Tim Manners

Truth, Lies & Loyalty

Tim Manners — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:04:47 +0000

Let's just get this straight once and for all: There is no such thing as brand loyalty. Each of us likes certain brands and may even love them. We may buy them most of the time, or perhaps even every time. But the idea that we have a true bond with any brand, like the kind of commitment we have in real life with our friends and family, is a farce. This doesn't mean we shouldn't try to create that kind of loyalty; most of us tell ourselves that's the end game and it's always important to aim high.

What it does mean is that we should take a harder look at how we go about creating what we call loyalty. We need to admit that coupons, discounts, points and prizes are just beanbags. We ought to spend more time thinking about the stuff that really matters to people, and serve that up each and every day.

That means products and services that really and truly solve problems and help people live happier lives. Providing a helping hand when someone really needs it, and smiling because we truly mean it. It's not because the customer is always right (nobody's perfect). It's because it's up to us to make it right. We may not get the same kind of loyalty we enjoy with our family and friends, but we'll have more fun, and so will everyone else. Loyalty is what we make it.

Room 4 Us?

Tim Manners — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:48:37 +0000

I've never been to Bergdorf Goodman, the fancy Manhattan department store, much less its Room 4. You've probably never been to Room 4, either. It's the dressing room in Bergdorf's personal shopping department, where the rich or famous are pampered with champagne or food as they check out really nice clothes and stuff, selected exclusively for their consideration.

I only know about Room 4 because Alan Feuer of the New York Times wrote about it, and I assume he wrote about it because Bergdorf invited him in. Alan describes Room 4 as "peach-walled" and tricked out with wi-fi, zebra-patterned ottomans, three-way lighted mirrors and generally flattering atmospherics. He also quotes Todd Okerstrom, whom he describes as "Bergdorf's immaculately clad director of personal shopping."

Todd says, "Everything is possible here," but suggests the experience is more about convenience than luxury. "The time factor is enormously important," he explains. Alan wonders if it's "a blind spot of the boutique trade to create false divisions among the comfortable, the rich and the extremely rich" like this. I wonder if it's a blind spot in retail to create those divisions between those folks and everybody else. Is there Room 4 the rest of us? What do you think?

Happy Zappos

Tim Manners — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:49:45 +0000

Next week, I'm slated to interview Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com for the next issue of the Hub. In the spirit of "social media," I'd like to invite you all to send me possible questions (except questions about the Amazon deal, because Tony can't talk about that). Please click on the "comments" link below and submit your question. Thanks! ~ Tim

Rogue Receipts

Tim Manners — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:46:47 +0000

It seems retailers have decided that cash-register receipts are pretty darn hot as media, report Ilan Brat and Ann Zimmerman in the Wall Street Journal (9/2/09). As a result, even the smallest purchase can result in a receipt a foot long, full of coupons and other stuff. You'll notice this at Duane Read stores, where purchasing a pack of gum comes with twelve-inches of proof, and RadioShack, where "single-item buys" yield "19 inches of paper." If you buy just one thing at Kmart, you will likely get a receipt that's about two-and-a-half feet long. Granted, some shoppers appreciate the coupons, but others are just annoyed.

"You feel like you have a very special document in your pocket, when in fact you bought a Sprite at Best Buy," says Jack Britton, who now refuses receipts. But retailers see it differently. Home Depot uses receipts to advertise shopper surveys, and it's very effective. "Prior to 2003, we used customer-comment cards in store, and they got nowhere near the level of response," a spokesman says. NCR, the cash-register maker, also says that redemption rates for receipt coupons "can run as high as three percent, about triple the rate" for direct-mail or circular coupons.

Kroger uses the tapes to inform shoppers how much money they've saved, item, by item, with totals both for each trip and the year to date. Another two inches is devoted to notifying "shoppers if an item they'd previously purchased had been recalled." However, some retailers, like Walmart, are taking steps toward receipt reduction by testing "doubled-sided receipts." Lowes is reducing receipt length for a "one-item purchase to 5.5 inches from 7.2 inches." Apple, meanwhile, has offered emailed receipts since 2005. Good way to build a database, too. What do you think?

