Usually it starts with the funnel conversation.  You know the funnel is a spiral, dead or in some cases a Yellow Brick Road (see Making the Purchase Funnel Fixation Personal).  To be honest I am tired with the funnel debate.  It seems to have turned into some zealous endeavor to find the next consumer thing — like digital people incessantly talking about Web 3.0.  Okay, enough of the funnel. 

My focus lately is on the path to purchase.  For the sake of this blog, let’s call it the consumer journey.  The theory I am working under has several dimensions:

• Not all purchase paths are created equal.
• It starts with the consumer’s shopper mindset.
• Shopping scenario affecting the mindset.

For brevity purposes of this blog entry, I am focusing this blog just on the first dimension: not all purchase paths are created equal.  This seems logical — shoppers  will take more time researching a high-consideration like a large screen TV for the man cave, a new car for yourself, or remodeling your home than a low consideration purchase like a restaurant to eat dinner, an oil change place for your new car, or can of pork and beans in aisle 3 at the nearby Kroger.  And from a macro perspective this is somewhere between “duh” and a “no-brainer”.

Even though this is obvious, it doesn’t explain why some people will go up and down the aisles at Kroger tossing items into their cart until they reach a certain food category where they pause and contemplate their purchase — say choosing a cut of meat for family dinner, a personal care product like deodorant or shampoo, or in my case a nice six-pack of beer. 

The same “pause” can be found for your daily life.  You may find yourself on auto-pilot when you fuel your car, drop of your dry cleaning, or getting a morning cup of coffee.  However, you may deliberate with the family on where you will go to dinner on Friday night. 

Predisposition drives your auto-pilot.  This predisposition is a built in mechanism we have in our purchase behaviors to avoid revisiting every purchase decision throughout the day.  While you can consider it “loyalty” to a product or service (it is), it can also be a routine.  Many are choices that  conveniently fit into our daily routine.  For example, I like Caribou Coffee better than Starbucks, however, the Starbucks is on my way to work, and I am not willing to exert the extra effort to be loyal to Caribou and drive 2 miles out of my way.  

Breaking a person’s predisposition or routine is difficult.  They aren’t looking for a reason to switch and therefore are not seeking out information to rethink their predisposition.  Therefore a marketer is limited to intrusive methods.  The most obvious one is media — promoting a compelling reason why their current decision is incorrect (i.e., my product is better so you need to try it).  This may work but the product differentiators better be pretty damn compelling.

Another popular intrusive method hits the wallet — giving them a deal.  Coupons, deals, sweepstakes, and group buying are pervasive (just ask Groupon) and a compelling deal has the potential to induce trial.   The objective of the deal is to disengage someone from their predisposition and establish a new predisposition — a new routine.   

The interesting aspect of product trial, is if you remove the stimulus will the behavior persist.  For example, Shell has partnered with Kroger to offer a cross brand loyalty program — if someone spends $100 at Kroger the shopper will get 10-cents off per gallon on their next fueling at Shell.  The program is a great example on how to redirect one loyalty program (Kroger’s) to another brand (Shell).  The question at hand for Shell is: will people frequent Shell without the 10-cent per gallon incentive?  If the program goes on perpetually, this is a non-issue.  However, Shell is normally priced higher than nearby stations, and removing the 10-cent per gallon incentive may result in a reduction in fuelers as they go back to their previous routines.

Check out the list of postings on my wall.  Specifically, look at the comments and likes to see which marketers are getting the love back. 

My favorite is the Qdoba kissing contest (way to generate CGC on V-Day).  I only listed one posting, but there are multiple postings on my wall of people kissing for a free BOGO.

AutoTrader.comWhile we always love cars, we love them a little bit more today in honor of Valentine’s Day. Read all our car-love content right here today! http://www.autotrader.com/car- love.jsp
Comments: 3   Likes: 3

Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth™  Happy Valentine’s Day! On the menu tonight at Zehnder’s Restaurant: Lump Crab Cakes to start off with, 18 oz. Porterhouse or Char-Grilled Filet with Demi Glace and of course, a sweet treat for the Valentine and special Valentine drink specials…
Comments: 1  Likes: 14

Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack  Happy Valentine’s Day! Picking up some flowers? Or something for the mechanic at heart? Tell us—what’s the best or worst Valentine’s gift you ever received? – The Boys
Comments: 0  Likes: 2

Chili’s Grill & Bar Win a night out from our friends at ClickItToGiftIt! In 100 words tell them your funniest, craziest or most embarrassing Valentine’s story, then vote on the best tale starting Thursday, Feb. 17 at 12 p.m. EST. The story with the most votes win a $100 eGift Card valid at Chili’s, Maggiano’s, Macaroni Grill or On the Border along with a $50 eGift Card to Regal theatres. Submit your story now! http://on.fb.me/dVdcD8
Comments: 22  Likes:  97

Starbucks  Happy Valentine’s Day! This couple met each other at Starbucks, but they were Starbucks across the street. They might have met faster if they sent a Starbucks Card eGift? http://sbux.co/StarbucksCardeG

Comments:  414    Likes: 5,173

Advance Auto Parts You love your car. See our latest Poll for creative ways to show it on Valentine’s Day.

