Russell Davies

which customer is always right?

I heard an interview with Terry Leahy of Tesco the other day. It kept going on about how he'd transformed Tesco by instilling a believe that 'the customer is always right' through the organisation. Which is good and everything. I like Tescos. But that 'the customer is always right' thing is one of the most annoying bromides in marketing.

Because is doesn't get at the really difficult question - which customer is always right? There are some Tesco customers who think Tesco's shouldn't open in their village; are they right? There are some who believe Tesco should use much less packaging; are they right? There is at least one person who believes people called Russell should get free cheese on demand; am I right?

Of course we may all be right, but are we right in Tesco's eyes? Probably not. The tricky decision they have to make is - which of their customers is right? And this is a harder decision than ever now. It used to be fairly straightforward - the people who spent a lot, or had a lot of influence on the business were the people who were right, the heavy users and the influencers. But now, with the rise of the blogosphere etc, there are way more infuential customers than ever (and they're harder to spot) and with the increase in Long Tail economics, your heavy users are harder to spot too.

That's the hardest decision in marketing - which customer is king?

Of course this means you very often have to ignore your customers, even the ones who think they own the brand, and my favourite example of this is Radio 4. The BBC licence fee makes defining who their customers are kind of tricky but I think this forces them back to a really clear sense of direction and coherence for the brand which results in smart, brave decisions.

For instance, there's recently been a furore over Neil Nunes, a new continuity announcer whose Caribbean accent stuck through the mass of Radio 4 RP, subtly tweaking Radio 4's stationality (my favourite ever bit of jargon). In an instant the outraged citizens of Middle England grabbed their headed writing paper and fired up their dial-up modems to denounce this innovation in the usual 'I'm-not-a-racist' stylee. These are Radio 4's heavy users, these are the people who think they own the brand, these are the people who write the newspaper columns and what have Radio 4 done? Basically, they've ignored them. Brilliant. Just like they seem to be ignoring all the people having a go at the Sports Programme in the usual intellectual-snobby way.

Listening to your customers is important, but not as important as knowing who you are, what you stand for and what you want to do.

And lest you suspect I just love Radio 4 because I think I'm the customer who's always right let me point out that despite my protestations they insist on keeping Loose Ends, Any Questions and The Food Programme on air despite them being the most annoying radio ever broadcast.

brockwell lido

We had a brilliant time at Brockwell Lido this morning. It's a fantastic outdoor pool (and more) in South East London that's been a summer retreat for people since 1937. It's brilliant that you can be in the middle of town and swimming and lazing like you're in some Floria resort (the weather helps of course).

Arthur is just starting to learn how to swim, by himself, and he just loves bouncing and playing in the water.

Whether they're in Malibu or Herne Hill, lifeguards know they're cool.

brazil 0-1 france

england 0-0 portugal (1-3 on penalties)

Funny day today. Neil's band was playing at a birthday party and their drummer couldn't make it so they asked me to fill in. So I had to be in a village near Cambridge at about 6 this evening. So I listened to quite a lot of the game on the God-like radio 5. And saw quite a bit of it on the telly at the services. I got to the party in time for extra-time and penalties but the frustration of the inevitable disappointment was increased due to the hysterial shrieking of the quadrennial football fans. (You know; posh people. Sorry, football bitterness brings out the class warrior in me.)

Actually drumming was fun though, I haven't played with a band for years and years (which showed) and I didn't know half the songs (which showed too) but there were about 8 bars there where I almost knew what I was doing.

Dazza trying to remember Sheena Is A Punk Rocker before we played.

Johnny, Nidge and Neil mocking him, helpfully.

The view from the drum stool.



Neil is so rock and roll.

thinking allowed

As you can probably tell I'm starting to get anxious about this thing - which is on Wednesday. Many of you have left helpful suggestions and I had a very nice chat with Chris about it last week (though I think I spent most of my time complaining about how much I hated university) but I'm way behind where I normally am three days before a presentation.

And just now, it struck me why. It's because I've never spoken about brands and blogs in public before. I've got no stuff, I've got no fall-back material, no oft-used examples or can't-miss bits of video.

I often think a planning career is a bit like that Jerry Seinfeld movie - Comedian. This is the tale of Jerry trying to construct a new act after vowing never to do any of his old material. He goes out night after night doing five minutes here and there, finding stuff that works, discarding stuff that doesn't, until he's got enough to constitute an act. It takes a long time. And that's what a planning career is like. Do it for long enough and you get an act. You get some examples, some anecdotes and some theories, which you regurgitate again and again, tailored to fit the situation you find yourself in.

That'll do for me.

Except on Wednesday I'm starting from scratch. I'm talking about brands and blogs, solely on the basis that I have a blog. Hence the nervousness.

Anyhoo, I've been thinking about it for a while and just now I've been sketching some themes out in Inspiration and some of them are starting to make some sense. And I thought, since some of you are often kind enough to help I thought I'd float some of these ideas past you and see if you can make them better/cohrenent/not stupid.

It also just occured to me that loads of people reading this have probably already seen or even done, exactly this presentation, with a ton more expertise and wisdom, so putting these thoughts out there risks me looking a bit naive. Oh well, that's what blogging's all about.

