birddog

Not Enough Time for Social Media?

I am increasingly expected to frequent the musk-scented washrooms and fastidiously monitored self-service comestible bars of international airport business lounges. It would appear that my legendary status at the very forefront of the digital B2B revolution is attracting a wider audience than I expected. I think, and I secretly hope, it’s because businesses are starting to take a more serious interest in B2B social media.

It’s actually a very specific audience that is prepared to pamper me with the executive international washroom facilities I so rightly deserve and send me to such wild and far flung locations as, well, Munich, for example. The C-Suite is finally talking an interest.

The C-level audience has been slow to adjust to the transfer of digital power in the social space. At the junior end of the business, the ‘Y-Gen’ digital natives are fully committed – it’s a problem to keep them off Facebook and on the job in hand. In the middle management tiers there is interest, but not always the budget or mandate to fully commit marketing resources. And then there’s the C-Suite.

CMO, CEO, CIO, CTO even the CFO. These are the people with the power and money to make a difference and yet this group has remained almost completely disinterested in the process of online engagement. Until recently. Whatever the reasons for the slow adoption of the C-Suite (and there are many) they appear, at last, to be taking a more healthy interest in the subject. I’d obviously hate to be the one to tell them they’re a bunch of Luddite laggards just as they start to get their shit together.

What I can tell them, however, is to stop complaining that they ‘haven’t got time’ for social media. The conversation usually goes something like this –

“Scot we invited you here to the exotic Schipol Airport Conference Centre because you seem to be thoroughly versed in this newfangled ‘social media’ thingy. Everywhere we look, we bump into your name. So we thought we’d ask you how you find the time. We’re such incredibly busy and, frankly, important business executives that we simply don’t have the time.”

“Mmmm…”

“And…”

“Yes?”

“…Well, we’re very, you know… ‘Senior’. And Executive.”

“Is that it?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Right then…” And there follows a practiced routine of pithy one-liners and knob gags where I charge the client an inordinate amount of cash to expound on the vagaries of the digital economy. I could save myself a considerable amount of airline indigestion if they would only appreciate one thing – they can’t afford not to find the time. I used a double negative there. It’s that important.

The accessibility (or inaccessibility) of brand leaders has never been more apparent. Digital channels totally flatten the communications hierarchy. If you don’t like the answer you receive from the customer service rep, you ping the Chief Executive. That’s not unusual, it’s now expected. It’s also expected that the CEO will be listening – not only to the contents of their inboxes, but to a spectrum of social channels. Alternatively, the customers will post their experiences online for the whole world to form its own opinion of the brand. Whichever way the CEO looks at managing the company’s reputation, social media is now their business. It’s quite a commitment, not least because the CEO is busy. And executive.

That usually gets them thinking. There will be nods and smiles. I’ve even seen someone take notes. But it’s not as good as the “Why me?” question.

“Why did you pick me to give this presentation? How did you find me? How did you become my customer? Why did you give me an airline ticket, indigestion and, significantly, a pile of cash?” The answer is usually, “We follow you on Twitter”, or, “We found you on LinkedIn.” The fact that social media directly generates revenue isn’t lost on them, but I still feign surprise and say, “Oh, are you using social media then?” They look down at their shoes, shuffle their feet and say, “Um, no… I don’t have… ehh… time…” The job of finding and listening to what the customer wants can be delegated to anyone. The responsibility can’t. Find the time.

Scot McKee

Managing Director

What You Sell -v- What Customers Buy

Our heartbeat quickens, our pulse races, our palms and brow sweat a little… that’s the change we experience when we’re buying a new car. According to Ian Armstrong, Manager of Customer Communications at Honda UK, the science of car buying is every bit as important as the art. Ian was the guest speaker at a recent Brand on the Run event and I was interested to speak to him about the day to day marketing activities that happen behind the scenes of the more glamorous Honda TV advertising. I think Honda has been delivering great television advertising for years now. They’ve had consecutive successes with ‘Hate Something, Change Something,’ ‘Cog’ (the parts/domino ad) and ‘Impossible Dream’.

Honda TV ads however, are a long way from the ‘Swiss Tony’ stereotypical style of car selling I recall from walking in to a car dealership many years ago to buy a car. Thankfully most car brand dealerships have evolved somewhat. Although now that it’s mentioned, I was slightly taken aback recently when I went into a BMW dealership only to find that I couldn’t actually look at the cars until I had ‘reported to reception’ and been ‘announced’ to my very own personal Swiss Tony. But that’s another story for another day. For Honda at least, there seems to be the recognition that even if the ad works, it can only take prospective customers as far as the doors of the showroom. There’s still plenty of work to do to ensure a vehicle is sold. Honda doesn’t seem to be leaving anything to chance.

The car brand has been undertaking extensive testing of both sales people and prospective customers within dealerships to monitor the physiological changes they go through during the process of buying a car. The research shows that our immediate ‘gut instinct’ is the primary response mechanism that people use when going through the car buying process. The ‘facts’ (car performance statistics for example) are outweighed by how we ‘feel’ about the purchase.

Honda has discovered that customers are most relaxed when dealing with a sales person who delivers exactly the customer experience they say they’re going to – not one that over promises then under delivers, and not even one that under promises then over delivers. The sales people and customers are most relaxed when they’re telling and being told the ‘truth’.

