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marketer knowledge for marketing excellence
oct-dec’15
Should PR Managers be responsible for
Lead Generation? PLUS+
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12 Getting PR mileage for your B2B business 20 Protecting Your Reputation in the Age of Access 24 5 Copywriting Strategies for Building Brand Authority MCI (P) 129/06/2015 The Official Publication of the Marketing Institute of Singapore, the National Body for Sales and Marketing
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Contributing Editor’s Note Hello, Marketers! I am glad to be given the opportunity to be part of the content curation for this issue. It couldn’t have been apter. The theme is something close and meaningful to me - Public Relations. As a PR practitioner myself, it was comforting to see so many experts in the industry contributing their take on the discipline.
THE SINGAPORE MARKETER
October - December 2015
Editor Dr Ramesh Tarani
Ramesh@mis.org.sg
Contributing Editor Dean Shams Contributing Writers Koh Joh-Ju, Lillian L. Cheng, Harish Shah, Gael Lee, Marcus Ho, Mark Laudi and Ken Hudson MIS EXECUTIVE COUNCIL President Roger Wang 1st Vice President Bhavik Bhatt 2nd Vice President Lee Kwok Weng Honorary Secretary Dean Shams Assistant Honorary Secretary Leonard Zuzarte
PR is an essential component of consumer engagement. However, unlike many other forms of marketing, the results may not be so immediate. Most times tracking the outcomes of PR campaigns can be frustratingly difficult. So it is not surprising for organisations to view PR as an afterthought and to favour other marketing tactics that can easily be tracked and measured. Ironically, these tactics won’t work as well without the brand having a good reputation. And the essence of all PR efforts, be it B2B or B2C, is to build up a good reputation with their target consumers. Without a long-term PR element in your marketing strategy, you will constantly be hunting for customers instead of farming for customers’ loyalty. As the year moves into its last quarter (so fast?), I invite you to use the articles in this issue to reconnect and renew your trust-building efforts for your brand. Social media has brought PR to the digital realm. Smartphones have made it easier than ever for you to engage your consumers directly. If you are not speaking to your target consumers directly from the palms of their hands, you have much to lose, especially when so much can be done for no-cost or at low-cost. The next time you have a sales meeting include a discussion on how PR affects conversion and how your PR executives have a part to play in the process? If you are running a B2B business, how much of PR have you put into your marketing mix, or did you just give up on it because you thought PR is not relevant for your industry? Let me leave you with some great articles in this issue to oil the PR gears in your mind. And to round this issue off, don’t miss the article on the round-table discussion MIS conducted by Professor Jagdish Sheth, Founder of Sheth Leadership Academy. It was a by-invite-only event attended by C-suite executives from renowned companies. You will find an excerpt of Professor Jagdish’s deep wisdom on “Building Marketing Excellence: How to Build World-Class Brand in Asia”. Here’s to a good end to a beautiful year.
Honorary Treasurer Paul Lim Asst Honorary Treasurer Lydia Neo Co-opted Council Members Alex Lim Freddy Tan Gerry Gabriele Seah Design & Layout Kelvin Wang Production, Advertising & Circulation Joreen Yee joreen.yee@mis.org.sg Publisher Marketing Institute of Singapore 51 Anson Road #03-53 Anson Centre Singapore 079904 Tel: (65) 6327 7572 Fax: (65) 6327 9741 Email: singaporemarketer@mis.org.sg Website: www.mis.org.sg
Dean Shams
Contributing Editor / Hon. Secretary The Singapore Marketer is a quarterly magazine published by Marketing Institute of Singapore. Printed in Singapore by Stamford Press Pte Ltd. 209 Kallang Bahru, Singapore 339344. Tel: (65) 6294 7227 MCI (P) 129/06/2015. Subscription is available upon request; please contact Joreen Yee at joreen.yee@mis.org.sg. The views expressed in The Singapore Marketer do not necessarily represent those of the Marketing Institute of Singapore. No responsibility is accepted by the Institute or its staff for the accuracy of any statement, opinion, or advice contained in the text or advertisements, and readers are advised to rely on their judgment or enquiries, and to consult their own advisers in making any decisions which would affect their interest. All materials appearing in The Singapore Marketer is copyright. No part of the publication may be reproduced without prior written permission of the Marketing Institute of Singapore. The Marketing Institute of Singapore welcomes contributions and letters. These might be edited for clarity or length. Articles, letters and requests to reproduce articles appearing in The Singapore Marketer should be sent to the Editor, Marketing Institute of Singapore, 410 North Bridge Road, Singapore 188726 or write to singaporemarketer@mis.org.sg.
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Content Page
04 Cover Story Should PR Managers be responsible for Lead Generation?
A Marketer’s Story
08
Interview with Tan Shi Ling APAC PR & Communications Manager, Shiseido Group
Focus
12
Getting PR mileage for your B2B business
Feature
16
Marketing in Crisis: in search of a new paradigm and a long-term perspective
Guru Talk
20
Protecting Your Reputation in the Age of Access
Business School
24
5 Copywriting Strategies for Building Brand Authority
Digital Digest
28
Three Ways to your Customers Heart through Digital PR
Learning site
34
Are you ready to “go public”?
38
How to Innovate – One small win at a time
Q&A (FeatureD member)
42
Interview with Mr Roger Wang (President, MIS)
46
Round Table Discussion with Prof. Jagdish Sheth
50
Spotted
51
What’s Up
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the singapore marketer oct-dec’15
Should PR Managers be responsible for
Lead Generation? Âť By Koh Joh Ju & Veronica Lind
4
Cover Story
In the competitive food business, restaurants know that good reviews by certain food reviewers will translate into packed houses nightly for two weeks to a month. PR, whether through traditional media or social media channels, is very powerful for B2C businesses. If we look at the B2B environments, can PR bring in the sales? Can the outcomes of PR strategies and activities translate into leads for the sales force? Should PR work with sales teams and be given lead generation quota? These are real questions that B2B PR managers face today. These questions have long been plaguing PR professionals for years but probably gained ground in recent years with the explosion of social media and digital marketing technologies. To answer the questions between PR and lead generation, let us examine how social media is now used by businesses in their go-tomarket strategies. Presently, social media is used by businesses: •
To foster awareness of products, brands or concepts through a variety of programmes and campaigns on publishing platforms and using social listening and sentiment analysis tools.
•
•
To help build pipeline and sales leads through demand generation. Marketers would have gleaned insights into their customers’ needs, wants and desires before developing their marketing strategies and plans. They would use POE (paid, owned and earned) campaigns to target would-be buyers with offers and promotions, driving them to websites or call centres. For sales enablement through a number of means such as outreach, engagement or even intelligence. Tools can be used to measure metrics such as sales velocity, frequency of engagement or even post-sales engagement.
•
For support to customers on technical or service matters, solve problems or simply to provide information.
•
For customer advocacy by amplifying the brand, incentivising the customers and growing a strong base of satisfied customers.
As we can see, social media and the new slew of digital marketing technologies can be used by various groups of professionals – sales leaders, marketers, operations support or PR professionals – to help the business drive revenue and grow the business.
In fact, PR managers’ strengths are in brand awareness, brand creation and advocacy. We believe that PR should participate actively with marketing and various other departments in lead generation to help the business gain customer confidence, and ultimately secure quality leads. We also believe that the best approach to gain quality leads is through a brand-led strategy. Not a product-led strategy nor a conceptled strategy. Brand-led strategy Why brand-led? Because of buyers. Today’s buyers want answers and solutions to their business problems, not a product or a service. So businesses need to move towards a customer-centric model. Accenture advocates that in B2B environments, businesses must think of customers as more than orders. They advocate placing customer interests, expectations and even convenience at the centre of transactions. Other companies such as IBM and Carlsberg have enjoyed successes with such an approach . For these companies, they are using their brand to stand out from the ‘noise’ – the noise from various brands, products, ideas or issues
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We believe that Marketing and PR can work closely together to pull the organisation in the same direction...
that continues to be generated and amplified in the connected world through social media.
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According to b2bmarketing.net, these companies are leveraging their brands as living asset to differentiate themselves, engage with customers and, through that, to provide security for future earnings. The implication for B2B marketers and PR professionals is that the different product teams, business units or back-office support organisations need to participate in planning and outreach to deliver what the customer really needs. They should not just remain in the product or business silos to market and sell specific products or services. It is not an easy task for one person to lead. It is a team effort that a team can own and drive with the involvement and active collaboration by all the various operational teams within the business.
