Paid for complaint tweets tests British Airway's 'Fly to Serve' creative campaign

A couple of months an angry British Airways customer displayed the type of creative thinking that was so far outside the box most advertisers would be chuffed had they thought of it themselves. Taking aa dispute over poor customer service from BA following a lost bag Mt Syed decided to take out a paid for promoted ad targeting searches of the airline. The Brand Avenger wonders if Hasan Syed is just one of the growing breed dis-gruntled consumers who will fight back against injustice at any costs?

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1224122/trend-day-co-creation-rise-hyper-disgruntled-consumer

We have all shared Mr Syed's experiences. The Brand Avenger can't remember how many times I have lost sleep over the careless actions of an airline or a apparent lack of any type of customer service. The remarkable thing about this case is the lengths Mr Syed went to to ensure BA paid for their poor handling of a stressful situation. BA may have spent millions of pounds to alter the perception of consumers that elevate their branding around a strong customer service strategy. By spending £700 Mr Hasan certainly damaged BA's positioning and left senior team members so flustered they were using BA's own social media to apologise and clarify they had resolved the situation.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/sep/03/businessman-promoted-tweet-british-airways

Access to a brand is key in todays age and unquestionably the balance of power is changing. Customers like Mr Syed are switched on and savvy. They know exactly how to make a brand pay for any perceived gaps in customer service and can damage a brands reputation with a drop of a hat. It didn't take Hasan Syed millions of pounds or months of strategic planning to generate enough publicity to communicate his intended message. David stood up to the Goliath of BA and they were left dazed and bruised by this confrontation.

As more and more of the public wake up to the fact that they have power and a voice we will begin to move to a world where brands will need to advance their messaging and media delivery.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/09/04/british-airways-angry-flier-promoted-tweets/

Mr Syed had the last laugh and the final say when it came to his public challenging of BA, and as he so vehemently boasts on his twitter in this instance he holds the victory. The real test for BA now will be how they adjust their strategy to ensure this type of glitch never happens again. The worst case scenario would be a influx of disgruntled customers using similarly creative measures to bring them to task. The only way they can truly address is to embrace the message they have spent so much money on over the last year. Wholly embracing a fly to serve ethos and promoting this through all marketing touch points should prevent against getting on the Tweeters nerves allowing BA to truly serve the needs of their customer.

Established Banks should be ashamed of their current Social Media efforts

Does it surprise anyone that banks like HSBC have recently come out with some very public criticism of their own social media efforts?

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1213004/banks-social-media-approach-years-behind-admits-hsbc

You might struggle to believe that any brand in this day in age struggles to fully appreciate the importance of a one to one interaction with customers however it is clear the banks have yet to fully grasp the importance of this concept. And why should a customer service organization in the face of stiff competition from many competitors have any desire to listen to their customers? Crazy right?.

There are many excuses that the banks can, and have used to justify why brand engagement through direct channels just does not exist. Some of the more interesting examples can be found via the link below.

http://www.euromoney.com/Article/3226573/Banks-give-social-media-the-cold-shoulder.html

Regardless of fears and concerns the banks may have in relation to data regulations these concerns simply don’t cut the mustard. There should be no excuse for failing to keep customers happy and eradicating your brand of potential large scale issues by having an open communication strategy with them via your social media sites. How many times have we seen an online customer complaint quickly turn into a viral, PR disaster for brands? The real takeaway fact in the above article is that 2.8 billion use the internet and half of them are signed up to at least one social media site. Ignore this growth area if you will but do so at your own peril.

This isn’t to say that all banks have not fully appreciated the importance of social media. What a refreshing change to see India leading the way in innovation by fully realizing the potential of the Twitter’s and Facebook’s of the world while other companies in the more established, banking markets across the World continue to follow.

http://www.exchange4media.com/52884_banks-cash-in-on-social-media-in-a-big-way.html

Whether it be through gamification or through such incentives like offering access to bank accounts on social media sites the examples included in the above link clearly demonstrate a desire to communicate to customers in new and exciting ways. This is exactly what your direct communication channels to your consumers should be used for. Not only can it allow you to differentiate your product or service against competitors but it can also allow you build an emotional engagement with your loyal following. And in this day in age there aren’t aint no saver long term investment than that!

