Recently I began working with a client who has a new treatment for a rare cancer. As their agency we’re building their communications, and that process typically starts with understanding the patient and physician needs through research.

But it dawned on me how much personal experience I already have with cancer. Like so many of us, I have relatives and friends who have suffered (and are suffering right now).

My old auntie – who I’m very fond of – is in her 80′s and is in palliative care. Since her diagnosis 5 yrs ago, she has never complained about her illness and her discomfort. When we visit her, she simply focuses her energy on nagging us and making bad jokes, with a big smile! I’m always humbled when I see her.

I have an uncle in his 70’s, who has leukemia and dementia, and the burden on my extended family is incredibly difficult.

It’s not just the elderly. A friend of my wife who is in her 30′s was diagnosed last year, and (thankfully) successfully recovered. To know someone this young who has cancer was shocking to everyone that knows her.

You probably have similar stories that you can share.

The point is this. So many diseases that we work in, seem like they happen to people we don’t personally know. Cancer is different. For many people it’s very personal and is a daily conversation. So when I approach a marketing challenge, or discuss strategy, or review a concept, more than ever I’m wondering if the idea we’re proposing is better for the company or better for the patient?

Ultimately, in our roles, we have an obligation to both company and the patient, but I have a feeling in this case the nagging voice of my old auntie will be top of mind!

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It takes significant investment and discipline to build a great brand with a clear and consistent purpose, but too often as a marketing or brand manager it can feel like your getting sucked into the weeds, where everyone is focused on the hot topic of the day – or what I call “A FIRE DRILL”.

It could be a competitor press release; a regulatory body requesting you pull a campaign; internal personnel changes, or more commonly it is internal politics, where competing interests are challenging your resolve. It can derail your big picture focus, and before you know it, you’re chipping away at the brand equity (or the trust) that you’ve worked hard to earn in the eyes of your customer. So how do you know if these fire drills are having an effect on your decisions?

“Playback”

Playback is essentially a quick brand audit – an internal exercise you can do right now. Gather together all the product data, services and communications that make up the total brand experience, and lay them out on a table. Make sure you’re bringing in historical branded engagements because your customer has probably interacted with your brand from Day 1.

Now, with a bird’s eye view, what can you see? Is the brand promise clear? Is it consistent? Is there confusion? Is there complexity where there doesn’t need to be?

Next, sketch out the journey your customer takes (before treatment, at the point of treatment and while they are on treatment). Now layer all the brand engagements your product has created ontop of that customer journey.

Is your brand engaging with your customer at a point of relevance to them – or to you? Are we using the appropriate media? Have we understood the context of need at each point along the journey? Hopefully this exercise can go some way to showcasing where your brand may or may not be meeting all of its obligations to the customer.

The kids keep demanding more and more…

How many times have you been in market research and a few of you in the back room jump on a comment that a grumpy customer makes? Before you know there is talk of a new campaign!

How many times have you presented to the sales team, and been told that the campaign is getting old, and we need something new to talk about?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting we should be blind to feedback. Brands should be dynamic. As a brand steward, you should be opportunistic about offering new ways of telling the story, but it when it comes to changing fundamentals – brand stewards must stick to clear brand management principles:

1. Have a clear brand strategy process (some call ‘annual brand planning’)
2. Have effective internal structures
3. Have a monitoring process in place

Regarding point 3, when it comes to monitoring, pharma companies typically measure brand success based on financial goals. But the best companies (Gilead and Pfizer being two such example), set up controls to understand and track their brands equity – the emotional relevance to their target customer – and have a clear sense of what services and communications matter. (note – digital media has also opened up new opportunities in regards to how we can measure relevance, with real time analytics)

Summary:

In conclusion brand stewardship is hard. You’ve got to set direction; be opportunistic, but at the same time maintain strategic integrity in the face of competing interests.

If “FIRE DRILLS” are overwhelming, empower your communications agency to help. The best agencies can be an effective strategic partner, setting up process, providing brand strategy leadership, identifying insight, and implementing measures that can help direct decision making and build consistent customer communications and services.

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That’s why I love quotes. You can pin them to your wall (easy), and hope they eventually rub off into action (hard). It’s a cop out I know, but I do try!

Here are the quotes pinned to my wall.

1. It’s no use just winning – you’ve got to win well - Bill Nicholson
2. Imagination is more important than knowledge – Albert Einstein
3. Stay hungry. Stay foolish – Steve Jobs 
4. Speed is often confused with insight. When I start running earlier than others, I appear faster - Johan Cruijff
5. Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe – Abraham Lincoln
6. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view; until you climb into his skin and walk around in it - Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird
7.  We get up in the morning. We do our best. Nothing else matters - Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
8.  Be the change you want to see in the world – Mahatma Gandhi

Tagged: Change, customer insight, Glory, Imagination, Strategy ]]> http://robonthemoon.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/words-are-easy-actions-are-hard/feed/ 0 robonthemoon Quotes http://robonthemoon.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/building-patient-centric-brand-value-in-pharma/ http://robonthemoon.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/building-patient-centric-brand-value-in-pharma/#comments Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:57:29 +0000 Rob Kempton - blog http://robonthemoon.wordpress.com/?p=142 Continue reading »

 

Where there’s a will there’s a way….?

I was talking to a client earlier this year and we were swapping stories about how different companies approach marketing, and she mentioned that she felt the industry has been generally short sighted in how it engages with patients. At the time I didn’t give it too much thought, but a few weeks back, I was involved in a strategic planning process for a global client, and I found myself listening to a lively discussion about what the product should communicate (…nothing shocking there). But there was an interesting comment from one of the European marketing managers who offered up the idea that the brand in question could stand for something much bigger than its clinical features and benefits – and do much more for patients! She said “our brand value stands for the reason why physicians should start treatment – and doesn’t provide value once patients are on treatment.”

