Marketing Communications Blog

The Analyst

Was speaking with an analyst the other day about a new product for a company that I am consulting with. When my client and I got in the car to drive back to their place of business, I heard the usual & typical statement "We really don't need analysts, they don't sell our product or even influence the sales of our product. This is a waste of money."

I have heard this statement from various clients and bosses for 20 years now countless times.

Why DO we need an analyst? What value can they bring a company?

Here are just some of the many points that an analyst can bring you and your company - remember something, ALWAYS step back and look at the big picture - i.e. the world in which we live and do business.

1) Does your company want recognition in the market? Many CEO's and CMO's have said "We already have it; we have customers who know that are products are the best and that's why they buy from us".  How many times do we read in the weekly and monthly business journals about the huge amount of information that is out there and how companies can't even begin to sort through all the information that is relevant to them? Yes, almost weekly we see a story on knowledge management of one sort or the other. But, companies do read analyst reports and often find out about a new product, a new company, OR a new use for an existing product.

At one company, I fought and fought to do an analyst tour, and of course the CMO saying that we didn't need to do it (see above). I was able to do the analyst tour, and because my company was now being mentioned by analysts, customers that my company hadn't even thought about or KNEW about started calling on them for business.

2) Many companies want to build their brand and get brand recognition. Analyst's, by placing your company name or product name in their reports, give instant credibility to your company and product. Remember, this is FREE (besides the cost of the hotel and flight to meet with them). You cannot get a bigger bang for the buck then having an analyst talk about you.

Remember something, a Press Tour will get a mention of your company or product in a story (either paper, magazine, or webzine), but, they are writing about now and won't write about it again until something new comes from your company. An analyst, if your company or product is affecting the world, will continuously write about the company and product. Even if you don't meet with them again for another year.

NOTE: Of course, you must keep up a dialogue with the analyst during that year. Let them know what your product is doing and how the company is going to affect its customers. An email or phone call will suffice.

There are many other reasons to meet with analysts and do the tours. These are just two of them, and I'm sure that some of you think that there are more important ones out there (which there are), but, think, sit back, and always look at the big picture.

In parting words, I met with a Gartner analyst one time, who said, sounds great, but, come back to me when you have sales. The next week, I called her and told her how we had just locked in a three year deal with a major supplier. The analyst put out a report on our product and how it is going to affect sales in the market sector that we were trying to penetrate. You CANNOT BUY that kind of coverage. (And because of this report, we locked in two more multi-million dollar accounts.)

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Mentoring

Was reading an article the other day in a business magazine about how companies are either doing or are starting to do mentoring programs - where a new employee (that is considered a "rising star") is placed with an experienced manager and will "learn" for a year with that person.

I don't know why, but, I have some problems or issues with this process. The article did say that there are times when both individuals do not get along and that new mentors and employee's have to be found for each other, but, when it works, the "rising star" benefits from this.

I don't doubt that this could occur, but, I just look back at my life and the mentors that I have had AND the mentoring that I have done and how it came about.

There was never a "forced" mentoring program that I was ever involved in - I gravitated towards those that I knew could teach me about life (either business or personal), and of course, people came to me to learn about life, which I gladly gave them every moment I could spare (as did my mentors).

But, over time, we both split on our accord (I learned all I could or I taught all I could), but, it wasn't a forced end (where the corporate programs end after a year).

I guess I consider the following:

When you are a manager of a staff, it is your responsibility to be a mentor to ALL of them, if they want it. If they don't want it, fine, but, every effort should be made to inform them that you are available to teach them anything and everything that you have learned over the years. I have spoken about this in past postings, but, it comes down to just being a good manager.

And I am not talking about just teaching them to do their job better, but, to teach them, if they are willing to listen and learn, to teach them about everything and anything - if they are interested.  I would have loved to have had a mentor that could have taught me about starting a new business (I learned that on my own) - and I had a manager that had started two businesses previously; or about writing a press release - where my manager had written thousands of them, but, I had to learn from my agency.

It's the little things that count - that make all of our lives so much easier.

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Marketing Plan

Sadly, there is always someone in a company (usually the CEO or CMO) that says "Let's see a marketing plan".

Why is it sad? Because, what is a marketing plan?

Over the 20 years that I have been in business, I have put together over 100 marketing plans, and each and every one is different. And no, its not because the products were different, it sometimes comes down to:

1) the culture of the business,

2) the budget,

3) the personnel,

4) and many other items (but, way too long to put here).

Most newbies in marketing get their college marketing book and use the template that is provided to put the plan together.  I admit it, I did this the first time also.

After about an hour of trying to "make things fit", I realized that it doesn't work that way.

Some companies consider Sales to be an integral part of a plan, other companies want the Sales team to be left out.

Some companies want it to be a local launch, others want it to be worldwide.

Some companies require that other divisions be involved, where others let the Marketing team be autonomous with the plan.

And some companies don't want promotions to be a part of it, or PR, or advertising, or who knows what.

All of these have to be taken into consideration when putting a plan together.

KNOW the person who asks for the plan. Know what they are thinking and what they want.

If you don't know, ask!!! My first 20 plans were what I thought would be a good plan for a "go to market" strategy, and most had to go through major revisions before the actual presentation was made.  All because I didn't know what the person who asked for the plan wanted.

To end, I will give this brief example.  One time, I did a 20 slide Power Point presentation, covering everything, from merchandising the product to how the sales team could "pitch" the product. After I finished, the CMO said "All I wanted was how we will role this out to the Media", i.e. a Public Relations program.

Make sure that you get a definition of the "plan" before you begin - it will save time and headaches.

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Research

So much effort is put into research.  Some, well thought out, and some, very superficial.

Research covers so much - from market acceptance to competition strategy. Research is done when purchasing another company and/or putting a person in front of a TV camera for the first time.

Of course, hiring a good researcher (or firm) is one of the first priorities.

But, I don't want to discuss the dynamics of research here - I want to discuss something else.

And that is research done by you - the person requesting the research.

DO SOME!!!

So many times I have seen researchers present their "findings" and completely miss what is so well known on/in the market. For example, I was at a research meeting the other month and a firm came in and presented its findings. After the 30 minute presentation, there was not one mention about the primary competition. When asked why nothing was presented on the competition, there was some hemming and hawing (I wonder if those are real words?) by the presenters, and then their leader stated "We did not think that these guys were of such importance for you going to market with your new product."

What? How can the main competition not impact the launch of a competitive product.

Why was this done? How did they miss this competition - you could tell that this company did not come up on their radar screen.

For one reason, the primary company did not "help" the researchers with their knowledge - they didn't share with them who they thought were major competitors. Yes, it was an error on the research company to not interview the primary, but, you cannot ever assume that a researcher has the same knowledge that you have.

By the way, the research company provided alot of insight into the market, but, they missed a major influencing factor by not looking (or knowing about) the primary competition.

If you are any good at marekting, you read. You read books, magazines, the web. You understand your business better then ANY OTHER person outside of your company (of course, except the competition).

Help a research firm know what you are thinking. Share your knowledge. So many managers don't want to give up their "knowledge", because they have been taught that "knowledge is power".

Remember, you work for a company that is paying your salary - by not sharing information, you can hurt the success of your company.  (See my blog entry on "Hiring and Team Building" for further discussion of this.)

Research is a necessity - many of us don't have the budget to hire outside firms, so we must do on our own. But, not sharing the knowledge (research) because we perceive that we are more "powerful" in having that information, can come back and bite us in the butt - because we don't share the information, our company can lose market leadership, or the success of a product, or whatever.

Think about it.

Posted by blaine at 09:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Who makes the money?

So many times throughout my career, I have been in debates about "who brings the money in for the company?".

Being a "marketer", usually everyone assumes that I believe that marketing is responsible for paying the bills. That the "awareness" campaigns that marketing does is what drives consumers to purchase the product/service, thus, bring in the money in.

I always have to disagree to this.

I have always believed that it is the sales team/staff/etc. that is responsible for bringing the money in. Without a sales force, no one will ever find the product in the market. Yes, there are times where the money spent on branding/marketing is so excessive that stores call and ask for the product (because of the demand in the market), but, this is so rare that any company relying on this as their sole revenue generator always fold.

Sales teams are the lifeblood of any organization and it is a marketing persons role to first and foremost support the sales team with any and all needed materials to "make the sell". Be it a presentation, brochure, advertisement, prototype, etc.

Companies that "get ahead of themselves" and don't continuously do gut-checks with the sales team quickly experience their sales declining. A salesforce using a presentation that is over a year old, or brochures that list products that have been discontinued, quickly put the salesperson in a postition of disadvantage -where they don't have the respect that is needed to sell the product.

Support your sales team - without them, you don't get a paycheck.

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Strategies - should you do or not?

Was going through some old paperwork the other day (from a fashion company I worked for many years ago) and discovered all my notes that I took when in meetings with the CEO, President, and CFO (the owners).

Page after page was "get one page ad in xxx magazine" and "send in item for review in xxxx magazine".

Not once, in all my notes, was their discussions about where we were going to be one year from now, let alone in six months.

