Protean

NEW 2009; a tale of two glasses…

With the dust now firmly settled on National Electronics Week 2009, what kind of impression has it left behind? Well, against the odds governing the current economic climate, the UK electronics exhibition certainly generated plenty of interest and some high quality leads. But as always, the success of the show depends on your outlook. So, are you a glass half full or glass half empty kind of person?

It seems most people are glass half fulls. Certainly, this philosophy was evident at the show which saw visitors attending with the sole aim of purchasing equipment and exhibitors re-booking for 2010. It also ties in with a wider industry trend, with IC Insights’ forthcoming Mid-Year Update to The McClean Report suggesting that 2009 will indeed be a “tale of two halves”.

For you glass half empties, the first half of the year was characterised by seasonal weakness for electronic system sales and the global recession at its worst. And for the half fulls? The second half is expected to usher in strong seasonal strength for electronic system sales and positive worldwide GDP growth. So, NEW 2009 was pretty much sandwiched somewhere in between the two.

In reality, this means there was no tidal wave of visitors at NEW. It also means that there was a good quantity of serious enquiries from people who had come to the show with the direct intention of purchasing. All in all, the majority were happy, with glowing reports coming from the likes of Adaptsys, Almit, EcoPac Power, Juki, O’Dell Rework Solutions, Quantum CAD and VSMT to name but a few.

NEW 2009 proved the power of the industry working together. Those who chose to support the show played an important part in its success. In turn, the success of shows like NEW will benefit us all. If they fail, then the whole industry is poorer. NEW also proved that the glass half full companies will always be the most successful. With one eye on the resurgence, it was these companies who invested in marketing at the event, and it was these companies who truly made the most of an opportunity. And in all cases, it paid off with more visitor traffic, leads and even, sales.

NEW is back in 2010 when hopefully, we’ll all be drinking from the same glass. Cheers!

 

 

 

 

More pies than fingers? The power of a truly integrated marketing mix.

In today’s marketing environment, it certainly is getting that way. Where there used to be a danger of having our fingers in too many pies, it’s increasingly the case that there are simply more pies than fingers. And, as the surrounding hype gathers pace, this phenomenon could dilute the overall mix. 

Of course, we’ve all got to learn. And a multi-disciplinary approach is essential. But marketing is less an art than a science. So we don’t market for marketing’s sake. We market because we have something to say, something to sell and something to achieve. We have goals, reasons and outcomes. And no amount of pies will help us get there unless the mix is right.

That’s why, now more than ever, integrated, intelligent marketing is the name of the game. For example, just because social media’s got the industry buzzing, it’s only worth harnessing if it’s right for a brand’s objectives. Equally, there’s still undoubtedly a place for print – even if it’s online that’s experiencing the highest growth rates year-on-year. The point is, everything has its place. But that place must be a considered part of your final destination.

So, when it comes to the marketing bandwagon, jump on recklessly and you’re in danger of veering off course. But observe it and steer it wisely, and you’re on track for success.  In our own experience, marketing is most powerful when it is integrated and realistic. Marketers must take the time to learn about emerging technologies and most importantly, how they can complement and develop proven methodologies to create a potent force for real business results.

Remember, the proof really is in the pie; top chefs can always back up their credentials.

Staring at goats. The latest social media phenomenon.

For those of you who don’t know, here in the UK we have a broadcaster called Jonathan Ross. Over the years, he’s worked on TV, on the radio, penned a few books and occasionally, achieved notoriety by courting controversy on the airwaves with the likes of Russell Brand. But lately, Jonathan’s career has taken a different turn, with brand agency JCPR naming him the most influential Twitterer in the world – above Downing Street, Barack Obama and CNN.

The new research judges users of the micro-blogging platform not on follower numbers alone, although at the time of writing, Ross (@wossy) had around 275,000. Instead, the agency developed an algorithm that viewed this metric alongside the number of times their name occurs and how many ‘re-tweets’ they receive from other users.  So, it’s a matter of influence and not popularity – and surely, that’s the real reason so many of us marketers turned our attention to the medium in the first place?

