MARKETING MATERIAL

9097 – Marketing Practice 9 Conviction Marketing 

Chapter 9

CONVICTION MARKETING

What you need to achieve with the message determines not just its content but the medium which conveys it; as we have seen earlier. Most important, though, will be the message itself - how well it relates to the existing positioning and how well it achieves the planned repositioning (or maintains the existing one). This is not a simple task:

The most obvious feature is that of the general decline which the investment in brand position experiences over time - as evidenced by the long-term competitive saw, for instance, and as is 'measured' by the current 'appreciation level'. In the chart above this arises from two main components. One, referred to as 'depreciation', simply represents the attrition which the brand suffers as customers' attention is distracted by all the other stimuli which continuously inundate them. It also reflects the drift away from optimal positioning, over time as tastes change. The second, 'external obsolescence', reflects the attrition caused by the activities of competitors. Their promotion will reshape the market, so that your own brand's positioning again drifts away from the optimum.

The chart shows one further element, 'internal obsolescence'. This is a polite description for the self-inflicted wounds, often caused by overly-anxious creative departments, where the brand positioning is actively moved away from the optimum position by new advertising!  it reflects the work which, as we saw earlier, needs to be carried out before a combative advertising campaign can even start to work.

So far we have looked at the message, and the campaign overall, in isolation; as if there is no influence on the customer beyond what he or she is exposed to in the media. But it is often argued that, especially in the case of a new product the effect of promotion may occur in two stages. The promotion itself (usually advertising) persuades the more adventurous opinion leaders in the population to try the product or service. These opinion leaders then carry the message to those who are less exposed to it; and in the mass markets this often means to those who may be less exposed to the mass media. This was the model we eventually adopted in the section on the customer.

This is not the same as the trickle-down theory, much favoured in certain parts of the social sciences, which assumes that patterns of consumption are led by the upper classes and then 'trickle down' to the lower classes. It is important to note that 'opinion leaders', on the other hand, influence members of their own class; horizontally in terms of class groupings.

As a result, it is clear that the impact of media advertising may be much more complex than many of its practitioners allow for. Thus, a more generalised aspect of communications within the community as a whole is 'word of mouth'. Much of advertising theory concentrates upon the 'direct' receipt of these 'indirect' communications; it assumes that the consumer receives the message directly from the media, and only from the media.

In practice, as we have seen, the message may well be received by word of mouth from a contact (who may have seen the advertising - or may, in turn, have received it from someone else). Equally, even if the consumer had previously seen the advertising, word of mouth comments may reinforce (or undermine) what this has achieved directly.

One, perhaps unexpected but not wholly unrelated, feature of 'audience behaviour' was reported by Leon Festinger[1], described by him as:

The usual explanation for this apparently illogical behaviour is that the consumer is then searching for the proof which will justify their recent decision. In looking at the competitive advertising, say, the consumer is trying to seek out its flaws, in comparison with the chosen product or service, in order to obtain reassurance that the decision was the correct one.

The importance from the advertisers point of view is that advertising still has a job to do even after the sale has been made! In addition, the messages needed to address cognitive dissonance may be subtly different - where they are needed to provide reassurance, and should take account of the fact that these purchasers will also represent the main source of future sales, as well as serving as peer group references.

Indeed, there is in general one dimension of advertising which is forgotten - that of:

The inputs to the believability equation are many, and - as can be seen from the diagram -  often lie outside of the advertising itself, so that the whole process is complex and difficult to manage. These outside factors often place quite constricting limitations on what may reasonably be said within the advertisement itself.

Most important of all is that the equation does not just cover pre-purchase belief. The most important element is how that belief (expectations) is in practice satisfied by the actual offering - a highly believable message may cause serious problems when the product/service package fails to live up to it.

The point is that both what is perceived and what is expected are psychological phenomena - not reality[3]; and it is the relative level which is important, not the absolute one.

