BrandKnew March 2022

Branding matters. Because branding matters.

Published by 03.22#112

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Dear Friends: We seem to be marching to a different beat this year. It’s already March and shifts in the marketing and branding landscape are being genuinely felt. Let’s treat it as a good omen.Amen!

Yet again, we bring to you a feature packed edition of BrandKnew. We take a look at the flavour of the season ‘ Metaverse ‘ and do a bit of gazing into the future with that. Continuing in the same territory we bring to you what the brand Roblox is doing in the Metaverse space and to telling effect. Distance makes the heart grow fonder goes the saying- we look inside to see if the same happens with the consumer’s heart as well. Numbers and binary won’t cut it any more in isolation. We take a look therefore at how to make Data Emotional. There could be a potential ‘ comeback ‘ in the offing. Of ‘ snail mail ‘- yes, you read that right- given the digital overload that people are being subjected to. We picked up a conversation in this edition on that topic. A counter intuitive way of looking at enhancing value can be through subtracting NOT adding. Understand more about it in this issue. Rather than remain a ‘ nice to have ‘, a well thought out plan can bring ‘ brand purpose ‘ right up front & centre. Read about it here and use those tips to implement them in your organisation.The Subscription Economy is getting more fuel as more and more brands hop on to that much desired bandwagon.

We bring some deep insights from Yale School Of Management on the subject in this edition. There is ample more to chew on, soak in and get inspired by. I leave you to do just that.

Till the next, my very best!

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Suresh Dinakaran @ISDGlobalDubai

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Brand Knew is published by

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Managing Editor: Suresh Dinakaran Creative Head/Director Operations: Pravin Ahir Magazine Concept & Design/ New Media Specialist: Mufaddal Joher Chief Strategy Director: Rishi Mohan Business Performance Director: Sunil Vasudevan Brand Engagement and Outreach Specialist: Anuva Madan Chief Country Man, India: Rohit Unni Brand Trends and Research Architect: Meeta Pendse Revenue Growth Architect: Ritu Dey Country Head, Australia: Norbert D’Souza Country Head, UK: Sagar Patil Performance Marketing Architect: Suresh Babu Technology & Web Enabler: Vyanky Charakpalli Social Media Outreach: Pooja Chhabda SEO Advocate: Santhosh Rakonda Content & PR: Nitin Kumar

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CONTENTS Why Digital Overload Might Be Making Snail Mail Innovative CMOs Lead Into the Light Make Data Emotional How To Communicate On Social Media For Business And Marketing The metaverse red pill: how we can avoid creating Earth 2.0 Marketing In, Through and Out of The Pandemic ‘There’s only so much low-hanging fruit’: Why advertisers are ramping up more full-funnel marketing strategies We’re Good at Motivating Others, but What About Ourselves?

Usage-Based Pricing Key to Subscriptions, According to Yale School of Management When Subtraction Adds Value Left Behind In Digital Times How Has Marketing Changed over the Past Half-Century?

How Social Media Firms Moderate Their Content Digital CX Drives Marketing Makeover More Effective than a Kardashian: The Rise of Micro-Influencers for B2B Marketing Branding in the metaverse with Roblox How B2B Marketers Can Define, Communicate And Activate Organizational Purpose Does Distance Make the Consumer’s Heart Grow Fonder?

Decathlon: Making Sports More Accessible (and Sustainable) with Subscriptions Book, Line & Sinker

Why Digital Overload Might Be Making Snail Mail Innovative

By Sharon Hurley Hall

Is there a case for a return to snail mail? In a world of digital overload, there may be. With multiple devices giving constant notifications, and more people working at home because of the pandemic, many people are increasingly feeling overwhelmed and fatigued.

That sense of fatigue may be compounded by the fact that email saturation continues to increase year over year.

According to Statista, we send and receive about 320 billion emails each day. By 2025, that’s expected to reach 376.6 billion. And we can’t switch off from it, either. A 2019 “Adobe Email Usage Study”, which surveyed 1,002 U.S. adults, found that consumers spend around five hours a day checking email, and they check it in bed, while watching TV and even in the bathroom.

That doesn’t mean they’re reading every email, though.

According to Campaign Monitor, the average open rate for a business email is between 15-25%, which means most of the people you send emails to aren’t going to read them. For many, email hasn’t been special for a long time. This reality may make sending snail mail to some of your customers a unique way to stand out amid the influx of digital noise.

Pros and Cons of Snail Mail According to Litmus, email campaigns have a high ROI, and they outperform other campaigns, like social media marketing campaigns. They’re also pretty cost effective, while snail mail incurs the costs of printing, envelopes and mailing. But don’t write off snail mail just yet.

While it’s difficult to argue with the convenience of digital

campaigns, snail mail offers some advantages: It’s seen as trustworthy, since many younger consumers associate the word “spam” with email.

It’s lasting: Instead of disappearing down the inbox never to be seen again, a direct mail campaign can hang around and be seen by multiple people, reaching people beyond your original target audience.

It’s effective in getting people to act.

Best Practices for Using Snail Mail If you’re going to use snail mail effectively, then some of the best practices from other marketing campaigns apply.

1. Identify your target audience.

For example, don’t send your campaign to everyone on your database. Not only will that cost a fortune, but it will be ineffective. Snail mail campaigns work best when they are targeted to a specific audience, so work out who your target market is before you get started.

Instead of disappearing down the inbox never to be seen again, a direct mail campaign can hang around and be seen by multiple people, reaching people beyond your original target audience.

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2. Segment your audience.

In addition, segment your audience. Like other marketing, the more relevant your snail mail campaign is, the more likely people are to act on it. So use demographics, location, interests and more to make your campaign stand out.

3. Create the right offer.

Have a unique offer that resonates with that audience. You can send free trials, special discounts, and coupons. You can also do something more innovative, like send a swag bag, give away free samples, give access to exclusive content or send a thank you note. Do that, and you help increase the chances that people will read and act on your mail.

possible. For example, you’ll probably want to encourage recipients to visit your website. Including those details, or a QR code, can make this process simple. It also makes sense to add your social media handles so recipients can connect with you there.

How to Use Snail Mail With Digital Campaigns To integrate snail mail with your digital marketing campaigns.

Forbes suggests that you: Enhance the efficacy of your snail mail campaign with online ads Use mail tracking to help you synchronize digital messaging with mail delivery times

4. Think outside the mailbox.

Send people to personalized landing pages

Don’t limit yourself to regular snail mail, either. You can innovate to get more attention. Some of the most effective snail mail campaigns include:

You can track the effectiveness of these offline campaigns with Google Analytics by using custom URLs for recipients.

Another option is to use coupons specific to the campaign so you can figure out how the snail mail campaign is doing in driving conversions.

A postcard promoting an assisted parking system A flat pack side table demo A cardboard record player Giving recipients something they can see, touch and even play with makes your snail mail even more appealing and builds brand awareness and goodwill.

5. Nail the call to action.

As with other marketing, you should have a clear idea of what you want recipients to do next. Make that as easy as

While digital tools are taking over, snail mail still gives you the chance to be unique. Use the guidance in this article to take advantage of the opportunity to wow your customers in their own mailboxes.

Sharon Hurley Hall is a veteran writer and blogger. She writes about digital marketing and ecommerce for a wide range of B2B and B2C companies.

CMOs Lead Into the Light

By Tom Kaneshige

More than half of Europe could be infected with the omicron variant in the next six to eight weeks, the World Health Organization said this week. New daily cases in the United States are surging. There’s enough fear and uncertainty to make your stomach churn.

In our little marketing corner, which, admittedly, pales in comparison to the bigger picture, the dearth of live interactions spurred by the pandemic has many marketers concerned about a loss of connection with customers.

Further, customer behavior continues to be wildly unpredictable. Customer loyalty is as fickle as ever. More than one-third of consumers continue to switch brands, which makes revenue growth a moving target.

These are dark times, indeed. Much is riding on the CMO to lead companies to a clearer, brighter future. Put another way, the road to revenue needs marketing street lamps.

Nearly 80% of CEOs are looking to marketing leaders to drive revenue growth, according to McKinsey.

What’s the secret to regaining the C-suite’s trust, taking back the digital reins and leading the company in these uncertain times? Our CMO Council report has the answer: The best CMOs have figured out how to navigate the brave new world of digital and data through MarTech. They also have enough political savvy to form strategic alliances that marshal MarTech success.

This data and digitally driven marketing world was emerging gradually and then suddenly with the pandemic.

Marketing and digital leaders have had to move rapidly to improve online purchasing experiences, from e-commerce

website upgrades and home delivery improvements to buyonline/store-pickup models. The digital channel became paramount.

MarTech is the key to unlocking the digital channel through marketing automation and personalization, customer data analytics, and the digital customer experience. A good MarTech stack can map the way to revenue.

The CMO who masters MarTech can lead the company into the light. Those who can’t are relegated to throwing darts in the dark. The CMO Council found that 62% of business leaders consider the essential role of the CMO as “customer experience advocate and champion,” followed by “digital transformation and marketing automation leader.” Of course, this also means many business leaders see the CMO in a lesser role.

Which one are you? We’ve found that CMOs who are most effective at leading their companies into the light have the largest MarTech stacks and spend the highest percentage of their marketing budget on MarTech.

But these CMOs didn’t get to this point by chance. They had to show how their high-performing MarTech warranted more investment. This means delivering a track record of getting MarTech right.

They accomplished this by forming powerful alliances with technology experts inside their companies — that is, the CIO and IT. The most effective CMO-CIO relationships revamped roles, responsibilities, decision-making structures and metrics in order to drive mature capabilities and higher MarTech performance.

Make Data Emotional

By Chip Heath Matt Abrahams

Make Numbers Count: How to Translate Data for Your Audience “We have to make data emotional because emotions are what drive us to act,” says Chip Heath, a professor of organizational behavior and author of the new book, Making Numbers Count: The Art of Science of Communicating Numbers.

Matt Abrahams: Data often reigns supreme when you’re trying to pitch or to persuade, yet too many numbers can numb those listening or reading them. How do we find the sweet spot, where numbers are motivating to our audience without complicating our messages? I’m Matt Abrahams, and I teach Strategic Communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Welcome to Think Fast, Talk Smart: The Podcast.

I am really looking forward to speaking with Chip Heath.

Chip is the Thrive Foundation for Youth Professor of Organizational Behavior at the GSB. His research examines why certain ideas survive and thrive while others don’t. He is the co-author of many amazing books, including The Power of Moments, Decisive, Switch, and Made to Stick. Chip has a new book out: Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science

Chip Heath: Thanks for having me.

Matt Abrahams: Let’s jump right into it. I have enjoyed all of your books, but Made to Stick, which focuses on how to get ideas to stick in a world full of so much information, and Switch, which is all about effective persuasion, continue to have profound impact on my communication. Can you share with us one powerful takeaway from each of these books?

Chip Heath: I think the takeaway from Made to Stick is that all of us, as we become experts, experience what we call the “curse of knowledge.” And the curse of knowledge says that when you’re an expert, it’s hard for you to imagine what it’s like not to know what you know. So if you’ve ever talked to a doctor or a lawyer, you’ve been on the other side of the curse of knowledge if you’re not trained in those fields.

of Communicating Numbers. Thanks for being here, Chip. I

But it also works for any kind of expertise. Take an 11-year-

am a huge fan of your work.

old boy you know and ask him about his favorite video game,

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and you’ll be on the other side of the curse of knowledge.

That 11-year-old cannot fathom that situation. And so the best hint from Made to Stick is to talk in very concrete ways because before we become an expert, we think in very concrete terms.

I think the takeaway from Switch that I loved most was discovering the power of bright spots thinking. And so it turns out that our brains are wired to critique situations. And so if we’ve got a global economic downturn and the salesforce has really been hit hard by this, we’ll tend to focus on the people that are doing the worst and try to coach them and help them out. What we don’t often do is look at the best people and steal their ideas.

And so I think — you know, plagiarism is only penalized when we’re in school. After that, you can borrow and steal ideas.

And we’re not talking [IT] here, but we’re talking: If somebody has a great idea in your salesforce, why not roll that out to the other salespeople so that they have the benefits of having that pitch or that idea or that angle for a customer? I think we don’t do that nearly enough. We don’t do it in education. We don’t do it in nonprofits. We always try to rediscover things.

The advantage that we have with bright spots is that you can take the best of what’s already been discovered.

Matt Abrahams: Both of those speak very loudly to me, and I remember them distinctly from reading your books.

The notion of the curse of knowledge looms large in all communication. And this idea of leveraging what you already have, it makes a lot of sense. You’re right: We spend a lot of time reinventing rather than leveraging and reflecting on what works and advancing it. So thank you for sharing that.

And I love hearing it in your own words — it’s exciting to hear it, not just read it.

Speaking of your books, in your newest book you explore how we can better communicate numbers and data. You make the provocative claim that if we want to communicate clearly, every number must be translated. What do you mean by “translate”? And what are the dangers of leaving numbers untranslated?

Chip Heath: I think the danger of leaving numbers untranslated is that we just don’t get it. Some people that run the search engine at Microsoft did some experimenting on this, where they took a fact from the literature, and they were giving [unintelligible] to somebody who had just done a search. And so somebody was looking for the area of Pakistan.

Matt Abrahams: Mm-hmm.

Chip Heath: And let’s make up a number because I don’t have it here in front of me. So 680 billion hectares, or whatever it is. If they also gave people a slight analogy to that and said Pakistan is about the size of two Californias or five Colorados, it turns out no matter what phrase you picked out that equated those two terms, people would remember a day later, a week later, or six weeks later much better if they

had the translation.

Now, I think the curse of knowledge has an impact on us when we’re dealing with numbers. Numbers people know their numbers very well, but almost everybody else doesn’t know their numbers. If we don’t translate numbers into something that’s more tangible, we’re going to sacrifice in a big way. One example from my students is: Years back, I gave people the assignment of convincing people to buy carbon fluorescent bulbs when they first came out.

Matt Abrahams: Mm-hmm.

Chip Heath: And they were expensive. One bulb might cost $7, and you could get a whole pack of the old incandescent bulbs for $4 — and yet they saved electricity and lasted longer. And so some of my students sat down and said: “No, we didn’t do your assignment where you ask us to talk about the savings on electricity. The one thing that bugs us all is that changing a bulb is always a hassle, and these carbon fluorescent bulbs last seven years as opposed to one year of the normal, incandescent bulb.”

And so they said: “Here, think about this. If you change that bulb when your child is learning to walk, the next time you change it, they’re going to be learning about oxygen in second grade. And the next time, they’re going to be taking their exam for driver’s ed.” And all of a sudden, they made seven years mean something to me, and it was just such a stunning revelation. I thought I knew what seven years was, but I didn’t until I marked it out with the development of a child. And so I think that’s the beauty of it.

If we translate numbers, everybody is in a position to get the numbers. Very often analytical people get frustrated because nobody is understanding their analysis. I’d say if you just go a little further and translate those numbers, your analysis is going to have a bigger impact.

Matt Abrahams: So giving that perspective, that comparison, can really, really help. And I love that example.

Our students are so creative, Chip, I’m often in awe of what they can teach us.

In my coaching and teaching, I find that people see data and emotions as separate, almost opposites, like yin and yang or Star Trek’s Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy. How can we make data emotional? And should we even try?

Chip Heath: I think we have to make data emotional because emotions are what drive us to act. And so if you think about Florence Nightingale, who was a hero of mine, [she — ] the career of nursing. So Florence Nightingale founded that profession, but she also founded a lot of the statistical analyses that we do in society.