There are several reasons for Jonathan’s new-found fame on this medium but the latest is his launch of @atwossybookclub. The premise is simple, it’s a book club. What’s special about it is that it takes place solely on Twitter. On Friday May 15^th, he wrote: “I have a great idea! Let’s start a book club on twitter! Once a week and we all post mini-reviews!”

Having nominated his first book as Jon Ronson’s ‘The men who stare at goats’₁, Amazon reported that the book’s sales had risen an impressive 7,000% over the weekend. Meanwhile the book’s publisher blogged that “unprecedented demand for the book has meant Picador has had to think outside the box on how to get the title out to readers in time.” The result? You can now read the book online as a digital version. Not only this, but between 17.00 and 18.00 on Sunday, as the book club officially opened, Picador made the book freely available to help twitterers “further the discussion”.

The growing power of Twitter, and by implication, social media as a whole is startling clear. Influence is indeed the name of the game. Hey, I read the book when the chances are, I wouldn’t have otherwise. Described by The Observer as a “narcotic road trip through the wackier reaches of Bush’s war effort,” it is, in my humble opinion a great read. And, as a book with conspiracy theories at its heart, it is also in some senses, a book about influence.

As a marketer, it’s hard to ignore the conversation had in the book between Ronson and ‘Dave’, a Senior Cultural Analyst working for the PsyOps unit of the US Military. Discussing the ‘products’ used by the unit to influence Iraqis – leaflets, radio shows etc., Dave says: “We think about how an Iraqi will react to our products, not how an American will react to our products.” He continues: “It’s not like selling Coke, sometimes you’re trying to sell someone something that you know they might not want in their hearts. So it causes ambiguities, and problems.”

This got me thinking that of course, there’s an issue of responsibility here which can be applied not just to a political situation, but for marketing as a discipline. Obviously, it’s not overtly what the book is getting at. But nonetheless, as a marketer, it is food for thought. Selling and communication is most successful when you’re saying the right things to the people who want to hear them. What’s the point in working against the tide? If you have to work that hard, surely it’s a judgement on your objective? For marketers, strategy is everything – market responsibly and intelligently and it’s an easier ride for your brand and your customers.

Back to the book, it’s worth a look. And so the influence continues...

 

1. Jon Ronson, ‘The Men who Stare at Goats’, Picador 2005, p167- 168.

 

Get real people.

Sitting here ready to blog about blogging, it feels like there’s something ever so slightly post modern in the air. But that’s the world in which we live and market. A world where we post and we tweet and we poke. And post about posting and tweet about tweeting and so on. And where does it ever get us?

Today’s brave new social media world is fixed on prizes of fans, followers and conversions. But arguably, the prize goes far beyond a corporate or indeed, personal, ego trip. For marketers, the value is rooted where it’s always been – in the relationship, in the dialogue and in the hearts & minds of real people.

Granted, giving businesses a personality is not always beneficial – just as some personalities don’t seem to do much for the greater good. But for the most part, it differentiates you from your counterparts and ultimately, gives someone a reason to choose you.

As always, the goods or services need to be there to back it up. But if it’s there at the right place at the right time, the context you have provided through social media and the market awareness it has afforded you might just be enough to tip the scales in your favour. So no, Twitter is not the answer to your prayers. And Facebook isn’t your holy grail.  But blog on, because it might just matter.

 

The Spring exhibition season...no high hopes...some small surprises

As I mentioned previously, our recent trip to Las Vegas for APEX’s second year there saw the show hit hard by the weight of the current down cycle. Though against a backdrop of sensibly conservative expectations, the show generally held its own. But as the Spring exhibition season gathers pace, what of its counterparts around the world?

Next in line was Nepcon Shanghai. Still at the ever dreary, Everbright exhibition center, the show drew over 13,000 according to organizers, which was not a bad number in and of itself, but according to exhibitors it was clear that it will be some time still before the electronics market there can once again be termed buoyant. Not so at the China International Solar PV exhibition that followed, however. There, clear signs of a corner soon turning were evident.  

