PERSPECTIVEs

While LandThePlane has recently taken flight, its captain, Rich Feldman, has a long and distinguished track record of creating actionable strategies and concepts for many of the world’s leading brands as an executive at Brann Worldwide (now Havas) and Doner CX (formerly Source Marketing). Here are but a few examples:

IBM

The Big Idea: Tasked with creating its first worldwide customer relationship marketing program, the natural inclination was to target end-users. Following a massive global data audit, however, a better strategy emerged: elevate the company’s value proposition and the personalized attention it provides to procurement executives. Struggling with purchasing compliance within their respective organizations and frustrated by IBM’s matrix structure, these executives held great sway. The resulting strategy made ease of doing business the program’s “north star,” and was responsible for generating billions of dollars of new revenue.

Pfizer

The Big Idea: Medication adherence is a global problem that impacts patient outcomes for virtually every health condition. For Pfizer’s glaucoma drug, Xalatan, it was no exception. Tasked with re-launching a fledgling patient support program, interviews with hundreds of patients and eye care professionals were conducted and produced a remarkable insight: because glaucoma begins with — often unnoticeable — peripheral vision loss, patients were shrugging off the larger risk of blindness. By reorienting the conversation around “even a little vision loss should be unacceptable,” and focusing on “visual quality of life,” the Vision Matters program became a standard-bearer of innovative patient support.

Erie Insurance

The Big Idea: A Fortune 500 company that grew on the backs of its loyal independent agents and superior customer service faced a changing category increasingly driven by direct sales and the massive spending of companies like Geico, State Farm and Allstate. The strategy to counter focused on hyper-targeting, local marketing, and a creative strategy that worked to turn its spending disadvantage into an advantage. By calling its competitors’ advertising/entertainment excesses into question, consumers were given a contrasting alternative. Then, getting onto prospects’ consideration “short list” became a focused call to action. Wave two of the strategy then further distinguished their offering by establishing a position the discount providers have long ignored: “insurance for grown-ups.” The company has enjoyed steady year-over-year growth.

Smithfield Foods

The Big Idea: Smithfield Foods makes products people love. After all, who amongst us can resist the allure of freshly cooked strips of bacon? Looking to create a dialogue with its customers, and deliver a more personalized experience, it needed to reimagine its CRM program. The strategy: remove all behavioral barriers to participation, create a segmentation approach based on the consumer’s relationship with food, and deliver a steady stream of appetizing content. The resulting Friends & Family program epitomizes the hometown character of the company, and its dedication to bringing people around the table. Registration and active participation since its launch have skyrocketed.

MetLife Long Term Care Insurance

The Big Idea: For years, the company was selling its LTC policies, as part of the AARP Health Care Options program, as a means of protecting against the heavy burden of nursing home costs. That message, however, was not nearly as motivating as the proposed alternative: get long term care insurance so that you can avoid the nursing home in the first place, by enabling home care. That message, punctuated by the joy of familiar surroundings, became the basis of the company’s first foray into direct response television — providing a dramatic new growth channel at a time when prospect lists were becoming fatigued.

Time Warner Cable (Spectrum)

The Big Idea: Determined to extend its reach into retail as a means of acquiring new subs, TWC found willing partners, but an unforeseen challenge as it related to conversion: notably, people were engaging floor reps about its “triple play” packages, but not signing on the dotted line. With due diligence, a root cause was unearthed: people didn’t like committing to something that had a cost attached without exiting the store with something tangible to show for it. The strategy to overcome this included creating a “box of air” that could live on j-hooks throughout the store, and contain promotional gifts and offers via a portfolio of partners. Sales took off.

Whelen Engineering

The Big Idea: This dominant player in warning lights and sirens for first responders built its business with quality products, unwavering service, and a commitment to do right by its customers. But, armed with slick video and web sizzle, competitors began encroaching on its market share. And its rallying cry, “Manufactured in America,” was losing steam. To counter, a new brand and creative strategy was developed, beginning with a manifesto: Trusted to Perform. The inference was clear: sizzle sells, but quality and reliability saves lives when it counts most. With this as a springboard, a new generation of marketing is being unleashed which focuses on the human emotions associated with life-threatening work — to add a fresh layer of persuasiveness to the technical innovation the company has to offer.