Marketing Wisdom

Was reading how Pepsi Max is going to rebrand/reposition itself again and how important the word “diet” is in either mentioning or not mentioning it in advertising (especially to men).

It got me to thinking – in today’s economy how much disposable income is out there? When or where is the tipping point for individuals, the world over, to say “You know, maybe I shouldn’t buy that Pepsi Max this week and pay my water bill instead?” (Or baby formula or rice or whatever.)

NOTE: There is a whole public relations conversation on how well the American Political Machine spins the “Recovery” on a weekly basis – reminds me of the sales manager saying to the CEO every week “Even though we haven’t sold anything this year, we are doing great!”

We see Wal-Mart and Target marketing to the masses saying “Lowest Prices” and “Affordable” and so on. They’re trying to get those people that are watching their budget to save more money by shopping at their location.

Prices are rising all over the world ($3.00 for a bottle of water, $5.00 for a can of Red Bull, $2.00 for a “snack” bag of chips, etc. All these prices having doubled in the past year.)

Some stores may offer a can of Red Bull for $.25 less then another, but, still, because of the economic times, pricing has risen.

Eventually, market segments are going to start to decline, small or large, but, declination will start to occur more rapidly as jobs become more scare and cost of living rises while salaries remain the same.

Someone will step into this market and capture a huge percentage. Someone will offer a very low cost solution to the many high-cost offerings that are out there.

How much longer can a world sustain a water bottling company at $3.00 a bottle when the cost is less then $.10? It can’t. Whomever offers the pricing back at $1.00 is going to own the market. Yes, margins will go from 40% to 10%, but, look at the soda business where margins are less then 1%.

The world has reached a tipping point where unsustainablity of market prices cannot continue. Either companies will go under or they will have to reduce pricing to meet the needs of the worlds individuals as they tighten their belts.

Remember the movie “Mr. Mom”? Where the real mom advertises the drop in pricing for tuna so that the people can afford the product?

I believe that this will be occurring soon.

Was going through some of my old documents that I had written where I discussed brands and their power…over decades and over centuries.

Came across my positioning document on the Christian Cross. How it has changed very little over the centuries – even as it was “copied” by the many different Christian affiliations/groups throughout the world.

Most still keep it a simple black cross, but others have added the Christ figure, and others added a crown of thorns as a background, others added a hill under the cross, and so on.

My main point, as is true today, is that the essense of the brand (the main look/design) has changed very little over the centuries; enabling what all brands (consumer level) want, instant recognition as well as an instant “feeling”.

As you continue to build your brands, don’t be so quick, or shortsighted, to only look at brands in the past few years. Look at brands over the past century or longer; because we all know that the true measure of success of a brand is its staying power.

Just wanted to share with all of you a slide that I give when introducing a branding strategy. 

The brand communicates the desired essence of a company or product(s)/service(s)

By communicating the brand and its essence, the brand will have a “life” – meaning, “it will take on a life of its own”

The only option that a company has in “controlling” that life is to place its logo’s and taglines in all outgoing “signage” (i.e. correspondence, web, etc.)

Once the brand starts for a company, it is extremely difficult to “change” the brand – without extreme cost and time

Lastly, it is advantageous for a young company to not define its brand in “concrete” but to keep it “fluid” so it can change the brand and position as the company matures

Remember the pet food recall? Remember how brand names were never known as to who was behind it? That everyone kept saying it was the Chinese (and who knows what “Chinese” is – which one of the billion people is responsible?).

Well, now, we are seeing the other side. The side that I spoke about in previous posts. How, as a brand, if you come forward and admit your fault and how you are going to fix/change that fault, people, ALL people will forgive.

Toyota has done that. They stepped up and took the blame – on a piece of hardware that they do not produce – one of their 100,000 vendors makes it. But, they did it right – not be like American companies and blame others, but, step forward and take it.

It’s too bad that our government had to make it political (wonder why they didn’t do that with the pet food or the Firestone tires that were killing everyone). 

Toyota lost nothing yesterday. They actually gained. People saw that an individual was taking the blame and was willing to do whatever it took to fix it.

I would be surprised if Toyota lost one customer yesterday after watching the president make attrition.

That was brand management at its best – learn from it.

Ahhh, brand strategy – how many times throughout our marketing careers do we hear “We must have a brand strategy for this product/company”.

But, what do they mean?

Who knows – every time, I hear this and then ask the person what they mean, I get many different answers.

• Our company must have a strong brand because we need consumer recognition.
• Our product needs a strong brand so that we can unseat the competition.
• Our company must have a strong brand so that investors will know our company.
• Our product needs strong brand recognition so that we can compete, or will drive consumers to buy our product, etc.

And so on.

Most people don’t understand what and WHY they need a brand. Many companies succeed and are profitable with little or no brand strategy (or budget to make the brand).

Coke has made a science out of building/making their brand recognized the world over.

Apple is doing the same (but, they have also changed their brand through the years – remember the Apple with rainbow colors?) – but, they are still recognized.