Call & Response

Tim Manners — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:51:06 +0000

Some people say that there's no such thing as new media or old media, that it's all just media. We now know that this just isn't so. Old media were just channels through which messages were communicated in hopes of influencing attitudes or, even better, changing behavior. Those kinds of media can still pack a punch sometimes. But they are starting to look rather primitive compared to new media, which are more than just vehicles for our advertisements and promotions.

These new media -- which are usually (but not necessarily) digital media -- are different because they're all about call and response. Sometimes it's the brand calling and the shopper responding, while other times it's just the opposite. These new media are also different because, while they're still about the delivery of messages, they are not the neat and tidy messages of marketing's ever-present past. These new media messages can be upbeat, positive and cheerful, but they can also be angry, negative and mean.

In other words, these new-media messages are about real people living their lives in the real world, and that's the real beauty of new media. Marketing has a problem, and it is precisely this disconnect between what happens in marketing and what happens in real life. It is a gap that new media bridge with astonishing efficiency and effectiveness. Can we measure that? Maybe, maybe not -- certainly not in the traditional sense. But we can count on it to connect with our shoppers in ways we have only begun to imagine. May the old media rest in peace. What do you think?

Tide Turns

Tim Manners — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 05:48:12 +0000

Last November, two managers walked into a meeting and turned the tide at Procter & Gamble, reports Ellen Byron in the Wall Street Journal (8/6/09). "Just listen and keep an open mind," Suzanne Watson, one of the managers, told a roomful of executives. Her message was that P&G should introduce a bargain version of its iconic Tide detergent, whose strategy has always been to persuade shoppers to pay a higher price for a better product. P&G actually had already gone the downscale route with its Charmin and Bounty brands, but Tide is the company's best-selling brand in America.

That P&G decided to test the idea in about 100 Kroger and Walmart stores in Southern states says a lot about the American economy, but it also represents a shift from P&G's "new and improved" mantra to something decidedly less aspirational. "Now, some of the biggest innovations in our company are geared toward making products more affordable," says P&G's Bruce Brown. That's at least partly because P&G was creating products for developing countries, but now they're applying that kind of cheap and cheerful know-how at home.

The new Tide product, called Tide Basic, is powdered, boxed, and contains less of "the anti-pilling and color-preservation technologies embedded in regular Tide." It was created using "the company's existing fragrances, whitening agents, stain-fighting enzymes and other technologies," and costs about 20 percent less. The packaging is yellow -- not Tide's trademark orange -- picked precisely because P&G hopes it will "discourage current Tide users" from trading down and cannibalizing sales. The question, of course, is whether Tide Basic will boost sales, damage Tide's brand equity, or both. What do you think?

Split Screen

Tim Manners — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:47:50 +0000

A brand divided against itself cannot stand. Or can it? The strongest brands are those that remain true to that which made them strong to begin with. The weak are those that forget what made them relevant and lose their way. Seems to me there was a book about that recently. And yet, we have Google, which makes all of its money selling advertising, but doesn’t invest much in advertising for itself. There’s Nike, whose use of recycled materials is often at cross-purposes with its reputation for “performance.”

We now live in a world where Toys ‘R’ Us owns FAO Schwarz and the Penske Automotive Group, a retailer, owns Saturn, a car company. Then again, we live in a country where an African-American man with a Muslim name is President of the United States. These curious bundles of contradictions aren’t purely an American phenomenon, though. In Germany, BMW is encouraging its factory workers to buy the cars they make. Factory workers buying luxury cars! Imagine that. They couldn’t be serious.

Or could they? Oh, probably not. But just think about that for a moment. Google’s strength is its weakness. Nike’s weakness is its strength. BMW may just be smoking something. It is indeed a delicate balance between strengths and weakness where brand identity is concerned — witness the rise of store brands as innovative rivals to national brands. Like much of the rest of marketing, things are not always as they seem, but a world of possibility resides within brand-identity contradictions. What do you think?

Saab Story

Tim Manners — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:58:08 +0000

To me, the whole Saab thing started the first time I walked into Saab of Westport, and only moments after the sales guy had learned my name, he threw me a set keys and said, "Go for a drive." Instant trust, the likes of which I had never experienced in an auto showroom before ... or since. The car itself was comfortable, and just felt like home (of course, you should see the house where I grew up (pdf link). Saab is often described as "quirky," mainly because the ignition is between the seats. Naturally, this oddity is exactly what sold me on the car.

