Whiteboard: High reliability low validity

I just threw some darts. Aiming for the triple 20 I really grouped the six darts well, but not very close to the red spot I wanted.


So it was highly reliable, but with low validity. One of the basics we teach in market research.

Whiteboard, dart board.

Whatever.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

One of many reasons to like Gina Rinehart

I tweeted a week ago:

"Perhaps for Fairfax the only thing the only thing worse than Rinehart could be no Rinehart."

She has millions of her dollars invested in the business. If I had any of my money in there I'd be hoping she shakes things up and makes the business work. She's certainly trying. She just sent a rocket up Fairfax chairman Roger Corbett.

I have good opinions of Corbett, he managed Woolies brilliantly, I feel. But Gina's not happy.

But in her three page letter, her major tangible complaint was in the way Fairfax has announced that it will lose around 2000 staff, but over a three year time frame:


In that one paragraph at the top, Rinehart shows me she understands running a business. No "salting the soil and pulling out the plants" for her. She knows that he is choosing the perfect way to strip out their best human assets and leave them with what's left.

Would I enjoy working with - or for - Rinehart? Possibly not. But from where I sit, I am developing a similar grudging, detached respect as I had for Kerry Packer, Murdoch and Keating. I wouldn't have worked for them, either

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

MBA whiteboard: Perspectives on Customer Loyalty

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Whiteboard MBA: A preference map for ice cream

Clustered preferences with brand a, b and c competing in the sweet and creamy category.


Also an example of "low differentiable" the two sets that look like clusters in the sweet/creamy category.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Supermarket smoke and mirrors: Be prepared to look beyond the obvious

How much fun is this? Woolworths' market research has identified that the public don't believe the product is Australian and don't believe it's fresh. I expect that what we will see is a hit parade of half truths and bullshit, from both sides.

Take for example the "No added hormones" claim - the ultimate "non benefit". Nobody in Australia puts hormones in beef. Still, if Coles make the claim and own the perception, then they win that little battle. Who cares if it's based on bullshit?

And Woolies just announced that they will be bringing back the butcher shop. You know - pulling down the walls to show the guy pulling the side of lamb off the hook and running it through the bandsaw? Problem. It rarely happens in supermarkets. Reason: boxed meat and case ready.

Case Ready: If you buy your meat in a sealed tray I'll tell you how it gets to you. A meat plant in Rockhampton or Casino - or somewhere - runs a large boning line where the meat is taken off the frame, sliced, ground and prepped to retail level presentation. These are state of the art facilities and the quality of product coming out of them is A class. The meat is then put in the tray, pumped with a mix of approximately 80% Oxygen and 20% CO2 and sent to the supermarket. They get about ten days shelf lif as bright red full bloom meat.

It's great, a great system that keeps the quality at world class standard and the prices very reasonable. But there is no chance that a butcher will have handled the meat in the shop. Sometimes they do, but even then it's a bit of smoke and mirrors.

Back fifteen years ago system had changed from in store boning to the brilliant system of boxed meat. See, above, a Cryovac rump. So if you see the system go back to glad wrap trays, done in store, then all the butcher will be doing is the final stage - slicing. Again this is a world class process - thr primal cut (in this case a rump) is taken off the animal's frame in an export quality boning room, packed into a box and sent at 0 degrees to the store. You can get easily ten weeks shelf life out of beef here - and it gets better as it ages.

But one thing for sure. There is no butcher in the back with hanging sides of beef or lamb in this system.

Boxed and case ready meat is a brilliant system. It's the perfect system. I can't see the supermarkets going back fifteen years, or the 25 back to hanging carcasses. I suspect that if you see a hanging carcass or hear a whining bandsaw in either of the majors it will all be serving to alter your perceptions. And it won't be the way that most of the meat on the shelf is getting to you.

There are many businesses who do this for you for real - even large supermarket groups - but have the courage to be an informed consumer. Look for the sealed case ready pack, and be aware of the boxed meat system. Then make, and own, and informed decision.

Coles seem to be winning the battle

I need to think about services marketing soon. Both the marketing of services and the service component of a marketing mix.


And this is yet another reason Coles are winning the battle - for me, at least.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Getting tagged can be physically draining

Watching our nine year olds play a game of footy. At this level, tackling is against the rules, but you wouldn't know it. They're playing a tough little team.

And I forgot what happens in this game. As you run through a pack with the ball in you hands, the arms that reach out and slap you across the chest, pretending to be reaching for the ball.

Not really illegal, not even really dirty, but draining. The physical pain saps your energy, bit by bit, until it's hard to concentrate.

But back to today. One of the great little players came off just before half time in tears of frustration and some pain after some excessive attention.

But with some kind (and strong) words from the coach and the obvious care of the parents, the young boy took a mark and a goal in the first few minutes of the third quarter.

And I'm seeing that the tagging is taking a toll on my young fella, too. A lesson well learnt. Tough game, I'm proud of them.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Working to get some US wine businesses involved

It's a tricky game. My colleague has a grant from the Australian Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation and it involves his getting responses from Wine Industry in the US. The results will be useful, and Steve has already used the approach to understand consumer choice behaviour.

As part of my email invitation to my list of US retailers and distributors I have (of course) offered the unsubscribe button, but also invited them to this blog so they can at least see they have a real person.

If you're here via that approach, welcome. And please consider helping us. Many thanks.

O'Leary Walker on Virgin FTW!

How good is that? I had three sushi rolls I was planning to eat and ordered (without asking) a white wine. And I got this brilliant SSB.


I'll call that a win. Thanks to Sue - I expect - from OWW for getting it in.

Yet another reason to fly the fabulous Virgin.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Carlos and me

I was in Melb to do that seminar today and Carlos saw I was, via foursquare. So he contacted me and we went out. Carlos is a graduate of a Master of Marketing I taught into in 2006 and is now an internal comms advisor for a large energy company. I'm delighted with his success.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Nice piece of creative

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Flash: A gap in the execution

Somebody just asked me to go visit a site that looks great. So I hit the URL on the trusty ipad:




And the battle of the formats continues.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Social Media for Marketing to International Students

At least I can get the slides up for now: