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Can your brand cross the line?

January 14, 2009

M&Ms have been around since 1941, when they quickly became a favorite of the soldiers in World War II. In 1954, peanut M&Ms came to be and they went crazy in 1976 by adding an orange M&M to the mix.

In the subsequent 30+ years, we've all watched the evolution of the M&M. Seasonal colored packages (green and red for Christmas etc.), almond M&M's, etc.

But the basic M&M tenet — inexpensive, candy coated chocolates that won't melt in your hand has pretty much stayed the course.

Until recently.

M&M's as you probably know, launched M&M Premiums. At $4 or more a package, these are being played up as something very special…not an ordinary candy at all. Eva Longoria helped launch the new candies in New York City and the packaging and marketing all say — high end.

They also launched a media campaign to push the new offering.

(RSS feed and e-mail subscribers click here or on the headline to see the video) But I've noticed that they keep getting less and less shelf space. And no one is talking about them. And I can't seem to find any sales figures, other than PR "we're pleased with the sales to date" sort of thing.

So here's what I am wondering. Did M&M's step over the line? Can they be both the inexpensive candy we have grown up with AND a premium candy?

We talk about how the brand lives in your consumers' head and heart. They own the brand. We can tell them who we are ut they get to decide if that's really the case.

Did M&M's try to stretch their brand beyond our comfort level? What do you think?

Update: See what Tobias Singer had to say about this brand extension.

Is your online userID yours….everywhere?

January 13, 2009

Remember when everyone was scrambling to Go Daddy to grab their own name so if they wanted the domain, they had it? And the smart ones grabbed their kids’ names too.

Then there was the mad dash to get your name at Google for gmail and all the Google tools. (Again…don’t forget to get the kids covered!)

Last week, Mike Sansone encouraged us to be sure and get our Twitter name secured.

All well and good. But what if there was one site that would allow you to check the availability of your preferred userID (for most of us….our name) all over the social media spectrum? Guess what….there is!

Check out www.UserNameCheck.com. You can type in your name or preferred userID and with one click, check what seems like 100 or so sites.

How cool is that? Hat tip to Chris Brown, where I first learned of this site.)

Want good business advice? Don’t look in the mirror

January 12, 2009

Everyone is looking for insight. How do we generate more traffic into our store (or website)? How can we upsell clients? Should we raise our prices?

If you're a small business owner, you're probably facing these kinds of questions every day. And in most cases, you're sorting through it all on your own. That's a problem.

No one is less objective about your business than you are. No one has more of an emotional investment that you do. No one has more on the line than you. So — no one is less objective than you. Which leads to some pretty dangerous decision-making.

So how can you balance your lack of objectivity?

Create an advisory board (often made up of your professional advisors….attorney, accountant, etc.) that will meet with you monthly/quarterly to provide some balance
Join an accountability/mastermind group to not only give you a place to vet your ideas but also a safe place to do some brainstorming
Put together a customer-based advisory group to give you some balance
Join a professional organization that will put you together with other business owners in different parts of the world. You can learn best practices from each other…and not worry about competing

The message here — don't go it alone. I know what you're thinking. You are the one in a million business owner who can in fact, be objective. Don't fool yourself. That's like asking someone who's had 10 shots if they're okay to drive. They may think they're okay….but you'd better get a designated driver.

Be sure you've got some smart and loyal designated drivers at your side as you begin to make decisions for '09 and beyond.

Okay….I'll share if you will. Have you ever tried any of the suggestions above? Which worked best for you?

7 things you didn’t know about me meme (sort of)

January 11, 2009

I swear, I must be the slowest runner on the planet — I keep getting tagged! ;-}

Daria Radota Rasmussen tagged me with the 7 things about me meme.

Now, I’ve already told you plenty of things about me in the previous taggings…and only 2 of those were even remotely interesting.

So rather than bore you with more things about me, I thought I’d tell you 7 things I haven’t done yet but really want to do so I can use them in the next meme.

