Brown Bunch Post #3

              The McKinsey Quartely’s report The Consumer Decision Journey main message advocates the necessity of a company’s presence throughout the consumer decision process. The importance of a company’s presence from the consideration stage to the post purchase stage is vital in keeping in touch with the target market. It establishes how companies need to be more in tune with their consumers’ lives. This entails new ways of marketing to be able to satisfy target markets. Consumers are taking control of the consumer decision journey. The consumer is now “pulling” information voluntarily rather than it needing to be “pushed” on them by the marketer. All of this concluding that the consumer decision process is no longer linear but circular. Meaning that consumers are being influenced from all around them, both marketers, their peers, and other consumers are an influence in their buying decisions.

            As stated in the McKinsey report the consumer decision journey is no longer linear but circular. This modification calls for many changes in the way marketers strategize to reach their target market. McKinsey implies that no longer are consumers partaking in the awareness stage. It is now a trigger or impulse that begins the consumer decision journey. The trigger is not related to the awareness a consumer use to be faced with but with an event. These triggers are referred to as touch points in which the consumer begins to consider brands because of their recent exposure to them. That is where the second stage begins which is active evaluation before referred to as the consideration stage. This is when customers do their research on products, find out what other have to say whether it is from family & friends; website reviews; or other word of mouth. No longer is a brand in the safe zone if they make it past the consideration stage. Consumers are still identifying specific products in the consideration stage but they are more lenient and willing to consider other brands as they arise throughout the decision making process. This allowing for brands that were never initially in the consideration stage to come in and undertake the other products.With the consumer decision making process being circular consumer information inputs are coming from every direct. Information is virtually available anywhere and it can trigger a purchase or discourage it. Consumers are taking control of the information and doing and doing their own research instead of marketers pushing information on them. The consumers is using a “pull” gathering system versus the traditional “push” that the marketer was responsible for. It is important that marketers are able to participate in this information gathering because consumers want a two-way conversation. Not only that but they will also be able to build online word of mouth through consumer driven touch points.

The consumer decision journey is a continuous process because of the loyalty loop. The loyalty loop occurs after the consumer has made a decision. It involves the consumers post purchase experience and what the marketer does to shapes the opinion of the consumer. From this two types of loyalties are created passive and active. The goal in the loyalty loop is to create active loyalists that emit positive buzz and recommend that brand to their friends and family. continue to advocate for you brand. In the end creating strong brand advocates who stay loyal to that specific brand. The passive loyalists are what companies do not really want. These consumers are half-heartedly committed to brand and can easily be persuaded to purchase another brand. They keep an open mind to competitor messages to see what more can they offer them to make the decision of switching. McKinsey points out that having a group of active loyalists is something that marketers need to strongly do because they can create this positive word of mouth.

            The consumer decision journey is not something new but there are changes that marketers need to be able to understand and address. It is important they be able to do so effectively there are four activities that McKinsey recommends for marketers. The first is to prioritize objectives and spending. Before marketers put focus on a certain area, there now needs to be a shift from the overall brand positioning to make consumers act. Companies need to be a part of all of the consumer decision journey and not only in certain touch points. Marketers need to also tailor the message they want to address their audience with. It no longer needs to be a weak general message but a message that pinpoints every area of the message they want spread. An investment also needs to be made in a consumer driven marketing strategy. A companies needs to be successful in getting their consumers to become advocates for their products. A way to do so is to use vehicles such as the internet to generate online word of mouth. This is an important way to communicate to consumers especially in the active-evaluation stage where consumers want information about products to be able to make a decision. The last activity that McKinsey talks about is to be able to win the in-store battle. Presentation is the key to doing so. Everything from packaging, shelf-position, powerful displays, and leading signage can lead to the encouragement or discouragement of a purchase. If marketers can synchronize what customers are looking for in an in-store purchase experience they can guarantee a purchase.

The Journey Has Just Begun… Team Obey

For many years the overall decision making process focused on touch points was considered as a funneling process but recent research has shown a shift from this traditional method to a decision journey. Marketers have to adapt to these changes and focus on new touch points such as managing word-of-mouth. Not only do markets need to develop new touch point but also align their marketing campaign such as strategy, spending, and channel management. Once everyone is on the same page it should be integrated across the organization.

