Branding + Marketing

Step 3: Valid Offer

2011-10-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

Step 3 is very simple and straightforward. If you don’t have a valid offer, you are simply “branding”.

I remember when I first got into the business that the word “branding” had not been conscripted into the jargon of Madison Avenue. Back then what we now refer to as branding was called “Institutional Advertising”. You know the commercials that you used to hear from banks, Proctor and Gamble products and Coca Cola. It wasn’t until the early 80’s that the Wizards of Madison Avenue perfected the concept of “Branding”. It was much sexier than “Institutional Advertising”. Don’t you think?
I actually think, not having been there to actually experience it, that P&G invented the concept of brand development. But that’s another discussion.

There was not really a name for the “other” commercials; you know the ones that had an offer of some type. But as a kid I remember watching TV during the day with my Grandmother and seeing a commercial for Breeze laundry detergent. It was odd, because it did not talk about how clean it would get your clothes, but the fact that in every box of Breeze, there was a towel. From washcloths, to hand towels to bath towels, you could get them all- depending upon the size box you bought. Now if you had one of these towels today, you’d throw them away as threadbare. They were thin and cheap, but they were free. And if you took a bath at my Mamaw’s house, this is what you used.

That is probably my earliest recollection of some kind of “offer” or what we refer to as response-based advertising.

Use your ad to create differentiation with your product– demonstrate its superior features and explain the benefits those features deliver. Branding.

Ad an offer – this week you’ll receive a free engineer’s report . . . $50 off every service call, Free Delivery, you get the idea. Response based advertising with a real time limit to stimulate your customer to action.

There are those that say all you need is branding. I think for Corporate America, they might be right – Coca Cola, Proctor and Gamble. Deep pockets. But for the rest of us, and for a large part of Corporate America, (Home Depot, Chick-fil-a, etc.) we need to sell something – TODAY! Now Home Depot can afford TV, Radio, Newspaper, Outdoor, Direct Mail, Web Marketing, Social and probably some forms of advertising that I haven’t even thought about. And their deep pockets allow them the luxury of using a combination of branding messages and response-based offers in a very effective media mix.

Would that we all had those kind of budgets.

So for the rest of us, let’s just understand that we need a “Valid Offer” in our ads. That’s it. Nothing more.

In our next blog, we’ll discuss the concept of Compelling Creative.

Fantastic Ad Friday

2011-10-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

Fantastic Ad Friday

2011-09-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Fantastic Ad Friday

2011-09-23T13:44:00.000-07:00

Fantastic Ad Friday

2011-09-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

Step Two: The Correct Target

2011-06-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

{Read Step One here}

Who are you advertising to? Who is your core consumer? Do you know? Or do you think you know?

Most entrepreneurs have a handle on these questions – kind of. The answers are key to the success of any advertising program. For the purpose of this blog, I want to talk about what defines a customer – a heavy-user if you will.

We’ll begin with the premise that narrow is better. When we meet with clients and get to this part of our creative problem solving process, many times we’ll get answers like - we want to reach homeowners: or it’s women. That’s a great place to start, but what we know is that every demographic model can be further divided into unique consumer groups. The trick is to define these as narrowly as practical and then prioritize.

Let me demonstrate. My target is Adults 25-54.

Oh, is it really? So you want to reach lower income, non-English speaking adults 25-54 that live . . . you get the idea. The answer is usually no.

So here is what Adults 25-54 can look like:

Men, Women, 25-34. 35-44. 45-54, White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, HHI of $50k, $75k, $100k, $150k, over $200k, single, married, own home, rent, blue collar, white collar, professional, executive, drive a Honda, drive a Ford F150, live in Richardson, Live in Ft. Worth . . . and the list goes on.

You can see that I began with the demographic information, and that is important. However, everything that came after that is probably more important. It’s easy to discern the age of consumers. But is important to define the qualitative, or lifestyle composite of your target. The more specific you can become, the more successful you will be.

With a clear and vivid picture of your correct target(s), and an accurate analysis of your sales, by category, it makes it very easy to prioritize. And at the end of the day, we recommend that you invest 100% of your advertising budget against your highest priority target: that is until we have achieved our reach and frequency objectives against the target with a compelling message that matches their motivation. When we have achieved that objective, then and only then will we move to the second “in order of importance” target. Gone are the days of “broadcasting” a message. We’ll never return to the halcyon days of the 50’s consumer revolution that was spawned by the end of WWII and the Baby Boomers. Today we communicate instantly with our peers and personal recommendations (peer to peer) – of which you have no control – are more powerful than ever. Today’s consumers want short, concise bits of information that answer THEIR questions. They really don’t care about what you are selling or what service you are providing. More than ever, they care about their very narrow self-interest and sought after benefits.

