It happened to us again. We were working with a client, taking them five steps forward when without warning, they took six steps back. They went fleeing from the banks of the Promised Land back to where their advertising wasn’t producing maximum results, but at least it was “safe” and nobody in management would complain.
Holy smokes, they were almost there, with a new campaign that would cut through the clutter like a hot knife through butter. Instead, they opted for the same direction they’ve always followed. We don’t take it personally. We’ve worked with this client for a number of years, and we really like the people. But each year, we pray this time maybe they’ll take the path less traveled and finally move their brand from a me-too to a me-only! And then the bugle blows, “Retreat, retreat!”
There’s an old saying: “The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.” I hate that saying. I hate that is pardons marketers from being exceptional. It only contributes to the soggy, bland mess that fills 95.6% of the available ad space. It makes people hate advertising and love the fast-forward button on their DVRs.
I have a challenge for you if you’re the one responsible for advertising at your company. Pick up the next five magazines you encounter, go through each one and tear out the ads that really stop you, that speak to you on some gut level, that make you salivate for the product. I don’t care if they’re ads for panty hose, shaving cream or body bags, just as long as you love the ads. Tear out the ads and put them in a folder. Then the next time you have an ad to create for your company, pull out those ads and see if these don’t inspire you to do better. And the moment you feel the need to retreat, look at those ads again for inspiration to boldly stand apart and be noticed.
It may help you to remember that they’re the ones that caught your attention while you ignored the other 95.6% which lost their respective companies lots of money in production and media expense.
We say, again and again, Dare to be Different. Maybe it would be better if we said, Dare not to be invisible. Dare not to retreat into marketing nothingness. Dare not to do what everybody else does and blend into the background by your own choice.
We Dare ya.
Each week I probably look through 5-10 trade journals within various industries that our clients do business in. And each time I finish going through a trade journal, I’m astounded at how many companies/brands paid good money to run ads that have no impact…no appeal…no creativity attached to them. It’s as though the people making the advertising or marketing decisions were genetically incapable of creating messaging that stands out, and so they defaulted to their risk-adverse flavor…vanilla. Having been in the business a while, dealing 
with all sorts of companies and people, I believe the number 1 reason for these boring “vanilla” ad messages is a result of trying to please all the people all the time.
On that last point, we all know you can’t please all the people all the time, so why do so many organizations try to do so? What intrigues me is just how much effort some folks expend trying to do just that. Like myself, I’m sure you’ve seen these sad attempts to please “everyone” on every type of messaging canvas there is…from websites to ads to sales support material to tradeshow booths, etc., Pick an industry, any industry. From packaged goods to retail to professional services to consumer goods to non-profit…including the one you do business in as well. Vanilla is by far the favorite flavor.
I think there has been a retreat from being bold. In the public sector and the private sector, from CEOs to politicians, being inoffensive and bland in communication appears to be a highly valued skill. The issue with this is that, once everything becomes vanilla, it loses power and uniqueness. It lacks any special flavors. It lacks any pretty colors. It’s just ordinary. Worst of all, there’s nothing about it that makes it stand out from all the other plain vanilla marketing efforts of every other business that’s competing with you. To stand out, to be different, to be memorable, takes boldness.
Let me put it another way: How many people outside of your organization have either written or told you that what you’re doing and saying is the type of approach that they wished their own company did? You see, herein lies an important message for brands: if you always play it safe and try not to surprise anybody, it’s highly unlikely anyone is going to get really excited about your brand. Vanilla brands might not have enemies, but they also don’t have passionate advocates whose enthusiasm spreads. I remember being told a marketing truth when I first started out in this business that’s worth sharing: “In order to win the race, you can’t stand still. Vanilla marketing is standing still.”
In today’s world, people get so much plain vanilla marketing shoved in front of their faces every day, they’ve developed a natural immunity to it. Vanilla marketing almost becomes invisible to them. They subconsciously block it out. Your marketing dare not have the monotone delivery of Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: “Anybody? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?”.
People want to feel something after reading, hearing or seeing what you have to say. So excite them, educate them, annoy them (if that’s your style and it fits your brand), surprise them, make them laugh! Do anything but bore them.
You can be unique by doing things differently that everyone else. For example, instead of sending out a typical direct mail piece, try mailers that have unusual shapes like messages in a bottle or coconuts. Instead of an ad that shows a “catalog” of your product offerings, focus on the one most unique feature of your one most unique product with a short, crisp headline and almost no body copy. Go for impact.
