Reviewer: David

(This rant refers back to a rant from May 15 called “The Delicate Relationship between Branding and Customer Service)

Why would a marketer tell you that customer service is more important than advertising? Let’s start in your garage.

What kind of car do you drive? What does it say about you? If it’s not the cheapest transportation to buy, the cheapest to run or the absolute safest in its class then the chances are that you have been influenced by branding. Some automobile manufacturer has seduced you and convinced you that driving a Lexus, Hummer, Mercedes or Chrsyler 300 will make a statement about you, let you be the person you dream of becoming.

We’ve had quibbles with some of these advertisers here at the ThirdWay blog, but generally speaking we can say that car manufacturers understand that automobiles are more than the sum of their parts – that they are identity statements for their owners. And car advertising generally reflects the emotional nature of automobile purchases. However, if all of that good feeling is ruined the first time you visit a dealership, the advertising is wasted.

I happen to drive a four-year old Audi. I love the car. It is solid and fun to drive. Of course, to have a car in Manhattan, you have to love it because there is no imaginable financial justification to keep one otherwise, between the rent-in-Tulsa parking charges and sky-high insurance premiums.

In addition to building pretty good cars, Audi does some pretty good advertising, particularly in print. But I will say here and now that they might want to consider stopping. Why? Customer service.

What I’m about to relate probably happens to many of you at many dealerships for many different vehicles. As a society of car drivers, we are so inured to ill-treatment at the hands of dealership personnel (whether on the sales or service end) that we hardly make a squeak any more. But it cheapens the brands and erodes our loyalty.

The last time I brought my car into Zumbach Audi (our Manhattan west-side dealership) I made an appointment for 12:30pm. Knowing my car was going to have to stay overnight I didn’t want to arrive with the rush crowd at 7 or 8am and fight the crowds getting back to the office. It was about 95 degrees outside the day I dropped off the vehicle.

I first entered the dealership and saw a service manager who told me to leave his air-conditioned office and wait outside in the heat with my vehicle until someone could see me. Then he said “we’re on our lunch break,” as if I were to blame for showing up when nobody was around. Why did they give me a lunchtime appointment if there was nobody to help me at that time?

When someone finally came to take my car into the service area, I was hoping I’d be able to get back to the office without walking a mile from 11th Avenue to the nearest subway stop. I had been told previously that “loaner cars are only for undriveable vehicles,” (Undriveable? Isn’t any car that you leave at the shop undriveable by definition?) so I did not bother asking for a replacement vehicle. But Zumbach had proudly mailed out an excellent direct mail piece advertising shuttle service within Manhattan. When I asked about this I was told that the shuttle service ended at 12:00 noon. Instead, I was pointed to a notice on the wall of the service area saying that “Subway Tokens are provided for Transportation.”

I’m not an import-car snob, but I don’t think Audi would really want their brand positioning to be “just as good as the subway”. And I would be surprised if I’m the first person to walk away insulted, not asking for the $2.00 reimbursement. After all, the dealership surely made more money than that from me when they charged me nearly $400 for a new tire (neither mounted nor balanced but simply put into my trunk at my request) which I subsequently found for $220 at a tire store which was also in Manhattan.

All of this is a typical online rant – a dissatisfied customer screaming to the masses, I understand. It is important from a branding perspective because it reflects a larger trend in the industry.

Along with several other manufacturers, Audi is rolling back warranty coverage on its vehicles. Free maintenance may soon be a thing of the past. Yet we’ll still be told that nobody but the dealer is really qualified to maintain and repair our vehicles and given the complex mechanical differences and proprietary diagnostic on-board computers it may be true.

So I will say that as a marketer I think that the money spent on the great advertising (that fabulous viral campaign for the A-3, for example), the money lavished on customer retention programs and the wonderfully designed products are all a waste unless Audi takes back control of the dealer experience. It doesn’t help to get a flyer from the dealership explain the importance of “perfect” customer satisfaction scores and asking me to call them if I wasn’t satisfied. That is a subtle form of intimidation belied by the fact that when I tried to complain to the service manager about being overcharged for a tire while registering my car for the service visit he said “they don’t really listen to me.” At least he was telling the truth.

So for all of you with great brands and great advertising – be careful what you promise. Someone just might be expecting you to deliver.

