As the markets for consumer goods continue to mature, so the consumer insight arms race continues to grow in intensity. A whole industry is dedicated to developing ever more powerful consumer insight tools to assist in the identification of the next big thing or the next strategic initiative.
I can’t help but feel we’re missing a trick. We’re all buying the same market data from the same small group of suppliers. We’re subjecting it to the same analyses; we’re excluding the same outliers. We’re screening our ideas with the same subsets of consumers and we’re using increasingly similar ‘best in class’ criteria.
Where’s the differentiation? How can we expect to gain a competitive edge in such a uniform market?
A little deviant thinking is called for, something that we at The Value Engineers have always relied on to help break new ground and to crack the hard problems. Competitive strategy is key component of this, a means of side stepping the consumer insight arms race. By understanding our competitors we can spot opportunities that we, and they, have overlooked. Perhaps more importantly, by contrasting ourselves against our competitors we regain our perspective, we shift the focus back to differentiation.
At The Value Engineers we have developed an approach to competitive strategy and war gaming that does just that. We help our clients understand their market from their competitors’ points of view. We focus on facts rather than established truths or rumour and hearsay. We look at the whole value chain rather than the latest market share figures. And we do all of that with our usual flair that helps ensure that we leave a legacy of competitive strategy within the business.
If you’re interested in finding out more about our approach to competitive strategy and war gaming, or our other ideas for breaking out of the consumer insight arms race then we’d be delighted to help. Please do get in touch.
On Friday November 19th Blackburn Rovers announced that they had been taken over by the Rao family for £43m to become the first Indian owned Premier League club. The BBC article quoted….
The new owners believe their experience in India means they will be able to open a huge new market for the Lancashire outfit. Venky’s director Balaji Rao said the firm intends to “exploit our in-depth knowledge of the Indian market in particular, and beyond that, the whole of Asia” to develop the club’s fan base”.
But what about the local fans? A lot of clubs are following trends of trying to exploit new markets, but what about the actual game day experience and the impact in the home town?
A recent example of local focus can be found across the pond in Chicago where the Chicago Blackhawks went from zero to hero in less than 4 years and won the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Champions in 2010.
Back in 2006-07 the average attendance was 12,727 with the team marketed to Chicago (when you could find it) as “All 4 One”. In 2007 the Blackhawks hired John McDonough as President and he set about changing the internal mentality to a more accessible and community based franchise. Blackhawks, who for years had remained anonymous in the city, started to appear everywhere at community events and begun building links not just with local business but financial institutions such as CBOE. In 2008 they introduced their new marketing campaign: ‘One Goal’. This became synonymous with the Blackhawks and what they wanted to achieve. It became part of every Blackhawks communication and the cornerstone for introducing the players to a city who had for years ignored them.
Backed with increased support, great player acquisitions and top coaching they achieved their “One Goal” in 2010 by winning the Stanley Cup, increasing the average attendance to 21,356 in the process: a 67% increase from 2006-07.
Could this work in the UK? A trend in current football clubs is to largely ignore their historic mottos. Take Blackburn Rovers as an example: their motto is ‘Arte Et Labore – By skill and hard work’.
Surely you can build some community and team spirit around that…
‘Trends on the Horizon’ brings you the latest emerging patterns that we’ve spotted in consumer behaviour and asks how they could be relevant for brands.
As many of you will know our trends practice at The Value Engineers has been going strong for a number of years. Being responsible for identifying and researching sport and exercise trends I could not help but comment on the latest manifestation of the male mid-life crisis; the unstoppable rise of the MAMIL.
This wonderful name - an acronym for ‘Middle Aged Men In Lycra’ - refers to those lycra-clad 30 plus men we are seeing more and more on the roads of Britain at the weekend. Having denied themselves the purchase of the Porsche they have instead opted for an altogether healthier and more holistic approach to recapturing their youth, with the purchase of a souped-up road bike. Instantly recognisable in their tightly fitting lycra and bulging midriffs this new tribe of endurance fanatics have even generated interest in the press of late.
Kirsty Robinson’s summation of moobs to lose and something to prove nicely encapsulates the attitudes of a demographic who are ditching the all too clichéd extra maritals with the secretary for a love affair on the saddle of a super light turquoise Bianchi. Far from being the cheaper alternative, the kit that goes with it can be astronomically expensive. A carbon framed road bike can set you back anything from £2000 to £7000 and that is before you have even begun to think about a list of accessories long enough to make James Bond rage with envy.
