Sometimes it's not about being smart, it's about being clever!

In marketing, sometimes you don't need to reinvent the wheel, or even come up with a great new product. Sometimes it's just about being smart and listening to your customer.

Consider Diamond Shreddies. What are Diamond Shreddies? Well they're just regular Shreddies photographed at a 45 degree angle. Seriously! The month that Shreddies launched their campaign, sales rose by 18%! That's a smart idea.

Another great example is the great feature on the 2013 Ford Escape ~ the foot activated truck opener.

In the competitive automaker world, having a simple, unique feature is difficult to find. Ford have really listened to their customers, done some creative thinking, and come up with a novel feature that makes their product stand out. Smart, maybe. Clever, yes.

So next time you're stuck on a campaign, go back to basics, consider your product, and be clever!

Ikea's new catalogue ~ a disappointing experience

Who doesn't love browsing through Ikea catalogues; dreaming of the day you have a home to furnish with Swedish design (with the house prices in Vancouver, you'll certainly be dreaming for a long time!). It was with great interest that I read an article on Marketing Mag about Ikea's new interactive catalogue. 

With the new catalogue, users can download an app on their smart phone or tablet. In the top right corner of certain pages in the catalogue is a mobile symbol. By activating the app and holding it over the catalogue users see additional content, such as different furniture designs, different paint colours, and so on.

The Ikea Catalogue App in action ~ Image courtesy of Gadget Lab

On the day I read the article, I receive the new Ikea catalogue in the mail. I downloaded the app, held it over the page, and waited. Nothing happened! Hmm.... read instructions, tried again... nothing. Tried another page. I watched the choppy image as I slowly scanned the page, and suddenly a new image appeared. I had to hold the phone still over a very small section of page to see anything. Deflated, I gave up.

The challenge for companies is to come up with ways to use technology to interact with the customer in unique ways. Ikea came up with the idea, but the execution was poor. In 2012, consumers expect nearly flawless technology, and have little patience when things don't work as advertised. If your execution is poor, and consumers disappointed, your idea becomes a waste of money. 

Although I will still shop there in the future, I am disappointed with Ikea's execution of this app. I doubt the poor execution will result in lower sales, but it's unlikely to produce any surge. What could Ikea have done differently? They could have used QR codes to unlock extra content, or trialed the app on their specialty catalogues, such as the mattress catalogue, first. 

Did you try the new Ikea catalogue app? What was your experience? Has it changed your perceptions of Ikea? What do you think Ikea could have done differently?

Biking in Vancouver

If you love to bike, Vancouver is a pretty good place to live. We have a great network of bike paths to get to work, along with some amazing bike-friendly places to visit on weekends. Here are some of my favourite lesser-known biking locations in the Lower Mainland, for your summer weekend pleasure!



Central Valley Greenway

The Greenway connects Vancouver to New Westminster, via Burnaby. You can access the Greenway from East Broadway at Victoria Dr. The Central Valley Greenway is a loop that pretty much follows the skytrain line. It's mostly bike trails, well signed (for the most part), and a lovely ride. There are a few hills to contend with, but nothing major. Since you're cycling in the city, you're always close to a coffee shop!



Photo by LetsGoBiking



Fraser River Reserve & Iona Island

Cycling to Iona is pretty well known, especially if you're part of the road biking community. It's a lovely cycle, very flat, and with some nice views. At the end of the peninsula you will find a variety of birds to watch, and a beautiful park to picnic at and explore. However, rather than just cycling along the road there is a great little trail along the river. Quiet, peaceful, and lots of blackberry bushes! You arrive at McDonald boat launch, where you take the side road back to the main road to continue along to Iona. Directions can be found on the Richmond bike trail map.