Reviewer: Eva Lind-Mallo

For those that were at the Thirdway seminar last night, here’s some additional news on TiVo. For those that weren’t at the seminar, David discussed how TiVo is revolutionizing the way marketers and advertisers effectively reach target audiences.

TiVo has just announced that you’ll start getting pop-up ads when you fast forward through the actual ads. Unless you’re using Direct TV.

Link: TiVo Users Could Get Pop-Up Ads

Link: TiVo Adds Ads

Moreover, the government of Japan has gotten seriously involved. With TV ad revenue losses mounting, private broadcasters have started to regard commercials and programs as an all-in-one product. Hisashi Hieda, President of the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters, said: “Skipping the commercials would amount to a violation of the Copyright Law.” The association has designated August 28^th as “TV Commercial Day”, which will highlight the benefits of TV advertising to viewers.

Link: Japan Gets Tough On TiVO

Link: Skipping TV Commercials Illegal in Japan?

Bottom Line: Traditional TV advertising is not coming back. The world has changed and (Super Bowl aside) it has become increasingly difficult to reach target audiences. What does this mean for marketers and advertisers? It all comes back to being laser focused on who your target is, and then working from multiple angles at connecting and communicating with that consumer: building awareness, buy-in, loyalty, in short, creating value for her. An interesting article on converging media and venues to reach our target follows:

Link: Convergence: It’s Becoming a Brave New World

Brand/Advertiser: AIDES (one of the largest European community-based organizations against HIV/AIDS) for AIDS awareness in FRANCE. Winner, Cannes Lions 2005 Gold Medal Winner on AIDS AWARENESS in the Public Health & Safety Category
Execution: TV in France
Link: Click Here then click onto HiRes or LowRes links below the image of girl in window
Target: Young, single French females
Reviewer: Eva Lind-Mallo (more about Eva here)
Rating: ****

Description/Synopsis: As a little girl grows into beautiful young woman, she discovers that love isn’t always easy. After a series of dating catastrophes, she finally meets the man of her dreams. TAGLINE: Live long enough to find the right one. Protect yourself. (Protégez-vous.)

What Works:
Are French films to Hollywood films, what French advertising is to world advertising…a genre for the elite where there is often no storybook ending and you’re left wondering what just happened? Perhaps, but in this case, the French have laid out a message, which is directed at a specific audience, delivered in a clear and non-prudish manner and offers an unambiguous call to action.

As marketers, our job is to:

1) Identify target audience/markets (in this case, young, single French females) that will buy into a product or support an idea (here, HIV/AIDS prevention)

2) Capture the target’s attention (a mini-film in the ad time allotted for “Publicité” on French TV that, as opposed to lecturing, weaves a complete story and hooks the viewer)

3) Systematically work towards getting the target audience to accept concepts or propositions offered (yes, you will likely go through many frogs before you meet your Prince Charming)

4) Converts audience into taking desired action (protecting yourself against HIV/AIDS until you meet the “right one”)

What Doesn’t:
Using persuasive appeals, both logical and emotional, this piece is a form of propaganda and is trying to propagate a philosophy or point-of-view which one may not want to embrace.

As opposed to merely communicating the facts about HIV/AIDS here propaganda is being played to garner support of a certain position. As opposed to just selling a product or service, here we are delivering a message that attempts to shape opinion over individual behavior (beyond choosing widget or service A over B). Much marketing strives to deliberately evoke a strong emotion, and here we are utilizing propaganda to suggest relationships between concepts (protect yourself through the frogs, the Prince will come, you’ll live happily ever after…). And what if our target doesn’t want to find a prince? This message is clearly intended to encourage or discourage certain forms of behavior and plainly sells traditional marriage as an end goal.

Branding Bottom Line:
HIV/AIDS awareness in Europe is often about raising consciousness about the plight on other continents, namely Africa. There is a bit of sappy storytelling involved here (the girl meets boy of dreams) but I’m sure the trial and error path she took to get there wouldn’t make it onto a PSA in the United States! Knowing the target audience is unlikely to buy into an abstinence-only message, the ad gets the message right by latching into the target’s mindset and outlining what’s in it for her with a clear call to action (protect yourself for the “right one”).

Epic-length (220 seconds!) but cogent and relatable storyline that zeros in on target audience in well-executed spot.

