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Branded Response and authenticity

Does the response you’re after ring true to your brand?

In their terrific book Authenticity (Harvard Business School Press), James Gilmore and Joseph Pine II discuss how people crave real experiences from their products. In part, this is a reaction to the widespread “virtualization” of society and commerce. Think about it. Did your grandparents ever have to ask to speak to a “real” person when they wanted to resolve a problem with their bank, airline, store, etc.?

This quest for authenticity should inform response marketers, too. We at Wayfinder Response advocate that the response should always reinforce the brand.

American Express could simply offer cash incentives to prospective cardholders. Instead, they promise exclusive access to hard-to-get events. This complements and reinforces their brand as a badge announcing that the American Express cardholders have arrived.

Sports Illustrated also offers authentic, Branded Rresponse. They entice new subscribers with fan gear like team t-shirts, fleece jackets and stadium binoculars. People who respond are rewarded and reminded that Sports Illustrated is at the center of appreciating the best sports offers. Even people who don’t still engage with the SI brand in a positive way.

How do you maximize brand impact out of your promotional offers? First, know your brand and what makes it unique. Make sure all your vendors – your ad specialty person, your ad agency, and your event people get it. Then ask yourself two questions when evaluating rewards and responses – does this offer set us apart? Is it authentic to my brand and consumer experience? If you answer ‘yes” to both questions, you have a winner.

Good direct response tactics

Branded Response relies on best practices. In response marketing, results keep us grounded in what works.

Here’s a good reminder of seven basic, proven direct response approaches, from a very good copywriter, Dean Rieck. Many are transferable to today’s web x.0 media as well. Enjoy. And remember to tell good stories.

If you don’t have time for the full article, here they are:

1. Share a sample of your product
2. Offer a free trial
3. Create intrigue with “teaser” copy about how your solution will provide a concrete benefit
4. Include product photos and illustrations
5. Tell a story
6. Include testimonials
7. Provide success stories with your product as the hero’s main ally

The big impact of small changes

Branded Response integrates best practices from branding and response marketing. One best practice from response marketing is to pay attention to detail. That’s because little changes can make big differences.

Here’s an example. One of our clients wants investors to register for further information and newsletters about their company. Active, sophisticated investors are legendary information hogs. Timely knowledge is how they make money. These investors have some of the highest rates of opt-in agreement for online offers and information. So we recommended that they include email as a way to engage with this otherwise expensive to reach audience.

As smart communicators, we tested and tested again. One surprising result was that even a subtle difference in the email subject line created a significant difference in open rates.

Here are the two subject lines:

1. Private equity for any investor
2. Private equity for every investor

One simple word was the only difference between the two lines; “every” vs. “any”. And yet the difference in people opening their email was dramatic. Can you guess which line performed 49% better? Follow the link to see.

The new power tool – the checklist?

Time Magazine recently identified the world’s 100 most influential people. There were the usual candidates – the Dalai Lama, Bush, Putin, Brangelina, etc. But one name stands out for his humble yet game-changing innovation. Dr. Peter Pronovost’s idea was laughably simple. He introduced the lowly checklist into surgery theaters around the country and the world. The result? According to Time, Pronovost “may have saved more lives than any laboratory scientist in the past decade”. They have the potential to save over 90,000 lives and $11 billion a year.

You can read a fascinating article on his story at that most staid of medical journals, The New Yorker.

Checklists work because surgery is complicated. And the most mundane activity can make a big difference. Sound familiar? Today’s branded response campaigns have many, many moving parts. Constant turnover in marketing departments and support agencies make quality even tougher to achieve. Keeping checklists and empowering support staff to enforce their use could make all the difference to your next campaign.

Build Your Brand for Response

Defining and building a brand is an ongoing process and it’s a process that is being rewritten everyday. In the past, brand was developed by the marketing department and communicated to the target audience through advertising in a one-way conversation.

From a marketing perspective, brand was meant to create perceptions, not necessarily create action. Sure, brand marketers liked to measure awareness, perception and persuasion, but were not willing to measure a direct correlation to sales or even leads.

Today, consumers interact with brands in many different ways, and the brand advertiser can track much of this interaction. This ability to track has advertisers thinking about using brand to create perceptions over the long term and create action immediately – even if the action is not necessarily sales. Some of the keys drivers in this mind shift are: