Voices: the CMB Blog

It’s been accepted wisdom, for the past 10 years, that customer experiences should align with a company’s brand value proposition. Simply put, operations should focus on making sure the brand promises, implicitly (or explicitly) conveyed in market communication, are actually delivered.I recently stumbled across an entire industry that not only isn’t taking this view of brand-experience alignment, it doesn’t seem to realize that experience matters at all. It's not that they don’t care about their customers’ experience once they are customers (they care very much), but they seem completely blind to the importance of experience in the purchase process. Indeed the disregard for this type of experience is so commonplace that I didn’t notice it until I heard about a glaring exception.

I’m talking about higher education. This past spring, I toured many colleges in the Northeast with my 18 year-old son as he went through the selection and application process. Each of these colleges clearly spent a lot of money on sales and marketing. They all had very strong collateral, high quality mailings, hosted events designed to attract students, and I’m sure had a lot of other marketing activities as well. But when it came to delivering a pivotal experience—the guided campus tour, they all completely blundered.

The first tour at a highly regarded small liberal arts school in Maine was typical. It was conducted by an intelligent, friendly student. It would have been a great tour if my son had been primarily interested in how easy it is to make friends, how many good friends the guide has, how she found her art major and the greatness of the creative arts facilities. Of course she talked about other things, but these subjects were where her passion came through.

At another small college in upstate New York, the tour would have been great if my son loved playing Frisbee and wanted to know about all the wacky stuff the kids do to have a fun social life without a Greek system.

These tours weren’t bad, but they didn’t click with my son. He liked both colleges, but the tours did nothing to further his progress along the “journey” to becoming a student.

I didn’t think much of this until I had a conversation with a colleague whose daughter was also visiting colleges, and he told me about their visit to Elon University. He described how great the tour was. The student guide made everyone feel at ease, asked questions, and made sure the tour and conversations catered to everyone's interests and needs. She wasn’t salesy, she took a genuine interest in her charges and apparently tailored tour content on the fly.

My colleague mentioned that on the drive home (after seeing seven colleges) he asked his daughter which schools most interested her. Elon University was one of the three she mentioned. This surprised him because, while a very good school, it didn’t seem to be a particularly good fit academically or socially. His daughter soon came to the same conclusion and dismissed Elon from consideration. It struck him that the tour experience was central to creating such a strong impression. Imagine if Elon had offered a more fitting academic and social environment for my colleague’s daughter, it’s very likely that the tour would have sealed the deal.

So that brings me to my conclusion and recommendation. From my small convenience sample, it seems that most colleges and universities are ignorant of, or are just ignoring, the power of personal experience in the buying process. They spend a lot of time and money moving candidates through the purchase funnel, and then when they’re at the bottom and literally knocking on the door (to mix a metaphor); they fail to give that final little push.

I don’t know anything about how student tour guides are selected or trained. But surely it would be very easy to select the most outgoing, flexible, appealing work-study students, and then give them basic sales training on how to make people feel comfortable, ask the right questions and then tailor their approach to their customers’ needs and interests. Of course they wouldn’t call it sales training.  It could be a short seminar called “The Need for Understanding and Flexibility in Human interaction, 101.”

Rich is Senior VP and Chief Methodologist at CMB, he's the proud father of a brand new college freshman.

Join Tauck's Jeremy Palmer, CMB's Judy Melanson and South Street Strategy Group's Mark Carr on September 12th at noon (EDT) for a webinar: Focused Innovation: Creating New Value for a Legacy Brand

You might call me a CMB “success story” (seriously, go ahead it has a nice ring to it), in a few short years I’ve made the journey from intern to Project Manager. Because I know my way around these parts, I’m often asked to interview Associate Researcher candidates. I like to think I’ve worked here long enough, and in enough roles, to vet whether a candidate is the “right fit for CMB." Through numerous interviews I’ve come up with a few questions I ask all candidates regardless of position. One of my favorites: what is it about you specifically, that would make you an excellent fit for this position?The Associate Research position is quite technical, requiring a strict attention to detail and programming skills in various platforms, so of course, the first thing I listen for is an attention to detail and strong problem solving skills. However, what I am really looking for is the desire and ability to work “in the weeds” as we call it and then surface for air and impart value to the project strategically; someone who is as enthusiastic and engaged in how our work is used by our clients as they are in the work itself. To me, the difference between a good associate and a great associate is one who is not just a worker bee but a thinker bee.  Not only is this beneficial to projects, but the daily work becomes more satisfying when associates are as invested in the meaning of the data as they are in the accuracy of the data.

Recently, I was discussing the Business Decision Worksheet (one of the tools we use to stay focused on how our clients will use their data) when a senior level colleague mentioned that he encourages all levels of employees to take on the work of the level above them. That is exactly the sentiment I want to hear from candidates interviewing at CMB, and it’s exactly why I am not the only “success story” around here.  Encouraging employees to work to the next level, with the support and guidance of the most senior staff, prepares them for the next level, ensuring smooth transitions and a capable project team.