The real pleasant surprise of the spring group was SMT Nuremberg in mid April. Though similarly scaled expectations were the order of the day, the turnout (at 90% of 2008) ran contrary to the state of the electronics niche to which this show is tailored. Raising hopes for yet another good Productronica in November. I expect we'll be told that Q2 2009 was the bottom of the trough...let's hope so.  Meanwhile, as we always say, marketing is muscle and those with well defined strategies will be fighting fitter right now.

Promoting Downturn Marketing to the Breakfast Club

An unfeasibly early start and a ninety-mile drive turned out to be worth the effort as I earned my Full English breakfast at the Henley Business Breakfast, organised by the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce.

I was fortunate and my exertions justified on three counts: the venue was the highly agreeable setting of Hotel du Vin, occupying the former Brakspear Brewery site a stone's throw from the river in Henley-On-Thames; and the assembled business participants seemed reasonably interested in the vagaries of marketing in harder times.

During my conversations with participants over breakfast, many acknowledged that marketing was an easy budget to target when revenues shrink. And that gave me a challenge. I wasn’t preaching to the converted here – client-side marketing professionals or agency people – so it transpired that I had a story to tell.

My underlying message was simple: market intelligently. Some were surprised by one slide that declared it was okay to reduce marketing budgets. And this was followed by a few nods as I revealed the caveat that you need to think really hard about how best to use what you have left.

There are often obvious contenders for what type of tactics to reduce but less clarity about what to do instead. I pulled figures from several sources to illustrate that large companies cut back harder than small businesses (though of course they had more to spend in the first place); that brand-focussed marketing typically gives way to direct marketing when things get tough; and – the part that captured most interest – that online marketing strategies gain significantly over traditional methods.

Most questions arose from a sample report sheet of a recent email marketing shot we sent out for one of our clients. It was evidence of just how much traceability you can build in to eDM (electronics direct marketing) initiatives with the right tools. Stats like number of click-throughs, who went where from the email, how long they stayed on the landing page, what they did next, and a host of other metrics that make intelligent marketing a reality.

Intelligent eDM activity executed properly tends to be the most cost effective form of marketing - unknown territory to the majority of the Henley Breakfast Members. But then, most were business owners or senior managers or professionals, and not marketers, so how could they know what’s possible with today’s technology-driven marketing armoury? Well, the answer’s easy: talk to responsible marketing specialists.

By Steve Chapman, Protean Technical Director.

 

APEX...no high hopes...no surprises

In its second year in Las Vegas, APEX activity bore the weight of the current down cycle reasonably well. Expectations for most were of course very conservative and rightly so.  If you were out shopping for a placement machine or a reflow oven or just about any other piece of capital equipment it was certainly a great place to be, as that segment of the food chain has certainly been the hardest hit by the current slowdown and it's clearly a buyer's market.

Nonetheless, companies that had new technologies to present and who did their pre-event promotional homework were satisfied at their results.  Several of our clients visited with as many or even more legitimate prospects than they did last year, and Rehm Thermal Systems announced that they took an order on their booth on Wednesday afternoon.  DEK continued to receive recognition for both new technologies and superior customer service, winning the Circits Assembly Service Excellence Award for an unprecedented 7th straight year.  

Upcoming events in the near term include Nepcon Shanghai next week and SMT Nuremberg shortly thereafter.  Similarly scaled expectations seem the order of the day, while lots of speculation about November's bi-annual Productronica abound. Next year at this time I expect we'll be told that Q2 2009 was the the bottom of the trough...let's hope so.  Meanwhile, marketing is muscle and those with well defined strategies are positioning themselves and acquiring share and special recognition now. 

What’s with the butterfly?

You might well ask. Indeed, the more observant among you will have noticed that here at Protean, we’ve undergone something of a brand update over the past few months. It’s not a surprise really; as brand authorities it’s vital that we practice what we preach.