And speaking of a demographic, let’s look back at an demographic rage that spans thirty years. That’s my dad and me. And if you think that we’re thinking the same and responding the same to your messaging, you would be wrong. I’m on Facebook, Twitter and the Internet daily. He plays Free Cell on the computer. I have a smart phone; he has an eight-year-old Nokia cell phone. I drive an Acura MDX. He drives a Cadillac DTS. I like loud music and rock concerts. He likes Country Western and the Gaithers. And it’s been that way for years.

So at the end of the day, narrowly define your demographic and then prioritize it. We recommend that you look at target age then consider 5 years on either side. So if your core consumer is a 39-year-old woman, then we’ll target women 34 to 44. See how easy that was. Don’t forget the important part though:

In addition to being 39, she is also white, married, college educated, with 2.8 kids, lives in a 2,500 square foot house in the 'burbs, drives a Toyota Sienna Mini Van, is a school teacher and teaches Sunday School at her church and with her family, shops with coupons and goes to Destin Florida every year for family vacation where they buy sea shells and hermit crabs for souvenirs.

Or just maybe, she is 39, black, single, a lawyer, with her own practice – sues Insurance Companies for personal injury, drives a Maseratti, lives in the W downtown, collects fine wine, goes to church when she can and travels alone to a different country every year for vacation where the only "souvenirs" she obtains are rest and relaxation.

And I’m just getting started…

If you haven’t developed this kind of ACCURATE profile for your “multiple-targets” then prioritized them…do it today. Then execute your marketing and advertising strategies against them, in priority order, with discipline and fervor.

Next week, we’ll learn how to make your advertising activate. Hmmmm….

Fantastic Ad Friday

2011-06-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

Flash mobs seem to be making an appearance everywhere these days. From Apple stores to appearances on The Bachelorette, this is certainly a marketing "buzzword" and an entertaining way to get attention.

This humorous spot pokes fun at the phenomenon by urging you to switch to AT&T so you can always be in the loop:

Fantastic Ad Friday

2011-05-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

I love how this spot plays off the emotional bond that we tend to form to our cars. It's interesting how we often tie years worth of memories with the vehicles that were a part of our lives at that time.

I also enjoyed the personification of the car by relating it back to this guy's "first (human) love":

Step One: A Valid Product

2011-05-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

What is the fastest way to put a company with a bad product out of business? This is not a trick question, but one that we often ask at the beginning of a strategy session with our clients. The answers elicited are interesting, all over the board and usually wrong. The fastest way to put a company with a bad product out of business is with a GREAT advertising program.

Think about it… especially in this time of horizontal communication - peer-to-peer. You dump a bad movie on the market and it is DOA (think Gigli - the movie - opened to a huge box office on Thursday night and was dead by Sunday). That is the power of peer-to-peer communication.

So, “What is a valid product?” While that may seem like a silly question, it is the most important question and should be asked at the beginning of your marketing process. When you think about it, there have been thousands of products launched that failed and billions of dollars lost because of the fit and timeliness of their product in relationship to the marketplace.

I want to demonstrate what I think is one of the best examples of a product that was not valid - at least when it was originally introduced. It may be valid today, but was, I think, launched way before its time; hence, my contention is that it was not a valid product. Now this is personal story that I also think is very funny.

For those of you old enough to remember this… enjoy. For those who aren't old enough to remember this time of explosive consumerism, well, imagine the story as it relates to your life and time.

It was Christmas 1975 and I'd been married to my beautiful wife (now of 35 years) since June. Our little apartment was adorned with all form of "eclectic" Christmas decorations. We had a nice big live Blue Spruce Christmas tree that practically filled our entire living room. I was quite certain that this was going to be the best Christmas since I got my big 20-inch Schwinn Deluxe bicycle when I was eight. Laden with the naïveté of a 23-year old newlywed and empowered by a MasterCard with a $500 credit limit, I set about to select the "perfect gift" for my beautiful future mother of my children.

We were so inexperienced. Looking back, neither of us had ever really lived on our own. We both had moved from our parent’s homes to college dorms. And maybe a parent-subsidized apartment after that. Not a lot of life experience there. It is that youthful inexperience that makes this story relevant as it relates to the relationship between marketing, advertising and a valid product. At least it does for me.

So join me on my first Christmas shopping excursion as a married man, and as I walk through the big double doors of this huge new store in our neighborhood called Target. On I-10 at Bunker Hill, this store was unlike anything that we’d ever really seen. It wasn’t really a department store - it was different from any store that we’d ever seen before. Using display tactics co-opted from grocery stores, the smart people at Target used the area right inside the front door to display a huge stack of this years “must have” gift. Yes, it was, As Seen On TV, and I like millions of other men, young and old, fell victim to the allure.

