Search results matching tag 'consumers'

Live to Create Workshops Teach New, Creative Consumerism

2292853 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:01:00 GMT

Normal 0 While the recession keeping a fierce grip on the nation, and with many people feeling fearful, or unable, to spend money on High Street goods this holiday season, this economic situation could bring opportunity to transform how we think about our role as consumers, and see some of us turn into creators.

Remember the punk rock DIY culture that emerged out of the 80s recession? Many people looked toward that time of economic hardship, as also being a time of great art with the likes of Vivienne Westwood showing how good fashion design could come from surprising places. What if people struggling in these economic hard times could harness that punk rock type of creative spirit and make something from what they have already, in the form of skills, clothes, film, books, music or just in day-to-day business life? This recession-led holiday season may be about the deconstruction of old consumer ways and the rebirth of a new creator class.

Coming up 28 November is an opportunity to find out how to tap into the power of creativity, and apply it to the consumer world, the workplace and life. The Live to Create workshops, a series of one-day sessions to help people unleash creativity, are hosted by Lucy Wills, who wears many professional hats as a successful vintage jewellery designer, performer, creativity consultant, teacher and climate activist. She’s teamed up with Erica Grigg, of Carbon Outreach, to teach others how to apply creativity, and help people flip from being consumers to creators.

Both women are fellows of the RSA and have hosted workshops at business conferences in the UK and USA. Both are also active in the climate change movement, with Wills performing as a mermaid at many rallies, and being a visual symbol of the activist events. The Live to Create workshops are geared toward professionals in all areas of business, who are seeking new approaches to applying creativity in the workplace and in personal life.

“We have to each become our own brand champions, and to decide for ourselves what we really need. Our current culture encourages us to define ourselves through what we eat, wear, watch and read. Even those in the creative industries suffer, fearful to step outside their areas of expertise or create for themselves as well as for their paying clients,” said Wills, who has worked in corporate environments as well as being a creative entrepreneur. “There are so many barriers in the way - both practical and social, however through our combined experiences and those from whom we have learnt we believe we have a process that enables you to break through - in just one day.”

Professionals who find themselves in a pressure-filled work environment will be given tools in these workshops to help them apply more creativity and problem solving to everyday issues. Exploring how to launch creative projects, without making the mistake of over-spending on budget, will also be addressed.

“We believe that creativity is the key to unlocking a truer sense of self and to bring deeper meaning and richness into all aspects of our lives,” said Wills.

Live to Create is a series of seven sessions, being held now, and into 2010, and has room for 14 participants. Book your space here.

My consultancy Hai Media Group is supporting the Live to Create workshop series, because we feel passionately that people need help to thrive creatively in the business world and in their personal lives.

Creating more, consuming less,

-Lisa

*Photo of Lucy Wills by photographer Retts Wood.

Consumers show web is King

2358199 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:29:00 GMT

With Christmas just around the corner, we are urging retail brands in particular to take stock of the changes happening in the sector and adapt their strategies to take account of the multiple influences that are now affecting consumer purchase decisions, in particular the use of the web as a place to gain insight prior to making a purchase.

In one of our recent whitepapers, we revealed that traditional consumer insight methodologies are no longer sufficient in understanding buyer behavior and brand owners need to have a significantly deeper level of understanding of what motivates and influences consumer attitudes. A customer that has a good experience will typically tell 3 to 5 people, but a customer who has a poor experience will tell more than 20. When this is trend occurs via the web, these numbers can rapidly multiply and could spell disaster for brands that don’t have strategies in place to combat online negative chatter.

A couple of months ago, we quizzed over 800 consumers about the influence of online reviews on their purchase decisions during August and September, and revealed that they relied heavily on online reviews for:

Consumer electronics                  56%
Home Furnishings                       33%
Apparel                                      21%
White Goods                              45%
DIY & Gardening                         18%
Entertainment Products              12%
Sports Goods                              9%
Food                                           2%

But this isn’t just about adopting trendy new social media strategies or having a fan group on Facebook. It is about directly interacting with your customers wherever they choose to have conversations about you. Customers expect and want to engage in two-way dialogue with the brands they use. The Internet should not just be viewed as a sales channel or an additional way to advertise your brand but as a method of communication.

Is a competitor on the horizon for the Post Office?

2358199 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:59:00 GMT

There has been much debate in the press regarding the impact of the strikes on the Post Office’s reputation but I wonder how much thought has been given to all the businesses that rely on the PO to deliver on their behalf? Amazon for example, have an exclusive distribution agreement with them and the continued postal delays are having an equally detrimental effect on many brands which rely on the Christmas trading period to buffer sales through the rest of the year. For some, sales during Oct-Dec make up 70% or more of their annual profit and it will be their brand reputation on the line as much as the PO’s.

Ironically, some brands are taking active steps to help reduce the impact on those who rely on the postal service like Ebay, which has temporary altered its feedback mechanism so that you can no longer rate sellers on the speed of delivery. But let’s face it, many businesses are struggling to survive the downturn and initiating strikes which could potentially put more out of business is likely to damage the PO’s reputation, perhaps permanently.

What is clear is that the longer it goes on, the worse the impact will be on the PO’s brand reputation, but to be fair this means little as what alternative do we have for consumer mail? All of this would be far worse for the Post Office if they had a direct competitor so maybe it is time to open up the market a little.

Richard Branson might be interested?

Building Brand Advocacy – too late for Christmas?

