lyolisa

[lyolisa]

Is this unfair?

We talked a bit in class about managing profits/business decisions against things that we might think compromise our brand. For example, thinking a luxury brand can’t/shouldn’t belong to a certain class is a poor decision because any customer is a good customer (except Nazis) and everyone deserves access to the same products. While this is a little different, I think this idea of skin lightening cream is parallel in that we will have times throughout our career where we will have to make a choice about what is best for society vs. what will be most successful for a brand. This will go for products, strategy, and marketing/advertising too.

Most Sloanies will choose ethically (I hope) but that doesn’t stop the fact that there will be others who want to take advantage of potential gains and it begs the question of who is responsible for determining what should or should not be sold/advertised? Should it be government? Companies themselves? Individuals? The lightening cream for example… while most people agree that it’s bad to promote a certain (and often unattainable) standard of beauty, it makes sense that people would capitalize on the preferences of a society. Is it so different than makeup? Hair dye? Spanx? Tanning Lotion? Where is the line of what is a “bad” business to be a part of? And is it fair if people take are willing to toe or jump over that line when so many of us aren't?

[lyolisa]

Does Walmart+ have a chance?

One of the reasons our team decided to focus on Walmart+ for our branding lab project is because the majority of us didn't even know it was a thing... which makes it clear that product diffusion isn't doing great.

Roger's Five Factors gives a good framework to start to study the why and to help determine if Walmart is an imitator or a innovator. Walmart plus is a membership service that will give customers free shipping including on produce and groceries along with many other perks (streaming partnerships, lower gas prices, first access to deals, etc.). Let's explore more:

Relative Advantage: Looking at this objectively... I don't think that Walmart+ is doing anything mind blowing that amzon prime isn't already doing and walmart has to fight against the stereotypes that has carried on with it. But if you dig in, there are a few notable differences. Walmart plus is ~$40 cheaper annually so perhaps their clientele is slightly different. They focus more on delivery of groceries offering free shipping on orders over $35 whereas Amazon Prime only offers free shipping of orders greater than $150.

Compatibility: Walmart Plus is an easy decision for customers who already purchase a lot of their items from Walmart. It will make it easier, more convenient, and cheaper for customers to do what they were already doing. But because of the breadth of items that Amazon Prime offers, I doubt people would ever switch from prime platform to walmart plus and it's less likely that they'll pay for both services.

Complexity: Would still have to do more research on the user experience but I don't believe it would be difficult to understand/use.

Trialability: There is a free 30 day trial period (which Amazon Prime also offers).

Observability: There has been some chatter of Walmart and their grocery options because they did a really good job of contactless pickup/deliveries during COVID and so that is some positive observations for them. But other than that, we don't see nearly as much visibility on how one can take advantage of Walmart +. Especially in comparison with Amazon Prime.

An important point made by Gourville is to consider an innovation as a product that is perceived by new to a given set of people. Here, perhaps the set of people are the walmart shoppers who are looking for a "new" way to consolidate their grocery shopping and savings. In that perspective, maybe Walmart+ isn't trying to compete with Amazon prime but is trying to make it's existing service innovative for its current customers.

[lyolisa]

The Most Psychological Place on Earth

Maybe focusing on Disney when talking about customer service is a cop out, too easy to point to given that it is constantly hailed the "most magical/happiest/[insert positive adjective here] on earth" but I went to Disney World with my niece over Spring Break and was very impressed with the customer journey I went on.

You want to talk about Behavioral Science? I'm not sure what decision was made without thinking about the associated psychology of a guest. I haven't ever been to Disney and my expectations were in line with what many people feel about the amusement park: long lines, a lot of people, too expensive. But I was never annoyed waiting in lines, loved the people watching, and didn't think about the money I had spent once (very unlike me). It was likely because I was constantly fascinated with the operations of the place. The psychology that went into where to place certain items, not showing the trash being taken out, all employees staying in character, punctuality with the daily parades, etc.

A few specifics, in line with Chase and Dasu's Behavioral Science article:

Duration Effects: A couple things here... all lines have an estimated wait time that is updated with extreme precision. Any time that the estimation was wrong, it was when we waited less meaning we were extra pleased that we waited for 30 minutes instead of 45. Not only that but rides that have consistently long waits have SUCH cool lines. I felt like I was walking through a fun house at times. At times wishing the line was slower

Finish Strong and Get the Bad out of the Way: This one is a bit easier for an amusement park. All lines end in a ride and therefore you're walking away with exhileration.

