| |
July 13, 2008 Lucas Arts recently announced that they will make a worldwide launch of its new videogame, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, on September 16. The Force Unleashed is the first next-generation game developed internally at Lucas Arts, and will be available on the Xbox , Playstation 3, Playstation Portable and Nintendo Wii. The videogame casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The expansive story, created under direction from George Lucas, is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destin From a Marketing point of view, this initiative is extremely interesting, for what could have become they 7th film of the Saga, has turned into a new videogame. Why have they done so? As I explained in “The Kingdom of Shrek” (cfr International Marketing for more details), where the studios are really getting money is not from the box office of the movie but from Licensing. The movie in itself is actually an excuse for launching or relaunching a License. So the question would therefore be: Till what extent do you need to develop an expensive movie to relaunch the license or can get the job done with something else? At Lucas Arts they have thought they can get it done through an innovative videogame, that includes a story-telling within it. Let me follow with some figures from the Industry. According to Price Waterhouse Coopers: • The Videogame Industry is expected to reach a market size of 46,5 billion US$ in 2010 with a 11,4% compound annual growth. • The Filmed Enterntainment Industry to go up to 104 billion US$ in 2010 with a compound annua growth of 5,3%.
Moreover, if you compare the Videogame Industry vs the Film one you will conclude that the former: • Has less fragmentation (great products can get a significant market share). • Has less intermediaries (you can work without media moguls such as Warner or Paramount). • Has a much faster time to market (the development of a videogame has nothing to do with the one of a film). So if you are able to come up with an outstanding videogame + combine it with good Licensing Business around it, the return on investment is going to be really good while taking a limited amount of risk. Add to to this an awaited story within the videogame, and you are sure to have a big hit in your hands. So far, a release of the trailer has been done on July 8th. Tons of Star Wars fans (who are also intensive videogames players to a big extent), are already queueing for the game. In the meantime, I presume that Lucas Arts is currently moving many agreements on Licensing. Be sure to that you will get a Star Wars goodie with your Big Mac! Be the Unleashed Force be with you. Think Differnt! Ignacio Gafo 
June 23, 2008 What role does Internet have in pricing? Till what extent it can help to boost competition and plummet prices? What kind of services and products are going to be mainly affected? Let me start with two examples: 1. Purchasing a tv You want to get a new tv. You don´t have any idea about tvs. You only have an approximate idea of budget and functionality but nothing else. What would be the purchasing process?
2. Going to the vet to get your pet checked Something is going wrong with your pet. He is behaving in a strange way and sleeps more than usual. As a consequence, you are able to change your mind in the first case but not in the second one. The main explanation for this is that Internet has helped to eliminate (or reduce significantly) the Assymetric Information that you and the salesperson have in the case of the tv, but not in the case of the service. Assymetric Information is to be defined as the difference in information that the purchaser and seller have. The more Assymetryc Information you experience, the more selling power the seller have. And the more selling power he has, the more likely you are of not getting a good deal, not getting the right stuff, and paying a non-fair price for the transaction. Internet helps you in other words to make a criteria about something, by providing transparency of variety, prices, functionality and supply. Which eventually results in a sharp drop in prices. Does it have the same effect on every single service or item? Not necessarily. Assuming a minimum price (you are not to compare for instance the price of tea in two stores), the more homogeneous the products are, the higher the effect will be. This is also true for products and services where the added value granted by the distribution is limited.
The latter also applies to the product and services that are mainly sold through Internet currently and in the future. Thus products like books and trips are and will be more and more sold through Internet; while heterogeneous services or products that require and big amount of support, are likely to be sold through traditional channels. To sum up, Internet is to plummet prices in products easy to compare + where little added value given by distribution is given. Maybe it is good time to think where your products + distribution are. God Bless Internet! Think Different!!! Ignacio Gafo PS: For more detailed examples about Assymetric Information check a book called Freakonomics by S.D.Levitt + S.J Dubner.
June 02, 2008 Empiezo aclarando que me meto en un terreno extremadamente complejo, y sin una solución. Lo que adjunto son una serie de reflexiones que considero relevantes para un momento difícil como el actual, en el que empezamos a entrar en una crisis económica y en el que la sensibilidad al gasto y al pricing se exacerba.
Dicho lo anterior entro en materia: • Ante todo, Marketing Inteligente. Llamo Marketing Inteligente a un marketing que no incurra en el cortoplacismo, que no caiga en quick wins insostenibles, que no busque vender a cualquier precio, que no destine todo el presupuesto de comunicación a promoción de ventas entre otras cosas. En definitiva, un Marketing que no pierda de vista al cliente y las palancas clave de diferenciación y crecimiento en el corto, medio y largo plazo. • Detectar y aprovechar oportunidades. Con la crisis puede venir un cambio de percepciones y una mayor sensibilidad al precio. Lo que puede suponer un grave problema para marcas Premium mal gestionadas (no hay mejor ejemplo que Starbucks), pero también una gran oportunidad para productos y servicios con una buena relación calidad – precio (siguiendo el mismo ejemplo, Dunkin Donuts en USA). • Cuidar la Marca. La Marca es un activo con un valor concreto a medio y largo plazo, y un determinado posicionamiento. No podemos perderlo de vista y, en vista de las circunstancias, tratar de modificarlo al coste que sea. Nike podría por ejemplo decidir bajar sus precios un 30% para lograr sus objetivos de ventas, pero esto destrozaría su imagen de marca y posicionamiento Premium a medio y largo plazo.