All in the name of making my wife a happy woman, not being able to afford diamonds or jewelry at this point in my life of 6 months as a married man, I was persuaded (by advertising) to make the near fatal mistake of buying a very personal gift for my wife with an electrical cord attached to it. Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!

Enthralled with my luck that I found this must-have heavily advertised product, I quickly snatched up the first one I could get my hands on and put it in my shopping cart (see I told you this store was different – stores that sold clothes, small appliances, auto parts, sporting goods, toys and other such things did not use shopping carts!). As I began to look around, virtually every man in Target had this year’s version of the “Pet Rock” in his possession. I was proud and the validity of my purchase was reinforced by other dumb men.

After checking out, I quickly hid the gift in my trunk. No way I was going to let her find out what she was getting. Boy was she going to be surprised. I would later wrap it at my office, which was followed by a strutting production of bringing “The Gift” home and placing it under the tree. This ritual might have been akin to the mating dance of a male peacock… quite dramatic. Has anyone ever heard the old saying that “Pride goeth before a fall”? It was during this time that I learned about the false and fleeting “joy of giving”. All of my joy and glee would soon be dashed by the sheer horror that was about to befall my newly established household.

Fast-forward to Christmas morning, our first together as husband and wife. All the gifts have been loaded into the trunk of the car and we made the trek to her father’s house where my then “skeptical of me” brother-in-law, wife’s sister, father and and variety of other family, friends and people whom I barely knew had gathered. The celebration began. There were lots of presents, but each person got that special present. When it came time to present my bride with her special present, I proudly presented it to her and anxiously waited as she opened it. Out of the box, all of the men nodded their approval of my fine selection. The women actually seemed impressed that I was able to snag the “gift of the year”, and my wife, although not impressed that there was an electrical cord attached, seemed to like it, (seemed – actually, I now believe that she was very polite). Whew!

It wasn’t until we returned home that I discovered the horror of giving my young bride a high speed electrical motor with a high-tinsel stainless steel coiled spring attached that turned at approximately 20,000 rpms. Yes, that’s right, I gave her an Epilady. That unique little, high tech little “hand-tool” designed to replace shaving by RIPPING YOUR HAIR OUT! Quietly, (that was later punctured by the sound of a man screaming), one Saturday morning I learned why my wife not only hated the gift I had given her, but wanted to share the joy of Epilady with me…just so I would have a full appreciation of her idea of a bad gift. It’s true; I woke up to the joy of a fully functioning Epilady “Eping” the hair right out of my leg.

That afternoon, I gingerly walked back in to our new Target, where apparently along with millions of other men, I returned my wife’s gift for a full refund, a gift certificate and a bouquet of “forgive-me” flowers.

I think it was March that I read that the company that manufactured Epilady was going out of business.

So how do you go from the “next big thing” to out of business inside of a year? With a poorly researched and positioned product and a GREAT advertising program.

You see, Epilady was never marketed to women. It was marketed to men. And it worked. The ads featured racy, beautiful women cooing about how smooth and perfect their legs were. How “Epi-hair removal” needed much less maintenance than shaving or that nasty chemical called Nair. I mean after all, what man didn’t want to never again feel the prickly stubble of our wives “covered in stockings” legs. Yes, those stockings did cover several days’ growth with beautiful nylon.

So, back to the marketing part of this. How important is a valid product? Very important. The failure to properly test the acceptance of this product against its target consumer was a huge mistake. The success of an advertising program targeted to the Neanderthal instincts of men, promising all the joys and benefits that we dream of when we give our lovely mates that “perfect gift” was amazing. The backlash, product return rate and eventual bankruptcy of the company are evidence that a valid product does in fact matter. I believe that the Epilady fulfilled its promise of effective hair removal. I also believe that it was a product well before it’s time. As I recall, there were no businesses providing, or real demand for, the services of waxing, laser hair removal or any other such self-indulgent procedures.

Marketing touches every phase of your company. From the way you answer your phone to how you manage your product in the market. If your goal is to be in business for the long haul, you will be well served to make certain that your product is conceived and created to satisfy the needs and ideals of your target... oh, and you better know who your real target is, (or is that overstating the obvious?).

If your goal is to be a hit-and-run company, (and there are many out there today), then employ the Epilady model. Just remember to close your doors, go out of business and change your name before you are exposed. On the other hand, if you hope to be around and prosperous five years from now, please refer to Step 1.

Step 1. Make certain that you have a VALID PRODUCT – from your customers’ point of view.

Next month, Step 2. Exactly who is my target (correct) consumer?

Fantastic Ad Friday

2011-04-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

What can I say? I love everything about this:

The emotional appeal.
The simplicity of the production.
The humanization of a "tech" company.
The fact that they took something as simple and mundane as email and completely turned the way we think about it on its side.

Hats off to Google- this is one of the best ads I've seen in a very long time.

