Tag: PRSA

Dance with Your Customers

Posted on by Drew Neisser

As you may remember, I gave a webinar a month ago for the PRSA called “What Recession? 9 Ways to Cut Through Regardless of the Economy.” It was a bit strange presenting to over 200 people I couldn’t see but the audience seem to enjoy it (or so I’ve been told.) Anyhow, in that speech I talked about the idea of “dancing with your customers” as an aspirational goal for customer engagement:

The notion of having a conversation with your customers has almost become a cliché in our industry. Conversations are nice but why not strive for something more intimate, more emotional, more dynamic—something that gets you truly in-sync with your customers needs and desires. Use all your charm and style and dance with your customers both physically and virtually. Physical “dances” can take place on your premises or at events ranging from street encounters to massive exhibitions. Virtual dances also come in a variety of shapes and sizes from websites to widgets, virtual worlds to social networks.

Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade goods, has about 800,000 registered users that it supports with forums, blogs and a ratings system. All this was good and has helped them build tremendous loyalty among the crafters and artisans that support their marketplace. But the real dance began when Etsy started supporting the social networks outside of the company’s domain created by Etsy fans. One such site, We Love Etsy has 2800 members with their own profile pages enabling a deeper kind of interaction. 50+ other Etsy related sites exist and Etsy recently started a trademark-permission program to avoid misuse of their brand. Etsy has found a way to dance with its fans transforming the relationship from customer to brand advocate.

Having re-read that speech recently, it occurred to me that Etsy’s support of its user base is also a terrific example of marketing as service. Rather than spend marketing dollars on chest-beating messaging, Etsy has used its marketing efforts to deliver real value to its customers via social networking, increasing loyalty and revenue while they’re at it. Its enough to make me dance.

Vacation Observations

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Spent a week on a beach doing my best not to think about the office. Freed from the daily grind, I still found myself seeking examples of Marketing as Service. Ironically, great examples are few and far between, so here’s a motley collection reflecting various stops on my trip:

  • Detachable Wine Labels–maybe this is a personal problem but I simply can’t remember one wine from the next even if it is a sensational vintage. It’s almost embarrassing. So I was delighted to learn about a detachable wine label design from Ben Terrett’s blog (via Noah). If you suffer regularly from CRS (Can’t Remember Sh_t) like moi, this elegant design solution is a genuine service indeed.
  • United Technologies print ads–Providing educational information in print ads is such a fundamental form of Marketing as Service it is simply remarkable how rarely advertisers choose to go this route. United Technologies “curious” print campaign which dissect everything from space suits to hybrid electric buses, cruise ships to helicopters, is a sterling example of ads that enlighten, educate and entertain. If you haven’t noticed the ads, check out the supporting microsite (utc.com/curious) to see what I’m talking about. Taking a page out of the How Things Work book series, these highly detailed ads aren’t for the incurious AND speak volumes to the breadth and depth of UTC’s product/service offerings.
  • PRSA Webinar–Shortly before I skipped town, the PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) offered its members a webinar by yours truly called “What Recession? Nine Ways to Cut Through Regardless of the Economy.” An article about this 45 minute one-way chat is now posted on the PRSA website. This webinar is another basic example of Marketing as Service, both for the PRSA which hopes that such services will help them retain members AND for Renegade which hopes that one or more of the 200+ attendees will turn to Renegade when they need an engaging interactive brand experience.
  • College Tour Guides–Before I got to the beach, I stopped at three colleges with my daughter, the junior. I won’t mention the schools but I will tell you that a well-orchestrated college tour (by the admissions office) makes all the difference. I know this is not a new idea. But it is an example of Marketing as Service. The better the tour, the more engaging the tour guide, the more favorable the response by the prospective student (and check-writing parents). Some schools are more careful than others about the quality of the guides AND this is painfully obvious. Anyone who has ever hired a brand ambassador knows that the good ones well-trained are worth their weight in gold.

As I noted at the beginning, with one drinkable exception, these are fairly basic examples of Marketing as Service. But hey, if everyone was doing this all the time, I’d probably need a new thesis to pursue.