Healthy competition and why you should be one step ahead of your competitors

If you haven't seen Thomson's latest advertising campaigns, I'll update you. Well, for a start they're now TUI and their campaign involves something incredibly cringy about dotting t's and i's and putting you in the middle. Why the cheese?

Whether the re-brand was to realign the 'TUI' brand globally or just to remove any last remaining traces of localisation, was the whole 'we are doing this to put our customers first' needed? Consumers can see right through it, the project was clearly from pressure further up the business, not anything to do with improving customer experience.

That being said, Thomas Cook's reaction to the campaign was absolutely on point and it's safe to say it made me chuckle!

We're not changing our name, we'd rather just focus on giving you fantastic holidays. pic.twitter.com/ypkY5BF6nk

— Thomas Cook (@ThomasCookUK) October 5, 2017

Barclays Personalised Lending Video

Getting email marketing right has been my key mission over the past few weeks. Creating email campaigns that resonate with the recipient and cut above the noise for the target audience is a tough challenge for any marketer.
Dynamic, personalised emails are becoming increasingly common, with tailored offers, copy, imagery and links based on specific customer data. We can now send a customer who hasn't purchased in the past 3 months 20% off vs a regular customer 10% off. Brands are also experimenting with the endless possibilities to use the increasing amounts of data we hold on customers.
A brand who absolutely smashed data-driven personalised targeting through email is Barclays. In the video below you can see how they use extremely specific customer data to explain their offering, proposition and price and deliver the campaign in a fun and engaging way.

The videos appear to be bespoke (in reality there were over 500 names recorded), giving the customer a complete surprise as it feels as thought the video has been filmed especially for them. 

The overall campaign aims to make it clear to customers that Barclays can give you a good estimate of the value of a potential loan before you apply, therefore eliminating the fear of rejection. They also focused clearly on three reasons why customers may want to take out a loan i.e. home improvements, for a car or to consolidate debt. This made the proposition entirely clear for the consumer and provided visual reminders the entire way through of their own potential loan amount. It's almost like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey, but without the fear of having this taken away once applying.

The video was then embedded in to multi-device optimised emails, which were shown to have 106% uplift in open rates in comparison to Barclay's usual email campaigns. They also delivered 1100% uplift in click-through rates, so overall an all-round success.

Delivering these emails to a carefully selected data set, with highly personal and targeted offers, meant that Barclays were able to track and monitor how likely each customer was to convert, based on their past banking habits. Data really is giving marketers the power to shape campaigns like never before. Barclays were even able to address different customers in certain ways, for example over 50s were addressed with their title and surname, whereas under 50s were just addressed by their first name.

Emails are easy to track, fairly cost-effective and are direct channels which marketers can really take advantage of in order to deliver customer-centric communications. Don't let your email campaigns sink in with all the untargeted junk we receive on a daily basis!

Well done Barclays!

Rival brands: friendly competition or battle that neither can ever win?

I have to agree with the age old phrase "competition drives innovation". The worlds best-marketed brands all seem to have one strong rival with each brand constantly trying to out-market the other. It  is these brands which I find fascinating and it is even more interesting to consider whether brands in fact, benefit from these huge rivalries.

Directly targeting or responding to the competition is highly common in marketing efforts, I have seen it in my own industry, telecoms, with ads such as these:

3 hit out at Vodafone customers with this banned ad

Vodafone's ad promising a Fixed Price for your entire contract

However, there are far more famous and controversial rivalries:

1. McDonalds vs Burger King

As I mentioned, innovation is key in beating your rivals and due to the fact that McDonalds and Burger King's value propositions are fairly homogeneous, there is a lot of mimicking from both sides. Big Mac, Whopper... are there really many differences? Both brands have sued each other for copyright infringement on a number of occasions. 

Burger King actually made a peace offering for just one day in this story, which was swiftly rejected by McDonalds!  However, what a great bit of PR for BK anyway, making them look like the soft, underdog!

2. Pepsi vs Coca-Cola

Perhaps one of the most historic rivalries, dating back to the early 1900s, and the creativity behind the rival campaigns is fantastic.

