Is M&S a trendsetter ?

Marks and Spencer's new store on Champs-Elysées

As you might have heard, Marks and Spencer came back in France last week. They opened a 1.400 m²  store on no less than the Champs-Elysées on November 24. This store’s opening was awaited by many people, mainly those who had witnessed the closure of all Marks and Spencer’s shops in France ten years ago. On the Champs-Élysées you could see dozens of impatient M&S lovers waiting to get their crackers back.

The clientele is different from that in England; while in the UK, Marks and Spencers addresses the classic housewife, the clientele is much larger in France: tourists, fashionistas, English ex-pats, English food lovers…

Rich tea biscuits 

Products: they are exactly the same than in the UK (name and descriptions in English…), but little signs in French tell the customer what’s so special about each product.

   

Is it just another Marks and Spencer store? Apparently, no. Marks and Spencer’s re-implantation in France also plays a role in their “bricks and clicks” strategy, which consists in combining the store and e-commerce offer. Last October, the French website http://marksandspencer.fr was launched, and enabled French customers, a month before the opening of the new M&S store, to order M&S products on a specific platform. The website, quite similar in contents and presentation to the international website (http://www.marksandspencer.com/) is in French, which is less confusing for French customers than the English website. Delivery prices are quite classic: 4,95€ under 5 days, 9,95€ under 2 days, free delivery over 35€. 

                   International website                       French website        

   

The store’s experience aims at combining both “live” sale and online sale. You can find 2 touch screen ordering points and 2 fixed iPads to buy products and be delivered home. At first, you might think “Why would I want to buy stuff online if I can get it right now?” Two main reasons: delivery facilities (do you really imagine yourself carrying 5 bags of Cadbury around Paris if you are on a 5-days trip?) and shopping facility (you don’t have to win a ruthless the girl next to you to get the last size 10 cardigan). A nice initiative, but a little bit too cautious technologically speaking: M&S will anyways attract customers to their brand new store so why not invest more massively in the use of new technologies?

Smartphone applications? None found… Which is again deceiving. Many concrete uses of smartphone applications could be imagined, for delivery tracking for instance. Indeed, an increasing number of customers require firms to produce a very precise delivery tracking system, on all kinds of support (website, mail, smartphone applications). Especially with the Christmas period coming up !

Once again, their website is quite classic, and doesn’t jump at your eyes as THE website where you will spend hours and hours, how much you may like M&S.

Where Marks and Spencer scores in terms of new technologies is their use of social media : they are present on Facebook (408 504 likes) and on Twitter (nearly 47 000 followers). M&S uses Facebook to present the current reductions and new products, through open questions such as “if I could have anything from Christmas from M&S it would be —". Even if their community doesn’t assemble a tremendous number of fans (compared to Cadbury for instance), M&S fans are attached to their brand and lively interact to the content produced by M&S. The Christmas question above for example received a total of 1077 commentaries (i.e "their bank account). Likewise, the twitter feed is very interactive, and M&S answers very quickly to the questions of their users. Let's note that M&S doesn't censor what users say: the comments are left as they are. A clever marketing, letting people know that M&S accepts some kinds of critics. 

My conclusion: a great new store, but a timid use of new technologies for now, especially on smartphone applications. M&S’s community one of their strong marketing assets, why not using it to become a trendsetter in new technologies? 

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Beware of Pandas

Last septembre, Panda cheese (Egypt) launched a viral campaign. They broadcasted several videos, all with the same story, featuring the sweetest panda ever.
If you add the viewers of the 4 videos, the number of viewers add up to around 5 millions!
Why such a success ?
The only answer is on the video itself :

A great campaign, which has without a doubt contributed to getting people to know panda cheese and creating a real buzz. What's interesting is the hijack of the "nice panda" concept, symbolized by none other than WWF or Kung Fu Panda. The ad creates a total effect of surprise and that's what created the buzz. A very good use of the social aspect of youtube: the value's campaign, as perceived for the consumer, is to be able to share this video with people you know. And what better pretext for social interactions than a video of a kick-ass panda?

Apparently, the cheese itself has nothing special. On http://www.arabdairy.com/ you can see the different types of Panda cheese, which look quite normal (mozzarella, cream cheese, Parmesan). So, if ever that product comes to France, I don't think people will buy it for the product itself. The question is : will the fear for the Panda's reaction make us buy the cheese?

Are you Cadbury or Milka ?

Since Cadbury was bought by Kraft Foods in 2010, both brands compete in the same group. Lots of similarities between Cadbury and Milka: the basic products (milk-chocolate based), the packaging (purple background, round font), and the love of consumers.

My question is : how do they make themselves different from each other? How can they co-exist without eating each other out? And, which has the best communication ?

First of all: their products are not that similar.

