Polls, Ads and Advice…

As Americans batten down their spending hatches, some kinds of spending remain untouchable. A poll conducted for last month's issue of the National Retail Federation's Stores magazine found

·         81 percent of respondents saying expenditures for Internet service were among the "untouchables."

·         Cell-phone service (64 percent)

·         Cable TV (61 percent)

·         Discount shopping for apparel (43 percent)

·         Haircuts and coloring (40 percent)

·         Fast-food meals (37 percent)

·         New shoes (24 percent)

Dollars are still being spent but again as in previous blogs. People are more selective on where they spend their money. Take a calculated risk and invite them to your location.

Another poll from Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll last month, it provided a menu of choices and asking respondents to pick their top "must-have" ITEMS

Defined as, the one non-essential item they'll continue spending on during tough times.

·         The top vote-getters in this survey were Internet access and "entertainment such as cable TV, movies," each cited by 21 percent

·         Cell-phone service was chosen by 17 percent

·         Restaurant meals by 10 percent

·         Vacations by 7 percent

·         4 percent cited cigarettes as their must-have, recession or no recession

·         3 percent cited alcohol

·         Two percent picked cosmetics.

Ironically the same survey found 79 percent of respondents saying they've "personally tried to reduce your household and personal spending because of concern about the economy." 

In the Auto Sector - Americans haven't been beating a path to dealerships to buy cars from not-yet-bankrupt U.S. automakers. But a Rasmussen poll in February suggests they'd be especially wary of purchasing from a company that has gone into bankruptcy.

Saturn has taken an interesting approach during the NCAA tournament with commercials that say – We are Saturn and we aren’t going anywhere. It is an interesting reassurance campaign directly targeted at consumers concerns. Click to view this ad 

More positive reinforcement from current campaigns - TIAA-CREF, retirement provider for the academic and medical fields, has a new campaign that airs some of consumers’ concerns about the market.  The ad focuses on playing into current sensitivities by asking “Are you” “perplexed,” “nervous,” “sullen,” and “resentful?” The voiceover explains that in 2008 more than 245,000 people moved their money to TIAA-CREF.  It plays to the sense that people have that the market has sort of changed investors.

Other TIAA-CREF ads have also been bold when addressing market’s volatility. One print ad last fall bore the headline “When did survival become the bar?” that was a pitch for long term financial planning.

So how do these examples help you now? Well a guru I read often is saying these 10 things about communicating with your customers when you advertise – the Guru is Roy Williams, who is known as the Wizard of ads. He says

Never, Never, Never

1. Never promise everything you plan to deliver.

Leave something to become the delight factor. That unexpected, extra bit you deliver “because we love you” will go a long way toward helping the customer forgive and forget any  areas where you may have fallen short.

Great ads are written in three steps:

(1.) How to End. What will be the Last Mental Image your ad presents to your customer? Begin with the end in mind.

(2.) Where to Begin. A clear but interesting angle of approach will gain the customer’s attention.

(3.) What to Leave Out. Surprise is the foundation of delight. What will you intentionally leave out of your ad so that you can deliver a delightful surprise? What will you leave out so that the imagination of the customer is engaged?

2. Never begin a sentence with the word, “Imagine…”

If you’re planning to take your customer on a journey of imagination, plunge them into it. “The wheels of your airplane touch down, but not in the city you were promised…” “You must now choose between two good things…” “If you had more enemies like these, you wouldn’t need friends…”

3. Never include your name in an ad more often than it would be spoken in normal conversation.

Cramming your name where it doesn’t belong is Ad Speak. Back when Americans encountered one thirtieth (1/13^th )as many ads each day, the rule was to repeat the name of the advertiser as often as possible. Do this today and your ads will sound like they were written in the 1940s.

4. Never conjure an unpleasant mental image.

Fear and disgust work face-to-face, but they often backfire when used in mass media. Conjure these unpleasant emotions in the minds of the masses and you’ll leave your listeners with a vaguely bad feeling attached to your name. They’ll want to avoid you, but they won’t be able to recall exactly why.

5. Never respond to a challenge from a competitor smaller than you

Drawing attention to a smaller competitor makes them larger in the eyes of the public. Conversely, if someone bigger than you is foolish enough to shine their spotlight on you, dance in it.

