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Some products just should not be made

August 14, 2007

Here's the description for the Little Joseph candle holder.

Little Joseph is a hand-painted, porcelain candle holder. We can't decide if he's sinister or sweet. Part of that will certainly depend on what you decide to do with his hair. Use dripless candles if you'd like to keep him bald, otherwise, give him pure white locks, beeswax locks, or hair in several shades of the rainbow.

Eww. Found this little gem at the Denver Egotist, who says they are in existence to make Denver suck less daily. My suggestion, Denver should ban Little Josephs.

A new model = a real brand

August 14, 2007

The phrase "a different perspective" is synonymous with Marcus Brown. He's one of the boldest, most daring marketing bloggers I've ever had the pleasure of getting to know. So it came as no surprise to me that he has crafted a completely new model for serving up ideas to clients.

The Ides of March works like this. In his own words…

All you have to do is get in touch and tell me what the problem is. It could be anything from developing a new kind of pizza, changing a process, launching or developing a new product, improving something, telling a story, repositioning something, finding staff, or getting your existing staff to smile. It could also be an idea for winning a piece of new business or finding the missing link in a brand thingy you’re trying to do for a client. It could be anything.

So you send me your problem and I’ll get back to you within 24 hours with any questions and tell you how long you have to wait for my idea. When I’ve come up with something I’ll send it through per email and you can have a look and a think and if you think you can use it then you pay me.

And you pay me what you think the idea is worth. It’s completely up to you. The absolute minimum per idea is 10 Euros. Once you’ve bought the idea it’s yours. You own it.

If you choose not to buy the idea it remains my property and I will post it on this blog.

I think anyone in the business has pondering this pricing model but we've got too much overhead and too little courage to try it. I can't wait to watch it take off and be ridiculously successful.

And I get a front row seat. One of the mechanics Marcus has added to his company is the creation of his Senate. A world-wide smattering of professionals that Marcus can call on as he needs them. I'm proud to be among the list. Here are my fellow Senators:

Victor Houghton, Jason V. Lonsdale , Grant McCracken, Christian Baujard, Todd Foutz, Angus Whines, Sean Howard, Tim Keil, Age Conte, Rob Campbell, Mark McGuinness, Rob Mortimer, Luc Debaisieux, Faris Yakob, Dan Germain, Nina Zimmermann, Paul H. Colman, Mark Earls, Fredrik Sarnblad, Andy Boucher, Richard Huntington, Henry Lambert, John Grant, Andrew Hovells, Gavin Heaton, Sebastian Oehme, Rory Sutherland, Russell Davies, David Brabbins, Charles Frith, Beeker Northam, William Humphrey, Mark Goren, Giles Rhys Jones, Gareth Kay, David Bausola, Philip Hubertus, John Dodds, Graeme Douglas, Amelia Torode, Drew McLellan, Dan Shute, Niku Banaie, Paul McEnany.

Marcus is boldly going to a completely new space within an age-old industry. Do you think he'll have any trouble differentiating his business from the pack? This is about actually doing something different, rather than just talking different about the same old thing.

That's branding at its core. You start by doing something different. What are you doing that's different?

Be sure your marketing tactic fits the challenge

August 14, 2007

We all know that the airlines are in big trouble.

Back in '03, on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being very dire, aviation industry expert Darryl Jenkins ranked the health of the US airline industry about a 10-12.

And it hasn't gotten any better.

Picture the scene of what has surely happened:

The execs at United have gathered all their marketing folks and their agencies into a big room and said "come up with something to make people want to fly United. And once they do, let's be sure that they feel special."

All those brilliant minds whirling and working. The smoke practically billows from their ears. Then, suddenly someone gives a shout. They share their brainchild and like a heavenly choir, everyone in the room sings its praises.

And so, the red carpet is born. (This one was the carpet in LA that we were not invited to walk upon! And doesn't it look like they are proud of their own program? Nice, clean carpet eh?)

Yes…that's right. Now on every United flight, there are two walkways to the jetway. Divided by cloth retractabelts, there is the walkway for those not smart enough to always choose United or who are infrequent fliers. Then, just off to the side, is the holy grail. The red carpet. If you are flying first or business class you can stride onto the plane after first crossing over the United Red Carpet. (cue the crowd's ohhs and ahhs here)

Come on. A red carpet? (Which really, as Greg Verdino points out, is a door mat.) That is the best you can come up with?