We believe that Marketing and PR can work closely together to pull the organisation in the same direction, ensuring the alignment with the brand or company’s stakeholders while the business continues to sustain growth in the marketplace. Led by Marketing and supported by PR, businesses can better understand their customers, engage with them and add value to their business. Personalisation We believe that moving ahead in B2B environments, personalisation will be the hallmark of marketing and compelling brand messages crafted with PR professionals. All these will be engaged in a shared value between the brand and their customers to drive long-term business for the brand. Simply translated, this means: Creativity + Marketing Technologies + Value = Revenue
Creativity
+ Marketing Technologies
+ Value
= Revenue
Cover Story In personalising the experience for customers, it is important to create differentiated experiences and to orchestrate the journey at every point of engagement to ensure a smooth and seamless process. Differentiate the experience by using the appropriate messaging, content, visual expression and campaign assets to evoke the right emotions and responses from the customers.
1.
Research and Analytics to help brands understand their markets, their audiences and their campaigns so that they can make marketing decisions to fine tune those engagement techniques.
2.
Clear and simple messaging across the campaign, content and the engagement techniques to draw the emotions of the audience and have that personal connection, positively influencing collaboration.
Overall, we see three important dependencies to make personalisation work through to sales engagement: 3.
Leverage social media tools and technology to get audiences involved. The brand personality will arise, shaped by the market, with a strong team of Marketing and PR professionals enabling it. According to Accenture, 54% of high-performing organisations are experimenting with social, mobile, analytics and cloud.
Simply put, the right B2B marketing strategy has to be brandled. In this way, your brand message comes first, then the content, then the tools. For your business stakeholders, that is just like having a good car with all the bells and whistles, and selling it to the right person who needs it, at the price that makes sense for your business. Moving ahead, a brand-led and personalisation strategy is the most effective engagement for long-term business success. PR managers and their marketing colleagues can work in close collaboration, using a mix of emotional engagement techniques and the latest marketing technologies, to attract and nurture quality leads at a low blended cost per lead. Isn’t that just what the business needs?
About the Writers
Ms. Koh Joh Ju
Ms. Veronica Lind
Ms. Koh Joh Ju is a communications professional with over 20 years of experience specialising in B2B communications. She founded her own boutique PR agency, Pinstripes Communications, after working in IBM, Hill & Knowlton and Weber Shandwick. Ms. Veronica Lind is a former B2B worldwide marketer at IBM with a solid track record in helping small businesses, large organisations and higher education institutions create multiplier effects in local and international business growth and expansion. She heads up Vermilion Marketing, in Australia. Both Joh Ju and Veronica will be facilitating a set of workshops on orchestrating customers using brand-led strategy for experienced B2B marketers and communicators on 3 November 2015 in Singapore. More details at www.vermilionmarketingau.com.
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the singapore marketer oct-dec’15
Interview with Tan Shi Ling
APAC PR & Communications Manager, Shiseido Group
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Tan Shi Ling anchored Marketing and PR experiences in the luxury and lifestyle industry since her graduation from Nanyang Technological University. Her dynamic and sociable nature allow her to connect easily with people throughout her voyage from luxury fashion brands, prestige lifestyle brands to cosmetics brands. She enjoys engaging different languages of communications with people by creating collaborative conversations. Shi Ling is a strong advocate of expressing beauty as one’s unique inner essence.
Tell us the story of Shiseido Group The history of Shiseido is not only a story about products and services; it is a company taking a broader perspective to consider aspects of culture and lifestyle, and always seeking to create new values. We believe in cultivating relationships with people and appreciate genuinity. Our continuing mission is to inspire a life of beauty and culture for people throughout the world. The group’s business field includes owning cosmetic brands, healthcare products, salon-use products, stores, restaurants and R&D supports.
Why and how is Travel Retail a pillar of development for the company? How will the business grow in the next 5 years? Travel Retail is an exclusive channel that undertakes all the businesses and shops located in tax-free areas or avenue dedicated to travellers. This Travel Retail business is a key component of Shiseido Group’s Vision 2020 International Corporate Strategy, which has been identified as a priority for expansion. Travel Retail itself is a strategic touch point for our consumers and has been forecasted to triple its size of
the business today. A substantial portion of it will come from Asia as well as our investment to develop brands such Clé de Peau Beauté, bareMinerals and NARS which belongs to our prestige categories. As part of the development strategy, we are planning to significantly expand the number of point of sale counters and increase their productivity and to launch more exclusive travel sets, sizes and limited edition offerings to consumers. In particular, we are excited to be launching Shiseido’s star product; the Ultimune (100ml) to
A Marketer’s Story
the Travel Retail channel and plans to celebrate this breakthrough discovery with a big anniversary campaign soon. Keeping heart to the core of the group’s vision of the Japanese way of hospitality, we are also investing more in our beauty consultants to refine their skills through enhanced training and tailored coaching programmes. What are some of the communications involved to boost the company’s presence in the Travel Retail channel? We acknowledge the ever-changing style of global consumers these days, and we cannot expect them to be researching about our history or come to us habitually. To boost our presence especially in Travel Retail channel, we seek to gather more consumer insights and target to increase our media investments in Asia – especially in major transport hubs. E-commerce and digital categories are also redefined and strengthened to reach the younger generations. We are also in the development of enhancing our retail design with an approach that is more appealing to the international audience.
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the singapore marketer oct-dec’15
How is a Global Travel Retail structure positioning the company in this competitive environment?
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The Global Travel Retail Structure was created as an innovative hub that provides specialised and value-added services for our brand partners and Travel Retail markets. Observing the group’s 2020 vision to rejuvenate Shiseido, this Global Travel Retail structure aimed at further elevating our services and product offering towards the ever more demanding global travellers. Our aspiration is to create a new communication strategy that is clearly thinking on a global level and reacting with local understanding. We are moving forward with each consumer to build the future of Shiseido. All this serves to bring us one step closer to fulfilling the Shiseido Group mission of helping each and every person be beautiful and to live each moment beautifully.
How does digital and social media affect PR and media outreach? Researches and trends showed that 80% of the people in the world considered themselves as “global citizens”. Millions of people are moving across the globe from their homelands and cultures to cities, mega-cities in Asia, Africa, and the West. This globalisation is rapidly expanding people’s thirst for new mobile technologies and our ability to connect via the internet wherever we are, across all borders. Along with urbanisation, social scenes and lifestyles would have been much more diversified than now. These advancements and progression in IT technology would eventually lead the whole world to be connected in ways we cannot imagine today. A key direction of Shiseido’s 2020 communication strategy encompasses digital, especially on mobile and social media platforms. The global travel-retail team is working with dedicated specialists to help grow brand awareness and to target travellers before they even reach the airport.
Most recently, we partnered with industry operators to assess e-direct Marketing campaigns when launching Shiseido’s key product range; Ultimune, while it proves encouraging results in driving traffic to our counters at airport. We do see further potential to partner with local markets in future, keeping in mind to develop consumer-focused strategy that includes mobile device usage which is underway. We strive to create opportunities to better engage global shoppers and accompany them along their journey. What sort of Communication manager would you call yourself? Communications to me have always been about interacting and welcoming a new relationship with individuals. Intuitively, I like to connect with people and listen to them. I enjoy being informed about everything but also relentlessly keep myself focused. Most earnestly, I pledge by Shiseido’s Omotenashi value of going the extra miles with a heartfelt relationship with my community.
the singapore marketer oct-dec’15
12
E
F
Focus
Getting PR mileage for your
B2B business
» By Dean Shams So, you are running a B2B business. You want to increase your brand’s visibility and show your corporate clients how credible you are as a vendor. But you are consistently stumped at how to go about doing it. B2C businesses seem to have it a little easier. The target customers can be segmented in many different yet specific ways according to demography, psychographics, and geography. Appeal to their emotions with the right messages and they will make quick purchases. To top it off, a good PR stunt can generate massive word-of-mouth or go viral online. There are also many media channels that their products can be featured in. All these factors work synergistically to add massive credibility to the B2C brand. For B2B businesses, PR stunts are not quite appropriate. It might even destroy the brand’s reputation for being unprofessional. Media channels that serve any specific industry are always limited, especially in Singapore. Hence, competition for editorial coverage is always going to be high. Target
customers can only be segmented according to industry, company size and functions. Sales cycles are long, and purchasing decisions involve multiple executives. To make things worst, there’s a lot riding on the persons making the buying decision. A wrong decision could lead to loss of job or career prospects. Poor quality of work from the vendor could negatively impact the company’s reputation. Imagine, that vendor could be your company. So when they say yes to your proposal, they are not just buying your products/services, they are also buying into your reputation, goodwill and relationship. How then can SMEs in the B2B arena work on their brand credibility so that they too will be an obvious choice to the customers? Like the saying goes, nobody lost his job for hiring IBM. If you are still equating PR to just media placements, it will be to your disadvantage. The core purpose of PR is to build trust with your target customers. Media coverage helps, but only to a certain extent.
