Channelling Mom's Shopping Power: Community Bee's 5 Tips for Marketing to Moms

Have you heard? Apparently invisible eyes behind her head and a heightened ability to sense mischief aren’t your mom’s only superpowers. She also has major shopping power. Do you remember all those times when she went out to “run some errands” or as my mom would say, “buzz around town” and didn’t return until hours later?  Well apparently she was really out saving the world economy. You can tell her don’t bother with the cover up. We’ve been tracking her movements and the stats show that women are responsible for 85% of all consumer purchases. Mothers make up a significant proportion of these women.

This makes mommies a very valuable investment for marketing dollars. Now that the secret is out, how can marketers channel moms’ super shopping powers?

I’ve got a few tips:

• Segment. Target. Position.

 A one size fits all marketing approach will not always work for mothers. Think about it. We’ve got single moms, working moms, stay-at-home moms, work-at-home moms, moms of toddlers, moms of teenagers, moms of toddlers AND teenagers, and the list goes on and on. Each segment has different needs. Target the segment(s) to which your product or service would deliver the greatest benefits and position your product/service as THE product to satisfy their needs (whether that need is a premium brand to satisfy status needs or a value priced product to satisfy large families without breaking the bank).  

• Tap into the blogosphere

Mothers talk. A lot. To each other. Online. Mothers are blogging all over the Internet on sites like Macaroni Kid Trinidad and Pretty Chaotic (both Trinidad & Tobago based  “mommy blogs”), sharing their tips on caring for their families and recommending products and services that can make life easier for moms the world over. Companies can tap into the blogosphere using advertising, e-coupons and giving popular bloggers (read: influencers) their products to test and post unbiased reviews for all moms to see.

• Exploit social media

Connect with moms on the social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+ etc). Social media allow companies to build two-way relationships with mothers and to get direct feedback from them. Use your social media accounts to offer advice to moms, get their feedback on products in your pipeline, get their product ideas and share special offers and coupons.

The Nestle brand, Maggi, has a very active Facebook page for its Trinidad & Tobago market. The page provides nutrition advice, family-friendly recipes and budget-friendly tips for purchasing food items. The page also regularly runs promotions and special offers for fans.

• Make life easier

Whether they are involved with childrearing full-time or work outside the home, today’s mom is a busy bee. Marketers who make life easier for moms are likelier to win them over. Develop a smart phone app to provide moms with info on-the-go. Send email reminders when it’s time to take little Jonathan to the dentist or pick up the dry cleaning. Offer a subscription service. MarketMovers, a Trinidad and Tobago-based online grocery retailer, allows customers to schedule weekly or fortnightly deliveries of fruits and vegetables right to their homes or offices.

                                                                          

• Make the world a better place

Get behind a cause. Save the honey bees, or the trees. Which mom doesn’t want the world to be a better place for her children? A survey by Cone Communications and Roper Starch Worldwide revealed that more than 75% of consumers are more likely to purchase a brand associated with a cause they care about and 66% of consumers would switch brands to support a particular cause. PriceSmart contributes to environmental sustainability by not offering plastic carrier bags– instead the company sells re-usable bags for packing purchases. Republic Bank supports the development of children through sports by sponsoring the Right Start Cup Youth Football Camp.

So those are my five tips. Do you have any other tips for marketing to moms?

- Kristle Gangadeen

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Thank you for your complaint...

by Keitha Oliver

Thank you for your complaint...

Sounds sarcastic right? Maybe even counter-intuitive? Why would a business encourage customers to complain and even thank them for doing so? On the surface, customer complaints seem like a hassle – time consuming and expensive to resolve. Then, there is the ego-bruising aspect of admitting failure. However, research has shown that effective complaint handling can actually be a source of differentiation and competitive advantage.

No news is bad news

Let’s face it – people love to talk. They talk when things go well, and they talk even more when things go wrong. In many instances, dissatisfied customers do not complain directly to the company, they simply stop purchasing altogether. Moreover, they share their negative experience with others so you not only lose your customer but also several other potential customers without even knowing it! Don’t wait for customer complaints to come to you. Actively and consistently engage your clients to find out what you’re doing right, and what you could be doing better.

Free research

Customer complaints are a veritable goldmine in terms of innovation, process enhancement, improving marketing communications and more. Complaints signal a gap in your offering that is important to the customer. What could be better than having your target market tell you exactly what they do and do not want? 3M, an innovation juggernaut, has claimed that over 60% of their product improvements are as a result of customer complaints.

Customer loyalty & positive word-of-mouth

We all know the old axiom: “It is 5 times more expensive to win a new customer than to keep an old one”. A well-handled complaint can prevent an irate customer from defecting and cause her to become more loyal, often even more so than a customer who never had a reason to complain. Furthermore, after having her complaint resolved in a satisfactory manner, the customer is likely to tell as many as 5 other people about the incident.

Increased profitability

Higher customer retention rates lead to fewer lost sales and greater customer lifetime value through repeat sales. Additionally, earnings also grow through new business from referrals or positive word of mouth. Finally, effective complaint management pre-empts the cost of correcting future service failures. British Airways was able to cut customer attrition in half and triple the ROI in its customer relations department through complaint resolution.

