Costco Couture in the Consequences Era... It Could Happen!

Greetings!


I hope you've been having good weather like we are here...  To say that it's long overdue is stating the obvious.  Nevertheless, it's long overdue.


I'd like to tell you about two women I know, M and R.  They are two very successful women with high exposure and high level jobs who, all things considered, have survived this economic collapse personally touched by what has happened but otherwise secure.  There was never a risk of "job elimination" so they have it much better than many others (of which they are very aware and thankful).


The thing you'd might expect of two women who have been relatively untouched by this quagmire is that  their spending habits would be roughly the same as before.  For M and R, that meant enjoying their lives, going out with friends, making larger purchases when needed but knowing their limits.  The funny thing about these friends and colleagues (frolleagues?) is that they've scaled back considerably.


Actually, they've scaled back so much that they regularly purchase clothing at Costco and race to the phone to tell one another about it.  The unspoken rule is to wear it as soon as possible, gracefully accept the compliment and then drop the ridiculously low price on the other or whomever else is in vicinity.  I've seen and heard about it so many times that I can sense it coming, especially from R.  The latest was M's very proud boast of having purchased Vera Wang accessories at Kohl's for a steal.  Hey, I'd boast too if I bought something for that little.  As they say, "Don't Hate, Appreciate!"


I caught a video the other day thanks to My Private Brand's daily emails.  Our friends at Tesco, a UK grocer/retailer, just launched a couture fashion line with price points starting at about $60.  Let's take a look at the show that took place during London Fashion Week(!):

 F. Terry Green, Tesco's UK clothing chief, said "This signifies a new era for supermarket fashion.  It's a high fashion-led range which will enable us to meet the increased desire for affordable yet high quality clothing, and we're so confident that the range will be a success that work has already begun on the autumn/winter range."


Wow.  My first thought was about how nimble Tesco was to be in step with consumer sentiment and trends.  Proof: I didn't even blink when I saw the words supermarket and fashion together which means that all of the research we've seen lately about recessionary consumer spending shifts being cemented must be true!  People have accepted and absorbed what "value for money" means to them so for people like M and R, it means that it's okay to outfit yourself, your fridge, your car and your home... and picking up a pizza...  at Costco.  Hey, maybe you can pick up a tux at Home Depot some day!


Just today J. Walker Smith, Executive Vice Chairman of The Futures Company, tweeted some really interesting research which I'd like to share with you.  The premise is that we are in the Consequences Era and therefore assess shopping with a sharper eye then before.  We're not necessarily economizing as much as the Recessionary Era and we don't mind dipping our toes in the shopping pool but how we make purchase decisions has changed.  Also, the criteria we use to make decisions have become multivariate and complex.  This new Consequences Era rests upon five foundations: Responsibility, Vigilance, Resourcefulness, Prioritization and Networks.  I'll spell them out briefly (you really should read the white paper and/or executive summary) and apply them to the Tesco example.

• Responsibility is exactly what you'd think it to be: we take time to consider what we gain (or don't gain) by making a purchase with a byproduct being understanding what waste means.  One could say that this whole "Green" and "Sustainable" thing is correlated to accepting more responsibility.  So, Tesco has made it okay and even fashionable to be a penny pinching consumer.  Genius.
• Vigilance is critical to this new era to avoid the mistakes we made before.  You could also say that this is renewed discipline and staying focused and out of (financial) trouble.  It's nice to go to Starbucks daily but do you need to go daily?  Tesco is saying, "Hey ladies, you have a right to look smashing...  but you don't have to be spendthrift about it either."
• Resourcefulness is about doing things efficiently with an eye towards practicality and reducing waste.  This would also be known as "making your (resource) dollar go farther" or similar.  Tesco is turning fashion on its head and forcing it to come to real life terms with real life customers who do think they can have great looking clothes at fair prices.
• Prioritization is really just a constant Cost Benefit Analysis.  What tradeoffs will consumers have to make to maximize their chances of happiness?  Tesco shoppers may be "trading down" but its only the price and not the style.  Before, we used to hide the purchases we made at discount shops.  Now, M and R are shouting it from the rooftops.
• Networks are a byproduct of user generated content and social communities.  Though we don't always trust what our peers say, there's  comfort in knowing that we're all in this together and we're just trying to make the best decisions possible.  When will we see a Tesco Couture Facebook Fan Page a la the Nine West or Rachel Roy pages we talked about earlier (here)?

To me, it's uncanny that Tesco has pretty much hit the mark of this post recessionary consumer profile.  The implications for marketers going forward is huge and we would do well to think very carefully about how we position our products and brands going forward given some of the behaviors/attitudes outlined in the research.  Share your thoughts with me...  Let's have a conversation!


Until Next Time,


Parissa Behnia
parissa321@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/behnia

Crawl Before You Walk... The Case For Boring

Hello!


I hope you had a great weekend!  Chicago is a fun place to be around St. Patrick's Day.  The weather didn't cooperate on Saturday but that didn't stop the revelers from making the most of it.  And, it didn't stop the city from coloring the Chicago River a lovely shade of green.


