Why do we wear Red Shoes (and what does that have to do with your business)?

October 12, 2017

There’s a traditional Japanese proverb that says “The nail that stands out is quickly hammered down.” For generations, conformity has been a societal standard in Japan.

The funny thing is, it’s not that different in American business. More companies, large and small, are comfortable looking like all the others and doing things the way they’ve always been done. Breaking away from tradition is something one dare not do for risk of offending someone, or making the folks in the back offices uncomfortable.

To that, I say, Poppycock, balderdash, bull-pucky!

Every once in a great while, I’ll see some marketing effort that is truly exceptional, even edgy – and I’ll contact the marketer and ask about the results. Almost all tell me that the effort was successful and helped them stand out in their marketplace.

Do they get complaints? Yes, some…but mostly they get new business, so it’s worth the risk. And this has also been our experience. When an advertiser Dares to be Different, they get noticed, and sales commonly start to follow. Which is why our own motto, Dare to be Different, has been on our lips since we began in the 1990s.

And the funny thing is, it doesn’t take much to be different and get noticed.

Take our Red Shoes, which we always wear to conventions. You might say it’s our walking trademark, but really, it’s just our putting our own philosophy where our feet are.

People we’ve never met, never spoken with, stop us as we walk down the aisles wanting to know about our red shoes. When we walk along the booths, we’re always noticing how people’s eyes suddenly dart downward to our shoes and they smile. Friends will see us all the way across the hall because our red shoes stand out, even in a crowd. We even had one guy tell us, “I’ve now seen you walking down this aisle four times – but I never noticed anyone else!”

All this from just wearing a pair of red shoes. What does that tell you?

Different is visible. Different is memorable. Different is interesting.

So, the question is… will you Dare to be Different to capture attention and get new business? Or is your own comfort zone holding you back? As I always like to say, if you don’t know the answer to this, your audience certainly does.

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Dan Katz is president, creative director of LA ads. To discuss your thoughts with Dan on this blog or any marketing matters, email via this link, or visit www.LAadsMarketing.com.  You can also connect with Dan on LinkedIn. See agency work via this link.

Looking Back to the Future

December 20, 2016

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”  – Soren Kierkegaard

The last quarter of 2016 is almost history and as we stand poised to welcome 2017 in less than 2 weeks, we hope for a future that is successful, rewarding and where your dreams will be realized. Having seen the start of more than a few “new business years” during my career, I’ve learned that you can do one of two things in preparation for the coming year. You can yet again try to create a brand new marketing strategy for the coming year or you can pause, look back and do some serious reflecting, resolving to change, or improve some aspect about how you will initiate your future marketing campaigns. For some people, looking back over the past year may be something better left in the rearview mirror; on the other hand, burying your head in the sand can be seen as the primary ingredient in a recipe for another disappointing year…and you know how much the CEO/President/Owner/Founder loves that kind of thinking. So, before one celebrates the dawn of a new year…take time to ask yourself what are you going to do to change? What does success in 2017 look like to you and your executive management team?

Speaking for myself and our firm, the end of each year is met with a healthy dose of optimism for the coming year. We see 2017 through a lens of hopefulness, that things will continue to get better. Is that just us or will you and your organization also view the coming year with a level of anticipation that you haven’t had for a few years? Hey, it’s been tough for most everyone out there but let’s remember that at least a few organizations — perhaps some of your own competitors — have fared better than most despite these trying times. So what have they done to plot a course for a more optimistic and profitable path for success in 2017?

Depending on marketplace factors coupled with how well you were able to strategically position and market your company, the past year was either seen as a success or another year of same-old, or even a disappointment.  The question that begs to be asked here is, how much of last year’s growth or lack thereof was because of something you had no control over, such as good or bad luck, and how much was because of something you specifically chose to do or not do?  I’ve found through personal experience this is the time to be totally honest with yourself.  As Sigmund Freud said, “Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.”

Hey, I’m all for a bit of luck but you probably don’t want to continue betting future success on lucky things happening in the coming year.  With this in mind, here are a few questions to ask yourself as thought starters as you begin the process of looking in the rearview mirror at this past year and through your windshield to the next:

• What marketing activities worked for you and which ones didn’t in 2016?
• What 2 or 3 trends did you notice have taken place in your industry and outside of it that you need to incorporate into 2017 activities?
• What 5 pieces of really good customer feedback did you receive this past year that you need to take deliberate action on?
• Is there one part of your marketing activities that if it got more attention could yield better results?
• What are the 2 mission-critical initiatives that absolutely need to be accomplished by June 30th 2017?
• What are the top 3-5 problem areas that could impact your bottom line or stunt the growth of your brand if you don’t tackle them now?
• What are the 3-5 opportunities that could grow your bottom line, brand visibility and preference?
• How did your marketing (from strategy to execution) match up with your competitors? Was it “beige”- boring or was it “full of color”- impactful?
• What do you produce, offer or do that excites your audience and makes them think “Wow!”

