Blog 5

After reading the chapters from the book “Groundswell” I was intrigued by the rapid growth of social media and its potential in the business environment. While there are companies using social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, I’m very surprised that more are not tapping into these applications as marketing tools. After doing a little research I came across a few companies that are using social media for co-creation. Co-creation is all about transforming innovation through the help of consumers. In the past companies use various methods such as focus groups and surveys to generate consumer feedback. Now with social media there is a wealth of opportunity to not only be more efficient but to gain a much more representative sample of consumers.

I found quite a few companies that have dedicated websites for consumers. The five companies I looked at were Unilever, P&G, Dell, Siemens, and Starbucks. An example of one of these initiatives is www.mystarbucksidea.com. I had no idea this website existed before and was completely amazed by it. Any consumer can go to this site and register an idea for Starbucks. There are more than 60,000 product ideas listed on the site. With so many consumers registering their ideas, how can Starbucks ever sort through them all? Well Starbucks came up with a brilliant voting/rating method. All the ideas are sorted according to a category and users are able to vote for their top choices. The tag line on the website says “Share. Vote. Discuss. See.” After consumers vote on their top choices, there is a clear ranking system so Starbucks marketers waste no time in finding the best ideas. Moreover Starbucks has even taken the top ideas and implemented them! So consumers can “see” the results and they know that they are being listened to. How cool is that? I am so excited that I plan to add my own idea to the site.

Dell has a similar website called www.ideastorm.com. This site was launched in February 2007 and since then Dell has implemented over 400 of the ideas. Examples of ideas that got launched include the Product (RED) campaign (for HIV/AIDS) and backlit keyboards for laptops. Dell was able to harness social media to not only get feedback for new products but to also make improvements on existing ones. Consumers are empowered to ask for change instead of complain. This in turn develops a more loyal customer base and customers also feel like they are being listened to when they see results.

I’m currently working with a company on a consulting project. For confidential reasons, I’m not going to state the company’s name, but it is a small company trying to launch products in the hair care market. The company’s current website also functions as a community network where users can share articles, link to blogs, and post comments about various products used. One of the questions asked in “Groundswell” was why do people choose to participate in a forum (ratings & review)? One reason people choose to participate in such a network is because they want to “Pay it Forward”. In other words, consumers find a review or something else helpful and so as part of the community they decide to also provide their own advice.

I’m tasked to solve a problem for this company because they are getting quite a large number of visitors to the website from a particular country. Management is trying to evaluate if they should launch something in that country and if so, they must also determine what products are needed there. It dawned on me after reading “Groundswell” that this company should use social media to solve this problem. They could develop a forum or dedicated page for people from the country they are trying to research. By watching the dialogue of consumers and soliciting their feedback, this will help answer questions about the level of need and which products would be best suited to launch in that market.

Blog 4

For class I read a very interesting article called “What Walmart Knows about Customers’ Habits”. The article notes that Walmart has roughly 100 million customers and it collects data on everything purchased. Walmart knows exactly what people are buying by state, region, and country, and has access to social security and driver’s license numbers if needed. Walmart in my mind is like a “necessary evil”. Despite all the bad feelings people have about Walmart such as how small shops are forced to close down and how communities are threatened, people still shop there and very few truly boycott it. The reason people shop at Walmart is because of the low prices. Walmart uses the data it captures to stock its stores with the right merchandise at the right price. In analyzing the data, they know what customers want, when they need it, and probably even the price threshold that a customer is willing to pay. Moreover, they manage their relationship with suppliers in such a way that they forecast very accurately. So does all this data collection serve as a competitive advantage for Walmart? Definitely, there is no doubt about it. When there is a hurricane coming and you need Strawberry Pop-Tarts and beer, as the article suggested, Walmart will have a competitive advantage if it is the only store in town that still has supply. However, if Walmart takes advantage of this knowledge by increasing prices as well as supply, it will not be looked upon favorably but will still have a competitive advantage.

Let’s face it, as Americans we can be lazy. We are spoiled. We don’t want to pay too much for things and we like it when people anticipate what we want. Some fear that Walmart has access to too much personal data, but does it matter? Is the tradeoff of having all your needs catered to worth giving up your credit card information or shopping habits? I’m not too worried about this – maybe because in this generation our lives have gone completely digital anyway. It seems like there is no way to guard personal information anymore. The internet has made everything so accessible. People can even see a picture of my house if they type my address in Google. It’s scary, but it’s a reality. I would rather have Walmart collecting my personal info than some random person. I guess I somewhat trust Walmart’s integrity as a business – knowing that its management may exploit the information but at least it will be for business purposes. If they decide to take advantage of people and use the data for other reasons, then I trust that there will be a pretty big revolt by consumers. People may not stop shopping at a store because of poor customer service, but if there is a larger reason that touches upon values then it will have an effect.