Help your customers complain – The P.E.E.K. Principle

Many times customers do not complain because they feel the effort is not worth the reward, or that they may not get the desired result. You can make it easy for customers to complain by using the P.E.E.K. Principle i.e. Publicize, Empathize, Empower and Keep in Touch.

§  Publicize your complaint handling system, both internally and externally. Communicate policies, delegated limits of authority and escalation routes clearly to all client-facing staff. Set up and advertise telephone numbers, email and ‘snail mail’ addresses dedicated to receiving customer complaints.

§  Empathize with the customer; put yourself in his/her shoes. A complaint is not a personal attack, but an opportunity for the company to improve and progress. There is no need to become combative. Instead, welcome the complaint and allow the client to vent. Sometimes all the client wants is for someone to listen to what he has to say.

§  Empower the first point of contact to resolve the complaint. The length of time to resolve a complaint can be an added source of frustration. Give frontline staff the authority to refund, replace or otherwise settle the customer issue on the spot, thereby minimizing the wait time.

§  Keep in touch.  Always acknowledge a customer complaint whether through a telephone call, email or letter. Thank the customer for highlighting the issue, and advise him of the steps involved and probable time frame for its resolution. Partner with the customer to come up with a win-win solution.

Think back to the last time you were dissatisfied with a product or service, what did you do? I, for one, love to complain - it gives me the opportunity to see how much (or little) that firm values my business. So the next time you receive lacklustre service at your favourite utility, or that new pair of shoes doesn’t fit after all, speak up! Your complaint could be an eye-opener for both you and the company.

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Handling Customer Complaints: A Best Practice Guide

Sell yourself!

So you say you have no practical experience in sales and marketing? Well then tell me... how did you get into graduate school? And how did you land your job? How do you think you managed to score that date with the girl from the Accounts department? Wait... don’t tell me. You think it was your expertly crafted résumé, irresistible charm and dynamic personality, don’t you? Well, you’re not wrong but that’s just half the fun in the trade of marketing and selling yourself.

No, I’m not talking about human trafficking or selling a kidney to buy the new iPad. You are your product/brand and when it comes to potential jobs, admission into academic programmes or even love interests, it’s a jungle out there. You have to sell yourself. So you’ve applied to graduate school and have reached the interview stage of the recruitment process. What do you do in the interview? You sell yourself! Your dream company just advertised an opening you think was made for you? What do you do? You complete an application and you sell yourself! Maybe you’ve finally mustered the courage to talk to the cute girl you always end up in line behind each day at your favourite breakfast joint. What do you do? You sell yourself and snag a lunch date.

So how do we sell ourselves? In Marketing 101 we learn that what we sell aren’t a product’s attributes, but rather, its benefits to the consumer.  If we are indeed products, then we should be able to apply the four Ps of the marketing mix to ourselves and make our personal brands stand out among the rest so that we can make the sale!

The four Ps of the marketing mix: Product, Place, Promotion, Price

Product: You are your product; you are your brand. You’ve gone to school and you’ve got the diploma to prove it. Guess what? So do two hundred other people and they’re all applying for the job you want. Unless your application stands out among the one hundred and ninety-nine other applicants with a Master of Marketing degree, I hate to break it to you but you’re just a commodity. Like table salt.

Your application stands out when you position and brand yourself well. I’m not suggesting that you submit your application on bright red paper with well-placed polka dots or that you hire a graphic artist to design a personal logo to use as a watermark. Your goal is to stand out by communicating and providing some unique value (your value proposition), which sets you apart from the competition. Remember, it’s all about the value and benefits you bring to the table. How would your fluency in Spanish help the company’s entry into the Latin American market? How would your go-getter personality help the company achieve its sales goals? You know you’re awesome... but you’ve got to let the recruiters know it too!  And don’t forget the packaging because first impressions count. You have to look the part, act the part and sound the part.

Place: How accessible are you to your target employer? Where can they find you? Is your résumé on file with your dream company? Have you signed up with a recruitment firm? Have you told your cousin who works at BP to keep you in mind in case there is a relevant job opening? Do you phone-stalk the HR department? Just kidding – don’t do that.

Promotion: You must promote your personal brand and build a reputation. We’re talking about networking here kids. Remember, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know...and some might cheekily argue that it’s really who knows you.

The digital age is upon us and social media has taken over. An up-to-date LinkedIn profile is a must.  Use the LinkedIn networking algorithm to make industry-relevant contacts. Add to the discourse with other professionals in the LinkedIn groups dedicated to your field. Follow and connect with the right people on Twitter and Facebook. And yes... those Facebook photos can come back to haunt you so tag wisely.