Fantastic Ad Friday

2011-04-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

Much of our craft is about the words we choose. Words are powerful. Choose yours carefully. Watch this video and understand the impact. It's good

Much of our success in our our craft is about the words we choose and how we say them. Words are powerful in advertising. Choose carefully. Pay attention to the order and to the inflection. Not only do the words make a difference, but how you say them can create an entirely different meaning. We like this little ad we found on YouTube. Enjoy. Experience the impact of a GREAT ad!

Exactly what is a valid product?

2011-04-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

What is a valid product might seem like a silly question. The fact is, when you think about it there have been thousands of products launched that failed and billions of dollars lost because of the the fit and timeliness of their product in relationship to the marketplace.

I want to demonstrate what I think is one of the best examples of a product that may be valid today, but was originally launched way before it's time . . . hence, my contention is that it was not a valid product. Now this is personal and I also think very funny.

For those of you old enough to remember this, enjoy. For those who aren't old enough to remember this year, well imagine the story as it relates to your time.

It was Christmas 1975 and I'd been married to my beautiful wife (now of 35 years) since June. Our little apartment was adorned with all form of "eclectic" Christmas decorations. It was full of things that we had from our youth, things we made and things that we bought but probably could not afford. We had a nice big live Blue Spruce Christmas tree that practically filled our entire living room. That tree coupled with a our first Dachshund puppy created some interesting events, including turning the tree over and a "complete un-decorating of our beautiful tree one ornament and string of lights at a time while we were at work. When we came home from work to discover the mess with the tree, the little dog, obviously thinking (this is a very large assumption - that puppies ever think about anything), that she had committed an act of such proportion that it might border on unpardonable, was meekly peeking around the bedroom door. Upon seeing our shock and awe, she promptly ran under the bed. Fortunately for all, I was actually slim enough back then to still be able to crawl under the bed to retrieve her. It was one of those funny experiences we all have as newlyweds that has absolutely nothing to do with marketing. I just felt like telling the story.

It was with total enthusiasm and anticipation that I approached this Christmas. I was quite certain that this was going to be the best Christmas ever, since I got my big 20 inch Schwinn Deluxe bicycle when I was eight. Laden with the naivete of a 23 year old newlywed "man-brain" and empowered by a MasterCard with at $500 credit limit I set about to select the "perfect gift" for my beautiful future mother of my children.

We were so inexperienced. Looking back, neither of us had ever really lived on our own. We both had moved from our parents homes to college dorms. Through those years

Fantastic Ad Friday

2011-04-15T13:46:00.000-07:00

We tell our clients that whenever possible, give a little back to their audience. If you can give them a laugh or two while describing your product, you have a better shot at staying in their memory. I think All State does a great job of this with this series of commercials. Insurance is a tough category to make entertaining, but these achieve that while still being relevant and informative.

Fantastic Ad Friday

2011-04-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

I chose this spot for it's huge viral success. We tell our clients that one of the five keys to a solid advertising plan is compelling production. To us, compelling production is production that activates. It's doesn't have to win an Addy or any other award- if it gets people to call our clients' businesses or log on to their website, it works.

The difference between our clients and Old Spice is that we work in direct response world. All of our clients keep very detailed metrics aka "hash marks on the wall". Old Spice isn't necessarily trying to get you to visit their website right this second, but they do hope that you remember them the next time you are in the deodorant aisle at your local drugstore. As quirky as these spots are, you can't help but agree that they are memorable if anything.

Quirky has also helped Old Spice get over 31 million views on YouTube. Not too shabby. I've seen chatter over these spots in various social outlets, including blogs and Twitter. Need further proof of the viral success of this campaign?

{photo credit}

Yes, someone actually put the Old Spice guy on a cake.

Whose Guess Is Right?

2011-03-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

"An economist's guess is liable to be as good as anybody else's."
-Will Rogers

Will Rogers, famous for his quips, quotes and humorous anecdotes about our reactions and responses to life, gives an interesting perspective. In his observations, there is always a nugget of truth. The quote from above is lifted and paraphrased from the following. Here is the complete and accurate statement, taken from a radio broadcast in May 26, 1935:

“I would never make an economist in the world. An economist is a man that can tell you anything about – he’ll tell you what can happen under any given conditions, and his guess is liable to be just as good as anybody else’s too.” (To all of you editors and proof readers out there – I know the quote is grammatically incorrect, but it’s a quote).

Unfortunately, when it comes to advertising, the aforementioned quip might well be in play for you. Whose “guess” are you making decisions based on? Each representative from each industry and specific media has a story. Most of them are “rooted” in observational truth. So who are you to believe?

Does TV work? What about direct mail? How can I get radio to make my phone ring? You know, everyone I know is advertising on the Internet…isn’t that where I should be spending my money? The newspaper still gives me the most bang for my buck! I like billboards... everyone sees them... and on and on ad-nauseam!

