Oz brands just can’t buy love, study finds
Australia’s top advertisers are failing to build meaningful relationships with their customers, new research has found.
The study, carried out exclusively for B&T by innovation agency UDKU and research firm Stokes Mischewski, has revealed that despite continued major investment in advertising, some of Australia’s most iconic brands still have their work cut out in building sustainable relationships with consumers.
The research by Stokes Mischewski involved 2017 customers, 211 brands, 15 categories and 33 subcategories with over 22,000 responses evaluated.
As Colin Jowell, partner at UDKU, explains: “We wanted to create a tool to draw together two vital but different metrics for customer habits and attitudes into a single understanding.”
By doing this, the approach defined four relationship types: Advocates (customers with a strong usage habit and who recommend the brand highly), Habituals (customers with a strong usage habit but who are less likely to recommend it), Aspirants (customers with a weaker usage habit BUT who are likely to recommend it), and Switchers (where neither strong habits nor positive attitudes exist).
The research found that the top 20 advertisers in Australia are dominated by supermarkets, banks and telco’s, yet almost all brands in these categories fell into the switching or habit space.
"This result was not entirely unexpected,” said Dawn Mischewski, joint MD at Stokes Mischewski. “But where the data became interesting was that in almost every case, there was an exception to the category rule, or a segment for whom the relationship with the brand was quite different. It’s in these exceptions that the real insights lie. It gives clarity to the task at hand for marketers and examples of how others are succeeding.”
Failure to connect
So, does a telco have more in common with Apple or Energy Australia?
According to the study, when it comes to customer relationships, telco brands are more like a utility than a technology company. Habits are relatively well-established in both utilities and telcos, but the proportion of customers willing to recommend them is relatively low.
“For telco brands to start enjoying the type of relationship that technology brands already enjoy with their customers, they need to create stronger emotional connections, but the data shows it might be more about the basics than the ‘wow’ factor,” said Mischewski.
“The evidence for this is that despite telcos’ efforts to align with the positive associations of technology brands and avoid becoming the “dumb pipe”, the only player measured to break out of the habit/switching space was Amaysim, whose offer of pure simple pricing has clearly been backed up by an equally simple on-boarding process.”
She added that another point of proof might be Optus’ relative strength in the sub-$50k pa. income market – given its historical dominance in prepaid, that would seem to make sense.
Buying deal, not loving deals
The telco example might lead some to believe it’s simply a matter of keen pricing, but that’s where the two dimensional view of the customer relationship is vital. For example, in the airline industry, it’s experience, not value, that drives a customer’s willingness to recommend an airline.
Singapore Airlines and Emirates drive the most positive attitudes. While the strength of habit using those brands may not be as strong due to more limited destinations within Australia, with a Singapore Airlines customer is 40% more likely to recommend their airline of choice than a Qantas customer.
Conversely Tiger and Jetstar drive the least amount of recommendation – lower price is not enough of a compensation for people to actively recommend the brand.
Loyalty programs aren’t the answer to engagement either, or at least not in their current form. Qantas Frequent Flyer and Velocity both fall into the habit space with high usage, but low likelihood to recommend.
The answer lies in keeping one’s offer fresh and relevant, which is easier said than done,” said the study.
Virgin Australia Airlines has a relatively lower connection with its younger audience and is relatively weaker with female customers. Customers under 40 rate Virgin Australia and Jetstar similarly, both with far fewer customers prepared to recommend the brand.
Focus is the secret of success
The real success stories in customer relationship building can be seen in brands who have clearly segmented their market.
APIA’s single-minded focus on its demographic has delivered valuable and true advocates for the business that have been using the brand for as long as they have been able to, and have very high likelihood to recommend scores, especially with their newer customers.
Commonwealth Bank and Westpac both have notably stronger relationships with women, which may in part be credited to prominent and well executed “Women In Business” programs (and the fact the latter has one of Australia’s few high profile female CEO’s may also play a role).
That Nespresso’s strongest relationship is with its customers earning under $50k p.a. seems on the face of it, surprising, but could be evidence of one of the best text book cases of a “mass-tige” offer: something special, but not totally out of reach.
“At the end of the day, a marketing future that is more data-driven will require a multi-dimensional view of the customer. But for now, a two dimensional view may be a great place to start,” said Jowell.
