Your mom was right…mind your OWN business.

May 5, 2011

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, Observations From the Field, Spending Budgets Wisely — @ 9:16 am

Remember when you were a little kid and your litany of excuses to get what you wanted included things like…”but Jenny has one” or “but John’s mom lets him do it” or – classic – “every single kid in school owns one but me”…? Your mom’s response was likely some variation of: Don’t worry so much about what Jenny is doing…worry about what YOU’RE doing. Sage advice, mom, and after you repeated it a zillion times during our childhood, most of us embraced at least some part of this philosophy.

But apparently, not the folks who handle the advertising for Tasti D-Lite.

Pinkberry should send Tasti D-Lite a thank-you note for this ad.

I’ve walked past this ad on Varick Street at least a dozen times now, and damn if I didn’t think it was an ad for Pinkberry, the yummy frozen yogurt company. But while waiting to cross the street this morning, I actually read it, and was startled to realize it’s really an ad for Tasti D-Lite, one of Pinkberry’s competitors.

Click on the image to enlarge it and you’ll see what I mean. Let’s ignore for the moment the fact that this ad is obscured by the pole from a street sign. What’s more damaging is that the very first, and biggest, word in the ad is “Pinkberry.” And the logo for Tasti D-Lite is a teeny-tiny thing on the lower right hand corner (right behind the pole, actually…brilliant).

Tasti D-Lite is trying to show why they’re better than Pinkberry, but they forgot that we humans are a bit lazy and hard to engage. So, when glancing at this ad – even every day for 30 days – what will stick in our minds will be the picture of the frozen treat and the word “Pinkberry.” (And why they also decided to make the ad’s background pink will remain a mystery to me forever.)

The lesson here is simple. Don’t spend your money advertising your competitor’s brand. Even including a small mention of them helps raise their brand awareness…and in fact, you could actually be introducing them to consumers who had previously never heard of them.

So the next time you’re tempted to call out one of your competitors in your marketing efforts, just pick up the phone and call your mom for the “don’t worry about what THEY’RE doing…worry about what YOU’RE doing” lecture. Even when it comes to advertising…on this point, Mother Really Does Know Best.

And to all the moms out there…especially our own… the gang here at Redpoint wishes you a very happy mother’s day and a grateful THANKS for all you’ve taught us over the years!

PR 101: “Spin” is free…6,000 red capes are not.

April 27, 2011

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, Media Relations, Spending Budgets Wisely — @ 8:31 am

And did we mention the graphic design fees?

I would love to have been in the room (with a gong) when Workforce Central Florida decided that creating the cartoon character “Dr. Evil Unemployment” — and spending $14,000 on red satin superhero capes to hand out to the unemployed — was a fabulous idea. True, hindsight is always 20/20, but how on earth could they have not forseen the misery this PR stunt was going to unleash upon them?

Unemployment is a serious issue that does not lend itself well to frivolity. Sure, some people who collect unemployment are just lazy slackers abusing the system. But for those people truly desperate to get a job…you’re looking at folks who are stressed out, struggling to feed their families, plagued by feeling unworthy, and seeking avenues to earn back their self respect. Are these people likely to don a red cape in the hopes of “vanquishing” Dr. Evil Unemployment and take a picture thusly attired for the website photo gallery? I think not.

Other elements of this $75,000 program include a Facebook contest and quiz (no joke: “What Superhero Are You?”), photo opps for the unemployed with life size foam cutouts of Dr. Evil himself, billboards, and more. Is it any wonder the campaign faced such criticism that they had to cancel it after the first week? (For more details, here’s the original Orlando Sentinel story from April 15, and the Orlando Sentinel blog post from April 20th announcing the cancellation.)

The PR lesson to be learned here? Do not use goofy, comical PR stunts to draw attention to grave issues…even when you’re the good guy who’s trying to solve them. Now…if you’re a hotel company trying to showcase your fun side, and want to offer programs like, say…dogs cutting a record at a famous music studio in Nashville or learning to surf in San Diego…well, THAT’S ok. Even the Today Show would approve of that (click here to see the clip…and yes, Redpoint masterminded this crazy – but successful – program).

But this doesn’t mean that serious issues like unemployment are off limits to PR people. They just need to be treated with respect. Take McDonald’s, for instance. They made headlines in early April by announcing their intention to hire 50,000 people in the U.S. on April 19th. Sounds amazing right? Well, guess what? They hire that many people every April anyway. But some enterprising PR person in the McD’s food chain looked at that statistic and said, “Hey! If we link this annual hiring spree to a specific day in April, we could probably get some positive press out of doing our part to reduce the unemployment rate!” And voila: they did.

