marketing

Need some one-on-one direction?

April 19, 2011

Note: In almost five years of blogging, I’ve never done anything like this before.  And I probably won’t do it again for quite awhile after today.  But I keep getting requests and thought this was the best way to serve the need.

……. Is this your opportunity?

Every single week I get dozens of emails from people asking questions about marketing, building their brand and motivating their employees.

I would love to answer them all.  But, that’s all I’d do every day.

So in broad terms, I try to answer some of them on the blog – thinking others may be wondering the same thing.  No, I can’t get specific about someone’s business or precise problem, but it feels like I am helping a little.

As you know, I have a day job – running my agency, traveling to speaking gigs and spending time with my daughter before she heads off to college in August.

Those priorities don’t leave much time to answer all the questions I get via email.  Which is frustrating because I don’t want to say no when someone asks for help. And I love watching that light bulb go on in someone’s eyes.  It’s awesome to be a small part of helping grow someone’s business.

So I’ve got an experiment I’m calling Direction… from Drew.

I want to spend eight weeks intensely mentoring, coaching and consulting with three people who need direction and advice in their business.

These three people will get complete access to me and I’ll support you in every way possible.  We’ll spend time setting goals for your business and working backwards to create a plan that guarantees you’ll reach them.

Every other week for eight weeks we will spend an hour together on Skype discussing the unique aspects of your business and reviewing the work we’ve been doing/discussing via e-mail in between calls. At the end, you will have an action plan customized specifically for you to market your business, build your brand and motivate your employees.

You won’t even have to think.  All you have to do is take action on the ideas we discuss together.  And because we’re doing this over the next 8 weeks – we’ll have time to try some things and test some waters, to see what’s going to get you the biggest bang for your buck.

I’m looking for three people who are committed and willing to invest in themselves to make massive amounts of change in their businesses quickly.

I’ll be there watching over your shoulder and guiding you as long as you’re willing to take action.

Interested? Click on this link and I’ll tell you how to apply.

More

Social media cheat sheet 2011

April 13, 2011

Social Media Cheat Sheet 2011

As I continue to travel the country, teaching people how to integrate social media into their marketing efforts — the most common question asked is:  Which social media tool/site is the best?

And of course, my answer is an unequivocal — it depends.  The crowds sure love that!

Like any marketing tactic — the effectiveness of it is based on what you’re trying to accomplish.  Social media is no different.  Which is why, about a year ago, I was so happy  to share with you a cheat sheet that ranked different social media tools as good, okay, or bad…based on the goals you had.  (Created by CMO.com).

The goals were/remain:

• Customer communication
• Brand Exposure
• Traffic to your site
• SEO

The social media cheat sheet has been updated.  I think you’ll find it very valuable as you access where you should spend your social media resources (time, money, attention) in the coming year.

You can download a full sized PDF by clicking here.

More

Someone has to hate your brand

April 10, 2011

A brand…if it is going to be effective, has to be bold.  It has to stand for something.  It has to plant a flag into the ground and stake out its territory.  A brand cannot be neutral.

Your brand loyalists will love you. But, there’s no ying without the yang. In other words, if some love you, others will hate you.  You can’t be everything to everyone and be a strong brand.

Which is of course, why we have so many “mushy middle” brands — companies who are afraid to take a stand, so they try to be everything to everyone.  Or they try to be a liger brand…a little bit of everything all mashed together.  At McLellan Marketing — we tell clients, be bold or go home!

No graphic states this more eloquently than Kathy Sierra’s visual below.

Love, love this explanation of why your brand can’t live in what we call the mushy middle!

 

Which is why I *love* the new Miracle Whip campaign.  They’re basically calling us out — and saying, you either love it or hate it.  Declare which side you’re on.  They totally get that some people absolutely hate their product.  And they’re fanning those flames.  Why?  To get the people who love their product to take a stand.

Check out their current TV spot and enjoy smart branding.  But then come back… because of course, we need to talk about your brand.

 

 

Okay — time to look at your own brand.  Can you define who hates you or at least who should?  And don’t get all “people who don’t want quality” should hate us.  Lame.

Seriously — it’s time you step out of the mushy middle and be brave enough to take a stand.

