Corporate Eye

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Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

Which Brand Will Die in Britain – Orange, T-Mobile or Both?

orange mobile phone france telecomThis week, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom announced that they plan to merge, forming the largest mobile operator in Britain.  Currently, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom hold the third and fourth highest market shares in Britain behind O2 and Vodafone, but the merger would streamline operations for both Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, making the new company more efficient and effective.

Should O2 and Vodafone be worried?

The more interesting question from a branding perspective is which brand name, Orange (French Telecom) or T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom), will live and which will die after the merger.  While the tentative plan reported by the New York Times says that both brands will live for 18-months, there is no word on what will happen to them in the future.  Or will both brands die off in favor of a new brand that better reflects the new company’s position as market leader with 37% market share (beating O2’s 27% market share and Vodafone’s 25% market share)? [Read more…] about Which Brand Will Die in Britain – Orange, T-Mobile or Both?

Building Brand Trust

trustWith the economy struggling, consumers seek brands they can trust more than ever.  Can consumers trust your brand?  Do they?

Your answers to the preceding questions are very telling.  Be honest.

Even if you believe consumers trust your brand, you should imagine that they don’t.  Building brand trust is a powerful tool when all other areas of people’s lives are in a state of flux.  Let them know they can depend on your brand.

But how?

Through marketing, of course!

Marketing messages can build brand trust.  Don’t assume your consumers know they can trust your brand.  Tell them.  And then remind them again.  And again.

These days, consumers need to feel extremely confident that they’re making the right decision when they pull their hard-earned money out of their pockets and hand it over in exchange for a product or service.  The more secure they feel in making that decision, the more likely they are to actually open their wallets and make those purchases.

But not so fast!

Before you can create the marketing messages that will build brand trust, you need to find out specifically where your target audience needs and wants trust and security and how your product can fill that void.  Only then can you feel confident that you’re communicating the right messages that will actually resonate with consumers.

It seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many brand managers and marketers skip this step operating under the false assumption that they either know what their customers need already or that their customers want the same things that they do.

Bottom line, don’t assume anything except that consumers don’t trust your brand.  Then give them a reason to trust it.

Image: Flickr

Social Web Branding Not Connecting with Women

First, let’s take a look at some facts and trends:

  1. Statistics tell us that women are responsible for the vast majority of purchase decisions.
  2. Women spend time on the social web.
  3. Brands are not connecting with women on the social web.

Looks like a missed opportunity.

A recent study by ad:tech Chicago and Q Interactive gives us even more insight into the failure of brands to connect with women on the social web.  The study surveyed 1,000 women and reports the following results:

  • 75% of respondents’ purchase decisions are not affected by social networking sites.  Only 21.9% say social networking sites have “somewhat” of an influence on their purchase decisions and 3.3% say they greatly influence their purchase decisions.
  • 52% of respondents have friended brands on social networking sites.
  • 19% of respondents feel negative emotions when they come into contact with brands online, and 17% feel positive emotions, while 64% feel neutral emotions.
  • 10% of respondents engage in brand-related activities on the social web such as finding information and writing reviews.
  • The most common social web activities reported by users are sending private messages, sharing photos, and chatting.
  • 75% of respondents spent more time on social networking sites this year than they did last year.
  • 54.1% visit social networking sites daily, 30.8% weekly, 7.4% monthly, 7.7% once every few months.
  • 66.4% use Facebook, 16.3% MySpace, 3.1% Twitter, and 1.4% LinkedIn.

These statistics tell us a few very important things.

  1. Brands need to find ways to connect with women through the social web, particularly on sites like Facebook.
  2. Current brand efforts on the social web are not working well to attract a female audience and getting them to engage with the brand.
  3. Women use the tools of the social web to be social, and that’s where brands need to find ways to interact with them.  Simply providing information isn’t enough.

And here’s a final thought for you to ponder:

Respondents to the survey cited price (47%) and quality (45.7%) as the top reasons for their purchase decisions.  Brand ranked fourth with just 2% of respondents saying brand is important.  Guess what ranked above brand?  ‘Other’ which 3.5% of respondents cited as a primary reason for making their purchase decisions.  That tells us that the social web provides an open opportunity for brand building.  In fact, that’s one of the biggest opportunities for social web marketers.  The long-term brand building strategy supported by short term marketing tactics is what creates a successful, integrated marketing plan.

Your thoughts?

Will Marvel Get a Disney Makeover?

spider-man-ride-universalThis week, it was announced that Disney is acquiring Marvel.  There are several reasons why Disney made a move to takeover Marvel when theme park attendance is down and incurring additional debt through an acquisition is viewed as risky.  The most plausible reason has to do with capturing the male audience.

