Improve Their Quality of Life

Great post today from Adrian at Zeus Jones (link) correlating quality of life and brand impact.

"I find that more and more of our thinking is geared around affecting the day-in, day-out. We think more about how a person will use a product or service than how a person thinks about a product or service. We think more about making people feel good about interacting with a brand than making people think good things about a brand."

This got me thinking about our approach as marketers and the value that we bring (or should be bringing) to the table when we devise strategy for a brand.  Great strategy starts and ends with the consumer and how the product or service can improve their daily life.  Great agencies plan for the consumer and dream up ways to change the way a consumer uses a product instead of, as Adrian says,  the way a consumer views the product.  So how do we do this?

1. Talk to the consumer - I know this sounds basic, but there are plenty of companies that think they know what you want and what you need but unless you're selling clothing or music you're setting yourself up to fail.
2. Observe the consumer - Get out there and see what people think of your product in a natural environment.   Surveys and response cards don't scratch the surface when it comes to how people interact with your product.
3. Be flexible - If you're going to talk to and observe your consumers you better be willing to listen to what they have to say.  Pay attention here, I didn't say hear what they have to say, but actually listen to them.  Take their concerns,  likes, dislikes and struggles into account and allow those requests to reshape the product and brand itself.

All three of these thoughts are so basic, but essential to keeping the consumer as the #1 priority.  Don't let the thirst for metrics bog down the fact that you're a consumer too.  Think about what you would want in a product or service and how you would want to be engaged by that brand.  Think about how a product or service can improve your quality of life and then worry about how it's perceived by others. - John Herrington

Photo courtesy of Austin Mann

----------------
Now playing: The Bravery - Rites Of Spring
via FoxyTunes     

Comments

[John Herrington]

Thanks for the preview, Cam. I'd heard about this, but hadn't really looked into it much. Maybe it's just me, but I like being able to bend the pages back, see the stress marks in the spine, dog-ear pages, highlight and take notes. While Kindle gives me ease of access I don't like the tangible nature of having a book in my hands. I'm sure people said the same thing about reading newspapers on the internet, but reading a book is a much more timely process than just reading headlines.

[Jim Stroup]

Speaking as one who never understood why it would make sense to buy stock in a coffee shop chain, I still have to say that I don't understand where the market will come for this product. I have an HP iPAQ pocket computer which I use MS Reader and Mobipocket with to do almost all of my reading - in fact, I've hardly bought anything from Amazon since they stopped selling the digital versions of their books. This PDA does everything you describe regarding notes, highlighting, internet wi-fi connecting, on-page dictionary look-up, etc - plus email, internet browsing, music, and, it's a computer - more powerful than my first several desktops. What's more, this one also happens to be a GPS reader.

And, it's less expensive thank Kindle. So, why would I want to switch?

I certainly agree with your comment about being reluctant to buy a traditional book after getting used to ebooks - they are much easier to read and annotate, and obviously more accessible - but they've been that for me long before Kindle came out.

I obviously don't get it. I wonder if that means I should buy the stock, now?