Monday, December 22, 2008

Witte Kerst


Klimatlogisch zal een witte kerst dit jaar weerom niet lukken, maar feit is dat onze maatschappij steeds vaker wit kleurt. Van de ipod tot de nieuwste wagens. Wit is een bewuste keuze voor tumultueuze tijden.

Lees het waarom hier.

Goede doel in goede doen


Music for Life loopt bijna op zijn einde, maar ook dit jaar loopt het storm om het goede doel te steunen. Blijkt dat ondanks een jaar van koopkrachthysterie, instortende aandelenkoersen en toenemende werkloosheid, consumenten toch voor maatschappelijke projecten in hun portemonnee tasten.

Lees de volledige column hier.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Consumenten kijken naar meer dan prijs alleen


Uit antropologisch onderzoek van BBDO in 7 landen, waaronder België, blijkt dat de consument verder kijkt dan de prijs. De emotionele waarde van een merk is minstens even belangrijk.

De consument heeft, ten gevolge de crisis en recessie, zijn gedrag wel bijgesteld en zal zijn aankopen meer en beter plannen, zijn aankopen trachten te rechtvaardigen en bepaalde aankopen uitstellen. Toch zijn er bepaalde zaken die ons doen spenderen: een 'goed gevoel', familie, uiterlijke schijn, onze rituelen en kwaliteit.

Lees de resultaten van het onderzoek in de pers of via het volledige persbericht hier: Nederlands / Frans.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Held en merk


Merken zijn de nieuwe helden in het boek van Guillaume Van der Stichelen.En wat met de consument dan? Lees mijn vraag en zijn antwoord hier.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Opstand van huisvaders


'Consumenten grijpen de macht' is de ondertitel van mijn boek 'Het merk Mens'. Vorige week eens te meer geïllustreerd door de brave huisvaders op de aandeelhoudersvergadering van Fortis, die hun stem letterlijk en figuurlijk lieten gelden. Empowerment, ook bij beleggers.

Lees de volledigde column hier.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Einde van een tijdperk


De autombielsector wordt hard getroffen door de crisis. Het 'model' van de 20ste eeuw werkt niet langer en een nieuw tijdperk dient zich aan.

Lees de column hier.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

'Het Merk Mens' beste marketingboek in Nederland


Het boek 'Het Merk Mens. Consumenten grijpen de macht' van Fons Van Dyck is gisteren in Nederland verkozen tot beste en meest vernieuwende marketingboek van 2008. De jury van de prestigieuze 'PIM-Platform voor Innovatie in Marketing - literatuurprijs' bekroont elk jaar het meest innovatieve boek in het Nederlandse taalgebied in het domein van marketing. Het boek dat een jaar geleden in België verscheen bij Lannoo Campus is intussen aan een 5de druk toe en wordt niet alleen in marketingmiddens zeer gewaardeerd, maar ook in een veel ruimere kring van ondernemers tot not for profit sector.


Volgens de jury is 'Het merk mens' helder van opzet en vanuit de praktijk geschreven. 'Het boek heeft met name gescoord op de mate praktische toepasbaarheid en toegevoegde waarde voor het vak. Het merk mens is gebaseerd op 5 jaar empirisch onderzoek en geeft een goed overzicht. "Het merk mens" schetst de onderbouw van de huidige tijdgeest. Zeker nu we aan de vooravond staan van wellicht een nieuw tijdperk is het boek van Van Dyck een zeer nuttig stuk gereedschap dat in geen enkele marketinggereedschapskist mag ontbreken. Van Dyck signaleert dat de kloof tussen het merk en zijn klanten breder is dan ooit.' Het boek voldeed als beste aan de beoordelingscriteria: wat is vernieuwend, wat is de praktische toepasbaarheid, de toegevoegde waarde voor het vak, cases & praktijkvoorbeelden, opbouw, structuur & toegankelijkheid en vormgeving.
Als criterium voor de PIM (Platform Innovatie in Marketing) Marketing Literatuurprijs 2008 geldt dat de auteur nieuwe inzichten in de ontwikkeling en vernieuwing van marketing dient te geven. Daarnaast moet het boek in de tweede helft van 2007 of later zijn gepubliceerd, vanuit het Nederlandstalige marketingvakgebied zijn ontstaan en inhoudelijk een duidelijk raakvlak met marketing en sales hebben.
De onafhankelijke jury van de PIM Marketing Literatuurprijs 2007 wordt voorgezeten door Hans Molenaar (Voorzitter Platform Innovatie in Marketing)

Monday, November 17, 2008

Obama 2.0


Lees deze week het verhaal achter de succesvolle internetstrategie van de nieuwe president van de Verenigde Staten, Barack Obama, waarmee hij niet alleen het witte huis maar ook de titel van 'marketer van het jaar' binnenhaalde.

