Wednesday, May 6. 2009What Is Exetel?....John Linton .....and why would it possibly matter? Not having been involved with advertising agencies for so long I have completely forgotten anything I may have ever known about the processes and the just, to me, plain 'weirdness' of how, apparently, the creative mind works, it has been a bit traumatic for me over the past few days to talk to various people about how Exetel might be able to accelerate the provision of wireless data services in rural and regional Australia. Having had to tell someone whose knowledge of Exetel is zero about what we are trying to accomplish goes sort of OK in all but one case but the situation/conversation goes rapidly downhill from there. It starts getting difficult from the time the same question is asked which is basically "What is Exetel"? or words to that effect but grinds to a complete halt when the follow up question of "what is the profile of the person you are aiming the product at" elicits an inability to answer by me - even when I've made several attempts at defining both the service and the sort of people I would think would be interested in acquiring it by citing the most generic examples that have actually happend. It's clearly yet another indication of my inability of expressing even simple thoughts in ways that are comprehensible to other human beings. So after the first two failures and before the third failure I collected 11 wireless data advertisements from seven different suppliers/carriers and tried to look at them in the context of the questions I was being asked and sent them to the third recommended agency as examples of what the carriers and some of the carrier's resellers thought was appropriate for their aimed at potential buyers. I could discern no answers to the two questions that defied my ability to answer as all I could see were pricing options of a crudely defined service that seemed to me to require a person to know what it was and to be making a decision based on a price comparison with, in the case of Telstra, accepting the unsupported, and almost certainly untrue claim in anything but a general sense, that it was "the fastest". However it apparently made it crystal clear to the third agency exactly what each of the seven companies "were" and exactly "what person they were aiming the product at" - though when I asked what that might be they seemed as inept as I had been in spelling that out to me - a 'non-advertising' person obviously is unable to see the nuances in the ads that conveys that information. So, before I give up and rely on my own lack of knowledge I am trying one last time to see if I can provide enough information to allow a 'creative' and perhaps even a 'knowledgeable' person/group of people to design a promotion program for us that will meet our objectives of selling 100,000 wireless data services in a realistic time frame. These are the answers to the questions asked by the fourth advertising agency. Any ideas you may have that would better define/add to the clarity/completely change to make it better would be welcome Exetel want to sell 100,000 wireless data services in rural and regional Australia. Exetel buys the base service from Optus and then adds various ‘values’ to it to attempt to differentiate it from the same service sold directly by Optus Retail, Optus/Virgin and a number of other wholesale customers including Dodo, Internode and Westnet. This may be an issue facing a brand or an opportunity to take advantage of. Can this be re-framed in an inspiring way? Over time we would be able to improve this initial offer further by adding much lower cost modems and much lower cost routers.
Speed, reliability and price are the driving factors in the purchase of wireless data services and are dominant in the carrier's advertising. How are we hoping to exploit this?
How can we describe the target audience so that we like and respect them? Think of them as people and not consumers. Be sure you are describing there people at the time in their lives that is the most appropriate for the brand – are we appealing to their maternal side, the career person, rebellious etc. Oh dear – I’m the wrong person to be writing these replies. I guess we are appealing to two major aspects of their lives: Why should these people believe what we are going to say? Because we won’t be saying anything that cannot be proven by either information on our web site or by an agent demonstration. If I could write the ad I wouldn’t be looking for expert help. What tone of voice will be unique for the people we are talking to? Be precise and exclusive with the words you choose rather than vague and inclusive. Think about a tone of voice that could only describe our brand. Ensure that the words really do describe a personality or tone. Don’t use the words fun, approachable, positive or sociable. These are the tools of a tired brief writer! Funnily enough I didn’t use those words before I read this section – they would have induced nausea. We believe that the pricing set out below is the best available from any provider of these services in Australia. Additionally the 'standard inclusions' and user benefits together with the high levels of service reliability make a compelling case for any customer to select Exetel as its ADSL service provider. Should you still be considering another provider perhaps you might like to consider that as well as saving yourself money by choosing Exetel you will also help save Australia's most endangered flora and fauna, make a contribution to green house gas reduction and provide more opportunities for people in the third world. If you have time, click on the icons below to see how you can also help make the world a better place while saving yourself some of your hard to come by dollars. http://www.exetel.com.au/fauna_feat/
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Hi John,
I have loaded a Customer Profile document I used with clients (years ago) here: http://tinyurl.com/cu3l67 You might find it useful in getting your mind around this issue. Regards, Harry. Comments (2)
If one of your targets is school children.... I thought you might be interested in knowing...
... I found out the other day that my niece in regional NSW just went out and bought a Telstra Next dongle for her daughter ($150 plus) - just so the daughter could access the internet for school assignments (email and web). They already had ADSL2 on in their house - but were worried about exceeding their monthly limits.... go figure! But the point is...... she was buying internet access for her daughter so she could do her assignments.. .... the purpose was the important issue.... not the means. Too many product suppliers want to talk about how their product works, its characteristics, etc....... ... when all the customer wants to know is: .... will it let my daughter access the internet for emails and web browsing. ... then they will ask the $$$ question. Regards, Harry. Comments (2)
Telstra get a lot/most of their business from people like that.