Where a supplier uses any form of distribution chain, as most of those in the mass consumer markets in fact do, he or she is faced with two extremes in terms of promotion;

PUSH < > PULL

In the case of push the supplier directs the bulk of the promotional effort at selling the 'product' into the channel (into the various organisations which make up the chain of distribution); in order to persuade the members of that channel to 'push' the product forward until it reaches the final consumer. It tends, thus, to revolve around sales promotion and push; and is sometimes referred to as 'below the line' (derived from the days when advertising agencies managed all promotional activity - and the items on the accounts which did not relate to advertising were put below the line which divided off the agency's main  activity on the expenditure reports). This is a technique particularly favoured by organisations without strong brands which are involved in price competition.

In the case of pull the supplier focuses the promotional effort (typically advertising) on the consumer, in the belief that he or she will be motivated to 'pull' the product through the channel (by demanding it, for example, from retailers). It is (due to its association with advertising) sometimes referred to as 'above the line'. This is the technique usually favoured by the owners of strong, differentiated brands.

In practice, most suppliers choose a route somewhere between these two extremes; blending both elements to obtain the optimum (balanced) effect. In any case, brand share is often dependent upon the percentage distribution; and, in turn, distribution just as often reflects brand share:

CONVICTION MARKETING

At this point may I divert into an important - but little recognised - aspect of marketing, which is rather more general in its impact; but which is most closely linked with 'message selection' (and, hence, the reason for its presence here).

'Conviction marketing' - sometimes called 'commitment marketing' - is, in many respects, alien to most of the concepts of traditional marketing. Yet it is probably more prevalent than the genuine use of pure marketing; and arguably it is not infrequently more successful. It has a long and chequered history. The propaganda machines developed by the Nazis offered some of the most potent, and widely deplored, demonstrations of its power (and this represents one possible reason why discussion of this style of marketing is even now generally avoided). The religious 'marketing machines' had been even more effective in earlier generations (and can even now be very powerful, as is evidenced by the case of Islamic fundamentalism). In the commercial sector, though, its use has sometimes been just as powerful - and very productive! Indeed, the majority of the few truly global brands have embodied it to some degree; IBM, with its philosophy of 'Customer Service', McDonalds, with Q. S. C. & V, Coca Cola, with its embodiment of the American teenage dream, Marlboro, and the wide open spaces of the frontier!

It is different to 'selling', which is conventionally seen as the main alternative to marketing, in that its focus is very firmly on the consumer; as all marketing is supposed to be - where the focus of 'selling' is internal (the customer is to be persuaded to take what the organisation has to offer). On the other hand, conviction marketing's focus is still one-sided. There is little or no attempt to use market-research to find out what the consumers need or want, though research is sometimes used to justify the organisation's existing prejudices - and is frequently used, to great effect, to optimise the presentation of its chosen message.

The power-house of such 'conviction marketing' is the powerful idea (the 'conviction' to which the organisation has made its 'commitment'), to which the organisation believes the consumers are also committed (despite any evidence to the contrary!) or need (for their own good!). Despite the focus on the consumer, and frequent reference to the importance of that consumer, the real organisational commitment is to the overarching idea (or set of ideas, often a 'lifestyle'). The essence of, and the strength of, such 'conviction marketing' is the power it gives to the marketing organisation; to 'evangelise', where religious as well as political parallels, are often more relevant than those of conventional marketing theory.

In turn this power derives from a number of factors:

The concept being marketed must be distinctive. Successful conviction marketing is not the province of the marketer who is dedicated to pallid incrementalism. It has to be readily identifiable; as Coca Cola was - in terms of the very powerful image of the bottle, if not necessarily the product contained. Beyond that, however, it has to be based on an identity, a brand personality. The beneficiaries of conviction marketing are typically not products where the technical features are predominant. Coca Cola and Marlboro are a matter of personal taste, but it is the images associated with them, their brand persona, which add the necessary richness to the relatively mundane. Even in the case of IBM it was the marketing and support (rather than the very complex technology) which was its outstanding feature. The richness, the depth, to the identity seems to be necessary (at least in the most successful examples), to give an almost human identity.