The bottom line is fighting the desire to be all things to all people yields the following benefits:
So, however you go about it, stop dishing out plain vanilla marketing and start scooping out interesting flavors (think “Cherry Garcia”; “Chubby Hubby”; or “Chunky Monkey”, etc.) that stand out and are uniquely your own. We’ll all pay more attention to what you want to tell us.
As businesspeople, we want to be acknowledged for the work we do, for the value we provide. Can you image doing your work year after year and rarely being told “Great Job! We need a lot more people like you!”? We all want to be recognized for how we go about our business but also that we have worth as individuals. It’s just a part of how we’re hard-wired as human beings.
Well, the same thing holds true in having your company being praised by clients and customers. We all know how good it feels to be called out as a team or as a member of the team for making someone feel good about their association with your organization or department. Aside from personally feeling good about it, and depending on who is giving the “atta boy/girl”, people start walking around with a bounce in their step and overall team morale starts to increase. I know because last week our own firm received a couple of unanticipated and very flattering “great job” kudos from some clients that made us feel pretty darn good. Which got me to thinking, how might we want to let others know that our clients think we’re the “cat’s meow?” Because, probably like you, while we know it would be a good thing to do, we’re either sometimes to modest or we just don’t put the time into thinking how we could showcase these wonderful endorsements for the betterment of the firm.
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. We find what we’re looking for and one of the first things we do is check the customer rating number on the product. The second thing we typically do is read the actual customer reviews to see why someone gave that product 1 star and why others gave the same product 5. The point is, it wouldn’t hurt, regardless how large or small your organization, to make sure that people come across testimonials about your business to help establish trust and prove your credibility.
Ok, so if you’re running low on client testimonials, how do you get more? Well, here are a few thought starters:
Now, what to do with the client testimonials that you receive? Again, just some thoughts to get your marketing juices flowing:
If you have done your job well and earned satisfied customers, don’t let it end there. Let them speak up for you. Their words are worth their weight in gold. I know it. You know it. And your competitors know it. Oh, and before I forget “You’re doing a great job. We could use a lot more people like you.”
Let me ask a question regarding your marketing initiatives that might be of a sensitive nature for some: How much of what you have planned for in the way of campaigns, media channels, tradeshow activity, collateral, etc., is a holdover from last year and the year before and the year before that?
Now, how many of those activities are part of “status-quo” thinking – it’s just what we’ve always done? How many of these things are ineffectual? In today’s world of measurement metrics, internal analysis and ROI’s, some people would say non-producing activities would not be tolerated by upper management. Well here’s a news flash…these initiatives not only show up year after year but they’re staunchly defended by…upper management.
So why do companies keep investing in these programs and activities? Well, the thinking goes: “We’ve spent $ XX,XXX (and maybe another X) into this. Plus we’ve already invested XXXX hours into the program. We can’t stop now or we’ll have lost everything.” All that’s being done here is engaging in the sunk-cost fallacy that describes the tendency to throw good money after bad. Psychologically, the more you spend on something, the less you’re willing to let it go. But truth be told, once your money is spent, it’s gone. It has no relevance. What counts in terms of getting where you want to be tomorrow, is what that investment is worth to your organization today. It’s important not to consider past costs when making planning decisions, but to make decisions based on future costs and benefits.
There’s something else that marketers do that’s almost a bigger of waste of money than investing in ineffective programs and it’s really the genesis for this blog. What I’m talking about is the total lack of effort that’s put into making programs resonate as well as they could.
We all know that well-planned, well-executed strategic marketing is a lot of work. But then, so is filing for bankruptcy, selling off your assets and shuttering the business – which is the alternative to putting in the required effort. That makes me wonder why companies bother to invest in marketing activities and then put nearly zero effort into executing them. The creative is boring; the strategy is half-baked; the lackluster results are acceptable. This is just throwing good money after bad!
I stumbled onto a great example of this while clicking through the online exhibitor’s list for an upcoming industrial B2B trade show that covers a huge range of industrial services and equipment. Reading the self-authored company descriptions posted by each exhibitor, I was shaking my head in disbelief. Here are just two examples, and believe me, others were even less informative:
“Manufacturer & supplier of Cable/Wire Harness Assemblies, Power Supplies & Fans with Value-Added Capabilities.”