• These last years, Milka has developed its range of products towards more luxurious products. For example: chocolate mignonettes, and biscuit products. They have also developed more elaborated products, close in idea to Lindt's famous chocolate. For example, the tender moments, with chocolate mousse inside the chocolate squares.

• Cadbury, besides being the "only company in « sweets» to commercialize products from organic agriculture and fair trade" (according to their website) has a more festive range of products than Milka. But isn’t this also linked with the British sweets market, on which you can find lots of these types of products ? Cadbury is also present on the biscuit market, with yummy products such as Fingers or Cadbury luxury cookies.

A different positioning
• Milka: tenderness (their slogan is "dare tenderness") VS Cadbury's "pump it up" attitude. These two different attitudes are very well conveyed in their publicity.

Cadbury's eyebrows

Milka's marmot

Milka’s publicity is at the image of their positioning: tenderness, always and always. Even if they use humour, humour is not at all the central value of their ads.

Last year, they tried a new type of publicity by creating the “Milka dance”. I found that ad quite deceiving: lots of clichés, a bad music, and it’s not at all like Milka to do such an ad.

Maybe my opinion on the Milka dance is biased by my personal musical tastes, but I  think it could have been used differently (especially on the official clip of the milka dance, below)

Official clip of Milka Dance

Those dance steps were also relayed to Milka teams (specially ski animation teams) and they are quite an odd example of communication.

You can see on the following video some ski animators doing the milka dance, so I’ll let images speak for themselves. 

Milka dance - ski version

• A commun element: sports communication

Both brands promote sports but in different ways. Milka: the existence of an official milka ski team “milka ski stars”. A team which exists since and has had quite a lot of sportive achievements (11 Olympic medals for example). When you ski, depending on the resort you’re in, you can see milka cows, or even “milka slopes” (violet coloured slopes)

Cadbury is the official treat provider to the London 2012 Olympic Games and has launched a humongous campaign to support the British team for Olympics.

Keep GB team pumped up

In support for their campaign, they created a dedicated website : www.keepourteampumped.com where you can see the official videos sponsored by Cadbury. A very dynamic staging of interactive marketing: on the website you can “sing along” to the different songs (“Final countdown”, or ) and, as they say “add your voice to the next production or grab some friends and start a karaoke session”. This device is also subtle in encouraging consumption. And it does keep you (or get you) pumped up. In short : a great communication.

• Social media ?

Both brands are present on Facebook, but neither of them has a globally unified communication. In the case of Cadbury, fan pages are organized around either products (2 051 226 fans for Cadbury crème eggs) or countries (65 384 fans for Cadbury Malaysia). On the other side, Milka does have an official global page (944 032 fans). But there also exists other un-official pages, at least 10 of them, and all of them are named "Milka". Quite difficult then to find your way. 

Only Cadbury is present on Twitter, again by product/country division. I also noted the presence of a “Twitter Cadbury friends” which shows how much people love Cadbury chocolate.

• Applications and games ?

Milka's use of applications is approximate for the moment, I didn't find (yet) any really inventive applications.When searching for application, I first found a Spanish one (Milka oreo, which I understood as a promotion tool), then a Russian one (Milka game). And after the third trial a French application: Milka Snax buddy. The principle is the following: you turn on your computer camera, and start chewing. In the same time, the Milka cow will start chewing.     

On the other side you have:

 Cadbury' spots v stripes

What’s the principle ? I’ll let Cadbury talk : “So how do you take part? First, pick the side you want to play for - Spots or Stripes. Then whenever you play a game against someone from the opposing side, the winner scores a point for his/her side. All the points will be logged right here and updated live on our Score’o’tron. Score enough points and you could even become one of your side’s all-star heroes.”.

An internet website counts all the points you added up for your team during a real game, to which you can add points by playing games online.

The prizes you can win are of course tickets for London 2012

My conclusions ?

I both love Milka and Cadbury as products but I think that their communication is not equal. Cadbury's communication has clearly taken a turn with the 2012 London Olympics, which have dynamized their use of dedicated websites, applications and social media. 

Milka's communication around tenderness and a certain point of view on humour could be well transmitted through their communication. For now I have been quite critical of their current ads and tools but I think they have the potential of taking a step further into new technologies devices. The question is: will they do it?

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Can ecology meet technology ? The case of Greenweez

WHAT IS GREENWEEZ ?

Greenweez is a French company, pure-player seller of ecological and organic products.

Data for those of you who like numbers:

• 2 million visitors on their website per year

• 30 employees

• More than 200 000 references are available

• 500 000 newsletter subscribers

  

WHAT DO THEY SELL?

Organic products, products that respect environment; products that aim at improving your well being. Examples to be a little bit more concrete: bins with separate compartments for household waste sorting, solar chargers, and so many other products. When I went on their website I was quite astonished by the number of references they have: a very complete on-line catalogue from outside lamps to sun cream.

