Direct TV – Marketing Communications – What happened to creativity?

Founded in 1990, Direct TV has had monumental success over the years with being ranked number 1 in customer satisfaction in selling television experience with over 39 million customers, having over 70 HD channels. Cable free technology has become their number differentiator and has affected majority of the cable TV companies. Direct TV promises its customers to “continue to develop the unique, innovative programming and services that you have come to expect and enjoy from DIRECTV.”

Direct TV has a very strong marketing communication budget that has lead them to increase their client base from 15 million in 2005 to 39 million in 2015 with an 11% cumulative growth.  In a stagnated industry growing in double digits draws a lot of attention from investors.

Recently they launched an advertisement starring a talking horse. Drawing millions of marketing communication budget funds towards this integrated campaign launch from television to the home page in their website. The below image is capture from Direct TV home page.

The fundamental value proposition of direct TV is the innovation in the distribution of the television experience. No longer cable when you have direct TV. When a company positions itself through innovation you expect a company to drive its entire strategy based on that concept.

1.       A bikini model

I do not understand the message Direct TV is trying to communicate to the world using a bikini model. Sexuality is not a part of direct TV’s value proposition. When a company for 12 consecutive years has become the number one in customer services, wouldn’t the company want to communicate that, why customers are happy using Direct TV? What special product augmented features offered by Direct TV? Instead they go with a bikini model.

2.     Why does this look like the old spice add

What has happened to the creativity of Direct TV? The first glance on this add just remembered me with the old spice add. It makes sense to have a male model in his beach outfit on a white horse to sell a perfume add. Perfumes are for attraction, it is about presenting yourself. But with direct TV a bikini model on a horse, it just don’t make sense.

I like the idea of the talking horse, you are selling television as an experience. You can expect to see anything based on the producer’s creativity. Which is a fact and people know it, they actually know what television channels offers, Americans know what HBO offers. Direct TV is just mechanism helping to distribute that. We do not want the largest distribution channels to tell us what they are distributing. We do not want Fedex to advertise on behalf of their primary source. Let the television channels to their own advertising, Direct TV can stick with what they do best, they distribute an experience. You should tell the world why Direct TV customers are more satisfied.  

Camry the Bold Choice – Which part is BOLD!!!

Toyota is synonymous for quality. Management concepts like “Just in Time”, quality management concepts like “Total Quality management”, materialized with the evolution of the Toyota production system. Any industry, any company considers Toyota to be the ultimate benchmark for quality. The case study of how Toyota became one of the bestselling vehicles despite its European and American rivals.

I was surprised to see the recent advertisements of Toyota Camry, positioning Camry as a bold choice. When positioning a brand a company attempts to send stimuli to the human brain to create a perception about the brand. Either I do not know the meaning of the world or I really don’t understand which part of driving a Camry is the BOLD CHOICE???

The Real Bold Choice

For me a bold choice would be, go sky diving, around the globe in an air balloon as the greatest entrepreneur Richard Branson once did.  Or in the vehicle space driving the world’s fastest car or f1 formula racing is a bold choice because bold choices comes with the “RISK” component attached to it.

As per research figures from motorintelligence.com from 2014 to 2015 April, the sales have dropped by 10.4%. Considering the maturity level of Toyota the most respected vehicle manufacturing company surprised to witness such a blunder.

In one of their advertisements a family Mom, Dad and the son goes to a Toyota agent to purchase a Camry. This is a terrible analysis of their target market and positioning. When you have a kids, you don’t go for bold choices, you go for safe options, and you go for options with convenience. 

Positioning Blunder

Surprisingly, although in their advertisements they go on to speak about Camry being the bold choice. But not a single product attribute is discussed on any of the advertisements. I personally think this is a serious positioning blunder from Toyota. Camry is the family vehicle, just look at the profiles of customers who has bought a Camry, you don’t want to mess up a brand which is already doing well.

When will I ever learn. Culture Shock!!!

My recent consultancy assignment to United States has been an extremely difficult learning curve. Especially adapting to culture. Before sharing my views on the culture of United States I would like to initially set a baseline to my understanding on the term culture. I would like to stick to a simple definition of culture which is Deal’s and Kenedy’s (2000) the “The way we do things around here”.

We are Independent

The way Americans do things challenges the fundamental concepts of humanity. One of the most prominent philosopher’s Aristotle stated that ““Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human”. In simple words men can survive without one another. Americans challenge this core concepts of human existence by giving prominence to “independence”.

We have a support system to be Independent

Me being a Sri Lankan, even a tea is not consumed alone, drinking a tea is accompanied by someone. To understand how independent American’s are, the best place to go is their source of food. If you go to a super market, most of the food requirements are easy to make, serving one person and packaged for ease. Unlike in Asian cultures where  the mother of the house prepares food for everyone in the house each meal preparation takes 2, 3 hours of preparations, in US the food preparation not only takes a maximum of 30 minutes and also anyone can make the food.

I don't need your help

Recently a person traveling on a wheel chair was trying to open the door it seemed a bit difficult for the person. Me being an Asian, and we being taught to help whoever needs help I went to help him to open the door. The person was offended that.  I learnt that day Americans are independent people who never ever give up. They want to stand by themselves. So to speak there is so much to learn.

Well planned life cycle

It is amazing when I heard the story of an old family themselves selling their house and deciding to go to an elderly home. From where I come from making parents to stay at an elderly home is a cultural crime. I still would have love to see the American culture to be a bit more family centric, it seems they have moved forward from the family concept with a good understanding.

No one will help you - Grow up

I recently moved from Connecticut to Boston. In Sri Lanka if I was moving from one place to another. All my relations would have come to help me, all the neighbors would have come to help. This instance no one knew, I just went to home depot got the packaging material and called the movers. None of my neighbors even knew that I existed. This is cultural shock to me, but I am learning every step of the way. These cultural aspects surely have made America the power house in the world.