• Gestionar adecuadamente el Pricing. Que la gente se vuelva más sensible al precio no quiere decir que tenga que ser la única variable que tengas que modificar. Soy un firme convencido de que el precio es la última variable a tocar, y la época de crisis no debe ser una excepción. Ahora, si nos vemos abocados a hacerlo (puede que no nos quede otra), tratemos de hacer bajadas reversibles a través de promociones (pues son temporales) o acciones que incrementen el value for money (como son los bundles). • Optimizar la gestión del portfolio de productos y servicios. El cambio de preferencias lo podemos manejar a través del portfolio. Gestionarlo adecuadamente puede ser una solución adecuada para manejar la coyuntura, potenciando aquellos productos que mejor se ajusten a lo que busque el cliente. Así por ejemplo los formatos extra-grandes (que suelen tener aparejado un menor coste relativo), pueden ser una opción a potenciar. Por otro lado (aunque hay que hacerlo con mucho cuidado), podemos tratar de potenciar aquellos servicios de coste oculto, de cara a recuperar parte de la caída de ventas que estemos experimentando. • Buscar una Comunicación selectiva. Está claro que en un momento de crisis tenemos que ser más cautos con el presupuesto de comunicación. Más cautos supone restringir el mismo (que no suprimirlo) + destinar una parte Trade Marketing + promociones de punto de venta (no todo!) + ser muy selectivo. Es el momento de focalizarnos en campañas core y buscar medios eficientes (más que efectivos) de comunicación. Es por ejemplo un gran momento para potenciar Medios Digitales, por la gran efectividad y coste – beneficio que ofrecen.
• Dar paso a la Innovación y el Think Different!!! Los dos siempre tienen que estar presentes. Pero un momento como el descrito puede ser especialmente favorable para ambas. Podemos en esta línea pensar en nuevos target groups, nuevos productos nuevos canales de comercialización e incluso nuevos medios de comunicación. Por supuesto que de forma controlada, pero puede ser una gran momento para experimentar. • No olvidar al Cliente. Lo dejo el último pero siempre debe ser lo primero. Como sea, tenemos que mantener su satisfacción dentro de niveles razonables (razonables, que no óptimos) y mantener una comunicación bidireccional con él. Bajo ningún concepto nos podemos olvidar de él. Nuestra relación con él lo es todo. Esto es lo que me ha venido a la mente mientras escribía el post. Como siempre, SENTIDO COMUN mientras capeamos el temporal y hacemos una gestión de un presupuesto de Marketing restringido. Doy paso a vuestros comentarios y sugerencias. Think Different!!! Ignacio Gafo
May 25, 2008 I will start this posting acknowledging three things: 1. I do admire Steve Jobs as marketer. He is definitively one the best in the World. Apple owes much of its success to his constant creativity, enthusiasm, vision and ability to think in a different way. 2. For sure, the I-phone has revolutionized the mobile handset ant telecom market. As I will explain later, they have not been up to expectations, but they have been able to bring the smartphone industry to its 2.0 version. 3. It is always easy to analyze things after they have happened and bring out lessons. However, it is vital to analyze the facts and try to learn from them
Having said this I would like to share some thoughts about the way the I-Phone has been launched and handled during its first year of existence: • Branding is not everything. It might be for anxious early adopters + brand fanatics, but not for everyone. For sure it is something key that will make the difference and let you charge a premium price. But on top of that there has to be a real layer that supports it. In the case of the I-Phone, the brand was incredibly powerful and was supported by some innovative features + superb design. However, it also had some technical limitations that had impeded it achieving the expected sales worldwide. • The Power of the Brand differs from country to country and so should do the strategy. Seems to be an obvious statement, but it was not for Apple. They took for granted that the attractiveness of the brand was the same in Europe and USA, and evidence showed this was not the case. Europeans are not that fanatic about the brand, and applying the same strategy as in the USA has not worked so well. Lesson: The strategy has to be adapted to brand strength and positioning, in order to maximise results. • Exclusive distribution does not work everywhere. The latter made Apple to start working on a exclusive distribution basis in some European countries like Germany + France + UK. The result? As long as people in these countries were not that Apple enthusiastic, the sales were well behind expectations. This has brought the brand to a change in the strategy and to opening its distribution in other key countries such as Italy.
• Beware of handling properly the expectations. No need to explain to you the huge buzz + expectations that Steve Jobs was able to create when announcing the product at the Mac Convention in San Francisco (which could be something good if properly handled!). In this case, these expectations went too far and made analysts and bidding telecom companies for the exclusivity believe that it would go much further than it has actually gone. • Price planning to be managed with care. Hand in hand with those expectations came a big mistake in planning the right price. As you will remember, shortly after launching the I-Phone, they cut the price by almost 30%. Reasons were not disclosed but it seems that the overstock was the main one. In the end it caused such a big mess that Apple had to refund the price cut to customers claiming for it. • Beware of competition. The announcement of the handset and the excessive time to market taken since the former was done, gave an advantage to competition. The result was that competition accelerated the introduction of cool terminals such as the HTC Touch, that reduced the potential sales to be achieved. Same thing has happened with the 3G version: It has taken too long to be launched and Blackberry and Samsung have already announced some state-of-the art handsets and get part of the momentum reserved for the 3G I-Phone.
