Marketing Communications Blog

GateKeepers (or Who has the Money?)

I know, I know, it has been a while since I wrote here and I do apologize; but, let's get down to business.

Remember the gatekeepers? The gatekeeper is the one who holds the keys, or, in your case (if you are a marketing individual) the person who holds the money.

For a parent and a child shopping in Toys-R-Us, your market is the child, but your gatekeeper is the parent.

You must always remember that marketing only to the child will not result in increased sales; but, if you market to both the child AND the parent, your sales should increase.

The person that will use the product is the child, but, the parent is the one who purchases the product. Yes, parents do hate it when their children are screaming and clawing and crying for a new toy and many do succumb and purchase the toy, but, others don't.

It is the ones that don't that you must ALWAYS think about - do research, do study groups, do whatever you can to understand what it would take to get the parent, i.e. the gatekeeper, to purchase the product!!!

If you put the price right on the product, the parent knows immediately what the price is and doesn't get frustrated (on top of the screaming child) becuase they don't know the price. Or that it will entertain the child for 10 hours. Or that the child will want to play with other kids with the toy (and keep them away from the TV). Is it mentioned?! Is it pushed on the packaging or advertising?!

If you disregard the gatekeeper (i.e. ignore them), you will lose out on another revenue stream.

Think about it.

Posted by blaine at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I have written about this before - many times. You MUST be willing to go to market with 80% of the marketing plan/collateral/website/etc finished. Not 100%. (You can finish it later.)

Remember, at 100%, it will be five months from now and the market will have passed you by. If potential customers are asking about your service/product and you have 80% of the messaging finished, or whatever, don't say "I'll get you back in a month when it is finished", because they will have moved on. Give them what they want.

Just had to vent. Sorry for the short entry today.

Posted by blaine at 08:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The Economy and you

Yes, we all know that the economy is hurting us, from placing ads to producing brochures to shipping product to to to, well, you get the idea.

As previously mentioned, the first thing that is cut in most organizations when money slows down is marketing. From cutting the ad budget to not sending out mailers to creative.

As I said then and I say now, I do disagree with this. Now is the time to keep (or increase) the budget, because people do have a limited amount of money to spend and you need to be front and center, not behind or gone. But, you can read that entry for more information on that.

I want to talk about the EMBRACING of the economy and owning it.

Now is the time to step up and show how your product will HELP consumers/partners through the lean times.

For example: a security company can say "with the economy getting worse and more people not working, some of those people will turn to the dark side (i.e. thievery) and our service(s) can help you cope (stop)". You get the idea.

Another example: a CPG sells laundry detergent, so they can say "with our concentrated formula, you can do more wash with less detergent, saving you money". Again, you get the idea.

But, what about web companies? Easy. "Instead of driving to a store, come to our site and shop here first and save on the cost of gas and environmental impact".

Or, non-profits - now here is a case where the economy will truly hurt them, as their money is mostly made through donations and contributions. How can they appeal to the market to keep giving money? Well, they can't do anything different then they already have been doing, i.e. begging. If they are large, then they probably have investments or an endowment that will see them through the lean times, but, otherwise, they have to "APPEAL" to the good in people. From "give blood, it may save your life" to "give money, it will continue to educate the world about xxx".

And of course, there are companies that will definitely be affected and may have to shut down some or all of their operations because of lack of funds/revenue. As my grandfather always said "make a product or contribute a service that people must have, not like to have, as those that survived the great depression did just that - they made products that consumers needed (like food) or services (like being a doctor)".

No, you can't change your profession now, but, you can think about how you can appeal to someone's pocketbook, not through thievery, but through honest to goodness quality goods and services.

The economy will certainly weed-out those companies that have been "hanging on" and "barely surviving", but, that is a good thing.

Like a garden, you have to weed it every now and then to get the best vegetables.

Posted by blaine at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Marketing Strategy, Brand Strategy, Communications Strategy, etc.