She originally came [to] prominence in Britain during the Crimean War, where she was looking at front-line hospitals and trying to change their sanitation practices so that they weren’t killing off soldiers. And she had a very clever grasp, made it clear that the Russians were killing off a certain

number of our soldiers, but our hospitals were killing off seven or eight times that amount because of the deaths that would happen once somebody had a wound and it got infected or …

Matt Abrahams: Wow. Chip Heath: And so she pursued this not only during the war but after the war. And so she was brilliant at doing things that, I think, we don’t do nearly enough, which is to take our numbers and put them in an emotional context.

Matt Abrahams: Wow. Very provocative and very clearly answered in terms of yes, we need to use emotion when we talk about data and numbers. And certainly it plays off of what you talked about in terms of comparisons earlier, in what you can compare to could be very emotional and have that impact that you want.

So I wonder why we don’t do that. Is it that we’re just not taught how, or is it that we just figure that knowing the information is enough and we just leave it for people to figure out on their own? I know you don’t know the answer to that. I’m just curious. It strikes me that, in all the examples you’ve used, they’ve been so provocative. My immediate question is: Why aren’t we doing this all the time?

Chip Heath: Yeah.

Matt Abrahams: Do you have some ideas why we don’t do this?

Chip Heath: I think it takes an extra step. After you’ve done your analysis, you just get tired.

Matt Abrahams: Mm. Chip Heath: And so you’re probably two-thirds of the way there when you’ve got the answer in front of you, and you need another third of the time to make that answer into something that people can feel and experience and see in their head. And it’s just hard to force yourself to do that at that moment because you think: “I’ve got the number. It’s the right number. I’m going to present it, and people will buy it.”

Well, they don’t necessarily.

Matt Abrahams: I think that’s exactly right. And I would add to it that the goal is to get to the answer, not necessarily to communicate the answer in a way that people can understand it. So part of it is we have to, perhaps, change what the ultimate goal is.

Chip Heath: If somebody came up with a phrase in a foreign language that they yelled out in a meeting and half the people in the room didn’t speak that language, it would be considered rude; and yet we’ve got numbers, and a lot of people in the world don’t understand numbers like the numbers people. And there are a lot of untranslated numbers that float around in organizations and in society.

Matt Abrahams: Huh. I love that comparison because you’re exactly right: People just take these numbers for granted without actually understanding them. You mentioned this notion of a numbers person versus not a numbers person, and I’m wondering: What if you’re not a numbers person, but

you’re in a meeting about numbers? What can you do? How can you play? How can you participate?

Chip Heath: Well, I think the first thing to realize is you are not alone. And even the numbers people in the meeting, they didn’t happen to do this particular analysis that was done by the numbers person who’s in front of the room at that point.

None of us are prepared to be numbers people. The second thing to note is that you can force them onto your turf a little bit.

Matt Abrahams: Hmm. Chip Heath: And so suppose that you took a concrete situation and just said: “Let’s imagine that this table that we’re sitting at is the budget that we’re talking about here. What area on the table do we need to mark out to talk about that expense?” You very quickly realize: Is this a trivial thing, or is this a big thing? The analytical person might even be happy to be asked to do that because they can do some calculations on the fly and [get to geek out], but they’re geeking out in a way that everybody else understands as opposed to a way that everybody else doesn’t understand.

Matt Abrahams: So it sounds like you, as a non-numbers person, have to invite, encourage, maybe cajole and force some numbers people to communicate in a way that you understand and give them that opportunity. The example you gave with the table reminded me of things I would do with my children when they were younger and I was trying to explain concepts. Not necessarily number concepts. But I would go out of my way to make sure that I was explaining it in a concrete, visual way to help them understand.

Chip Heath: Yeah.

Matt Abrahams: So it might be inviting others to communicate with us in that way. There are some things in understanding numbers that are just hard for some people.

I’ll take myself personally. Probability is hard for me. I believe in streaks, for example. So if I flip a coin three times in a row, and it comes up heads those three times, I actually suspect that it will likely come up heads again. And it’s a legitimate, fair point.

Chip Heath: [Crosstalk] bet on the lotto at that moment, right?

Matt Abrahams: Yeah. Right, exactly. And so I guess is there something we have to do in terms of education or learning for ourselves just a little bit more about how numbers work that you think is important, too?

Chip Heath: A great numbers person, I think, is even better than Superman because they not only see through the wall; they can help other people see through the wall. And so there’s a sense in which if we get the numbers right, it’s worth that extra 20 percent of the effort to translate things into the right terms because none of us are good at probabilities, and none of us are good at fractions.

One of my favorite examples is: It turns out 40 percent of Americans don’t wash their hands, necessarily, when they’re using the rest — after using the restroom in their home. And

one of my [PC] students said: “What that means is that two of the last five people that you shook hands with hadn’t washed their hands before shaking your hand.” And all of a sudden, that’s the same numbers — 40 percent — but we’re bad at picturing probability and we’re really good at picturing two out of five people shaking our hands. And so I think that’s a testament to the fact that some things are really hard for us.

And if we can make those things tangible and concrete, we’re going to bring many more people onto the playing field.

Matt Abrahams: And we’re going to motivate change in a very dramatic way. When you said 40 percent of people don’t wash their hands after using the restroom, I thought: “Oh, that’s kind of disgusting.”

Chip Heath: Yeah.

Matt Abrahams: But when you said two out of five, I immediately looked around the room and thought: “Where’s the hand sanitizer?”

Chip Heath: Yeah.

Matt Abrahams: So it definitely changes behavior, as well.

Before we end, I’m wondering: Do you have any last thoughts you’d like to share about how we can better communicate about data and numbers?

Chip Heath: I think numbers are incredible things because they take us to places that we haven’t been on our own and we couldn’t get to without the numbers. And so you think about the jumping ability of frogs and what would it be like if people could jump like frogs. This is the kind of discussion you have with your kids at home.

Matt Abrahams: Yeah.

Chip Heath: And it turns out … We did the calculation for that. There are some people that can dunk from the [3-0] line in NBA, but nobody has ever dunked from the 3-point line.

Well, if you had the jumping ability of a frog, you could dunk from the 3-point line of the other team.

Matt Abrahams: Wow. Chip Heath: And suddenly you’ve got a conversation you could have with any sports fan or any kid, and they understand and engage in the same way on a topic that we wouldn’t have thought about before. Very often what we …

What we found over and over again is that by running the numbers, what we experienced was a sense of awe. It’s like: “Wow, I didn’t know how important that ability was [with a] frog.” There’s a lot of power in doing this kind of analysis that brings on profound emotions and motivates people, like you said before, to change.

Matt Abrahams: Well, I really appreciate you sharing not just that last bit of advice but the advice you’ve shared before. And I see you standing tall with a cape flowing behind your back as Mathman instead of Superman, helping us understand, because you’re right: There is a superpower involved in that. So before we end, Chip, I always ask people the same three questions. I’m hoping you’re open to answering these questions with me. Is that okay?

Chip Heath: Sure.

Matt Abrahams: All right, so Question No. 1: If you were to capture the best communication advice you ever received as a five- to seven-word presentation slide title, what would it be?

Chip Heath: The single most important thing that we’ve found in making ideas stick is to be concrete. But “concrete” is an abstract word, so I would say paint a picture. And in parentheses, I would say don’t tell a story. And I think the second is important not because I’m against storytelling — because that’s a second-level thing. And really, our fundamental goal as communicators is to paint a picture.

Be concrete at every moment, and then a story will emerge from that.

Matt Abrahams: I love it. And in fact, people will create their own stories if you paint the picture well enough.

Chip Heath: Yes. Yeah.

Matt Abrahams: And that’s where it really is internalized.

So paint a picture. I like it. Thank you. Question No. 2: Who is a communicator that you admire? And why?

Chip Heath: I’d have to go with one of my scientific heroes, Daniel Kahneman, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2002 as a psychologist. There’s this running disciplinary feud between economists and psychologists, but you know he must be good to get a Nobel Prize in economics despite the disciplinary differences. But he’s a brilliant communicator because he always talks in a very concrete way, [never] provocative.

Matt Abrahams: Absolutely. I have seen him speak and I’ve read his work, and he’s very good at that. Let me ask Question No. 3: What are the first three ingredients that go into a successful communication recipe?

Chip Heath: I would say that you want a concrete message that’s emotional, and tell it in as simple a way as possible.

Those are my top three.

Matt Abrahams: It’s all about being concrete, emotional and simple, and you have done a great job today in all three of those aspects for us. I thank you, Chip, for your time and for your insights. Your ideas are incredibly helpful across all of your work, but especially for helping us to understand how best to present numbers and data.

I encourage everyone to read Chip’s new book, Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers. I had a chance to read a preview copy, and let me tell you: As far as the numbers go, on a scale of 1 to 10, it is certainly an 11. Thanks again, Chip.

Chip Heath: Thank you.

Matt Abrahams: Thanks for joining us for another episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart: The Podcast produced by Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. For more information and episodes, visit gsb.stanford.edu, or subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts. Finally, find us on social media @stanford.gsb.

Top brands come to SCAD seeking new ideas, inventions, and business strategies for a changing world. SCADpro delivers.

Tap into our talent bank. scad.edu/scadpro

How To Communicate On Social Media For Business And Marketing B y Dr. Michael Thiemann

One of the most important means in our daily lives is communication. Through communication, we can relate to others in a purposeful and effective way. It serves to give and especially to receive information. The information can be goal-oriented or open-ended.

street. Ideally, a mutual exchange should be possible at all touchpoints with customers and other business partners.

Particularly when dealing with customers, greater emphasis should be placed on the emotional experience. But how do you achieve your goal most effectively with communication?

Words are a form of communication, but they always involve language barriers. Nonverbal is another form, which is also used to show emotions that significantly influence our decisions.

Since companies pursue goals with their communication, the transported information should trigger a reaction in the recipient — a purchase, a recommendation or an official approval. However, the spoken or written word has only an indirect effect and can be understood and interpreted differently by the recipient. For this reason, nonverbal communication is of extreme importance because it is based on cognitive automatisms, the so-called heuristics and emotions that transport the intended information much faster and more effectively.

What should you consider in the mix of verbal and nonverbal communication? How should you use them in business, especially marketing or sales? Which method works better with your audience?

Corporate Communication Goals Corporate communications support the relationship with customers, employees, suppliers, investors, authorities and other partners, as well as the public. It is always purposedriven and always pursues corporate goals. Therefore, it must be planned and controlled.

In his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, behavioral scientist Daniel Kahneman points out the two different systems of thinking in humans:

In today’s world, companies are dependent on the most diverse data from their target customers or major business partners to provide them with precisely tailored solutions.

For this reason, communication should be a two-way

The first thinking system is fast, instinctive and emotional.

Here, thinking takes place instinctively. Because of deja vu, humans react with known and successfully tested reaction patterns. Our brain saves energy with this automatism, but

1. Heuristic

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it can sometimes lead us astray because we make mistakes through a kind of compartmentalized thinking.

2. Logical The second system of thinking is slow, deliberate, logical thinking. We are anchored in this type of thinking when dealing with something new, where we cannot fall back on known routines. Here, we deal with facts, analyze, outline different solutions and decide. So in communication, you need to know and use both of your interlocutor’s thinking systems.

Communicating On Social Media For Marketing And Sales So, what does all of this have to do with how your company communicates on social media for marketing and sales?

Understanding your goals and different ways of thinking can help you when crafting your message. Let’s consider various elements of any well-crafted marketing message: Hook Many marketing and sales campaigns have lost their impact, especially when the message is “Buy me. I am the best.”

With the increase in technology and information sharing, the attention span of customers has decreased. Particularly with regard to social media, the hook must stand out from the crowd in order to be noticed at all. In my experience, a pattern interrupt within a short two- to six-second video or GIF helps to get the attention of your audience.

skillfully building trust and visibility with the viewer. The important thing in storytelling is to address your customers’ problems and show that a tested and proven solution exists for them. Facts and testimonials should be included in the story in simple language that even children can understand.

Stories speak directly to people’s emotions and allow them to more easily relate.

Offer You should always have an offer at the end. A “buy me” button can disrupt the trust you’ve built between you and the viewer. Remember, you want to build trust and visibility with your posts, first and foremost, and engage in two-way communication with your audiences so you both get to know and appreciate each other. Trust is particularly emotional and crucial for a long-term business relationship. Therefore, design your post as a poll or invite viewers to comment on your post. In this way, you communicate with them step by step and improve trust so that the conversation may move beyond the post and eventually extend to email, phone call or even video conference.

Valuable communication is always two-way, so invite your listeners to act and respond. Use verbal and nonverbal communication to address logic and emotion. Use contextual stories in which your listener can also recognize themselves. If you can remember and practice those three tips, you’re well on your way to becoming a more successful communicator.

Story But even if the hook has worked, most viewers want to see valuable content, delivered in an appealing story that helps them and in which they can find themselves. Content marketing has been the key in recent years to smoothly and

Dr. Michael Thiemann at Strategy-Lab™ is a bilingual Business Model Strategist, Key Note Speaker and Innovation & Agility Facilitator.

The metaverse red pill: how we can avoid creating Earth 2.0

By Chris Edwards

As you read this, creative directors are being asked for ideas for something few of them will have experienced and many don’t really understand. That’s not a slight on them, but the metaverse is a phenomenon that we’re feeling our way into – even those of us who spend a disproportionate amount of time thinking about digital experiences.

So far, brands are replicating real-world activities (sometimes badly). Is that it though? Making what we already do virtual?

Surely not. The full opportunities of the metaverse are yet to be revealed.

A new party with the same guests There’s a problem with people operating in existing societies, with existing ideas and experiences, being invited to enter new worlds – they can’t help but bring at least some of their ‘old world’ to the party. Given most of us are not game designers or fantasy writers, with the chance to throw off all shackles of convention, we start with what we know. We work within implicit barriers.

That’s what brands are doing in the metaverse. Almost anything is possible and we’re running virtual sales promotions (buy a Spiderman ticket and get a free NFT), creating luxury handbags for the metaverse elite, and releasing limitededition trainers that sell out in six minutes.

This isn’t a lack of imagination. It reflects real-world restrictions on investment and creativity. How do you explain to your board that you’re going to sell a solar-powered flying car in the metaverse? Especially if it’s at a crypto pocket-money price to engage a new audience of eco-conscious avatars in motor vehicle ownership. You’ll probably get a sign-off on a virtual test drive of something you currently manufacture.

Without getting too philosophical, I wonder what chance this decentralized alternate reality has of being different. Will it end up reinforcing the same ideas and mechanisms that we have in society – those that create inequality, competition and monopolization? Or could it be a place where fantastical ideas flourish, and where the restrictions of embedded structures such as money (and the natural laws that govern our universe) are banished?

The metaverse for brands and agencies This matters for brands because the question of what the new frontiers are is key. Can they experiment in ways that

genuinely add value for customers (not just opportunities to buy expensive bags they now can’t afford in two universes)?

Things in the metaverse rely on an active community to thrive.

Won’t these communities revolt if they’re served the same solutions (and problems) that they face IRL? Agencies will play a key role in answering these questions.

Understandably, brands will expect them to create exceptional experiences. There’s a familiar path of using platforms such as Roblox as an ‘ideal starting point,’ giving both client and agency parameters and respected organizations to emulate.

Beyond these toe-in-the-water tests, will they be able to quickly grasp the multitude of options available?

One deciding factor will be the startups currently being snapped up by bigger brands, such as Nike and RTFKT. As they get bought up, will they conform, or help their acquirers to push the boundaries?

