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Becoming
an Author
By Michael Alan Hamlin
November 12, 2001
No, no this is not another introspective column about
a new book. Instead, it's a column about the role of communicators.
And more specifically, brand communicators. The role of brand communicators
is to manage the brand and keep it strong, which allows the company
to charge a higher price for goods and services competitors may
offer at quality parity otherwise.
The problem with most brand communicators, says marketing
communications consultant (and author) Scott M. Davis, is that while
they spend lots of time executing communication strategies, they
spend too little time thinking about what those strategies are supposed
to accomplish. In Brand Asset Management Davis argues that the AUTHOR
model helps brand communicators stay focused on ultimate objectives,
and how the communications they execute fulfill a necessary role
in achieving those objectives.
AUTHOR of course is an acronym, and it's a pretty corny
approach to making a point. But if you look past the corn pipe,
Davis makes important points that too frequently do tend to get
overlooked. For example, awareness. No brand means much unless the
market is aware of the brand. But it's not the idea that brand awareness
is important that Davis champions, but the way brand communicators
try to build that awareness.
For Davis, the typical brand communicator relies way
too much on advertising and way too little on what I like to call
nontraditional channels of communication. In his recent presentation
here, marketing icon Philip Kotler made this same point. Proliferating
channels of communication have made over reliance on advertising
not just an ineffective strategy for building brand awareness, but
a dangerous one, too.
While advertising remains an important component of
building brand awareness, Davis and Kotler agree that it's just
one of at least six communication channels that should be utilized.
Increasingly important, for example, is public relations, also known
as media relations and corporate communications.
A good indicator that corporate communications is frequently
overlooked is the quality of public relations firms we see operating
in an industry segment or a local market. Take a market like the
Philippines. There are many multinational advertising firms in the
Philippines, but very few multinational public relations firms.
Those that are here aren't really very active, and generally are
here only because a global client demands their presence. So the
local market is an investment (read, financial dark hole) made in
the interest of a profitable global client.
This is true not just in the Philippines, but throughout
Southeast Asia where alternative channels to advertising have until
recently opened very slowly. Increasing competition in local markets
and new technologies are causing this to change. Public relations
provides a cost-effective and significantly more credible method
of building awareness than advertising. Kotler, for example, suggests
that a published article in a respected publication is worth five
to six times what an advertisement equal in column centimeters is
worth. That's the value of third-party endorsement, something inherent
in even a neutral but especially a positive news report or feature
story.
Event marketing and corporate sponsorships are another
communication channel frequently overlooked. This channel is important
because it provides focus on specific market segments, and therefore
higher return on investment than an awareness campaign that relies
exclusively or excessively on traditional advertising. I should
note here that since my firm is in the business of providing non-traditional
communication services like media relations and event development
and production, I'm obviously delighted with Davis' conclusions.
But they are his conclusions, although I am happy to agree with
him.
Promotions seem pretty common enough, but Davis says
they are underutilized as well, especially trade and sales promotions.
Not because there's too few promotions, but because there are too
few promotions that involve sales executives and trading partners
in their development. Because these sales execs and partners are
many companies' front (or direct) lines to the customer, they're
likely to have a good idea at what will work. Just as important,
involving them in the development of promotions helps ensure that
the promotion will be implemented and managed enthusiastically.
Consumer promotions, though, are another matter. That's
because they've generally degenerated into discount contests leading
to thinner and thinner margins, undermining brand equity, and turning
products and services into commodities. There are exceptions, however,
and at least one stands out: refund policy. Yes, a refund policy
is consumer promotion, one that helps build brands because it says
that the company stands behind its product.
Like events, direct marketing channels represent focused,
cost-effective ways to meaningfully and consistently communicate
with core customers and prospective customers. Although direct mail
and catalogues have been around for awhile and the fax is aging,
depending on who a communicator's core customers are new channels
like the Internet and e-mail can dramatically impact brand awareness.
It's popular to sneer at e-communications these days in the wake
of the dot-bust, but take it from this marketer: it works.
There's at least one other channel: employees. Involved,
happy employees are a natural generator of world-of-mouth marketing,
which is right up there with published news and features for credibly
influencing existing and prospective customers. Yet think of the
campaigns that seem to be designed for everybody but the employees.
How often have your heard employees say about campaigns their companies
my be running, "what? Oh, I didn't know that." And think
what that response says to the person at the other end of the conversation.
It's easy to overlook, and even easier to purposely
ignore, these non-communication channels. And many companies will
do just fine nevertheless at building brand awareness. But they
could do better, and with competition increasing, they have to.
Now, how about the rest of that acronym?
(Mr. Hamlin is managing director of the consultancy TeamAsia
and the author of three books on Asian economies and managing in
Asia. His latest book is Marketing Places Asia, which
is coauthored. His e-mail address is mahamlin@teamasia.com.ph.
If you use a Smart/Talk N Text GSM user, you can text a message
to Mr. Hamlin's mailbox by typing the keyword mikehamlin and sending
it to 200.)
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