Strategy Archives - Page 27 of 53 - McLellan Marketing Group

Be sure to build some fun into your brand

April 23, 2008

One of the things I enjoy about Google is that they understand that they don’t always to take themselves so seriously.

The way they play with their iconic logo/home page graphic is so smart and attention-getting. The fact that they only do it for holidays is also brilliant. Too often and it becomes common. Here was their offering for Earth Day.

How could you play with your brand in a noticeable, talk worthy way?

How NOT to re-name your company

April 22, 2008

An Iowa based insurance brokerage called TrueNorth Companies recently announced to its staff that they will now function under a new name, Bearence Management Group.

All well and good, right? No doubt they have given this a great deal of thought. So let’s listen in as they explain their new name. (I swear to God, I did not make this up.)

"Bearence is a word we’re still looking to define," company president Schwartz said, "but it obviously toys with definitions of "bear" and "bearing."

WHAT? Ah, it gets better. Here’s what the CEO added.

"We’ve grown dramatically over the last three years in Des Moines and feel our new name more accurately reflects our overall vision of redefining risk," Chairman and CEO Joe Teeling said.

Umm, how can the new name better reflect anything if you haven’t defined it yet?

The company launched a new Web site after a meeting with employees to reveal the new name and discuss the company’s future.

I wonder if the employees could explain the new name to their leaders?

To add another layer of disbelief to this story — the site doesn’t seem to be live. Staggering.

Re-naming a company isn’t something to be done lightly. Or at the speed of light. But even if you are going to do it without a lot of thought or time — please, have a clue what it means before you announce it to the media or your employees.

Are you really going to buy something from me?

April 18, 2008

You get a call or an e-mail. You resist the urge to jump up and down. Boy, this one sounds good. They fit your client profile and they contacted you. Their buying signals are flashing like the Bat Signal in the sky they’re so blatant. You know you could truly help their business.

You might as well print off the contract now, right?

Not so fast, my friend. Any of these ever happen to you?

They already know they want to hire your competitor but need to demonstrate they’ve done due diligence by getting a few bids.
They’re using the "put it out to bid" pressure tactic to get their current provider to snap back into order.
Their RFP is awfully detailed — they’re fishing for free ideas so they can do it themselves.
You’d be their 4th or 5th (fill in the blank with your profession) in the past few years.

So how do you figure out if they’re really a buyer? Here are some signs that you can at least put the champagne in the fridge to cool:

Do you have access/time with the CEO and other top leaders? If not…odds are whatever you sell isn’t a priority for the organization.
Are they used to paying for services like yours? In the same price range? You don’t want to be the one to break in the new kid.
Does your sweet spot match up with one of their biggest pain points? They’re going to want pain relief and look for a partner who can promise them that, via pat experience or great ideas.
Are they the ones driving the process — being flexible about getting together and reaching out for more information, a demo, etc.?
Are they quick to answer e-mail, return phone calls, get you data that you requested?

If you answered yes to all five does it mean you are on Easy Street? You know better. But at least it means the opportunity is probably a good one. Now, it’s up to you.

Dear soon to be college grad

April 17, 2008

It’s April. Which means that all of you seniors who are graduating in a few weeks are getting a serious amount of pressure from Mom and Dad to send out those resumes.

And so you will. I thought I might offer a few helpful hints.

Do not address your cover letter to the entire company, i.e. Dear McLellan Marketing Group. If you don’t have time to find out the specific person to send it to, don’t send it. And if you do get their name, for the love of Pete — spell it correctly. If you can’t get my name right, do you really think I’m going to let you loose with one of our clients?

The time to start looking for your first job is not in April of your senior year. I know it’s too late for you but warn your little brothers and sisters. Tell them to start engaging in conversations with the companies they might like to work for when they are freshmen and sophomores. Then, by the time they’re seniors — these companies will be helping them find a job. Who is helping you?

Spell check. Then, read your cover letter and resume slowly and out loud. Find is not spelled fine. Again…do I want you writing to our clients?

I know it’s a common mistake, but when you say my resume is attached — attach it.