• Use PR to justify your movements. Of course it makes sense to make up your mind in a different way, mainly when you have made a planning mistake. So if you make for instance a change in your distribution strategy, silence about it (which is what Apple has done) is not the best thing to do. PR will help you to explain things the way you like!. The 3G I-Phone is likely to be launched within June. Let´s see what happens and what Steve Jobs has in mind to overcome all these points. To be continued. Think Different!!! Ignacio Gafo
May 15, 2008 I would not go that far with the statement, but I would certainly say that it has helped to diminish the decline that the The Coca-Cola Co was having within it soft drinks division, while attaining further differentiation. Structural market trends cannot be changed through launching Star Products and Brands. But the latter can make indeed make a lot of sense from a financial and marketing point of view, even in mature markets.
Coca-Cola has been struggling for years within its soft drinks division, mainly due to the sharp decline of this market in its core market: The USA. Reason for this has been a shift of preference towards healthier drinks such as mineral water, juices and energetic drinks (sure that energetic drinks are not that healthy, but people perceive them as such). Coca-Cola Co was aware of this trend and has been able to enter successfully into this new market, but also had to do something for its soft drinks. The solution has come by launching something new and aligned with what the market is asking for: The Zero sub-brand. Before launching it, Coca-cola had its regular Coke + a light one. The first was perceived as unhealthy, while the second was viewed as having a weird taste by many customers that were looking for something else. Solution for this? Coming out with something that had the best of each one: A new version that had the full flavor of the regular one while not having sugar at all. The launch was carefully thought and turned out to be a big success throughout the world: It helped to revitalize the sales the soft drink division (at least for the first six months), while bringing a unique positioning for Coca-Cola. What to do next? As a boss I had in Canon Europe once told me: “If something is working, keep on doing it and extend it to the rest of the categories”. Thus Fanta and Sprite Zero were launched. Same strategy as with Coca-Cola Zero: Big launch for the new version intended to revitalize the Fanta and Sprite categories and attain again differentiation. Results to be seen in the mid term, but are likely to be very positive for Fanta and Sprite as well. Again, they will not change the core market trend (soft drinks sales are to keep on dropping), but will have positive effects for the brand, its profits and its sales.
My prediction? Zero will be expanded to all brands of The Coca-cola Co. Aquarius Zero is to come soon! Think Different!!! Ignacio Gafo
May 06, 2008 De momento es sólo un piloto de Telefonica O2 en la República Checa, pero posiblemente veremos algo semejante en España en no mucho tiempo: Minutos gratis de telefonía a cambio de escuchar Publicidad. 1. el coste de la llamada se paga íntegramente con los ingresos de publicidad.
Parece evidente que las empresas de telecomunicaciones tienen que buscar nuevas fuentes de ingreso, y que la Publicidad en el móvil va a ser de una de las más importantes. Publicidad cuyo formato final aún se tiene que definir, y en la que la experimentación va a ser clave. Que una cosa es que parezca razonable en un Powerpoint y otra muy distinta, que sea atractiva para el cliente y además rentable. El que triunfe o no dependerá en gran medida del formato que adopte y de cómo se implemente. Insistir en este sentido en lo que venimos diciendo en este foro Manuel y el que escribe, que debe cumplir dicha Publicidad Móvil: • Ser relevante para el que la recibe. Think Different!!! Ignacio Gafo PS: Escucharéis en los próximos meses de iniciativas parecidas en el resto de los operadores. Como la de Orange, que ha lanzado un servicio por la que da descuentos a los clientes que acepten convertir el tono de llamada de espera, en un mensaje publicitario.