Here are a few other actionable steps you can take to market your brand credibility. First thing first, take a stand. Are there customer types that you know without a doubt that you would reject? It’s a tough call, especially when they are ready to buy your products and services. But businesses that take a stand are clear about this. They reject a customer, not on a whim, but because it goes against their core values. Just as an individual, you would have certain beliefs and values that form the basis of all the decisions you make in life. You, as a person, agree on certain issues and disagree on others. So should your brand. If you are running a law firm, do you believe in simplifying complex legal issues, because you believe your clients deserve to be rid of legal jargons? If you are running an accounting firm, will you say no to creative accounting no matter how much you are offered?
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How does this affect your PR? At the core of every PR campaign is a clear message. You want this same message to resonate in all your PR campaigns so that each campaign works synergistically to build your brand perception. Without this, your PR efforts will be ad hoc and scattered at best.
insights and consequently be recognised as an expert in that niche. In PR, we call this ‘thought leadership’.
Too often business owners don’t give much thought to their company’s core values. They list out the usual, like professionalism, integrity and partnership on their ‘About’ page of their website and end up sounding just like any of their competitors.
A recent survey done in the UK with over 2,000 companies revealed that businesses exhibiting expertise on its website and digital channels have a significant competitive advantage when purchasing decisions are made. 72 percent of customers said that thought leadership positively influenced their tender process. It shouldn’t be much different in the Singapore context.
They then stay in the neutral zone of zero personality. If they don’t take a stand on issues, then they are more likely to be liked by any client. The difficult truth is that you can’t please everybody even when you are at your nicest. And when you sell to everybody, you are essentially selling to no one. It was found that 80 percent of B2B customers see no real difference between B2B suppliers enough to be willing to pay more for anyone of them. What does your business advocate for? It is a question worth some deep thoughts. Develop thought leadership When you take a stand, you can then focus to develop your expertise in a niche area of your industry. Today PR is not about just getting coverage about your business in the mass media. It is about sharing
The law firm that believes in simplicity of message can promote its belief in transparency and then dovetail into issues of ethics in business contracts.
Traditionally, purchasers are courted by top-brand vendors. In the past, these vendors had the unfair advantage. With deeper marketing pockets, they can do more to keep their brands at the top of their customers’ minds. But today, social media has leveled the playing field. There are multitudes of digital strategy you can adopt to put your insights out there for your prospective customers to windowshop your expertise. In fact, it has become so easy that it has also become so confusing. You might find yourself mulling over which social media platform and digital strategy is best for you. The real answer is simple - Keep it simple. Start with a strategy that meets the objectives and at the same time comfortable for you to manage. More importantly,
stick with it, even if it means working on only one social media platform. If your prospective customers can easily find you online, you are better off than most of your competitors. Today, content marketing has become a must for any B2B company. Search Engine Optimisation or SEO alone is not enough. Being on the first page of Google search and then not having any insights to share on your website will not help your brand. It has been said that content is the new creative. So think less about how pretty your website looks and more about what your website says. It is important to note also that thought leadership is not just about sharing your opinions on issues per se. The UK survey also highlighted that 80 percent of customers only buy into opinions supported by statistics and research. Sales pitches disguised as thought leadership will not work. Newsjack whenever you can Newsjacking is the new buzzword in PR. It is a corollary to developing thought leadership through content. Essentially, you leverage on a trending topic in the media and give it your unique spin. In 2012, an international survey put Singaporeans as one of the most unemotional people in the world. Naturally, it generated a lot of debate in the media. Avi Liran, a corporate trainer in the area of positive psychology, rode the wave
Focus
“
Today, content marketing has become a must for any B2B company.
and submitted an article to the local newspapers on what Singapore can learn from the Philippines that was ranked high in emotional expressiveness. It was published! Newsjacking can be very powerful if you stay alert to what is trending in the news and know exactly what your niche is. Be proactive and execute it in real-time. It might mean taking time out of fighting fires in your office and quickly crafting an article and sending it out to the media. Coverage may not be guaranteed, but it will certainly bear fruit in time to come. Engage the influencers Today, influencers need not be just journalists and the academics who publish research papers and writes books. Bloggers are known to
have huge followings. Their books become instant best sellers. Think Seth Godin for marketing. Unlike journalists and academics, bloggers are easier to connect and engage with. Every industry has its pool of influencers. For example, Simon Kemp (@eskimon), who is based in Singapore, has been attracting a good following for his content on social media for the B2B space. His ‘how-to’ guides reach out to six million readers. He has regularly been interviewed for his opinions in the media. He advocates simplicity in digital strategy. Jill Dyché (@ jilldyche), another influencer in the business-IT alignment arena, is well known and respected for her opinions. It is interesting that she identifies herself not only as an advisor but also an advocate.
Which influencer can you connect within your industry? You will find them at conferences and industry events. Connect with them online. Contribute constructively to their discussions. Then take a step further. Find ways to maintain a regular connection with them. Feed them with timely, relevant and highquality information. Help them reach resources that they are looking for. Work towards building long term relationship. Who knows, soon you might be sharing the same stage with them at industry conferences because you were highly recommended by that influencer. Can’t find an influencer in your business area? Good. You can be the first. Everything else will follow.
About the writer
Dean Shams is the PR Strategist at KinetiqBuzz PR. He specialises in building the profiles of fast growing SMEs in the B2B and professional services industries. He advocates for authenticity in all PR efforts. Dean is also the Honorary Secretary of MIS Executive Council.
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Feature
Marketing in Crisis: In search of a new paradigm and a long-term perspective
» By Lillian L. Cheng
Any review of recent news would not be short of companies that are facing some major marketing challenge. In some cases, the situation is down right dire, such as Volkswagen’s “cheating software” issue in which it is being investigated by government agencies and sued by its once-loyal customers, not to mention being banned in some markets from importing all diesel models. In others, the scenario is more perplexing, such as the raising of Daraprim’s price by 5,000 percent only to be forced to lower it, now to an undisclosed amount. In all of these circumstances, companies are forced to be reactive and many times defensive, leading ultimately to damaging brand perception and customer relationships that take years, if not decades, to recover, if ever.
As experienced professionals, why do marketers get into these problems? Why is marketing, as a discipline of study and a field of practice, put under mounting pressures of accountability, effectiveness, measurability and applicability? Ask the purchasers, consumers or business buyers alike, marketing is viewed with suspect. There is also the mistaken perception that marketing is about getting one to buy something he/ she doesn’t need. For decades, the marketing field has focused on how to practice marketing without asking the fundamental question of why we study and practice marketing and what it is really for. The definitions of marketing abound. Some define marketing as the action of moving the concept of product or service to the customer that includes the coordination of
the four P’s: product, promotion, place and price. Or “marketing is the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return.”1 Others claim that marketing “consists of the strategy and tactics used to identify, create and maintain satisfying relationships with customers that result in value for both the customer and the marketer.”2 Although increasingly there is the claim of building customer relationships, most imply that the objective of marketing is to prepare for the sale of a product or service profitability. Herein lies the problem, while some definitions claim value for customers and relationship building, the focus on profitability is undeniable and most marketers are pressured to focus on the near-term profit objective for the company.
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In this age of information overload and noisy communication, a paramount objective of marketing should be to simplify buyer decision-making through nurtured, long-term relationships.
If marketing, as a practice, has the focus on building and nurturing customer relationships, why do companies err in alienating customers in so many instances? The current trend of obtaining, analyzing and responding to customer reactions to web searches and advertisements has met with public resistance, from distrust to anger. Can marketing even begin to build relationships with customers if the premise rests on the perception that marketers only say what customers want said with the singular purpose of getting customers to buy? Can marketers effectively build customer relationships if their effectiveness is measured by quarterly sales revenue or profit increases? Could strong relationships be built on anything other than shared values, not in monetary terms but as common beliefs?
