Branding Archives - Page 19 of 42 - McLellan Marketing Group

The difference is our people? Seriously….duh!

February 28, 2008

I recently saw an ad with the tagline "the difference is our people!" It doesn’t matter what business it was for because many businesses claim this as their unique point of difference. No offense to all of the businesses that think this is what makes them stand out from their competition – but duh.

Everyone claims that they have great people, ergo great customer service. And the truth is…most of them do. To break through the marketplace, we need to be about more than good customer service.

Why? Don’t people want good service? Sure. But they also expect it. It’s a duh. A given. If you don’t provide good customer service, you’re not going to keep their business. Don’t you think most businesses are hustling to serve their customer? That’s not a brand – it is a cost of doing business. An expectation.

Another popular duh is competency. Companies will tout their expertise as though their competitors are completely incompetent. The reality is that’s just not true. To create marketing materials or ads that claim "we’re good at what we do" is a waste of resources.

Again – your consumer assumes you are qualified to do your job. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be even under consideration. Skill-level or competency is a show me message, not a tell me. It’s a little like honesty. If someone has to keep telling you that they’re honest, pretty soon you wonder why they are making such a big deal about it.

So why do companies rely on "duh" level taglines or promises? Because it’s easy. It doesn’t require digging deeper to find out what really does set them apart from their competition.

Double-check yourself. Are you taking the easy way out and making a duh promise?

Viral video — are you the expert?

February 22, 2008

It started with a simple question. Do you viral video?

Let’s wrap up our discussion on the phenomenon of viral video and its many purposes.

We’ve culled through the stats that show the rapid rise of viral video viewing, we’ve talked about how some companies are using the medium to just get in front of as many people as possible and we’ve also looked at the educational aspects of the medium. In the last installment, we also talked about how some are using video simply to be heard over the din of marketing messages.

One of the other applications/goals that seems ideally suited for video is demonstrating an expertise. While writing a white paper for your website or even sharing your PowerPoint slides will allow you to share your expertise, it lacks the emotional connection that a video can give you.

Matt Dickman, from Fleishman-Hillard, has really established himself as a social media tools expert by producing a series of videos in which he dissects a particular application or site. In the example below, he introduces his subscribers to Utterz.

The beauty of what Matt has done is that he’s become our tour guide. He makes his audience comfortable with the new tools. He explains them in language that everyone can understand and he takes the time to lay some groundwork before he dives in.

With his series approach, we also make the assumption that he knows a lot about ALL the web-based tools out there. Does he? I don’t know, but he’d sure be one of the first I would ask. He’s proven to me that he’s an expert in this field.

How could you use viral video to spotlight your expertise in a way that’s both compelling and something people would want to pass onto their friends/peers?

How could you use viral video to showcase your skills if you wanted to be the on-air talent? How about if you didn’t?

Other posts in this series:
Do you viral video?
Viral video – are you looking for a lot of eyes?
Viral video — are you trying to educate?
Viral video – are you trying to be heard over the noise?
Viral video — are you establishing yourself as an expert?

Marketing, recessions and budgets….oh my!

February 18, 2008

Boy, there’s a lot of talk about the R word, isn’t there? And I think business owners/leaders are beginning to get a little jittery. That’s what prompted me to remind all of you that there is significant danger in being reactionary and lowering your prices.

Jonathan Munk, over at Manizesto, recently interviewed Beth Goldstein, author of Ultimate Small Business Marketing Toolkit, on this very topic. Her answers are worth your time, if nothing else…to get you thinking.

You might also glean a little insight from reading what Brent Allen’s take is on the topic. Not enough? How about Tony D. Baker’s extensive post on ways to safeguard your business during a recession.

And for those of you who are about to tell me we’re not heading towards a recession…remember, perception is reality. If consumers or business owners believe that’s where we are heading, the reality doesn’t matter all that much.

Surprise!

February 14, 2008

There are good surprises and then there are bad surprises.

On Saturday evening, my daughter and I were driving towards home when all of a sudden, my foot could not find the gas pedal. It was gone. I stomped and wiggled my foot all over the floor of my truck….but no gas pedal.

We coasted over into a left turn lane, I threw the truck in park and hopped out. My gas pedal was still there…but just sitting limply on the floor.

We weren’t going anywhere. Bad surprise.

Long story short…tow truck. Repair place. Rental car. Snapped cable from pedal to engine. Empty wallet.

When I picked up the truck on Monday night, I noticed that something was different. The seat belt on my side had developed a snag which turned into a vertical tear, along the seat belt. Which meant that it caught on the seat belt latch, every time I buckled up. It was annoying.

But, while the repair place had my truck and was replacing the gas pedal cable, they had "re-strung" my seat belt, so the tear didn’t catch any more. They didn’t charge me for it. They didn’t even mention they’d done it.