Despite the richness of the concept it has to be instantly communicable, which demands that it be clear; and preferably simple. It has to be conveyed by simple messages, such as the shape of the bottle (or now the graphics on the can) of Coca Cola, or the cowboy and Marlboro. Where the product is complex, and none could be more complex than that of IBM, it has to be enshrined in an associated philosophy, "Customer Service" (personified by the field personnel in the now rather outdated, but very necessary, dark suits and white shirts). It is frequently associated with a distinctive form of quality; McDonalds 'Hamburger University', for example.

Conviction marketing is, above all, dependent upon the consumers belief in what its communicators say. Being somewhat unrelated to the basic needs, the 'vision' of the 'product' (of its identity) has to be conveyed to the target audience. They, in turn, have to enter into a 'belief' in the 'product' before they can fully appreciate it. This means that the message being communicated has to be believed; and that in turn means that the communicators themselves need to believed.

In some cases the 'communicators' can be those of conventional marketing; the Marlboro cowboy in the advertising, or the bright clean image of McDonalds' outlets. But behind them there is often a human face. In IBM it was the sales force, immensely capable and imbued with (many would argue indoctrinated in) the IBM culture; and which of their customers could resist such evangelists. But, above all, it usually requires a strong (and almost obsessively dedicated) human personality at the centre, to make the vision work; the Watsons at IBM and Ray Kroc at McDonalds developed very rich cultures which were aimed more at their own employees (the 'communicators' the public see) rather than at their markets.

There is one element of conviction marketing which is beyond the control of the organisation itself, and that is what its competitors choose to do. Almost by definition, a 'conviction marketed' brand will develop a new segment of the market. Its unique identity will, at least for a time, give it a monopoly there. Eventually, though, competitors will recognise the success of the brand; and will want some of the action.

It is a peculiarity of conviction marketing that the almost hypnotic effect of the message also seems to infect competitors. They usually attempt, with only marginal success, to copy the original. Inevitably, the copies turn out to be pale imitations of the original; Burger King could not match the evangelical dedication to standards of McDonalds. Pepsi, for many decades, had to follow Coca Cola. The competitors usually have to wait, therefore, for the leader to make a mistake, or for the market to change; Pepsi was eventually rewarded when the market did change, and Coca Cola made a very public mistake with its change in recipe! Compaq similarly  capitalised on both the changes in the PC market and IBM's uncharacteristically unsure handling of its own responses.

Although customer needs are at the heart of conventional marketing, they are only an 'enabling' factor in the case of conviction marketing. If the 'vision' is too far removed from the consumer's view of reality, it will not be accepted. Even so, Clive Sinclair's C5 electric/pedal-power car (eventually, derisively, called the 'electric clog') was initially accepted with praise by the media, based on his own charismatic image and obvious commitment to it; and it took nearly three months for commentators to admit that the idea was in reality laughable. The resultant shock to believability, on the other hand, probably brought down the remainder of his business empire (which was unconnected to the C5, and more soundly based)! There have been other spectacular mismatches to reality; IBM's PC Junior, Ford's Edsel. These are, however, the recorded exceptions; for most mismatches fail at the 'new product' stage - and disappear with the 90% of such new products which do not achieve acceptance.xe "new product' stage - and disappear with the 90% of such new products which do not achieve acceptance."

Conviction marketed products can be broadly divided into two groups;

                                PRODUCT BASED <> VALUE BASED

The former are products, or services - frequently in the high technology field, whose creator has a blinding faith in what product or service features are needed. Steve Jobs, at Apple, believed in the special technology of his products (even after IBM set new standards - and John Sculley had to be recruited from Pepsi, to inject more conventional marketing expertise), Alan Sugar believed in his personal ability to put together low-priced electronics packages. The problem with conviction marketed products in this category is that they can be very rapidly overtaken by changes in the market; typically, new technology supersedes them (as the Commodore Pet, one of the original PCs, was displaced from the business market by Apple, which in turn was superseded - as brand leader - by IBM), or tastes change (as Woolworth found out as its traditional place on the high street was undermined).