Observationally, it occurs to me that many people selling advertising are much more interested in how much and how soon they can sell you something than they are interested in how much return it is going to generate for you. In advertising, the “cookie cutter approach” has been taken to an all-new level. Very few representatives have been properly trained in their own medium.

Over the years, I’ve seen and oft times been a part of many different successful programs. Unfortunately, I’ve observed many that failed – outright – or at the very least did not meet the expectations of the client.

You hear people talk about branding and throw the word marketing around like a hot potato. Try this. Next time an advertising person goes down that path with you, ask them to give you a definition of marketing. Be prepared, you may have to perform the Heimlich as they choke on their words.

So where’s the good news? While it is true that advertising is half art and half science, there are some principles that you can apply and follow that will significantly improve the performance of your efforts.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to demystify the advertising game for you and give you some relevant insight and solid information that will help you improve the performance of your marketing and advertising program.

Here is the preview of what is to come. Stay tuned...

5 keys to success in advertising.

1. Valid Product

2. Correct Target

3. An offer

4. Compelling Production

5. Ahhh . . . I’m going to hold out on #5.

Fantastic Ad Friday

2011-03-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

For this week's Fantastic Ad Friday I wanted to give "thumbs up" to my favorite commercial from the 2011 Super Bowl. It was such a simple ad compared to some of the intricate, expensive spots that you see from many advertisers. With the legendary costs associated with Super Bowl spot buys, it's no wonder many companies think they have to have the big-budget commercial to go with their big-budget placement, but this just proves that sometimes, less is more.

Fantastic Ad Friday - Day of Silence

2011-03-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

{Donate here.}

Introducing: Fantastic Ad Friday!

2011-03-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

We are always on the lookout for intriguing advertising messages to inspire us (and occasionally make us laugh)! In a world where we are continuously bombarded with ads, we tip our hats to those that are unique and bold enough to cut through the clutter.

To recognize the great work being done in our industry, we'd like to start a new weekly feature here on the Branding Plus blog to show you some of our favorites. Introducing: Fantastic Ad Friday!

First up: Toyota Sienna's Meet the Parents Campaign.

This is one of my all-time favorite campaigns. I loved that they took the notion of minivans being "uncool" and attacked it head-on. It left me wondering if their intention was to make minivans seem cool or if they were simply saying "we are what we are" and owning it while not taking themselves too seriously. I think in the end, it was probably a little of both.

Toyota was also able to get significant additional exposure by creating online videos that were geared toward viral. This video has received over 8 million views at the time of this post:

Eight million views that they didn't have to pay a dime for other than initial production costs? Not too shabby...

Gublin & Green

2011-02-15T20:31:00.000-08:00

You have to love it when Saturday Night Live parodies your industry. While this skit definitely takes advertising in the legal field to an unlikely angle- the concept itself isn't too far off from much of what you see out there. This is a prime example of why you should do an intense creative audit of your competitors before concepting your own ad campaign- don't end up as an SNL parody!

Identity Crisis

2010-10-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I saw a commercial during the Today show that said Brinks Security had changed their name to "Broadview Security". If you were to ask me to name companies in this industry, Brinks and ADT would be the top two that would come to mind immediately. I am always fascinated when companies that spend millions of dollars branding a name decide to do something like this.

Upon further investigation, it appears that the name change was not necessarily a marketing decision as much as it was a requirement. This new company was a spin off from Brinks and part of the deal was that they change their name. Fair enough. But what about companies that do this without legally being forced to? For example, Kinkos.

When Kinko's first merged with FedEx it was an interesting move. On one hand, you thought to yourself, "okay, printing and shipping... I get it. Kind of." On the other hand, you had to wonder why a brand as strong as Kinko's would dilute their brand by going into an industry other than printing. I think I speak with millions of American's when I say that when I needed to copy something I didn't go to "a copy store"... I went to a Kinko's. Even if I ended up going to the first copy store I saw, I still referred to it as going to "Kinko's".

There are very few companies that hold this valuable space in the minds of the masses: Kleenex, Xerox, Band-Aid, Jello, to name a few. To achieve that holy grail of branding and then trash it (albeit for another impressive brand name, FedEx) just seems a little reckless, doesn't it?

Regardless, I'm sure FedEx is still doing quite well. It will be interesting to see how long the word "Kinko's" takes to fade from our vocabulary. In the meantime, I hope to see Broadview Security transition successfully into their new identity. According to this article they are throwing $120 mil at it... always a good start!

Brilliant!

2010-08-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

No philosophical thoughts for today, but I did run across an image that I found interesting:

Props to BMW of Santa Monica's ad agency for their direct and witty response to Audi's head-on attack. This is the stuff Ries & Trout dreamed of when they wrote Marketing Warfare.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Set Your Hair on Fire!