One feature would be the two-way conversation as opposed to the traditional format was just a one-way conversation. Previously marketers just pushed their products through traditional advertisement channels. The two way conversation has allowed interaction and has given marketers an opportunity to engage the consumer in new ways. This would reduce the cost of traditional market research because consumers actively volunteer their critique.

Additionally, marketers are now tailoring their message to specific demographics rather than deploying one size fits all push ads. This would help companies in the initial consideration stage if they were able to tailor their message to the needs of the consumer. It is more efficient approach to tailor marketing to the specific target demographic rather than trying to do so on a broader push scale such as a billboard.

Content management is a focal point of this new marketing theory. Where as previously consumers depended on interpersonal word of mouth or a company’s ads for information they can now interact online with each other. For this reason content management is important. As such employees throughout an organization must embrace the culture of the organization so as to limit negative buzz among consumers.

Brand loyalty is considered to be a main purchasing factor and is usually gained in the postpurchase stage. There are two types of loyalties: active and passive. An active loyalist is one who is not only loyal to one brand but also recommend it to their peers. A passive loyalist is one who is loyal to the brand for no particular reason, but typically out of convenience. These consumers are susceptible to competitors’ messages and therefore should be targeted by marketers in a two way conversation. The goal of marketers should be to move passive loyalist to active loyalist and to maintain the loyalty of active loyalist.

Advancing technology and changing consumer behavior necessitate a move from traditional marketing methods to those for the 21^st century. This includes engaging consumers in two way conversation in using this technology, encouraging brand loyalty by involving the consumer and tailoring marketing messages to very specific demographics.

McKinsey Report Overview

The article focuses on the journey of the consumer as they move through the decision making process and how marketers should change their strategies to keep up with changing times and consumer attitudes. It states that the outdated funnel analogy has changed to a more of a circular journey. It goes on to say that marketers have to be more aggressive and learn how to influence their consumers during each stage of the consumer decision journey.

McKinsey writes, “Faced with a plethora of choices and communications, consumers tend to fall back on the limited set of brands that have made it through the wilderness of messages.” It is difficult for products to make it through that “wilderness of messages” and be easily recognized. Being recognized means making it into the initial-consideration set, and according to the article, a product is almost three times more likely to ultimately be purchased than a product that is not in it. In order to stand out more to consumers, companies need not to “push” to consumers as much, but rather to allow and help consumers “pull” the information that will influence them to buy the company’s products. McKinsey’s research shows that “two-thirds of the touch points during the active evaluation phase involve consumer-driven marketing activities”. The article says that by creating a positive post-purchase experience, you gain more loyal customers who will spread positive word of mouth about your company and more than likely be return customers.

McKinsey describes two types of loyalty in the article, active loyalty and passive loyalty. Active loyalists “not only stick with it [the brand] but also recommend it”. Passive loyalists “stay with a brand without being committed to it”. Passive loyalists can be persuaded to change brands, if they’re given a good reason by competitors. What this does is it presents an opportunity to marketers to take competitors passively loyal customers and it also challenges them to find ways to make their own loyalists actively loyal.

The report suggests several things to marketers if they want to keep up with the changes in the decision making processes of their consumers. Marketers must gain a thorough understanding of the new consumer making process. They then need to use that knowledge to reach consumers at every stage of the decision making process by influencing consumer-driven marketing, improving the in-store experience and product packaging, creating programs to gain active loyalists, and connecting all “customer-faced” areas of the company so they can work together under one manager who can be considered the “voice of the consumer”.

Quoted McKinsey Quarterly; The consumer decision journey

McKinsey Quarterly PNB

The main message of the report is a simple statement. “Marketing is no longer a funnel type decision making process, but rather a circle type.” The link between consumers and marketers is becoming more complex. The marketer is not able to reach as many people through simple radio and television ads any longer. The article suggest that the internet has become the largest influencer in the decision making process. Consumers and more likely to make decisions based on ‘real’ consumer reviews as compared to marketing messages seen on television or heard across the waves of the radio.