Marketing as a practice started as a monologue in the early 1900s when companies unilaterally communicated information to the market. When there was more demand than supply, when anything companies did could provide a more convenient and more affordable solution, marketing as a corporate communication tool was sufficient. With the growth of various economies and more companies joined the production force, the world witnessed a proliferation of products and services. In efforts to gain customer awareness, much of marketing efforts concentrated on winning customer mindshare. As industry rivalry became more intense, marketers developed more ways to capture customer attention. Advertising and promotion took priority while everything else took a back seat. The shift of power from the producer to the buyer came when customers had an abundance of
choices. This ushered in an era of marketers trying to understand customers so as to meet customer needs and attain customer recognition. To switch from the luxury of a monologue to a dialogue with the customers, companies developed various tools in getting customers to “talk” to them. These included different marketing research methods, from surveys to focus groups. Customer acquisition was then found to be more costly than customer retention. This discovery heralded in the concepts of customer relationship management and customer-centric marketing. The more companies reached for customer information, however, the further buyers and potential buyers seemed to pull back, from privacy concerns to message fatigue. This is why marketers continued to provide different incentives to encourage customers to give them information. The explosive advancement in technology in the last couple of
Feature decades has further complicated the job for marketers. As marketers appeared to be struggling to obtain customer information and feedback, social media and the Internet have the buyers and potential buyers busily engaging in a multi-logue where they are talking with themselves, with or without the participation of the marketers! Software companies are developing more innovative ways to track customer behavior so marketers can “tailor” their offerings to please their target audience. To say that the marketing field is erupting in more activities than marketers can monitor and manage is a gross understatement. The crucial question for marketers today is whether there is a better way. This brings us back to what the core purpose of marketing is. The American Marketing Association’s 2013-approved definition of marketing is “the activity, set of institutions and processes for
creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large.” It may be obvious to many that one of the issues with many marketing efforts is that the value for the society at large is more proclamation than reality. This begs the question of why it appears so difficult to attain this goal. If marketing is about building and nurturing customer relationships, then the essential concern is the relationships between the customers and whom? In offering a product or service to customers, a company is making a promise of a solution to a problem, whether it be cooling a house or providing mobile communication. Who are delivering and realizing promises for customers? The employees and channel partners. Yet, nowhere in the marketing process is there any recognition that value needs to be delivered to them as well. Ultimately, relationships cannot be built on
short-term metrics, whatever those may be, and any attempt to measure the effectiveness of marketing by such metrics would doom all marketing efforts. In this age of information overload and noisy communication, a paramount objective of marketing should be to simplify buyer decisionmaking through nurtured, longterm relationships. Only marketing efforts that create resonance, with or without the sale of a product or service, could realize eventual, mutually rewarding relationships. Marketing as a field needs a new paradigm, one that focuses not only on the customer with shortterm profit objectives. Meaningful marketing must be predicated on communicating the “why” of the company/product/service, and the building as well as nurturing relationships with employees and customers who resonate with the value statement of the why.
Kotler, Philip and Gary Armstrong (2016). Principles of Marketing, 16th Edition. US: Pearson Education, Inc.
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Chandrasekar, S.K. (2010). Marketing Management: Text and Cases. India: Tata McGraw-Hill Education Pvt Ltd.
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About the writer
Lillian L. Cheng is an independent consultant, researcher and trainer in marketing strategy, pricing and channels as well as authorised trainer of the Sheth Leadership Institute Singapore. She has consulted for various international businesses including high-tech firms, internet start-ups, luxury brand companies, fashion designers, entertainment companies, and Fortune 500 companies. Since 2015, SLAS launched four of its courses exclusively through the Marketing Institute of Singapore. The courses are namely Leading Organisation with Passion & Purpose for Performance, Corporate Innovation Management, Strategic Modern Market Orientation in Customer Centricity and Strategic Modern Market Orientation in Customer Centricity.
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the singapore marketer oct-dec’15
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Guru Talk
Protecting Your
Reputation in t he Ag e o f Ac ce s s
» By Harish Shah The Scenario
The Age of Access
A patron dining at a reputable restaurant chain one evening notices something moving in his plate. He whips out his smartphone and records. It’s a lizard. Before the patron calls for the restaurant staff to report the matter, he uploads the video onto Facebook. By the time the patron speaks to the staff and they work out the means to placate the patron, the video has gone viral, thanks to his friends who share it. By the time he gets home, someone has grabbed the video and uploaded it onto YouTube. Before dawn, the incident about the lizard is on numerous blogs and forums. Before the next evening, the incident is reported in a small tabloid or a fringe news website. The word spreads well beyond the street, the city, the state and the country the lizard was found.
The internet is global. It is borderless and it has no limits. Actions on computing or mobile devices are instant, with a tap or a click. It will then followed by a series of visible actions and immediate reactions. The adage that “no man is an island” applies more so to the internet than anything else we know, because through the web, we truly realise, how we are all interconnected. The restaurant company, or rather its Public Relations team, has no head-start or reaction time. Comments, captions, pictures or videos posted on Social Media travel faster than news reporters in their news vans. We live in a world today, where your local newspaper or news channels works to keep up with viral videos and online postings. We live in a world today, in which we have access. And that access will only continue to grow rapidly, for a long time ahead.
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Today, most of us in the first world own smartphones with data plans. We have applications on phones granting us access to platforms such as Facebook (the user population of which now exceeds the population of the world’s most populous country), Twitter, LinkedIn and the good old email. We also have applications like Tango, WhatsApp and Viber with which we can instantly communicate information around the globe without an additional cost, which can then be immediately forwarded, potentially leading to viral circulation.
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Viral circulation of content is something that you can plan and strategically trigger deliberately, with an intended advantageous purpose. That is Viral Marketing. Content going viral, however, is not something that necessarily needs to be planned or deliberately initiated. Consider for illustration that I upload something onto my Social Media profile that is visible to my contacts. They share what they see. Their contacts see what they have shared from me and share it too. And then it keeps going, as if it has a life of its own. That is how it works.
Reputation In business, your reputation is money. This is simply because your Brand Equity, the value of your name and the perception of it in your consumers’ minds, relies upon that reputation. A reputation for class, quality, value or reliability associated with your logo or brand name takes perhaps years to build. A single incident in the age of access can damage that reputation in days if not hours. And that is the reality of the present times we are living in. As we get ever more interconnected and the means of communication become ever more rapid, it may take mere minutes and then seconds, for your reputation to diminish. The future is about wearables and live logging, with high-quality audio and video with instant massstreaming. We’ve already had a preview of such products in the form of the HMD device from Google called Glass. With such products in consumers’ hands, you can expect information to be mass disseminated with a mere sliding motion of a finger.
The Public Relations Challenge In the old days, managing reputation or the image of your company or business was about managing interaction with a professional and organised community that controlled the media. That community was of journalists, editors, television channels and news publishers. That was before the internet put media into the hands of the masses, or in other words, in the hands of the society at large, thus giving birth to Social Media. The masses in the old days were dependent on the news providers or suppliers for information, including opinions and commentary. Today, virtually every citizen has access to channels and tools to supply and disseminate their information. This would include their opinions and commentary, which may very well be sentiment-laden. When dissemination of information was in the hands of a limited professional and organised community, organisations had to some degree, the power to control and influence that information with favourable spins. Now that the power to disseminate information is in the hands of practically anyone with access to the internet, the means to control or influence that information have diminished.
Guru Talk
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The best way to protect your reputation in the age of access is to maintain it with a culture of diligence.
Companies may through their Public Relations teams or external agencies enlist influencers amongst their targeted consumer groups to stimulate favourable opinions, memes, vibes and hypes. However, even the best efforts of such influencers to drown out opposing opinions or voices may not suffice to protect your reputation and brand value. In the age of access, consumers are more informed, therefore more intelligent. They recognise and know your strategies. As a result, a known strategy, is not very useful.