Cutting and pasting is tempting. I cannot tell you how many times I have received a cover letter addressed to another agency or agency principal. Odds are she got mine. Odds are, neither of us are going to hire you.

It’s tough enough to get a job in this field. Don’t let laziness or sloppiness make it even harder for you. I know you think the above is an exaggeration but I just deleted an e-mail that made 4 of the 5 listed mistakes. All in one cover letter!

Want more….read this free e-book written specifically for college grads and this post on what I would do if I were a college grad, looking for that first job.

Last piece of advice — hang in there. It’s as much fun and as rewarding as you think it will be.

Okay, I lied. One last thing. If you are going to try to impress me with your creativity — then A) Be creative. and B) Don’t let spelling and punctuation errors spoil the delivery.

Check this out. See if you can spot the errors (both in the video and description). Instead of helping himself by going above and beyond, he’s just proven that he hasn’t even mastered the basics.

Alltop names Marketing Minute an “all the top” resource

April 12, 2008

In mid-March, Guy Kawasaki launched Alltop, a news aggregation site that provides “all the top” stories for forty of the most popular topics on the Web.

The headlines and first paragraph of the five most recent stories from forty to eighty sources for each topic are displayed. Alltop stories are refreshed approximately every ten minutes.

A good metaphor is that Alltop is an "online magazine rack" that displays the news from the top publications and blogs. Their goal is to satisfy the information needs of the 99% of Internet users who will never use an RSS feed reader or create a custom page. Think of it as "aggregation without the aggravation.”

Drew’s Marketing Minute is considered one of the top resources in the social media category. You can find the entire list of topics on their home page. You’ll be amazed at the diversity — everything from dads to venture capital and just about everything in between.

It’s a slick tool and gives you access to many resources at a glance.

Around the horn: 04/10/08

April 10, 2008

"Around the horn" is a baseball warm up drill that has the infield players simulating the path a ball would take during a double play. In my case, I’m using the term to share some of the best posts I’ve seen recently.

"You’re not all that." A great line from Andrew Clark’s post on 15.5 ways to be more creative over at Brand Chef. Check out his very helpful list of creativity triggers. I especially recommend #10 and #15.

Lewis Green offers up some insights on how to increase sales and marketing’s effectiveness in your organization. As you would expect if you are a regular reader of Lewis’ work — the post is very thought provoking and insightful.

Can seeing the Apple logo actually make you behave more creatively? Robyn McMaster explores this question, in relation to an article from the Journal of Consumer Research. Together, they conclude that even the briefest exposure to well-known brand logos can cause people to behave in ways that mirror those brands’ traits.

Want to squeeze even more out of your Google searches? John Jantsch over at Duct Tape Marketing offers up 10 of his favorite web site and SEO shortcuts. By adding what Google calls an operator followed by a colon you can get some pretty interesting research done very quickly, according to John.

Nuisance or Friend – it’s up to you

April 9, 2008

Every day, I get a call from someone saying, "Hi, I’m just calling you back to see if you want to do business with me." Okay, they don’t quite say it in those words, but that’s what they mean.

I’ve already spoken to them. I know what they do. And if I had needed it, I would have called them. They’re offering no new information. But, I got put on their calendar for a call back or follow up e-mail.

Now they’re just being a pest. I understand they’re just doing their job, trying to make a sale. Here’s the problem. We live in a "what’s in it for me" world and I am as jaded as any other consumer. When they call with "are you doing any printing that we could bid on" they aren’t thinking about me. They are thinking about their own sales goals and needs.

Imagine how I’d welcome their call if they opened with "one of my clients is looking for an agency. I’d like to introduce you to them," or "I saw an article on branding that I think you’d enjoy. Can I e-mail it to you?" Rather than me being frustrated that they keep calling, now I’d welcome their call because I know there’s something in it for me, along with their sales pitch.

We shouldn’t be cold calling. We should be relationship building. And when we care about the relationship, we aren’t in it just for ourselves. Don’t pick up the phone without first thinking about the person you’re calling.

Demonstrate that you know their business and care about it by giving before you get. There’s no quicker way to shift from nuisance to welcome caller.

