Voices: the CMB Blog

This weekend, my 10 year old Jack sat on our comfy couch with a big screen TV just feet way, but he chose to curl up with the iPad to watch his episode of Star Wars.  In just a few clicks of the remote he could have watched it in HD on a beautiful big screen. I found myself wondering why. Was it a few clicks too many to reach On Demand?  Was it just more convenient to pick up the iPad and watch his show in a few taps? There’s no doubt consumer behavior is changing when it comes to how we watch TV and the big screen doesn’t always win.

This week the Council for Research Excellence (CRE) released a study they commissioned Chadwick Martin Bailey to run to understand the impact of mobile media devices on overall TV viewing behavior. Next week Chris Neal, leader of CMB’s Technology and Telecom practice will be joining Laura Cowan, research director at LIN Media and co-chair of the CRE’s Media Consumption and Engagement Committee at the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) Audience Measurement 8.0 conference to present the results. The conference takes place June 10-11, 2013 in New York City.

This study indicates that Jack is not alone in choosing the iPad over the big screen. In fact the study found the majority of “mobile” TV viewing occasions happen at home—82%  of tablet TV viewing occasions happen in-home and even 64% of smartphone viewing occasions happen here.  One of the key drivers of that choice is simply convenience:  it’s easy, the television set might be in use by someone else, and/or some consumers don’t have the same online streaming capabilities to their TV that they have on mobile devices. Check out more results of the study here.

“Much of the TV being watched on mobile devices is currently being distributed by online subscription services (e.g., Netflix, Hulu),” according to Neal. “There are opportunities for networks, pay TV providers (e.g., cable, satellite, fiber) and content owners to boost their libraries available via mobile devices and make their mobile apps more compelling so they don’t lose audience share as consumer viewing habits change.”

Interested in learning more? Check out the ARF Audience Measurement conference next week in New York and download CMB’s self-funded research on this New Age of Television

Kristen is CMB's VP of Marketing, a mom of two, and enjoys streaming content through Amazon Prime on the rare occasion she can get her iPad from Jack. Follow her on Twitter: @KristenGarvey

If you’re a Patriots fan you know there’s one thing that’s more consistent than Bill Belichick’s one word answers, it’s his mantra: Do your job. We’ve heard it a hundred times, and while it sounds simple, that kind of focus and trust in your team takes not only a special kind of leadership and management, but a clear understanding of the difference between the two.

As we move into this weekend with the highly anticipated match-up between the Ravens and the Patriots it’s clear success runs deep at Gillette Stadium; both rich in history and woven into the very fabric of the “Patriot Way”. It’s about leadership, management, mentoring and culture, but at its core the foundation of the Patriot Way is built on the trust that everyone on the team will “do their job”.

As Tom Brady says in the interview the message is simple: “You do your job so that everyone around you can do their job and when people trust each other you can play with anticipation and confidence.” That’s a pretty powerful statement, both on and off the football field. It speaks to their ability to focus and not worry about what everyone else is doing. There’s a lot that can be learned from the way the Patriots not only lead, but manage their success.

The Kraft family and Bill Belichick have built a culture that not only values leadership and management, but understands the differences between the two.  In a recent HBR Blog Management Is (Still) Not Leadership, Dr. John Kotter discusses this very point. Leadership is not something that is for those at the top of an organization; leadership should be fostered and cultivated throughout an organization. One could argue Belichick is not about leadership (and certainly not about charisma), but more about process, focus and management. He operationalizes success through having the team focus on doing their job. While leadership is something that must start at the top, no organization can afford to have it stay at the top. Listening to that clip it’s clear the Patriots have a deep bench when it comes to leadership.

Since we are Market Researchers and everyone loves numbers to back up observations, here are some numbers to chew on:

10 AFC East titles since Belichick became coach in 2000

5 Super Bowl appearances

3 Super Bowl Championships

To put this into perspective in the previous 40 years before he became coach the Patriots won the AFC East 4 times and lost in their 2 Super Bowl appearances. How’s that for doing your job! Go Pats!