Brilliant. No cost, confessing to a little spin in their campaign (preventing the media from “exposing” it), and repackaging something they’re already doing to make it sound fresh and unique. I love it. Way to go, Mickey D’s. You’ve done my profession proud.

Want a laugh? Check out more examples of crazy but successful PR campaigns – including the Instant Gourmet Kitchen, the launch of the Department of Romance, and Playing Dirty During Mud Season – at redpointspeaks.com/results/case-studies/.

You too can be clever and intelligent six times a day on Facebook.

March 22, 2011

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, Social Media — @ 1:04 pm

Last week at Redpoint’s Marketing Boot Camp in Maine, a participant asked me how many times a day a hotel should be posting and interacting with its Facebook community.

My response? “A lot depends on how large and active your fan base is, but certainly everyone in this room should strive to post interesting and engaging stuff at least six times a day.”

Audience response? (Insert dramatic collective gasping sound here)

Then one brave participant raised her hand from the waaaaay back and voiced what was on everyone’s mind…

“With everything else I have to do at work, I’m just not sure I have it in me to be clever and intelligent six times a day on Facebook.”

After they all stopped laughing, everyone just looked at me expectantly…perhaps willing me to back down from that (to them) lofty goal with a fabulous display of group peer pressure.

But I’m a tough old marketer, and I held my ground. After giving everyone a verbal valium about how and why this is important, I shared a few tips on how to make it easy to be cool, interesting, fun, timely, and engaging on Facebook…without struggling to create ideas from scratch all day long. Sure, that’s easy to do when it’s your full time job, but most of us who manage our brands’ Facebook communities already have other full time jobs. So we need a little help to keep us cool and groovy.

If you need this kind of help too, check out our Tip Sheet here. Got a tip of your own to share with the redpointspeaks.com community? Post a comment here!

Oh…and, footnote: I’ve been traveling extensively lately…weeks at a time. So, when I got back to the office on Friday for the first time in what seemed ages, My Coffee Guys said “Miss! Where you been? We worry you are sick!” Oh, it’s good to be loved.

The best marketing strategy…EVER.

February 17, 2011

Filed under: Customer Service, Marketing Strategies, Observations From the Field — @ 8:20 am

The coffee cart vendor “guys” on the northwest corner of Spring Street and Avenue of the Americas in NYC might just be the smartest marketers I’ve ever met. But they have never sent me a single email. Nor given me a coupon. Nor “caught” me with a pay-per-click strategy.

They don’t have a website. Or business cards. Or a Facebook page. Heck, I don’t even think they have a brand name (but based on the haphazard, grammatically incorrect signage plastered around the cart…I’d have to guess their brand name is “Coffe and Donut”).

And yet…my recent expression of consumer behavior just proved my loyalty to them beyond a shadow of a doubt.

After nine years of emerging from the same subway exit every morning to grab a coffee from “The Guys” at the very convenient coffee cart right at the top of the stairs…I moved. And on Monday this week, I started taking a DIFFERENT subway line to work, and my path from subway exit to office door takes me past 6 other coffee cart vendors, and NOT past “The Guys.”

But damn if I didn’t walk right past all of them without a single glance, continue past my building’s front door, and head to the corner to “My Guys” (note transformation from general “The” to possessive “My”). And what’s the first thing they said to me?…

“Good morning miss! Why you come from that way today?”

And then I realized why I adore them so much: they are so very aware of me. And not just me, but ALL of their regular customers…and you become a “regular” with these guys by your third purchase. When there’s no line and they can see me coming over from the subway stairs, they have my coffee ready by the time I get to the cart. And when the line is 8 deep and I appear to be antsy, a wink and a nod from them signals me around to the back of the cart for an under-the-radar exchange of coffee-for-money. And when it’s pouring rain in the predawn hours, and I’m fumbling around in my bag to find my wallet, they tell me “No worry, miss. Tomorrow you give.”

What’s the marketing lesson here? Without spending a single dollar on “marketing,” you can inspire loyalty in your customers – and make them ambassadors for your brand – just by doing three simple things: genuinely caring about their needs, serving those needs efficiently, and exceeding their expectations.

I have been to five-star luxury resorts that don’t treat me as well as My Guys do, and yet they make less money off me in one year than those resorts do in one night. This proves that a “brand” can provide exceptional service without fancy training programs, Brand Standards, Mission Statements, marketing tactics, or any of the other hundred “we don’t have the budget for that” excuses that big brands often use as a crutch to justify subpar service.

