Strategy Archives - Page 45 of 53 - McLellan Marketing Group

Duh!

February 1, 2007

Long story short…(read about it here or Download adageTurner.pdf here) The Turner Network and a New York marketing firm Interference launched a 10-city outdoor marketing campaign for its film "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theatres" involving small circuit boxes labeled with the characters scattered across the streets of Boston; New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Atlanta; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; San Francisco; and Philadelphia.

The boxes have lights and wires sticking out of them. Can you say "bomb?"

They shut down a huge section of Boston because, again…can you say "bomb scare?" Boston’s bomb squad was scrambling around the city, detonating and removing the devices.

I am sure some people will applaud the disruptive ploy. They’ll point to the fact that we’re all writing about it, it played on major network news and the name of the movie is top of mind.

Frankly — I don’t care. Somewhere along the way, we have to put ethics ahead of getting our clients some buzz.

In our post 9-11 world, this gimmick was just irresponsible. You do not throw a city into panic mode to promote a movie. You do not tie up valuable, life-saving resources on a stunt. You do not earn buzz by creating fear and worry.

And, while others will pass this off as "oh, we had no idea it would create this reaction" I think that’s bull. You would have to be an adult with the IQ of of 13 to not consider that your antics might trigger exactly what happened in Boston.

Today, I am embarrassed for our profession. We look like what we are often accused of being — slick manipulators who don’t care how we get our message out.

For another take, read Ann Handley’s post over at Marketing Profs Daily Fix.

Should your brand be a chameleon?

January 30, 2007

I think one of the saddest elements of blogging is that so many conversations get lost in the comments section. I thought this exchange was worthy of dragging back into the light.

Recently, Adam Steen from Growth Capitalism asked this question:

Lately, I’ve been struggling with branding. I’m a firm believer in developing a brand that someone will recognize and relate too. My problem is that when I describe TCM; I feel the need to brand us differently to different people. What happens to me in many cases (not all!) is that "financial" minds understand the financial lingo and "entrepreneurial" minds understand all other lingo. So, my answer has been to adjust my description accordingly.

I can come up with some positives and negatives to this approach, but I’m curious… Is it okay to give different descriptions of my business? And by changing descriptions… Does that hurt our brand?

To that question, I answered…

The answer is yes. And no.

A brand is not like a jacket…you change weights and styles based on the season. A brand is your heart and soul. It’s why you as a company exist. It’s what makes you unique in the marketplace. It is the core value/s that you are never willing to compromise.

So that is universal and should be the same for everyone. No matter who they are or how they might interact with your organization.

So yes…if you are not staying true to that, you are hurting your brand.

However…how various types of companies interact with your organization is different.

Your view of your brand should never change. You see clearly what your organizational heart and soul is all about.

But…when you look at the company through other companies’ lens — they see you through their own filters. In other words — they see you in terms of how you relate to them.

So the financial types "get you" in terms of their world. The business owners "get you" but in a completely different way than the financial folks do.

So really what you are probably saying is: Here is who we are. This is what you can always count on with us. (that’s the evergreen part) Now, because you are a (fill in the blank) we’d be able to help you…(that’s the customized part, based on the audience.)

Flickr photo courtesy of Agamid.

Let’s get really personal

January 30, 2007

Remember when it was cool when we got a personalized pen in the mail? Or when the magazine came with our name printed on the cover photo?

Personalization used to be noteworthy. But like all marketing tactics, after awhile they go from "wow" to "ho hum." Eventually, we barely notice.

Unless of course, they get it wrong.

Probably like you, I get a lot of those free mailing labels from non-profits seeking a donation. They know my name, address, and if I have sent them money before. No doubt, they know much more than that. They probably have my income range, my giving patterns, whether I have children and what magazines we subscribe to. They probably know what we had for dinner last night.

And yet, even know they know all of that…they sent me labels decorated with flowers sprouting out of watering cans and other fresh bloom images. Hardly the kind of labels most men would find valuable. (I know, I am generalizing. Stay with me for the marketing message.)

Is this a big deal? Not in the grand scheme of things.

