There’s Nothing New in Desperate Marketing


1 April 2008 Eloy Trevino


Companies that fall into desperate marketing miss the chance to innovate. Scott Davis and Eloy Trevino of Prophet highlight the key questions marketers should be asking themselves.


During the past year, Burger King and Ford were diametrical in their in-market strategies, with one holistically embracing innovation as its growth strategy. The strategies of these companies speak volumes about the frenetic conditions that continue to drive or impede marketing’s ability to contribute top- and bottom-line growth in both the short and long-term.

Burger King celebrated 12 consecutive quarters of growth on the strength of such innovative product launches as Stackers, Chicken Tender Crisps and Enormous Omelet Sandwiches. It also continued to leverage the irreverent King through breakthrough media strategies.

"In the age of blogs, YouTube and product globalisation, the rules of engagement have changed."

Then, there’s Ford. On the heels of a $12.7bn loss in 2006, and in need to revitalise short-term sales, it announced plans to re-tag the Ford 500 with the Taurus nameplate. If reviving a brand was as easy as Ford might make you think, then Oldsmobile, Netscape and Tears for Fears might want to get that magic formula shipped to them overnight.

Ford tried to recapture some of the magic that made the Taurus a 6.7-million-unit legend that consistently won awards and, at one point, sold more than 400,000 cars annually, making it the top selling car in the US. Taurus was a powerful brand and a consistent revenue driver, but in what may have been some foreshadowing, times changed, as did customer needs.

After 20 years of solid but diminishing service, the Taurus was retired, relegated to fleet sales exclusively in its final year.

It took Burger King a while to get there; multiple ownership structures, advertising campaigns, management teams and go-to-market strategies over the past decade made great fodder for us brand pundits—they finally got it.

When Burger King finally landed on the target segment it wanted to win with most - 18- to 35-year-old males - the fast food giant never looked back. It tapped into its roots while embracing innovation.

Tactics such as SubservientChicken.com reignited the brand’s relevance to a younger crowd while spurring internet chat. The creative rebirth of its kingly brand icon through such savvy promotions as the much-sought-after Halloween masks and its Xbox partnership helped give Burger King relevance.

With Ford and its Taurus revival, it may initially have seemed that these were the first in a series of tactical (not strategic) manoeuvres to start to rally consumers, employees and investors by resurrecting an icon in a symbolic return to it roots. Unfortunately, this was not the case

In the age of blogs, YouTube and product globalisation, the rules of engagement have changed, yet many marketers cling to lifelines of successes past. Empowered CMOs now must choose between innovation and desperation.

The choice sounds easy, but when senior management faces short-term pressures in mature markets with highly discerning consumers, massive amounts of product proliferation, increasing channel saturation and scarce resources, a perfect storm may force desperate acts.

To choose, you need to ask three fundamental questions. How you respond will dictate your course.

WHERE DOES OUR BRAND CREDIBLY ALLOW US TO EXPAND?

One of the most interesting turnarounds in recent years has been Kodak. Kodak has moved back to its original roots and brand values around the "capturing of memories" and away from high-cost, slim-margin cameras and the fast-disappearing market for film.

"Empowered CMOs now must choose between innovation and desperation."

Kodak intends to help people organise and manage their personal libraries of images through a host of innovative digital-photo services, such as its Scan the World service, where yellowed snapshots are converted into digital images organised by date first printed.

Kodak got it right by staying true to its brand heritage, offering innovative consumer solutions in new markets where brand credibility is strong and never looking back.

WHAT ARE THE UNTAPPED OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE CAN OWN?

For years, Dutch Boy was a strong but undifferentiated player in the hyper-competitive US paint industry. The industry suffered from a less-than-consumer-friendly image, with traditional paint cans requiring a screwdriver to open, a wet towel to clean up the spillover and a hammer to seal shut.

Letting other companies perfect colours, Dutch Boy introduced Twist & Pour, a long-overdue plastic, screw-top container. Soon after, Sherwin-Williams, Dutch Boy’s parent company, allowed this innovation to be applied to the more widely distributed parent brand. On the heels of Twist & Pour, Dutch Boy has introduced Ready to Roll, a project-size container with a built-in roller tray.

Sherwin-Williams got it right by understanding consumer need and innovating around product form, leveraging it across its entire product portfolio and never looking back.

WHAT ORGANISATIONAL COMPETENCIES CAN WE MORE EFFECTIVELY LEVERAGE TO DRIVE INNOVATION?

Think of the insurance perfect storm: commoditisation, channel proliferation, eroding trust. The things that anger people about their insurance provider include poor coverage, complexity, rising premiums and agent dependency. US insurer Allstate addressed this with its safe-driving bonuses, accident forgiveness and new-car expanded protection, with similar products coming soon for the home. Allstate figured out a way to reconfigure its pricing to allow consumers to be in control by designing insurance policies that meet their individual needs.

Allstate got it right by leveraging new business models and innovating around the white space of consumer control, never looking back.

Nobody ‘chooses’ desperation over innovation as the strategic course of action. But marketers that seek to use innovation to fuel business growth will find the path far smoother when they let the answers to these questions be their guide.