Given that several candidates I’ve interviewed are currently employed at CMB, I would like to think that they were wooed as much by my rousing speech on engaging project work and growth opportunities as they were by the promise of free beer on Friday afternoons.

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Elizabeth is a Project Manager at CMB. In addition to 4+ years of experience at CMB, she has honed her interviewing skills during her work with the Moving Ahead Program at St. Francis House, a 14-week life skills and job readiness program for unemployed ex-offenders and other individuals with histories of substance abuse, homelessness, or mental illness, participating in mock interviews and resume reviews.

Communication has changed. With the growth of the “Social Market,” businesses can no longer rely solely on traditional mediums—television, print, and radio, to win consumers. Consumers are key players in a social revolution that’s changing the way they speak with each other and with businesses.So, what does this mean for Marketing and Customer Development? The way consumers choose products and services has taken a sharp turn, with more decisions driven by word-of-mouth and experiential benefits. From a Marketing perspective, businesses need to focus on pulling customers in by offering targeted, useful, and engaging content, rather than pushing out broad campaigns.

How can businesses take advantage of this two-way communication and connect with customers in a way that drives loyalty and advocacy? One of the best ways is through storytelling.

The 5 Keys to Storytelling

• Stories help us understand the world: Throughout history, stories have been the way people make sense of the world. People thrive on stories to help them put things in perspective and to help them navigate the overwhelming amount of data, facts, and realities that confront them. Stories are one of our oldest mechanisms for security, which is why they are so powerful. If a business can use a story to show how a product/service can be beneficial, people will form a stronger connection.

• It is human nature: When you tell someone about your child or vacation, you don’t tell them your child’s hair color or that the weather was 85.2 degrees. You communicate more emotionally by telling others something funny that your child did or that you went surfing for the first time. People do not operate in the realm of data, it is counter-intuitive to how we are hard-wired, which is why storytelling in business is so powerful. If you want to connect with a person and drive advocacy, your best bet is weaving factual benefits into an even more powerful story.

• Don’t overwhelm with data: At the end of the day, you are speaking to a person.  People don’t digest data the same way a computer can. Data can be beneficial, but most people are looking for a connection. Apple is a great example of a business that has driven a connection with their customers by weaving data with storytelling, which is one of the reasons they have such high brand loyalty.

• It is no longer a ‘Business’ connecting with a ‘Consumer’: It is people connecting with people. Businesses need to understand who they are speaking with and cater communications in relevant manner. People will not connect with a business that offers no emotional connection and that doesn’t meet a need.

• It’s a two-way street: Consumers have a larger say in marketing and branding because the way consumers communicate has shifted. People are listening to other people as opposed to large campaigns. The value of word-of-mouth has soared, and social media allows people to see what others are saying, in real-time. Two-way communication is very powerful. By taking the time to have conversations with consumers, businesses have been able to learn and thrive in the consumer-driven market. This is critical to success and to building both advocacy and loyalty.

Storytelling is a pivotal part of marketing, communications, and business. Without it, consumers find it difficult to connect and advocate for something. Storytelling can and should be used in any business because it can drive loyalty, advocacy, and trust.

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust a solely data driven business to care for my interests, I would and do trust the businesses who have worked to understand my needs and who have created an emotional connection through the power of stories.

Alyse is a super-star associate at CMB, and a captain of CMB’s Light the Night team to raise money to fight Leukemia.  She is a kid-at-heart, loves Disney’s approach to storytelling, and is a 43 time Disney World visitor.

Join Tauck's Jeremy Palmer, CMB's Judy Melanson and South Street Strategy Group's Mark Carr on September 12th at noon (EDT) for a webinar: Focused Innovation: Creating New Value for a Legacy Brand

It’s always exciting when we get the opportunity to conduct research that garners interest from everyone from the guy staring at his tablet on the train to the executives of the largest media companies in the world. We got that chance, when CMB partnered with the Council for Research Excellence to lead a study exploring how mobile media devices (tablets, phones, and laptops) impact overall television viewing behavior.

Highlights of the study include:

• Mobile TV viewers tend to be younger (mean age 35), higher income professionals with graduate degrees, and reflect more ethnic diversity than non-mobile-TV users;

• Mobile TV viewers are often heavy overall TV viewers and are more likely than non-mobile-TV viewers to be TV show opinion leaders and to use social media to talk about TV.

• Viewers are more commonly engaged when watching TV on a mobile device than when watching on a television set: they are less commonly doing unrelated tasks on other devices, and more commonly doing activities related to the show they are watching (e.g., looking up info about the show, posting about the show on social networks, etc.) when on a mobile device.

You can download the report here: TV Untethered: Following the Path of Mobile Content

Watch the presentation here: 

Posted by Chris Neal. Chris leads CMB’s Tech Practice. He enjoys spending time with his two kids and rock climbing.