Good surprise.

Suddenly, I felt a whole lot better about the empty wallet. They’d done something special for me. Something they didn’t have to do. That’s the beauty of surprises…they make us feel noticed and valued.

How often do you do that for your clients? Do a little something extra? Put a note in a bill saying that you aren’t charging them for something, send dessert over to their table, let the ride run a wee bit longer?

Toby Bloomberg e-mailed me a couple days ago and asked me for a tip on building great client relationships. I said…"surprise them…give them a little more than what they expected or paid for."

Good surprises, like my seat belt are great fodder for passionate, genuine word of mouth. Give your clients a reason to tell stories about you.

By the way….Toby asked many a marketer this question. She’s compiled all the answers for us and there’s plenty to think about. Check it out.

Related posts:

Are you boring your customers?
Surprise! (Marketing lesson from Walt)
Turn things upside down!

Two types of tagline – great and “other”

February 11, 2008

We’ve certainly talked taglines before. When they’re right — they can be an incredible tool for a business. Sadly, they’re not usually right.

Kevin Horne (from whom I stole this post’s headline) wrote about a British paper having some fun with their readers, asking them to come up with a tagline that describes what it’s like to be British. My favorite…."at least we’re not French." Good to see that geographic rivalries exist outside of the states as well.

Kevin goes on to list 3 taglines that were dead on. Ironically, none of three are being used today. They were great and replaced with pablum. It happens way too often.

Let me add to that list with an example that is enough to make a marketer cry. Michelin Tire’s tagline "because so much is riding on your tires" was brilliant. It spoke to the buyer’s deepest emotion and fear.

And then, of course…they changed it. Ready for the absolutely remarkable tagline that would justify walking away from "so much is riding on it?"

A better way forward.

Yup….you read it correct. I often wonder how someone presented a particularly bad idea in such a compelling way that everyone around the table bought it. This is one of those instances.

"Hey….let’s trash the tagline that differentiated us, identified a clear advantage, triggered the buyer’s deepest emotions and has incredible mind share already with something that says absolutely nothing and ANY tire company could use."

No wonder they changed it.

Why do you think most companies don’t really understand taglines?

The real SuperBowl competition

February 3, 2008

We ~~already know~~ thought we knew who was going to win the football game, so we might as well turn our attention to the real competition — which TV spot will win the hearts and buzz of the viewers?

Firebrand has declared Monday, February 4th as "Firebrand Monday" where they will celebrate the mother load of creative TV spots shown on the SuperBowl.

On Monday morning, Firebrand.com will have only the best of the previous day’s commercials ready for download, allowing viewers to share and rate them all, and to decide for themselves which spot wins the coveted “Firebrand Water Cooler” trophy.

On their Monday evening TV show (find out where it’s showing in your area) , the hour will be dedicated to major ads from the Super Bowl, featuring Celebrity CJs such as Reebok’s "Office Linebacker" Terry Tate and Carmen Electra, who makes her Super Bowl debut in an ad for Hershey’s "Ice Breakers."

If you love ads — you’ll enjoy Firebrand’s show. Not just on the Monday after the SuperBowl, but every week.

You can view all the ads online as well.

Who came first – The Mac Guy or the Mac User?

February 2, 2008

That Mac Guy in the Apple ads is pretty confident. He knows the Mac is a superior machine and so he can afford to be nice to the poor PC, who can’t really help being inferior. Afterall, it’s not that he isn’t a nice guy, but it’s just that he’s not Mac.

That’s the basic theme of the Apple spots, featuring the Mac Guy. Here’s a great example of how Apple has positioned the product and personality of their products.

They’re funny, memorable and different. They’re also very spot on, when you think about your favorite Mac user. Most Mac users I know (myself included) feel a little cocky about the fact that they’ve discovered (in their opinion) the superior computer.

In fact according to a recent article on AdAge.com, Mindset Media did a study and found that the ad’s personifications of Mac users was dead on. Their research "mind-set profile" — a psychographic ranking system that scores respondents on 20 different elements of personality — found Mac users to be more assured of their superiority, less modest and more open than the general population. (The article goes into more depth on the study…a good read)

On the flip side, the one and only area where PC users did stand out as statistically different was in creativity — low creativity, that is. Mindset Media found they tend to be realists who are emotionally steady and work well with what they’re given. (Sorry, PC readers, I just really could not resist. I know lots of you are very creative….despite what the study said!)

But here’s the marketing question. Which came first? Has the Mac Guy influenced and shaped the Mac Users’ attitude? Or does Apple have a remarkable handle on their customers and was able to create Mac Guy as a compilation of all their Mac Users?

