Check out this Explanation of Benefits (EOB) I got from Anthem Blue Cross:
Now take a look at the EOB I got from CIGNA for the same exact service a month or so later:
What message does each send you? I'm unfortunately used to the unfriendliness of Blue Cross EOBs. But I always wonder why they don't make it easier for their customers to understand. It can be done, as evidenced by CIGNA's simple, plain language, user-friendly approach.
Is it intentional obfuscation, or having no clue about what customers want? Either way, it's bad performance on the part of Anthem Blue Cross, and an opportunity for competitors to get an edge in a very concrete way about something every customer cares about- their out of pocket costs.
So CIGNA, tell the world how (at least with EOBs) you're giving customers what they want! And Anthem, get a clue about connecting with your customers.
You gotta see this video!" ace ResearchWorks strategist Ross Dammann gleefully exclaimed. And he was right. Watching the parody of Microsoft "improving" iPod packaging is as funny as it is poignantly instructive. It's several years old; and not much has changed. Check it out:
Here are three key takeaways:
1. Purpose: The job of retail packaging is first to get the customer to notice the box and look at it, then to engage them enough to dig deeper. That's it. So K.I.S.S.
2. TMI: Like with other forms of seduction (hey, it is what it is), revealing all right away is NOT the best approach. The package should not try to convey every detail. It's Too Much Information. Usually, less is more (hence, my top secret code name Les S. Moore, since you were wondering).
3. Think/Feel/Do: Every communication piece should be subject to the think/feel/do test. Yes, even Apple stuff. In advance, determine what you want target customers to think, feel, and do when they see the package. Then use those objectives to make sure the creative execution hits the mark. It's a simple, powerful, and ego-free form of assuring purpose-driven communications and accountability for results.
Public Health has struggled for years to tell its story- ironically a very worthy story- in a powerful and compelling way. We worked with CDC 10 years ago to help them tackle being misunderstood and to create and communicate their brand identity - with what we called Putting Science into Action for a Safer and Healthier America. Then Washington State's Department of Health (WDOH) engaged us to hep them overcome being "underknown and undervalued" - and therefore underfunded. The WDOH central idea? Always Working for A Safer & Healthier Washington, coupled with three identity themes. In both cases, our research showed it was not just about health, but the more emotional issue of keeping people safer, that resonated across the board. Plus action - public health is about taking action that makes a difference. Here's a one pager I wrote in Government Executive on Building a Brand Identity.
And here are three examples of relatively low budget, high production value videos that do a good job at making public health come to life and personally relevant. They all capture the "safer" aspect of public health and show the value of public health action across its many "touch points." Most importantly, they all convey a message that hits home.
The first one, from American Public Health Association's (APHA) Healthiest Nation in One Generation campaign, shows through sophisticatedly simple word graphics, one person's interactions from birth through adulthood with Public Health (including 4 mentions of Motor Vehicle Injury Prevention, but who's counting!).
This second one, is from theThis is Public Health campaign of the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH). Along with student voices and simple red stickers, it powerfully SHOWS in fast MTV-like style, the numerous touch points of public health.
And to tie it all together, this video by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), which is the national organization representing local health departments, goes from showing (again with sophisticated graphics and word art) what a world without Public Health would be, to the good we have here in America, thanks to our everyday heroes (truly!) in our local Public Health Departments. It ends by showcasing a Public Health logo, given that when public health is working best, it's mostly invisible.
Together, these videos shine a light on what may be the most important and valuable (and often invisible!) service our country provides to us: Public Health. And a professional community I am so proud to be a part of.
A key principle of marketing is to avoid the assumption that what we (the "company") say is what they (the "customer") hear, and what they understand is what we mean. That's why I, well, shuddered when I was explaining something in the office and then heard myself ask the classic and perhaps most useless question ever: "Do you know what I mean?"
How can the listener know that their understanding matches the talker's intent? And if the listener says, "Yes, I know what you mean," how can the talker know if they're right or not?
Maybe you're thinking this is just semantics. NO, it's really not! It's an illustration of the problematic communication habits we make in daily life that can inadvertently cause mistrust, hurt relationships, and damage customer intimacy.
I think "Do you know what I mean" really means "I'm not sure I'm being clear; what do you understand from what I said?"
I was the "branding guy" on a Social Media panel in San Diego yesterday. Most of the attendees were from biotech, pharma, and life sciences. I recommended these rules:
1. Just because you can, does not mean you should. Deploying social media has an upside and a downside for your brand. Do not make the mistake of automatically doing social media just because it is available and popular. It is a strategic choice that needs to be integrated into your overall business planning.
2. Assess the value of social media like you would any other marketing and communication tools. Separate out the "cool and trendy" factor and evaluate how each tool individually and collectively will impact your brand. Think of the variables that constitute blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, and other tools; things like speed, interactivity, reach, user control, etc. Each tool has its trade-offs.
3. If you do it, do it right. Maintaining an effective brand presence in social media requires a sustained commitment. You need to keep providing updated content of value, manage and moderate it, and track results. Otherwise, it will backfire as a broken promise.
4. In one word, social media is about engagement. Customer engagement with your brand leads to customer intimacy with your brand which leads to increased revenues (check out this Gallup study). Customer intimacy reflects a fundamental set of values and priorities that directly shapes how you do business and what constitutes success. Are you as committed as you want your customers to be?
At ResearchWorks, we talk a lot about customer intimacy. We do our best not just to help clients be customer-intimate, but to practice customer intimacy ourselves. One sign of customer intimacy is when you say you care and show you care, and customers feel it. There is a match between how you intend to treat customers and how customers feel treated.
The sign above pronounces how much this family camp in Northern California cares for its guests. Even though the camp is not much more than a giant patch of dirt, people feel the love. The sign conveys the promise, the camp delivers on it. And guests come back year after year. That's how customer intimacy becomes customer loyalty.
How do we persuade people to do or buy things? In the health and medical field, we usually rely on educating them. This is the "direct" path to persuasion. Give lots of detailed information, the "customer" will scrutinize it, think hard about it, and come to a rational conclusion. Right? Wrong.
Years of research has shown that this approach usually doesn't work very well. For most people most of the time, the "indirect" path to persuasion is far more effective. On the indirect path, people are influenced by things like who the spokesperson is and what feelings are being conveyed, rather than the rational argument. They are not thinking deeply. Instead, they are relying on, say the credibility of the spokesperson, as a shortcut to making a quick decision. The upside is people are engaged. The downside is that the persuasion that does result may be shorter lived.
I see the real win as what I would call involvement conversion. Use the indirect path to get people initially interested. Then once they are "in the door" so to speak, their positive experience should convert them to care more deeply and find the personal relevance in what you are selling. Just make it worth their while.
Note: I know, I know. There's a popular business book called the 5 Paths to Persuasion. The two paths I am touting are fundamentally based on whether people personally connect with your message or not. Think about what path you take when faced with a barrage of communications.
OK, Twitter-head, can I ask you a question?Only if it has less than 140 characters. This action-packed exchange was in a recent Non Sequitur comic strip.
Is tweeting good or bad for communicating what matters? I say both. And here's why (in less than 140 characters!). The upside is the good judgment needed to be effective and concise. The downside is no judgment and tweeting about meaningless things.
Check out this very funny "SuperNews!" animated comedy sketch that was on Current TV:
