| The Hauser/Burns Report As the world of advertising changes, questions existing organizational frameworks and embraces Web 2.0, we are moving toward strategies based on meaningful and relevant brand experiences designed to viscerally connect with customers. Erik has coined the phrase "Acquisition Through Experience". Designing a holistic, experiential purchasing influencer is key to marketing success in the current climate. Neal, on the other hand (being wiser and yes, a bit older) continues to believe in the importance of brand, telling stories and utilizing the interactive character of Web 2.0. The Hauser/Burns Report addresses all forms of advertising, marketing, selling - experiential in particular, and dissects issues currently facing those of us who are passionate about the field. We are keeping our eyes and thoughts firmly focused on the future so we can help anticipate the winds of change and bring them to your attention for discussion. We encourage your comments and look forward to hearing from you often! Don¹t make us ask twice. Erik Hauser and Neal Burns
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Monday, 16 January 2012 |
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CVS Strategically Strikes A Blow On Walgreen’s Chin
Earlier last week I reported that Walgreen’s defied every single one of their “supposed” brand attributes and essentially told 47% of their customers to go elsewhere. Well, CVS took an immediate, strategical advantage of the horrendous move by Walgreen’s. CVS immediately began to put a banner on the bottom of their TV spots informing the public that they indeed take Express Scripts along with 5,000 companies. Advantage to CVS I’m not exactly what kind of game of chicken that Walgreen’s was in with Express Scripts, but I do know that If I was a stock trader that I’d be urging my clients to short Walgreen’s coming into the close of the 1st fiscal quarter. Now the question is, “When Will Walgreen’s re-align their “brand” with the stark contrast of the reality? And, furthermore, how will they stop this bleeding? |
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Wednesday, 11 January 2012 |
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Walgreen’s Says F$%^ You To 47% Of Their Customers - What a Holiday Greeting! Happy New Year! While most people are situating their unwrapped gifts in the perfect spot where they’d like to have them - Walgreen’s has a VERY different way to ring in the New Year for 47% of their customer base. If you’re guessing that they gave us all gifts - you’d be wrong. Walgreen’s has decided to get into a game of chicken with one of the world’s largest prescription companies. The result? An enormous mass of customers walking into their local “we care so much about you” Walgreen’s. Only to be greeted with the nonsensical statement that they no longer honor express scripts under the umbrella of any insurance company. Did I mention that currently represents 47% of their customers? Here are a couple of questions to ponder. 1. When will Walgreen’s realize that they have the weaker hand and fold so that they actually deliver on their promise of putting the customer first? 2. What will CVS do to make a strategic strike to attain Walgreen’s high CLV customers? Well, again, I’m wishing you a Happy New Year - don’t you think that Walgreen’s should do the same? Moving On.........