By the way — check out all of these stories, stats and results from Kraft’s gamble on the Miracle Whip brand.  Do you think they would have generated this kind of buzz if they did a mushy middle “everyone loves us” campaign?

Related articles

• What Camp Are You In? The Mayo Camp Or Miracle Whip Camp? (adpulp.com)
• Miracle Whip on YouTube: Haters Gonna Hate (clickz.com)
• Kraft’s ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ campaign whips up buzz about Miracle Whip (canada.com)
• Jersey Shore’s Pauly D Disses Miracle Whip in Ad [VIDEO] (mashable.com)
• Miracle Whip ads: Love them or hate them? (adweek.blogs.com)
• Harvard Business: Miracle Whip, Marmite, and the Love-It-or-Hate-It Brand (blogs.hbr.org)
• Playing The Spread (forbes.com)

More

Advice for finding that first marketing job

April 6, 2011

How to find that first job

It’s spring time, which means the robins, tree buds and soon to be college graduates are all popping up everywhere.

I remember how tough it was to find that first job.  Everyone wanted you to have experience but no one wanted to give you that first job…so you’d get some experience!

I am often asked by college students how they can compete in a sea of “I did an internship, I got good grades, my parents are pressuring me to find a job” applicants out there.

So…for all you soon to be and recent grads — here’s my counsel (from the MMG website).

If I were you and I wanted to snare a job at MMG, here are some of the things I would and wouldn’t do. (and naturally, this applies for any job, just substitute the company specifics.  And, I’d replicate this for the 3-5 places you really, really want to work.)

I would:

• Read the MMG website carefully, to get a sense of culture and tone.  Be sure this sounds like a good fit for you.  I know you need a job — but your first job is so important.  You’ll meet your first mentor there.  Or not.
• Sign up to receive MMG’s weekly e-newsletter, the Marketing Minute.
• Stay smart — keep reading advertising, marketing and social media blogs, magazines etc.  You’re going to do this for your entire life — so you’d better get in the habit now.
• Follow MMG on their Facebook page and Twitter.
• Read Drew’s blog and if I really want to stand out from the pack, I would subscribe (via e-mail or RSS reader) and within a week, make an insightful, articulate comment on a post.
• Ask my friends, contacts etc. if anyone knows anyone at MMG who could make an introduction.
• Be very mindful that my cover letter/resume are the biggest demonstration of whether or not I get marketing.  I would ask myself…if I were a product and MMG was the target audience…how would I sell me?  How would I make myself different from all the other applicants?
• Download and read “Giving College Grads a Fighting Chance.”
• If I have a blog, I’d link to Drew’s because I know he’ll check to see who I am.
• Know that they’re going to check my Twitter, MySpace, Facebook etc. pages.  So if they need cleaning up, I’d clean them up.
• If I had no relevant job experience, I would look at the job experience I did have and figure out what elements of marketing were present there.
• Join the local social media club, ad club, marketing club.  Whichever is more relevant to what you love to do and your market.  But start getting connected, if you haven’t already.
• If I didn’t get the job or they didn’t have any openings at the moment, but still think this is the place for me…I would stay engaged.  I would keep reading/commenting on the blog.  I’d drop them a note every month or so.  I would become someone they notice/know.

I would not:

• Send a cover letter or resume that even slightly reads like everyone else’s.
• Rely on any cover letter/resume book. I would throw those away and refer back to my marketing text books.
• Under any circumstances tout my ability to work with people (or that I like them) as a strength or skill.
• Send anything that a pair (or two) of fresh eyes didn’t proof.  A typo will get me tossed right into the “no way” pile.
• Hit send or lick the envelope until I checked and double checked the spelling of the agency, the agency owner’s name and anything else (like their clients) that I might reference.  (see bullet point above)
• Try to BS my way in.  Because I should expect that MMG will smell that a mile away and ask about it until I admit that I sent the same “I believe your agency is perfect for me” cover letter to 12 agencies.
• Humiliate myself. I would double check that I put the right cover letter/resume in the right envelope.  (I’d hate to be the one who makes that mistake, but it has happened.)
• If I really wanted to work there, I wouldn’t give up.  I wouldn’t be a stalker, but I would keep at it.  I would look for ways to help them, even before I got a job there.  Because I would believe that I am going to work there eventually and begin behaving like I already do.