Gray matter matters Where will this gray matter work get its inspiration? Stock markets or Star Trek? The term metaverse is attributed to science fiction writer Neal Stephenson – does that give us a clue?

We need to listen to both markets and stories. In a world where anything is possible, we shouldn’t go back to what we already do. We should try and imagine what could be and embrace childlike fantasies of worlds where no one tells us what does and doesn’t work. Equally, brands will enter the metaverse as a business opportunity and market forces will ultimately shape what happens.

Like all good innovation, the best ideas will come from what’s missing, from what can be improved, and from thinking about the ‘what if?’ It will come from working out what the people who inhabit it want by observing, fantasizing and testing (without the middle bit you end up with ‘faster horses’).

It’s exciting. Get it right and you can engage new audiences beyond your reach in the real world, you can build products that no one ever got on to a production line, you can live next door to Snoop Dogg if you want. So what will you do?

Red pill: science fiction, utopian worlds, fantasy creative ideas, endless innovation.

Blue pill: virtual grocery shopping.

ADVANCE TOMORROW’S MISSION As a key partner in government innovation, we blend unparalleled mission understanding with emerging technology to help our clients modernize their organizations and integrate, innovate, and dominate at speed.

See our ideas in action at BoozAllen.com.

Marketing In, Through and Out of The Pandemic

By Maliha Farooq

Myth #1: Customers buy more when they have a psychological safety of brick-and- mortar stores Truth: Psychological safety is enhanced when people know they have a choice to be served online rather than visiting locations We all love the idea of purchasing things and taking them home immediately, don’t we? There is an adreline rush when we see things in store touch them try them on and then make the decision to purchase. Not just that, but we also don’t have to worry about damaged and lost packages. Shopping instore allows us the ability to preview products in person with quick and detailed customer service.

The pandemic gave rise to a new default way of shopping: online shopping. With brick-and-mortar stores closed, consumers turned to the only available option, which was online. In time, consumers realized that this was not just a more convenient, controlled way of shopping, it was providing them psychological safety as they didn’t have to interact with crowds or in person sales personnel.

No more waiting in queues for payment and no more pressure

to buy. Online shopping has now become the new norm.

What augmented this trend in Asian countries was the “Cash on delivery” option for payment with some firms providing check first then pay options.

Myth #2: Great products make the best brand Truth: Great values make the best brand Covid -19 redefined brand loyalty for good. Corporate social responsibility and giving back to the community and society we belonged to coupled with growing consumer awareness made brands look inwards, focus and live the values they profoundly confessed.

Gone are the days when the values were only a portion of the annual reports under the “Mission and Vision” section. It is now time to live up to those values, and even revisit and edit them.

According to the EY Future Consumer Index, consumers now look at factors in addition to price and convenience when making a purchase. These include sustainability, trust, ethical sourcing and social responsibility. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for marketing teams to embark on a journey to

groupisd.com

25 not just make the C-suite aware, but to also ensure that brand values are at the heart of developing lifetime relationships with consumers.

It may also be a clear differentiating factor for brands during and post this pandemic. An attribute that will make them stand out and be the brand of choice for consumers or a factor that might lead to brands being upended.

Myth #3: Organizations compete with their competitors to gain share of mind and brand recall Truth: Organizations are competing with the last best experience their customer had to gain share of mind and brand recall Yes, all of us are aware of the battle of the brands to gain share of mind, brand recall and recurring purchases. PreCovid times had seen an ever increasing rise in customer expectations and awareness with Gen Z growing up with a seamless integration of technology in their day to day lives.

Hyper-personalization and use of personal data were the buzz words.

What COVID did was to accelerate digital transformation overnight, made it gain immense acceptability and take up. This led to a vicious cycle; skyrocketing of customer expectations and a rat race amongst organizations not only to develop but deliver digital experiences that augmented customer experiences. For customers across the world and also in developing countries a seamless digital transition is a minimum almost like a hygiene factor and a must have.

What would now be the real competition for organizations would be to outdo themselves by providing better and more meaningful customer experiences than the last one the customer had with their brand. The competition is not with external parties anymore but with ourselves now; to outdo what we provided last time and make new standards.

Myth #4: Customers know exactly what they want.

Truth: Customers expect organizations to know exactly what they need.

The bar keeps on rising on customer expectations and customer experiences. Customers might have known what they want two decades back but now they expect any rendezvous with the organization to be frictionless, anticipatory, relevant, and connected. In other words, the relevance now is not only providing what the customer wants but also to anticipate future needs and cater for them.

All is well till there but in the practical world creating such experiences demands a lot more from the organizations.

Companies need to invest and rely heavily on data and technology. Data and technology need to be at the core of any organization. Dependence on machine learning and/or artificial intelligence cannot be underestimated.

It is but obvious that in the world that marketers operate in today, consumers are demanding greater personalization, it is now expected that organizations leverage data capabilities to enhance decision- making and drive greater relevance in their customer interactions. This is a win -win situation as it

helps to build stronger human connections with brands.

Myth #5: Marketing is an important support function.

Truth: Marketing is no longer a support function but the center of growth in any organization.

1990: Three-quarters of marketing organizations were considered to be support functions, enabling ONLY sales and business development. In other words. Marketing was considered as helping organizations reach their business goals but was always considered an “overhead”. Marketing activities needed to be aligned to support the efficient and effective delivery of organizational goals. that was all. Most companies also saw it as an extension of its sales and advertising functions.

This was a time when marketing was classified as cost center.

It came as no surprise that whenever there came business slumps or tough periods in which the topline results were compromised, it was often one of the first areas to get cut.

2019 onwards: Enter the pandemic. The role of the marketing function transformed practically overnight. From a cost center it got elevated within the C-suite. Marketing thus became what we now refer to as an enabler of digital transformation, voice of the customer and the owner of the entire customer journey-all of which are of paramount importance.

Marketing is the pulse of the consumer reflecting the sentiment of the marketplace. Without understanding the zeitgeist of the marketplace, the C-suite cannot anticipate threats and opportunities and successfully navigate the future.

The question still remains what can we attribute this status change to? Covid only? It is a fact that Covid has played an instrumental role in accelerating this change some other factors can be: Rise of data and analytics Reliance on data and coupled with the advent of smart data analytics have paved the way for Marketing to properly track, record and monitor activity flows that provide valid audit trails for outcomes and achievements directly tied to the business strategy.

Evolution of customer expectations and behavior Digital marketing molded customer behavior and digital channels ensuring marketing assumed the role of business development. With the rise in digital marketing initiatives and avenues Marketing has also become accountable for return on ad spends (ROAS) and for significantly reducing cost per leads (CPL) and cost of customer acquisition (CPA).

Covid 19 is trending. And that means faster evolution of business marketing techniques and further push for MarTech.

It has now imperative more than ever for marketers operating in this pandemic to keep looking at the big picture. Marketing now has the chance to seize an ongoing central role in this dialogue, thereby driving the organization’s broader growth and innovation agenda.

‘There’s only so much low-hanging fruit’: Why advertisers are ramping up more full-funnel marketing strategies

By Kimeko Mccoy

The glory days of quick and easy digital customer acquisition appear to be numbered.

Over the last year, performance marketers have been feeling the squeeze on all sides with mounting data privacy changes, an increasingly crowded digital marketplace and a new era of pandemic-induced shopping habits.

The changes have pushed many of them, from small to midsize brands, to reconsider full-funnel marketing strategies, striking a more concerted balance between brand building and direct response marketing. That means rolling out more marketing touchpoints, like out-of-home and streaming video, in addition to performance marketing tactics like social media and paid search.

“At some point, you saturate acquisition and there’s only so much low-hanging fruit,” said Mike Mikho, full-service agency Laundry Service’s chief marketing officer. “The reason that you move from acquisition to full-funnel marketing is because you’ve gotten all the low-hanging fruit you can and now you need to widen your funnel and bring more people into your brand.

Recently, these tactics have been adopted by brands including Claire’s, Edible Arrangements, Shutterfly, which ramped up social media, among other channels, and Hydrow rowing, with more dollars toward mediums including out-of-home.

Tween retailer Claire’s recently launched what it calls the brand’s “biggest and most integrated initiative to date” with its Be the Most campaign. It’s supported by a robust media plan, which includes e-commerce, store experience, OOH placements in New York City and the brand’s hometown of Chicago, as well as Hulu, TikTok, Twitch, Snap and others.

The push from Claire’s, a 50-year-old brand is intended to bring in the Gen Z audience and their parents. The company has also considered expanding into new categories, such as the metaverse and gaming.

“We have to be present where our consumers are. We keep a

pulse on all of the new platforms that customers are showing up in, whether it’s the virtual world, or whether it’s TikTok,” said Claire’s chief marketing officer, Kristin Patrick. “Because [society has] moved so quickly and they’re so in tune with culture, we have to be there as well.”

The volatility of the pandemic pushed advertisers to tighten budgets, especially discretionary spending meaning more marketers invested in quick and easy digital customer acquisition channels. Meanwhile, lockdown measures and mask mandates also pushed more people to shop and spend more time online.

“What we saw holistically during Covid-19 was marketers shifting pretty heavily into performance media and especially within that paid search,” said Claire Russell, head of media at Fitzco ad agency, noting the appeal of it being high intent and little risk. “Everybody just wanted to talk to the people who are in-market right now.”

It made sense during the early onset of the pandemic, Russell added, but if companies want to build the brand over time, brand awareness and storytelling channels are key. For performance marketers, CTV and OTT seem promising, given the technology has allowed programmatic buys, marrying creative with targeting and measurements.

That’s not to say full-funnel marketing is an industry revolution; some advertisers say it’s simply marketing 101.

To industry observers, it feels like a pendulum swinging.

During the digital boom, marketers prioritized digital customer acquisition channels. Moving forward, that pendulum could see dollars going to storytelling channels, such as TV, said David Song, CEO at Rosie Labs ad agency.

“Full-funnel means you are literally in front of that consumer at every single possible area that that person might interact with your brand,” Song said. “The most successful brands are companies that have always done full funnel. And that to me, is just branding and direct response coming together.”

We’re Good at Motivating Others, but What About Ourselves?

By wharton staff

There are plenty of books that teach how to influence the behavior of others, but anyone who’s set a personal goal knows it’s a lot tougher to apply those lessons inward. Ayelet Fishbach, a behavioral science and marketing professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, has written a new book that can help. Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation, which was released in January, offers a framework for setting and attaining goals, working through roadblocks, and keeping the temptation to quit at bay.

“It’s really important to set goals that are not so abstract that you cannot come up with a plan,” Fishbach said during a virtual interview with Wharton professor Angela Duckworth about the book. Their conversation was part of the Behavioral Science Authors Series produced by the Behavior Change For Good Initiative at Penn. Hosted by Duckworth and Wharton

professor Katy Milkman, who are BCFG’s co-directors, the series aims to showcase scholars who have written books about behavioral science for a general audience. Listen to a podcast of the full interview above, or watch the video below.

Following are edited excerpts from the conversation: Angela Duckworth: There were a lot of books written in the pandemic, and this is absolutely one of my favorites. What is the core message of Get It Done?

Ayelet Fishbach: The core message in the social sciences is that you change behavior by changing the situation in which the behavior occurs. You change the circumstances. The way we think about it in motivation science is that you can change other people’s circumstances, [and] you can also change them for yourself. I am trying to figure out all the ways in which we can change either the situation or the way we frame

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it for ourselves so that we are motivating ourselves. Many times, I take interventions that we use on other people to say, “What do we know about using that on yourself?”

People who were focusing on their immediate pleasure, on how much they feel like they are gaining knowledge at that time, were more intrinsically motivated.

“When you set an alarm clock, you are changing yourself, changing your behavior.”

“For many goals that have a clear beginning and end, we see that people are highly motivated when they just start on something.”

Duckworth: In a way, it’s “nudge thyself,” which would not have been as good a cover or a title, but our audience is very familiar with nudges. I feel like this book was written for the person who wants to change their own life, as opposed to the policymaker trying to make cafeterias healthier.

Fishbach: Exactly. The most real example is setting an alarm clock. When you set an alarm clock, you are changing yourself, changing your behavior. You make yourself get up in the morning by setting this alarm that will go off and will make a loud noise in the room. There are many other ways in which we can change the way we will behave by changing the situation when it occurs.

Duckworth: I love the structure of this book. There are four major sections. Give us a bird’s eye view of these four major approaches or areas of motivation strategies.

Fishbach: I realized that our interventions fall into these four categories. The first one is setting a goal, and there is a lot of research on how to set a goal, how to think about the target, how to make it intrinsic, and so on. The second element is striving towards this goal, monitoring progress, sustaining the motivation as we go from point A to point B. The third area is managing multiple goals. We never just want one thing, so how do you manage these multiple things? When do we look for compromise? When do we look to prioritize? The fourth area is social support. What is the role of others, both in helping us pursue the goal and in spotting our individual goals just by being there and observing us or being our role models?

Duckworth: Give me a personal example of goal fusion in Ayelet Fishbach’s life.

Fishbach: I’m highly intrinsically motivated, meaning I find it hard to do anything that is not intrinsically motivating. One example is that I never have enough time in the day. When I leave work, I wish I had a few more minutes to finish what I was working on, which is a sign of intrinsic motivation — how much you want to engage in the activity when you are no longer required to.

But in my [research], we find that when we give people immediate rewards, they enjoy what they are doing more.

They are more excited about doing it when we direct their attention to what they get from pursuing the task, as opposed to later on. When they get it immediately, they are more intrinsically motivated. In one experiment, we had people either focus on the immediate pleasure or interest that they get from watching some TV show versus the later benefits. It was a clip on the news about the situation in Tibet at the time.

Duckworth: What is “the middle problem”?

Fishbach: For many goals that have a clear beginning and end, we see that people are highly motivated when they just start on something. Every step at the beginning feels like a huge step. You are moving from zero to one, which is enormous progress. Towards the end, if there is a clear end, we see again this excitement. In the middle is when we see motivation kind of on the decline. We see that people are working less hard and lowering their performance standards.

There is less effort and also more cutting corners. In one of the studies that we ran on the middle problem, we had people actually cut corners. They had five shapes to cut on a piece of paper. We gave them a pair of scissors, and they were cutting the first shape very well, the last shape very well.

In the middle, they were literally cutting corners.

Duckworth: What’s the antidote to the middle problem?

Fishbach: There are a few things. We can keep the middle short. A weekly exercise goal instead of monthly exercise goal. We can have a monthly savings goal instead of an annual savings goal. We can think about our goals for this semester, as opposed to our goals for the entire time that we will pursue an academic degree.

If you have these subgoals, these short goals, usually after this week you would still want to exercise. You don’t only want to exercise this week, but because you think about it in terms of three exercises in a week, you’ll have a short middle. And the next week you might want to do another set of workouts.

Duckworth: How do you know when to grit and when to quit? Clearly, there are upsides to quitting [and] there are costs to quitting.

Fishbach: This is hard. We know that sometimes people take on the wrong roles. There are extreme diets. There are extreme exercises. There are things that people take on and shouldn’t, or they should know when to quit. When we look at some of the research that I got involved in with aging, at a certain point we need to give up on certain things, in particular in the context of pursuing multiple goals. We need to reprioritize and say, “Well, I can’t have everything that I had so far. I need to give up on some.”

There is no magic answer to how to know when to quit. It often requires doing some analysis of your life and what you can fit in there, what you cannot. It’s important to realize that for many of the things that we do, we will not know whether it’s the right thing for a while.