But, let me be fair - there is definitely a difference in marketing STRATEGY for a family owned business and a large publicly owned business.

I have been at each end of the spectrum - on one hand, like at the above business, all I did (and all management wanted me to do) was tactical marketing. Sending out a press release, placing an ad, etc.  They never wanted to meet and discuss where they wanted to be one year from now; how, if they planned now, I could position one of their new products and its new brand to take on the world. They were happy with the strategy that they had for 20 years and would continue to keep for the next 20 years.

The other end, I worked with a company that only wanted strategies - LOVED strategies - what we were going to do next year, where the brand would be in three years, how the products would be packaged, how the website would look (when finished), how I would get coverage of the products in all the media, etc. But (there is ALWAYS a but, huh?), when it came to the budget needed to implement these strategies, I would ask for $1M, (less then 1% of their total revenue), and they would say, great, do it, but, for 1/4 of that. I understand pencil sharpening on budgets, but, not to this degree. What we ended up with were strategies that everyone liked - on paper - but in reality, they always fell short, because the tactical side took a hit.

Strategies and tactics should always work hand in hand. In looking at current job openings around the world today, you always see "must be willing to roll-up their sleeves" and "must have entrepreneurial spirit", etc. but, many of these companies are working in start-up mode - which is great, because in todays market, you must be able to turn on a dime, NOT on $1 bill; because of this, strategies are "nice to haves", not requirements, or, they are requirements, but, the tactics take a hit.

Needless to say (in ending), a strong strategy, that has the full support of the company (staff as well as budget) and the capability to DO the tactics will make most products and services successful.

Remember (for example), without packaging, you don't have a budget - and if you don't have a strategy on what, how, and why you need this packaging over the long term, you will lose - not only the market, but, the essence of what you are trying to build.

Plan for the future - have a strategy in place when launching a new product, brand, or service, but, insure that you have the tactical capabilities to be able to implement what you are trying to do. Don't get lost in beautiful presentations and paperwork - roll up your sleeves - but, always, step back and make sure that your strategy is being followed.

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Perception is Reality

I think I spoke about this before in a previous entry, but, am not sure.

My business is based on this line, phrase, and even issue.

Is reality real? I great question, one that you can have answered (or not), by watching The Matrix (and the rest of the series).

But, you look at today's media (which is ALL about marketing), and you get the spin - and you can see the control,  that the media has on the masses.

I do hope that you look at what you do and realize that you have the same influence as well as the same power. Of course, with this, comes the issue of abuse, but, I don't want to speak of that here.  I want to talk about how, if you can get people to believe that the perception that people "think" is possibly real to "it is" real, you can change a complete marketplace.

For example, at a web company I worked for, we were just moving along, no great increase in revenue, no decrease, just, status quo - even though the mandate was to grow by 200% in one year.

Everyone tried everything to grow. We didn't do to well. So, we switched everything we had to Hispanic language, put out marketing materials saying "The Hispanic market is scooping this up as fast as we can make it available", even though it really wasn't true, because we had just started one week before. But, my point is, we immediately started telling everyone that the "reality" was that the Hispanic market already accepted this and was using it, and you better get on the boat, or you are going to be left behind.

Another is a product I launched. A new product, that NO one had ever conceived of, let alone knew what use it was for. I couldn't do it like I did the web service, as no one had ever heard of this new product (again, so new, everyone asked "what do i use it for" - compared to, let's say, an internet service provider, everyone knows what they do, it comes down to what you get for the dollar).

So, couldn't put out a press release or do an advertising campaign saying "Look, everyone is using it, because everyone wants it" - when, again, everyone would ask, "what the h**l am I going to do with that?".

So, it really had to be a grass roots thing. Pretty much do a "red herring" - give the product away (we wrapped every one of our products in a $20 bill (this is how I say it, because we discounted the product by 80%).  This allowed a few huge companies to take a "risk" (we even agreed to buy the product back if they didn't sell it) and "see" what would happen.

Once we had the companies lined up (okay, it was really only one company - but, hey, the name IBM is a nice name to have stand behind your product), I then moved to the next level of my marketing strategy. Where people started to talk about it, analysts endorsed it, and a few more companies got into it (because they saw IBM get into it).  And this was with VERY FEW SALES occurring.

It went on from there - so many companies wanted to "see" it and take a "risk", that everyone wanted a piece - now, many people have it and many people use it (but, more have it then use it, lol - that's what's great about a commodity).

Okay, you want to know the product?  It is one of my proudest achievements - to take a company and product that no one knew, had gross revenue of $20M, and leave them five years later, with a $600M revenue stream (and now are being bought by another company) ...it is a USB Flash Drive, or thumbdrive, or diskonkey, or whatever - you know, the little 128Mb USB thingy that you store files on.

I remember presenting the strategy on how I was going to make this product a world wide commodity to the CEO and CFO of the company. I ended my presentation with the statement "I am going to do this by making peoples perception about this product into reality".

The CFO asked, "What do you mean?"

I replied "I am going to put this product everywhere, so that everyone believes (perceives) that this product is the hottest thing, that they must have it, that everyone wants (reality) this item, that is why it is everywhere".

They both replied, that there is no such thing as "perception is reality" and that my strategy will never work.

 Thank G*D for my BU's GM - (for those of us that don't and can't keep up with all of the acronyms out there - that is) Business Units General Manager - who stood behind me for almost two years and told the CEO and CFO to get out of the way and let me do the job - thank you!!! In that time, we topped $100M in sales.

Today, I ask the CEO if he believes in Perception is Reality - and he always replies "Never had a doubt".

By the way, I'm not bragging - if you have been following me long enough, not that...just very very proud on what I did - the only marketing person for this company for five years (and yes, I DID have one agency help me - a boutique agency - because my budget was less then $100K per year).

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Cultures

Having worked for many companies that were based overseas and also sold products in many parts of the world, we consistently encounter companies that think they know the various cultures and what is "best for them".

One company we worked for wanted to "crack" the Middle East market and sell their goods their.  The problem was that they were Israeli - and since most (well, all) of the nations in the Middle East are Muslim, they was no way that they were going to be able to get their products sold there.

We came up with a simple solution - in fact, it required two solutions.  1) The company had to realize that ego played no part in business and they even though they had much pride in their success as a small Israeli company, they would have to forego that part of their brand (i.e. give up their ego). 2) They would need to "re-brand" and "repackage" their goods from another part of the world.  We re-branded the product so the perception was that it came from Australia. It cost very little money (compared with the millions of dollars they made from this market).

But, that is one extreme of cultural influence and how it affects the purchasing intent of customers.

Another example, one that Xbrand recently helped a law firm with, was internal to North America. The law firm, based on the East Coast of the U.S., dealt with many clients in the Mid-West as well as the North-West of the U.S.  People who were laid-back, relaxed, and totally honest with their questions and issues.  North Easterners (particularly those from New York and Boston) are used to being gruff, short, and pointed, but, in a way that is interpreted as rudeness.

After a one-week training course on the various aspects of the various regions of the U.S. and how to approach each region, the law firm was able to quickly lower the many complaints and issues that were brought up because of the personalities of their lawyers; thus, they were able to quickly get to the law cases that they were called in for and gain the perception that they were compassionate and understanding of the local area and not someone from the "East Coast who didn't care about what happened on the West Coast".

When you are approaching a new market, pay particular attention to the various culture and personalities of the people in that market - it cannot be ignored. 

If you are already in a market, do an internal check and see if your staff, employee's, sales people, etc. understand the market (a perfect example is if a sales person on the East Coast calls on an account or customer on the West Coast).

A rule that we live by at Xbrand - never speak about 1) Religion, 2) Politics, and 3) current affairs in the local region. Of course, many times, this is brought up by your counterpart - answer the question(s) and move onto the more relevant subject at hand (the selling of your product).

Posted by blaine at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 Hiring and Team Building

Over the years, I have had the pleasure of building some great teams (and of course inheriting horrible teams when starting a new business or being hired to take over a division).

A couple of things I have learned over the years that may help you with your team(s) and keeping your employee's and/or agencies working hard for you.  These are not in any particular order, but, should help the inexperienced manager realize the value of a team and what it has to offer.