Too many marketing outfits ignore their own corporate identity which, you’ll probably agree, isn’t a great start when it comes to sourcing new business and maintaining client confidence.

So, while not altogether a surprise, our brand development initiative has prompted a couple of interesting questions. The most common? 'What’s with the butterfly?'...

It’s simple. The Protean butterfly is a relatively new addition to our logo and branding activities. We feel it’s the closest we’ve come so far to visually explaining the meaning of our name. By definition, Protean is an ‘adjective tending or able to change or adapt; variable or versatile’. Which is exactly what we do for our clients.

That’s why we’ve spent years building a proven and diverse integrated skills set. It’s why we adapt to the needs of clients either as a long-term business partner or as a support for one-off projects. It’s also why we welcome every challenge that comes our way, because we know we’re set up to provide the best possible business solution.

But where does that leave the butterfly? Well, butterflies are known for their spectacular metamorphosis, undergoing an unusual lifecycle that ultimately, sees them set free as colourful winged adult forms.

And essentially, that’s what we can do for your business. We can’t literally give you wings of course. But we can breathe life into great ideas, and take your business where it needs to go.

Haven't met the butterfly yet? See it on our homepage.

Survival Strategies Take Many Forms

Survival strategies take many forms. But for any business to survive, it must focus on its most important resource: customers.  Nonetheless, and for a variety of reasons, in times like these the focus is often everywhere else.

Importance of Customers

Businesses can be born with a product, but they die without customers. Companies do not fail because they run out of money. They fail because they run out of sales. Having no cash is usually a symptom of a deeper problem - the business has failed to attract buyers for their products or services.   Think about it…there are few problems within a business that seem insurmountable when sales remain steady…be it product quality, long delivery, bad design…but those exact same ones become life threatening  with a bad order book.  Over simplified?  Sorry, I don’t think so.

Customers provide the revenues needed to achieve profitability. Delight them and they will come back.  In addition to the revenue from purchases, satisfied customers provide free word-of-mouth exposure that enhances your visibility and brand equity.  Satisfied customers are quick to tell others about effective products they've discovered and helpful services that saved them time, money or aggravation. A happy customer will bring more loyal, buying customers, which in turn bring in more loyal, buying customers. In addition, they can provide feedback to improve.

Connect with your customers and give them reasons to come back. It takes more than good deal to make a satisfied customer. Your most loyal customers keep coming back not because of your competitive price but because they like doing business with you. Create a positive experience, which is the combination of everything the customer sees and interacts with. The quality of their experience is the key to a business' survival.

Customer Experience as Core Strategy

Customer experience should be an umbrella strategy of any firm, large or small, if it wants to survive in today's highly competitive marketplace. Everyone involved in the business -- from top guns to cleaning staff -- should be focused on enhancing customer experience. And the company's success metrics should be measuring customer experience.  More importantly, resources should be allocated to improve customer experience, and maintained during slowdowns. All areas of the firm's strategy should boil down to one question: is it good for the customers?
   
How do you go about increasing your customer equity?  Make it easier for people to buy from you!  Start by getting to know them.  Really know them. Gather as much information as you can about your customers. Learn their demographics, and analyze their buying practices and habits.  The level of your customers’ willingness to recommend you is an exceptionally useful bookings forward indicator. Measure it.  Get to know them even better and find out what they like and don't like, their needs and motivations, their perceptions and attitudes. Incorporate their likes into the way you do business, and avoid their dislikes. Try to identify the things that make life difficult for the person making the buying decision and then do everything to remove those obstacles.
 
Many businesses spend exceptional energy determining why they lost an order.  Very few take the time to really confirm why they actually won one.  Don’t assume that you know. Ask…it can be a very surprising experience.
  
The key is to make them value their relationship with you. Contact them with tips that will save them money. Tell them about unadvertised opportunities before you make market wide promotions or product announcements.  Communicate and make them feel special.  They are.

