Listening to a Billion Consumers

Windows 7, the latest version of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems for use on personal computers, was released today less than three years after the release of its much-denigrated predecessor, Windows Vista.

With the official launch currently underway around the globe, Microsoft has released four new advertisements to market Windows 7. This round of advertisements is very direct and dubbed 7-Second Demos, with the theme “I’m a PC and Windows 7 was my idea,” an extension of the “I’m a PC” campaign, having consumers take credit for “developing” various aspects of the new operating system.

We cannot comment upon whether Windows 7 will live up to promises and expectations, but we think that the concept of a billion consumers co-creating the product, is a wonderful example of meaningfully leveraging the real voice-of-the-consumer, an often overused advertising expression.

Lots of companies – especially big companies like Microsoft – do all kinds of research. Most of that research ends up providing excellent answers to meaningless questions, and virtually none reflect the real voice or expectations of the consumer. Check out the new GM campaign if you doubt us. And while a product positioning approach of “we not only hear you but we’ve listened to you” isn’t new, it’s usually the small niche brands that do it well.

And it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s Microsoft who’s doing it now. After all it was Bill Gates who pointed out this strategy back in 2000, in his book “Business @The Speed of Thought.” “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

And perhaps a meaningful voice for the brand.

What do iPhones, Grey Goose, Wal-Mart, and Mary Kay have in common?

Each was one of the top-10 brands in this year's Brand Keys Loyalty Leaders List. This year we rated 63 categories and 440 brands, so who else was among the top-10? Rankings were as follows:


iPhone
Samsung
Google
Blackberry
Wal-Mart
Grey Goose
Mary Kay
AVIS
Apple
Amazon.com

Customer values intrinsic to technology brands were seen to best meet, and even exceed, customer expectations, and the 'emotional engagement' that women share with their favorite beauty brands is still very powerful. But for a more in-depth look at this year's results (and a list of the top-25 brands with the most loyalty customers) we invite you to read Kenneth Hein's Brandweek coverage, "Dial 'L' for Loyalty."

More important than "satisfaction," and infinitely more important than "awareness," loyalty is a leading-indicator of consumer behavior and, thus, predictive of brand profitability. It's become more and more important, especially these days when many products and services are turning into commoditized category placeholders. And loyalty isn't static or managed via points, as witnessed by this year's big loyalty swings.

In the Automotive category, Hyundai moved up from 295th on last year's list to 24th - an increase in loyalty due to improved product quality, and it's emotionally resonating 'Assurance' campaign: their one-year promise to buy back cars from any customer who became unemployed.

McDonald's perked up loyalty and profits with an enormous increase in the Coffee category, moving from 156th last year to 16th, mostly to Starbucks detriment. Starbucks, already feeling the pain of customer disloyalty, ranked 191st last year and now ranks 428th, in the bottom dozen brands - a move that correlates highly with decreases in their same-store sales and profitability.

Some segments have, of course, suffered because of the economy, but brands that understand that the old 'price-value' equation has been transformed to a instantaneous 'value-for-dollar' consumer calculation, will have also realized that the brand can have meaning and can act as a surrogate for value, thus buttressing loyalty.

For a list of complete 2009 rankings - who got it right and who still can't figure it out - we invite you to visit http://www.brandkeys.com/awards/leaders.cfm

Which national brand ranked last? Much to the dismay of the bailer-outers of our great nation, General Motors clearly didn't get that memo and was ranked 439th (down this year from 363rd). GM might want to start with doing more than investing in a big string section in their advertising, and doing some value-based and meaningful branding.

Because when it comes to engendering loyalty, that's what sets us apart from other life forms - or at least the ones with driver's licenses.

Brand Keys, Inc. partner of
Brand Lounge in the Middle East

10 Branding Trends for 2010

Niels Bohr once noted that “prediction is very difficult, especially about the future,” but then he didn’t have access to predictive loyalty metrics. Happily, Brand Keys does. And as they measure the direction and velocity of consumer values 12 to 18 months in advance of the marketplace and consumer articulations of category needs and expectations, they identify future trends with uncanny accuracy.

Having examined these measures, we offer up ten trends for marketers in 2010 that will have direct consequences to the success – or failure – of next year’s branding and marketing efforts.

1) Value is the new black.
Excessive spending, even on sale items, will continue to be replaced by a reason-to-buy at all. This is trouble for brands with no authentic meaning, whether high-end or low.

2) Brands increasingly a surrogate for “value.” What makes goods and services valuable will increasingly be what’s wrapped up in the brand and what it stands for. Why J Crew instead of The Gap? J Crew stands for a new era in careful chic—
being smart and stylish. And the first family’s support of the brand doesn’t hurt either.

3) Brand differentiation is Brand Value.
The unique meaning of a brand will increase in importance as generic features continue to plague the brand landscape. Awareness as a meaningful market force has long been obsolete, and differentiation will be critical for success—meaning sales and profitability.

4) “Because I Said So” is so over.
Brand values can be established as a brand identity, but they must believably exist in the mind of the consumer. A brand can’t just say it stands for something and make it so. The consumer will decide, making it more important than ever for a brand to have measures of authenticity that will aid in brand differentiation and consumer engagement.

5) Consumer expectations are growing.
Brands are barely keeping up with consumer expectations now. Every day consumers adopt and devour the latest technologies and innovations, and only hunger for more. Smarter marketers will identify and capitalize on unmet expectations. Those brands that understand where the strongest expectations exist will be the brands that survive – and prosper.

6) Old tricks don’t work/won’t work.
In case your brand didn’t get the memo here it is: consumers are on to brands trying to play their emotions for profit. In the wake of the financial debacle of this past year, people are more aware then ever of the hollowness of bank ads that claim “we’re all in this together” when those same banks have rescinded their credit and turned their retirement plan into case studies. The same is true for insincere
celebrity pairings: think Seinfeld & Microsoft or Tiger Woods & Buick. Celebrity values and brand values need to be in concert, like Tiger Woods & Accenture. That’s authenticity.

7) They won’t need to know you to love you.
As the buying space becomes even more online-driven and international (and uncontrolled by brands and corporations), front-end awareness will become less important. A brand with the right street cred can go viral in days, with awareness following, not leading, the conversation. After all, everybody
knows GM, but nobody’s buying the cars.

8) It’s not just buzz.
Conversation and community is all: ebay thrives based on consumer feedback. If consumers trust the community, they will extend trust to the brand. Not just word of mouth, but the right word of mouth within the community. This means the coming of a new era of customer care.

9) They’re talking to each other before talking to the brand.
Social Networking and exchange of information outside of the brand space will increase. Look for more websites using Facebook Connect to share information with the friends from those sites. More companies will become members of Linkedin. Twitter users will spend more money on the Internet than those who don’t tweet.

10) Engagement is not a fad; it’s the way today’s consumers do business.
Marketers will come to accept that there are four engagement methods including Platform (TV; online), Context (Program; webpage), Message (Ad or Communication), and Experience (Store/Event). But there is only one objective for the future: Brand Engagement. Marketers will continue realize that attaining real brand engagement is impossible using out-dated attitudinal models.

Accommodating these trends will require a paradigm change on the parts of some companies. But whether a brand does something about it or not, the future is where it’s going to spend the rest of its life.

How long that life is up to the brand, determined by how it responds to today’s reality.


Brand Keys, Inc. partner of
Brand Lounge in the Middle East