Marketing

Help the Conversation Along

by Dave

in Marketing

I read a fascinating piece on Madison Avenue Journal today by Paul McEnany. Paul is a marketing strategist for Levenson and Hill in Dallas and also has his own blog, Hee-Haw Marketing. The piece he wrote for MAJ, entitled Consumer Generated Reviews and the ROI of Impact, makes the assertion that brand trust is harder to come by than in the past mostly due to the ease of individuals being able to reach out quickly and easily to obtain information about products and services or spread information themselves.

A new Deloitte study revealed what most of us probably already knew, consumer generated online reviews received insanely high trust scores. 99% of internet users find them either very or somewhat credible. Which begs the question, where the hell do we fit in? Strategy doesn’t mean much when the product has a fatal flaw, and no matter how deftly we build up a media buy, it falls flat if the product happens to, let’s say, poison children. But it’s even scarier in the un-extreme cases where brands mean less because they signify less. Lower priced items still have to beat the quality barrier to have a shot of making it past the reviews, so it starts to become much like the pharmaceutical problem of two identical products with different labels.

Between Useful and Inept
McEnany goes on to say that the future of agencies will see them be divided into to factions, some that, “focus on the need to capture imagination, to gain attention, to give permission for companies to be talked about”, and others who, “satisfy the need for business strategy, a direct response, ROI driven model that is all about immediate needs of the marketplace…”

In complete honesty, not being as deep involved in the industry as McEnany, I’m a little unsure of his references, but my crude assumption is that he means it’s Flash vs. Bang, Form vs. Function.

The difference in strategy with experience is that we’re not just creating ads for the sake of informing the publics, but we’re leading the loudest 10% into deeper relationships, while giving them permission to discuss these with the other 90%. This is what makes integration so vital. You don’t walk away from awareness and reach for a deep connection with a few, just like you don’t walk away from the few for the many. It’s the advertising equivalent of the balance of faithfulness and promiscuity.

It’s no longer just about just pushing out campaigns that inform or create buzz. Once the buzz has started and people go looking for more information, agencies and their clients need to be prepared with a plan of action to keep their interest, help them for opinions and provide useful and easily transferable information so they can run off and tell their circle of influence.

My wife and receive a few subscriptions to various interior design magazines, most recently Elle Decor. I read it partially by a sick need to torture myself with products I could never afford and for generating ideas I can use around our home. I also look for items to talk about over at ColorThemes.com, my mothers interior design blog. If I find something cool advertised within the pages that needs further investigation, I’m usually on the web immediately looking for more information. I don’t know how many times I’ve searched out sites looking for quality info only to be handed over to a pretty site with minimal amounts of quality information, if any at all. That company just lost out on an opportunity to not only help promote themselves, but to somehow control lead the conversation. Now I might still talk about them, but my comments will also be tagged with, “the website doesn’t really provide much info.”

All that aside, I believe McEnany’s main point is he believes agencies need to find ways to incorporate the Flash with the Bang. That since the rules of marketing are changing, balance between the two is essential so success.

While our strategies are becoming more involved, and expanded to include more methods, it’ll be even more important to have steady hands to guide the process, understanding not only what makes people tick, but what makes business tick and finding happy balances that bring both these goals into alignment. That’s the kind of integration we need in order to stay relevant.

I think McEnany makes a really great point and has keen insight into the subject. My argument is that most on Madison Avenue aren’t listening to this Jerry Maguire-esque manifesto. But what do I know? You read the article and judge for yourself. Then go tell someone about it.

Paul – if you’re listening in and feel I’m missed the mark, please feel free to join the conversation and set me straight.

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Direct Mail Quicksand

by Dave

in Marketing

We don’t get much personal mail these days, not that we’re unpopular (which may be true I guess), but most of our interaction with friends, family and associates is through email, instant message or cell phones. We opt to not receive hard copies of our bills when we can and pay them online. If we get any mail, its either a magazine or some form of junk mail. Today was no exception.

I reached into the box and pulled out a single, lonely postcard. I figured it was from some mortgage company or real estate license because that’s about 80% of the junk we get. Not this time, though. This card was extra special, an offer for sand bag delivery. Yes, sandbags, like, “The levy is gonna burst. We need more sandbags!” I should also note that they do silt fence, straw wattles and visqueen, whatever the f**k those are.

Even though I live in a beach city, most of the homes sit on a large bluff far from the reaches of a potential squall or tsunami. There’s also a huge breakwater about 1,000 yards offshore specifically for that reason.

Most know that Southern California isn’t known for a heavy rain season. The threat of 6 inches of rain in a single day are pretty much non existent. Of course it’s always possible, but highly unlikely. So unlikely that there really isn’t much need to keep note of sandbag companies even if a huge storm is bearing down on us. Preparedness for this type of event isn’t a Californian strong suit. Now earthquakes are a different story. We brace the hell out of everything because we don’t want our precious china cabinet crashing down on our heads during dinner, but I digress.

I’m not exactly sure who sold the Saddleback Materials Company on the idea of a direct mail postcard to the residents of Long Beach, but I’m guessing that they’re sitting over the phone waiting for hundreds of phone calls to come in after this fantastic promotion; dozens at least.

I can’t figure out for the life of me why Saddleback would think they could find new customers by using direct mail to an obvious miscalculated demographic. Sandbags are obvious an old school market. They do business face to face and rely on relationships with contractors to increase business. Even if I was a contractor, what is the likelihood that I’m going to call Saddleback? I probably already have a company that provides me sand when needed. Why would I change just because someone sent me a postcard.

