Did Barack’s speech keep his brand promise alive?

August 29, 2008

84,000 screaming fans a la a rock concert.  An estimated 40+ million watching at home.  On the 45th anniversary of Dr. King’s historic "I have a dream"  speech.

The stage was set for magic.

Barack’s acceptance speech last night was clearly one of the most important of his entire career.

It was his change to communicate and solidify his brand.  This wasn’t the night for getting into the nitty gritty.  This was the night for a Steve Jobs "get the crowd pumped, make them laugh/make them cry" sort of speech.

It was a brand builder’s dream.

So how did he do from a pure brand/marketing perspective?  That was the question posed to six of us (CK, Ann Handley, Cam Beck, Alan Wolk, Stephen Denny, and me) over at Marketing Profs Daily Fix.  We had to (in 200 words or less) critique the speech based on message, brand delivery and relevance.  We also had to give a 0-5 star rating.

Mr. Obama got everywhere from a 0 to a 5 from the six of us.

Here’s a snippet of my comments:

Clearly Obama did not get the memo. Of all the speeches he will ever give – this one wasn’t about politicking – this one needed to be about creating the vision, the dream. This was the night to ignite our passion for his brand promise of change and hope.

Come read what everyone had to say and then weigh in with your opinion!

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Why do you exist?

August 27, 2008

As you walk through the hallways of your company today…stop people at random.  Everyone from the CEO to the part-time mail room clerk and everyone in between. 

Ask them this:

Why does this company exist?

Note two things:

1. How many different answers you get
2. How many times you hear…to make money

A company that exists primarily to make money cannot hope to build loyalty among customers, employees or even vendors.  Of course, you should be profitable — but that shouldn’t be why you exist.

You make money so you can keep fulfilling the reason you exist.  Unless of course….everyone in your company thinks it’s something different.

Then, sadly…the only mission/vision you all agree on is…that you should make money.  Can you say "uh oh."

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Are you expecting too much from your marketing?

August 25, 2008

Did you read the paper today?  Or watch TV?  Spend any time on Facebook or some other website?  Did you see an ad for something you wanted?  Or read an article about a service provider you’d been considering?

Did you leap up from your chair, rush to the car and go immediately to that store or business to make a purchase?

I doubt it.  That’s not the way advertising works.  It’s not instantaneous.  It is also not a one time shot.  If you’re thinking of running an ad (any ad) just once and expecting people to show up — guess again. 

If you’re not in it for the long haul, you probably shouldn’t do it at all.  Remember the analogy –you don’t plant a seed and dig it up when there’s no plant the next day.  Your marketing works the same way.

As a general rule, marketing takes time, repetition and patience.  Sure, there are exceptions, but they’re rare.

So how do you speed up the process? 

• You recognize that it’s a marathon, not a sprint
• You educate your potential consumer on how/why they need what you have to offer
• You deliver those key messages in multiple ways, ideally through more than one media
• You offer incentives to reward a quicker buying decision
• You repeat

Sean D’Souza created a very funny but illuminating example of this marketing truth over at CopyBlogger.

What’s your best technique for creating urgency?

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Welcome back Joanna!

August 25, 2008

Do you consider yourself a writer?  Either because it’s a part of your very being or maybe just because your job demands it of you?

In either case (or anywhere in between) if you haven’t discovered Joanna Young‘s blog, Confident Writing, you should.  Joanna writes about the power of the written word and how to best capture and use that power to serve your purposes.

Her posts are usually both practical and thought-provoking, which for a writer is the perfect one-two punch.

One of Joanna’s gifts is her ability to teach through word pictures.  One of my favorite of her posts talks about how we need to consider the container we’re using to hold our words. I promise, it’s an analogy that will stick with you for awhile.

Joanna’s been on a "technologically induced" break for the past week or so.  While silence can often be a very potent communications tool — we’re all glad she’s back and the silence is broken.

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The most important part of the branding mix is you (Efrain Mendicuti)

August 22, 2008

Drew’s Note:  As I try to do every Friday, I’m pleased to bring you a guest post.  Meet another  thought leader who shares his insights via the blogosphere. So without further ado…Efrain Mendicuti.  Again. Enjoy!

Yesterday, as I was delivering a marketing workshop for a very important company in the Entertainment industry worldwide, their CMO asked a great and tough to answer question: "Aside from all you are showing us today, I’d like you to share with the whole team one critical advise that should help us improve the way we do our marketing."