We all need a strategy, right? For life, for family members, for work, for play, for whatever we are doing.  We get up in the morning and tell ourselves what we are going to do that day and the order we're going to do it, right? Well, that's a strategy.

But, let's talk more about setting a Marketing Strategy and Marketing Plan.

What is it?

Well, you can read numerous books about setting a marketing strategy and almost everyone will say something different. So, I am here to tell you my definition.

First, your marketing plan is part of your business plan. Without a business plan, don't start a marketing plan. Read a book on making a business plan (or read my blog sometime in the future and maybe I will talk about it).

Second, you must think LONG TERM. I mean five years, even if your business has only been around for five weeks. Find out, by reading your business plan, what new products and/or services you plan on offering in five years. If your management/board/c-level executives don't now, then, QUIT YOUR JOB and go somewhere else. But, if they do know, integrate that into your plans, even if the product is something so new, so different, that you can't address that today.

Third, you must think LONG TERM. I mean three years.

Fourth, you must think LONG TERM. I mean one year.

Okay, you get the idea. Your marketing strategy and plan must start today and integrate out to five years from now. Beleive me, if you are meeting with a partner or the press, they WILL ask you what you plan to do after this product is at the top of the bell-curve, and you better have an answer. Even if it is a totally new direction - for example "This is our new toothpaste, it fights cavities, blah blah blah"..."and yes, in two years, we are planning on getting into surfboards, using the technology we gained in making the toothpaste, blah blah blah".

Fifth, how are you going to get your message out there? Your strategy needs to incorporate ALL of the marketing mediums available, from web to merchandising, from promotions to event marketing. List out events five years from now on that you are planning on attending, like CES in 2012 or CEBIT in 2013 or whatever. Put down brochures that you want to make, around products that are in the pipeline, that are dreams, etc.

Okay, that's it. lol. No, there is alot more, but, this is a good start. Let me make it clear on one thing - the marketing strategy and marketing plan should be able to be read by a layperson and "see" what is happening today, next month, next year, and five years from now. By the way, it is sooo easy to "forget" to update the marketing plan and strategy one year from now, as you are then "in the mix" and "don't have time" to update it. UPDATE IT!!!

Remember with a strategy, you must think about the "end goal" - increase in product sales, revenue, profit, etc. and HOW you are going to get there. What do you have to do to make that happen - and of course, the easy answer is "lots of money", but, try it without money. How would you make the strategy a "winner" spending little or no money.

Your marketing strategy should be understood by everone, from the top top to the lowliest. What is it goint to take and how are you going to get there - and the "you" is each individual in the company and any vendors that you have.

Posted by blaine at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New Technology - How do you keep up with it?

I have been asked, especially in the past 10 years, "How do you keep up with today's technology? It is moving so fast, how can you possibly understand it all?"

It is a great question, because you can't.  You can't keep up with all the technology going on out there; from new cell phone apps and services to enterprise apps or software as a service. There is so much out there and there is no way to keep up on it all.

So what do you do?

First - target and focus on what your industry is in - if you are in the mobile industry, read and study everything you can get your hands on to understand the technology, trends, and upcoming innovation in that market.

Second - take one step away from this target and study other outside influencer's.  I have mentioned this before in my postings; imagine a target, with the inner circle being that of your market, the next circle out is influencer's that can/may influence your current market. For example, let's say you are in the magnetic storage industry (hard drives - both internal and external), the next circle out is enterprise storage solutions (because a) they use your magnetic hard drives, but, also have new technology that influences storage, like magneto-optical, or optical (and so on). This next circle is the MOST important area, outside of your main market, to study and be aware of. The next circle is other market influencer's, like, new companies coming out with smaller storage (not just in technology, but also in capacity - like, for another example, the Apple Thin Notebook - Apple is providing a smaller hard drive so it will fit in the laptop - will consumers accept this? If so, how does this impact your market and your revenue?)