How can one company, who changes its brand image mid-life, maintain its brand recognition, where the other keeps its image on every surface throughout the year (as well as traditional advertising).

But, you can read books on both companies and their marketing/brand strategies.

Companies that you never even heard of make billions of dollars a year without any brand strategy.

The bigger question is, and one that I always ask after someone says “We must have a brand strategy for the product/company” is:

“What do you hope to accomplish? What is your goal?” Is it in answer of one of the questions asked above? Or is it something else?

And usually it is something else – usually it is “I want the consumers that need are products/services to buy OUR products/services”.

So, does this require branding – a strong brand recognized the world over?

No, it does not – it instead requires a marketing strategy – on how to target the market that needs the product/service – not one that requires a brand.

I think you get the idea – before spending millions of dollars on a brand, think it out – work with ALL the various divisions that have the product, sell the product, or make the product, and find out what their customers want (and what they think).

A LOT OF THE TIME all that is needed is a well-thought out marketing strategy and not a branding strategy.

How to damage your image

Had surgery the other day. Nothing serious, just a walk-in/walk-out of a few hours.

Came into the hospital, filled out all the paperwork, and was escorted to the waiting room by an administrator who was professional and enjoyable.

In the waiting room, had a great conversation with the nurse and receptionist there (this is a hospital – you go nowhere without someone from the hospital being in front of you).

Was called in to the surgery room, met a great nurse and had a great conversation with her as we went through the procedure (as well as the doctor – but, he was not part of the hospital, he was my doctor who came in to do the procedure).

My doctor left after the procedure and the nurse and I continued to talk – I had to wait about 10 minutes to make sure that I was okay after the surgery.

The nurse filled out all the paperwork for me, telling me what and what not to do, what I can and cannot eat, how much medicine I should take, etc. This was all written on a piece of paper, with the top area for signatures and the bottom with all the instructions. 

Then, the unbelievable happened, the nurse took out a pair of scissors and cut the bottom half of the paper off and handed it to me.

No, the paper wasn’t a tear sheet.  No, it wasn’t a separate piece of paper. It was the second half of paper and cut.

An experience that was nerve wracking and stressful, ending with a nurse cutting a piece of paper in half with all the instructions on it. What a reminder that hospitals are run by people who don’t care about their patients.

Terrible marketing as well as bad operations. In fact, the nurse apologized for cutting the paper in half.

Does your business do something like this? Have you gone down the lowest level of your business and seen how it interacts with the customer?

I was so embarrassed for them - especially for the nurse having to apologize.

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??

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!!!

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?

How many people think they are dealing with amateurs when they contact a company like this?
Change your email address (or their address) so that they become a professional company.

Presentations

I’m sure that I spoke of this before – maybe in parts, here and there – but, wanted to bring it up again.  Was reading an article the other day on how to make a presentation (like PowerPoint).

It amazed me how still, to this day, after years and years, people still don’t know how to make and do a presentation. I don’t want to discuss how a presentation should be made or not; I want to discuss the other elements of a presentation.

What other elements?

In a past posting, I mentioned that I do NOT do presentation when I go on press or analyst tours. Why? Because I want the other individual focused on me, not on anyone or anything else. When they are looking at me, I know when they are paying attention and when they are not.

Was at a job interview the other day, and one of the questions I was asked was: “If, in the middle of your presentation, you notice that your audience is not paying attention as attentively as they should. What would you do? a) Start over, b) Ask if they need me to repeat anything, c) Ask if I am going to fast and they are lost, or d) Ask if they don’t understand anything”.

What amazed me, if you have done over 50 presentations in your life, is that there was no “e) Skip ahead to the meat of your subject, worry about the details later”.

When I lived in Israel, I was reminded that what I had always been doing was welcomed, as I always would present “e)”, which the the Israeli culture demands. Get to the meat of the subject and cover the details later.  In other words, get to the strategy and go over the tactics at a later time/date.

I know, I know, it depends on your audience – a CEO wants strategy, where Product Managers want tactics first and then strategy. In other words, the CEO wants “what”, and the PM wants “how & when”.

I know I am rambling again, but, I am a member of a board of advisors for Dell Computer. They send presentations out, from one of three individuals. Two of them present as if I am a PM, while the other presents as if I am a CEO – AND, that same individual, in later slides, gives the tactics if I have further questions or issues.

Okay, an analogy. If you have kids, or nephews, nieces, etc., you probably have been in the position of one of the following:

1) “Owww, it hurts, it hurts. Help me.”

2) “I bit the inside of my mouth. It hurts. Help me.”

Which one would you prefer? Of course, #2. Gets right to the point, huh?

To close this, back to them paying attention or not. Do presentations when you have a technology that can’t be seen with the naked eye, or have to display large images, sketches, etc. to numerous individuals. When I have one or two people that I have to give a presentation to, I do not do a presentation. When more then three, then, do a presentation.