Where Does She Go From Here?

Just a girl with plenty of stationery and plenty to say.

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Can’t Buy Me Like – A Book Report – Let’s Begin

Book reports can be incredibly intimidating. What if I don’t like the book? What if I, despite reading the book cover to cover, miss the main point of the book? What if I don’t get ‘it’?

This semester for MARK9057 I had the opportunity to read “Can’t Buy Me Like: How Authentic Customer Connections Drive Superior Results” by Bob Garfield and Doug Levy. I will be honest – this is the first marketing book I have ever read. I dreaded the idea that the material would be so dry that I would need a tsunami worth of water to make reading it bearable. I try my best to be an optimist, but often times I am filled with doubt.

I am so incredibly relieved to share that “Can’t Buy Me Like” was a fantastic read. The book offered advice, industry insights, humour, examples, and a new way to look at one’s relationship between their brand and their customers. All eleven chapters were professional yet conversational in tone; I felt as though I was being actively engaged with (albeit a one sided conversation) instead of being talked at.

I loved Garfield and Levy’s wisdom so much that I created a Twitter Account dedicated to some of Can’t Buy Me Like’s outstanding quotes.

I have organized my digital book report to be a chapter-by-chapter overview, including Garfield and Levy’s main themes, brand examples that follow the Relationship Era style of thinking (more on that later!), as well as my own commentary.

Linked below are my blog posts written on Can’t Buy Me Like’s respective chapters.

1. Introduction and Chapter 1 2. Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 3. Chapter 4, Chapter 5, and Chapter 6 4. Chapter 7 and 8 5. Chapter 9, Chapter 10, and Chapter 11

If you are not one for the traditional book report, why don’t you go on over and check out my Pinterest board dedicated to the book and other relevant materials? There you will find equally insightful, but less wordy, information.

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Can’t Buy Me Like – A Book Report – Part 5

Chapter 9: Do’s and Don’ts and… No, Really, Don’ts

This chapter focuses on trust and authentic marketing strategies.

There’s that pesky word again: trust. It is imperative that not only your customers trust you as a brand, but you are being authentic in your words and actions. Make conversation with customers because you genuinely care about them, not because you have ulterior motives.

If you are just being friendly to your customers, or, I hate to even say it, pretending to care in order to get the sale, you are doing it all wrong. Garfield and Levy were right when they said that the Relationship Era has no time for manipulation (158).

Be authentic in all of your practices. Don’t try to lie or deceive your customers because they will find out, and when they find out they will not be happy.

If you are looking for interesting, out of the box content, see what your customers are creating with your brand! Invite your customers to collaborate with you and become part of the brand story (172). Allow your customers to share what they have made and use that content to your advantage.

People like seeing creativity. People like it even more so when they find out that the creative advertising they just saw did not come from some think tank, it came from another consumer just like them.

The content does not have to go viral. Your customers will share the content among themselves, on Facebook pages and subreddits dedicated to your brand.

Chapter 10: Bank and Trust

This chapter focused on a case study on Sovereign Bank in Boston and its executive Eduardo Tobon.

I personally found this chapter to be filler. It was short, and it did not add much to the conversation.

The chapter did, however, provide one important quote by Tobon in regard to trust.

Chapter 11: This Could Be The End of a Previously Very Good Relationship

The final chapter of Can’t Buy Me Like focuses on trust, and how brands cannot rely on a customer’s trust when they make a mistake.

According to evidence found by Shirley Y. Y. Cheng, Tiffany Barnett White, and Lan Nguyen Chapin while conducting a study on consumer psychology, they were able to conclude that “…consumers tend to react to criticism of their most admired brands as a personal attack on themselves, and typically circle their emotional wagons around the brand under siege” (195).

If somebody tries to say negative things about Target or Trader Joe’s, I immediately come to the brand’s defense. Most of the time their dislike for the companies come from a one-off experience and not from a big blow to the brand’s public image.

If Target or Trader Joe’s were to be part of a large scandal, forcing me to question everything I thought I once knew about the brand, my trust might crumble and my former admiration for the brand might not be enough to salvage my relationship.