Be More Dog and Be More Rewarded

It’s very rare to find a brand so far ahead in consumer perception scores and satisfaction surveys than O2. If you are not aware of how much success the mobile phone provider has with winning long term brand equity with their consumers take a look at their brand perception scores from last year.

http://www.brandindex.com/article/o2-breathing-success

How does O2 ensure such a consistent and strong brand advocacy scoring? Well quite simply they reward their customers and give them incentive for staying loyal to the brand. O2 operates a customer centric strategy and has created a world where loyal, committed customers are treated with the best deals before others. In this model rewarding your longest serving customers with exclusive offers comes first before acquiring competitor customers.

Customer centricity is not a new concept however very few companies have truly grasped the concept and even fewer have chosen to embrace it. Think of the numerous companies The Brand Avenger have featured over the last 6 months and decide for yourself how many of these tragic brand stories have truly grasped the concept of putting the customer at the heart of your decision making.

Putting the customer at the heart of all major decisions has transformed a business, which experienced a traumatic and desperate re-launch following the transformation from BT Cellnet in 2002. Incredibly Accenture have predicted O2’s customer first approach has led to ROI of 80:1 for its marketing communications.  Whether it be through the priority event access given to O2 customers through the rewards scheme or the roll out of iPhone 4 for customers on long term contracts before new customers O2 appear to be practicing what they preach.

https://www.marketingsociety.co.uk/the-library/2012-o2-long-term-marketing-excellence-case-study

O2’s most recent campaign has been met with critical acclaim from many of the advertising industries harshest critics. ‘Be More Dog’ has been praised for doing something different in an industry littered with repetitive messages and copycat advertising regurgitated across multiple media platforms.

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1208758/adwatch-o2s-be-dog-will-long-running-success

In many ways ‘Be More Dog’ could serve as a perfect eulogy for O2’s loyalty based strategy. In a world where many mobile phone operators are happy to treat customers as just another financial transaction O2 have taken a stand and have chosen to offer something extra. O2 are rewarding the very people who have taken the decision to spend their hard earned money on O2 products. Under this context perhaps we could all do with embracing the advertising slogan. So the question is how many of us are going to embrace O2’s strategy and  ‘Be More Dog?’

Should Wonga be worried about its brand reputation following an attack by the Church?

A brand that comes under attack by the Archbishop is a brand that is worthy of focus in our latest spotlight. Wonga as a payday loans company is always going to leave itself open to scrutiny. However, the latest critic could very well be one of the most difficult for Wonga’s marketing team to manage as they look to protect brand reputation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23433955

The Archbishop of Canterbury Welby is adamant that he sees Wonga as competition to the proposed plans for the Church to become a credit lender and is crystal clear in his strategy. The signal of intent is interesting as it not only highlights a very public attack by an influential member of an religious entity towards a brand but it also highlights a strategic repositioning of the Church to move into the world of investment.  

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/07/justin-welby-pleases-both-left-and-right-with-clever-wonga-comments/

Long term Welby is gearing himself up for a fight with payday loan companies who can make a mark up of up to 5000%. Welby certainly won’t have any issues with leveraging overall positive perception or trust that a religious organisation should bring with it. In a dirty, seedy market such as short term loans an entity like the Church should be a breath of fresh air which competitors if leveraged properly will find hard to compete with.