Kristen is CMB's VP of Marketing, a mom of two, loves the Patriots, and is focused on doing her job. Follow her on Twitter: @KristenGarvey

Last week I attended the FutureM conference here in Boston. There were a lot of sessions to choose from and some great speakers, but one presentation was so simple it caught my eye. The session was called Future: Simplicity with Chris Colbert (@cmcolbert) from @hollandmark. The session was an hour and a half, which seemed long, but it flew by and I was even disappointed when it was over.  Chris is a definitely an engaging speaker, but it was the content of his presentation that gave me a lot to think about, both personally and professionally.  His session reminded me even with all the technology available, sometimes “it” just gets complicated; “it” being everything from crafting your value proposition to explaining a TV ad about Massachusetts' Question 2 to your 7 and 9 year old.  Sometimes life is just complicated.  When it comes to the future of marketing, I believe having an eye for simplicity and the discipline to focus are key success factors.Throughout the presentation, Chris saw the simple in the complex, understood the need for focus, valued the currency of time, talked about the human need for comfort, and the fact that comfort is often found in simplicity. I thought a lot about where simplicity breaks down in my world as a marketer, and for me it is often when there is a loss of focus.  I would say I am a pretty goal oriented person and staying focused on those goals and how to achieve them gives me the discipline I need to stay on target. That being said one of the biggest things that can challenge my focus is the sheer volume and variety of data I have coming at me real time. Social, CRM, financial data, customer experience…I have a headache just thinking about the sheer volume of it all.

How do you connect all the dots? How do you uncover the story? How do you focus on the data that matters? It all comes back once again to simplicity and focus.  Focus on the business problem you are trying to solve, the key questions you need to answer and the ability to go from data to insights and deliver those insights in a way that makes them relevant to those who need to make the decisions. That’s a lot of what we do here at CMB.

This brings me to the next quote I jotted down that really hit home; “less is more, but less is harder.” It takes discipline to focus on the one or two things your product or service does really well because the temptation to try to be all things to all people is so great.  It also takes that same kind of discipline to focus on the key data sources and points you need to make a decision, and the confidence tune out the rest.

Simplicity requires focus, and focus often drives results.  This point rang true again in a recent study from the Marketing Leadership Council. They reported the best performing marketers are the “Focusers,” those who prefer depth of focus over breadth. Unfortunately, the same study also found that most CMOs’ are looking for someone very different from the Focuser. They are looking for the “Agile” marketer, those who are early adopters of technology who embrace change and are fast movers. Ironically, the Agile marketer often suffers from lack of focus and fell to the bottom of the list when rated by their manager on performance.

We all desperately need simplicity and focus, but how do you find it within this complex (and growing more complex every day!) world?  The answer is not to rely solely on the “agile” person who embraces every change and is quick to bounce from technology to technology.  Instead, the answer is cultivating a culture where people can be focused, and not become distracted in an ocean of data and by shiny new objects.

Kristen is CMB’s VP of marketing, an adjunct professor at Boston College Carroll School of Management and a mom of two. You can follow her on Twitter at @KristenGarvey

One of the things I love most about the culture of CMB is the passion of our people, inside and outside the office. It inspires me each and every day.   Last week our HR Manager, Marlo Manning was named a CNN Hero for the charity she founded called Fairy Dog Parents. In Marlo’s “spare” time she managed to turn the loss of her beloved dog into a nonprofit that has helped over 400 dogs get the care they need when their owners have fallen on hard times.

Let’s face it, times are still tough for people. When unemployment hits and they are faced figuring out how to care for their family, pay the rent or mortgage and put food on the table, many people are forced to give up their pets. This is where Fairy Dog Parents steps in, easing the financial burden of caring for a dog so they can stay in their loving homes by paying for everything from dog food to vet bills.

A lot of us have ideas on how to make an impact or causes that we are passionate about, but time, jobs, family and “life” sometimes gets in the way of acting on those ideas or causes.  But for some that passion runs deep and inspires them to push on, to make it happen, to follow through and not give up. Passionate people do amazing things which often becomes contagious and inspires others to act.

