How Manchester United Is Killing Two Birds With A Stone?

Wait up! Don't call the International Animal Rights Organization just yet. The above headline is a famous idiom and solely meant to illustrate the fact that Manchester United, one of the 'blue-chip' football clubs of the world, is solving two problems with a single action. Now, breathe easy. In fact just relax, open a bottle of beer and continue reading.

The Blues (read Chelsea and a big 'Hurrah') might have won the battle against their arch rivals on the pitch, but when it comes to brand marketing, there's no stopping the Red Devils. Just take a minute, sip on your beer, and crunch the below numbers in your mind.
659 million supporters - So you're quite likely to find a fan wherever you go.
Brand value - $3.6 billion. And there's no tangible product.
Approx. 400 million GBP -  Premier league's most expensive squad.

Aren't these stats fascinating? But here's where it gets better. For the past consecutive 2 years, United has failed to win the Premier League. It has been 7 years since they won the UEFA Champions League, the battleground of Europe's best football teams. Yet, their fan base has increased at an infectious rate from 333 million to 659 million in less than 3 years. Doesn't that become a dream scenario for a heavy-weight organization, where you are not at your best, but still continue to win more hearts? And if you do not follow football, remember this, United supporters are fiercely loyal and there's no doubt with whom their allegiance lie.

Now we all recognize the superstars who wear the United colours and make us twist, turn, yelp and fall in love with their football artistry. But, little do we know about the men in black who are charged with the job of making United the most powerful sporting brand in the world. The job is one of the toughest you will find, yet, this remarkable men are very close in achieving their goal.

So what's their marketing mantra? It's simple. Increase fan base and earn revenue. And what's the lethal strategy? Co-marketing. Briefly defined, Co-marketing is the art of flexing your brand muscle with other companies (like-minded) to accomplish much more than you might on your own. The concept has been around for a long time. But very few companies do it the United way. Below are a couple of stories, which epitomizes the acumen that has made Manchester United among the most valuable brand in sports. Now is the time to take another sip of your beer (believe me, the story is just getting better).

United sent branded iPads loaded with company specific presentations to DHL. The idea was to persuade the company to sponsor jerseys United players wear. Big deal, right? Think again. These jerseys were not meant for 'matchday' but which the team would wear during training. Deal-breaker? No. DHL signed a 40 million GBP deal. Now, you must be thinking what made DHL sign this. Well, United had a secret sauce up their sleeve. The club reportedly invests time and money on learning about potential partners, understanding club's brand value & reach, and how it can all translate into a winning proposal. Remember the great Don Corleone's famous dialogue, "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse"? Offers like that, can only stem from deeper knowledge. United has been known to house such information/knowledge about their partners. Digest this. United executives accidentally discovered that one of their partners had a weakness for Diet Coke. Since that moment, every meeting that United had with that partner, Diet Coke was the first thing that got served. With DHL, it was no different. The sensitive presentation which was sent to DHL had a brilliant market insight which will have a great brand impact for the company. The media coverage and fan following that United gets when they're training is more as compared to two small teams' coverage when they are on the pitch. So more people are interested in seeing Manchester United down on the training ground than they are in seeing most other teams live. What's important here is to realize three things. First, United travels in and around Europe during Champions League, which effectively means DHL brand will be noticed across Europe without much marketing effort. Second, on 'matchday', while warming-up before kick-off, the team will be wearing the training kit. Third, not many people get to watch United on the pitch, tickets availability, cost, etc. Watching the team during training is free. How could DHL possibly refuse the offer? And they didn't.

If you're impressed with the marketing prowess of United, consider this story. On a cold December morning, an unexpected package arrived at the HQ of Concha Y Toro, the 127 year old wine maker in Santiago, Chile. Inside was an ornate box lined with black silk and holding a leather football. The Concha Y Toro insignia was embossed on the ball, next to that of the sender's: Manchester United. Accompanying the gift was a book explaining the financial benefits of partnership between the football club and the winemaker. Within 36 hours, United executives were on the phone with their counterparts with Concha Y Toro, working on the outlines of the deal. An official ceremony was held four months later at Old Trafford, United's stadium, where the club introduced the Chilean company as its first global wine partner. Under the arrangement, luxury boxes and lounges in Old Trafford are served only Concha Y Toro's finest wines and the company's ads appear on the broadcasts of United's home games. What United got in return was a loyal fan base in Chile. Deal score: 1-1.

Lastly, I want to leave you with the below image which represents all the successful and strategic partnerships that United has successfully negotiated. Click on it to enlarge. It might just be a good thing to contemplate as you finish your beer.