Don’t forget a Valentine’s gift for the love of your life – your car. Which gift would you choose?

1: A lush bouquet of spark plugs and ignition wires

2: An embossed car bra (for those romantic, weekend road trips)

3: A flask of exquisitely aged antifreeze

… See More
Comments:  7  Likes: 9

  

 Chili’s Grill & Bar  Happy Valentine’s Day! We hope you spend the day with family and loved ones, and if you don’t have plans, stop by Chili’s to try our 2 for $20 with your sweetheart.

Comments: 29  Likes:  236

 

 Weber Grills   Happy Valentine’s Day from Weber! We truly love all of our fans.

 

Comments:  29  Likes:  191

 

   Qdoba    Happy Valentine’s Day ♥ Don’t forget, today all at participating Qdoba locations we’re doing a special BOGO for a Kiss. Kiss your special someone, your mom, friend or even the random person behind you in line to get a BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE entree! No coupon necessary – just your lips and someone to kiss and someone to kiss! (Valid only at participating locations, available here: http://bit.ly/fTWwQP)

  Comments: 21   Likes: 49

   Denny’s    Do you love Valentine’s Day or hate it? Either way, Denny’s will be open to singles looking to mingle and couples looking to canoodle!

 Comments: 25    Likes: 76

   Chick-fil-A    Like this if you love Chick-fil-A as much as we love our raving fans!

 

Comments:  374   Likes: 17,073

 

  Sonic Drive-In  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Comments:  26   Likes:  340

  

  Volvo Cars US    Happy Valentine’s Day from Volvo. May your day be filled with love and joy—and ideally a Volvo. http://cot.ag/f6JtSE

Comments: 13  Likes: 64

  

  BMW USA  Will you be my Valentine?  Yours,  BMW

Comments: 351  Likes: 2,064

 Coca-Cola  Every day can be Valentine’s Day.

Comments: 802 Likes: 19,212

  

  Denny’s  Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Denny’s! Make sure you get a free Pancake Puppies Sundae for yourself and send one to someone special using our Valentine’s Day cardmaker!

Comments: 7    Likes: 71

  

  Ben & Jerry’s  Today is all about Love…Love of ice cream!! It’s the 4th anniversary of when we all fell in love with AmeriCone Dream, which we’re happy to report is now available in Scoop Shops! For one day only – Feb 15th – you can buy one scoop of AmeriCone Dream and get a second scoop free! Here’s the really cool thing: Stephen Colbert is donating all of his proceeds from the sale of this flavor. What a guy!

Comments: 25  Likes:316

  

  Ruby Tuesday   Happy Valentine’s Day! 

Comments: 54   Likes: 511

 

   Audi USA  Still looking for that perfect Valentines Day gift? To help get your wheels spinning, our friends at Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com put together a list of the Top 10 Turn-On Cars for Valentines Day. Can you guess which car they selected as number one? – http://audi.us/f2ppck

 Comments: 156   Likes: 3,888  

 

   Best Buy  Valentine’s Day is only one day away and if you still aren’t sure what to get that “special someone” we have the perfect 2-Day sale for you!

Comments: 15   Likes: 135

 

 Little Debbie  This Valentine’s Day, we wanted to share a rare behind-the-scenes look at how Little Debbie became America’s sweetheart. Watch this news clip and let us know if you learned anything surprising!

 Little Debbie: the sweetheart of Valentine’s Day   A Knoxville TV news crew recently got the inside scoop on how Little Debbie became an American icon.

Comments: 57  Likes:  344

 

 Chicken of the Sea Love is in the air. Impress your Valentine with Easy Salmon Italiano. This dish pairs Chicken of the Sea Pink Salmon with spaghetti squash to create a truly delightful meal. Your sweetie will thank you. http://bit.ly/dtRyNL

Comments: 1  Likes: 3

 

  Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Happy Valentine’s Day! You get the sweet, you get the hot, you get the picture!

Comments: 11  Likes: 46

 

  

 

 

Biggby sent me an email the other day about B’ing creative from a caffeinated perspective.  The email was a shout out to invent a new flavor – a new Biggy Bear drink for their recipe books.  The inventor of the winning recipe would win a new iPad or an iTouch.  The invention process on the site is pretty basic.  Users choose whether their drink invention is hot or cold; choose up to three of eighteen flavors to add to the coffee; and then they name their creation. 

