Some Interesting Marketing Guru Observations

“Branding is a topic that can turn a room full of marketers into a herd of experts…owning a brand is like having an orgasmatron, that machine in the film Barbarella” cited in Marketing Payback – Prof Robert Shaw and David Merrick

“I’m not saying customer awareness and brand equity are not important metrics…so before I hand someone £10 million to spend on advertising, I want to see fact-based analysis demonstrating the economic benefits”
Sir Roy Gardner CEO Centrica and non executive
Chairman of Manchester United 2004

“Most firms…prefer to fumble around in the dark. It’s easy to see why: fumbling has a lot going for it. More adventure, creativity, more
surprises and more fantasies. But you may not like what you see when the lights go on”
Tim Ambler 2003 – Marketing and The Bottom Line 2nd ed.

“Do you want fine writing? Do you want masterpieces?
or do you want to see the god dammed sales curve start
moving up?”
Rosser Reeves cited in Ogilvy on Advertising

Deacon: “Dry land is not just our destination, it is our destiny!” Dennis Hopper Waterworld – 1995

Prince Edward Sells Death Benefits of Duke’s Award

One of the pillars of the Marketing Concept is the idea of selling the benefits of your product or service. Benefits relate to the value that the purchaser or user gets from using what is offered.

The recent observation by HRH Prince Edward that there might some allure in the risk of death from participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme is a fascinating case study for several reasons.

The first has to be the lesson it gives to us all about the speed and reach of the digitally connected world. The reputation of any brand can be affected in an instant. Brand identities that have been meticulously crafted over years can be undermined in the time it takes to say something careless.

The second lesson is that there is always a difference between what is said and what it means. As Bandler and Grinder have noted “The meaning of communication is the way it is received”. Whilst the Prince thought he might have been conveying a dark sense of humour his remarks were unlikely to have been heard as ‘funny’ by relatives of Duke of Edinburgh Award participants who had died whilst they were taking part on the scheme.

The third lesson is never confuse an ‘advantage’ with a ‘benefit’. Product and Service advantages are what the seller assumes are appealling dimensions of what is offered. The Prince seems to have ‘fast forwarded’ from a hunch that the demanding and thrilling aspects of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award means that risk of death is a good thing. Oops.

Clearly what has happened is an unfortunate turn of phrase. I’m not sure that Death could ever be construed as a ‘benefit’ when selling products unless you are an arms dealer. I think the Prince is quite right to highlight the appeal of thrill-seeking, and that the DOEA organisers are right to emphasise that the award is about developing individuals as safely as possible. The prospect of challenge and risk must figure as one of the key psychographic choice factors of the target segment who are likely to join the scheme.

There are clearly personal experiential and transformative benefits associated with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and these should be emphasised. The transformative and beneficial effects of Death is perhaps a more challenging ‘sell’.

Find out more at Duke of Edinburgh Award