Build Commitment Through Choice: I did not know that Disney had such an incredible app for their locations! But it allows for the user to see the wait lines before walking across the park. Being able to choose where to spend my time knowing the most thorough information was crucial.

Segment the Pleasure, Combine the Pain: Interestingly, Disney offers a "Genie Plus" where you can get into an express line for a ride of your choice but this only can happen every 2 hours. Whenever we got to do this, we felt invincible! And I walked away feeling like the entire day was enjoyable because I never went more than a few hours without that feeling.

Rituals: As I said, i had never been to Disney before but there is expected consistency which I can see why that is appreciated. There are certain characters, parades, and fireworks that happen every single day. There's comfort in knowing I will be able to plan my day to maxmize exactly what I want to do.

Did I just become a Disney adult...?

[lyolisa]

Loveland is (still) in the air

I would love to know what immediate changes Gary Loveman made and when while introducing experiments and the use of data at Harrahs/Caesars Entertainment and especially how they were received.

I started at Caesars in 2017 and therefore had no overlap with Loveman although I'm sure I felt the impact of what he left behind. While I think we could have done a much better "thinking like a scientist" (test and control groups, creating a proof of concept, etc.), we certainly embraced the idea that we were not creating perfect experiments, just trying to make better decisions. The analytics department worked with massive amounts of data and was a very large group (split between advanced, hospitality, gaming, regional marketing, etc.) and were typically not using the same methods across teams (& likely running experiments across the same groups unknowingly).

Obstacles

Some groups had a hard time than others. The analytics group that worked with the Casino Marketing team were responsible for measuring and incentivizing the hundreds of "hosts" across the ~40 national properties. Hosts are responsible for interacting with high value guests to get them to come back to our properties, perhaps make their reservations, give them offers, etc. It's a very relationship based job and these hosts may have used their relationships with guests for the last 15-30 years to succeed and did not take well when we suggested running an experiment or asking them to change behavior because we saw benefit in the data results.

Digital marketing

Your classic group that is on board with experiments. This is the analytics group that would help our marketing team determine how to optimize guest experience and click through on our websites/emails/ads/etc. We would run A/B tests to determine if there was a certain layout that worked best and to understand differences in price sensitivity.

Natural Experiments

One thing that you could do was look for natural experiments, where you saw different actions and could try to understand the different behaviors as a result. We looked at the previous mailed (digital and physical) offers, the leadway before the date to be redeemed (i.e. "Use this coupon between x/x and x/x" and we would send it anywhere from 2 days to 2 months before), and the redemption rate. We saw vastly different behaviors for redemption rate depending on the time that an offer was sent and the age that the guest was! By making changes to when we would send offers, we were expecting significant increase in redemption rates.

[lyolisa]

Put a Lime in it

I'm not a beer snob. Sure, I enjoy a cold beer on a summer day during a boat ride or after a long hike when I finally sit down but I couldn't even tell you the difference betwen an ale or an IPA. Can a beer be both?? Actually, I think the 'A' stands for ale? You get my point; I don't know much about beer. When asked, I request "something light". Often, especially in the summer, I have a Corona with a lime. I've rarely (if ever) have had a Heinekin. Prior to reading this case, I've never thought about why. Now, as I take a step back, Corona has done an excellent job of communicating how they want me to perceive their brand: 'Fun, Sun, and Beach' and 'what you see is what you get'' I consider Corona to be an easy beer to drink.

In contrast, I don't think much of Heinekin. I wouldn't have ever realized it, but I have no idea what to expect of Heinekin. The green bottle intimidates me and I'm not sure the occasion where I would choose it. I realize that I'm only one type of beer drinker but I think my reaction to Heinekin shows the truth in the idea that Heineken didn't have a marketing function, only an advertising function. There wasn't a brand the same way. (I do want to note that I recognize this comment was made in the 90s but I think it likely trickled to how my parents think of these beers and therefore how I saw them growing up).

Thinking about how Corona vs. Heineken has communicated to their consumers, I think that may have played a large part in my perception of these two products. With Corona having a more national brand/marketing campaign while Heineken focusing more on regional campaigns, I wonder if consumers felt that Heineken didn't have a singular brand/mission. It's true that beer drinkers in california will be different than up north michigan, but sincerity comes through with consistency. We talked about in class how that consistency often leads to trust which is ultimately what makes a strong brand. As a very moderate beer drinker, Corona is reliable, Heineken still needs to help me understand what they're all about.