Doing business online with consultants - #5

Peanut butter brands do the lion share of their sales via retail channels. Usually, these retail channels manage all the promotions. And the degrees of freedom are somewhat limited for peanut butter, you’d think. Not much more than the traditional discount coupons. Indeed, customers can find coupons on the peanut butter brands' websites.

But there is more at stake. Peanut butter is often a product for the whole family, and that requires directing promotions to kids. For instance, Skippy's digital baseball cards featuring baseball legend Derek Jeter. The US has strict laws about privacy and marketing to children: the brands' websites feature extensive privacy sections and self-regulation.

You hear little about peanut butter at parties or the watercooler at work. It's a low-involvement product. Consequently, to promote their peanut butter, the brands need to tie their product to causes with which every family can connect. Such connections give a real do-good feeling. Donations to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Teaching families about peanut allergies. Supporting kitchen- and meal programs for people in need and promoting augmented reality filters for younger consumers' Instagram accounts (filters that blend positive messages with peanut butter themed images). Supporting malnourished children in other continents with each purchase of peanut butter. The list of examples goes on and on.

Consultants must rely on promotions that yield much more direct, personal contact with their clients. Webinars, for example, and round tables, conferences, and other offline meetings. We averaged our study results: roughly 30% of the consultancy websites offered such events with the possibility to register online. 10% announced these events online but without online registration. And 60% (!) didn't even offer these events online.

Ah, but then they focused on social outreach programs, on giving back to society instead? Unfortunately, not. This last group of 60% of the websites also didn't mention any social activities or giving-back-to-society themed programs. Noteworthy were strategy houses like Arthur D. Little and BAIN (with notable exception McKinsey) that offer neither any events nor outreach programs. Were these not needed in their position?