April 01, 2008 ¿Qué hacer para rejuvenecer tu base clientes con una marca tradicional? Este era el problema que tenía El Corte Inglés y DOBLE CERO es la iniciativa que ha lanzado para hacerle frente. Doble Cero es básicamente un PROGRAMA DE CAPTACION Y FIDELIZACION de gente joven que incorpora los tres elementos clave que tiene que haber en cualquier programa de esta naturaleza: 1. Creación de una Comunidad
El primer paso es lógicamente crear la Comunidad. O lo que es lo mismo, crear un espacio (normalmente una página web) dotada de contenido, donde los usuarios se puedan registrar. Objetivo al que un buen incentivo para registrarse es clave. Lo segundo es lograr que haya una Comunicación continua entre tu Comunidad, de ellos contigo y de ti con ellos. Para lo que tienes que abrir espacios de comunicación (normalmente blogs, foros de discusión, emails y sms) y dotarles de un contenido relevante. Y para terminar, tienes que asegurarte que la gente que está ahí está fidelizada. O sea orgullosa e interesada en formar parte de tu selecta Comunidad. Continue reading 'EL CORTE INGLES SE REJUVENCE CON LA DOBLE CERO'
March 30, 2008 The triumph of Sony´s Blu-Ray is a demonstration that an outstanding product is never enough. Because, as it was demonstrated with the Betamax and Blue-Ray Stories, unless you accompany it with a winner Marketing Strategy, you will not make it. Let me make a quick summary of the Betamax and the Blu-Ray stories: In the 80s Sony came up with an outstanding format for the videorecorders called Betamax. It was an state-of-the art technology, far beyond the one they were competing with: VHS. Sony thought that the product quality in itself was enough to win the format battle, and did not put in place a Marketing Strategy to get it fully supported. The result was that the VHS format became the mainstream and the Betamax has to be abandoned. More than 20 years later Sony was facing a similar situation: The standard for the high definition was at stake. They had their own format, the Blu-Ray, which was competing with another one developed by Toshiba called HD-DVD. One month ago, Toshiba announced that it would abandon the production of the latter. The main reasons for this are not to be found in the product quality of Blue-Ray, but on the Marketing Strategy defined and implemented by Sony. Good for them that they have learned of their mistakes. These are some the key points that they put into place: 1. Hardware manufacturers support The first thing to get was the hadware manufacturers support. Both Sony and Toshiba ran to get it, but Sony was smarter. In the case of Sony they made a huge lobby and ran intense negotiations to get the full support of the PC and DVD manufacturers. The result was that Dell, Hitachi, Hewlett-Packard, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung and other IT equipment producers, announced publicly that they were to support this format and produce based in it. The outcome has been that they have been able to put into place in the market an increasing and significant installed base of Blu-Ray performers. The second thing was to get the Content Companies producing according to their format. One of the reasons why Sony decided to enter into the Content Market was to be able to push its own formats against competition. This was clearly shown on this scenario. Good start but not enough. It was also key to get the support of other Content Companies for, not only you need people to get your technology, but also to be able to find the movies and games they want to play exclusively in your format. Thus they managed to get Electronic Arts, Vivendi, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Walt Disney on board from the beginning assuming, as it happened, that other content producers will follow little by little. In parallel, a long-term strategic management of their product portfolio took place. The first step was taken, as explained, by getting into the Movie Business. And the second and most crucial one came with the Playstation 3. They made the decision of incorporating in the PS 3 from the beginning the Blu-Ray, to assure of massive installed base. This was heavily criticized by analysts for the production delays it generated (the PS 3 had a launch delay of approx. 8 months), but have turned out to be absolutely key. Not only for the Blu-Ray in itself, but also for the PS 3 that is now positioned as the console of the future thanks to the former. And last but not least, they have come up with something that we tend to forget: The first to communicate is the first to launch (check this posting in the IE MK Weblog for more details). They have therefore launched an ATL campaign where they clearly state that Blu-Ray has become THE HD-DVD technology and that it is produced by Sony. Smart thing by the way: They get the message across and grant Sony´s Brand with additional premiumship. Congrats for Sony. They have demonstrated that an outstanding technology is never enough. A holistic Marketing Approach is the only recipe for success. Think Different! Ignacio Gafo
February 03, 2008 Today, NESTLE, published the following announcement in the front cover of many well-known spanish newspapers (El País among others):
The advertising announces a new web site and invites every single reader to get registered and get some prizes in exchange. To me, these are excellent news for they confirm that a New Marketing is here. A New Marketing where two elements are key: 1. A new customer Approach.
Every single Marketing textbook insists that an organization should be customer based. Whatever we do, whatever we offer, whatever we communicate should always consider what is best for the customer. Long-term successful companies have been those able to understand the customer and adapt to hm. So far things have not changed: The customer should be the king and our organization should be obsessed in satisfying him profitably. However, the new customer has changed dramatically. The new customer is better informed (God bless Internet), knows better what he wants, has many alternatives for satisfying his needs and, what is more important, wants to have say. Therefore the customer approach has to go beyond selling. It has do with building a long-term relationship with your customers, creating a strong emotional link with him and introduce measures to keep him loyal and satisfied. As a result, CRM and Loyalty Programs are a must. Your company will not last long unless you measure systematically your customer satisfaction and let him have a say regarding what he wants or deserves. 2. THE INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE OF NEW MARKETING TOOLS On top of Digital Marketing, you have Mobile Marketing. From my perspective, it is a third tool that goes beyond what are now traditional Marketing Digita Tools. Properly handled, it is one of the strongest communication tools that your company can have. Its straightforwardness + cost per impact + immediacy make it extremely powerful So what is so interesting about www.NESTLE.es and its advertising campaign? That it is a clear evidence that what I have written about are not words but a reality. The campaign puts the focus on Digital Marketing, clearly bets on getting the data of their customers for being able to treat them personally, and gives a hint that they are planning to go ahead with Mobile Marketing (they ask for you mobile phone when being registered). I presume that the campaign will work well for NESTLE. They seem to be combining the right elements to be successful + provide an incentive for the customer to share their data with them (although I would personally have given stronger incentives…:o) ). New times for Marketing are coming. Don’t forget asking yourself where you and your Marketing are. Think Different!!! Ignacio Gafo
January 28, 2008 Ya hace tiempo que los alimentos sanos y equilibrados están muy de moda en España. El ejemplo más claro y exitoso ha sido sin duda Bio de Danone, que ha creado toda una nueva categoría premium de lácteos bífidus, por el que los españoles estamos más que dispuestos a pagar un sobreprecio (faltaría más, que la salud es lo primero…). La tendencia es imparable, así como las novedades que llegan al mercado. Y sin embargo, no puedo dejar de asombrarme con nuevos lanzamientos. El último, la margarina Tulipán con Soja de Unilever, que pasa a complementar el ya sano mix de Tulipán.