By helping Credit Unions by offering them the use of Church facilities and local community networks in essence Welby is trying to create a competitive advantage through word of mouth and social marketing techniques. This type of influential marketing would not be out of place on a social media site such as Twitter or Facebook however in this instance Welby is going old school and bringing the battle to the streets. But is the tactic a viable strategy for the Church and for Credit Unions in general?

http://www.channel4.com/news/can-credit-unions-really-wallop-wonga

Reports have suggested Credit Union membership would have to increase six fold for them to begin to turn a slight profit; here’s where the Church comes in. It is clear as a businessman with a finance backing Welby understands the plights of some of the small brands that make up the credit union business. He will also understand that the Church as an entity has the power and infrastructure available to support these unions, essentially giving them an ethical stamp of approval. We really shouldn’t underestimate the power that the perception of the Church can have in this instance. Regardless of whether customers are religious or not the Church carries with it positive connotations, that should lead itself to positive perceptions in the minds of consumers. To add real weight to this movement the smartest thing these credit unions could do would be associate themselves as close as possible to the Church. The Church could even look to establish the credit union movement under a brand which could really begin to challenge some of the established short term lenders. Not only could this benefit credit unions but it could also improve the reputation and visibility of an institution which continues to lose influence with the congregation.

But this type of argument is pure fantasy until Welby fully unveils how the credit unions and Churches can work together. As no real branding of the Church currently exists let’s refocus our attention back to Wonga. Although Welby maybe the most recognisable recent critic, Wonga has certainly suffered some other hits to its brand reputation recently.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/25/papiss-cisse-newcastle-wonga-row

Football player Papiss Cisse has since reneged on his ambition to not wear Wonga branded sports apparel due to religious beliefs however the original reluctance to advertise the payday loan company brought with it negative PR for Wonga. Add this on top of the Archbishop’s revelations and it would appear that Wonga can’t do much right at the moment. All this would suggest that retaliation in some form was going to come and in this instance Wonga has gone straight after the Church in an effort to address ethical issues surrounding the brand.

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/wonga-bashes-archbishop-with-ten-commitments-ad/4007474.article

Wonga will look to hit multiple media channels in an effort to rebuke some of the negative perception surrounding the brand and the Brand Avenger wonders how successful they will be in riding the storm and coming through to the other end.

This case also highlights a strong argument over ethics. Wonga has many critics from all areas that are quick to point out what they deem as unethical practice by this brand and all others which operate within the market. Is it possible for a company steeped in such controversy to make such a long term viable profit?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jan/05/wonga-bad-debts-rise-profits

Well referencing the above article investors certainly seem to think so, seen in a $1 billion valuation of the brand when it nearly floated on the US stock market last year. Put pure and simple ethics will not stop brands like Wonga making money. This is clear in pre-tax profits and stock market valuations. As long as there is a need for consumer borrowing there is always a chance short term loan providers will prosper. Certainly in the long term the brand will have to be vigilant of credit unions offering small % loans but both they and the Church have a hell of a long way to go before they can begin to leverage the strengths and capabilities needed to compete. Until then short term loan providers will continue to make profit regardless of whether it is right or Wonga.

Under Armour not under attack. How are growing brand can use advocacy to continue to gain success

Let’s do something a little different this week. Instead of focusing on a brand that either may struggle or is currently struggling let’s turn our attention to a rising star. Founded in 1996 you would be forgiven for thinking Under Armour was well established long before the 90’s.  As a relative small part of the American Football clothing market initially the brand has quickly grown into a major player across the world. What was originally Kevin Plank’s idea for a shirt that would stay light when saturated with sweat has quickly grown into the brand that is Under Armour today. It is now responsible for making some of the most established and most familiar sporting brands across the world sweat under their very own dri-fit collars. 

One look at Under Armour’s stock market value growth will tell you all you need to know about the companies’ prospects for the future. Value share has more than doubled, which has fuelled the brands aggressive expansion strategy across the US and the rest of the World.

 http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/under-armour-inc/index.html

Put simply Under Armour has quickly become the sporting brand of choice for the in crowd  in the US market, with numerous celebrities ready and willing to wear the apparel for the millions to see. Hoping to expand on this popularity Under Armour has looked to acquire increased brand recognition and reach in the UK market through initiatives such as sponsoring Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. The partnership seems to tie in perfectly for growth strategies for both the US sporting brand and the UK football institution. Take for example Spur’s long term ambition of leveraging presence in the US market creating more than its already reported 6 million American followers.