Garfield and Levy are right when they say, “giving up on those you believe in is not easy to do” (195). I can forgive a small lapse in judgment, but when it comes to something being ethically and morally wrong, I cannot.

It is important for brands to understand that, “no company is immune to the loss of trust, any more than anything is immune to gravity” (201). One major slip-up for your brand and all your hard work can be lost.

That is why it is important to always be authentic in your actions and transparent as a brand. Do not hide anything from your customers – they will find out.

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Can’t Buy Me Like – A Book Report – Part 4

Chapter 7: The Thing Called Like

Chapter seven focuses on brand advocacy, engagement, and badging.

Remember when we talked about being brand loyal? Two brands that I am loyal to are Target and Old El Paso. Target is my go-to store; I boast about Target, I think about Target, and if I have the opportunity to go to Target, you bet I will go there. Many of my friends know that Target is my absolute favourite place to be.

What abut Old El Paso? They make great taco kits, but I do not go out of my way to speak about them. Sure, I might suggest them if somebody is looking for good taco shells, but do I go out of my way to boast about how great they are? Absolutely not.

I might be brand loyal to each brand, but I am an active advocate for Target, while I am a passive loyalist for Old El Paso. According to Garfield and Levy, it is better for, “…people to be active advocates as opposed to passive loyalists” (112).

I engage with Target online. Many others do, too. I like their content on Instagram, follow them on Facebook, and seek out Target Dollar Spot hauls on YouTube. I go out of my way to engage with Target. People who like things online choose to do so, despite here being a million and one other things to do on the Internet (113).

When people are extreme advocates of brands, why do they wear the logos of their favourite brands with pride? Why do they put stickers or decals on their personal belongings? Why do people request one brand of vodka or another? According to Garfield and Levy, “This phenomenon is what social scientists call “badging” or “self-presentation,” wherein a person endeavors to define himself in varying degrees of conspicuousness for the benefit of the outside world” (113).

Badging is convenient. You can learn a lot about somebody by seeing the products they associate with: if you go over to a significant other’s house and scan their bookshelf, you can see that they have a collection of Britney Spears CD’s, won a trophy for a spelling bee, or own every film from ‘The Fast and the Furious’ franchise.

People ‘badge’ themselves online through their liked pages on Facebook. Professors Hope J. Schau and Mary C. Gilly came to the conclusion that individuals, “use brands as shorthand for describing to others who they are, as well as who they are not” (114).

The Facebook Like is a unit of currency in the Relationship Era. Although you may consider it a vanity metric, you have to consider that living things is spontaneous, voluntary, and “at least minimally enthusiastic” (118). Liking things is a way for an individual to express that they are engaging with a brand’s material.

Chapter 8: The Shift

Chapter 8 takes an in-depth look at finding a brand’s purpose. Earlier we spoke about both Secret and Louisville Slugger’s brand purpose.

Garfield and Levy definite a brand purpose as, “the idea that inspires what you do and informs every action you take by getting to the core of why you do it” (126). Your brand’s purpose will always be at the forefront of your mind, and in the heart of everything you brand does.

Two important steps or considerations to have when discovering your brand’s purpose are deciding on ‘what’ your brand does and ‘how’ it achieves this (128). Simply put, what your product or service is and how it achieves goals.

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Can’t Buy Me Like – A Book Report – Part 3

Chapter 4: On Purpose

The theme of this chapter is brand purpose. To thrive in the Relationship Era, brands and marketers alike need to be clear in their purpose.

Why is knowing a brand’s purpose important? According to Garfield and Levy, “a clear purpose defines what the brand or company stands for, beyond financials, and inspires people not merely to patronize the brand, but to join it” (57). Brands who have a clear purpose generate loyalty and passion – people get excited about the brand and what the brand is up to.

I am going to stress again that in the Relationship Era, customers want transparency. Customers hear every celebration and hiccup your brand faces. As a brand, “you are being evaluated not just for what you sell but how you conduct yourself in the world – with consequences that flow directly to the bottom line” (58).

