Is empathy the new frontier in business?

On July 9^th we held a workshop on business empathy with 4 major Dutch companies, all leaders in their category: banking, supermarkets, rice and cable companies.

This workshop was part of the Dutch Empathy Monitor 2010, conducted by Ruigrok | Netpanel in cooperation with Fronteer Strategy. One of the interesting outcomes: there is a positive correlation between empathy and attractiveness.

But how can these four large brands be empathic while serving literally all Dutch consumers between the four of them? How can they understand all these 17 million consumers? The truth is, they can’t. But they can at least start trying.

These are some of the brand challenges that came up during the workshop:

- How can a commodity- or technical brand be empathic?
- Is empathy the reason why people still write us real letters?
- Should we deal with all the millions of expanding on-line touchpoints our brand has?

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Strong media interest for Fronteer study on relationship between ‘open-ness’ and ‘attractiveness’ of brands

The research recently performed by Fronteer Strategy and market research bureau Ruigrok | Netpanel has been very well received in the media; it was aired on Radio 1 and the number of websites that published the results of the research exceeded expectations. Amongst them Adformatie, Molblog, Distrifood, VEA, Marketing Tribune and Zibb.

The results, that state that the more accessible a brand, the more it is perceived as “attractive” and “innovative”, are also picked up across the border: Frank Pillar links the research to a recently performed MIT research study by open innovation expert Eric von Hippel and Johann Füller.

Fronteer and some of the brands included in the research were present at Ruigrok’s ‘Zomerborrel’, where the results were presented as well. Some brands have already reacted to it and want to have deeper insights into the results. We are proud and happy that the research has brought about so many reactions and are looking forward to the potential continuation it can have.

Research shows: Open brands are most populair

“The more accessible a brand, the more it is perceived as attractive and innovative.” This is the result of a research amongst 500 Dutch consumers, performed by market research bureau Ruigrok | Netpanel in cooperation with strategic consultancy firm Fronteer Strategy.

The research looked on the impact of openness of a company on brand value in different sectors, among which supermarkets, banks and electronics. Coffee brand Douwe Egberts, supermarket chain Albert Heijn and Rabobank are considered to be the most accessible brands and in line with that also the most attractive and innovative. Beer brands Heineken and Grolsch are performing on similar, but mediocre levels. Nokia is performing best in the electronic sector, leaving Samsung and Apple behind.

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You think people love Apple now? Watch them scream 25 years ago

You can find Steve Jobs’ first big presentation from 1984 online. Hear the crowd soaring. When we at Fronteer talk about smart brands, we talk about Apple (sometimes). The thing is, this brand is built in a quarter century. It was carefully constructed and nurtured over the years.

When you have people screaming for more at your first real introduction, and 25 years later still… what can we add to that? Read the rest of this entry »

GREAT! Another consulting firm…

JUST WHAT THE WORLD NEEDED

Actually, no. Fronteer Strategy isn’t ‘just’ another consulting firm, but one with a clear idea of why, how and what. The ‘double e’ is a conscious typo (thanks for warning me though, mum) that refers to our backgrounds: engineer, marketeer… and anthropologist. We apply our wide variety of interests and experience to develop clutter-cutting marketing strategy: innovation, co-creation and brand development. Read the rest of this entry »