Book review: BEYOND ADVERTISING
Creating value through all customer touchpoints
Genres:
- Marketing,
- UX design,
- Customer Relations.
Review posted on:
21.10.2017
The number of pages:
288 pages
Book rating:
3/5
Year the book was published:
First edition published 2016
Who should read this book:
- Marketers, Start-up founders, Sales Managers, UX designers.
Why did I pick up this book and what did I expect to get out of it:
Have you ever asked yourself how companies track what, where, how much, and why you buy? Or are you in a position where you have to get that information about your customers? And then what do you do with that information? I found this book interesting after reading the back cover and table of content as I expect to get the answers to the questions previously mentioned.
My thoughts about the book:
In Beyond Advertising you will get to read a lot about how marketing should work, and how marketers should think. The book offers an optimistic view of the possibilities that companies and brands can offer us in a time when we are always connected and on the move. The main problem that the book points out is that marketing today is focused on pushing the brand’s products/services to everyone, even if they do not need it. That is a big problem for all parties. The consumers are overloaded with useless information, and brands that are relevant do not get their message across to the people who need to hear/see them. From this perspective, I enjoyed reading Beyond Advertising, as the authors predict interesting and sometimes very intrusive actions to get the right kind of information to the target audience. I also agree with the authors when they talk about mental models brands/companies need to develop to create the best possible experience for their customers. On the other hand, the book is based on predictions and ideas about how something should be done and not that much on scientific research. I’m missing at least a little bit of “confirmation” that what the authors are saying “holds water”. In today’s times when too many businesses and brands focus on their own business processes and how to optimize them for maximum profit possibly without taking into account how they affect the customers’ experience. If marketing develops in the way the authors recommend and predict we will have interesting experiences, but then again you should ask yourself if you are willing to pay the cost of having exactly the “right kind of information” at the “right time” popping up on your email, social media, phones, tv, even car, etc…?
My notes from the book:
- Hearing what the customer is saying will be more important than trying to devise a break-through creative idea. Answering customer questions, and filling their needs. Right now, not tomorrow.
- Mental models are deeply held internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting. Very often, we are not aware of our mental models or the effect they have on our behavior. Put another way, mental models are ways in which we explain, simplify, and make predictions about the world to ourselves.
- If we lived in a static environment, our mental model would serve us well. however, in an environment under transformation, current mental models may prevent us from seeing and responding to change.
- The traditional mental models of advertising have reached a tipping point. The world has outgrown them technologically and socially. To hold on to them is to hold ourselves back.
- To challenge mental models, we must self-reflect and aspire. We have to forget “givens” and think of possibilities.
- People today want to own the brand and use it as an authentic expression of their identity. Authenticity doesn’t mean perfection.
- It’s what we do over time that matters, not what we say we are going to do – especially under pressure and duress – that builds trust.
- Ask yourself and your customers how your brand makes them smile, inspires them, helps them cope, energizes them, and helps them get more done more easily.
- Short-term strategies focused on “rational” approaches (bargains) are not memorable and do not appeal to the emotional response of the individual. Emotions affect the prices people are willing to pay as much as they affect the volume that gets sold.
- The great brands today understand what people are interested in and work back from there.
- Creating brands built around a coherent stream of small ideas makes them stickier. Brands today need to do lots of things, not one big thing.
- Brands should leverage trending topics, and cultural triggers, and plan for scenarios. Create content calendars around topics and insights relevant to the target.
- Advertisers must target conversations, not individuals. Conversations have become the pathways by which people encounter advertising.
- The practical challenge is that in many, if not most firms, people who create ads do not communicate with the team that designs the product package, loyalty programs are designed and managed by a team with no connection to the branding experts responsible for public events, and social media messages are created without input from salespeople who interact with customers. Siloed organizations like these will not survive the new era.
- The diversity of touchpoints drives word of mouth. The research (Keller Fay group’s talk track) shows that consumers discuss non-media touch points such as product packaging, product samples, physical objects, salespeople, coupons, customer service, and more.
- People want the following things from advertisers: customization, community, convenience, competitive value, and tools for choice.
- Brands and agencies must look at each message as a potential point of purchase and make it as easy as possible for consumers to pay (implement payment mechanisms everywhere).
- Instead of asking “What do we want to say with this content?” brands should begin by asking “Why would someone choose to consume this content?” The keyword is Content” and not AD.
- Marketers need to look at the spaces where their target audiences live, how they operate, what problems plague them, what they value, and why.
- A rich genuine story will not only explain a brand’s identity, but it will also relate to the consumers’ own stories and uncover opportunities where the two connect. In other words, show what you can do for them on both an emotional and rational level.
- Storytelling is the most direct and lasting method to connect with consumers – after all, it is the most fundamental way that we communicate as a species. Stories are the way we process and share information – they create meaning, establish relevance, and evoke an emotional response. Stories are the way we make sense of the world around us, the way we understand how and why things work. Sharing stories is how we connect, discover commonalities and differences, and figure out ways to work together.
- People may see “manipulation” as acceptable or as a violation of their privacy based entirely on how respected they feel and the level of trust that has been earned.
- You have to recognize that consumers will help you build your brand, but if you try misguiding them, they can also kill your brand.
- We need to fully embrace the concept of making things people want rather than making people want things.
- Share ideas with consumers, ask for their opinions, and allow them to contribute to the development, testing and production of new products.
