Årets Byrå är Sveriges mest omfattande tävling där ett stort antal köpare av byråtjänster, alltså kunder, betygsätter de byråer de känner till. Tävlingen genomförs av Regi i samarbete med Dagens Industri och omfattade i år rekordmånga 153 kommunikationsbyråer i Sverige. Sammanlagt ”tyckte” hela 2 400 kunder.

De tre senaste åren, alltså 2006, 2007 och 2008, har Pyramid rankats högst i Sverige bland b2b-byråer. Även konsumentbyråerna inkluderade har vi hamnat på platserna 3 till 5.

Men i årets undersökning placerar vi oss alltså i topp, med ett snittbetyg på 8,70 på en 10-gradig skala. Vi vinner dessutom vår kategori med stor marginal, och de få andra b2b-byråer som syns i listorna ligger (tyvärr!) långt efter. (Du kan se resultaten på Årets Byrå)

Således: Ett hjärtligt och stort tack till alla som deltagit i undersökningen, och till alla kunder som varje dag driver oss att göra saker ännu lite bättre. För allt kan verkligen bli bättre – ibland gör också vi missar. Men vår obändiga och uppriktiga ambition – hos var och en av oss – är att erbjuda dig som kund unik kreativ och strategisk kompetens kombinerat med pålitliga och kvalitetsmedvetna genomföranden och leveranser.

Det lovar jag att vi ska bli ännu bättre på framöver.

Nästa år får byråerna i kategorin ”stora reklambyråer” se upp. Eftersom vi ökade våra intäkter med 15% under 2009, tävlar vi i den kategorin nästa år. Och, som sagt, vi ska definitivt bli ännu bättre….

Ulf Vanselius

In this highly entertaining TED talks speech, held in Oxford last year, the advertising giant Rory Sutherland discusses how advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception about the product, rather than changing the product itself. He also makes the daring assertion that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider as “real” value. And the conclusion has interesting consequences for how we look at life…

Enjoy!

(See also Rory explain why we need to broaden the definition of what we do, to reflect the new reality of the marketplace: Behavioral Economics. And read more about it here [in Swedish].)

På sajten finns även en komplett förteckning av SydGrönts sortiment av groddar och skott samt fakta om dessa nyttiga, färska och svenska grönsaker. Dessutom kan man vinna en middag på Gastro genom att skicka in sitt bästa recept med groddar och/eller skott. Missa inte!

Kampanjen inleds med en omfattande bearbetning av dagligvaruhandeln, och följs därefter upp med en kampanj mot konsument.

Att ”trolla” kan till exempel gå ut på att man i en diskussionsgrupp utger sig för att vara någon annan och ha helt andra åsikter än de som omfattas av majoriteten i gruppen.

På Internet, som på de flesta övriga platser utgår man från att folk i allmänhet är ärliga och verkligen är vad de utger sig för att vara. Men på Internet, precis som i verkliga livet, är det inte alltid så…

”Trollare” tycker det är roligt att skapa moralpanik, vilket är ganska enkelt. Man kan till exempel omvandla namnet på en Facebook-grupp mot pedofili till en grupp som omhuldar pedofili. (Vad en Facebook-grupp mot pedofili gör för reell nytta mot pedofili är en annan, men också intressant diskussion…)

På Internet, liksom i alla andra sammanhang, ska man vara noga med hur man syns och varför. Detta är naturligtvis lika viktigt för företag som för hur man personligen väljer att närvara i sociala media.

Under 2010-talet kommer Internet ännu mer bli en egen värld, och samtidigt mer och mer allas värld. Då är det viktigt att en gång till och alltid påminna sig om att det största hotet mot din personliga integritet är du själv.

För företag gäller detsamma. Se och lär av till exempel Telia i följande exempel från Twitter:

@Telia_service: Fr om idag tar vi inte betalt för sms till hjälporg m hjälp till Haiti+vi skänker 5 kr/SMS till katastrofhjälp för Haiti

Vi gick in i 2009 med hypotesen att vi skulle tappa 30% av våra intäkter från befintliga kunder. Det blev drygt 40%. Som väl var hade vi tidigt initierat en offensiv plan där vi mångdubblade våra egna marknadsinsatser, vi utvecklade nya koncept som ”Den Nya Kreativiteten” och vi stärkte oss personalmässigt. Detta gav oss intäkter som med råge fyllde gapet som uppstod och 2009 kommer att bli Pyramids bästa år under 2000-talet med 15% ökade intäkter, ökat antal medarbetare och ett riktigt starkt resultat.