As marketers, one thing we know for sure is that change will not stop in 2017. The marketplace will continue to shift on us, and so will the economy. But by reflecting back on 2016, taking control of your marketing activities rather than being tossed around by the waves in the market, along with thinking optimistically about what 2017 can hold, this New Year might actually be a year worth celebrating.  It will be for us and hopefully will be for you as well.

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Rolf Gutknecht is vice president, director of account services for LA ads. To discuss your thoughts with Rolf on this blog or any marketing matters, email via this link, or visit www.LAadsMarketing.com.  You can also connect with Rolf on LinkedIn.

Marketing Lessons learned from “The Voice”

December 6, 2016

“Knock, Knock.” “Who’s there?” “Opportunity!”

July 13, 2016

Some people say “Opportunity comes knocking once or twice in a lifetime.” Well, that’s not actually true in my experience.  So many times we’re in these situations when an opportunity comes across our desk or we’ll have a chance to connect with someone… or something will literally be staring us in the face. So many times we question the opportunity. So many times we have to think about it. And so many times we miss it. This is what I’ve learned about opportunity: it does comes knocking.  And it actually comes knocking more times than most people would like to admit.. What I’ve experienced is that opportunity is literally in front of your face on a regular daily basis…over and over and over again. Opportunity comes in all shapes and sizes.  There’s no telling how many opportunities we’ve missed that could have dramatically changed the course of our lives and company fortunes.

Often it comes in the most camouflaged ways and you miss it because you’re looking for the big mountain instead of the small molehill that will turn into a mountain. Every tree started with a seed that was planted in the ground. And sometimes the opportunity is not big and bright and shiny. Sometimes it’s camouflaged but with some thinking and effort it shows itself off.  Sometimes it’s camouflaged as a person within your industry, like a media rep or someone whose name you came across in a trade journal. But rather than reach out to them, you say “it’s more important to do this” or “what would this person think?”  So my message is to pay attention to opportunity that’s in front of you all the time. Opportunity is abundant when you keep your eyes open and some of the biggest opportunities come disguised so being mindful and aware is critical in order not to miss out.

There are stories after stories of people who in their daily lives have seen or experienced something that made them think in ways they hadn’t before. Whether it’s how the first ATM machine was developed when a gentleman short on cash walked by a vending machine for chocolate bars and thought “why couldn’t machines like this dispense cash?”  Or the case of a man and his dog returning home from a walk through the woods covered in cockleburs…you know, those little tiny burs that attach themselves to clothes and pet fur. After some thought and experimentation, he received the patent for his invention: Velcro®.  Or when you or your marketing team capitalized on a customer’s need or desire and created a new marketing programs that allowed customers to see how your product helped solve that need for them.  And they did it before your competitors even knew what hit em’.  To be successful we need to understand as much as possible and constantly be adapting to a changing world.

Can you look back and say you’ve seized every opportunity that you’ve seen?  Is it that you missed the opportunities altogether or that you knew they were there, but couldn’t take advantage of them at the moment?  We all are in the same boat in that regard but either way, the result is the same…that ship sailed.

So, why do some people and companies see opportunities to market their products and services when so many others don’t?  Here are a few reasons to consider as they apply to your business:

• Some organizations encourage people to be open to possibilities. They want people to “live in the moment.” It’s about having an open mind and being curious. Thinking about how successful marketing programs in other industries could be adapted for your business. Every industry has them, and they’re out there for the picking.
• Opportunities are sometimes born out of setbacks. Unfortunately, rather than see the setback as a learning experience and an opportunity to create something new and improved, the sting of disappointment lingers and higher-ups only point fingers rather than open new doors.
• Management procrastinates and hesitates until the window of opportunity closes. They don’t grab hold before the opportunity’s gone. It could be a wonderful co-branded marketing program or a sponsorship at a trade event or an opportunity to provide content to a media outlet where many prospects and customers will be able to read your thoughts. But overthinking or not being ready to pull the trigger happens and “poof”… gone! Only to find out that a competitor has jumped on that very same opportunity your company passed on.
• Not all opportunities are created equal. As the quote goes: “…it’s sometimes dressed up as work.” Which for some businesses means that’s more than they want to invest in.  Last I looked, a great opportunity hasn’t dropped in too many laps where no effort was required. It’s about hunting the opportunity down. And about being willing to build up a sweat to work it.
• Follow through. Not being distracted with fleeting doubts and other surprises that pop up. It’s about doing the work that’s needed…till the end. How many times have you seen a marketing program put together that looks good and performs like it should…but ends too soon or not all the tasks are completed? Leads not passed on; sales people not given all they need to tie up the business; etc.? The follow-through and follow-up process lays an egg and internal people – and more importantly customers and prospects – are left with a sour taste.

So, when opportunities come knocking, and they do every day, help yourself and your company by having the right mindset to open the door and welcome them in.

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Rolf Gutknecht is vice president, director of account services for LA ads. To discuss your thoughts with Rolf on this blog or any marketing matters, email via this link, or visit www.LAadsMarketing.com.  You can also connect with Rolf on LinkedIn.

What’s your company’s Achilles Heel?

January 26, 2016

Here’s an interesting question that you don’t ask yourself every day: If you left your present organization and went to work for a competitor, knowing what you know about your present firm, what would you then do from a marketing standpoint to grow market share at your old company’s expense?

As marketers, the tendency is to look at what your competitors are doing and saying and, if important enough, figure out how to mitigate it so it does no harm to your firm. BUT, when you take a look at your own organization through the lens of someone who has inside knowledge about your firm’s “Achilles heel,” as well as the plans you have in place for the future, an entirely different set of issues present themselves. And, that’s a good thing if you do it as part of a healthy review of your business and its marketing activities.

I’ve had business dealings with lots of marketing folks who have left one company to join another whose insights on their past employer have played an important part in the growth of their new firm. Now I know you’re saying, “Well, that isn’t right. People should keep what they know to themselves and not share that at the expense of their past firm.” I hear you, but I have a different view on that. If my job performance and my family and career prospects depend on my being successful, then knowing what I know is going to come into play either consciously or on some other level. And that, my friends, happens all-day every-day in this “new normal” business environment. Putting a company’s marketing efforts on auto-pilot and then playing the “Woe is me” card isn’t going to cut it as an excuse.  (NOTE: I’m NOT talking about a former employee illegally or immorally appropriating a company’s passwords or passing along genuine trade secrets or violating terms of an NDA, just to be clear.)

Maybe the best example of what I’m talking about takes place in competitive team sports.  Coaches, managers and players are always looking to fine tune areas that they feel the other team could exploit for their benefit.  Teams watch films of games and their own practices to identify things that they could be doing better before the other team can identify those problem areas. They talk to players who have come from another team to get some inside intelligence on what other teams see as limitations or flaws. Only taking this knowledge into account and addressing it can the team feel confident that they’re prepared for what lies ahead. It shouldn’t be any different for your company. Taking an introspective look at how or whether your marketing initiatives and business approach is susceptible to a counter attack is something that should be done before current and future plans are placed in jeopardy.

So now the question is, “how do we as an organization start the process?” I’d suggest the first place to start is the good-old, time-tested SWOT analysis, something that can be implemented almost immediately.  To begin the process, have those associated with your firm’s marketing functions put together their own SWOT analysis on the specific marketing activities that the company is engaged with, i.e., PR, Tradeshow/Events, Advertising, Social Media, Pricing, Promotion, etc. Then, assemble the team to discuss, review and make decisions on the input with an eye towards creating a next-steps plan to shore up marketing functions and activities that are critical to the success of the company’s integrated marketing program.

Remember, the idea of performing a SWOT analysis is to accomplish two primary things:

One:  Reduce Risk.  Improve the viability of your company by pairing up external threats with internal weaknesses to highlight the most serious issues faced by your company.

Two: Improve Performance. What actions you should consider to improve the performance of your business by pairing up internal strengths with the external opportunities.

With everything on Marketing’s plate today and the urgency in which it needs to get done, there’s a real danger of losing sight of the basics. Who has the time, right? Well, if we lose sight of the need to regularly and carefully look at what we think our company is (warts and all), particularly in light of all the resources we use or spend in the ever-evolving marketplace – not just our guesses about it – we risk losing all that we work so hard to achieve: increasing revenues and market share.

The time-tested marketing adage has never been more true: If you don’t really know where you are, it is much more difficult to get where you want to be.  And knowing what your company’s particular “Achilles Heel” is and taking moves to protect it will go a long way toward your winning the race.

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Rolf Gutknecht is vice president, director of account services for LA ads. To discuss your thoughts with Rolf on this blog or any marketing matters, email via this link, or visit www.LAadsMarketing.com.  You can also connect with Rolf on LinkedIn.

