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"Do
not fear mistakes - there are none" - Miles Davis
Case
studies available:
CRM
Discus
Dental
This is
a case study of a 10 year old private B2B dental company that
has catapulted itself to become the market share leader in
professional tooth whitening systems. Through superior product
development, cutting-edge marketing, and excellent
customer service, Discus (pronounced: Dis-Kiss) has
positioned itself as the premier direct selling dental product
manufacturer in the world. Discus
accomplished this feat in a short time period by differentiating
itself from its competitors by being an image company in an
industry that's not image conscious.
While
it helps that one of the principles of Discus is a Hollywood
dentist, that in no way should undercut the fact that Discus
has become the industry leader by executing a smart CRM
strategy. To begin a relationship with dentists, Discus wisely
tapped into the dental requirement that dentists complete
a required number of credits (50 credits in California) in
continuing education every 2 years for relicensure.
To position
themselves as industry leaders, Discus developed American
Dental Association certified Super
Seminars and Continuing
Education programs with the University of the Pacific
in San Francisco that centers on "new diagnostic
methods and treatment techniques." While there are over
300 approved providers of ADA continuing education, this is
unique as the "continuing education" features Discus
dental products (whitening, impressions, restoratives, software
and oral hygiene) and training in a University setting in
a travel destination. Having the seminars on a University
campus was critical as dentists cannot work on patients outside
of their home state unless on a University campus - this therefore
allows dentists to perform "hands-on" (with 2:1
student to instructor ratios) as opposed to simply watching
cases being treated - further enhancing the appeal of the
courses. While Dentists and their staff pay to attend these
courses, Discus is in the enviable position of having a captured
audience for 4-9 days - to continue building their relationship
with the key purchasers of their product (in many practices,
dentists make the purchase decision rather than clinicians).
In addition
to the clinical continuing education courses, Discus developed
annual Extravaganzas at key resort cities (e.g. Las
Vegas). These dental seminars, while also eligible for ADA
continuing education credit, can be considered more junket
than education - and tax deductible. Including a well-known
keynote speaker and a well known entertainer, these dental
extravaganzas are the hottest ticket in town. With every initiative,
Discus strives for, what Discus Dental President Robert Hayman
describes as, "the bitchin' factor." This
is no exception. Dentists who have had loyal attendance in
the past, or who are considered Tier A customers, are
given preferential treatment at these seminars (enhanced breakfast
service, special break rooms, preferential seating at events,
special meet and greet sessions with keynote speakers e.g.
General Norman Schwarzkopf and Bill Cosby). With this level
of attention, Discus' best customers are definitely at the
center of their marketing strategy.
Discus
approaches their marketplace as a 3 part building block:.
1) Continuing Education 2) In-office training 3) Marketing
Materials. It is on the marketing front that Discus really
stands out as an innovator. Discus has launched very
innovated advertising
focussed on image in consumer magazines for demand and awareness
creation. The very fact that this company celebrates their
advertising on their website gives the reader an indication
of the innovativeness of their marketing approach in an industry
not known for their innovation.
To help
build their customer's teeth whitening practice and to further
enhance the relationship Discus has with its dentists, Discus
developed a Media Services Group. This group does everything
for a doctor's office from advertising,
PR
to direct
mail.
To round
out the offering, Discuss offers its Dentists office
art. What better way to promote tooth whitening than to
have real life patients showing off their perfect teeth in
the doctor's office (photos are shot of real patients by a
top fashion photographer). This offering also allows Discus
sales reps to talk to dentists in a non threatening way. Once
the art is up in the dentist's office and the sales rep has
a non threatening relationship with the dentist, why not now
buy their product?
To enhance
the professionalism of the the dentist's practice, Discus
offers dentists a slew of direct mail
templates, posters
and statement stuffers dentists can use to communicate with
their patients. As a dentist, it is difficult to say "no"
to a company that has its act together like Discus. There
is no question that Discus intends to dominate whatever market
they choose to play in. A clear case study in B2B CRM.