Usage-Based Pricing Key to Subscriptions, According to Yale School of Management By subscribed Staff

Highlights from a conversation with Sang Kim, professor at the Yale School of Management; K. Sudhir, professor and leader of the Data Science faculty at the Yale Center of Customer Insights, the YCCI; Seung Yoon Lee, a PhD student focused on quantitative marketing; and Natalie Louie, Senior Director of Product Marketing for Zuora.

Pricing strategy. Whether yours veers more to art than science, or vice versa, it is one of the critical levers in determining business success. As consumers continue to shift their buying to services and away from products, how should subscription businesses be thinking about pricing?

Below, we dig into what the experts gleaned from their 15 years of studying the relationship between company pricing strategy and consumer stickiness.

The Right Pricing Mix Subscription pricing models come in a variety of flavors — from purely usage-based to flat fee to per-unit fees to a hybrid. With several options for pricing your offerings, how do you figure out what’s the right mix to grow your business?

The bad news is that’s not entirely clear. Take usage-based pricing as an example. As Sang Kim explained, “if you use too little usage-based pricing, then the growth rate is maybe not as good as what you might be expecting. On the other hand, … if you’re relying too much on usage-based pricing, the same thing happens.”

The good news is studying the relationship between pricing structure and consumer behavior can help companies make pricing decisions that optimize both revenue growth and customer lifetime value (CLV).

on short-term profitability, and doesn’t take into account customer demand. It’s also not customer-centric — which is the name of the game for subscription businesses.

On top of that, there’s another problem. It’s misleading.

Kim explained, it assumes “customer preference and usage patterns are fixed.” The reality is pricing strategy can “actually change how the customers use your service” by influencing experimentation and habit formation — making them more likely to stick with their subscription for the longterm rather than churn away.

It’s clear subscription businesses need to think about pricing both in terms of the impact on their costs and the effects on customer behavior.

The Relationship Between Subscription Pricing and Revenue Growth The way companies structure their prices doesn’t just influence whether and how consumers use their services, it also changes how they value them.

Research from the Subscribed Institute shows, beyond a certain point, usage-based pricing doesn’t improve revenue growth rates. If that’s the case, how can companies maximize customer value, creating stickiness, as they grow their subscription revenues?

To grow subscription revenues over time, companies need to do three things well: win, retain, and grow their customers.

•

Win — First they need to successfully acquire customers.

•

Retain — Then they need to minimize churn among existing customers so that retention rates go up over time.

•

Grow — They also need to generate more revenue and profitability from existing customers over time, essentially by building customer stickiness.

Traditional Thinking Around Pricing Strategy Businesses have traditionally approached pricing strategy by focusing on covering their costs. They use fixed-fee pricing to recover fixed costs and usage-based pricing to recoup their variable costs and attract new customers.

But this way of looking at things is overly concentrated

That may sound obvious, but it’s a bit more complicated.

These levers don’t all have equal impact. Growing margins

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(say by cross-selling more expensive services) seems like a really effective strategy to increase customer lifetime value (CLV). But actually, it barely moves the needle.

“YCCI’s studies of consumer data show that increasing retention rates has an outsized impact on CLV. Specifically, the Yale team found that as companies improved customer retention from 60% to 90%, CLV quadrupled. ” To illustrate how this works, Lee walked through data on gym memberships. You’d think getting customers to sign longterm contracts would be better for company revenue. But people on monthly contracts actually had more consistent usage patterns and higher retention rates than those who signed up for yearly contracts — and that makes them more profitable.

Bundling is another good example of how to maximize customer lifetime value. At first glance, the appeal of product and service bundles seems to be in the increased revenue generated from their higher prices versus for standalone offerings. But that’s only partially true.

Bundles are so effective, particularly for digital products, because they boost customer retention. Data on the cable industry shows companies were able to decrease customer churn rates by close to 50% with subscription packages that included three services.

This “multiplier effect” means customers “are more likely to stay with you the more involved they are with your different product options.” This depends on pricing the bundles right — i.e., what the incremental variable costs are for the products and services you include in the bundles — versus what you can charge for them.

Retaining Customers Is Key to Maximizing Business Value How can subscription companies drive customer stickiness?

Here are four tips drawn from consumer behavioral data.

1. Uncertainty is part of the value. Leverage uncertainty to increase engagement and retention. Sudhir spoke about how capitalizing on the “gambler in all of us,” using the anticipation of a reward — whether it’s an email, a Facebook “Like,” or a new StichFix package — can keep customers coming back for more.

2. Reminders work…but only after habits are formed.

Reminders can be a prompt to action. But too many risks drives customers away. For instance, month-tomonth subscribers tend to be stickier. But they also have more opportunities to churn. One way to minimize this and avoid the “pain of payment” is through automatic billing.

3. Concentrate on what really moves the needle. The reason this is so important Seung Yoon Lee stated is

because “if you just focus on acquiring people who are not really fully forming their habits, before they get to renew for next year, then that’s a problem… Because a lot of your long-term profits are coming from retention, not acquisition or growth.”

4. Experiment, experiment, experiment to find the pricing structure that works. Every subscription business is different. You can’t one-size-fits-all your way to optimum pricing. Instead, begin with these fundamental or “first order” questions: – How much should we charge?

– What price tiers should we have?

To answer these questions, you really have to get to know your customers, checking to see how the answers change acquisition and retention rates, and tracking if and how customers are switching between different price tiers.

B2B Pricing? B2C Pricing?

Can this pricing approach work for B2B subscription businesses or is it only for B2C? Kim acknowledged that the handful of customers a typical B2B company has versus a B2C business does change “the equations quite a bit.” But he believes the basic framework is relevant.

Whether you’re B2B or B2C you still need to ask, and answer the following questions to inform your pricing structure: •

What kind of business environment am I operating in?

•

How many customers do I have?

•

What kind of competition do I face?

Being strategic with user fees is also important. You want to encourage potential customers to experiment with and experience a broad range of your products. But often user fees do the opposite, leading clients to limit the number of users to keep costs down. The downside, which Sudhir outlined is, that chokes off the incentive for users to “try out, understand, learn, …” reducing potential “penetration of the product.”

Balancing these trade-offs might model makes sense. You could period. Or you could offer a basic combined with tiered pricing for a

mean that a freemium start with a fixed trial free offering indefinitely, higher level of service.

Finding the Balance There is no one optimal — or easy — pricing answer for all time. The key is to ask the right questions, weigh the tradeoffs, experiment, analyze the impacts, and then iterate from there based on your findings.

What really matters for retention is acquiring clients by allowing them to experiment, structuring your pricing in a way that encourages them to form a habit, then retaining them through engagement that creates a sense of anticipation and fun.

The stickiness that comes from that creates a “multiplier effect” that will drive profitability, and ultimately, your customer long-term value.

When Subtraction Adds Value

By Gabrielle Adams, Benjamin A. Converse, Andrew Hales, and Leidy Klotz

Imagining ways to introduce change is an essential skill no matter one’s occupation, role, or rank. To distinguish an app, a designer envisions a unique new feature. To enhance workplace culture, a manager considers new training modules or incentives. To increase corporate social responsibility, an advisory board identifies green-energy investment opportunities.

Notice that each of these changes would add something to what already exists.

There is nothing inherently wrong with adding. But if it becomes a business’s default path to improvement, that business may be failing to consider a whole class of other opportunities. In one study of organizational change, for example, we found that when stakeholders suggested hundreds of ways to improve an organization, fewer than 10% of those improvements involved taking something away.

Across a series of follow-up experiments, we demonstrated that people systematically overlook subtractive changes.

But subtraction has untapped potential. With subtraction in mind, the designer might rid the app of unnecessary features, the manager might remove barriers to a more inclusive culture, and the advisory board member might suggest divesting from fossil fuels. The good news is that an understanding of the psychology behind subtraction neglect reveals some ways to avoid it.

Why People Overlook Subtraction The paltry rate of subtraction in our organizationalimprovement study was no fluke. We observed similarly low rates of subtraction across multiple tasks. To improve a redundant piece of writing, few participants produced an edit with fewer words. To improve a jam-packed travel itinerary, few removed events to allow them to savor the ones that remained. To improve a Lego structure, almost no one took pieces away. Whether people were changing ideas, situations, or objects, the dominant tendency was to do so by adding.

Observing this trend, one of our first questions was whether people simply liked solving these problems by addition — maybe adding words to the first draft, events to the itinerary, and blocks to the Lego tower was simply the way that people preferred to improve each of them. If change makers consider both options and decide that additive approaches are better, then so be it. But what if change makers fail to consider subtraction in the first place?

To test this possibility, we set up problems in which subtractive changes were objectively superior to their additive counterparts. In one set of studies, for example, we presented grid patterns like the one below and challenged participants to make them symmetrical from left to right and top to bottom, using the fewest mouse clicks possible. Clicking any white square turned it green, and clicking any green square turned it white.

Did participants jump to the additive 12-click conclusion, adding green squares to the three empty quadrants, or did they notice the superior four-click subtractive solution, deleting the extraneous green box from the top left? In these and other experiments, it seems like many participants followed their first instinct — an instinct to add — and then moved on before even considering the option to subtract. We also found that people who were distracted by completing a second task at the same time were more likely to produce the additive answer. This suggests that when people are distracted, they’re more likely to rely on shortcut answers that come to mind first.

Subtraction Has a Noticeability Problem From growing organizations to built-up cities to bloated rule books, evidence of additive history is all around us. Evidence of subtraction, however, is less observable — it’s marked only by the absence of something. A company may be flourishing because the previous CEO removed burdensome red tape. A slide deck may precisely showcase the main point because its editor got rid of distracting secondary arguments.

In both cases, subtraction is to thank, and in both cases, the subtraction is out of sight and out of mind.

If we’re not careful, the CEO or the slide-deck editor may miss out on due credit. Even worse, there’s no visible evidence to remind others of the possibility — and value — of taking away. How, then, can businesses get better at remembering to subtract?

Overcoming the Tendency to Add In our research, we tested how participants’ ideas were influenced by cues: simple reminders to consider subtracting or adding. Reminders to consider adding had no noticeable effects; they were superfluous because people were already thinking of adding. Reminders to consider subtracting, however, had big effects. They brought ideas to mind that would have been overlooked otherwise. As a result, significantly more participants identified advantageous subtractions.

To add may be human, but there are still ways to cue subtraction:

Remind people that subtracting is an option.

Reminders that subtracting is an option can help in practice.

Pithy quotes in visible locations about “elimination of the unnecessary” and pursuing “less, but better” help designers imagine subtractive options. Reading The No Asshole Rule (or even just the title) helps managers remember not to overlook one path to better workplace culture. When prompted to consider the time and morale-sapping burden of process sludge, administrators think of new ways to improve shared institutions. The preponderance of direct and specific reminders like these is terrific evidence that people otherwise overlook subtraction.

Make subtraction policy.

Consider building subtraction into day-to-day business processes. For example, after learning about our research, a large management consulting company started assigning a rotating “subtractor in chief” to project teams. This person’s job is to come up with a list of ways to achieve the group’s goals by subtracting, and they can also remind their team members to think of subtractions. And at a San Francisco-based technology company, the CEO challenged the leadership team to come up with a list of everything the company might subtract or stop doing in the new year. Both of these examples represent attempts to encourage subtractive thinking by integrating it into group processes and norms.

Specific initiatives like these make it much harder to overlook subtraction as a possible solution. They also provide implicit social support for employees who may otherwise avoid offering helpful subtractions, especially if people are withholding subtractive ideas because everyone else is adding.

Make evidence of good subtractions visible.

Reminders and policies get us started, but no matter how beneficial any subsequent acts of subtraction are, they still won’t leave as much visible evidence as adding. To address that pesky noticeability problem, consider how you might introduce one last type of cue: visible evidence of good subtractions.

For example, one of us, Leidy, now keeps an “excerpts” file in the electronic folder for each piece of writing — rendering visible the needless paragraphs and words that were removed to improve the finished product (and making him less nervous about trying out a subtraction he can’t easily take back). And one of our wisest colleagues puts a placeholder in her calendar every time she subtracts an unproductive trip or meeting. Instead of a weekly time-sink meeting, the calendar now shows priceless thinking time and a visible cue that subtracting made it possible. The cover of Leidy’s book, Subtract, was even designed to serve as a visual subtraction queue.

Like anything people systematically overlook, subtracting has untapped potential. Hopefully this article already has you thinking about cues, and about divesting, removing barriers, and stripping extraneous features. If so, then you’re on your way to tapping into the power of the other way to make change.

Left Behind In Digital Times

By Tom Kaneshige

As national brands make a mad dash to digital marketing, local companies have fallen woefully behind. They are the great unwashed at a time when digital channels of customer engagement have emerged as the most important routes to revenue.

Truth is, many big brands don’t realize how much their local partner channel brings in. There’s a disturbing lack of data.

Suffice to say, it’s probably more than you think. In a report released this week, BrandMuscle says local partners can account for up to 80% of a national brand’s sales.

When local partners stumble, a national company’s top line takes a tumble, too.

Consider the enormity of the local partner network: distributors, wholesalers, retail stores, branches, dealers, agents, franchisees, field offices, resellers and merchants.

Most of them, especially the smaller ones, desperately need to shore up their digital marketing channel.

So why don’t big national brands take better care of their smaller local partners? There are a lot of reasons, let me count the ways.

For starters, national brand marketers have set their sights, as well as their local partner channel programs, on helping the handful of big boxes. The thousands of small local partners are left to fend for themselves. The thinking goes, national marketing efforts that result in a lift for local

big boxes bring measurable results and brand prestige, whereas efforts to lift sales at small businesses often get lost in the ether. If it’s not measurable, it’s not a priority.

It’s also time-consuming to lend a helping hand to thousands of small businesses, especially in a personalized way. Marketers at national brands need to show real returns on their efforts; they can’t be spending too much time on a single small business. The goal of providing digital marketing consulting, services, funding, tools and content that drive awareness, preference and purchase — that is, digital tactics designed for a specific local market — just doesn’t scale well.

Another roadblock is that small local partners lack digital marketing sophistication and maturity. About half don’t invest enough in mainstream marketing, let alone digital marketing. Far too many get their digital marketing advice from friends and family. They simply don’t understand how critical the digital channel has become during a pandemic that pushes people online.

While local partners know they need a good website, many fall short when it comes to other important digital marketing tactics. For instance, local partners are not very good at optimizing search and getting on Google My Business Listing. These are digital marketing’s basic blocking and tackling. It’s a major misstep considering that searches

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with local intent make up 46% of all Google inquiries and over 2 billion direct connections with local businesses, BrandMuscle says.

(buy online, return in-store). The omnichannel customer experience continues to this day, which is why local partners need to deploy effective digital tactics.

Also, local partners struggle to manage online business reviews and tap into the power of social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, Youtube). BrandMuscle says 50% or more of local partners lack confidence in every major area of social media management.

As stated earlier, too many fall short with digital. To be fair, national marketers bear some accountability. Their local partner channel marketing programs often miss the mark by not including digital tactics in their arsenal of marketing tools, BrandMuscle says. Case-in-point: Only 42% of programs support social media in even limited ways.

Underscoring all of this is a feeling of digital disintermediation that has strained the relationship between local partners and national brands. As the pandemic drove consumers to digital channels, national brands began pouring resources into their direct-to-consumer e-commerce experience. Local partners felt, rightfully so, that they were being cast aside.

The good news for local partners is that the power of a community connection has persisted. In fact, many consumers made a concerted effort to support local businesses during the pandemic. While the increase in e-commerce made headlines over the past year, BrandMuscle says, 85% of sales in the United States still occur at physical brick-andmortar locations.

