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Hello. I'm Stacey Pilcher. I am a strategic marketer and brand consultant who is passionate about helping my clients build their businesses.
I started my business in 1999 and believe inspiration comes from within - and also within the Grand Canyon - that's why you can find me hiking there every year.
I started this blog to help my clients think about new opportunities. How can I help you?
Walk in another’s shoes.
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Today, I was reading a review in The Wall Street Journal of the new book Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh, the 36-year old founder and chief executive of Zappos. As the title indicates,he attributes some of the success of Zappos on the company’s approach to customer service, or “delivering happiness.” I’d like to read more.
One of the best things to come out of social media is teaching companies the impact customer service has on a brand. Social media has made our transactions transparent. Those companies that embrace social media and customer complaints, as well as compliments, are finding that honesty truly does build brand equity. Even consumers know that not everything is perfect all of the time.
So take a walk in your customers’ shoes, who knows, after ten years, you might be able to sell your company for $1.2 billion, just like Mr. Hsieh.
Tags: brand building, consumer experience, social media
Posted in 2010, Strategy | No Comments »
Monkey see, monkey do. How the consumer experience drives brand equity.
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
In the early 1990s, while studying the brain activity of monkeys, neuroscientists discovered specific neurons would fire in a part of the brain’s frontal lobe with specific activities. What they also found was the same neurons fired in the monkey who was just watching the action. Mirror neurons let the observer experience at least part of the action taking place.
More recently in Daniel Goleman’s book Social Intelligence he says our brain is designed to make connections. If someone is angry with us, we have a similar reaction. If someone smiles at us, we become happier. “The fact that we can trigger any emotion at all in someone else–or they in us–testifies to the powerful mechanism by which one person’s feelings spread to another.”
Human actions and emotions register in others and in a profound way provide the power to change those that observe. How companies look, act and communicate with customers, then, has a great effect on their brand equity. An empathetic voice, a smiling face, and confident actions will go a long way in building trust.
This research reminds me how important it is in marketing to paint a picture and tell a story to customers – to make an emotional connection. And how easy a positive connection could be lost with a negative interaction.
Tags: brand development, brand equity, consumer experience, marketing
Posted in 2010 | No Comments »
How to Say “Good Luck” in Japanese?
Monday, April 26th, 2010
Culture has a great influence on how people communicate and process information. The Japanese culture is clearly steeped in tea. So how much of a challenge has it been to sell coffee in this country? In the 1970s Nestlé first asked this question. They hired Dr. Clotaire Rapaille, a market researcher and psychologist to help them determine the answer. What Dr. Rapaille found was that the Japanese had no connection or “imprint” to coffee. Without personal or cultural reference to the product, any attempts by Nestlé to sell to adults would likely fail.
So, Nestlé began by introducing coffee flavors in candy for children, to create an “imprint” so later in life these individuals would have a positive emotional response to the idea of coffee. In 1970, coffee sales in Japan were nearly non-existent; today Japan is the world’s third largest importer of coffee.
Speaking of culture, candy and Nestlé, the BBC reported the popularity of the KitKat bar among Japanese college students at exam time. Was it the green tea or cherry blossom flavor that boosted sales? Not entirely. It seems that the name KitKat is close to a Japanese expression “kitto katsu” meaning “I hope you will win” and used by students to wish each other luck before finals.
KitKat bars not only taste good, but are a good luck charm. What a perfect blend of culture, communication, and candy! Delicious.
Tags: consumer experience, consumer perception, marketing
Posted in 2010 | No Comments »
Take a hike, find your creative presence.
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
Where do fresh insights come from? Why is it that you get your best ideas in the shower or outside the normal work environment? New or novel stimulus is what scientists say wake up your system. Why? Apparently your brain always looks for shortcuts to process information, or in other words categorizes information into the familiar. The best way to wake up your imagination then is to find the unfamiliar and challenge the frontal cortex.
When jazz musicians are engaged in improvisation, a large region of this part of the brain involved in monitoring one’s performance is shut down, while a small region involved in organizing self-initiated thoughts and behaviors is highly activated. Researchers believe that this is likely to be a key indicator of a brain that is engaged in highly creative thought.
The same is true when you pretend you are a child. Psychologists Darya Zabelina and Michael Robinson of North Dakota State University told two groups of undergraduates to “Imagine school is canceled, and you have the entire day to yourself. What would you do? Where would you go? Who would you see?” The group that was also told to also “Imagine you are 7 years old.” scored much higher on creativity tests.
