Is it money well spent?

Posted on October 29, 2012 by JeffKontur

Let’s take a look at two examples of non-traditional advertising.

Both of these are real-life examples that I have personally seen in the area where I live. They are for different companies in completely different industries but that won’t matter for our purposes.

The first is a company that does heating and air conditioning service. They are large and well-known in our area.

The company has hired an airplane to fly around towing a large banner. The banner has the company’s logo and a short list of the three major services they offer.

That’s it.

No phone numbers, no email, no website, no address. No contact information of any kind. Just the logo and the short list of services.

The plane is sometimes up for hours at a time. Sue and I have seen it at least three times.

We both wonder if the owner of the company isn’t also the owner of the plane. And if he isn’t personally flying around getting some “free” advertising for his company since he’s up there flying anyway. That’s the only way this sort of advertising makes sense. Otherwise, it seems that the company is wasting an awful lot of money.

After all, who’s going to look up, see the banner and think “Hey I need to get my heater serviced. I think I’ll call those guys. Oh it’s okay that there’s no number, I’ll go out of my way to look it up. After all, they were so clever to have hired that airplane to buzz around towing that banner all day long.”

Yeah. It’s never going to happen.

The second example I have is for a very well-known insurance company. They are a nationally recognized brand. The states in our area all have some variation on a “highway service patrol”.

They are called by different names but it’s basically a fleet of trucks owned and operated by the state Department of Transportation. The trucks carry gasoline, water, an air compressor, jumper cables and some tools for doing minor roadside repairs. When they find a motorist broken down by the side of the road, they stop and try to help.

In a couple of states, these vehicles are “sponsored” by this large insurance company. The company’s logo is displayed prominently on the trucks.

So prominently, in fact, that many motorists probably assume that the company owns and operates the trucks and that the trucks serve only policyholders for that company. It isn’t so but if you believe it is and are concerned about breaking down, it’s the sort of thing that might make you give added consideration to that company when deciding who to insure with.

So we have an HVAC service company being touted by a flying banner and an auto insurance company sponsoring highway repair vehicles.

There’s no apparent correlation between the first company and the type of advertising they are doing while a logical correlation exists between the second company and its advertising.

Must there be a correlation between the advertising you do and the product or service your company offers? Actually yes. You want your advertising efforts to reinforce the core offering of your company. In effect, the relationship between ad and service becomes a part of the advertising message itself.

Anything less is not money well spent.

$5 Million or 5 Daughters?

Posted on October 22, 2012 by JeffKontur

Photo credit: Janet McKnight

Asked, “Which would you rather have: $5 million or five daughters?”

Without hesitation, the man replied, “Five daughters.”

What?! Who in their right mind would choose such a thing?

A man who currently has eight daughters.

————

Okay, that was a humorous story but it makes an interesting point. The value we assign to most things is relative.

Diamonds and gold would likely have no value if you were stranded on a deserted island. In a deep flood, even a simple canoe will be more valuable than the most expensive luxury car.

Where am I going with this?

Once again, the answer isn’t entirely clear to me.

I heard the story about the five daughters and, aside from the humorous value, it triggered a cascade of semi-formed thoughts and ideas. This post is a partial exploration of those.

As a copywriter and a marketing consultant, understanding motivation is a crucial thing.

At its root, all motivation is based on value assessments. Given a choice between two things, people will generally choose the one which they believe will give them the most value.

However understanding the value that others place on objects and activities is a slippery slope. For instance, given a choice between watching TV or reading a book, most people will choose TV.

Why? I think just about everyone would agree that reading a book is intrinsically more valuable than watching TV. But that value comes at a price in terms of time and effort expended.

Suppose I offer to sell you an apple for $1 or a candy bar for $1. Those who place a very high value on health would be more likely to choose the apple while those who value pleasure would likely choose the chocolate.

Now suppose the apple were only ten cents but the candy bar was still $1.

If everyone presented with that deal had $1 and were willing to spend it all, the percentage of who chooses which option probably wouldn’t change much. A few who might otherwise have chosen the chocolate might now choose the apple if they value still having money left over, or if they were very hungry and could buy several apples rather than just one candy bar.

What if you had at least ten cents but far less than $1? You could buy the apple now or put in a hour’s work to earn enough to buy the chocolate. How many more would value the speed and convenience of the apple they can afford over the time and effort spent to get the chocolate they can’t?

