Customers/Clients Archives - Page 26 of 35

Connie Reece: Think Small for Big Results

November 25, 2007

One word of advice for Drew and family as they enjoy the annual pilgrimage to the wonderful world of Disney: steer clear of It's a Small World. Talk about things that are “sticky” … you don't even have to get on the ride. All you have to do is walk in front of the Small World pavilion and that annoying theme song will be stuck in your head for days!

At Disney the tiny animatronic dolls representing countries around the world have been a phenomenal success. What about your business? Are there small things you could do to produce big results?

Recently Hugh McLeod wrote about using micromedia for micromarketing the new labels for South African wine Stormhoek. Previously the company has sponsored large celebrity-driven geek events; now they're about to host a number of small, intimate gatherings—and they're using the microblogging service Twitter as the promotional vehicle. (Note: the offer is limited to UK Twitter users, so don't bombard Hugh with requests from other countries or through his blog. It's not that small a world yet.)

Why the switch? Here's what Hugh said:

When we sponsor large parties, nobody notices, talks about, or remembers the name of the wine that was served that evening. With smaller parties, the opposite is true. People seem truly appreciative that a commercial wine business would go to all that trouble, just to reach out to so relatively few people. But why not? From trying to connect with people on a much more intimate and human level, we have far more stable and stronger building blocks to create a community around our brand.

Stormhoek's mass market is everyone who drinks wine, and the label is sold in major retailers. However, their primary marketing venue has been the blogosphere. Now they're further refining a niche market strategy: find small groups of wine drinkers among early technology adopters (i.e. Twitter users), send sample bottles of wine for those who want to host a dinner party, and generate word of mouth buzz.

Instead of occasions for celebrity-sightings, the small dinner events are likely to stimulate conversation about the quality of the wine and its unique marketing strategy. Stormhoek is hoping to build brand evangelists and to develop a loyal community among a relative handful of people who have a proven habit of answering the question: What are you doing? (Twitter's raison d'être.)

What lesson can you learn from Hugh McLeod and Stormhoek? Can you pare down your marketing budget while beefing up results through smaller, more targeted campaigns?

Drew's Note: Connie Reece blogs at Every Dot Connects and is the the founder of Reece & Company. When it comes to mixing social media principles with PR and marketing tactics, Connie is one of the experts. I had the privilege of meeting her at SOBCon '07 and she's the real deal.

Mark Goren: Turn the page to more effective persona profiles

November 22, 2007

Back in early September, Drew wrote a post titled, "Write for real people." In it, he took the time to describe one of his tricks for writing – a way for him to picture the people he's writing for. At the time, he called this "the poor man's persona."

But let's say you wanted to go a little deeper, get a little more detailed about the Brand Persona you'd like to write and the people you want to connect to. Recently, I've drawn inspiration from three different books, each giving me something unique to hang on to.

1. The New Rules of Marketing + P.R. – by David Meerman Scott
If the New Rules Scott delivers aren't enough, he puts them into context relative to the people you're addressing. In the book, he writes in detail about how to develop a persona profile and how to apply each using his New Rules.

Key takeaway: the words you choose to describe your target will influence the words you choose to reach it. Have several targets? Develop several persona profiles and match them to the tools/methods that serve the target best. Doing so will help you connect your message on a more personal level.

2. Made to Stick – by Chip Heath + Dan Heath
The Heath brothers analyze what helps make a person remember a story and give concrete real-life examples to back up their claims. In Chapter 3, they talk about the importance of finding a universal language when speaking to your audience.

Key takeaway: Because you're the expert – after all, it's your product or service – you must find a way to address what your prospect doesn't know in a way that will help them understand and remember your message. When developing your persona profiles, consider where your audience is coming from, this will help you find common ground in your messaging.

3. Robin Hood Marketing – by Katya Andresen
In this book, Andresen looks at everything from a consumer perspective to determine what makes a person want to act. Because the book is all about "stealing corporate savvy to sell just causes", it gives readers a different perspective into a consumer's mindset to help you determine how to get people to volunteer time or money to charity. As Scott Case states on the back cover: "Andresen's message is clear: It's not about YOU. It's about your supporter. Tap your supporter's wants, hopes, dreams, and desires and you'll move mountains."