Now, there are a few questions that we can draw from these conversations.  Who is the target? Traditionally it’s the HCP as the decision maker. What does patient support mean? What’s more important – HCP brand value or patient brand value beyond the 1st prescription?

Despite good intentions, it feels like the patient is secondary in brand strategy development, despite their primary role in the healthcare equation. Too add some further context, a recent survey to pharma execs by Cutting Edge, suggested adherence programs are only really considered after a product has been launched.

What can we do differently?

For the patient to become central in developing brand strategy, we as marketers and pharma leaders need to be engaging with patients sooner in the products life cycle, and in a more meaningful way.

There are some key questions all strategists should be asking early on:

• What factors do patients consider when choosing treatment?
• What do they need help with once they’ve started therapy?
• What is most likely to affect their chances of successful treatment?
• How can we minimize risk of non compliance?
• Are we as brand stewards, having ongoing dialogue with patient groups?

These insights need to be discussed at the top table when building brand strategy, and pulled through into marketing programs. Too often the brand manager is persuaded by short term ROI and defaults to programs that “sell more drug” rather than “keep patients happy on drug”. Perhaps we should be building brand strategies that represent both?

You could take this to another extreme; and bring patients onto your product and marketing teams. One example is in Germany, where a company called Grunenthal has a mission to become the most patient centric pharmaceutical company in the world. This company even has patients sitting on their board, in the interests of achieving shared goals.

Look to rare diseases for inspiration

You’ll find the best examples of patient centric brands in companies launching orphan drugs for rare diseases, where patient numbers are so small, that finding and keeping them is THE challenge.

These companies have brands that stand for more than product benefits alone – they tend to stand for patient and family support, disease knowledge, and risk minimization – the list goes on. Ultimately they stand for the hope that these treatment bring, and the short and long term ROI is indisputable. Perhaps these ideas can be scalable to products that serve larger patient populations?

So, next time you’re developing brand strategy, ask yourself if you can extend the brand promise beyond traditional product benefits, and let it stand for a solution to real patient problems, who are already living with your treatment.

It could be a profitable discussion. 

…thanks for following

Tagged: Brand Strategy, customer insight, Patients, Pharmaceutical, Physicians, rare diseases ]]>

Anyone who has spent a day in pharmaceutical – or any other type – of sales, will tell you the answer is an unequivocal “no.”

There are cold calls to warm leads and warm calls on glacial leads. There are follow-up calls on established accounts and first-time calls to what may be your next strategic account. There are calls where you get the hand-off, the brush-off or even the flip off, as well as those where you close the deal, make the sale and bring home the cheddar.

Against that backdrop, why would you use the same digital tools for every sales call? The answer is: You wouldn’t.

Now, there are some exceptions: Chances are your organization has an established CRM platform like Salesforce CRM or industry-specific solution like StayinFront EdgeRx. That central repository of prospecting data, notes and follow-up activity should be part of every call – in fact, chances are your sales management demands it.

But what about the tools you use to pitch at a first-time informational meeting versus a drug-specific presentation for an existing customer? That’s where there’s room to change it up:

Start with a completely modular deck. Whether you’re using PowerPoint, Flash or one of the online presentation tools likeSlideRocket.com, your sales organization should be able to piece together a presentation appropriate for the coldest of cold calls as well as a new-drug introduction to a longstanding customer – all on their own, guided by best-practices content suggestions from the marketing organization.

Use different tools for different lead scores. If your organization uses lead scoring to prioritize sales opportunities, consider WebEx or other online meeting tools for the lower-scoring leads. Time and travel are expensive, even if you have a local sales rep in place – why not save money with the leads that have historically poorer performance?

Be prepared for different types of learning: Sometimes, using the right tool means knowing when to put it away. For example, although the majority of people absorb information best through visuals, a significant number of individuals process and retain messages better through audio. Good salespeople are trained to recognize these traits and adapt to them – put the iPad or PowerPoint away if you’ve clearly got an audio-first prospect, and spend your time engaging in conversation.

Let some broad rules guide you: Generally speaking, dial the tech and the presentation glitz back on initial sales calls, increase it for informational meetings once a relationship is established. And, if you’re in a multi-call environment, dial it back again for the close meeting. The key: At the outset and at the close of a deal, you want the prospect focused on communicating and reinforcing their needs and how your product fits those needs – many sales are lost by over-communicating right past the prospect’s pain.

The rules for what digital tools to use on a sales call are no different than those for use in their non-digital counterparts. Choose the tools that will let you focus on the customer and their needs – not on your desire to lay out every feature and benefit or use the latest tech toy – and you’ll close more deals.

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Despite no smoking policies becoming the norm in many Western countries, (including falling lung cancer rates), smoking is and remains a huge and growing global health burden.

Time for a fact check.

The WHO global status report published this month states that:

• There are approx 1 billion smokers in the world
• 6 million people die from tobacco use each year (projected to increase to 7.5 million in 2020)
• Smoking is estimated to cause about 71% of all lung cancer deaths

Chart: Prevalence of smoking in adults aged 15+, by WHO region and World Bank Income group, comparable country estimates 2008.[2]

• The highest overall prevalence for smoking is estimated at 29% in the European Region, while the lowest is the African Region (8%)
• In all regions, men smoked more than women, with the largest disparities being in the South-East Asia Region, where men smoke nearly 19 times more than women
• Smoking tends to decline as country income rises

Target needs and market considerations:

The vaccine presents a unique opportunity for those who’ve consciously made the decision to kick the habit, but feel they are unable to do so without help to relieve the addiction.  Present treatment options may lead to further addiction.