“Precision CNC turning and machining. Design and manufacturer of custom rubber products.”
There were literally dozens of entries like these and they were all written by the companies themselves! And they were free! The more I read, the more dumbfounded I became. Unique selling proposition? Strategic positioning? Differentiation? Okay, let’s shoot lower. Let’s try for just a coherent company description. How is any potential buyer supposed to even understand what value these companies could offer to them from those descriptions?
Trade shows are no small financial and time investment. Consider the possible costs: exhibitor fees, booth purchase, collateral materials, promotional giveaway, travel, meals, and man-hours spent on show logistics and for staffing the booth. So why then would any company that commits to a trade show deliberately and willfully flush that investment away with company descriptions like this:
“Extrusions – profiles large & small, tubing, rod, bar stock, co-extrusion, drilling and forming. Thermoforming. Pressure forming – deep draw, sheet thickness .030″ – .500″, high volume, long or short runs.”
This isn’t even a company description. It’s a list of processes, none of which are unique to this company! You may be thinking, “Rolf, you’re being too hard on these people. They’re doing the best they can.” Yeah, …NO.
Here’s a company description from another exhibitor at the same show:
“Recognized as one of the largest & most reliable service bureaus in the country, [Company] offers clients high quality/low cost tooling & manufacturing. We offer full service to assist our clients from concept through production, and have nationwide locations to serve you.”
At least it’s coherent. This probably took the company rep who (possibly, late at night in his/her hotel room) wrote it in all of about five minutes. Maybe the rep even copied it from the company brochure. The funny thing is that lazy marketers are often the first to wonder why their budgets and customers have disappeared.
Marketing is hard work. But that isn’t an excuse for not putting in your best effort. Or calling on professionals who know how to weave words into dollars.
While the above examples were for a tradeshow, throwing good money after bad certainly applies to other types of marketing initiatives as well, from ads to email campaigns. As a marketing firm ourselves, we don’t treat anything we do for our clients in a ho-hum fashion…because our clients deserve to get their money’s worth. Which is a lot more than what many companies do for themselves. Time to stop spending good money after bad.
“Be interesting, be enthusiastic…and don’t talk too much.” – Norman Vincent Peale
Like you, I’ve given companies, associations, causes, etc., permission to send me information on topics, product information and promotional offers. I knew going into this that some of these companies would be smart enough to know how to market online to their permission-based group and others wouldn’t have a clue. And I’ve been right on both counts.
Permission-based marketing is now at the heart of relationships between companies and their customers and prospects. People opt-in to receive your emails, “Like” your company on Facebook, subscribe to your website’s RSS feed or your You Tube channel, or follow you on Twitter or LinkedIn. But having permission to market to someone isn’t a license to bombard them with marketing messages.
In fact, not knowing when to “zip it” is a classic marketing mistake that too many marketing people make. If marketing is about building relationships with customers, over-marketing is the best way to kill the relationship and send the customer or prospect heading for the door. Just recently, yesterday to be exact, I came across a really interesting study entitled “The Social Breakup” prepared by ExactTarget, a company that provides clear evidence of what happens to customer relationships when the marketer comes on too strong:
Guess the biggest reason people break up with companies? (Drum roll)…Too much marketing. The study showed that:
On that note, let me tell you a quick story about an industry association I did some freelance consulting for. Within their business specialty, they were the largest association in the country but people were increasingly not renewing their membership. After talking to the marketing department and executive management, two recommendations were made: 1) Cut in third the number of emails and direct mail pieces that were being sent out; 2) Find out why people were not renewing. Well, they didn’t like the first recommendation but did ‘humor’ me by taking my advice about doing the research. When the member survey report was finalized it said that the #1 reason for members not renewing was a direct result of their being really bothered by the sheer number of emails they were receiving. Guess what the association did? They disregarded the research and went back to doing what they were doing…no lie!
So, how do you know when you’re over-marketing and about to kill a customer or prospective relationship? It can be a fine line, but here are some principles to guide your marketing planning to avoid this costly error.
At the end of the day, people opt in because they want to hear from you. But if you disrespect the relationship by coming on too strong, customers and prospects will flee. Treating your customers and prospects well is common courtesy; treating their permission to market to them as a gift is even better…it’s a smart marketing strategy. Have a wonderful holiday season.