2358199 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:45:00 GMT

Retailers across the country will be now be fully prepared for Christmas trading and many will be working towards 2010. Targets based on last year’s performance will vary. The economy is showing (albeit slow) signs of improvement and initial predictions for the Christmas trading are better than would have been expected 12 months ago. We often advise the brands we work with to evaluate just how successful they have been at building brand advocacy through the year before their busiest and most profitable time of the year.

One of the problems facing retail is that there are multiple influences – not only the economy and the continue increase in Tesco’s market share, but also technology and consumer expectations of brands to engage with them on specific issues and to conduct their business in an ethical, responsible and sustainable way.

Traditional marketing is dead. Advertising media has fragments and PR is much less impactful than in the past. Consumers see more communication messages each day than they have ever before and are increasingly cynical. Technology means that every consumer is now an opinion former. Successful brands have to focus on their reputation to increase their brand value and improve commercial performance.

So is it too late for some brands to build advocacy in time for Christmas?

Yes – it takes time to build advocacy and whilst even in the current economic climate, price, whilst still a key consideration, is not viewed by customers as the most important aspect of the whole customer experience. Brands need to focus on delivering the best possible customer experience. If this is done successfully then retailers can expect higher levels of advocacy for Christmas trading 2010. We have just released its whitepaper ‘building brand advocacy in retail’. If you’d like to read more about this subject you can request a complimentary copy by contacting enq@brandrep.co.uk

Read my blog

2631677 — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:15:20 GMT

I have been writing a blog on advertising for the past couple of weeks, I want to know what people think of it. Suggestions would be great on how to improve it!

http://steven-advertisehere.blogspot.com/

Thanks,

Steven

Geo IP Advertising System

2575552 — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:45:51 GMT

Can anybody please recommend a Geo IP advertising system that I can look at.

Thanks.

New Opinion poll puts a price on the loyalty of football fans

628994 — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:05:00 GMT

On Wednesday 13 May over 900 movers and shakers from the football world will converge at Wembley Stadium to discuss a wide range of commercial challenges within the sport at Soccerex. And I will be chairing one of the biggest sessions – Football sponsorship in the Recession.

The results of a new Soccerex/NSP Sport poll will be released on Wednesday and it makes interesting reading!

What is striking is the high degree of consensus amongst football clubs and those who are part of the football industry on the way in which fans should be treated.

A key poll finding is that fans’ loyalty comes at a price and that football clubs need to treat fans more like paying consumers and not take their continued loyalty for granted.

In other words, in these credit crunch times where household disposable income is stretched to max clubs won’t be able to get away with hikes in the price of annual season tickets or replica kits in the way they have done so in the past.

Today, fans behave more like traditional consumers than supporters and will turn their back on clubs if the price isn’t right or the product isn’t good enough. The potential loss of revenues for football clubs will be the price paid for having destroyed the loyalty of their supporters that may have been built over years or even generations within the same households.

This level of introspection within the football industry should have happened a long time ago of course. Warning bells are clearly now being heard in club boardrooms up and down the country as the long term sustainability of football clubs has been questioned most recently by an All Party Parliamentary Football Group report that urged them to break free from the legacy of debt-leveraging in order to create a more secure and financially stable future.

Many commentators think that the recession will claim the scalps of football clubs as they fail to retain commercial sponsors over the next five years and revenues from broadcasters start to dry up as a result of a downturn in TV advertising.

And as the rest of the UK struggles to tighten its belt in terms of salaries, perhaps football clubs will have to follow suit, which could usher in a new era in player salaries as well as more realistic approach in managing their finances in the future.

Ardi Kolah is director of NSP Sport, a pioneer in how sports rights holders and commercial brand owners can cost effectively leverage the value of sports sponsorship through a powerful partnership with communities, young people, families and teachers. NSP Sport’s clients include LloydsTSB, Disney, EDF and Norwich Union. NSP Sport is part of National Schools Partnership (NSP), the UK’s leading social partnership marketing specialist.

Re: Task no 1. For business: Reinvent Advertising & Marketing!

1792681 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 08:33:02 GMT

Thanks for the response and you have raised a very interesting point. And this is the fact that, in my opinion,creativity will be the death of advertising agencies in the near future, the quest for creativity has led ad agencies up the wrong path. Again, in my opinion, creativity is NOT the criterian for the success, or otherwise, of an advertising campaign.

Again, in my opinion, a better understanding of the word "communication" would have served the advertising world far better! I can guarantee that armed with a better understanding of the process of communication you can, today, guarantee clients that you can halve their marketing budgets and be 50% more effective plus a whole lot more!

I feel that there is an air of desperation in the rush to Web 2.0, the fact is that "Old" Media could be made far more effective, with far less clutter and with total accountability. Unless agencies come to grips with the word "communication" advertising on the Social Media (or wherever) will become as discredited as commercial television is today!

Re: The suits come to Social Media. Now that’s the kiss of death!

1792681 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:56:28 GMT

Do your lips move when you read?

Have the courage of your convictions and give a name together with a photograph!

Re: Just what is the problem with Social Media?

1792681 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:54:59 GMT

Hi Karl, upon re-reading your post I thought that we should perhaps have a "conversation" as I feel that we might have areas of mutual self-interest to explore. I'll start the ball rolling by including my email address here: paul.ashby@yahoo.com I really look forward to "talking" with you. We have a proven concept that is media neutral that does all the things you set out above: "..if brands were to listen to conversations..." excellent and boy does it work!

Regards

Paul