6. Never claim to have exceptional service.

Most people won’t believe you. And those who do believe you will expect more from your staff than they can possibly deliver. It’s a lose/lose proposition. Rather than promise exceptional service in your ads, tell the public something objective, factual and verifiable that causes them to say, “Wow. Those people really serve their customers.” Never praise yourself. Do things that make the customer praise you.

7. Never mention the recession.

I understand how tempting it is to say, “In order to help you combat the recession we’re offering…” But all that really does is remind the customer that now is not a good time to be spending money.

8. Never make a claim you don’t immediately support with evidence.

Unsubstantiated claims are the worst form of Ad Speak. Give the customer facts, details and objective proof if you want to win their confidence. Specifics are more believable than generalities.

9. Never use humor that doesn’t reinforce the principal point of your ad.

Here’s the litmus test: If remembering the humor forces you to recall the message of the ad, the humor is motivated. Good job. But if recalling the humor doesn’t put you in memory of the ad’s main point, the humor is unmotivated and will make your ad less effective. Sure, people will like the ad. They just won’t buy what you’re selling.

10. Never say things in the usual way.

From billboards to storefronts to packaging to messages on T-shirts, ads whisper and wheedle and cajole and shout to win our attention.

A 1978 Yankelovich study reported that the average American was confronted with more than 2,000 advertising messages per day.

But that was 30 years ago. When Yankelovich revisited the study in 2008, the number had jumped to more than 5,000 messages per day. 

The mundane, the predictable and the usual are filtered and rejected from our consciousness. Win the customer’s attention with words and phrases that are new, surprising and different

Ok, so that is Brand Flake for today. I am still open to you r challenge and I will post the first case study in the coming days, for our first free Brand Flake analysis.   

You can get in on your own case study, just email me or post our marketing strategy question here and our team of Flakes will give you a Brand New take on your question. So remember stay crisp even though it maybe raining milk. Brand Flakes

If you’re in business during this interesting recessionary period you are asking this question.  The answer is never popular but it is a true as it gets.  Work harder, working harder in every aspect of your business is what is going to pay true dividends. That being said, I will let you know I can make your marketing work harder for you.  Why?  Because the two things I know are baseball and marketing, so if you’re interested in learning how to know how to hit the curveball or if you’re interested in growing your market share during this recession and keeping that market share after the recession is over, I can help.

Well we first have to admit something; No matter what your profession in the end we’re all selling a product or service.  If you agree with that premise then I have your answer.  In “marketing” a fancy word for presenting your products to a consumer base, you have to realize that everyone knows that you are selling something.  That doesn’t mean they know what you’re selling. It means that they know when you interrupt their radio’s music, their TV show or online experience you have an agenda.

Imagine you have two sales people interviewing for a position.  Both candidates are presentable, charming and have the same skill set.  Candidate (A) shows up at the door, engages you in conversation, mentions his or her product a few times but never states the purpose for the visit.  A few hours later candidate (B) shows up, states the purpose for the visit, gives you a presentation on the product specifics and how it can solve your current problem, and asks for the business.  Who will you buy from, who would you hire?
 
What is the biggest mistake a sales person can make?  After hiring, training, being and working with sales people for close to twenty years I can tell you the biggest mistake, is they do not ask for the business.  Good marketing does what good sales people do, it asks for the business! The next question you naturally ask or wanted to know is how?

Well, the next step is how do we execute good marketing?  Well that starts with admitting something.  How you brand now can prevent losing customers later.  Recessionary periods are difficult but offer fertile ground for launching new businesses that challenge the conventional, developing disruptive new products to take to market and most importantly strengthening customer loyalty.  I told you it would not be easy.

Get creative and produce great creative. Never forget that ideas are cheap, great ideas end up being even cheaper.  You don’t have to spend money to get great creative and solve problems, but you do need to invest the time. The creative is the Achilles heal for many that believe in the soft sell or the back door sale.  Consumers are still spending money, but they are doing so more selectively.  Remember, you are an expert because you are a consumer and you like many other consumers are still spending, but looking more carefully at the product or service you are buying.

 Creative is the next installement of Brand Flakes, well that is installment number two for the Brand Flakes Blog.  Hey, got a question or a brand challenge? Email me at brandflake@wvradio.com and I’ll do the research for you and email you back. If you allow me to I will post the case study on the Brand Flake Blog.. “Stay Crunchy even though it is Raining Milk”