The “Man in the Chair”…Yesterday and Today.

September 9, 2015

Do prospects have a clue who your company really is?

Over 55 years ago, specifically in 1958, a powerhouse publishing organization, McGraw-Hill, ran an ad in their magazines that became known as the “Man in the Chair” ad and you’ve probably come across it because it’s become iconic. The ad showed a stern faced, balding,  middle-aged executive wearing a bowtie and a brown suit, sitting in an office chair, hands clasped together and looking intently at the reader as if the reader was a salesperson. To the left of his picture were a list of 7 very direct “I Don’t Know” assertions, followed by even more pointed question:

I don’t know who you are.

I don’t know your company.

I don’t know your company’s product.

I don’t know what your company stands for.

I don’t know your company’s customers.

I don’t know your company’s record.

I don’t know company’s reputation.

Now—what was it you wanted to sell me?

I think it would be safe to say that the importance of being able to addressed these questions are as important today as they were 1958. Crazy how things don’t change. These questions are timeless not just for B2B marketing, but all types of marketing and for all individuals responsible for communicating on behalf of their respective organizations. And one could probably argue that in today’s digital and social media world, it’s maybe even more powerful. (Click on the video at the bottom to see what I mean.)   It remains a clear outline of fundamental sales and marketing questions every organization must be able to answer. How your people and marketing efforts address these seven “I don’t know’s” might very well determine if you get the new business…or not.

I don’t know who you are

When was the last time you made a major purchase without knowing anything about the company? Yeah, me too. Every sale requires a knowledge base or understanding with the brand or a person prior to a sales taking place. Now, however, salespeople spend less time on cold-calling, so that familiarity has to come from somewhere else. What is that “somewhere else” for your organization?

I don’t know your company

B2B buyer behavior has changed a lot… in even the past five years. The main change is that if a buyer needed to get information on a certain solution, they needed to go to the vendor. Now the buyer has lots of sources of information.  In fact, the buyer probably doesn’t want to talk to the vendor because they’re the least credible source of information. So the buyer goes around and does all their research…without talking to a vendor as long as possible.  Sales opportunities for a company may die depending on how easy it is for the buyer to find your info and say, “I’ve heard of you.”  So the implication is that if you do any B2B marketing, you’re going to have to produce stuff or give them reasons to interact with you. And the only way you can do that is by producing really amazing, useful, relevant content that a prospect is happy to engage with, happy to consume and happy to share. How strong is your presence in the digital and social media space?

I don’t know your company’s product

Personal selling is still an important part of having people know something about you, but not in the way it used to be. Word-of-mouth was always important, and it’s ten times easier to get word-of-mouth advice today as a result of the all the online resources available.  People want the information right away, and if it’s not available or where they think it should be, they’ll look somewhere else, and you won’t even know that they looked. Another prospective sale — which could have led to numerous repeat sales — goes to a competitor. Your making sure that product features and benefits are clearly known beforehand will be the difference between speaking to a prospect or not.

I don’t know what your company stands for 

Whether you call it a USP or value proposition, without it, without a good one, you’re dead!  If you can’t very quickly describe what makes you, your service or your company truly special in the eyes of the customer, don’t expect your customer to do it for you.  By default, they’ll just put you on the shelf called “commodity,” and there you’ll stay. To have a lasting, profitable business with another business, building both brand awareness and credibility is job-one in B2B marketing. After all, it is much easier to open doors when the potential customer inside knows who you are, what you’re about and why you might be a better alternative than the next guy who knocks on the door.

I don’t know your company’s customers 

In the past, referrals were personal, or references were checked personally. A Google search can find referrals quickly, especially the ones than you’d prefer not be found. In today’s world, the majority of prospective customers, both B2B and B2C, spend time researching online or through social media before they buy. They depend more than ever on word-of-mouth references from people who have used those brands or products – whether those references are in the form of anonymous reviews or client testimonials.  Think Angie’s List, Buzzillions or Yelp.  In fact, according to a the marketing group, ODM, about 90% of consumers trust the word of people they know and 70% of consumers trust the word of people they don’t know.  Just look at how we shop online: one of the first things we do is check the customer rating number on the product. And then we typically read the actual customer reviews to see why someone gave that product 1 star and why others gave the same product 5.

I don’t know your company’s record

Letting prospects know your company’s track record is easier today than it used to be. There are channels upon channels – from your website to social media to e-newsletters and email blasts to press releases – that can be used to ensure that the message is delivered in a consistent manner. Buyers want to have some comfort in knowing that you’re a company with a record of achievement and innovation, a company that has won awards for products or service or operation, an organization that’s been around for a while, one who isn’t caught up in multiple lawsuits, etc.