You don’t have to do any of this.  It’s your job hunt, after all.

But remember, at MMG (and most smart businesses) we hire as much for “culture fit” as we do for competency.  We can teach you marketing.  But we can’t teach you to be a team player.  Or curious.  Or passionate about our work & our clients.   We’re not going to force you to be someone who believes in giving  back to the community.

So along with your work and academic achievements, show us that stuff.  And show us that you get why that matters.   Then, we have something to talk about.

Your job is pretty straight-forward.  If you’re smart and creative enough to sell us you, we know you can help our clients.

Good luck!

 

More

Is your mobile app about you or about me?

March 30, 2011

It seems like just about everyone is jumping onto the mobile app (iPhone, Droid, Blackberry) wagon these days.  Most apps fall into one of four categories:

• They’re functional/useful (they help you do something you want to do)
• They’re about access/ease (they help you get stuff/information you need)
• They’re entertaining (they amuse us, keep us busy, are funny)
• They’re lame (they couldn’t think how to fit into one of the above, so they’re sort of dumb)

For many brands, they’re rushing to be there but have no idea why.  (which leads to lame apps like Coke’s* — where you you tip it back and it’s like your drinking a Coke – sound effects and all)

It’s much easier to create a functional or get me access type app.  You’re Walgreen’s and you let me renew my prescriptions.  You’re DropBox and you let me access my files. But to be genuinely entertaining AND drive home your brand message?  Now that’s impressive.

See the difference?  Coke’s app is about them and how refreshing they are.  Walgreen’s and DropBox are about the user and what they want/need.

That’s why I am applauding Sealy’s app called the In Bed Tagger.  (Keep in mind that their tagline is: Whatever you do in bed, Sealy supports it.)  Watch this brief video to see their app in action.

 

They got it.  An app isn’t a sales gimmick or supposed to be a digital brochure.  And it’s not about them.  Their app is all about the user and having some fun with the old fortune cookie game.  By focusing their app on us… it tells us a great deal about them.

 

*In fairness, I will say Coke’s other apps, like their snowglobe app, are much more about the user and therefore…more fun and more like the brand I know and love.

 

More

Your logo is a business tool

March 28, 2011

Your logo is a tool, not art

We were sitting in the conference room the other day with a new client.  He’s been in business for many years and is very successful.  He’s ready to reallyramp up his marketing and tackle some lofty goals.

And we’re ready to help. (After all, that’s what we do)

He went on to tell us that he really doesn’t like his logo.  It doesn’t tell his company’s story very well, it’s a little expected and in his opinion, it isn’t very attractive.  So the first project he’d like us to launch is a logo re-design.

I took a deep breath and told him no.

Now… granted I said it with more words…and nicer.  But basically I said this:

• No logo is going to tell the whole story of your business
• You have over a decade of equity in your current logo
• Your current logo isn’t costing you any customers or any money (no one’s not choosing you because of your logo)
• Your current logo is fine.  It’s not perfect and we’d be able to come up with something better.  But not so much better that it will line your pockets.
• Remember a logo cost is far beyond just the cost of designing a new logo.  There are legal costs to register it, you have to re-print all of your business cards, letterhead, etc., your staff’s uniforms would need to be changed and your trucks would need to be re-vinyled.  Then, there’s building signage etc, etc. etc.

I summed it up with… if the only reason you want to change your logo is because you don’t like it, it’s not a good enough reason.  It’s not a piece of art you choose to put in your home, it is a business tool and your current logo is doing the job adequately.

I also told him, it was his company.  And if he hated the logo that much and he gritted his teeth every day when he saw it and it haunted him in his dreams — we’d design him a new logo.  But that if it was my money — I wouldn’t spend it there.

Do not get me wrong.  A logo is a very important part of your marketing effort.  Most logos suck and should be changed.  But his didn’t.  And it shouldn’t be changed for the subjective reason of his personal taste.

Your logo is a business tool.  If it’s doing a good job — leave it be.

 

More

Is retro marketing the way to sell?

March 16, 2011

The retro Mountain Dew can

It makes some sense.  How do you appeal the the 75+ million baby boomers?  You help them take a trip down memory lane by giving your product a retro make-over.