Please login with linkedin to comment
Latest News
Dentsu’s iProspect Partners With MOOD Tea Ahead Of May Campaign Launch
Dentsu’s iProspect has partnered with MOOD tea to empower the advertising and media community to make a difference in youth mental health. The partnership with MOOD tea will see iProspect support the brand from a strategic business level through to media partnerships, to build the brand’s salience and ultimately drive retail distribution and purchase. Marcelle […]
Opinion: When Culture Starts Eating Itself: Navigating The Age Of Self-eating Nostalgia
In this opinion piece, Born’s co-founder and strategy director, David Coupland (above), considers whether cultural nostalgia offers genuine comfort or stifles innovation in light of McDonald’s bringing back “The Original Mouthful.” Sitting there watching The Beckham documentary, shortly after I’d watched the Robbie Williams’ documentary, not that long after I’d watched The Last Dance it […]
Who’s Going To Cannes?! The TikTok Young Lions Winners!
With super short notice, the winners produced incredible work featuring Tim Tams, League of Legends & fishing lines.
Adobe Launches Express Mobile App With Firefly AI
Adobe has launched a new Adobe Express mobile app, giving users Firefly AI on the go. Adobe Express is the all-in-one AI content creation app that makes it fast and easy for anyone to ideate, design and share standout social media posts, videos, flyers, logos and more. Millions of users around the world are turning […]
ThinkNewsBrands & IMAA Extend News Publishing Education In Brisbane
ThinkNewsBrands in collaboration with the Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA), continued the in-person education rollout of the Publishing & News101 learning module yesterday, extending its reach to independent media agencies in Brisbane. That means Queensland has become the second state to benefit from the special in-person training and certification program. The program delves into […]
B&T Chats With Wavemaker’s Provocative Pioneers On Their Cross-Pacific Sojourn
B&T had the honour of travelling to GroupM’s lush North Sydney offices to chat with Tatiana Patrón and Missie Saroyan, who had travelled all the way from the US to see how we do things down under. Patrón is an associate client investment lead in Wavemaker’s New York office, while Saroyan serves as a programmatic […]
HoMie & Champion Launch “Give One. Get One” Campaign Supporting Youth Homelessness Via Town Square
HoMie, a Melbourne-based streetwear label that supports young people affected by homelessness or hardship, has turned traditional buy-one-get-one-free retail offers on their head with a special promotional campaign developed by Town Square. HoMie has launched ‘Give One. Get One,’ where for every HoMie hoodie purchased for Youth Homelessness Matters Day, fellow streetwear label Champion will […]
Thinkerbell Takes Us Back To Summer In Latest Work For XXXX
Lion and Thinkerbell have launched new work for XXXX Summer Bright, reminding everyone that it’s a beer to drink all year round. The idea is now live across social, digital and OOH. It centres on the insight that around here, unlike most places in the world, we only have one season really, summer. So it’s […]
Cannes Lions Unveils 2024 Programme Featuring Queen Latifah, Jay Shetty & P&G’s Mark Pritchard
The programme has been revealed for this year’s Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity featuring more than 150 hours of content and some 500 speakers. About this year’s line-up, Natasha Woodwal, director of content, LIONS, said: “Our open call for content gives us unparalleled insight into what matters most to the industry right now, and we’ve […]
Scroll Media Recruits Costa Panagos From Twitch
Digital publisher network Scroll Media has employed ex-Amazon Twitch gaming executive Costa Panagos (lead image) to strengthen its Scroll Gaming capability. Panagos is highly experienced in game advertising and media sales professional with two years in account management at Twitch and three years in media sales at News Corp, so will bring his extensive media agency […]
Year13, Microsoft & KPMG Australia Launch AI Course For Gen Zs
School-leaver service Year13 has launched a new Artificial Intelligence course to upskill young people in AI, made in collaboration with Microsoft and KPMG, at an event to rally industry support behind youth AI fluency. The free online course AI Amplified which is part of Year13’s Academy aims to provide all young people with the opportunity […]
General Motors Snares Heath Walker From Scania
General Motors has announced the appointment of Heath Walker (lead image) as the new marketing director for GM Australia and New Zealand, effective April 23, 2024. Walker brings a wealth of marketing and communications experience gained from working across various industries, including IT, sporting, and auto – notably Tesla, Nissan and most recently, Scania in […]
VML Launches New “Envoyage” Brand For Flight Centre
VML unveils new brand for travel operator Flight Centre. Alas, no sign of those paid actors pretending to be pilots.