Last week was, in short, amazing.  It was a tremendous learning experience and I'm so grateful to have the chance to blog on ideas, trends, products or anything marketing related that captures my eye and interest.  Who knew that writing twice about Best Buy, mobile technology and the future among other things (here and here) would go viral (thanks to @jayysenn on Twitter and other channels) and land on the bby.com corporate site?  And who would have guess that I would have been interviewed and have that go viral as well all the way to the bby.com site yet again?  As I said, it was amazing.


So, you can imagine why I thought Pete Blackshaw's advice to "Get Back to Boring" was a bit of a snooze the first time I read it.  And, maybe also the second.  The fact that I went back to it a third time made me think it was a sign my guy was trying to tell me something.  And then it hit me: It's all well and good that last week's snapshot in time got a lot of notice and buzz.  I'm tremendously thankful but if I've got nothing else to bring to the table and no substance to match the sparkle then all of that was just that single snapshot in time -- as opposed to a series of events where substance match sparkle that help to reinforce my personal brand or that of my nascent business.


And this is the very thing I want to talk to you about.  Let me just quote from the article (the formatting is mine FYI):

"Maybe what's missing in our marketing transformation is the really boring and basic stuff.  Maybe dull drives digital.  Maybe fundamentals face us forward.  Maybe boring is breakthrough.

I call this out for good reason.  Social media and digital marketing will only succeed -- and sell through the organizational layers -- if we ground it in deeper, more established marketing truths, not ephemeral campaigns, one-trick pony moments, or hypocritical oaths or proclamations."

Couldn't agree with him more.  That said, the beginning part of the passage should omit "social" from it...  Actually, I'd make more changes that that.  Yes yes -- I know he was talking about how we're getting distracted by the bright lights of technology and what we can do with it.  Truly, I'd reword it (if it were about me for a moment).  Just like above, the italics and underlines are mine:

"Maybe what's missing in our "social" marketing transformation is the really boring and basic stuff.  Maybe fundamentals face us forward.  Maybe boring is breakthrough.

I call this out for good reason.  Marketing will only succeed -- and sell through the organizational layers -- if we ground it in deeper, more established truths, not ephemeral campaigns, one-trick pony moments, or hypocritical oaths or proclamations."

My point here is that his advice is sound and what we need to hear regardless of channel.  And the elements he's reminding us to use as marketing building blocks are correct regardless of channel: Trust, CRM, Emotion, Feedback, Listening, Patience and Leadership.  He talked about them in detail but I won't touch that here.  It's worth reading through his points as I'll be talking to them in a little bit.


The crux of the article, for me, is that it's really asking how much respect we have for the marketing strategies and tactics that we craft and also asking how much we understand and respect our customers' wants/needs and sometimes intellect.  How much responsibility do we accept for the marketing conversation regardless of the channel?  Are we engaged and excited to provide solutions or are we going through the motions?  Are we disciplined enough to be true to the brand promise regardless of the touchpoint?  Do we have (or pay attention to) a marketing litmus test?


Last month, I wrote about BMW's new Joy campaign (here) which debuted on the opening night of the Olympics.  The premise of my argument was while I appreciated the human emotion they were trying to evoke, I just wasn't buying it.  There seemed to be something "off" or sacrilegious about "Joy" when, except for some status buyers and iDrive complaints notwithstanding, BMW is more about its engineering and handling.  I also didn't understand how "Joy" would be incorporated into the sales and servicing processes.  Many of the comments on the blog and on LinkedIn seemed to agree as did this Brandweek piece by Julia Beardwood.


Why am I self referential?  The litmus test is really the building blocks our friend mentions in his article. Have we earned customer trust or do we take it for granted which makes a "Joy" campaign seem like a perfect idea?  Are the touchpoints we have with our customers meaningful, timely and relevant?  Is the Emotion we seek the right Emotion?  In BMW's case, the better Emotion appears to be excitement or thrill, hence Ultimate Driving Machine, rather than the "Joy" Emotion.  Are we sincerely seeking feedback and listening to our customers or is that lip service?  One of my pet peeves is a company that appears to hide its 800 number and forces me to read FAQs that have no relevance to my question.  Do we have the discipline and patience to work at our craft and become masters of our brand promise or do we get distracted easily and go on to the next big flashy thing?


All of these building blocks are predicated on leadership.  He's right in pointing out that effective leaders inspire and drive change regardless of platform, cause or brand.  And he's also right in pointing out that leaders follow the consumers not the other way around.  We serve at our customers' pleasure.  They help us keep the lights on so the very least we can do is hear what they have to say, respect their wants/needs and deliver meaningful solutions on their terms -- not ours.  If you're already doing that today regularly and successfully, my hat's off to you.  Effective leadership is a goal of mine and I work hard everyday to be in striking distance.  


What's your take on all of this?  I'd like to hear from you!


Best,


Parissa Behnia

parissa321@gmail.com

www.linkedin.com/in/behnia