This postcard doesn’t represent the company. Even though it says they have fast friendly service at the right price, why am I to believe them? Because they have a photo showing mountains of prefab sandbags and a nice shiny truck for deliveries? Even if this postcard went to every contractor in the SoCal area, I doubt they’ll gain much from it.

I’m guessing grass roots selling is the best way to gaining business, direct contact with their intended clients. They could also stretch the boundaries a little. Instead of printing postcards, how about a message on the sandbags that says, “This home saved by Saddleback.” I’m tossing out a crazy one here, but how about inviting all your clients and their families out to the property for a treasure hunt amongst the sand mountains?

I guess I just don’t understand how companies go immediately to the default methods of promotion. I know that 90% of business have not read Seth Godin, but when you have a marketing budget, why isn’t the return ever considered? If I called Saddleback and asked them how they are managing their leads from this promotion, I’m almost sure they wouldn’t have any kind of analytics in place. I’m making a huge assumption, but call it an educated guess that Saddleback is not measuring their ROI in the slightest. They’re sending out random postcards to people they’ve never talked to and praying that a few call. It very well may happen, but I’m pretty sure they could spend that money elsewhere that has a much larger impact on their customers as well as their revenue.

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Perceived Value

by Dave

in Marketing

This has been a powerful week for me. Lately I’ve been contemplating the idea of doing more marketing and design consultation but I usually get discouraged thinking I haven’t learned enough to warrant the kind of reputation needed for that jump. I always talk myself out of it, but this week was different because two separate times, two completely different people complimented me on my knowledge of the subject. Usually I’d blow off the sentiments but because they came from people I’d never worked with before, I took them a bit more seriously, but it wasn’t just the compliments, but the conversations that made me realize my own potential.

Earlier in the week, some coworkers and I were lamenting about the fact our magazine was down in page count because ad sales came up way short. Of course we talked a lot of smack about the sales guys, but when my editor related a conversation he overheard about one of the sales guys not being able to close a sale because of $25, I knew why immediately. I don’t consider myself a salesman by any stretch, but I live with one of the best. Because of conversations with my wife, I know that the reason our sales guy couldn’t make the sale was because he was trying to sell ad space instead of selling the benefits. He’s selling a 4×6 inch blank space instead of giving the client a perception of value to the advertising investment. In the sales guy’s defense, the team gets very little if any training, so it’s not a big surprise he can’t close the deal. He’s an order taker, not a salesperson. If he took the time to find out the client’s objectives, present the benefits and features in a way that appeals to the clients sense of urgency, he’d be a lot more successful.

The other night, my friend PC (Phoung-Cac) joined Leslie and I for dinner. PC designs these unique high-end accessories she calls keychains, but they’re much more than that. Each one is a unique, hand-crafted piece of wearable art. They’re beautiful and she’s getting noticed slowly, but still isn’t making enough to live on. We talked in length about how to improve her website and how to hit her desired market. The more we talked, the more I realized that for her to successful, she needs to stop looking at them as a mere keychains and start treating them as a high end accessory. I added that she might consider naming each one, like an artist would name a painting. They are works of art after all. Despite what it costs to make one, presenting them at a much higher price point will give her the perceived value she needs to sell them at to be profitable. This is absolutely a Long Tail product that will do better if she sells “less of more”.

After my conversation with PC, I realized that I might actually be able to make it as a consultant because I know now that part of my success is going to be in my perceived value. The way I present myself will determine a lot of the business I get from potential clients. Having a belief in my skills and knowing in my heart that I can help folks improve their businesses is crucial to my own development as a professional.

On that note, you might see this site change again soon. Time for a new facade perhaps and a new attitude, but don’t worry, I’ll always be that same self-deprecating, rock-n-roll clown, just without the red squeaky nose.

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1 Purple Cow To-Go

by Dave

in Marketing,Ponderings

I recently started reading Purple Cow by Seth Godin for the second time. There’s so much good info in there, I felt I needed a refresher course, and I’m glad I did because the synapses are popping with thoughts and ideas.

If you’ve never read Purple Cow, and you’re a business owner, marketing professional, designer, or have any influence over products and services with your company, this is a MUST READ. A really short synopsis would be to say that the old methods of marketing and advertising don’t work nearly as well as they used to. To really make an impact, you need a more remarkable product focused at a more direct niche. Pleasing the masses is boring. Satisfying an urgent need in an area that had no service is the hot ticket. It’s time to get with the program.

At lunch, I was craving a cheeseburger and assessing all the burger joints in relative proximity to my office. There’s a MacDonald’s across the street, but if I got in the car and drove a couple blocks, I could go to Carl’s Jr. (Hardee’s to some on the East coast). I like Carls because of their “Six Dollar” Burgers that claim to have the quality of a burger from a finer eating establishment without the big price tag. They’re really about $4 and change. Smell the irony?

As I began to salivate over the thought of that slab of meat grilled over an open flame, it occurred to me that Carl’s Jr./Hardees figured out how to make their Purple Cow. Their “don’t bother me, I’m eating” ad campaign sums it up. They make the burgers other shops won’t make, big, overstuffed with ingredients like cheese, chili, pastrami, onion rings or whatever the latest version offers. They don’t make any excuses for their burgers. They don’t shoot for the full market, but instead go right to the folks that don’t care how others think about them eating a huge, cheese-filled, cardiac-arrest-waiting-to-happen. Yeah, they’re not the best offering you could put into the temple, but they’re tasting and satisfying and sometimes people want to stop making excuses and just have a tasty burger.

Carls says, “This burger is too big for you” and laughs. They’re daring you to step up. Let MacDonalds, Burger King and Whataburger have the middle of the road. CJ fans want their meat.

Enough talk. Time for lunch!

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