Transcript Club and Continuity Businesses

University of Washington MBA Program
Managing Customer Relationships
through Direct Marketing”
“Creative Strategy”
Instructor: Elizabeth Stearns
One great, relevant, powerful creative idea,
executed with rich style can build a client’s
business.
The better the creative idea, the greater the
effect of the campaign in persuading the
consumer.
Strategy Definition
• Strategy is having a plan – aiming
• Knowing exactly who the customer is
• Knowing exactly what effect we want to
have
• Knowing exactly how we are going to try to
achieve that effect
The clue or secret of good direct marketing
strategy is customer perspective.
i.e., approaching it from the customer’s
point of view, NOT the manufacturer’s, the
client’s
From Product Driven to Customer
Driven Communications
• Product Driven Approach
– Analyze competitive products
– Produce a functionally superior product
– Use advertising to tell consumers about your product’s
superiority
– Consumer buys your product
• Consumer Driven Approach
– Analyze consumer needs
– Make a product to fit those needs
– Use advertising to persuade consumers that your
product is relevant
– Consumer buys product
Strategic Possibilities
Out of the multiple possibilities a strategy
should be selected which:
– Offers the best opportunity in terms of a
balance between sales potential and risk
– Is able to deliver or surpass the marketing
objective
– Offers the potential of developing superior
creative product
Situation Analysis
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People
Product
People/Product Relationship
People/Direct Marketing Relationship
Environmental Trends
The objective is a complete understanding of today’s
marketplace.
Situation Analysis
A. People
Once target is identified:
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Know everything you can about them
Know them in life not just as a post code
Meet them, talk to them, listen to them, watch
them
Recognize them and respect them
Find out how they feel about the product
Situation Analysis
B. The Product
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Check frame of reference
Point of difference
Features and benefits
Incentivise – or not
Situation Analysis
C. People and Direct Marketing
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How does the target feel about direct
marketing?
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Effects of incentives
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Receiving direct mail
Web vs Telemarketing
Add value or not?
Personalized vs. non-personalized
Frequency of contact
Program Development
The proposition:
– Has to be single minded
– Can be rational or emotional
– Has to differentiate from competition
Program Development
Features and Benefits
– All the points that must be mentioned
– Features = What the product does
– Benefits = Why the feature is important to you
What is positioning?
• A product’s positioning is the way in which
we want the consumer to think about our
products – the place we hold in our
customers’ minds.
• It is not what you do to a product; it’s what
you do to the mind of your prospect.
• Most basic of all strategic statements.
• Not a slogan or tag line.
What is positioning and why is it
so important to creative!
• Provides a blue print for marketing and
development for the brand/product/company.
• Focuses efforts of all those involved.
• Essential to the marketing strategy, and must
precede development of sub strategies.
• States the reason for brand’s existence and once
successfully established, it should rarely be
changed.
Traits sought when selecting a product position:
• Believable and consistent with product
performance.
• Directly linked to as large a frame of reference and
market target where the product can still deliver a
meaningful point of difference.
• Targeted as delivering the most meaningful benefit
and/or correcting the biggest problem in the frame
of performance chosen.
• Unique from competition.
• Capable of enduring the life of the brand.
• Consistent with market targets knowledge and
behavior experience.
Steps to take to uncover potential positions:
• Analyze your “perceived” position and
those of your competitors.
• Study the marketing environment for trends:
– Trends in the marketplace
– Consumer research
• List the reasons people buy the generic
product (and the problems they may have
with overall performance)
Steps to take to uncover potential positions:
• Discuss anything and everything your
product/service delivers that competitors do not.
• Compare generic reasons for buying (or problems)
against your unique benefits.
• Remember: Even if competitors can deliver a
similar benefit, saying it first, with credible
support points can be pre-emptive.