Thought One - blur

I've been asked to talk about this stuff, mostly, because I have some blogs. My personal interest is becoming part of my professional expertise. There's a blurring of life and work. That blurring idea seems to be something that brands are going to have to get used to and blogs represent.

Blogs blur the line between employees as corporate mouth and employees as people. Blogs work best when they're expressions of real personalities, not when they're written according to corporate guidelines.

Blogs (and the marketing 2.0 world they represent) also blur a lot of the traditional silo lines between disciplines and business activities. Perhaps the most interesting blurring is in the line between marketing and services - but I'll come back to that later.

So I thought I'd open with blur. That'll have them rolling in the aisles.

Thought Two - blog as 2.0 instructor

Here's the simple version - blogs are to Marketing 2.0 what TV commercials are to Marketing 1.0 (whatever that 1.0 and 2.0 means).

By which I mean - in the old world, if you got your bit of brand film right you'd proabably worked out most of the things you'd need to know in order to get everything else right. If you've got a functional TV commercial (always remembering that 90% of the time people don't have a functional TV commercial) then you've probably got your strategy right, you've got some sense of how the brand should look, feel and sound. You know a little about its voice. You can probably go off and do some decent print and posters, maybe some DM and a shelf-wobbler.

And I think the blog does the same thing for Marketing 2.0. Get the blog right and you've probably worked out how multiple people will express the brand voice, through words and pictures other stuff, you've probably learned how to be open, you're probably having real conversations with people and you're learning how that works, your lawyers and IT people are probably a little more relaxed than they were 6 months ago about copyright and virus issues. Your people and your organisation is learning to trade control for influence.

There are a few reasons why the bit of brand film will continue to be a crucial part of the communications repertoire...

(1. Nothing is as easy and effective to present as a TV commercial, they work really well in board-rooms and employee meetings, have you ever tried to talk a bored board through an event plan or a website schematic. 2. When they work, which is very rarely, nothing is as high leverage a communucations asset as a good piece of telly, the effect you can have, versus what you put in, is yet to be beat, if you know what you're doing - Richard H points this out a lot and he's right)

...but I suspect the blog is going to sit alongside it in most marketing textbooks as a 'lead tool'.

(And there have to be lead tools. You have to start somewhere. I hate this way people have taken 'media neutral' to mean that every channel is equal. Some are better than others. Especially when you're trying to scuplt an understanding of a brand in your own head or your own organisation - some channels/media are better clay than others.)

So that's thought two - blogs are important because getting your blog right means you'll be more likely to get a lot of other 2.0 stuff right too. There won't be a dry eye in the house.

Remaining thoughts will have to wait. World Cup build-up is about to start. More tomorrow.

warc and  engagement/attention

coffee, plans

One of the things I like about blogging is that if I announce something on here then I'm quite likely to do it. Wheras if I say I'm going to do something in real life it's a virtual guarantee that nothing will happen.

So here are a couple of intentions: since there seems to be competing demand, and I'm lazy, I'm going to do alternate weeks of video diary thing and audio podcast thing. With the occasional interview thrown in. It would really help me do this if you could send me some questions via that 'send me an odeo' button on the right. Seriously.

Also, if I'm doing the audio podcast thing does anyone have any music that they've made that they wouldn't mind my sticking on that. I'd love to broaden the ear-terrain a little, I know quite a few of you make music - anyone up for it?

I really enjoyed Coffee Morning One, so I/we will be at the Breakfast Club again on Friday, but the following week I'm going to be in Manchester, so does anyone fancy joining me for Coffee Morning North (FAC 452) on Thursday morning - the 13th? Can anyone suggest a venue?

Er, that's it. Oh, except the picture above is of some excellent cakes that Anne made for the school fair. Good, aren't they?

meanwhile...

...for those that care about my other life there are new entries at eggbaconchipsandbeans and agoodplaceforacupofteaandathink.

italy 3-0 ukraine

germany 1-1 argentina (4-2 on penalties)

coffee morning one

Coffee morning was a great success, though my photography doesn't really do it justice. Since I took bad photos and failed to even photograph most of the people who turned up. Sorry.

I was very prepared for no-one to turn up, that would have been fine, I'd have done some email and written a presentation, I was very worried about 30 people arriving, that seemed unlikely but would have been startling. As it was numbers were just right.

No-one at all until 11.20 when Will arrived with a very nice Canadian chap who's name escapes me (very sorry, isn't that bad of me?). He reminded me how much I like Canadians (a lot) and that it's Canada Day tomorrow (Must do some kind of celebratory post). So we chatted for a while and I probably patronised them like crazy which is what I do to anyone under 39.

Then, just as they were leaving, David, Tony and Jon all arrived. More pleasant chat ensued. Picklin Paul briefly showed his face and brought me some free piccalilli which frankly has justified my entire three years of blogging all on its own. (Currently enjoying the piccalill in front of Germany v Argentina. Delicious). Definitely come back next week Paul.

Then Patrick and Carol arrived. More pleasant chat. Then everyone went off about their business. Brilliant. (I've not missed anyone have I?)

Next week, same bat time, same bat channel. All are welcome. No agenda. Just pleasant chat.