Marketing question #2 — what do you think the impact is, from the Apple brand perspective, of this alignment long term?

M&M capitalizes on a myth

January 31, 2008

We’ve talked quite a bit about how consumers own our brand. It lives in their minds and hearts. But we can have great influence in terms of how our brand is received and perceived.

But sometimes, people do crazy, unexpected things with your brand. Take M&M’s for instance. We’ve all known about the powers of the green M&Ms for years. Pretty darn sure the folks at The Mars Company didn’t start that myth.

But, now they’ve demonstrated that they’re smart enough to take advantage of it. As I was perusing the Valentine’s Day row (have to get ready for Who Loves Ya Baby Day) in Walgreens, look what I found.

I’ll bet they sell a ton of these packages and good for them. Think about what they did:

They embraced the brand…from the consumer’s point of view.
They showed a sense of humor and playfulness (always been a part of their brand).
They took an old product and gave it new life for very little cost.
They extended their possibilities for the Valentine’s Day holiday. Some will buy the pink and red M&Ms but others will love these green only packages.
They created a buzz worthy moment for themselves
They created a seasonal product that people will watch for again next year

Bravo M&M/Mars for recognizing that you can’t rein in your brand and sometimes, you just have to go with the flow. In this case, brilliantly!

What’s your competition’s hook?

January 24, 2008

I really ~~hate~~ strongly dislike my dry cleaners. I’ve written about them before, but in a nutshell…

They don’t acknowledge that they have any idea who I am, despite having seen me at least weekly for a couple years
When I walk in, rather than asking if they can help me, they act as though I am interrupting them
They have lost 4 of my shirts and never apologized (they’re sure they are in my closet)
They break a button on one of my shirts about every 3 weeks

So by now, you are saying "Geez Drew. I have a solution for you. Go to a different dry cleaners."

Ahhh, there’s the rub and the marketing discussion. You see, I have said the same thing to myself many times. But I don’t. Why not?

This dry cleaners is 3 minutes from my house. It is in my traffic pattern. They even have a drive thru window. The commodity I value most is time. So, I endure them.

So here’s the marketing question in all of this — do you understand what hooks your competitors have set into your prospects? By all impressions — I should be an easy win for another dry cleaners.

I am very dissatisfied with my current provider
What they sell is a commodity
There is a low cost of entry — doesn’t cost me a lot to switch

Yet, I (so far) am staying put. A coupon or sale isn’t going to lure me away. Telling me about the latest and greatest equipment — no such luck.

This is one of the sticky wickets we don’t talk about very much in marketing. You can do all the right things, aimed at the right people…and still not win their business. Unless you understand the hooks.

What are the common hooks in your industry? If you know — what are you doing to remove those hooks? If you don’t know — how could you find out?

Viral video — are you trying to educate?

January 21, 2008

In our on-going discussion about the value of (or lack thereof) using viral video, we’ve talked about how the statistics clearly indicate that video viewing is on the rise (with double and triple digit growth) and some of the reasons why viral video might make sense for your organization.

In my last post, we explored (there were some superb comments — be sure you dig deep enough to read them!) using viral video if what you’re looking for is widespread exposure. Those are the videos we’re all the most familiar with. The Mentos and Diet Coke, the RayBans, or the Small Office HP videos that I shared in that post.

Characteristically, they have a higher production value, tend to be funny and short. Really, they’re the Super Bowl ads of viral video. Their goal is to be talk worthy and sharing worthy.

But what if that’s not what you need. Let’s say you’re the Marketing Director for a regional B-to-B company. Viral video shouldn’t be on your radar screen — right?

Not so fast, my friend.

If "I want lots of eyes" viral video is the Super Bowl of the medium, then the "I want to educate you" may be the high school social studies class film equivalent. You remember those grainy black and white films that were short on entertainment value but long on content. These are characteristically lower budget/quality production, a bit longer in length and usually not going for the funny bone. Their purpose is very utilitarian — to teach.

Long time reader/commenter to this blog, Scott Townsend is the Marketing Director for United Linen and Uniforms in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. They service the tri-state area of Kansas, Arkansas and of course, Oklahoma. So why would they use video?

Watch.

Again, this is not going to win an Oscar. I think lots of people shy away from some of this new fangled media (podcasts, video etc.) because they compare their budget and abilities to the high end variations and dismiss an opportunity that they could seize.

Assuming you have a certain level of production quality — using video this way is an effective way to do a couple things.

Educate your consumer. Some things are easier to understand if you can see them.
Convey a product truth. In this case, that it’s easy to re-load the dispenser and odds are if she can do it — so can your employees.

What do you think? Can you see how using video like this might serve your customers? Or are you in the "high end, big budget or no go" camp?

Photo courtesy of www.viewimages.com

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