Key takeaway: When developing your persona profiles, think about how you can address your customers' personal goals, the ones that speak to the kind of person they are.

Remember, your persona profiles don't have to follow a specific template. They can always change. Look for cues in what you're reading to evolve the format you follow. The result will be richer, deeper messaging that connects.

Tell me, what tricks and tips do you use to develop your persona profiles?

Drew's Note: About a year ago, Mark Goren left agency life and hung out a shingle to help clients discover and find their voice in new media. Mark's love for books is what first brought us on each other's radar screens and thank goodness (on my end) for that! I hope you are sensing a theme…but like Greg, Gavin and Cam, Mark is definitely one of the good guys.

Gavin Heaton: Take the chill out of cold calling

November 21, 2007

I have never been good at cold calls. Not good at making them, and not good at taking them.

But I do like good technique. I like a good performance. And also, I clearly understand that the person calling me has a job to do, a quota to fulfill or an inventory to shift. And as I work in marketing, I feel it is my duty when someone cold calls me, to listen.

But surprisingly, very few cold callers are prepared for someone who listens well.

And over the years I have noticed the same mistakes being repeated call after call. So, if you or someone you know, is responsible for cold calling, here are some things you might want to consider.

Know me — if you called me, you should know who I am, what my role is, the name of my company and something about it.
Know your offer — be ready to answer the simple questions and the off-beat. Know why your product/service is better than the one I am currently using, and be able to tell me why.
Don't ask me about my weekend — I don't know you, and we aren't friends. You have something to sell me and I am giving you the opportunity to tell me about it. Don't waste my time or yours.
Cut the jargon — you might understand the acronyms and the industry speak, but I don't. Make it simple for me to understand.
Put a smile in your voice — speak in an upbeat manner. Not too friendly. Not too chatty. And not too fast. Record yourself and play it back. If you sound like a chipmunk, slow down.
Follow-up and follow-through — if you promise to do something, do it. Then let me know you have. Make it personal for me so that it is harder for me to forget you.
Make me look good — you know, we all have bosses (even if we are self-employed). You thought your job was to sell me something? Wrong. Your job is to help me look good. Do that, and the sales will come.
Hang up gracefully — first impressions count and so do your last words. Leave me with something to remember you by.
Never lose your temper — even if I am rude. Really.

And finally, if you really do believe what you have will change my life, don't give up.

Drew's Note: Most of you will recognize Gavin Heaton as my cohort in the Age of Conversation. But long before that, he'd done some pretty impressive things. He's been in publishing, the agency business and on the client side. So, it is safe to say that he really does understand marketing from a 360 degree perspective. And like Greg, he's one of the good guys. He just has that cool Aussie accent to go along with it!

Greg Verdino: Love Your Haters!

November 20, 2007

I've discovered a surefire way to get a room full of marketers to go quiet. Just bring up the notion of reaching out and bonding with the consumers that hate their brand the most. Just a few weeks ago, I suggested this very thing to a client. You could hear a pin drop in that room.

Now, I've written about the notion of "loving your haters" at my own blog and to me it seems like a no brainer. You seek out the people who are your most vocal detractors and you listen — and I mean really listen — to all the reasons they don't like you and how they think you might improve. You engage them directly, show them why you do things the way you do them, and make them full fledged partners in helping you turn around. You actually implement some of the things that they'd like to see.

At a minimum, you get some great ideas for how you can make your business better. Beyond that, you might even earn yourself some new customers, committed fans who feel like they were part of the solution.

After all, isn't that why people complain in the first place? Not simply to let you know you've let them down but also to prod you along the path toward better business. Right?
I admit that I live inside the social media "echo chamber" where any conversation — even disagreement (maybe disagreement most of all) — is good conversation. And I'll also admit that, out there in the real world, not every detractor has your best interests in mind; some people really do want to see you go down. But if someone has taken the time to let you know that you've let them down — by calling your customer support line, by writing a letter, by complaining to their sales rep or (increasingly) by writing a negative blog post, uploading a video to YouTube or starting a negative thread in an online forum — isn't that exactly the kind of person you should engage?