Biggby’s Coffee Invention is more of a contest than crowdsourcing, especially when you compare it to the mother of all coffee crowdsourcing sites — MyStarbucksIdea.com.  My Starbuck’s Idea is about passion for the brand.  Passion for coffee.  Passion for ideas.  Since the site launched in March 2008, members generated over 75,000 ideas.  Ideas are not limited to the product.  They also include suggestions to improve the experience (e.g. ordering, atmosphere, locations) and brand involvement (e.g. community building, social responsibility).   

Me-Too or Us-Too Strategy
Can (or should) Biggby do a “me too” strategy?   Maybe.  Several things about Biggby you may or may not be aware of (some of you may not be even aware of the brand).  Biggby is growing.  They currently only have 100 locations — primarily in the midwest.  So they are not the behemoth of a Starbucks, Caribou, or Dunkin Donuts.

Their current growth may be an advantage.  Biggby can be the up-and-comer — the new kid on the block.  As a brand builds its base of operation, they also need to build their base of fandom.  For example, Sonic Drive-in just moved into my area.  When the long anticipated location opened, the buzz was thick, because fans who experienced Sonic elsewhere were talking.  They were passionate.  Non-fans noticed the passion and wondered what the excitement was about.  My friends noticed.  My wife noticed.  I noticed (however, I am still grappling going to a drive-in when it is snowy, 28-degree day in Michigan — I think we will wait ’til spring). 

Biggby’s strategy shouldn’t be “Me-Too” rather it should be a ”Us-Too” strategy.  Their goal should be to build passion.  A passion people have collectively for the brand (“Us” instead of “Me”).  Biggby should build a fan base in whatever methods make sense.  Methods begin with destinations like facebook, YouTube, and the Biggby web site.  You need places for people to congregate.  Places to share their passion.  And sharing their passion requires active participation from the brand.  Although it is nice for the 9,789 facebook fans to give shout-outs to Biggby — Biggby needs to engage their fanbase to cultivate the passion.  They need to engage them online.  Engage them in their retail locations.  And maybe engage their fanbase through crowdsourcing.

What about Biggby Crowdsourcing?  The idea behind the current flavor invention engagement is worthwhile, but at the same time it seems stifling.  It would have been nice to allow people a little more creativity by adding their own flavors (and vary the amount per flavor).    Truly allow coffee recipe experimentation.  Regardless of the nuances, this kernel of an idea can be the beginning to increase fan engagement in the brand.  The engagement could lead to other aspects of the business (just like Starbucks).  The advantage to this invention loop would allow people to feel a part of the brand.  Feel they have a vested interest in Biggby’s future.  And with “feeling” will become passion.  A passion for Biggby.

McDonalds is taking on all comers – Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Caribou Coffee, Biggby, and don’t forget the Canadian underdog Tim Hortons.  And Mickey D’s placed a $100 million down to gain share in the crowded coffee field.

It is a David & Goliath marketing battle with a twist.  While McDonalds pummels consumers with commercials, ads, web sites, and free Mocha Mondays, Starbucks is clinging to market share with branding, local activation, and advocacy.  It’s budget versus branding. 

Over the years I have worked for marketers with so much media budget, they became lazy.   The would generate safe, simple commercials and pound the message into consumer’s heads using mega-media weight.  They accepted mediocre ideas, and did not strive for the breakthrough idea, because they did not have to.  Think about it — if a marketer has $100 million to spend, the budget seems more important than the idea.  Usually media models rule the day, and creative takes a back seat.  But what if a marketer had only $10 million or $1 million.  To be successful the brand campaign needs to break through idea to get through the clutter due to minimal media support. 

So back to the coffee war.  After round one Starbucks appears to have survived the initial body blows.  Per the Wall Street Journal, the result of round one is that Starbucks is doing a little belt tightening and increasing prices to offset single digit decreases in store sales and traffic.  Although McDonalds may have impacted Starbucks’ market share, the economy probably played as much if not more havoc on their business.

On the other side of the coffee skirmish, McDonalds McCafe is thriving accounting for 5% of the fast-food giants sales (up from 2% two years ago).  It appears McDonalds $100 million was well spent.  It will be interesting to see where market share came from — was it the premium brands (e.g. Starbucks, Caribou, Biggby) or budget (e.g. Dunkin Donuts, Tim Hortons). 

Keep in mind this is just round one.  It will be interesting to see what long term effect McCafe’s media blitz has on the industry.  As other competitors increase their exposure and the economy recovers, will consumer spending revert to the pre-recession norm, or will drive-thru McCafe Mocha’s rule the day?