But remember, they are competing with the other 3 non-profits that also sent me labels that very same day. All of them are fine charities, doing good work for our world. But like most people, I don’t send money to everyone who asks. So I am going to make a choice.

You see…that’s the reality we live in today. Our products and services are not going up against companies who are incompetent and unable to meet the customers’ needs. The nuances between our offerings and theirs are minuscule. So every detail matters.

It’s not the big things that win or lose business for us. It’s in the details.

These two sets of labels came on the same day. Both from reputable and worthy organizations. Wouldn’t it be a shame if the first charity lost a donation over something as trivial as flowers versus flies?

Marketing Lessons from Walt…the PDF

January 24, 2007

It started innocently enough.

We were on vacation at Disney World.

I write a marketing blog.

I am fascinated by Walt Disney’s imagination and genuis.

Add those factors together and voila — blog posts about the marketing wisdom of Walt. It evolved into an 8-part series that was a blast to think about and write.

Then the marketing whirlwind that is CK posted a very kind review of the series and said "Drew, here’s an epiphany if you’ve not yet thought of it: repackage this content into a PDF for your clients and prospects (and we bloggers) and send them a special-delivery holiday package from Mickey!"

She then went on to suggest a slight variation to the infamous ears to better reflect the content.

Who could resist? So slightly after the holidays, here’s the Marketing Lessons from Walt PDF. I hope you will not only enjoy it, but nod your head once or twice and maybe even make an inspired shift in how you’re marketing.

Download marketingwalt.pdf

Update: CK honors her promise and dons a snappy set of ears and pig tails to promote the PDF.

And Gavin Heaton adds his take on opening your ears and really listening at Marketing Profs Daily Fix.

Thanks to you both for using your voice to share the PDF!

Numbers, numbers and more numbers

January 20, 2007

One of the threads that I found most interesting over at MarketingProfs book club (stored in the know-how exchange) was when CK (the club’s hostess with the mostest) asked what are the biggest hurdles to getting clients/CMOs/companies to embrace citizen (read social) marketing? We’re mulling over the book Citizen Marketers by Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell. It’s an excellent read, by the way.

Anyway, in the thread, one of the reasons we all point to is that we have not yet found a way to demonstrate how social media spills down to the bottom line. It’s hard to measure and validate, we agreed.

I find that a fascinating juxtaposition to the amazing array of ways we can track, count, quantify, justify, enumerate and calculate how our blog’s doing. And of course, in a post by BizInformer, I just found another.

This site, seomoz.org, allows you to plug in your URL and then gives you a ranking of your visibility on the web. What I think is a little different and cool about it is that it shows you all the elements it used to create your ranking and explains a little about how each work.

So in short, we can measure many things. But we haven’t figured out how to measure what matters. I think the real question is this: maybe we just need to stop trying to measure something that is, by its nature, unmeasurable.

I can’t really measure the value of a client’s faith in me, or a customer who will drive an extra 10 minutes to go to their store of choice, or the power of someone giving a specific book to 50 of their clients with a note that says, "You’ve got to read this. It will change how you think."

But I sure know I want a whole lot of it.

Could you be a super hero?

January 17, 2007

We’ve talked quite a bit about branding and the importance of your employees intellectually and emotionally understanding and embracing your organization’s brand.

Part of your brand is without a doubt, how you expect your employees to make decisions, treat clients and conduct themselves with each other. It helps define how you hire, promote, reward and even fire those employees who do or do not live up to that expectation.

We’ve all seen the employee manual version…"We hold these values to be of the highest esteem — integrity, loyalty and a great work ethic."

Blech.

Nothing wrong with the sentiments, but the presentation makes it feel like it could apply to any company. So how do you make it meaningful, tangible and not sound like HR jargon?

Well, at McLellan Marketing Group part of our brand is that we work hard to be our client’s heroes. To that end, we have created the MMG Hero. ( Download MMGhero.pdf )

He is our very tangible way of setting the bar internally. We use it to hold each other accountable, to high five each other for really being a hero and to brainwash the new employees, so they clearly understand the standard we’ve set in the marketplace.

Maybe being a super hero doesn’t fit your brand. But the idea of personalizing your expectations sure should. Maybe it’s a country song. Or an epic poem. Or a letter from a customer who sums up their experience. How could you create a memorable, meaningful way to set the bar for your team?