McDonalds did this very thing earlier this year, when they put together a small panel of health- conscious moms and asked them to provide their unvarnished feedback about the restaurant and its menu choices. Was this a risky move? You bet — after getting a bit of an inside look at McDonalds any one of these moms could have walked away with a worse impression of the brand, and gone on to tell their entire network of (real world and online) friends about it. But one look at the women's public and (to my knowledge) unedited journals show that the gamble paid off. That's some pretty powerful marketing, if you ask me.

And here's the thing — you don't need to be a Fortune 100 company to do this kind of thing. I'd bet that any business — no matter how small — can find five or six unhappy customers or (even better) former customers who left after a bad experience. Find them. Make contact. Bring them in. Let them know what you're doing and why. But most importantly, get them to talk about what they would do differently and how they think their recommended changes would benefit your current customers — and win you new ones.
What's the alternative? Let the feedback get worse and worse until you have a real problem on your hands? Sure, I suppose that could work…

So think about it — what are some of the ways your company can partner with its biggest critics to have real, positive impact on your business? And if anyone out there is already headed down this path, I'd love to hear your stories – I'm sure Drew would too.

Drew's Note: Greg Verdino is Chief Strategy Officer for Crayon and writes his own blog as well. Greg's blog is a great place to keep track of trends in media and marketing, especially in the arena of new media and marketing disruption. He's an in demand speaker and all around great guy.

Marketers are wishy washy on social media

November 19, 2007

According to a recent Coremetrics survey, titled "Face of the New Marketer" 78% of marketers indicate that social media initiatives give them a leg-up over the competition.

The survey found that in the last 12 months:

31% of respondents have started a blog
25% of respondents have put in place an RSS feed

So far, so good — right? Well, here's the rub. They talk a good game, but they're not really putting their money where their mouth is. Just 7.7 percent of their total online marketing spend was allocated to it compared to 33 percent to online advertising and 28 percent on online promotion design and implementation.

In a completely separate study conducted by Gunderson Partners, they found that 45% of companies surveyed have allocated 10% or less of their budget to new media. The report goes on to say "Of the hurdles mentioned, nearly 40% cited insufficient knowledge [lack of metrics] and 33% stated not having enough time to evaluate [metrics]."

So what do you think? Are we just on the bleeding edge? Is it a matter of time? Or is there a flaw in the medium?

How confident are you in the value you deliver?

November 14, 2007

I've mused aloud on this before. It's an intriguing concept to me.

Letting our customers set the prices.

Mack Collier from Viral Garden reported on a band (Radiohead) that allowed fans to download their CD and determine what they were willing to pay for it. Interestingly, not only did their traffic have a huge spike, but they sold more of their boxed sets (at full price) than the downloads at any price.

The Springwise newsletter also reported on this trend by pointing to several restaurants like Melbourne's Lentil As Anything which also lets customers pay what they can afford or what they think the meal was worth.

Here in the states, we could visit the One World Café in Salt Lake City or the SAME Café (So All Might Eat) in Denver. An interesting note about these two restaurants. They've added some cause marketing to the mix, stating that the reason they're doing this is so they can feed those in need as well.

Hmm.

Does this idea only work with products that have a relatively flat price point? We all know CDs (or downloads of CDs) range from $10 – 20, usually. And dinner for 2 at an average casual restaurant is going to be somewhere around $25-40.

Does this concept hold as well for service-based businesses? Do I really have any concept of what it takes for an attorney to review a contract or for an ad agency to create a brochure? Would I have any idea what to pay an architect for drawing some blueprints of a new house?

What do you think? Would this work in your industry? Without a doubt, it is risky in any arena but it sure has a lot of buzzability around it.

Pricing strategy says quite a bit about your brand. What would this say?

Anyone willing to try it and be our case study?

Good is good enough?

November 12, 2007

Unless you are a very rare organization, someone else out there sells what you sell. Insurance, an education, a widget, wisdom & insights, a phone. There is no such thing as a totally unique product or service any more.

Let's assume your product is good. And so is your competition's. Taking your product to the next notch — very good should mean you could sell more, right?

Wrong. Unless you create a whole new product, a slight improvement isn't going to move market share. (It may make you more profitable though!) We are surrounded by me-too products and companies. Can you even think of a product or service that is unique?

Product performance marketing isn't enough anymore. So, now what?