• Control - Over the years, I learned to train my team to do my job. Wow, pretty unique huh? Most managers won't do this, because they think that they will work themselves out of a job.  And they may be right - but probably 5% -10% of the time. The rest of the time, the manager gets promoted to the next higher job, because he/she is not irreplaceable. Give up "control" and let your team learn. Or, delegate, delegate, delegate.
• Most employee's want to grow and be challenged.  Don't think, for a second, that employee's want to stay in the same job the rest of their lives - like you, they have aspirations and goals; help them achieve them.  Work with your employee's to accomplish what they want.  And yes, they may want to be a musician or in HR, when they are currently in advertising or sales.  Why not spend the money to help them train to become what they want? If you funded their training in advertising (let's say), it would take two to four years (if they go to college or take night classes, etc.).  During that time, they have to work for you, and, have to work hard for you, since they want to get their degree (or training) and not lose their job in the mean-time. You have a hardworking employee who, yes, one day in the future, MAY leave you to go in another career direction, but, take for example the employee that wants to learn advertising, why not "re-hire" them in the advertising division of your company.  They understand the company and what it is doing - the advertising department doesn't need to train a new employee on a product or company philosophy, etc. And, you get to keep a happy employee (if they weren't happy and productive, they wouldn't still be working at your company, right?)
• Mentor - Be a mentor of your employee's.  If they want to learn your job, teach them. Don't keep them pigeon-holed - they will leave you after a short time.  Many times, I have mentored staff members (who wanted to be mentored) who turned out to work twice as hard, because they saw what it takes to get to be in my position. One hour a week of mentoring will pay off huge dividends for you, your staff, and your company. (By the way, this also helps in a way that is fun to discover - if the employee leaves (or you leave the company), they will stay in touch with you and share information about their company, what they are doing, and what their needs are - which, you may be able to help, by being their new agency, providing a solution to them that they need, or, by finding out about work opportunities out their in the market that you were unaware of).
• Surround yourself with people who make-up for your weaknesses.  Yes, you have to admit that you have weaknesses, but, once you come to grips with this, you will be stronger, be perceived to be a stronger leader, and will put out materials that are that much better. Back to control - if you surround yourself with employee's like yourself, you will never improve - don't, for a second, think that the college graduate may not have a better idea or way of doing things better then you.  They may, and if you don't let them share and be a part of the team, you will ultimately lose.
• Share - Be honest - Show the big picture.  How many times have you walked into a meeting and your boss says to you "do abc".  And that is it.  You don't know why? You don't understand how it fits into the companies philosophy, etc.  The teams that have made me look the best are the teams that I gave total ownership too - where I explained the total picture, how their copy for the brochure will be used by the sales team to increase sales, how the copy will "portray" the new product as xxx, and how this one paragraph will save time on the companies part because it needs to explain xxx. How if the copy is bad or doesn't convey the right message, it will cause xxx to occur, etc.  I think you get the idea.  I have encountered so many managers who work with the "need to know" as their bible in all their activities.  They don't think the employee needs to know what their activity will do or they don't want them to know.  This way, the manager gets the credit, not the employee.
• Credit - Last one, I swear. Give credit to your staff. It is amazing how much harder an employee works if given praise and credit.  In fact, it can even replace a raise or title promotion (within reason - you can't do this forever, but, for a short time it works wonders). Sharing the wealth (or credit and praise) reaps benefits beyond imagination, don't be stingy.

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Start-Ups

There is a reason that they use these words, Start and Up.  It's the start of a new business, and they better only go up.  Can you imagine if they were called "Start-Downs"?

Xbrand has been involved with over a dozen start-ups - some a new division in a company, others funded by VC's, and still others, spin-offs of a larger company.

It all comes down to two things:

Management - a leader who understands the market, knows the goal that has to be achieved, and leads through example.

Sacrifice - Employee's and management who are willing to sacrifice almost anything to make the company succeed - and no, it is not just time, but, money (i.e. rewards to the employee's), and recognition.

How many times have I seen a manager of a start-up come into the office, have a "cheer leading" meeting, and then leave to go on vacation - while the employee's work until midnight every night. You can argue, yes, that the CEO raised the money and has the "stress" of having VC's breathing over his shoulder.  But, those CEO's, that do what has been described, rarely have a successful company.  It is those CEO's that shoulder the VC burden (along with everything else) and be in the office as late as the last employee and there when the first employee arrives that will have a company where the employee's will sacrifice anything to bring success to that company.

It is amazing how many times upper management does not communicate to their employee's and expects them to "appreciate that they even have a job".  Without the employee's, there would be no company.

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Customer Satisfaction

There is a big difference between Customer Service and Customer Satisfaction.

One is "being there" to answer questions, take orders, and help, if they can. The other is a the same thing, but, the customer walks away from the "service" with satisfaction, or, "above and beyond" the call of duty.

Every company has some form of Customer Service - and it can be as small as a "contact us" page on a website, or as large as thousands of people throughout the world answering phone calls.

Do they satisfy us? It depends.  Do they help? Do they provide a solution? Customer Service plays by pretty much the same rules with any product. Each company has different "beliefs" on how much they want to "help" a customers, but, most companies play by the same rules - returns (do we take or not), shipping (do we pay or not), you name it, there is an answer to almost every question or issue that a customer brings.

Why all this rambling? Recently, a family member of mine went through a very stressful situation with the loss of her child.

A mom and dad went to a mall with their 2 year old son.  In that mall there was a Nordstroms, which they went to to do their shopping.

Gathering some clothes (for the dad), they both went to the dressing room with their 2 yr old.  Dad went in and started trying on clothes and the mom and child waited in front of the room.

Dad said "hey, can you get me xxx size in these same pants", throwing over the pants to the mom.

Mom grabbed them and ran out to get the new pants.

Mom came back with the new pants, passed them over to dad, and asked "do you have 2 yr old?"

"No."

Mom dropped to the ground and took a quick scan under all the dressing room doors, but, no sign of the 2 yr old.

Jumping up, Mom ran out into the department, yelling the 2 yr olds name (and of course, dropping to the ground and quickly looking around).

Seeing a store employee, Mom ran over and said "Hi, I have lost my child. He is 2 yrs old, his name is xxx, he is wearing xxx. Can you help me?"

"Absolutely", he said, as Mom started to run down the aisles yelling and looking for her son.

Less then a minute after speaking with the store employee, Mom hears over the stores speakers "Attention shoppers, there is a lost 2 yr old child wearing xxx.  If you see him, please notify a store employee. Thank you."

It was now 10 minutes and the 2 yr old still had not been found. Mom ran out into the mall, looking down the hallways.  Running back into Nordstrom's, she noticed a man leaning against the wall at the entrance of Nordstroms.

Running down another aisle inside Nordstroms, Mom ran out into the mall from another entrance/exit of Nordstrom's.

Looking up and down the hallway, Mom ran back into Nordstroms, again noticing a woman standing in the entrance.

Running over to her, Mom asked "Hi, are you with Nordstroms?"

"Yes I am", said the lady from Nordstroms.

"You are here to catch the 2 yr old from leaving the store?" asked Mom.

"Yes we are, every exit is being covered", the Nordtrom lady responded, understanding that she was speaking to the 2 yr olds mother.

Running back into the store, the mom - now RELIEVED knowing that the child was not going to get out of the store - heard over the stores speakers  "Attention mother of the 2 yr old, your child has been found, please come to the jewelry section".

Mom and son (and dad) hooked up and learned a lesson in life.

But, more importantly, Nordstroms gained customers for life. And, as usual, Mom told 10 people, and they told 10 people, and so on.

So, was this just good customer service, or did it go to the next level of customer satisfaction?

Yes, Nordstroms takes all returns with no questions asked (which made me a customer for life), but, they went above and beyond - making sure that a current customer has the best experience possible - in ALL regards, even in area's that most customers don't even think about.

This is what makes satisfied customers. Which keeps revenue and profits around, for a long time.

Posted by blaine at 09:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Interviewing

A lot of us have interviewed someone, at sometime. Possibly a few times because they were going to work WITH you, sometimes because they were going to work FOR you, and sometimes because they were going to be YOUR boss (I always liked those interviews - knowing you don't have a final say in the hiring, just if you should update your resume or not).

In the past 10 years, as I finally matured from a beginning level manager (or very wet behind the ears) to a senior level executive, my future staff (the people I interviewed and hired) started to say things about my "interviewing skills" that were rarely ever heard in a corporate or organizational environment.

"That was the most unusual/strange/weird/etc. interview I ever had."

Why? Why did my future employee's say this (by the way, I also would do this when inheriting a staff).

I can only think of a few things as to why they would say this.

1) Because I spoke the majority of the time. I am a firm believer during the first interview that a future member of my staff understand who they are going to work for, the ethics and morals that I practice, and the management style that I use. Watching and listening to their comments on my "style" told me if we could work together or not. (A grimace can tell you a lot of things about this future hire.)

2) I explained what it took to get promoted (or a raise and/or bonus) and what it took to get fired.

3) I did not ask them about their experience - instead, I described what I expected and what tasks/projects they would do and IF they could, HOW would they accomplish them.

4) And lastly, I explained how I manage and that I am not an easy person to get along with - that I demand excellence and a work ethic that may have never been asked of them before.

A brief comment on #2 - on how and what it took for me to fire them. I picked up something many many years ago (from the U.S. Federal Government) that I incorporated (with a twist) into the management of my team.

I use the three strikes and you're out rule with my team. The first time you make a mistake, I will do everything in my power to help you not make that same mistake again - training, schooling, access to information, etc.

The second time that the SAME mistake is made, I will not be happy and my staff member knows it. The first time, okay, but, to commit the same mistake for a second time - "shame on you". The third time - they're fired. To commit the same mistake, three times, is unacceptable to me.  Did the person not learn the first time? Or the second? As a mentor said to me - if on the third mistake, then, I am not firing them, they are firing themselves.

Posted by blaine at 09:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What kind of boat are you?

