Google's Zero Moment of Truth

This summer I am interning (Google BOLD) at Google in Chicago, working in the Consumer Packaged Goods under Catherine Roe. I am just getting started, and I am truly excited about what I'll be putting my efforts to over the next couple of months, and the quality of people in my team, especially those guiding me. The following is a blog post from the CPG blog about the Zero Moment of Truth that I really enjoyed. Lets make the case for online marketing's influence on consumer decisions.

I recall my father, Ysaac Akinin, saying once: "products on the shelves, most likely, don't get a second chance to a first impression." The depth of this statement in the areas of marketing, product diffusion and adoption and general merchandising is unique. Keep this phrase in mind as I go over a consumer's Moment of Truth.

The term "First Moment of Truth" (commonly called FMOT) was coined by Procter & Gamble in 2005 to define the first interaction between a shopper and a product on a store's shelf. This moment was considered one of the most important marketing opportunities for a brand, as P&G asserted -- and others believed -- that shoppers make up their mind about a product in the first few seconds after they encounter that product for the first time. While this first moment of truth is still important, the rise of full internet adoption and increased search engine use often lead to many brand interactions taking place between a consumer and a brand before that consumer ever sees a product on a shelf. This phenomena is what we are calling the "Zero Moment of Truth", or ZMOT.

We've pulled together some data which supports this new phenomenon.

Data from IRI's latest Economic Longtitude 2009 study shows that 83% of shoppers make their purchase decisions prior to entering a store:


We've seen an increase in searches, over time, for Food & Drink, and Beauty & Personal Care:

Google Insights for Search
	Gadgets powered by Google

SKU proliferation in the marketplace and more complex product ingredients, additives and benefits (i.e. anti-wrinkle, probiotics, acai, stevia) have given consumers more reason to turn to search engines to help them in the decision-making process.

P&G and other companies have started to re-evaluate a brand's true First Moment of Truth. For example, Peter Hoyt, Executive Director of In-Store Marketing Institute, talks about P&G's shift to focus on the notion of "Store Back" -- equivalent to what we are calling the Zero Moment of Truth.



What does ZMOT mean for marketers? It means that marketers need to button up their pull marketing strategies, not only the push strategies, and find ways to connect the two. Marketers need to ensure that a consumer has a consistent and positive experience -- from the Zero Moment of Truth to the point of purchase and beyond -- by getting in front of a consumer with the right brand message early in the process of discovery, and staying there along the way.
(credit: Jenny Liu) This is potentially the second chance to a first impression!

BizInk: The Latin American Challenge in Medellin, Colombia

It took me a while to make some time and write about our amazing experience in Medellin, Colombia. I'm late in writing it, perhaps, because I couldn't find the time I thought this incredible trip required for me to sit down and in retrospect give a full recount.

To begin, we are honored to be the first students in the history of the University of Chicago to obtain the Dean's Fund for Student Life Award twice in the same year.

Our team: Alberto Da Costa, Guimar Vaca Sittic, David Akinin, Pedro Sanchez de Lozada

Although I arrived earlier with my father, Ysaac, older brother Abraham, and Pedro, our week started on Sunday May 16th, when Alberto and Guimar got to Medellin. Now before I even jump in to the details of the competition, I must say that Medellin, Colombia is a beautiful city, filled with lovely, friendly people- something I had never seen before.

Abraham Akinin, Pedro Sanchez de Lozada, David Akinin, Ysaac Akinin

More than a recount of the competition (which I can talk about at another time and place), this post deserves to highlight Medellin's hospitality above all. My father came along for the trip because he wanted to meet Humberto Fernandez and Margarita Fernandez (unrelated, by the way) to push for the sale of a soymilk production plant for El Programa Para La Ayuda A La Ninez. However, instead of it seeming that he went to sell something to them or start a business with them, it appeared as if they expected their family. We hadn't stepped in Colombian land, and there they were- Humberto, his wife Carmen Beatriz and Margarita, in the airport waiting for us. Behind them, another gentleman, William- a friend's uncle, who had non-egoistically given us accommodations and transportation for the whole trip, as well as his unconditional friendship.

We stayed in a finca in Lomas del Escobero. Stables, the view, the service, the Zorro-style decorations- it was our mansion for a week. The air we breathed those days, the sights we saw every morning and the foods we enjoyed, marked our every second.

Lomas del Escobero

David Akinin and William

The competition was scheduled to start on Wednesday, but I decided to go earlier to become familiar with the people, the place and plan a solid strategy for the rest of the week. The two following days were a mix of sightseeing and meetings with different companies that were going to participate in the challenges. I met with executives of Bancolombia, the VP of Marketing of Suramericana (insurance company) and a Director of Enlace Operative, a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company, among other businesspeople affiliated with the companies we were to research a few days later. These meetings gave us a better understanding on how business was handled in Medellin.

Guimar recounts: "We were all very excited when the first day arrived. After meeting all our competitors that came from around the world, we sat down to listen the challenge presentation by a company called conTREEbute. This environmental, green, for-profit company showed their case and their actual problems to penetrate into the Colombian market."

Winners of conTREEbute Challenge

We prepared case study responses to live problems of countless companies including conTREEbute, colombiaMODA, Everfit, Levi's, Enlane Operativo and Suramericana. We were faced with expansion, outsourcing, financing, innovating, marketing and consulting challenges. Our team opted by implementing a plan with guerrilla marketing strategies that would have high reach to people and at the same time be cost-effective for the company taking into account the limited budget they had given us at the beginning, for campaigns liek Levi's. In some cases we accuded to executives in the area, like Joe Siegelman, founder of Office Tiger, and today Petro Tiger. Our presentations consisted of different schemes that would allow the companies to grow at a fast rate and at the same time not loose control of their financial statements.

EAFIT Organizers and BizInk participants

The final challenge presented consisted in developing different collection methods for micro-insurance premiums and potential channels of distribution that would help the company adopt these cost-effective strategies and provide a personalized service. I researched all night FACECOLDA, the academic journal of the insurance industry, at the EAFIT library. In addition, we met throughout the week with several employees of the company, and the founder of Banco de la Mujer, today Banca Mia- Margarita Fernandez.

Although we had won most of the challenges, the peer review challenge was something that hampered our chances from the very beginning and something we could not recuperate during the following days. At the awards ceremony I was awarded the "Best Prepared" Individual Award for the International Challenge and our team awarded the 2nd place internationally.We learned the importance of putting networking to practice when one is in a new environment. We met people, we worked under stress, early in the mornings until late at night.

Team holding check at Finca: Akinin, Sanchez de Lozada, Da Costa, Vaca Sittic

Humberto and Carmen Beatriz treated us better than one would expect to be treated by their family. In a letter to them I wrote as I departed: "You welcomed us the 15 and until the last minute of the 23rd of May, you were with us sharing, guiding and difussing happiness. Although for you it is the everyday land, for us, Medellin was 'wonderland' and 'the land of gold, milk and honey' of Latin America."

Dinner with Humberto and Carmen Beatriz Fernandez

We left Medellin with a considerable addition of friends to our facebook and blackberry lists, pictures in our cameras, memorabilia in our bags... but beyond all those material gains, we returned with a bond amongst us stronger than ever, an unforgettable experience that will bind us and our careers forever to that beautiful city and its people.

The Tiger and the Team

David Akinin, Ysaac Akinin, Abraham Akinin