Subaru Places Media Account Up For Review
Subaru puts media up for review, as adland journos get set for mandatory "agency drives off with..." headline.
TV Ratings (17/04/2024): Contestants Faced With Harsh Realities As Alone Australia Heats Up (Or Cools Down)
Alone still doing the business for SBS. Overly long train journeys not doing the business, but they persist anyway.
Ben Fordham Loses Number One Spot As Ray Hadley Celebrates 156th Ratings Win
The radio numbers are in! Discover who's off for a boozy lunch today & who's waiting for the dreaded HR death knock.
Gourmet Ice Cream Brand Connoisseur Launches New “Thrill Your Senses” Iteration, Via SICKDOGWOLFMAN
Rattling the old "truth in advertising" adage comes this ice-cream spot full of noticeably thin people.
Paramount’s Global Sales Boss: ‘Australia’s Converged Model Is A Blueprint For How I’d Like All Of Our Markets To Be’
Paramount's global sales boss gives local sales ops the thumbs up. Didn't weigh-in on the Lisa Wilkinson debacle.
TikTok Starts Testing Its Instagram Rival In Australia
In exciting news for piano playing cats & brattish pranks in shopping centres, TikTok unveils its Insta rival plans.
Man Wrongly Named By Seven As Bondi Killer Hires Lawyers
Struggling to save for a house deposit? Why not get wrongly identified by Sunrise!
Smartsheet Appoints Indie Agency Sandbox Media To Its Media Account
Can't stand your colleagues? Like to dob them in when they miss a deadline? These work management platforms are ideal.
Boss Not Letting You Come To Cannes In Cairns? Use This Business Case To Convince Them!
Stingy boss won't spring for a ticket to Cairns? Add this to your persuasive argument repertoire. Or grovel.
Alt/shift/ Brisbane Builds Portfolio With Ausbuild Creative, PR, Content & Social Account Win
The Brisbane comms/PR agency lands constructor Ausbuild. Also hoping for a discount on its new glass conservatory.
Young Guns Versus The Old Guard: Who Adds More Value to Our Industry?
Cannes In Cairns poking this hornet's nest in a lively debate. Just so long as the oldies can get up the stairs.
70% Of Aussies Don’t Have Green Power Plans ENGIE Says In Major Brand Campaign Via HERO
Are you the notorious "light leaver on-er" in your flatshare? Quell any infighting with this green energy news.
PrettyGood Launches Offering Brand & Media Solutions For Australasian SMEs
B&T applauds the charitable nature of this new agency. Although we'd hate to see it impact any Chrissie present sends.
A Blunt End: Dolphins Medicinal Cannabis Sponsorship At Risk
Yes, it's another NRL drug story. Yet, thankfully it doesn't involve coke in Kuta during the off-season.
Slew Of New Creative Hires At Leo Burnett Australia
Ahhh, all black! The outfit of choice for agency creatives, David Jones staff and everyone in Melbourne.
Under Armour Unveils Local “Live in UA” Campaign
American apparel brand set for yet another tilt at the Aussie market, as Nike declares "we'll see about that".
Pepsi Launches New Look, Refreshing Classic Fashion Staples Via Special PR
Are you always the bridesmaid, never the bride, as the old saying goes? How do you think Pepsi feels?
Pure Blonde Returns To A Place Purer Than Yours In New Campaign Via The Monkeys
B&T's always been a huge fan of the 'drink yourself thinner' diet plan. So big thanks to Pure blonde, vodka & tequila.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Carsales Strikes With Another Storm-Based Team
Think our hacks are living their sports journalist dreams vicariously through B&T? Confirm it with this reporting.
Commission Factory & AGL Energy Ignite Strategic Partnership To Empower Australian Energy Consumers
Concerned by global warming yet ran the fans non-stop over summer? Add to the guilt with this read.
Allied Nabs Nicola Gold From Pico International Dubai
Seasoned marketer relocates from Dubai to Sydney. Says the shopping's not as good but at least you can get a drink.
Nine’s Push For Gold, Silver & Bronze Ad Opportunities Could Break New Ground In Broadcasting
Nine insists that AI won't dominate its Olympics coverage. And not merely because Bruce McAvaney doesn't understand it.
TV Ratings (16/04/2024): Toxic City Girls Too Much For Farmer Bert
Fans calling out toxic behaviour on Farmer Wants A Wife, seemingly unaware that's the very premise of any dating show.