For NicVAX to reach these patients, success will be entirely dependent upon this group being 1) educated about the health implications of continued smoking and 2) this group seeking out professional help.

Nabi / GSK should take a pragmatic view of the target dynamics for each country (highlighted above). Significant consumer segmentation research should be conducted to identify the largest opportunity available for the brand.

Brand communications could:

1)      Highlight the medical and economic impact of smoking to healthcare payers – and the corresponding benefits of the first anti-smoking vaccine.

The WHO said “Reversing this entirely preventable tobacco epidemic must now rank as a top priority for public health and for political leaders in every country of the world”. [3]

2)      The word “Vaccine” should be highlighted as the key differentiator particularly whilst it has a first mover position. “Vaccine” immediately has associations with “one time / easy” whilst competitors offer regular dosing and potential addiction.

Positioning idea:

NicVAX is the first anti-smoking vaccine that gives patients a long-term fighting chance against smoking and its impact on long-term health

Strategies:

1. Support and leverage patient, NGO and government anti-tobacco initiatives:

• There is a battle going on with the cigarette industry to “impose tighter controls on marketing, and expand cessation programs and smoke free spaces”[4]. NicVAX marketing programs should aim to influence these groups, leverage the work that governments are doing to educate consumers – with NicVAX being the central solution for this group.

2. Gain Key Opinion Leader (KOLs) support

• The vaccine will need support for its science and evidence. Competitors such as Champix will not easily give up market share.

3. Seek fast reimbursement through payer-focused initiatives

• Build a compelling cost saving argument with payers – investing in Phase 4 cost effectiveness trials.

4. Drive a compelling consumer campaign and generate PR

• Peer-to-peer consumer endorsement of the brand (possibly through a social media campaign) could drive the target group to seek help from healthcare professionals. Celebrity endorsement (particularly relevant in the USA) may have real impact.

Conclusions:

NicVAX is the first anti-smoking vaccine, and presents an incredible opportunity given the market need. In light of future entrants in this category, Nabi / GSK should aggressively build brand advocacy from launch to preserve 1^st mover advantage.

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I wanted to publish the introduction to get the topic out into the public domain, as I’m keen to talk to industry colleagues who may share the same interest. If you would like to make contact, or wish to have a copy of the full thesis, please contact me @robonthemoon or via LinkedIn.

The Project title was : Developing new drugs in ‘Big Pharma’ – how can a Design Thinking process be applied to the Research and Development (R&D) arm of Big pharmaceutical companies to improve innovation productivity?

1. 1.     Introduction:

“I believe in intuition and inspiration. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research” (Einstein 1931)

1.1.  Background:

The idea for this research project has been evolving for some time, as my personal understanding and experience of innovation and Design Thinking within organisations has grown exponentially in just the last two years.

My business background is in pharmaceutical marketing and strategy development, specifically launching and repositioning pharmaceutical brands in Europe and Asia. In 2009, I left my job in the industry to move to the USA. This move allowed me time to develop my ideas and reflect on the strategic development and innovation culture within the pharmaceutical industry, as well as learn new business concepts, practices, and industries that I had previously known little about.

It was a publication called Blue Ocean Strategy: how to develop uncontested market space (Kim et al, 2005), that first inspired my thinking into how big companies approach radical innovation.  The book describes and analyzes case studies of companies that have broken out of conventional market boundaries. The authors offer processes and methods to seek uncontested market space.

My curiosity to understand new innovation approaches led me to Tim Brown’s Harvard Business Review article (Brown, 2008), which introduced the concept of “Design Thinking”. His company has worked with clients such as Proctor & Gamble, Nike, Apple, Bank of America, social and healthcare projects in developing countries – tackling truly ‘Wicked Problems’ – “when organisations have to face constant change or unprecedented challenges” (Camillus, 2008, p.100)

Design Thinking is a broad methodology to innovation that has become a buzzword in the management community in the last decade. It takes the approach of applying design sensibilities and methods, focusing on an intuitive and experiential process to solving Wicked Problems. This has come about at a time when Open Innovation (Chesbrough, 2003) approaches are becoming increasingly relevant in today’s global network of opinions, ideas and influence.

If you Google “Porters 5 forces,” one of the best know business concepts in strategy, you’ll get 336,000 results. If you do the same for “Design Thinking”, you’ll get 54,100,000 results (Google, 2010).  This crude experiment is purposely meant to mislead, because despite the fascination, and the promise Design Thinking may hold in tackling Wicked Problems in our world, the concept has not been truly embraced within management academia. In this author’s opinion, this is due to there being no recognized definition of Design Thinking; its clash of “creative versus analytical approaches” to problem solving within management; and that it crosses multiple traditional academic faculties such as strategy, operations, entrepreneurship, and human resource management – not to mention engineering, art and design.

However, new MBA programs are rapidly incorporating design programs in their curriculum (Wong, 2009), and the research is growing. Critics argue against its idealistic appeal, relying on crowd sourcing for ideas versus the more traditional role played by “elite thinkers” (Verganti, 2010). They also argue that Design Thinking is a marketing ploy from commercial origins, and the discipline suffers from a perceived lack of strong empirical research as a stand-alone idea. To summarize, “It’s certainly no panacea – but part of the portfolio of what companies should apply” (Brown, 2009).