If we can't sell based on our product and we don't want to sell on price, what's left? Your brand. The buying experience. That's the only place left for differentiation. You need to look for and recognize your exceptional difference. And, you need to make every contact with you be a memorable experience.

A marketer's job is to help the potential client make an emotional connection to your company, product or service. This requires a well-planned, consistent, repetitive branding strategy that is aimed at specific prospects.

How's your branding strategy? Is it working throughout your entire organization, not just in your ads or on your website? Is it something every employee can understand, explain and actually believe?

Does Disney really care if your kids are fat?

October 30, 2007

I don’t need to tell you how pro-Disney I am. I love the brand, I love the culture, I love the actual experience. It is where I go to re-charge and relax. It is, in my mind, my place.

So it pains me to call bull#&*@^ on Disney. But I’ve got to.

Thanks to a post on Marketing Profs Daily Fix (by Ted Mininni) and a follow up from Cam Beck at ChaosScenario, I learned about an article on CNN/Money.com.

It reported that Disney has pledged their efforts to fight childhood obesity by launching a new line of products called Disney Garden that will include Mickey-shaped snack trays with combinations of celery, peanut butter and raisins or apples, cheese and crackers and others. Other items include sugar snap peas, honey orange carrot coins, cheesy broccoli bites and miniature apples, peaches, pears, plums and oranges.

Disney was one of a dozen companies that made a pledge before an FTC hearing in July that put more pressure on the companies to help curb the growing child obesity problem through more responsible marketing.

So Disney must be committed to eradicating childhood obesity, right?

I don’t really think so. I’m sure they recognize its a problem. And they certainly don’t want to purposefully fatten up your kids.

But Disney Garden is brand extension, not social responsibility.

Let’s face it, Disney is all about being family friendly. They want to create brand loyalty among family decision-makers. Where better than the grocery store? And who better to cozy up to than Mom? What is one of the hottest topics among parents today? Childhood obesity.

Here’s the pesky part of this new breed of marketing. For it to be authentic and embraced by your consumers, there can’t be any "holes" in the story. You have to be able to prove that you are walking your talk.

In this case, here are some of the holes I might reluctantly poke into Disney’s pledge against obesity (childhood or otherwise):

Disney has granted the exclusive privilege of a presence inside their parks to McDonalds and their french fry wagons. So much for their break from Mickey D’s. The only thing those wagons sell — fries, sodas and bottled water.

Disney owned ABC Network still accepts and runs plenty of commercials for Doritos, sugar-laden cereal and other junk foods. And they run plenty of them during Saturday morning cartoons and Hannah Montana reruns.

I just visited Disney’s website for Kids Island and watched a cool web ad for Cheetos.

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t think Disney is out to fatten up our kids. And I know they are doing some things to offer healthy alternatives, like offering carrots instead of fries. But to lay claim to a position as the industry leader out fighting obesity seems a stretch.

Today’s marketing needs to be very wary of hype. And this feels a wee bit hyped to me. What do you think?

Is there an ROI for being customer focused?

October 30, 2007

Thanks to a post on The Engaging Brand I read about study done by Peer Insight.

They did a three year study of 40 Fortune 500 companies – and the results clearly make a case for the ROI a company can realize by focusing on being purposeful about the customer experience.

The study showed that companies that focused upon customer experience design outperformed the S&P 500 by a 10-1 margin. While I think that’s a very nice argument for crafting the customer experience, I think it is only one way to measure the value.

Here are some other valuations you need to consider:

~ Employee retention. (Use this calculator if you have a strong stomach.)
~ Customer retention. Multiply your new customer acquisition costs times 5.
~ Loss of word of mouth. The best marketing tool around. And you don’t have any.
~ Fewer surprises. When you’ve planned the customer experience, you can anticipate problems before they sneak up on you.

And that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg. What other benefits/ROI are there for purposefully designing the customer experience?

Evidence that we need to pay attention to our brand

October 25, 2007

When was the last time you saw a grocery aisle stocked with generic products?

You remember the generic promise:

Made by the same manufacturers as the brand name products
In blind taste tests, no one could tell the difference
Cheaper

Sounds like a slam dunk, doesn’t it? And yet, generic products have vanished off the shelf.

Consumers are drawn to the safe and familiar, for the most part. They want reliability and comfort in their decision.

They want you to create a brand they can trust and rely on. Are you?

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