The Solution The solution to the Public Relations challenge in the age of access lies beyond communication, marketing, branding and public relations itself, or rather, before any of them. The solution lies with the business processes and the people running those processes. What affects brand equity or reputation after all, is not communication itself, but rather, whatever that is communicated. The best way to protect your reputation in the age of access is to maintain it with a culture of diligence. That culture of diligence can be built by hiring and retaining people who will practice diligence as their shared value. If nothing goes wrong, at least not badly enough to damage your reputation, your reputation cannot be damaged. After all, most
adverse impacts upon that costly and precious reputation result from human factors, be they errors or lapses. While a lizard sneaking into a restaurant kitchen and then crawling into food may be something that can happen anywhere to anyone, but a person who thinks about that possibility and then acts on that thought competently can at least minimise the chances of that from happening. To begin with, you need to hire conscientious thinkers who can think systematically about the work process that they are doing. Then, you have to empower them, listen to them and trust them. If there are loopholes in the processes, you should be able to trust your employees, to see those loopholes and plug them.
About the writer
Harish Shah is a Singaporean Professional Futurist and Management Strategy Consultant. He runs Stratserv Consultancy. His areas of consulting include Strategic Foresight, Marketing and Branding.
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the singapore marketer oct-dec’15
Âť By Gael Lee
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5
Copywriting Strategies fo r B u i l di n g Bra nd Authority
Business School
When customers are looking for a product or service in a particular category, they will most likely recall the brand they trust and see as most credible i.e., the brand with authority. If your brand is the one the customers think of first, then you’re doing well because brand authority supersedes a lower priced competitor. If it isn’t, then how do you communicate brand authority to potential customers? It is definitely a challenge especially since sometimes the only engagement your brand has with customers is via your marketing material. One way is to convey credibility and trustworthiness via your ad copy. The following five copywriting strategies can help you build brand authority for your product or service: Own the word, Use Analogy, Make Appropriate Word Choices, Ensure Contextualisation and Ensure Errorfree Copy.
Use Analogy
(Image taken from: samfoxschool.wustl.edu)
(Image taken from: equipmentworld.com)
Besides directly mentioning the word you want your product or service to be associated with, a more subtle way would be to use analogy to compare your product or service to something else. The comparison would highlight or clarify the word or quality that you would like to be associated with. A few years ago, NTUC Income put out an advertising campaign that compared their insurance product to a bowl of rice. They wanted to highlight that insurance is essential, as essential as a bowl of rice to our survival. A secondary comparison would be that their health and life insurance products are affordable, as a bowl of rice is. NTUC Income then was seen as the authority in affordable and essential insurance products.
Own the word What do you want your product or service to be known for? In Volvo’s case, they chose the word “safe”. And they mentioned or implied it in their ads.
(Image taken from: bigideacompany.com)
By associating the brand with the word “safe”, Volvo therefore owned the word when it came to automobiles. (Image taken from: theinspirationroom.com)
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Conversely, everyone notices (and not in a good way!) when the visual doesn’t co-contextualise the copy.
Make Appropriate Word Choices
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The word choices that you make for your copy will reinforce your branding, and hence help you establish brand authority for your particular product or service. Tiffany & Co usually chooses words that have emotional appeal and relate to romance and weddings. Words and phrases like “celebrating”, “the world’s greatest love stories”, “rest of my life” and “Will You?” allude to relationship happiness and marriage proposals. They establish Tiffany & Co as the brand authority on jewellery such as wedding, engagement, promise rings or celebratory jewellery.
(Image taken from: corporate-eye.com)
(Image taken from: myenglishwrittentaskblog.blogspot.sg)
Ensure Co-contextualisation Copy doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It works together with the visual(s) and design/layout to reach out and engage the target audience logically and/or emotionally. If the copy co-contextualises the visual(s) or vice versa, i.e. they go well together, then the message is clear and the audience will be appropriately engaged. Chupa Chupps promoted its sugar-free lollipops with a simple statement (“it’s sugar free) but the ad was impactful because the visual contextualised what the statement claimed. That humour used was a bonus. The co-contextualisation sealed Chupa Chupps’ position as a brand authority on lollipops, both sugared and sugar-free.
Co-contextualisation in ads is a given. No one should notice when copy and visual go well together. Conversely, everyone notices (and not in a good way!) when the visual doesn’t co-contextualise the copy. Without naming names, there was a bedding company that put out a topical ad promoting their product for Mother’s Day. The tagline was “Remembering Mum’s Love”. However, the visual was of a couple lying in bed with the man’s arms around the woman. Clearly, the visual did not co-contextualise the copy. In fact, it re-contextualised the copy and unintentionally added a nuance to the ad, one that did not help the brand establish authority for the product.
Business School
Ensure Error-free Copy Just like how co-contextualisation in an ad is a given, good grammar and error-free copy in your ad are also important. Grammar and language are mainly there to convey your message to your customers, not distract them from what you are trying to tell them. So if you do not proofread or check for grammatical errors, your efforts at establishing brand authority will go out the window. There was a fashion brand that had the tagline “Thank you for being suck a good friend�. The typo detracted from the brand’s effort at establishing brand authority in the category of affordable casual apparel. Then, there is this ad that had been doing the rounds on Facebook.
Who would have thought that spacing could cause branding efforts to backfire?
So, if you want to be seen as an authority in a particular product or service category, you should make sure your ad copy conveys the same sentiment through the above five strategies. From stating the word that you want to be associated with to ensuring that your visual co-contextualises the copy, ad copy can help build brand authority so that your product/service is seen as the best choice in that category and not merely one of the options. (All images are provided by the writer)
About the writer
Owner of bonyfish, a copywriting and corporate training business, Gael Lee has worked on copy for various industries including travel and leisure, food, delivery, finance and medical. She conducts a public workshop, Copywriting for Marketing Materials, at the Marketing Institute of Singapore.
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Digital Digest
Three Ways to your Customers Heart through
Digital PR
» By Marcus Ho Public Relations activities are all about emphasizing the interesting aspects of an organisation and crafting stories that position it to build trust and credibility. Sounds too bookish, right? Let me explain it to you using a more concrete and understandable example: dating. Scenario 1: You are in a party when you suddenly saw a gorgeous girl enter the door. You immediately go up to her and say, “I am very rich. Marry me!” This scenario is called direct marketing. Scenario 2: You are in a party with your friends when you suddenly saw a gorgeous girl enter the door. One of your friends saw her too, that’s why he approached the girl, pointed at your direction, and said, “That’s my friend and he’s very rich. Marry him.” This scenario is called advertising. Scenario 3: You are in a party when you suddenly saw a gorgeous girl enter the door. You got up and straightened your tie, then you walked up to her and ordered her a drink. As you left the party, you picked up her bag after she dropped it. You also offered her a ride home. As you opened the car door for her, you said, “By the way, I’m rich. Will you marry me?” The third scenario is called public relations. I guess that you will agree that among the three, public relations or PR is the most powerful in building trust and credibility for an organisation.
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With the advent of technology, print media as traditional PR is slowly losing its grip as people are now online.
The Impact of PR Marketing studies are aware of the impact of PR. Let’s see some statistics: 80% of business decisionmakers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement.
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73% (3.9 million) are Internet users
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59% (3.2 million) are active Facebook users
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70% of consumers prefer getting to know a company via articles rather than ads.
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148% (8 million) are active mobile subscriptions
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90% of consumers find custom content useful, and
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78% believe that organizations providing custom content are interested in building good relationships with them.
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Still not convinced? Out of the 5.4 million population of Singapore, the online readership data is growing:
In the past, we have been exposed to newspaper as the best traditional PR tool. With the advent of technology, print media as traditional PR is slowly losing its grip as people are now online. In Singapore, the Straits Times newspaper is seeing a decline in readership, with 29.5% in 2014 compared to having 42% readership in 2002.
Here are some fundamental shift in communication that you may not be aware of (but you are doing): •
You read the latest blog instead of buying a newspaper
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You check your email first thing in the morning in the office
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Facebook has changed the way you do networking
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You know some people who do not watch television anymore. Why bother when YouTube is there?
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You listen to podcasts most of the time, you no longer know its predecessor, radio.
Digital Digest
The Shift to Digital PR: Is it the same with Advertorial?
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Singapore fruit stall Ah Seng Durian (facebook.com/ ahsengdurian) is a Singapore humble fruit stall that became one of the largest and most popular durian stalls. When durian shortage took place in the recent years, Ah Seng Durian educated the public on the different types of durians and how to identify them through uploading photos on their Facebook Page. They did not only sell; they also informed consumers.
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By working with brands such as Qatar Airways, 3M, UnionPay, Absolute Vodka and Marco Polo Hotels, Social Metric (socialmetric.com) was able to hit two birds with one stone by brand building and helping the mentioned companies do digital PR right.