Photo from WillWong.Net



PoCo Trail 

25km of biking trails around Port Coquitlam. You can cycle along the Pitt River, then around through gorgeous woodland. It's pretty flat, so it's fun for the whole family. You're never too far from a coffee shop to for a pit stop, and you do pass through some city parks with play areas for the kids if you need to take a break! From Vancouver, you can cycle (if you're very fit) or take the Skytrain to Braid Station, and use the bike paths that run alongside United Blvd and Maryhill Bypass to connect to the trails. This starts you at the Colony Farm, which is always worth a visit!



From PortCoquitlam.ca



Richmond Dykes

It's beautiful, it's flat, there are some gorgeous look out points, and you can get fish and chips on the wharf in Steveston! Plus if you continue along Dyke Road heading east, there are some awesome blackberry bushes and apple trees. Maybe take a container or two, and plan on making a few stops along the way :)  Great trip for the family. You can reach the dyke really easily from Bridgeport or Aberdeen Canada Line Stations, as seen on the Richmond bike trail map. 



Photo by Stephen Rees


Do you have any other favourite bike routes you would like to share?

It's all about the customer experience!

In the age of the internet, instant communication, and social media, creating a great product is not enough anymore. Consumers have choice; they can support their local small business, a national or multinational retail chain, or shop online. A great product is a good start, but it might not get you very far. 

I think the shift from the 4 P's to the 4 C's is a great way to encouraged companies to consider the consumer throughout the product development process.  This consumer-centric focus should run from product conception to post-purchase experience, as the consumer's needs and wants are king! As a consumer, you can guy a great product and have a great retail experience, but if you cannot get your item fixed under warranty are you likely to purchase from that company again? Probably not. Are you likely to post on Facebook, tweet, and tell your friends about it? Probably!

The internet and social media are both a blessing and a curse to companies and the marketing industry. Approaching your product or service with a consumer-centric mindset should lead to success in this competitive world!

What do you think? Is consumer-centric really the way to go? Should companies be expected to forgo profits to provide better customer care? 

Why Blog?

Why blog? Why bother? Is blogging worth it, really? With over 160 million blogs and counting, is it worth for you to add your voice to the cacophony? My answer would be yes!

According to Netcraft there are over 644 million websites, but companies still set up websites without question. You should, however, ensure that you approach a blog with the same care and planning as any other marketing activity. You should make sure you have something to say, and that you will keep the blog up over time; there's nothing worse than a dead blog!

Here are my 3 considerations as to why a blog can help your business:

1. Keep customers engaged: You might have a business where your customers don't visit on a regular basis, but you want to make sure you're top of mind. Blogging interesting content is a way to keep in touch with customers, and keep them engaged, so they think of you next time they need you!

2. Be seen as an expert: Blogging is a great way to prove to the world that you know what you're talking about! Be an expert and blog about inside information, tips, and tricks in your particular industry. You might not only find new customers, but become an expert source for journalists (free publicity anyone?).

3. Create a community: By keeping customers engaged and becoming an expert, you can build an online community of loyal customers. Is that not what every business wants?!

Do you have a question about creating a blog for your business? Do you agree that blogging is good use of company time and resources? Your comments are always appreciated!

Analyzing a Facebook Page

As a marketer, it's always important to run a critical eye over your work, look at it from a consumers perspective, and understand how you can improve. One of my current marketing tasks is to manage the Facebook page for the Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club. Here is my analysis, and notes on what I need to improve on.

I first signed out of Facebook, and looked at this site as a first time visitor would. I need to update the cover photo, as the one at present is not quite in focus, and has been up for about 2 months. The profile picture should be more zoomed in, so it is more legible. Also, the photos for each of the apps should be updated, as the welcome page does not even have a proper photo. All of these details are important, because they are the first items a person will look at before they even see the content, and will create the first impression.

This is what users see currently when they log on to the Orienteer Vancouver page

In terms of content, my posts are fairly regular; one every 1-2 days. The new addition of being able to schedule posts has made managing content way easier, as I can set posts to appear around 6pm when I am at school/work/out running, but this ensures that when our fans log on in the evening or early morning to check their Facebook (heaviest usage times), my post will be near the top of their feed. I should look at posting content everyday, rather than every 2 days.