The “I haven’t done them yet, but some day these things will be about me!” list

I want to see a baseball game in every major league ballpark (I’m about half way there.)
I want to write a mystery novel (I have it in my head…even the opening sentence.)
I want to visit every Disney theme park in the world (I’ve got Disney World, Disney Cruise and Disneyland covered. Still have Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and Tokyo Disney Resort to go.)
I want to visit Scotland with my Dad (this is in the works — should be able to cross it off the list in 2009.)
I want to own my house, free and clear. (No chance of crossing this off in 2009!)
I want to be the cool grandpa (Okay…I don’t want to cross this one off for a LONG time!)
I want to launch a podcast/CD feature…interviewing all of the smart and cool people in marketing that I’ve met along the way.

So that’s it, kids. Hopefully a few of these will get shifted to the got it done column in ’09 and a few that are definitely a longer-term goal.

How about you…what’s one thing you deeply aspire to do that might surprise us?

How do you tell if your social media consultant is the real deal?

January 9, 2009

Image via Wikipedia

Awhile I ago I suggested that it might not be a brilliant plan to hire a consultant or agency to help you with your social media strategy if they can't document that they've done more than learn the buzz words.

Would you want to be a surgeon's first patient? On a pilot's first flight? So why should you be someone's social media guinea pig?

But if you're new to social media, how do you determine who's blowing smoke up your skirt and who's the real deal? Beth Harte put together a remarkable checklist of what you should be looking for and you're going to want to read her whole list.

But here are some basics, in my own words:

Does not believe that every company should (or can) blog. Nor do they believe that the blog is the be all and end all.
Constantly reminds you (if you need reminding) that social media is a tool, a medium. Marketing basics like understanding your brand and having something of value to share/say still apply.
Have a proven, successful social media strategy for themselves/their agency. If they can't or haven't done it for themselves, why in the world would you think they can do it for you?
Helps you weave your social media strategies into the rest of your marketing plan. Social media should be a part of the whole, not a whole new thing.
Doesn't promise that social media efforts are so incredible they're going to protect you from the recession, a mediocre product or male pattern baldness.

Bottom line….you want an agency or consultant who is bullish on social media but doesn't believe it's the holy grail. They can integrate these tools with the rest of your marketing efforts and you know they can do it for you….because they did it/are doing it for themselves.

I just scraped the surface. Check out Beth's post for the drill down.

Is this the year of the customer?

January 8, 2009

I've long lamented the fact that companies find the idea of marketing/talking to their current customers as less sexy or valuable than the chase for new business. The reality is, most companies spend backwards.

They invest the most money on strangers they hope will become customers
They spend a little money on current customers — taking their business for granted
They spend little to no money on their employees, who either deliver the brand promise and delight the customer…or not so much.

Looks silly, when you see it spelled out that way, doesn't it? I believe the recession, the employee shortage (which has been temporarily delayed because of all the layoffs) and the new consciousness in terms of fiscal responsibility may finally make this the year when organizations begin to recognize the value in investing in their current customers and employees.

Around the internet….I have been initiating some conversations around this topic.

What will be different in '09? Over at Small Business Branding, I offer up the idea of surveying clients you lost in the course of '08. It's a tough love sort of assignment, but it can really open your eyes in terms of what needs to be different in '09.

How long will it take? At Marketing Profs Daily Fix, I worry that business owners are going to be so anxious about their spending that they're going to expect results that just aren't achievable or they're going to expect the results instantaneously, rather than giving their marketing time to grow roots. The comments section really digs into the talk to your current customers aspect so don't miss that part.

Dance with the one who brought you. One of the comments by James Hipkin in the "how long will it take" post inspired me to dig deeper into the idea and value of focusing more of your marketing efforts on your current customer.

So go check out those conversations and then come on back and let's talk about how we can communicate more often and more effectively with our current clients.

