You know there's a problem when 90 percent of marketers think the ability to implement "total touchpoint" marketing is at least somewhat important, but only 52 percent think their companies are any good at it.
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Not only that, but just 20 percent of respondents to a recent Reveries.com survey of 198 marketers say their companies are able to implement effective "total touchpoint" marketing right now. To top it all off, only 12 percent said their media planning "always" fully integrates messaging to reach consumers as they travel from couch to car to checkout.
Why is there such a huge disconnect between perfection and reality when it comes to "total touchpoint" marketing? More important, what can be done about it?
The reasons behind the problem came clear in the verbatim answers to an open-ended question in the Reveries survey concerning the obstacles to "total touchpoint" planning. The most frequently used descriptive words were: inertia, silos, and insufficiency (of information, budgets and staff). Other respondents addressed organizational issues, including lack of communications, integrated planning, differing strategies, and turf battles.
Budgetary constraints and a lack of senior-management buy-in or resistance to change were also frequently blamed, as were "uncooperative retailers." One respondent summed up the situation by saying: "Eradicating functional disconnects like these should be the name of the game."
Indeed they should -- but where to start? In general, it would certainly be a good idea to jettison all the negative preconceptions and focus instead on what can be done. If we believe that sales and marketing are irreconcilable, retailers are incorrigible and management is intractable then they probably are.
However, if we take the opposite view, the opportunities open wide, as they have for a good number of exemplary brands. As identified by survey respondents, those brands are led by Apple and Starbucks, followed by Best Buy, Procter & Gamble, Target, McDonald's and Ikea. Also earning mentions were Nike, Wal-Mart, Costco, Dove, Unilever, Virgin, Whole Foods, Coke, Pepsi, Gap, Mini Cooper and BMW.
Granted, a list of brands as diverse as that suggests that what defines "total touchpoint" marketing can vary, and that "best practices" for one brand could be a total disaster for another. It is worth noting, however, that the top two brands mentioned -- Apple and Starbucks -- are significantly invested at retail. The balance of the list is similarly dominated by retailers -- or brands that use retail extensively as an element of their marketing mix.
Retail most definitely weighs in heavily as touchpoints go since it's the place where transactions occur.
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Retail most definitely weighs in heavily as touchpoints go since it's the place where transactions occur. The importance of retail as a touchpoint was also reflected in the Reveries.com survey results, as 70 percent of the respondents "agreed" or "agreed strongly" that a satisfactory ROI was achieved primarily through close collaboration with retailers.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents also said their companies have a plan to better understand how consumers shop and buy at retail. An overwhelming 91 percent agreed that their career success depends on changing consumer purchase behavior, and not just attitude and awareness.
But, obviously, retail isn't the only touchpoint. It's just as essential to communicate with consumers at home, and as they travel to and from the store via a strategic combination of media -- not just television, radio and print, but also outdoor, place-based media like the web and personal media like text messaging.
That's the outlook Gerber is adopting with its "Promise" campaign. As you may have heard, the Gerber Promise campaign asks moms and dads to commit to something that they naturally and intuitively would want to commit to -- that is, giving their baby the best nutrition, the ultimate protection, and the safest environment to grow up in to be happy and healthy.
If you haven't already, you really should go to the Gerber homepage, gerber.com, yourself and participate on behalf of your favorite newborn or toddler. When you do so, you are sent a special, jewelry-style Gerber Promise "pin" to wear, along with a certificate featuring a special "Promise Poem."
The Gerber Promise "pin" doubles as a viral marketing tool, spreading the word about The Gerber Promise everywhere it appears. The certificate, meanwhile, motivates moms back to the Gerber website for helpful ideas on how to give their babies a good start with important health guidelines and tips. These tips and information come out of an exclusive study that Gerber performed with American Dieticians Association.
But while the Gerber Promise starts online, it doesn't stop there. The media mix is designed to reach consumers at a range of other touchpoints -- special events, in-store media and customer-specific promotions and pediatrician offices. The campaign involves some 43 million FSIs and a total of about three million direct-mail pieces, too.
Retailers aren't incorrigible; you just have to understand their needs.
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The campaign also delivers touchpoints via publicity and community relations programs. Most notably, Gerber is partnering with the American Association of Pediatricians to help provide health care and medical treatment to underserved moms through its CATCH program. Other touchpoints include an insert in Pediatrician's Basic Magazine, and sampling events at American Baby parenting fairs and medical conferences.
Not coincidentally, retailers -- Fred Meyer Stores and Wal-Mart, in particular -- figure prominently into the mix as hosts of a series of events. As Mack Jenks, Gerber's director of Relationship Marketing told PROMO magazine: "Babies are a huge priority for Wal-Mart, and programs like these are a great rallying point." So, you see, retailers aren't incorrigible; you just have to understand their needs.
At this writing, the program is too new to report specific sales results, although some 20,000 parents made "The Promise" during the first two weeks of the campaign and there have been more than 40,000 sign-ups in total so far. The response has been so strong that Gerber's CEO, Kurt Schmidt, has already proclaimed the promotion "the best" he's ever seen. So, you see, management isn't intractable; you just need to demonstrate that "total touchpoint" marketing can achieve specific business objectives.
The Gerber Promise worked, ultimately, because it not only tapped into one of the most powerful insights (i.e., that parents look for ways, actions or symbols to show their commitment to their baby) but also communicated its message in a way that totally surrounded the consumer -- from the couch to the car to the checkout and back again. So you see, sales and marketing are not irreconcilable; you just need to make sure that marketing provides sales with what it needs to make the cash register ring.
Collaborate with retailers, show management you mean business, and tear down that wall between sales and marketing. When you do all that, then every touchpoint is touchable … and big ideas can really happen.
Click here to view the survey's results.
Tim Dorgan is CEO of J. Brown Agency, an integrated promotion-marketing agency devoted to helping marketers win at the point-of-decision -- and at every relevant touchpoint leading up to it. Clients include Kraft, Dairy Management Inc., Dannon, IBC, Guinness, FedEx and Del Monte, among others.
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