How buying a kettle resulted into a business of 8.4 Billion Dollars!!!

Yes! You read it right. You must be thinking was the kettle made of gold? Well it wasn't. So stop hyper-ventilating. But the story is worth more than a few ounce of gold for every marketer. So here's what happened.

Okay before we get on with the story, a little background will help. It's that time of the year when  back to school sale season is on a full swing. It happens in the months of June-August, when  retailers in America offer the same, discounted and homogeneous service across each and every store. Wherever you go, as a customer, you will see the exact same scene. Shelves stacked with same things with big signage that reads, "Back to School Savings". After all, it's easier to sell the same things that everyone else does.


Cut to the story. On a fine jolly morning, a small argument started in the kitchen department of a big store between a teenager and his father. The boy was 18 years old and getting ready for college in a month. One of the key 'things to buy' in his list was a kettle. As he picked it up, his dad argued and made him keep it back on the shelf. Dad said, "you can always borrow", to which the son replied,"if someone else brings, it won't be mine to use".The son couldn't reason much and was frustrated with his dad, who couldn't believe why his boy cared so much about tea kettles?

What his father missed, thankfully Target, the second largest retailer in the US, did not. To stand out from this mad rush of sale season, Target knew they had to do something different.They wanted to do more than launching cool products. They wanted a fresh perspective. To gain insight, Target needed to step out of their world, and spend time with families like in the story above. 

So why did the boy needed the kettle? It's simple. In college, it's about late night study sessions or even mindless discussions with friends. This meant only one thing. Lots of cups of tea. And it was imperative he be prepared for it. Kettle was just a symbolic gesture of comfort against the anxiety about the big change in lifestyle. 

Target understood that for this particular boy it was a kettle. For someone else it could be a sleeping bag or a cell phone. What matters to a student is to feel equipped for a big change in life. So with their new marketing campaign, they urged students to imagine. Imagine their future college life. They actually helped to build-up the anxiety and how with Target they can strike each one of them down. The retail giant launched hundreds of new products, such as laundry bags with washing instructions printed on the inside label (hiding incompetence), kitchen tools packed together, lighted door sign that read  either 'Partying' or 'Studying' and many more. Target's new found customer understanding led to an increased revenue of $8.4 billion.

Watch this video below to understand students' psyche and how Target got it right.

So here's the learning. When you step outside of yourself, you open to the possibility of re-looking at things, unlearn what you've learnt and thereby solve your customers' problems.

Oxytocin - Unleash The Love Potion

It’s all about humanizing your brand, isn’t it? Smart companies realize that these days it’s not enough having the best price or best product. No sir, those glory days are a thing of the past. Today customers care for what do the company stand for? That’s why, as a brand, it’s inevitable to have a trustworthy story which establishes the emotional connect with your customers.

So what oxytocin really is? Let me provide you a non-technical explanation. When brands tell you an emotional story, it actually changes the chemistry in our brain. We as customers get seduced by the power of storytelling and release oxytocin, moral molecule. When triggered, oxytocin opens our mind to contentedness & trustworthiness, which makes us fall in love with a brand. Still too technical? Okay how about this? Oxytocin is the mother sauce which controls all your emotions. Makes sense?

For marketers, there’s more to oxytocin than what meets the eye (of course it’s a hormone, which means you cannot see but only experience it). Powerful releases of oxytocin in customers promote generosity. Don’t agree? Let me tell you a cute little story based on a true incident.

Meet Carson, a 4 year old adorable boy. When Carson was born he couldn’t drink milk protein. His parents had to get him alternate milk formula delivered to home. The delivery used to happen via brown truck. Carson was slowly infatuated with the frequent appearances of this truck. As a kid, Carson was anyway in love with trucks. But that big brown truck became his favourite. It held a special place in his little heart. The fascination only grew as a friendship developed between Carson and the truck driver Mr. Ernie. The driver got Carson a similar uniform, which completely made the boy fall in love and made him look adorable. Soon, seeing Mr. Ernie, twice a week, became the best part of his day. One day, Carson confessed to Mr. Ernie that he would want to be like him. He would like to drive the big brown truck in his neighborhood.  Little did Carson know that his wish was about to come true. On his next visit, Mr. Ernie surprised the kid with a mini brown truck which came with cool packages, like room maps, signature pad, etc. What’s more, the mini truck had a pedal. Carson packed up his mini truck with boxes for the neighbors, and after glancing at his hand-drawn map, began his route of deliveries, going door to door and making sure the recipient signed off for their packages, just like Mr. Ernie. This was a dream come true moment for Carson. But wasn’t it a great news for the truck delivery company? Carson’s entire neighborhood was now in love with the company. They were perceived as a company who not only delivered packages but much more – love, surprises, excitement, etc. They were making Carson & his neighbors release oxytocin.