Third - Read outside the market publications, from the web to the paper to magazines. Read only those pubs that your customer may also read. A great example, and the basis for your marketing activities, is this: You want a company to purchase your product, but, the purchasing agent doesn't want your product (either too costly (in their mind), doesn't fit their need (because they are ignorant), and so on). But, the purchasing agent is not the person that is going to be using your product, the product is going to be used elsewhere in the organization. Target them. How? They read, they do research, they study, they talk to others. Get in their faces so that they can do the "pull" and tell the purchasing agent to purchase your product.

In other words, do research. Find out what they read and study and get in those pubs. Educate them on your solution and you will get the sale.

It's basic marketing, but, it increases revenue.

So, back to technology - if you do the above steps, you will inherently understand what is affecting your market, what new technologies are coming out, and how to counter them and address them. Remember, your product is already obsolete when you come out with it, but, you need to make the sales. By keeping up with technology IN YOUR MARKET, you can counter it with your marketing efforts, and thus grow the company.

We all have only a limited amount of time in the day - and yes, this does keep you focused in a general marketing category - but, that category is wide and spread across a few industries, thus not locking you into one category (like only storage), but, all technology related to storage - therefore, you can move to other industries quite easily.

Posted by blaine at 07:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Has your budget been cut yet?

So, the economy is not doing well - from total depression to a slight recession to whomever you are speaking too - but, there is a money crunch out there and consumers are looking at their dollars a bit differently today then they were three years ago.

Which gets to the point of this posting.  Companies, large and small (mostly large though), start looking at how their dollars are spent and the first place that the executives (and board) look at is Marketing.  As discussed in previous postings, marketing is the hardest area to show a ROI - how can your PR activities be turned into a dollar value? How can a TV advertisement show an increase in revenue? Yes, both of these activities can be "turned into" a ROI chart, showing how many people saw the advertisement or read the story in the magazine. Yes, you may see a spike in sales after a release is published or an advertisement runs, but, when compared to sales, it is hard to justify.

Why wouldn't a company put their limited budgets into sales rather then marketing? It sounds like the correct thing to do.

But, don't you agree that the ceasing of building your brand, of advertising your new product, of introducing the new product to the world could (and probably would) affect the long term sales of your product or building of your brand? It really isn't a "probably", it is a fact. How many companies seem to "disappear" during times like this? And then, when the economy comes back, they "reappear"? But, instead of being ten steps ahead, they are all the way back at the beginning again.

Yes, if your company is financially strapped, then, you have to cut budgets - but, marketing is what tells people what to buy, where sales shows what to buy. One is displayed at a non-retail place where the other is only shown at a retail location.

Think of it this way - with the economy being this way, people don't just "go" to a retail establishment anymore to "shop" - they go because something has "pushed" them there - and that "push" comes from marketing, not sales.

Good luck.

Posted by blaine at 08:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What is it?

Pragmatic Marketing is a unique way to "look" at products before they are born. If you go to www.pragmaticmarketing.com, you will see the "steps" and "ways" to do this.

The question is, why is this new or, more to me, why is this needed, in this way.

As I say to my wife all the time, THIS IS MARKETING.  Taking something that we do every day and making it into something that has to be purchased.  If not purchased, you are something lessor than other individuals.

So, pragmatic marketing is doing focus groups (they don't call it that), talking with buyers about why or why not they will want this product, planning a branding and communications campaign, working with all the various divisions that will affect the product, expecially sales, and so on.

To me, pragmatic marketing is doing what any real knowledgeable marketer would do to make a product successful.

I can see why this would be useful to a marketer that a) doesn't know marketing, or b) is new in marketing. But, if you have at least 10 years of marketing experience and you don't know or do everything that pragmatic marketing "teaches", then, you shouldn't be in marketing.

In conclusion, don't judge someone if they aren't "certified" with the pragmatic marketing certificate - they probably have been doing what it teaches for longer then the term has been in existence.