Brand: McDonalds
Execution: TV
Link: Not Yet
Target: Attention, K-Mart Shoppers
Reviewer: David
Rating: *

Description:
The spot opens with a shot of a shower running in a crowded apartment which has a sink in the same room. Which would be funny if some of us did not live in Manhattan. The voiceover says “A Shower in the Kitchen. That’s one way to save money.” Then we see product shots from McDonalds culminating with a cheeseburger for $1.29.

What Works:
Everyone loves low prices.

What Doesn’t:
McDonalds, for years the powerhouse of fast food chains is clearly on the ropes. It is reeling from the combined effects of the death of two popular CEOs, a well regarded, critical documentary (Super Size Me), shifting consumer preferences and a newly resurgent Burger King that seems to have found its voice. Nowhere is this more visible than in McDonalds marketing efforts, which seem to have come from the belly of a pinata in random sizes and shapes. It’s sad to say that the highpoint of the year may have been getting Ronald McDonald interviewed by MSNBC, which was accomplished by giving him a makeover as part of the “Go Active Campaign.” Interviewing a fictional corporate mascot dressed as a clown also marks the lowpoint of the year for MSNBC – and we’re counting the Michael Jackson trial here.

The brand positioning for McDonalds this year seems to be ‘all things to all people’ which is no positioning at all.

McDonalds was a genius brand when they created a safe place with no surprises that parents could tolerate and kids would love. Over the years these McDonald’s kids grew up and continued eating there as adults (including a small group of heavy male eaters who account for an astonishing portion of food sales), but McDonalds stuck persistently to the family as the core user for the brand. This paid dividends as adults were drawn back to McDonalds by the connection to childhood experiences and the desire for trusted food. If food was a friend, McDonalds was family.

With the”One Way to Save Money” campaign, McDonalds seems to be trying its hardest to kill this brand equity. And we suspect that this desperation is born from a misconception about why people really come to McDonalds to begin with. Current management seems to think that it’s about the burgers. Since burgers are facing declining popularity, McDonald’s has set off a two-pronged strategy to move aggressively into healthier fare (a Fruit and Walnut Salad was the big introduction this year) and position the classic items as value offerings. Which is where this spot fits in. The problems by the numbers:

Branding Bottom Line -
Bargain basement branding sells McDonalds short.

Brand: Hotels.com
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here
Target: Family Vacationers
Reviewer: David
Rating: ****

Description:
Starts with a picture of a father going online to Hotels.com and a voiceover “Looking for a Hotel your kids will enjoy? Send in the experts.” Cuts to speeding black Chevy Suburbans disgorging identially dressed Hotels.com employees in black sweaters and black chinos who proceed en masse to try the parfaits, jump on the beds and swim in the pool (with rubber ducky floaties), giving each other the thumbs-up signal. Voiceover and visuals talk about finding the ‘perfect hotel at the perfect price’ and uses Orlando at $45.95 as an example.

What Works:
This is a hard-working spot which uses a cute concept (a variation on the Geek Squad theme which you can find in our blog archives from May 23rd) of swarming, anonymous employees doing silly things to make some important statements about the brand.

What makes this spot effective is a relentless focus on the brand and the usability of the product underlying it. The brand positioning is “Best prices for places we actually check out” which is a good one for anyone for whom the specifics about an unfamiliar hotel are as important as the price. The family on vacation theme in this spot is an ideal “stress test” for this proposition – what would be worse than being stuck in a bad hotel with your kids, after all?

Here are a few things in particular to watch for in this spot:

1. Great Establishing Shot - as the kids run screaming around the room, mom & dad are looking at Hotels.com online – the tagline “Send in the Experts” coincides with a crisp mouse click and suddenly we’re catapulted to the speeding Suburbans. What works well about this is that we have the problem and the brand very well in hand in these first five seconds of the spot. Beyond that, Hotels.com has actually shown you how to use the service and then connects it seamlessly with the real world. Brilliant.
2. Good Consumer Insight Establishes Expertise - life is often about the little things, not the big things and when brands get the little things right, they create expertise. The pseudo-Matrix hotels.com employees tasting ice-cream, jumping on beds and swimming in the pool with the floaties show that Hotels.com really gets that it is these touches that are important to kids. This give thems credibility.
3. Hotels.com Steps past Price comparison - it is particularly interesting to look at the brand positioning of hotels.com versus Priceline in their new campaign. Priceline is still – no surprise – all about Price, with the news being that you can now compare prices first. Hotels.com is trying to move beyond the Internet bargain basement by becoming the experts at Hotels. Did you notice that they are not talking about Airline Flights, Rental Cars or any of the rest of the value chain here? Dove (see yesterday’s blog) could take a lesson from this.