Strategic Development Process
The Client Brief
Step 1 – Situation Analysis – of the market, the produce, the consumer
Step 2 – Examination of client’s marketing objectives and strategy
Step 3 – Agreement of role of direct marketing
Step 4 – Analysis of target audience
Step 5 – Analysis of the target audience’s thoughts and feelings towards
the brand and their behavior
Step 6 – Analysis of points of difference between our brand and the
competition
Step 7 – Agreement, positioning and key point(s) of difference
Step 8 – Agreement of what we want the target audience to think and feel
and do as a result of our communication
Step 9 – Executional guidelines
These steps lead to an agreed direct marketing strategy and creative brief.
Strategy
1. Marketplace
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Marketing Objective: What is the client
trying to achieve?
Market Environment: What is the
competition doing? Attach samples, trends,
facts/figures
Previous Marketing: What has the client done
before? Why should this be changed? Attach
previous work & results.
Strategy
2. Product
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How will the produce help the customer?
What will the product do? Attach samples.
What makes the produce different? What is
interesting about the product?
What makes the product better? Why choose
this product?
What restraints are there on what we can say?
What legal/other restrictions?
Strategy
3. Target Market
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Description: With whom are we talking?
What do they currently think and feel? (about
the category/product/brand/direct mail, etc.)
What do we want them to think and feel?
(having seen our communication)
What do we want them to do? Call to action.
Strategy
4. General
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Main Thought/Proposition: One sentence if
possible.
Supporting/Selling Points: Features and
benefits that support the proposition
Personality/Tone of Voice/Creative
Guidelines
5 Key Questions
Every Strategy Statement Should Answer
1. What’s the single biggest reason your prospect
won’t want to do what you’re asking him to do?
2. How do you overcome the prospect’s big
objection?
3. What is the competition doing?
4. Does the client have any mandatories or
expectations?
5. What will the customer think after reading your
piece?
The objective for smart marketers:
• “Own the loyalty of consumers, not the
advantages of products.”
» Lester Wunderman, Wunderman Y & R
The 7 Rules of Creation
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If the idea’s tired, imagine the reader.
Talk fresh.
Remember fear, sex, and greed.
Looks should kill.
Show and tell.
Business doesn’t mean boring.
Play with your mail.
10 Myths that Will Limit You from the Start
Myth #1: Everything must come in an envelope
Myth #2: Selfmailers just get thrown out
Myth #3: A #10 envelope will outpull any other size
Myth #4: Letters must look like business correspondence
Myth #5: Your target is a man
Myth #6: Your copy must be short
Myth #7: Your tone must be all business
Myth #8: Humor doesn’t work
Myth #9: “Promotional” executions aren’t effective
Myth #10: Personal bribes don’t pull
Proven Formats
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The unexpected (plastic fish, air sickness bags)
Oversized or undersized (shout or whisper)
3-D (boxes, tubes promise valuable contents)
Letters with unusual return addresses (famous
names or titles)
• Serious-looking mail (western union, kraft
envelopes)
• Personal stationery (even in a business
environment)
• Postcards and selfmailers (no envelope to open)
OEs that Get Opened
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Good offers
Free stuff
News or information
Serious, official notices
Smart propositions
Personally relevant information
Provocative/intriguing statements
Checklist for Judging Creative Execution
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Does the execution carry out the creative strategy?
Will the execution appeal to the target audience?
Would you say this to a prospect in person?
Is it written from the prospect’s point of view or
from the marketer’s point of view?
• Is the execution clear, concise, complete, and
convincing?
• Does the execution get and hold the prospect’s
attention?
• If time or space is limited, make the message
single-minded.
• Make sure management knows exactly what the
creatives have in mind.
• If there are several creative pieces, make sure they
all work together effectively.
• Does the execution overwhelm the message?
• Is the request for action clear and specific?
• If a reply device is used, is it simple and easy to
use?
• Do let the cost of the proposed execution influence
you.
Strategic Possibilities
Possible Roles of Direct Marketing
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Fulfillment to advertising
Provide greater access to the product
To raise awareness
As a loyalty builder
Direct selling
As a research tool