As people shift online to communicate, companies also make sure that they are present through the use of digital PR. However, most companies think that digital PR means advertorial. So they spend a lot of money on advertorials, thinking that they are doing Digital PR right. On the contrary, advertorials defeat the purpose of driving buzz! And besides, who reads advertorials nowadays? But there are some local brands that do digital PR right. Here are some of them: 1.
Morninghead (morninghead. com) is a Kickstarter project that can be best described as a bed head cure for messy hair in the morning. It is a shower cap-like product that absorbs water before it is placed on a user’s head; very easy to use and is convenient for people on the go. Inventor Max Valverde just published one video and it became a worldwide sellout and went #1 trending on Twitter.
What did these successful companies do to make their digital PR right? First, they identified their Master Narrative (the big message that they wanted to get across). Then, they found out the top 10 digital publication that their target audience reads. Afterwards, they started producing content and got them published on those sites.
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Amplify - Content with the surprise element usually gets loads of shares because of its shock value. Users gain value from content like this due to the unique information provided; they will then want to share this with their friends to inform or even impress them.
Digital PR Strategy: It is how contagious your content is The heart of every successful digital PR strategy is how you produce the message. It is how contagious the content is. If you have the right strategy, you can make the right content based on these three contagious content framework: Social Assets, Social Fanaticism and Social Antagonism.
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1.
Social Assets is where you consume and share content that create social currency for the brand. The three elements under this framework are: Advise - Content with practical value helps the users to have the outcome they like to achieve. Trending Triggers - These are a powerful source of content to connect with your audience, effectively putting your brand’s presence and image into the limelight. It is recommended that any news-related content should be posted up to three days after the news broke.
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Social Fanaticism is great or positive content. The high arousal positive emotion that a news radiates raises the willingness of the people to share more. The three components of this framework are: Inspire - Inspire by picking quotes that are relevant to your brand. Expand by telling a story or showing your brand’s values. Are there known individuals that are popular among your customers that have succeeded because they share the same value with your brand? Heartfelt - There are personal narratives that show vulnerabilities, nostalgia or gratitude. Amuse - Funny or humorous content that appeals to the general audience.
Digital Digest
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Pick common advises within your target market and go to the opposite of that. Just be sure it is still aligned with your brand’s promises. 3. Social Antagonism is the opposite of Social Fanaticism. Sad or negative emotions compel people to share content. Under this framework are: Anger - When you start questioning the boundaries of others, you are most likely to initiate anger. Pick common advises within your target market and go to the opposite of that. Just be sure it is still aligned with your brand’s promises. Fear - People cannot resist to taking action when motivated by fear, especially when they are unaware of common dangers and mistakes.
Anxiety - People hate losing things that they have. What is your target market’s missing out if they do not use your tools, systems, ingredients or processes? How will it impact them if they missed them out? Digital PR, just like dating, is not easy. Both takes time and effort. But if you have the right strategy, you will be on your way to making your customers say “Yes!” to your brand.
Sources: contentmarketinginstitute.com, contentplus.co.uk, engage.tmgcustommedia. com, readerspost.straitstimes.com, blog. webserves.org, marketeer.kapost.com
About the writer
Marcus Ho is the co-founder of SocialMetric and author of the national bestseller, Social Payoff.
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Learning Site
Are you ready to “go public”? » By Mark Laudi
You’re all set for the press conference: The venue is arranged, your slides are ready, your supporting materials are printed out, and the journalists and bloggers have confirmed their attendance. As you go through the dry-run of your presentation you feel a bit nervous, but you tell yourself that it is normal, even good to be a bit on edge. Your colleagues tell you that you’ll be fine, and not to worry about it. And then the press conference starts. The questions come. Tough questions. More difficult than you had expected. Ambiguous questions, questions on topics related to your industry, but not your company, questions about the broader economy, about politics. As
you stumble through, fudging one answer after another, you realise you needed a lot more practise. Finally, the press conference ends and you ask yourself whether you really achieved your goals. Clearly, there is much more to public relations than media engagement, but by definition you can’t expect to run a public relations campaign without being in the public eye. Yet, many executives are not comfortable with answering questions in media interviews. Many are also uncomfortable speaking at launches and events, delivering keynote addresses at industry seminars, or managing press conferences.
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The further away [your audience] sit from the front of the seminar or conference room, the less engaged they are likely to be.
Fact is, no one is a “born presenter”. It’s not just about how you look, how you sound, and whether you feel confident in front of audiences. It requires technique and finesse, and these skills need to be learnt, practised and refreshed. And things do change: 1.
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More distractions – as if getting your message across to your audience isn’t hard enough, audiences are increasingly distracted by their smartphones. Attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. The further away they sit from the front of the seminar or conference room, the less engaged they are likely to be. Even if you stay “on message”, will your message be heard, much less remembered? Tougher questions – social media has turned every blogger into a journalist and TV producer, except they don’t have an editor who they are responsible to. Some
technology companies say that most of the media in the room these days are not from traditional media organisations. Social media requires an entirely different approach to media interviews, yet many executives are completely unaware of the differences. 3. One article, many media – the lines between print and broadcast are completely blurred. Print journalists frequently bring a video camera with them, so that their interview with you can appear alongside their written article. Similarly, video or TV journalists frequently supplement their three-minute current affairs report with a background article or editorial commentary. And this article can appear in hard copy, as well as online.
So, here are three key tools to help you: 1.
Calm your nerves – prepare your messages well ahead of time, and role play scenarios with a reporter. Not just your PR adviser, but a real reporter who has experience in a variety of media, and a variety of media organisations, both local and foreign. Speak in slower, lower tones. And meet everyone at the press conference - or as many people as possible at the seminar, if it’s a keynote address.
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Give a memorable presentation – repeat your key points several times over, and bring in strong, visual examples to paint a picture in the minds of your viewers and listeners.
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Don’t repeat negatives – tell your audience what you are, not what you’re not. To demonstrate, what do these statements have in common:
Learning Site
“I am not a thief. I am not a traitor and will not betray Malaysians and Malaysia. I am not a leader who does not accept criticism as long as it is constructive.” – Najib Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia. “Those who accuse me of being corrupt must first prove this. But no one could do this because I am not corrupt.” – Sepp Blatter, FIFA President. “I am not a crook.” – Richard Nixon, US President. “I am not a tyrant.” – Thaksin Shinawatra, ex-Prime Minister of Thailand.
Clearly, all four speakers were refuting allegations and disagreeing with labels others had placed on them. Unfortunately, by repeating the negative words, they are actually linking themselves to the very words they are refuting. They are reinforcing them. It would be better to say, “I am honest”, than “I am not a crook,” or “I am not corrupt,” or “I am not a thief.” Similarly, it would be better to say “I am a leader who accepts constructive criticism” than leaving it ambiguous with the more convoluted “I am not a leader who does not accept criticism as long as it is constructive.”
One final point: once you have given the media interview, keynote address or press conference, keep practising! Media and presentation skills training is not a one-time magic wand that helps resolve nervousness, fine-tune messaging and deal with tough questions. And it’s best to practice with an ex-reporter who has real media experience, in a real television studio. It’s like stepping into a boxing ring. Train to be the heavyweight champion, and no lightweight journalist or blogger can knock you out. You will be confident, you will get your messages across, and your presentations will be memorable and impactful.
About the writer
Mark Laudi is a former CNBC television presenter and producer, who emcees and moderates many business events in the Asia Pacific region. He is the Managing Director of Hong Bao Media (Holdings) Pte Ltd, which produces content marketing videos at their content foundries in Singapore and Malaysia.
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the singapore marketer oct-dec’15
How to innovate - One small win at a time
Âť By Ken Hudson
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Learning Site
Disruptive innovation is everywhere it seems. There’s an ongoing fixation with the next Uber, Netflix, WhatsApp or Airbnb. Even perennial technology darlings such as Twitter or Facebook seem, well, so yesterday. It’s intoxicating, heady stuff as one technological change can seemingly transform an industry and lead to growth rates going through the roof. For every game-changing success, there are thousands of failures which are not so glamorous. The lesson, therefore, is to dream big but to have some perspective. I play golf, for example, but there is only one Tiger Woods (who is currently being disrupted by Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth). This does not mean that I cannot go out and enjoy a game of golf with friends.
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You do not have to be a big brand to practice what I call Small Wins Innovation.