Posted by blaine at 04:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Wiki's - Are they really real?

Need to follow-up on a previous posting I did some time ago.  Was reading some research today and "whallah!!", very few companies are having much success with their wiki's.  According to the research, employee's of the companies were either not interested, did not have the time, or the information that was there was irrelevant or not of help to those employee's.

The research went on to further state what I had mentioned some time ago, that wiki's, if allowed to be viewed by individuals outside the company, could contian information that could hurt or embarass the company. That that information, if not shared and updated and, most importantly, protected, could help a company grow and be more productive.

Keep trying to make it work - a Wiki can hurt your company, but, it can also help your company - it is up to your IT department and all the employee's who contribute to protect it and make it grow.

Posted by blaine at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Payroll or sacrifice?

So when should you stop receiving payroll from a company?

My answer, which I know will bring an argument, is that you should never stop receiving money from your company....unless, the company is in its infancy and every dollar has to be spent to keep the going.

As I previously mentioned in a past posting, you should ALWAYS be on your payroll.  It is when you can no longer afford to pay yourself, you need to seriously consider shutting down your company, or, worst case, going into bankruptcy.

A friend of mine and I were discussing a client of mine that I had recently walked out.  She asked me why I did that, since money is money and why not take it?

My answer was easy - when I am consulting with a company and the CEO is not taking a payroll because someone else outside the company (a creditor) tells him so.  That same creditor expected immediate payments on all invoices and received them. And that same CEO refused to listen to his consultants, it was time for me to move on.  What would I gain, by staying at a company, getting paid for whatever work I could do, adn the company continues to go under because of mismanagement? Yes, money, but, very bad for the credibility and references.

So, what am I saying - if you own a company and you aren't paying yourself, then, you are in serious trouble and really need to evaluate your future not only of continuing the company, but, of you heading it.

Posted by blaine at 03:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Defend or be Aggresive?

Let's continue with where I left off the other day - with me deciding to stop consulting with a company that continues to make the wrong decisions and drive themselves into a deeper and deeper hole.

This company, as I mentioned, decided to give up control of their company to a creditor; and interestingly, the creditor wanted me to stay on board and continue to consult.

They wrote a letter begging me to stay and do their dirty work (continue to pass control of the company to them).

In my response, I said "No, thank you"; and then went on to list out the companies current legal issues and how I would approach them - either by listing them as "Attack - file suit", "Defend - put in place legal defenses", or "Neutral - ignore for now". 

When the company hired me as their General Manager, I was given complete control of their financials, their staff, and their legal defense.

Obviously, when the company decided to give their creditor control of the company, that broke our contract as well as me having moral and ethical issues with it.

But, while I was managing the company, my priority was to remove the legal liens, lawsuits, as well as pay off creditors - but, sadly, one of those creditors controlled the companies manufacturing and threatened to stop production unless they were allowed control of the company.

So, what am I saying? Well, as I tell all anyone and everyone that interacts with me in life - make a list of priorities.  This will allow you to focus on what is important. Granted, if you don't follow the list, then, you will get hurt in the long run.

Posted by blaine at 07:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What gets your attention?

Had a mentor once tell me something that has stayed with me through the decades (okay, i'm not that old, but, through the years).

We were talking about trying to get someone to buy our product and he said "What do you offer that no one else offers?".

I said we were bigger and better, but, we cost more.

He responded with "There are only two ways to get someone's attention - put money IN their pocket or take money OUT of their pocket. You are definitely taking money out of their pocket, but, you believe that you are also putting money into their pocket, because they are getting something way better then the competition - so tell them that - that you are saving them money or putting money in their pocket by going with your product".

When putting out your next product/service, figure out how you can put money back into their pocket - the sell will be easier if that is the perception.

Posted by blaine at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When are you ready to grow?