What Doesn’t:
There is a big promise being made here that Hotels.com has to honor or this campaign will kill the brand. The promise is that Hotels.com actually does know something about these hotels. Yes it’s nice if they least different features of the hotel on the website, but this spot promises expertise and consumers will demand it. If I’m booking a trip to Washington for a meeting there, Hotels.com ought to help me choose between three or four competing business hotels offering similar rates. They should also let me know if one has particularly good or bad service. That’s what expertise really means.

Branding Bottom Line -
A good spot which will either build or break the brand.

Brand: Dove Nourishing Lotion
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here
Target: Real Women
Reviewer: David
Rating: **

Description:
The spot opens to a thin redhead in a white two-piece outfit that is somewhere between underwear and a bathing suit. The voiceover is a song:”What if we loved our skin … and put nourishment in…” As the spot proceeds we see visuals of very different women – pregnant, older, overweight, one with a tatoo and even a Caeserian scar. “Introducing Dove Nourishing Lotions with 24 hour neutraserum. The first line of body lotions by Dove.” The spot ends with a URL for the campaign for real beauty.

What Works:
Here’s what works

1. Engaging visuals - the white-on-white theme, interesting women and clean shots stand out.
2. Dove Takes a Risk - this is not normal advertising and these women are not normal models, so Dove is breaking the mold of beauty advertising.
3. Dove is standing for something meaningful to its consumers - with the campaign for real beauty, Dove along with Bath & Body Works and American Girl are trying to do something genuinely useful: change the self-perception of women against the cultural backdrop of perfection obsession.

What Doesn’t:
It is very difficult to take down a marketing company when they are trying to do something that is admirable and undeniably good with their advertising. The Campaign for Real Beauty is a an admirable idea, but it has been a disaster for Dove because it has diluted a brand positioning that was already wobbling under the weight of questionable line extensions.

Dove had a clear and unambiguous reason for being when they were about the woman’s face. Being gentle enough for a woman’s face gave them permission to be used for the rest of the body the same way that being gentle enough for a baby gave adults permission to use Johnson’s baby shampoo themselves thirty years ago. And just as Johnson’s erred in thinking that growing success outside of the baby market meant that they should move their advertising away from babies, so Dove has erred in becoming an all-purpose soft body line.

The Campaign for Real Beauty Ads, for soap, shampoo and now Dove Nourishing Lotion have taken this error a step further. In these spots, Dove is trying to substitute the brand positioning of the campaign (women come in all shape and sizes and that is great) for the brand positioning of Dove. And Dove is trying to morph into a generic empowerment message.

But it just doesn’t fit. First of all, Dove is confusing us. Soap with moisturing lotion gentle enough for a woman’s face so I can use it on my knees and elbows and feet – I get it. Now its for the whole body and the hair and my underarms and it’s really about me not being like everyone else? Huh?

Consumer are attracted to brands because they are experts at something. Dove is coming perilously close to being expert at nothing.

Here are three more problems with this spot:

1. Dove is Showing Different Bodies but Talking Different Skin – which is confusing to say the least. Watching this commercial without sound would lead you to think that it’s an underwear commercial. Now if Victoria’s Secret did this, it would be a real revolution. But Dove?
2. Dove is Afraid to Use Real Women – The talk is nice but look closely at this commercial and you’ll see that Dove has not really stepped out front and center and empowered ordinary women. They’re just showing models with a slightly wider range of ages and body types than the general commercial fair. They’re still much more attractive than the average pedestrian.
3. The Subliminal Message is Still “Improve Yourself” - This is where being a beauty product (nourishing lotion) really kills them. The message is that you need to add something that you don’t have to make you whole. And that means you aren’t whole already. This is why this would be a much better spot for a lingerie company or a jeans manufacturer (and wouldn’t it be nice for a mainstream clothing company to acknowledge real women?). This observation, by the way comes from Adam Finley at Adjab ( click here to read his commentary.)

So what looks like it could be a real winner is really a disaster for Dove. Will they be the next Ivory Soap, languishing in the bargain basement of branding?

Branding Bottom Line -
A noble idea falls for the wrong brand – with predictable results.