But there is another lesson for all small and medium business owners from the stories about disruption. It ignores the small changes that can make a big difference. Think of the Qantas programme “Change for Good” for example. This is where passengers are invited to give their spare change to UNICEF in specially marked envelopes. The Change for Good programme has been running on every flight, every day for 23 years and has raised over $30 million dollars. It’s a small change that over time has delivered a big pay-off. Or consider Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign that started in Australia and is now being rolled out around the world. This is where Coke bottles are customised with the 250 most popular first names of teenagers and Millennials. This hugely popular campaign does not involve a whole new product, channel or business model but a small degree of customisation.
You do not have to be a big brand to practice what I call Small Wins Innovation. Consider the example of the Como Hotel in Melbourne where I recently stayed. On the whiteboard behind the reception was a hand-written scrawl from one of the members of Australian rock band INXS saying how much they enjoyed the Como hotel experience. This was a small gesture that made guests and staff feel quite special. Or consider the example of my local garage that left a note on the dashboard saying thank you for using their services. Think about Starbucks in the US that offers an edible Cookie Straw. In this example, even the smallest feature can make a huge difference. My point is this: Innovation does not always have to be disruptive. Small can be beautiful. It can also be faster, easier and more engaging with staff and customers.
Learning Site
There is another big advantage in this approach. Ideas are everywhere. Just like when you have your first child you suddenly notice that the world is full of the most amazing little people. Or you buy a new car and every second one on the road seems to be the same as yours. Armed with this mindset, you will suddenly see small ideas everywhere you go. I recently worked with an Adidas management team in Hong Kong and asked them to visit a nearby Starbucks and come back with three small things the coffee giant was doing well. Even the most battle-weary executives came back brimming with new ideas that they could then apply or adapt to the Adidas brand.
This example also illustrates the true nature of innovation. You have to search for new ideas rather than waiting in your office for inspiration to strike. It’s also about trying to make new connections between different brands, customers, markets and industries. The Small Wins Innovation approach is the ideal way to make big things happen. Sometimes our goals seem too big and intimidating but if you can lop them down into bite-size milestones, then you can make a start, ensure progress and gain momentum. Running in the City, for example, can be a daunting prospect if you have not exercised for a while but starting six months before the big event by going for a walk around the block is much more achievable. The next night you go for another slightly longer walk and so on. One small win leads to another and before you know it you have achieved your goal.
The small wins approach is the ideal way to bring about muchneeded change in the long-term while generating wins in the shortterm. Small Wins Innovation also means that you can try lots of little things and see what happens. And to borrow the lyrics from a Paul Kelly song – “from little things big things grow”. The key lesson? Innovation does not always have to be big, disruptive or expensive. Using a Small Wins approach offers a way to innovate which is fast, easy and sustainable.
About the writer
Dr. Ken Hudson is one of the most creative thinkers, speakers & consultants in Australia. He specializes in unlocking creativity and innovation in individuals, groups & teams – quickly! He is currently conducting two executive development courses at MIS, namely Marketing Creativity and Speed Thinking. www.drkenhudson.com
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Leadership plays a critical role and is the centrepiece of successful marketing. Without appropriate and effective leadership, organisations cannot pull off successful marketing strategies. Great marketers are exemplary and constructive leaders as reflected in the ways in which they treat their customers; demonstrate integrity and ethical behaviour. They invigorate and inspire employees’ commitment to quality and serving customers with pride. They are compassionate and they display great sensitivity when dealing with matters relating to culture, emotions and spiritual differences. Mr Roger Wang wears many hats as the President of MIS, President of Karate-do Union of Singapore (KUS), Managing Director of Essential Werkz and President of Pixel Inc Marketing. The importance of leadership for effective marketing can be demonstrated by the way Roger uses his leadership skills in his multiple roles to drive marketing excellence and customer value.
Q&A (Featured member)
Interview with
Mr Roger Wang
President, Marketing Institute of Singapore
As the President of Marketing Institute of Singapore (MIS), how has your vast experience in marketing and business management helped you in this leadership role? I have been running Essential Werkz, an integrated marketing agency, for the past 15 years. As a hands-on person by nature, I am very involved in various business functions such as marketing, human resources and operations. With these involvements, I have built up my leadership skills and capabilities in motivating my staff towards realising their full potential in the workplace.
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I always recognise the feelings of my staff as well as I empower them to stretch beyond their limits.
Wearing multiple hats as the President of various organisations, in your opinion, what sort of leadership style is more effective?
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I feel that an adaptive style is what sets great leaders apart and allow a leader to perform at any settings and in any organisations. Every organisation faces different sets of challenges and hence the same leadership style usually cannot be used across the board. Understanding the organisation’s structure and challenges are imperative in altering my leadership style accordingly to fit different culture and needs. I believe an emotionally intelligent leader with strong soft skills can inspire and influence people around him. I always recognise the feelings of my staff as well as I empower them to stretch beyond their limits.
As the president of KUS, there are nine affiliates within the Union. Each affiliate is formed by people who practice a unique style of Karate. With different styles, the committee members’ goals and beliefs vary as well, hence, my leadership style has to be adaptive accordingly. Despite using different leadership styles for the respective affiliates, the union works towards the same goal of promoting Karate as a national sport. Running KUS is a different as compared to running MIS. At MIS, I set the strategic direction with the executive council members who are domain experts in their respective fields. I also work with council members to roll out the institute’s mission, vision and objectives.
As a leader, how do you market yourself? I market myself as a thought leader and constantly arm myself with the right set of communication skills. Communication skills are critical in communicating my policies and plans to my staff and stakeholders and to get their buy-in. To be on top of the game, a great leader has to be confident in what he is doing.
Q&A (Featured member)
As an avid karate enthusiast as well as President of Karate-do Union of Singapore (KUS), you managed to integrate your passion for the Karate sport into your professional life. Does this help you in your personal development? Karate instilled courage and perseverance in me. In a business context, being courageous reinforced my analytical skills in accessing risk in making business decisions. The sport has also trained me to persevere despite repeated failures, be it in work or life. In karate, we are often knocked down by opponents and we have to get back up on our feet. You tend to learn much more from a game you lose than from one you win. How do you usually connect and reach out to your staff?
The marketing landscape has shifted towards digital, how do you keep yourself abreast of the latest trends and practices? Belonging to the generation before the digital age has not hinder me from continual learning. In this everchanging and highly competitive environment, you will be lacking behind if you do not integrate “digital” as part of your life. My main source of digital knowledge is from the younger generation. I work with a young and dynamic team who are very well-versed in social media. Through them, I have learnt how to engage with my friends through different digital platforms. Even now, I am still learning by a hands-on experience with various social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Liu Weide, Sales Executive, Essential Werkz Pte Ltd: “Roger empowers us in our work. He involves his staff as early as in the conceptualisation stage and always keeps an open mind for new suggestions. He also allows us to make mistakes and learn from them.”
I believe that a great leader communicates as well as listens to their staff. While strong leadership is fundamental to marketing excellence, an organisation can only succeed when employees at every level clearly understand the marketing plans and business goals. My communications with staff are usually 360 degree. Besides ensuring my instructions to employees are clearly passed down, I also encourage staff to provide honest feedback and suggestions on area of improvement.
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Marketing Institute of Singapore and Sheth Leadership Academy jointly organised a high level round-table discussion on 28 July 2015, held at MIS Executive Lounge. The by-invitation-only event had enthusiastic attendance from c-suite executives of various industries. Founder of Sheth Leadership Academy, Prof. Jagdish Sheth, gave his valuable perspectives on the topic “Building World Class Brands in Asia” followed by an interactive dialogue with the participants. High-profile participants such as Karen Yew, Head of Brand and Communication, Mediacorp, Dr Alok Bharadwaj, Senior Vice President - Corporate Strategic Group, Canon Singapore Pte Ltd , Sarah Lim, Director of Sales and Marketing, The Star Performing Arts Centre, Selene Daswani, Mentor, JFDI and Aju Murjani, Managing Partner, Asia Pacific & Japan, SpinifexIT Singapore Pte Ltd were among those present at the discussion.
A ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION
Building Marketing Excellence:
How to Build World-Class Brands in Asia
28 July 2015 / 410 North Bridge Road, MIS Executive Lounge Corporate brands in the global playground
Brand building: Asian vs Western marketers
Corporate brands that usually benchmark against the domestic competitors should move out from their comfort zones. There are three areas in which brands can excel in the global market.
