Lynnelle Wilson's BOLDVision Blog

When will Marketing be Marketing again?

I'm not alone in predicting that in the very near future we'll be talking "Marketing" again. Not, traditional versus new media marketing; not Web 2.0, Social Media Marketing, Interactive and Inbound Marketing - but Marketing - period.

Like print advertising and press releases; there are certain businesses, markets and objectives that are more conducive to social media than others; however I would not say that is the norm. Most businesses should have a social media presence. For most of us, it's not an either-or discussion.

Social Media is new-ish, but it's quickly becoming a given in any marketing and/or communications effort. It's marketing, and today, we're all in marketing.

The Marketing Lifecycle - 4 Basic Steps

Re: a recent post; David, Tigerbow's co-founder, sent me an email and told me they would be personalizing their communications from now on. Evidently they were afraid someone would take their business idea and were signing their “thank you” emails “Management Team” to keep their identities hidden.

I'm not a technology guru, but I do know marketing and I also know human nature. There will be many people who will try to jump on a good idea and/or profitable business model. It's also one thing to jump on the idea and another to do what is needed to make it successful and profitable.
Marketing today is about:

1. Developing a relationship with your market; and
2. Establishing your reputation as an expert in your field.

How can you accomplish this? Add value.  When you’re an information business, i.e. when your expertise is your business, many are challenged by this concept. It might seem counter-intuitive to give away your expertise, but it is a calculated give away.

Newsletters, white papers, special reports, basic “How-To” articles, eBooks, etc. are all marketing tools businesses use to both establish themselves as experts by sharing their expertise and, therefore offering value to their market at no charge.  How do you determine how much value is enough? The answer is the ever-present…”it depends”.

What is your service line-up; from lowest price to highest? This is the standard marketing funnel approach – or as I rather call it, the marketing lifecycle.

1. Build your relationship and reputation with your market;
2. Have lower price (aka lower perceived risk) options;
3. Trust / loyalty continues to build; and
4. Repeat, higher-priced purchases.

Tigerbow’s marketing lifecycle was stumbling at step #1.  Again, tough to warm up to “management team”. Now that they’re communicating as people, let’s see how their business grows.

What is your business’ marketing lifecycle?  What are you doing to implement?

Case Study for New Media Success - New Prez, Barack

“I’m about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.” …“All of this happened because of you,” the e-mail message said. “We just made history.”  The future president of the United States signed it, simply, “Barack”... and with that message, the post-baby-boomer era began. 

The NYTimes article continues, “The endless “us versus them” battles of the ’60s, over Vietnam, abortion, race and gender, at least for a moment last week, seemed as out-of-touch as a rotary phone.” You can add to that list, traditional versus new media communication. 

Barack’s very campaign, his victorious campaign, is THE case study.  (Of course, now I’m on a first name basis with my future prez.) Here are three key points:

1.    It’s not an either / or. It’s a strategic blend of traditional media and new media. What is THE perfect blend? It depends on who you are trying to reach, what you are trying to say, and what you want to happen as a result of it all.

2.    There was a message that resonated. People adopted the message as their own and a Tribe was born. Barack’s message was no longer a message of a single man; it was the rally of a community. 

3.    Barack used the new media well. He didn’t talk AT, DOWN or BROADCAST to the tribe. Barack spoke TO and WITH us in our language. He didn’t transfer traditional, political-speak, mumbo-jumbo to his Facebook page or Twitter. His messages were informative, frank and relaxed. 

You still think this new media, Facebook, stuff is a fad or only for the kids or techno-geeks?  Think again – real hard.

I'm working on a workbook for small biz newbies to social media, social networking. I hope to have the draft complete this Wed. 11/12. I'm looking for a few generous volunteers to review the content for me. It's a free workbook for you and a big help for me. If you're interested reply to this post & I'll email you. Thanks!

Less is More

I’m reviewing the few health insurance options available to me and trying to choose which is best in terms of cost/coverage benefit. Being in Maine it’s basically Anthem… or Anthem. So, from that perspective it’s an easy choice. (There is a National Assoc. of Small Business health coverage...but I've had two presentations on it and still don't understand it enough to even comment here... sorry Nancy.)