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1164063/spurs-earmark-us-key-international-priority?HAYILC=RELATED

Under Armour have certainly put a considerable amount of investment into the partnership with Spurs- a reported £50 million over 5 years! Of course not only will this benefit Under Armour in terms of increased recognition but if Spurs stand to gain out of this as well then it becomes clear why this was a very smart move for at least one of the parties. What will turn it into a smart investment for Under Armour will be determined by how their brand presence continues to grow in the face of key competitors. The sports apparel market is already fragmented as it is and brands can quickly find themselves losing valuable share in the minds of consumers.

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/under-armour-readies-aggressive-bid-to-take-on-nike/4002740.article

Under Armour will not allow itself to think small when it comes to positioning. They have quickly looked to pitch their tent in unbelievably close proximity to the Nike camp. Their motivations can be clearly demonstrated in their marketing strategy. As a $5 billion business they are of course small fry compared to Nike’s powerhouse brand, however momentum can be everything in the marketing game and it is clear they do not struggle for this.

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1189953/armours-top-marketer-spurs-speaking-nikes-name-wearing-womens-lingerie

Well you consider the very mention of Nike is banned in head office you begin to realize how powerful the spirit of competition is within the company. You could call their plan ambitious yet the power of advocacy and cmart PR product placement continues to allow the brand to gain the aforementioned momentum which is so important. Taking all of this into consideration it would appear the future is bright for Under Armour and there is plenty to be optimistic about. In case we have not covered them all already the following article neatly sums up some of the main factors the brand have going for it.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/05/02/under-armours-bright-future/

With such an aggressive expansion strategy on the cards you could argue that under Armour may struggle to keep its eye on the prize especially within the market where it originally made an impact. However, holding onto brand traditions appears to be an especially important factor for Under Armour and recent marketing campaigns highlighting not only a strong link to American Football but also building off the brands Baltimore heritage demonstrate they aren’t about to forget where they came from.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-07-08/business/bs-bz-ray-lewis-under-armour-commercial-20130708_1_ray-lewis-local-coaches-and-players-high-school-football

So concluding thoughts on Under Armour? Well you may very well say ‘Brand Avenger has gone soft but I have a good feeling about Under Armour. They are relatively young, have invested in a long term strategic mission with a clear goal of stealing share from Nike. However, the real difference for Under Armour will come with a strong focus on advocacy which makes me happy to read articles like the one below.

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/sports-brands-offering-cash-to-fans-to-amass-advocate-armies/4007235.article

No matter who you are and whatever markets you operate in or how big or small your sales value figures are you can never underestimate the power of looking after your brand loyal customers. Under Armour are right to research ways into ensuring advocacy isn’t lost especially if its biggest competitors are doing this also. Pacino once said a game is won or lost depending on inches in Any Given Sunday. If Under Armour continue to focus on advocacy, thus protecting its customers with the greatest sales value they should end up miles in front.

 

Ryanair doesn't care about customers!!! And that works fine for their brand strategy

Ryanair is an interesting brand to place under an evaluation microscope. The fact that it has established itself as an consistent offender when it comes to negative brand perception hasn't seemed to of damaged its stability. In fact if you didn't know the low cost no frills airline recently announced a record £481 million in profit for 12/13.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22593246

The more passionate customer service connoisseurs among us would argue that Ryanair as an entity should really not be doing this well. How can a company, which spends so little time on customer satisfaction, and so much resource on squeezing extra revenue out of its customer base, continue to enjoy expansion, growth and substantial market share? 

Let's be crystal clear on Ryanair’s brand perception. If you thought Ryanair scores positively as a brand with a strong focus on satisfying customers through a low cost model you would be wrong. One of the most common words you will find linked with Ryanair brand perception is 'deception'. Take for example the company website which ranks the worst in terms of ease of use for all UK travel companies.