2010-07-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between extraordinary success, mediocre performance and abject failure? Are there people who aren't (your opinion) as smart as you, but they just always seem to come out on top?

Observantly, (including looking "back" for perspective, "sideways" for evaluation, and "forward" in anticipation), it occurs to me that the people who always come out on top have one thing in common with each other…regardless of their area of endeavor.

I am not just talking about executives, or salespeople, or any one class of business person, individual, boss or employee. I am talking about everyone and every organization. Why does one pastor start a church 15 years ago and have a congregation of a few hundred and another pastor start a church at exactly the same time in the same city and build it to a congregation of thousands? Why two salesmen, same age, same sex, same experience level with the same opportunity join the same company in the same week and one experiences extraordinary success while the other either languishes in mediocrity or fails?

Did your high school valedictorian achieve all of his or her dreams? Is the smartest person you know the most successful? Who is the happiest? What defines personal and job satisfaction? Which of the four personality types tend to be the most successful? At what? Okay, you get the idea. I could go on down this path forever, but my blogging consultant encourages me to be brief.

The enemy of success in any area is firmly rooted in “self”. Success (or failure for that matter) has very little to do with your coworkers, your boss, your job or any other external aspect of your life. It frankly has very little to do with your IQ or what your GPA was in college, although all of those things might be indicators of how you manage self. The enemy of achievement is complacency. There is nothing wrong with being satisfied with your place and achievement, but that satisfaction must not be allowed to extend beyond a personal emotion or feeling for the moment. When you win…celebrate! Then move on.

Think about those high achievers that are not as smart as you. Think about the companies that were started the same year as yours and have out performed your company five or tenfold. What about those that rise to the top of the corporate food chain. Are they really just better at blowing smoke up the proverbial corporate derriere? What do they all share? What is it that gives these people or organizations a leg up on the rest of us?

I propose that the common trait is very simply . . . URGENCY.

Do not mistake URGENCY as the “false urgency” of the fretter. You know the fretter. . . the one always scurrying about with the impossible to do list that never really completes anything and just adds to the chaos of failure. Quite the opposite. I am talking about the person who has a sense of urgency that is focused. The one that says, “Okay, that project is done. What’s next?” My God, do these people ever sleep? Probably better than most because they have the comfort and confidence of actually producing outcome. They are always moving and never satisfied with the status quo and understand that success and excellence are not destinations, but a journey. Perhaps most importantly, these people know that they can’t help what happened yesterday and that they can’t do anything about tomorrow. They know that the ONLY thing they can affect is NOW…this moment…what to do with the next 60 seconds. They can only control how they respond or react to the moment (see previous blog Reaction vs. Response), and they do so with a sense of urgency, a sense of mission that is founded on an expectation of outcome. These people do not even consider losing. To the contrary they expect to win – NOW and every time. And when they don’t, (which doesn’t happen often), you won’t find them languishing in the self pity of a loss. They don’t have time for that. It isn’t a part of their “plan” or their psyche! They move forward without consideration to yesterday’s failures. Remember, yesterday just doesn’t matter and you can’t do a thing about what happens tomorrow.

So what does this have to do with you and me? As the NIKE slogan says – “Just Do It”! Excellence, urgency, success all start right now…with you. Be urgent! It’s in your mind - in your hands. Decide right now to intellectually and emotionally commit yourself to a mission of accomplishment. Do something. There will be those around you that scoff at your new focus. Do something. Do concern yourself with them because they will be like lead on your feet – guaranteed to take you to the bottom. Do something. Concern yourself to the point that you get away from these people. Do something. They won’t like it. Do something. They’ll talk negatively about you for the wrong reasons. Do something. Don’t worry about barking dogs. Forget about them and DO SOMETHING DELIBERATE AND WITH CONVICTION...NOW!

Any questions?

Reaction vs. Response

2010-06-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

Reaction or Response

Consider the following before you produce your next commercial. Will it create a reaction or a response?

Here is the difference.

Your precious little puppy is sick and you take him to the vet. After a bit, the vet comes out and tells you that he gave your beloved family member a shot and he had a reaction to it….

Good or bad?

Scenario two:

Your precious little puppy is sick and you take him to the vet. After a bit, the vet comes out and tells you that he gave your beloved family member a shot and he responded to it…

Good or bad?

The answer, although subtle, is important. To react is in most cases associated with negative. To respond indicates a positive. In advertising, I’m afraid that most advertisers, people who sell advertising and copy writers have never considered the distinction. The result is that you end up with essentially the same bad commercial you ran last month or the same irrelevant drivel as your competitor. Yes I know that the voice is different, the name and phone number are different, but will anyone remember it?

