have a health and wellness village was intriguing as well. Few agencies focus on healthcare, so having a “village” of healthcare marketing experts as an extension of my hospital team would truly have been an asset. Unlike traditional agencies, Northlich works in client-centric villages, combining the talents of several functionalities into focused teams of experts. And now that I’m part of that village, I couldn’t agree more.

To find out how Northlich is transforming healthcare throughout the country, contact us at: http://www.northlich.com/contact-us/

Special Issue:
How To Prevent A Blockbuster Moment: Essential Survival Lessons For Your Business

60 Second Articles:

1. The Blockbuster Moment: Critical Lessons For Businesses Of All Sizes

2. How Your Company Can Prevent Becoming A Blockbuster

3. The 60-Second Close: How To Ensure You’re Not Late Getting In The Game

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The Blockbuster Moment: Critical Lessons For All Businesses Of All Sizes

• After a decade of misdirection, Blockbuster Inc. just recently filed for bankruptcy. Once a key player in the movie rental industry, Blockbuster’s downfall sprang from the same “ailment” that affected the Yellow Pages, Barnes & Noble, newspapers and other retail and service industries. They simply lacked a clear vision of the future and were late getting in the game.
• And while their customers connected to the Internet and sought easier ways to rent movies, companies such as Netflix, Redbox and several other live-streaming and video-on-demand platforms surged forward, endearing themselves to Blockbuster’s core customers.
• Blockbuster’s collapse spotlights many critical issues that businesses of any size and category should address to prevent being surprised by an upstart.

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How Your Company Can Prevent Becoming A Blockbuster

• The rise and fall of Blockbuster offers lessons for any company that interacts with customers. We urge your company to consider these four Blockbuster-prevention questions to help guide your organization’s strategic approach:

1. How do you envision your customers’ wants and needs five years from now? Where will they be and how will you be front and center with them?
2. How do you envision the distribution and promotion channels of your product or service changing five years from now?
3. Does your company have a clear online vision in place, a complete marketing strategy that emanates outward from the Internet?
4. Do you provide an unbeatable customer-focused experience that exceeds customers’ expectations? Could a push-button kiosk replace your product or service if your customer decides that having no customer service is better than having poor customer service?

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The 60 Second Close: How To Ensure You’re Not Late Getting In The Game

• We hope Blockbuster climbs out of its financial situation, but meanwhile the company leaves us with priceless marketing lessons for every business to ponder and act on immediately.
• We can help you set up a marketing strategy and a vision for the future, while developing programs that provide great customer experiences. And more importantly, we can help ensure that you’re not late getting in the game.

If you’re ready to start looking at your future, then call us. We can show you how to get there . . . quickly.

Consumers will always trust the recommendation of someone they know over something they see in a TV commercial. Does that mean traditional advertising is dead? Absolutely not. But for a brand to be sustainable it must identify and empower brand advocates to spread the message in a genuine and authentic way. Sounds great in theory, but how do you really make it work?

I’ll focus on empowering brand advocates in a later post, but before those advocates will talk about your brand you first have to create a reason for them to care about your brand. Successful WOM Marketing means identifying strategies and tactics that create a talkable brand.

But having a talkable brand goes beyond a million views on YouTube or becoming a trending topic on Twitter – it’s about inserting your brand into the daily lives of people in ways that make them stop and take notice.

We’ve all heard of Charmin’s public restrooms in NYC. The initiative wasn’t just successful because people were able to use their brand of toilet paper – it was successful because Charmin identified a reality for consumers – public bathrooms are disgusting – and they changed that. They created not just a clean bathroom, but an entire experience that makes going to the bathroom enjoyable – all the while making  Charmin the ultimate hero.

People have a certain way that they view their world and to create a talkable brand you must interrupt that view in a new and relevant way. By researching consumer perceptions and their emotional and rational trigger,s a brand can identify strategies for making themselves talkable. Steve Knox at P&G calls this disrupting schemas. Others call it breaking inertia. Me? I call it smart.

Schemas can be anything from expecting a Quick Service Restaurant to serve unhealthy food to assuming a coffee house will serve quality food. When a brand breaks this perception—McDonalds with their McCafe, for example —it shifts the stereotype and gets consumer attention.

What consumer perceptions can your brand change? How can you break the consumers’ trance? Give us a call and we’ll help make you more talkable.

As a part of an ongoing project, I recently had the opportunity to listen to groups of middle-school students talk about their perspective on health, exercise, and nutrition. I expected much of what they said. School cafeteria food, for example, is still not winning any taste-tests—and of course it remains unhealthy. French fries, pizza, corn dogs and burgers are the primary lunch players. (Veggies occasionally make a watery, tasteless appearance.) I did not, however, expect the children to clamor for fresh vegetables to be included in their lunch program.

That sentiment was the first of many paradoxes presented during the sessions. Like most adults, these children understand the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. They knew the right answers and wielded terms from the health-conscious vernacular such as “carbs,” “trans-fats,” and “organic.” Without any urging, they noted that individuals should exercise roughly an hour three to four times a week and eat healthy foods. Yet, also like most adults, the majority of these children are not living by those principles.

And they know they’re not. Despite rattling off many of the foods that make up a healthy diet, the only food items that elicited excitement and passion were the notoriously caloric ones: pepperoni pizza, fried chicken, cheeseburgers, ice cream sundaes and French fries. We asked the kids to share their thought on the discrepancy. One boy said, “I know I need to eat healthy foods, but the bad ones are the only ones that taste good.” Alarmingly, the majority of students held a different view. Instead of recognizing that some of their favorite foods were unhealthy, they tried to justify each choice. Strawberry ice cream is healthy because it provides a serving of fruit and dairy. Cheeseburgers are fine as long as you eat one with a slice of tomato and lettuce.  Fettuccini Alfredo is good for you because it doesn’t have any red-meat. If only it were true.

Children often say the darndest things, but this time, these naïve rationales are worth exploring. The fact that these children are already trying to justify poor choices signals things to come. Clearly these kids have some understanding of how to live a healthy lifestyle. They lack practical experience—and role models. The nation is waging war on obesity but victory will only come when we equip the next generation with more than knowledge—they need to experience healthful decision-making first-hand.

Right now, that is not happening. That’s the reason Northlich has continued to engage consumers to gain the understanding of how to affect positive behavior change in this space. As noted before on this blog, the tipping point for the obesity epidemic is quickly approaching. Only those that anticipate and proactively strategize for the impending consumer fallout against products, brands and services that have allowed obesity in America to flourish will remain successful.

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.