You cannot put a bandaid on a broken leg. United's red carpet is a surface solution for a very deep problem. If all of their flights were not oversold, or they hadn't cut their schedules to bare bones or you didn't have to pack in your own pretzels, then sure…try the red carpet.

Think about your air travel experiences. Would walking on a red carpet make you feel valued? Or as Greg asks, would it just make you feel silly? The majority of United's passengers don't fly business or first class. So how do you suppose being reminded that they're the peasants who haven't earned the right to parade on the red carpet feel?

Where else have you seen companies put a bandaid on a broken limb?

Is your brand acid-test proof?

Want to kick off your week with a burst of creativity?

August 13, 2007

Let's start the week with the idea that we can be incredibly creative and attention-getting with a little effort. Here are some very clever visual marketing messages that probably didn't cost too much more than the usual hum drum executions.

Want to see a few more and learn about the 5 rules for being clever/funny in ads?

Related posts:

Creativity tip — ask and ask again!

More packaging game candy

Put on a different hat

Tell me again that branding doesn’t matter

August 12, 2007

For those of you still on the fence about the power of branding, check out the results of the study just released by Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. The full study will be released in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The study finds that kids aged 3 to 5, when presented with identical foods — one in a McDonald's wrapper and the other without — overwhelmingly rated the branded one as tasting better.

Hmm. And if branding affects consumers that dramatically by the age of 3, how do you suppose it works after another 20-30 years of conditioning?

Still wondering about the value of investing in and building a consistent brand?

Related posts:

A must read book on branding

In lead generation, branding matters

This is your brain. This is your brain on brands.

Nothing smarter than women who write!

August 12, 2007

The W list. The new Z list.

Myself, I'd have called it the S list. S for smart, sexy and more than a dash of sass.

Women who blog. Every one of them well worth the read.

A few I didn't see on the list (I'm guessing there are multiple versions bouncing around so they may be on *the* list.) But either way, they are must reads for me:

Engaging Brand Anna Farmery
Every Dot Connects Connie Reece
Marketing Idea Blog Janet Green

And the W list as I found it…

45 Things Anita Bruzzese
A Girl Must Shop Megan Garnhum
advergirl Leigh Householder
Back in Skinny Jeans Stephanie Quilao
Biz Growth News Krishna De
BlogWrite for CEOs Debbie Weil
Brand Sizzle Anne Simons
Branding & Marketing Chris Brown
Brazen Careerist Penelope Trunk
Cheap Thrills Ryan Barrett
CK’s Blog CK (Christina Kerley)
Communication Overtones Kami Huyse
Conscious Business by Anne Libby
Conversation Agent Valeria Maltoni
Corporate PR Elizabeth Albrycht
Customers Rock! Becky Carroll
Deborah Schultz by Deborah Schultz
Diva Marketing Blog Toby Bloomberg
Dooce Heather Armstrong
Email Marketing Best Practices Tamara Gielen
Escape from Cubicle Nation Pamela Slim
eSoup Sharon Sarmiento
Flooring The Consumer CB Whittemore
Forrester’s Marketing Blog Shar, Charlene, Chloe, Christine Elana, Laura and Lisa
Get Fresh Minds Katie Konrath
Get Shouty Katie Chatfield
Giant Jeans Parlour Anjali
Hey Marci Marci Alboher
Inspired Business Growth Wendy Piersall
J.T. O’Donnell Career Insights J.T. O’Donnell
Kinetic Ideas Wendy Maynard
Learned on Women Andrea Learned
Little Red Suit Tiffany Monhollon
Liz Strauss at Successful Blog Liz Strauss
Lorelle on WordPress Lorelle VanFossen
Manage to Change Ann Michael
Management Craft Lisa Haneberg
Marketing Roadmaps Susan Getgood
Moda di Magno Lori Magno
Modite Rebecca Thorman
Narrative Assets Karen Hegman
Presto Vivace Blog Alice Marshall
Productivity Goal Carolyn Manning
Spare Change Nedra Kline Weinreich
Tech Kitten Trisha Miller
That’s What She Said by Julie Elgar
The Blog Angel aka Claire Raikes
The Brand Dame Lyn Chamberlin
The Copywriting Maven Roberta Rosenberg
The Engaging Brand Anna Farmery
The Origin of Brands Laura Ries
The Podcast Sisters Krishna De, Anna Farmery & Heather Gorringe
Water Cooler Wisdom Alexandra Levit
Wealth Strategy Secrets Money Gym author & Founder Nicola Cairncross
What’s Next Blog B L Ochman
Wiggly Wigglers by Podcast Sister Heather Gorringe
Ypulse Anastasia Goodstein

Marketing Truth: People love themselves most of all

August 11, 2007

Here's the marketing truth. People love themselves. And in the end, trite as it has become "what's in it for me" is a very accurate reflection of the consumer's mind set.