I saw this Mountain Dew can on the shelf a month ago and immediately noticed how blatant they were in their efforts.  They’re calling it a throwback and making no apologies.

An added bonus — teens think retro is cool too.  With one packaging shift, this trend has captured the two buying groups with the most disposable income.  Teens and boomers.  Pretty smart.

And it’s not just a gimmick.  It’s a smart sales strategy. Pepsico is reporting that after a few months, the retro can have added one share point to sales, which equates to about $220 million in annual sales.  (They’ve also released a retro Pepsi can but my Coke preference precludes me from putting the other cola’s picture on my blog!)

It’s not just food products who are jumping on this retro bandwagon.  Nike launched the Air Jordan retro sneakers in February, Disney put huge dollars behind their Tron sequel and look at how many VW beetles you see on the road.

Last month, we had a lively conversation about what sells better — pointing to the past or the future.  How do you think the idea of retro fits into that mixture?

More

Stellar QR codes example – WorldPark

March 13, 2011

I’ve been writing about and using QR codes quite a bit of late.  I think the potential of this technology is staggering and we’ve only begun to imagine what is possible.

Take a look at what New York City’s Central Park did last Arbor Day and begin to ask yourself… how could QR codes serve my customers, my employees and my business’ growth.  I suspect you’ll find some pretty fascinating answers.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OCyfV_k2_g&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

If you’re wondering who in the world is actually scanning QR codes and using the links — check out this infographic.

Related articles

• 21 Innovative QR Codes – From Hi-Tech Graves to Tortilla QR Codes (TrendHunter.com) (trendhunter.com)
• Who’s scanning all these QR codes? [infographic] (holykaw.alltop.com)
• How to Create QR Codes and Share Them (lockergnome.com)

More

Why would you want to enchant someone?

March 11, 2011

Guy Kawasaki’s enchanting new book

As you know, I talk about creating love affairs with your customers a lot here on the blog.  Why do I think it’s so critical?  Let’s look at how people behave when they’re in the bloom of a new love.

• They find the other person intoxicating — they crave more.
• They can’t help themselves.  They talk about their new love all the time.  To everyone and anyone who will listen.
• They are very forgiving of missteps or mistakes.
• They want to be good and helpful to their new love — what matters to that person suddenly matters to them as well.

Now translate that back to a customer, donor, employee, volunteer, boss or vendor.  What organization wouldn’t want those very important people to feel that way towards them?

And keep in mind…this isn’t a one way street.  You have to genuinely treat them the same way.  Or the love is very short lived. At McLellan Marketing Group, we call it creating a love affair.  Guy Kawasaki calls it being Enchanting* in his new book of the same title.  Potato, potato. (You did read those two words differently, right?)

The book’s basic premise is this:  “enchantment is not about manipulating people.  It transforms situations and relationships. It converts hostility into civility and civility into affinity.  It changes skeptics and cynics into believers and the undecided into the loyal.”

Again I ask the same question — what organization wouldn’t want to be able to inspire and instill that spirit?

But as you know, I’m not into books that get us fired up to do/be something without telling us how.  (The former is just mean teasing)  Guy’s books pushes past the why and gets to the how before page 10.  In fact, chapters 2-12 all start with the word “how.”  That’s the sign of a book I can use.

You really need to read this book. (You can buy it by clicking here*) With a note pad and pen at hand, because you’re going to get a lot of fresh ideas that you want to capture.

You can also test your own “realistic enchantment aptitude” and if you want an awesome sneak preview…check out this infographic that Guy prepared.

*This is an Amazon affiliate link.  While I am confessing, I should also tell you that Guy sent me a copy of the book for free and I swore twice yesterday.  And I just lied.  I really swore three times.

More

Fascinating Facebook infographic

March 9, 2011

I think there are few on this planet who don’t recognize that the Facebook phenomenon is staggering in its reach and sheer volume of people.  (One guy just named his baby Facebook!) But it’s hard to not gape at some of these numbers (from SocialHype and OnlineSchools.org) These user statistics are more social proof that this beast is not a fad.

Hard to imagine that there’s not a smart way for every single business to use this tool.  Are you using it?

Via: Online Schools

More