As I conduct "walk around focus groups" with the people who are buying (or not buying) your products, many have a negative reaction to advertising. Some, on the other hand, have a positive response to advertising. Consider if you will the last commercial that you saw or heard and actually enjoyed. With incredible creative writing, humor, or in some other way compelling, well written and executed commercials will create the desired effect…response.

On the other hand, consider, for example, most local auto dealer advertising. With the bombs bursting in air, cowboys roping nothing while shouting at you, your mind is assaulted by unemployed actors, or worse yet, narcissistic dealers who want to be stars, shouting at you. And does anyone really believe that “If I can’t beat any new Kia deal in Texas, I’m just gonna give it to ya!” React or respond?

So consider if you will, how the market perceives you and your company. Do you want your potential customers to react or respond to your commercials?

I’m just thinking…

Fish Where the Fish Are

2010-05-20T09:01:00.000-07:00

Advertising, as with most industries, is heavily researched and studied. Being one who would be considered on the younger skew of marketing professionals, I try to read as many industry publications as possible to soak in information. Often these will at least offer helpful insights or at most turn the way I had previously looked at something on its side. However, every once in awhile I have what I like to call a "duh" reaction.

I had one of those this morning. Media Post sent out this story about how targeting programs heavy with people who have bought the brand in the last two years leads to a 70% higher ROI. Well, duh. Now, I don't mean to be disrespectful to the writer, because it was very well written with some very nice statistics, however, the premise screamed 'common sense' to me.

Let me translate this same startling concept to you in "Texan":

Fish where the fish are.

Doesn't seem so complicated, does it? If you are Walmart and "The Today Show" has an off the charts index for Walmart shoppers and "Gossip Girl" has a less than average index for Walmart shoppers, where do you think the money is going?

This is why we don't buy media schedules off rating points. This is why the foundation of every buy we do for our clients is based on qualitative information that tells us exactly how likely the listeners or viewers of a certain station are to need our client's services. Fish where the fish are.

Sometimes the hardest part of our job is convincing a client that the station he or she loves personally is not the right choice for their business. Always remember, it's not about you. As a business owner, would you rather feed your ego and hear your spot in your favorite programming, or would you rather have people beating down your door for your services? Seems to me the latter would feed your ego and feed your wallet...

Truth in Advertising

2010-04-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

I am inspired this week by an article written by Roy Williams, The Wizard of Ads. Before I begin, if you haven’t read any or all of his books, I recommend that you do so. To begin with they are well written, fun to read, (entertaining), and most importantly they contain truth.

Truth in advertising is something that not many people discuss. Truth in advertising sales is an oxymoron. The tragedy is that many business owners (advertisers) don’t even know enough to ask the right questions. This can be dangerous since most people selling advertising today don’t know a thing about it. They are just pretty good sales people, (there are exceptions). Now the disclaimer…the following statements do not apply to all account executives, sales managers, general managers, division managers or company presidents – just most of them!

Okay, back to truth. If you are working with a local radio rep that hasn’t been properly trained, you are probably being shown lots of “packages” or various other irrelevant things. That rep probably knows absolutely nothing about sound advertising strategy and execution and might as well be selling magazines door to door. Most of these reps look good, have good communication skills and may even have degrees in marketing…the problem is that there are few left in the business willing to teach these well intentioned young sales people why and how radio works. In many cases the managers don’t even know.

This is truly a buyer beware environment as evidenced by what happens when you first buy advertising. Immediately upon beginning a schedule, you get a plethora of calls from other advertising sales reps telling you that you need to buy what they are selling because it is better and meets your needs. Please ask yourself, how they know what your needs are? You take the appointment and they show up with a briefcase of “packages”. The problem with these packages is that they are everything that manager needs to sell and have nothing to do with what you need. BUYER BEWARE!!!

Now more truth: If you are using a traditional ad agency or media buying service you are being shown buys that are based upon cost per rating point. How many rating points should you be buying? What is the right cost to pay per rating point? Is one hundred points per week enough? How about 200 points per week? What the heck is a rating point anyway? Again, most media buyers don’t know a thing about advertising. What they are really good at is multiplication. These good people have no sense of history of advertising principles, media strategies or programs that will actually work. If this is what you are hearing from your agency – if you are being shown buys based upon how many points per week are being delivered at a specific cost…RUN. GRAB YOUR MONEY AND RUN.

Electronic media should be bought on a reach and frequency basis. Not a CPP. It is much easier, faster, “accepted” to buy on the basis of CPP. CPP should be used only as a negotiation tool for pricing. The problem is, unless you are spending Home Depot money in the market, your reach and frequency ratios will be too low. I guarantee it! If you want to have some fun and watch your reps or your media buyers face go blank, ask them to bring you an OES Schedule. Most will have no idea what you are asking for, and if their managers do, they will hate it, because of their lack of understanding of reach and frequency and how to construct a program that efficiently delivers their audiences. Next time, ask for an OES schedule, don’t tell them what it is and just sit back and watch the ensuing circus…enjoy.