Aparte de lo curioso de la combinación (quién nos iba a decir el combinar una legumbre con alto valor proteínico con la margarina de toda la vida, iba a ser beneficioso para la salud), lo que más me sorprende es el aura científico – sanitario que se transmite en el comunicado oficial de esta nueva variante: “Esta nueva margarina cuenta con aceite de soja que aporta ácidos grasos esenciales omega-3, un tipo de grasa que el organismo no puede sintetizar y se debe ingerir con los alimentos”. No soy médico ni biólogo, por lo que ignoro por completo si lo anterior es cierto, y hasta qué punto es beneficioso para la salud. Cosa que estoy 100% seguro es el caso del 95% de las personas que lo lean, pero que desde un punto de vista marketiniano es irrelevante. Irrelevante, por que hablamos de Marketing y del mundo de las percepciones. En las que no es importante la verdad, sino lo que la gente percibe. Lo que está muy correlacionado con sus expectativas y necesidades. Que hoy por hoy pasan por una extrema preocupación por la salud, y que posiblemente hagan que el producto sea muy bien percibido y acogido por la mayoría de los clientes. No digo que lo anterior dé rienda libre para lanzar lo que queramos en base a expectativas. Pero sí que, teniendo un mínimo de fundamento científico, podamos lanzar productos innovadores ajustados a lo que quiere el consumidor. Que sin esta mínima base, las organizaciones de consumidores y demás organismos de Consumo nos demandarán y obligarán a retirar el producto, como así ha sido en algunos casos. Volviendo al producto, todo apunta a que funcionará: Es innovador + está basado en algo relevante para el consumidor + introduce una nueva variante en una categoría madura + tiene el respaldo de una gran marca y empresa. Siempre y cuando eviten publilcity como la del video adjunto…. : ) Think Different!!! Ignacio Gafo
January 20, 2008 One quick response would be that it depends on the Industry you are in. So if you are in the IT or electronic one, you would say yes for cost reasons; and if you are in the FMCG you would say no for it is not usual to do so and savings are discussable. Whichever the Industry, the reality is that the economic globalization is pushing more and more companies to outsource production for they do not have a real chance. Prices are going so low in some countries like India or China, that there is no point producing in our own countries. So, what shall we do in these cases? Do we have a real chance to survive in the mid and long term? As some smart companies have shown, the answer is yes if you are able to comply with two things: 1. Keep product quality under control. Let me share some some real examples that will bring some light into the discussion: 1. Mattel: We have already written and discussed about it. They outsourced manufacturing in China, but have suffered dramatically for not implementing quality control measures. Both the financials and the brand image suffered due to this flaw. 2. HP: One the smartest companies that I know, I have to admit. They outsource most of the production to OEMs, but have been able to keep in most of the markets where they compete. Reasons for this? They have kept for themselves key sources of competitive advantages such as Design + R&D in new technologies + software. 3. Nokia: Hybrid production. They outsource of low end models where they do not have a chance to be competitive, and reserve for themselves the production, design and R&D for mid and high-end companies. 4. Samung + LG: For many years they have been unknown manufacturers of tvs, video and camcorders for well-known Japanese companies. The latter gave them too much control (including design + R&D), that ended Samsung + LG competing successfully with their old Japanese customers. 5. Verizon (and most of the leading telecom companies). They outsource non strategic processes and services (such as Telesales and systems mantainment), but keep for itself the key ones. You will agree with me that globalization is strongly leading to be specialized in key things and outsourcing the rest of them. However, we have to be careful for we might ask others to do for us something that is making the difference in the end of the day. Think Different!!! Ignacio Gafo PS: Special thanks to my Global MBA Group from Sept 08. They have driven a Product Management discussion very far and have led to this posting. Some of ideas + points are from them. PS2: Video one is telling a real outsourcing done in Springfield. Video 2, what we will be up to if the American Studios outsource their series to India
January 01, 2008 Os adjunto el link un artículo de David Hayes publicado en El País del 30 Diciembre, sobre 10 Macro Retos Mundiales a tener en cuenta para este año 2008.