Now, how exactly does anyone answer a question like this to a company with the likes of Disney, McDonalds, Coke or any other globally recognized brand in the world?

I’ve been providing marketing communication services for the last 13+ years and am well used to doing tough, even challenging, sometimes risky recommendations to my clients, specially regarding their incorporation to the interactive marketing discipline.

But to be absolutely honest I had never been asked such a direct question. And yes I needed to answer it!

So here’s what I said to them:

The one thing I recommend the members of  the marketing team at any big company to do, to improve they way the do their marketing efforts is: do not forget that you too , as executives, are a very important representative of your brand.

Never lose sight that, no matter how big your budget is, how great your market share is or how impressive your ToM is, if you as a professional don’t act in accordance to the values of your brand and with the same care, you’ll end up creating a wrong perception of your brand.

If your brand’s promise is to create magical moments for people but yet you give everybody a hard time, you will not be creating magic. If your company promises to always provide relevant content to its users, but yet you don’t pay attention to your client’s needs, your customers will end up not believing in you. If your loyalty program promises to provide a great experience through and around your brand, but yet you treat everybody with disdain, people will end up not caring about your brand.

So lose the arrogance and act with humbleness. Share the passion you feel for your brand with everybody and give them a great experience. Treat every person (yes your vendors and internal clients too) like the biggest of your clients. Leave everybody you talk to each day feeling like you (therefore the brand you represent too) have made their day and leave them saying "no wonder they are (name of your brand here)!"

And never forget that just like "we are what we eat", our brand is what we feed it to be.

Efrain Mendicuti is an Interactive Marketing Communications professional, who’s taken his experience and knowledge into the field of training and talent development by collaborating with different organizations as trainer, speaker and consultant to companies like GCI Group, The Walt Disney Co., Idea Visual and some of the major adverting groups in Mexico, where he lives with his wife and baby daughter. He is also Head of Agency Relations at Google Mexico. Visit his blog The Daily Stuff and the Not So. 

Every Friday is "grab the mic" day.  Want to grab the mic and be a guest blogger on Drew’s Marketing Minute?  Shoot me an e-mail.

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The back story for the most brilliant outdoor campaign ever

August 21, 2008

Many of you, in the comments section and via e-mail, have been asking about the back story of this campaign.  Quite honestly — I didn’t know it.  I had stumbled upon the creative years ago and used it as an example of "go ahead, break the rules" kind of thinking.

But, all of that has changed.

A few weeks ago, I commented that one of my favorite things about blogging is that it allows me to meet some amazing people.  More proof coming up.

I published the post about the Garcia’s outdoor campaign in the morning and by mid-afternoon, I had an e-mail from Rich Spears who was on the original account team (he was the media director) for this campaign.  As the agency’s current Chief Marketing Officer, he generously gave me the entire back story and permission to share it with you.

So, here’s the scoop.

It’s 1990 and Garcia’s and the other area restaurants are in a panic.  A big, fancy, new waterfront club was opening that summer and they were expecting it was going to mean they’d all (the existing restaurants) take a big hit.

So Garcia’s came to Crowley Webb for some counsel and a solution.  Oh yeah, and they only had $20,000 to spend — creative concepting, design, production costs, media — the whole thing.

The William/Angel campaign was conceived and launched.

The plan was for everyone to believe that there truly was a William, Angel, Candi and Frankie.  The media were sworn to secrecy.  Reporters tried to get at the truth as the campaign was unfolding but no one cracked.

Beyond the billboard campaign, the agency also:

• Had a small radio buy on one station.  Two spots per week.  Someone called in, as William, and did a live "commercial" that sounded like he was this desperate guy, trying to find his Angel.
• Ran ads in the classified personal ads in the Buffalo News
• Had a limo driver handing out "have you seen my Angel" fliers throughout downtown, near the Garcia’s location
• Hired a plane to fly over a Buffalo Bison’s game (baseball), towing a banner with a message from William

All of this culminated right after billboard #8, where Angel agrees to meet William at Garcia’s.  To the delight of the packed house — A beautiful woman in red appeared, fended off the advances of just about every guy in town, waiting for William.

Just then, a limo pulled up (remember the guy passing out fliers?) and William stepped out from the limo and walked inside, scanning the crowd for his Angel.  Their eyes met, they talked, shared some champagne and then danced to "Lady in Red" before William whisked her away in his limo.