Cultural aspects are critical especially in the ASEAN region. In brand building, marketers have to contextualise their brands to fit the local culture. For instance, it is inappropriate to use football theme for Coca-Cola’s branding advertisement in India, but cricket would be ideal. Consumption differences have a direct relationship with the local culture. Besides culture, one is also to note climate differences when planning for marketing activities. In Northern Europe, 40% fats are found in cheese as compared to only 2% fats in Mediterranean countries.
Firstly, Asian companies should take charge of their Research and Development (R&D) rather than outsourcing the function. Secondly, brands that operate locally should look beyond the local market and reach out to the global consumers. For instance, Alibaba and Amazon are global e-commerce platforms as compared to Flipkart and Snapdeal that cater to domestic demands only. E-commerce business is all about world-class supply chain. Thirdly, more corporate brands should place more emphasis on their packaging to attract more eyeballs.
Managing brand loyalty and novelty Brands have to create a lifelong journey to stay relevant to the society. In targeting the millennials, brands need to focus on something meaningful in their lives, not on hedonistic consumption. Google did nothing, yet did well In the past, brands are created through word-of-mouth. Advertising, positioning and marketing were not present. We can look up to Google as the model organisation that did not invest heavily in marketing, yet did the deal. Social media is a part of word-of-mouth engagement that comes with marginal cost but gives you powerful impact. That’s not all. Google is very smart in a slightly unrelated matter. Google hires bright students to work long hours as a Monday-to-Friday routine is not programmed in a student!
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Shaping customers’ expectations is much more important in services industry than exceeding customers’ expectations.
Service Marketing
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There are three elements to service marketing. Firstly, services being intangible, there is a need to make it tangible. Companies can have an icon that reflects the nature of the business. By doing so, it gives the service a form of identity. Secondly, the services industry is in co-creation constantly. Service industries have very close contact with users, which means customers can easily cause damage to the company’s excellence. For instance, in the healthcare industry, doctors cannot work without the patient co-operating. Companies have to educate their customers to behave and co-operate with them. Shaping customers’ expectations is more important in a service industry than exceeding customers’ expectations. Thirdly, service industries have an ongoing activity that is relational upfront. Product industries can be transactional. One can buy a
product today and buy from another source tomorrow, whereas, there are continuity and loyalty in the service industries. Customers surrender their choices the day they sign up with a telephone operator or bank. Therefore, who destroys the relationship? There is an annuity model. One has to think about the life time relationship of the customers. The marketers mess up! Where do they mess it? Banks upgrade their platforms very regularly. Staff are trained from time to time on using their new system or software. They never train their customers. Operational Excellence for Services The way an airline handles flight delays will affect its customer experience. I recently flew from the USA to India. From Atlantic City to Newark and to Mumbai, United Airlines’ IT network crashed! Due to that, operation stopped, and the
flight was delayed. The handoff was so poor. They did not take in the users’ views in many ways. Rather than getting the cooperation of the passengers, the airline created a rebellion among them. Every mistake a marketer makes in his operation destroys the relationship altogether. Life-long customer equity can be acquired, but is fragile in the service industries. One incident in a service company and all the loyalty will go down the drain, along with all your investment. That is why operational excellence is a lot more critical in the services industries. Excellence can be achieved in service industries differently. Emphasis should be placed on institutionalizing the processes so that they are independent on your side as well as your customers’ side. How do you organize that? Total Quality Management is a lot more important in the services industries than in the products industries.
Singapore’s soft power It is none other than Singapore’s Founding Father, First Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Lee was an inspirational leader who converted the country from a third world country to first world one. Singapore has also leveraged its national assets in creating the private sector. In other words, capitalisation is driven by state enterprises. There are many boards here that are run by corporations in many ways. In
terms of corruption, the government took a stance by paying the highest wages and creating progression in career pathways for bureaucrats. For marketing, everyone says Singapore is the best marketer. Economic Development Board and Singapore Tourism Board have done a remarkable job in marketing. Gardens by the Bay is beyond excellent. It is not just the best but goes beyond what most advanced nations can do.
What is missing? Singapore can do better in “Internal Marketing”. Emphasis is placed on external activities but what has not been done is to have a recipe of what Singapore stands for as a nation. Everyone does their own marketing. EDB and STB etc, but Singapore needs a common architecture that delivers the standard message, a message that sets everyone in the same direction.
About Professor Jagdish Sheth and Sheth Leadership Academy
A consultant to global corporations and national governments, Prof. Jagdish Sheth separates the chaff of management trends from the wheat of genuine insight into how organisations can grow and thrive in the face of constant challenge. As a thought leader, he has made hundreds of presentations to business leaders, academic scholars, and public policy makers from around the world. Prof. Sheth is a prolific author of more than 400 research papers and 40 books. His insights on marketing, global competition, strategic thinking, geopolitics and emerging markets are considered revolutionary. He provides timely advice to aid business leaders and policymakers looking to develop long-term positioning strategies for the future. Prof Sheth’s business insights are delivered through the Sheth Leadership Academy (SLA), with materials designed to drive immediate results through proven tools and actionable practices. The Marketing Institute of Singapore (MIS) is proud to partner with Sheth Leadership Academy (SLA) to bring an exclusive series of Strategic Thought Leadership seminars for the first time in Singapore. Cultivating the Next Generation of Business Leaders For more details on the courses, go to www.mis.org.sg/seminars/stl or write to seminars@mis.org.sg.
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SPOTTED
oct-dec’15
Marketing Guru Talk:
Harness the Power of LinkedIn for Business 17 June 2015 410 North Bridge Road, Marketing Institute of Singapore
Chris J. Reed, Global CEO of Black Marketing explains the versatility of the LinkedIn platform.
Speaker getting questions from the floor.
50 Marketing Guru Talk:
Bridging the Digital Divide between Online Marketing and Inbound Calls 20 August 2015 410 North Bridge Road, Marketing Institute of Singapore
Gunther Scherz, Director of AVANSER, sharing statistics on various platforms used by marketers for tracking.
Participants had an enriching networking session prior to the talk.
What’s Up
Organiser: Marketing Institute of Singapore Email: events@mis.org.sg / 6411 1630 Website: www.mis.org.sg/membership/events
Make smarter business moves with analytics According to a recent Forbes report, 89% of business leaders believe analytics will revolutionise business operations. Analytics not only provides marketers with valuable insights but also serves as the driving force behind the effectiveness of digital marketing. Date: 27 Oct 2015 Time: 1.30 pm – 4.30 pm Venue: i.cube Level 4, Pickering Operations Complex (POC) 20 Pickering Street Singapore 048658
Understanding your customers’ behaviour and preference helps you drive targeted messages across different digital and social platforms, allowing you to communicate with them more effectively. In collaboration with the Marketing Institute of Singapore (MIS), Singtel invites you to a complimentary workshop on Digital Marketing analytics and WiFi analytics (worth $1,200). Learn how to increase your digital presence and give your business a sharper competitive edge. Key Take Away Points:
The event is complimentary.
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Learn how analytics enables you to gain insights on your customers so as to develop effective marketing strategies
Contact: 6327 7583 Email: events@mis.org.sg Website: www.mis.org.sg/membership/ events
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Understand how to put together an effective web measurement programme to define and improve marketing ROI
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Acquire skills to better market your products or services to your target audience using the right tools and platforms
Speakers: Ivan Wong Digital Consultant, QCG Janice Ong Managed Network Services, Singtel
*MIS reserves the right to amend the programme without prior notice.
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MIS WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS JOINED FROM JUN-AUG 2015
Individual Members Choi Ho Man Mah Wenmiao Han Lin Sieu Li Han Jamie Seah Ian Chew Lee Pei Check Lee Pei Xin Patrick Ng
Chow Kok Weng Chai Hwei Tang Janice Chan Agustina Fitri Theresa Lim Lim Yong Zhou, Joe Tanujaya Selvi Syson Lesley Jane Ho, SC
Davis Lisette Madeline Tan Pamela Goh Ng Min Yen Anh Vu Ho Soi Nam Ng Toshiba Cheng Charlene Boh Julian Barrans
Corporate Members Credit Counselling Singapore Society antics@play (Antics Holdings Pte Ltd) Techsource Systems Pte Ltd Kohler Singapore Pte Ltd
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd Tickled Media Pte Ltd Singapore University of Technology and Design
Samsung Asia Pte Ltd Planet Asia Pte Ltd Embassy Alliance Travel Sdn Bhd
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