consumer
Come out from behind the two-way mirror
That coupon you just downloaded could be a window into your world. When you viewed it online, the barcode on it was dynamically generated with what could be very personal information about you. When you take it into the store to redeem it, the retailer could instantly know the search words you used, where you got the coupon, where you live, and a host of other details that can help them target you better.
16 years after the first cookie was planted on a computer, the business of capturing and profiting from online behavioral data has exploded, and grown to include mobile user data. There’s an attitude amongst us marketers that lack of privacy is the trade-off that consumers make for their access to content on the internet and on mobile phones….and that we have every right to spy if it means we can make faster and more relevant offers to specific individuals.
But please, let’s regulate ourselves before the regulators step in. We’re intrigued by a company called Media6Degrees Inc., who is pushing the envelope. The folks at Media6Degrees envision the day when financial institutions can make judgments about you by who you associate with online. According to this Wall Street Journal article, “The idea is that the creditworthy tend to hang out with the creditworthy, and deadbeats with deadbeats.”
How many times do we need to learn…what the consumer doesn’t know can hurt you. Protect your brand and think twice about how you’re using this data. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
Try Something New
Between yesterday and mid-September, fifty Brazilian families will randomly “win a day of Unilever sponsored family fun” and presumably will let us all know about the experience of being followed home and filmed by a Unilever promotions team.
Here’s the concept. Fifty boxes of Unilever’s Omo new stain-fighting detergent, spread amongst 35 Brazilian cities, will carry a GPS tracking chip. Thirty-five Omo promotional teams will be standing by to follow the signal to someone’s home, congratulate the winner and present them with a pocket-sized video camera and a certificate for their day of fun.
Reaction of the surprised winner will, of course, be filmed and posted online at experimentealgonovo.com.br (Portuguese for “try something new) — as will the photos of winners and their locations.
“Is your detergent stalking you?” asks Advertising Age of the new promotion called “Try Something New with Omo.” Omo and their agency, Bullet, are being criticized for privacy by some, commended for an innovative promotion by others.
Personally, I’m on the side of innovative promotion but only if the winners are given the option of not being posted or named on the website. I don’t believe there is even implied consent for use of image … all they did was buy laundry detergent.
Omo is Brazil’s top selling detergent, with a home penetration of 80%. It accounts for half of the detergent sales in the country. One report said that this campaign will cost about $1 million, start to finish, of Omo’s annual $23 million advertising budget. Although the product here is detergent, certainly if the promotion is successful, it will be moving in to all sorts of consumer goods.
So, what do you think … creepy and invasive? A promotional break-through that smartly leverage’s today’s technology? Or both?
Viral Gets Nestle … The Palm Oil “Incident”
Yes, it’s great when viral advertising takes hold, isn’t it? Nestle Amsterdam achieved “viral advertising icon status” with its fake Jesus commercial (see previous blog posting). Nestle corporate achieved “viral advertising wrath”, big-time, by attempting to remove a viral Greenpeace ad linking Kit Kat bars to climate change from YouTube . “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Société des Produits Nestlé S.A.”
What chaos! What a backlash!
Activists, outraged consumers and digital geeks all united in the thrashing of Nestle throughout social media outlets. Many were incensed by Nestle’s use of palm oil, purchased through Sinar Mas—a company with one of the worst environmental records and linked to illegal deforestation. Others were angry that a corporation would violate the basic tenets of social media by banning someone else’s video.
Nestle’s rather benign and rarely visited Facebook page was barraged with comments ranging from generally to aggressively nasty comments and other creative expressions of the Kit Kat and Nestle logos. Nestle further dug themselves into a hole by threatening action against copyright violators.
As the online frenzy moved to the terrestrial world through protests and events, Nestle finally took it seriously and on May 17, issued a statement that Sinar Mas is no longer part of their supply chain. However, Nestle does still purchase palm oil from Cargill, which is supplied in part by Sinar Mas. So, the online discussion continues and the anti-Nestle throng continues to multiply.
I like to talk with our clients about emerging consumer demands for transparency … and provide a gentle warning that the days of the passive consumer are over. This trend has steadily grown over the past couple of years, as consumers started scrutinizing company practices in addition to the nutrition labels.
Sustainability is also a huge topic on the minds of consumers, increasing considerablyly as purchase criteria for both foods and supplements. And companies can’t disrespect this; consumers have ways of peeking behind the curtain and are not shy about voicing their findings loudly, clearly and globally.
For those who haven’t seen it, here’s a link to the Greenpeace video as well as info on Nestle’s announcement to discontinue with Sinar Mas.
Older, Wiser and way more Demanding
As part of the baby-boom generation that grew up rather simply – that is, not thinking too hard about food or even knowing the right questions to ask – I’m thrilled to finally have the 24/7 access to information that defines today’s world.Whole Foods, Meijer, Trader Joe’s and HyVee as sources of information.
Colman Brohan Davis’s recent Food Shopping Survey 2009 turned up some interesting insights about my peers. Relative to the other segments measured (Women 
20 – 25 and Men), we are heavier readers and tv watchers, looking to books, magazines and the tube to gather information and form opinions. And we’ve avidly embraced life online, particularly search and mobile. We love exploring blogs, postings and sites that provide insight and data about food. We have fun sharing our opinions.
Here are some highlights of our research:
Making It Too Easy to Say Good-bye
Office water-cooler talk often is a dialogue around “can you top this.” Lately, the topic—unfortunately—is really bad customer service encounters.
Things seem to be getting worse out there. A recent mystery-thing in a jar of peanuts prompted me to actually send a letter to the manufacturer and the jaw-breaking-clearly-not-edible chunk, only to receive a “thank you for your letter and here’s a $5 coupon” in return. No indication of what the strange item actually was, or reassurance that it was safe.
This morning, I’m fuzzy from the realization that a 30-year relationship with the Chicago Tribune has come to a close.
Sure, I’ve toyed with walking away … the paper is stripped out and a mere shell of its former self, both in quantity and quality. Typos are everywhere (a sports headline last week had someone “thown” from a game). The new crossword puzzles are awful! But I still devour the editorial page, adore “Ask Amy,” and actually learn things I really don’t want to know about the goings-on at City Hall courtesy of John Kass. So I’ve hung in there. But then …
We are not who we used to be.
Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of attending Executives’ Club of Chicago’s Economic Forecast 2009. This was my second year, and I remember the tone of the 2008 event as cautiously optimistic. Who could have known that all the cards that the house was built from would fall at the same time, right? At any rate, I listened to the 2009 presentations with a healthy mix of skepticism and cynicism.
As I remarked to Liz at the time, I feel that I’ve been forever changed by the events of the last year. For instance, I am now more concerned with the company that gets my dollar. I consider small businesses more readily. I take time to look up economic and financial terms I don’t understand. I think about things I can make on my own, and I’m even (gasp) cooking at home more often. My values have shifted and I am stingier with my trust. And it’s reflected in my purchase consideration.
I was making this point to a client recently, in the context of their need for research into a new service they want to provide. They are in the enviable position of establishing a new brand, so they have a great opportunity to tap into insights – and satisfy both emotional and rational needs in a differentiating way. But this opportunity is no less important to more established brands.
We aren’t who we used to be, in both subtle and bold ways. And the nuances of motivation are the stuff of competitive advantage. Seize the day.
[Read an interesting take on the Executives’ Club of Chicago’s Economic Forecast 2009 here]
