Group Blog » Consumers

Correcting Misbehaviour Without Smacking

cjones — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:19:02 +0000

Brands need to approach their customers in the same way that two adults approach each other in conversation, if brands are open in the tone and content with which they communicate, if they are clear what they expect from their customers and what they will get in return and if they are authentic in the channels they use and the messages they deliver, then the conversation will flow.

Brands and their agencies need to allow their customers to take the lead, challenge and interfere with the brand, products and services. The role of the agency is to act as a pathfinder and encourage the collaboration which leads to positive contributions from all interested parties in the shared passion around the brand.

Brands need to learn that consumers have sometimes more passion about a brand than they realize and this passion can be a brand’s biggest advocate or its biggest detractor depending on the way in which the brand has engaged and collaborated with them.

So brands need to embrace their customers’ misbehaviour, not ignore them!

To view Chris Lovell’s discussion on his Campaign Integration Essay 2009, ‘No need to smack’, please visit www.campaignlive.co.uk

Chris Lovell, Group CEO

Power to you!

cjones — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:00:10 +0000

This week Campaign ran the headline ‘Giffgaff encourages users to get involved with the brand’. It is a new mobile phone company which puts the customer at the centre of its business. The proposition is that as a customer, the more you give Giffgaff the more you will get back, they want advertising ideas, product developments, Apps and of course more customers recommended by existing customers. They claim that as a customer you could get 100% of your call for free if you give a lot to the company!

Marketing spin or reality, time will tell but one thing is for sure, whether you are the worlds largest corporation, or a new start up, putting your customer at the heart of your business and letting them collaborate with you, your brand and the way in which you do business with them is the only successful path in the future

How agencies and consultancies react and enable this process of collaboration between Brands and consumers is still a big question, one that many agency networks have not even thought of let alone started to solve……coming out of recession it will be interesting to see which agencies revert back to the old way of working and which take the brave new path.

Chris Lovell, Group CEO