The consumer decision journey - McKinsey Quarterly - Marketing - Strategy

If marketing has one goal, it’s to reach consumers at the moments that most influence their decisions. That’s why consumer electronics companies make sure not only that customers see their televisions in stores but also that those televisions display vivid high-definition pictures. It’s why Amazon.com, a decade ago, began offering targeted product recommendations to consumers already logged in and ready to buy. And it explains P&G’s decision, long ago, to produce radio and then TV programs to reach the audiences most likely to buy its products—hence, the term “soap opera.” Marketing has always sought those moments, or touch points, when consumers are open to influence. Interactive Exhibit 1 In the traditional funnel metaphor, consumers start with a set of potential brands and methodically reduce that number to make a purchase. Enlarge We developed this approach by examining the purchase decisions of almost 20,000 consumers across five industries and three continents. Exhibit 2 Exhibit 3

Stockholm Waterfront - ert nätverk suger! Nu får det vara nog. Framöver kommer jag att aktivt hänga ut alla konferensanläggningar som inte kan leverera ett fungerande nätverk. Stockholm Waterfront, ni har grymt läckra lokaler och arrangemanget som Internetworld fixat är magiskt. #webbdagarna rockar. Men det är inte ok att nätverket på fina Stockholm Waterfront inte fungerar. Så sluta snacka slogans som ”a venue where everything is possible” och se till att börja leverera istället. Fotnot, Stockholm Waterfront är inte alls ensamma – trasigt wifi är ett återkommande tema. Uppdatering: @Tbjorkegren påminner om att det var kris under S-kongressen också.

Speed Summary | HBR on Social Media & New Rules of Branding This month’s Harvard Business Review has a spotlight on social media and branding, with a stand out article by McKinsey, based on a global study of 20,000 consumers. In a nutshell, the article argues that many brands are spending their marketing budgets in all the wrong places, based on an outmoded “funnel” marketing model – and proposes an evidence-based alternative. The article by David C Edelman – McKinsey Global Digital Marketing Strategy, and entitled “Branding in the Digital Age: You’re Spending Your Money in All the Wrong Places“ can be accessed here (pay-wall), but below you’ll find the speed summary, with implications for social commerce – we think it’s useful. And if you don’t have time for that, here’s the summary of the summary Branding in the Digital Age: You’re Spending Your Money in All the Wrong Places. David C Edelman – McKinsey Global Digital Marketing Strategy From an accompanying McKinsey Quarterly article: The Consumer Decision Journey From this… …To this

The Best Way to Map the Customer Journey: Take a Walk in Their Shoes | SurveyMonkey Blog How do you know what your really customers want? Sales, quality products and services, good customer service–sure. But what happens when you think you’re offering your customers the moon (and more) but they still shop with your competitors? The best way to figure out what you’re lacking is to go through a transformation (or makeover if you’re so inclined). What is the customer journey? Think of the customer journey as a roadmap detailing how a customer becomes aware of your brand, their interactions with your brand–and beyond. The customer journey is the complete sum of experiences that customers go through when interacting with your company and brand. Phew. Getting to know the customer journey is about nurturing the customer experience So often, when customers purchase a product or service, they’re anticipating that a pleasant feeling will accompany the purchase. To get a better sense of the customer journey, let’s get inside the customer mindset. A customer journey example Yikes!

Color Emotion Guide DELL JPMorgan DIVERSITY Nikon ups IMDB BOL SUBWAY NBC DIVERSITY SUBWAY ebay BEST BUY DHL Hertz amazon Sprint TRUST IKEA PENNZOIL NBC monster - Your calling is calling - Google NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL CAT Denny's HOOTERS NICKELODEON Fanta Lego Kellogg's Nintendo KMART YouTube ORACLE Coca-Cola Syfy Virgin Lowe's CNN starz Cadbury bp vimeo hp intel NASA flicr LAND ROVER Girl Scouts Big Brothers Big Sisters NETFLIX HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTOR CYCLES AUSSIE Crush Orange Welch's Ford Wordpress Barbie American Express T-Mobile Animal Planet EXXON Walmart Lays ACE The helpful people FritoLay KFC NABISCO Heinz Gulf IBM pfizer publix HESS Apple Nike Hallmark Mercedes Hertz Yahoo! orkut tropicaña Spotlfy LYNX payless facebook Canon Walmart OREO puma WHOLE FOODS SunChips McDonalds GOOD YEAR shutterfIy Blogger boost Ferraro AVIS TACOBELL Oral-B CN Cartoon Network