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eCRM
Walt
Disney - "From the Word GO"
This case
study illustrates how The Walt Disney Company used newsletters
to communicate a Walt Disney web property's (GO.com) new brand
positioning, look and feel and tone and manner.
Background:
Walt Disney's GO.com found that they could not compete in
the general-purpose portal space. It was ranked #4 behind
Yahoo!, AOL, and MSN. After a rebranding exercise, GO.com
decided to change its position in the marketplace and compete
on the strengths of The Walt Disney Company and focus on entertainment,
recreation and leisure - away from general-purpose portal/search.
At the sametime, in a move toward scalability, GO.com moved
away from editorialized content to focus on search and directory
listings for their new core web strengths (entertainment,
recreation and leisure).
Challenge:
Approximately 60-70% of GO's traffic was search driven (visitors
coming to the site to undertake web searches vs reading editorialized
content). Syndicated research at the time reported that when
a company changed a website's user interface (look, feel,
navigation) appreciably, up to 44% of their visitors would
look elsewhere for an alternative. Considering GO.com's business
model was based on advertising (the more visitors, the more
banner impressions, the more the site got paid), GO could
not afford to lose that much traffic. Walt Disney's Director
of Marketing, Garret Ippolito, at the time summed up the challenge:
"How do you create a rational and emotional relationship
with a search engine?"
Solution:
In addition to activities on site, GO needed to communicate
to GO's users that 1) GO was changing and 2) how the new GO
was better than before. Part of GO's solution was to develop
a monthly newsletter. The purpose of the newsletter was to:
1) Drive traffic back to GO 2) Brand development - tell the
GO.com story.
In developing
his e-mail strategy, Ippolito wanted to give GO's users the feeling
that the e-mails were written by an individual for an individual.
Further, he decided to break from industry norms and have
the e-mails written in a story telling manner. The rationale
behind the story telling was the belief that it kept the e-mails
interesting and unique. Telling stories evoke an emotional
reaction. Compelling stories engage users for a longer period,
which translates into higher clickthroughs.
Results:
The final product was a newsletter called "From
the Word GO" by Buzz
Daley ('Buzz' to convey energy and excitement. 'Daley'
was a play on Carson Daley - MTV personality). Buzz wrote
in a friendly, fun, playful, tongue-and-cheek/witty manner
- the brand personality of the new GO.com website. Each Newsletter
started with a quote to capture the reader's attention and
the layout was designed to pull the reader into the e-mail.
Each e-mail was about discovery - leveraging a theme developed
for GO's television campaign.
Throughout
the e-mail, Buzz Daley solicited feedback from readers - 'Tell
me what you think.' Readers could either write Buzz directly
or post messages on a special message board created for Buzz
Daley and the newsletter.
Consumer
Feedback:
I love
it! Thank you. You actually made me laugh out loud. - Julie
Hi!
Just thought I would take a minute to write and let you
know how much I enjoyed the sites..........keep up the good
work! :) - Jastes
This
was one of the cleverest and humorous letters I've read
in a long time. Tickled my funny bone. GIVE THE AUTHOR A
PAY RAISE! WAY TO GO!!! - Mrs.
choir
Buzz,
your newsletter is wonderful. Very funny! Wry and amusing..
I enjoyed it very much and went to as many sites as I had
time for which were great. Copied a few cookie recipes and
got some gift ideas. Thanks so much!! - Barbara
Very
erudite writing, (did I say erudite?) Seriously, cool writing
style that kept me engaged - and scrolling all the way to
the end. I'll go back and click later. Nicely done...keep
up the good work... Joyce
Mission
accomplished. An imaginative one at that.
Land's
End
Land's
End was founded in 1963 as a manufacturer of sailboat equipment
and the basic duffel bags and rain slickers that sailors require.
Now, the company is known for its denims, khakis, crew necks
and turtlenecks.
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