Another cause we are all very passionate about here at CMB is the Light the Night foundation that supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Six years ago when one of our own CMBer’s was diagnosed with this terrible disease, I was once again taken back by how the company rallied together and acted on their passion to make a difference and support Catherine.  Through the last 4 years as a team we have raised over $35,000 for Light the Night by participating in the Boston Walk. And Catherine has been cancer free for 3 years. This walk has become a CMB tradition, part of who we are as a company and an important way we put our passion to work. We are gearing up for this year’s walk taking place on October 11^th. The CMB team is working hard to raise funds through friends, family and a silent Auction and BBQ. We would love your support for our team, please donate here.

For me personally it’s this passion that runs deep in our culture both in the work we do for our clients and in our personal lives. It gives me inspiration, motivation and my own sense of passion to make a difference. When you are surrounded by people like that every day it becomes contagious and is part of our company’s DNA. It makes us better researchers, marketers, accountants, managers… it makes us all just a little bit more passionate about life.

Posted by Kristen Garvey. Kristen is CMB's VP of Marketing, a mom of two, and an adjunct professor at Boston College Carroll School of Management. You can follow Kristen on Twitter @KristenGarvey

After spending the last few days at Loyalty Expo in Orlando I heard no shortage of different points of view on the future of loyalty and loyalty programs.  From conversations around NPS scores and measures to a great panel discussion on the Socialization of Loyalty run by CMB’s Judy Melanson (@Judy_LC), there’s never been a more exciting time to tap into this topic, and never been more opportunities to create stronger and deeper connections between your brand and your customers.

For me one thing remains clear, points and rewards, while very important, are about transactional marketing, where as true loyalty runs much deeper and is harder to come by.  It takes a different approach to create this kind of connection and penetration into your customer’s rituals. It is a deeper commitment to the brand regardless of what one gets in return.

Think of brands you go out of your way for or even pay more for.  I think of Dunkin' Donuts; I am a Dunkin’ fan through and through, as is my husband. When he travels the first thing he does is go online to see where the closest Dunkin' Donuts is. He even picks his hotel based on the proximity to a Dunkin' Donuts. Why? We run on Dunkin'. It is part of our morning ritual, it has become habit. That kind of loyalty runs deep, and it’s driven by behavior and brand preference rather that points and rewards.

One of my favorite presentations from Loyalty Expo talked a lot about creating this kind of connection.  It was from Michael Grasso of TXU Energy (@TXUEnergy) and Zain Raj (@Zain_raj) of Hyper Marketing. They presented a great case study on TXU Energy’s use of behavioral marketing to create that deeper connection and brand ritual in a very competitive commoditized market.  Hey-if an electric company can do this so can you! In their presentation they outlined these four steps to create a Brand Ritual:

1. Getting the first transaction: Everyone has to start somewhere. The first step is to understand the value equation has changed. Zain says the new value equation is:

  Product features + Customer Service+ Added Value
_____________________________________________

Competitive Price

2. Invite customers into your brand: I think a great example of this is personalized gift cards. Putting a picture on a gift card makes it much harder to throw away and increases the likelihood of reloading the card.

3. Building connections with relevant experiences and innovations: TXU created online and mobile tools to educate their customers about not only how much electricity they used, but ways they can save money on their bill. This move led to the last key to building Brand Ritual for TXU.

4. Align with key values: TXU understands the values that are close to the hearts and wallets of their customers. They created a feeling of partnership by aligning themselves with their customers' values.

As marketers and researchers there has never been a better time to tap into the behavior of our customers, align with their values, and connect with their emotions to create a deeper, richer and more meaningful connection and become a ritual.  

Posted by Kristen Garvey. Kristen is CMB's VP of Marketing, a mom of two, and the top three brands that have won her heart and wallet are Dunkin’ Donuts, Jet Blue, and Apple. Follow her on Twitter: @KristenGarvey