So come on, let’s create a list together. I’ll add responses/suggestions to the end of this post. What can you offer to strengthen the relationship? Industry news? A new business lead? An article of interest?

Are you saying too much?

April 7, 2008

One of the constant discussions we have with clients is that usually they try to say too much. It’s human nature I suppose. We want to tell a prospect everything and anything. it’s almost a reaction of panic. "What if I can’t get their attention again?"

Well guess what. If your initial communication is so jammed with information and facts that they can’t make their way through it, you won’t get their attention again. And frankly, you don’t deserve it.

Remember, that all buying decisions are emotion-based decisions. People have to like and trust you before they can need you.

We create emotional connections with people, places, companies, products and brands. We do that, little by little, over time. Getting to know someone isn’t an instantaneous process. It takes some time and patience. We learn new information with each meeting. The information beings to build up and tell a story.

If you are trying to drive one-time sales, then sure…cut to the chase. But if you want to create loyal, repeat customers — you need to let them get to know your product/service by telling them a little at a time. Not sticking a fire hose in their mouth and hoping they can drink it all in at one sitting.

We can take a page from the current political landscape and learn a little. There was an interesting article from Minnesota’s public radio that explored how part of what is working for Obama may be the fact that he isn’t saying much.

What do you think? Take a minute and look at your sales fliers, website, or print ads. Are you saying too much?

Build your brand: Letting someone go

April 4, 2008

No one likes to let an employee go. Whether it is firing someone for cause or being forced to let a good employee go because of downsizing — it stinks. It’s a "keep you up all night worrying" sort of event. Because it is so awkward and difficult — most people do it badly. They rush it or talk for too long or just don’t manage the situation well.

Every single thing your organization does or doesn’t do impacts your brand. But, the more emotionally charged the moment/event — the greater potential it has to color the brand. The more "talkable" the moment — the great potential it has to color your brand.

So letting someone go is ripe for brand building or brand break down. If you think that your employees will not dissect every word, you’re crazy.

When is the time to plan (yes….plan) how you want an employee dismissal or layoff to go is when you don’t have one pending. Do a little creativity exercise. If you think about your brand’s attributes and promise — how, staying within that space, would the event happen?

If you were absolutely true to your brand:

When (day of the week, time of day) would you let someone go?
Where (does it have to happen in the office?)
What would you give the leaving employee? (Documents, phone numbers they’ll need, etc)
How will you end the conversation? (hug, high five, solemn look, handshake, nothing?)
What part of the conversation will the employee repeat?
How will you handle the news with the employees who are staying?

This just scratches the surface. My point to you is this: How you handle this situation WILL reflect on your brand. Far better to be purposeful about it, don’t you thin

Guy Kawasaki wrote a great post a couple years ago about how to handle a layoff. Well worth the read.

So let’s talk about this. Share a story of how you either managed this uncomfortable situation or what it felt like to be on the receiving end. I’ll bet we can find some branding wisdom among the stories.

Whose job is it?

April 2, 2008

There are few marketing tactics that work better than a referral. Instant credibility. The personal seal of approval. No wonder we all covet them. So, we sit back and wait. After all, our clients love us. Surely they are out there telling everyone they know how good we are. Right?

Wrong.

Let me ask you a couple questions.

1. Do you really expect your clients to remember the full range of services you offer?

2. Is it your client’s job to know how to describe your services to interest new clients?

Remember, it’s not that your clients don’t want to give you a referral, it’s just that it probably doesn’t even occur to them. And even if it does, they need a little help from you to do it well.

So you need to do your part. Ask them. Be sure to frame your question to help your client really hone in on the right kind of prospect. This means you need to do your homework. You need to be able to describe what kind of business is the best fit for you.

Think of the clients that you have the strongest, most mutually beneficial relationship with. What do they have in common? Size? Type of work? Location? Category of business?

You get the idea. It makes sense that other businesses with those same traits would be a natural fit. Create a client profile that really captures your ideal client. Then, see if your clients can help you find a few more.

Once you’ve got your client profile ready, share it with your clients. I’m betting many of them will have someone they’d like to introduce you to.

So, which client are you going to take to lunch this week?

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