Lees de column hier.

Friday, November 07, 2008

Bekentenis


De Amerikaanse kredietbubbel is gebarsten en heeft ondertussen de hele wereld in een economische en financiële crisis gesleurd. Vorige week hadden we het al over de rol van de media. Deze week het vervolg.

Lees de column hier.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Fear factory


Eindelijk : we zitten in een recessie! Een 'self fulfilling prophecy' of toch niet? Lees de column hier.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Weerwraak


Vorige week had in Mechelen het congres van de Belgische direct marketeers plaats met als titel ‘Revenge of the I’ ofte weerwraak van de consument. Een toepasselijk thema in tijden van gedupeerde, gefrustreerde en betogende beleggers. Het is boeiend om te zien hoe deze lotgenoten elkaar massaal via het net vinden. Web 2.0 en sociale media zijn een dagdagelijkse realiteit.

Lees de volledige column hier.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Wint 'Het merk mens' de PIM?

'Het merk mens' is genomineerd voor de in Nederland prestigieuse literatuurprijs - PIM - voor het beste marketingboek van het afgelopen jaar (samen met 11 anderen) en als enige Vlaamse marketingboek onder verder alleen maar Nederlandse publicaties (er zijn 32 boeken uitgekomen in het nederlandse taalgebied).
Bekendmaking van de winnaar eind november.

Meer informatie vindt u hier.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Valse verleiding


Iedereen is er zich van bewust dat reclame verleidend kan werken. Wanneer deze echter misleidend wordt, dient men de riem harder vast te trekken. Hoe adverteerders in Nederland strenge regulering van buitenaf een stap voor willen zijn, leest u hier

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Nummer 2


De financiële crisis slaat iedereen elke dag opnieuw met meer verstomming. Hoe gulzigheid naar meer marktaandeel de machtigste banken de dieperik heeft ingejaagd, terwijl de challengers voorlopig stand houden, leest u hier.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Groen kleurt rood


Hoe gaan bedrijven in economisch onzekere tijden om met duurzaamheid en ecologie? Blijven zij deze kaart trekken of kruipen ze terug in hun schelp en focussen ze op prijs? Lees de column van deze week hier.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Marihuana in een goktent


Het lijkt een grotere spreiding dan Kim Clijsters ooit in haar carrière gemaakt heeft, maar zo zou men de financiële crisis in tijden van de multitaskende consument kunnen lezen. Lees de gedachtengang hier.

Halfvol of halfleeg?


Een pertinente vraag. Want enerzijds is er de financiële en hypotheekcrisis, anderzijds zijn er ook tekenen of indicatoren die positieve signalen geven. Het geboortecijfer of het modebeeld om er twee te noemen.

Lees de volledige column hier.

Small is beautiful


Dat is ook wat de monniken van de succesvolle trappisten bieren denken. Zo kondigde de brouwerij van Westmalle recent aan de productie niet te verhogen, ondanks de toenmende vraag. Het succes van de abdijbieren bewijst dat consumenten op zoek gaan naar authenticiteit en echtheid. Lees de volledige column over trappistenmarketing hier.

USA


Binnen enkele weken weten we wie de nieuwe president van de Verenigde Staten van Amerika wordt. Lees hier een reeks van 4 columns over de minder bekende aspecten van de grootmacht: de Amerikaanse consument en burger, de Amerikaanse media, de Amerikaanse merken en het misschien wel meest verrassend sociale Amerika .

Terug van weggeweest

Na enkele weken vakantie en een tijd van stilte, kan u vanaf heden weer wekelijks nieuws op deze blog verwachten! Veel leesplezier!