When a blog is not a blog

January 5, 2009

In the comments section of my recent post 5 musts of business blogging, Justin Brady asked a very interesting question. He asked:

What if someone's reason for adding a blog is to simply keep their site updated
and increase their Google ratings?
What if they don't care for loyal readers, or comments?
Is this still a good reason, and if not, what are the risks?

The answer…there are many great reasons to add a blog to your website, even if you don't really intend it to be a blog per se. It's a strategy we employ all the time for our clients. Let me show you a couple examples from the MMG client roster.

Mary Stier Connects (visit the site)

Mary Stier is the former President and Publisher of the Des Moines Register and was one of Gannett's youngest publishers. She retired from the Register in 2007 and has now launched her own business, The Brilliance Group. The vision for her new company is a lofty one — her profound passion is to bring the wisdom, strength and grace of women's leadership into the world.

Mary's offerings include individual coaching, consulting, workshops for companies/organization, public speaking,and teaching some classes at the college level.

With Mary's site, we wanted to accomplish several goals including giving prospects a sample of how Mary thinks and inspires women. We also wanted to organically impact the search engines. So twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) Mary publishes a new blog post.

Her site's home page holds her three most recent posts and then her blog in its entirety is deeper in her site. We wanted a very clean look for her site, so the only "bloggy" thing you'll see on her home page is subscribe links.

You can comment on her posts but other than that…it's kind of a non-blog blog. We'll probably add a blogroll to her full blog, but other than that…we're keeping it very simple.

Shirley Poertner (visit the site)

Shirley is one of a select group of Master Trainers for Crucial Conversations® and Crucial Confrontations™ and Influencer. All three training programs are based on New York Times bestselling books. She works with corporations, associations and individuals — training them on the principles of these books.

Her website is the primary sales tool for her courses and she drives traffic there in a variety of ways. Shirley is also on the blogging team at IowaBiz.

To get Google's attention and to keep her site's visitors engaged, we decided to re-publish one of her IowaBiz posts every month. Hardly enough to call it a blog, but it serves our purposes.

Visitors to her site can subscribe to her home page's feed and can read the old posts by clicking on the archives but it's not really set up as a blog.

So that's the long answer to Justin's question. There are many types of blogs, many reasons to blog and many ways to measure a blog's success. In both Mary and Shirley's case — their blogs become a significant aspect of their brand and sales process.

How about you…know of some others?

Grow or die?

January 4, 2009

January is the goal-setting month. But, the truth is, most companies don't do it very well.

They look at their numbers (gross sales, # of employees, profit margins, etc) and with a mix of industry knowledge and wild assed guess – they project a percentage increase.

We will increase our gross billings by 7% and our profits (through additional efficiencies) by 10%.

And then they scramble to figure out how to get that done.

Sound familiar?

How are we defining growth?

We've all heard the phrase "grow or die." But maybe grow doesn't mean grow bigger. Maybe it means grow better. Move from good to great. Refine and define your brand. And then figure out how you are actually going to live and honor it.

Jay Ehret wrote a very smart post about this topic at his excellent blog, The Marketing Spot. Please make time to read it.

So if you're still with me – answer these questions.

How do you grow better in 2009?

Define (if you haven't) or revisit (if you already have defined) your brand. How are you actually bringing it to life?

How are you going to invest in your employees this year? How will you get the brand from your brain to their hearts?

How can you involve your customers in your pursuit of better?

What do you think? Could this be the year you get better? If so…how did you answer some of the questions above?

100 best kept marketing secrets – free ebook

January 3, 2009

Small Business Trends has put together 100 of the best kept marketing secrets, dished out by 100 marketing experts (they could only find 99 experts, so my tip is on page 12)

Anita Campbell, the publisher of Small Business Trends, made these observations about the secrets revealed in the book:

Throughout the submitted tips, I noticed three themes over and over:

Simple and inexpensive tools are more popular than complex or pricey approaches. “Duh!” you might be thinking. “Isn’t it obvious that entrepreneurs and small businesses, being on tight budgets, would favor low-cost approaches?”