“With the near-shutdown of travel and other lockdown constraints, localization has become even more important,” Eric Hazan, senior partner at McKinsey & Company, told me in the summer of 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic. “Marketers will need to tap into the granular data to drive and expand deeper connections with consumers by localizing their marketing campaigns and communication.”

What has changed is that the relationship between local businesses and consumers now contains a critical digital component. New buying methods blending digital and physical have emerged, such as BOPIS (buy online, pickup in-store), ROPO (research online, purchase offline), BIMBO (browse in-store on mobile, buy online) and BORIS

What’s the solution? There needs to be a meeting of the minds. National marketers need to acknowledge the tremendous value that local partners bring to their top line.

They can also bridge the digital divide by reaching out and offering new digital marketing tactics to local partners that will help them win and retain customers in an omnichannel world.

Local partners also should recognize that they have gaping holes in digital, commit to a digital marketing strategy, and begin to incorporate digital tactics. It’s going to be a long, steep climb. They can reach out to national brands for help, such as funds available through a national brand’s local partner channel marketing program. (Hint: millions of dollars go unused in local markets.)

Through a better understanding of digital marketing, local partners can take advantage of a national marketing team’s digital marketing tactics and spin them for their local markets. It’s high time local businesses gain ground on the road to digital marketing transformation.

Tom Kaneshige is the Chief Content Officer at the CMO Council. He creates all forms of digital thought leadership content that helps growth and revenue officers, line of business leaders, and chief marketers succeed in their rapidly evolving roles. You can reach him at tkaneshige@ cmocouncil.org.

How Has Marketing Changed over the Past Half-Century?

By Philip Kotler, Alexander Chernev

A lot has changed in the 55 years since Philip Kotler, widely considered the father of modern marketing, first published his groundbreaking textbook Marketing Management, which has become the most influential marketing textbook in the world.

INSIGHT: How is the new thinking in the field of marketing being reflected in the latest edition of Marketing Management? What has changed and what has stayed consistent over time?

intelligence are very powerful tools in managing value, but they are just tools. Without a sound strategy guiding their use, they can become a distraction from a company’s core mission.

KOTLER: The term “marketing” appeared in the 1900s to describe activities and institutions taking place in markets, and early marketing textbooks were largely descriptive of these activities and institutions. Marketing Management, which was published in 1967, was the first text to use an analytical approach to marketing and include findings of scholarly studies. The book synthesized ideas from economics, behavioral science, organization science, and mathematics to offer breadth, depth, and rigor in addressing marketing issues.

Not all changes are tactical, however. One important change that affects the business philosophy of many companies is redefining their ultimate purpose. As a result, an increasing number of companies include the creation of societal value in their mission statements. This is an important development that is likely to have long-term consequences on the way these companies act in the marketplace and the way they structure their business processes.

One of the key underlying ideas advanced in the very first edition of the book was that company actions must be driven by customers and their needs. This core principle of customer-centricity has remained the central idea across all editions of the book. The rise of big data, social media, and sophisticated e-commerce has not changed the fact that a key purpose of any company is to create value for its customers.

CHERNEV: Value creation is at the core of our approach to the new edition. Marketing is all about understanding, designing, communicating, and delivering value. This is the foundation of marketing strategy and has not changed with time. What has changed are the tools that companies use to create value. Data analytics, automation, and artificial

INSIGHT: Glad you brought that up. It is now central to a lot of organizations’ marketing strategies that brands should not just be profitable but have a purpose. How has this idea evolved over the years?

KOTLER: In the old days, a brand simply told you what the product is and does and how it’s priced. But today, a brand is the company’s promise to deliver a specific benefit that addresses a particular need of its customers. Moreover, the promise of many brands extends beyond functionality and reflects certain aspects of customers’ identity.

Take what Unilever has done with Dove soap. It’s now not just a way to clean your skin but to be reminded that all women are beautiful. When it really works, a brand is taking a higher view of the buyer and trying to deliver a promise that will help the buyer advance in some way.

CHERNEV: As more and more products are becoming

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commoditized, customers are looking beyond functionality for something that is meaningful. It is no longer just about the product. It is also about who the company behind this product is and what this company stands for. As companies understand this, they realize that to be successful in the market, they might have to reinvent their culture and realign it with the values held by their customers.

Having a purpose also helps companies attract and retain employees. If you stand for something, you have a better chance of getting and keeping the right people, which ultimately will enhance profitability. This also extends to a company’s partners. For example, companies like Whole Foods prioritize suppliers that employ environmentally friendly and socially responsible business practices.

INSIGHT: What influence has social media had on marketing theory and practice, and how do you see it offering new opportunities for marketers?

CHERNEV: On a very fundamental level, the theory is still the same: the ultimate goal is to create value. But on a tactical level, there have been many changes. One such change is the proliferation of information.

In the past, advertising was the main tool to inform customers about products. Now, customers can get detailed product information from a variety of sources, both from the company as well as from other customers. And the same goes for companies. The proliferation of social media and the advancement in data analytics enable companies to know in real time not only what customers are doing but also how they are feeling about their brands. So the fundamental goal is still to create value, but the way in which a company can achieve that has changed.

KOTLER: It’s important to realize that today’s consumers are different. They are connected with so many people from so many other parts of the world and can find information with a simple click, without needing a salesman or an ad.

Anyone who’s going to buy a car will probably end up seeing a salesman in the dealership, but most will have done a lot of their own work to know about their options.

We have to recognize the existence of such an intelligent, well-informed consumer, which means companies have to make big changes to their traditional marketing tools. For instance, are companies wasting money by having big sales forces? Are they as effective as they used to be when there wasn’t so much knowledge available to consumers?

“Today, a brand is the company’s promise to deliver a specific benefit that addresses a particular need of its customers.”

— Phil Kotler INSIGHT: What changes do you see shaping the future of traditional retailing?

KOTLER: I’m wondering what’s going to happen to in-store shopping. It’s conceivable that you can get everything you want without ever going into a store, so a store has to be special. You have to design a good experience. Then you

have to ask: How many stores are we going to need? What kinds of stores will be necessary?

CHERNEV: People tend to go shopping in brick-and-mortar stores for different reasons. Some go for purely utilitarian reasons. They appreciate the fact that they can see what the product looks and feels like in reality and will eventually be able to buy it instantly and take it home. Others go for more hedonic reasons; for them it is more about the shopping experience. They don’t go to brick-and-mortar stores to save time but to spend time. For many, it is also a chance to socialize with friends and family.

The Internet can make the shopping experience more efficient, but it cannot replace, at least not yet, the role traditional stores play as a place for social interaction. So more and more brick-and-mortar retail spaces will likely turn into experiential places where customers go to spend time interacting with others, have a meal, and eventually buy a product or two.

INSIGHT: How do you see marketing’s role changing in organizations? Are there ways that marketing functions might have a larger influence, or a different kind of influence, within organizations?

KOTLER: In the past, marketing was not part of the development of the product. It was only called in after the product was made. Then it was the marketers’ job to sell as much as they could. But now marketing participates in product development. Marketers can offer design ideas and features. Engineers are the masters of the possible, but it is marketers who can best assess value because they are better at understanding the customers’ criteria for buying a product.

Recently, a few companies have abandoned the Chief Marketing Officer position in favor of a Chief Growth Officer or a Chief Customer Officer. But the great majority of companies appoint a CMO to run marketing and to sit with the other officers in the executive suite.

CHERNEV: A challenge with marketing is that in some companies it’s viewed too narrowly and limited to advertising and communication. This creates a problem because marketing is a much broader discipline. It’s really about the science of markets and how to create value. As such, it should be a central function in organizations. Some companies deal with this misperception of marketing by coming up with different labels, whether it’s Chief Growth Officer, or Chief Customer Officer. But these are basically different aspects of what marketing does.

Another big change is the need for transparency and, more important, accountability. As technological developments enable companies to track the impact of their activities, managers are expected to be able to document the return on the company’s marketing investment. This has its advantages and drawbacks. On the positive side, it enables the company to better allocate its marketing resources to areas where they will have the highest impact. On the downside, however, this might focus the company’s marketing efforts on activities that produce short-term effects, to the detriment of activities such as brand building that have a long-term payout.

How Social Media Firms Moderate Their Content

By Wharton Staff

Content moderation is a delicate balancing act for social media platforms trying to grow their user base. Larger platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, which make most of their profits from advertising, can’t afford to lose eyeballs or engagement on their sites. Yet they are under tremendous public and political pressure to stop disinformation and remove harmful content. Meanwhile, smaller platforms that cater to particular ideologies would rather let free speech reign. In their forthcoming paper, titled “Implications of Revenue Models and Technology for Content Moderation

Strategies,” Wharton marketing professors Pinar Yildirim and Z. John Zhang, and Wharton doctoral candidate Yi Liu show how a social media firm’s content moderation strategy is influenced mostly by its revenue model. A platform under advertising is more likely to moderate its content than one under subscription, but it moderates less aggressively than the latter when it does. In the following essay, the authors discuss their research and its implications for policymakers who want to regulate social media platforms.

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Every day, millions of users around the world share their diverse views on social media platforms. Not all these views are in harmony. Some are considered offensive, harmful, even extreme. With diverse opinions, consumers are conflicted: On the one hand, they want to freely express their views on ongoing political, social, and economic issues on social media platforms without intervention and without being told their views are inappropriate. On the other hand, when others express their views freely, they may consider some of that content inappropriate, insensitive, harmful, or extreme and want it removed. Moreover, consumers do not always agree about what posts are objectionable or what actions social media platforms should take. According to a survey by Morningconsult, for instance, 80% of those surveyed want to see hate speech — such as posts using slurs against a racial, religious, or gender group — removed, 73% wish to see videos depicting violent crimes removed, and 66% wish to see depictions of sexual acts removed.

Social media platforms face a challenge acting as the custodians of the internet, while at the same time being the center of self-expression and user-generated content.

Indeed, content moderation efforts eat up significant resources of firms. Facebook alone has committed to allocating 5% of the firm’s revenue, $3.7 billion, on content moderation, an amount greater than Twitter’s entire annual revenue. Yet neither consumers nor regulators seem to be satisfied with their efforts. In one form or another, firms need to decide how to moderate content to protect individual users and their interests. Should sensitive content be taken down from the internet? Or should free speech rule freely, indicating all are free to post what they want, and it is the consumer’s decision to opt in or out of this free speech world? Taking down someone’s content reduces that user’s (and some other users’) enjoyment of the site, while not taking it down can also offend others. Therefore, in terms of a social media platform’s economic incentives, content moderation can affect user engagement, which ultimately can affect the platform’s profitability.

Moderating Content, Maximizing Profits In our forthcoming paper, “Implications of Revenue Models and Technology for Content Moderation Strategies,” we study how social media platforms driven by profits may or may not moderate online content. We take into account the considerable user heterogeneity and different revenue models that platforms may have, and we derive the platform’s optimal content moderation strategy that maximizes revenue.

“Social media platforms face a challenge acting as the custodians of the internet, while at the same time being the center of self-expression and user-generated content.”

When different social media platforms moderate content, the most significant determinant is their bottom line. This bottom line may rely heavily on advertising, or delivering

eyeballs to advertisers, or the subscription fees that individual consumers are paying. But there is a stark contrast between the two revenue models. While advertising relies on delivering many, many eyeballs to advertisers, subscription revenues depend on being able to attract paying customers.

As a result of the contrast, the content moderation policy in an effort to retain consumers also looks different under advertising vs. subscription. Social media platforms running on advertising revenue are more likely to conduct content moderation but with lax community standards in order to retain a larger group of consumers, compared to platforms with subscription revenue. Indeed, subscription-based platforms like Gab and MeWe are less likely to do content moderation, claiming free speech for their users.

A second important factor in content moderation is the quality of the content moderation technology. A significant volume of content moderation is carried out with the help of computers and artificial intelligence. Why, then, do social media executives claim the technology is not sufficient?

When asked about content moderation, most executives at Facebook emphasize that they care a lot about content moderation and allocate large amounts of firm revenue to the task.

We find that a self-interested social media platform does not always benefit from technological improvement. In particular, a platform whose main source of revenue is from advertising may not benefit from better technology, because less accurate technology creates a porous community with more eyeballs. This finding suggests that content moderation on online platforms is not merely an outcome of their technological capabilities, but their economic incentives.

The findings from the paper overall cast doubt on whether social media platforms will always remedy the technological deficiencies on their own. We take our analysis one step further and compare the content moderation strategy for a self-interested platform with that for a social planner, which is a government institution or similar acting body that sets rules for the betterment of societal welfare. A social planner will use content moderation to prune any user who contributes negatively to the total utility of society, whereas a self-interested platform may keep some of these users, if it serves its interests. Perhaps counter to lay beliefs, we find that a self-interested platform is more likely to conduct content moderation than a social planner, which indicates that individual platforms have more incentives to moderate their content compared to the government.

However, more incentives do not mean right incentives.

When conducting content moderation, a platform under advertising will be less strict than a social planner, while a platform under subscription will be stricter than a social planner. Moreover, a social planner will always push for perfect technology when the cost of developing technology is not an issue. Only a platform under subscription will have its interest aligned with a social planner in perfecting the technology for content moderation. These conclusions overall demonstrate that there is room for government regulations, and when they are warranted, they need to be differentiated with regard to the revenue model a platform adopts.

Digital CX Drives Marketing Makeover

By Tom Kaneshige

Whatever marketers were doing before the pandemic is likely no longer relevant, or at the very least needs to be reevaluated. The coronavirus changed everything in the last two years, and so everything from commitment to content should be assessed for applicability in the emergent digitalized customer journey.

in the customer journey. This requires real-time automation and analytics powered by AI and machine learning. McKinsey advises marketers to lean into data and analytics, invest in rapid activation capabilities, invest in fit-for-purpose MarTech and data, commit to an agile operating model, and invest in talent and training. Are you doing this?

What does this journey look like?

It’s not just on marketing to make this work, either. Every customer-facing department within an enterprise needs to embrace change. Given so many digital touchpoints and the self-service nature of the new customer journey, the traditional sales model has been upended. Sales is now a team sport involving marketing, sales and customer service. All must be committed to their new roles. Is everyone on board?

Digital touchpoints matter more than ever, and are happening more often over mobile devices. While shelter-in-place executive orders no longer dominate news cycles, the spiking omicron variant has many consumers still wary of venturing into crowed restaurants and stores, airports and hotels.

Widespread work-at-home policies reinforce the always-on, digital-first lifestyle. All of this adds to the entrenchment of online buying behaviors.

Specifically, we’re talking about the infusion of digital at every step of the customer journey. Key moments may be brand awareness through social media, self-service online research at product review sites, in-store supply and price comparisons over mobile devices, and e-commerce. It’s not just retail, either. Complex B2B sales tap into powerful configure-price-quote engines on vendor websites. Is your digital CX delivering in these moments?

After years of isolation, consumers care about personalization and purpose. People want to feel relevant and special again.

More than 70% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, McKinsey says, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen. (For more, check out Business Is Personal.) Content needs to be about people and reflect their values, not just selling products. Is your marketing content hitting this mark?

“In 2022, businesses should focus on thoughtful, authentic content,” says Chip House, CMO at Insightly, a customer relationship management vendor. “Customers want to know the personality behind the brand and forge a relationship.”

In the digital world, speed and timing win the engagement.

Marketers need to deliver the right content at the right moment

“The integration of sales and marketing should be seamless at every touchpoint to ensure a consistent, holistic experience for the customer,” House says.

For instance, sales chatbots and inside sales reps who work in near real-time with marketing’s digital leads are emerging as important sales converters. Inside sales reps now rely on new-fangled sales engagement tools that look similar to tools used by customer service reps. More and more sales are flowing through them. (For more, check out Save Digital Assets, Cut the Frontline.)