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Friday, 06 January 2012 |
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Heeeeeelllllllllooooooooooooo from the Center of the EMF Universe, Here is some great news to get everyone excited for the new year http://goo.gl/Fia8K Lots of great reports begin to make their way out - don't fret - you'll see them as soon as I find them. Erik Hauser
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Friday, 16 December 2011 |
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http://goo.gl/9f5Ic Erik |
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Friday, 11 November 2011 |
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Untitled Document Marketing and Advertising |
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Monday, 17 October 2011 |
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Aisle #6 Erik Hauser It feels great to take a seat at a keyboard that I just haven’t been able to pull my chair up to in order to type the written word. Inspiration sometimes strikes in the oddest ways and in the oddest places – this time it was in the grocery store – Aisle #6 to be more exact! We make our way through our days and try to make sure that we keep the happiness meter pinned all the way on happy. It’s just that life has a way of throwing curveballs sometimes and so we must adjust, refocus and head back into the game. While out the other day, I was running low on my essential vitamin supply. So I asked my Dad if he wouldn’t mind stopping by the grocery store to see if they had any good deal on the vitamins and various supplements that I take. I certainly wasn’t planning on having Aisle #6 turn into a classroom of sorts for a student (my dad) who actually seemed to be intrigued into the insights into the science of retail and the paramount importance of design. Great design affects us at many levels, but brilliant, simple design affects us at the subconscious level mostly – at least in my case. However, there was an opportunity for me to bring the importance of design into the conscious arena. It turns out that Kroger (local supermarket) is doing a major re-brand for all of their vitamins. The old design was on the shelf directly next to the new design. It was almost a surreal experience to pick up the same product in different hands with the different designs and be able to be conscious to how the design was affecting my purchasing behavior. Whereas, the old design was something that you would expect from a store brand/generic – the new design was simple, clean, crisp and the usage of colors was magnificent. So much so, that I can say with 100% honesty that the design had everything to do with my purchase intent and then with my actual purchase. And, I know that nothing had materially changed except the design, but it also played into a much bigger narrative arc in which the Kroger has been revamping the entire store so I’ve been changing my view on the grocery store for a fairly long period. I’ve felt that it’s great to invest in the shopper, and their shopping experience All to often, experiential marketers and even your traditionalists overlook the true power of design. It’s so important because it’s what is directly affecting the visual input channels in our brain. So, fast forward 10 minutes into my little diatribe that I was having with my dad, and the simple point is that once again we put into focus how each and every part of the sensory experience is as important as the next. Even though we know that certain sensory experiences have a greater alignment with recall – we still can’t leave out the other points on the consumer sensory map. As we move into the days of consumer journeys and shopper marketing – these sensory touch points become extremely pivotal because they serve as the VITAL on and off-ramps in the most critical thing that we as marketers deal with – the pathway to purchase! And, this marketer was stopped in his tracks over something visual, and it could have been something that dealt with another sense, but this time it was visual. The pathway to purchase is a fluid thing, and we must always be consumer-centric with our thinking so that we insure that we provide more on-ramps than off-ramps in the daily consumer journeys. |
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Friday, 14 October 2011 |
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Untitled Document Marketing and Advertising |
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Sunday, 02 October 2011 |
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Guest Blog By: How many times have you heard it? We need to use experiential, we need to engage with our customers like never before, foster relationships and build our brand. But whilst these are good ideas in principle, jumping headlong into an experiential marketing campaign is foolhardy. Such ideas offer significant potential, but turning this potential into quantifiable results requires an integrated approach to your marketing. 1. Integration should be your first thoughtIf you want to achieve success it is vital that you set clearly defined goals for you campaign as early as possible. These goals should not only be “create purchasing behaviour” but should look at the ways you are going to link your experiential campaign with other marketing channels such as your website, your advertising, social media domains and direct marketing literature. 2. You need to be consistent Your experiential marketing campaign needs to align with your other marketing and brand positioning. For instance; there is little worth in pushing a fun and exciting marketing message experientially only to drive potential customers to a website which does not live up to the hype. Equally, brand consistency must be created meaning that colours, images and fonts should be uniform across marketing channels. This constancy adds to the impact of your marketing message, enhancing reach and familiarity with the brand. 3. Planning should be at the heart of your activities. As alluded to during the introduction there is little point in jumping headfirst into your campaign, you must plan every aspect in detail. Understanding not only how the campaign will be implemented but also setting the parameters for success is important, as is ensuring that you have the internal resources in place to manage data. By planning the complete journey you can mark out logical objectives throughout the campaign.
Experiential marketing can be deemed as a live, engaging advert akin to an advertisement being performed in a theatre rather than on television. It requires a different approach which sets out to engage with the right members of the public at the right time. It is important not to get carried away with these differences however, and remember that a coherent marketing message across all channels is the key to success. iD Experiential - the Experiential Marketing Specialists |
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Friday, 30 September 2011 |
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Untitled Document Marketing and Advertising |
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Friday, 23 September 2011 |
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Untitled Document Marketing and Advertising |
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