Sticking the

Feather Connecting Customers in a Connected World Scot McKee, Managing Director, Birddog April. 2012

Connect More Dots Conference, Holland 2012

Presentation for:

Introduction

At the heart of every good story… At the heart of every good brand… …is the customer

Telling the right story

Language barriers Visual disparities Cultural differences

Stories are complicated

English words look like this

Stories are complicated

The world’s strongest �fiber�

French words look like this

Stories are complicated

Le fibre �plus fort �du monde �

American business people look like this

Stories are complicated

German business people look like this

Stories are complicated

The Connected Customer – and a feather up the ass Stories are complicated

Even the way we tell the same story is different

In England to congratulate someone, we say:

Stories are complicated

“Put a feather in your cap”

Stories are complicated

In Holland to congratulate someone, you say:

Stories are complicated

“Stick a feather up your ass” Same story, different customer ‘experience

Stories are complicated

The wider the brand is distributed The harder brand clarity & consistency becomes

Stories are complicated

Luckily, help is at hand: Brand Audience Channels

Key storytelling assets

‘A brand is a perception or collection of perceptions in the mind(s) of an audience(s)’

Use your brand

Your brand is how your audience ‘feels’ about your business/product/service

Use your brand

Brand Values are more than just motivational posters

Use your brand

Brand Values are ‘behavioural’ – implicit in your actions

Use your brand

Brand Values What you ‘do’ has more impact with customers

Use your brand

The hole looks the same if you just keep digging Remember to look up

Know your audience

B2B brands no longer have a single customer Customers (plural) stretch across value chains

Know your audience

The differences are unique to them But the commonality is unique to you

Know your audience

Actually, the highest common value is you

Know your audience

Your brand is what connects your audience(s)

Know your audience

The challenge is to ensure they’re talking to you Not just about you

Know your audience

Every engagement reinforces the brand across connected networks and communities

Know your audience

Think deeper and wider Look for the ‘share’ opportunities

Know your audience

You no longer just sell a product to a buyer You engage connected communities

Know your audience

Your brand: Creates conversation Facilitates discussion Enables connections Extends networks Leads opinion …connects more dots

Know your audience

And that’s before you start your day job

Know your audience

There are the customers you ‘know’

Know your audience

There are the customers you ‘know about’

Know your audience

And then… …there are ‘the crazies’

Know your audience

They know all about you, because they’re crazy

Know your audience

Here’s a typical (and familiar…) example The ‘Turnerminator’

Know your audience

We know quite a lot about the Turnerminator

Know your audience

Mainly, we know he likes hammocks

Know your audience

You can tell he’s crazy because he has a knife

Know your audience

And he goes to places like this… for fun

Know your audience

This is where he sleeps (yes, in a hammock)

Know your audience

This is where he cooks and the crap he eats

Know your audience

These are his crazy friends

Know your audience

And do you know what he loves? What he really, really *loves*…?

Know your audience

What he loves more than his knife…?

Know your audience

What he loves more than screwing holes in ice?

Know your audience

And possibly even more than scaring children?

Know your audience

He loves Dyneema®

Know your audience

He loved the lightweight strength of Dyneema® So he carried a roll on his trip…

Know your audience

And turned it into a sled to haul his pack

Know your audience

I know all this… Because he told the world, online The important questions are: Were you listening? And can you connect the dots?

Know your audience

And what about ‘DarthDude’ in Malaysia?

Know your audience

Mad as a box of frogs

Know your audience

Here’s the big moment…

Know your audience

Yay! Lift-off… or splashdown. (Whatevs.)

Know your audience

What does DarthDude attribute his success to?

Know your audience

To Dyneema®

Know your audience

Even virtual crazies use virtual Dyneema®

Know your audience

Underwater crazies use Dyneema® to ‘fly’

Know your audience

Tree cutting crazies discuss Dyneema® with all their treetop friends

Know your audience

Your customers are no longer just ‘businesses’

Know your audience

They are communities that *love* your product

Know your audience

But they need your *brand* to connect the dots

Know your audience

In the past, we used advertising to connect, but customers no longer want to be ‘told’

Changing channels

Traditional advertising isn’t working

Changing channels

In 2005, ad revenues fell off a cliff It’s also when social media exploded

Changing channels

A decade later, revenues are sill in decline Traditional comms have regressed 60yrs

Changing channels

The only increased circulation - Wall St. Journal

Changing channels

Because it connected with customers… online

Changing channels

So the audience has moved online To connect, brands need to move with them

Changing channels

By connecting within customer communities

Changing channels

But organisations are scared of Social Media…

Changing channels

So by playing safe, the emotional connection between brand and customer is lost

Changing channels

And yet the main opportunity of social media is emotional connection

Changing channels

Remember that emotions come from people, not places or brands And people in social places, connect like this…

Changing channels

This is Prycie

Changing channels

Prycie wanted to know my ‘fav animal’

Changing channels

The giraffe had been taken

Changing channels

But the Pushmepullyou hadn’t…

Changing channels

So Prycie sent me a left-handed drawing

Changing channels

She explained why she was practicing drawing

Changing channels

And shared the early ‘limited editions’…

Changing channels

I liked my picture so much, I blogged about it

Changing channels

And sent my blog to Prycie

Changing channels

She was pleased, and told her whole network

Changing channels

Prycie was really quite… emotional

Changing channels

So she told all her Facebook friends too

Changing channels

I don’t know Prycie We’ve never met The conversation wasn’t ‘work’ But connecting your brand to customers isn’t always ‘work’

Changing channels

I know this, because I know what happened in the 1 minute 30 secs after my blog post…

Changing channels

28 hits in 30 seconds…

Changing channels

47 hits in 45 seconds…

119 hits in 90 seconds

Changing channels

I know where they came from…

Changing channels

… what they looked like, and what they said

Changing channels

That was the first 1 mins. 30 secs. But it didn’t stop there

Changing channels

A connected network keeps connecting

Changing channels

It may appear unconnected, but all roads lead to the brand And revenue

Changing channels

I have Prycie, you have the crazies… It’s probably fair

Changing channels

Put the customer at the heart of your story Stories are complicated so simplify them Use your brand values to guide you Know your (connected) audience

To end at the beginning

Think deeper and wider about communities Listen, learn, connect Emotions come from people Connecting emotion to brands creates revenue

To end at the beginning

Thank you (and be social…)

Scot McKee

http://www.birddog.co.uk http://www.slideshare.net/birddogb2b http://www.youtube.com/user/BirddogB2B https://twitter.com/#!/BirddogB2B https://twitter.com/#!/scotmckee http://is.gd/mckeebooks Photo Credit: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Further Resources

© 2012 Birddog Ltd. 58 Parker Street, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5PZ / +44 (0)20 7323 6666 / www.birddog.co.uk / change@birddog.co.uk

Change Happens

Scot McKee, Managing Director @scotmckee