Archive for the ‘Branding’ Category

Follow-up to the post about being disliked…

Monday, April 9th, 2012

If you don’t know Seth Godin, you should.

Here’s a post that is much better than mine about being disliked.

When it comes to marketing, branding, cultivation, logos, design, copy and anything else… for some reason everyone has an opinion.  But not all opinions are worthy.

I have found this to be true in private and nonprofit organizations.  For some reason everyone thinks they can do marketing.

For those of us who truly understand what marketing is and how it should be done, we’ll have to forge ahead and brush aside the opinions that don’t matter.  Let us all hope that senior decision-makers do the same.

 

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Posted in Branding, Fundraising, marketing, Philosophy/motivation, Planned Giving Marketing | No Comments »

3 ways to use direct mail effectively in the age of social media

Friday, February 24th, 2012

Although direct mail requires printing and postage, we still include it in our marketing plans because it can be effective if you do it right. Don’t discount the traditional methods.   MarketSmart has generated millions of dollars for clients with direct mail.

Combine online and offline channels.

Often it is best to combine direct mail with an Internet landing page. Drive respondents online for more information – then give them opportunities to convert into leads.

Be relevant and timely.

It’s all about THEM.  To improve your response rate, you must send highly targeted, relevant offers and information to your prospects. Otherwise, it’s just “junk mail”.

If you use your data to send the right person, the right offer, at the right time, direct mail will deliver an exponential return on your investment.

Finding the time to do it right may be difficult but the rewards are exponentially better.

For “nurturing efforts”…  Create some postcards in bulk

While small postcards are a form of direct mail, they are cheaper to produce and deliver than full-blown direct mail packages or sales letters, and they are great for generating leads.

You can use them to build awareness over time (with repetitive “drip” marketing”), drive traffic to your website or to promote a special offer.

Postcards are also a great way to stay in touch with your customers and prospects. We suggest you create 3-5 key messages emphasizing your unique selling points and competitive advantages. Then design and print them all at once to gain economies of scale and save money.  Next, drop them in the mail every few weeks or so.  Make sure your list is a good one that includes people you know want to hear from you such as: frequent customers, repeat visitors, loyal donors, etc.

That will build awareness and generate activity for you in a turnkey fashion. Create the plan once and just let it run all year long.

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Posted in Advertising, Branding, Communication, Direct Marketing, Lead Generation/Nurturing, marketing, Selling, website | No Comments »

Is your email signature helping or hurting your marketing efforts?

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Why wouldn’t you create a great email signature?

Don’t forget about your email signature (the space at the end of the emails you send out).

You can, of course, leave it empty. But we recommend you take advantage of the free space as a marketing opportunity.

Add your logo for branding purposes. Then make it easy for people to contact you by including all of your contact information.

Here’s a list of some of the things you should consider including in your email signature:

• Name

• Title

• Company

• Phone numbers (all of them)

• LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook links

Also, you should put a link to your latest blog post. People will click it if your post titles are interesting and engaging.

Here is an example of how MarketSmart does it.

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Posted in Blogging, Branding, Email, marketing | No Comments »

Why you should differentiate your business.

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Recently I had lunch with the CEO of a Sharepoint reseller and we were talking about marketplace differentiation.

He said he heard a speaker proclaim that differentiation is dead.  “Commoditization” is the future.  And we all need to learn how to get better, faster and cheaper in order to survive- especially considering the fact that the internet provides so much information to buyers that it levels the playing field to a point that makes it impossible to compete on differentiation.  “Volume and efficiency will rule,” he added.

MarketSmart says… that guy is a nuts!

It’s actually quite the opposite.  Rather than competing in the arena of equality and mediocrity, we strongly recommend finding a way to be different.  For example, Cirque de Soleil didn’t find a way to make a cheaper circus.  They created an entirely new circus experience.  And their tickets sell for much more than a traditional circus.

