Arun Sinha, group chief marketing and communications officer of Zurich Financial Services AG from 2007 to July 31 this year, spoke at last week's CMO Council event in New York about what it took to do the impossible: give positive brand equity to a global player in an industry that many view as a faceless, paper-shuffling, cubicle-choked, check-cashing, and nefarious commodity that is, at best, a necessary evil. Sinha and his organization did that in September 2008, when it launched Zurich HelpPoint, making its essence -- treating each customer as an individual and not a policy number -- the fulcrum for changing management ideals. Making the changes that allowed the company to become more humane meant sailing into a stiff headwind. Though Zurich Financial was founded something like 150 years ago, it didn't have much brand identity -- partly because it wasn't a brand. Sinha said even after the company had consolidated from two holding companies to one in 2000, it was overrun with logos. "We had 63 different brands, and we consolidated it all. That means CEO's became managers. And there was a lot of resistance to that." Once the company had whittled its presence to just three global brands -- Farmers Insurance (in the U.S.), Zurich and Zurich Connect -- it embarked on a global market research project around what consumers thought of the category, and of Zurich Financial itself. "Fewer than 15% trust insurance," said Sinha. "That's half the approval of George Bush before he was voted out. In Italy, it was about the level of the mafia. And when we asked them what we should do, people said, 'Deliver the basics. If you just deliver on what you promise, you will go a long way.'" That, he said, was the genesis of HelpPoint. Sinha, now a professor at Yale University's School of Management, said the process of launching HelpPoint meant changing the culture at the company. Starting in 2008, the company launched a three-year plan for change. First came a repackaging and its largest global campaign in 2008, then in 2009 developing best practices. Then, in 2010, innovations related to that under the broad purview of Desired Customer Experience. Sinha had a problem with internal resistance, since regional managers translated "customer-centric" to "costly." "My biggest challenge was internal, with management saying, 'You want us to be customer-centric; that will cost.' They wanted relief on profitability. I said, 'Absolutely not. You have to be customer-centric and remain profitable.'" TNS customer satisfaction and loyalty research in every market helped regions cut costs and figure out where to spend more to give customers what they actually cared about, such as proactive communications with policy holders. "In Spain, we did lots of things really well, but found out that we didn't do well in areas that were important. Consumers didn't want a courtesy car, for instance. They wanted someone saying [Zurich] is on the case. We said you could reduce repair and garage costs but dial up on the notification aspect. By reducing services in one area you can maintain the same level of profitability. That was a huge cultural change." As was the company's marketing strategy which, Sinha said, had to become 360-degree with lots of touch points, reflecting the ubiquity of information and access and a change within the organization, which required training on customer-centrism. "I started a 20-minute e-learning program with the board of directors, then with the group executive committee, and the top 450 managers. We passed it down and created grassroots involvement, and leveraged social media to disseminate it to employees," Sinha said. "The real key is execution. Every conference room at Zurich has one chair that says 'customers' chair.'" In addition to its giant global campaign comprising dozens of TV ads in 23 or so languages,the company changed its media strategy for marketing. "Online, for example, we drive deeper campaign interaction with tailored content. It helps connect with consumers directly since we don't have a direct retail channel," he said. Sinha said Zurich, which almost went bankrupt eight years ago, is No. 1 in reputation and is the second-most admired company in the industry. "We have found that there is a 10% higher loyalty rate among customers who have gone through the claims process versus ones who have not. Our brand KPI's are up, brand attributes related to customer service are up. We have found a differentiator in a segment that has commoditized."
While forecasts are calling for big increases in online spending this holiday season, fears about slow-to-buy shoppers are sparking a bit of an Internet frenzy. Nine out of 10 online retailers are offering special deals Thanksgiving weekend, with 51% offering specials that are specific to Thanksgiving, and 80% linking them to Cyber Monday, according to Shop.org, the online arm of the National Retail Federation. All together, 92.2% will offer some kind of promotion during the holiday weekend. It’s not that stores are worried, exactly: While brick-and-mortar spending is expected to be tepid, Forrester expects U.S. holiday season online retail sales to grow a hefty 15% from last year. The concern is that shoppers are so deal-focused that it will be easier than ever to lose share. “While the possibility of a double-dip recession remains, consumers are continuing to increase their use of the Web through new devices, on key dates, and with the explicit intention of saving money,” Forrester reports. “Retailers must execute around these key trends and touchpoints to maximize their holiday sales.” (comScore, which tracks online spending around the world, is scheduled to release its holiday spending estimates this week.) And retailers are doing just that. About 45% are offering coupons/percent-off deals, says Shop.org, and 37.5% say they intend to have limited-time promotions. About 30% will offer free standard shipping with conditions, and many major chains, including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy, are already trumpeting free-shipping promotions. And 15% of retailers say they plan to feature a free gift with their purchase. Retailers are also rethinking the way they’ll reach these online shoppers. BDO’s recent survey of top retail CMOs finds that 28% are counting on email as the most effective promotional tactic this season, 26% say it’s search engine marketing, and 23% say it’s free shipping. Social media, although up 80% from last year’s poll, is seen as most effective by just 18%. “While social media is growing, it’s clear that retailers still rely on the action triggers that email promotions and free shipping offers provide,” BDO says in its report. Cyber Monday, a term coined in 2005, is viewed as the online equivalent to Black Friday, and it continues to grow in importance. The NRF’s CyberMonday.com will feature a “Deal of the hour” on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Chrysler is once again importing Detroit into an NFL ad buy. On Thanksgiving Day, during which the Motor City will host the NFL game between its own Lions and the Green Bay Packers, Chrysler will run a 60-second national TV spot. The ad, like the "Born of Fire" spot that ran during the 2011 Super Bowl, will tap into the Detroit zeitgeist. But instead of using rapper Eminem, the company will use a different poet. The ad featuring the Chrysler 300 sedan will feature a poem by Michigan Poet Laureate Edgar A. Guest, who grew up in Detroit over 100 years ago and was a copy boy at the Detroit Free Press in the 1890s. The campaign, via Portland, Ore-based Wieden+Kennedy, uses the words to Guest’s poem “See It Through,” penned in 1917. The campaign, which has digital and print elements as well, also features Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. As did the "Born of Fire" Super Bowl spot featuring the Chrysler 200, the new ad offers unvarnished shots of metropolitan Detroit urban and rural neighborhoods and the folks who inhabit them. The ad, which keeps the "Imported from Detroit" mantra, is set to Muddy Waters singing “Mannish Boy” with a voiceover reciting Guest’s “See It Through” as a Chrysler 300 drives through various neighborhoods, past the people and faces. Suh is shown standing in front of his Chrysler 300. It ends with “The New Chrysler 300. More Than Just Our Flagship” and an “Imported from Detroit” title card.tv. Although the long-form ad's TV debut is on Fox during the Thanksgiving Day game, the "See It Through" video will run on the USAToday.com home page all week, per the company. On Wednesday, Suh and his 300 sedan will be featured on a USA Today newspaper cover wrap. Then on the Friday, USA Today will run a two-page spread featuring the “See It Through” poem, the 2012 Chrysler 300, and images of the Detroit neighborhoods and people who are in the TV spot. “The ‘Imported from Detroit’ message that hard work pays off has resonated nationwide,” said Saad Chehab, president and CEO of the Chrysler brand, in a statement. He said the original "Born of Fire" spot resonated because it "captures the spirit of the country in addition to the comeback of the Chrysler brand and Chrysler Group." The company indeed seems to be benefitting from its adoption by Fiat S.p.A. Last month, Chrysler Group reported U.S. sales of 114,512, a 27% increase versus last year, and the best October since 2007. Also, the Chrysler brand, which had a 28% sales increase, saw stronger sales gains than the other three Chrysler Group brands (Jeep, Ram, and Dodge). That is a stark shift in the Chrysler brand's fortunes in previous years, when it had little but the aging 300 sedan, and the Town and Country minivan, which competes in an evaporating segment. Chrysler has had strong sales uptake for the 200 sedan, which saw a 405% gain last month.