As you may have read - children's education needs is the major point of any advertising we do. The secondary point is home business or business generally. Comments (4)
Comments:
Key characteristics of target with respect to the products being offered. - Want guaranteed support because of the tyranny of distance and have fewer alternatives when it comes to both products and support - Hate BS and are very wary of products which appear to good to be true - Are probably more prepared for large setup costs as they are more common in remote areas. Brief suggestions - Use real country people in the advertising (not people dressed to look country) - Include contact details for local agents not a national 1800, but do include details of Exetel's size and coverage. - Emphasise the support offered by local agents - Emphasise Exetel's No BS approach to business. Country people especially hate BS and would appreciate Exetel's honesty. - Emphasise the ways in which Exetel's products reduce the chance of bill shock (Low excess charges, shaping, pay only for what you use, etc) Comment (1)
Thank you - I have forwarded your suggestions to the agency we are considering.
Comments (4)
True what you said about large setup costs - especially if the product can be returned for a refund if there is inadequate wireless coverage.
If there is enough coverage, they are usually happy to pay a big upfront fee. Comment (1)
This. Customers in regional areas are extremely worried about being stuck with something they can't use - whether mobiles or internet, many of them have been burnt before.
Comment (1)
You make some really good points. Telstra CountryWide have run a number of regional generic marketing campaigns featuring the **local** Telstra manager with a name and photo of him/her against a recognisable local landmark.
"Speak to John Citizen, your local Exetel agent about fast, wireless broadband in Timbucktoo - 1800 XXX XXX". Comment (1)
John,
I’m sorry that it has come at your expense, but I've just been reading your blog to much amusement! I should suspect your level of cynicism is quite rightly high at the moment when it comes to marketing agencies so I'm not sure if you would believe me if I told you I represent an agency that is more interested in how we're going to get your 100,000 customers then what colour wrapping paper you should choose to package your services. We, The Fuel Agency, do, on top of which I personally have over 15 years telecoms industry experience so understand your sector. I'll not ring up and badger you in case you’re sick to the teeth of dealing with marketing agencies, but if you'd like to have a quick chat about your requirements please feel to drop me an email and we can arrange a time to speak. Regards, Brandt Comment (1)
though when I asked what that might be they seemed as inept as I had been in spelling that out to me
It is possible that they ask you that question precisely because it is difficult for a non-advertising person to answer, thereby constructing in your mind the perception that they have some kind of knowledge or ability you don't. That they then find it as difficult as you indicates that maybe they don't have that knowledge after all, and the marketing exercise was aimed at you, not your customer. Advertising agencies. I'd rate'em up there with used car salesmen and real-estate agents. Comment (1)
Don't see a Sydney advertising agency because a lot of them have NO IDEA about regional Australia.
***THE MOST IMPORTANT PART ABOUT ADVERTISING IN REGIONAL AUSTRALIA - TAILOR YOUR ADS TO THE COMMUNITY YOU ARE BROADCASTING THE AD TO... EG. IF YOU ARE ADVERTISING TO NEWCASTLE/HUNTER VALLEY... Find a local personality such as "Andrew Johns" or "Super Hubert" or someone who is well-known in that area on local TV. and people will pay attention to that ad and kids will talk about it at school.... Never make an ad shown across the whole of NSW. eg. There are 6 different markets from the Central Coast to the Gold Coast and your ad should be slightly modified for each area showing local landmarks/personalities. Comment (1)
>EG. IF YOU ARE ADVERTISING TO NEWCASTLE/HUNTER VALLEY... Find a local personality such as "Andrew Johns" or "Super Hubert" or someone who is well-known in that area on local TV.<
urgh. as a newcastle native, this makes me cringe, not make me want to buy anything. Comment (1)
I may be stating the obvious here but,
have your agents conduct demonstrations of the effectiveness of your product. Take the equipment to customer's homes and show them that it actually works. That way they can try before they buy. Have your agents invite the local newespaper to a demonstration of the service, ie in somebodys farmhouse, agood distance from the access point. Local papers are always looking for that sort of filler. Pete Comment (1)
Easy:
"Country broadband, city prices" Given how concerned many rural and regional people are about having to pay more for broadband than their city counterparts, I think the above line would get people flocking to Exetel. I'm happy for you to give me credit on my Exetel 3G account in lieu of cash, John. Comment (1)
Seems to me that the initial goal of the exercise is agent recruitment not customer recruitment. Therefore the communication exercise is about exciting would be agents to come on board, learn about the product and the comm structure before venturing out into their own client bases to sell for you.
Obviously you would also want to pull customers towards them by assisting them with advertising templates that they can use in their own local media to generate enquiries. This practise is quite common in fin services where fund managers equip financial advisers to market their products for them. Maybe I have misinterpreted something? Comment (1)
Hi John
A business associate passed on your link. Glide Group includes a consultancy and a design agency. I suggest that your problem is asking an ad agency for a solution when the answer is not advertising, at least not in the conventional sense. The answer is local partnerships, say via business associations, schools and maybe even Bendigo Bank, and other rural suppliers (eg, LandMark stores), where your presence is a demonstration that you are involved in that community. As some of your comments received suggest, city IT is price based but in the country this approach creates suspicion. Well, that's my opinion as a merketer and country person, for what it's worth. Michael Comment (1)
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