It’s surprising; however, that Walmart is not doing more to target consumers’ needs. Maybe this is because I feel that Walmart doesn’t meet “my needs” since I’m not the target consumer. I know that I’m not the target persona. Personally, I don’t like shopping at Walmart because of the large crowds and sometimes rude customer service. I also find it difficult to find certain higher quality products. I tend to shop organic and natural. Even though Walmart does stock such products in its grocery and cosmetic shelves, it doesn’t have the same selection as Target does. In addition, when I do find a product that I need in this category, it is really not that much cheaper. So in the end, I prefer to go to Target because at least I can find what I need there at a reasonable price. If Walmart wanted to, I’m sure it could try to appeal to people like me. Walmart could use the large amounts of data to understand how to draw me in – from end of isle displays to special offers. However, from what I can see, Walmart is really not doing this or doing it well. A possible explanation is that even though Walmart is a “giant”, it still has to position itself against competition - which maybe means not going after the entire pie.

As I conclude my rambling about Walmart, I would like to come back to that notion of it being a “necessarily evil”. If you doubt that consumers think this way, that may be plausible, but suppliers definitely do. Even the article hints at it. A supplier knows that landing a deal with Walmart is a huge potential for profit. At the same time, Walmart knows that it is in command and controls everything including the margins. So it really isn’t a win-win situation. It’s a win for a Walmart and a so-so win for suppliers. The best comparison I can think of is when I had to sell my 2 year old car urgently because I was moving to a new job in England. When I sold it, I was happy to finally find a buyer, but I had to give in on the price. I felt the car was worth so much more, yet under the circumstances I had to relax the price. I’m guessing this is how suppliers feel. Sure they have the comfort in knowing that they will have to make less effort in forecasting (since Walmart will provide numbers from customer data) but in the end they probably feel like all the pain didn’t give the best gain.

Is Walmart the ideal company to lead all others? In the current market, I think it still has a long ways to go. However, Walmart is trailblazing in a new area as the largest retail giant ever. I hope it will use its power wisely and live up to a high integrity.

Blog 3

For this third blog post, my assignment from class is to explore a potential topic for my final paper. I don't know why, but the first thought that came into my mind was "granola bar". I'm not sure if this is because I am a foodie (as you can see from my previous blog post) or because I always begin writing this blog before dinner...

Anyhow, I was reminded of a meeting I had last year with a customer insights marketer from a well known CPG company. He described in detail how they had created a persona for their granola bar and told me about some of the insights that happened along the way. The marketing ads for this product make it appear as a high energy/active sort of bar, but in actuality it is not really for a person who is an athlete but only for the type who aspires to be one. The marketers recognized that the target customer was not the athlete who needed a product with high carbohydrate content, but instead was someone who wanted a healthy product that could inspire. In this case, the company gleaned the right insights from the product’s marketing persona and the bar became a great success.

Along these lines, my initial thoughts were to explore the “Larabar” which caters to people on raw food diets. It has successfully launched into many channels and was eventually acquired by General Mills. I searched for articles on their strategy but didn’t find enough information. During my search, I embarked on the “Clif Bar”. Clif Bar & Company is “a leading maker of all-natural and organic energy and nutrition foods and drinks, including the organic certified CLIF® BAR energy bar”.

The company was founded by Gary Erickson who decided to create an energy bar because he wasn’t satisfied with the existing bars in the market. The first energy bar he made was launched in 1992. Clif Bar & Company has had phenomenal growth. In 1999 they launched a bar especially for women and continued to create niche products. The company has a very “green” philosophy. The products are all natural and as organic as possible. Below is a picture of the Clif Bar product.

So why do I want to write my paper topic on Clif Bar? Clif Bar is unique because when it was first launched, no other energy bars catered to their target customer like they did. Their main competitors at the time were Power Bar and Balance Bar. In the article by Pollack, listed at the end of this blog, we find that Clif Bar & Company really needed a strategy that was unique to face their large competitors. In doing so, they had to understand their customer so well in order to make the right choices with limited marketing and advertising budget.