Just when you thought you had cracked the nut on the Hispanic Consumer, a new nut has just knocked you on your head. As everyone knows, America’s demographics are shifting, driven in large part by explosive growth in the Hispanic population.  According to the Pew Hispanic Center, the Hispanic population in the United States grew from 35 million in 2000 to 52 million in 2011; a whopping 48% growth rate.  By 2060 that number is expected to more than double to 129 million, which will make nearly one in three US residents Hispanic, according to the Census Bureau. If the population numbers alone don’t peak a marketer’s interest, surely the estimated $1.5 trillion (that’s trillion with a “t”) in buying power by 2015 will. That $1.5 trillion in buying power would make the US Hispanic market the 14^th largest economy in the world if it were its own country.  Yet, for years, this consumer segment has been held at arm’s length or worse, ignored by marketers altogether. Perhaps they are confident that their strength in the “general market” will carry them, or are foolish enough not to believe in the importance of the Hispanic consumer to their bottom line. Savvier brands, largely consumer packaged goods companies, know better and have invested a lot in understanding these consumers; others continue to wander aimlessly in a sea of misconceptions and inaccuracies. Many brands have long held beliefs that are simply no longer true; chief among those is a view of Hispanics as largely homogenous, unacculturated, Spanish speaking consumers.  Unfortunately for those folks, one sobering, yet immensely important, fact evades them: more and more, the Hispanic consumer is looking and sounding less like the Hispanic consumer of yesteryear’s marketers. Despite what the prevalence of immigration related headlines today might have you believe, the growth in the Hispanic population is not totally a recent occurrence.  Latinos have long had a presence in the United States even before the well documented immigration booms of the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s which led to immense growth in the amount of second, third, fourth and fifth generation Latinos (ever heard of the saying, “the border crossed us, we didn’t cross the border?”). In fact, the past decade’s growth has less to do with immigration than you might expect. The same Pew Hispanic Center study which showed the impressive overall growth of the Hispanic population over the past decade, also notes a 57% growth rate in the native born population over the same period of time.  Today, 64% of all Hispanics in the United States were born here.  That’s right folks; the growth in the Hispanic population is driven by US-born Latinos, most of whom speak English as their primary language and end up straddling two very distinctive cultural lines.

What evades most marketers is that these consumers are unique: not quite the same behaviorally or attitudinally as their parents or grandparents, but not like their “general market” counterparts either.  They form an ever-growing faction of bicultural Latinos.  For a crash course in what it mean to be bicultural, check out this clip from the timeless classic, “Selena,” and let Edward James Olmos tell you in his own words (spoiler alert: we have to be more American than Americans and more Latino than Latinos.  It’s exhausting!).  One study by Horowitz Associates places the percentage of Hispanics who self-identify as a mix of both Latino and American at 39%, a close second to those who identify as fully Latino at 43% (those who say they are fully American lag far behind at 18%). As such, Latinos have largely exhibited a non-traditional acculturation trajectory where full acculturation is no longer the norm or to be expected.  In fact, evidence of retro-acculturation, where previously acculturated segments of Latinos work to regain traces of their Hispanic culture, is well documented (as was the case with Selena who was a Mexican-American woman who learned to speak Spanish later in life).  Clearly, the realities of Latino acculturation coupled with the projected growth of the population have significant implications that will one day redefine the “general market” as we know it, requiring long term shifts in brand strategies for many. 

But before putting the cart in front of the horse, brands must consider what they can do here and now. Tapping into the burgeoning potential of the US Hispanic market requires a concerted effort to understand the consumer beyond language and recognize differences in behaviors, attitudes and beliefs. The most impactful Hispanic strategies incorporate a comprehensive approach to connect with both unacculturated and bicultural consumers.  At times, the approach will include similar elements for both, while at others, it will be necessary to target a specific segment.  For instance, special media buys during award shows such “Premios Juventud” on Univision have the potential to reach both consumer segments who tune-in in droves to watch the show.  However, Univision does not always appeal to the bicultural segment. 45% of Latinos overall watch TV mostly in English; that number jumps to 69% by the second generation and 83% among the third generation and higher.  For these consumers, culturally relevant (and I can’t stress culturally relevant enough!) communication on English TV, or bicultural TV such as Mun2 or MTV Tr3s, is likely to be more effective.

Certainly, understanding the Hispanic consumer can be complex and perhaps daunting for some, but it is an unavoidable bridge to cross for most brands. For many, the key will be to do away with long held beliefs. A small step for sure, but it all begins con un granito de arena (with a grain of sand). 

Elvis is a Project Manager with CMB’s Financial Services, Insurance and Healthcare Practice and the company’s bicultural Chapin (Guatemalan-American) in residence.  He is also founder and president of Casa Guatemala, an educational non-profit organization serving the Latino youth of Waltham, MA.