It was the success of Design Thinking in tackling Wicked Problems that led me wonder if the model has been applied to big pharmaceutical companies – who are suffering from their own Wicked Problem – how to drive internal R&D productivity to fill a drug pipeline to generate future revenues.

“Big Pharma’s” (see Appendix 17) business model has been very successful in the last two to three decades. New treatments have been developed for diseases, where previously there had been few or none, e.g. Prozac for depression (Lilly), or Lipitor for cholesterol (Pfizer). These typically offered benefits to large patient populations, and were widely prescribed with broad indications, aided by massive sales and marketing promotion. However, these revenues were achievable only as long as patent protections were in place, and governments and patients were willing to pay for them.

Today, the top 50 pharmaceutical companies are set to lose $78 -100 billion in global branded sales from drugs facing patent expiry over the 2010–14 period (Datamonitor, 2010, p.7) (Jack 2010). This phenomenon is often referred to as the “patent cliff”. The top fifteen [pharmaceutical] companies lost roughly $850 billion in shareholder value from 2000-2008 (Garnier, 2008).

Big Pharma R&D productivity is at an all-time low, and is desperately struggling to discover new innovative treatments, to replenish future revenues. With the average cost of bringing a new molecule to market estimated to be $1.3 billion (Data monitor, 2010 p.22), with a thirteen-year development time (Senderovitz, 2009), new approaches are needed. Some critics predict more nimble new enterprises like those in the biotech sector will supplant the lumbering dinosaur that is Big Pharma (Garnier, 2008).

Why hasn’t the industry moved faster? Senderovitz (2009), a VP at a UCB Pharma, argues that the industry has been complacent due to the high return from patented drugs, and has not been forced to innovate its business model. The head of Lilly recently said “At a time when the world desperately needs more medicines …we’re taking too long, spending too much money, and producing far too little.  Repowering pharmaceutical innovation is an urgent need” (Jack A, 2010).

1.2.  Hypothesis:

To my knowledge, Design Thinking, in its truest sense, has not been implemented within drug discovery in Big Pharma, probably because of its [Design Thinking’s] association with product design. However, I argue that Design Thinking is more profound, more fundamental than that narrow-minded association, and I see a gap in the research on applying tailored Design Thinking approaches to the processes and culture within drug discovery teams. I argue that Big Pharma, and to some extent Design Thinking practitioners, have so far missed an opportunity to fundamentally innovate the drug discovery process.

Design Thinking can have impact throughout the pharmaceutical organisation, but I’ve chosen to focus on the R&D division, because this is where the innovation happens; it’s where the Wicked Problem is the greatest.

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This was vital to us as an organization, and ultimately a slap round the face for our industry, which has been slow and conservative in its adoption of new media. (and yes, we can all cite good reason for this behavour, but we need to call a spade a spade in this case. We’ve been shockingly slow out of the blocks.)

The facilitators from Hyper Island worked hard at taking a temperature check of attitudes towards digital media and generally there was anxiety and some cynicism (particularly in the over 30′s!!) regarding its relevance and importance.

“why do I need to hear about someone Tweeting what they had for dinner?” …said one colleague.

Check out the following clip, which was shown on the day. It had us laughing!

So …with anxiety in our minds, how could we (as an agency) find context, personal value, and a narrative for us to realize opportunities for our clients brands?

Here are my core lessons from the 3 days – which I’ll aim to advocate from now on:

1. This is the biggest societal behavoural shift since the industrial revolution – realize it:

It’s not not about Facebook, Digg, Twitter, YouTube. These are merely tools. This is a change in how we live our lives. It’s about getting up in the morning, and checking our iPhone for the weather and news, going to a class online with students in China, lobbying your politicians through Twitter, sharing photos with friends, buying due to strangers recommending goods, reputations being destroyed in an instant, personal brands etc etc etc. This is the reality. If you don’t have an answer for it – tough. Embrace it or die (not my words …the words of Hyper Island. It certainly got everyone’s attention).

2. We all need to learn to swim:

All of us (the nay sayers of social media, and even those who claim to be proficient) need to invest time in social media, and find some context within it – or as our hosts would say “find your social currency”. Everyone who works in a communications agency needs to be able to say “I’ve done it”. On a side point – it was also suggested that we do our best to leave our personal bias at the door. You, and I might not care if a Pepsi video wants us to Facebook “Like it” – but there is a tribe out there that probably does.

3. Use social media more to listen:

There is so much conversation out there. So much opinion. People are opening up their personal thoughts online whereas in the past these would stay in thought, or in a written diary. It’s so easy to follow interest groups particularly through Twitter *using hashtag #, in addition to video, forums and blogs. Within those groups, we now have visibility to who’s influencing the dialogue. All this insight – for FREE.

4. Understand the “Day in a life” of the customer we’re trying to influence

A simple exercise to turn into a habit – we mapped out the whole day of our clients customer – including what media they’re exposed to, what information they seek, and what marketing opportunities may come through. This simple exercise made most of us question the tactics our clients are churning out to the market.

5. Understanding what influences that customer to adopt a brand:

Advertising today is more about leading your customer to a brand experience via a search engine. Complicated right? The example of a mini ad was used (…damn …I wish I could remember the name of the campaign??). The aim was for the consumer to see the ad and instantly Google the headline through their mobile device - leading to an online experience -  leading to some brand interest.

6. Change how WE work. More cross functional thinking time:

We hardly ever spend time outside of the projects are clients set, to explore new ideas and possibilities. At “the Island” we were able to develop some cool suggestions in a cross functional brainstorm that with some polishing we could probably present to our clients. If it’s that easy to come up with ideas – why are we not doing this more often.