El artículo habla de Problemas. Yo lo haría más bien de Desafíos e incluso Oportunidades, nuevas tendencias, que tenemos que afrontar, tener presente en nuestros Planes de Marketing y tratar de resolver. De muestra lo que el artículo llama "El impacto de las nuevas tecnologías (Internet, los teléfonos móviles, las redes sociales) sobre la experiencia humana, la identidad y las oportunidades vitales". Esto está cambiando la forma en que nos comunicamos e incluso marcando a lo que muchos llaman I-Generation o Gerneración del I-pod. Supone un gran reto, pero también una ocasión única de hacer cosas de manera diferente. Think Different! Ignacio Gafo http://www.elpais.com/articulo/opinion/problemas/resueltos/2007/elpepuopi/20071231elpepiopi_12/Tes
December 26, 2007 For once I will not speak of company marketing but of Climate Change Marketing. For Climatic Change has become one the hottest spot of the year and perhaps of the years to come. It is difficult that such a primarily scientifically subject, not immediate but affecting the medium to long term, has got so much attention in the media and has driven Al Gore to be awarded the Nobel Peace Price. The Al Gore film An inconvenient Truth, his world tournee of Conferences and the creation of an Al-Gore´s army of Clima Speakers around the world, has lastly woken up the conscience of the world… that has today access to electricity. This has been an extraordinary marketing example, the combination of basic evidence- the IPCC technical reports, with a powerful mass campaign –Al Gore film and Conferences, and a continuous, remembering campaign. His Army of Clima Speakers in many countries and languages. The business community has also jumped to the opportunity. Now, many companies boast how much they are climate friendly. Not before long, the greenhouse gas emission of a product will be included together with other elements such as content or compliance with safety regulations. Climate Change has been seen as a powerful marketing element by many companies. But insofar, the most promising idea has come from the IT industry. IT industry is, by its own nature, a reduced emitter of greenhouse gases per unit of value and consequently have come out with a fantastic idea: The industry together with the European Commission have launched the “mobGAS” initiative. This is basically a user friendly software, soon available in all European languages, that could only be discharged in to your mobile phone, and that with the input from your daily behaviour, will tell you how much greenhouse gases you have emitted that day and give you also tips to reduce emissions. Instead of an inconvenient truth you will have a convenient SMS.
For the IT industry three pluses: First it rallies behind clima protection, second they find a niche of potential new uses for the mobile phone, last but no least, you will have to pay for your convenient SMS and so the companies will raise their profits. Mr. Al Gore you have an SMS. Think Different!!! Ignacio Gafo
December 17, 2007
www.Santiago Iñiguez.com, Dean and Professor of Strategy Click inside the moving rectangle to see the associated link or text!
December 06, 2007 Si no la tienes ya puedes darte prisa en tenerla, sobre todo si estás en un país europeo. Los inmigrantes son el colectivo que más rápidamente está creciendo en Europa, y representa sin duda alguna una oportunidad que no puedes dejar pasar. Si tomamos España como referencia, hablamos hoy por hoy de: 1. Cerca del 10% de la población (unos 4,5 millones de usuarios), El sector que parece que más rápidamente se ha dado cuenta y se ha adaptado a éstos ha sido el de Servicios, sobre todo los de Banca y Telecomunicaciones. Ejemplos claros de esto lo tenemos en ofertas paquetizadas y personalizadas para cada colectivo de inmigrantes. Entre otras: - El Banco Popular (ver artículo para más información), que ha lanzado servicios especiales de transferencias, hipotecas para comprar inmuebles en los países de origen y seguros de repatriación en caso de fallecimiento. - El Banco Santander y el BBVA, que se han replanteado su estrategia de marketing para agilizar su servicio de transferencias y poder dar otros servicio de valor agregado (Ver artículo con más detalle).
- Vodafone y Telefónica, que han llegado a la conclusión de que se trata de un segmento estratégico por crecimiento y rentabilidad. Lo que les ha llevado a lanzar un oferta adaptada que incluye llamadas internacionales a precios muy especiale para estos colectivos, call centres personalizados para éstos y grupos cerrados de usuarios para clientes del mismo país de origen (cfr link para más detalles). http://www.lleida.net/uploads/20070913-internet-Noticiasdot.pdf Grandes marcas de consumo masivo también los tienen presentes. De hecho: 1. En casi todos los grandes hipermercados se encuentra una oferta específica para inmigrantes. 2. Se empieza a integrar a este colectivo en todos los estudios que se hacen para desarrollo y lanzamiento de nuevos productos y marcas. Parece claro que sí o sí no les podemos pasar por alto. Y por ello termino con el titular con la que he empezado este blog: ¿Tienes una oferta específica para inmigrantes? Si no la tienes, ¡preocúpate! Think Different! Ignacio Gafo
November 28, 2007 Todo un ejemplo de Coopetition: Las dos grandes operadoras europeas se alían para lanzar conjuntamente la Publicidad en el Móvil y de paso tratar de dejar fuera a competidores potenciales como Google y Yahoo. Está claro que cuando se trata de desarrollar un mercado y poner barreras a terceros, no hay nada como aliarse con el "enemigo".