I’m so glad it’s over. Probably like you, my home phone was being called at an increasing rate the closer that we got to Election Day. Candidate faces and names were everywhere and on everything from direct mail to lawn signs, outdoor boards to TV and radio commercials. As annoying as it was, there were a number of messaging strategies and tactics that caught my attention because they were executed exceedingly well, which we as marketers should consider adding to our communication toolkits for use tomorrow, next week or next month. For as we all know, your customer and prospects are still being bombarded with marketing messages each and every day by both you and your competitors.
So let me share with you some strategies and tactics used by politicians leading up to November 6th that are worth remembering.
1) Understand the takeaway
Truth is, these folks do have some things to teach us marketers, particularly regarding messaging. They see the world a bit differently than we do, and use techniques most people didn’t learn in school or on the job, such as: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear. You can have the best message in the world, but the person on the receiving end will always understand it through the prism of his or her own emotions, preconceptions, prejudices, and existing beliefs. We focus too much of our energy on finding the best way to sell our message, and too little on understanding the filters consumers have as we deliver it. Political marketers care more about takeaways than inputs.
2) Make it look good
Have you seen the biographic videos produced by the two Presidential candidates? They were extraordinarily well done. A number of other political ads were also well done from a storytelling and video perspective. They stayed on message knowing the one critical point (not 4 or 5 points) that they want to make sure was communicated. The videos were shot and narrated well. They didn’t hire amateurs to do their work but had expert writers and producers creating the content. Like with your business, there’s too much at stake to do cheap stuff because everyone knows what cheap means. People interpret what your company/brands stands for based on the quality of creative and the media channel it’s presented on. Don’t go out until you look good.
3) Be the genuine article
Business marketing sometimes seems to stretch the truth a bit too much. When marketing messages are sufficiently public and sufficiently wrong, the press will get wind and call you on the truth of your marketing. Transparency of your brand could never be more important. It is less about giving the appearance of perfection and more about being genuine and human as we build relationships. While it’s critically important to tell your story and the benefits of your product or service, it’s not fine to lie about them. My mom use to tell me “Lies have short legs.” Meaning, you can’t outrun the truth …so don’t stretch it very far.
4) You are who you say you are
In the world of politics, I would argue that there’s nothing as important as branding and having people recognize what the brand stands for. Brand consistency is always maintained. Unlike politicians, too many companies struggle with this, swinging wildly from one branding concept to another. Everything from the taglines, to the logos, to the visuals has been choreographed beautifully. Get your branding figured out right now. Here are a few questions to ask yourself to determine if your branding is clear:
5) Be social..not antisocial
Politicians don’t just post stuff to their respective Twitter or Facebook accounts and hope people will read it. Rather, they actually engage with their social media audience. They post images and video. They have their immediate families and supporters use social media regularly. How is your company using social media to spread the good word about your company? I’ll be the first to say that spending a lot of time, money and resources on social media is not right for every company, maybe even yours, but without some presence, you’re letting the competition become more visible and be seen as a legitimate business partner at your expense.
6) Telling the story again and again
Why are some political ads annoying? Some of it is the content, but I think most of the annoyance is the quantity of political advertising as elections draw near. But politicians know one thing: without a communications budget that allows you to be out in the market in a way that shows you’re “a player”, you won’t get the job done. Far too many companies who do ‘invisible marketing’ base their companies short and long term success on thinking that customers will pick them over a brand that’s actively marketing and better known. The takeaway is that repetition is key …but too much repetition annoys.
As I said earlier, I’m glad the madness of the political advertising season is over but I’m grateful to have learned a few things because each and every day customers and prospects are voting who they want to do business with. Let the winner be you.
A friend and I were watching a football game on TV when a commercial came on for a paint retailer. At the end of the commercial, my friend said “I don’t trust them for a minute. They don’t look or sound the part at all.” I started thinking about why some companies are trusted and others aren’t. And so I’ll pose the question to you: in today’s marketplace, with people not wanting to be sold to but rather base their purchase decision on many other factors, is your company better off just selling products and services or selling trust along with your products?
One of the greatest demonstrations of selling trust came about years ago when Chrysler Corporation was being dragged back from the brink of extinction by its then CEO, Lee Iacocca. Chrysler was seen as having a flawed product and not to be trusted to build a good car. Lesser men would have resorted to selling at the cheapest price with giant discounts and 0% interest. They would have also gone down with the ship by making futile arguments about the features/benefits of the cars. Iacocca rejected this thinking and instead sold his personal guarantee…his promise…by saying “If you can find a better car, buy it.”