If your brand’s purpose is to protect aquatic life, do not turn around and put whale blubber in your lipstick. Seriously think about your brand’s purpose and take a pledge to honour that purpose. Your customers will see and appreciate that you are staying true to the image you project.

Deriving your brand’s purpose can be difficult, as there are many questions you have to ask of your brand. What motivates and inspires your brand? What role do you see your brand playing, and what role do you see for the goods your brand puts out? (60).

The example Garfield and Levy used in this chapter of a brand finding their purpose is Louisville Slugger. They struggled to find their purpose at first, but it helped when they were able to narrow down a clear set of company beliefs. Pulling from their beliefs, what matters the most to them as a company, they were able to find their purpose – Louisville Slugger exists to make players great.

Chapter 5: Sustain

Chapter five brings us back to taking a deeper look at the brand sustainability map, and what makes a brand sustainable.

In the Relationship Era, if you build trust and a solid, human relationship with your customers, you will be able to achieve brand sustainability.

Sustainable brands, like Costco, Target, and Amazon do not have to purchase large quantities of traditional advertising. They already have brand loyal customers; customers who willing advocate for them through word-of-mouth. According to Garfield and Levy, Amazon, Costco, and Target spend an average of .52 percent of sales on measured media (82). That is just over a half of a single percent!

If your brand has a stellar relationship with your customers, your brand is more sustainable.

Chapter 6: The Secret Secret

Chapter six focuses on Secret deodorant. Secret deodorant launched around 1956, and was the first deodorant marketed exclusively for women (93).

A major campaign that Secret launched in 2009 dealt with the gender inequality found within Olympic sports. Many competitive events in the Olympics only have male competitions. In most cases, if women have their own events for the same sports, they came much later in Olympic history.

Secret wanted to tackle how, despite it being the year 2010, there was going to be no ski jump competition for women at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. Secret’s brand purpose, after all, focuses on the equality of all genders and supporting women in pursuing their goals without fear (97).

Secret curated a commercial highlighting the inequality between ski jump athletes, using the slogan ‘Let Her Jump!’. This commercial appeared on YouTube, as well as it having its own Facebook page. Over six months, Secret saw its sales increase and their video went viral.

Most importantly, due to Secret’s effort, the International Olympic Committee made the decision to include ski jumping for women in the 2014 Winter Games.

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Can’t Buy Me Like – A Book Report – Part 2

Chapter 2: The Relationship Era

The Relationship Era is built around a brand’s relationship with its customers.

Do you have a corner store near your house? Do you know the staff that work there? Years ago, small, family-owned businesses like corner stores relied on the relationships they built with the people in their area. Large businesses used mass communication tools, such as print media and television, to advertise and draw in new customers. Such businesses avoided, or even dodged, the responsibility of getting to know their customers by choosing to go that way.

In the Relationship Era, we are back to the way of the corner store – we are taking a relationship-first approach (25). You need to get to know your customers and listen to what they are saying on social media. Listen to the positives and negatives, find out what they do and do not like, and show them that you are listening. Each customer is important in the Relationship Era – do not take any of your relationships for granted. If you show your customers you want a relationship with them, they may want a relationship with you.

Some marketers and institutions fail to see the importance of forging relationships with their customers. For some, they, “...see only the word media and ignore the word social. You cannot understand these technologies, much less benefit from them, if you do not first understand and internalize the idea that they are not about messaging; they are about relationships” (35). Social media is a tool to COMMUNICATE; communication is a two-way street where you both listen and speak.

This chapter also brings forward the Brand Sustainability Map, which is used throughout Can’t Buy Me Like. The Brand Sustainability Map is a tool used to help businesses see what consumers think of their brand. The x-axis represents how often consumers make transactions at these businesses, while the y-axis represents how much customers trust that brand.

Bottom Left: Limited Relationship These are struggling brands with declining sales that lack respect from customers.

Top Left: Emotional Relationship These brands are trusted, however the price of these brands makes for less transactions.