I know everyone cannot reinvent the wheel as they did.  But suppose you are… hmm…  an accountant.  Let’s reinvent an accountant’s business on-the-fly (I literally just came up with this)…

Overnight Bookkeeping Inc.!-  We do the books while you sleep.

Small business owners who need bookkeeping services don’t want to talk to a bookkeeper while the phones are ringing during normal business hours.  So wouldn’t a bookkeeper who works at night make sense?

“Call us anytime, day or night.”

Differentiation still works!

Here are a couple of firms for whom we recently created differentiation strategies.

Long Fence and Home logo

1- Long Fence and Home (Home improvements)- We carved out a niche that made them more than just a home improvement company.  They don’t just give you a kitchen.  They don’t just repair your siding.  They don’t just replace your windows.   …They improve your life.

A new kitchen brings the family together.  New siding makes your home look newer and makes you feel proud to drive home.  New windows reduce energy costs.  All home improvements increase resale value.  All home improvements improve your life.

Home improvements are life improvements.  So the slogan we carved out for them is “Improve your home. Improve your life.”  And all the web pages, sales materials and blog information supports that mission and directive.

2- Catapult (Business consulting)-  we renamed the firm, repositioned their core strategy, designed a new logo and wrote a new slogan for them.

This firm wasn’t just about business consulting.  They help businesses make sense of their chaos.  Plus they run events that help CEO’s connect with each other.

So here’s the name we conceived: Catapult Connections. The slogan: Business Clarity and Relationships for Growth.

Why act like just another business consulting firm when you’re not?  Find your key differences.  Carve out your niche.  And ignore the bozo that said “Commoditization is the future.”

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Posted in Branding, marketing, Philosophy/motivation, Slogan, Uncategorized | No Comments »

A tale of two restaurants.

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

We love Rehoboth Beach Delaware.

It’s kid-friendly.  The boardwalk has tons of rides, fattening foods and the restaurants are fantastic.

So here’s how one restaurant dropped the ball and another won our hearts.

First… the restaurant that failed miserably:

On a rainy afternoon, we were watching TV and a commercial came on for The Greene Turtle.  I’ve always seen their T-shirts.  And now they were on TV.  Their ad said, “Kids Eat FREE!”  The same thing is plastered all over their website.

I have two kids so what could be better?  Right?

Wrong!!

We went to the new restaurant, had our meal (which was average at best)… and then the check came… but we were charged for two kids meals.

I asked the manager, “what’s the deal”.  And he said, “the Kids-Eat-FREE-deal is only for other Greene Turtle Restaurants… not this one.”  Huh?!?  But I saw the ad on TV.  And I hate TV ads.  And now I have even more reason to hate them.  I got suckered!  So I complained and told him that’s what brought me in.  And he basically said, “tough noogies.”

So do I want to go there again.  NO!

Now, on the other side of the coin… we visited an absolutely adorable little restaurant called HOBOS…. also in Rehoboth Beach.  The owner is amazing.  Not only does she say hello to all her guests…. but she also runs back into the kitchen to cook the meals.  I don’t know how she does it.  She must have a twin!

And… here’s the part that makes her restaurant better than the Greene Turtle (even though they have enough money to pay for fancy TV ads).  When my son and daughter wanted the plain kids Quesadilla with chicken and cheese, the waitress (with goodness in her heart) recommended they split an adult Quesadilla instead.  But when it was served, there was lots of “green stuff” in it.  And we all know that kids don’t like “green stuff”.  So we told the owner, Gretchen, what happened.

She completely understood and whisked the plates away so our kids could have the plain old kids Quesadilla as fast as possible.

She didn’t try to charge us for the adult Quesadilla.  She didn’t argue.  She didn’t debate.

And here’s the most interesting part.  If you go to Gretchen’s website at www.myhobos.com, you’ll see that it’s all about the food and the philosophy.  But it really doesn’t mention her character.  I guess she figured that’s just a basic ingredient all restaurants should have.