Rich said the crowd’s reaction was priceless.  And more than one boyfriend was chided for not being as romantic as William!

The following Monday, the final board was posted, with William professing that he was in heaven over the meeting.

The net result beyond the media exposure and buzz around town?  When the new waterfront club opened, every restaurant in town took a double digit drop in revenue.  Garcia’s business went up. They maintained that competitive advantage for some time and never felt the impact of the waterfront club.

So they exceeded their goals and their revenues grew.  Not to mention all the added value the campaign delivered.

Flash forward to today, some 18 years later — that entire area and all the restaurants in it, including the waterfront club are now gone, having given way to growth and re-purposing of that area.

I’d call that a success story and a half. 

An interesting side note.  When the campaign won best of show at the National Obie awards, it was the first winner ever to receive a perfect score from every judge.

A huge hat tip to the innovative team at Crowley Webb, the courageous owners of Garcia’s and the very fortunate citizens of Buffalo who had the fun of watching this all unfold.

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The most brilliant outdoor campaign ever

August 18, 2008

The rules for outdoor advertising are very simple.

• Never use more than 7 words
• Always use an attention getting visual
• Include the company logo
• Leave the boards up for a minimum of 30 days to achieve frequency goals
• Buy several locations to increase reach

The most brilliant outdoor campaign broke every one of these rules.  Every single one.  I use this campaign as an example in many of my presentations and wanted to share it with you too.

Let me tell you the story. 

This campaign broke in 1989 in Buffalo, New York.  There was (and still is – my mistake, I found it on the web’s yellow pages and assumed it was current) an Irish Pub called Garcia’s in downtown Buffalo that needed to drive not only name awareness but traffic.  Their agency, Crowley Webb, devised this campaign, which not only won them a National Obie (Oscars for outdoor boards) but made Garcia’s a household name in Buffalo.  The campaign also showed up in the New York Times, USA Today and naturally, all of Buffalo’s local media.

No ordinary billboard series, eh?

The agency bought a single board location (this I am recalling from memory so I may be wrong) and every Monday for 9 weeks….a new board went up.  This is story-telling at it’s best.  Enjoy the campaign and be sure to catch my questions at the end.

Can’t you see all of Buffalo being completely caught up in this story?  Can you imagine how many people showed up at Garcia’s on Fridays to see if Angel made an appearance.  I don’t know if the agency took it to that level (I wouldn’t be surprised) but I would have hired actors to play William, Angel, Candi and Frankie and put on a floor show.

What do you think of this campaign?  Notice the boards didn’t push the daily soup special or promise us the same cliches that all restaurants promise.  Instead, they invited us into a story.  A story where we could play a part.

How could you use this kind of a technique?  Or, where else have you seen this sort of creativity played out?

Update:  Here’s the back story to this campaign.  Now I’m even more impressed.

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Muzzle that man!

August 16, 2008

By weird happenstance, my posts were popping up all over at the tail of this week.  Rumor has it, the blogosphere is searching high and low for a Drew muzzle.  Until they can catch me and shut me up….I thought you might enjoy these posts.

Bloggers, unlike journalists, are sort of hanging out there on their own, when they write about companies and business practices.  Are they particularly at risk for law suits?  Read about this $20 million dollar suit and see if you’re at risk too.  (at Marketing Profs Daily Fix)

Like it or not, you are a salesperson.  All too often, we ask ourselves the wrong questions when we approach a sale, whether we’re selling an idea to our boss or selling a service to a prospect.  How should you approach a potential sale?  (Small Business Branding)

Just because you can change your name, should you?  FedEx Kinkos is now becoming FedExOffice.  Good idea or bad?  How valuable is name equity and when does it make sense to make a shift?  (IowaBiz.com)

And for fun….vanity plates tell quite a bit about a person’s passions.  If you could have any vanity plate in the world, what would you choose?  Want to see mine?  (IowaMoms.com)

So, if you’re looking for a whole lot of Drew thought, here’s more than any one person could possibly absorb.  Why not join me in conversations all over the web?

P.S.  On a sort of unrelated note…if you ever have to search for a muzzle image…but sure that safe search is on.  Trust me.

Photo courtesy of the Mastiff Breed Supplies.