Years and years ago, at my first job, I came up with a theory (analogy) that I still use to this day - with CEO's, CMO's, and the like.

What kind of boat are you?

An oil tanker, that takes forever to stop and change direction (I usually use this when speaking with someone about the bureaucracy in the company).

Or a huge yacht, that can turn, faster then an oil tanker, but, still takes time to dock, etc. and you definitely don't want to bang it up, scratch it, etc. (especially if this is a new brand).

Or, are you a speedboat, that can change direction quickly and meet the markets ever changing environment.

Start-ups are mostly speedboats.

Small to mid-size companies are usually speedboats or yachts (and some are already oil tankers).

And most large companies are oil tankers. 

Don't get me wrong, in todays market, allot of large companies are trying to become yachts (and some even speedboats), but, there are many difficulties along the way - but, more power to them, these are the companies that are succeeding today - look at Ford vs. Toyota.

What kind of company are you? Are you always trying to make your company a speedboat?

In closing, one sure way to know if you are an oil tanker or not is count how many lawyers you have on staff (key point here - STAFF - hi-tech companies have many lawyers for patents, etc., but, usually, as an outside firm - I am speaking about lawyers that work for the company, in the company). If you have more then one lawyer per 100 employee's, then, most likely you are an oil tanker.

Posted by blaine at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Insubordination

There was an article in the Harvard Business Review about insubordination and entrepreneurship (in a company) and how it a fine line (or gray area).

As most of you know, I have had the pleasure of working for some great technology companies, all of them at the beginning of their life, all of them in "start-up" mode, and all of them incredibly successful (or quickly became).

Throughout my career, if you spoke to my previous supervisors (from directors, to CEO's), I have been insubordinate - because I believed in my cause/case so strongly, that I strongly voiced (over and over) what I believed. I would figure that 90% of the time, I was correct (and they would agree to this also).

The basis was that we had and were working in an entrepreneurial atmosphere. Because of this, we had to act and work like entrepreneurs. Meaning, we had to think of unorthodox marketing strategies - not your basic Marketing 101 strategies and plans.

Because of this, I helped all of these companies be successful - because I worked and thought like an entrepreneur, bringing new and innovative thinking to their marketing plans. I didn't invent a physical product - I don't have that great of a mind - but, the same entrepreneurs that invented the product, needed the same thinking that went into the product, and innovative marketing approach.

What am I trying to say? Just that, if you are involved with an incredible product, that you KNOW will be hugely successful, and you have a strategy to bring the product to market that you KNOW will succeed, then, stand up for what you what, don't "fold" easily. Don't give in. Even when I was an Asst. Marketing Manager, I stood up and stated what I believed.  If it fell on deaf ears, then, I said it again, until it was heard. After I knew that it was heard, and they still said "no", then, I backed off.

Stand up for what you believe in, even if it comes to that fine line of insubordination. I'm NOT saying to sabotage the product or company (come on - then you SHOULD be fired!!!), but, make sure that your voice is heard. There are so many people out there who have incredible marketing idea's, and don't speak up, or speak up once and don't do it again. Don't be shy - your product may succeed more then you can imagine if you speak up.

Posted by blaine at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Best in an Appropriate Time

I may have mentioned or spoken about this previously, but, again, it came up recently in a meeting that I had with a client.

The client was telling me how the staff that he had was not accomplishing all the tasks that he was assigning, that they were complaining about being "over worked", and that he wished he had employee's like me - who he thought would be able to accomplish all the tasks assigned. As a side note, he and two other guys worked together for many years and only recently (the last three years) did they start to grow their company (where they now have 40 employee's).

I asked him what those tasks were - which I promptly numbered and put on a dry erase board. I then asked him to write on a piece of paper how long he thought the tasks should take to be accomplished and I would do the same (even though I did not have the full understanding of what the tasks entailed, I could and would probably come within 10-20% of the true time that would need to be committed).

One last caveat that I got from him - I wanted him to choose two employee's, one that was his brightest star (meaning almost accomplished every task assigned) and one that stated that they were overworked and didn't have enough time.

Here is just one example of a task.

Pull together a spreadsheet listing all the companies competitors, their products, their pricing, and the best analysis (guess) of their profit per product. Because the company was very focused in nature, the competitors didn't number more then three companies and no more then 10 competitive products.

His answer was four hours.

Mine was 16 hours.

His "brightest star" answered 12 hours.

His "complainer" answered 20 hours.

After this was done, my client and I then discussed why there was such a difference of time between him and the rest of us. The three of us were at least 300% more to 500% more in need of time.

1) Was your answer of four hours because you have been in the business for 20 years and know the information, where, like any company, most employee's have been in the position from one to two years and don't have the same knowledge?

2) Was your answer because you expect everyone to be like you and have that same knowledge?

3) Was your answer unrealistic? (which didn't go over to well with him.)

I asked him to step back and put himself in the position of his employee's. This really didn't work (as most CEO's and Presidents think that they are the best and everyone else is out to milk them for money and not work).

So, I then took a different tact - picture yourself in the tool manufacturing business that makes hand tools. You only make hammers, screw drivers, wrenches, and pliers. How much time, based on the same assignment that you gave your employee's, would it take for you to accomplish said task?

After alot of stuttering and stumbling, he said he could probably do it within 20 hours. I asked him to rethink the answer after working for the company for a year? and then for three years? Would the time change?

Of course he said it would, because knowledge would be gained and understanding on what the "boss" (i.e. me in this case) wanted would be better understood.

I then completed the loop and said "what difference is there between what you did to your employee's and what I did to you?" He said there was none - and of course, you could see the light go off over his head.

I learned this the same way that he did, through years of management, that not everyone thinks like you do, nor do they approach the same task in the same way.

When I had employee's (or staff), there was a golden rule that I lived by and expected my employee's to live by also.

Do the best that you can in the time that you have.

I always expected my staff to work a minimum of eight hours a day, 40 hours a week. If they were willing to work more, then, I would assign tasks until I knew they were on the edge of "going under". This isn't bad, this is being a manager.

But, back to my statement above, I would assign tasks that I knew my staff could accomplish, and with their total buy-in on accomplishing that task in the time they needed.

For example - if you ever had work done on your house by a contractor, they, when bidding, would say "I can do this in three months", and living in the Northeast, you knew that it would be accomplished in six months.

Same with your staff. Ask them how long it would take for them to accomplish the task. They may say - 40 hours. You think that it can be done in eight. STATE THIS to them. Then, renegotiate again. They will probably say 32 hours this time. You may relax and think 16 hours. Agree to their number of 32 hours (NOTE: This would be done with a new employee.) Then, see how they spend their time and how long it took and, of course, how well it was done. You may be surprised - you may get something that you didn't expect - i.e. a finished assignment that not only does the three things you asked for, but, another 20 items that you didn't think about (wow, you just discovered an employee who can be a help to you and the company and not a hindrance). And, of course, you can also, in the future, set the boundaries for what you need, so that the time being negotiated is more in tune with what you expect, not what they expect.

Remember something, they also may not go about the task the same way you do.

I always have said to my employee's - "Do the best you can in the time you have - AND - I want "Z", (with "Z" being the definition of the finished task). How you get from A - Z is up to you. But, I want "Z" on the date or hour that you committed to."

This gives them the freedom to do the task, at their pace, and, ON THEIR TIME. You will be surprised how many of your staffers will work at home, think about it on the train, work through lunches, etc. Because you empowered them to finish the task their way, not instilled a framework and set "rules" on how they must accomplish it.

One last point. And this relates back to my statement - if you assign a task, are you the type of "boss" that, if it can't be accomplished (or isn't), that you would prefer nothing compared to something that is 80% finished?

Do the BEST that you can, in the time that you have.

I would appreciate the 80% and also learn about the capabilities of my staffer.

Posted by blaine at 09:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Starting A New Business

I am going to start a new category regarding my new business venture that I have started.

I may ramble (as usual), and may bounce around (is that new?), but, I hope that I can share some stuff that can help people (and you marketers) to a) not make the same mistake(s) that I do, and b) maybe pick up something (learn) about my actions.

I have started or, I guess, am starting, a business - and surprisingly, in the food industry. I have always loved to cook and am now going to try and pursue that goal.

My consulting business is doing well, as companies still are looking for that edge (that I provide), but, why not pursue something that can bring in some extra money as well as test my business acumen.

I have always had that delimma during a party, the holidays, etc. when I get a dessert - like a pie - and have half a pie left over. Or two 1/2 pies left over, or two 1/2 pies, some cake, some cookies, and other desserts. I came up with the idea of providing personal pan pie (like personal pan pizza's) for people who want to provide singular desserts to their guests.

Last week, we launched the project.

How did we launch it? Well, let me back-track and discuss my history and the philosophy of some of the start-ups that I have worked with - and in fact, I have discussed this in previous entries.

Almost every start-up I ever encountered, worked for, and consulted with, always opened up with, "We have to do advertising - radio" or "TV" or "newspaper", or "web", or whatever. Usually a huge expense that most start-ups don't have the money for.

As usual, they didn't define their market first, and then provide a product for that market (i.e. they went after the "whole" market, where 90% would never buy it until after it was proven).

My partner and I discussed the many ways to market our pies. Thank G*d my partner is a baker and not a business person.

We first sat down and walked through a few steps that I always do when helping a start-up.

1) Who is our market? In this case with my business, it was people who didn't bake, didn't like to bake, couldn't get to the store to purchase a dessert, and/or didn't want a lot of left-overs.

2) How much was our market willing to pay for this product? We already had competition - the typical 9" pie, so, we couldn't charge an extreme amount and remain competitive.

3) What gives us the advantage? With us, it was fresh products, baked within 24 hours, and delivered to the consumers home (all under one charge).

4) What are our operating expenses?

5) What happens if we don't get orders?

6) What happens if we are overwhelmed and can't meet demand? A good problem to have, but, if not prepared for, then, the business can quickly slide downhill.

7) And how are we going to market the product?

I'm sure that I will share more and more of the answers that we came up with as I continue to write to this blog.

But first, I want to discuss #7 - how are we going to market the pies. We knew that we had a huge market (see #1) and we knew that people wanted fresh pies (who doesn't).

We believed that we had the right pricing structure (more on this at some future entry), and we knew that we had limited resources (i.e. money).

We came up with some simple items to market our product. By the way, there was/is one caveat with this start-up - because we didn't know IF we would be successful (we knew that we would for the next two months - during the holidays)  - that we only wanted to deal with cash AND that we didn't want to approach restaurants, yet (see #6).

So, we decided on:

a) a website

b) a brochure

c) a flyer (two different types).

The flyer has been our greatest means for getting the word out (we started this one week ago and already have orders). We approached our friends, places where we do business (like our doctors office), local hospitals (my partner is a nurse practitioner), our gym(s), etc.). Everyone likes to see an underdog win, so, so far, everyone has allowed us to post the flyers. And, by the way, we even do leg work, going block by block and distributing our flyers on peoples doors.

We know that we can make 200 pies a week, and, with any direct mail campaign (this is somewhat similar), if we give out 1000 fliers, we should be able to get 200 pie orders. And so far, we are on target for this.

Of course, we hope that after our first deliveries (starting this week), word-of-mouth (or as a true marketer would call it - gorilla marketing) will help us with the orders.

That's it for this entry. I will update this when I get back in two weeks (right before Thanksgiving) to tell you all where we stand (I have to leave the country for the next two weeks) and my partner is on her own.

Posted by blaine at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Event Marketing

Do you do events? If you go to tradeshows, then, yes, you do events. 

Something that a LOT of people who do events (i.e. are in charge of setting up their booth, their display, etc.) don't ever do, is step back and walk the booth like one of their customers. They step back and look at it from a "presentation" aspect, that, it looks nice, that the "logo" can be seen and has the right "light" on it, and so on.

But, do you step back and look at from the perspective of their customer? Of an individual that has been standing for six hours, that is tired beyond belief and just wants to sit down and have the meeting.  Or do you look at it from the perspective of your customer, who is only three feet tall (i.e. kids).  Or from the perspective that your booth will have 300 people in it and no one will be able to see anything below the height of six feet.

How many times do you hang your banner on the front of the table, because it won't "fit anywhere else". Put 10 people in front of your table, and the banner is ineffective.

Just think - put yourself in their shoes! It will save you time and give you a much better ROI on your brand, your product, and your efforts.

Posted by blaine at 09:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

EVENT MARKETING

So many events, so little time.  How can you manage, or, more to the point, understand the "right" event to go to (to expose your product or service)?

It comes down to some common sense.  Ask yourself the following questions and then decide which event you should attend:

1) Does this event target my market?

Do the people who attend this event "want" my service or product? Will they purchase or provide me a lead if I attend? Will my sales increase because I attended the event?

2) Does this event help my brand?

Will my brand become more "famous"? Will my brand be exposed to the right target market? This is different then #1 above, as some companies attend events to get brand exposure and awareness, where sales are secondary to the company (at that time).

3) Does this event give me the exposure I want?

Will my product, service, or brand be exposed to the right market? Will the press come? Will I get the inquiries that I need to "up the ante" of my product, service, or brand?

4) Will my bottomline be affected by attending this event?

It will definitely affect it in the negative, as most shows cost a minimum of $10K to attend, and more likely to be in the three diget range. But, will it pay for itself. If not, then why attend - see #2 and #3 above, which could offset the bottomline cost.

5) Because I attend this year (or this quarter, month, etc.), do I have to attend again next year? And if not, will I lose credibility in the marketplace if I don't?

There are of course many more questions that can be asked.  And most likely, you will need to have those answers before you can do the show (i.e. a presentation to managment to gain approval of the budget).  But, start with these, as they will help you wrap your head around the most fundamental issues involved with event marketing.

Posted by blaine at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An Email Name

What's in an email name?

No, not your name, but, the portion of the address after the "@" symbol. 

You have clients who have an address with xxx@aol.com or xxx@yahoo.com, right?  You worked for a start-up/small business that uses those free email clients, right?

What is your perception of an address like this? Mine is that “with an address like that, people think you aren't serious, that you work out of your home, that you don't have time to form a company/business, and that you are using your child's free email account" (or that your child set up your email account).  

After I inform people that this is what the general market thinks, they are shocked, and don’t believe it. 

Show your clients email address’ from small business’ in your area and ask them which ones they “take” or consider more seriously – those with a company name (like mine with blainep@xbrand.biz) or those with an xxx@aol.com or xxx@yahoo.com domain.

Once they realize how “bad” they look to the general audience and their initial shock and disbelief has worn off, explain to them the cost of setting up a company email (less then $100 a year).  

If they can’t afford that, then they shouldn’t be a client of yours. If they don’t want to do it because they know better, then, they also shouldn’t be a client of yours.

How much business is lost because people have this perception?

Presentations

There are many different kinds of presentations that you see in the business world today. PowerPoint, a speech, a pitch, collateral, and so on.

But what did we remember about them? Anything?

You were sent to hear this presentation, either internally or at an event (or somewhere), and did they impress you? Did they gain your attention? Hey, even a sales pitch is a presentation!!!

How many times did we fall asleep? Have to stab ourselves in the leg with a pen to keep awake?

If you have never figured it out, it is the person giving the presentation, and not usually the content of the presentation, that keeps our attention.  The person actively got you involved - either by asking questions, by being personable, by interacting with you.

When we give presentations, we are trained on quite a few things, but, the first and foremost is to get the audience to interact!!!  Either by asking questions of the audience (or feedback) or getting the audience to particpate (by calling on companies or divisions of companies to give the answer).

Get them involved - make them stay awake. 

There was one presentation that I attended, almost 20 years ago, and during the presentation, the speaker would throw potatoes (raw) to people who answered her question correctly. EVERYONE wanted a potato after the first few rounds.  They stayed attentitive through the whole day.

You know what they got at the end of the day? Nothing.  The speaker said "I have given you a start in XYZ (what the presentation was about) and a start on your dinner tonight".  What a let down, but, wow, did she have our attention the whole time!!!

Posted by blaine at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Communication

Was at a company recently; walked into the reception area, and heard the receptionist answer a question on the company, "Yes, we make the product XXX and that is our specialty; can I connect you to one of our salespeople?".

I then went to meet with the company's VP of Sales.  She sat down in front of me (we were now in a conference room), and said (after all the formal introductions, etc.), "We are specialists in providing back-end software to the enterprise market; even though the world knows us for the few hardware products we provide.  Our target is the enterprise market, bringing state-of-the-art software to their internal systems and integrating some of our unique hardware. How can we get the market to see what our company offers and get the market to understand what we do?"

Of course, I had to mention what I heard in the front lobby.  "You know," I said, "I heard your receptionist state that your company is a specialist in hardware solutions, product XXX.  When you just came in, you said that your company were specialists in a different product. Which one is it?  You called Xbrand because you didn't think that the market understood what you did.  I think the issue covers more then just the general market. I think your employee's also don't know what your company does and provides, and aren't coordinated with the messaging that you want to project out to the market."

Over the next few weeks, we put together a training and messaging program for the company, from the receptionist to the CEO. We came to understand, through the discovery process of what employee's understood to be the companies mission, that each division had their own idea of what that message is.  Within a month, the company was all communicating the same message to the outside world.

Don't ignore inside the company when you are trying to put out a consistent message. Many times, the trouble starts at home.

Posted by blaine at 09:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Advertising

There are so many different forms of advertising - tv, print, radio, web, billboard, etc.

We get asked which is the best for them and which one gives them the "biggest bang for the buck".

There is no easy answer.  Advertising is a discipline. It takes money, and in some cases, doesn't pay off, and in others, pays off tremendously.

Radio is cheap - hitting a large audience, but, very much a shotgun approach, not knowing if you are hitting your market or not.

Print is a little more expensive, but, can be very targeted to the market you are trying to capture (of course, direct mail can be very specific, but, can a) upset your market (who likes junkmail?) and b) go after a large audience that may still miss your market.

