sticking the feather - connecting customers in a connected world - scot mckee
DESCRIPTION
Presentation given by Scot McKee, Managing Director, Birddog, at the DSM Dyneema Connect the Dots Conference, Netherlands, 2012.McKee explains how B2B organizations require a deep understanding of digital audience behaviour to improve online relationships and engage within customer communities. A video of the full presentation is available at: http://www.birddog.co.ukMcKee’s books on the subject of Creative B2B Branding and Business Marketing are available from Amazon - http://is.gd/mckeebooksTRANSCRIPT
Sticking the
Feather Connecting Customers in a Connected World Scot McKee, Managing Director, Birddog April. 2012
Connect More Dots Conference, Holland 2012
Presentation for:
Introduction
At the heart of every good story… At the heart of every good brand… …is the customer
Telling the right story
Language barriers Visual disparities Cultural differences
Stories are complicated
English words look like this
Stories are complicated
The world’s strongest �fiber�
French words look like this
Stories are complicated
Le fibre �plus fort �du monde �
American business people look like this
Stories are complicated
German business people look like this
Stories are complicated
The Connected Customer – and a feather up the ass Stories are complicated
Even the way we tell the same story is different
In England to congratulate someone, we say:
Stories are complicated
“Put a feather in your cap”
Stories are complicated
In Holland to congratulate someone, you say:
Stories are complicated
“Stick a feather up your ass” Same story, different customer ‘experience
Stories are complicated
The wider the brand is distributed The harder brand clarity & consistency becomes
Stories are complicated
Luckily, help is at hand: Brand Audience Channels
Key storytelling assets
‘A brand is a perception or collection of perceptions in the mind(s) of an audience(s)’
Use your brand
Your brand is how your audience ‘feels’ about your business/product/service
Use your brand
Brand Values are more than just motivational posters
Use your brand
Brand Values are ‘behavioural’ – implicit in your actions
Use your brand
Brand Values What you ‘do’ has more impact with customers
Use your brand
The hole looks the same if you just keep digging Remember to look up
Know your audience
B2B brands no longer have a single customer Customers (plural) stretch across value chains
Know your audience
The differences are unique to them But the commonality is unique to you
Know your audience
Actually, the highest common value is you
Know your audience
Your brand is what connects your audience(s)
Know your audience
The challenge is to ensure they’re talking to you Not just about you
Know your audience
Every engagement reinforces the brand across connected networks and communities
Know your audience
Think deeper and wider Look for the ‘share’ opportunities
Know your audience
You no longer just sell a product to a buyer You engage connected communities
Know your audience
Your brand: Creates conversation Facilitates discussion Enables connections Extends networks Leads opinion …connects more dots
Know your audience
And that’s before you start your day job
Know your audience
There are the customers you ‘know’
Know your audience
There are the customers you ‘know about’
Know your audience
And then… …there are ‘the crazies’
Know your audience
They know all about you, because they’re crazy
Know your audience
Here’s a typical (and familiar…) example The ‘Turnerminator’
Know your audience
We know quite a lot about the Turnerminator
Know your audience
Mainly, we know he likes hammocks
Know your audience
You can tell he’s crazy because he has a knife
Know your audience
And he goes to places like this… for fun
Know your audience
This is where he sleeps (yes, in a hammock)
Know your audience
This is where he cooks and the crap he eats
Know your audience
These are his crazy friends
Know your audience
And do you know what he loves? What he really, really *loves*…?
Know your audience
What he loves more than his knife…?
Know your audience
What he loves more than screwing holes in ice?
Know your audience
And possibly even more than scaring children?
Know your audience
He loves Dyneema®
Know your audience
He loved the lightweight strength of Dyneema® So he carried a roll on his trip…
Know your audience
And turned it into a sled to haul his pack
Know your audience
I know all this… Because he told the world, online The important questions are: Were you listening? And can you connect the dots?
Know your audience
And what about ‘DarthDude’ in Malaysia?
Know your audience
Mad as a box of frogs
Know your audience
Here’s the big moment…
Know your audience
Yay! Lift-off… or splashdown. (Whatevs.)
Know your audience
What does DarthDude attribute his success to?
Know your audience
To Dyneema®
Know your audience
Even virtual crazies use virtual Dyneema®
Know your audience
Underwater crazies use Dyneema® to ‘fly’
Know your audience
Tree cutting crazies discuss Dyneema® with all their treetop friends
Know your audience
Your customers are no longer just ‘businesses’
Know your audience
They are communities that *love* your product
Know your audience
But they need your *brand* to connect the dots
Know your audience
In the past, we used advertising to connect, but customers no longer want to be ‘told’
Changing channels
Traditional advertising isn’t working
Changing channels
In 2005, ad revenues fell off a cliff It’s also when social media exploded
Changing channels
A decade later, revenues are sill in decline Traditional comms have regressed 60yrs
Changing channels
The only increased circulation - Wall St. Journal
Changing channels
Because it connected with customers… online
Changing channels
So the audience has moved online To connect, brands need to move with them
Changing channels
By connecting within customer communities
Changing channels
But organisations are scared of Social Media…
Changing channels
So by playing safe, the emotional connection between brand and customer is lost
Changing channels
And yet the main opportunity of social media is emotional connection
Changing channels
Remember that emotions come from people, not places or brands And people in social places, connect like this…
Changing channels
This is Prycie
Changing channels
Prycie wanted to know my ‘fav animal’
Changing channels
The giraffe had been taken
Changing channels
But the Pushmepullyou hadn’t…
Changing channels
So Prycie sent me a left-handed drawing
Changing channels
She explained why she was practicing drawing
Changing channels
And shared the early ‘limited editions’…
Changing channels
I liked my picture so much, I blogged about it
Changing channels
And sent my blog to Prycie
Changing channels
She was pleased, and told her whole network
Changing channels
Prycie was really quite… emotional
Changing channels
So she told all her Facebook friends too
Changing channels
I don’t know Prycie We’ve never met The conversation wasn’t ‘work’ But connecting your brand to customers isn’t always ‘work’
Changing channels
I know this, because I know what happened in the 1 minute 30 secs after my blog post…
Changing channels
28 hits in 30 seconds…
Changing channels
47 hits in 45 seconds…
119 hits in 90 seconds
Changing channels
I know where they came from…
Changing channels
… what they looked like, and what they said
Changing channels
That was the first 1 mins. 30 secs. But it didn’t stop there
Changing channels
A connected network keeps connecting
Changing channels
It may appear unconnected, but all roads lead to the brand And revenue
Changing channels
I have Prycie, you have the crazies… It’s probably fair
Changing channels
Put the customer at the heart of your story Stories are complicated so simplify them Use your brand values to guide you Know your (connected) audience
To end at the beginning
Think deeper and wider about communities Listen, learn, connect Emotions come from people Connecting emotion to brands creates revenue
To end at the beginning
Thank you (and be social…)
Scot McKee
http://www.birddog.co.uk http://www.slideshare.net/birddogb2b http://www.youtube.com/user/BirddogB2B https://twitter.com/#!/BirddogB2B https://twitter.com/#!/scotmckee http://is.gd/mckeebooks Photo Credit: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
Further Resources
© 2012 Birddog Ltd. 58 Parker Street, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5PZ / +44 (0)20 7323 6666 / www.birddog.co.uk / [email protected]
Change Happens
Scot McKee, Managing Director @scotmckee