Inför 2010 är vi försiktiga optimister om ekonomin i allmänhet. De flesta av våra kunder säger sig ha passerat botten och ser en positiv utveckling, dock relativt försiktig. Vi tror dock att de flesta företag kommer att gå in i året med lägre budget än 2009, helt enkelt för att budgetprocessen genomfördes under en period då alla varit osäkra på utvecklingen. Förhoppningsvis ser vi sedan en strukturell vändning framåt sommaren som kräver mer offensiva marknadsinsatser som stöd.

Ett intressant fenomen, som kan hjälpa upp investeringsnivån, är att många företag utvecklat en mer strategisk syn på sin marknadsföring. En av våra större kunder konstaterade att de dubblar sin marknadsföringsbudget under nästa år. De har konstaterat att man alltid varit sist ur konjunkturcykeln och nu bestämt sig för att ta ledningen i racet om marknadsandelarna. Många kunder har också framgångsrikt differentierat mellan olika delar av erbjudandet och satsar ordentligt där marknaden är positiv, t ex inom eftermarknadstjänster.

För reklambranschen innebär detta att 2010 blir ett nytt utmanande år, där jag tror att många företag kommer att se över sin reklambyrårelation. Marknadsavdelningar blir allt mer professionella och söker aktivt rätt strategiska kompetens, vilket bidrar till att skilja ännu fler agnar från vetet.

Vi ser fram mot att lyfta till nya höjder tillsammans med ett 30-tal av Nordens mest framgångsrika företag!

What and why
Brand Personality, or brand character, is about the characteristics that your target group associates with your brand. It’s about conveying the emotional associations – not the rational. The whole point of Brand Personality is to add a (differentiating) dimension to a brand that the product alone cannot convey. The idea behind this thinking is that this particular dimension will contribute to strengthening the customer’s emotional relationship with the brand, which in turn strengthens preference and loyalty.

To identify and formulate a company’s (or product’s) Brand Personality often requires association- and word-choice exercises. The result tends to be a number of adjectives – preferably three if the consultant is to decide – that are expected to summarize and describe the very complex relationships that constitute a company or product’s personality traits. But what does it actually mean for the seller in Portugal that your company is a dolphin? Or that it is associated with BMW, rather than Skoda, and that the brand will be perceived as ‘Knowledgeable, Flexible and Dedicated’? And do these associations and adjectives communicate the same personality traits for employees and customers in Helsinki, New York and Beijing?

Usefulness
The concept of Brand Personality was originally conceived by the advertising agency Young & Rubicam (and is basically the same as ”Brand Character”, which is a registered trademark owned by Gray Advertising). If they are the font of the association games and word-choice exercises I have no idea. But I firmly believe that the phenomena, with very few exceptions, are a waste of time and money. Perhaps they mean something very specific and precise for the agency and marketing manager who did the job but, for the rest of the organization, they are perceived, in my experience, as so much corporate BS. And, if you change agency or marketing manager, the company’s Brand Personality will probably be one of the first things that appear on the ”we gotta do something about this” list.

Do not misunderstand me: Brand Personality is important. Very important. A strong brand personality can often be the crucial, distinguishing factor for your brand. The reason is logical: emotional relationships are stronger than rational, because the emotional relationships can create loyalty beyond rational argument. They make competitors’ rational arguments less important, your customers become more lenient towards your mistakes or substandard product performance, and you get recommended more enthusiastically and more often.

A better way
Fortunately, there is a more efficient way to identify and define a brand’s personality (which is also significantly better scientifically informed). Let’s call it ”Brand Archetyping”, because the starting point is the archetypes that we all carry within us.

If you study religions, myths and legends from different cultures and times you will discover that they contain roughly the same cast of characters. Compare, for example the gods of Hinduism and the Asa faith with the gods in Greek mythology. There are distinctive creators, rulers, heroes, virgins, explorers, lovers and at least one that portrays the common man.

It is these characters, or ur-types, which are called archetypes. According to Christopher Vogler, screenwriter for Disney (The Lion King, Aladdin, Hercules, etc.), they are used consciously and diligently by the film industry, because they facilitate storytelling:

” … As soon as you enter their world, you will be aware of recurring personality traits and relationships.”

The modern archetype theory was launched by Carl Jung. He analyzed and sorted archetypes, and claimed that they possess cross-cultural communication skills because, he said, they reflect our collective subconscious. In the archetypes we recognize our own impulses, needs, fears and desires. Archetypes, according to Jung, are hardwired in us all.

Each archetype is represented thus by a history and a pattern of behavior that we can relate to. These personality patterns, as we learn in early childhood and then pass on to the next generation, are processed very quickly in our brains. We uncritically accept the characteristics, because they reflect our world.

And so it is these immediate connections that you can use to give your brand an unassailably clear personality – a personality that conveys the same story for a salesman in Johannesburg or a customer in Jukkasjärvi.

What brands are archetypes?
All brands that affect us on a deeper level contain a story created around an emotionally charged character or personality. Without it, we would simply not be able to have an emotional relationship with the brand. In the transparent and global world we live in, where the rational characteristics of competing products are simple to compare, the story around the brand increasingly becomes the only relevant factor for the buyer to distinguish it by.

So we buy sneakers from Nike not because its shoes are the best but because we want to share the feeling of winning and crushing all resistance. And we buy a motorcycle from Harley-Davidson not because its bikes are better than everyone else but because it makes us feel like a rebel – a Hell’s Angel – whether we live in the suburbs of London or in the deserts of Nevada.

Nike thus represents the archetypal champion/hero, and Harley-Davidson the archetypal rebel/outlaw.

Other trademarks that may be linked to the archetypes is Disney the jester, 3M the creator, Jeep the adventurer, IBM the ruler, Haagen Dazs the lover, McKinsey the thinker, IKEA the universal  man and Virgin the rebel.

A rebel, a jester and a common man
That Virgin is such an obvious rebel, the company can thank its, founder Richard Branson for. It is his nature, business philosophy and values reflected in the brand’s personality. Unfairly simple, one might think. But the same principle applies in fact for most strong brand archetypes.

A company’s values and purpose are a consequence of the founder’s or management’s values and vision – even if they are all too rarely identified and formulated. And values, purpose and vision in turn create the conditions for the archetype the brand will (credibly) be associated with.

Disney’s jester archetype is recognized in the company’s purpose: ”Make people happy.” And what is the heart of everything that IKEA – the common man (everyman) – does? Well, to ”offer a complete range of homewares at prices so low that as many as possible will be able to afford them”. (Ikea’s vision is, moreover, “Creating a better everyday life for many people.”)

What is your brand archetype?
Unlike IKEA, Virgin and Disney, most companies do not have a story and narrative that offers a natural archetype. To identify the genuine and true archetype for your brand needs a systematic structure.

One of the most useful archetype models is Carol S. Pearson’s system consisting of 12 prime archetypes. Carol S. Pearson is a professor of leadership studies at the University of Maryland at College Park, and is author of books like “Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform Our World”  and “The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes”.

Her system, which is based on Jung’s work, consists of two dimensions: self-focused vs. group-oriented and order vs. change. For example, if the culture of your company is to strive, or to offer, good order – to have control – you are likely an archetype in the upper semicircle. If you also tend to focus more on what is possible to make than what the customers think they need or want, your correct archetype will be on the right side. The truth is thus the archetypal ruler, creator or innocence.

The names of the archetypes can vary. Warriors may also be called champions and heroes; the rebel might be called outlaw or anti-hero; the joker a jester or rogue; adventurers could be called explorers or pathfinders; sages can be called wise ones or gurus; innocents can be called naïf’s or saints; the creators can be called innovators and artists, and so on. But the meaning of each archetype is always the same.

The most notable magician
The magician is for example an archetype who makes things happen, who brings visions to life. Magicians can be framed in many different forms, from the obvious Gandalf in Lord of the Rings to Vianne in Lasse Hallström’s film Chocolat. But regardless of the guise, we are fascinated by the magician’s ability to make the impossible possible. A Magician’s motto is ”I make things happen”, his goal is to realize dreams, and his strategy to articulate an exciting vision. And then follow it.