As already indicated:

These brands are usually much more capable of change, since the identity is not usually locked into 'physical' features. The customers (and the organisation's own employees) can easily accommodate the new features needed to accommodate developments in technology and taste. IBM's 'Customer Service' carried it though decades of revolutionary change and Disneyland is constantly absorbing new rides - but still keeping them immaculately clean! Even McDonalds, which should perhaps be one of the most product based of retailers, is in reality based on conviction marketing of values; i.Q. S. C. & V." (Quality, Service, Cleanliness & Value). It has managed to change what it serves (adding a breakfast menu - and lines based on chicken and fish, as well as pizza) and how it serves (increasing the size of its 'sit down' sections - so that it has become a restaurant rather than just a take-away outlet).

The challenge for less charismatic marketers, committed to the wisdom of the 'outside-in' viewpoint, is to understand to what extent the success of 'conviction marketing' undermines traditional marketing theory. This is a question mark which implicitly hung over much of marketing theory through the 1980s; and, in particular, drove practitioners and academics alike to look for alternative approaches - such as competitive advantage. The reality is that most products and services (at least in terms of numbers of lines, if not of value of sales) are managed without reference to the principles of marketing; and have been throughout history. The difference is that 'conviction marketers' have very successfully extended this common 'inside-out' approach by adopting some of the tools of marketing. Indeed, the conviction marketers probably make greater use of marketing tools (albeit to somewhat perverted ends) than do many of those who would pay lip-service to traditional marketing. Philip Morris, which owns the Marlboro cigarette brand, also owns the Miller Brewing Company of Milwaukee. In applying the same sort of charismatic (and 'macho') image to 'Miller High Life' they used extensive market research to fine tune the positioning. More important, the company continued to be aware of the demands of its market place, and subsequently launched the highly successful 'Miller-Lite' (low calorie beer) as a 'less filling' beer which fitted this image.

At the end of the day, the basic justification for conventional marketing, in the absence of the blinding (and hopefully viable) vision of the conviction marketer, is simply that it is generally the most successful approach to product or service management. Giving the customer what he or she wants rarely fails!

As already stated, what often makes the task easier for conviction marketers is that their competitors seem even more mesmerised than their customers. Many organisations are 'dedicated followers'; they always look to their competitors to take the lead. Their adherence to this creed goes beyond that required of 'followers', the subsidiary brands in a market which are simply not in any position to set the pace, as described in the earlier chapter (on the 'Environment'). It goes beyond the IBM approach of 'constructive following', where that organisation (in its days of market dominance) deliberately let other, smaller, organisations explore (and take the risks inherent in) new developments; only to recapture the initiative (by deploying the vast resources at its command) when the markets prove viable - a strategy which usually proves successful (if potentially risking loss of the leadership, as IBM eventually found out). .

'Dedicated Followers', though, assume that the market leader always knows best. So that even IBM's mistakes were ascribed to covert machinations, which must have some ultimate value, and these too were copied! 'Dedicated followers' represent a terminal case of myopia, conviction marketing;. They are organisations which, in effect, sub-contract their policy making to their competitors. As such, they deserve to, and usually do, pay the ultimate price for this!

The main problem facing conviction marketers is that the necessary strength of their commitment may blind them to the realities facing them and their customers. It is difficult enough for any marketer to adopt the unbiased perspective essential to understanding the customer's needs and wants. It may be impossible for a conviction marketer, whose 'vision' may be so powerful that it precludes any doubts about the 'product'. The Concorde airliner development team were convinced of the market for their 'baby'; and their market research supported that view - it was only the market which disagreed. Even IBM can fall foul of this problem, as it did with its personal computers; when its immensely strong corporate 'vision' got in the way of any meaningful recognition of the scale of the problem posed by its wayward dealers.

Catastrophe theory is derived from science and technology; but it may be very applicable to conviction marketing. In a very simplified form (for it is the idea, not the detail, which is important) it states that some systems can be 'over-stressed', so that they will support loads beyond the point at which other systems would obviously start to deteriorate. When they pass the final point of no return, however, their performance degrades (they fail) suddenly and catastrophically.  This compares with most other systems where the fail point may reached much more quickly, but the subsequent degradation in performance is much more gradual; and, hence, predictable and controllable (allowing, perhaps, for the possibility of recovery).

