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Stuart Smith on
Interpublic Group
Publicis Groupe chief executive
Maurice Levy (pictured) took
time out from an Interview in
Abu Dhabi the other day to
quash the crescendo of market
rumours swirling around a
possible takeover bid for
Interpublic Group.
The logic behind such a move
is surprisingiy compelling, as I
pointed out recently. Indeed, no
less a person than Levy's archrival, WPP chief Sir Martin
Sorten, has suggested that's
exactly what Levy is up to.
But Levy is having none of it.
Acquisitions, yes; but small ones
and solely in

-ntly.
.evertheless,
.e couldn't
-IS up the
unity
3 a go
this
dversary
with the following observation:
"My competitor likes to marry
Publicis with Interpublic; maybe
it's because he has plenty of time
and his business is not keeping
him too busy."
"Ouch", you might think. Until
you realise that this is part of a
long and vituperative public
dialogue between the two
involving, among other things.
Sorrell accusing Levy of creative
arithmetic and Levy telling
Sorrell to mind his margins. Even
so, the "little Englishman trying
to stir things up" clearly believes
he has scored a palpable hit in
this particular round of corporate
chicken. We'll see.
Stay tuned, by the way, for
some imminent enlightenment
on the Levy succession plan.

Domino's takes risk

Your coverage of Domino's
decision to test an oniine
marketing tool that will let anyone
with online webspace earn revenue
by hosting advertising from the
brand (MW last week) made
interesting reading.
On the face of it, the sheer
number of consumers with social
network domains means that
Domino's could soon have an army
of marketers at a fraction of the
price of traditional advertising and
marketing. But does this mean that
it is a good move for the brand?
I wonld suggest that Domino's
should tread carefully. Despite
excellent financial results, tlie
brand still needs to focus on the
quality of its product and
reconnecting with customers. It's
not that long ago that we were all
talking about the YouTube video of
employees with "questionable"

Domino's: Digital adventure

standards of hygiene. Is opening up
this new front, with all the potential
pitfalls o managing commercial
relationships with consumers, a
good idea?
Exploiting digital should be part
of every brand's strategy but I
would argue that Domino's needs to
keep focused on its core activity for
a little while yet.
Vanessa Cohen, partner, Prophet

Ecommerce: Hard to navigate

rates hover around the 5% mark? If
more retail outlets invested in
design and usability of these sites,
conversion rates would surely rise.
For some retailers even an increase
of 1 % could lead to millions, if not
billions of increased sales.
So, while it is great news for
ecommerce retailers that UK spend
is set to continue to grow, they
should also remember that there is
still plenty of money being left on
the table.
Andy Budd, MD and
founder. Clearleft

Digital PR helps you reach wider audience

It is a mistake to assume that
using digital channels is
appropriate only for reaching digital
consumers. The internet has made
PR public again after many years of
just focusing on the media. The key
to online PR is influencing tlie

influencer - blogs. online releases

and forums allow companies to
communicate directly with their
audience.
It is natural for old school PR
professionals to resist the move
towards online PR and try to

Brands must
learn the fine
art of apology
brand is more than the
@Apublic
face of an organisation;

Ecommerce sites do little to

encourage online spending
/7~y) It is excellent news that
x:i> according to the recent study
by Forrester (MarketingWeek.co.uK.
8 March), the UK Is leading the way
with online spend in Europe, but I
believe this is despite retailers' best
efforts rather than because of them.
Consumers recognise in a
difficult economic climate that they
can find better deais online and also
like the anonymity of the internet.
It's not that consumers have
actually quelled their spending but
are just getting savvy as to how
they shop and take a bit more time
to find that internet bargain.
That said, the increase in spend
online appears to be despite the
frustrating experience that many
consumers face when shopping,
Ecommerce sites often have
usability barriers that customers are
expected to navigate around. This
ranges from poor navigation to lack
of sufficient product information.
Considering the poor usability of
most online retail sites, is it any
wonder that average conversion

til QGDSt

dismiss it. But PR, whether it be by

an agency or run in-house, is about
reaching your audience and this
can't be restricted to just the press.
Paul Stallard, account director,
Berkeley PR

it's what we think about it and

what we tell our friends. A brand,
and its strength, is purely and
simply the sum-total of every
customer experience that it served
up. And more importantly a brand
is a phenomenally hard thing to
restore if it's been destroyed.
If we think about a brand-nanie
as a personal friend, then we can
ask ourselves whether we would
like that friend to say sorry when
they let us down. Of course we
would, and so the brand should
think the same. Only in a brand's
case, it's potentially letting down
tens of thousands of friends at the
same time.
The first step is aaually
acknowledging to tlie customer
what has happened, and doing it
quickly. Brands must not appear to
be burying their heads in the sand
while they "strategise" the best
way to apologise.
Brands simply need to ask
themselves: Are our customers
going to be satisfied with the way
we have apologised? Or is it gouig
to be viewed as purely a selfserving exercise?
With customers having no
shortage of alternative brands
wanting to make new friends, it's
not rocket science; three strikes
and you're out - and that's taking
an optimistic view.
But a sincere and timely apology
or explanation can go a long way to
managing the experience as a
customer, which goes for any
valued relationship. In many cases,
it truly is the thought that counts.
The right communication tools are
there, so there really is no excuse.
Think about your broadband
provider and when the service is
down. You get angry and
frustrated, and when they do
nothing to explain or fix the
problem, you dump them.
But if they sent you a text
message, an email or even an
antomated phone call to say "we're
sorry" and "we're fixing the
problem because we genuinely
care and want to look after you,
and we'll keep you posted with
onr progress as we get you back
up and running", then you may
forgive them.
And they may retain your loyalty
as a customer. It's a no-brainer.
Marion Bowser, CEO, HTK

marketingweek.co.uk ! 18 March 2010 1 Marketing Week | 17

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