A magician brand is characterized therefore by its power to open new horizons or opportunities for customers. Its product or service may be in constant change, but it is user friendly and it drives development forward. Apple (as well as the company’s founder Steve Jobs) is probably one of the most notable magicians.

Make your mark to a legend
Pearson’s system is therefore an excellent tool for identifying the real and true archetype for your brand. But before you tackle it, ask these five questions of yourself:

1. How well known is our story today?
2. How consistent is it?
3. Do people understand its meaning? Does it convey the same meaning for everyone?
4. How credible and motivating is it?
5. Which famous character, or archetype, fits into our story?

If you manage to connect your brand to an archetype, and thus to a strong and rich story, you have laid the groundwork for something powerful – you have given birth to a legend.

Or, as Scott Bedbury, former marketing director at both Nike and Starbucks, said:

“A brand is a metaphorical story that … connects with something very deep – a fundamental human appreciation of mythology…”

Companies that manifest this sensibility invoke something very powerful.

Sources: Books mentioned above, by Carol S. Pearson and Margret Mark, article by Jon Howard-Spink, What is your story? And who is your brand?. Originaly posted in Swedish on The Brand-Man, here and here.

Tyvärr är jag benägen att tro det sista.

Låt mig då först säga att jag tycker Lowe Brindfors är en av Sveriges bästa reklambyråer. Man utvecklar intelligent reklam med själ och känsla, och detta har inte minst avspeglats i Saab-reklamen som jag verkligen tycker om (den senaste filmen om genierna i Trollhättan är t ex fantastisk). Men faktum är att reklamen inte lockat mig att köpa en Saab, liksom den lockat allt färre kunder i världen att köpa en Saab.

Lowe Brindfors och Saab hävdar att reklamen gett bra resultat. Frågan är om man över huvud taget kan ha det perspektivet om marknadsandelar och volymer sjunker år efter år. Visst, de skulle kunna sjunka ännu mer med annan reklam – men företagets strategiska mål har varit att växa och reklamens uppgift är att stödja den. Och den enkla konklusionen av detta är att reklamen misslyckats med vad den borde leverera.

Varför säljer då inte intelligent reklam med själ och känsla? Jag tror att det i alla komplexa processer finns en X-faktor, dvs något svårdefinierat som gör att det fungerar – eller inte. Det är inte konstigare än att vissa idrottslag, med på pappret de bästa spelarna och den bästa tränaren, inte kan leverera. I idrottsvärlden har man förstått detta och agerar – man byter oftast tränare. Det må vara osjyst mot en duktig tränare som på pappret gör allt rätt, men det förvandlar ofta laget från förlorare till vinnare.

Så Saab, dra lärdom av detta. Om affären med Spyker går igenom, eller om en ny köpare dyker upp i elfte timmen, byt reklambyrå! Det är antagligen det snabbaste och med effektiva sättet att komma på rätt bana igen.

Vi håller tummarna!

Ulf Vanselius
VD

Pyramid Communication AB
0707-163370
ulf@pyramid.se

Bring Frigoscandia och Bring Logistik, två av Brings sex specialister, förser årligen sina kunder med en omfattande produktpresentation för varje specialistområde och land, där produktens egenskaper presenteras tillsammans med olika avtalsmässiga förutsättningar.

Pyramid utvecklade detta paket för 2010, vilket består av 10-talet omfattande kataloger.

According to McCarthy, the 4 P’s are the tactical tools at companies’ disposal to streamline their marketing, and they collectively became known as the marketing mix.

A few years later, Philip Kotler built further on McCarthy’s P’s. Kotler’s books were much more popular than McCarthy’s, which probably explains why most marketers now give Kotler credit for the 4 P’s.

Kotler, however, soon realized that the four P’ s were insufficient, and tried in the 1980s to introduce two more: Public opinion and Political Power. Other marketing thinkers have come up with more suggestions that further complement – including Packaging, People, Process and Physical Evidence.

Despite their obvious shortcomings, McCarthy’s soon-to-be 50 year-old 4 P’s remain one of the elemental laws of nature in the marketing universe.

