Sitting down is not so easy, Jet-set Mike Robinson shares complexities with Royal Holloway MBAs

Never thought too hard about sitting down before ? Royal Holloway MBA students were taken to another level recently by aviation industry consultant Mike Robinson, who jetted in from Geneva to give a master class on how consumers cope with complexity and particularly choice.  

Royal Holloway MBAs pondering customer behaviour complexity in seat selection

First up really was; Where to sit ?  The traditional rows of desks and chairs were replaced by an aircraft simulating 3x3 seating plan, with a single, central aisle.  MBA Director, Justin O'Brien, predicted correctly that the front row would be the least popular area and the cool crowd would fill up the back row.  Unlike a plane, where seats 1A and 1H are much sought after and there is a general preference for the front rows over those down the back.  

Ever wondered why you end up driving around an empty car park, not quite able to decide which space to take.  Which is really the perfect one ?     My wife certainly finds this behaviour very difficult to comprehend.  But multi-storey car parking has become a bit of a taboo subject in our house, so best to leave this one alone.  Mike suggests it is a function of too much choice and cites a variety of examples that indicates that giving too many options can enhance customer choice satisfaction, but decrease actual purchasing behaviour.  Great data, wrong question, just like new Coke - one to chew over with colleague Sameer next week ! To example this assertion Mike highlighted the huge product range offered by leading supermarkets, but the much narrower, one choice per category offered by discounters like Aldi and Lidl.  

15E the least chosen seat ?

Sharing key insights from his time heading up the commercial arm of the management consultancy practice at IATA (the de facto global airline membership body) in Switzerland and drawing on a wide experience on projects undertaken around the globe, Mike encouraged the Royal Holloway MBA group to attach great importance to customer insight and devoting material time and resources to ensure that real behaviours of real customers is integral to all commercial decision making.

Mike highlighted, by way of case study example, the entrepreneurial 50+ strong retail chain that sells healthy soup targeting the needs of one particular group of Japanese customers, women who like nutritious soups and want to feel safe eating alone in a smoke free environment.  

Mike Robinson at Royal Holloway

Research for a leading European point-to-point airline identified the importance of toilets in the decision making of female and older customers, young people it seems have strong bladders.  Proximity to or access to facilities being a key seat choice factor, and its importance growing with increasing flight duration.

Travellers were also prepared to pay a significant premium for pre-allocated seating in the front of the aircraft and most were happy to pay a notional figure to allow choice at the point of booking and avoid the rugby scrum melee that can occur during a free boarding process.  Crucially the charging framework under investigation failed to optimise the full value of additional fees travellers would have been prepared to pay, underscoring Mike's key tenet that more focus on customer insight is often needed and it can drive the bottom line. 

During the Q&A Mike Robinson explained to the engaged and curious Royal Holloway MBA group that the front of an aircraft was a more popular choice for a variety of reasons including; speed of entry/exit access, lower engine noise and a smoother ride.  

And the answer to life, universe and everything is 15E, the seat most likely to be vacant on a typical short haul aircraft, so choose D or F in that row to optimise your own elbow room.  

A very Japanese approach to marketing a Kit Kat

Regulars to this blog will know my interest in all things Japanese, marketing and confectionary, and particularly the recent trend to reinvent (I would say 'sex up' but that does not have a very academic chime to it ?)  long standing stalwart brands, such as the Snickers bar and even old faithfuls from days gone by like the traditional custard cream biscuit.  

I have an inkling of looking into retro sweets, you know, those old fashioned boiled sweets you used to buy loose from a big jar, like strawberry bons   bons, pontefract cakes and mint imperials.  It seems sales of these products grew significantly last year (nothing to do with Wolworth's demise I suppose ?).  My old favourite 2p priced liquorice stick is now retailing at an eye watering 25p, supposedly because suppliers are hard to find according to our local olde worlde sweet shop.  