If you don’t think you are quite up to MMG Hero status but would like to see what kind of super hero you might be, take this quiz.

:60 ticks marketing tip: Close your eyes and say no

January 16, 2007

Grab it fast…it’s gone in about a minute. A :60 ticks marketing tip is 150 words or less…so read it in a minute and implement it in the next!

Close your eyes. Picture a can of Coke. Now in your imagination, make the can green. What happens?

It’s not Coke anymore, is it? The folks at Coca-Cola headquarters are probably so sick of red they could scream — but they know better than to mess with their visual identity.

Remember that next time you want to change your logo’s color, font or other distinguishing features. If a company with the resources of Coke recognizes the cost of messing with their brand — shouldn’t you too?

That’s it…go put it into action! (Or in this case…inaction — leave it alone!)

Take a Taste!

January 15, 2007

I got a friendly note from a reader Jurgen Wolff who enjoyed the Five Tips to Increase Online Book Sales post. He shared a idea that he used with great success.

"Thanks for your blog’s five tips to increase online book sales. I have been using another technique, namely printing a "Writer’s First-Aid Card" for what to do when you get stuck, and offering it free to writing conferences. The card is the size of an index card, and it’s printed both sides (color both sides). It contains a list of tips for what to do if you get stuck.

I wrote to conference organizers and offered to send them as many as they wanted, to include in their welcome pack or to pass out at the conference, or to put on a ‘freebies’ table. Requests have varied from 40 copies to several hundred."

Jurgen clearly understands the philosophy of sharing your expertise as a way of letting potential clients "sample" you.

I think this is one of marketing’s most overlooked and underused tactics. Blogging will change that to a degree — but outside of blogging, how can you give potential customers a chance to take a taste? And if you don’t do it — why the heck not?

2007 — My turn at offering a marketing prediction

January 15, 2007

The last week of December and the early part of January are always awash with predictions. I got a nice note from David Polinchock, pointing me to the excellent series he wrote for Brand Experience Lab. Then, I found Be Excellent’s Top 10 Business Resolutions for 2007.

Both well-written and wise posts. There’s not a bad observation in the bunch.

Want to hear my prediction for 2007?

I don’t think that most businesses will actually do any of it.

I don’t believe that most businesses are brave enough to step out from the shadows of "we’ve always done it that way" to try something new.
I don’t believe that most businesses have the courage to trust their own customers and employees to grow and share the brand.
I don’t even believe that most businesses understand branding enough to take a whack at it.
Sadly, I don’t believe that most businesses will even bother to listen to the blogosphere, let alone engage in it.

Are you brave enough to prove me wrong? I sure hope so.

Flickr photo courtesy of pastelginger.

Baby, it’s cold outside (and inside too!)

January 13, 2007

Winter has finally arrived in Iowa. Unfortunately it has also arrived inside my house. As you can see, it’s a balmy 56 degrees right now. And dropping like a rock.

I’m home alone (everyone else has been farmed out to warmer homes) and I am weighing whether or not I want to suck it up and pay the time and a half or wait until Monday to get it fixed. So I call my furnace repair shop of choice and I explain to the woman who answers that the furnace will not come on and its getting nippy.

I ask her what the difference in cost will be if they come out tonight or I wait until Monday. She politely tells me and points out where the cost variations are the most significant.

Ouch. Okay, I tell her…I think I will wait it out. After all, I have everyone outplaced and I am from Minnesota. We live for this weather. Being this cold will help me stay alert and get some work done, right?

Then, she says, "don’t forget to fire up enough space heaters to protect your pipes from freezing."

Hold up a second! I hadn’t thought about the pipes freezing. There’s only one space heater in the house. My mind does the quick mental math and going out to buy 5-6 more heaters or calling around to our friends and neighbors to borrow a bunch seems like a bad plan.

See what she did? Sneaky. She cared about my situation. She offered good counsel. She didn’t push her service. She didn’t argue with my decision. She actually tried to help me avoid buying from her tonight. And in doing so, she let me figure out that I needed what she was selling.

The very best selling looks a whole lot like helping.

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