Fons

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Wassup

The bid of Inbev on Anheuser-Busch has been widely discussed, and not only financially. A real solidarity movement has risen to defend thé national brand par excellence, ‘Bud', comparable with our own Jupiler. The loss for the 'king of beers' brand is real in the US and emotions are running high.
After the refusal of the bid, Inbev has started an advertising campaign ‘What would not change at Anheuser-Busch’, to illustrate its historical positioning as 'the world's local brewer'.
The saga is a perfect illustration of the development of brands in a global world, where the choice between global efficiency and local relevance has to be made. One thing is clear: thé global consumer does not exist.

See the historical Wassup campaign for Bud beneath and read the column of this week here.


Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Made by You

It is clear by now that 'user generated content' is more than a hype. Innovative and up-to-date brands have learned to deal with it. User generated content is only one outcome of the empowered consumer. Look at one of the latest hits on You Tube these days, 'Why every guy should buy their girlfriend a Wii Fit’, a movie made by a guy of his girl friend doing her Wii Fit hula-hoop exercises. Excellent and free advertising for the Nintendo play console?

A global CEO study done by IBM, shows that CEO's are aware that the empowered consumer is more than a flash in a pan and most of them consider these 'prosumers' as an opportunity more than a threat.

Read the column of this week here.

Monday, June 23, 2008

We Cannes

Last week, the 55th edition of the International Advertising Festival took place in Cannes. Like every year at the end of June, the whole advertising industry kept its eyes on Cannes to see what campaigns took a Lion home and who was the talk of the town.
Advertising is obviously evolving and changing as it is harder to attract the attention of the hard to get, hard to capture and hard to convince consumer of today. More and more, advertising is evolving towards entertainment, sometimes with a social message behind it. 3 strong campaigns as a proof.

One of the Belgian Lions was for the Music for Life campaign, made by mortierbrigade, where a thirsty black boy interrupted several TV shows. A simple idea made to practice to illustrate the shortage of water in developing countries.



Our BBDO colleagues in New York won a Grand Prix for the campaign for the TV channel HBO. They created the concept 'HBO Voyeur', online but also in real. See the concept and the images of the projection they did on a wall in New York, where it looked as if one could see everything that happened behind the walls of an apartment block.



The Grand Prix Lion in the category direct or one-to-one communication went to JWT India for the newspaper Times of India, which organized the campaign 'Lead India' to promote India from 'potential nation' to 'kinetic power'.



Common in these 3 campaigns is not only the strong 'think out of the box' idea, but also the high consumer relevance and social message. Advertising with a conscience.

Read all about it in this week’s column.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Windchill


Do you also think your weekly shopping bill at the supermarket is higher then before and your fuel, gas and electricity expenses are rocketing?
HUMO and VRT questioned 1000 Flemish people. Seems that 96% feel life is (a lot) more expensive then a year ago. Even amongst the higher incomes, there's a feeling that buying power is declining. Reality or psychoses? Result of the 'spending power' campaign pursued by unions and media?
Also in the supermarket landscape, the effect of the spending power psychoses is noticed. Logically, discounters like Aldi, Lidl and Colruyt attract more shoppers with their low price positioning. But also premium supermarkets like Delhaize play on price. 'The price, quality included' was the headline of one of the ads Delhaize published in national newspapers last week. The spending power debate affects our shopping cart in several ways.

Read the column of this week here.

Search the 10 differences



The cover of the new album of Coldplay 'Viva La Vida' has a strong resemblance with the cover of my book 'Het Merk Mens'.

Both feature the painting 'Liberty Leading The People' by the French Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix. The painting dates from 1830 and shows Marianne, the symbol of the French nation.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Mom said: get a degree,...


...then a job...
These times might be over.
While son, daughter, or students in your entourage may be worrying about the upcoming exams, recent research has shown that many graduate students already have a contract in pocket. To them, exams are a mere formality before their careers take off.
The labour market has evolved, the youth as well, and companies must introduce themselves asap to the youth.

Learn it all in our weekly column.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Music to my ears


Some 6 months ago, Radiohead offered its new album on the internet at a 'free' price, from nothing till whatever fans were willing to pay for it. Did this strategy pay off?
It seems so. According to a source in Advertising Age, 1.2 million people downloaded the album and 32% paid for it, good for 6 to 10 million dollars in their pockets. Afterwards, 122 000 examples of the physical album were sold, good for another 25 million dollars. Not bad for an experiment.
It shows that marketers sometimes have to give before they can take. And it also illustrates that distribution models ask for an innovative and inventive approach.