Symptomatic of a wider trend which reports certain male demographics as being more interested in expressing the value of their existence on planet earth through lived experiences over commodity ownership, the rise of the MAMIL has already made a mark on the world of brands….
The most recent campaign for Lucozade Energy – with the strapline of ‘Do More’ – siphons elements of the MAMIL mind-set and relates it to a wider audience.
The brand ForGoodnessShakes has built up a core following, riding a boom in endurance sport (particularly triathlons).
Nokia, among countless other brands, have aligned themselves to recognise this life-stage rite of passage with event sponsorship and organisation on an international scale.
The affluence of their target demographic is helpful as it de-limits the scope for servicing their needs. Despite this, if brands are going to convince middle aged soul-searchers to part with their hard earned cash for their goods and services rather than spend it on the wife and kids there is one key point to remember. The trend relies on a search for experience over commodity ownership; the journey is paramount to the destination. For these men it is no longer about how many cars are in the garage but rather how many Ironman events they did last year. Brands that recognise this and use that knowledge in an authentic and relevant way will be those who most successfully attract the attention of the MAMIL.
Strategic wargaming is a critical way to stay ahead of the game. We have developed a range of war tactic cards that help you think about your market in a new and different way. Please see below an example.
Surprise Attack & Ambush
An ambush or surprise attack of an unprepared enemy can provide an advantage and give a physical and psychological blow.
THE SIX DAY WAR, 1967
In 1967, the element of surprise allowed 3 Israeli armoured divisions to capture the entire Sinai Peninsula in just 6 days, against substantial odds.
They knocked out the Egyptian air forces on the ground leaving the Israeli’s with almost complete air superiority.
Implications – What is the last thing that our competitors expect us to do?
For more information on strategic wargaming please contact The Value Engineers.
According to some recent research conducted for Asda, 85% of women worry about the shape and size of their bottoms. This led Asda to team up with ‘bottom expert’ Dr David Holmes and create a new segmentation of female posteriors. His results showed that due to modern day diets and exercise, today’s ladies have evolved in the bottom department and that the traditional “Peach” is no longer the norm. In fact, today’s women have one of four new fruity bottom shapes: “Tomato”, “Potato”, “Pear” and “Nectarine”.
The Tomato – A new take on the peach, with 45% of the women surveyed declaring that this shape was most applicable to their behind. Bigger, plumper, rounder and squishy to the touch the tomato is fast becoming the norm in modern day society.
The Potato – The second most common vegetable shape to have materialised across the nation, with 30% of women falling into this category, is the humble potato. This wide and long bottom is a less fortunate shape; lumpy in parts, it needs careful dressing and attention.
The Pear – The pear shaped figure has now evolved into the pear shaped bottom, narrower at the top and almost twice the size at the fullest part of the behind. 15% of women highlighted that this shape was most applicable to them
The Nectarine – Close to the cartoonesque derrière perfection of two bowling balls pushed together, the nectarine is full, round and pert in appearance. This is a rare bottom, not often seen strutting down the high street - only 10% claiming to own this picture perfect posterior.
Not surprisingly the reserach has created lots of comment, with The Times T2, creating their complimentary segmentation of Men’s bums…
The (Rod) Stewart Bum – once sexy but withering with age
The Gangsta Bum - Often seen in urban areas and popular with youngsters wanted to establish their street creds
The Scratchy Bum - seems to be endemic amongst teenagers and young men who have just left home, probably caused by poor personal hygiene
The Cowell Bum - its generous upholstery belies a mean streak and has a tendency to blow its own trumpet!
All of which remained me of a segmentation of segmentations we did a while ago which also played to a fruity theme…
The Golden Delicious - tried and trusted and fitting to a formula, good if you think you have the same objectives and targets as your competitiors
The Sharon Fruit - expensive and classy but tends to sit on the shelf as no one knows what to do with it
The Dragon Fruit – funky and fabulous, the latest hot ticket but neither practical nor full of flavour
The Peach - fundamentally changes the way your business plans, provides the answers you want tailored specifically to your business
Not too surprisingly, we would say that the latter fits with what we deliver in our segmentation projects. If on the oft chance you are interested in finding out more about our peachy approach to segmentation then please do contact Paul Durrant or Owen Williams. If you have any observations on bottoms, alternatively, I’d be pleased to hear them!