Final word:

The urgency of now. This is a shift in how we live our lives – we’ve got to understand this new world and find some personal context.

I’d encourage you to follow @yellif and @markmedia who inspired our thinking throughout our 3 days. In addition follow #himc for all the feeds linked to the Hyper Island master class (past and present).

…thanks for following

Fast forward to November of 2010, and the personal and professional stars have aligned! We’re leaving Washington DC for Saratoga Springs, New York to join Palio communications in a VP Brand Strategy Director position.

Saratoga and Palio offered an opportunity we as a family, couldn’t turn down. The role itself is not disimilar to what I was doing through my own consultancy – leading insight and brand strategy development. However this time we’re talking about US and Global pharma clients. I can’t wait to get started!

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I first heard about Keith after reading an interview he’d given in the Washington Post, highlighting young entrepreneurs in the District. At the time I was developing a brand strategy proposal for a company who were looking to market their technology through an App – so I was keen to learn about the market, in particular how developers differentiate themselves, and communicate their value in such a crowded and dynamic market place.

The App economy is a phenomenal story, especially when you consider it didn’t exist 3 years ago. It’s estimated to be worth $4billion in 2012 (ref), and it’s fundamentally redefining the boundaries of what we can now do with mobile devices! (really?). App downloads were up 51% in December 09, compared to Nov 09, which is jaw dropping! (ref). (If you want a ton of analytics on Apps, then visit Flurry’s blog, or click on the last reference link. It’s a great resource.)

Rohit Bhargava – a DC local, brand author and director at Ogilvy 360, recently wrote “the App revolution, more than anything else, is fueled by a new level of utility in content for mobile devices. The popular tagline “there’s an app for that” is based on this ubiquitous utility. When you can find an app to enhance just about anything you are doing, the net effect becomes transformative.”  (ref)

Keith and his wife (Natalia) both run Imangi Studios.  He describes the company as a family team. “Casual developers” who believe in creating “highly polished Apps”. Their goal is to “create fun – iPhone games with unique game play that everyone can enjoy”.

Both Keith and Natalia are App Store veterans. They launched their first game in July 2008 (the iPhone was launched the year before). Back then, Keith tells me there were around 500 App games on the market – today there are closer to 150,000 Apps, mainly priced around the 99 cents price point.

So how does Keith generate revenues? They have games which are paid for, they also advertise, cross promote with other developers, or they promote games free and offer an upgrade with a small payment.

Keith explained that his company is competing in the “casual games” market, with game play intended for all ages, but particularly popular amongst teenagers. He uses blogs like http://www.toucharcade.com,  www.macrumors.com, http://www.ipodtouchfans.com to build a following, and have his ideas for graphics and game play ironed out.

Despite mentioning that many of his users were 20 years my junior, I couldn’t help admit that I download the Hippo High Dive the day before our meeting, and wondered if I was the only one my age compelled to do so?

“Not at all!” Keith replied.

It’s games like these, with their accessibility and sense of fun, that play to the kid in all of us. There are serious minded, ‘stuffy’ corporate exec’s leaving their homes for work today, briefing papers in one hand, and Hippo High Dive in the other – it plays to the need to escape we all have. In fact, Keith sees the middle age player, as the most likely segment to pay for an App game.

Keith stressed the importance of aiming their marketing at the grassroots of the tech blogs and social media, but that sounds fairly passive. The key is “relationship building”  he said. Get the influencers to know you, support what you’re doing, so when you need them to talk, they are listening. Apple is so important in this equation. It takes time, but a relationship with the guys inside Apple, may pay huge dividends in the long run. Getting yourself to the World Wide Developers Conference helps too!

Some keys to success:

• Visibility – you want to be charting in the top 25, and preferably featured by iTunes (an honor which few know how to achieve!). At one point his game Harbor Master was No.3 in the US for games.

• Understand the customer journey - (This is critical to brand planning success, and a technique I use with my clients. Go through the steps from when your core customer has the need, the options they consider, how they do research, how they make the purchase, all the way through to the added value your brand may or may not offer after the purchase.)

• In this case, you need to start with a great logo or icon that stands out and speaks to your customers need in a second! It’s got to either provoke curiosity, or be obvious at first sight. To complement that, you need compelling screen shots which draw the buyer in. Keith also talked about how joining forces with other developers, allows you to cross promote. (Click on “more games” inside an App game, and you’ll probably see umbrella brands such as “App treasures” which will direct you to more choices). How does the customer journey end? Well you can Tweet or Facebook your score to all your friends, for some subtle final promotion!

• Build buzz – a month before Harbor Master was released they teased the blogs and forums, sent a press kit along, and gave cuts and images for ‘fans’ to start guessing what was coming.

• Develop a Unique Selling Point – there are many ways to do this. Technically superior. Graphically superior. Theme or Genre. Ideas that people can relate too. The ability to have FUN.

• Marketing spend – not always the key to success, but it helps. It will cost you around $20,000 on ad spend to get to the top 100, or you just let your community take a GREAT idea, and spread it! Here is a stat that will make you sick – it costs $99 a year to put your App on iTunes, and 30% of every download goes to Apple. The strategy for Apple, is to support the App market, which in turn will sell more iPhones (that amounts to quite a few $$$ in Mr Job’s pockets!)

• Go global - 25% of Keith’s revenues come from overseas – he sees this as an untapped market, and already translates some of his games into different languages. (It may not be surprising to most, but you may need special permission if you’re thinking about selling your App games in China.)