The truth is… her character and quick thinking to stand up for basic ideals such as “making the customer feel at home” and “making every meal enjoyable” are what will keep us coming back to visit her.

As you all know, I write slogans for businesses.  Business owners pay MarketSmart lots of money to do so.  And, while she doesn’t realize it, her slogan is actually already written.  And it’s buried at the bottom of one of the pages on her website where it says… “Hobos, where you go when you’re not home.” She’s exactly right!  We DO want to go there when we’re not home.

Nice job Gretchen!  Boo and hiss to the Greene Turtle.

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Posted in Branding, Slogan | No Comments »

5 reasons I think Apple has lost their edge. A rant.

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

Broken iPhoneDon’t get me wrong.  Anyone who knows me is probably laughing because they know I have Apple products all over the place.  I have an iPhone, 2 Mac Laptops at home, one Mac computer (also at home), my kids have iPods and Shuffles, my wife has an iPod (and a Droid… Yuck!), and all my employees get at least one mac.

So what gives?

Early this morning I was talking to my good pal Pete Beebe (owner of Zilyen)- a brilliant mind in the world of branding- and we were trying to figure out what was bothering us about Apple.  And here’s what we kicked around:

1- Apple is no longer the underdog.  We liked them better when they were.  Now they’ve replaced Microsoft as the company to beat (and dethrone).

2- They messed up.  Their new iPhone is not revolutionary and it has problems.  Not what you’d expect from them.

3- They didn’t admit they messed up fast enough.

4- They tried to sort of fix it by sending me an email saying they’ll give me a free case that will improve the “dropped call issue”.  When I chose my free case, the next page that popped up said, “Thank you.  Your case will arrive in 3-4 months.”   Huh?  I could be dead by then!

5- They lied!  Yes.  Here’s the big one.  In their new ad campaign they said, “This changes everything again.”  Well not really.  Funny thing is… I actually want my OLD iPhone back.  The reception was better, it didn’t drop as many calls, it didn’t try to log on to the web when I put it up to my ear, and it didn’t force me to buy all new accessories.  The new iPhone didn’t change everything again.  It’s not really that much better.  And other products are.

Here’s why we used to buy from Apple…. Because they do it right.  They tell the truth.  They are huge but make you feel like they are a small company that cares.  They are on the edge.

And most of all, they don’t put a product out just to make money.  They put them out to innovate and make the world a better place.

But this recent iPhone launch doesn’t keep the promise and is not in line with their brand.  Something just doesn’t feel right with Apple.   And all I can figure is they simply lost their edge.

But, like a distant cousin routing for his family member to win a football game from afar, I hope they get it back.

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Posted in Branding | No Comments »

How Tic Tac® successfully implemented social media goals and strategies to promote their brand to the next generation.

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Tic Tac marketing strategyOf course, my wife and I keep an eye on our kids when they have their friends over.  They’re just 9 and 11.

So imagine our surprise when we checked-in on our kids and a handful of their friends one night.  They were so well behaved running around playing a delightfully harmless “game” called Tic Tac® Shake & Share.  Although it seems like just a game, I saw it more as a social interaction and branding exercise strategically aimed at children.   The goal and strategy: to get children to interact with Tic Tac® mint candy so they’ll be more likely to choose that same brand when they come across it later.

Here’s how it works.  They downloaded the simple app for the iPod Touch (which every kid seems to have these days).   How did they find the app?  One child “referred” it to the others.  Once downloaded, they run around dumping different colored Tic Tacs® into each other’s phones using the built-in Bluetooth technology.  Tilt the phone and more dump in.  It even makes that familiar sound you hear when you shake and pour Tic Tacs®.

Plus, the more you share, the higher your rankings in a global network of fans.  It’s fun.

So the next time you decide to jump on the social media bandwagon, be sure to determine your goals and develop a strategy that meets those goals.  Tic Tac® did and it worked.  Or I should say… it worked with 5 kids who will probably ask me to buy them the real thing next time we’re in line at the supermarket!

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Posted in Branding | No Comments »