Mike Sigers over at Simplenomics wrote about a fascinating study. One of the findings he sited was:

A study of college-aged women included this test: The women were given a pen and paper and asked to write anything they wanted.

460 of the 500 wrote their own name.

Wow.

And yet, time after time, marketers trip over themselves on this truth. Their efforts are almost insulting in an attempt to manipulate this attitude without actually understanding it at all.

Spike Jones writes at Brains on Fire about an Oakley campaign where the sun glasses manufacturer sent a 22-page booklet about their glasses and then asked the recipients to share the names of their friends who would also get the 22-page sales piece. The reward? An Oakley decal of course. Woo hoo.

What the Oakley example shows us is that marketers pretend to be thinking about the customer but they're really just looking in the mirror and hoping to see the customer's reflection in the background.

Not going to work, my friends. We're going to actually have to look away from the mirror.

Give a little

Newsletter No No's

Brilliant series on being successfully self-employed

August 10, 2007

Tony Clark has always been one of my favorite bloggers. He's a gifted artist. That would be enough for most people. But he's also an insightful and inspiring writer. (And a Disney fan, so that really puts him over the top!)

His blog, Success from the Nest, is much more than a hot bed of information and solid tips for the self-employed. Tony's posts and life/work balance, chasing your dreams, digging down deep to find the best of yourself, helping clients grow, and practical work tips are food for the brain and the heart of anyone out there trying to make a buck without selling their soul.

I always find something of interest on Tony's blog. But he's recently completed a five-part series called the Hierarchy of the Successfully Self-Employed. Whether you are self-employed or not — I promise you will find food for thought in this series.

It's about so much more than working.

Hierarchy of the Successfully Self-Employed (part 1)
Freelancing is for Suckers (part 2)
All the Aggravation of Employment, Without All the Perks (part 3)
You May Already be an Expert…You Just Don't Know It (part 4)
Gurus Share More by Doing Less (part 5)

Enjoy this series and if you're smart…enjoy Tony's blog on a regular basis.

Listen up (why your customers’ native tongue matters)

August 10, 2007

Have you ever been out in a public place, maybe enjoying coffee with a friend when all of a sudden, your ears perk up? You hear a familiar voice and you can't help but listen for it? Or you hear a phrase or word that trips off your own tongue on a regular basis?

It's human nature to be drawn to voices that feel familiar. Steve Lovelace from Build a Better Box has a great post about a study from the National Academy of Sciences about how infants respond to people speaking in different languages. The study suggests that even as young as five months, the infants recognize the tones and patterns of their native language and respond accordingly.

Customers are really just big babies. No, I don't mean fussy. I mean, just like the 5 month olds, they respond to their native tongue. But all too often — we don't write that way.

Look through your own communications pieces and see if you can spot one or more of the following:

Sales speak: "You can drive it home today!" Okay, yours probably aren't that blatant. But if it sounds like a slick salesman, it isn't going to fly.

Insider jargon: Do your materials look like an eye chart with all their acronyms? Are you sure your audience uses those same shortcuts?

Vague buzzwords: You know the words I'm talking about. Empower. Paradigm. Value add. It's not that those concepts are bad or irrelevant to your customers. But the words are so over-used that we assign very little meaning to them any more. Don't talk in generalities — be concrete.

Listen to your customers for awhile. Then, read your materials out loud. If they don't sound like your customers talk — re-write them. It really is that simple. Be sure you're speaking in their native tongue.

Are most businesses a little self-absorbed?

August 9, 2007

Do most businesses spent too much time looking in the mirror and not enough time thinking about and listening to their customers?

Check out my article on Marketing Prof's Daily Fix on how some niche airlines are breaking out from the crowd and join in the discussion.

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