Hat’s off to Papa Gino’s (sort of)… What worked and What did not work…

September 21, 2009 by

It is not often you see a large consumer chain admit their mistakes, and do so quickly.  The day after a gaff with their online coupon system, Papa Ginos’ sent out the following message.

To Our Valued Guests;

On Monday, September 14th, we offered a “50% off” coupon for on-line orders submitted for that day. The volume of orders exceeded our estimates and we encountered technical problems that many of you experienced. We are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused. We appreciate your business and your complete satisfaction is our #1 priority. Be on the lookout for a special offer from Papa Gino’s that you will receive soon by e-mail. You can be sure that Papa Gino’s will continue to send you great offers. Once again, we are very sorry and we look forward to the opportunity to serve you again.

Sincerely,

Paul Valle
Chief Information Officer
Papa Gino’s

Papa Gino’s and D’Angelo

600 Providence Highway

What was right about this mesasge?

  • Timing – they responded quickly and timely – they did not wait to think about it and formulate a plan, they reacted
  • Personalization – even though they sent this to their mass audience, they signed it from an undividual – making it feel like a “conversation” and personal versus some generic mass message
  • Authority – it was signed from the CIO giving it authority and substance

What was wrong with this message?

  • There is no offer.  Papa Gino’s is constantly sending out offers in their email messaging – that is the purpose of the email distribution – and yet when they make a mistake the only thing they can say is “be on the lookout” – what a great opportunity it would have been to turn the tables completely and make some sort of offer (not much different than they would probably have done in a future email) but tie it to this mistaks
  • No opportunity for response and communication – this email missed on the greatest opportunity – a chance for the company to engage the customer.  What an opportunity that would have been.  And moreso, the customer would have had the impression of talking directly with the CIO.  The company couild have gained incredible insight and also deepend the loyalty of the customer – but instead chose to just leave it with “be on the lookout”

Am I right?  Would most companies make the same mistakes?  Is this just a situation where a company is trying to living in our new online digital world but only knows some of the rules of engagement?

Ok – I just received the follow up email - a great offer – to all of the people on their list they sent out a coupon for a free pizza – well done.  And… the email was a letter from the president and CEO.  One problem -  it was a graphic image only – so again the personalization was lost.  Not to mention the ability for people to say “Thank you” and to use that in follow on campaigns.  But… I guess people are learning about the new world.

Filed Under: General

Marketing 3.0 – the 4 p’s have become the 5c’s

September 10, 2009 by

Recently at CrossTech we have been exploring and thinking through how much marketing has changed with the introduction of social media and the changes in the digital communications landscape. In doing so, it brought me back to my days in business school. While I have clearly forgotten more than I remembered, one thing that always stuck with me was the 4 p’s of marketing. For those who are not aware of them, the 4ps were defined as product, placement, price, promotion. It was said that marketing was a job of managing and manipulating each of these four levers.  An excerpt from Wikipedia flushes out this definition as -

  • Product: The product aspects of marketing deal with the specifications of the actual goods or services, and how it relates to the end-user‘s needs and wants. The scope of a product generally includes supporting elements such as warranties, guarantees, and support.
  • Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including discounts. The price need not be monetary; it can simply be what is exchanged for the product or services, e.g. time, energy, or attention. Methods of setting prices optimally are in the domain of pricing science.
  • Placement (or distribution): refers to how the product gets to the customer; for example, point-of-sale placement or retailing. This third P has also sometimes been called Place, referring to the channel by which a product or service is sold (e.g. online vs. retail), which geographic region or industry, to which segment (young adults, families, business people), etc. also referring to how the environment in which the product is sold in can affect sales.
  • Promotion: This includes advertising, sales promotion, including promotional education, publicity, and personal selling. Branding refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or company.

These four elements are often referred to as the marketing mix,[4] which a marketer can use to craft a marketing plan.

In looking at today’s digital world, it feels like these levers, while important, are not as critical as some new drivers. With the changes in the way that people communicate and with the introduction of a new generation of workers, there is a new paradigm that is emerging.  To be consistent with the idea of 4 p’s, we are calling these the 5c’s.  These 5 c’s are – Contact, Communication, Conversation, Customization, Collaboration.

Since we all understand the definition of these terms, let me explain why these are important -

  • Contact – in today’s marketplace and marketing world, before you can “market” to someone you first need to make contact.  Some referred to it as Permission Marketing – ok – nice overlay – but what it is  really speaking to is connecting with the customer and contacting them in the setting in which them are comfortable being marketed to, and having them acknowledge this contact
  • Communication – I know – we have heard this before – one-on-one marketing , etc – but this is now more critical than ever.  Where it used to be about placement – it is now about communicating.  You cannot blast out your message.  You cannot scream out how important your company or product is.  You need to communicate value – make it clear – and make it simple.  If you cannot communicate value, you will not win
  • Conversation – yes – that is right -conversation.  In the digital age, the customer fully expects to have a conversation with you – albeit digitally – and to receive personal andmeaningful responses.
  • Customization – the digital world has truly pushed the envelope of the “me-world” generation.  While from a business perspective the product or offering may not be “customized”, it is critical that in the eyes of the customer it feels customized to them and their needs and their goals.
  • Collaboration – this is one step beyond customization.  Collaboration talks about bringing the customer in and making them a part of the process.  Looks at what Starbucks is doing with MyStarbucksIdea and how they are collaborating with their customer.

Do you think the 4 p’s are being replaced?  Are the 5 c’s the right levers?  If not, what are?

Filed Under: The Pulse on Marketing