Television tells a story - much easier then print or radio - you get to use the eyes and ears of the audience, instead of just one of those senses. In some cases, if you are advertising locally, it is very cheap.  On the other hand, if you are going after a national audience, it can be very expensive - but, it can pay off, depending on the creative that your agency does.

Advertising can work wonders on your bottom line, increasing revenue and profits. It is also one of the first things that are cut when the bottom line needs to show more profit - which, sadly, in most cases, increasing in advertising (and more generally marketing) budgets can bring a company out of trouble much more quickly then a "wait and see" attitude.

Always be sure to put a complete marketing strategy together before spending any money on advertising. Make all your marketing programs work together to get an overall "biggest bang for the buck".

Posted by blaine at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Business Cards

What's in a business card? You would be surprised.  Some of our clients have so much information on them, you are unsure as to what their business is.  Some are so sparse, you have to wonder the same thing - "what is their business?".

Some points to be sure are on your business card - name (duh!), email address and website, and phone number. Okay, so, that's the basics, but, what is the next level after that - no, it's not graphics (okay, maybe, on one or two out of a hundred may be graphics); it's a statement about your business - like ours, Strategic Communication Solutions.  What is yours? Are you clear and concise? Is ours? Well, if you aren't in marketing, then, it isn't - but, then, companies that don't want marketing help aren't who I want to attract.  Is it too niche? Well, we have clients who are worldwide, as well as clients who are very local and niche (like our corner restaurant).

Does your card state your business - your specialty? Is it too busy - does it give off the feeling that you are doing soooo many things that you don't have time to focus on one thing? Another client of ours had three different business cards made up so that they could hand out the appropriate specialized card to that market.

Think about it - the business card is your foremost advertising tool - does it convey the right message you want people to perceive about you??

Posted by blaine at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Media Training

How many of you are a spokesperson for your company? Or, at times, represent your company to the press or media? I'm not talking about having your name in a press release, but, being interviewed by some type of media?

Were you media trained? Were you informed of what to say, how to act, what to DO in front of the media?

If not, then, you shouldn't be speaking to the media.

Time and time again, especially in todays world of Reality TV, I see "stars" being interviewed, or on camera, saying things and doing things that are embarassing, if not wrong.  They go to a party and get drunk.  They get in a fight with another individual (showing that they can't control their emotions). They say something that is ignorant or sounds ignorant (i.e. not informed). Have you ever seen this? Have you experienced it - where when you see yourself on TV or hear yourself on the radio, or read what you said (or was perceived to be said), you were embarrassed? Or did you not even care?

Media training is not expensive, usually a few hours costs less then a thousand dollars.  The benefit is that you can now represent the company (and yourself) in their (or your) best interest. It may be perceived as a "waste of time", as we have experienced so many times in training individuals or groups of individuals, but, afterwards, when they have finished an interview, a tough interview, they call and thank us for the work we did with them.

Being able to answer a question, or, avoid an answer, can provide the difference between being perceived as a knowledgeable person or one that is just a "talking head" for the company.

Wouldn't you prefer to be considered a "good" interview, to be invited to speak again, or to be interviewed again, because you were perceived as an expert?

Get media trained - it's worth the investment.

Posted by blaine at 09:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Competition

 Last month I encountered, I guess, one of the most amazing statements I have ever heard from a CEO of a large company.  An employee had approached him and stated "Company ZZZ, our major competitor, has decided to target kids from the age of 12-18. What should we do?".  The CEO responded with "Let's send them a card saying 'Good Luck'".

Sadly, it really did end there.  Company ZZZ went on to making huge inroads into this market, capitalizing on some basic research and market understanding - to put it in perspective, Company ZZZ grossed more then $200 million in their first year in this emerging market.

The CEO that made the statement of "good luck" spent the next three years (after discovering that the competition was successful)  trying to catch up with Company ZZZ - and really was never able to gain market share. 

Why did this occur? A few things come to mind:

a) The CEO made it personal between his company and that of the competition - he never stepped back and looked at the opportunity, only that he hoped the competition would fail - Don't make business decisions on personal feelings or basis
b) The CEO could have quickly and easily been able to enter the market much sooner if he would have sent the employee who brought the information to him to do a little research into the potential market and "WHY" the competition was targeting this market - because he either didn't believe in the potential or didn't want to "copy" the competition, his failure to act cost his company millions, and soon, billions, of dollars
c) He didn't know about it, hadn't thought of it, so why try it
d) His companies resources were already stretched too thin and couldn't switch gears to get into the action.

There were, of course, many more things, but, I think you get the idea.

There are three types of companies in the world - Oil Tankers, Mid-size boats, and Speedboats. 

Speedboats can turn on a dime and react to market fluctuations and survive, but, they usually can't deliver large volume and expertise in a given field - Asia owns the "market" on speedboat companies.

Mid-size boats can turn quickly to react to market conditions and also be able to deliver large volume - they keep themselves streamlined so they can quickly react and move with the market (and not against it).

Oil Tankers (and we all know at least one of these companies) can deliver huge volumes of product and are there when you need their specific product (keyword - specific), but, either because of their size, expertise, or mentality, they are unwilling or unable to change with the market.

There are numerous books on companies turning from Oil Tankers to Speed Boats, so, I will stop with this analogy here.

A few last words:

1) Never make or take the competition personally - they are in business, just like you, to make money and sell product
2) COPY the competition - there have been too many times in all my years where I have heard VP's of Sales and/or Marketing say "We can't do that, the competition is doing it".  Forget it - copy the competition (of course, respect all patents and IP involved), there are many times that copying them does not cost money (or legal issues); for example, remember when you bought a TV and there was a warranty card inside? And then, there was a warranty card AND the option to go on the web and register the product? Many companies would not do the web registration - even though it saved thousands of dollars - because they didn't want to copy the first company that did it. Look at Asia - they make trillions of dollars a year, legally, by copying product on the market (and I am not referencing the illegal products that are also manufactured in Asia).
3) Step back and look at the forest - always.  A word, that cannot be overused (even though I know some of you will argue with me), is convergence.  Especially in today's technology market, products are converging so fast, that many companies that refused to look at the whole forest, are gone.  The PDA market never believed that the cell phone would be serious competition - now look at who is left in the PDA market? Convergence is key to the success of you OR your competition - don't just look at the tree (your specific market) you are standing in front of, step back and look at the forest on occasion.

Posted by blaine at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Research

Was thinking the other day about how many companies make their decisions based on personal experience and not research.  After the numerous books, articles, and seminars, all talking about research over the past years, and companies still go with "what they feel is best".  The numerous products, that have failed initially because "My daughter said that this is the way kids are thinking" or "My friend likes the taste of this jam and we will keep it that way", even after sales keep falling (or are non-existent), is amazing to me.  I learned at an early age that research is important, even though you can get suckered into spending mass amounts of dollars on it.  Over the years, after spending $10 or $10,000,000 on research, it all came down to "research in moderation".  Gut instincts are important and lead to outstanding products, but, spending a little time (who has that?) and money (now, really, who has that??!!) on some basic research can help guide you and avoid some basic pitfalls.

What do you do if you don't have time or money? Try these simple, but effective, ways to gain insight into your market (from most time consuming and expenditure to least):

1) Duh - if you have any money to spend, hire a professional research firm
2) Call research firms and see if they information, already compiled, that you can buy
3) Go to your local college or university, speak with the dean in the School of Business, and have them do a Project for you on the research you need (you would be surprised how open they are to this)
4) Go to your high-school (if you are marketing to teens) and ask them if you can have a survey conducted - be upfront and honest on what you are doing, why you want to do this, etc.  Of course, honey gets more then vinegar, so pledge that if the company starts making money, they will receive a $10,000 grant  in three years because of their time - again, surprisingly, schools will do most anything to raise funds
5) Pick up the phone and call people - call lots of people.  No, I'm not saying call 100's, but, call at least 25 people, acquaintances (not friends), tell them what you are going to market with, that they must be honest with you, and what they think of the idea, product, etc.
6) Search on the internet.  To this day, people only do cursory research on the web - spend the time, spend at least 10 hours, reading every page you can on the market that you are going to sell your product in. Especially, look at your competition - what are they doing, what do they do, where did they get started, what mistakes did they make and what mistakes are they making now - look at old press releases, reviews in the newspaper, magazines, anything and everything you can about them.

Posted by blaine at 09:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Web Site Start-Up

Recently I was consulting (well, helping) a friend and an idea they had for a website. He showed me a typical website that sold a unique item - each item had a price, picture, description, etc. next to it (no, it wasn't Ebay). For each picture to be placed there, the web site stated that it would cost $30 per picture, per month. There will thousands of pictures on the site. At $30 per picture, this translated into $30 million dollars in annual revenue (just from having a picture on a web site!!!).

So, I asked him the following:

1) Don't you think, if this little company was bringing in $30 million, just by putting pictures on its site, a larger company wouldn't scoop it up?
2) Do you think that this company (a company that has pictures of its products on the site), that has over 1000 pictures on the site, is paying $300,000 a month to have them posted there?
3) Don't you think that this website offers a "group" discount to major advertisers there? Like $1 a picture?
Then we got to his idea:
4) What are you going to do that is different? He responded with, "I will charge $20 and everyone will come to my site".