So…Lal (left) and Abdul (right)…hats off to you. You may have proper names (really?…you mean you’re not actually named Doll, Sweetie, Love, or My Dear, as I’ve been calling you all these years?)…but to me, you’ll always be “My Guys.”

Yikes. This ad completely backfired.

January 11, 2011

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, The Power of Persuasion, Observations From the Field — @ 7:47 am

Saw this ad (click on the image to enlarge) for the NYC Metropolitan Transit Authority on the subway last week and thought…really? This copy was created by an ad agency and likely had to go through multiple client approvals…and no one realized how silly it makes them sound?

The wording implies…

All those subway issues you’ve experienced in the past due to maintenance problems…we knew about them, but we were just sitting around waiting for other things to break in that station
After being in existence for more than a century, we’ve finally figured out how to manage repairs
And now that we’ve had this long overdue epiphany, we want you to admire us for it

I was itching to get out my Sharpie and scribble on this ad: “Dude…reality check: that’s your job. Don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back for it.”

There’s a lesson to be learned here about phrasing and positioning. When you’re touting a long overdue change to your operation that you know will please your customers, don’t sabotage the message by first reminding them that you’re late to the party. Look forward, underscore the benefits, and do not seek glory for your efforts to finally come up to scratch.

In contrast…want to see a brilliant example of advertising? Check out the July 31, 2010 post on redpointspeaks.com, “Less Words…More Meaning.”

Anti-social media? Three tips to faking “authentic engagement.”

January 4, 2011

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, Social Media — @ 12:24 pm

My poor nephews (14 and 11 years old) will never grow up knowing the blissful oblivion that most kids – and adults – experience with brand interaction.

Having a seasoned PR counselor for an aunt just ruins it for them completely: they know that Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins likely did not REALLY sleep with the Stanley Cup (with his teammates “leaking” the photo online), and that the Washington Capitals’ Facebook page is not updated by the Gr8 Ovechkin himself…or the coach…or any of the players. And during Saturday’s NHL Winter Classic game (which was a spectacular display of subtle sponsorship and cross promotional genius), you wouldn’t believe how many times the oldest one said to me “Wow Didi…look at that! It’s all about the marketing.” One eye riveted on the action…the other taking in all the orchestration that went into influencing the audience’s perception. Smart kid.

But as audiences go, I think my nephews are in the minority. Most people really DO think that the concierge they are tweeting with is actually that concierge. And that the GM’s blog post they just read was really written by the GM of that hotel. And that the Facebook site of their favorite brand is updated by someone who actually works there.

And sometimes, it really is…but not always, and increasingly, not often. More likely, it’s updated by someone who has been “assigned the task” of engaging the social media audiences. This could be the PR firm, the ad agency, the internet marketing firm, or – I shudder to say – the son of the owner’s sister’s cousin’s friend, who “has time available while away at college and understands all that Facebook stuff.”

Ideally, the voice of your social media channels is someone who works at your company and has the knowledge and authority to represent your brand with your desired image. If you don’t have or don’t want such a person onsite, here are a few guidelines to help you successfully “fake” your authentic engagement:

Whoever does it needs to have experienced your offerings from soup to nuts. If a hotel, they should have stayed, spa’d, eaten, played, seen the town/city, checked out the competition and more. If a product, they should use it often…and also, they should be well versed in your company culture (your social media voice should match this culture). This might be a heavy investment of time/money for you up front, but the result is worth it.
If the person is not onsite, they need an open flow of communication to people onsite who can feed them up-to-the-minute news. No snippet is too trivial, as you never know what will be relevant/handy/interesting to share with audiences in this arena. Is someone having a birthday? Did a customer just pay you a huge compliment? What’s the weather like? What’s happening in your area? What peeks behind the scenes can be given? Your social media audience WANTS this kind of connection to you. Formal, untimely, promotional fluff?…not so much.
A knowledge of branding, marketing, and persuasive engagement is key…as is sound judgment. There is a trick to knowing how to promote a brand without being too aggressively promotional, and mature social skills are required to deftly orchestrate a virtual conversation, especially when negative comments may be thrown into the mix. College interns are handy for many tasks, but sometimes, they just simply lack the “brand marketing maturity” to fulfill this social media role successfully.

Having an “outsider” be your social media voice is certainly doable – indeed, at Redpoint, we do it all the time for clients – but it must be carefully managed to ensure that, not only does it not sound fake…it is not fake.

The moral of the story? If you want your social media effort to be successful, you simply can’t fake it. No matter who does it…it has to be real: real time, real voice, real passion, and real knowledge.