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of developers out there who are changing the way we use our mobile devices. Google tell us the desktop won’t exist in 3 years time, and we’re all going mobile.

There are some incredible stories of ‘accidental developers’ becoming overnight millionaires! However, my conversation with Keith demonstrated that it helps to know what you’re doing, and taking a long term view also pays off. Success is not only about being a smart developer. Your relationships with your community is key, first impressions mean everything, and tapping into a piece of insight – a pain point – that customers are willing to drop $0.99 at, could drive you onto the holy grail of the Top 25 list on iTunes.

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In many ways, the damage is done in the short term – instead greater resource and attention is hopefully being focused on preserving and building their brand (their reputation …their biggest asset)

So, what has Tiger Woods got to do with Toyota?

Well, most Tiger fans buy into the ‘Tiger brand’, not because of his moral standing, but because he’s a winner – and we all want to be winners.

If Tiger come back and starts winning championships, then his brand lives on …and his endorsement will help sell more Nike merchandise etc.

With this principle, Tiger Woods probably hasn’t affected his core brand asset

Toyota have a bigger problem, their core brand asset has been badly damaged – it was build on reliability (durability and value).

They will need to prove to their customers that they still stand for reliability, and that this was an isolated incident. If you believe this Reuters article, it sounds like there is more to come.

I’m sure the mighty competitors of Ford, GM, and Honda are not wasting any time, as they prepare to move in on this brand space.

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If you’re not familiar with Georgetown, it the premier shopping / historic district, located in North West Washington DC.

I was struck at how empty the place was – Sisley, the clothing store had their “tops for $15” sign in the window, with bland mannequins occupying useful space.

I made my way into the atrium of the mall, walking past a bored make up lady reading a magazine. I passed the music store showing off buckets of CD’s with 80% off stickers, and made my way to the DMV. Apart from the 2 security guards having a chat about the weather – the place was DEAD.

Where was the buzz? What’s the draw? Where is the experience? Where is the value?

I asked the lady in the DMV about it (!) and she said it’s been quiet for about 2 years now.

2 years!!

Who’s been bank rolling this? Why didn’t they just open it up to the schools without space, the homeless, to entrepreneurs desperate for office space, art exhibitions, meet up groups for mums ….?

Oh dear….

I’m sure there are plenty of urban / commercial planners thinking about innovative ways to reinvent the shopping mall, but I’m not sure they understand how irrelevant the old formula has become.

So what’s changed in 2 years?

• If we can get it online, why do we need to go out?
• We have more choice than ever (I can order any product and service in the world now)
• High street brands haven’t caught up with creative online experiences
• The coffee shop / Apple Mac tribe is a movement who are spending money on anyone who serves drinks and has an Internet connection!
• We have less money
• We want more value

And it’s the first 4 trends that should be sliced, analyzed, brainstormed, and design thinking applied.

This is not a time to take on internet shopping – instead seek uncontested market space.

So how where is the point of difference? The uncontested market space?

I recently read a fantastic book called Buyology, which highlights how our five senses are stimulated when we make choices. When it comes to Internet shopping, we are happy making buying decisions using SIGHT and SOUND – so we’ll buy a album, a book, groceries, a new TV perhaps. (Unless of course, virtual reality goes to a new level – click here)

In addition to this, Internet shopping is really a homogeneous experience – meaning you shop for one brand, or category – whereas the shopping mall potentially offers choices, added value and a broader experience.

What does that leave us with?

• Who provides you with products, services and experiences that rely on my need to Smell, Touch, Taste.
• Can this marry up with your need for socialize, hangout, get out of the house, and be part of a cultural ‘real’ experience?

Practical steps?

Tear up the present formula – knock down the internal walls – change the thinking – bang some heads together at those urban planning meetings.

Within the shopping mall, design themes in each quarter of the atrium – each one providing a unique set of cultural experiences based around food, drink, clothing, physical art, shows, live music, theatre.  Meshed into all of this should be seated areas, with wireless, AC plug in – give today’s customers what they want!!

Think of the experience – think of the buzz!

Interactive – Vendors should distribute (for free!) creative samples of food, plants, flowers, art, drink, that focus on stimulating my 3 senses (which remember are left neglected by my internet addiction!!) – “come to me – don’t make me come find you!!”

If I want to shop I can do that too – and when I say shop, I emphasize an experience which I CAN’T get on the internet – for example for clothes, have the customer talk to designers, learn, see a fashion show, see clothes being made, allow me to feel, try, talk, share – then have digital hubs in store, where I can make the purchase of the product I want.

Call the new Mall  “the senses you need to inspire”

Shopping malls need a redesign – the present model is irrelevant.

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I’m a brand strategy guy, and I personally wanted to hear more from him about how he grew ‘Total Wine and more’ into a leading retail brand that customers trust. I also wanted to take home some insights, (or slip ups!) so I could get a real sense of how this guy works, but he was totally professional, organized, and kept to script! The lecture from Mr. Trone highlighted more than anything that he has good business judgment, and clearly doesn’t suffer fools. The backbone to his success was down to strict financial discipline, high sales per sq foot, and high margins. He opened one store at a time (didn’t rush to expand) and has never had to close one – an incredible achievement. He spoke at length for his dislike of regulation and the number of court cases of the past (and present) due to complicated and fragmented laws that each state imposes in regards to retail and liquor sales. Perseverance and good lobbying seemed to be the advice of the day. He also talked about cutting out the middleman (wholesaler) where they can, to deliver value to the customer.