There’s an excitement attached to buying a new car too. The smell of the leather, the clunk of the door, the rev of the engine. The sales person and the customer both feel exhilaration when a car is being bought.

Unfortunately, not at the same time.

Honda’s research shows that the customer is most excited about their potential purchase about 10 minutes before the sales person. That’s when they’ve made the decision that they’re going to buy the car and want to complete the deal and part with the cash. The sales person, however, doesn’t recognise the physiological changes in the customer (because they’re pretty hard things to see…) and continues selling for another 10 minutes longer than the customer wants. The sales person only gets excited when the contract is on the table and the customer is about to sign it. The danger of course is that during the 10 minute period of unnecessary selling, the customer becomes disappointed, annoyed and leaves without buying the car. The impossible dream just becomes the impossible.

In a B2B context, the analogy needs almost no further development. Whatever business market we’re in, the potential to oversell, undersell, or worst of all, not sell at all, is pretty clear. Brand guardians of every B2B market sector would do well to ensure their brand promise is properly aligned to the customer expectation and that the message is delivered to the customer in the way and in the time it is required. Not too much, not too little, just right. We should all make some changes…

Scot McKee
Managing Director
Birddog Ltd.
+44 (0)20 7323 6666

B2B Marketing Entrepreneur?

I’ve always been deeply suspicious of anyone introducing themselves as an ‘Entrepreneur’. It’s one of those wank words I find impossible to say out loud. Women don’t seem to like the word ‘moist’, but for me, it’s ‘entrepreneur’. Eww. I’m less disturbed when the term’s used to describe someone else. It’s strictly the self-use of the word that bugs me. So, “Richard Branson is an entrepreneur”, is wholly acceptable. “Hello, I’m Bob. I’m an entrepreneur”, isn’t. See what I mean? Wanker.

So when I walked into a client meeting I was relatively relaxed as the introductions were made and the Marketing Director said, “…and this is Bob.” It was only when Bob himself then repeated, “I’m Bob – I’m an Entrepreneur”, that I knew we were all doomed.

I’d been asked to the meeting to discuss social media, something I’m increasingly integrating into on and offline marketing strategies so I was slightly perplexed as to why we might need an ‘entrepreneur’ in the room. Was it just in case a brilliantly creative idea sprang out of our conversation and someone needed to throw money at it? Or maybe if we had a good idea, but suddenly and mysteriously ran out of creativity, we might need Bob to step in and… ‘preneur’ over everyone? His role wasn’t clear. And I didn’t like him. Mainly because of his self-proclaimed title.

I let it go for all of about a minute and a half and then said, “So, Bob, what does an entrepreneur do then?”

There was a pause while he composed his best Dragon’s Den stare and he replied, “I seek the alternative.” I waited for the subject in his sentence, but it never came. That was it. Bob sought ‘the alternative’. I admired the brevity, but I wasn’t really any the wiser. “I suppose people ask you what ‘the alternative’ is quite a lot?” I enquired oh so casually. “No” he said.

Everyone shuffled their papers and cleared their throats so I kind of knew I was supposed to shut up. But that’s never stopped me before and I wanted to understand his purpose in life. “Well, are you entrepreneurial in the social media space?” “No”, he said, “I think social media’s a complete waste of money.”

Now that, I thought, was interesting – for someone who ‘seeks the alterative’. Social media is surely THE alternative at the moment. Markets have changed, audiences have moved, tools have improved, knowledge is being shared and the world is responding to new ‘social’ methods of communication for their brands – we’re all doing at least something in the social media marketing space now even if it’s just blowing the dust off our Linkedin accounts and trying to make sense of Twitter. Of course, some brands are doing considerably more in the social space – they’re using social tools to create very active, vibrant communities online, they’re harnessing customer opinion, influencing perceptions, engaging in conversation and debate, they’re even transforming sales methods, processes and revenues.

Those companies are re-capturing audiences that had been lost to the internet and are finding new audiences at the same time. In a commoditised marketplace, those companies are achieving elusive competitive advantage by staying a step ahead of the competition and finding their social voice. And they’re doing it in truly creative ways – using music, video, photographs, conversation. What’s ‘the alternative’ anyway – another brochure? Really? Is that really going to work this time around when it hasn’t worked for the last couple of years at least? The companies that will survive and accelerate through the recession are learning to balance traditional communications strategies with the social mandates of their audiences. If the customers want it – you’d better deliver it. New, inspired, thinking and brand development starts when digital and direct strategies are properly aligned and it’s the steps forward in social media that are truly… ehh… “entrepreneurial”. Oops.

Naturally, I regurgitated those thoughts in a demented stream of consciousness mad professor kind of way and only stopped to draw breath when spots started appearing in front of my eyes and I thought I was going to faint. Waste of money? My arse. In the last 12 months the current British Government has increased the Gross National Debt by more than the combined total of Governments over the last 300 years. Now THAT’s a waste of money. I dunno – somehow I expected an ‘entrepreneur’ to know the difference. Does that make me the real entrepreneur, the alternative… or the wanker?

Scot McKee
Managing Director
Birddog Ltd.
+44 (0)20 7323 6666
Twitter.com/scotmckee