Group project reflection

The team project was for me the opportunity to better understand the purpose of this class : what is customer insights ? This was for me a quite obscure concept at the beginning, especially because English is not my mother tongue. When I looked in the dictionary during the course selection process, I saw it was dealing with “apprehending the true nature of a thing through intuitive understanding or penetrating mental vision or discernment”. Even if it was enough to make me want to follow the class, it did not help a lot to understand. But during the group project, we had chosen a very particular segment: the supermom. We had to find out her needs, her feelings, her psychology, and for this it was not enough to read the interviews we had gathered. I realized it was a really deep work to do: we tried to do a little role-play, in order to really go in the supermom’s shoes. This is to my mind a very interesting work. In the course conclusion, the teacher talked about two aspects of the marketing: the marketer has to think as a professional, and also as a customer. “Customer insights” is in my opinion the link between these two roles: trying to express what happens in the customer’s mind with a professional point of view.

The second thing I learnt from this project is the complexity of creativity. At the end of the project we had to create a product for our segment. To find an idea, we had to organize two meetings; between them, we were supposed to think about the ideas that we had during the first one. The most difficult task was to try to stick to the two sides of innovation, which were evoked by Michael Luchs in class: we had to find a product which was both original and useful. But curiously, all the ideas that we had were either original, or useful, but rarely both! I think the solution was to privilege one of these aspects, without abandoning the second one. We came with a product which was maybe more useful than original (the RFID tag-system already exists in some stores like the Prada Store in New York). Thus, we were responding above all to the lack of organization of the supermom; however, we give customers the possibility to have “an organized disorder”, which is to my mind something rather original.
I think that in this project we had a very “conceptualist” approach, because we tried to base our brainstorming upon the main needs that we found for our supermom. There were two major needs, the functional need for organization, and the emotional need for recognition and happiness. It was extremely difficult, in the context of the home office, to find an item which would answer these two needs. So we found a set of objects which answered one or the other need. Then we had to decide which need was pre-eminent. This was a very thoughtful process.

My reflection about this group project is extremely positive.
First, I think we were a very efficient team. Each meeting was quite short and all the objectives of the session were fulfilled. I was very happy to see that everybody was speaking as much as the others, even the two foreign exchange students. Even if English is not the mother tongue, it can be very enriching to have different cultures in a same group. The example of the name of our product is particularly relevant: the Spanish member of our group said about the item we were looking for “We have to find something really demotic”. Nobody knew what was the meaning of this word, even the Americans members! We thought that it was a perfect name for our product. It illustrates also for me the instinctive side of innovation: we can spend hours looking for an idea, the right one will maybe arise when it was really not expected.
Globally, I had a very good experience working with this group; each member had complementary skills and was eager to bring his help to the others, even if it was not his assigned task. Everybody was also quite flexible: for example, if someone had difficulties with a particular part of the process, he could easily switch with someone else.
This project was therefore very interesting for me and hopefully for my team mates.

The M&M's store on Times Square

I saw a perfect example of experiential marketing in New York : the M&M’s store on Times Square. In my opinion, this is the most fascinating store on Broadway and it illustrates the art to lure people:
- the central product is a chocolate candy, so this is supposed to be at the beginning a small purchase ; candies are something that we don’t really need, that we buy to have a little treat. This is why it is to me surprising to see a giant store just focused on this candy, the type of product you usually buy in supermarket next to the cash register… but the M&M’s company has been successful building a story around the product.
- there are of course several secondary product, from the pen to the pillow ; all these products are just bought to say “I have been to this amazing M&M’s store and I bought that because I am so addicted to this small chocolate candy that I need to claim it!”
When you see the giant screen showing M&M’s characters in all sorts of situation, it is impossible not to enter the 2-floors store.
This is in my opinion experimental marketing because this store invites customers to act: on a big wall, they can find all the possible colours of candies, from apple green to gold or silver. They are invited to help themselves and to create the most original colourful mix. There is also a kind of “scanner” which looks like a shower. When the customer steps on the circle on the flour, the computer calculates your “mood colour” and describes what you feel and which M&M’s colour suits you.
Of course this has no foundation, and this is why I find it interesting to link that to the Prada Store, which is also in New York. In this store, huge investments were done to in order to give the customer a perfect experience. RFID tags are fixed on each item and give all the necessary information; the changing areas are made of a sort of glass which becomes opaque when the customer enters. All this is amazing and provide a unique shopping experience, but this is also useful, contrary to the “mood shower” of the M&M’s store!
Consequently, I see two different types of experiential marketing: the one which is designed to “help” the customer (and the shop assistants too, like in the Prada case) and the one which is only supposed to entertain, to let him have fun and, above all, to lure him to the store and make him buy a lot.
What is the most “effective” store remains uncertain to me: M&M’s is about fun and Prada is about technology and convenience. These are two different positions but in my opinion they are both successful because they rely on very strong human addictions that are part of the consumer society: fashion and chocolate!

In red, this is the "mood shower"

"Wii" will rock you!

The new Nintendo console, called the "Wii", is to my mind one of the greatest current innovations. In the very creative area of video games and consoles, Nintendo has managed to find a new way to innovate: this is not anymore about launching a console which is even more powerful, realistic (thanks to a better resolution), even more technologically developed.

The Wii brings a new interface, a particularly nice design and in my opinion, a new philosophy. But it is way less powerful than its direct competitors, the consoles from the last generation like the XBox 360. What is so innovative about the Wii is the very intuitive interface. To play, you just need to move your hand holding the one-hand remote (the "wiimote"). Thanks to a new technology which detects the physical gestures and to a system similar to Bluetooth, you can control what is happening on the screen. This idea went probably from the observation a very instinctive habit when playing regular videogames, especially at young children but not only (I sometimes surprise myself to do it!): instead of just pushing the buttons of the remote, you are tempted to move your hands (and sometimes your entire body) in the same direction as the car or character you are controlling. I think this is where the idea came from. The Wii takes this instinct into account and it is no longer ridiculous to move in front of the console, now it is just the right way to play!
This can be linked to an article from the Harvard Business Review: it describes a new technique that companies use to innovate, called “empathic design”. The idea is to observe chosen customers while they are using a product, and see what could be useful to them that they don’t necessarily say (most of the time because they don’t realize this could help). I don’t know if Nintendo used a similar approach to find about the necessity for a lot of players to “follow” the movements that appear on the screen, but it would not be surprising. When people are doing that while playing videogames (and most of the times get laughed at) they just feel stupid and try to stop their “crazy movements”. None of them would say to the videogames companies: “ I want a console which allows me to move and do crazy signs in front of my computer!” That is why observation is the key to these kind of innovations.Aside from this system, the Wii is relatively easy to use in general, and this is why the target market is different than the XBox market: this is not supposed to reach experienced players (essentially men), but a really broader and more feminine market.

Besides, I also think that the Wii looks a little like the Ipod, with its very white and pure design (and like the revolutionary mp3 player, it will soon be available in new colors). This can be also a track to understand how Nintendo came to the conception of this 5th generation console: it is essential while brainstorming to look around, not only to the competitors but also to other segments: this can bring a lot of new ideas. The example of the successful Ipod was impossible to miss. And the choice of the name, “Wii”, is to me similar as a very simple and symbolic word: Wii as for “we” in English (and “oui” means yes in French: this is a very successful name on the French market)

As a conclusion, I find this new revolutionary console (which first name was precisely “Revolution”) a very exciting product. However, after the “new” effect, I am afraid that its success decreases. When it was launched, a lot of videogames players around me told me that they were dreaming to have it. But a few months later, all they were talking about was the Xbox360, because after all, it is much more powerful… That is why the Wii really had to find new customers among videogames neophytes, because in my opinion the regular players will stay loyal to the most powerful console.

The Prada revolution: more than a customer experience

In the new Prada store, the technological side is not only there to make the customer experience in the store nice, but the other objective is to optimize the service and make every purchase more efficient and quicker too. This is explaned in an article from the Rfid Journal which incent other retailers to look at this very closely: “Learning from Prada”.
This technology is particularly adapted to Prada because it is a very expensive fashion producer, so the quantity of clothes in the store (and the quantity of items purchased by each customer) is globally lower than in a regular clothing retailer like Gap or H&M. Consequently, each item is very valued and expensive, and it is worth it to attach it an electronic tag; in a store like H&M, it would be difficult to have the same changes: this kind of store is not very tidy; there are clothes everywhere and everything is in a mess. It would be quite weird to have an expensive electronic tag for each little 5 dollar t-shirt.
Consequently, this technology is adapted to every similar “luxus” brand retailer, such as Louis Vuitton or Chanel, but not to other “cheaper ready-to-wear clothing” such as Gap.
The customer experience is really improved because the service is customized; most of the time the customer is taken care of by a specific sales associate, and each purchase behaviour is facilitated by this employee and also by the computer (which looks for assorted outfits, checks the disponibility of an item... all of this very quickly). This store is consistent with the company’s objective to gain insights because it tends to create a very personal relationship between the customer and the brand; moreover each customer’s previous purchase will be recorded for later so the knowing of each customer will be more and more accurate.
Besides, this is for the customer a really holistic experience, like entering a futurist world, with the video monitors everywhere, the fascinating dressing rooms (which turn opaque when you step in!)
To my mind this is a very interesting store because it launches a new retailing philosophy: the purpose is not only to help the customers, but also to help the employees of the store. Of course they have to learn how to use this technology, which can be difficult at the beginning, but at least they will have the feeling to do a more valuable and skilled job. Instead of carrying tons of clothes or looking for ages in the back room for a different size, they just have to rely on this new technology. So the result will be happiness for the customer and for the store associates, which is always a good thing in the retail area. After all, aside from all technology, the best retail service comes from a happy motivated employee.

The power of emotions

More and more marketing campaigns rely on emotions, and there is a scientific explanation to this trend. As it is developed in an article from “Forbes”, consumer behaviour relies on brain activities.
For instance, let’s look at the Magnum’s campaign. The Unilever brand invented a campaign based on the 7 capital sins. Each ad was focused on one sin and was very intense, showing beautiful people giving in to the temptation.The commercials could not be seen without a shiver.
As it is explained in the article, marketers try to study the activation of different regions of the brain when people are confronted to product images. The neuronal responses were the indications of which products really “touch” them. The interesting thing is that these products are not necessarily the ones that the individuals claimed to be their favourites. That’s the advantage of this method: brain cells cannot lie.
In my opinion, this kind of study is really not a waste of time, as human emotions are at the center of their life, and especially is their consuming habits. When they are looking for importants items like cars, they are motivated by fear (they don’t want an unsafe vehicle); when they are looking for entertainment items like MP3 players, they are influenced by fun and aesthetic brands like Ipod, which make them feel trendy and smart; and when they are looking for convenience items like laundry, they like humoristic commercials, even if there is no link with the product quality: they makes them laugh and think this brand is fun (and so are its consumers).
The Dove campaign is also a very striking example of the effect of emotions on brand loyalty. The “Evolution” commercial seen in class is very upsetting and leaves the spectators in a state of shock. This emotion is often followed by an admiration to the brand philosophy and consequently an attachment to the products… that are after all only moisturizing creams and other simple cosmetic products. But the idea that the people behind these products defend a respectable point of vue and mission (“No wonder our conception of beauty is distorted – Take part in the Dove Real Beauty Workshop for Girls”). The piano music of this commercial emphasizes the emotions, and is consequently a very important element. A beautiful piano song is often a good way to touch people in their deeper feelings, which the creators of this commercials have understood.
To my mind, playing on the emotions is a very efficient marketing strategy, but can also be tricky. Some marketers go really too far from their product by trying to touch people, and this seems to me sometimes a little arrogant or ridiculous. For example the Benetton visual campaigns were for me sometimes very interesting for the brand image: they showed for example 3 human hearts with labels “white”, “black”, “yellow”. These ads are coherent with the brand identity, “United colors of Benettons”, which brings a message of tolerance to different origins. But sometimes advertisers tried to excite emotions with absolutely no link with the product, like a person dying of AIDS or a man sentenced to death. I think these commercials have no objective other that shock people and can get some enemies easily by playing on these delicate matters.

Individual report assignment: «girl power» marketing.

This report will be the opportunity for me to study the specificities of marketing aimed to women:
- Which brands target woman and/or girls?
- How do they try to seduce them?
- Which are the most successful ones and of do they manage to create brand loyalty from women?
- Are there any new specific trends?
- What are the specificities of advertisting campagns and communication in general when it deals with women?
- Eventually, can we say that marketing to women/girls is close to tribal marketing, and if yes, why?

I choosed this subject because I realized that women are always associated with shopping, as if it was a hobbie which can sometimes turn into a disease (most of the “shopping fever” cases concern women). However, do marketers really know what’s in the head of a woman during a shopping trip? Furthermore, as more and more women work, their purchasing power is growing, because they have now their own money (and not only the budget given by the husband in order to provide to the family’s needs). That’s why companies have to find a way to attract them.

In an article from the Wall Street Journal Girl Power as Boy Bashing: Evaluating The Latest Twist in the War of the Sexes, the author underlines a new trend in marketing for teenage girls: some brands like David & Goliath attract girls with childish slogans on their clothes, like “Boys are stupid. Throw rocks at them!”
This is one aspect of the development of a marketing specific to girls and woman, trying to bring back to life the famous War of the Sexes. It is a way to exalt women and girls self-confidence and to assert all the feminist values. The times where women were considered as inferiors to men is not so far, and these brands have understood that; now they try to let girls think that this injusticed should be reversed, and boys should be bashed!

Of course, brands have developed very various strategies to talk to women, from L’Oreal (“Because you’re worth it”) to Givenchy (“Very you”) or Vogue ("Vogue – for the overwhelming minority”).
In several cases, they try to create a link not only between the woman and the brand, but also between women themselves. That is why the marketing campains can sometimes look like tribal marketing campaigns.

The brands are now experiencing the same deviation than feminism: as they try to compensate the unbalance between men and women, and to underline that being a woman is a real blessing, some of them end up saying than women are better. That is what happens with this “Boy bashing” trend, as a young teenage girl explains in the article: "Girls used to try to be equal to boys, now they're trying to be better”.

Build-a-Bear : a model for experiential marketing.

A picture of a Build-a-Bear shop situated in Paris, in the Galeries Lafayettes Departement Store.

The american company Build-a-Bear is in my opinion one of the most innovative in the toy area. The founders have understood the special relationship that can exist between a child (or even an adult) and a stuffed animal. In the Build-a-Bear stores, you can “construct” your own teddybear: you choose one of the 30 animals existing, then you choose a sound to be put in the animal, then you assist to all the steps of its “birth”, from the stuffing to the dressing.
Build-a-Bear’s philosophy is articulated around 4 of the Strategic Experiential Modules that are described in the article “A framework for managing customer experience”. For each of these modules, one or several Experience Providers are used.

Sense.
All the Build-a-Bear spatial environment universe is built for the senses: the stores have very bright colors, there is a happy childish music. The product is at the core of the strategy: for example, when you build your stuffed animal, you have to give him a sound. It can be an animal noise, but you can also tape your own voice. You have to touch it during the whole process. Feel.
The company creates a very strong affectional link between the customer and his “new friend”. First, when you “build” your stuffed animal, a key step is to give it a “heart”: you have to rub it in your hands and then it is put inside the animal. At the end of the process, you go online and you create a birth certificate, as if it was really alive.

Act.
Of course, the Act SEM is essential in the Build-a-Bear experience, as you are the conceiver of the product. People are an important ExPro because they are here to help the customer in the building process.

Relate.
Enventually, Build-a-Bear has created a real universe around strong values: above all is the importance of fun. People of the company call themselves “Bear-Builders”. On the internet website, you can see that a lot of events are organized: for instance, you can participate to a “online Bearism contest” or you can schedule a party at the store. New animals are created for special occasions, like Valentine’s Day. They also build partnerships with other brands: a special “Hello Kitty” stuffed animal was created.

This whole marketing strategy illustrates to trend of experiential marketing. It is the same will than in the Texas grocery store “Central market”, as it is explained in article from FastCompany: the purpose of the store is to provide people a real “trip”, so that they forget that they’re just here to purchase. At the end of the visit to the Central market, people can say: “I have taken a cook lesson and brought my child to a birthday party there” and not “I have bought food for tonight”. That is the same for Build-a-Bear: I have been to the store in Paris and created a teddybear as a present for a friend. I had the feeling to experiment something special, as if I was creating myself the present, wich makes it more personal. I didn’t have the feeling to have wasted time looking for a present, but I really had fun. In my opinion, this is a very successful marketing strategy that more retailers should follow. It is for me one of the most important preoccupations of customers: they want to escape from everyday life, and shopping can be an especially boring activity. I don’t see any lack in the marketing mix of Build-a-Bear, unless maybe the choice of the size: you can have one size for your teddybear, so you can’t customize very small or very big stuffed animals. It would be a good idea to reach all the wallets.

It was quite easy for me to describe this experiment as I already went to the store and have been through the whole process as a customer, not as an observer (and before knowing that I would talk about it in a marketing class). In the experiential marketing area, I think it is difficult to evaluate without experiencing.

The Net Generation

According to marketers, a new generation is born: the Net Generation. They can also be called “Generation Y”, “Echo Boomers” or “Millenium Generation”, as it is explained in an article from Business Week.
This is a really interesting segment for marketers, who try more and more to understand them and especially to find out their needs.

- Demographic profile: as it is said in an article of Fortune, this segment concerns the people born after 1977 (under 29). I think we can say that the minimum age to be put in this segment is around 4, the age where children begin to understand what happens and can have some preferences and tastes. Nowadays they are exposed to marketing strategies very soon, especially through the television. They belong to middle-class or wealthier classes, and they have a real consuming power.

- Psychographic profile: They are very aware of trends and fashion. Most of them have very strong opinions about what is “out” or not, and they have a high influence on their parents (if they are not independent yet). As the journalist of Fortunes underlines it, they all want to change the world. They seem very independent from their parents in matters of opinions and tastes, often rejecting what the former generation liked. They use new technologies very easily and they are extremely pragmatic, as it is said in Business Week.
I think there is a very interesting paradox which appears in these two articles: these children are very idealist (they want to change the world) and meanwhile pragmatic (they already have long-term plans). That shows that even if they are rather mature comparatively to their parents at their age, they are still children with all that it means: they are not totally disconnected from the “fairy-tale” world that they see in all children books and Walt Disney films. It think this is quite relieving because these kids who are informatic geniuses and active consumers can be sometimes a little frightening, and I think it is important for children to have a “innocent soul” as long as possible

- Behavioural profile: they do a lot of activities outside of school/work: sports, music, and of course shopping. They do not like to be said what to buy or not. That is why they are not so fond of the traditionnaly popular brands (like Nike) and they prefer more subtle ways of advertisement. I do not totally agree with that point (developped in the Fortune’s article) because I think these brands will always have a strong power over the segment. Teenagers like to identify themselves with brands and logos.

- The underlying needs of the Net Generation: they have a strong need of identity which they express a lot through shopping. They also want to be successul in life with a work that they really like and a happy family life. I think what they are looking for when they shop is a brand which has a real ethics (they are for instance very sensitive to environment problems) and also a very strong and original identity. They need to find marks because it is easy to feel insecure especially when they enter so young in the “adult world”.

In my opinion, this process of describing segments is very interesting because it requires thinking very deeply. However it is also difficult for two reasons: firstly, I feel like what I say is very subjective, based on what I personnaly saw in real life or read in the articles. Secondly, a marketing segment is by definition not entirely homogeneous.
As a conclusion, I think that this is really a psychological work and that is what I find interesting in marketing. It can be the first step before launching quantitative and qualitative studies: first trying to build hypothesis about the segment just from articles and personal thinking, and then try to confirm or infirm them thanks to figures.

Customer Insights

This blog is one of the assignments of the Customer Insights course.