That's it. Needless to say, I sent him in a new direction with the following instructions:

a) Call one of these companies that are advertising on the site and ask them what they pay per month to be there - he did and found out that it was $500 a month or the $30 a picture, whichever comes first.
b) Find out if the web site gets a commission from referring a sale through the site - he did and the site does get a commission
c) What value are you bringing, beside the price difference? This was the key point and actual turning point of his business model - he wanted to share his wealth of knowledge and charge for it, and by putting pictures of products to sell on his site, at a cheaper price, he would get people to buy his knowledge. 

So, he is now pursuing the path of building a cheap website, listing and showing thousands of products (cheap to him is under $10,000 or free) with no database behind it (he will enter each picture and relevant information manually) so that people can find out information about the product he wants to sell, his knowledge.

Xbrand Communications appreciates and applauds his endeavor, but, with many reservations. To make a company grow, or for that matter, to even get it off the ground, some investment of moneys must occur. That having a college student design and implement a web site, in a manner that will allow him to enter all the information, in a timely manner, is setting up his business for disaster, if not outright failure (can you imagine entering on a template, thousands and thousands of product pictures, their descriptions, their prices, etc. and keep doing that every day as products are sold and replaced?).

With a little thought and effort, he could easily build a website with his knowledge posted on it - not all of his knowledge, but, enough to hook the reader into wanting to know more so that they will pay for it. There are many web sites out there that do this, and do not put it behind another marketing/selling mechanism. 

But, either due to lack of certainty in his knowledge or because he believes he can steal all the other web sites customers by offering a cheaper price, he is doing just that - trying to get all the other customers to come to his site because it is $10 cheaper - and please remember, this is being done with no firm business model, no marketing plan (would you pay for your product to be on a web site knowing that it won't be advertised?), and no moneys put into the company to make it grow.

Thank goodness he isn't an Xbrand client. Xbrand Communications would not take his money because we would have to tell him that we would have to pass on the project, as paying us a few thousand dollars does not or will not make a company - we can only help a company grow and prosper, with a proper business model and marketing plan. If the business model is flawed to begin with, there is nothing we can do.

By the way - in follow-up, he has come to realize that he will have to invest at least $50K to make the company and website that he wants. We at Xbrand are now helping him be a success, as he has hired the correct people and management to make the company into a world class provider.

Posted by blaine at 09:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Disaster Recovery

There is so much stuff flying around of a) a virus takes down your servers, b) a fire or earthquake destroys your servers, c) a terrorist attack, and (I love this one) d) the price of electricity is going so high, that we can't afford to keep all the servers up and running.

You name it, there is something out there that will force the data to be lost, destroyed, or something where continuance of business will be disrupted.

But, you know, the one thing that is rarely, if ever discussed out there, is the loss of personnel. The loss of the people or person(s) who man your call center, who pack the trucks, who manage those servers.

Of course, we have all had bosses (or could be one of these bosses) that says, people are replaceable, information is not.

I can understand this sentiment - to lose three months of a billing a cycle and not knowing who has paid and who hasn't, can definitely affect the bottom line.

But, what about losing the entire shipping staff, who can pick that job up, quickly? Or the HR department, who can process the claims and paychecks?

Of course, you can always hire others to come in and do, but, seriously, think about it - tomorrow, you lose a whole division of your company (a product BU, or HR, or IR, or R&D, etc.).  How would your handle it?

Some questions/issues you should think about:

1) Who can step in and manage the division (either if you have to hire all new people or just replace some of them (i.e. their manager))?

2) Who can step in and DO the job of the division (can you replace people in the division with internal employee's)?

3) Who currently can manage other divisions for a short duration?

4) Who currently can do other divisions work for a short duration?

5) How many vendors do you have lined up to step in and do a divisions work (this can be a temp. agency, an IT company, etc.)?

6) If your building(s) are destroyed,

              a) do you have an alternative site prepared (wiring, desks, etc.)?

              b) do you have the capability to draw people/employee's in in this new location?

These are just a few questions that need to be asked and answered.  We have pages of questions that break down every bit of information that may need to be written down - but, it should open your eyes.

Yes, be concerned about your data and how/where it is stored and protected.  But, don't forget the little guy - the employee that makes the company.

Data is worthless sitting on a server with no power or connection.  An individual is required to make this happen - think of them when you are planning your disaster recovery - or, in other words, think of them not being available when you are trying to recover.

Posted by blaine at 09:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Gatekeeper

Am involved in setting up a "start-up" (that doesn't sound right, does it?) and was discussing an aspect of marketing with the other founder (I am the other founder) about who is going to buy our product from us. In that discussion, I used the term "Gatekeeper" numerous times, and eventually, she asked (the other founder) "what is a gatekeeper?".

I guess, through the years, that I have come up with my own descriptions of words that I heard used throughout my years of marketing.

Originally, the word "gatekeeper" was introduced to me at Nintendo - we used the term to describe the PARENTS of the children that wanted a game.  The child didn't have the money to purchase the game (what 8 year old has $50?) - but, the parent did. So, our marketing efforts were two-fold: one to attack the child, the other to attack the parent.

There were and are a few ways to attack the gatekeeper to get them to spend the money.

One is to drive a message at the non-gatekeeper (with Nintendo, the child) so that they constantly are asking the gatekeeper "can i have it, can i have it, can i have it...), eventually driving the gatekeeper insane and giving in.

This is a very common practice - look at WWE, where they drive the message to the younger crowd to purchase a $49.00 pay-per-view so they can see their favorite wrestler. They are selling a service, a product, and entertainment.  Unlike Nintendo, which is only selling a product, that gets used after the initial purchase, with pay-per-view, it's a one-shot deal. (And yes, I understand that you can record the viewing - but, that's not the substance of what I'm talking about.)

What I'm talking about is getting your market to open their wallet and spend money - and sometimes, your market does not have the money.

So, the other way, is to get the parents (in the case of Nintendo and other manufacturers) to see the inevitability of spending the money and doing so (or, getting them to see the value and purchasing it on their own).

Today, there is a TV advertisement about a video game system that "teaches" math, spelling, etc. This company does NOT market to the child (what kid wants to have a learning game?), but, they go after the parents. And the parents are eating it up.

What I am saying is KNOW your market/audience. You may be making a product that makes a husband thin. But, you market to the husband, and they will either a) say they are thin or b) be too embarrassed to purchase it, or some other reason. But, if you market it to the wife, saying "don't you want the trophy husband that you married back then? get this product and he will return", and the wife will purchase. The wife is the gatekeeper.  Of course, so is the husband, because there are husbands that will try it, but, probably the majority of the market (gatekeepers) is the wife.

But, don't sell your marketing plans short - as with any marketing 101 class - look at your target market, and then look at those individuals who interact with that market and how they influence it.  If this is done properly, you may discover that the person who USES your product may be different then the person who PURCHASES the product.

Good luck - hope this helps....

Posted by blaine at 09:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Branding

Recently, we were part of helping a mid-size company re-brand itself, as its technology was changing from what it was for the past 10 years to a new technology (but, in the same market).

The organization already had an internal branding division (called a Mar/Com team) and thought they "knew" how to re-brand the company. After months and months of work by outside agencies (which we were one of) and hundreds of thousands of dollars, the company decided to go with what their internal division came up with.

The company was headquartered overseas and was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, with the symbol being TECH (this is not the real stock symbol, but will suffice to show how branding can go horribly wrong).

The name of the company (what it was for the past 10+ years) was ABC, Leaders in Technology, Inc (this is also not their real name).

The internal division decided to not change the NASDAQ symbol, which was TECH.  But, the company, as previously mentioned, was changing its direction from technology to consumer goods. So, for the 10+ years it was on the stock exchange, the name of TECH meant something - to be exact, it meant and stood for the technology that they were in. So, investors and investment analysts saw no change in one of the most fundamental of re-branding efforts - it stayed the same.

The company (and internal branding division or Mar/Com team - which, by the way, understood the English language only in a rudimentary way) decided to make the next two changes to their existing brand, thus, insuring that the world market would understand their new markets and direction (again, it is good to remember that nothing was changed at NASDAQ):

• They decided to remove the "Leaders in Technology" from the name of their company "ABC, Leaders in Technology, Inc.".  Now the name of the company became ABC, Inc.
  
• They also decided to make the name of their company in small letters, abc, Inc.

Now, on all their brochures, press releases, financial statements, etc., it looks like this:

"abc, Inc. announced to today a new car for the working mom. It not only gets...."

Every brochure, sign, etc. begins with the incorrect English being used; i.e. starting a sentence without capitalizing the first letter.

Because the company devoted so much time and money to the effort, and it was thought up from their internal division, they have not realized that they are committing a major error in the English language, as well as remaining to investors what they were before they re-branded themselves.

Every time a person, who has any skills of the English language sees a booklet, their web-site, etc., they all think "oh, they have a typo". 