I Don’t Know Your Company’s Reputation.

We’re talking about your company’s standing…status…character. Things that boil down to “can they trust you?” Will people find out that you do what you say you’ll do? Act with integrity? Do you come across as thought leaders in the industry? Is the company aligned with other organizations that have good reputations? You get the idea. Buyers cast verdicts on reputation with their pocketbooks, withholding business from companies they believe are ethically deficient and rewarding those with good reputations. And, it doesn’t take long for judgments to spread. Will prospects see a company that values its customers or a company that people have no problem calling out in social media?

Now, What Was It You Wanted To Sell Me?

The original “Man in the Chair” ad was published long before Twitter, blogs, discussion boards, web 2.0, etc. We’re in a new era. We’re all learning new ways to connect with prospects.  But as things look like they have changed in the ways that we engage, inform and become known to our markets, the basic message behind the ad is just as relevant today as it ever was. Being visible to our prospects and winning credibility in word and deed is still critical. Today it takes new ways of thinking and new ways of engaging in our markets and conversations as well as reframing some of the old ways that we went about it before.

As we know, sales start before a salesperson makes contact.  Times change, markets change, technologies and approaches change…but marketing fundamentals and human nature don’t. What would be said if the next sales conversation your company had, over the phone or even in person, was with the “the man in the chair?”

Click on the video and see a comparison of the original “Man in the Chair” with how that would play out in a modernized version for today’s world.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y3DDqmGizc]

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Rolf Gutknecht is vice president, director of account services for LA ads. To discuss your thoughts with Rolf on this blog or any marketing matters, email via this link, or visit www.LAadsMarketing.com.  You can also connect with Rolf on LinkedIn.

There’s no room for thin skin in successful marketing

June 17, 2015

Last week, we got a copy of a readership survey related to a trade ad we ran for a client.  In the survey, the ad was among the top-ranked when it came to the most seen, most remembered and most read.  But what was absolutely fascinating was how widely the readers’ reactions varied when asked their impressions of the ad. Their verbatim responses ranged from “Tacky” to “Perfect 10/10.”  One reader commented “Poor taste, undignified, a true turn-off.”  Another reader said “I clipped it out and it is on my refrigerator now. The whole idea of standing out in a crowd is extremely important to me if your business wants to be noticed.”  Several said they were “shocked at first” but then got the message and completely agreed with the point.

In fact, I’ll say nearly 25% generally disapproved of the ad and maybe another 5% very strongly disliked it.  On the other hand, the number of respondents who liked the ad and got its message was exceedingly high. And the turnout was successful.

What’s my point?  Well I have three points to be precise.

The first is, we begin by acknowledging that we’re not right for everybody.  In fact, we believe that as a marketing agency, we’re probably right for just a few percent of business operators, those who are strongly marketing-oriented and know that traditional advertising doesn’t get the attention of a disinterested public. The ad, therefore, is self-qualifying and will provoke a certain number of negative responses. That’s just fine, since again, we’re not right for everybody.  Neither should you try to be all things to all people.  Those that attempt such alchemy are doomed to blend in with all their competitors.  Be different and proud of it.  Not everybody is a Mac user.  Not everybody likes Starbucks coffee. These hugely successful companies know who their market is and they don’t try to please everybody.

My second point is, it’s so damned tempting to knee-jerk to negative responses.  One of my favorite quotes is “Everybody likes it until somebody doesn’t,” meaning the one or two negative voices often seem to drown out all the positive voices.  It’s human nature to want universal approval.  But it’s smart marketing to realize that no matter how hard you try, there will always – ALWAYS – be dissenters and not to let that veer you off course. (Just because someone doesn’t like it doesn’t mean they’re right or speak for the majority.) I’ve had clients who chose to kill a good campaign because they got a couple of negative calls and missed the tidal wave of silent support.  People seldom call in to express their acclaim about an ad they like; they voice it at the sales counter.  The trick is to start by knowing who you are and who you’re most right for (going back to my previous point), and reconcile that against the overall trend in audience feedback.

My third point is that when you commit to being really visible, you are choosing to declare your difference and necessarily you are stepping out on a limb. Strong, memorable, provocative advertising is risky stuff, not for the meek or conservative.  One has to be willing to suffer a few arrows.  Even to fall off that limb once in a while.  But in a society that’s over-saturated with commercial messages, you have to stand apart to be noticed – that is unless your budget allows brute force bombardment.  We don’t have that kind of money.  Do you?