My paper topic will be “Clif Bar: How Understanding your Customer is a Key to Success”. I may change the topic slightly as I do further research. My goal is to explore what lead Clif Bar & Company to make the consumer choices that they did. What was their strategy? What type of persona did they create? How did they build customer loyalty and awareness? Additionally, I want to research their competitors. How is it that Clif Bar seems to have hit the target but their competitors missed it? What were their competitors trying to do and what could they have done better? Since Clif Bar was also the first company to launch an energy bar for women, what lead to that decision? What insights did they glean about marketing to women? Finally, I want to gain a better understanding of Clif Bar’s marketing strategies because they seem to extensively use social marketing, cause-marketing, and green marketing campaigns.

To begin with, I’ve found a book that will be crucial to my research: “Raising the Bar: The Story of Clif Bar Inc”. In addition, there are quite a few articles online and available from the library database. Here are a few I've already looked at:

1. Energy bars examine strategy as entries hike competition. Pollack, Judann; Cuneo, Alice Z.. Advertising Age, 11/02/98, Vol. 69 Issue 44, p3-56

2. From Hippie To Hip. Paoletta, Michael. Billboard, 6/23/2007, Vol. 119 Issue 25, p30-30

3. Not Your Father's Snack. Walter, Claire. Skiing, Jan 2000, Vol. 52 Issue 5, p40 (Luna Bar)

4. Clif Bar Goes Global. American Forests, Spring2006, Vol. 112 Issue 1, p12

5. Landmarks. Advertising Age, 04/09/2001, Vol. 72 Issue 15, p40

I am a bit concerned that because there is so much information, I will have a little trouble to limit the scope of my paper. There is a temptation to write too much from a broader perspective without going into enough depth. I also hope to find more articles addressing the marketing and customer insights topics discussed in class. I’m looking forward to reading the story of Clif Bar Inc. and to writing this paper. Now time to go start working on it!

Blog 2

For my customer insights class, I read 3 articles:

1. “Kenna’s Dilemma…” by Gladwell
2. “Turn Customer Input into Innovation” by Ulwick
3. “Metaphorically Speaking” by Zaltman

I found all 3 articles to be quite eye-opening and am so excited about the things I’m learning. I’m not sure if it was because I was hungry while reading the articles or because I had Indian food the night before – but while reading them I kept thinking about examples that related to food!

As mentioned in my previous blog, my ethnic background is Indian. My parents are from the state of Andhra in India, but I grew up my entire life in Oregon. Despite having never lived in India, Indian culture was still very influential in my life especially when it came to Indian food. My mom cooked Indian food almost every day and as I grew older I added Indian food to my repertoire of cooking skills. Although Indian food varies by each state in India, it is traditionally sectioned off as “South” (my parents’ region) or “North” Indian. Because of my interest in cooking and close friends who are from both regions, I would consider myself well versed in both types of Indian food.

In the article “Kenna’s Dilemma”, I found some very important tidbits in marketing and understanding consumer opinion. First, I learned that first impressions of experts are very different from others because they are able to reason out their actions. A non-expert may find it difficult to make sense of something unfamiliar or new, like the Herman Miller Aeron chair when it was first released, so their first opinion may be a misrepresentation of their feelings later on. When thinking of the first example, I’m immediately reminded of the time I took a group on non-Indian friends to a well known restaurant in Maryland called “Minerva”. The menu changes on a weekly basis depending on what is in season and it is also serves authentic Andhra food. I absolutely love it and can compare every taste and texture of each dish to my mom’s home cooking. My friends, who are used to typical “North Indian” food, didn’t like it at all! I was quite surprised, but now I realize that Andhra food was just unfamiliar to them and unlike any other Indian food they had tried before.

I had a similar experience when I first tried Indian desserts. My first impression of Gulab Jamun (a typical Indian dessert that is drenched in sugar syrup) was “yuck this is way too sweet. How can more than 1 billion people in India like this thing?” Well I gave it another chance and later ended up loving it...
The second article stressed the fact that when you ask consumers what they want, they will just give you a solution but not a ground-breaking idea. To create an innovative new product, as a marketer, you need to understand the desired outcome of a consumer and then make sense of it. The methodology given made a lot of sense and I could already see multiple applications for it in my past job at Intel. One of my roles was to start a relationship marketing program for smaller design house engineering companies. I interviewed many customers to learn what they would like to see in a new program and then launched one based on their feedback. Now I realize that their feedback was only based on their current experience and what our competitors had. Had I used the methodology described in this article, I probably could’ve come up with something completely new and never attempted before.