So then, what are the few key factors that will make your business such a trusted and relied-on presence in your customers’ lives that they will stay with you – and spend with you – for many, many years?
As I write this, virtually every advertiser, marketer and seller struggles in an un-trusting world. The public has very, very, scorched fingers and badly-bruised confidence. The temptation to overcome this mistrust with stronger product pitches, cheaper prices or deeply discounted fees – did I mention, cheaper prices – is enormous. And dangerous. To do so worsens the fundamental problem of low trust and deprives you of the finances needed to effectively market at all.
Unfortunately, and we all see it in our personal and business lives, there are bunches of companies out there who are “hit and runners.” They’re more in the business of getting customers to make sales rather than making sales to get customers. The first provides only income. The second provides income and equity. It’s sort of like the difference between dating and a long-term marriage. It’s about being there and having the other person’s back. That the other knows you care about them. That you find ways to stay interesting and relevant over the years. Sad but true, most marketers don’t really think about a long-term marriage with customers. They take it for granted or give it no importance. They’re focused on income not equity. Like you, I buy things from stores or service providers where not even a feeble attempt at creating an ongoing relationship is made. I think the thinking is “We did OK, he’ll be back.” Well, maybe and then again maybe not.
So, what can companies do from a marketing standpoint to start the process of building trust within the minds of their current and prospective customers? Here are eight thought-starters:
So, while we as marketers understand that we’re in the business of helping drive revenue for the company among other challenges, let’s not lose track of the fact that it’s always easier to derive sales from an existing customer versus that of a new customer. And that only happens if they trust you. And they’ll only trust you if you look and act the part. Don’t have your company be a “poser”…you’ll be found out!
by Rolf Gutknecht, Agent of Change (c) 2012
A friend of mine sent me a video by email last week that, as a marketer, I loved. It was one of those ‘old school’ videos featuring “America’s best salesman”…Elmer Wheeler, who’s message is as relevant and meaningful today as it was when he delivered in the 60’s. After watching it a number of times, and because of the subject matter, it made me think of an interesting way to look at what the brand experience is all about.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW6HmQ1QVMw]
So here goes:
Imagine that you and your significant other decide to go to a well-known, fancy-schmancy steakhouse for a special night out dinner. Have that in your mind? Good. Now, picture another steakhouse of similar reputation. Both of the steakhouses prepare the same quality of steak but with one difference….. whereas the first restaurant makes a steak the way it’s supposed to be made (a thick clean cut, placed on the center of the plate) and presented with some tasty vegetables nicely positioned on the side and professionally put on the table, the second restaurant has a similar plate presentation but with no steak on it. Their steak gets delivered just a minute later on a hot stone tablet to your table…simmering and sizzling. The waitress presents the steak with elegance, and sprinkles some salt and pepper on top. While the aroma of the steak makes your mouth start to water and the sizzle gets your full attention, she begins to tell the story of the family who own the vineyard of the wine you selected. What a different brand experience that is! Same item, same quality, different way to engage the consumer. The difference isn’t about the steak but rather about the sizzle.
So why does the “sizzle” matter?
1. Anyone can make good steak
As we know, product or service quality is a fragile thing. No matter how many patents you have, how well you have integrated your supply chain and perfected your quality standards, no matter how much money you spend on R&D, anyone who really, really wants to go after you will eventually copy what you do or make and perhaps even perfect the product you so passionately protected.
2. The sizzle is a difficult thing to copy
Branding, brand equity and brand engagement are difficult to copy. They are strongly linked to your brand, and your brand alone. The depth of everything “surrounding” the product is complex, deep and interwoven with stories, emotions, associations, you name it…all those good things that make a brand unique!
3. The sizzle adds the emotional layer
Back to the restaurant example: Guess what? People will come back for more. Not just for the steak, but for the feeling they get when they are IN that experience. Human beings thrive on emotions, and seek repeat of pleasure.
Now, I’m not suggesting for one minute to only focus on the sizzle. Without that good, juicy, perfectly cut and excellently cooked filet mignon steak there is no reason to add sizzle in the first place! The sizzle is the icing on the cake; without cake there is no need for the icing.