While Disney has no problem capturing girls with its Princesses, Hannah Montana and High School Musical properties, boys have proven to be harder for the Disney brand to connect with.  Pirates of the Caribbean and Cars helped, but getting a stronger hold on the male audience would certainly help Disney in the long run.  At least where the Disney entertainment and merchandising executives are concerned.

However, that’s not enough for Disney.  The online buzz is also filled with speculation that Disney wants to add more female elements to the Marvel properties to broaden the existing audiences for those brands and products.  I wonder how that will fly with the die-hard Marvel brand loyalists.

As a branding professional, I’m more interested in this story with regard to how it will affect the long-standing Marvel brand.  Disney has a way of purchasing business and brands and as AdWeek describes it, “Disneyfying” them.  I think that term is very accurate.  Many brands that had freedom and flexibility to stay current, evolve, and change on the fly to meet consumer demand have found themselves ensconced in the bureaucracy of Disney after acquisition.  Think of ESPN.

So how can Marvel retain its cult brand, it’s cool to be a comic book geek, persona after Disney takes control?  There is no doubt that Marvel will get a Disney makeover, so it will appeal more to the masses than a sub-culture.  That’s the Disney way, and Disney executives have made no secret of the Disney brand extension strategy in past interviews — they flood the market with a hot brand or property until it’s saturated and then move onto the next one with nary a backward glance.

What do you think?  What will become of Marvel?

And by the way, I wonder what this acquisition will mean for Walt Disney World’s local competitor — Universal Studios Orlando — and the various Marvel-themed attractions there, including Universal’s Spider-Man ride pictured above.  We’ll have to wait and see.

Image: Flickr

Green – Not the Same to Everyone

green_brandingNew research from the Shelton Group tells us that the term ‘green’ can mean very different things to different people as it applies to consumer behavior.  The result — brands need to market to these consumers very differently.  In other words, the subsegments of consumers that make up the environmentally-conscious audience are diverse and highly nichey.  In other words, one message does not fit all when it comes to green branding and marketing.

Basically, the study reminds us of something we should already know.  Just because a person claims to be environmentally conscious doesn’t mean that every aspect of his life and buying behavior is guided by the green movement.  The truth is, only a subsegment of the environmentally-conscious audience will forego comfort to actually be more environmentally conscious.  According to the study, 77% of the 1,000 consumers surveyed reported that they purchase green products occasionally, but of that group, only 26% of them claimed they would reduce their energy consumption “to lessen their impacts on the environment” while 77% said they tried to reduce their energy consumption to “reduce their bills and control their costs.”

There also appears to be a gap in thinking when it comes to the terminology brands might use to market their products.  According to the study, 72% of respondents claimed to be interested in owning an energy-efficient home, but only 47% were interested in owning a green home. [Read more…] about Green – Not the Same to Everyone

Convenience Trumps Price for a Growing Group of Consumers

convenience_storeA new report from The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research sheds new light on a growing shift in what’s most important to consumers these days.  According to the study’s results, 28% of consumers surveyed in June 2009 admitted they are willing to pay more for products and to shop at stores that offer greater convenience, speed of service, and so on.  That’s up from 23% in May 2009.  While you might think that given the state of the economy, the opposite would be true, the report tells us there is a growing audience of consumers who are so busy that even during difficult financial times, they’ll pay more for convenience.

The statistics make sense.  Regardless of how tight consumers’ finances are, for many people, time constraints are far worse.  With that in mind, one-stop-shopping stores are again becoming the focus of consumers’ sites.  Speedy check out at retail locations, clean stores, and having the items consumers want are some of the top factors that make the 1,200 consumers surveyed in this study choose one store over another.

However, don’t be completely misled by these results.  60% of respondents still cite high price as being the reason why they opt not to shop at certain stores.  Interestingly though, stores not having what consumers need is nipping at the heels of high price with 59% of respondents citing that as a primary reason why they don’t shop at certain stores.

So what does this survey teach us in terms of branding and marketing trends?  First, there are opportunities to be leveraged in terms of luring consumers to your brands by making them convenient.  Think of how you can make your brand more convenient.  Could you offer it through more convenient distribution points or in more convenient sizes?  Can you speed up the purchase process?  Can you tie in installation or other services that will save consumers time?  Think out of the box and get creative!

Second, the first thing everyone tries to do when times are tough is lower prices.  Even if you aren’t the first brand to lower your price, soon your competitors will, and you’ll feel like you have to as well.  Don’t be pressured into lowering prices unless doing so is truly the only way to keep your brand competitive.  Instead of jumping to lower prices, consider other options.  For example, think of how you can make the convenience opportunity work for your brand.  According to this study, over 1 in 4 consumers are willing to pay more in exchange for added convenience.  Become the convenient brand!

Image: Flickr