From there, though, it gets crazy. I won’t go into detail but you have the PPO 2500 80/60  versus  PPO 3500 70/50 versus… HSA 11 80/60 …  and on, and on.  It’s not only the co-pay and deductible that differ, but what about the total annual out-of-pocket amount; the total lifetime maximum benefit? There are variations of variations. The choices are staggering and – very confusing – and very expensive.  So, as I said, I’ve been reviewing these options for about 3 weeks or so. I don’t feel much closer to making a decision than I did when I first started.

Which brings me to the topic – choice. Insurance options may not be the best example, but it does bring home a point.  Abundance of choice is supposed to make things better. Increased choice =  increased freedom. Well, there comes a point where that theory reverses. Increased choice = paralysis.

In Barry Schwartz’s book, The Paradox of Choice, one of the reasons for this paralysis phenomena is:

• Regret or anticipation of regret. “What if I make the wrong choice?” With so MANY options it is confusing AND expectations are that much higher. (Did you know that you can go into a Best Buy or Circuit City and construct over 6.5 million different stereo systems?)

As a business owner, why should you care about this?  Because you want your prospects to choose! …you.

Before I started Bold Vision I worked with my then husband in our jewelry store, Porte4. He is the jeweler. I was the business side. He managed the inventory. I was in the back of the house. I would watch time after time, people coming in, trying on rings, oooooh and aahhhhh; spending a lot of time; parading in front of the mirror; …and walk out. There were just too many things to choose from. How could they choose? It was more having to say NO to other things they loved than yes to the one thing. How could they be sure they weren’t making a mistake?

There is a happy medium. There has to be some choice but not so much that it overwhelms. For most of us, our clients look to us for direction. Let’s do our job and give it.  This is where the saying comes in, "A confused mind always says no." ...or no choice.  Make it easy for your prospects to say yes. 

This is the 20 min video of Barry Schwartz's talk on the topic of choice at the 2005 TED conference. Enjoy.

Marketing Opportunity? No, Necessity...

The stock market plunges 700 points. The next day you and I, Joe and Josephine Small Business owner freak out, sell off some of our stocks. We can't stand it any more.

The economy slows; the "R" word is becoming a reality. The media is saturated with the woes of Maine Street. Joe and Josephine begin to hunker down, cut spending and settle in for the storm. The first thing to go? Marketing. 

Just as in the stock marketing when selling was the wrong thing to do, cutting the marketing budget is the wrong thing to do.

Fundamental value in the markets had not gone away, in fact the p/e value (price to earnings) of many companies was cheaper than it has been in over 20 years. Now I'm not an investment expert, but I know enough that emotions can take over the markets on the short term and equilibrium eventually returns. Two trading-days after the 700+ point plunge we saw a near 1000 point gain. Given the proper research, I would argue the 700 point plunge would have actually been a good time to invest.

Taking this same strategy, I (and Harvard Business School - they agree with me...) I would say today is absolutely the wrong time to cut your marketing budget. You may want to realign the investment, but not cut. According to the HBS:

"Instead of cutting... you need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Price elasticity curves are changing. Consumers take more time searching for durable goods and negotiate harder at the point of sale. They are more willing to postpone purchases, trade down, or buy less. Must-have features of yesterday are today's can-live-with-outs. Trusted brands are especially valued and they can still launch new products successfully, but interest in new brands and new categories fades. Conspicuous consumption becomes less prevalent." (Harvard Business School)

The article describes eight factors companies should keep in mind when making their marketing plans for 2008 and 2009:

1. Research the Customer (described above)
2. Focus on Family Values
3. Maintain Marketing Spending
4. Adjust Product Portfolios
5. Support Distributors
6. Adjust Pricing Tactics
7. Stress Market Share
8. Emphasize Core Values

Just as it probably seemed counter intuitive to invest in stocks last Friday, 10/10, it may seem so to invest in marketing now. But it is absolutely the right time.