Think Different!!! Ignacio Gafo
November 19, 2007 Os aseguro que si hace 15 años (e incluso hace 10) tenemos una subida de un alimento básico como el pan de un 4,7% en un mes y un 14% en un año, la gente se echa a la calle. Acaba de ser el caso pero nadie se ha quejado. ¿Tanto hemos ha cambiado? ¿Tanto ha cambiado España? Parece que sí. La situación actual no tiene que ver con la de hace unos años. De hecho yo me tuve que enterar de la subida por un artículo en El País…
Paso a repasar algunas causas de esta reacción desde un punto de vista de marketing. 1. Subida del precio de la harina. Es la obvia y comentada. El precio de las materias primas ha subido y se ha repercutido en el producto final. Hasta aquí, lo normal y lógico. 2. Cambios en Distribución. Sé que en el caso de la venta de pan, hablamos de una distribución tremendamente atomizada. Sin embargo, ha habido dos grandes cambios en los últimos años que permiten que las subidas se vean encubiertas: a. Mayor peso de los grandes centros de distribución (hipermercados y supermercados). Donde el pan es un elemento más de la compra, y en el que el pan pasa oculto entre las otras 20-30 cosas que compramos. b. Auge de las tiendas de conveniencia (convenience stores). Mayoritariamente chinos, donde el que compra asume que paga un sobreprecio y no se es consciente de una subida de 5 ó 10 céntimos. 3. Cambios radicales en el perfil del consumidor. A varios niveles: a. Para empezar en el poder adquisitivo. El mismo ha subido sobremanera, y ya no estamos preocupados por ahorrarnos 10, 2 0ó 30 céntimos en un bien de primera necesidad. b. Falta de tiempo. Cada día trabajamos más. Valoramos mucho nuestro tiempo libre y compramos mucho en tiendas de conveniencia. Por lo que no nos importa pagar un precio extra, a cambio de comodidad. c. Refinamiento de la demanda. Antes, todos (quitando a los sibaritas) comprábamos la clásica barra de pan. Ahora no nos conformamos con la misma. Queremos la variedad de pan (integral, de semillas, chapata, etc) que nos gusta, aun pagando un sobreprecio monumental. A mayor refinamiento, por supuesto mayor insensibilidad al precio. Por supuesto todo tiene un límite. El día que suba la barra de pan a 2€, no iremos a la calle (¡que tenemos poco tiempo libre!), sino que buscaremos algún sucedáneo. En verdad que España y los españoles han cambiado y aceptamos desenfrenos como el del pan… Think Different!!! Ignacio Gafo
November 03, 2007 Why did AT&T launch the i-Phone in the USA? Make your guess! In this blog I will disclose what a friend from Silicon Valley shared with me in a Business Cocktail… So, what do you think? Was it for reaching the high-end customers? No Was it for gaining market share? No Was it for getting something exclusive and differentiating? No
You are getting there. Was it for Branding reasons? You are there! Looks that the real reason for reaching an agreement with Apple, was to make everybody aware that Cingular was to become AT&T Wireless. When reaching the agreement AT&T had already made the decision to switch from one brand to another. The traditional option would have been to launch an aggressive ATL campaign telling everybody “We were Cingular; now AT&T Wireless!”. Pounds of dollars to be invested but no guarantee to achieve the desired result in the expected timing. The second option? To launch the i-phone in exclusivity and manage it smartly. Look that they did it so. Steve Jobs firstly announced the deal with Cingular and, at the time of the launch, a quick switch to the new brand. The desired rebranding was definitively achieved in the expected terms and timing! Was it really worth? Hard to say. The terms of the agreement for AT&T were not very favorable (among other things revenue share with the Apple guys, funding for developing the phone and product configured according to Apple), and the sales were not as good as expected (whatever they say, they had to cut the price by 200 US$ just two months after the launch). Time will say.
Think Different!!! Ignacio Gafo PS: Take a look at both videos. They are really worth! The first one shows how to justify a crazy price. Steve Jobs is definitively one of the best Marketing guys in the World...
October 24, 2007 El día 16 de noviembre y bajo el título DESAFIOS DE UN PLANETA EN CAMBIO tiene lugar la Conferencia Anual de Antiguos Alumnos el Auditorio Norte de Ifema. El tema central de la Conferencia, que los propios antiguos han elegido y el IE comparte, considera los recursos naturales, la globalización demográfica y los nuevos mercados / nuevas culturas como los grandes retos del siglo XXI.
Y para nosotros, gente de marketing, sin duda el de los nuevos mercados y culturas supone un aspecto trascendental de lo que serán nuestras preocupaciones desde ya y para los próximos años. En la pasada edición tuvimos la oportunidad de contar con más de 1500 asistentes que llegaron de más de 30 países distintos. Animaos a participar en esta ocasión singular de networking y conocimiento de últimas tendencias de primera mano po parte de algunos de los mejores directivos de todo el mundo: http://www.ie.edu/conferencia_aa/web2007/ Un abrazo Manuel Angel Alonso Coto
October 07, 2007
On its Web site, the company proudly proclaims its ads are nearly 4 times the size of the Dallas Cowboys' football field and that "such size leads to an unprecedented audience impact; they are quite simply overwhelmed by the scale of the advertisement." Ad-Air said it is about to be ready to start providing service also in London Heathrow, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Geneva, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Abu Dhabi, targeting a "highly desirable demographic and captive audience in a clutter-free environment and in moments free of any other commercial messages." They count on reaching millions of airline passengers in their seats and millions more through the power of word of mouth. Prices will range from £40,000 to £80,000 a month depending on location, with copy changing every six to 12 months. Do you think it will be worth paying these fees? Best regards Manuel Angel Alonso Coto
October 06, 2007 The Economist joins the magazines that analyze the Mobile Marketing and more specifically the Mobile Advertising. I do think that Mobile Marketing and Mobile Advertising are indeed the next big thing. It is just a question of time, but the advances are going much faster than anyone predicted. Mobile Advertising is now taking the form and text messages (sms) and to a limited extent of multimedia messages (mms). However, as long as the Internet access through tne mobile improves and the mobile surfing speed gets quicker, the Mobile Phones will be definitively be one of the most - if not the most - communication tool. Thus the importance and opportunity that both the Mobile Marketing and Advertising represent.