This may seem a ridiculous example when we’re talking about small inexpensive items like apples and candy bars but what about the difference between two rather expensive and purely discretionary luxury items? Let’s say a jet ski or a motorcycle.

Assuming both were equally appealing, what would be the result of applying the exercises above?

More importantly to a marketer, how can I make my product seem more valuable than the alternative?

Click any of the links below to retweet these passages from the above article.

Remember, we’ll donate money to charity for every retweet. No purchase necessary. You retweet, we donate. It’s that simple.

Which would you rather have: $5 million or five daughters?

Who in their right mind would choose such a thing?

The value we assign to most things is relative.

In a flood, a canoe will be more valuable than the most expensive luxury car.

Understanding motivation is a crucial thing.

At its root, all motivation is based on value assessments.

This may seem like a ridiculous example.

How can I make my product seem more valuable than the alternative?

The (Questionable) Value in Branding

Posted on October 15, 2012 by JeffKontur

Photo credit: Beau B., on Flickr

Most people who are not business owners, and even some novice business owners, tend to think that building a “brand image” is much more important than it is.

I’m not saying that brand recognition doesn’t ever have real value, but for small businesses and even for many types of very large businesses, it doesn’t.

Photo credit: Circa71, on Flickr

If you have a highly specialized business serving a small, well-defined market, you don’t spend a lot on brand recognition.

One company that comes to mind is Halliburton. They are relatively well-known only because of having been in the news quite a bit a few years ago. (Due to connections with the Vice President of the United States, not so much for their service itself.) Halliburton is essentially a temporary staffing agency which specializes in providing private security forces in hostile and unstable regions. To put it bluntly, they are a placement service for mercenaries.

Photo credit: Eric__I_E, on Flickr

I read once about a company which specialized in polishing the injection ports on carburetors and automotive fuel systems. It turns out that a well-polished port makes a huge difference in fuel efficiency and major automakers outsource this type of thing.

What about the company that makes reflective paint for highway signs? Or one that manufactures the cans that hold so many of the foods on grocery store shelves? Or the maker of those concrete barriers used in road construction? Or the company that makes utility poles to hold up power lines?

Photo credit: Cote, on Flickr

Brand recognition, at least in the broad public sense, is not important to any of these companies. They don’t sell to the public and are specialized enough to have little or no competition in their fields.

If you look at phone listings in any area you’ll find a grossly disproportionate number of businesses named after the area itself. Where I live in Delaware we have many businesses with the word “Delaware” in their names. We also have many with “Blue Hen” (the state bird), “First State” (because Delaware was first to ratify the US Constitution), “Diamond State” (the state’s nickname) and other such references in their names.

Photo credit: Acme, on Flickr

I know of two pizza places relatively near me, both of which are named Ciao Pizza. They are separate restaurants with no relationship to one another whatsoever. They’re several towns apart and don’t directly compete.

For that matter, do you think people choose a dry cleaner because of a well-known name on the sign? Or could it be perhaps for other reasons? Perhaps they have great service, or convenient hours, or low prices, or a good location or even that the girl behind the counter is attractive. In this case the primary selling point, whatever it may be, is not part of a “brand”.

Photo credit: Ell Brown, on Flickr

That’s how it is with most small businesses.

Some may tout the case for uniqueness. If multiple companies have the same “brand” then consumers have a harder time telling them apart. Worse, if one incurs negative publicity, the others may share the taint.

Perhaps there is something to that. Then again, just the other day I saw a Jeep Wrangler with Good-Year Wrangler tires. (Wouldn’t it be funny if the driver were wearing Wrangler jeans!)

Photo credit: Periwinklekog, on Flickr

So if I own Acme Cleaners and there’s an Acme Auto Body across town and an Acme Bail Bonds on the other side of the tracks and then Wile E. Coyote uses Acme explosives to blow up the Road Runner, do you really think consumers will assume we’re all the same company?

There are much more compelling ways to sell your wares, and much more effective uses for your operating capital, than “branding”.

Click any of the icons below to retweet these passages from the above article.

Photo credit: dddaag, on Flickr

Remember, we’ll donate money to charity for every retweet. No purchase necessary. You retweet, we donate. It’s that simple.

Most non-business owners think building a “brand image” is more important than it is.

If you look in any area you’ll find a disproportionate number of businesses named after the area itself.

Do people choose a dry cleaner because of a well-known name on the sign? Or could it be because…

In this case the primary selling point is not part of a “brand”.

