Can’t Remember Your Phone Number

I’ve never been a fan of phone numbers in advertising–especially not in radio commercials.  Even with my smartphone sitting on my car’s dash, I just don’t know why you would want to spend so much time and money trying to sell a phone number when you want people to remember your name and your message. 

And now that the Internet has turned the page on a new chapter in marketing, you must start thinking about search concepts.  Stop selling numbers and sell keywords that someone will use to search for your products and services on the web via a computer or on a mobile device.  Optimizing your keywords for search engine robots and optimizing your website for real people will do and sell so much more.  

Instead of selling a phone number, sell your ideas, sell your brand personality, sell your benefits.  Those can be remembered forever.

New Media Turns to Old Media

I was watching a Google commercial on network television and something was nagging at me.  It wasn’t the quality of the commercial because it was very well done.  It wasn’t the message, because it was spot on.  It wasn’t the television show I was watching.  Then it hit me.  Here is the ultimate in new media.  It’s Google.  The king of search, reaching out to a broad audience.   

Google Circles Commercial

Google is advertising on traditional network television for its social efforts online and on Android phones.  It seems that Google is turning to television for two reasons: 1) Google has too much invested in its social effort to put all its marketing eggs in one basket; and 2) when people are at the bottom of the awareness pyramid, nothing works better than a mass medium to drive awareness and interest.

Google, iPhone, iPad, Go Daddy Websites, Verizon smartphones are all turning to traditional media to make to make things happen.  Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Simplicity Is More Than a Trend

The architect of Apple, the late Steve Jobs, is best known for his simplicity of design in products and marketing.   To read current blogs and articles, “simplicity” seems to be a new trend in these complex times.  It is not new; in fact Leonardo da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

The reason simplicity may seem like a new concept  is that it has never been more important in our media-saturated, cluttered lives.  Yet mission statements are onerous and impossible to memorize, newsletters are too long, and business writing is staid and jargon-loaded.

Simplicity is imperative in marketing, but it is just as important in our processes, procedures, directions, emails, speeches–in fact, everything.  ” Keep it simple” is not just a battle cry, it should be a way of life for the New Year. 

Jony Ive, Apple’s designer of the most breakthrough products, said, “Simplicity isn’t just a visual style. It’s not just minimalization or the absence of clutter. To be really simple, you have to go really deep.”  This quote is from Walter Isaacson’s book, Steve Jobs (nice simple title).

Make this the year you simplify your branding, your sales, your organization and your life.  And, I promise to simplify this blog so that it takes never more than one minute to read.  Simple.

Ever Forget Why You Are On a Website?

Have you ever walked into a room and forgotten what you were going to do or get?  We’ve all done it and now people are researching it. 

Research from University of Notre Dame psychology professor Gabriel Radvansky found it happens when we walk through a doorway.  He called it an “event boundary” which wipes the short-term part of your memory clean.

The researchers didn’t look at websites, but I believe moving from one web portal to another or from one page to another can cause the same effect.

Have you ever visited a website and thought, “Why am I here?” or “I don’t see anything for me”?  Many times the informational material or sales material we distribute doesn’t match what you see on the website.  Or, the site has not been optimized to the keywords most people are searching.  It all makes us frustrated and forgetful.  At home, we walk around searching for what we were going to do.  On the web, we bounce off the page and are gone forever.

Minimizing the event boundaries on your site starts with a clear statement of what you want people do when they come to your site and understanding the words and phrases they use to find your site.  Even if people do forget why they are there, you want to have a compelling enough site so they’re willing to stay to find out more information.

Personalization

Jim, John, Bob, Mary, Linda and Pat, please read this blog.  (Those are the most popular names in the U.S., so if your name is not there, please keep reading.)  It’s a cloud-controlled, CRM variable-data, cookie-loaded, keyword geo-targeting world–and the new theme for marketers is ‘personalization.’

Coca-Cola in Australia used an old technique by adding some of the most popular Aussie names on Coke bottles for the “Share a Coke” campaign.  Virtual cans could be personalized and sent to friends as well.

Personalization is working to make marketing messages more relevant.  You can send postcards to clients with a personalized Google map showing how close your location is to the home address to which you mailed.  You can even make personalized postage stamps.

How far away are we from Google ads that have photos of your friends and their testimonials?  One way to start is to ask customers to provide a testimonial or video on Facebook in exchange for 10% off purchase.