If you would like a sounding board to discuss your marketing strategies going into year-end and on to 2009 please give me a call.

"Most Annoying Promotion Ever"

This one goes down in the "what the heck were they thinking" column...and this from a multi-billion organization, not Joe Small Business Owner (or Josephine, thank you very much). You hear stories like this and it just makes you realize, again, that no matter the size of the business, individual people are behind running the show.

Just as you and I continually struggle to be creative, to think outside-the-box; or at least outside our competitor's box; to differentiate ourselves and catch our market's ears and eyes, so do the big behemoths. The "being different" envelope continues to get pushed further and further out, which, by itself is good; growth is good. Unfortunately, being different for the sake of being different isn't what it's about. It's about being different AND adding value. You could also primum non nocere, or "First, do no harm".  If your attempt at being different ticks people off it can defeat the purpose, best case, or actually work against you, worst.

Do your homework before launching campaigns. I'll bet Honda wishes they did. Here's the story of the "Most Annoying Promotion Ever".

You know when you're driving a bit too close to the breakdown lane on a highway, or when you approach a toll booth, there are grooves in the pavement that "wake you up" - and a loud, almost a-tonal sound plays off the tires? Well based on this phenomena, Honda paved 1/4 mile of road in Northern, CA with grooves that when driven over would "play" the "The William Tell Overture" aka, "Theme from the Lone Ranger".

Sounds cool (although I would have thought they would have picked something more like the Beatles, "Baby You Can Drive My Car" or "Ticket to Ride"). Unfortunately, the "music" played a little too loudly for the neighborhoods in the vicinity. Complaints came in by the droves and in mid-September Honda had to end the campaign and paved over the road.

I'm not sure how much this cost them in dollars and I'm not sure if there was a positive or negative impact on their brand because of the campaign. You can argue I've written this blog a month after the negative finale of the campaign so the publicity is still coming in, but all-in-all "Did the investment bring a good ROI" would be the question.

I see the moral of this story is two-fold:

1. Don't be afraid to try new things. They don't all work out. Some will and some won't, but don't be afraid to push the envelope.

2. Think outside-the-box when doing your homework as well as thinking up new campaign / promotions. Play devil's advocate - best/worst case scenario when thinking through implementation plans. This isn't to through a wet towel on the ideas, but to get possible challenges out in the open. Keep #1 in mind - "Don't be afraid to try new things" AND be aware of what may be a challenge so you can be prepared.

It's tough for us small business types who have to do IT ALL. Thinking big while thinking small - it's mind bending. But, that's the nature of the beast.

E-Myth and AdviCoach

A couple of years ago The Entrepreneur Source people (a franchise for selling franchises) started another franchise, this one business coaching. Yes, (another coaching company). Originally called Business Advisors Inc. (BAI), the newly branded franchise is named AdviCoach. They've recently announced a partnership with Michael Gerber's E-Myth. You can now get E-Myth coaching through AdviCoach. It sounds and looks good. The site is pretty and 'flashy' and cool, but I'm wondering what, of substance, it all means.

I also wonder what BAI represented before E-Myth. And now, what is different from AdviCoach and E-Myth? Why would you want to ever use an AdviCoach coach over a certified E-Myth coach?  In my Ocular Forum (business owner peer groups) we work through the E-Myth Mastery book and exercises - as well as other brainstorming and annual planning work. I'm not E-Myth "certified" but have read the book and coached through it enough times to be quite competent in the E-Myth way. 

I think when AdviCoach can customize an E-Myth "franchisable" system course for an actual franchise business - they'll have a great "up-sell" to their Entrepreneur Source business; then they've got a real differentiator. Until then, it looks like AdviCoach was grasping for lifelines and they found one with
E-Myth.

"Green"back Marketing

The latest airline complementary service to bite the dust: Jet Blue no longer has complementary pillows and blankets. They are now charging $7 for a pillow/blanket set you can take home. They even tried to put a "green" spin on it, saying the kits are "environmentally friendly".

“Replacing our old, recycled pillows and blankets with this state-of-the-art, high-quality take-home kit is an eco-conscious, health-conscious and customer-conscious decision,” the general manager for product development, Brett Muney, said.   

Oh, puleeeeze!

Granted the community pillows and blankets were scheevy, so why did it take them so long to make the change? This is one green-marketing effort that I'm not buying. 

It's a good lesson in "authenticity", or the lack thereof. I don't doubt that selling the pillow/blanket kit is healthier. I don't doubt that the $7 is a reasonable price (a $5 coupon for Bed & Bath is included in the $7 price tag). I do doubt the "green" issue had anything to do with the decision and I think it a bit cheesy of Jet Blue to even go there.  

It's all about revenue, pure and simple. What will they think of next? Charging more for extra leg room?...Oh wait - they're doing that too.  $10 to $20 more will get a couple more inches of breathing room... but it won't do much to improve the air.  

Business Strategy and "Pitvertising"

A New York Times article on 8/1 is interesting and it highlights a few over-the-top advertising events (read: stunts). What I came away with after reading this is the importance of keeping an eye on your overall business strategy when creating your marketing strategy and tactics . In other words, being 'different' isn't always easy - or good for business.

"Advertisers are being pushed to creative extremes, partly because it’s just so difficult to get consumers’ attention these days,” said Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of Nielsen On line Digital Strategic Services. 

Thumbs Up: Nabisco for Oreo Cookies. A glass elevator in Manhattan that was done up to look like a giant Oreo dunking into a glass of milk. Check out the video on You Tube. It actually made me want an Oreo watching the video, didn't it you? 

Thumbs Down:  Right Guard, Right Guard, which sent people onto London subway trains with tiny video screens in the armpits of their shirts. Excuse me??!!?  ..armpits?  Yes.  Whenever one of the camera-wearing members reached overhead to grab a handhold on the train, a commercial for Right Guard would play in someone’s face.  

Right Guard referred to the subway stunt as “pitvertising.”  I say it's just gross.  Perhaps if the armpit video played music videos,  gave the weather forecast or sports scores.  ....nah.  still gross.

Are they for real?  I guess so because the NYTs article said that despite the criticism, executives at Dial said they were pleased.  Hmmm.  

Dial is the subsidiary of Henkel International that owns Right Guard. My friend Johan who lives in Amsterdam, is on the Henkel executive strategy team. I'll give him a ring on Skype next week to get the story and will let you know his version.

"Pitvertising." I wonder what role that plays in the Dial / Henkel business strategy. I know I don't want to have to be looking at people's armpits, no matter if it is the world's best deodorant or not. 

Perhaps Henkel International is getting into the technology business. 

Shut Up and Market

Marketing sure isn't what it used to be.  It's not only about what you, the company, says and does; it's about what others say about you / your product, service, company to everyone else. So, not only has the formula changed, the sales and marketing formula has become much more complex.

Traditional Marketing
Virtual Marketing
Social Marketing
Arhghghgh!

I continue to investigate AdWords. My site isn't ready, I don't know enough about the program, I don't know enough about the proper keywords, I don't know enough about writing the right ad, etc., etc., etc.

Enough is enough: I'm going public!! By August 15 I will begin my first AdWord campaign.

There.  I've said it.

Doing some surfing and reading about AdWords t I found Howie Jacobson's blog, AskHowie.com. Next step is to get the actual book, but in the meantime I was checking out the entries hoping to find some new, unique message that would seem to unlock the mystery of this different approach to marketing. What I realized, and what is important for everyone to realize is that it's just the approach to marketing that's different. Marketing is still marketing.  It's still about the relationship, the need, the value, etc.

I was so concerned about getting the wording perfect in the ad. Yes, the copywriting is important but here's the best words of advice I have found on the subject. 

"Don't try to be a copywriter. Just explain what you've got and why anyone should care - and then just get out of the way. In other words, don't mess around with mystical, manipulative tactics that are supposed to magically vacuum money out of your prospects' wallets while they grin stupidly in a hypnotic trance.

Just talk to people. Be interesting. Be respectful of their time. Share value. Make your pitch. And shut up."

Enough said.