Four Laws of Brand-Building in the Digital Age (Part 3 of 4)
Law 3: From Case Study, To Business Case
Law 3: From Case Study, To Business Case
The advertising industry is obsessed with awards. Back when TV commercials and print advertising were still big (and effective), judging ads for an award show was not that complicated. You could just watch a 30-second spot or see an ad on a page, then you would give it a score. With the rise of digital, however, ads became more than just TV commercials and print ads. It’s become a complicated web of media tactics. That consequently made the process of judging ads at award shows quite cumbersome.
Enter “case study films” at award shows.
These one-to-two-minute films showcase the work in a simple and possibly attractive way to seduce and convince the judges at these award shows. Case study films, in essence, became “ads for ads.”
Beyond award shows and in various business situations, case studies are a useful way of introducing successful business examples. However, it also needs to be acknowledged that these case studies — particularly case study films — have a tendency to show off the actual case in a better light. In the advertising industry, the need for these case study films has increased so much that there are now companies specializing in making them. Some larger advertising agencies and networks even have multi-million dollar budgets to enter their work into award shows.
In the last decade or so, the advertising industry's obsession with case studies continued to increase. While that was happening, a new player entered the advertising game: business consultancies.
Business consultancies tend to focus on a different kind of case: a business case.
Advertising and creativity often rely on intuition and feeling, for better or for worse. Case studies are certainly effective in making the work look good and helping win awards. However, now data has made it possible to infer human behavior and purchasing psychology, there is more scrutiny on creativity than ever before.
The strength of a consulting firm is that it emphasizes business cases in advance of execution: “How will this help my business?” While case studies can be useful, business cases are a stronger argument to persuade clients.
Accelerated by the Pandemic
While the pandemic has been devastating for numerous businesses, it has also been an accelerant for some, such as the delivery business.
Even though a company like Uber took a hit during the pandemic with sales down by 50% in 2020, the delivery side of its business, UberEats, has grown 135% over the past year and has now surpassed its original ride-hailing business itself.
So, was delivery the solution for restaurants to survive the pandemic? As we know by now, it was not enough for many.
Balancing Brand & Business
Would you order a packaged piece of roast beef for $160.00 to eat at home? Probably not.
But what if I told you that this is Kobe beef, expertly prepared by a Michelin-star chef, that you couldn’t get anywhere else?
Restaurant Narisawa, as introduced in the previous article, not only adopted delivery services as part of its business but also devised a new business model based on a solid business case. What Narisawa created is a new line of ready-to-eat products prepared by the chefs and staff of the restaurant, sold exclusively online and not at supermarkets.
But the price point isn’t all that accessible:
Kobe Roast Beef=$165.00
Japanese Black Beef Stew=$80.00
Ise Lobster Bisque=$110.00
Vanilla Cream Cake=$55.00
Any restaurant can offer delivery. Some may be able to sell packaged foods. But selling at such a premium price? Most likely no.
However, there is a clever balance between a calculated business case and Narisawa’s unique point of view and its brand.
In 2020, the pandemic caused many behavior changes. One of them is an interest in home cooking. Recall, the food in fine restaurants such as Narisawa is not always suitable for delivery. In addition to offering specialty lunch boxes for delivery, Narisawa set itself apart from others by making it possible for people to enjoy these meals as a home-cooked dish.
Delivery meals like UberEats are ordered for immediate eating that day. Narisawa, on the other hand, thought of a product that was easy to store and cook at home. It’s not that he created something that didn’t exist before. It’s by focusing on the shift in human behavior while keeping Narisawa’s unique perspective that made this invention a solid business case.
Dining at the Narisawa restaurant is an experience that will cost you close to $400.00 per person–without drinks. It requires hours of preparation and meticulous service by the restaurant staff. In comparison, the new takeout option for curry and beef stew at $90.00 simplifies some of the labor and service efforts. This still is some pricy soup but it sells because of its scarcity and the brand belief (referenced in part 2 of 4 of this series).
Ultimately, a business case finds the correlation between instinct and behavior.
Data & Desire
Another example is a story I heard from an acquaintance who helped transform Audi’s website in the United States.
Websites have become the new showroom for auto companies. In many ways, the site’s user interface (UI) is the way to entice a potential customer to reserve a test drive. Previously, the conventional wisdom for an automotive website was to include the reservation button as prominently and in as many areas of the site as possible to entice people to click and book. However, do more of these “Test Drive Now” buttons help increase the desire to purchase a car?
An analysis of the user’s behavior on the site revealed a common pattern among the customer groups. Most were customizing their ideal car on the site before booking a test drive. In other words, she concluded, customizing the car is what is driving the desire. Audi has since redesigned the site to bring the car customization front and center and show the car details in the most exquisite way possible online.
In addition, what also helped was the way her team framed their approach and mindset. This wasn’t to be just a well-functioning, data-driven website. It needed to be desirable.
Through various meetings and conversations, it was a phrase that Audi USA’s CMO uttered that stuck and became the North Star:
I want this site to be ‘the R8 of all car websites.’
He was referring to Audi R8, the six-figure “supercar” that sports the best and coolest tech and design features Audi has to offer.
Before, Audi had always aired a Super Bowl commercial. However, the launch of this site renewal itself became news and contributed to sales to an extent that exceeded any previous Super Bowl commercial they had run.
From Case Study, To Business and Case
Of course, all the cases given in this series are strong case studies, but simply copying them will not lead to a fundamental transformation of one’s business. With the pandemic pushing us into a more digital future, we are witnessing the collapse of the old advertising model in front of our eyes. Beyond communication, it has become increasingly important to carefully observe the correlation between human instinct and behavior, and craft your business case by connecting that correlation to your products and services.
Next on Four Laws of Brand-Building in the Digital Age: #4 From Ideal Futures To Practical Futures.