Ecology is also at the centre of their business principles: use of recycled paper, hybrid or electric vehicles, bike parking lot…

Generally, consumers are satisfied with Greenweez products. The problems seem to be more about after-sales service, or long delivery delays.

AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES?

• First of all, let’s recall that Greenweez is a pure player: you can only buy on internet or on your mobile   
• Their website is very well conceived: an intuitive navigation, no color saturation. In short, a website you enjoy navigating on. Their communicational devices are also very subtle. For example, if you want to subscribe to the newsletter, there is in permanence a little tab on the left of all pages.  And surprise, when you subscribe, they announce you “you are now registered to the newsletter. The 200€ winners will be announced at the end of the month on the Facebook page of Greenweez.com” => A very subtle incitation to register to Greenweez’s Facebook page
• Problem: if you want to shop via your mobile, you have to go on the website through your navigator. And since the site is so complete, you have to zoom and un-zoom quite a lot. A smartphone application would be very useful.
• Use of Facebook (6 109 fans today on their personal page - https://www.facebook.com/greenweezcom?sk=info). It’s not only a fan page: Greenweez regularly offers polls and coupons on their Facebook page.
• Use of Twitter (1 539 subscribers to their feed)

·      What I think is their best advantage in term of new technologies: you can pay with your mobile number, and don’t have to enter your credit card number each time. To attain that goal, Greenweez has been using Buyster since November 4^th.

BUYSTER (http://www.buyster.fr/)

•  Principle: you create an account on Buyster. A process during which you eventually have to indicate your credit card number. Two guarantees are here brandished to make you feel confident: 
• Buyster is agreed by Banque de France (French central bank). 
• And you can choose to apply for a secured payment : typing in your confidential code that has been furnished by your own bank for every transaction. If you want more simple, its also possible : when you pay a product via Buyster, you just enter your personal Buyster code, and Buyster does the rest.
• After you have entered your credit card number, you choose a personal code, that you will use for your transactions
• Then, when you buy something off the internet or via mobile, you can choose to pay via Buyster. And then all you have to do is enter the code you previously chose when subscribing to Buyster. => Time savior, and confidentiality issues.
• You can buy Buyster applications for iPhone, but not yet for Android phones or Blackberry phones. A recommendation for them : start developing applications for all mobile-systems

• Another issue is that this kind of devices is not well spread in France yet, the main obstacle being trust issues.
• But, once these hesitations are overcome, the use of e-payment is bound to grow. Buyster for instance announces future partnerships with: Bouygues Telecom (telecommunications), Boulanger (domestic households, leisure), Kiabi (clothing) to name important French companies.

My conclusions:  YES ! Ecology can meet technology. There are yet some adjustments to be made (especially on mobile shopping) but Greenweez is a good example of mixing two new tendencies in consumption: consuming ecological, organic products, and easiness of commercial transactions (people don’t want to spend hours for the sole transaction act).

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Earthkeepers : you can save Nature !

In autumn 2011, Timberland launched a new communication campaign : « Nature needs heroes » around its historical product Earthkeepers.

A very successful campaign. Proof by images.

1.   Printed ads, with judicious choice for their location (specialized sports magazines, business magazines : for a sportive and higher-middle class customer target – Earthkeepers cost around $160.00)

2.   TV ads (broadcasted during live sports programs, during prime-time and after-prime time)

3.   Facebook and iPhone apps, with an aim of financing the plantation of 1 million trees in Hawaï.

On Facebook, you can create your very own virtual forest (https://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=142508765793833&ref=ts&sk=wall). The device for phones is more sophisticated : every time you move from a place to another (by foot or bike), you can launch your application, which records the distance you conquer. And, when you reach a certain number of km, Timberland sponsors the plantation of a tree !

4.   3D devices in shops

5.   And, on top of all of that : an interactive website to articulate all the communicational devices together. 1.   http://earthkeepers.timberland.com/  

The theme of the campaign is the need of heroes for nature. The consumer becomes that hero : he is the one to buy recycled products, therefore he is the one who saves the nature. This positioning is very successfully translated into the communication disposal : the consumer, via Facebook or iPhone application, saves Nature. I find this 360-degree communication very subtle : they don't directly incite the consumer into buying Earthkeepers. Instead of that, Timberland accompanies two central tendencies in consumer behavior :

- The tendency towards "green consumption". 

- The takeover of consumers over firms : consumers are the one who decide, not the firms, leading to a new type of marketing (participative, interactive, but never directive)

A U-turn from Timberland’s 2008 TV Spot, which placed nature and not the consumer at the centre.

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Would Tintin use a smartphone ?

These days, when walking in the streets, listening to the radio, shopping, you might be overwhelmed images of Tintin, especially in France.

Triggered by the release of the cinematographic adaptation by Steven Spielberg of Tintin (The Adventures of Tintin – Secret of the unicorn : the first of a trilogy of movies).