Fast Company called it the transition from USP (Unique Selling Proposition) to ESP (Emotional Selling Proposition) to now, the MSP (Me Selling Proposition).    No matter what you call it, Jim, Mary, John, Bob and Pat, you need to find a way to better personalize your message and your marketing.

So with all this personalization, why am I still getting resumes saying, “To Who It May Concern”?

Is It the Players or the Plays that Matter?

I’m often told when we present media ideas, “Yes, we know about that. We tried it and it didn’t work.”  So you ran an ad on TV (or a billboard or a radio ad or mailed a postcard) and it didn’t work?

I watched a lot of college bowl games over the last two weeks, and saw a lot of plays work and a lot of plays not work–the problem is that many times the plays that worked and didn’t work were the same plays.  What was the difference?   Execution.  What if coaches thought like marketers?  ”Well, we ran all those plays and they didn’t work.”  Now the team can just sit on the sidelines and watch their competitors play the game.

The medium is not the message.  Execution and content are critical to communications.  If people don’t understand your message or don’t find your message compelling then it is not the fault of the medium you used, it is an execution problem.

Ask yourself a few questions:  “What is it I want people to remember about my organization?” And then follow it up with, “And why will they believe me?”  If you start there, your marketing plays will be more successful and lead to more scores with your audience.

There’s a QR Code on My Banana

There were Chipmunks on my bananas over the holidays.   My kids think I’m nuts, but I had to snap a photo of the QR code for the holiday Chipmunks movie on the bananas and visit the website.

Yes, I went to the Dole URL.  No, we didn’t go to the movie.  As a marketer, I was surprised by the placement.  The rest of the family was not impressed and had little interest.

However, the fruit marketing left me with a bad taste of anticipointment (that is a mash-up of anticipation and disappointment).  The QR code didn’t lead to a connection to the advertising placement.  By using a unique and wonderfully creative way of getting shelf space in my house, I anticipated something highly appealing.  Instead, I got an invitation to join the Dole mobile club and downloads of Chipmunk ringtones (and a strange ad for Corona Extra).

There are many times that your message needs to be consistent no matter where it is placed.  But we are real people who also need to know that the advertiser recognizes when and where the marketing airs.  For example, I’ve seen a Midwest car dealer air an ad at 10 p.m. that shows the dealership in daylight, people in short sleeves and green grass on the ground, while at my house where I’m watching it is cold, dark and hardly green.  Know the environment where people are receiving your message to make it better connect, otherwise the marketing might just leave a big bruise.

What Can We Learn from Political Marketing?

Iowa’s caucuses are finally over.  And now the rest of the nation can enjoy the political ads, telephone calls, robo-calls, stump speeches and text messages.  Watching the marketing of the presidential candidates, you might believe that marketing a president is different than marketing a company or organization.  It is not.

Politicians make sales calls (door knocking, absentee ballots); produce sales materials (brochures, direct mail) and advertise (however politicians are much more aggressive than most company efforts).   

What is funny to me is that most politicians  have personality but no clear brand icon; most companies have clear brand icons, but no personality.   Sol Sender was the designer of President Obama’s campaign mark.  The Obama logo operated independently from the candidate.  It is a great logo with a simplistic message and symbolism.

Other candidates have tried to duplicate the design, but without a deeper meaning to the logo, most just look like red, white and blue toothpaste.  But what politicians do have is a drive, a passion and a willingness to change quickly based on polling information–they also have a lot of personality. 

Find the personality of your organization (like Aflac and GEICO have) and your get your stakeholder votes.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

This holiday season, what is important to remember is that the best marketing is personal. 

• Hug your family.
• Enjoy your friends.
• Drop a few dollars into a red kettle.
• Tip your garbage collectors.
• Eat some frosted sugar cookies.
• Watch “A Christmas Carol”–the Alastair Sim black-and-white version.
• Play Santa to someone who is not expecting a gift.
• Have a wonderful holiday season.

Best wishes to you and yours.

Listening and Engaging

There are so many ways to engage with stakeholders in our businesses and organizations because of digital marketing.  Even though connecting with and intimately engaging consumers is easier than ever, measuring the effort is not as easy.  Metrics of all kinds are designed, but few find traction. 

A study commissioned by Dell from Forrester Consulting found that no matter how businesses are tracking metrics, businesses are seeing success from strategic social media efforts.  Companies are seeing increases in:

• Brand Awareness (63%)
• Overall Business Success (50%)
• Customer Loyalty (47%)
• Customer Satisfaction Scores (41%)
• Company Revenue (24%)
• Market Share (20%)

The social media glow is about over.  It will be time to show real results as we approach the new year.