OES stands for “Optimum Effective Schedule” and is a reach and frequency based program. Created by two of the brightest people ever in this business: Steve Marx and Pierre Bouvard, developed and articulated this concept which is based upon sound media principles. Here is the deal – your commercials should reach EACH specific audience (station) 3.89 times per week – be safe round it up to 4. It seems that most media sales reps believe that a weekly frequency of 3 is sufficient. Ask, yourself why they chose to round down instead of up. The answer is obvious – it is easier to sell to you because it requires fewer commercials!

My advice – make your reps bring you schedules that demonstrate reach and frequency. Only look at CPP to make certain that you are not paying too much. It’s the right thing to do. Schedules with insufficient frequency are doomed to fail. And remember, in media 1+1 does not always equal 2!

Be a Phoenix

2010-03-02T08:55:00.000-08:00

There is no doubt that the past two years have been tough on many people, business and industries. As I think about all that has happened and changed...life...attitudes...circumstances... many metaphors that I've learned over my life come to mind. Probably the most appropriate is actually not a metaphor at all, but the title of a book written by Reverend Robert Schuller: "Tough Times Never Last. Tough People Do."

How do tough people last? By being positive. By thinking positive. By speaking positive. By having a positive word for a friend or family member. By focusing on the opportunity rather than the circumstance. Easy to say. Tough to do. I understand. Especially if you listen to the news or our politicians. It seems as if the only thing they thrive on is negativity!

I actually hate all of the condemnation and mudslinging that goes on throughout our country - on all sides. I believe that all of these things are totally focused on only the negative aspects of our "opponent - enemy- competitor" regardless of one's position. Why do we have to have an enemy? Why can't we focus on our own objectives rather than on those of who we disagree?

The answer is simple. We can. It does not matter what another does. The only thing that matters is what you do. I know that whatever you put in the front of your mind, your predominant thought, if you will, will magically come to pass. If you think you are going to go broke, you will. If you think that you will prosper, you will. So for me and my family, I choose to be positive. Is it hard? Sometimes. Regardless of how hard it is, you can choose to take control of your mind, your emotions and your circumstances and participate, or you can choose to remain a victim. I choose the word victim purposely. I could have just as easily said bystander, observer, but victim is harsh. And that's the point. And no, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell do not live in my world!

Okay, so let's take this back to your situation and what you are going to do about it. Regardless of your business, most of your competitors are scared to death (top of mind). Most of your competitors are hunkering down (pulling back and hiding). Most of your competitors are playing it safe (focused on not losing as opposed to winning). Most of your competitors are more baffled about what to do than you and worst of all most are currently motivated by fear. With every moment, they are calculating their worst case scenario. So, what are you going to do about it?

The magic of this time, is that, at the end of the day, it will be cleansing. Just think, no more Madoff, GM will be straightened out, sanity has come back to the mortgage industry, irresponsible financial titans have been flushed out and banished to the hinterlands (albeit with hefty severance packages). Now we can, and will, be like the phoenix...from the ashes...be born again!

Only those with good attitudes, who are looking ahead toward tomorrow will see the opportunity. And those with courage will seize it!

Did you know that media revenues have been off double digit percentages. Opportunities abound to take advantage of this current situation and bury your competitor. Do not think for one moment that you can stand idly by and eventually everything will be okay. Act now, position yourself and your company to win. As the economy turns around throughout the rest of the year, and it will (remember the age we live in - things are exponentially faster today than they were in 1939), be in position to win. Be the one. Emerge victorious while no one else is looking.

So today... act with courage. Think, plan and execute. Let your competitor be paralyzed. Today is your day.

New name, new digs, new attitude

2010-02-25T11:17:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to Branding + Marketing Group's new BLOG! The new year brought some exciting changes for us including the beginning of a new chapter and a new business!

As many of you know, "Branding +" is a concept that we had trademarked several years ago that essentially defines our approach to marketing- that you can brand and activate at the same time. That you can ring the phone while cultivating an image and perception in the consumer's mind. It's something we feel very strongly about due to the many successful campaigns we have built around this concept.

As a result, we felt as though the name "Branding + Marketing Group" better defined our strategic approach to the world of Marketing. It better fit who we are and what we believe. And let's face it- in this day and economic age, we all need to refocus, hunker down, and make sure that we have a laser-sharp focus on who we are and what we do.

So thank you for following us on this journey as we kick 2010 off with a fresh perspective. Be sure to check back for our industry insights, witty banter, and the occasional opinionated quip.

Cheers!