Pepsi are definitely more aggressive in their competitive attitude through advertising, but unfortunately Coke have held on to the top spot. Coke has become a name to replace the cola industry as a whole- who goes in to a bar and says "Can I have a vodka and Pepsi?". Coca-cola tend to stick to their traditional roots in terms of branding whereas Pepsi go modernistic, proving that being true to your roots pays off. Coke markets happiness with their 'Share a coke' campaign or their new slogan 'Taste the feeling', whereas Pepsi go for a 'cool' vibe with collaborations with NFL and David Beckham.

3. Apple vs Samsung

Samsung are definitely the Pepsi of the mobile technology world. Their dig at Apple (and Apple customers) below, indicates their willingness to take on the rivalry first hand:

You are often asked; are you an Apple or a Samsung person and it's rare that people switch between the two. I am an Apple user but of course since working at Vodafone my eyes have been opened to the world of Android and how much Android devices can really do. However, if you compare Samsung and Apple's marketing spend vs market share, the true stats really become clear:
Samsung: £8.4bn of marketing spend 19.9% of smartphone market share 15% of total operating income of smartphone makers Apple: £1bn of marketing spend 14.6% of smartphone market share 92% of total operating income of smartphone makers
Whilst Samsung make phones to suit lots of markets, providing lower-range cheap smartphones as well as your S6 Edge's to a premium market, the numbers really do show that Apple's smaller range, however highly targeted to those who expect more from their phones, really does pay off. 

Hope you enjoyed this post, let me know your favourite brand rivalries, tweet me at @stefclarkx

What is a Product Manager?

I'm currently in Placement Two of my Graduate Programme at Vodafone which is a Product Manager role within the Innovation team. Now, when people ask my role, they often mishear my title and thing I say Project Manager! However, the role of Product Manager is distinctly different. If you're a recent graduate, student, interested in marketing roles or have even just heard of Product Managers within your organisation and wondered what the hell it is- let me fill you in on a Day in the Life of a Product Manager.

Product Managers are not a million miles away from Brand Managers, however this depends on the type of organisation. A firm with an umbrella brand and lots of sub-brands e.g. Unilever, Coca-Cola, Mars, Nestle etc. will probably have a lot more Brand Managers than an organisation which feeds from the strength one core brand e.g. Apple, McDonalds, Amazon, Samsung and my company, Vodafone, who primarily employ Product Managers. However, effectively the two roles are pretty similar.

On a very high level, Product Managers oversee everything which concerns a certain product. They try and drive usage/ sales/ downloads/ customer satisfaction/ whatever other KPIs marketers pluck out of their objectives and make sure the product is performing. This effectively means you have to make the maximum revenue from your product and ensure your product is doing exactly what it should be doing for the business. This of course, means you must align your product to fit in with the wider business strategy and listen to the needs of the business before you decide exactly how to market your product.

You must also be very close to and focused on the customer. Understand their every need and get feedback on the user experience, which includes a lot of testing, testing and more testing! As a Product Manager, there is also a technical understanding of your product/s needed on a higher level, to know exactly how they work, what is possible and how to develop them.

As all products go through a life cycle, it is important to understand the different times within product managing, right through from launch, growth, maturity, decline and then either rejuvenation or closing/ discontinuing a product. You as Product Manager will oversee all of these stages and
literally be the expert on this product for its entire life!

Launch

Before you can launch a product you need a need that this problem solves for the customer, backed up by a bunch of research! With a deep understanding of the market and your target audience, as well as a real passion for the product, as you are going to have to be the salesperson to every single person inside and outside of the business.

Growth

You then continually plan roadmaps for your product to understand exactly where you want it to go and how you are going to get it there. This might be working super closely with developers, marketing communications activity or user experience improvements. You have to have super attention to detail as you pick out every little nit-picky error or problem with your product and put it right! There are always problems along the way which need solving.

Maturity

This is where you can look at your product and gather enough data about it to understand exactly what customers like and dislike about it. Do you need to make a price change, completely change the product's features or invest heavily in marketing to keep your numbers up?

Decline

Upon the product's decline you can consider two options, closing the product or revitalising it entirely. The businesses' goals may have changed, the market may have changed or the product may simply be too costly to make a profit anymore. This is where you can consider targeting a new audience, changing the structure of the product or redesigning it.

