Consumers did change!

There is always a new learning when I attend result presentation. Yesterday, I attended a presentation for our product test result.... And one thing that I learn that consumers did change.
We have product let's say A. A is the pioneer in the category. Before we launched product A 5 years ago, I got a result that product A failed in the test because consumers did not like the smell .... The active ingredient for product A smell different with existing product that consumers used at that time. Actually That smell was the reason for product A to be categorized in a new product category .... Because it has 'that active ingredient'. Though from the research we know that kind of product was needed by consumers. They just did not use to the smell of that 'active ingredient'.

Therefore, at that time the R&D person tried to reduce the 'active ingredient' in order to adjust with the consumers' expectation and with the understanding that actually consumers needed this kind of product we launched product A.
After we launched for some years, many brand follow and enter the category ...... They also use the same 'active ingredient'. So after 5 years in the market there are some brands already in that category and consumers seems to accept that kind of product and it should smell like that.

Last month, we did another product test in that category, and the result was presented yesterday. We all amazed that it seems the consumers are happy with the smell. If it does not smell like that, it was not that kind of product...... The smell become a proved of product benefit ..... Which 5 years ago, they didn't like the smell at all.

Well consumers did change their behaviour.

Measuring digital media

As we had known that digital media grows very fast. By the end of the day, after we decided to use digital media, management will ask questions how effective digital media is? Whether the money which was spent in digital media bring advantage to the brand? And so many questions about that.

Some research agency, nowadays, developed some tools to do some measurement on digital media. The measurement covers the quantitative part as well as the qualitative part.
Some measurement are:
- measure the statistics such as ad clicks, page view, ad view, link from which site etc.
- survey among those expose to the net and control (who don't expose to the net). Compare their awareness, ad recall, message recognition, brand purchase etc.
- evaluate what consumers say: analyze all discussion, brand mentioned in blogs, social media, forum etc.

Digital marketing, action now

Last week, April 7-8 I had a chance to join a seminar about digital marketing. From all speakers, I can take some important points that I would like to share here.
- First, nowadays internet and mobile device grow quite significant. Computers become faster and cheaper. On the other hand, cellphone is now transfroming into smart phone furthermore tablet become more and more popular.
- People/ consumers are evolved. They behaviour drastically changed in the past decade. Technology become part of their life. Almost all people carry at least one cellphone nowadays. They have internet access at home, office, school or through their smartphone. And they belongs to Social Networking Community
- Marketers should catch this phenomena. It's time to take action to utilize all that tecnologies provide for the benefit of the brand.

In the past marketers focus on how to grab consumer's awareness, then convert it into trial and BUMO. The communication is one way, from brand to consumers. With all those technologies that changed consumer's behaviour, now marketers should listen to consumers. Listen to what discuss through blogs, social networking site ... positively or negatively. Consumers are the power. Consumer's involvement is really important, it is beyond consumer's loyalty.

Marketer's should really know who are their consumers and try to understand, where to reach them, what they like to do.... etc.

Of course digital marketing could not apply to every brand or product. In our company for example, there are some brands which have core consumers as those who live in remote area, modest people who are not touched by technology yet. For these consumers, the use of digital marketing is not priority but we should anticipate the change of their behaviour. Who knows in the near future, as the cost for buying smart phone decreasing, these consumers become the users.

Brand extension, nice to have vs needed

Today I learn a very good lesson. We discussed about a brand during the media meeting. Say that our brand is A. Brand A is targetted to mid low SES level and very modest people who are strongly sensitive with price. Our brand growth nicely among it target market and has a very strong image about "the grassroot"/ modesty. So this is a brand for people in the grassroot. It is good but with a very reasonable price.
Until early last year the management think that Brand A needs to be extended. So we launch brand A1 in a new category. The problem is the category where brand A1 enter is for a spesific needs. For those people who are well educated and it seems to have higher purchasing power. Therefore after 1 year launched, brand A1 did not move as expected. It seems that brand A is not strong enough in the different target market, among those people who really have that specific needs, while on the other hand, brand A consumers do not have need yet for product like brand A1 offer. Brand A1 needs to first educate the market and it needs time and money. So we learn that in order to make a brand extension we have to learn whether the mother brand is strong enough among the new target market ( where the extension is) , especially when it is targetted to different kind of people. Not just because the manufacture is able to make that kind of product.