Marketing-Fix: 100-Words-On

Do not expect an immediate call back

Do not expect free advice

Do not expect the answer you wanted

—Consulting Firm Landing Page

Ouch—but, thought-provoking.

Is this firm:

* So ballsy that you’ve got to know more?

* So honest that you might get great insights?

* So self-involved that you should avoid it at all costs?

We applaud ‘being true to yourself’—but at what price?

Three wise-men came to mind:

* Danny Meyer suggests hiring only empathetic people—for every position in the company.  Technical skills can be taught, being welcoming and caring not.

* Seth Godin suggests giving things away—after qualifying the ‘lead.’  A little ‘free advice’ might be worth it, if there may substantial benefits down the road.

* The Dalai Lama suggests that when you want something—give it away.  Period.

We’re there: Why not put it out there and see what comes back—before telling us what you won’t do?

First, New Coke

Then, New Tropicana

Now, the New O, The Oprah Magazine

Business people tire of our products and marketing campaigns long before the consumer does. It’s natural—we live with them everyday.

There’s an urge to shake things up—or start over—at the slightest hint of staleness.

We’d suggest: proceed with caution. And, ask a few pointed questions:

• What do we represent to our customers? Have we really ‘drifted’ from delivering what we do best for them—or not?

• Do our product offerings remain relevant? There’s no need to ‘retire’ things before their time.  Remember, many people resist change.

• Does our marketing reinforce our brand image? To us, BMW delivering ‘the ultimate driving machine’ will always trump BMW ‘delivering joy.’

• Do our changes make sense—or just make work? Years later KFC is still just Kentucky Fried Chicken with a shorter name.

“No one reads, their mail.  Everyone knows that.”

–Anonymous

Not so fast…

Clearly, we love email and we admire web sites and apps that deliver value (think of Yelp or Groupon).  Yet, our increasingly empty USPS mailbox makes us wonder if print isn’t being overlooked unfairly.

A new consumer survey found that:
•    Two of three preferred print catalogs to viewing catalogs online.
•    Six of ten preferred receiving printed bills, invoices and financial statements.
•    Eight of ten dollars raised for charity are from mail solicitations.

Direct mail is rarely the most cost-effective way to acquire customers today and the incremental value of multi-channel buyers is declining.  Still, we believe that print should be part of the mix.

To make it effective, we wonder how many have:
•    Abolished silos and integrated systems to accurately measure the value—and incremental value—of every interaction.
•    Created a integrated contact strategy vs. direct mail, web and email strategies.
•    Segmented customers accurately, based upon their transaction and product preferences.

“Don Not Ever Offer Great Service”
–Melissa Data Newsletter

This subject line caught our attention—but, for the wrong reason.  If they don’t care about correcting subject lines, how good can their data products—or service—be?

Yes, everyone’s doing more with fewer resources.  But, the willingness to cut corners, ignore details and rush-to-market is alarming—from lazy emails to massive oil spills.

Doesn’t this short-term approach diminish credibility, demolish loyalty and even dilute profits longer-term?

Customers are savvier than ever, don’t underestimate them.

We’d suggesting engaging and cultivating them by:

• Being thorough—‘little’ mistakes can have big impact.

• Being honest—Domino’s “We Stink” campaign promoting improved quality pizzas delivered amazing results.

• Being direct—BP is spending big communicating their response to the spill, but platitudes don’t sound credible.

“Not even our friends wanted to come and watch us dance.”
–Rasta Thomas,
classically trained dancer

In under three years Rasta Thomas has done ‘the impossible’: creating an internationally-acclaimed, self-supporting dance company revered by 18-34 year olds.

Yes fellow marketers, 18-34 year olds into dance theater.  How?

Mozart—out                U2—in
Tights—out                 Tee-shirts—in
Scenery—out               Multimedia—in

Most importantly:

Willowy girls—out       Humpy boys—in

As Rasta explains: women love dance.  They want to see guys.  They’ll drag their boyfriends.

So, does this apply to the ‘real world’?

Absolutely:

Identify your customers and what they want—before writing that 16 page product description.

Create differences that benefit target customers—give ‘em what they want and when they want it.

Deliver in ways that delight and exceed expectations—who wouldn’t want to see: The Bad Boys of Dance?

“Can’t you just bang it out?  I mean, it’s just copy?”
-anonymous client

People’s indifference to the importance of words surprises us—particularly today.