As we look into the traditional ‘funnel’ type decision making journey, we see a symmetrical line between exploration of data to the decision and post-purchase activity. The article states this is no longer the case. During the decision making process the exploration of data factor has expanded beyond the control of the marketer. The internet has allowed individual customers to voice their opinions on the product, potentially making them influencers to other future consumers. Marketers can make and entrance to the consideration set while the decision is in the process of being made. This goes against previous understanding of the decision making process. It was assumed that once the consideration set has been established, sellers would be eliminated though the process. Now, making a splash into the consideration set can happen at any point in the consumer decision process or what’s called the active evaluation. This process is active until the point of purchase.

Through the post purchase experience, it is important for a marketer to get involved with the consumer. In this process, the marketer works to attain the loyalty of the consumer and keep them what the article refers to as the ‘loyalty loop.’ There are many ways to get consumers in to the loop. It must involve communication between the consumer and the marketer. By providing this type of interaction, the marketer can better understand the consumer’s wants/needs to better the product and expand its market.
By keeping the consumer in the loyalty loop, the article suggests it automatically places the brand back into the consideration set with better priority leading to another purchase by the consumer. If the loyalty loop leads to another purchase, and that product also provides great feedback and support through the post purchase process, that consumer is thought to engage in Word of Mouth marketing for the marketer. This concept has been around for years, and is thought to be more important than ever these days. It is important for marketers to focus an effort toward the consumer in the post purchase process to make sure the consumer engages future consumers. This concept can and will convince people to talk to their friends and family persuading them to consume in the product.

This leads into the types of loyalty. Passive loyalist is people which stay with one brand because they know the brand and do not care to explore the growing amount of choices. And Active loyalists consume the product as well as recommend the product. The objective of viral marketing is to make all brand loyalist active loyal consumers and keep them in the loop. It can be seen in the videos below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj29qmLnBiE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9pWWAGT5lw

Though the article, it seems McKinsey focus is to show marketers that it is no longer the pushing of product, but the interaction between producers and consumers that improves the likelihood of a purchase. McKinsey also stresses that an active process will better the chances of being the brand of choice. And the choice can be effected at any point in the decision making process. It is all about providing the information and the interaction of post purchase constantly. Neither one is more important than the other; both are needed to be a successful marketer.

marathon matt YELP review

MARATHON MATT

Terrance

For my review I chose Marathon Matt. This is a program for runners in California that gives people guidance on how to build endurance and how to become better at running itself in the process while staying healthy.

A)    Who are these people? Where do they belong (go beyond their city of residence; we know that already)?

The people that are doing this program are just normal people who want to be in shape or in more shape than they are already in. the belong to the active, wanting to stay healthy group of America.

b) What is their main complaint(s)?

After reading about 6 post, I noticed that there were no complaints. All of the reviews were very positive about Matts’ strategies ad very supportive of his program. This leads me to believe that these runners must have been beginners at running or that Matts program is just that great.

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c) What do you think motivated them write such an extensive review? (especially considering the fact that you and me typically don't do the same even when we are thoroughly satisfied or dissatisfied with the products that we consume.

What I think motivated these people to write these reviews is that the product was just that good. Every review I read was more than supportive about the product and its results. Another reason why people were so positive about the product was because the business was local and not just some big hot shot company. The people who did Matts program probably got to know him personally and that made the people want to talk good about him and get the word out.

d) What are the most apparent and some hidden motivations? The most apparent motivations for these reviewers is that they just wanted to spread the word about the product because it helped them the way they wanted to be helped. one hidden motivations may be that they know Matt and just wanted to help him and his business out.

4) If you are a smart marketer (which you are!) (lets say the owners of the businesses listed on the respective pages), how do you deal with this information? What are your courses of action? More importantly, how do you engage with these potential 'influencers' so that you develop a steady stream of a positive feedback/WOM loop that will stay online and attract other consumers?

If I was the one who owned this business and I read these reviews I would keep doing exactly what I was doing and try to make more advance training programs as the runners start to get better and better. From what I read no one dislikes what Matt is doing so why change your strategy or anything about your business model. I would just try to keep up with my programs so I don’t lose my current customers.

Hollywood Nails & Spa, a less than star treatment for your nails…

After reading the first ten or so reviews I would have to say that I would not visit this place.  I read maybe 2 reviews that were more on the positive side and both of those consumers would have changed at least something about the experience. 

The demographic of this salon seems to be mid aged women anywhere from 21-40 who are based out of Dallas, but seem to have moved their from other cities.  I have a good idea from the pictures I found online and the hints of “noisy and crowded” being listed in the description that the range of women might very well be mothers and girl friends searching for a nice place for relaxing girl time.  In the book Engage by Brian Solis he mentions that “social networks initially appealed to younger audiences, and they’ve become more mainstream with the passage of time,” which could very well be why were seeing older women chiming in to these reviews. 

Most of the reviews mentioned that it was over priced, rushed and also that the nail technicians were way to rough.  These are all deal breakers when it comes to a mani/pedi experience, which is meant to do exactly the opposite of all three of those complaints.  Based on how awful all of these women felt after spending way too much of their money and leaving so unsatisfied, I can only gather that the location and design of the place is very appealing. 

After going to the website, this is the first thing I saw posted in their headline:

The Hollywood nail and Spa is an upscale spa dedicated to your hands and feet.

We use high quality products and follow strict sanitization procedures.

With highly trained, licensed and experienced technicians and continually looking for ways, learning new techniques to better our skills.

Out of the reviews I did read, I heard each of these claims ridiculed.

I do have to give this place the benefit of a doubt, being a future marketer and all, because I understand that most people are driven to write a review when they are upset and not so much when they are pleased.  Reguardless to my opinion, studies have showed that 70% of consumers obtain information regarding information on brands from online communities and review sites, more than the company’s own website.

“In many cases, there’s merit to consumers’ complaints and many times they require acknowledgment, response, and a commitment to fix things in order to improve a product or service.”  Hollywood has some serious considering and revamping to do to their customer service reps and nail technicians which is not easy to do once an employee is allowed to act a certain way for so long.  Possibly reading the reviews might motivate the staff to reconsider the way they treat each customer.  This salon needs to consider ways to build a relationship with each customer in order to retain their business.  I do think that there is a terrible language barrier as well that needs to be overcome.  I might suggest this salon hiring someone to monitor what people are saying and to actually read the reviews and comment back and create some sort of loyalty program through rewarding return customers.  I think they can definitely afford to pay someone to do this judging by the “up scale” atmosphere at all three locations.  

Solis, Brian; (2010-02-16). Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web 

Yelper’s Reviews – Hollywood Nails & Spa

Who are these people? Where do they belong?

 These people are younger (mid-to-late 20’s), opinionated, and in tuned with what they want. They feel that everyone needs to know about their experiences whether good or bad. They all seem to be funny and outgoing not only from their post but from the information panel that is provided on the left hand side or from the quote under their profile picture. One of the reviewer’s profile quote states, “I love to write, I love to eat/explore and I’m opinionated. Triple Threat.”  Most of the reviewers though featured on Yelp are not one time reviewers that had an amazing experience or a horrible experience but people who post a review about everywhere they go. These reviewers are people who are involved, up to date, and active where they live and online. One of the reviewers even linked her website, which is a blog about her life & her “word vomit” or opinion on everything. Most of the Yelp reviewers just seem enjoy posting about their experiences because of their extroverted personalities.

What is their main complaint?

 To begin from reading all the Hollywood Nail & Spa negative reviews I will never go there.  All of the reviewers except two bashed the customer service whether it was a horrible manicure/pedicure, or the atmosphere of the place. All of the reviews were along the same lines on complaints. The issue is evidently the people that are working there do not know what they are doing.

Some of the reviews contained comments such as:

“I have given Hollywood nails a more than fair shot at getting it right, and I have always left incredibly disappointed, disgusted, frustrated. I do not see how anyone is even remotely satisfied with such poor service/work. This last visit for me was the last straw—I will never ever go back to Hollywood Nails.” – 1 Star

“The second I walked in to the salon, I was immediately less than thrilled, as it was loud, crowded, and not even a little bit relaxing.”  -1 Star

“The quality of the pedicure was ok but the quality of the attitude and service staff is not what I’d anxiously return for.” -2 Stars

What do you think motivated them to write such an extensive review?