Coldwell Banker is focusing on the inevitably crowded family get-togethers to encourage consumers to think about moving. A TV spot breaking Nov. 22 features a family devising their holiday game plan to accommodate guests. Bringing in equal parts of empathy and humor, the parents accidentally leave themselves out of the equation, and end up having to sleep in the garage. Coldwell Banker CMO Mike Fischer says the campaign is targeted toward “everyone and anyone who needs more space. We took a lighthearted approach that makes a very important point that the home plays a critical role in our lifestyle,” Fischer tells Marketing Daily. “The holidays are a perfect time to remind consumers of the role their home plays in their everyday lives.” Despite being crowded together, a recent survey shows that the majority of Americans wouldn’t have it any other way. Approximately 4 in 10 respondents (39%) say their holiday get-togethers include 15 or more family members and friends, and more than half (54%) say they stay overnight with their families so they can all be in one household during the holidays. The first creative spot from the new advertising agency of record for Coldwell Banker, El Sequndo, Calif.-based Siltanen & Partners, underscores the emotional side of owning a home in a fun way, highlighting the role of family and the homes as central holiday headquarters. The commercial airs during NBC’s annual Rockefeller Plaza tree lighting ceremony. Coldwell Banker also partnered with NBC’s LXTV Open House to design a holiday-themed segment for this weekly national show. In addition, a man-on-the-street video shows the intertwinement of home and family.
The Great Tablet Derby of 2011 is shaping up to be a two-horse race. According to a survey of more than 3,000 North American consumers by ChangeWave Research, Amazon’s new tablet entry, the Kindle Fire, is likely to become the category’s No. 2 product (behind, of course, the iPad) by a wide margin. “I think we’re seeing a shake-out of the tablet market,” said Paul Carton, vice president of research for ChangeWave, in a webinar explaining the findings. “There are going to be several second-tier makers who aren’t going to make it.” According to the survey, conducted in the first few weeks of November, 22% of potential tablet buyers said they are considering purchasing a Kindle Fire (65% said they intended to buy an iPad). The only other competitor to garner more than 1% of purchase intent was Samsung, which appealed to 4% of likely buyers. “If the Kindle Fire lives up to user expectations, it has tremendous market momentum,” Carton said. “The most immediate impact is on the secondary tablet makers. This is potentially a devastating blow to second-tier tablet makers.” Of course, Apple is (and will likely remain) the dominant player in the tablet market, with nearly two-thirds of likely tablet buyers saying they would purchase an iPad. Some of the advantages for Apple include high brand loyalty, a user-friendly operating system and high satisfaction rates among current consumers. “You’ve got them with a lead of two-thirds of the market going forward, and it’s growing exponentially,” Carton said. “It’s hard to see the Kindle making much of a dent with that.” But Amazon has several factors working in its favor during the holiday season. First, the Kindle Fire, offered at $199, is cheaper than most tablets on the market, and price is one of the top considerations for tablet buyers, according to the survey. The company also has significant brand recognition among e-reader users, and it looks to be the dominant consumer electronics marketplace during this holiday season. According to ChangeWave, 44% of consumers said they planned to make household electronics purchases through Amazon.com, up from 32% who intended to purchase through Amazon in last November’s survey. “This isn’t just because of the Kindle Fire,” Carton said. “The whole movement of online shopping has moved into its explosive stage.”