We’re very happy to have clients who like our unique direction, and must be satisfied that most of the industry is more conservative in approach than we are.  Hey, Jaguar has to live with the fact that more people choose Hondas.

The fact that you’re reading our blogs, and have read this far in today’s post demonstrates that you’re within the segment who has the opportunity and vision to succeed against your more conservative competitors.

You just can’t do it with thin skin.

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Rolf Gutknecht is vice president, director of account services for LA ads. To discuss your thoughts with Rolf on this blog or any marketing matters, email via this link, or visit www.LAadsMarketing.com.  You can also connect with Rolf on LinkedIn.

Blueprints for Building Your Own Crystal Ball

April 21, 2015

A couple of weeks ago, I was at a trade show and after walking up and down the aisles, it occurred to me just how much of the same-old, same-old I was seeing. Nothing really new (unless you consider irrelevant modifications like changing the color from blue to orange and different shaped bottles as new).  There was nothing that I can say showed me that companies were spending any amount of time and energy in looking at the marketplace with an eye toward identifying the opportunities that trends in customer purchasing or behavior would present.

With that as that backdrop, on my flight home I started thinking about the ways that the marketing department within an organization can start the process of getting out in front of their competitors in order to seize on untapped business opportunities and identify trends before their competitors do.  It’s really not as difficult as a lot of people think, but it does require that one to think more about the future by asking questions around the idea of “so what does that mean?” As an example of this, watch the video clip that stars Kevin Spacey for E*Trade.

In short, imagine if you could get a 12-18 month head-start on everyone else in your industry. Wouldn’t even 6 months be nice? Wouldn’t that make a huge difference in how your business runs? Maybe you could get the jump on your competitors every single time you make a move. Heck, this would even apply not only to products and services but also to channels, processes and even personnel hires.

Before we get into the ways that one might start spotting new trends, it’s important to understand a few things. So here goes:

1. Don’t try to predict the future. Instead understand the longer-term trends and today’s new approaches and develop products and services that will succeed moving forward.
2. Fads come and go. Trends emerge and evolve.
3. Be careful about the market research you use as lots of it is backward-looking. Trends are about the future.
4. What’s important is identifying the opportunities that trends produce.
5. Don’t just look at trends within your industry. Look outside for possible implications to what your company produces.

OK, with that as the backdrop to trend watching, let’s walk through the process of how and where to find possible trends:

1. Social Media – It’s a great place to track discussions on your products and those of your competitors. It also provides insight that you get from customer feedback and engage customers and prospects in a conversation. Use Facebook and Twitter to identify key influencers and trendsetters among your customers or markets. Reach out to these individuals to see if they’ll be part of a “customer advisory board” or if they’ll be open to providing you thoughts or ideas on new products or things they’d like to see in the market.
2. Sales Department – Spend time having conversations with the sales team to see what they’re hearing and seeing. They’re out in the marketplace meeting with all sorts of people and could provide some insight into new developments regarding what customers or prospects are doing.
3. Online Resources – There are a variety of online websites that deal with spotting trends from TED (series) to Google Trends to Trend Hunter and others.
4. Look Outward – One way to get ahead of the competition is to see what companies outside your industry are doing; understand how that idea or model might apply in your industry and then be the first to apply it to your marketplace. Look internationally as well. How many times have you read about an interesting product that was launched in another country…lots of times, right? In short, be curious and ask yourself why certain companies are now doing what they’re doing. Maybe they’re seeing something that you can use for your own business. And let’s not forget about just keeping your ears and eyes open as you go about your daily business. Don’t wear blinders as you live your life.
5. Be Open to Collaborations – Look at organizations that might have a similar customer base to identify how what you do might work with way they do in order to identify opportunities for both. Check out their websites and what they might be saying about the future as they see it.

Now that you’ve identified some trends, where do you go from there? First, think about the consequences if a trend continues to spread. How will the trend change what people buy? What will happen if the trend grows in strength? Here’s where you have to ask yourself a lot of questions about “what does that mean?” In short, imagine the future (and your future) if the trend plays out. After you have in your head what the trend might look like, identify what need is currently being unmet that, if created, will help customers take advantage of the future scenario. And then lastly, define what the product or service opportunity is— that being the space between what is currently available and what people who would be effected by the future trends will want.

Here’s the choice you have:  As a company, you can sit around and talk about strategies year after year. You can even hire consultancy firms to tell you what’s hot…last year. You can scratch your heads at all that new stuff that you’re seeing but end up sticking to known quantity. Or, you could wrap your mind around the potential that a new product or service has to offer.  You create your own crystal ball!