But back to Indian food… the methodology used in this article reminded me of Chicken Tikka Masala. During the 2.5 years I lived in the UK, this dish was everywhere! It’s considered the “favorite national dish” and there is a long-standing claim that it was also invented there. My guess is that one day a chef at a local pub pieced customer feedback together: “they like the chicken”, “they like the spice”, “they like yogurt”...mmm… and as they say in England “Bob’s your uncle, I’m going to make Chicken Tikka Masala!”


The last article I read, “Metaphorically speaking”, was fascinating but a little difficult to grasp. The Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) is all about understanding the deep thoughts and associations someone might have towards a topic. Consumers are asked to collect a minimum of 12 images representing their thoughts and feelings about a topic and then market researchers ask a variety of questions before mapping the results. I was a bit skeptical of the idea at the beginning but as I kept reading it started to make sense. All three articles used different methods, but they each seem to have their place in marketing.

I thought about ZMET and how it relates to a recent purchase I made: “Mother’s Recipe Mango Pickle – South Indian Style”. Immediately I had a mental image in my mind of Andhra pickle just like my grandmother used to make, fresh mangos, relaxing under a palm tree in India, family gatherings, and eating this pickle with dahl. I can also think of nonverbal cues and metaphors in relation to my thoughts about this pickle, but you get the message…

I think I’ve written a little too much about food…. I’m feeling hungry again so I think I’m going to go find something to eat!

My Persona

Since personas should include concrete facts, storytelling elements, and design-relevant or extraneous information, I will attempt to give as much detail as possible about my persona without confusing the reader. There are so many things about a persona that could be studied, but the important thing is for relevant information to be included so one can extract valuable customer insights. My persona most closely fits the “Educated Working Women” segment; however, I can also relate to the “Savvy Career Women” and “Grads”.

SUMMARY

Single grad student who values a balanced healthy life and is looking forward to the next career step.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Female

30 years old

Single

Grad Student (no income)

Makes online purchases

Gives to social causes

Votes democrat

Budget conscious

Avid reader

PERSONALITY

I’m very budget conscious except in a few areas – Donating to charities, travel, books, and healthy/organic products.

What new vegan recipe should I try this weekend?

Once the weather gets better I need to plan a camping trip.

A fun evening with close friends - food and dessert sounds nice.

Staying in touch with friends so is much easier now thanks to Facebook and Skype.

LIFESTYLES

Outdoors

Probably because I grew up in Oregon I love the outdoors. I’m not an extreme sports enthusiast like many Oregonians, but I love being in nature and all its beauty. I prefer jogging/walking outdoors versus the gym. I make a point to try new hiking places around town. Since I love the ocean but it’s too far to travel there in a day, my favorite spot in Austin is Pedernales Falls.

Audio/Video

I own an ipod and all the accessories (car, bedroom, on-the-go etc.). I can’t imagine life without it! Although I am labeled “Gen Y”, being born on the tail end of it is my excuse for not being as tech-savvy as some of my peers. Sure I may be familiar with all the latest tech products, but I’m definitely not an early adopter. I prefer to read and watch the news online. I also buy over 50% of my purchases online.

Healthy Eating

I am a vegan because I love being healthy, both mentally and physically. If I don’t recognize something on a food label then I probably won’t buy it. I tend to avoid processed foods altogether and gravitate towards natural, organic, and local products. My interest in health sparks from my religion as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. Adventists are strong promoters of lifestyle medicine (ie. preventing lifestyle related illnesses such as diabetes through a healthy diet). They are a featured group in the book “Blue Zones” by Dan Beuttner and in a National Geographic Study on the "Secrets of Longevity". I was a vegetarian for many years and then recently decided to go 100% vegan after reading the research conducted by Oxford and Cornell entitled "The China Study".

I love Whole Foods and can spend hours browsing new products (cosmetics and household items too). My favorite restaurant in Austin is Mothers Café. I own a Vita-mix blender and a juicer. I love trying new recipes and am in the process of launching a vegan wedding cake business. Below is a picture of a vegan cake I recently made. The henna design is inspired by my Indian background

Connoisseur

I love art, culture, and staying current with world events. I take advantage of all that my university has to offer – educational lectures, the symphony, theater, museums, and community volunteering groups. I’m also passionate about social causes. A summer internship at the UN opened my eyes to the various humanitarian issues in the world and I hope to one day work in international development. I’ve traveled to over 30 countries and have also lived abroad. I can understand some Spanish and Hindi and speak Telugu fluently.