And if you need a litmus test to be sure your efforts are working, drop me a line and I’ll get my nephews on the case. If you can convince those two tough critics, then you’re on the right track.

What potato chips taught me about marketing.

November 19, 2010

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, Observations From the Field, Spending Budgets Wisely — @ 8:03 am

My Great Aunt Pauline taught me a saying as a child that has served me well as a marketing counselor.

Enough is as good as a feast.

It simply means that as long as you have “enough” of whatever it is…you don’t need more than that.

Now, while I believe she imparted these words of wisdom in response to my plea for the ENTIRE bag of potato chips instead of the – to my mind – miniscule bowl she was offering…it’s handy as a guideline when designing marketing programs.

There comes a point when fleshing out an idea or concept that there are “enough” elements to make it successful…and anything added after that just becomes:

More logistics to manage without adding to the ROI
A distraction of resources from the core focus and objectives
An added cost burden
Too confusing for your audience to effectively “get it”

So, whenever you are tempted to just add that one more thing to whatever program or concept you are developing…think of my Aunt Pauline and ask yourself “yes, this idea might be COOL…but will it be helpful or harmful to the overall objectives?” Use that checklist above to evaluate each new idea, and if it puts the desired results at risk, either table it, swap it out to replace a less effective element, or toss it.

As to the potato chip debate, however, I still stand by my original retort: You just can NEVER have enough…so bring on the feast!

Surprise! It works (almost) every time…

November 11, 2010

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, The Power of Persuasion, Observations From the Field — @ 9:04 pm

Kudos to Stan Gelber & Sons Heating & Cooling of Uniondale, NY. Never heard of them? Neither did I…until I got this direct mail piece from them.

Of course, all my snail mail marketing usually goes right in the trash (sorry, if you’ve sent me any)…but this darned dog caught my eye on its journey into the wastebasket.

I fished it right out, thinking…why is that dog wearing a hat and scarf? Then, I actually read the entire card, front and back.

And then I thought…damn. They got me. I don’t often think about heating or cooling systems…heck, I don’t even have a dog. But this card suddenly made me wonder if my heating system is ready for the winter.

What arrested my attention was the element of surprise. Even if you think it’s goofy, you cannot help but smile (c’mon, admit it) and be a little curious about this photo.

The point is: it broke through the clutter. Five other direct mail marketing pieces went right into the trash at my house that day, but this one got fished out.

Your lesson from this? Before you can even begin to market to someone, you’ve got to get their attention. And who doesn’t love a good surprise?

The secret of change: just do it.

August 2, 2010

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, Observations From the Field — @ 12:37 pm

Recently, during an ad-hoc consulting session with a hotel company (not a Redpoint client), the general manager asked my advice on increasing the effectiveness of their email newsletter campaign. After reviewing a few recent newsletters they’ve sent, he and I had a comical (to me) dialogue about next steps. It went like this:

C: Do you notice that the open rate increases depending on what’s included in the subject line?

GM: We only put the date of the newsletter in the subject line.

C: Oh! So, that’s one simple place to start. Getting people to open the email is the first step toward getting them to read the content. Let’s look at creating a turnkey way to make each subject line more enticing.

GM: Actually, we think that people would prefer to have the date in the subject line, so they can save and sort as needed.

C: But if they’re not even opening them, they never get to the point where they’re saving and sorting. Perhaps if we just add a tiny bit of color and substance to the subject line? We could still keep the date in there if you wish.

GM: Well, we’ve always done it this way, so it doesn’t make sense to change that format now. People are used to it.

C: Based on what you’re telling me, it seems like they’re just used to deleting the emails. If you’d like to get them to open and read the newsletters, we’d need to make some changes to the way they’re receiving them.

GM: What if we change the layout inside, and put the events calendar on the right, and add more photos at the top?

C: That would be wonderful, but we still need to change the subject line in order for them to OPEN the emails and notice all those fabulous changes.

GM: But then someone is going to have to come up with a new subject line each time, and the way it works now, it’s much easier for us to manage. We just have a template and my assistant plugs in all the information.

And there it is…the root of resistance to change: reluctance to do things differently.

It astounds me that people don’t realize that if you want to bring about a change in result…you have to start with a change in your actions. This premise holds true whether you’re trying to get people to open your email newsletter or trying to get your kids to clean their room unprompted (“how many times do I have to tell you…?”).

I guarantee that if you change your actions, you will change the result. You may need to play with your formula to find the sweet spot you seek, but it will come.

And yes, it will feel different, new, weird, or even uncomfortable. That’s how you will know that you’re doing “change” right. Keep your eye on the goal and just do it!