The brown truck company was no one else but UPS (United Parcel Service), a global leader in logistics. They have been delivering 15 million packages a day since 1998. Now they have started humanizing their service with a touch of love, joy & excitement along with the packages. Their campaign “Your Wishes Delivered” is creating waves in social media. It is helping the company to connect emotionally with their customers, thereby creating evangelists. The campaign is simple. Invite customers to share their wishes during the holidays. For every wish shared on ups.com/wishes or via social media channels like Twitter or Instagram using #WishesDelivered, UPS will donate $1 to one of three charities: The Boys and Girls Clubs of America, The Salvation Army and Toys for Tots Literacy Program.

Take a look at the commercial and get ready to release some oxytocin.

Are You Reptilian or Empathetic?

Executives often know little about the people who buy their companies’ products and services. This is not surprising. To study people, you must care about them. However, most companies eliminate empathy from their operations. In essence, they proceed as if they have calculating, survival-bent reptile brains. Profits drive everything. This is an odd disconnect because corporate livelihoods depend on people – not lizards – and people’s brains are hardwired to be empathetic. Mr. Dev Patnaik - illustrative author, professor, marketer, start-up founder - argues about this topic passionately in his book 'Wired to Care'.

Patnaik insists today’s cold-hearted, bottom-line business world has room for caring companies, and he points to IBM, Nike and Harley-Davidson as examples.The fact that empathy is also a strong business strategy is icing on the cake. As Patnaik explains on his blog, “Empathy isn't about having a visionary leader. It’s about making customer information an easy, everyday and experiential part of working".

Have you heard about mirror neurons? No? Well, let me illustrate the concept to you with a real life story. So here's what happened. Lawrence Taylor, linebacker for the New York Giants in the 1980s and early 1990s, was a fearsome competitor and an awesome physical presence on the field. He played like a man among boys, smashing quarterbacks with gusto. Taylor enjoyed knocking down other players. On November 18, 1985, the Giants played the Washington Redskins, their division rivals, in a high-profile, televised Monday night football game. In the second quarter, Taylor landed a particularly vicious hit on Redskins’ quarterback Joe Theismann, who crumpled to the ground like a rag doll. Normally after a big hit, Taylor had always exalted, but not this time. Instead, Taylor beckoned wildly to the Redskins’ bench for help. What accounted for his dramatic change in demeanor? The answer: mirror neurons.

The human nervous system’s mirror neurons fire in automatic response to other people’s
actions.Thus, on a subconscious level, you are able to emote and replicate the actions of others simply by watching. Now you know why boxing fans physically wince when a heavyweight  fighter knocks out his opponent. What's the bottom-line? People care. But here lies the big disconnect.

Despite human beings’ basic hard wiring for empathy, most of the organizations that people create – including businesses – carefully eradicate emotion and empathy from their operations. As a result, businesses become “ethically neutral beasts.” Not surprisingly, such businesses often cannot remain competitive. Customers eventually stop buying from corporations whose actions show a lack of caring, no matter how much the companies’ ads claim that they love their customers.

Fortunately, not all businesses are “heartless” and reptilian. Here's a small story about Harley Davidson, the iconic motorcycle company. Though U.S. car manufacturers have been hugely unprofitable over the past two decades, Harley-Davidson has experienced double-digit sales growth. Why? The answer is basic: Virtually nothing separates the company from the people who buy its motorcycles. The company doesn't call them “customers”; it calls them “riders.” Most Harley employees, from engineers to accountants, also are Harley owners and riders. Cars, called “cages,” are items of derision at the company. Such vehicles can park only at the back of the headquarters building in Milwaukee. The building features countless banners, photos, signs and even motorcycle gas tanks handsomely painted with brilliant images. Everything about Harley celebrates the riders’ lifestyle. In exchange, Harley owners feel only contempt at the idea of riding a foreign-made motorcycle. Members of the Harley Owners Group (HOG), who are all customers, act as evangelists for the company. Any business would find such consumer loyalty priceless. Harley creates loyalty by deeply respecting its customer base: the riders.

Empathy is not just a marketing or business-growth strategy. It also provides companies
and their employees with a noble mission: making customers happy and improving their
lives. Plus, empathetic companies are ethical companies. So, it's time for you to decide. Who do you aspire to be? A reptilian or an empathetic?