Beyond advertising
Our rising expectations of brands?
I have recently had a few requests for case studies of brands going beyond advertising whether it is through customer service, loyalty programmes or extra services and the overwhelming thing which strikes me is that it is somehow still considered an additional, a bolt-on to advertising.
But surely good marketing has only ever been a dance between the expectations of consumers and the delivery of value from brands. If a brand meets our expectations, we are satisfied, if they fail we are frustrated and if they exceed we are elated. This much has always been true.
Perhaps, the confusion is that as consumers we do not necessarily have higher expectations, we are simply more vocal about them. We have always wanted the best, we have never been satisfied with mediocrity, our tastes have never changed, it is just easier for brands to hear our frustrations when they fail to keep us happy.
“I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.” — Oscar Wilde. Although he also said “quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit”, so perhaps I should avoid making my case through quotes.
Whilst I am sure there have been a thousand other blogs on the subject, the fact we are still in search of reasoning to go beyond the simple delivery of product information, leads me to believe that one more won’t hurt.
Have the expectations of customers risen?
If we go back 50 years, 100 years, take your pick, have we not always been happier with better service, and particularly with the peripheral of our purchase. More bang for your buck is a phrase so over-used it is practically meaningless. And it is, of course, advertising from PepsiCo which made these words a catchphrase.
I don’t think we have suddenly demanded more — we have and always will want the best and we will always enjoy special add-ons to our purchases. Digital platforms and social media in particular have, of course, made it easier for us to vocalise our thoughts on a brand, directly to the brand itself. It has also made it easier for us to combine information sources, brand-owned and otherwise. Yes, brands must try harder to fight through the crowd but the brands winning are not inventing magical ponies, they are just doing their job well, sometimes exceptionally well.
I think it would be fair to say that consumers more recently demand to be seen as equals, and have earned the privilege to do so by bringing brands who have acted out of sorts under scrutiny — just ask BP if they wish they had handled the oil spill in 2010 differently in retrospect, or any brand who has jumped on an inappropriate hashtag for that matter. As a result, we can’t take advantage of consumers, but then we never should have been.
It could also be said that we are asking brands to deliver more outside of our lives — we want brands to consider the environment, to help the world be a better place. But for companies, with great power, you can expect great responsibility — thank you Spiderman or rather Voltaire. So really, brands should have expected this, or delivered it without it being demanded.
And when you think about it, you could say in this scenario it is the definition of value which has changed. What we value used to be more direct to ourselves, with greater understanding and awareness of wider issues, value has grown to mean more to us now. We value the world outside our own bubbles more and therefore we request brands do too. Again, I am not convinced this counts as a rise in expectation.
How does this differ from marketing?
Even if we must work harder to earn the attention of our consumers, or even to make a greater impact on the wider world, must we insist on suggesting this is an additional to marketing?
If you want me to purchase your product, I expect you to give me enough reason to do so. This includes excellent customer service, the context as to why/how I should use it and enough training or peripheral materials for me to make the most out of your product. This is not added-value, just value.
And this provision of ‘value’ is not a flavour of marketing, it is the very essence of it. We cannot excuse ourselves from exceptional customer service or any part of our brand experience by suggesting it sits slightly ajar to our remit. It is our remit, it is the only thing we must do. We are fooling ourselves if we think this is above the expectation of consumer — this is their expectation and it always has been.