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Always tell a good story (Nettie Hartsock)

August 15, 2008

Drew’s Note:  As I try to do every Friday, I’m pleased to bring you a guest post.  Meet another  thought leader who shares her insights via the blogosphere. So without further ado…Nettie Hartsock.  Again. Enjoy!

Growing up in the South inspires good stories. Growing up and well into adulthood, my Great-Aunt Florence would make all the cousins sit around in a circle and tell our best stories. I still remember the best of those stories and often tell them to clients or friends to give them an understanding of my life.

And in business, just like in any other arena, people are most drawn to good stories and engaging storytellers. We’re always looking for the next great story.

In my work online for over 14 years and counting I’ve truly lived a virtual life of networking and telling stories. By being conversant, engaging, authentic and  open to discussing all the parts that make up "the power of Nettie" I’ve been able to win clients, meet astounding peer gurus and learn so much from others online who are so willing to share their stories.

While it’s important to network, network, network, one of the real keys in terms of successful networking is to be able to share your stories. You’ll empower those meaningful interactions of storytelling that occur completely unexpectedly over a beer, a virtual coffee or short phone conversation simply because you were willing to be more conversant and less marketing-speech focused.

I believe that at the end of the day we all want to feel connected, valued and inspired by other people both offline and online.

We all want to feel a part of a larger community and that includes your customers and partners. If you’re struggling to tell an engaging story about your company, your product or your book then now might be a good time to really get to the essence of your story.

Here are some tips/questions to help you get your story focus started:

1. What’s the aha moment you’ve had about the company or product that you always feel compelled to share?
2. What’s the best metaphor for your company? Metaphors are valuable because they can present your company in a new way for folks who might not otherwise understand exactly what it is your company does.
3. Success stories (case studies) are always fantastic ways to give "success snapshots" about your company and how you’ve succeeded for your customers.
4. Journalists like stories that are short, sweet and engaging. Journalists are always under tight deadlines, and if you can’t pitch your story in two minutes or less then you need to work on getting your pitch in order.
5. Look at your competitor’s stories and see how you can improve your story
6. Make sure your story is congruent and consistent with the most notable things you want to highlight about your business

My story from my childhood is how my Gramps (a Major General in the Air Force) taught us all to swim by piling us up on his belly and swimming the backstroke out the ocean’s sandbar. Once there he said, "Now you swim back," and you’ve never seen so many little cousins swimming hard toward a white belly going the opposite way in your life! And we all learned how to swim.

And always remember what Groucho Marx said, "If you’ve heard this story before, don’t stop me, because I’d like to hear it again."

Nettie Hartsock is a recovering technology journalist  and now serves as a digital strategist helping artists, musicians, authors  and companies focus on creating, conveying and connecting their message to the  world.  Check out her blog.   

Every Friday is "grab the mic" day.  Want to grab the mic and be a guest blogger on Drew’s Marketing Minute?  Shoot me an e-mail.

Image courtesy of San Diego State’s Educational Technology Class 470

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Lies travel at the speed of the Internet – what to do if they’re about you

August 13, 2008

One of the amazing things about the Internet is the speed at which information is shared and digested.  When a young journalist was jailed in Egypt that was a good thing.

But for American Airlines, sometimes the speed stings.  Bad.

All over the net (and in print pubs like the Washington Times) headlines like "American Airlines Charges Soldiers For Extra Bags" appeared and then the stories go on to describe how American Airlines is charging soldiers traveling on orders to Iraq or elsewhere a fee for their 2nd and 3rd bags, in alignment with their new policies.

It’s a doozy of a headline.  But, it’s not true.  For the whole story, check out what the Seattle Times has to say.

But what should you do if you find your company in the spot American Airlines has been in – at the receiving end of false information (or misinformation) on a blog?

• Secure the facts first.  The last thing you want to do to accidentally deny something that’s got a kernel of truth in it or give false information.
• Write a response that is clear (no weasel words), free of emotion and professional.
• Decide how you’d like to release the response (based on the tone, impact, intent of original blog post).
• Execute your plan and be accessible for follow up questions.
• If you have a blog, deal with it there as well, even if it wasn’t raised there.  That’s where many people will go to see if you have responded.

When you’re in the cross hairs — you need to respond quickly and judiciously.  Unlike the good old days, you don’t have a lot of time to ponder the possibilities.  If you’re wondering how quickly a spark can build into an inferno, ask American Girl.

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