The key nuggets relating to brand development that I took away were:

He said he had a very clear strategy when he started the business, and it was pursued with total focus. However, he emphasized over and over again the reality of “mid course changes”, and identified the need to “hire the smartest people with deep retail experience” to help navigate the rocky waters, whilst he keeps a firm grip maintaining the strategy. Strategy scares people – it sounds so rigid and final. But strategy gives you and your organization the long-term focus and clarity of purpose to achieve your goals. How you get there is another question. It was impressive how he seemed to acknowledge his own strengths, and brings in experts to fill in for his weaknesses.

Walk in your customers’ shoes and your competitors’ stores – he made the points a few times, and made it clear that he will take time to walk around competitor stores, with the intention of copying, or bettering their ideas! I must admit, competitor analysis when I was working on multi million dollar brands in my previous role, and with clients today, tends to get downgraded on the list of priorities. Often, I (and my clients) will want to jump straight to the ‘main course’ of thinking about our own brand. Allen Adamson, the CEO of Landor, an international branding company, once wrote, “knowing your enemy is a battle plan – this should not be a casual assignment”. Mr. Trone used a great example of knowing his enemy in California, and predicted this retailer would want to expand to the state of Arizona – so what did he do? He built stores in Arizona quickly. The competitors still made the move, but were unable to be successful. “Anticipate their move, and cut them off,” he said …(I told you this guy doesn’t suffer fools!)

The final nugget I took away….

“Stay focused and dive deep, not broad” – this was in response to a question from the audience, and he didn’t labor the point. However, it’s so important. Brands can’t be all things to all people – organizations should understand a core group of customers with shared needs, and dig deep. Get to know them better than they know themselves! Apple are market leaders for the over ‘$1000+ personal computer market’ – however they’ve barely dented the “ total personal computer market”. Why should they? Steve Jobs set up the organization to make high quality personal computers. Why do something they won’t be very good at? They focus, and offer unrivaled value for one customer segment.

For those in the wine industry who need that one juicy insight that may turn into a game changer – Mr. Trone made an interesting comment at the end. He said he tells the CEO of Sam Adams, and others, that “beer is the new wine” because of the complexity of flavors and choices now available, and the growing demand for selection.  He said ‘Total Wine and more’ would be investing heavily in this new opportunity (opening up beers classes etc). For me, this may be a growing trend, but they’d make more of a dent in this market by opening up a new store called “Total Beer” – otherwise where is the focus that he advocated? I know they have some beer in stock at present, but ‘Total wine’ is ‘America’s wine superstore’ as it says on their website – that’s what they represent, and they mainly serve customers who drink wine. Will a true beer lover say “yep, just running down to Total Wine to get my case of Dogfish beers, because they really understand what I want!”. Beer buffs are a different tribe with different needs.

Earlier this year, I did some branding work with a boutique wine chain, and developed some great insights through in depth interviews with customers. Given what I know, the Internet probably poses the greatest threat to large value retailers such as ‘Total Wine and more’ because the best selection and price can also be found online. Boutique wine stores, with personalized service, and unique wines will continue to be strong, because the online experience can’t compete with the reasons customers love them in the first place.

My thanks to the NABOE for putting the meeting together today.

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I came across Ready Set DC on Twitter, just as they were developing their blog. On Thursday night they held a launch party at Long View Gallery, with hundreds turning up (including a flying visit from the Fojol Bros of Merlindia - the best local brand in DC I’ve seen!).

The Ready Set DC mission – “We do this for the LOVE of DC, for the love of its people, for the love of its culture and for the future progression of our beloved home. We seek to spotlight this city and the creatives behind the scenes. DC is now ground zero for creative development. ReadysetDC is a place to share ideas, discover culture, spark discussion and inspire. The time is now. Ready. Set. Go create”

Here are a few pics from our night!

DC culture is redefining “brand DC”. If you’re an organization starting up here, or reinventing your brand, dare to be different, and take some inspiration from Ready Set DC and the Fojol Bros!

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A brand is, quite simply, the true meaning and value that your product, service  or organization holds in the mind of your stakeholders. It’s a reputation. It’s what your product or service stands for. It really doesn’t matter what you or others internally think your brand should be – it only matters what your stakeholders think.

You can measure the value of your brand by conducting a brand audit, reviewing marketing materials, interviewing staff, and conducting customer market research studies. This gives you a position to build from.

The role of the entire management of any company should be to actively maneuver your brand through the market, as part of the fight to make it ever more relevant. Setting an aspirational brand goal, and building a plan to get there, is brand strategy development.

Once you’ve defined your brand goal, you should ensure that every interaction that your stakeholders has with your company (or brand touch points) supports the values and brand associations set. Does your office space have the culture, look and feel of your website? Does it support the press release posted last week, or the language your customer service representative is saying? The packaging on the product box?

Aim for consistency, meaning and impact in everything you do and say.

So what’s changed?

Big spending advertising campaigns and large sales forces could previously control your brand  – you could drown out the competitors. Digital media has changed all that – now customers have more access to information about your offering and others. Competitors is global now – not local. Customers don’t trust marketing messages like they used to, and seek endorsements from communities of users and opinion leaders. It doesn’t matter whether your community is B2B, government or consumer – news and gossip is now viral. These communities require answers to their questions quickly, and love transparency in companies. You will need to find ways to collaborate and communicate with your customers, so that you maintain some control over your reputation.

That’s why branding isn’t a last minute campaign, or logo. Your brand (your reputation) is a strategic asset, and needs investment over time.

So if we use the definition of branding above, why else do Tech companies need branding?