Phoenix Mountain Preserve Spring 2010
According to Gregory Berns, neuroscientist and author of Iconoclast just putting yourself in a new situation can make you see things differently and jump-start your creativity. So next time you feel stifled, do something you’ve never done before, or simply take a hike. That’s what got me thinking about this post.
Tags: creative thought, creativity
Posted in 2010 | 2 Comments »
Got a Light?
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
Advertising has taken many shapes and forms over the years and is constantly changing due to technology and culture. Who would have imagined when Al Gore “invented” the Internet that the interface would become a platform for advertising and social media?
One unique medium to fall victim to both technology and culture in the 20th century has been the matchbook – wonderful miniatur
e pieces of advertising, art and memories. They were first commercially produced in the 1890s in the United States. But it wasn’t until the 1940s that they began to reach commercial success as an advertising medium. Matchbooks served as reminders of products, restaurants and destinations for nearly five decades.
Smoking was cool back then, too. Just watch the popular TV show Mad Men for five minutes.
But in 1968 the first anti-smoking campaign ran in the U.S. Within three decades, the number of smokers was reduced by 50%. This was a true cultural shift. Today, smoking is even banned from restaurants and bars. To make it even more difficult for the little matchbook, technology changed. Disposable lighters flooded the market and the matches became archaic.
Now an art form for collectors, the matchbook holds a unique place in history. Will Facebook one day stand by its side? You can count on change as the only constant in marketing, and in life.
Tags: advertising, marketing trends, social media
Posted in 2010 | No Comments »
Can Tools Change Trends?
Monday, March 1st, 2010
What sounds better? Music played from a CD on a high fidelity stereo or music played through an MP3 player or iPod? According to research conducted at Stanford University by Professor Jonathan Berger, today’s iPod generation prefers the sound of digital music. For the past eight years students have participated in an experiment where they rated a variety of audio formats while listening to the same song. He found that in fact, over time, there was an increase in preference for the music played digitally. Their experience changed their perception.
In 1913 the Italian psychologist Mario Ponzo created this image and illusion, where the top line appears to be longer. 100 years ago, he thought it was because how our brain interpreted the space on either side of the lower line. However, new theories on how the brain works suggest the perception is due to our experience. In this case, our experience tells us that the vertical lines are receding, like train tracks, meaning that the horizontal line at the top is longer. Not the case – but it is our perception.
These findings remind me that all consumers have past experiences that help define their reactions and decisions. Knowing just where they are coming from will help us move them in a new direction. The iPod generation believes that digital music is great, not to mention they can carry thousands of songs in a device the size of a match book. Oh, do you remember those? Matchbooks – a great advertising tool from the 1940s.
Tags: consumer experience, consumer perception, marketing trends
Posted in 2010 | No Comments »
Quack Marketing
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Yesterday while reading the ever serious Harvard Business Review, I really quacked up.
A piece expertly written by the CEO of Aflac, Daniel P. Amos entitled “How He Fell for the Duck“ was the culprit. It was about how he fell for the duck, how the duck grew the business and how the duck went global. It reminded me how important it is to approach marketing with an open mind.
FreeFoto.com
Not that a duck, or for that matter a gecko is right for every client’s marketing campaign, but being safe usually is not a big winner either. In marketing moving forward with calculated risk is a good thing.
Calculated? Think of a game of bridge. It is defined as a game of skill and chance. Decisions are made based on the players’ knowledge of what has already transpired and their tactical abilities. The style and demeanor of each team factors into the play, and of course the luck of the draw. In marketing we are faced with much of the same challenges.
1. Know the market – What has already transpired and what is the projected environment?
2. Recognize the advantages – What makes your company/product/service special?
3. Study the consumer – What are their motivations and why are they relevant?
4. Set objectives – What are the desired results of the campaign?
All these questions help assess risk. But how much risk should you take? Mr. Amos said, “Don’t risk a lot for a little; don’t risk more than you can afford to lose; and consider the odds.” The duck debuted on New Year’s Day 2000. If you are risk adverse, play it safe. Puppies and cute babies are always a sure bet.
Tags: advertising, global marketing, marketing, risk
Posted in 2010 | No Comments »