Maybe the people who are good in spotting trends and anticipating what people want are able to imagine what others can’t. These trend spotters collect relevant data from what they read and hear and can read between the lines.  Hopefully you’re one of those people.

Just remember, the sooner you spot an opportunity, the more time you have to leverage the tar out of it.  And the faster you can move on an opportunity, the more likely it is that you will score a win.   Keep your eyes open.

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Rolf Gutknecht is vice president, director of account services for LA ads. To discuss your thoughts with Rolf on this blog or any marketing matters, email via this link, or visit www.LAadsMarketing.com.  You can also connect with Rolf on LinkedIn.

Four concepts that can make a big difference in your advertising

March 24, 2015

Most every time I listen to a radio spot in my car,  see a TV spot on cable or fan through the pages of a magazine (trade or consumer),  I find myself wincing.  Ad after ad tells the same sad story: money spent leading to no results.  In fact, I’d venture to say that better than 85% – 90% of the ads lay the same leaden egg.  Oh, the humanity!

If you’re questioning whether your advertising is doing what you paid it to do, odds are it’s not.  And although there are master classes you might take in advertising creativity, marketing strategy and media planning, it’s very likely the problem falls within four main areas.  Checking off each point, you can estimate your ad’s effectiveness even before you place it.  I mean it.

Here then are the four fundamental concepts that can make a meaningful difference in how successful your next advertising effort is.

1) Have a something compelling to say.  And by that, I mean not just compelling to you and your staff, but to a completely disinterested audience.  If you’ve followed my posts for any length of time, you know that I frequently observe that people don’t like advertising, and completely ignore the boring or hard-to-figure-out kind.  So whatever you have to say must go the distance to alter their indifference.  Don’t just tell your audience you’re “a leader in the industry” or that you’ve been around for three generations. They’ve heard that so many times before from you and your competitors that it means nothing to them.  Instead tell them something they don’t know, something that might even surprise them.  You can tell when someone’s ad is truly compelling when you think, “Gee, I didn’t know that!”  We sometimes call that a “sticky” message, one that has staying power after the reader has turned the page or flipped the channel.

2)  Sell, don’t just tell.  One of the most egregious mistakes advertisers make is simply laying out all the features of their product or service and expect the audience to figure out why that’s important to them.  Often that’s done in the form of five or seven bullet points, such as:

• 85 years of experience
• XXXXX number of customers
• Available day or night
• Proven technology
• Best warranty available
• Multi-lingual staff

or in Business-to-Business ads (snatched from the pages of a recent trade pub):

• Proven Products
• Superior Service
• Implementation
• Dedicated Staff
• Customizable by end-user

Yikes! There’s no emotion in that.  There’s no selling.  There’s no story or connection.  Instead of praying that maybe one or two bullets might hit home with some member of the audience – or worse, trying to be all things to all people – why not focus on one point at a time and spell out why that point really matters.  People don’t buy bullets.  They don’t buy features.  But they do buy benefits and ideas that add value to their lives.  Always be thinking, from their point of view, “what’s in it for me?”

3)   Be your own brand and not a clone of others.  All too often, within any given industry, I see ads in which the logos and contact information are interchangeable, one company’s with another’s. None stand out, all look alike, and thus all the players are perceived as a commodity. Here’s a question for you: If your logo was blocked out of your ad or commercial, would the audience still know it’s yours?  Take, for instance, Jack-In-The-Box. Their commercials are radically different from McDonalds’. BMW’s ads are unmistakably theirs and not Mercedes’.  It’s a matter of message but also a matter of style,  personality and consistency.  The more striking and distinctive your ads are, the stronger competitive impact they’ll make, while your competitions’ ads could be just anybody’s.  Dare to be Different!

4)  Tell the same story across all your platforms.  With all the buzz about Social Media, it strikes me as odd that most business Facebook pages and outbound Tweets have little in common with their owners’ main marketing messages.  In part that’s because the marketing messages themselves aren’t that well-defined.  But it’s also because the marketers don’t appreciate the importance of speaking with the same voice at any touchpoint.  Good marketing is a collective enterprise and an erosive processes.  For instance, if your main story is about how your company has been around for over 100 years, use your Facebook pages to talk about the early days of your firm, the companies you’ve served, etc.  Make sure your phone hold-message tells the same story.  Make sure you hold special events or promotions that support the theme. If you don’t keep hammering away at the same selling proposition at every touchpoint, then each effort conflicts with every other.

While hardly a full compendium of marketing knowledge, if you make the effort to assure your advertising and marketing is consistent with these four points, you’ll be far out in front of 85% of your competition. And that’s the goal, to create ads your customers will react to and that your competition will hate.