The company did not "announce" their new brand either to the markets - but, just started putting out collateral with their new name on it (talk about confusion in the market place). By the way, they did not want to spend the $200 it would take to put out a press release or the $3000 to do a direct mail to all their customers and accounts informing them of this change (after they spent $100,000's already).

I even recently overheard someone speaking about abc.  Here is how the conversation went:

"Are you aware of the new product from ABC?" said person one.

"No, who is ABC?" said person two.

Person one responded with, "You know them, the company that doesn't know English and spells their name all in small letters?"

"Oh yeah, what were they thinking..." and the conversation turned from their new product to how they don't know English.

I hope that you understand the lesson here - that companies (small to mid-size) should be known for their technology or product or service, not their name and brand.

A brand should compliment their product line, not detract from it.  The brand will come naturally as the company grows - who knew what Coca-Cola was 80 years ago? or IBM? or even Microsoft? With time and the correct marketing, the brand will emerge. 

abc, Inc. made a fatal mistake which will continue to keep them flawed, they did not listen to the cultures existing in the market place (which the various agencies all pointed out).

Posted by blaine at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Public Relations

There is much information on this subject, but, I want to talk about what I consider the KEY to making a PR program/campaign work (or be successful).

A press release, a press kit, or having a PR agency is all nice, but, it all comes down to the interview (just like a job).

You have one chance to "sell" yourself and you have one chance to "sell" your product/service.

Both are important, but, rarely does the product "sell" itself. YOU have to sell the product, and, what I believe to be the only way, is that you have to sell yourself.

You have to be considered an "expert" in the field (that your product or service will be in), an "expert" on the product, and, something very few people do, is become an expert on the competition.

When I mention competition, many people do Press Tours where they "slam" the competition, by saying "it is no good because A, B, C, and ours is better because of X, Y, and Z".

Of course your product is better, but, by slamming the competition, you look like a typical PR hack hyping your product. Let the editor/analyst come to their own awareness to what makes your product better. This is easily accomplished by stating the facts about your product - of course you know what makes your product better, but, "present" that information so that you lead the editor/analyst to discover what advantage your product/service has over the competition.

Here is an example:

"What makes your product better then others?" asks the analyst.

"Well, you will have to come to your own conclusions about what makes our product better or worse, but, let me tell you about ours - it can do A, where most of our competitors can only do B; ours can do D, which is not as great as our competitors who do C, but, because we can do D, it allows us to do E also".

I hope you get the idea.

Work on what you will say. It is an extremely difficult skill to master an interview - that's why they have media training - for those individuals who can't "handle" an interview that may be combative or even uncaring.

This blog entry is a bit rambling - just trying to get you guys to think about your marketing and the do's and don'ts.

Lastly, I just said that some interviews can be uncaring. Let me give you this for an example of what I mean:

"Hi, my name is Blaine. Thanks for seeing me today - I am really excited to show you are latest product and what it is going to do for the world," I said, shaking a reporters hand in his office.

I could tell immediately that he was very very sad (because he had tears in his eyes).

"Ahh, are you okay?" I asked.

"I just got a call and my dog died", he said, holding back the sobs.

"Ohh, I'm so sorry. Do you want to cancel the meeting and do some other time?"

"Noooo, let's get this over with".

The interview, as you should be able to figure out, was not the best. The reporter kept breaking down crying. I ended it after 15 minutes.

In fact, twice in my life, I have gotten up and left an interview - because one got into the politics of Israel (I worked for an Israeli firm) and how wrong/bad/etc. they were and no matter what I did, we couldn't get off this issue unless I stated that Israel was an evil country - and the other was because no matter what I did (for a product) and said, the reporter would not listen to me, she just kept putting the product down and how much of a failure it was going to be; no matter what statement I made, it was met with a sneer and the statement "I don't believe it and I know you are lying". After 40 minutes of this, we ended the interview (the product went on to make over $500M in sales).

Those two interviews above were over 20 years of doing interviews - 2 out of a couple thousand - 2 that asked me to surrender my morals and ethics. I still fill bad to this day that I did this, but, no regrets, just sad that they came from this perspective.

Posted by blaine at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What's in a brand?

What's in a brand and the politics that may be behind it.

I have wanted to write this down for some time and am finally going to do it.

I worked for a little known company (now no longer around), called Olympus Image Systems Inc. (OISI) in 1994 - 1995. They were a subsidiary of Olympus Japan (mostly known for their film camera's).  We were given a small budget and one year to justify our "life" - i.e. sell enough products to become self-sustaining.

I was the product manager and was given various products to try and "market/sell" to the U.S. market.

We were first given a Magneto Optical (MO) drive (which we launched the same month that the Iomega Zip drive came out). This was not very successful - even though it was a much better product, but, was twice the cost.

With the MO drive, I learned that price truely did drive sales, and not necessarily having a better product.

After this, we were given a CD-R drive (which we sold for $6000).  This also failed - yes, we sold some, but, not enough for Olympus Japan to keep us in the business; the MO drives did better).

And then, we were given our final product, with Olympus Japan saying "Here is your final product, if you can't sell this, then, we will shut you down".

It was a digital camera.

We were very excited, because we knew that this would be a big hit in the U.S. market - but, we had one problem - a very BIG problem. Olympus America did NOT want us to use the Olympus brand when selling it and we could NOT use their existing sales force that already sold into camera stores.

Olympus America had a large revenue stream from its film camera sales and did not want to lose any of that to digital camera's (they were on a different P&L then we were).

So, we at OISI had to come up with a sales force and a brand that we could sell this under. What we came up with was having a distributor in Boston sell the digital camera's under their name. Their name was Camedia.

Within a few months, we could not get enough digital camera's from Olympus Japan, as everyone we received, we sold (to Camedia, who then sold to the general market).

Olympus Japan now recognized that OISI had a product that was selling and profitable - but, it no longer wanted us on their books.  They decided to shut us down and roll the staff and products into Olympus America.

Olympus America, when hearing this (and very upset because the digital camera was eating into their film camera sells), had to agree to the merger, but, had a problem - they now had a new brand of digital camera's, which did not have the Olympus brand name on them.

Olympus America ended up buying the name from Camedia (for a hefty sum).

This is why, if you are ever shopping for a digital camera, you see the Camedia name on the Olympus products.

Because Olympus America did no research on digital camera's (and that film camera's were on their death-bed), they chose not to allow their brand to be shared, and thus now have a name (brand) on their camera's that does not make 100% sense.

But, now, I hope you do understand the "sense" as to why they have this name.

We failed in part because we did not convince Olympus America that it was unwise to not let us have the Olympus brand, but, looking back on it, the blame was small on us, as we were going up against a company that had sold film camera's for over 30 years and it did not want to "change".

So, when launching new products, think it through. Your Brand has equity and can be used to make a success of new products.

By the way, the MO drive and CD-R were both marketed under the Olympus name, but, because they weren't competing directly with other existing products (at Olympus America), it was okay.

Posted by blaine at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What's in a brand name?

If you go out and start following (or researching or studying) brands, you quickly become overwhelmed.  Of course, Coca-Cola, Disney, and Ford are brought up in every study or article you read, and, I'm sure, alot more of them that you and 100 other people can name.

I don't want to talk about those guys.  I want to talk about the guys that have strong brands, IN their industry, and are content to keep it that way (why does National Semiconductor or RedHat need to have an international, consumer aware, brand? They don't - they let the market that they are in make their brand).

Too many times in my career have I come to a company where they want an International brand, recognized the world over.

How many times have I sat down with them and said "Why?". 

For example, when I worked at M-Systems, a semi-conductor company, they came up with a consumer product that they wanted to market to the world. No one knew who M-Systems was (except in the semi-conductor world), so, how can you enter the consumer market with no name AND with a name that is technology friendly, not consumer friendly?

We came up with a more friendly name for the division and the product (not M-Systems), and marketed the name around the world. Over two years, the name became recognizable, NOT by the consumer (which is not what I wanted), but, by the buyers of our products (i.e. retail chains).

Because the name became recognizable - there wasn't a month that went by in the first two years that at least 3 magazines/webzines weren't covering it - they knew they had to have it.

Which, in turn, boosted revenue at M-Systems by 700%.

Originally, the CEO wanted the brand to be known world-wide, like Microsoft. With a budget of less then $500K. Riiiggghhhttt.

But, with $500K, the brand became recognizable by the people that mattered most to M-Systems, the buyer.

The last year that I was at M-Systems and was marketing this product, we had a budget of $1M (after five years of incredible growth) with sales of over $500M.

Branding is, in my terms, awareness. Making your target audience aware that this product is out there (which we did through a brand - not associated with semi-conductors, but with consumers (even though the consumer was rarely exposed to the brand)).

When you are considering "building a brand", there are many different approaches.  Don't give up to easily, as the budget can be minimal, or there is alot of resistence from the executives or board.  Stick to your guns - understand your audience and market that you are attacking, and build the brand for them - you may get lucky and the brand may bleed into other markets - but, first and foremost, you will increase revenue and profits!!!

Let the awareness of the brand build your brand - especially if you have a limited budget.

Posted by blaine at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)