Join and get active in professional organisations related to your field of interest. Position yourself as an expert in the field by writing articles or blogs for industry relevant publications and through speaking engagements and presentations. The Community is a great avenue to get started J

Price: What’s your brand worth to the employer? Premium brands attract higher prices; the same is true of your personal brand. To price strategically, you must consider your industry (manufacturing, energy, finance etc), job position, years experience, location, current market trends and of course the unique value you bring the employer. This requires research but if you’re not lazy, you’d be in an excellent position to negotiate a premium price that the employer would be willing to pay for your services.

So ladies and gentlemen, do you think that you’ve been successfully marketing and selling yourself? If we do a great job at marketing and selling ourselves, companies may be more likely to trust us to market and sell their products and brands. After all, charity begins at home.

- Kristle Gangadeen



Images: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Importance of Branding

RIM’s failure to develop the Blackberry brand played a role in the fall of the phone. 

The Blackberry phones have not been able to compete with the Android and Apple phones. With many analysts writing about the demise of RIM and it’s slow death. While there are technical issues that also affected the company and its phone. Few have focused on the issue of branding in the whole scenario, but as a marketer, I couldn’t resist. 

Blackberry’s Brand

Blackberry’s brand grew out of it’s functionality. Many business people began using the phones because of their capabilities. It’s ‘brand’ of the ‘businessman’s phone’ grew organically through lifestyle association. RIM however never focused on developing the brand but rather let it grow on it’s own. Being the only phone with it’s capabilities, it stood out. 

Enter Google and Apple

When the iphone and Android phones entered the market with the same smart phone capability, it created brand parity. Brand parity is when the customer perceives no major difference between competing products. How companies deal with this is by pushing and focusing on their brand. As customers would move beyond purchasing the product and begin purchasing the brand. So when Apple and Google brought their brands into the game, things began to look bad for Blackberry. Relegating them to a ‘metoo’ product. 

Another interesting benefit of brands is their ability to create loyal customers. Without Blackberry constantly working on their brand, their customer loyalty fell. With a large number of customers switching to Apple and Android. 

RIM took too long to address this issue and they are now paying for it. They have been effectively knocked out of the market and needed to make some tough strategic decisions. Looking at RIM’s new strategy (focusing on Enterprise business) I think they can succeed. I just hope they take their brand more seriously this time.


Bengo

Music Equity

Johan Sherwood

Branding can lead to many  favourable benefits for any organization. Familiarity, the ability to charge higher prices and produce line extensions without much resistance to purchase are benefits reaped by powerful brands. Companies invest a lot of time and resources to realize the rewards of a successful brand. But the question is how do companies create successful brands? What are some of the strategies used? For me, the answer is in brand equity – a brand’s ability to differentiate itself from another; the characteristics that separates one brand from the other. It’s what differentiates Coca-Cola from Pepsi, Digicel from bmobile.  The thought processes behind creating a brand take us back to the popular Sesame Street song, “There can only be one me”. Therefore, exclusivity is the quintessential element in achieving success in creating seismic brands.  

Usually, marketers look at the physical characteristics associated with a product as a resource to create brand equity. This is both a logical and an obvious approach. Yet, brand equity can also be achieved using external elements outside the scope of the physical features of the product or service. Take music, for example. Music is a true representation of an external component that can be used to achieve brand equity. It touches many lives and influences behavioral patterns.  People become attached to songs they love. Relationships are formed and bonds are forged. Take this Pantene ad as an example

Marketers can use this relationship a consumer forges with a song to create what I refer to as ‘music equity’ – a true representation of classical conditioning. Associate a popular song with a brand and immediately a relationship is formed between the brand and the consumer; there is transference of emotion from one component to another. Love for a song is translated to love for a brand. The song creates a unique value for the customer; it immediately differentiates your brand from other brands. Brand equity… Music Equity is inadvertently achieved through this strategic association.  

Like any strategic alliance, the partnership must be logical. Therefore, the right song must be aligned to the right brand. Marketers can utilize music as a strategy to help create brand equity in creating successful brands. Identifying physical characteristics of a product is one method of creating brand equity. Utilizing external elements such as music is another: Music Equity.

Welcome to the Community Blog. Thank you for stopping by. The Community is an organization founded by and for students of the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business to allow students with diverse backgrounds, interests and experiences to present and share their ideas, knowledge and experience with each other. The Community is a place where students engage students across the spectrum of business disciplines for the edification and benefit of all involved.


So we want to hear from you. Do you have an interesting idea? A solution to an organisation’s problem? What’s your opinion on a topical issue in the business world? The Community welcomes your blog posts. You can email them to lokjackcommunity@gmail.com. Student blogs may be subject to editing and approval by our content development team but don't worry, we'll take care of everything and get your approval before we post. Of course, you’ll get full credit for any of your posts that we publish.


Not ready to write a blog? Then join the conversation on Facebook (www.facebook.com/lokjackcommunity). We’re always talking about something. And keep checking back here. We post new blogs weekly.

Oh, by the way, I’m the Community Bee, and it’s a pleasure to have you visit the Community Blog. You’ll probably see me buzzing around at some point. My job is to keep you in the know about what’s happening in the Community and in local and international business news. I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere and I’ve got your back. Keep up with me via Twitter @thecommunitybee.

Buzz ya later!