You’re Only as Good as THEY Say

We’ve all heard the saying that “You’re only as good as your reputation.” While we all know that to be true on an individual and corporate/company level, but how much do we truly pay attention to it? The answer: not nearly as much as we should. According to a study by Compete.com, the traffic to consumer and user reviews skyrocketed by 158% in 2010 and continues to grow. Additionally, posting and commenting on these sites also increased 91% in 2011 (Wall Street Journal). On top of that, around 70% of consumers consult reviews or ratings before purchasing (BusinessWeek 2008). (Stop, let it all sink in. Ok, proceed…) Not only are more people posting, but more are reading reviews and re-evaluating purchasing decisions. So what does this mean? Several things actually:  The power of consumer influence is shifting to the PEOPLE (instead of traditional advertising), consumers don’t trust what companies say (as you’ll see below), businesses reputations are up for grabs, and progressive steps will need to be taken by marketers to harness this new platform/power and protect those reps.

Wrap your head around these facts*:

-90% of online customers trust recommendations from people they know

-70% trust unknown users

-27% trust so-called “experts”

-14% trust ADVERTISING

-8% trust celebrities

*Erik Qualman, Econsultancy

Based on those numbers, it’s clear to see that companies and advertising are fighting an uphill battle for consumers’ trust. And as we hopefully learned from reading one of my previous articles/entries, TRUST IS KEY. According to another study done by consumer behavior firm Yankelovich, more than 75% of people don’t trust ads. Couple that with the numbers above and it’s pretty easy to see that consumers are no longer as inclined to trust what advertisers say. In a nutshell, when it comes to certain areas of marketing and advertising, what people say matters, not ads.

 The other aspect of frequent posting, viewing, and utilizing of user/consumer reviews is what I like to call the “Amplification Circle of Life and Death” (Copyright pending. Just kidding. But seriously…). Because the digital footprint in this world is nothing short of MASSIVE, consumer-generated information is able to travel much faster and to a far greater amount of people than traditional advertising. Referring to a case done by Deloitte and Touche, 7 out of 10 people who read reviews share them with peers. So think of it as a pyramid: one person reads it, shares it with two friends, who each share it with two friends, etc. etc. and you get the point. Through this amplification process, there is still a great reach (such as in traditional advertising), but it carries more weight due to the trusted source. The “Life and Death” part is determined by what is being said about the company, product, or service. Depending upon the comment/review and its content, it can spell life or death for said target’s reputation on an individual OR mass level.

With the ever-ready Amplification Circle of Life and Death just waiting to be unleashed, it is critical that companies and agencies field special staff to monitor review sites. While any positive opinion or rating is a victory, it’s a minor victory at best; it’s the negative opinions that will stick with the consumers reading the reviews. For those of you reading this that played sports, how easy is it for you to remember you or your teams’ greatest victories? How easy is it for you to remember your toughest defeats? Which are more vivid? Most of you, like me, probably said the defeats. According to Tim Hart, negatives are much easier to remember because they teach us a lesson of what to do or not. He also says, “Impressions and opinions take seconds to develop, but years to change.” This means that a few negative comments or reviews could be detrimental to a product or brand. So how can consumer reviews be utilized to turn negatives into positives? Through a dedicated monitoring staff, feedback loops can be generated to understand what is causing the negative feelings and proactive steps may be taken to correct them. Additionally, staff can post positive comments in order to balance out or outweigh the negative. While the latter option is a little bit shady, let’s be serious, the almighty dollar rules corporate America.

So what is the purpose of my consequent rants? What nuggets of information do I want you to take away from this? Simply that user reviews are increasingly becoming a more significant part of our social media world and, much like Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms, it too needs to be monitored thoroughly. Monitoring feedback loops regarding opinions and feelings about a product, service, or company is crucial. You know the saying, “Caring is sharing”? Well, “Monitoring is protecting”—ok, so it doesn’t have the same ring, but you get the point. Monitoring can help restore the balance to a brand and eliminate troublesome situations. The world of marketing, specifically digitally, is changing rapidly, friends. It’s our job to keep up…

Tale of the Tape: Terrapin vs Sweetwater

             We are gathered here as witnesses of a clash between two titans of the small brewery industry, heavyweights of hops, behemoths of barley, mammoths of malt…you get the idea. Finally the debate between which of these two juggernauts has the best brewery and visiting experience will be settled. Separated by 64.9 miles (thanks Google Maps), these rivals are constantly waging war over Georgia and Southern beer drinkers’ delights.

