Doris

With the Six Nations now in full swing, this week I am going to seek inspiration for my wit and wisdom on the rugby field. Now given that my team is not doing very well, as seems to be the norm for us at the moment, (I will give you a clue I am not Welsh and we are even doing worse than England) I know that this is a big risk for me but I want to introduce you to Doris and to talk about how important she is to the world of marketing.

Do you remember Jonny Wilkinson? If you don’t, then a few years back he was every Englishman’s hero and every Englishwoman’s favourite scrummy rugby hunk. And don’t England need a Jonny now. Anyway Doris was Jonny’s friend as important to him when he kicked a ball as she will become to you at the end of this piece of marketing dribble.

If you remember Jonny, you will recall he had a very distinctive kicking style. . He would crouch over the ball, holding his hands as if he praying for the ball to go over, staring fixedly into the far distance with his eyes darting between ball and post before starting his run up and usually slotting the ball over for three more points. Sometimes he looks like he is trying to lay a rugby ball like a hen does an egg. Can you picture the scene?

A few years back I met Jonny and he explained to me that when he is lining up his kick, he picks out his friend Doris sitting in the stand behind the goal and he tries to land the ball in her lap. Doris is an imaginary character but in his mind he can visualise what she is wearing, what she looks like, what book she is reading, even what her hair is doing today and what colour of lipstick she has on. I kid you not.

Now you are probably wondering two things-is Jonny mad? And what does this have to do with marketing. Let me explain.

No Jonny is not mad though they do they say that line between madness and genius is incredibly thin. He is focussed and single minded in what he is trying to do and who his target is.

And surely in our business we must be as single and as clear minded as Jonny. Should we not build a picture of our Doris in our mind? We are all in the marketing and communications business, no matter what job title we have on our business cards and in our job specs. Great communications, great marketing and great branding comes from having a clear idea of who we are trying to reach, who we are trying to talk to, who we want to influence. Only by doing this can we develop strong and effective communications and great marketing. We all need to be able to picture Doris. We all need a Doris working in our business.

And in case you think I have now gone mad. Let me put forward Marks&Spencer in my defence. A few years ago there was a distinct possibility that M&S, a national institution, might go under. Part of the problem stemmed from the fact that in a bid to widen their franchise they tried to appeal to a younger and trendier audience, and they lost sight that their Doris was a middle-aged woman in middle England. Once they re- remembered that they started to turn the corner.

And if you want more proof, let us consider another great British institution that has recently gone under, Woolworths. It most certainly did not have a Doris and without this understanding its demise was as certain as the fact that its Pick ‘n Mix sweeties would not lead to anorexia.

So who is your Doris? What do they look like? How old are they? Are they male or female? Where do they live? What car do they drive? What newspaper do they read? Where do they shop? What do they think? What do they feel? What do they value? And so on and so on. Once you can build up that picture marketing, communicating, selling to them is so much easier.

As Debbie Harry of Blondie once sang ‘Picture This’. It is almost that easy.

Is it just me?

As you will be aware for last week or so global warming has been postponed by the UK as the snow and freezing winds arrived on the Arctic gusts. Amid the transport chaos and the school closures and heroic tales of derring by commuters snow boarding to work, my local army recruitment office was closed by the weather. And the office for the RAF. Indeed only the office for the navy and the marines was open. Now I don’t know about you but I do expect our armed forces to be available 24x7 and not just when the sun is out. Do we now only fight in warm climates where there is no risk of snow and ice or of our brave soldier boys slipping and sliding on the ice. Hats off to the navy and marines though. At least they are prepared to report for duty in all weathers.

Have a great week.

Sit felix. Et sit fortunatus.