Digital marketers have a greater role, too. The new customer journey puts the spotlight on the top of the funnel. It’s where many digitally empowered, self-service customers make purchasing decisions before ever speaking to a salesperson. They run into brands on their social feeds, engage with messages that align with their personal beliefs, research products on websites they trust, and buy over a slick e-commerce experience.

Much depends on marketing’s ability to create brand awareness and personalized messaging, not to mention nurturing brand advocates, in all the right places and online channels and at the right moments in the digitalized customer journey. It’s going to require new ways of thinking and quite possibly a marketing makeover.

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More Effective than a Kardashian: The Rise of Micro-Influencers for B2B Marketing

By Alon Ghebler

There is a notion that celebrities were the original influencers.

For the longest time, it was commonly accepted that if you wanted to use a face to advertise, you needed a famous one for your service or product. Showcasing well-known celebrities, or more likely today, mega-influencers on social media with followers and engagement in the millions, was the gold standard for attempting to influence the buying public, or whichever market you were trying to appeal to.

Post a famous face, whichever actor or celebrity du jour for example, and see engagement rise to the stratosphere — or, so the logic went.

Today, however, the rise of micro-influencers calls that logic into question.

Customers are increasingly placing their trust in figures far lower, but in reality often more concentrated in knowledge and credibility. These micro-influencers generally have smaller followings, but their presence and content is perceived to be more authentic. Accordingly, in both the B2C and B2B spheres, we are witnessing the steady rise of the micro-influencer as a figure trusted by buyers. Customers are looking for authenticity, knowledge, and practical use cases, and finding them in micro-influencers.

Firms and clients are increasingly turning away from big, often impersonal seeming celebrity and household names, and moving closer to smaller more personable and relatably scaled influencers, who they often relate to more.

Micro-influencers and their concentrated areas of expertise are increasingly playing a vital role to customers, and this is making itself felt in the influencer market.

The rise of micro-influencers holds great importance for B2B businesses and firms in particular.

Micro-influencers can offer use cases and direct engagement with services and products that directly speak to internal business concerns, be it web-hosting or office supplies.

Micro-Influencers understand how to optimize their customers’ value. They are the human element that is often the first direct line of contact for these services, and thus actually can let you know how any given product or service will go off within a firm and with its employees. In terms of marketing data, this makes the role of the influencer, and the micro-influencer in particular extremely pivotal.

Accordingly, the market cap for influencers worldwide more than doubled since 2019 to just under fourteen billion last year, encompassing all types of influencers. The signs for such growth were readily apparent by 2019, as just under half of all marketing managers that year stated an intent to increase their marketing budget. With the recent gains in total market cap recorded coming into this year, we can see that those were no empty promises of growth from marketers. The field of influencing is steadily rising, steadily developing into more complex types and subfields. Even back in 2019 marketing managers were testifying to the

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ROI of influencer marketing.

What do influencers do exactly? What types of roles and functions do they occupy? Who are the influencers?

The Difference Between Macro, Micro, and Nano Influencers Social media influencers are people with a sustained and established brand on or across social media platforms. They are known entities in their niches or communities, whether it’s beauty, technology, or home cleaning.

Influencers have generally built up a trusted and knowledgeable identity in their field or niche, and their posts online carry with them inborn weight and traction more often than not. Anyone who can at scale reach others online will generally be considered an influencer. As we will see though, not all influencers are the same, and indeed not all influencers are created equally.

Influencers appear in a huge variety of niches under a number of scales. Generally, anyone with a million or more followers, typically celebrities, politicians, athletes, and others with mass exposure, will be considered a mega influencer, the highest rung in terms of scale and reach.

They generally occupy the most well-known forms of fame and celebrity, and such contains their obvious marketing appeal.

Macro-influencers, or those with anywhere from 100k to a million followers on social media, occupy the next tier. They tend to be internet celebrities or figureheads who have built successful online brands in their niche, and have reached meaningful degrees of exposure and reach, comparable to classic media figures. Accordingly they often work in paid partnership with major brands, upending old norms about who is used to sell in the marketplace.

Micro-influencers, our focus here, usually have between ten thousand and one hundred thousand followers are not celebrities, or generally otherwise famous figures.

Rather, they are individuals who have built their own voice and brand in their own communities, and possess large amounts of both knowledge and trust within their specific fields or niches. This can be in anything from construction to marketing to gaming. Micro-Influencers are arguably the influencer tier still most organically tied to their original communities or niches while having made a name and earned mass trust in such. They are arguably closest to the veneer of authenticity many customers and firms actively seek.

Finally, the last main grouping of influencers are nanoInfluencers, or those with one to ten thousand followers on social media. They are often in the beginning ramp up towards becoming micro or even macro-influencers, and are rising voices and figures within their niches or communities.

For those looking to engage at smaller or even granular scales, whether they themselves are a smaller firm or are looking for highly specific engagement, nano-influencers provide the relevant scale.

For B2B firms in particular, the smaller scale side of the influencer table, particularly Micro-Influencers, would offer the best and most properly applied bet when considering their marketing options. B2B marketing already aims at a narrower, more niche market, and Micro-Influencers hit the sweet spot between niche and scale perfectly. They have the in-depth experience to speak knowledgeably, and the reach to make that knowledge do meaningful work. For B2B marketing, which often already requires specific and often complex foreknowledge, such dynamics often present in Micro-Influencers are invaluable.

Becoming (or Finding) a Micro-Influencer (And a B2B One, Too) For those inclined towards making their mark as a microinfluencer, the path is more or less the same as establishing oneself in any other field, they just have to do it online. A simple enough trick, or so one would think. Finding your niche, your voice, and your audience online can be an incredibly complex endeavor and yet, with planning, an eminently attainable one. Self knowledge is critical. Who are you? Who is your audience? What makes you special?

What are your unique offerings, special skills, concentrated knowledge bases? And how do you convey all of such over social media channels? Someone with meaningfully substantive answers to all these questions has made the first step towards the micro-influencing sphere.

We often understand influencing as the human element brought into marketing. Accordingly, if you know who you are as a human, what you’re interested in, passionate about, deeply engaged in, you will be able to connect with others, and know others too. This knowledge is the heart of influencer marketing culture, and the root of what makes it so effective. If you want to be a good and successful influencer, you must indeed know yourself. Following that, you can know the people you are in community with, the products you’re selling, and the people you’re selling to. That it all happens at a much closer to human level contains one of the great appeals of utilizing influencer and specifically micro-influencer marketing.

All the more so for B2B marketing, which already requires more often than not more detailed, more, for lack of a better word, learned and information based engagement across its markets and verticals. Working with highly engaged, selfpossessed, and knowledgeable micro-influencers opens up firms to more precise data points, closer contact with where their customer and client bases are actually operating in any given situation or with any given product.

In a world increasingly recognizing the human element inherent within ROI, engaging with micro-influencers who are at the frontlines and forefront of the culture or market one is operating in holds ever greater value. Firms that can harness that power of micro-influencing are operating in the best practices of how we know marketing and commerce

to work. It is after all a human driven affair, and nothing puts a face to that fact like properly engaged and deployed micro-influencers The Human Element, Ever Influential So we’ve seen the data and read the reports, we know influencers in general are here to stay, even if the face of who they are can change. For any number of fields and industries, including especially B2B firms, micro-influencers in particular hold great appeal for successful campaigns and seasons. What then makes a good influencer, or microinfluencer? What are customers and firms looking for?

Several major components play roles in what makes a good influencer from the outside, but mainly it boils down to knowledge and authenticity, with the former directly burnishing the latter. Someone who has acquired a deep and sustained knowledge base in their field or niche, and has the requisite skills to share and convey such over social channels, will often be able to grow their bases of engagement organically, with no help from large scale marketing or advertising forces. Whether in arenas like gaming, sports commentary, information technology, stock trading, movie reviewing, fashion, or home design, anyone with the skills and communication tools to put such across in a relevant fashion will often acquire a real and committed following.

We mentioned the role of authenticity in highlighting the appeal of micro-influencers earlier, and it remains central to understanding both influencer culture and what clients and customers look for in their decisions. Simply put, when looking at an influencer, especially a micro-influencer, people are looking for the real. Real engagement with the product or service at hand. Real knowledge borne of that engagement, and real communication, given that there is no corporate or commercial overlord to hamper the micro-influencers feedback from above. Real ethos, in short, is what micro-influencers offer, and what clients and consumers watch out for. Does this person know what they are doing? Does it seem like something useful or helpful to me? These are the questions that customers and firms ask, and that successful micro-influencers answer thoroughly and convincingly in the affirmative.

The trends as they have been referenced point upward for micro-influencers and their role in marketing, whether in the B2B or direct to consumer realms. The market is making a concerted swing towards rewarding deep knowledge and commitment in its spheres of direct engagement, such as marketing and mico-influencer marketing in particular.

Honing in on and harnessing why this is so, and the trends of authenticity and credibility that they are riding on in particular, is ever more key for the marketing needs of all firms, including and especially those engaged in the B2B sphere.

Alon Ghelber is the Chief Marketing Officer at Revuze.

He also works as a marketing consultant for VC sand is a member of the Forbes Business Council. He is also the founder and manager of the LinkedIn groups “Start Up Jobs in Israel” and “High Tech Café.”

Branding in the metaverse with Roblox

By Heather

Heather: While the metaverse has taken the world by storm in the last year, it’s nothing new for Roblox. In fact, the company has been at the forefront of the virtual world for over two decades—and today it’s stronger than ever. Post IPO stocks are surging, users are growing and Roblox continues to ramp up innovative and meaningful partnerships with brands such as Gucci, Chipotle, Disney, Netflix and many more. I’m thrilled to be speaking with the woman who is behind all of that: Christina Wootten, vice president of global brand partnerships at Roblox. Christina joined in 2014, which is decades ago in digital years, and has since helped bring the brand to the top of its game. Welcome, Christina.

Christina: Thank you, Heather. It’s so great to be here with you.

Heather: I think that there’s a misconception that Roblox is just one video game. For those who are not familiar with the platform, explain what it is and why you think it’s been so successful.

Christina: There are a few misconceptions about Roblox. A misconception is that it is one game. There are many, many experiences—millions—on our platform, and they’re all built by our community. Also, some of the experiences have gameplay to them, but a lot of experiences are really open worlds where you come to socialize and connect and just hang out with your friends.

So there doesn’t have to necessarily be gameplay within each experience. And we’re seeing this more and more, where sometimes it’s just somewhere where you go to experience entertainment or you can just share together, collaborate together. And then, if you think about how we are ushering in this new category of human co-experience, you can really imagine that, instead of viewing something or reading something online, it’s really jumping in with friends. And what we love is, we hear so many people who talk about the experiences on Roblox and talk about it as if they were really there. You can’t even tell the difference if it was in real life or if it was on Roblox. Take, for example, Gucci Gardens; that was an exhibition that was in Florence, Italy; during the pandemic. You could go to Florence, Italy; but if you couldn’t, you could still visit it on Roblox. And it was such a beautiful experience, because you can go in; you shed your avatar, so everybody started the same as a mannequin; and you go throughout the experience and grab patterns and colors from the environment. So you just went through this experience with friends, and you can dress up with the Gucci items, like

the B bag. And at the end, you were all a work of art. In two weeks, we saw 20 million visits. And for anybody who wants to experience it, there’s really that accessibility and that opportunity— which we love. It’s just really so memorable for them.

Heather: First, the fact that, for most of us, being able to attend is impossible—not even given the restrictions because of COVID, right? So, it just provides access in this new way.

And what I also love is that you’re not just experiencing it, you’re part of it—and that idea that you are the art. Why do you think fashion has been an industry that’s tapped into this in really exciting ways?

Christina: The fashion industry is so forward-thinking; they’re always trying to stay on top of trends. We don’t see this going away, because our platform is all UGC [usergenerated content]. And so, our community will see what’s going on in the real world, and they’ll recreate things like that on Roblox. But the fashion industry, when they think about how users are expressing themselves, how people are expressing themselves in this space, your online identity is so important in the metaverse and how you represent yourself in this digital space. And a lot of times you meet somebody digitally first, then in the real world. And so that first impression is so important. Also, this world gives you an opportunity for experimentation. So, a lot of people like myself will watch a fashion show—and I love the dresses and want to wear them so badly. Maybe I have nowhere to wear it in the real world, or maybe I’m a little bit uncomfortable wearing it because it’s so fantastical. But on Roblox, immediately I will put it on because it’s just my avatar; it’s really a way for you to express yourself in a different way than you normally would in the real world. There’s a lot of co-creation and collaboration on Roblox, so you can give designs or colors to the audience and see what they come up with. It’s really fun to see that realtime feedback, what they’re looking for in terms of fashion and how they express themselves.

Then, a big one is sustainability. Fashion brands are looking to reduce their carbon footprint. Digital fashion and virtual goods are really the space for them to do that, because you can test products before they’re created in the real world and get that feedback. So, you don’t waste physical fabrics and products creating it.

And, of course, it is a great revenue opportunity. A lot of brands come to us, and they think of Roblox as a space that has this massive reach and engagement—which, of course,

it does. Then, through virtual goods and digital fashion, it’s a massive revenue opportunity for brands.

Heather: I think I read that one of the Gucci purses sold for more than it was sold in the physical store. And that alone is such a unique but exciting proposition for brands.

Christina: It is. I think that blew their minds, because—it’s crazy to think—but that just really shows how important it is for people and how they represent themselves to their digital identity. And things people want in the real world they also want in this space—sometimes more so. We hear from Gen Z all the time that they value virtual goods sometimes more than physical goods—especially because of that sustainability element and just because it’s more environmentally friendly.

We’re so excited for where fashion is going in this space. I think it’s just going to take off, really.

Heather: How do you think users view their digital identity as either different or the same as their actual identity?

Christina: I love the fact that you can be anybody that you want to be in this space. I think about that all the time, because we are a global platform—people from different cultures and different areas of the world. Maybe they can’t express themselves the way they want to in the world. So, this is the opportunity for them to do that, meet other people, be anybody that they want to be. I just think that opportunity is so special for anybody around the world. And, a lot of times, people find their communities on Roblox. Whomever they want to be, they find like-minded people and become friends and kind of go through these experiences together.

So, it’s great that you can come in together with friends and meet friends and then really just explore and be whoever you want to be.

Heather: I imagine a lot of brands are coming to you and saying, we want to do something exciting. What’s the process of creating something that then is out in the world that we all can experience?

Christina: Yeah, it’s really funny, because I actually started working with Roblox over nine years ago. And in the early days, we would really go out and proactively pitch a lot of brands about Roblox and educate them on the platform and how they should engage with their users. And a lot of brands started coming on—the movie studios, Disney—and they saw massive engagement and really just kept continuing to be on the platform. We want to make sure we’re bringing the best brands to our community. So, we actually surveyed them. We asked them: Which brands and celebrities do you want to see on the platform? Which ones do you want to engage with? So, our team makes sure we go out and speak to those brands about authentically coming onto the platform.

At the same time, because Roblox is UGC, it’s an open platform. A lot of brands are coming on right now, and they’re connecting directly with our community of developers and UGC creators and working directly with them. We just saw this recently with Jailbreak, which is one of our top experiences and has 5.4 billion visits—which is absolutely crazy. And NASCAR came to us and said, “We’d love to be on the platform. Are there any experiences that would make

sense for us?” We introduced them to the developers of Jailbreak. And in Jailbreak, there are vehicles; and people like to go in and drive the cars and race fast. So, they worked directly together, where we just made the connection, and they decided what this would look like to authentically bring NASCAR into Jailbreak. It launched, and in 10 days had 24 million visits. So, it’s just such a great opportunity for brands to not only create their own experiences or their own virtual items but also to work directly with the community and integrate into their experiences and work together with them.