Am working with another client who is ready to take her business to the next level. As the title says, she currently is a family business (just her) and wants to take it to the next level - turning it into a small business with profits.

A few questions that you should ask yourself before you decide to take that next step:

1. Do you have a business plan? Maybe for the past 10 years you have been running the business out of your house and the demand (and profit) is starting to grow and you feel you are ready to move to the next level. You need a business plan.  They are simple to do but are time intensive.  Put the time in so that you are prepared for the growth that is coming.

2. Are you ready to put the time and effort into your company to make it grow? Again, for the past 10 years, you were able to pick the kids up from school and attend their plays, but now, to make this company grow, you are going to have to forget the family. Just be prepared.

3. What value do you think you are going to get from growing the company? This is just as important as the other two - if you don't see a goal or know what you want, then, don't start your business growth plan.

There are many more questions that can be asked and answered - go to your local bookstore and get any book about starting your business and they will bring up these questions and many more.

Just think it through - maybe your husband wants you to grow, or your friends are telling you that you will make a million bucks if you grow - don't be one of the failures because you didn't spend the time up-front.

Good luck.

Posted by blaine at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Do you really need marketing?

The other night, was thinking about a new potential client, and if they really needed to do marketing or not.

At lunch that day, we had been discussing Chipotle restaurants and how they do very little marketing, and was it right or not? Was it what they wanted (in growth)? Slower rather then faster - and then, who could guarantee that it would grow? Or would the marketing eat into their profit.

So, I started to think about the need for marketing with a product/service/brand or not.

Obviously, if the product is "hot", then, marketing doesn't need to be huge - right? The product is selling itself and the Public Relations efforts are keeping it in the news - so, why do TV or Radio or whatever?

If the product is unknown, brand new, and customers don't understand the value, then, marketing is needed, right?

Back in the days when I was the chief marketing person for the USB Flash Drive at the patent holder, M-Systems; they gave me no money (less then $100K) a year to do all the marketing needed for this product. (FYI - The market today for this product is over $2B).

There were a couple of ways that I could attack this:

• As mentioned in a previous entry, I could scream and fight with the CEO/CFO for more money
• I could only market to analysts and editors what the product was (in a particular region, like U.S., Germany, etc.)
• I could go after one small region of the world and market the product (like NYC or LA only)
• I could give the money to a retailer as MDF or Co-Op funding and have them advertise the product (as best they could with so little money)
• Or many other things

The skepticism of the product from the mass market was palpable. Who needed a device that had 256MB on it? We had the floppy for little things, cd-r and dvd-r for larger things (even though the Software caused early heart attacks in many users), the zip, and of course, the network where we could upload and download gigabytes of info.

So, that is where I attacked. I needed to educate the "early adopters" as to why they needed this product - there was no way that every secretary in the world was going to run and buy this device if they saw it on tv. I needed to hit those that would realize the value of it; that they would tell others, and so on (the perfect and ideal marketing tactic).

But, back to the heading of this entry - do you or do you not need to put moneys into marketing?

Sadly, that depends on so many things. Here are just some of them:

• The brand - known?
• The product - needed?
• Mass market or niche market appeal?
• Educated or non-educated market?
• Hispanic, white, etc. market?
• OEM, Retail, Direct, Web sales?

So many things - that all need to be laid out and understood - which then will lead to your marketing plan, and ultimately if you need to do, and what you need to do, for marketing.

Posted by blaine at 08:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Innovation Again

So, to continue from a couple of days ago.

Was reading another magazine (IN magazine) and there was a great article about Innovation and how it is overused and not understood by people in marketing.

So much so that they are now saying that there will be (if not already occuring) a back-lash against companies that overuse the word in their marketing campaigns.

Now, let's recap real quick - what I was referring to in the previous Innovation post was how marketing people say that marketing has to be innovative (whereas, above in IN magazine, they are talking about, what I also said in the previous posting, that Innovation is in TECHNOLOGY).