Paraphrasing irrepressible PR maven Peter Shankman: if you only have 140 characters you’d better know how to write—and make sense.

When writing why not:

• Be concise—there’s no time for long, turgid prose today.

• Be specific—readers respond to solid facts and benefits.

• Be creative—clichés don’t cut through the clutter.

Compare:

“Between the talk and the walk, opportunity is found”

“Meet America’s first family of precision”

with

“At-cost investing—that’s Vanguarding”

These are all financial services headlines.  Whether or not “vanguarding” should ever be a verb, only Vanguard conveys their business, services and benefits.

If you can’t write, then as Shankman suggests: take a course or hire a writer to help.

P.S. You can also check out Jonathan Graspa’s “I’ve got copy on my mind” blog post for 7 great tips!

“I don’t look to jump over 7-foot bars;
I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.”
–Warren Buffet

Reviewing direct response results recently reminded us that: timing is everything—in marketing as in life.

We see a tendency to fall into two camps:

“If it’s not broken, why fix it?” laggards and “Why not change it now?” anticipators.

A middle ground may be better, albeit less dramatic.  We’d propose:

Analysis—very few efforts hit a wall, most wither slowly away.  Monitoring results closely signals when it’s time to change.

Patience—we tire of campaigns long before customers do. When something works, keep at it.  If it’s new give it time to sink in.

Testing—when it’s time to move on, move carefully. If possible, hedge your bets by trying several options.  None of us “know” what works without trial balloons.

See you at the 1-foot bar!

“It’s Sony.  No, no, I can show you.”

“I have no what it’s called.”

“Just a regular old phone.  A Verizon?”

Okay, we’ve all heard it hundreds of times: surviving rapidly changing times with overwhelming choice and message bombardment requires pushing the envelope with compelling product offerings and distinctive marketing.

It’s become cliché, but how many succeed?

Trendwatching.com’s video: Blanding vs. Branding stopped us in our tracks. Watching dozens unable to identify their cell phone brand suggests less than we’d hoped.
A few thoughts:

Listen to outliers. The ‘offbeat’ or ‘weird’ might make sense.  Twitter, who knew?

Move way outside your comfort zone. Coach’s colorful, next-generation Poppy collection may be successful because it’s so “not Coach.”

Don’t drink the Kool-Aid. Group-think kills great ideas and carries many dubious projects too far.  Did anyone need a Lincoln pick-up truck?

Happy Valentine’s

Embrace love with Mauboussin from February 9th thorough February 14th

Mauboussin offers you 15% savings on all its collections*

and invites you, for any purchase**, to dinner for two at the Lowell Hotel on February 14th

–New York Times, February 9, 2010 p. A7

It’s a mouthful, but a tempting proposition from Mauboussin the tony French jeweler.

Our first thought: that’s a bold, arresting way to build business.

Seeing asterisks, we read the fine print. Restrictions included:

• Six complete collections of jewelry are excluded.

• Eligibility requires a “minimum $1,100 purchase.”

• Mauboussin only “covers the first $150 per couple.

Our second thought: never hire the legal department–or Ebenezer Scrooge–as your marketing guru or copywriter.

Our third thought: begin with the end in mind.  Strategy matters.

This effort misses on many counts:

• Misleading language creates suspicion, alienating customers.

• Over-promising and under-delivering dilutes brand credibility.

• Using out-dated, expensive mass media to deliver a very targeted message/offer is costly and sub-optimal.

We love challenges and know that many of us could have made this idea work.

Happy Valentine’s, restrictions apply.

100 words on:
Targeting, targeting, targeting

“A personal offer for…

Mr. Smith or
Current Resident”

As 2010 approached, “special” year-end offers and charitable solicitations
increased dramatically—as expected.

Less expected was how many communications overlooked  proven, effective
direct-response tactics.

- Segment: tailoring whom to communicate with is as important as the
message.  Is a “beg letter” from a foundation I’ve barely heard of asking
for five figures in cash or appreciated stock (cheeky) wise?  Ask
appropriately—or not at all—until there’s a relationship.

- Quantify: specifics matter, particularly as the economy hinders
spending—or donating.  Am I going to buy pricey headphones “significantly
quieter” than earlier models?  Not unless you prove it.

- Personalize: addressing the recipient directly improves results.  Does a
generic brochure to lease a Jaguar motivate me?  Nope.  We want to feel
special—personal notes, relevant facts or customized offers convey that
you know me.