Heather: What is something that you have discovered through research or just through observation that was surprising to you in terms of how people are using the platform?

Christina: We come onto the platform every day and see new experiences and new genres popping up. And that’s what I love about Roblox. It is user- generated content. So, with our community, anything they can imagine or they would love to create, they create on the platform, they’re building this. And I love just seeing what’s coming from their amazing minds—people all over the world and what they create. It’s something you could probably never think of yourself. If I tried to create an experience on Roblox, I would never, think about some of these ideas. And they’re just so fun and so popular.

I think one example could be Squid Games on our platform.

You know, that is just such a popular series—and, as soon as it launched, our audience loved it. A lot of them were creating experiences based on red light/green light. They really do take something that they’re really excited about or something that they’re seeing in the real world that’s becoming really popular and will recreate something on Roblox. It’s celebrating their fandom and allowing others to kind of share that experience with them. You know, Netflix came out and just said that they were really excited about it, because it was a lot of promotion and awareness for the show. And Netflix loves the fact that this was a place where their fans could come together and celebrate what they love about the series. We’re seeing things pop up every day that are just really fun. And that’s why I think that we’ll continue to see that this isn’t going to stop. We’ll always find new, fresh content on our platform.

Heather: What’s so interesting is that we talk about collaboration, but I feel like this is a whole new definition of what collaboration is. It’s like this ecosystem of all of these players coming and trying to build something more meaningful. Is it a lot to keep up with?

Christina: We are seeing a lot of demand from brands, and the wonderful thing is that we have this great community of developers and UGC creators who are creating amazing content and are interested in working with our partners and brands. Sometimes we just make the connections with the brands and the developer community. So, I think that, because we have such a great developer community, it makes things a little bit easier. And we’re creating tools right now to actually make this easier to have a self-sustaining ecosystem, so that brands can seamlessly connect with developers and

UGC creators and work directly together.

Heather: How do you continue to engage and support the developer community, which is such an important part of the Roblox community?

Christina: They are very important. One of our top values is to respect the community. Because they are the ones that are creating the content, they’re the ones that are creating the metaverse, we want to make sure that we’re always providing them the best technology and best tools—anything we can do to help them create and continue to build. We have a developer relations team that’s absolutely amazing and that works with our developers to make sure that they are able to continue to do what they do best. And then, in terms of brands and how they will work with the community, we’ll just make sure that they are also creators of our community; when they’re working on their own experiences and collaborating with developers, that they also have the tools that allow them to really come on authentically and make sure that their brand is resonating with the audiences and things like that.

So those tools will keep improving and making it easy for brands to do what they want to do on the platform, as well.

Heather: I read a statistic that almost half of the users are women and that there’s huge growth that you’re seeing over age 13.

Christina: It’s so great to see that almost half our audience is female—because, when I started, it was very heavily male.

That was almost nine years ago. And to see that audience evolve, and how much this really is for everyone, I think it’s because we have this flywheel where, the more experiences that are being developed, the more people will come and share that with their friends. I think that we’ve seen such amazing experiences come onto the platform for anybody— experiences like Royal High and Fashion Famous and where it’s really evolved around self-expression and fashion and things like that. Also, the 17 to 24 [age group] is our fastest growing demo. I think, again, the improvement of our technology—and the new experiences that are on the platform that really resonate well with all different demographics—is really helping to excite that older demo. We saw this with Gucci Garden. A lot of the participants that came and visited the Gucci Garden were over 13. The more developers are creating these amazing experiences, we’re just going to see this continue to grow. We really see Roblox as a place for people to work together, learn together. They can virtually shop and experience entertainment. There’s going to be so much there for anyone to come in and experience.

Heather: So, you’ve mentioned metaverse; and it’s interesting, because I think there was a time when people were wondering, as a marketer, what’s my social strategy?

What’s my digital strategy? What’s my gaming strategy? And now, it’s: What’s my metaverse strategy? What advice would you give to them, and how do you see this evolving over time?

Christina: There is no other place where you can really engage your audiences like you can on Roblox. There is, again, that two-way conversation happening; you’re collaborating in real time. You can launch virtual items and, in hours,

millions of people are already wearing it and talking about it. I think this is the future of how people will interact. And if you think about 12 to 15 years ago, when companies were thinking about how can I have my social media presence and have a social channel, they didn’t have anybody to work on that. They were hiring individuals or teams. The same thing is happening right now. When we’re speaking with brands, they are thinking: How can I enter this space? And who’s going to work on the strategy for this? So they are hiring individuals and teams. Also agencies are popping up that are helping brands learn how they can come onto this platform. Three to five years from now, every brand will have a Roblox strategy; and they’re going to be able to engage with their audiences in a way that they’ve never been able to do before.

Heather: There is something very unique about Roblox and about the culture—and about the people that are there. What do you think makes it so great? What about the culture has helped get the organization where it is today?

Christina: Oh, this is something that I’m probably most proud of. Since I started at Roblox, our CEO Dave has always had this vision; and he doesn’t really stray from that vision. No matter if things come to us with, maybe, a shortterm benefit, he really takes the long view. And it’s always been built around bringing people together, connecting and shared experiences—but in a safe and positive environment.

Especially having three boys, I think about how they’re going to interact in the future. And I see what we do on Roblox and how passionate our teams are around safety and stability, it makes me feel really good that we’re moving toward this future where, hopefully, people will interact online and in the metaverse and on Roblox in this safe and civil way; that, hopefully, we’re changing the future for the better; and we have teams that are dedicated to making the platform as safe as possible, but also that these environments are more positive; that you’re having fun; and when you leave the platform, the way your mental health has been impacted in a more positive way and not negatively, so you’re not feeling horrible when you get off the platform. We hear from so many parents of our users about how Roblox is getting them through so many challenges in the real world, whether that’s bullying or going through chemo or something like that. It just really is so special to me that we’re making this difference in people’s lives in a positive way. And that’s going to continue.

That’s our number one priority. It really is about the fact that we care so much about our community and how we are, hopefully, changing the world for the better—because it is scary online. And when I think about my kids, and I really hope that more platforms will take this as seriously as Roblox does.

Heather: I’d be curious if there are things that you’re seeing emerge from your vantage point that might give us an indication of different opportunities for marketers and for brands as they think about the metaverse.

Christina: Years ago, brands were very closed to sharing how people could use their IP. A lot of brands are thinking differently now. They really want to involve their audiences, get feedback from them and allow them to share and create with them; and we’re seeing this. Vans has been very open to

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this—and Netflix, also. And, if you think about just how you can get that real-time feedback…when you think about Gen Z and how you can stay relevant to these new generations and involve them in the process because. I think, for them to really feel passionate and respect their favorite brands, they want to be heard…I think that openness for brands, they’re going to see such a change in getting that feedback before they ever create products or they ever release even movies or things like that if they’re getting the ideas from their fans.

Heather: A lot of businesses are talking about the great resignation and the war for talent, and I’m imagining people are clamoring to be able to work for an organization like Roblox. What do you look for when you’re looking for your next great hire?

Christina: I think that we’re looking for people who are aligned with our values. They’re going to respect the community; they’re going to take the long view. And I look for passionate people who are really going to work hard and be nice to people. That’s kind of what I live by. And so, if they’re very passionate about what they’re doing and want to do groundbreaking things, we’re always looking for that innovative idea that we can bring to the world. When we talk about civility, that’s the differentiator between Roblox and other companies. And if you see that passion within them, that’s just amazing.

Heather: I do think people want to work for places that they really believe in and that they feel proud to say, “I’m part of this, and I believe in what we’re doing.”

Christina: I think a lot of people want to have a purpose in what they’re doing. You spend so much time working; and when I really feel like we are doing such great things for the future of how people will connect, that kind of is what drives me.

Heather: You’ve worked with so many amazing partners.

Do you have a dream partner?

Christina: I do. I think about the future of how people will come on to Roblox. And I love the idea of people coming together and designing together and creating different outfits and sharing feedback with one another and walking virtual runways. There are a few things that we’re working on and that I’m really excited about. When I think about my dream partnership or collaboration it’s around digital fashion.

Heather: Roblox really is in a class by itself, but are there competitors or other forces that kind of keep you up at night?

Christina: We have such a focus on what we’re building— and that comes all the way from our CEO Dave. Everybody else around the company is just so focused on what we’re building and where we’re trying to go—and, really, this new category of human co-experience and making the tools available to our community—that we are not really getting distracted We’ve always had this focus, and it’s really just taking this long view; we kind of just stay on that track. So, I wouldn’t say that we’re necessarily thinking about what all

the competitors are doing, because we’re just so focused on what we’re building here.

Heather: This podcast is all about showcasing today’s rising leaders and icons. I’m wondering if you have an icon; and, if so, tell me.

Christina: Yeah, there are so many people that inspire me and that I look up to. Recently, I’ve been reading a lot about Sara Blakely and what she did with Spanx and kind of where she came from, because it resonated a lot with me. And the fact that she was selling fax machines, just trying to get by, and then had this idea for Spanx and really just grew that out of her home and worked so hard. She is just so inspirational in terms of having this company and, recently, giving back to her employees by sending them all on trips and giving them $10,000 each to make sure they had such a great time… really thinking about who helped her get to where she is. I grew up with a single father who raised my two brothers and myself—just a really humble background—and really worked my way up to where I am today. But there are so many people who helped me along the way and gave me opportunities. I just think about wanting to give back, as well, and making sure that I’m always thinking about whoever helped me. Sara also has four children, and I have three boys. Just trying to balance that career with also being a working mom is so hard sometimes. I really go from waking up, from spending time with the kids, to working, and spending time with the kids, to working again…and it’s very exhausting. But if you love what you’re doing, it’s all worth it. So I just think about Sara, who has done such amazing things but was still able to have four children at the same time. It’s really inspirational to me, and I love the fact that, hopefully, people realize that they can do it. You can really have a career but still have the family that you want, as well. And, hopefully, you have a great support system and people who are helping you along the way.

Heather: What advice do you have for those who are struggling? Maybe they push off having kids, because they want to focus on their career or vice versa. Any advice for them?

Christina: Keep dreaming big. I know that it’s hard sometimes. I mean, everybody always asks me, like, “oh, how do you do it?” And I say, I just survived every single day.

I have a really amazing husband, who’s very supportive; and we’re a team. We just balance each other out. When we need each other’s help, it’s almost like, “Tag, you’re it.” I think, you know, just don’t necessarily let the fear of thinking whether you can do it stop you.

Heather: I think that long view that you’ve said Roblox has taken to heart—to not just be this great tech company or be this great platform for developers but actually, fundamentally, improve the way we interact with one another—is pretty amazing. It’s a pretty big dream. And it makes sense that someone like you would be there. So I just want to thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to be with us. We’re so excited to see what’s going to come next.

How B2B Marketers Can Define, Communicate And Activate Organizational Purpose

By Mike Neumeier

Let’s talk company purpose and what it means to put it into practice. Having a purpose that goes beyond making money has become a more prevalent conversation since 2020 when events, including the pandemic and political and social unrest, spurred companies into action.

companies, too. So, if your organization lacks a well-defined purpose or you’re unsure how to cultivate it, here are tips B2B marketing and communications teams can use to help employees and other stakeholders keep company purpose top of mind.

It’s no longer enough to say your company has purpose. You must practice purpose and get employee/stakeholder buyin for a greater likelihood of success. Otherwise, purpose serves no purpose other than being a bunch of words on your headquarters’ wall or company website.

Burst the bubble.

High-performing employees are three times more likely to work for an organization with a strong sense of purpose. And more than half of HR leaders polled for another study said they’re tying environmental, social and governance goals to the company purpose and keeping the purpose visible to employees. Further, respondents of a survey we conducted in late 2021 of B2B marketing executives (download required) said purpose activation is directly linked to their company’s financial success. Clearly, organizational purpose matters, and it’s marketing and communications’ role to create, communicate and activate a company purpose that resonates.

In fact, 84% of our survey’s respondents believe purpose activation should be part of a company’s communications strategy.

Purpose and humanizing brands aren’t just a B2C initiative either — it’s become more relevant and prevalent to B2B

When purpose is developed in a bubble, buy-in is unlikely. If, for example, a leader sets the agenda without input from other leaders and employees, purpose fails because people feel disconnected to the purpose or think it’s irrelevant. Purpose cannot be forced down staff members’ throats. Rather, seek input through surveys and focus groups to make sure your defined purpose is impactful to current and prospective employees, customers, partners and investors.

Convey purpose clearly and concisely.

Defining and activating purpose can be particularly challenging if a company has a global footprint or has gone through several acquisitions. If employees and other stakeholders are located in different countries and have diverse cultures, narrowing down ideas on purpose can be downright difficult.

Nobody wants a long-winded purpose, yet for a multinational organization, it needs to resonate beyond the HQ. So work to ensure your purpose is not only easy to understand and absorb but is something employees globally can get

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passionate about.

Simple statements around core values create a digestible message that employees and others can relate to, regardless of their background or location. Whole Foods Market’s purpose, for instance, is “to nourish people and the planet.”

Simple and global.

Bake it into everything.

Beyond putting posters on your walls about purpose, ensure it’s included in your company website (the top channel, according to our findings), social media feeds, newsletters and blogs. Suggest employees shout out company purpose at the bottom of their email signature line. Remember to convey purpose during all-teams meetings and the intranet for employees.

You can take this further by incorporating purpose into employee reviews and trainings and activating it with your customers and business partners. If your purpose includes reducing your carbon footprint by using less gasoline or paper, recruit the people you do business with to do the same. Have a business meeting with a prospect? Rather than making several copies of a PowerPoint presentation, email it to attendees and let them know your company is printing less as part of its purpose and/or ESG efforts.

Be tactful.

Consumers and employees are increasingly concerned with

corporate practices and impacts on social justice, sustainability and inclusion. Many report considering a company’s stance on such issues when making buying decisions and career choices. In fact, most American consumers (88%) would buy products or services from a purpose-driven company, while 68% want to work for such organizations. This makes communicating your purpose all the more important.

Communicating company and individual employee impact can be meaningful and motivational. However, avoid sounding too self-serving as it could backfire and undermine authenticity. Instead, let others know how the organization’s corporate social responsibility and ESG initiatives benefit employees, external stakeholders and the broader community.

In closing, now more than ever, purpose is considered a core business strategy for global B2B companies. And it’s not just about having a purpose but activating it so stakeholders believe it. Include employees and other key stakeholders in your purpose, keep it succinct, communicate it clearly and everywhere without too much corporate back-patting.

Defining and living out your purpose will enable you to improve company culture and drive bottom-line success.

CEO Mike Neumeier, APR has more than 20 years of proven experience in PR, marketing and analyst relations. Mike has an enviable track record of creating and delivering plans that generate results and add value to the bottom line.

Does Distance Make the Consumer’s Heart Grow Fonder?

By Xing-Yu (Marcos) Chu, Chun-Tuan Chang, Angela Y. Lee

These placements are not an accident. Retailers give a lot of thought to where they display products in their stores—and for good reason. Previous research has shown, for instance, that customers respond more favorably to premium brands when their logos are positioned high up above the customer.

But is it distance or height that has this effect on customers?

That is, will those premium watches kept deep inside the glass cabinet still benefit from perceptions of prestige even when they are at eye level?

A new paper by Angela Lee, a professor of marketing at

a one-size-fits-all strategy.”