Imagine my delight when Hayata-san, over to visit Royal Holloway before putting in an application for the full time MBA programme, presented me with a gift set of unusually tailored Kit Kat special editions.  Since my last visit to Japan, when we picked up sakura, green tea and wasabi flavoured gift packs using our last Yen currency at Narita airport, the clever marketing people in Nestle' Japan have taken the ideas further and developed a wider range of options.  Some leverage an interesting flavour, so chilli draws from the ancient Aztec {savoury} dish that sees chilli and chocolate blended together for the adventurous palette. Strawberry cheesecake uses a white chocolate coating and biscuit infused with red goo.    Both have got to be winners with a clear appeal of dare and hedonistic pleasure.  Others that purport to regional Japanese differences allow for a Tokyo product to boast its own geographic credentials, and fit effectively in the Japanese gift giving culture that seeks to venerate an element of the local culture.  

Hurrah ! say I.  In a world that is increasingly homogenious, seeing a global brand localise in such a manner is genius innovation and that just has to be congratulated.  

Not forgetting that the simple and relatively cheap, packaging adaption (four large bars are wrapped together using a four colour, gloss printed, cardboard sleeve) repositions a generic and ubiquitous fmcg item into a bundle that makes it suitable to give as a gift for family or in a business context.  Added value, marketing premier league style !

Arigato Hayata-san !    

What's in a name ?

What's in a name ?

As a life long student of marketing, I am always looking out for creative examples to capture and be used to engage a future group of like minded students.  My wife despairs of me at times, because out of nowhere, she will have lost me as I have stopped dead and quickly look to whip out my camera and capture the memory of an inspiring vignette for a yet to be determined class.  (It has got better - I used to teach lots of aviation related topics, including a module on airport terminal design, and this meant arriving an hour early at each airport, not to avoid traffic delays and the stress of rushing to the airport, but so that I could explore the entire airport more completely and pick up as many brochures and leaflets as I could find.)

Recently I have captured a number of images of products or companies that I feel are particularly clever names.  This idea of "Doing exactly what it says on the tin" is one what has been rather relentlessly used by a certain varnish/coatings brand (Ronseal), to an extent that this phraseology has entered the common UK vernacular.   Rather annoyingly for Ronseal, their brand name is often the omitted element.  Take a look at an example (above) of their straight forward approach to advertising, one of many advertising executions that have a certain appeal.  Lasting too, just like it says on the tin ! 

We moved house recently and rather reluctantly I agreed to the buying of a new mattress for our bed.  I was particularly grumpy about the whole exercise until after we had secured the (rather heavy) item on its iron frame.  My face lit up the moment I spotted the manufacturers label.  Instantly, it evoked a powerful, highly memorable, fairy tale of old. But, at the same time, in line with effective advertising approaches, a single minded proposition that suggested that the huge expense was going to be worthwhile, years of comfortable sleeping lay ahead. 

And sure enough, the mattress is very comfortable.  Unfortunately for me, it is so firm and straight,    -all-the-way-to-the-edges-, that my duvet keeps dropping off the bed in the middle of the night.  Sublimely comfortable, but cold.



PDFprint@btclick.com strikingly obvious service offer !

On my way back from a days meetings in Bloomsbury, where the University of London offices are, my eye was attracted to a bold, large and particularly prominent sign. 

PDFprint@btclick.com is the only visible sign in this central London print shop, drawing more attention to the sign using clean white font on bright red background. Perhaps the outlet was limited by planning regulations from putting this sign on the outside or windows.  Apologies for the poor photo (I was on the run, with only my camera phone to hand).  I particularly liked this banner, as it clearly explains what you have to do within the confines of an email address.  You need to send PDF (not word or any other text file format, to this email address and this print shop will have it done for you...)  Why pdf ? I guess to ensure that the spacing and pagination is not altered in any way.  It is a shame that the strategic branding team at valiant UK champion of airline deregulation British Midland, in its final years re-branded as bmi (all lower case), did not think about their naming conventions more carefully.  When they wanted to give birth to a baby (a popular strategic notion in the 1990's and noughties) and repackage their predominantly price sensitive, leisure oriented UK regional flying they called it bmibaby.com.  Warning: the Google search for be-my-baby is remarkably similar, and not to be undertaken using a company owned computer. 