This love for Tintin is not a new phenomenon, far from there (the blond reporter’s first appearance dates back to 1929) but only this year has Tintin started to invade the communicational sphere.

McDonalds, Pitch (Pasquier Group), Carrefour, media : many are those who take advantage of the character to promote their own products.

Did firms use traditional communication devices or an innovative, 360° degree, communication ?

Two examples : 

• Pitch's treasure hunt.

The aim is here… Well what is the aim ? I went on to search for clues, but the internet website is useless (no information telling us what is the treasure hunt all about).

All we understand is that Pitch (mainly brioche type pastries) used the image of Tintin to promote its products.

They have a nicely designed website : http://www.pitch-tintin.com/ , but not interactive at all. You can fill up a form to participate to the “treasure hunt”. A treasure hunt which is merely the possibility (by filling up this form) of wining prices (amongst which a trip to Belgum). But that’s all.

Most shocking of all : Pitch is not even on Facebook ! Even if the entry on social networks is difficult for a brand (between giving too much or not enough liberty to consumers, the right balance is find to hard), taking them into account and using them is vital to create a real relationship between brand and customer.

• Carrefour's "Mille milliards de promos" (translated in English by "billions of blistering promotions"– a word pun on the famous Haddock swear expression "billions of blistering blue barnacles").
This is quite a traditional campaign (disposal of advertisement posters in which characters from the movie are featured). An effort to note was the creation of a dedicated website (http://www.les-aventures-de-tintin.carrefour.fr/ ) to promote the operation. But the content doesn’t enable a full participation of lovers of Carrefour. 

The principle of the operation is the same as Pitch’s: possibility of wining prices. In addition here: the possibility of collecting Tintin figurines available in Stores. But once again, no interactive device (no Smartphone application, and absence from social networks, even if a Facebook share button and a Tweet button have been added at the bottom of the website. 

My conclusions: TINTIN WOULD NOT USE A SMARTPHONE. Tintin-centered campaigns are quite disappointing: lack of innovativeness, lack of use of new technologies (no smartphone application found yet)…

What's even more shocking is the lack of use of 3D, nevertheless one of the arguments for the innovativeness of the new movie !

These campaigns are more the less deceptive that Tintinology (collecting Tintin-based products, and the adventures of Tintin themselves are a symbol of adventure, and of the search for experimentation). 

Know more

For those who are interested on previous ads using Tintin as a promotion argument, see It’s not the first time that Tintin has been used for publicities (see http://pubenstock.wordpress.com/2011/09/24/les-aventures-de-tintin-dans-la-publicite-2/ for examples)

What’s Next ? For a successful 360° communication, wait for my next article “Timberland and CSR : how new technologies are the best way of selling recycled products”
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New QR Code

To facilitate the display of this blog on mobiles, I have created this QR code. Just scan it with your mobile (apps available for every kind of smartphone : QR Droid for example) and then the link to @NME appears right away.

You don't have to enter the adress on your mobile to visit this website, just a scan and a click !

Upcoming articles :

The failure of Tintin to use new technologies

Earthkeepers : a brilliant example of 360 degree communication

Enjoy and remember : innovation is all around you !
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Augmented reality : a new consumer experience

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the salon de la VAD et du e-commerce in Lille (France).

There, a very interesting module : the "New shopping experience". 

For those of you who have the time watch the video below, it's very complete.

For those who haven't got the time I'll sum up the experience.

The New shopping experience is one of the many variables of augmented reality. Very simply, augmented reality is adding virtual components to an existing reality. In this case, kids can try on their costumes without even taking their clothes off. The principle is that you have to stand on a platform, open your arms and see what happens. An electronic device detects your movements, and adapts the products to your morphology, and movements. All you have to do is select the products and see if you like them.

When I saw this new device, I thought "super, an innovation". Then I asked the representative of Ïdgroup (the company presenting this project) and was informed that for the moment this particular project was only applied to children 

A little disappointed, I carried on a little bit of research. And it turns out that the device is used for a wider target by daring firms. Top Shop for example carried out a similar experience in Moscow, where consumers could virtually try on their clothes. 

Some call augmented reality as the future of consumer experience. I agree with them : this new shopping experience is not perfect and needs adjustments, but it sure is a lot of fun to those who try it. I recall one of my friends having a huge smile on his face when trying a knight costume. 

Today, people want to have fun, enjoy themselves ; live a real experience when they go shopping. What better than augmented reality ?
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Hello reader !

Hello All,

Generation Y, web 2.0, iPhone apps, Android, new consumer experience, interactiveness, participative marketing… You’ve all heard one of these words sometimes.

What I’m here for is to show you what they are. How firms use them, how YOU can use them.

How am I going to do that ? One method only : show and explain. 
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