Current Affairs Archives - Page 14 of 14 - McLellan Marketing Group

Credibility is a delicate thing

November 7, 2006

Credibility is a fragile flower. You need to nurture its growth and then protect it from harsh winds.

A couple examples. The post I put up last night had a couple key Iowa political events mixed up. It was Jim Nussle, the Republican running for Governor who had the rotary conflict and his opponent Chet Culver who aced him by offering to change dates. Here’s the story. I owe an apology to the Lamberti folks for mixing up their candidate with Jim Nussle. I am fixing it now, as soon as I am realizing I mixed facts.

There’s that correction and accurate story. Still a great marketing message just wrong character’s names.

Now…onto the Lamberti lesson. Jeff Lamberti is eager to have President Bush appear on his behalf. It’s been an ugly race…and who doesn’t like having a big name endorsement, right?

Well, an endorsement is a marketing tactic that only works when it sounds credible. We’re all a little suspect of them — wondering if the endorsement is a paid spokesperson (like Jessica Simpson for Proactiv — paid or happy customer?) or if there’s an angle we are missing.

So, we listen carefully. And we weigh the strength of the endorsement on the speaker’s sincerity and how familiar he or she appears with the product, service or in this case, candidate.

So when President George Bush calls the candidate by the wrong name (Dave) a couple times, it speaks volumes. Take a look at the White House’s official website, where Bush’s speech about Lamberti is cataloged. They STILL have it wrong.

So….when you have done something that threatens your credibility, what do you do?

You correct the mistake honestly and quickly (like this post addressing the Lamberti/Nussle mix up in my earlier post. Bush should have done so on his website.)

You apologize sincerely and as publicly as you made the error (I have done that here and in an e-mail to the Lamberti staffer who first notified me of the mistake and in his comment on this blog. Again, Bush should have written a letter to the editor or done something to erase the fact that he’d called Jeff the wrong name.)

You don’t dwell on it,, but move forward in your usual credible way. You re-earn people’s trust by being authentic. (That’s for the audience to dictate, not you.)

People will forgive you the mistake and let you quickly re-earn their credibility by just owning up to it. Could I have just deleted the post and avoided the embarrassment of the error? Sure. What would that have said to any of you who’d already read it? Or heard about it later?

I hate this time of year with all the political backstabbing and half-truths. But there’s always the silver lining — lots of good marketing lessons to be learned!

Pictured is candidate JEFF Lamberti

Thanks President Bush but I’m kinda busy

November 6, 2006

Let me paint the picture for you and you can read between the lines.

We have a hotly contended congressional race here in Iowa. The Republican Jeff Lamberti is trying to unseat the Democrat Leonard Boswell. President Bush made a special trip to Des Moines support Lamberti. Lamberti orignally had a conflict because he had made a commitment to speak to the very influential downtown rotary. A true and convenient excuse to avoid offending the President but also avoiding being seen with him. (Note: This is my supposition…I don’t believe that the President’s approval ratings are helping any Republicans this year).

Interesting, but not all that noteworthy. Yet. Here’s the part I love.

Leonard Boswell (the opponent), who was slated the following week at the rotary, graciously offered to switch weeks. Keep in mind, these two men are running one of the most negative, nasty campaigns I have seen in a long time. And out of the blue, Boswell decided to be gracious. Hmm.

Now Lamberti is in a pickle. He had the perfect out. We all know (again…my assumption based on current day realities) he didn’t want to appear with President Bush. But his opponent was brilliant. Lamberti could now embarrass the President by still declining or embarrass himself by appearing with the President.

And Boswell looks magnanimous. Brilliant.

There’s a great marketing message in this story. Sometimes being gracious to your competitor is the best offense of all. Especially in a sea of dirty political advertising, Boswell’s gentlemanly offer made him momentarily smell like a rose…and put his opponent is a sticky wicket. By the way…Bush and Jeff Lamberti did appear together. Bush repeatedly called his close friend Jeff by the name of Dave. No wonder politicians are inwardly groaning when they hear Bush is coming to town.

No matter how much the politicians have worn you down — please plan on voting tomorrow. It won’t get better if we check out.

Stop, drop and cone?

November 2, 2006

Starbucker over at Ramblings from a Glass Half Full (who always makes me think!) just posted an "I have too many things rattling around in my head" lament that I have no doubt most people can relate to. I know, as an agency owner and active community volunteer (not to mention dad et al) there are some days when I literally run from meeting to meeting, trying to squeeze in phone calls in between meetings. And then I wonder…when will I get all the work done that these meetings generated? Those are frustrating days. But, to be fair, I do it to myself.

Sometimes I have to give myself a reprieve. So I cone myself.

Coning is something we invented at McLellan Marketing Group because all of us need some "quiet time" now and then. Every employee at MMG has a traffic cone in their office. When that cone is placed in their doorway, it means, "unless the building is on fire, do not disturb me."

I coned myself for about 90 minutes yesterday. The week had been frantic and I was riding very close to several deadlines. I got more done in those 90 minutes than I had all week. And best of all….I felt great. I felt calm, I felt successful. I felt like I was back in control. Here are some of my secrets to successful coning.

Have a commonly understood signal (like the cone) that everyone in your office will honor.
Set the example by NEVER interrupting a coned person.
Turn your cell phone, regular phone et al ringers off.
Do not check e-mail, blog feeds or any other distraction during your coned time.
Do not do it for more than 90 minutes (its very frustrating to be on the other side of the cone and need to talk to someone who’s been coned for 3 hours.)
Make it a habit. Do it at least 3 times a week.

Of course, it does not have to be a cone. Get creative. As you can see, I have added a skull to my own cone…just to reinforce the gravity of circumstance that one would experience if they broke the code of the cone.

It’s hard to keep those marketing juices flowing if you are feeling bogged down. Find a way to get yourself some quiet time. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you get re-fueled. BTW– The Chicago Tribune liked this idea so much, they shared it with their readers a while back.

(And yes, I have a carpet with a little road on it for match box cars in my office. Another post for another time!)

Mobilize!

October 30, 2006

Do you still think of your cellular phone as a way to call home to see if you need to pick up milk? Probably not. It’s a way to keep track of phone numbers, your calendar and surf the web, right?

Partially.

It is also one of the latest marketing mediums to surface. Text message marketing is just the beginning. Want to be reminded of your favorite show’s start time? Odds are, if you go to the show’s official website, you can make that happen.

Want to know when you favorite bar has live music? Yup, that’s available too.

Right now the technology has largely been adopted by consumer products — beer and soft drink companies, couponable transactions, destinations. But, can the B to B applications be far behind?

Lenveno, a computer company that acquired IBM’s personal computing division last year is saying no. This summer they ran a mobile promotion aimed at small business decision makers. Their goal, to build awareness for the ThinkPad PC brand.

The campaign achieved a 188% increase in aided brand awareness and 156% in product recall.

Impressive, eh? And we’re just beginning to see this tactic. Want to read more about it? Check out what they have to say over at the spillover effect.

Ask yourself this — if your current customers gave you their cell phone number — how could you add value, increase loyalty and create incremental sales?

Interesting question.

All I want for Christmas…

October 30, 2006

…is another popcorn tin?

Less than 60 days to the culmination of the holiday gift giving season, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa. (Or any combination!)

Most businesses try to acknowledge their best clients over the holidays. A smart plan. But it often loses a great deal in the execution. What do you give your clients? Popcorn tin? Fruitcake (eww) or fruit basket?

I know, how about a paperweight or nut assortment?

All fine ideas. (insert yawn here).

Sorry — but could you be any more like everyone else? Why bother? Do you have any idea how many of those items stack up at the average business? What does your gift say about you and your organization? Here’s what I think those gifts say:

We didn’t want to put a lot of thought into this.

We wanted to do something easy.

All of our clients are getting the same thing, so you’re really not that special after all.

We’re generic — nothing special about our gift, nothing special about us.

I know, that’s a little harsh. But come on…admit it. When you receive your 4th popcorn tin of the season, are you all giddy inside? Can you even remember who gave you what?

I have searched the blogosphere to find others having this conversation and guess what. Most of them say "Be generic. Give the same stuff everyone else does, it’s safe."

Sure is. And it is completely forgettable too. Why waste your money?

You have two choices, in my opinion. If you have a handful of clients, then buy them something that shows you understand what matters to them. If they love theatre, tickets to a show. Into their kids — a game night package, complete with popcorn. Demonstrate that they matter to you by knowing who they are.

If you have a larger number of clients to remember, think about your company’s brand. What are you all about? What’s your brand promise? What gift seems to be fitting with that? What feels like you? What gift, when they look at the booty for the season, will stand out and be unmistakably from you and only you?

So…what will you be wrapping up for clients this holiday season?

Drew’s quoted in USA Today

October 21, 2006

Image via Wikipedia

Check it out!

How will you join in on Make a Difference Day?

October 17, 2006

Image via Wikipedia

USA Weekend magazine declared that October 28th is Make a Difference Day. Cool idea. Sure…every day should be (and can be) make a difference day, but there’s something powerful about the idea of an entire nation working together on that goal, all in one fell swoop.

So on a personal level, I challenge you. How are you going to make a difference on that day? But wait, I’m not done. On a business level — how could your team/organization make a difference? There’s great team building and a sense of greater good that comes from working together to help someone else.

At McLellan Marketing Group, we’ve adopted families during the holidays, bought items for a womens shelter, volunteered for a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish and many other community building activities.

I’m sure the recipients of our good works benefited from them, but really we were the ones who got the most out of it. We felt good, did good and had fun doing it. Best of all, our team was strengthened by the common experience.

How are you going to make a difference?

Hey politicians….we are not listening!

October 14, 2006

Ah, fall. The crackle of the fallen leaves, the sounds of football fans cheering in the stadium, the crisp air and the unmistakable squawking of politicians trying to get elected.

Blech.

Here in Iowa, we are in the middle of a heated political battle for Governor. In one corner, we have Jim Nussle. His website tells us how horrific his opponent is and we can see him shown with the Iowa Pork Queen. (Could we not all do 20 minutes on that alone?) In the other corner, we have Chet Culver. Chet’s site and ads tell us of the evil that is Jim Nussle.

Enough already!

Imagine for a minute that every Pepsi ad simply told you how awful Coke was, and visa versa. How stupid can politicians be? And a better question, how stupid are we for allowing it?

Marketing 101 — define yourself. Tell your audience why they need/want you. Demonstrate how you are going to add value. Earn the audience’s trust. Be credible, consistent and authentic.

Have you seen one political candidate this election season that has understood or embraced the principles of Marketing 101? I sure haven’t. And you want to know the saddest part of it all. I’m not sure, if there was a candidate ethical and brave enough to do it — that he/she’d get elected.

Over at the Brilliant at Breakfast blog, the point is well made. We say we hate this sort of election antics and yet, we keep responding.

We’ve all seen horrible ads that seem to keep running over and over for products or services that appear to be less than desireable. Why do they keep running? Because they are working and someone is making a lot of money. I guess the politicians aren’t such dumb marketers after all. How sad for us all.

« Previous 1 … 12 13 14