Although economizing continues to be a core driver behind increased amounts of home cooking, it’s definitely not the only reason. In fact, half (51%) of home cooks cite the desire for a healthier diet as an important motivation, saying that home-cooked food is generally healthier than either restaurant food or prepared foods sold in grocery stores, according to a new Mintel report on cooking enthusiasts. Older cooks are somewhat more likely to cite health as a reason for their interest in cooking. Also, not surprisingly, they tend to be more skilled than younger generations: 15% of those 55 and older say that they have “advanced” cooking skill, versus 6% of Millennials. The downside: Older cooks can get into a rut. However, this creates an opportunity for food marketers to provide seniors “with options that adhere to specific health requirements, as well as add an element of fun and adventure to meal prep,” notes Mintel senior analyst Fiona O’Donnell. On the other hand, one-quarter of Millennials claim to “love” cooking. Furthermore, consumers in their 20s and 30s are more inclined to experiment and to agree that cooking gourmet meals makes them feel sophisticated and smart -- suggesting that learning to cook and cooking for friends are viewed as a way to establish credibility among their peers. Overall, 56% of those who cook occasionally say that cooking allows them to experiment and try new things, and 27% specifically say that it helps them explore foods eaten in other cultures. Nearly half (48%) say that cooking is a way to express affection to friends and family, and 41% report that they enjoy teaching their children how to cook. Forty-three percent say they enjoy the process of cooking as much as eating, and 40% say that it helps them relax.
With young men’s passion for classic kicks still going strong, it makes sense that the ads used to sell them are getting more love, too. Complex.com just came out with a ranking of “The 50 Best Sneaker Ad Campaigns,” which will give Gen Y dandies the chance to meet old-school ad genius, like Nike’s “Bo Knows” and Charles Barkley’s “I am not a role model.” “Context matters a lot, and there is so much retro product on the shelves these days,” Russ Bengtson, Complex’ sneaker editor, explains to Marketing Daily. “If you see the ads, you understand the whole concept.” To select the top 50 spots (which may start a few fistfights among ad mavens of a certain age), Complex tapped Nick Santora, whose Classic Kicks store in New York was something of an epicenter for the vintage shoe world. The top four campaigns are from Wieden + Kennedy, with Nike's 1988 Air Jordan campaign "Spike & Mike" coming in at No. 1. (Spike Lee appears as sports-loving Brooklynite Mars Blackmon.) Next is Nike's "Bo Knows," which debuted in 1989; its 1993 "I am not a Role Model" spot with Barkley, and its 1995 "Lil Penny" ranked No. 3 and No. 4. Chiat Day's Air Jordan "Banned" campaign comes in at #5. While it’s hard to quantify just how important the retro trend is to the sneaker business, it’s way bigger than LeBron’s feet. “Most of the sales of actual vintage shoes are private, between collectors,” says Matt Powell, an analyst and sneakerologist with Princeton Retail Analysis. “I’d estimate those sales at less than $10 million in sales per year.” But those purchases, among style setters and fashion influencers, many of whom have 100 pairs or more of vintage sneaks, have an enormous impact on the new shoe business, he says: “Basketball shoe sales were $2.8 billion last year, and of that, 28% were retro styles.” The first retro styles were introduced in mid-90s, says Bengtson. But by the late ‘90s, retro style shoes took off, and collectors are still flocking to places like Classic Kicks, Flightclub, and Sole Collector. But why mostly basketball? And why retro? “All athletes rely on their shoes, but they are much more a tool in basketball,” Bengtson says. “Shaving that milliliter off the sole is important, and they are looking for any advantage they can get. People like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have a great deal of credibility about design.” And retro appeals to this demographic, he says, “because it’s been 15 years or so and they are nostalgic about what they wore in high school. And now they have the money to track the shoes down and wear them again.”
In this rapidly changing world of the digital marketing landscape, chief marketing officers need timely notification of relevant issues and balanced information to make informed decisions. They may not be getting it when it comes to generic top-level domains (gTLDs). Recently, I was contacted by a private organization representing some of the top CMOs in the country. Its members wanted information about gTLDs, which would allow companies to have their own brand name or a generic word to the right of the dot in an Internet address. Among their specific questions: