This article on Marketing as Service by Kevin Zimmerman appeared in 1:1 Magazine earlier this week:
The concept of marketing with a heavy focus on service over selling may seem counterintuitive, but a growing number of companies are doing just that. Viewed as an evolution of “distraction marketing,” some marketers are looking to offer customers and prospects something of value that goes beyond the product they’re pitching.
A well-know example is Nike Plus, a joint program by Apple and Nike that gives users running tools while keeping both brands top-of-mind. Motorola in Hong Kong lets customers upload photos of themselves for their traveling family members to see in the airport waiting area. And Nivea has developed a multitiered program designed to help women eliminate cellulite.
These companies’ programs are all designed to give customers a warm feeling about the brand—with the hope that those customers’ favorable feelings will translate into sales down the line.
“It goes hand-in-hand with the emerging trend of social responsibility,” says Alan Siegel, chairman and CEO at strategic branding company Siegel + Gale. “Anything that provides value to people is brand-building and relationship-building.”
Not to mention a differentiator. “We are seeing more and more companies trying to differentiate their brands based on value-added service offerings,” says Drew Neisser, CEO of Renegade, which preaches “marketing as service.” “The idea behind ‘marketing as service’ is that marketers actually transform their messaging into a genuine customer service,” Neisser adds. “To demonstrate its commitment to customer service, HSBC has the BankCab in New York City, which provides free rides to HSBC customers. That generates tremendous customer loyalty and positive word of mouth. While it’s primarily designed to retain current customers, it has been used for acquisition and even employee morale building.”
In Nivea we trust
Nicolas Maurer, vice president of marketing for Nivea’s parent Beiersdorf, says that when the company launched its “Goodbye Cellulite” (GBC) program, it focused on the fact that the issue “is all about credibility and trust. We wanted to market our brand more as something that could play a role in the consumer’s life than selling a cure for a problem.”
To complement the 2007 launch of its GBC gel and patch, this year Nivea launched a 30-Day Beauty Program, which includes dietary tips. “It’s all about taking a more holistic approach,” Maurer says. “We’re careful not to overpromise—to say we’ve found a miracle solution—but instead we point out that you need to do a couple of things yourself to be really successful, and include tips on fitness, nutrition, and skin care.”
That holistic approach actually began three years ago with Nivea’s “Touch and Be Touched” overall brand message, “which was not just about selling moisturizer to consumers,” Maurer says, “but about helping them understand that with the right skin care they can improve a lot of elements in their lives, including sensuality.”
Nivea went with a multiplatform approach to promote GBC, beyond simple print and TV advertising. Key to the rollout was a partnering with TV talk show host Tyra Banks, who helped get her audience involved, which in turn led to People magazine coverage about a group of women’s fight against cellulite.
The company also has partnered with New York Sports Clubs to provide special cobranded workout classes to help women eliminate cellulite. The program is currently offered in New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Philadelphia, with more markets likely to be added later this year.
“The backbone was online,” Maurer says. “Our website was interactive with experts to advise/coach over the four weeks of the active push, and we have reached over 100,000 women.” Maurer says Beiersdorf in general and Nivea in particular firmly believe that it all comes down to consumer perception. “The evolving way that consumers perceive brands means we need to educate and challenge them.
There’s of course the central message that a certain product can give them a certain benefit, but we want to go beyond that—away from what’s simply functional to a more organic integration in the consumer’s life. If you do that often and consistently enough, the consumers are less likely to view [your product] skeptically, and can more fully understand the role you play in their lifestyle.”
There’s also a bottom-line impact, adds Renegade’s Neisser. “The extreme customer satisfaction generated by [using marketing-as-service] programs is money in the bank,” he says. “It helps with repeat purchase, customer retention, and positive word of mouth, and that drives new customer acquisition.”