Bottom Right: Reluctant Relationship The price might be right for this brand, but they are not as respected and lack emotional appeal.

Top Right: Sustainable Relationship These brands are the cream of the crop: the price is right, consumers trust them, and people cannot stop saying good things about these brands.

Chapter 3: Trust Me

The Relationship Era is built on trust. Real, honest to goodness trust. Trust that you will do right by your customers. Trust that you are not just playing them like a fiddle to go and betray them later. In chapter three, Garfield and Levy made a point of explaining that, “…trust constructed as a means to a mercenary end is not trust at all” (40).

Remember when I spoke about humanizing brands and how brands need to create human relationships? The same applies here, as, “In short, people trust companies for the same reason they trust people. Institutions have joined the ranks of humanity” (41).

People want transparency. With that transparency, however, people will judge every single aspect of a company. The will judge how a company conducts itself, what their motivations are, how they treat their employees, and how they are perceived by the public at large.

Trusting a company or a brand has changed from simply trusting the fact that you are not getting screwed over. In the Relationship Era, trust is, “…now the by-product of genuine commitment to genuinely mutual values and interests” (42). Consumers want your values to align with their values. If you company puts the consumer first and has good, positive values, this should be no problem.

If somebody trusts your brand, they will trust you a LOT. If they trust you a lot, they may take it upon themselves to advocate for you and your product. Garfield and Levy sum this up perfectly by saying, “The word-of-mouth effect creates a virtuous circle of trial, satisfaction and advocacy – a loyalty loop that functions more efficiently for the most admired brands. That is precisely what make them sustainable. That is what drives their promotional costs down and their profits up” (46).

When conducting your brand, always keep the three C’s of trust in mind (as mentioned earlier). Stay credible (deliver on your promises), care about your customers (genuinely!) and keep your morals congruent with your customers.

The overarching message of this chapter is that trust is an incredibly important asset. Without your customers’ trust, you don’t have much.

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Can’t Buy Me Like – A Book Report – Part One

Introduction: The Book You Are Reading

Laptops. Smartphones. Social Media. Apps. This is the way of the future, for both the average Joe and the world of marketing.

The digital revolution has brought forth something Bob Garfield and Doug Levy refer to as the Relationship Era of marketing. Not only has the digital revolution multiplied the ways in which we communicate with one another (phone calls, Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, text message, the list goes on!), it has given brands an incredible amount of ways to connect with their customers. Due to all of the available lines of communication, Garfield and Levy note that the digital revolution has, “...launched us all into an era in which human needs, human values, and human connections will define success or failure of… brands” (2).

Commerce is no longer about treating customers as conquests to be won or manipulating them into purchasing something they otherwise would not have wanted. For a brand to be successful in the Relationship Era, they must treat their customers as if they are their friends. Brands must humanize their relationships with their customers. Brands need to earn their customer’s trust.

How does a brand earn their customer’s trust? They follow the three C’s of the Relationship Era.

This new era of marketing is all about being authentic and putting the customer first. If your brand is built on schemes and lies, customers will find out and you can consider your business out of work.

Garfield and Levy sum up this sentiment perfectly, saying that, “Admit it or not, like it or not, embrace it or not, exploit it or not, your business destiny is not in your hands. It is in the hands of seven billion others” (7). If your brand slips up, the news will spread like wild fire. Remain honest, authentic, and transparent.

Chapter 1: Good-bye to All That

There have been three different eras of marketing.

The first era, called the Product Era, took place between the seventeenth century up until 1965. The Product Era focused on the essential qualities of a business’s product or service. For example, if a business were to sell you a toaster, they would market the product by simply stating that it is a machine that will toast your bread.

The second era took place between 1965 to fairly recently – let us call it 2010. According to Garfield and Levy, the Consumer Era, “…was characterized by a shift from advertising and marketing focused on the product to getting into the head and heart of the consumer” (14). These marketing strategies tried to impress, seduce, and make a customer feel as though they cannot live without it.