— Angela Lee More broadly, the findings reveal that there’s no single, ideal distance between consumers and products: the right distance depends on the image the brand conveys. Designers of window displays, product placements, and ads should take note.

“Effective use of spatial distance is not a one-size-fits-all strategy,” Lee says.

the Kellogg School, and coauthors Xing-Yu (Marcos) Chu of

How Brand Image Affects Perceptions of Distance

Nanjing University and Chun-Tuan Chang of National Sun

To investigate how consumers evaluate products at different distances, the researchers devised an experiment involving a print ad for a fictitious brand of chocolate. Study participants (128 students from an executive education program in Taiwan) were told the brand was either premium or popular. Then, they were asked to place an image of a box of chocolates anywhere within a mock ad for the brand, which featured a model near the edge of its frame.

Yat-sen University, takes a close look at the question.

The authors find that premium brands—those associated with luxury, high price, and prestige—do indeed benefit from distance from the consumer, while popular brands— those associated with accessibility, value, and warmth—are perceived most favorably from up close.

“Effective use of spatial distance is not

The two brand images yielded different ad designs, the

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57 researchers discovered. Participants who believed the chocolate was from a popular brand placed the box nearer to the model than those who believed the chocolate was from a premium brand.

However, the researchers didn’t have a baseline to which they could compare their results, so they weren’t sure whether participants were swayed by the premium brand image, the popular brand image, or both. In their next experiment, they studied the two brand types separately.

In the premium-brand experiment, 179 participants were asked to look at a photo of a handbag and a mannequin and estimate the distance between them. Half of the participants learned the handbag was from a premium brand; for the remaining participants, the handbag brand was described as high quality but not premium.

The researchers used an identical setup for the popular brand experiment, asking 174 participants to estimate the distance between a mannequin and either a popular or unpopular brand of handbag.

Participants believed the premium handbag was farther from the mannequin than the non-premium handbag, and the popular handbag was closer to the mannequin than the unpopular handbag. (In actuality, all four distances were identical.)

To Lee and her coauthors, these results suggested that each brand image had its own distinct relationship to horizontal distance. “Whereas a premium brand image elongated the perceived distance between the product and the model,” they write, “a popular brand image shrank the perceived distance.”

Close and Popular, Far and Luxurious In another experiment, the researchers looked at the question the other way around, asking participants to infer a product’s brand image while standing at different distances from it.

In the first part of the experiment, 120 participants were randomly assigned to stand either three or five feet from a premium leather backpack. Then, they were asked to rate its prestige, as well as how much they liked it.

Participants who stood five feet from the premium backpack viewed it as more prestigious and liked it more than those who stood three feet from it, the researchers discovered, further reinforcing the association between distance and luxury.

The opposite pattern emerged in the second part of the experiment, which used an identical setup but a slightly different product (a trendy canvas backpack). This time, 80 participants viewed the backpack more favorably overall— and saw it as more popular—when viewing it from a distance of three feet as compared with five feet.

Taken together, these experiments reveal that “the association between image and distance that people have is not just one-way,” says Lee. “When we see something far away, we see it as luxurious. And by the same association, when see something luxurious, we also think it’s farther away. That

really shows how ingrained this association is.”

A Real-world Test of Distance and Brand Image For their final experiment, the researchers wanted to see how the relationship between distance and brand image would play out in a real-world setting. So they partnered with an e-commerce site in China for a field experiment.

They hired a professional web designer to create four versions of an email ad touting a new brand of home fragrance diffuser. “We tried to make it as real as possible,” Lee says.

Half of the ads promoted the diffuser as a premium product with the tagline “Luxurious lifestyle, prestigious choice,” while the other half portrayed it as the popular choice with the tagline “cozy lifestyle, popular choice.” Half of the ads showed the diffuser close to the model, and the other half showed it far from the model. This created four ad types: (1) premium/close; (2) premium/far; (3) popular/close; (4) popular/far.

The email ad included an invitation to claim a $5 coupon for the product. In their analysis, the researchers focused on the percentage of consumers who claimed the coupon, rather than actual sale numbers, which were too small to produce reliable data.

As the researchers expected based on their previous studies, the premium/far ad outperformed the premium/close ad, with three percent of recipients claiming the coupon, as opposed to 1.43 percent. The popular/close ad beat the popular/far ad by a similar margin.

This suggests that the relationship between distance and brand image can have a meaningful impact on consumers in the wild. “This is actual behavior,” says Lee. Lessons for Ads and Displays While the experiments don’t show exactly why consumers associate distance with luxury and popularity with proximity, Lee has a few theories.

“We use a lot of physical attributes to describe emotions and abstract concepts,” she notes—think of the phrases “warm relationship” or “distant relative.” Such connections can also flow in the other direction, with physical attributes unconsciously eliciting emotional associations—height, for example, often makes people or products seem more impressive. This close linkage between physical and emotional traits may explain why different products feel better from different distances.

Whatever its origins, the relationship between distance and brand image is one marketers can leverage in ads, window displays, or store designs. By putting more distance between customers and luxury brands, and less distance between customers and brands with mass appeal, marketers can maximize the value of those brands—and likely boost how much customers will pay for them.

The key is knowing what type of brand image you have and making the most of it. Lee adds: “It really has to match the strategy of the brand.”

Decathlon: Making Sports More Accessible (and Sustainable) with Subscriptions

By Tien Tzuo

Welcome! Last year I wrote a newsletter called “Peak Stuff: Why a World Subscribed is a More Sustainable World” that generated a fair amount of attention. In the piece, I tried to point out an inherent contradiction within product companies: How do they succeed by selling more products, while also reducing their carbon footprint? Aren’t those two concepts diametrically opposed? Now that sustainability has shifted from a corporate “nice to have” to an absolute imperative, it’s a question that’s keeping lots of ESG administrators up at night. Environmentally friendly packaging just doesn’t cut it anymore!

Well, I’d like to expand on that discussion (as well as offer some compelling potential solutions) with a great story from France. This week I was lucky enough to chat about sports, sustainability and subscriptions with Yann Carré, who is leader of RENT for Decathlon United (short term, subscription and leasing). If you don’t know Decathlon, they’re the largest sports retailer in the world. With roughly 1700 stores and 90,000 employees in 60 countries around the world, the decisions that Decathlon makes about sustainability are closely watched by the rest of the retail industry. Yann is helping to lead the company on an innovative new way forward.

Welcome Yann! Unlike many other global retailers, Decathlon is very much a vertically integrated company — you research and design most of your

own equipment and register dozens of patents a year. You’re kind of like the Apple of sportswear, and much like Apple, you recently made an executive decision to emphasize services and sustainability into your hardware business. How did that process come about?

Well, about three years ago we evolved the vision of Decathlon. We’ve always been dedicated to making sports accessible to as many people as possible. We have roughly 80 in-house teams, each dedicated to growing a specific sport around the world: cycling, yoga, trekking, football, etc.

Our main decision was to integrate the concept of durability into that vision. Of course we want to grow, but we want to grow in a more regenerative and sustainable way.

But we knew we had a problem. We did the research and determined that our products were responsible for roughly 70% of our overall environmental footprint. So how do we grow market share and run a successful sports equipment company, while on the other hand reducing our greenhouse gas emissions? It’s a challenge, to say the least.

Agreed. By definition, the more stuff you put into the market, the more stuff that winds up in landfills, the greater your carbon footprint. So what was the answer?

Well, we did a lot of thinking, researching and soul-

searching. You can only generate so many efficiencies out of your supply chain. It’s quite impossible to sell 15% more of your products while reducing your impact by 50%. In the end, we decided that if you’re really serious about addressing your carbon emissions, you need to start thinking about the circular economy: creating more value for your customers, growing the business, and minimizing your impact on the environment. We want to increase the ratio of “usage to product,” and for that reason subscriptions seem like a good opportunity.

How did you think about this shift in terms of first principles? What were the key ideas that helped to guide this transition?

We have four main pillars. The first is emphasizing the repair of our products, so that they last longer. The second is offering the option for our customers to rent or subscribe to our products, instead of owning them outright. The third pillar is the proper recycling of our products at the end of their lifecycle. And when you combine those three pillars, you arrive at the fourth: “sport as as service.” Instead of buying skis, for example, why not subscribe to skiing? That’s when you’ve become a service company, instead of just a product company. And you’ve also made yourself a much more sustainable one.

Great. So you’ve got the strategy, now comes the hard part — the execution. How did you start? Did you pick a particular product line?

Yes, we started with bicycles. If you’re a parent, you know what it’s like to have to buy a new bike for your child every couple of years. Or maybe you just love biking, and you’d like to be able to switch from a road bike to a mountain bike.

So why not give people a choice? Why not let them access their own bicycle library?

Of course we’re happy to sell you a bicycle, but in terms of pricing we’re never going to be able to compete with the low-range manufacturers. We also understand that when it comes to subscriptions, every customer does the math — “I can subscribe for a certain period of time, or for the same money I could buy the product outright.” We understand that. But we can compete on choice and sustainability and pay-to-use. Like I said, we offer “sport as a service.” Of course subscriptions are a way to spread your payments over time, but this model represents so much more than that when you consider all the affiliate services that can be bundled in: insurance, maintenance, assistance, coaching, etc. You can feel good about supporting a company that wants people and the planet to stay healthy.

We’ve talked about this same phenomenon with other retailers. By turning yourself into a service provider instead of just a product vendor, suddenly you’ve put yourself in a whole new category. You’re really on another level from your competitors. Okay, let’s get into the organizational side. How did you roll out this new vision across your company?

Well, culturally the company is managed and animated by people who like to experiment, who like to test. So that’s what we’ve done. We’ve run small programs in regional markets, in order to answer questions: How do the clients respond?

How does our organization respond? What unexpected things happened? We are trying to learn quickly, while implementing a step-by-step strategy.

In terms of execution, we are very much a subsidiary company, which means that we trust our local management teams to make the right decisions, based on their own cultures and markets. We don’t impose top-down mandates. For some teams, buying might still make more sense than subscribing.

It depends on the maturity of the market. The important thing is that we give them the options. And we want them to understand that we are here to enable sports, not just sell sports equipment. And of course we share the results of all our regional experiments. We don’t want to drastically change the business model of Decathlon, we want to affirm it.

So it’s very much a federated model. Learn locally, apply globally.

Exactly. And of course, like all retailers, we’ve been dealing with the biggest experiment of all – Covid. We had to close 350 stores in France, and over 90% of our stores around the world. It’s very hard to survive if you close 90% of your business. Fortunately, our e-commerce business exploded, and we put a lot of investment behind it. And as it turns out, you can’t really have a successful subscription service without a strong digital identity component.

Can you share any lessons learned for our retailbased readers? Did anything surprise you about this shift? Was anything harder than expected? Easier?

What’s the hardest part of shifting to a circular subscription model? In my experience, every change can be difficult for a high-performing company, but the main difficulties lie in finance and the value chain, aka the supply chain. The rest is hard but not that complicated – it’s transformation, adaptation, communication, changing your mindset, networking all your touchpoints, changing the way you present your products. It’s work, yes, it’s not that complicated but not that simple either.

But let’s start with the supply chain – what happens when suddenly you own your products? That’s a big change. You need much more traceability and much more insight into your stock management. Now for finance. What happens when you change from someone at the cash register paying and leaving, to supporting recurring payments? Also a big systemic change. You need the right scripting, the right finance management, the right accounting ledger.

These are two major processes that need to be almost completely re-imagined, but also integrated.

You’re moving from linearity: design, manufacture, market, sell, (bye bye product, bye bye customer!). To circularity: design, manufacture, market, subscribe, sustain (you own the product, you create a brand new customer relationship).

Exactly. We used to say that we offer the best value for money, but now the conversation has changed. Today we are trying hard to offer the best sustainable value for money, based on long-lasting customer relationships. A very complex problem, particularly if you want to scale quickly. There are new risks to manage, at the same time there are so many new opportunities. It’s an interesting challenge!

Science is resilient.

It can overcome diseases, create cures, and, yes, even beat pandemics.

It has the methodology and the rigor to withstand even the most arduous scrutiny.

It keeps asking questions and, until there’s a breakthrough, it isn’t done.

That’s why, when the world needs answers, we turn to science.

Because in the end, Science will win.

Breakthroughs that change patients’ lives Learn more at www.pfizer.com

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He Said, She Said: Branding

By Michael Russo In He Said, She Said: Branding, the husband and wife team of Jaci and Michael Russo share what they’ve learned over their combined decades of experience working in branding and with each other. Through their unique voices, you’ll learn about tried-and- true branding best practices and even get an inside look into how their agency has continued to help businesses from coast to coast thrive for the past twenty years.

Brand Storytelling: Put Customers at the Heart of Your Brand Story

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Sinker B.Y.O.B. Building Your Own Brand: Branding for Designers, Brand Strategy, Identity Assets, Logo Design, Blogging & Marketing

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Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World

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Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World, by out of the box thinker Brendan Kane, breaks down the most effective strategies to generate new opportunities, innovate and scale your business, and create a compelling brand— both online and off—so you can thrive in the new micro-attention world in which we live.

Use digital branding to enhance your online identity and learn how to plan, analyze, optimize and measure the tangible results of your digital brand campaigns, with this second edition of the bestselling book by Daniel Rowles - a respected CIM fellow, course leader, and industry thought leader.

The Choice Factory: 25 behavioural biases that influence what we buy

By Richard Shotton Winner of the Sales and Marketing Category at the 2019 Business Book Awards. Voted #1 in the BBH World Cup of Advertising Books, 2018. If you are in the business of influencing decisions, you need to understand what drives them. The Choice Factory is an essential read for anyone who wants to learn.

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The Hidden Psychology of Social Networks: How Brands Create Authentic Engagement by Understanding What Motivates Us

By Joe Federer From the former Head of Brand Strategy at Reddit comes a proven and thought-provoking approach to the digital economy and how brands can create authentic engagement that is rooted in the fundamental motivations behind human psychology

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Build Your Brand Mania: How to Transform Yourself Into an Authoritative Brand That Will Attract Your Ideal Customers

By Matt Bertram he missing piece of internet marketing that almost all business owners miss is transforming themselves into an authoritative brand that attracts their ideal customers.

Sticky Branding: 12.5 Principles to Stand Out, Attract Customers, and Grow an Incredible Brand

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Linkedin: The Number One Social Network for Personal Branding

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Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World

By Brendan Kane Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World, by out of the box thinker Brendan Kane, breaks down the most effective strategies to generate new opportunities, innovate and scale your business, and create a compelling brand— both online and off—so you can thrive in the new micro-attention world in which we live.

How to Launch a Brand (2nd Edition): Your Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting a Brand: From Positioning to Naming And Brand Identity

By Fabian Geyrhalter Most entrepreneurs, even seasoned brand managers, launch first and then work on slowly transforming the new offering into a brand. A logical progression, I would agree.

Identity Designed: The Definitive Guide to Visual Branding

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Ideal for students of design, independent designers, and entrepreneurs who want to expand their understanding of effective design in business, Identity Designed is the definitive guide to visual branding.

Lifescale: How to Live a More Creative, Productive, and Happy Life

By Brian Solis Somewhere along the way, we got distracted.

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Winning at Social Customer Care: How Top Brands Create Engaging Experiences on Social Media

By Dan Gingiss Seth Godin has taught and inspired millions of entrepreneurs, marketers, leaders, and fans from all walks of life, via his blog, online courses, lectures, and bestselling books. He is the inventor of countless ideas that have made their way into mainstream business language, from Permission Marketing to Purple Cow to Tribes to The Dip.