Network Effects and Pricing Models in the Social Enterprise - ReadWriteCloud Like any other social network, the value of an enterprise social network is tied to the number of active users. In general, the more users the more value - more knowledge shared, more questions answered and more connections made. In this case, does the per-user pricing model of many enterprise social software tools make sense? Enterprise microblogging provider Socialcast doesn't think so, and today the company announced a new pricing plan to deal with that fact. "Our most successful deployments are those that are enterprise-wide and boasting the largest, most comprehensive internal networks," Socialcast CEO Tim Young writes. Socialcast will now offer an enterprise-wide license that will let organizations pay a single annual fee for the product without worrying about how many users are being added. The company will include its Reach extension, which we covered last year. Will flat pricing encourage companies to roll-out social features to more employees? Socialcast was founded in 2005.

Decoding the Consumer In the 1950’s, on the children’s live-action adventure Captain Midnight, the Secret Squadron was chartered to combat evil. Squadron members used special decoder rings to decipher messages that no one else could understand. The secret decoding power provided a competitive advantage that allowed the Secret Squadron to triumph over their opponents. Wouldn’t it be great if you could slip on a special marketing decoder ring to decipher your prospects? Alignment with the Consumer Buying Process The customer experience is influenced by all touch points people encounter from moments before they are aware of a need until they have fulfilled that need. 1. 2. 3. 4. Decoding the Future … Search – Social - Mobile As consumers attitudes and expectations change towards the companies they do business with, linkage between the customer experience and the consumer buying process becomes more crucial.

Branding Strategy As Your Secret Marketing Weapon Image source Marketing without branding is like fishing without a hook. You’ll be distributing your message, sure. In an ideal world, a solid brand should precede your marketing. Branding is About Experience Humans aren’t spurred to purchase because of a really catchy slogan. Related Resources from B2C» Free Webcast: The Success of Visual Brands: How to Measure the Value of Instagram Expert Steve Manning believes that a brand can be the difference between a commodity and an experience. By defining a 360-degree view of who your company is, you’re able to integrate more sensory experiences in your marketing messages that reflect your core values, mission, and essence. Brand Positioning Matters Image source Every well-written brand strategy should include brand positioning. 1. 2. 3. 4. Is it possible to market without establishing these factors, or to determine these each time you create a piece of content? Branding Creates Evangelists Recommended Reading

SETTER | 4 Examples of Brand Strategy Driving Organizational Success Social media, SEO, and mobile dominate today’s marketing discussion, with good reason. New media technologies require new thinking to capitalize on them. But, like radio and TV before them, new media are merely enablers, not solutions. The single greatest determinant of marketing success is, and has always been, brand strategy. Which customer niche should we target? This post shares stories of organizations I’ve worked with over the course of my career who have developed bold brand strategies to distinguish themselves, gain competitive advantage, and drive sustained growth. By the early 2000’s, Whole Foods had pretty much maxed out market share in the “organic and natural” customer segment, but were pursuing growth. Each ad told the story of a single item that exemplified Whole Foods’ “passionate pickiness” in scouring the globe for the best foods in the world. The result, in a fairly commoditized industry typically driven by the lowest bid?

Facebook Now Lets You Turn Your Profile Into a Business Page Facebook just introduced a subtle tweak to its user experience: Personal profiles can now be quickly and efficiently converted to business Pages, turning your friends into fans. Facebook is realizing, it seems, that a good way to future profits is to court industry partners. With the launch of a new migration tool, Facebook is letting single users around the world create a more business-centric, limited form of Facebook entry that allows business to have thousands of "fans" rather than acting as an interactive friend resource. There's an extensive help center and FAQ page for people considering the act to download and save data from their existing profile (because once converted, there's no way back...and a Page has a more limited searchability and utility than a Profile). Why would people want to use the tool, though?