This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.
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1. THE BEGINNING
This innovation initially came to life when…
Our work with Advocacy started in 1992 with Fi Bendall Psychologists in the UK finding out the 900 characteristics that make a good advocate. This was initially applied in a call centre environment identifying those that really advocated and believed in the product they were selling. From here we did ‘surprise and delights’ with the top scoring advocates in the company and found by talking to these few individuals it had an effect on the wider company, making them effective advocates and giving the company great word of mouth endorsements.
2. WHAT & HOW
The purpose of this innovation is to…
…give businesses the opportunity to gain a competitive edge by identifying and leveraging brand advocates. Advocacy can propel a brand unlike any other media because it unlocks the networking power of one-to-one relationships with a key of trust.
It does this by…
…focusing on the most influential and passionate fans, you will always have that brand love driving organic word-of-mouth and, with that, business success. Brands speak in sales language; advocates speak in the language customers can relate to and, thus, will always be more trustworthy.
3. PURPOSE & BENEFITS
This innovation improves on what came before because…
Advocates are 40%+ more likely to trigger others to look up information on products and brands; 90% more likely to convince others to choose a certain brand and 1.5 times more likely to make them buy or try a brand.
Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…
…effective word of mouth generation that will successfully drive sales and buzz around a product. Peer-to-peer recommendations (the most effective), and closer relationships with customers and employees.
4. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
In the past, this problem was solved by…
Back in the days of one-way mass communication models brands could essentially blast messaging at their target audience with no feedback. Today with the growth of Social Media we have a two-way communication platform that calls for brands to speak to its audience and be contextually relevant.
Its predecessors/competitors include…
…influencer programs such as tribe would be our biggest competitor, however this relies on ‘cash for comment’ schemes and often utilises people who aren’t true advocates of the brand as proven by psychological backing.
5. TARGET MARKET
It is made for…
…businesses who recognise the need for two-way communication in the changing media landscape and understand the correlation between employee satisfaction and reaching KPIs and sales targets in a business
It is available for sale through…
Our Advocacy product is available through our company The Bendalls Group where our main areas of focus are strategy, advocacy and technology.
Our marketing strategy is to…
We have 3 networks of advocates that we market to businesses through our connections and public profile. These networks are: TFSN (The Female Social Network) an aggregator of over 3 million women; SYNC (Social Youth Network Channel) with a reach of 1.4 Million 18-35-year-olds; and 1Connect a collective of over 300,000 SMEs.
FINE PRINT: This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.