Read all about it in this week's column.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Culture of fear


What a surprise it was to see an almost empty freeway and no traffic jams on a Tuesday morning on the E19! The result of the media alert that already started a week in advance on the possible effects of the train strike. It illustrates the effect the media has on our lives.

Read all about it in this week's column.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The power of ideas


Beyond the idea box. That is the concept of www.mystarbucksidea.com and www.dellideastorm.com, 2 websites were consumers can not only post ideas to Starbucks or Dell, but also vote and discuss ideas posted by other visitors.
This is the ultimate expression of consumer empowerment, thé characteristic of the 21st century consumer.

Read all about it in this week's column.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

On holiday


Last weekend, all parking lot spaces in Brussels Airport were full. This is only one indication of the increasing tourism flow.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization predicts that by 2020, the international tourism will double from about 800 million in 2008 to 1.6 billion in 2020. What drives this ‘tsunami’ of tourists and what are the consequences?

Read all about it in this week's column.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Ch'tis


Have you seen the succesfull movie 'Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis'? In France and also in Belgium, the movie is a big hit and is becoming cult.
The explanation for its success is simple. Ch'tis is about real people and is, from the beginning till the end, fully authentic.

Read all about it in this week's column.

Monday, April 21, 2008

The green chairman


Brand new chairman of Verbond van Belgische Ondernemingen, Thomas Leysen, pulled the green card in his maiden speech. He suggested that Belgian companies should go for innovative, ecological and energy friendly production processes. The 'VBO' should be part of 'bright green', as he put it. It shows the new wind that blows business world. But also governments think ahead. Steve Stevaert, governor of Limburg, wants a CO2 neutral province in 2020. Up to the citizen-consumers to follow.

Read the column of this week here.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

At work


Today, unemployment figures are historically low and employment forces become scarce. And, there seems to be no improvement in the near future. In 2030, when all babyboomers will have left working, the active working population in Flanders will be down with 300 000. It is clear that the proportion between offer and demand on the employment market is lost, and it is the employee that is in control. And thus, the ware for talent is raging and companies have to be more inventive than ever to attract employees. How to behave as employer?

Read all about it in this week's column.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Ambush Marketing


As proven in the past, the Olympic games are an ideal setting for ambush marketing ie. an attempt of unofficial sponsors to be linked with an important event, at the expense of the official sponsor.
About 10 days ago, an interesting protest action or media stunt happened when protesters of Reporters without borders interrupted the traditional ceremony of the ignition of the Olympic flame. The tone of the Games is set and marketers curiously await the ambush actions of major brands.

Read all about it in this week's column.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Night and day


Though often negative in the news, night shops are becoming an important distribution channel. The consultancy and market research company, Food in Mind, calculated the importance of the shops. It seems that they are worth a turnover of 1,364 billion euro.

Read all about it in this week's column.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Under fire



The storm against advertising and marketing continues. Last week, a brand of clothes got critized for a picture they used, in which 2 young boys were holding a cigar. Clients and organizations like Vlaams Instituut voor Gezondheid or Vlaamse Liga tegen Kanker protested. Some weeks ago, we wrote on the ban of alcohol advertising before 9 o’ clock in the Netherlands. And at the same moment, environmental organizations are fighting for a correct practice of the car advertising legislation.
It is clear that no sector or brand is left untouched. Alcohol, tobacco, cars, … what’s next?
It is clear that brands will have to be inventive with governmental regulations. See an example of BIC beneath.

Read the column of this week here .

Under fir

Monday, March 10, 2008

Complaint index



Complaint management enters a new decade. In our flat world, it has never been easier for unhappy customers to express their unhappiness and managers can thus easily calculate their ‘complaint index’ through Google. In the past, brands tried to remain silent about these customers, today the opposite strategy is more efficient. Some weeks ago, Business Week wrote 'Love the customers who hate you'. The message is clear: managers need to embrace customers who complain about their products or services instead of denying or cursing them.

Read all about it in this week's column.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Adapt or die


Lately, alcohol advertising has become the subject of much debate. With sensitization campaigns running about side effects of alcohol, banning of advertising targeted at specific groups and increased pressure on organizations to promote responsible consumption, what should alcoholic drink brands do?

Read all about it in this week's column.