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Rolf Gutknecht is vice president, director of account services for LA ads. To discuss your thoughts with Rolf on this blog or any marketing matters, email via this link, or visit www.LAadsMarketing.com.  You can also connect with Rolf on LinkedIn.

Rallying Up for Success

January 13, 2015

Over this past weekend, I went into a store that’s part of a 15-20 location chain, and upon entering, this place made sure that I understood that for them “It’s all About Exceeding Expectations!”  Now as a line, it’s pretty pedestrian but it set the tone for what I was going to experience. And they were true to their word. But you see, it wasn’t just 5 words strung together. Instead this was, after speaking with the staff, their rallying cry for the first quarter of the year.

That got me thinking that not enough companies use rallying cries (or sometimes referred to as “battle cries”).  After all, these rallying cries have been used for thousands of years to unite individuals into a collective identity and to emotionally charge them up before rushing forward to accomplish their mission.  So let me ask, has your company instituted a rallying cry? And I don’t mean for a second a “mission statement,” which most companies have; because of group think, these mission statements lack originality, they’re as uninspiring as possible, and which 99.99% of employees couldn’t recite it to win a million dollars.  Instead, what I mean is a short and catchy phrase that can inspire a company and fascinate your marketplace. A rallying cry will tell employees how to act and consumers what to expect.

When you institute a rallying cry, everyone knows what it means. Rallying cries are huge. They’re single themes that everyone connects to and rallies around. That theme ends up creating this “mini-vision” for individuals to focus on… a clear direction for the entire organization for a specified period of time which speaks to “this is what’s important to our organization right now!” And so this doesn’t come across as a theme line or slogan but rather an understandable call-to-action to employees and customers, one needs to define what the goals to be met will be. It can be your big goal for the year or your most important annual metric. Regardless, the rallying cry should be specific and measurable. This could take the form of something like “3x in 2y” (Tripling business in 2 years) or “500 in 2015” (500 new accounts in 2015) or “Quick Start 50” (making contact and setting presentation appointments with your Top 50 dream clients). You get the idea.

For some clients I’ve worked with, this rallying cry provides a reason for the organization to start working as a team rather than in siloed departments.  There’s a tremendous power in this kind of focus as it helps the company achieve better results faster and gets them ready for the next team effort.  It also keeps the people in the organization engaged because they know what their company’s goals are and how they fit in.  Some companies have annual and quarterly and monthly rallying cries. I’m more of an annual/semi-annual guy.

To get started, here are a five elements to creating your own rallying cry:

1. Keep it short…in the 5-8 word range. No long 10-12 word sentence. It isn’t supposed to summarize your entire strategic plan but rather reflect your aspirational future.
2. Try and make it memorable or “sticky.” Use words or acronyms that make it easy to remember and interpret. Nothing sucks the life out of a rallying cry more than when people can’t recall it.
3. It’s to be about ONE goal. ONE priority. Don’t dilute it by adding more objectives.
4. If communicated externally to customers, make sure that it’s believable and relevant so that the customer says, “That’s something I know they can deliver on and it’s what I want.”
5. It’s fresh, original and  imaginative. Think creatively, not something uninspiring like “Increase sales by 10% this summer.” We’re looking for a rallying cry not a ho-hum announcement.
6. BONUS: Get people within the organization (or your marketing agency) involved in coming up with some options to consider. And get 20-30 ideas from which to look at. If you end up not being satisfied, get some more.

Once the rallying cry is chosen, pledge eternal allegiance to it. The new rallying cry should be continually infused into sales meetings, customer presentations, press releases, collateral, the company website and all other marketing communications. And if appropriate and possible, its spirit, if not the actual words, should be communicated in your advertising activities. And then if or when the goal is achieved, it should be celebrated with the same enthusiasm as it was when first initiated as it’s important to show people that their hard work is much appreciated.

Think about this: If everyone in your company were to rally around a single inspiring theme, what kind of wonderful magic would be achieved? What kind of game-changing results could be achieved?  A rallying cry is an amazing way to get people aligned. Whether your company’s goal is one that applies to all departments or relates to one specific department, a strong rallying cry can serve to unite the entire company to eagerly move toward the new destination created by that vision.

So, as the marketing champion within your organization, what better way to have people unite under an inspiring marketing message and create excitement throughout the ranks rather than with a rallying cry? “Onward and Upward!”…oh, I think that one has been used before.

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Rolf Gutknecht is vice president, director of account services for LA ads. To discuss your thoughts with Rolf on this blog or any marketing matters, email via this link, or visit www.LAadsMarketing.com.  You can also connect with Rolf on LinkedIn.