Marketing-Fix: 100-Words-On

“So who saw Parade of the Art-imals?
None of you?  Why not?
What was missing?”

- Disney Institute Cast Member/Guide

There’s no denying the enduring legacy of Walt Disney’s creativity, Roy
Disney’s financial acumen and Michael Eisner’s “Disney Decade” of extraordinary
expansion.  They’re all visionaries.

While visiting Walt Disney World recently, the company’s devotion to execution
impressed us equally.

Three factors stood out – and seem universal to marketing success:

Perseverance – after choosing a direction, the team, or “the cast”, focuses
relentlessly on getting to market with extraordinary products.  Say, building
an amusement park in a swamp.

Evaluation – when projects launch, they review results immediately with a cool,
detached eye.  When attendance isn’t on par – they ask guests what’s missing,
like Disney characters in the Art-imals parade.

Adaption – little gets jettisoned.  Concepts get tweaked, winning ideas
re-purposed and hard assets recycled to get better results.
Why not release “The Lion King” in 3-D?

They take basic business tenets and execute superbly decade after decade.

OK Walt, we believe!

“I’d like to add you to my professional network.”
– Rachel L.

“Do I know you? Who are you?”
– Kirk

Are we too lazy – or speed obsessed to optimize social media by personalizing?

Let’s not forget the vintage advertising mantra: show me you know me.

If we haven’t spoken in years, met in passing, or never, a generic note won’t motivate me to connect.  Sell me on the value of being linked: you’re fun, we have history, our networks mesh…

Skip ‘faux personalization.’ Personalized subject lines do work – we’ve tested and re-tested for clients*.  But, few of us write ‘Kirk, it’s so exciting…’ ‘Kirk, you’d be surprised…’ in personal communication.  You don’t know me.  You’re marketing me.

Un-friending, un-linking or unsubscribing is like breaking up. It’s personal – and sends a clear message: don’t contact, recommend or refer you to my network.  Remember, few of us can’t be replaced by someone who’s more personal…

* We see about a 15% increase in open rates when leading with your first name – it still gets your attention.

“What’s worse then email spam?  Bacon”

-    Dave Spur, Future Fundraising Now

Dave Spur – always intriguing – recently wrote about the increasing level of unwanted opt-in email we receive.  Bacon he calls it.

He suggests only 18% of commercial opt-in email is wanted/opened and fully 61% deleted.

We’ve moved from spam overload to inbox overload.

Industry leaders like Coremetrics propose sophisticated solutions, but our in-bin suggest that many could start by stepping into customers’ shoes and testing simple options:

Be relevant – take a page from Amazon and tailor your messages to what you know about your customers.

Deliver the right frequency – I mean, does anyone want “exciting offers” from TheatreMania 2 or 3 times a day before tuning out?

Get to the point – how much information do people need?  Williams-Sonoma promotes ‘last chance’ All-Clad sales with a subject line and a link.  That’s direct!

“The best wine we’ve tasted all year”
-Moore Brothers, wine merchants

“How does your garden grow?”
-Neiman Marcus, luxury retailer.  And garden center?

Moore Brothers – a savvy little company – deserves kudos for a clear message that implies a strong consumer benefit: try this wine; we loved it you will too.

Neimans – ostensibly a savvy behemoth – gets two thumbs down.  The ‘humorous’ subject line doesn’t relate to them, or the featured product.

In contrast, M & M Mars uses humor relevantly*.  For example, a focus group of sharks prefers humans who’ve eaten Snickers Squareds to ones who haven’t.  Like Moore Brothers, they deliver a clear benefit: eat Snickers or M&Ms – you’ll feel better.

Reminded us of advertising pioneers like David Ogilvy or Peter Rogers who encouraged marketers to be:

• Smart – but accessible to all.

• Direct – stay simple and clear.

• Humorous – when it serves your brand message.

* You might not like talking sharks or amourous M&M’s but Mars domimated Q1′s most effective TV ads.

We’ve quoted it often:

“Give them what they want and when they want it.  That’s how you keep them satisfied.”
—Waller and Schell

Facebook, Twitter and similar social sites focus on community and connecting. So, many worry that selling here risks violating a social contract that says: we’re just ‘friends.’

Still, many of us ponder how to make direct marketing work in these environments.

Quidsi’s – soap.com / diapers.com – Facebook app offers a brilliantly simple solution:

Current customers can purchase directly from their ‘My List’ without leaving Facebook. And wouldn’t many soap.com purchases be ‘re-fills?’

Seems real simple and widely applicable. Why not start with:

• What do you most want from your customers?

• What do they most want and expect from you?

• What do you do to deliver on their expectations – simply, quickly and cost-effectively?

There’s no need to make things complicated – or grab every sale.  Why build a jet fighter if a kite will do the job?

“Kirk, we read these 100 words, but what do you do – exactly?”

OK, that smarted.

Then we wondered: How can businesses avoid being inward-focused self-referential when marketing themselves?

• Be Clear – be concise. We read by scanning, think in sound bites and write with tweets.  Marketing ‘targeted solutions’ with a dense 6-panel brochure or a
  website with 12 options isn’t targeted.

• Be Clear – avoid jargon. Explain what you mean.  DRIPs can be dividend or direct-mail programs.  VPVH – ‘viewers-per-viewing-household’ confused even our CMO friends.  And, they’re chief marketing officers – not chief merchandising officers.

• Be Clear – deliver specific benefits. Generalities tempt, but ‘easy and
  elegant’ could apply to an algebra proof, a casserole or – yes, a hotel.  Does
  ‘providing intelligent cost solutions’ mean anything?  Or just sound good?  Why not say: ‘We deliver cost savings. Guaranteed.’

Back to me, I’m a ‘marketing troubleshooter with a creative bent.’  Hope that’s clear.

Seen on a large billboard on I-76:

“We guarantee you top results for every search engine…

Call us at…”

Our first reaction was—huh?

Outdoor advertising has its place for many campaigns.  But to sell expertise in Search Engine Optimization, it seems dubious.

Three thoughts struck us:

• If we were looking for an SEO expert, we’d contact a pro, like Michael Stalbaum @ createtraffic.com—if not we’d be online googling various search terms.

• We’d want a strategic marketer. Using billboards to sell search doesn’t feel smart.  Billboards are broad-based and consumer-focused.

• We’d want a partner that optimizes our spend and ROI. Outdoor on a major highway can’t do that—it’s expensive and hard to measure.

Our take away:

Think smart.  Act smart.  Look smart. Accentuate and amplify what you’re great at before jumping into the unknown.

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?

“We really need to email less often.”

“Of course, they need to be more effective.”

Clients have been suggesting communicating less frequently to reduce ‘clutter’ and ‘email fatigue’ while expecting better results.
Wholesale reductions in frequency rarely make sense. For optimum results, we consider:

• Relevance. If you’re a promotional retailer—say Bluefly, Gilt or Wine Express, daily communication keeps customers engaged.  Hearing daily from your accountant wouldn’t be relevant.

• Realness. Recently, applying the discount offered in a Hertz email promotion doubled the cost of renting.  We needed a car, but the bogus promotion quashed the sale.

• Ready-to-go. Don’t be creepy, but ‘know me’ and make it easy to engage.  There’s only seconds to spare between clicking-through and abandoning your email.

Finally, be inventive. Subject lines and creative treatments still dramatically affect results.  Who wouldn’t be intrigued by FTD’s subject line encouraging you to: ‘Tell your boss how you really feel about him’?

“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.