There's not much foresight in a rear view mirror

Today's intensely customer-centric business culture, which took hold in the mid-1990s, has been effective in raising customers' expectations and weeding out lazy businesses that fail to build rapport with their markets. The customer is king - and rightly so. But this does not permit business leaders to abdicate the responsibility for leading their businesses.                         

Entrepreneurs cannot make the bold moves necessary to pioneer new markets and revolutionize services by putting the customer in the driving seat. For the most part, our customers are not visionaries. They don't break the mold. They don't calculate, innovate, and certainly strive at all cost to avoid risk. Intel engineers in the past have been specially trained in decision making processes specifically designed to above all mitigate risk. I'm not suggesting for a moment that business's own performance has not been stellar even in the current conditions...but if your own guiding light customers are of a similar mindset it's dangerous. There's just not much foresight you can get looking in a rear view mirror.

Being different, grabbing market share, and achieving profit don't happen by meekly following the game - it's about breaking the game. The American car market of the 1970s was a stark example. The buying public had accepted that they could either have a reliable car or an affordable car. Then Toyota and Honda showed they could have both and the game changed...permanently. Customer demand, alone, had insufficient power to bring about such a change. The auto press had little clout to improve the car buying public's lot. It was the vision of smart and hungry new players that broke the game.

A related and important point is that the market rarely, if ever, knows what it wants - until it sees it. A strategy based upon reacting to customer whims, therefore, won't allow businesses to develop truly outstanding and successful products in the long term. Incremental improvements might result, and that's certainly not a bad thing, but it's a situation that can easily provide a false sense of security. It's also often table stakes to merely tread water in the same place if not only slow an inevitable decline in market position, price point or both.

This is a significant intersection point with branding and brand equity. A brand is the most important strategic asset that a business will ever possess. Yet even the most experienced marketer might struggle to communicate the concept in a single sentence. Furthermore, if you were to approach the majority of today's business-to-business organisations, they would probably tell you that branding finds little application in a market allegedly filled with dispassionate decision makers. However, an increasingly competitive market landscape is eroding this reality - if, indeed, it ever existed. B2B marketing must follow the example of its consumer-focused counterpart and embrace the notion that a strong brand has the power to differentiate, build and protect those it represents in the face of incessant commoditization.

Modern technology markets offer up the epitome of the value of branding in B2B environments. Traditionally associated with a reluctance to invest in brand, this industry is accustomed to spending vast amounts on technical facilities and capital equipment. Technology markets are especially reticent to channel resources into what it often identifies as abstract concerns and until recently, this attitude was acceptable. Previously, demand for technology predominantly focused on product functionality and cost, conforming to the stereotype of today's B2B model. However, technology suppliers were forced to re-examine this approach as their markets matured. As new technologies grew commonplace and supply grew dramatically proliferated, wider differentiation became essential. Added to this, the effect of increasingly short product lifecycles has further created a need for brands which can exist outside of individual products and services. The continuous introduction of new and competing products, updates and enhancements has forced technology suppliers to look beyond their conventional reliance on product attributes alone. In this respect, a strong brand has the capacity to restore stability to an overcrowded marketplace, and combat the downward price spiral of commoditization.

The incremental development programs discussed earlier create victims in this commoditization environment. They typically don't offer much sustainable competitive advantage, particularly compared to the time required to put them into the market. But they appear safe and saleable so are much more frequently green lighted than fringe programs. Not that anyone argues that they wouldn't want a game changing offering...just that it's hellaciously harder to conceive and deliver one. Studying a number of significant, market changing introductions, including the automotive example outlined earlier offers a place to start. Most markets have one or more "either-or" paradigms within them that all the players abide by. "A car can be either reliable or economical." Find the either-or gap in the given market and bridge it. Double the output and halve the floor space. Leading edge that's not bleeding edge. Whatever. Find the oxymoron and make it obsolete...before the business is.

In that longer term, business leaders themselves must take responsibility for setting the course of the business. More than ever, today's leaders must step up to the plate; to sell their vision, and make it happen. Being customer-driven is not a vision - it's taking the back seat. Sure, the customer is king - but not the master.