Category — consumerism

I attended a conference this past week and was surprised by the experience in one of the sessions. Although the topic was a good one, the speaker seemed knowledgeable and the audience was enthusiastic, the outcome was basically a train wreck.

I have given a lot of thought as to what happened and tried to analyze where things went wrong – after all, I spend most of my time working with groups of people and my goal is to build business and nonrpofit partnerships. How could a seemingly positive setting with positive participants have a negative outcome?

Here’s what I think: the speaker couldn’t find middle ground with his audience because he didn’t give enough thought to WHERE we all started. Let’s take my train wreck analogy a bit further. Assume that you are driving a train on the tracks and you want to have a successful trip. Maybe you even want to add more passengers to your train along the way. Well, both goals require that you know the LOCATION of other trains and potential passengers – right?

In this session, the leader had a very clear perspective on his topic and, as it turned out, it was not the same perspective as most of the people in the room. He started right in with his material and laid out his “tracks” to success. The problem is that the other people were coming from other directions and his “tracks” didn’t reach them from the start. We couldn’t catch up becuase he didn’t give us the resources or guidance to make the trip.

Lesson learned? Any partnership, whether a learning environment or a business partnership, begins with a roadmap (or train map) and maps only help you to find the place where you can meet others and find agreement if you know from where each participant starts the journey. Ask questions, do your research and know your environment – then we can find common ground.

I have a great friend who owns a Smoothie King  franchise and is always thinking about business.  As a native of Nashville, he has connections that go all the way back to elementary school – and smartly keeps everyone aware of his stores and products.

He never pushes too hard – no one runs when they see him coming as far as I know – but when you think of Tom, you think of Smoothie King. He knows his goal and lives it. If you ask any successful business person or nonprofit leader, they will tell you the same. You must be your own best advocate and your best advertising.

This is one of the reasons that consumer based marketing and cause marketing are so effective. Better than advertising on television or expensive four color print, your friends (old and new) tell your story with enthusiasm and truth.

So, in the best or worst economy, the same practices hold true… love what you do, build relationships with vision and passion, and create your own personal army who will do the same.

I had the chance last week to speak to a group of young professionals interested in nonprofit leadership about the power of a nonprofit brand. In some ways, it might be closing the barn door after the horse is gone. However, it is still a powerful message: Your brand can save you during difficult times.

Whether you run a billion dollar corporation or a small neighborhood nonprofit, you “are” your reputation. The brands that we trust are our comfort and the backbone of our self image. The less robust brands are blurred even more when we are choosing consumer spending and charitable giving in a tight economy. This is even more true when we try to combine our brands through the strength of cause marketing programs and partnerships.

American Marketers Association defines a brand as basically the logo, icon or image that provides a visual representation of your company. I don’t disagree with this but I don’t think it goes far enough. A strong brand speaks to your audience in an emotional and very personal way.

I drink Diet Coke – not Diet Pepsi. Why? Well, I like the taste but it’s also a brand that means more to me. I remember the group of people trying to “teach the world to sing” on top of a hill and my aunt once had a vintage coke machine full of those wonderful little glass bottles.  Coke tastes better in little glass bottles.

So, even when times are not their best, your brand can evoke strong emotions, revive positive memories and instill confident. Maybe it can also make you smile.

This past week, I took my daughter to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon for Spring Break.  In all, we had a great time. The hotels are gorgeous and the shows were wonderful. I couldn’t help but wonder about the tourism industry in the current economy and particularly noted that the MGM family of hotels has been in the news as facing troubles.

So, with one eye on my vacation and one eye (well, at least part of the time) on marketing, I noticed one really annoying thing: the aggressive expectations for tips.

As a general rule, I am not opposed to tipping for good service. In fact, I worked my way through college waiting tables and I know that I needed those tips to pay my rent and buy food. I also know that the business structure of restaurants is designed for all but the tiniest bit of base pay for servers to come from the customer. My questions are WHEN and WHY does it seem that so many businesses now expect the consumer to tip for even basic service?

For example, it cost me almost $15 in tips just to get my luggage from the hotel room to check-in at the airport. First, the grumpy bellman who held our bags wanted a tip to check them in, then the bellman who retrieved the bags and called our taxi waited for a tip, then the taxi driver expected a tip and FINALLY the sky cap at the airport even had a sign out requesting tips.

I’ve had the same experience more often recently even at home. There is a tip jar at the coffee shop counter – they aren’t providing me with special service, they are working a cash register. We are even expected to “tip” the teachers at school and the office staff with special thank you gifts. – not just to recognize exceptional effort, but as a matter of course.

Mediocracy should not be rewarded – excellence should. The best businesses and their best employees gain my thanks and my tips without hesitation. I also remember those businesses and people who didn’t earn either.

I’ve been reading a lot the past two weeks about concerns for the future of eco-chic or, as some are calling it, eco-nomics. For the past few years, the IN thing has been environmentally conscious consumption. This has appeared in every consumer segment from fashion design and housewares to hybrid cars and organic produce.

So… the question is now being raised whether our commitment to such things is only skin deep – or should I say pocket deep? When there is less money to spend, will we revert to our cheapo, pre-packaged, junk up the landfill former selves? My thoughts? Probably.

I do think that we have made some lasting change in consumer trends. In fact, this belief is at the very core of cause related marketing and cause branding. We hope that affiliations between good couses and good brands makes a difference. These differences, according to research, will have the greatest lasting impact with younger consumers who are still developing consumer behavior and brand preferences.

Still, these choices are self-conscious and deliberate. Consumers describe themselves as making an effort to choose brands with CRM ties and to give themselves a check in the “I did good” box each time. The concern is which box will carry the most weight when debt is high and credit is low.  Personally, I’d love to buy organic all of the time but I sometimes end up buying the frozen veggies on sale that week.  I also want to buy the cosmetics that support a breast cancer awareness cause but I’m still sorely tempted by the brand with the two-for-one sale.

Maybe we need to develop something like a green piggy bank… where we can serve two masters at once. I haven’t figured that out yet but I’m working on it.

There is an article in The Tennessean this morning about parents doing without purchases for themselves so that their children do not feel the pinch of the tight economy.

One mom says in the story that she has cut her travel to marathons, family vacations, clothes purchases and even lunches during the work week so that she could afford to buy her children things like fancy shoes and a new bike.  Mind you, this isn’t so that her daughter has shoes for school, its so that she can add to her collection of more than 50 pairs of shoes. The bike in question cost more than $1,000.

Apparently, some parents feel the need to buffer their children from the realities of the outside world.  I agree that they shouldn’t be overwhelmed with the plight of the stock market or the news of the latest wall street bailout, but is it good for a teenager to live in a bubble where every wish is granted?

I would propose that we find some balance in this as part of our goals to create consumer savvy children.  Just as we hope they will make responsible purchasing decisions – and look at things like social responsibility and philanthropy – I would also hope that they have a clear understanding of “needs” versus “wants.”

How can we encourage philanthropy from this next generation if they consider the buying newest version of the iphone as essential to existence as food and shelter for someone else in need? If they need (and believe they are due) every luxury possible, when will they learn to think of the needs of others?

I know I will lavish what I can on my daughter this holiday season and will pinch pennies elsewhere to do so. However, I also know that she will give to others this holiday season and will enjoy the giving as much as the receiving. That experience is the greatest gift of all.