Well, yes and no. What was surprising is just how many of the tips cost literally nothing but your time. A large proportion of others, such as those that focused on using business cards or blogging, can be done for hundreds, not thousands, of dollars. So don’t be tempted to throw up your hands and say “I can’t afford marketing.” You can.

Authenticity, friendliness and relationships matter. When you count your customers in the single or double digits, as opposed to the thousands or hundreds of thousands, relationships tend to matter much more deeply. The importance of smiling and being friendly was brought up again and again. Doing something nice for others and being yourself were common themes.

Most small businesses are NOT about mass marketing campaigns. Instead, we rely on attracting and retaining a relatively small number of customers to be successful. A solo consultant or small Web design firm may have as few as five or six regular customers. For small businesses, investing in relationship building goes a long way.

Creative online marketing plays a key role. We drew tips from those who are active online, so on the one hand you might think that the results would naturally be skewed toward online marketing. And to a degree I suppose that’s true. But I was surprised by the sophistication of the online marketing—especially on limited budgets.

Some of the online approaches are very detailed and go far beyond the plain-vanilla “create a nice Web site” type of advice. A number of the small-business marketing techniques represented in this document get into advanced online marketing, including social media marketing.

While you're certainly read some of the tips and think…well, duh…there's plenty of good thinking among the 100 tips. If you get just a handful of new ideas, it's well worth your time.

Download the e-book for free right here.

The best kind of marketing (Karl Staib)

January 2, 2009

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…Karl Staib. Again. Enjoy!

What's the best kind of marketing? Easy. Word of mouth marketing. The reason it's so good… it's relevant to the consumer. We relate to what our friends like.

We want to own what makes our friends happy because we believe it will make us happy too. If my friend buys the latest U2 album from iTunes, I'll be more likely to hear it in his car, enjoy it and want it too.

The Wii

I recently played the Wii over at my friend's house and fell in love with the active style of play. You move your arms, legs, and hips and there is always some laughter and excitement occurring in the room.

I'm adverse to television, video games, and anything that doesn't keep your brain or body active. Don't get me wrong, I watch the occasional stupid sitcom (love Scrubs), but most of my free time is spent building content for my blog, walking with my wife at the local park, or having a good conversation over a meal with friends.

Now that the disclaimer is over…I went out and plunked down $320 for a game system, extra game and a controller. I haven't owned a game system in over twenty years! I did this because my friend raved about it after I spotted it under his TV; we quickly ate dinner then played Mario Kart and Wii Fit (an exercise game). I was sold by its easy to use platform and the physically active nature of the game.

Restrict Access and Get More Word of Mouth

I don't know if they restricted the number of units that are shipped to the US on purpose, but the Wii is still hard to find. On-line stores are selling them in bundles (the game system with 4 games you don't want) to make extra money.

This only got me more curious. Why was everyone so excited about this game system? I kept hearing good things and everyone knows the old adage. It takes 12 to 18 repetitions before convincing someone who is a good prospect to buy your service or product.

Be Like the Wii

I haven't been so excited to throw down a chunk of money since my honeymoon to Italy. So the moral of the story is keep yourself out there. Give your customers a reason to tell their friends about you and when they call, don't give them instant access. When you appear too eager you'll lose their interest. Because the Wii was hard to get, it made me pine after it even more. Don't make them wait weeks to see you or buy your product, but make sure they know you are a popular company that is sought out for its quality work.

Nintendo created a system that made me so excited that I was guaranteed to be happy just to play it in my living room. Now that I own it, it's even better than I hoped. So the cycle has come full circle. I'm continuing the wonderful cycle of word of mouth marketing that sells products faster than Nintendo can make them.

Karl Staib writes about unlocking and kicking open the door to working happy at his own blog: Work Happy Now! Check out one of his most popular articles, Give Employees the Power to Impress Customers.

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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