But the world in which the four Ps first prevailed held completely different marketing conditions than today’s.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Western world was in the midst of unprecedented social change and growth. After World War II, there was a strong need for practically everything, and the rapidly growing consumer machine had to be fed with more and more products. If anything, in any way, benefited the standard of living, it essentially sold itself.

The media world also looked different. The consumer obediently adapted him or herself to the relatively few media channels through which news, information and advertising were trumpeted out – with neither opportunity nor expectation of being able to influence when, where or how he or she would consume the messages, or contribute to public thinking or opinion on the subject.

Those who made and sold products quite simply held both the baton and the megaphone.

And it was thus, in this from-the-inside-out world, that the four P’s were born – as well as a number of other fundamental marketing theories.

Common to these post-war theories is that they assume that the seller has the power to define how the buyer should interpret the offer – and thus the value, usefulness or experience of the product, service or idea.

That power no longer exists.

Firstly, globalization and ever increasing competition have marginalized the importance of product features and functionality, as competing products in almost all categories now offer essentially the same basic functionality. In addition, prices have become almost completely transparent, and geographical distance now very rarely has any real significance. Last but not least: customers no longer want to listen.

The typical ‘stupid’ consumer, who previously had neither voice nor influence, has now – thanks to the Internet and social media – been replaced by ever more knowledgeable and critical participants – each with a growing influence on how brands are perceived and experienced.

In short: the buyer has grabbed the baton and seldom even hears the megaphone.

Yet many marketers continue desperately to try to make the 4 P’s work. Maybe the P’s time has passed. Maybe it’s time to bury them once and for all.

That’s the opinion of marketing professor Robert Lauterborn, author of books like The New Marketing Paradigm: Integrated Marketing Communications. He proposes an alternative approach based on the customer rather than product, which helps us see the business from the buyer’s point of view, not the seller’s. Lauterborn’s 4 C’s are  Consumer, Cost, Convenience, Communication.

The starting point is a Consumer (or customer, if you wish). Forget about the product. There is simply no longer any reason to develop something just because it is possible to do so, and expect that it will automatically sell. Focus instead on really understanding the customer’s needs and wishes. People, after all, no longer buy products. We want what the product results in: a value, a utility or an experience. What do customers expect of your business or product?

As a strategic positioning and tactical variable, the product’s actual price is also irrelevant. Price is just one part of the buyer’s total cost to experience the usefulness or value of the product. Think instead in terms of Cost to Satisfy. Most companies do not compete, after all, with a few percent price difference here or there, but with the sum of the customer’s perceived costs – both monetary and emotional. In addition to the price tag, for example, a tin of snuff costs the time it takes to go to the kiosk, the guilt of being nicotine-dependent and even the remorse that the money is not being used for something more valuable – maybe a summer vacation with the family. ”The most snuff for the money” is not the main value measure – not even ”the best nicotine kick for the least money”.  The value, benefits and experience are determined instead in a multitude of complex relationships, each of which differs slightly from customer to customer.

‘Place’ is, if possible, even more irrelevant. People no longer need to go anywhere to buy just about anything they want – unless they want to. Everything is available on a computer screen or in a catalog right in front of them – around the clock. Think, then, in terms of ‘Convenience to buy’. That does not mean that the distribution channels are unimportant – only that their role has changed. Think about how your customers would like to buy, and how the buying process itself can make your customers’ lives easier and less time consuming. Think about whether there is anything related to your product that the customer wants to experience, something that will give you her undivided attention. If you can manage that, you can actually get customers to travel great distances and still experience it as an easy, convenient, timesaving way to buy.

And, lest we forget, promotion is an obsolete way to look at the role of marketing communications. Mass marketing is history. Customers expect, rightly, a two-way communication with the brand. Think Communication (or conversation, if you wish). To communicate is to exchange thoughts, knowledge, feelings and ideas – to both listen and speak. In brief, it’s collaboration between buyer and seller in order to create a desired value and a desired benefit or experience on both sides.

Lauterborn’s four C’s reflect a thoroughly customer-oriented marketing philosophy. One which, in my opinion, much more accurately describes a brand’s strategic positioning and tactical opportunities than McCarthy’s four P’s.

Whether it is wise to limit ourselves to the number 4 and the letter C, is open to discussion.

So let’s do it. Discuss, that is.

Originally posted in Swedish on The Brand-Man, here.