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/2012/11/23/42362/ryanairs+deceptive+website+puts+it+in+last+place+on+brand+index.html

Virgin might focus on the Rockstar holiday, JetBlue may pride itself on its on-board customer comfort but Ryanair makes absolutely no bones about the fact that first and foremost it is a low cost, high revenue margin operation. You will notice that whereas Virgin is noted as taking a more customer-centric approach Ryanair instead focuses on driving traffic to the website, currently in the tune of 1.2 million customers a day. Makes sense when you consider a complete lack of consideration when it comes to customer service strategy or any investment in understanding how the rising influence of social media will change the way consumers behave. You might think that in this day and age a CEO would take time to listen to its customers. It's clear from the below blog that Ryanair have no time to liaise with 'idiot bloggers', a strategy which some have described as 'analogue marketing in a digital world'.

http://wallblog.co.uk/2012/09/07/ryanair-is-an-analogue-brand-in-a-digital-world-and-must-change/

Surely this defies all logic? A brand can't place so little emphasis on the customer and continue to enjoy strong profit and growth. How can this model be sustainable? Surely sooner or later Ryanair will suffer for a complete lack or respect in maintaining a strong and loveable brand?

You would certainly hope so however that depends on a few factors changing in the market it currently operates in. The Brand Avenger would argue that in order for Ryanair to begin to feel the pain in terms of sales then one, or a combination of all three of the following things would have to happen.

1) Price would have to decrease in importance when it came to choosing an airline to travel.

It is far too easy nowadays for a consumer to use a search engine such as Skyscanner and search for the cheapest possible option when it comes to flying. There is no denying the fact that holidays are expensive and as many see the flight as a means to an end it will normally be travel where customers look to tighten the purse strings. Would many be willing to pay extra dollar dollar bills for a promise of better service or increased comfort? Has any brand connected so well with airline consumers that it justifies an increase in spend? The answer is no. When it boils down to it Ryanair will always continue to win if they can successfully maintain a lower price than the nearest competitor. Brand reputation maybe in tatters but then again the consumer isn't really buying the brand in this instance.

2) There would need to be an increased number of competitors serving the same routes as Ryanair to give the customer more choice.

More competitors, more options and more choice for the consumer. It is a simple case of supply and demand! The Brand Avenger would assure you the service could be much worse if the market continues to lose suppliers. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22713569

Let's take the above example into consideration. Ryanair purchase AerLingus, swallow up all brand assets and the consumer has to fly with the same company to reach their destination. This of course leads to complete control for the company and complete loss of power for the consumer. 

If Ryanair are ever going to pay for its non-existent investment in brand strategy it will only be when customers have a choice. They have a choice of supermarket, of restaurant and of clothes store but when it comes to airlines how many companies can truly offer the routes and price Ryanair currently do?

3) A competitor would have to truly embrace a customer centric strategy to retain the loyalty of customers.

We should be careful when using the term customer-centric in any sense when analysing the aviation industry. Whereas it is true Virgin invest a considerable amount of time and resource on marketing strategy focusing on service and comfort it does little to truly win the loyalty of its most frequent flyers. Despite significant lip service and hefty marketing budgets focused on service Virgin have yet to understand the full value of the customers that spend the most on their service. If they did then Virgin would be tailoring the lowest prices fares and significant promotions with the largest discounts to the most frequent of flyers rather than trying to acquire new flyers. The largest retailer in the UK knows that three quarters of sales revenue is generated from customers who stay loyal to their brand. In a market heavy on competition and with the rising power of word of mouth marketing there is no reason why the same concept couldn't work for an airline as long as they were willing to fully embrace a customer-centric ethos.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2013/02/european-air-travel

