The Persuaders

The Persuaders” takes a look at advertisers today and their attempt to break through the clutter and connect with their target consumers. People have become numb to the traditional ads and commercials, so companies are having to do things to resonate in consumers’ minds. Challenges like DVRs makes it even harder for products to be seen, so advertisers are having to find interesting and intelligent ways to stand out and not get lost in the white noise of traditional advertising. Guerrilla marketing and product placement in movies and television shows are two great examples of ways to do that.
Additionally, brands are hiring companies that solely spend time trying to analyze what goes on in the minds of these consumers and how these companies can more strategically connect with them, whether it is specific words, colors, or even subliminal techniques. For example, Dr. Rapaille was hired by a fragrance company, among thousands of his other Fortune 1,000 companies that he has worked with, to use his three step technique in order to find the consumers’ unconscious needs which drive consumption.
His three step process begins with first relating to a consumer’s reasoning. He says that, “people have no idea why they choose what they choose and I have to get to the bottom of it.” He picks a word and then has the focus group think of all other words they think relate to that word. This reasoning starts with the cortex. Dr. Rapaille says that this step is crucial because it lets each individual feel proud about how smart they sound within the group. This is important because in order to get to the core primal state, these feelings and emotions must be gone. Between the first and second steps there is a break in the testing in order to let everyone regroup.
The second step appeals to the emotions of the focus group. Here he says, “Tell me a story as if I were a five year old from a different planet.” In this step the individuals don’t feel the need to be logical or intelligent. While going through this step they get confused and lose sight of their purpose which Dr. Rapaille says is a very important step in the process as well. After the second step is over they take a long break again.
The final phase taken by Dr. Rapaille is to appeal to the primal core. In this phase the testers enter the room to find all of the chairs missing with pillows in their places. Everyone is asked to lie down and jot down notes about the first time they experienced the word that they are trying to understand. This is the key to the reptilian hot buttons. He also comes up with a secret “code” that enables a company to sculpt, create and check their products. This code has been beneficial for Boeing in developing their new 2009 Dreamliner. The code was used for development of new airplane seat covers, new overhead bins, and other top secret alterations throughout the plane.
Song airlines, which is a branch from Delta Airlines, is another company that has hired a professional marketer and brand manager, Andy Spade, in order to help differentiate their products and services from other airlines. They seek to invent a new culture around flying. Their target market is “Cari” a strong working mother with three children, a working husband, SUV and Sports car, who shops at Target and Nieman Marcus. They are differentiating their product with organic products, low fares, and more entertainment. Additionally, their use of bright colors and flow-like themes is exhilarating, and in my opinion brings a fresh look to the airline business. Their “emotional” road to promoting song is creative, but some employees say they need communication that drives commerce, not just emotion. I think that Song has a great idea going for them, especially in an industry that has such a negative connotation. It seems like they are bringing the Apple and Google corporate culture into the airplane world, and I really like that. On the other hand, I know it is to their huge disadvantage that Delta is doing poorly and they are their mother company. Ultimately, I think that sales will follow if Song keeps doing what they are doing; they just need to remember to keep their costs as low as possible because their marketing budget is decreasing by the minute.

The In's and Outs of Marketing Research

“Kenna’s Dilemma: The Right- and Wrong- Way to Ask People What They Want” by Malcolm Gladwell is a very interesting piece of writing that talks about the troubling faults, mysteries and difficulties of retrieving consumer research and information about products in the marketplace. Although all of the lessons throughout the article are important for researchers to understand, I think the two most important lessons are learned from the Pepsi versus Coke challenge for market share and from the Christian Brothers Brandy and E & J Brandy example.
The Pepsi Challenge demonstration of marketing research is interesting because it brought consumers to the forefront of making a decision on camera about which cola was better tasting. This was controversial for Coke because not only were they losing market share, consumers actually thought Pepsi’s products tasted better during these quick sipping taste tests. Because Coke’s reputation was heavily based on its “secret recipe,” Coke felt as though they had to react quickly in order to maintain their leadership in the market. New Coke was produced, favored in pre-market taste tests, and was launched with much confidence. And what did Coke achieve? Nothing. Failure. And Why? Listen carefully: I think that for marketers to grasp the understanding of consumers’ beliefs, feelings, and opinions about a product they have to throw all of the rules of marketing research out the window, but in a strategic manner. In any research project a marketer needs to know that numbers are reliable, but they are not and will never mean everything in every scenario, and should not trigger every marketing decision that is made within a company. This example, in the exact opposite way, is extended in the Aeron chair market research. Aeron’s rankings for look and comfort during product research were low and unpromising, which is opposite of what happened for New Coke. They were doubtful that it would be successful but extended it to the market anyway. It became a huge success and now can be found in office buildings across the world. I used one all summer in my internship, (although it may not be the Aeron brand because of the increased competition for the “skeleton chairs” in the market today,) and I found it very neat to read about the chair’s history. My case in point is that Coke and Aeron experienced first hand how market research can be very wrong about the success of a product and marketers need to take this into consideration which may mean to follow their gut instead of their gadgets.
The other important lesson that should be learned by marketers is that a simple change, such as the size, shape, color, font, or label on a bottle or package could be the determinant of which brand succeeds in a competitive landscape. I know that if I am apathetic or not loyal to a brand, I almost always pick the combination of best price for quality and quantity, and then my second variable in choice is the appeal of the packaging for the product. This is especially important in alcohol purchases because most of the lower level liquors taste the same, and so on as you travel up the ladder to “top-shelf” products. The bottle of the product is a sort of staple to a person’s fashion sense and can be a trendy accessory when walking into a party. Christian Brothers conducted market research on their products because there were exact and reliable quantitative ways to understand why they are not performing well against a certain competitor. All marketers should really analyze their own mind processes in making decisions, along with the market research, in order to find the critical downfall of a product in order to make it better in the long run. For example, I am not loyal to any certain bottled water. The other day in the store I chose to buy Glaceau Smart Water because of the packaging. It was interesting and I felt “modern” when holding it. I have no doubt that this company has obtained positive reinforcement about their packaging, and thus will continue to use their sleek bottle.