Buyer or end user?

So you’ve developed a component, some software or a new medical device, which hopefully has some unique features. The difference between tradition B2B services or consumer products is that tech companies probably have a end user and a buyer – two very different groups, with very different needs. Intel sell their processor to PC manufacturers, who sell their PC’s to consumers who benefit from the processor in the overall PC experience. When you’re developing your brand story and compelling messages, you’ve got to identify why each group really really really needs what you have. Getting out there, talking to different groups, conducting customer insight research is key to understanding, and building a tailored, meaningful argument for each to use your product.

The best technical features wins – right?

Branding originates from fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) – and is perhaps considered a ‘nice to have’, rather than a strategic asset, amongst technology developers. These innovators are fighting to be the first to make their product run faster, be more heat resistant, have greater capacity and cheaper manufacturing costs etc etc.

My background is in marketing pharmaceuticals, and I can understand a data led approach to achieving credibility with customers, but often that’s not compelling, it’s not memorable, it’s too easily beaten by ‘better data’ and it won’t build loyalty to the organization’s future pipeline of new products.

Your brand story should tap into the true meaning and value that your brand provides for the customer. For example:

“Intel – sponsors of tomorrow”

….big fat bold statements like this inspire and breed confidence in a product line both with customers, internal employees and shareholders alike. It tells me ‘this is the place to be – the future’.

Alternatively, they could have been led by technical features, and said: “Intel – better processor base frequency”

Hmmmmm??

Try to use your data – the rational stuff – as supporting arguments when you need to use them. It’s vital information, but don’t be too keen to shout about it – you’ve got to get your stakeholders compelled in the first place! Intel, like other great company brands have a larger purpose. What does your company stand for? How will you inspire new and loyal customers with your story?

Develop customer insight at the design stage

Typically technology is designed, and then it’s up to smart product directors to find markets that could benefit. A Marketing Requirements Document is usually completed to give the technical engineers some guidelines about what customers in specific markets want and need.

Fine, but lets see if we can take it to another level.

1)   Bring together a “design and brand team” of product, marketing and engineers specialists and make all decisions together.

2)   Through market research, identify customer groups that are underserved, and ask some big questions seeking out uncontested market space, looking outside traditional market boundaries. Why are some customer groups not using your product?

3)   Get the entire design and brand team to observe how your customers use and interact with your product throughout their day. Are your customers having to make trade off’s to work your product? What frustrates them? What pleases them most? It’s a hugely empowering exercise.

As well as observational research, innovative tech companies in particular could try investing in ethnographic research. It’s still in its infancy as a widely used technique, but larger companies are benefiting from it in big way. It’s when you literally joined with your customer at the hip, to study their culture, their values, their true reasons for making choices. Tim Brown at IDEO has been a leader of “design thinking” – the basis for re designing processes, products and services. Worth checking out. I’m reading his book at the moment “Change by design”.

Narrow thinking is about being convinced that impressive features and benefits will sell the product alone.

New thinking considers where your product sits within the wider goal of the customer. What need your product fulfills in the wider context of their whole day, hour or minute.

Tech products have very short product life cycles, so you don’t have long!

Because technology is changing so fast, you need to recap R&D costs quickly, before either you (hopefully) or your competitor innovates and captures you’re market share.

You need impact and focus – that means having a compelling and unique story to tell, based on understanding what a specific customer group really wants from your product class. (This means developing a brand that gives meaning to the innovators & maverick customers at launch, and then the more conservative customers later in the life cycle) Not only that, successful tech companies are innovating and developing new products. Set your company the goal of developing customer loyalty to the company brand – not just the product. This way, new products are a constant, whilst your company find greater meaning and value in your long term purpose.  Think “Windows” – now we’re at version 7 – and they are fighting hard to keep loyal customers compelled with what the Windows brand stands for!

Technology – an ever more cluttered industry

I acknowledge technology is a broad umbrella term. It’s made up of online service companies, hardware and software developers, communication companies, silicon chip manufacturers etc. However, the sector is growing fast in this recession (along with healthcare and fast food…! Oh the irony!)

Barriers to entry have pretty much disappeared – anyone can develop software – and the market place is crowded!

To quote from a brilliant branding and design thinker, Martin Neumeier there is only one thing to do when you come across clutter – you ZAG! You must radically differentiate yourself from the competitor. Seek out a customer insight – find something so deep rooted in their psyche, which only your brand can speak to, and develop that connection with your buyer.

Summary:

Dr Patrick Dixon, a leading thinker in business today, often speaks of his frustration with the technology industry and points to short falls in realizing deep rooted customer needs. “It’s about connecting with emotions that consumers have”. “In the Technology industry, the few companies who deliver every time on their promise, can charge a premium price up to 30% more”

In my earlier career I led the repositioning of a pharmaceutical brand, developing greater relevance and meaning in brand communications.  At the time, we were taking on the big boys of Swarz pharma and Glaxo SmithKline – huge companies with big marketing budgets. We dented their market share not by shouting louder, but by turning clinical data and scientific features into a relevant and meaningful brand that helped the doctors and patients achieve both their rational and emotional goals.

I urge technology companies of any size to install strong brand management practices internally. Bring this thinking to board level, and ensure it’s part of your product development process. Understand what makes your customers tick. Gain insight – understand their goals, frustrations and desires. Set some ambitious brand goals. Develop a compelling and unique brand, communicate internally, and to customers externally. Be consistent in your brand, in everything your organization does.

I’m conscious this is a broad topic, and one in which I hope to dig deeper with time.

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