I enclose the full article from The Economist. Thoughts and comments are welcome. Think Different! Ignacio Gafo
The next big thing Marketers hail the mobile phone as advertising's promised land ADVERTISING on mobile phones is a tiny business. Last year spending on mobile ads was $871m worldwide according to Informa Telecoms & Media, a research firm, compared with $24 billion spent on internet advertising and $450 billion spent on all advertising. But marketing wizards are beginning to talk about it with the sort of hyperbole they normally reserve for products they are paid to sell. It is destined, some say, to supplant not only internet advertising, the latest fad, but also television, radio, print and billboards, the four traditional pillars of the business.
At the moment, most mobile advertising takes the form of text messages. But telecoms firms are also beginning to deliver ads to handsets alongside video clips, web pages, and music and game downloads, through mobiles that are nifty enough to permit such things. Informa forecasts that annual expenditure will reach $11.4 billion by 2011. Other analysts predict the market will be as big as $20 billion by then. The 2.5 billion mobile phones around the world can potentially reach a much bigger audience than the planet's billion or so personal computers. The number of mobile phones in use is also growing much faster than the number of computers, especially in poorer countries. Better yet, most people carry their mobile with them everywhere—something that cannot be said of television or computers. Yet the biggest selling point of mobile ads is what marketing types call “relevance”. Advertisers believe that about half of all traditional advertising does not reach the right audience. Less effort (and money) is wasted with online advertising: half of it is sold on a “pay-per-click” basis, which means advertisers pay only when consumers click on an ad. But mobile advertising through text messages is the most focused: if marketers use mobile firms' profiles of their customers cleverly enough, they can tailor their advertisements to match each subscriber's habits. In September Blyk, a new mobile operator, launched a service in Britain that aims to do just that. It offers subscribers 217 free text messages and 43 free minutes of voice calls per month as long as they agree to receive six advertisements by text message every day. To sign up for the service, customers must fill out a questionnaire about their hobbies and habits. So advertisers can target their messages very precisely. “Britain is the largest, but also the trickiest European ad market, so if it works here it will work everywhere,” says Pekka Ala-Pietila, chief executive and one of the founders of Blyk. Last year America's Virgin Mobile tried something similar with its “Sugar Mama” programme, which offers subscribers the choice between receiving an ad via text message or viewing a 45-second advertisement when browsing the internet in exchange for one free minute of talk time. Those who spend five minutes filling out a questionnaire online get five more minutes. Sugar Mama is proving popular: at the end of August Ultramercial, the company that manages the scheme, reported that Virgin Mobile had given away more than 10m free minutes. Vodafone, a big mobile operator based in Britain, sees mobile advertising as a potentially lucrative source of additional income. For the time being, most of the ads on its network are still text messages, although it has begun displaying ads on Vodafone live!, its mobile internet homepage, through which subscribers access the internet and download videos and music. Vodafone is also running several pilots, says Richard Saggers, the head of its mobile advertising unit, in which subscribers receive free content in exchange for viewing ads. Earlier this year, subscribers in Britain were given the option of downloading footage from “Big Brother”, a reality-TV show, in exchange for viewing a promotional video clip. The firm has also offered free video games punctuated with ads to customers in Greece, and free text messages to Czech students who agree to accept ads in the same format. Most mobile advertising strategies now rely on text messages, since few customers have taken to more elaborate services that allow them to download music, games and videos and to surf the web. Only 12% of subscribers in America and western Europe used their mobiles to access the internet at the end of 2006. Most people think mobile screens are too small for watching TV programmes or playing games, although newer models, such as Apple's iPhone, boast bigger and brighter screens. That is not the only problem. While consumers are used to ads on television and radio, they consider their mobiles a more personal device. A flood of advertising might offend its audience, and thus undermine its own value. Tolerance of advertising also differs from one market to another. In the Middle East, for example, unsolicited text messages are quite common, and do not prompt many complaints. But subscribers might not prove so open-minded in Europe or America. Another hitch, says Nicky Walton-Flynn of Informa, is that operators have lots of databases with information about their clients' habits that would be of great interest to advertisers. But privacy laws may prevent them from sharing it. Moreover, advertisers, operators and middlemen have not agreed a common format for this information, nor worked out how to share the revenue it might yield. Some think these obstacles will confine mobile advertising to a niche for years to come. But others see a whole new world of possibilities, as more people use their phones to access the internet and consumers grow used to the intrusion. Mobile phones, some of which are now equipped with satellite-positioning technology (see article), could be used to alert people to the charms of stores or restaurants they are walking or driving past. Tying ads to online searches from mobile phones is another potential goldmine. A subscriber typing in “pizza” for instance, could receive ads for nearby pizza parlours along with his generic search results. Such a customer, mobile operators hope, is likely to be more gra |