Monday, February 25, 2008

A brand in bad times


The power of communication is widely acknowledged, but most of the times communication is used to announce good news. However, communication is at least as important in bad times or during a moment of crisis. Dexia has understood this well in the trial against the bankrupt speech and language technology company Lernout & Hauspie. It created a special website www.dexia.be/lhsp, where visitors are informed about the case. Objective is not to plead through the Internet, but to inform all stakeholders in a correct way. The site is a good example of modern information management and a mean to reinstall trust.

Read all about it in this week's column.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Taking over the PBS


Consumer empowerment is a hot topic. We’ve seen it in our recent articles about the iPhone and Postbank-Ing, and now youngsters are planning a coup on our PBS, the VRT.
On www.deovername.be, a group of young, creative people started a campaign to find like-minded people who want to change the VRT, and make more shows suiteable to younger generations. These youngsters, between 14-18 years, get the chance to promote their own creative work. If the campaign is a success, and enough talented youngsters are found, the work of the most talented youngsters will be broadcasted on television, radio and internet. Is this for real or is VRT's advertising agency behind 'the coup' ? To be continued.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Participation in brand landscape


Another example of consumer participation and involved is shown in the Netherlands. After the takeover of Postbank by ING, the latest decided to abandon the Dutch brand and rebrand all branches into ING. No doubt ING has good reasons to replace thé financial brand of the Netherlands, Postbank, by the ING brand. But the decision is much debated, since the 2 brands are perceived as opposite to one another and people have a real emotional relationship with Postbank. The risk for unsatisfied clients is thus real.
One of these clients, Wim Luijk, decided to create the website www.postbankmoetblijven.nl to express his dissatisfaction. How to react as a marketer?

Read all about it in this week’s column.

Monday, February 11, 2008

iPower


I bet some of you are proud owner of an Apple iPhone. And it seems you are not alone. About 8000 Belgians are iPhone users, though the phone is still not officially for sale in Belgium. But also in the US, where the phone was launched last year, about 1.7 millions phone don't work with AT&T and are thus hacked. An ultimate expression of the empowered consumers, who wants to be in control and doesn’t like restrictions enforced by brands?

Read all about this week's column here.

Monday, February 04, 2008

The new communes


How do communes, the co housing projects that were popular in the 60ies and 70ies amongst people revolting against capitalism- look like anno 2008? Do they still accommodate former hippies? It seems that a lot of pragmatic 20-somethings also choose to live together with friends or like-minded people.

Read all about it in this week's column.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Psychosis


The whole world is looking at the evolution of the stock market. The decreasing share prices brought along panic and new speculations about a possible recession. But even financial analysists must admit that the recent evolutions are more based on psychology -or even psychosis- than on the current situation and behavior of companies and consumers.

Read all about it in this week's column.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Consumers become swarms


Our digitale age also influences the way we decide what to buy and consume. AdAge predicts that BRAND SWARMS will find their way in 2008: people will be influenced more and more by other consumers: their partner, kids, friends, colleagues and also social networks. So, goodbye 1-to-1 marketing, hello social networks. Brands will have to behave even more excellent and consequently in order to be recommended.

Read all about it in this week's column.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Recession or not?


One of my latest columns, regarded a slight decrease in consumer confidence at the end of 2007 and announcements of a recession of the economy. Interesting to read how NRC Handelsblad also published a commentary on this issue. It was titled 'Self-confidence of the European Economy'. Key message is that we mustn't let ourselves talk into a recession. Yes, the US is heading for a financial crisis, but consumer and business confidence in Europe is still good. Read the comment article here.

Green car show


This week the 86th edition of the car show lands in Brussels. Theme this year is the environment. The show illustrates how cars and green can go hand in hand. But, not only green is hot, cheap is the newest trend, abroad but soon in our regions too.

Read all about it in this week's column.

Monday, January 07, 2008

The year of China


Thé picture of 2007, that also perfectly announces 2008, is this one. It was published last summer in Het Nieuwsblad, one year before the official start of the Olympic Games. No doubt, 2008 will be the year of China. Already last year we were impressed by the economic growth of the country and China is expected to be the largest economic force by 2030, though some suggest a yellow bubble is created.
It is my belief that the Olympic Games will do the same for China as Expo 58 did for Belgium and Western Europe 50 years ago.

Read all about it in this week's column.