Thank g*d, in the article, that the Marketing people that were interviewed to comment on the subject consistently referred to technology as being innovative, that the innovation comes from the patents (where, by using a cartoon instead of a live character in an advertisement, does the "innovation" come in?).

I almost sound defensive when I am talking about this. I don't want to be (and I am not), but, I want to make sure that with the coming "death" of the word Innovation, that the word continues to refer to technology products, services, or experiences, and NOT Marketing.

Posted by blaine at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Innovation in Marketing

Was reading over a document from a CMO that had recently hired me to some research work for her.

In the document (really a memo), she kept informing the reader (her staff and company board) that for her company to succeed, there had to be innovation in the marketing effort(s).

Doing some quick checks on the Internet, marketing innovation is a hot topic out there among marketing professionals.

I do consider myself a marketing professional (doing this for 20 years), but, I have never been one to "glom" onto a belief or specific way to do something. I guess that's why I am such a success at so many levels, because I don't follow what everyone else does, I do what I think is correct (and 99% of the time, it provides incredible success).

So, back to the marketing innovation (enough about me - you are here to learn or gain insight) that I am seeing and reading about.

Throughout my life, in reading books, meeting people, etc., innovation was constantly used in conjunction with entrepreneurs and inventors - these people were brilliant and thought of new products and/or services that have never been thought of before - thus allowing our life to change and become more profitable (be it with time, money, or whatever we consider to be "profit").

In other words, innovation was used for something "new" that "impacted" our lives.

Does innovation in marketing mean that it is new? Or impacts our life?

Is a new TV spot that makes us laugh, or think, innovative? A paper ad? A web banner?

I don't think so. We have to gain the attention of our audience - if it is by doing something new, then, yes, that is innovative. But, what, in the past decade, or 25 years, have we seen as "new".

Let's look and think:

• Web banner ads (okay, innovative the FIRST time, but, now? okay, now we use flash instead of HTML, but, was that innovative, or just moving to the next level of advertising (web banner))
• Advertising on race cars (innovative the first time, but, now?)
• Logo's on our clothing? Okay, Gap and Old Navy made it a success and it was very innovative, but, now, it is same old, same old
• Running an ad before a movie starts - innovative the first time it was ever done, but, now, it is an irritant

You get the idea - innovation occurs very rarely in the marketing industry. Innovation in technology occurs once a day; innovation in marketing occurs once a year.

Capturing the attention of a market is 99% done by using proven marketing methodology (previous marketing programs).

So, back to how I started - CMO's and everyone else saying "We need marketing innovation" is a non-starter for me. Yes, it may occur, and g*d bless you if it occurs during your watch.

But, most of the time, you have a staff, a board, and mentors who have that "innovative idea" once a year or once a lifetime. If it occurs during a time when you can use it, when you have the funding, then, yes, you have a marketing innovation.

But, deciding to give away an "orange" t-shirt with your logo on it, instead of the cheaper common white t-shirt, is not innovation.

Do the market research.

Do the market segmentation and studies.

Know your market.

Plan your marketing strategy around that market.

And implement your marketing plan. If it is using something NEVER BEFORE SEEN in the market, then, you may have innovation. But, having a caveman as your spokesperson is not innovative, it is new and unique (and successful!).

Convincing your market to purchase your product has nothing to do with innovation (in my opinion); it has everything to do with communicating your message correctly and to the right audience.

If, using a sock puppet puts your product on the map, yes, that is innovative, but, does it continue to speak to your audience and drive sales.

Sometimes, a $10K ad, every week, in the New York Times will drive more sales then spending $10M on a new innovative way to market to your audience.

Don't let the "innovation" hype scare you - if you know marketing, if you know how to speak to your audience, then, the innovation will follow - you don't have to lead with it.

Posted by blaine at 08:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What you think and what is reality

Was talking with another consulting firm the other day about a current project that they were working on. The consultants were asking me to help them on the project with their marketing plans, etc - but, they first needed to put together the business plan for their client (a start-up with less then a $1M financial backing). 

