The “Mad Marketer”
Random observations from the holiday season…
I hear Best Buy is looking for some PR help….or they should be. Is there anyone that did NOT see the coverage of their miserable handling of their overpromising on shipments that should have been delivered BEFORE Christmas. As I’m sure you know, the story reported that Best Buy simply notified purchasers that certain shipments would not arrive until after Christmas. This story ran on virtually every national media outlet. It was as though Wal*Mart or Amazon actually ‘placed’ the story. Does it really take a genius to figure out that when they notified these customers they should have offered them an option that would have ‘eased the pain’…..perhaps a gift card to the ‘giftee’ for the value they had purchased…..and they probably should have given the ‘gifter’ an additional card for their trouble, perhaps 5-10% of the purchase price. Not only would that have avoided the negative press, but would have likely ‘managed’ the customer service issue, AND led to an additional sale/profit when that card got redeemed.
There may be an ethical issue here….but I’m willing to give LL Bean the benefit of the doubt given the brilliance of one of the their TV executions. ‘The Bean’ does not advertise nationally given the regionality of their penetration so you may not have seen the execution of their TV campaign focused on their iconic ‘Duck Boot’…..the original LL Bean product. In the ad, the product close-up clearly features the “Made in USA” stamp. In today’s nationalistic environment, that is a powerful claim…..and can motivate shoppers. LL Bean is privately held so they don’t release a lot of data, but my ‘spies’ tell me that Santa has been very nice to our friends in Maine. The ethical issue I mentioned concerns the small amount of product Bean still makes in the U.S. Sadly, the Duck Boot is virtually the ONLY product still made here. Brilliant or sleazy, you be the judge.
Anyone still wondering about the power of marketing need only look at the front page of your local newspaper…..on virtually any day. That’s where you’ll find coverage of the Republican Primary…..and a virtual ‘class’ in Marketing 101. While the uneducated might wonder why candidates have risen and fallen, you ‘marketeers’ know perfectly well it is virtually all ‘marketing driven’. These examples, while temporary, were and are striking, nonetheless:
·Donald Trump…..who has literally bankrupted companies, positions himself as a brilliant economist…..and moves to the top of the polls
·Herman Cain introduces a ‘catchy’ name for a financial plan that nearly every economist dispariages……and moves to the top of the polls.
·Newt Gingrinch takes the mantle until highly effective TV ads from his competitors crater his campaign in less than a week.
No ‘ho ho ho’ at Sears or Kmart. They have lost their ‘value’ positioning…..to lower priced competitors from Wal*Mart to the Dollar guys (who also offer an ‘easier’ shopping experience)…..and to higher service operators like Target and Best Buy…..despite their misstep mentioned above…..they enjoyed a very strong season. Sears is in ‘no mans land’…..and in real trouble.
Did you hear that Wendy’s overtook Burger King for #2 burger chain. Talk about the ‘shortest dwarf’ in the room. McD’s continues to outperform and ‘hit on all cylinders….both in the U.S. and abroad. Chipotle must be mentioned for practically inventing ‘upscale fast food’ and executing it flawlessly.
The “Mad Marketer” is Lawrence Schulsinger, former principal at Management Ventures (retail consultancy), and prior to that, marketing executive at Procter & Gamble and Timberland. Today, Mr. Schulsinger is a leading authority on contemporary marketing and branding issues, and consults for a range of product and service organizations.
