Fizz from ConsumerPop

Two Examples of Marketing Mistakes and How To Do Better

First, The New York Times trots out an age-old story. "Marketers" don't think they can sell as much to an older demographic as to young people. But, hey, it's a recession and that's where the money is so AARP and CBS here we come!

The problem is that smart, strategic marketers market to the consumers who are the right target market for their product or service. That might or might not be 50+ consumers. When I worked on Jell-O brand products, we spoke to kids, parents and grandparents but targeted the right product to the right group with an appropriate message. For AARP magazine we featured fat-free pudding sugar-free gelatin cups for boomers who wanted lower calorie snacks that fit their still active lifestyle. We didn't send this message because someone age 55 has more money in their wallets than someone age 5 or because kids don't love Jell-O products and parents no longer treat their kids to colorful, wiggly gelatin treats.

It's no secret that 18-49 is the prized demographic sweet spot just because consumers in that age range are assumed to be more free spending and less brand loyal. And if your marketing somehow actually starts and ends there you deserve to fail. (Though this may be a case of "there are no new stories under the sun" stale reporting rather than actual fact - I certainly not aware of any company that is that limited in their marketing thinking.) But a big part of the problem is mentioned in the article, as well. Too many marketers forget brand management 101: You are not your target market.

“When you’re a 27-year-old media supervisor or a 32-year-old brand manager, what do you think the world looks like?” Jerry Sheveshewsky, chief executive at Grandparents.com. “You think it looks like you.”

Smart marketers understand consumer psychographics as well as demographics and market accordingly and respectfully. That's how you build a brand and grow a business.

Second, Pizza Hut appears, belatedly, to be grasping how to engage consumers in a social media conversation and that before you dive into the discussion you begin by listening.

Late last year Pizza Hut thought they'd put out a "viral video." This is one of my pet peeves. You cannot create viral videos. You create a video, you can make it with the hope it will go viral, you can promote it in an effort to help it to go viral but ultimately either it goes viral or it does not regardless of whether or not you made a "viral video."

The video clip of Susan Boyle on Britan's Got Talent was not made as a viral video. Thirty-eight million views and counting later, it is a viral video.

Pizza Hut, however, apparently hired a company that makes so-called viral videos and offers a money back guarantee that their efforts will generate a certain minimum number of hits. Pizza Hut marketing folks, it seems, said to themselves, well our market is young guys and dudes they love the viral videos so we will make one of them there viral videos so as to speak to them in their language.

The result was a video that received a fair number of views and several bad reviews. The message was intended to portray the deep love Pizza Hut fans have for their preferred brand. So much so that they go to other pizza shops, sit down, order delivery from Pizza Hut and get kicked out of the mom and pop shops they invade - all caught on low quality video cam so as to give the appearance of genuine amateur prank.

Oh the hilarity of punking small neighborhood businesses in this economy so as to show loyalty to the big corporate chain! Um, branding fail. All this tells me is not that Pizza Hut is delicious but that it is the brand obnoxious young guys choose.

Now Pizza Hut is looking for a Social Media Intern. It seems to be somewhat similar to the Australian Tourism "Best Job in the World" promotion where applicants applied via video for a $100,000 a year job snorkeling, lounging on the beach and blogging. Now that's viral. And the millions upon millions of free media they got in exchange for $100,000 is well worth it.

Pizza Hut's "Twintern-ship" doesn't come with some fabulous salary posted. The New York Times says it will be competitive with other Twitterers - which would mean working for free. In fact it appears to be an actual job where they expect you to work. But for a college kid it could be a great high profile resume bullet. And hopefully Pizza Hut will incorporate social media marketing into its larger marketing function and strategy and either hire a full time social media evangelist or explore ways to redefine the priorities of marketers in their company so as to create time for social media as part of their job description.

I'm glad to see though that Pizza Hut is now planning to do what they should have done in the first place before attempting to create social media content and that is to listen:

Monitor social media for pop culture news, off-the-wall stories or anything else quirky and fun that he or she thinks would be of interest to loyal Pizza Hut fans.

They need to also listen to what their consumers are saying but it's a start. And if they are really serious about getting it right this time then I hope they do get their desired server-melting onslaught of YouTube videos.

Buy This Because We Say So

People hate marketing because too often it's pushy and unconcerned with consumer wants and needs. Instead of giving you the information you need to make a purchase decision, bad marketers bombard you with useless information and emotions so that you will hopefully be enticed into buying something just because they want to sell it to anyone willing to pay the price.

This approach is stupid for many reasons but mostly because it is thoroughly unsustainable. Perhaps this approach to marketing worked when choices and information outlets were limited and constrained. But that is no longer the case. Here are three examples of current marketing efforts that are puzzling at best and seem to contain absolutely no genuine consumer insight.

A Schick (Canada) Quattro Razors For Women PR release asks and answers: "How can Canadian women help boost the economy? By investing in a cute mini.... History suggests that as skirt lengths rise, so does the stock market." Therefore you should do your patriotic duty, buy a mini skirt and, of course, shave more of your legs more often and buy their razors to accomplish this goal.

Fun, silly, irreverent, flirty...? Perhaps. Maybe some woman's service magazine will pick this up, write a cheeky story, a few women will get a laugh and make Schick Quattro their razor of choice or be inspired to rock a mini and claim "it's for the economy!" and pick up a few more blades.

But for those women concerned about the economy or interested in more efficient hair removal, this bit of fluff offers no information to help them determine if purchasing a Schick Quattro will meet their needs. Granted razors are very much a commodity item so this can be seen as a way to create more of an emotional connection with consumers but I'm not buying it. Perhaps because some other ads have left me a bit disappointed by my fellow marketers.

Quiznos is taking the concepts of "sex sells" and "food porn" to a strange new level. In the ad for their new "torpedo" sandwiches, the voice over announcer representing the oven demands that the young man selling the torpedo give his spiel in a sexier voice. Then the oven demands that the young man put the foot-long torpedo in him. Much like the Schick PR this could be seen as irreverent, humorous and congruent with the Quiznos brand identity. However, I doubt consumers are looking for a sandwich touted rather explicitly as representing a phallus. And parents are probably weary of the increasingly inappropriate advertising to which their children are exposed.

And speaking of parents, I seriously doubt there are many out there who will appreciate Dunkin Donuts latest message, promoted on television, that TV is evil and sucks your kids in like zombies caught in a tractor beam and that the way to break the spell is to feed them donuts. The underlying concept here is to remind consumers of the donuts in Dunkin Donuts after focusing heavily on coffee and sandwiches. But given that consumers have been bombarded with the message that childhood obesity is an epidemic crisis, I suspect the ad subtly screams - you are a bad parent!!! I've seen some tweets saying that some find the ad humorous, but my reaction and that of many others was head scratching.

Marketing like this might get attention. Each of these efforts have certainly broken through the clutter as I've seen discussion around them and it's not just my own insidery advertising and marketing interest that's been piqued. But what of those enticed to buy based on these efforts? Clever, humorous marketing in and of itself gives me no signal that any of these items is right for this consumer and if I try and am disappointed you've just built frustration and bad feelings into your brand. Good marketing should connect the right consumers for your brand with what you are selling. Unless the message is that these products are only for consumers with a particular sense of humor, all three of these efforts fail.