It's All Advertising

The other week I was robbed This has led me to spending more time than I would like with banks phone companies and insurers One has been outstanding two truly dreadfulThe dreadful ones have failed to communicate internally leading me to having to explain what happened over and over They have also failed to answer mails have cut me off when on the phone and have sent me contradictory letters from unidentified quotteam membersquot with no means to respond to themNone of this is unusual I hear the same thing over and over Unresponsive uncaring illinformed responses to lifeamp8217s little crisesAnd yet the same organizations spend millions advertising their friendly teams their willingness to helpAnd then they go and outsource their customerfacing roles either to a chatbot that struggles to answer the inanest query or to a bored individual who could not care less as to your plight and whose sole objective is to pass you along to someone elseEven less understandable hugely expensive brand campaigns do not seem to exist outside their designedfor channel Are company owned websites consistent with the brandamp8217s advertised persona Do retail outlets mirror the same organizationamp8217s video commercials Do the trucks moving product around the country speak to the same brand values as the advertisingYes of course some do But most by far do notIt is worth calling these things out For decades I have been a loyal BMW customer Last year I decided to look further afield I read reviews answered ads responded to websites and visited car showrooms Most of these last were unremittingly awful Yes they were bright full of shiny cars and some even had comfortable chairs but none had anything to do with the expensive ad campaigns favoured by the sectorBMW themselves were not expecting me at the dealership the same one I have bought from in the past The salesman couldnamp8217t have been more bored wasnamp8217t well informed as to his products and didnamp8217t followupI bought a different marque selling them my BMW in partexchangeSix months later BMW asked if I would consider selling them my secondhand carThree months after that the BMW finance team approached me offering a new finance packageThree months after that and I am still receiving mails asking me to bring the car in for a serviceI know perfectly well that there are manufacturers and there are dealers But to the consumer they are one and the same joined at the hip Good work by one is easily undone by shoddy work by the otherI realize that concepts like lifetime value have their critics but regardless I like to think I was a valuable customer to BMW one that their incompetent and fragmented communications strategy has played its part in losingWho will take internal responsibility for losing me Will anyone even know The marketing team will say they drove me to the dealership so they did their job The dealer will say the product range did not meet my needs So not their problem The usedsales finance and service people will say quotWho are you and how can I helpquotWe have to do better Online campaigns are not just performance marketing they are advertising Pointofsale is not just retail it is advertising In store display is not just merchandising it is advertising Emails are not just direct communication they are advertising Chat bots are not just algorithms they are advertising Call center staff are not just frontline representatives they are advertisingEverything that communicates with the consumer or prospect is advertisingMy Crater Lake colleagues at MESH Experience almost alone amongst research agencies tracks exposure against all touchpoints thus providing the evidence to those smart enough to know itamp8217s important to quantify these things Theyamp8217ve also authored an excellent IPA initiative designed to highlight the role and value of owned mediaOur Crater Lake colleagues at Navigation have developed ways of isolating the effect of all channels It is all advertising so best to quantify how it all worksNext time you feel moved to complain about a companyamp8217s treatment of you find out the name of the CMO and copy him or her in They should be pleased to hear from real peopleObviously there will be mistakes People have bad days messages go astray but surely we should aim high And we should praise those who get it rightAnd so for my part well played More Than Insurance And boo to NatWest and VodafoneClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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It's All Advertising

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Brian Jacobs

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It's All Advertising

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