Your Greatest Advocates

YOUR GREATEST ADVOCATES


Many would remember that fateful night in Istanbul May 2005. Half time AC Milan 3 - Liverpool 0. It is probably the night that most Liverpool fans will never forget. In fact world football will never forget. The greatest comeback in football ever. While the players went off the pitch to the dressing room the fans in the stadium and also around the world me included wondered what will happen. Many thought Rafa Benitez inspirational speech in the dressing room did the trick. And some credit should go to him. But let's not forget the greatest inspiration of all the fans in the stadium singing You will Never Walk Alone. I was reminded of this again this morning by football legend Johan Cryuff

Liverpool might be England’s most successful football club but we’re nothing without our supporters. Dutch legend Johan Cruyff knows a thing or two about football and he probably summed up what sets Liverpool and its fans apart better than anyone when, after witnessing the greatest comeback ever in Istanbul, he enthused: “There's not one club in Europe with an anthem like ‘You'll Never Walk Alone’. There's not one club in the world so united with the fans. I sat there watching the Liverpool fans and they sent shivers down my spine. A mass of 40,000 people became one force behind their team. That's something not many teams have. For that I admire Liverpool more than anything." http://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolFC?v=box_3

Relating this back to brand leadership signify that your consumers are by far the best leaders and advocates for your brands. The idea is to provide the environment for them to succeed. While Rafa Benitez may have inspired the players off the pitch, it was those 40 000 fans with the singing that could be heard in the dressing room that made every player proud of wearing the Liverpool shirt. It was the ultimate motivation to succeed.

Very often marketers do not provide the environment for consumers to take the leadership on their brands. They place a brand on the market, provide the advertising to make it succeed and ensure they tick all the boxes on the 4P's (Product, Place, Production, Promotion). The fifth P = People is often forgotten. They fail to provide a platform for consumers to interact with them and ensure that their greatest advocates talk about their brands. In most cases consumers start interacting with their brands through www.hellopeter.com and then apologies and PR management starts to come into place. This is very re-actionary in terms of marketing. I am reminded of a campaign I have seen recently for MiWay where they are providing a service for their consumers to give feedback positive or negative in regards to service or product. A brave move indeed from a short term insurer. But nevertheless the right move.

Marketers think they are in control of the brands they put out on the market. In fact consumers have long since taken over. Marketers have just failed to recognize it. We are in an age of User Generated Content. All those issues on Hellopeter are easily searchable on Google. Recently I had an issue with Nashua Mobile which went on for months. The issue could have been easily resolved by the company but they chose to keep it going for months. I registered a complaint on Hellopeter and within a day received an apology from customer service promising to look into the matter and get back to me. Six weeks later they are still to get back to me. The point is that the information is in the public domain and searchable. Just Google "Hellopeter Nashua Mobile" and a complaints section on the company pops up. If they have chosen to give me a platform to interact with them, provide them with feedback ensure that my billing was done on time. I would have been singing their praises like those 40,000 in Istanbul.

With the opening up of bandwith in South Africa through Seacom, more consumers will have digital access meaning the Hellopeter.com site could get bigger.

The Message is simple, Provide Consumers the opportunity to be the Greatest Advocates for your Brand.