We discussed the market, as they see it, and where the product that the company makes will be sold.

Surprisingly, they stated that all companies in this field have to do A, then B, and then, C will happen (where C is the purchase of the company and everyone goes home a millionaire).

I asked them why they had to do A, when going to B would be shorter and quicker time to market. They stated, "no, this is how it is done".

We then continued to speak about their target market, which was youth - 21 - 26 years old, primarily men.

I brought up a couple of points about how to get to B so they could skip A, and they said "Yes, thought about that, but, again, the right way is to go the way we have planned".

I can't tell you the details (you know, confidentiality, etc.), but, the point that I want to make is the following:

• Don't think that you have to do what the others do in the market (i.e. you don't always have to follow the same path as everyone else)
• Feel free to explore more then one path when approaching the market - yes, there may be a "best" way to do it, but, at times, the "other" ways may pay off and be the real "yellow brick road"
• Be IMAGINITIVE - CREATIVE - OPEN MINDED when looking at new or even existing markets. Don't be pigeon-holed or held-up that you have to do it a certain way

I guess, the last bullet above, is what always makes my previous employers and clients say that I am argumentative at times - because I want them to look at the whole picture, at the other pieces of the pie (and how it affects us) - so much time, effort, and money is lost because people don't use vision - they don't look ahead to what will be in 3, 5, 10 years (see other postings on this subject).

Good luck, and don't look at the ground, look up and see what's coming.

Posted by blaine at 01:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The Cutting of your Marketing Budget

Was reading Business Week the other day and at the end of each magazine, Jack and Suzy Welch give advice to people who write them.

Recently, in one of their responses, they were giving advice on how a manager can manage short-term AND long-term (i.e. get profitable now (short-term) and build for the future (long-term)).

In one of the paragraphs, actually two sentences of the paragraph, they mention how cutting the marketing budget by 20%-50% will drop those moneys right to the bottom line. Which is true.

Through the years, with all the experience that I have in marketing, it always comes down to this - marketing is easy to cut and it affects the bottom line directly.

But, as Jack and Suzy Welch failed to mention for any length or substance, is that LONG-TERM, that budget cut will come back and haunt that company a few short years from now.

First, marketing personnel understand the future (if they don't, they shouldn't be in marketing). They know that the "laying of the ground work" now will yield positive results in the future. That, by cutting the budget, that ground work will have to be done at a later date, which, in turn, means that it will take the much longer for the reward to be realized.

Secondly, the success of future products are relient on today's marketing.  So many times, when meeting with analysts, I started the prep work for a future product; which, of course, peaked their curiosity as well as brought them "on board" for future follow-up (i.e. endorsement of the product).

And lastly, if you work for a company that cuts its marketing budget, start seriously consider about staying there. Of course, if they company is going bankrupt, and this is the only way to save it, it has to be done (but, I have heard this before where NO budgets, anywhere else, were cut). If the CEO and CFO are so short-sighted (i.e. long-term profitability) that they are willing to cut the budget without seriously considering the consequences long term (and the only way to know this is to schedule a meeting, pitch your case for "why" and "how" this will affect  the companies future), it may be time for you to move on.

In closing, my point is, when you see a company, it its first budget crunching time, decide to cut marketing's budget, think about why this is being done. Through the years (and I believe I mentioned this in a previous post), there are two types of companies, sales companies and marketing companies. There are a FEW companies that walk the line between these two very well - like Google, Microsoft, etc. And yes, they have the money to make it happen, but, most companies fall into one or the other of the categories.

When taking a job, ASK them what they think they are, and why they think that. It may help you understand the culture that much better.

Posted by blaine at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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.

Posted by blaine at 09:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by blaine at 09:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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.

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

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.

Posted by blaine at 09:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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).

Posted by blaine at 09:51 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)