Marketing: Marcom & Strategy

To Put Gold in Your Kitty,
Practice "The Golden Rule"


Here’s some sound marketing advice from Jesus and Confucius:

“What you do not want others to do to you, do
not do to others.” Confucius c. 500 B.C.

“Do to others what you would have them do
to you.” Mathew 7:12

Problem is, there’s no such thing as total objectivity. That’s why we need things like sensitivity counseling, customer relationship management programs, and $1,200 dollar training seminars. Some folks just don’t know when they’re being obnoxious, intrusive, rude-crude oafs or PMS crabs-- unless they get special help. The rest of you who possess sensitivity and empathy can save your money.

Ah, but there’s that objectivity bit: The adage, “To thine own self, be true” is a tough mission. When it comes to human relationships we can’t get a clear picture by staring at our navel. Maybe a second opinion is needed. That’s why “This call may be monitored.” That’s why mystery shoppers can be a good investment. And when you can afford them, that’s why good consultants earn their money.

Maybe for us little guys, the best we can do is open our minds and hearts and try--- as we’ve been taught since childhood---“to do the right thing.”

I’m all for permission marketing, opt-in lists, and DNC lists (unless you have a prior PBR). But sometimes, like a loving parent with an inattentive child, it takes a smack along side the head to get attention. Just how hard and how often should be governed by how you as the recipient would feel about the choice of media, the frequency, and the message.

I believe a business is usually a reflection of the folks who run it. Nice guys and gals don’t finish last; it just may take them longer to get there. It takes time to earn the respect and loyalty of customers and to reap the benefits of their lifetime value. When others ask about your company, and your customers say, “They’re nice people to do business with,” that’s like money in the bank.

So if it doesn’t come naturally, practice “The Golden Rule” until you get it right. It puts money in the till. And Mama was right: It’s the right thing to do.

Marketing: Marcom & Strategy

Strategy Not Working?
Try a Switcheroo

Lock the conference room door. It’s often a crap incubator for procrastinating prognosticators. Switch direction. Get out and find out what works. Then do more of it. Let tactics that work drive strategy.

A few years ago, I worked with a biotech company in the animal feed industry. It was founded by and staffed with brilliant scientists, long on technology and short on marketing skills. Yet, within a few years they were taking wheelbarrows of money to the bank They were so successful a long line of international suitors were soon knocking at the door, checkbooks in hand.

Now nobody in this start-up ever heard of the four “P’s” of marketing. But early on they discovered tactics that worked. They had the typical grandiose mission statement, wishful- thinking market projections, and a catchy slogan that most folks didn’t get unless it was explained to them.

But they also had a great product and a good story to tell. And they had no baggage about how things should be done. So they went out and discussed what they had to offer with the right people. They did the job with only three animal nutritionist who were also veterinarians. These PhD’s and DVM‘s had the credentials that opened doors. They knew how to tell their story and how to listen, how to ask the right questions, and how to offer solutions. In earning their papers they had been taught the art of discovery to diagnose and find the truth.

This talented cadre insisted they were not salesmen.
Perhaps. But they sure could sell!

They zeroed in on corporate animal nutritionists (most of them also PhD’s) who specified the products used in each company’s feed. They leveraged their manpower by staging nutritional seminars for both large and small groups of nutritionist. At the same time they were running research trials and publishing the results. With the buzz created, word of mouth helped pave the way to more and more receptive listeners.

Each time they tried a tactic that worked, it was added to their presentation-discussion-discovery program. When they decided to take the business to the next level, the tactics that worked became the bases of their communications program.

The implementation of the communications
program that evolved from tactics formed
the strategy that guided the company.

They never stopped selling at the top. But as they moved to the next level they reached out to the end-users through print advertising, trade shows, direct mail, newsletters, nutritional seminars and event marketing.

The business flourished. Then it was sold to the highest bidder. And the investors lived happily ever after.

The lesson learned: The switcheroo from strategy first
to tactics first, helped hone a living strategy that quickly
built a multi million dollar company.

For an excellent read on this approach, I recommend Bottom Up Marketing, by Al Ries and Jack Trout.

Marketing Communications & Strategy

Permission marketing at its finest:

"May I have the next dance?"