I have always heard about online review websites but I never really took the time to look at one in-depth and read the reviews. It’s almost like a Facebook post or Twitter status about where you went and the experience you had but to a whole other level. I have always previously heard that people usually only post reviews if they had extremely amazing experiences or terribly bad experiences but that is not the only reason anymore. People’s motivation is not only to advise others but to also share where they have been and what they experience.

What are the most apparent and some hidden motivations?

The most apparent reason is the one most already know, and that is dissatisfaction with the service provided. The reviews are way to inform or caution in this case others of the quality of their services. A hidden motivation is that Yelp reviews almost serve as a form of venting to others about their experience. This would be in relation to the one star reviews that are a stream of never ending complaints.

As a marketer….

How do you deal with this information?

What are your courses of action?            

How do you engage with these potential ‘influencers’ so that you develop a steady stream of positive feedback/WOM loop that will stay online and attract other consumers?

From Chapter 1, Brian Solis says he likes to ask business leaders, “If a conversation takes place online, and you weren’t there to hear it, did it actually happen?” He responded by saying, “Yes. Yes, it did still does.” He continues to explain that with every negative discussion should be seen as an opportunity. A conversation good or bad is an opportunity for businesses to learn and take part in the discussion whether it is to shift the direction its going, contributing to it is key. It seems that they need to work on their customer service from their attitude to the techniques they use in general. We would first suggest to Hollywood Nails & Spa to read the reviews that are being posted about them and fix the issues that customers are having with their services. Improving the quality of their product is a key part in changing perceptions because no matter how much good stuff you say about something if it falls short in the end people will always have the opportunity to talk negatively about it. Even though some of the reviewers posts say that they will never return to Hollywood Nails & Spa they should try and reach out to those customers who had a terrible experience. This is important because although these customers may never want their service again due to that one bad experience if Hollywood Nails & Spa does not fix that bad perception they have these customers continue to spread negative word of mouth. Another suggestion we would tell Hollywood Nails & Spa to do is to build a relationship with their customers in a way that the customer can feel comfortable giving feedback to them during or after their visit. This will help them receive immediate feedback and know which customers to reach out to. The main way to engage with these potential ‘influencers’ is for Hollywood Nails & Spa management start reviewing the Yelp and other online reviews. They should post to both positive and negative comments. They should thank the positive comments and always invite them back. Then they should apologize and ask those customers to give them a second chance and come back in for another visit to changer their mind. By doing this Hollywood Nails & Spa will be able to see that they genuinely care about their customers. It will also show that they want feedback in a way to improve in providing higher quality services.

The Brown Bunch

Solis, Brian. Engage!: the Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011.

The power of Online WOM PNB

a Who are these people? Where do they belong?

These people are people that are local to the area of the businesses they are reviewing. They are probably in their 20's or 30's.

b What is their main complaint?

The main complaint of these customers are the lack of value for the services or products that they received. They also seemed to complain in the case of Frances of the inability to get reservations easily.

c What do you think motivated them to write such an extensive review?

What I think motivated them to write such an extensive review was the fact that they were upset and that they felt like they needed to vent. I feel like it is easier to tell someone how you really feel if you know that your identity will be secret and that no one will find you.

d What are the most apparent and some hidden motivations?

The most apparent motivations seem to be that they were truly either happy with their expriences or upset with them and that they wanted to help those who logged onto Yelp. Some hidden motivations might be that they are so upset that they want to vent and don't care who sees the review because their identity will be secret.

4. How do you deal with this information? What are your courses of action? How do you engage with these infulencers?

You deal with this information by taking what the reviews said and trying to improve your restaurant or nail salon so that more customers will be happy. You can either take action to improve your business or you can ignore what your customers say and risk losing more business then the reviews would generate in the first place. You engage with the infulencers by maybe logging onto the website the review was on and letting them know that you are genuinely trying and that you care about what they think.