Selling the sizzle and not the steak is something good marketers have known since forever. Give your customers the meal that they desire…and they will come back for it time and time again.
by Rolf Gutknecht, Agent of Change (c) 2012
I’m not sure about you, but in the deluge of emails that comes my way each and every day, it’s real easy start deleting them without even thinking about whether there’s content that might make my life and that of my clients easier and better. So, I stopped doing that about 
6 months ago and now take the time to open each one and at the very least scan for interesting info. Maybe I’ll see something about trends, or research data, facts, or a tidbit about helpful hints. Without doing so, I’d miss out on stuff I should know about and, respectfully said, that’s probably the case with you as well.
Well, with your indulgence, I wanted to share with you 10 pieces of information that you may not be aware of which in turn will help you grow your business by seizing on untapped revenue-producing opportunities. So, here goes:
As I said, it’s easy to delete a bunch of good information that comes your way because of time constraints, being short staffed or being overwhelmed with email after email. But this is all good information that I received and looked over before I hit the delete key. If you’ve read this far, you’ve made the same thoughtful decision as well.
by Rolf Gutknecht, Agent of Change (c) 2012
We grew up with the belief that the best idea always wins. The best person always wins. If you build a better mousetrap people will beat a path to your door. That might have been true when the world wasn’t inundated with one sales and marketing message after another. But the fact is, today the best idea does not win. The best idea does not get credit and the best product does not win if nobody pays attention in the first place. (Take 5 more seconds and reread that last sentence and let it wash over you.)
It doesn’t matter how great your blog is if nobody reads it. It doesn’t matter how creative your ad is if you don’t have money to run it. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best food manufacturer, if nobody buys your products. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best hospital if people in need go elsewhere. It’s not about being the best. It’s about finding a way that you can take who you are, what you make, and what you offer and create a relationship with prospects and current customers that is instantly captivating.
Think of it like this. Imagine that on the other side of the door from where you are is where relationships happen, loyalty happens, sales happen, profits happen. On the other side of the door, success awaits. But to get there, we have to get through the door. And before we do that, we have to knock. And if we can knock in a compelling, persuasive and interesting way and introduce ourselves, and if we provide people/customers with messaging and content that is instantly captivating, and if we knock in the right way, then the door opens and we get to go through to the side where all the good stuff lives. But to ignore the door that you have to go through is setting yourself up for failure.
The reason is that we live in a world with ADD due in large part to the addictive nature of the Internet. The average attention span used to be 5, 10, 15 minutes, but now, the average attention span today is roughly 9 seconds. Nine seconds! Your brand might only get 9 seconds to communicate a message, earn a little bit of loyalty, build a little bit of trust so you can continue the conversation before your customer starts getting distracted! Nine seconds isn’t a lot of time, so what could you possibly say in that time or less to get someone’s attention? I think it starts with presenting your message in a way that’s captivating in clever and unexpected ways. It grabs people’s attention and has them focusing on the message and not thinking about the other stuff that could come into their mind. They’re engaged…captivated. In doing so, you start connecting with them, which allow you to persuade them. Get them to trust you. Get them to believe you. Get them to want to connect with you. So when your competitor tries to pull them away, they stay loyal.
Having been in the advertising/marketing business for quite a number of years, working on Fortune 100 accounts and mom-and-pops, and everything in between, I’ve seen and learned a few things I want to pass along: As a company, you have a choice. You must either have an enormous budget to make sure no one in your category can compete with you OR you have to captivate people’s attention. With a big budget you can drive awareness through exposure over and over again to make sure you get your message out in front of your customer – even if you have a boring message. The other choice is if you don’t have the biggest budget (raise of hands please), in which case you have to have a captivating message so customers will pay attention, listen, remember and act upon it. What you can’t do is NOT have the biggest budget and NOT have a compelling, fascinating, attention-getting message at the same time. Then you fail and go out of business. That’s just the fact! My guess is that you could name a few companies in your business category that are no longer around because they were ho-hum..right?
Forgettable and boring marketing materials, tiresome page-turning ads or lackluster customer service will not get it done. People forget stuff in under 9 seconds if it’s anything less than captivating, enamoring or entrancing. Ask yourself why it is that you remember some ads or marketing messages. It’s not because they look or sound like every other company or ad or they use business babble that says nothing. Not a chance. You remember them because they had a strong, unexpected point of view and a distinctive message. They were captivating.
So, as you begin planning for 2013 and thinking about how to make it the best year yet, I’d ask that you reread the title of this blog and use it as the mantra for your future marketing initiatives. It’s that significant.