I saw a Jeep Wrangler with Good-Year Wrangler tires. (Was the driver wearing Wrangler jeans?)

If Wile E. Coyote uses Acme explosives to blow up the Road Runner, do you think consumers will…?

There are more compelling ways to sell your wares, and better uses for your capital, than “branding”.

My Insurance Agent ROCKS!!

Posted on October 8, 2012 by JeffKontur

I love my insurance agent.

How many people can really say that? Insurance is one of those things we all resent having to pay for, especially because it’s mandatory.

These days, insurance companies sell mainly on claims that they have the lowest price. My agent’s company is no different and I assure you if we felt we were being gouged we’d jump ship in two seconds flat. The thing is, price is not our number one consideration.

This article was prompted because I just got off the phone with my agent. I was “randomly selected” by my state’s motor vehicles division for an insurance audit and called her to get the documentation I’d need to show that my car is properly insured. She not only agreed to provide the necessary documentation but also volunteered to just handle it all on my behalf.

No extra charge, no asking for a medal or a referral or any kind of recognition. She just handled it.

The thing is, it’s always that way.

Any time I call, no matter what the question or the issue, she is eager to help with a cheerfulness that makes game show hosts seem sedate.

She has also taken the time to get to know me personally. We talk about kayaking. She asks about Sue and the kids. I’ve met her dog, who she sometimes brings into the office.

Never once has she pushed me to buy coverage I don’t need or want. Never has she even asked me for a referral. So here I am giving one voluntarily. Because my insurance agent rocks.

If you want to be as happy with your insurance agent as I am with mine, call

Pam Steinebach

Nationwide Insurance

302-328-1212

I think the message, as it relates to marketing is obvious so I won’t belabor the point too much.

Great customer service, especially in this age when it is so rare, is highly valuable as a marketing tool.

The Wrong Way to Twitter (part 2)

Posted on October 1, 2012 by JeffKontur

In a previous installment, we discussed small businesses using Twitter as a tool for self promotion. In that article I pointed out how such a tool would be used differently by different types of small businesses. We looked at one class of small business and one thing they might do to correctly use Twitter to best advantage.

Photo credit: Richie Diesterheft

Today let’s look more closely at the messages that might be tweeted and their intended audience.

The message is the tweets you send out as a small business.

Every small business that uses Twitter has at least two intended audiences:

Previous customers
Potential customers

Most businesses don’t think much about the distinction but the messages you send to each of these two groups may be different at least some of the time.

I’m going to broadly define previous customers as anyone who has interacted with your business before. They may have bought something from you, or they may just have inquired. You may have given them an estimate or they may have crossed your path at some networking event. Maybe they even just signed up for your mailing list at some point.

The real point is that these are people with whom you already have some kind of preexisting relationship. You already know who these people are before you compose and send your tweets.

When you send tweets out to these people, your main goal is to cultivate the relationship. You want to keep yourself in their minds and encourage them to come back or to refer others to you.

Potential customers are essentially strangers who you are hoping will find you by serendipity and become interested enough to come patronize, or at least check out, your business.

You would not adopt the same level of familiarity with potential customers as you might with existing customers.

Potential customers may want to know more about your business: its history, offerings, range of products, guarantees, etc. They will need to become familiar with you and grow to trust you before moving from potential to actual customers.

Existing customers already know enough of that information to be comfortable buying from you so they may be more interested in ideas for getting more or better use out of the products they’ve already bought from you. They may want to know when a new feature or option becomes available.

With both groups, you want to do more than simply try to sell.

Selling is a turn-off that will make most people direct their attention (and often their money) elsewhere.

So what do you do?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to that.

The nature of your business may dictate different styles. In general helpful, interesting, funny, mysterious or unexpected bits of information will generate fascination and interest. These carry the dual benefit of being retweetable, thus increasing your exposure. (And helping your goal of attracting more potential customers.)

Beyond that, you really need the custom-tailored advice of an expert. I’ll give you three guesses where you can find one.

Click any of the icons below to retweet these passages from the above article.

Remember, we’ll donate money to charity for every retweet. No purchase necessary. You retweet, we donate. It’s that simple.

The Wrong Way to Twitter

Every small business that uses Twitter has at least two intended audiences.

When you send tweets out to these people, your main goal is to cultivate the relationship.

These are essentially strangers who you are hoping will find you by serendipity.

You would not adopt the same level of familiarity with potential customers as with existing customers.

Selling is a turn-off that will make most people direct their attention (and their money) elsewhere.