A polite request to hold a pretty lady (or handsome gentlemen) in your arms while you sway together can create marketing communications at the highest level. But it has to start with permission.

It’s the same in today’s marketing arena as in the dance hall. Whether you sell products, programs or ideas, before you can get on the dance floor with your audience you need their permission.

Sure. You can shout at them and get attention, but they’ll only “hear” if they want to listen and ”see” if they want to look. Folks are tired of being annoyed. And a bigger ad spend is not the answer. You’ll just add more to the clutter.

I’ll be the first to agree that sometimes intrusive marketing is an easy way to get the lady to notice you, but it should be done with a touch of class. You can still be polite. Not stuffy polite. Just polite and nice. Empathetic polite.

I think Seth Godin was the first to coin the term permission marketing. He did it seven years ago when he published Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers. The growth of spam blockers and the use of opt-in email show he was right on with his message.

Here’s a tip you can use: Both big and little guys can find a ton of marketing ammo and insights on Seth’s blog at: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ He’ll even send you four FREE chapters of his book via email.

Marketing Communications & Strategy

When headlines giveth

and disclaimers taketh away...

(The Gospel According to Jack)

In the old days we used to call it “Ultra Rubber Condensed.” That’s where you put your disclaimer, caveats, or restrictions in tiny type, shrink it to unreadable size, and try to hide it where it won’t be noticed. Copy set in URC type is often used to appease gutless attorneys, placate CEO’s who’s idea of marketing is based on abject fear, or to comply with “Big Brother” regs designed to protect us all.

Radio and TV advertisers can’t get away with this sort of chicanery. They can’t whisper their warnings or conditions. Best they can do is deliver the scary stuff with a very pleasant voice, or babble it so quickly it’s hard to follow.

The typical print approach to disclaimers is the deadly asterisk. The damn thing breaks your readers’ reading pattern, and unlike a P.S. that enforces your message, it calls attention to the negative stuff. And you haven’t even had a chance to work your word magic.

To compound the felony (it may be responsible for the death of your message), it can make you look sneaky when you’re not really the sneaky type. Transparency, which is a nice word for honesty, is the best policy.

If you have something important to say, even if you don’t really want to say it, don’t try to make believe it’s not important. Despite constant exhortations to “read the fine print,” often it’s only the anal retentive who comply. Most folks don’t think you’re trying to screw them. So why emphasize the takeaway?

Copy guru Herschell Gordon Lewis, in the July issue of “Direct Marketing Magazine says using and asterisk to qualify something you’ve presented as an unconditional claim is cheating. Amen.

His suggestion: use parentheses immediately following the claim you want to deny. This he points out, will play down the disclaimer rather than emphasize it.

You can read Herschell’s entire column at www.directmag.com. Go ye there and your mind will prosper.

Don't Let Left-Brainers
Kill Your Brainstorms

The perennial battle between the chicken approach to innovation and the bright ideas of creative people with sales sense goes on and on. And when the creatives lose, no one will ever really know if the idea sucked, or if not using it cost the marketer a bundle because it might have worked.

One big problem though…. Many creative folks lack sales sense. They are the ones who create messages that are clever, cute, graphically superb--- and irrelevant and ineffective! No wonder the bottom-liners are afraid to try something new. If you stubbed your toe on a tent peg in the darkness, the next time you go out to pee you’re bound step with caution.

Marketing communications needs both left and right brain thinkers--- and ambidextrous thinkers who see the big picture and can put it all together.

A marketer’s biggest weapon today is creativity. The second biggest is the ability to track the effectiveness of that creativity. It’s not complicated. If it doesn’t work, stop it. If it does work, do more of it.

Creatives will find plenty of ammo to support their battles with the gutless in Pat Fallon and Fred Senn’s new book: Juicing the Orange.

Here’s what Kenneth J. Roering, Professor, Marketing and Logistics Mgt., Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota says about the book:

“Juicing the Orange may be the most interesting, enjoyable, and informative book on enhancing business performance available. The authors’ humble, thoughtful delivery of a truly valuable message qualifies this book for my ‘must read’ rating.”

The book’s Web site is a stellar example of creativity that entertains, informs, and sells. Check it out at: www.juicingtheorange.com.