(Insert 50’s era ring announcer voice here) “From the blue corner, with a total medal count of twenty-two, and 15 years in existence, fighting out of Atlanta, Georgia—Sweetwateeeeeer Brewing Company-ny-ny (sorry, I had to for dramatic effect). And its opponent, from the red corner, with a total medal count of twenty-one, and 10 years in existence, fighting out of Athens, Georgia—Teeeeerrrrrapin Beeeeeer Company (it was actually kind of fun that time).”

“Alright breweries, I want a good clean fight; no cheap shots, no hitting below the label, if at any time one of you is knocked down, the other will return to his corner until I give the signal for the fight to restart. At the sound of the bell, come out and clink bottles. Alright? Alright? Good, now let’s get it on!”

 Now before we get this slugfest underway, I feel it’s important to explain the story behind this blog entry:

This past May/June I took a marketing research class, which was phenomenal by the way (BIG ups to Prof. Norvell), and my team’s final project was a presentation of the findings and suggestions based off of our qualitative and quantitative research done during the class. Our topic and company of interest was Terrapin Beer Co. However, since we were trying to disguise bias throughout the survey and in-depth interview process, we sprinkled in other smaller breweries, such as: Sweetwater, New Belgium, Magic Hat, Full Sail, etc. After screening, we interviewed and surveyed around 70 people based primarily in Athens or Atlanta, aged 21-29, fairly balanced distribution by sex (~62% men, ~38% women), and had been to both breweries. In our final survey, we did a comparison between Terrapin and Sweetwater based on the most important components of a brewery and visit (determined from previous consumer surveys that we conducted): Price, facilities, seating/seating area, atmosphere, tour, variety/offerings of beer, and taste. Through the use of Top Box vs. Bottom Two Box scores [for those not familiar w/ this technique, it compares the number of times people chose the highest possible satisfactions (ex. 5 on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest) against the number of times people chose the lowest two possible satisfactions (ex. 1 or 2 in this case)], Pearson Correlations, and confidence intervals, we were able to analyze the most important factors and their relation to overall satisfaction. Here is what we found…

(As much as I’d love to literally script and write out a fight between two personified beers, I actually have more important things to do, like school work and work for my internship, so this will be a Reader’s Digest version)

(Ding ding)

“And we’re underway here in tonight’s main event. Terrapin looks loose and energetic, while the more experienced Sweetwater is poised to outsmart this pup.”

(The lads at Terrapin)(Me, Julia, and Sean at Sweetwater)

Round 1: Price/Bang for your buck

Both breweries are pretty cheap, Terrapin is $10 for 8 tickets and Sweetwater is $8 for 6 tickets, and each price of admission is accompanied by a pint glass you get to keep. But where this round differentiates is in the pour; Terrapin will give you around 1/3 of a glass for each ticket, while Sweetwater tends to give you a little more, just shy of 1/2 a pint. EDGE: Sweetwater

Round 2: Facilities

Based on the results, it was a lot closer than expected. I thought Sweetwater would run away with this one, but they only just comfortably nudged out Terrapin. Sweetwater’s facilities are nice: wood bar, wood-floored inside, fully bricked outdoor area and patio, a big flat screen TV indoors, the works. While Terrapin is larger and has more room, it is certainly not as well—decorated; it’s got cement floors inside, a large backyard, a very strong scent of malt, barley, etc. (it is a brewery after all), and its restrooms aren’t as clean or fancy. EDGE: Sweetwater

Round 3: Seating/Seating Area

This one was a complete landslide. Sweetwater has a small, small seating area inside: few seats at the bar and 4-5 tables with two chairs each, and zero seating outside except for one picnic table. Terrapin boasts tables indoors, long and circular tables outdoors, and about one hundred extra seats and chairs to do with as you please. EDGE: Terrapin

Round 4: Atmosphere

Sweetwater has a great outdoor patio/deck area, but what may have hurt them in this category is the lack of size and space available. No one likes the feeling of being all cramped together. On the other hand, Terrapin has tons of space both indoors and out; they provide corn-hole boards for patrons, and have live music playing outdoors on most occasions. Also, you can unleash your dog here to let him/her frolic and play with other canines, unlike Sweetwater. EDGE: Terrapin

Round 5: Tour

For starters, Sweetwater’s tour is separated from its bar area, which helps cut down on the pungent brewery smell, and gives you a pretty good feel for the brewery and most of its aspects. The tour takes you on a walk by the distillers, mashers, etc., to the bottling area, onto the packaging sector, and you finish up in the storage fridge where there are cases of beer all around you (aka. Heaven). The tour guides are also very engaging, funny, and I’ve never had the same one twice, which allows for each guide to put their own spin and style on it. At Terrapin, the tour, if you could call it that, simply walks you to in front of the distillers where you will be spoken to and given a history of the company and then that’s about it. Personally, I have taken the tour four times and had the same woman give me the tour each time. What’s that saying, “Variety is the spice of life?”….EDGE: Sweetwater

Round 6: Variety/Offering of Beers

Fairly close, almost a draw. Both Sweetwater and Terrapin offer a good selection of beers on tap at the breweries. Furthermore, they also do a fine job of cycling the lineup fairly often, with the exceptions of their cornerstone beers. However, Terrapin just pipped Sweetwater at the finish. While not 100% sure of the reasoning behind it, I believe it’s because Terrapin more regularly cycles their beers and also pulls out their infamous “Side Projects” as options on a fairly regular basis. EDGE: Terrapin

Round 7: Taste

All tied up going into what may be or seem like the most important round and category to most beer drinkers. Not a surprise to me though, but maybe that’s because I’ve analyzed the research and knew it already. Both have their signature and cornerstone brews, Terrapin has Rye Pale Ale and Golden Ale and Sweetwater has Sweetwater Blue and Sweetwater 420, along with seasonal and other assortments. All taste great, too. Personally, I don’t have a super refined palate complete with two thousand papillae per square centimeter on my tongue, so I don’t really tell that large of difference when comparing similar brews from each. However, the people have spoken and, by a narrow margin, have selected Sweetwater. EDGE: Sweetwater

“Final seconds of the fight! These two middleweights are slugging it out at the center of the ring! Standing toe-to-toe, trading blow after blow after blow! (Ding, Ding, Ding) The two breweries embrace, each raising their arms as if they’ve believe they’ve won. This one is going to the judges!”

“The judges have scored this fight 3-4, 3-4, 3-4—in a unanimous decision—for the NEW champion of small breweries in Georgia—Teeeeeerrrrapin Beeeeer Companyyyy!”

            Now hold up, before you go getting on me and questioning my math skills or if I know how to count, let me explain the reasoning behind this. Immediately you’re thinking “What the hell?! Sweetwater had 4 pts, Terrapin had 3 pts, it’s plain to see that Sweetwater won.” Ahhh, but there is a little something called weighting and correlation my friends. While Sweetwater did win more rounds/categories, they didn’t win the ones that mattered most. According to our research and analytics, such as Pearson correlation, the categories that most factored in to overall satisfaction were: facilities (won by Sweetwater), atmosphere (won by Terrapin), seating (won by Terrapin), variety (won by Terrapin, narrowly) and price (won by Sweetwater, but was essentially a coin flip, so we’ll call that a wash).

            I know, I was shocked by some of those factors, particularly facilities and seating, but the fancy and expensive analytic software that our professor ran the numbers through and helped us analyze don’t lie. This goes to show how important it is to understand your target market, their opinions and feelings on the various aspects that encompass one’s attitude toward a product and company, and to do complete and thorough research to back it up. In the early stages of our research, my team and I asked what the main purpose of going to the brewery was; the response “to be with friends and/or family” was the overwhelming majority, followed by “to drink beer”, of course. Maybe it all goes back to what I was saying in my previous blog entry, by being able to create an atmosphere and experience that is bonded and linked with a company and its product, you’ve just been able to connect that consumer to you emotionally. Through its atmosphere, enough seating for you and all of your friends/family, and great variety, I hereby proclaim Terrapin the victor and king of Georgia small breweries. At least for now…

Service With a Smile

In today’s market, consumers are looking for more than just a product or a service; they want an experience. While some companies offer a great product or service, they may be lacking in going that extra mile that truly sets them apart from their competitors. For example, while retail and fast-food giants Wal-Mart and McDonalds dominate the market in their respective industries, they could learn a little something from the mom-and-pop stores and restaurants that they occasionally help put out of business—the factors that give people that peak experience.

During this past Spring Break, my buddy, Sean, and I took a road trip to several major cities in the South and visited several successful restaurants, breweries, distilleries, and music venues to determine how and why they had become so lauded. For this entry, we’ll be looking at a couple examples of businesses that provide an unrivaled experience to accompany their product and service. Our first stop takes us to Charleston, SC and Bowen’s Island Restaurant.

 

(Click on the photos to enlarge)

Bowen’s has been a family-owned and operated restaurant since its creation over fifty years ago. It sits on the edge of Folly Creek and offers fantastic seafood, a family atmosphere, and picturesque views. We had a chance to speak with the restaurant’s owner, Robert Barber and his daughter, Hope McIntosh, about what sets Bowen’s apart. After a few hours, a tour, a few drinks, tens of questions asked by us, a cooking demonstration, and a cornucopia of seafood and sides, it was plain to see what set Bowen’s apart—tradition and love. It is so rare in today’s consumer market that one finds a company that genuinely cares for the consumers and their needs; well Bowen’s Island Restaurant does that to the umpteenth power. For example, they harvest their famous oysters from oyster beds in Folly Creek only a few minutes boat ride from the restaurant, as they have been since 1946. Also, they prepare them on a large sheet of steel cooking apparatus (that has been in the family for decades) and cover them with wet burlap sacks to steam the oysters and cook them in their own juices. Furthermore, the entire restaurant, inside and out, is covered with signatures and messages written by patrons from the last several decades (don’t think I passed up the opportunity to sign myself into history).