It is conventionally shown as a three dimensional surface, but it is easier to see the main features in a two dimensional illustration:

This is an example specific to marketing, but it is the most typical one in this field. Above, the thinner line illustrates the traditional decline, say of a brand. Following (unspecified) changed circumstances, the position (typically relative brand share of the brand leader) declines gently until it reaches its new, lower equilibrium. This gentle change allows the brand owner to adjust the business to these new circumstances; and may even allow the brand to be restored to its original leadership. On the other hand, the thicker line shows the path followed by the conviction marketed brand. This is maintained at the higher level far beyond the point where a traditional brand would have been well into decline - allowing a greater recovery of funds (and possibly even allowing it to override a short-lived challenge). When the line does begin to dip, however, it does so very steeply indeed (and in theory doubles back on itself - though, as this is physically not possible, the 'actual' line follows the vertical dotted path). The problem this poses for the brand owner is the suddenness of the change. There is no time for adjustments to be made, and certainly none to allow any recovery plan to work - and the business as a whole may be destroyed by the shock.

This phenomenon is characteristic of conviction marketing. The conviction marketer often goes further than the steady state shown above, and persuades the customer (and the competitors) to defy the laws of 'marketing gravity' and slowly pushes them uphill! Often this is a process of incrementalism; making many, gradual changes - which are not individually noticed by the customers. This results in them achieving market positions, often of dominance, which are apparently unassailable - since their competitors cannot match this miraculous performance; which defies the laws of gravity. IBM, for one, in some respects achieved this feat before the introduction of the PC brought about the start of its own catastrophe phase. 'Salami Slicing' (gradual reduction ) of quality is another notable example which may, in the short (and even medium) term, produce high profits: but contains the seeds of its own catastrophic demise.

The problem is that, once past the point of no return (and frequently triggered by an apparently trivial change in circumstances), the position can be destroyed; by simply being forced, almost overnight, to obey the normal rules of the game (plummeting, in the graphical analogy illustrated earlier, to the bottom line).

This phenomenon has been most notable in the financial futures markets (the October 1987 crash, for instance), or in political circles (even Communism in Eastern Europe suffered this fate in 1989). In a less dramatic manner it might also be seen at work in those national industries (such as the UK motorcycle industry) virtually destroyed by Japanese competition.

A final comment before I finish this section. Marketing was not developed, nor dramatically advanced, in the laboratories of its academic theorists. It was the outcome of the practical explorations by practitioners, gradually probing the frontiers of what could be achieved by their activities. The academics usually came later and served a very valuable function by documenting, in a form which could be transferred to other managers, what had been learned by this practice.

Even so, as this book regularly explains, it is the practice of marketing which is important; and the theory which should be in support of this - a fact which some academics may have begun to overlook!

The marketer, in real life, does not face each decision with a copy of a text-book in his or her hand - ready to work through the various lessons. The marketer starts with a quite specific environment; which will immediately limit the range of factors to be explored to a small subset of the literally hundreds explored in this book. To the perceptive marketer the range of options to be explored will usually be obvious. Beyond this, the position will be further constrained by the resources available to deal with them. For instance, theory always says that the first step is marketing research, but if your competitor has just made a major change in strategy you may have just days to react - where research may take months.

Thus, for example, new products will emerge from irrational processes and the rational development process may, as we have seen, be used (if at all) to screen out the worst non-runners. The design of the advertising, and the packaging, will be the output of the creative minds employed; which management will screen, often by 'gut-reaction', to ensure that it is reasonable.  

For most of his or her time the marketing manager is likely to be using his or her considerable intelligence to analyse and handle the complex, and unique, situations being faced; without easy reference to theory. This will often be 'flying by the seat of the pants', or 'gut-reaction'; where the overall strategy, coupled with the knowledge of the customer which has been absorbed almost by a process of osmosis, will determine the quality of the marketing employed!

This, almost instinctive management, is what I would call 'coarse marketing'; to distinguish it from the refined, aesthetically pleasing, form favoured by the theorists. It is often relatively crude and would, if given in answer to a business school examination, be judged a failure of marketing. On the other hand, it is the real-life world of most marketing!

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