Most of the content is promotion of our upcoming events. As we hold at least 1 event per week, this is understandable. However, the event information links are usually just text and a link to our website, which has no image. I will look in to adding an image of each park we visit to the event page of the website, so an image will appear on Facebook. This should give more visual appeal to the posts.

I will also look in to adding a better variety of content, such as sharing information on other running races in Vancouver (as many of our members are also runners, bikers, or engage in other physical activity). I currently follow Canadian Running Magazine and Get Out There Magazine, but I should look for more local running clubs and sites to follow.

In terms of interaction, most of our posts either have likes or comments. I noticed 1 comment that went unanswered, and have corrected this. I could increase interaction by engaging users after a race and encouraging them to share information on what routes they look, or issues they had with the map.

Overall, I am pleased with the way our Facebook page looks and feels, however, I would like to increase the amount of interaction. I will act upon the suggestions above over the next week, and analyze, using the Facebook Analytics system, to see if increases engagement and interaction.

Please take a look at the Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club Facebook page, and leave a comment if you think there's something else I could work on that I have not covered above.

Social Media Tracking Tools

McDonalds recently set up a webpage called "Our Food, Your Questions"; Canadians are invited to pose questions about McDonalds food, which are answered by a representative. The aim of this campaign is to dispel myths around McDonalds food. In response to the question "Why does your food look different in the advertising than what is in the store?", McDonalds released the video below explaining the food photographing process. 

I was interested to see whether this video changed opinions surrounding McDonalds foods. To measure this, I found a number of online reports on the video. A selection of comments were taken and rated based on their sentiment towards campaign, not towards McDonalds itself. The comments +1 for positive, 0 for neutral, and -1 for negative. 


Here are a selection of comments from the thestar.com:

So does every other food shot: This is a common practice for food photographs; there are food stylists who strive to make their food "edible". but the majority of the food in shots can't be eaten. Stop the McD hate.

Score: +1


and "drum roll"..... Crap is still crap no matter how you dress it up... but so nice to see how they dress the crap... Score: -1Dishonest - How lovely to have an inside view into the business of lying to your customers.Score: -1 (this comment is interpreted as sarcasm)McDonald's vs Subway - McDonald's advertising photos look a lot closer to what you're served, compared to Subway...Score: +1Good for McDonald's - It's not like people are going to stop buying their products if they reveal why their burgers in commercials look better than in real life.Score: +1Good for them - Be honest and show people why. NO need to hide the truth.Score: +1Here are a selection of comments from Twitter:@lindsaysherry - Don't know if this was a good idea #mcdonalds - http://t.co/velfTxT9Score: -1@Budd_Dwyers_Bag - I love everything about this story. Especially the awkcent of the presenter htt://t/co/fuY6Bnh4 #imlovingit #thisiswhywerefat #mcdonalds Score: +1@leannmifsud - "@TorontoStar @McDonalds #AdvertisignSecrets http://t.co/mJCI2cN Still want a Big Mac?" Yes... Yes I do.Score: +1@tifutifers - "@TorontoStar: Melting cheese w/a blow dryer and other @McDonalds #advertising secrets: http://t.co/AgSAdWV5" bold+smart move by @McDonaldsScore: +1Overall Score: +4
From these comments, it appears McDonalds has been successful with their campaign. Some praise McDonalds for being honest and answering the question, even if they wouldn't eat at McDonalds themselves, whereas others seem to harbour a negative attitude towards McDonalds that cannot be undone by one video alone. The conclusion from this analysis shows that the campaign has been successful in improving attitudes towards their food, but more work is needed to improve the company image.What do you think? How do you feel after watching the video? Do you think that McDonalds has been successful with their new, behind the scenes approach?