Let’s go back to the toaster example. In the Consumer Era, the advertising for the toaster would be all over television and magazines. The ads would suggest that this toaster is the best toaster EVER, will make your toast taste gourmet, and that you are a nobody unless you own this toaster.

Presently we are in the Relationship Era. The Relationship Era is not about ‘buy buy buy’ and ‘sell sell sell’, but rather learning and listening to your customers. Learn what they are interested in, and take their suggestions into consideration. You can still advertise, but make them feel happy looking at your ads instead of feeling as though a product is being shoved down their throat. The Relationship Era welcomes the fact that customers are comfortable in their own skin (22).

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AliExpress Stationery Haul – October Edition

October is a month that is dedicated to all things autumnal and spooky.

Whether or not you celebrate Halloween, it is almost impossible to escape from the array of ghosts, ghouls, and goblins that stores are trying to throw your way. There’s the candy, the decorations, the costumes... no matter where you are shopping, Halloween vibes are around every corner.

Now I have to ask myself: how in the world did I, a sucker for all things seasonal, look passed the Halloween stationary on AliExpress and launch straight into the Christmas holidays?

Although my last shopping trip on AliExpress was a load of impulse buys, Christmas and cartoons seems to be the theme of the bunch. Let’s take a look at what I picked up.

My first two finds here are washi tape. The first roll is Studio Ghibli themed; from the side of the roll you can see characters from My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. I could not pass up this roll – I grew up on Studio Ghibli films and this roll of washi is swoon worthy.

The second roll features a print based upon Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night. I have always been drawn to van Gogh’s work, and I find myself even more so pulled into his world after viewing the film Loving Vincent (2017).

This group of findings are my sticker packs. Their themes include Christmas, Alice in Wonderland, and travel.

The Merry Christmas sticker pack came with 46 individual stickers. The prints varied, however here I selected a few of my favourites – I guess I was feeling a blue theme.

What I liked most about these stickers is that they do not all necessarily relate to Christmas. Some stickers simply have snowflakes or snowmen, making them more inclusive for the overarching winter holiday season.

The travel sticker set, appropriating named ‘On My Way’, included various stickers that portrayed modes of transportation and luggage.

These stickers would be fun to use when planning a trip or scrap booking post-trip.

The third sticker pack contained Alice in Wonderland themed stickers.

When I opened the box, I was blown away by the beautiful imagery I was presented with. These stickers are both a unique and delightful take on the Alice stories. From Humpty Dumpty to the White Rabbit, each character is accounted for.

This group of items I received are cards. Each set is different and will serve a different purpose for me.

The first set of cards are Christmas cards. They are small – think the size of an average deck of playing cards. One side is printed with a holiday print, while the other side is completely blank.

This set of cards would be perfect for an office environment. On the blank side you can write a ‘to: / from:’ greeting and possibly tape a candy cane or Hershey kiss to it. They are simple, however they still show you care.

This set of cards is by far my favourite purchase of the bunch. These are Corgi postcards, need I say more?!

Each print is equal parts whimsical and beautiful. Each card is different, giving you plenty of fun scenarios to choose from. These would be an absolute delight to receive in the mail from a pen pal, don’t you think?

The next set of items I received is a pack of five paper bags.

To be honest, I was suckered in by the fun cactus print. These bags would be perfect to put stickers and other trinkets you wish to send your pen pals.

The final item I received was a sticker book of faux stamps.

The theme of the stamps is Le Petit Prince; alternatively known as The Little Prince. Each design is quite cute, and would be excellent for decorating a planner or sharing with a pen pal.

In Conclusion

This was an absolutely adorable haul. I can only chalk this group of items up to my sudden feeling of nostalgia for my childhood. My life is not all cartoons and Christmas get togethers anymore; things were simpler then and it is easy to retreat to such fond memories.

These items have brought me joy, and I cannot wait to share them with others.

Want These Items?

All items featured in this post are available on AliExpress through the store KawaiiDepot. All goods have been purchased with my own money. These are my own thoughts and this post is not sponsored.