"Can I have a pint of T.E.A please ?"

I recently attended a stag (noram: bachelor) party that saw an illustrious gang of fine, middle aged men take a slow walk around a local Surrey brewery, whilst sporting Hawai'ian T-shirts and traditional lei garlands.  T.E.A (Traditional English Ale) from Hogs Back Brewery is a very clever name, a gag that sees public house patrons order "a pint of tea, please", a talking point that will no doubt make the brand more memorable. The clever visualisation of the brewery on the ridge of a male pig another pun.  More anon on this particular pet project I promise. 

I try always to bring in a sense of my work place into these blog postings.  My own Alma Mater, Warwick University, benefits from a bit of creative naming.  With part of the campus in Coventry (the closest city) and part in Warwickshire, the foresighted decision makers went with Warwick University (pronounced Warrick, not War-wick).  With a pounding from German bombers in WWII and an economy reliant on manufacturing, Coventry did not have a great reputation in the twentieth Century.  I imagine still today, as my undergraduate days, each September new students pitch up to Warwick train station and find themselves some 10 miles from the prestigious university's campus. 

Royal Holloway, University of London

Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL) is the trading name of a much longer legal entity (so long I don't dare try to write it out fully, lest I get it wrong) that evolved after the merger of UK's first and second higher education institutions that were open to women.  Most of the central London property that came with Bedford College was sold and the funds used to build luxurious student halls of residence that boast bright airy communal kitchen spaces and individual rooms with their own toilets.  The remaining central London footprint enables meaningful use of the umbrella 'University of London' (as most students study at the Egham campus, set in the leafy, Surrey suburbs a short train journey from central London) which has a strong brand resonance globally.  The 'Royal' title comes from the association with Queen Victoria, who opened the College and is recognised with a large, white marble statue in the northern quad of the signature Founders building.  'Holloway' is the last name of Thomas and Jane, the childless benefactors on whose fortune the College is founded.  I like to think of 'RHUL' as being multi-faceted, that helps establish a strong, vibrant brand for our College community. 

The Royal Holloway 2012 Cohort - Who we are ?

Royal Holloway Founders building seen through Windsor windows

Once again our MBA course has been highly attractive to students from all over the world. The 2012/13 cohort of 35 (pictured above) has grown 20% on the previous year, in spite of a 30% reduction in applications. Changes to the post study work visa arrangements have seen applications drop off significantly from India, a historically strong market. Early anecdotal evidence shows that Royal Holloway MBA has been successful at attracting more, high caliber students whilst many institutions have seen their programme enrolments reduce.  

The gender balance is fairly even with 54% women and 46% men, wholly appropriate for a College that is proud of its historical origins as a Victorian ladies college. This is an important and unusual feature of the Royal Holloway MBA programme. At other leading UK MBA programmes and as seen with AMBA accredited Universities data the MBA gender breakdown usually sees around a 70% male and 30% female blend, indicating that the MBA is often a more masculine dominated course. AACSB, another global programme accreditation body, shows parity across the sexes when looking at all masters degrees.

Our students' varied business backgrounds

An essential entry requirement is extensive work experience, again the sheer variety evidenced in the MBA work profiles is very impressive. It includes; digital marketing, project management, IT, banking, insurance, finance, accounting, aviation, NGO (United Nations) administrative, entrepreneurial, charities, beverages brand manager and Disneyland.

Royal Holloway is proud of its AMBA accreditation which requires MBA students to have at least three years postgraduate work experience. This experience will come to bear towards the end of their year-long programme when they are required to work in groups as management consultants and recommend a viable solution to a real business problem set by one of our industry partners.

Where do our students come from?

The 35 students hail from 21 different countries; USA, UK, Bermuda, India, Russia, Senegal, South Korea, South Africa, China, Japan, Colombia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, Turkey, Latvia, Israel, Canada, and Mexico providing a truly international learning experience. It is believed that this is the first time all of the populated continents of the world have been represented on the full time Royal Holloway MBA.

The Royal Holloway MBA 2012/13 Cohort - Where do they come from ?