The Next Engine: Beyond Campaign Thinking

No matter how you define it, at the core of pure marketing is people. You cannot escape that reality. However, over the past 20-30 years, the industry has become pretty detached from “what people are like”. People don’t typically cram themselves in gray rooms with strangers to talk about things of which they are unfamiliar (focus groups), nor do people typically go through a mathematical process in their heads between the time they see something they like, think about how liking it enough to buy it, shop for it and eventually buy it (the purchase funnel). I’m going to start posting examples and ask you to do the same. Here’s (2) to wet your whistle.

#1. Nearly everything we talk about has to have some type of militant diction attached to it. We use terms like strategy, tactic, rollouts, recruitment, engagement, enemy and target daily. Why? In the words of our friend the Tootsie Pop Owl, “the world may never know”. Maybe if we all stopped approaching our jobs like Fidel Castro, there would be a renewed interest in the crap we are shilling. Maybe. Perhaps thinking about how we approach our jobs would provide some insight into why our employees and customers don’t think we respect them. Again, maybe.

#2. If the jargon isn’t enough to make you want to apply to MBA school immediately, maybe the great job titles you can aspire to will. Here’s an email I got this AM from someone with probably the most oxymoronic title I have ever seen. Not 100% if oxymoronic is an actual word, but it sounded OK in this application.

Dear Casey Ingle,

Thank you for flying Northwest Airlines on March 12, 2008 from Seattle, WA to Detroit, MI. Your feedback about your travel experience is important to us. To help us better serve our customers, we invite you to participate in our Customer Experience survey which should only take about 2 minutes to complete. To show our appreciation for completing the survey, you will be entered into a quarterly drawing for a chance to win 100,000 WorldPerks Bonus Miles.

Please take our survey today <https://nwa.eq2survey.com/nwa/eq2survey.aspx?urlid=C60C36B5-A9EA-4464-B264-2E6563010F05>

For reporting purposes this link will expire in 14 days. After that time, you will no longer be able to complete the survey.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this survey for us. We look forward to serving you again on your next Northwest Airlines flight.

Sincerely,

Jim Cron
SVP Domestic Revenue Management, Planning Loyalty Marketing
Northwest Airlines

Domestic Revenue Management, Planning Loyalty Marketing. So in other words, “Figuring out a way to make more money off of people by making them feel like they have a say in what we actually do by sending them an email link to a survey”. That copy is a direct lift from the SPAM I got, haven’t fully figured out the 2nd half of Jim’s title. Newsflash NWA, revenue management and loyalty aren’t the same thing. If they are to you, don’t tell us. Especially not in an unsolicited request to give you my opinion with a blah incentive attached with accompanying odds that are somewhere in the ballpark of Eliot Spitzer finding a date in an airport restroom. Wait, that’s not right.

Why not just ask about my experience when I get off the plane? Maybe hand out a quick survey while on the plane? Smart money says if they did that, they might get some interesting information to make their experience a little better which would probably lead to increased revenue for our pal Jim Cron to manage.

Finally, it’s come 360. More later.

Tags: marketing