That was about nine years ago, and back then, the car was snappy. Today, it's crappy. To be fair, the car probably handles as well as it did before -- maybe better. It is probably just as reliable -- I never had any problems with either of my two Saabs. But somewhere, somebody got the strange idea that the headlights should be enrobed in heavy chrome and the tail lights should look like they came out of a gumball machine. There's just no way I was going to sit inside a car that took its visual cues from Willy Wonka. But, until then, Saab had me pegged.

"It was seen as a discerning choice," industry analyst Tim Urquhart told USA Today. "A quality car, but not an obvious statement," adding, "Without being too rude about it, GM sucked all the brand value out of it." Maybe that will change now that Saab's been acquired by Koenigsegg Automotive, a maker of million-dollar sportscars. Christian von Koenigsegg says his goal is indeed to re-connect with Saab's heritage, as "neither a luxury nor a people's car," and with "a bit of postmodern comfort, sport, but with environmental thinking." Whatever that means. What do you think?

Brooks vs. Banana

Tim Manners — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:56:38 +0000

It's not every day I buy a nice, new shirt, but it was the only way I could get out of buying a new pair of shoes. It was just one of those little negotiations that makes my life so interesting and really requires no explanation to anyone who knows how I dress. So, I headed down to Main Street with my fashion advisor, who doubles as my daughter. Our first stop was Banana Republic, which oddly enough is my favorite place to buy socks. I figured buying a shirt there ought to be a snap. We head straight for the back of the store, which is where they hide the stuff for men.

Sure enough, there's a wall full of men's shirts. Jackpot. Oh, and a table of them right in front of us, too. As we're standing there, trying to make sense of it all, a young fellow with a hand cart, tilted, with some boxes on it, stops and asks if we need any help. Uh, yeah. I'm looking for a shirt. He appears to be stumped, so I help him out. These are your shirts, right? He nods, informs me that there are more shirts up front, and moves on. Well, these shirts were $79 each and didn't look like anything special.

So, we head up the street to Brooks Brothers, even though the place kind of scares me. We find the shirts (also $79) and are immediately approached by a fancy salesman, which was what I was afraid of. He asks -- what size? -- and I hesitate. He says, "I'll measure you." He does, we find a nice, pin-striped shirt, which he promises never has to be ironed. We'll see. Anyway, he's ringing me up, and asks if I wear suits at work. Um, no. He smiles, tells me his name is Daniel and hands me his card. And I'm thinking, two $79 shirts, one that comes with some help, a promise and a smile. What is Banana Republic thinking? Your thoughts?

Man Oh Manny's

Tim Manners — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:18:59 +0000

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon wandering through Manny's Music on 48th Street in New York City, also known as Music Row. It's a big, wide-open store, with guitars hanging in every nook and cranny. You can take them down yourself and put them back, without some pesky salesguy bugging you. Unlike a lot of other music stores, you can find your own little corner and play in peace, without feeling like you're being sized up, or down. The guitars aren't necessarily unusual, but the experience certainly is.

Look up, and you might be sitting under a framed receipt, signed by Jimi Hendrix. Look over, and you'll see a wall full of autographed photos from just about every legend of music you could imagine, because they all shopped at Manny's. Look across, and puzzle over the famous, beaten up, broken down yellow guitar, for years used by customers to sample gadgets. One of those customers, George Harrison, wanted to buy the guitar, but Ian Goldrich, Manny's owner, wouldn't sell it. Now it rests, its broken-off peghead at its side, museum-like, in a plexiglas case.

Manny's is -- or was -- wholly unlike the Sam Ash store across the street, which is a cramped and noisy little warren of a store. I say "was" because, while Sam Ash has none of the character of Manny's, it owns Manny's ... and has just killed Manny's. Sadly, Ian Goldrich understands. "The fact is it's still the most famous music store in the world from a historical perspective ... but not from a business perspective," he told the New York Times. The photos, the memorabilia and the yellow guitar have been removed and placed in storage, and the spirit that was Manny's will be replaced by "a giant Sam Ash guitar shop." Damn. Your thoughts?