(Bowen's featured on Travel Channel's Man vs Food: From 6:21 on 1st clip to 0:20 on the 2nd clip)

Bowen’s continues to differentiate themselves and woo customers by providing a warm atmosphere that all feel comfortable in. The service, care, and dedication that is shown by everyone, from the hostess to the owner and his daughter, is incredible. I truly felt like I had come home from school and had my mother waiting on me hand and foot and genuinely cared about my satisfaction. Ask any customer or consumer of any product or service from any company, big or small, if they prefer to be treated like a person or a number. I guarantee that 99.9% of the time people prefer to be treated or known as Sara, Jim, or Miguel instead of a revenue source or Reference #KW4972849. At Bowen’s they’ve got that by the boatload (pun fully intended). It is truly an experience that goes above and beyond. Believe me when I tell you that if you want to see how to build a strong customer base, unwavering loyalty, and success, check out Bowen’s Island Restaurant.

Next, we jump on over to Nashville, TN, affectionately known as the Music City, Nashvegas, or Smashville. There, we were lucky enough to be able to score an interview with Erica Nichols, COO of the Nashville Songwriters Association and President of the critically acclaimed and world famous Bluebird Café. For those of you who don’t know, the Bluebird Café is a listening room and restaurant that hosts shows for songwriters and artists in the country music community. The concept of a listening room is basically exactly what it sounds like, you don’t yell or scream at the band, you are there to listen to the music and lyrics and immerse yourself into them. They are well known for being the discovery point and launching pad of many prominent country music superstars, such as: Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Garth Brooks (he actually signed his record contract in the Bluebird Café kitchen), Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban, and the list goes on and on. It is rich with tradition and is a landmark in Nashville and for country music in general. Despite all of its notoriety and fame for launching country music careers, I believe its success can be attributed to two key components: sense of community and intimacy.

 The way Erica explained what she thought set the Bluebird apart from other places was that it had “a unique feeling of family; that everyone knows everyone and is always happy to welcome in newcomers.” That factor is evident the moment you walk into the door; as we walked in for our interview, we were met by some staff, who were setting up for the show that night, and they asked us how we were doing and how they could be of assistance. We told him the nature of our visit and he led us over to a table and told us he’d let Erica know we were here. Before we could even get situated at the table, a lady brought us each a beer (they knew us too well) and asked us if we’d like any snacks. Beer AND snacks? Heaven to a college student. We never felt out of place, nervous, uneasy, or anything like that; I was as if I was at home. When Sean and I returned to the Bluebird Café that night for the show, we were again greeted and taken to our table. One of the staff who was there during the day recognized us and waved us over to meet some of his friends and the artists who had performed the night before, just like friends or family would. Throughout the night we saw artists who perform at the Bluebird conversing with guests and staff interacting with patrons like friends would. Even before you step foot into the café, you’re already part of the community.

The other aspect that truly sets the Bluebird Café apart from others, and allows its patrons and visitors to have a peak experience, is the intimacy between the artists and customers. The layout of the Bluebird is unlike most other music venues I have been to; while the majority of venues have a stage at one end of the room, the Bluebird places their stage in the middle of the room. According to Erica, they do this so that “patrons can feel and feed off the artists’ energy and make it seem like this show is only for them. That’s why we placed the stage in the middle, so that everyone has a great view and can almost reach out and literally touch the artists.” It’s an experience unlike I had ever had before at a music venue. You actually feel closer to the artists, not just in a geographic sense, but in that cheesy connection way as well. The fact that the Bluebird is a listening room and the unique floor layout both factor into an exclusive experience that differs from all others.

While there are various ways to gain a competitive advantage and differentiate a business from competitors, one of the best ways is to accompany the core product or service with a unique and special experience for the consumer. In this instance, the consumer is receiving more than just a product, more than just a service, they feel as though they are part of a community, an insider, and for that there is no substituion. As illustrated from the two cases above, extraordinary service and staff, special traditions, emotional investment, and an exclusive atmosphere can help to create a unique experience for consumers that result in brand loyalty, word-of-mouth marketing, and overall success. So for those companies out there who are content with their main product or service the way it is, I suggest you reevaluate your offering and see if you can create an experience to pair with it; you might just be surprised at the amount of success that follows.