January 2007 Archives

Mini, at the suggestion of its agency Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners, created a voluntary participation program in which select Mini Cooper owners attached an RFID fob to their keychain containing personal information such as occupation, birthday, etc. The agency purchased billboards with LCD displays that read the passing RFID signals and flash: "Mary, moving at the speed of justice," if Mary is a lawyer, or "Mike, the special of the day is speed," if Mike is a chef. While the agency puffs out its chest and talks about "building evangelists," I have to wonder if, in this case, the big idea has outpaced practicality and any potential ROI. Will people buy more Mini Coopers?

My demographic, GenX, is enamored with the Baby Boomers. We appreciate their idealism, even through our standoffish indifference. A case in point: I was at a party in 1987, an outdoor affair in the springtime out in rural Chatham County, North Carolina. Dr. Bob was there, as usual. A research scientist, a biologist I believe, in the Research Triangle Park. Or an "old hippie" as we called him. One of many elder statesmen and stateswomen aboard this particular Viking ship. Ahh, a band was playing. A loose confederacy of acquaintances banging out old Grateful Dead and Steppenwolf tunes. Dr. Bob leans toward me beside the campfire. Like the intentionally helpful neighbor in "The Graduate" he confides, "Rock and roll retirement homes." "What, Dr. Bob?" "That's what my generation is going to need. Rock and roll retirement homes, where they pipe in this stuff while we age on, little brother." At the time, I wrote that off as old hippie talk, but now I realize the astuteness of the good Dr.: The baby boomers, there's a bunch of them, and marketers of most products and services need to take a close look at them. As we scarcer GenX'ers take their jobs and the wheel of business and society (including the debt and other associated baggage), we need to study these folks closely. The rock and roll retirement home is not just a business proposition. Word to your Moms.

Yes, we're all created equal and have the same shot at the grammar and rhetoric books, but some of us blog, youtube, flickr and myspace better than others. All social media is not media, contrary to what Steve Rubel of Micro Persuasion writes. Social media is largely opinion, feedback, blog riffs, product reviews, etc. Now, some of it is very good, awesome, better than "professional content"; I'll give you that. But don't get hung up on the "social" part of the term. Think about it this way for a second: social media is an opportunity to create something useful for someone else. Is social media important? No doubt. It keeps us marketers honest. It keeps the mainstream media honest. It's democracy in action. But that's just the good stuff. I bought a carpet steamer from the Target website based on the review of some person I don't even know because she could spin an articulate assessment of an appliance. But, I've also figuratively stomped out of the iTunes store after reading a music review that started, "The only reason I give this one five stars is because I see way too many people are giving it two or three stars..." So, is four stars his real vote? Too much math. That guy's messing up the Utopia with his arbitrary star-giving! He just wasted an opportunity.

It seems that Yahoo! is turning its back on RSS and bloggers are wondering if the portal is trying to shore up control of content.  I wonder that, too, but I also think that if people demand RSS feeds, or just about anything else, Yahoo! and others will have to respond.

(1) Employees come first, especially in a front line retail business. You can always tell the difference between a "real" Starbucks person and a Target employee disguised as a Starbucks employee. (2) Consistency is king when the customers want it; variety is king when they want it that way. Focus on the experience as much as the product itself (if not more). (3) Think like this: "Hey, people like to listen to the music in our stores, and our employees sure play some cool music. We should sell CDs here." (4) Don't jerk people around; not even a little bit. (5) Employ guerilla marketing tactics, such as confrontational marketing, when appropriate.

Can a small business brand itself? Absolutely, with the right understanding of the branding process. In working with smaller businesses, I've heard confusion about branding that reaches two extremes. Sometimes, they'll come forth with the notion that they need to be branded, and what they're really looking for is a logo, business cards and a small amount of collateral. This is identity. It can be a first step to branding, but it's not all that's branding. On the other extreme, some see branding as a long process that's too arduous for them to achieve results. "Oh, yeah," they've responded. "I've got three years and $15 million to become the next Nike." John Jantsch, in the Duct Tape Marketing blog, writes, "For the small business owner oftentimes the brand comes down to knowing your narrow target market and being true to yourself." From there, every business action becomes support for the brand. The most important of his three bullets of advice, "Be consistent - create a look, a message, a way of doing business and stick to it - carry it through to new initiatives."

When The Richards Group landed the Motel 6 account, their charge was to increase room-night stays at this national discount motel chain. The Dallas-based ad superstars had the luxury of planning and strategy, even calling for the chain to STOP advertising while The Richards Group and the motel collaborated on a strategy. First the group arrived at the positioning, "For frugal people, Motel 6 is a comfortable night's stay at the lowest price of any national chain." Who are these frugal people? In general, they fall into three categories, seniors, vacationing families, and self-paying business travelers. From here, the brand personality and marketing strategy was developed. Tom Bodett's voice was heard in commercials and in wake-up calls. John Jantz, writing in the Duct Tape Marketing blog, warns the small businessperson not to be tempted to start employing marketing tactics without developing a strategy. In working with many small and growing businesses, I've heard again and again, "Well, can't we just do this while we're figuring out all that stuff?" Sometimes, yes, but let's not jump too fast. The positioning, branding, strategy and planning process doesn't have to take long or cost "an arm and a leg" as Bodett promises.

There's no place for "Word of Mouth" within a marketing strategy or on a tactical marketing plan. That's like bringing your toothbrush on a first date. Optimistic, yes. A reliable strategy or tactic, no. Word of mouth is something that's achieved through superior product or service design, proper positioning, and just a good product or service launched at the right time. Seth Godin taught us that in Purple Cow. John Wagner writes about "discoverability" from the consumer's point of view. The consumer will trumpet something much louder if they feel like they're discovering it, versus being prodded along to "tell a friend" by a marketer. I could not agree more.