Tag Archives: marketing communications

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Preparing for Disciples (Marketing version 1.0)

Stock image courtesy of nosheep at sxc.huLast week we looked at the notion of Disciples as “more than satisfied” customers and created a working definition for Disciples in a marketing sense. While it can be easy to make excuses about your particular enterprise and its worthiness in terms of attracting disciples let’s set aside that skepticism for just a moment and look at some preparatory essentials. These are the attitudinal building blocks that lay the foundation for Disciple making:

1. You have to be prepared serve

A customer who gets exactly what they expect is satisfied. A customer who gets more than what they expect on a regular basis is ripe for becoming a Disciple. This means that you need to be prepared to go above and beyond ALL THE TIME.  It’s easy to imagine a company like Disney or Apple creating Disciples because they provide goods and services that tap into some of our core emotions and values: Family, Coolness, Escape, Social acceptance etc. But how does a lawn service or a purveyor of pencils make Disciples when the goods and services they provide are much more mundane? By going out of their way to serve the customer. Customer service that fosters Disciples does not seek to merely serve the customer needs in the moment. It seeks to anticipate the what the customer’s needs will be tomorrow and stands prepared to meet them or even preempt them.  Are you ready to anticipate and serve your customers future needs? Then you’ve begun laying the foundation for Disciple making.

2. You have to be prepared to give

Two of the characteristics we identified as hallmarks of Disciples were that they typically self-identify and that they crave ‘insider’ information. (And I’m not referring to public trading) They want to feel like they are a part of your organization. If you’re going to capture this sentiment you need to be prepared to give some form of recognition. It may be that you’ll give recognition by creating some form of membership or named group, it may be that beyond a named group you’ll provide levels of involvement, it may be that you’ll provide members with information not available to the general public. It doesn’t always mean that you’ll give away material goods, but you may choose to do that as well.

I remember standing in line to get into the Denver Zoo one summer when our kids were small. There were several new exhibits and the line literally stretched around the block. We happened to be annual pass holders at the time and I clearly recall 90 degree heat, one child strapped to my back with another in a stroller,  and no recognition that we were pass holders. We stood in line with hundreds of folks who had never seen the zoo. Now, imagine they had had a separate line for annual pass holders, that this simple change was the only ‘perk’ they gave us. Not only would we have felt as sense of thanks and recognition for  being pass holders but we would also have stood in a far shorter line. Now, how many annual passes do you think they might have sold that day had they chosen to simply give out some turn-style recognition?

Remember, this giving of recognition is above and beyond your normal service offering. “Hey, you like what we do? Why not join us? And once you do here’s what you’ll get!”

3. You have to be prepared to nuture

Sounds touchy-feely I know. In this instance think of nurturing as being something as simple as drip feeding, a little water now and again to keep growth happening. If you’d like to see a phenomenal example of this approach do a little web research into Jack Daniels Tennessee Squires. According to several sources:

“The Tennessee Squire Association was formed many years ago to honour special friends of the Distillery and their world-famous Tennessee Whiskey. Many prominent business and entertainment professionals are included amongst its members”

I know about the Squires because my dad was a member. He was given a “plot of land” (I eventually learned it was about an inch square) and at least once a year something would come in the mail, a horse chestnut from “near your property”, a plug of tobacco from a “local boy”, or some Jack Daniels logo item reserved for the Squires.  By following up over time the company nurtured the relationship and my dad was a pretty brand loyal guy I have to believe, at least in part, due to that nurturing.

So, still a skeptic? Still think your brand of organization isn’t suitable for Disciple making? Are you prepared to anticipate and meet need? Are you prepared to give recognition? Are you prepared to nurture your customer relationships? Then you may be more prepared than you think!

What is the biggest stumbling block you face in moving towards creating Disciples? How can it be moved?


 

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Commercial Perfection

Have you seen the new Perrier commercial?

This is really brilliant stuff, especially when held up next to much of what is being aired these days. If you’ve seen it in context, meaning on TV, it really stands out from the commercials on either side of it. Why? you may ask, what makes it so appealing? Let me suggest three simple elements:

1) It Understands the Medium:

Television is a visual medium. The visuals of all the melting landscape and props are artistic candy. Watch the actors as they interact with their melting surroundings…great stuff. There is a trend in commercials today to be more reliant on audio, the thought being that people are headed to the fridge with their back turned to the tube so we better give them an audio message. This piece is purely visual communication. Walk to the fridge with your back turned and you won’t know what the commercial is about but watch it, and you’re captivated.

2) It Tells a Story:

We’re drawn in early on to the mystery of why stuff is melting. We shown the main character with a look of confusion approaching panic. She moves toward resolution and then the story arc peaks as the bottle falls off the ledge, a moment of high tension. We get it, we know where this is headed because we’ve seen it before but the piece is so artistically done, the story so visually well told, that we follow it anyway.

3) It Resolves on the Product:

The moment we see the “heroine” drink deeply in the pool we think, or at least I thought, “refreshment”. No slogan is spoken, no print on the screen, but the idea is clear, and more importantly, it is centered on the product. Not the funny person in the video, not the comedic climax, not the tag line, the product. We’re given one word “Perrier” and we provide our own tag line, highly personalized, subconsciously.

What are the places in life where you are trying, or have to try, to convince people to do something, or try something, or decide something? Do your “commercials” understand the medium in which you’re presenting your idea? Do you have a story to tell? DO you focus on “the product”? The thing you want them to choose?

It may be trying to get your kids out of bed in the morning. It may be trying to convince a friend to start exercising with you. It may be trying to sell your boss on a new idea. How can you leverage these three elements to convince your audience in a more compelling way?