My ‘letter’ from Woolworths

I just got this email from Woolworths (see below).  So far, I think it’s fantastic what they are doing to rebuild the brand.  Engaging their market before they create the product.  It’s the ideal situation for marketeers and brand strategists, so it will be interesting to see it they make the most of the situation.

And the situation is rather unique – they have amazing brand equity and a huge fan base already behind them, that want them to succeed.  The eyes of Britain and the publicity machine is already on them too.  I believe most people would like to see them rise like a phoenix from the ashes.  A sign of optimism, in not so happy times?

The question is what are they going to do with all this amazing insight they are getting from their current activity?  Everyone clearly saw, the cause of their demise was that the brand was too diluted.  What did Woolworths stand for?  But does having such a diverse offering, matter as much in the online space?  Look at what Amazon are doing.  But this all grew from a start point of clear brand messaging.

So I look forward to watching this journey of rebuilding a great British brand (with slightly baited breath!).

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Greetings from woolworths.co.uk

All we can say is wow! So far, more than 200,000 of you have taken the trouble to visit us at woolworths.co.uk. We have been delighted by your interest in our plans for the new Woolworths and we have had some fantastic suggestions for new products and what old favourites we should keep. We’ve taken a few days to get back to you as we are currently going through every comment we have received to make sure we capture all your views. Your ideas and suggestions will be important in helping us to create a Woolworths that is right for you and all Woolworths’ customers, past, present and future. There is a real sense of excitement amongst the team here and we can tell from your emails that you are feeling as excited and optimistic for the new woolworths.co.uk as we do. We want to see the Woolworths name around for at least another 100 years and with your help we will. Thanks for your continued enthusiasm and support – we’ll be back in touch soon. The woolworths.co.uk Team.

Advertising for free? – widgets

I read a really comprehensive blog about widgets today. I agree that they are massively useful tools for brands to advertise in a cost effective way that is unprecendented in the advertising world.

However I think in order to do this affectively, brands (and agencies creating them) need to fully consider these issues:

1.  Scaleability – there are only so many mini-apps, are we really going to want loads of desk top clutter?

2.  Durability – is it going to be a one hit wonder (and is that part of it’s USP as a widget?), a form of geniuinely engaging entertainment or my preference for engaging consumers with the brad; a lasting app, which gives a truely useful function e.g. Nike + or the learndirect motivation widget we created at Collective.

3.  Usefulness - similarly, there are really entertaining widgets, but I have a slight fear of these.  I think they allow for a the creative agency to get a little lost in their ‘creative playtime’.   Snicker’s Mr.T widget we did at Collective was massively entertaining and viral (dresses you up as Mr.T) – but it was also unique when it was created.  There is going to be only so much space in the market for the same mechanic.

My personal preference is for widgets to  to be really lasting mini-applications e.g UPS – parcel tracker.  I think in this way the consumer and their needs is put more at the heart of the concept and will ultimately provide more lasting value for the brand.  Probably from the use of a digital Planner, who has provided this consumer insight.

Cost?

Another interesting comment raised is the cost of installing a widget.  The put it at $5 per install.  This is not what my experience of widgets has been.

The cost of distribution can be high if it is adserved.  But in the case of a Clearspring widget we did at Collective for learndirect*, the technology was free and download also free as it was hosted on the learndirect website.

In this instance the widget was less about entertainment and actually provided a functional app for users – motivating learners on their learning journey. Clearspring said they might be changing this model in the future, but for now it has represented a massively cost effective way of communicating with customers and in learndirects case, providing a truly useful widget for motivating learners.