Handbags at dawn
June 23rd, 2009 by Sean Trainor
Recent coverage of the clash of the birthday bash between M&S (125 years) and Sainsbury’s (140 years) (Nostalgia the battleground amid birthday celebrations) got me thinking about which party I would rather attend. If I had the choice I’d have gone for Sainsbury’s in the hope of meeting a well known celebrity. Not Jamie Oliver (I’ll come back to him later) but Anya Hindmarch. Her partnership with Sainsbury’s helped make reusable bags sexy, and featured on their nostalgic TV ad.
That is assuming that any of her other brand partners (Creme de la Mer, Food Doctor, Selfridges, Blink, Chantecaille, Norris Ices, Scarlet & Violet, Primrose Bakery, British Airways, Grazia, Organic Pharmacy and Elemis, to name a few) would not be having a party on the same night. Malcolm Gladwell would probably call her a Connector I think I’ll coin the phrase Brand Socialite.
I’d like to make one thing perfectly clear – handbags aint my thing, on the other hand engagement is and Anya’s recession busting engagement strategy is probably one accessory that most organisations would die for FT 19.06.09 pg. 14 (Bags of fun puts humour into recession busting strategy)
But what of Jamie and his association with Sainsbury’s? I recall a shopping experience when Sainsbury’s launched “Jamie Oliver’s 21 Day Extra Matured Taste The Difference British Beef” the supermarket claimed the product to be the culmination of 18 years of research and development and the celebrity chef endorsed the meat that “surpasses all other meat” in tenderness, succulence and flavour, as it was matured on the bone to ensure “maximum flavour”.
Now I like a good steak and was keen to see how Jamie’s sirloin weighed up. As I stood perusing the goods at the aisle end I was spotted by two employees behind the deli counter opposite.
“Jenny, have you tried that new Jamie Oliver beef yet?” asked one
“Oh, don’t talk to me about Jamie Oliver beef” her colleague replied, I bought a couple of steaks last Saturday but I wouldn’t get them again – I couldn’t taste the difference“
Mmm… the cost of 18 years of R&D and an expensive celebrity chef endorsed advertising campaign was suddenly wasted on me. The influence of this knowledgable, perhaps cynical, employee was enough to tip the balance the wrong way. Gladwell would call her a Maven, in this context I’ll use the expression Brand Assassin. What a difference it could have made if this employee had been engaged with the brand and acted like Gladwell’s Salesman or , in my language, a true Brand Advocate.
My experience is that the cost of building employee advocacy is a fraction of the cost of external advertising and will yield greater return on investment. Gladwell desrcibes The Tipping Point as “How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference” I think we all agree.