Let's finish with a quick review of the above article. The Economist argues that 1 in 5 of Ryanair's passengers are travelling for business, which equates to 17.5 million customers a year. This is a segment of customers who is clearly a significant revenue generator but also one of the segments that Ryanair could be in greatest risk of losing if market conditions change. At the start of this article The Brand Avenger wondered why Ryanair continued to do so well despite such poor brand perception and I think the analysis of the business consumer sums up the reasons quite nicely. Until someone, somewhere can come in with a matching price with a greater emphasis on customer service with minimal hassle much like the rest of Ryanair's customer base the business trade will continue to flow. However, Ryanair need to realise that this model cannot be sustainable in the long term. The only way it would be is if they were to become a complete monopoly and competition authority bodies won't allow them to do so. Sooner or later some brand, somewhere will do what Ryanair does cheaper and better and when that happens, much like the 1 in 5 business crowd all of Ryanair's customers will leave the brand without an ounce of regret or any feeling of commitment. After all, it’s nothing personal, it’s just business.

Flogging a dead horse? Can Myspace rise from the ashes?

MySpace is back! If you didn’t know that then you should check out the below Youtube clip

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/myspace-returns-with-star-studied-tv-ad/4007051.article

In many ways MySpace’s fall was more impressive than its rise. The brand should have been able to hold onto its position of power in the Social Network space. The fact that unique visitors fell from 78.9 million per month in 2006 to 34.8 million three years later clearly demonstrates how big its decline in popularity was.

There are many theories as to why MySpace ultimately failed to maintain its dominant market position. Many blame the sale of the Social Media site to News Corp as a preliminary blow that was hard to come back from. De Wolfe himself has cited a pressure to monetize the site following the sale as a step in the wrong direction. Whatever the cause it is clear that De Wolfe’s earlier claim that MySpace would have 400 million users by 2015 is just not obtainable.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_27/b4235053917570.htm#p2

So why would a group of investors try and salvage this social media ship wreck? Is it even possible to reposition a brand and restore it to its past glory following such a public fall from grace?

There are examples of companies that have successfully repositioned brands and there are examples of companies which have failed and gone out of business. Clearly the success will depend on a number of factors but most importantly a clear and viable long-term brand mission will be important.

MG Rover had once enjoyed a healthy position in the UK car market. However, following years of decline the Birmingham based brand was left in a perilous position by the turn of the 21^st Century. Following a buy out in 2000 there was hope that a brand refresh and a product re-launch would be enough to save the company. But when it came down to it Rover reputation was too damaged to recover and it wasn’t long before the car maker was confined to the brand graveyard.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4488899.stm

However before we begin to assume there is no hope for MySpace we should consider the tale of Apple. In 1993 you may have been forgiven for believing the rise and rise of Microsoft would lead to a permanent burial of the company responsible for the Macbook in the 80’s

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/rise-fall-rise-apple-history/

But Apple wasn’t about to lie down and die an easy death. Apple carefully evaluated its position in the market, where technology was going and most importantly stuck to its gun on its brad strategy moving forward; Apple would be the icon of doing things differently ad this couldn’t have been anymore evident in its unique differentiated approach to releasing MP3 players and phones with a clear focus on usability and a rebel image. And in terms of brand success the rest is history.

http://mashable.com/2013/06/12/new-myspace-launch/

Reading the above review which details some of the key changes in Myspace strategy it is clear that it is going to take more than the removal of a capital S in the logo to create success. You can’t argue with the ambition of the new owners and the clear focus they are placing on music, personalized radio station content, etc. And if nothing else early Brand scoring metrics will probably be music to the investor’s ears as negative perception continues to fall as detailed below.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brandindex/2013/06/19/myspace-buzz-catches-up-with-social-media-giants-amid-relaunch/

It is clear that Myspace can go one of two ways in the future. It can stick to a strategy look to offer a differentiated product portfolio and have a clear aligned band strategy or it can jump from one strategy to another in a desperate search to provide a purpose and meaning to the target audience. Whatever way it goes there is no doubting it is a massive task and a warning to all powerful brands in any market that you can’t forget about your brand strategy.