TribalWorks

This is an interesting case on how Coke which leads Pepsi in most market areas is actually lagging behind in Quebec.  This is because Coke simply translates their English ads into French, while Pepsi customized its message and connected the brand with the people of Quebec. 

Its latest TV spot may be its best yet. Here’s the scene: A Scandinavian-sounding tourist, with the insouciance of Mr. Bean, walks into a casse-croûte somewhere in Quebec’s hinterland and makes the mistake of ordering a Coke. The snack bar falls silent. Wildlife stops in the forest. Traffic grinds to a halt in Old Quebec. People stick their heads out of upper-floor windows. When the waiter finally pops open a can of the blue-and-red in front of him, the tourist clues in: ” Ah! Ici, c’est Pepsi.”

A memorable 2006 ad, also by BBDO, involved a runaway Pepsi coin machine that, after sliding off a delivery truck, rolls by a series of Québécois landmarks. When it reaches the border, it hesitates and turns back.

The ads reinforce the audience’s connection with what it means to be a Quebecker through icons (both people and objects).  The Pepsi brand eventually becomes associated with these icons.  Thus, Quebeckers feel that Pepsi is a part of Quebec.  This is again another example of how well established brands can use Tribal Elements via mass media.

As the article states, Pepsi has been doing their ads differently since the mid-1980s.  This approach has resulted in a significant change in market share.

Pepsi actually lagged Coke in the Quebec market until the mid-80s. While Pepsi’s early-80s New Generation campaign, featuring Michael Jackson, was a hit globally, it didn’t do much for the brand in Quebec. So the soft drink maker then turned to comedian Claude Meunier (then one-half of the province’s answer to Cheech and Chong) to launch Quebec-only ads for the first time.

The impact was nearly instantaneous. Whereas Pepsi sales lagged those of Coke by about 15 per cent in 1984, two years later, Pepsi had a 12-point advance. Its lead grew to 20 per cent by the early 1990s. A Pepsi spokesperson refused to provide current figures, but insisted the brand still dominates Coke in Quebec.

(bold added for emphasis)

A recent report done by the Loudoun Times (Loudoun County Virginia) looked at how various non-profits were handling decreases in funding. They interviewed about 20 different non-profits in the county.

Here is what some said about what they planned to do

Spend money to make money

The majority of organizations interviewed said they plan to host big fundraising events to raise the money needed to counter budget deficits.

“We’re going to have to do well at our [annual] gala, especially with the reduction of our county grant,” Whiting said. “That caught us a bit off guard.”

Golf tournaments, galas and concerts were listed as big money getters.

The organizations also say tapping new donors and broadening the range of those they solicit is at the top of their to-do list.

Creating a new strategy for fundraising is a must, they said. Whether it will be successful is a worry.

“Who knows what’s going to happen,” said Rohrer. “I think what we’re seeing is the tip of the iceberg. What we saw in the last six months will affect the next six.”

It is good that these non-profits see the need to develop a new strategy. Too often non-profits are dependent on grant money to sustain them and they are caught off guard when a macro-economic shift disrupts that stream of revenue. The best strategy for any non-profit is to have a healthy mix of revenue sources - including a strong donor base.

This is a good question.  Many people associate Tribal Strategies with brands and products that are the underdogs.  An example of this is the battle between PC vs. Mac.

However, it is possible for very large companies with category leading brands to form a very successful following.  Microsoft’s Flight Simulator (currently in its 10th edition) is a good example.  Despite being the number one flight simulation product available for personal computers, it has managed to build and maintain a very successful tribe:

• There are dozens of community websites across the globe
• Members develop airplanes, airports, cities, missions etc. and make them available for other community members to freely download
• Microsoft’s Shared Skies enables members to fly around in a virtual globe as pilots or even direct other members as air traffic control

Check out some of the above links, you will be surprised at the depth of the community.

I read this interesting article which talks about Toyota Prius owners.  I think it also highlights some key issues that companies need to address in order to benefit from the Tribal Approach.

1)  Are your operations geared for the increases in sales due to external factors (i.e. increasing fuel costs) and your own marketing efforts?  According to the article:

Waiting lists of three months seem to be common nationwide, to the point where an online support group has sprung up.

Auto analysts say that in California, demand is so high that used Priuses go for close to what a new one would sell for.

“Unless Toyota sends a lot more cars, we’re going to see Prius wait lists spin out again to about six months,” one Berkeley, Calif., Toyota dealer told HybridCars.com in June. 

In fact, sales were down in June of this year because dealers simply ran out of stock, prompting Toyota to switch a planned Mississippi factory’s production line from Highlander SUVs to Priuses.

 2)  Is your tribe welcoming to new members - or are they too exclusive?  Remember, tribes need to have an ‘Us vs. Them’ mentality but must also be inclusive.

Two areas that may need to be addressed (which are covered in the article)

1. The $22,000 price point may be too high to afford for many people - thus they stick with their old vehicles
2. People feel that Prius owners are too snobby with their eco-friendliness.  And too exclusive:

“I think that we Prius owners need a dating/whatever program, to hook us up with other Prius owners,” says one posteron Priuschat.com.

He admits it’s half a joke, but says it “stems from my inability to look at people with gas-burning cars as attractive.”

It’s clear that hybrid buyers want to appear environmentally conscious, observes Aaron Bragman, a Detroit-based research analyst with the Global Insight economic-forecasting company.