My Role

My role within Product Management is of course within a mobile technology brand and I manage a number of apps. Day-to-day I may be speaking to app developers to improve our user experience on the apps, speaking to various functions within the business such as Brand to get one of our images in the app approved, Digital to get a webpage which mentions my app changed, CVM to promote our app through an email or SMS campaign, Customer Services to make sure the agents know exactly what to say if a customer asks a question about my product or even liaising with Market Research teams to understand how much customers are enjoying my apps!

The role is super varied and means you can really put your passions and energy in to one or two products and they are your entire responsibility- which can be a good OR bad thing, depending on how well your product is doing!

If you have any questions or are interested in a Product Management role, please tweet me at @stefclark

I'll do my next role profile within Placement 2!

Stephanie

Why Argos & eBay's distribution methods can work together in harmony

I have to say, as someone who is more-interested-than-most in the digital marketing space, eBay is one of the only brands I really pay attention to when it comes to their email marketing campaigns. They are often well-targeted, relevant and provide decent value. Hence I was pleasantly surprised to see this email in my inbox recently:

There was an existing partnership between Argos and eBay with many Argos product sold through eBay regularly. However, this extension of the way the channels work together is a great strategic move from both parties.

A few years ago, upon the spark of the digital age, which saw the likes of Woolworths, HMV and Habitat struggle- I was worried that Argos would simply be destined for the same fate. It was surely going to be out-priced, out-producted and out-branded by the likes of Amazon? However, by thinking and accepting that their existing distribution model wasn't going to be sustainable long-term, Argos have adapted their strategy which blurs the lines between the online world and bricks and mortar retailers.

I think the key to success in what Argos is doing is the fact they are so accessible, convenient and efficient. Their Click and Collect service was pioneering, their digital channels are fantastically-integrated with their retail channels and they partner with the best brands- often I don't even have to check if Argos stock something I just presume they will and I'm not often wrong. They also have great, local stores, you don't have to go in to a big town or city to find exactly what you are looking for.

However, this isn't just beneficial to Argos in terms of defining their brand as a digital, well-distributed service. eBay gain something they've never had before- a physical presence in the UK market. So many brands (especially those who are solely online) are realising the importance of an omni-channel experience and that 'human interaction' with the brand. By collaborating with Argos, eBay have a tangible setting in the form of hundreds of stores. 

eCommerce sold us the idea the home delivery is the way forward, however consumers are starting to realise that it is not as convenient as originally thought. Fear of leaving your house whilst waiting for a parcel or having to cart it home on the tube after having it delivered to work or worse, queuing in the post office depot on a Saturday morning- all build the case as to why click and collect has become a phenomenon! Amazon locker was a solution that had won over many consumers and now eBay is matching that with their own offering.... featuring humans!

Not only is this a great strategic move for the two brands, but this will ultimately provide a fantastic experience for the customer. They are able to drop whatever they've sold on eBay at a local Argos store (open late evenings and weekends), pay a rate for P&P which by far rivals the Post Office and provide a tracked and signed for parcel to the customer! 

In terms of change management, the organisational impact is minimal, the infrastructures for delivery and storage are already in place as Argos have been delivering their own products for years and as mentioned above, have the processes down to a T.

I look forward to hearing more about this exciting partnership!

Is NEXT still relevant?

Since moving to Swindon in late-October, I can bet my friends and family would describe me as going a bit 'furniture mad'. I've been scouring every furniture site, warehouse, store for not only the best deals, but my perfect piece of furniture.

I used to sell sofas in NEXT during my first couple of years at university and lust over the beautiful sofas and perfectly matching furniture sets that were bang on-trend. Every colour, pattern, handle or design was so carefully thought out and I used to spend every 4-8pm shift on a Friday planning out my dream lounge or bedroom.

Finally, I have that dream flat! Furniture shopping has become my addiction and therefore I have spent a lot of time in NEXT stores searching for the perfect piece. However, after finding some great pieces, I never ended up actually going through with any of the purchases. I found almost all of NEXT's furniture products cheaper online. There were almost identical items for over half the price- I was not prepared to pay double for a brand name that I wouldn't have even been proud of owning.

One may argue, that although NEXT do not compete on price, they have a range of added-value benefits including fantastic distribution networks (you can click & collect before midnight the day before), great customer service (I remember giving someone a refund on a rug they bought 2 years before) and convenient locations (drive up, pick up). I agree these are fantastic benefits which the customer can see the real value in and perhaps why they can still act as a semi-premium retailer. However, I don't know if customers are really willing to pay double the price.

Not premium or value

There's no argument- NEXT's quality in terms of manufacturing and materials is unmatchable to other retailers on their scale. For such a huge retailer, their products do have that 'personal', do I dare say 'home-made' feel to them. It is evident that they beat the likes of The Range or IKEA when it comes to intricate and careful designs, however NEXT are not on a par with ultra-quality stores such as John Lewis or House of Fraser who have less stores, yet serve more carefully selected items from well-known, luxury brands.

I feel as though constantly acting as the 'middle' guy can be a win in some cases, NEXT for me is for the families who want to tap in to the luxury lifestyles, but aren't quite at the bespoke or tailored levels. However, not really defining your market could also be a real hindrance for NEXT as they are a reachable brand for most, yet I'm not sure how many of us would consider them as a treat if there is no real perceived product satisfaction, i.e. I was just as happy buying my mirrored dressing table from a never-heard-of online retalier than I would have been from NEXT, however had it been John Lewis I might have thought differently.

Discontinuing ranges

Another factor that deterred me from investing in furniture from NEXT, especially having had worked there, was there continual range refreshes. I know how fast paced their ranges are, not just furniture but clothing and accessories too. As I wanted to buy a couple of pieces at a time, I was relunctant to buy from NEXT for fear that the same range may have been discontinued the next month. Online, there is less of a fear due to the level of stock they can actually carry, due to the fact most of the businesses are literally- a warehouse and an office.

Price Promotions

NEXT don't ever do short-term reductions on their products. Other than 'buy two products, get £20 off each' which, as I said earlier, I was not in a position to do. I am a sucker for a reduction, no matter how small and if I see an item with 20% off it is usually the final push for me to click 'buy'. I know I am totally falling for marketing all of the time!

The infamous sale

Finally, one of the reasons I believe NEXT are irrelevant to me, as a consumer, is the fact I know that all of their products will be half price in 4 or 5 months time. It's the classic story of £100 on Christmas Eve, £10 on Boxing Day. I know this can happen with every retailer, but the face that NEXT places so much emphasis on their sales makes me think "Do I really want this enough to warrant not waiting for the sale? The answer is usually no.


I've placed the context of this blog post entirely on NEXT's furniture offering, however I believe it also applies to their clothing too. I am lacking a clear viewpoint of what they can offer me in exchange for hiked-up prices, a lack of confidence in the brand and a determination to get a better deal.

Will the Volkswagen brand ever recover?

I just turned to my father and said "Dad, I'm writing a blog post on VW and whether the brand can recover, what do you think?". My Dad is a loyal VW fan and has driven their cars for years and replied "I hope so, because it's a great brand". The company have created a hugely loyal customer base and have fastly become one of the biggest and most successful car brands in the world holding the largest market share in Europe. We are talking one of the biggest brands in the world here. I myself have a SEAT, one of the VW group brands and have always felt proud in the fact I am driving one of the most reliable, best quality car brands in the world (especially in comparison to my old Renault!).

A few days ago, the world was shocked to hear, a brand they had regarded as ethical, high quality and strong- had been involved in cheating diesel emissions test. I think the fact that the brand was previously seen as producing such reliable products, shocked and outraged the public more. Their stock price has tumbled and they have had to recall millions of vehicles, costing them extensively.

However, aside from the cost implications, the brand reputation has suffered immensely and will potentially continue to suffer now Audi's cars have been announced as part of the scandal. The question is, will they ever recover from this scandal?

People bought the cars in question based on the promise they had low emissions and in lying about this, VW have not only broken their customers trust, but the law! It is not a typical crisis in the fact this was a deliberate defiance, not an accident as we saw in the BP oil spill or a lack of due diligence within standardisation checks such as the Tesco horse meat scandal- no, this was knowingly and deliberately done by certain VW employees.

Volkswagen's CEO has resigned despite claiming to know nothing of the cheat, the company have also pledged over 6 billion euros in restoring consumer's trust and correcting any wrongdoing. They have also pulled any new marketing campaigns- yet this is a small step in restoring not only brand equity, but stop the company from going under as a whole.

It will be an interesting watch to see how and if the brand recover and what steps they take in a case which is not a typical crisis management.