“A big component [of hybrid ownership] is the social aspect,” he says, adding that if a consumer just wanted to save money on gas, he or she could buy a new subcompact for $11,000 instead of forking out a minimum of $22,000 for a hybrid.

Toss in the tax breaks and access to highway HOV lanes that hybrid drivers get in many locales, and it’s no wonder old-school drivers can get irritated.

“I do believe in global warming, but the Prius isn’t the answer,” posts one commenteron the popular tech blog Engadget. “Every time I look at a Prius, it only reaffirms my belief that ultra-liberals and poorly educated science environments are the world’s greatest threats. GO HUG A TREE PRIUS BUYERS!”

I would strongly suggest Toyota look at their tribe closely and ask themselves these questions:

1. Is the tribe getting too far away from Toyota’s intended goal?
2. What can we do to ensure our brand is being accurately interpreted by the tribe?
3. Is the Prius brand worth keeping?  Should the hybrid technology be propagated more evenly across multiple vehicle platforms?

It is possible a savvy competitor could use this as an opportunity to break into Toyota’s dominance of the hybrid space.

I came across this article written in the Chicago Tribune which highlights some interesting stats about the Harley Owners Group (HOG):

• Members:  1,000,000+
• Chapters:  1,400
• Countries:  135

One could argue that there are 1,400 separate tribes (one in each chapter).  But keep in mind, the ‘boundaries’ of a tribe are only set based on the definitions we put around the tribe.  In this case, we know that all 1,000,000+ members are connected with their shared passion for H-D.

Regardless, the strength of the tribe is quite amazing.  Approximately 10% (or 100,000 members) are expected to show up at the celebration which will be held later this week.

The Canadian Marketing Association is hosting a Not-For-Profit conference on Tuesday Oct 7, 2008 from 8:30 AM - Noon.

Here is the description from the CMA event website:

Our engaging line-up of speakers will discuss new and innovative online tools and how to integrate them into your current marketing strategy. Hear from some of Canada’s top charitable organizations including the Canadian Cancer Society and WWF Canada.

I think that this is a great event for non-profit managers to attend.  Online marketing tools are certainly a part of a complete Tribal Strategy.

I look forward to meeting some of you in person at the event.

I came across this video of Hyundai’s new car, the Genesis which is apparently ‘as roomy as a Mercedes-Benz, quieter than a BMW 7-series and more powerful than a Lexus GS.’ ; all with a base price of $38,000.

While this car will not have the same status, the car does provide all of the same functional benefits as any of the above mentioned brands. In other words, the car provides all the Utilitarian benefits without the obvious Emotional, or Self-Identification feelings one has to more prestigious brands.

However, I would argue that Hyundai should not ignore the potential of this brand being the ultimate symbol for those who pride themselves in finding the best deals and wanting the most bang for their buck.  Though, as this video points out, this car will not impress anyone at the golf club, it can certainly foster an inclusive group of like-minded people . . . A key ingredient of a tribe.

Harley-Davidson is celebrating its 105th anniversary by organizing a large ride called The Ride Home.  The ride is actually a series smaller rides with105 starting points across the US.  Riders will choose one of 25 routes which will all lead to Milwaukee for their grand celebration which will include concerts by Bruce Springsteen and Foo Fighters.

Harley-Davidson is one organization that has truly adopted Tribal Strategy in their business.   The President of Harley-Davidson Jim McCasslin will be joining a group on the ride.  However, he is not joining the riders as the President of H-D, but as a member of the tribe.

Key Lessons: 

• Hang out with your organization’s tribes - but interact with them as one of them, not as a marketer. 
• Listen to them and converse with them - don’t talk to them

Of all the categories in which Tribal Marketing makes sense, music comes to the top of the list. Music evokes the emotional response, creates connections and fosters new fan-relationships making it a perfect match for Tribal.

In the latest edition of the Marketing Magazine, the cover story talks about how social media is changing the rules of music marketing. One of the examples cited is that of Valerie Poxleitner - a.k.a. Lights. Instead of taking the traditional route of knocking on the doors of traditional record labels, Lights and her manager, Jian Ghomeshi, used MySpace. 

MySpace allowed Lights to build a huge fan base, which lead to a contract with Old Navy for a marketing campaign and eventually leading to a record deal with Warner Music.

Lessons for tribal - this is a classic David vs. Goliath story - small brand (or in this case, no brand), limited marketing resources trying to make a success. Also, just because you are using social media you cannot expect overnight results - like with every other marketing strategy, it takes time. Finally, you need to define success early on and ensure that you have the right metrics to monitor and measure along the way.

Seemingly boring categories often are starved of media interest until someone makes a dramatic shift in product type (i.e. what P&G did to sweeping/mopping with the Swiffer) or distribution (i.e. what Sleep Country Canada/USA did for the mattress shopping experience).

Another way to shake up a dormant category is to re-define how the product is used.  One such example is Bounce Fabric Softener, which recently changed their logo and packaging.  In addition, they set up an on-line community and invited consumers to share their stories on how they use Bounce sheets.

According to their website, they already have had over 20,000 stories submitted.  By building a community, they could potentially benefit by:

• Increasing category sales/exposure
• Increasing purchase frequency of Bounce sheets
• Building a valuable database of consumers

Although it is technically an on-line community, the interactivity between different consumers is non-existent.  Consumers can either post their stories or read what has been written - they can not engage in a dialogue among themselves.

As an outside observer, it is difficult to determine if the Bounce brand has a complete strategy or if they are using Tribal Elements.  Either way, it will be interesting to see how things work out.