Posted by Rahna on January 31, 2008 under Personal Branding | 
Last week I gave a talk on Personal Branding to a Teen Leadership council, and the feedback I got really reinforced a lot for me. The talk went well, and the kids were very receptive. Here’s what I learned:
Kids are very receptive to change
These kids were eager to hear about how they could mold their personal “brands†and become anything they wanted to become. The idea that they could choose who they become, that they have control over the development of who they are was very empowering to them.Â
The grown-ups in the audience also want to evolve
It doesn’t matter how long you have been something….you can always evolve, growing into something new and amazing. As a matter of fact, you can teach an old dog new tricks, and this concept is empowering, no matter how old you are!
Being “cool†is relative to those around you
Someone who wears a Storm Trooper outfit achieves rock-star status at the Star Wars Fan Celebration but is seen as totally on the fringe for, say, auditions for American Idol.
Too many people have a negative view of branding
Funny,  this never occurred to me before.  I’ve spent 20 years becoming an expert in branding. The evaluation sheet asked what people learned. Here are some sample replies: “I’ve never heard of brands in a positive light like this.†“I liked that branding isn’t a bad thing.â€Â Good to know these young minds that haven’t developed a passion for marketing (yet) were able to see the light!
Everyone wants to make a difference
Steve Jobs is quoted as saying, “Let’s make a dent in the universe.â€Â That idea is universally electrifying.
Here’s a question for the readers of this blog: How are you making a dent in your universe?
Posted by Rahna on January 28, 2008 under Consumer Engagement |
Yesterday was a perfect example of a marketer’s opportunity. Millions of Americans were wondering, “There are no football games on….What should we do?â€Â   I suppose that some watched Tiger Woods blow away the rest of the golfing field at the Buick Invitational, but really? How exciting could that be? Yawn.
If you were a retailer, you could have created an event for people to come to, on-line retailers could have created some fun on-line game for people to engage with their brand. There are a million possibilities.Â
At Beacon Marketing Group, we work with clients to find what we call “Magic Media Moments.â€Â These are moments when your customers are still, when there is not a lot of other distractions, when a marketer can easily engage with consumers in an uncluttered environment. One example of this would be in theatres. Movie-goers are sitting there, munching on popcorn, waiting for the show to start, watching the slides of movie quotes and trivia because there isn’t anything else to do.  Is there something you could do there to engage your customers with your brand? How can you fill the void?
Posted by Rahna on January 24, 2008 under Consumer Engagement, Strategy |
Please excuse me while I get on my soapbox for a minute. I was reading a post on techcrunch.com about “Secret Strategies Behind Many ‘Viral’ Videos†and simply have to comment. http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/22/the-secret-strategies-behind-many-viral-videos/
The post hypes a company that “assists†in helping companies with viral campaigns, giving strategies that some young Stanford grad student/ entrepreneur uses to help companies boost viewings on YouTube and other sites. Some of the strategies are useful and interesting:
·        Keep the clip 15-30 seconds
·        Design the clip so that it can be easily remixed
·        Don’t make it “hard sellâ€
·        Make sure the thumbnail is clear (suggesting high video quality)
·        Ideally the thumbnail should have a person in it
·        Have a catchy title
·        Releasing all videos simultaneously
·        Use tracking mechanisms
However, what made this blog so controversial are the other strategies listed, which are described as “morally repugnant†“disgusting, â€and other choice phrases, according to the myriad comments posted. These strategies include spamming, creating fake comments, generating misleading titles, using sex to sell, paying bloggers to post, and other such noble “strategies.â€Â Naturally, there are many comments, including, amazingly, a post back from the author which says, “What we do is grease the viral wheels. If that means commenting back and forth between fake users, who cares? It’s all about entertainment—we’re just making the whole experience entertaining….â€Â Clearly, this young deluded Stanford grad student doesn’t have a moral compass. In the same way that sensationalism isn’t the same as journalism and a reputable auto dealer  isn’t the same as a pinky-ring-wearing, plaid-coated used car salesman, these “strategies†will definitely work…until such time when law-makers catch up with those who engage in these sorts of chicanery!
Now, I am not so naïve as to think that products and services do not benefit from getting the boost that good marketing provides, but there need to be standards.  If you are a marketer dealing with questionable tactics, look in the mirror, dig deep down, find some integrity, and fire the people who are using trickery to build your business. There are so many honest ways to work; don’t sell your soul in pursuit of a buck!
Posted by Rahna on January 17, 2008 under Strategy, Uncategorized |
At the MacWorld Expo on Tuesday, Apple announced that it is introducing the world’s thinnest notebook with its new MacBook Air. In order to slim this bad boy down, they had to give up lots of extras—no DVD player, no removable battery and relatively limited memory (in relation to all the music, videos, and other huge files that people now need to manipulate in the regular course of their lives). A New York Times article reported “Responding to a question about the growing array of media, including digital photographs, movies and music, that now swell most users’ hard drives, Mr. Jobs said, “Maybe this isn’t the computer for you.â€Â
 See full article here: www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/technology/16apple.html?_r=2&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=sloginÂ
By eliminating many aspects of a notebook that many consumers simply take for granted, has Apple forgotten Marketing 101—“give the consumer what they want?†Sounds to me like they were simply determined to see how thin they could make the computer—just to see if they could do it.   Apple shareholders are used to the company breaking sales records (such as the four million iPhones sold in its first six months), not the Guinness Book of World’s Records with its “world’s thinnest laptop.†One would hope that someone in Cupertino was reminding the designers of the needs of the consumer.Â
Because Apple marketers are masters of consumer engagement, their loyal fans will buy initially, but it remains to be seen if the novelty will wear off quickly or if “slim is in†for the long haul!
Posted by Rahna on January 14, 2008 under Uncategorized |
I love The Weather Channel, and as I was watching it this weekend, I was reminded of the critical marketing concept of relevancy. You see, we were getting ready for a major snow storm here in the Northeast, and so we watched The Weather Channel with deep interest. I love snow, so I was annoying my husband by saying, “Go back to The Weather Channel so we can see how much snow we are going to get.â€Â Every 10 minutes, they give a local broadcast to tell you what the weather in your area would be; people who watch The Weather Channel know that’s where you turn for weather “on the eight’s.â€Â  Â
So what does this have to do with marketing? Relevancy. People in California don’t watch The Weather Channel because, of course, there is not usually any weather. If it was a 70-something degrees today, it is going to be 70-something degrees tomorrow. It is pleasant every day. Now, I can hear all you Californians arguing that California does have seasons – the Brush Fire Season, the Earthquake Season and the Mud Slide Season – but in general, there is not a lot of California weather to report. But in the rest of the world, the weather does change, and you do need to know what it is going to be like so that you can dress and plan appropriately. Â
“Weather on the Eight’s†is the ultimate in relevancy…information that affects MY life. In your business, you need to get to that level of detail and intimacy with your customers. If you can relate the information, products and services that you have to a person’s personal life – what is involved in their life – you will be successful, and you will be able to sell anything you want because you have proved your relevancy to their lives.
Posted by Rahna on January 10, 2008 under Consumer Engagement, Strategy |
I am giving a talk February 21, How to Make Yourself Irresistible to Your Customers, and I went in to 2 grocery stores in Pennsylvania that are great examples of two brands actively trying to accomplish this. Giant and Wegman’s are two grocery stores in Pennsylvania that are working hard to understand their customers’ lives and adapt to their needs. Â
Giant has built a superstore that has, in addition to all of the groceries and fresh produce you would ever want, a cooking school, a café, a children’s care center so that you can shop while your children play and a community center that has meeting rooms and catering available for a myriad of civic events.Â
Wegman’s is an up-scale superstore with a “European market†type feeling. The pharmacy area feels like a pharmacy; the bookstore area feels like a bookstore; there is a market café and deli, there is a Starbucks-esque dining/meeting area. They have tea sampling; they have an area where you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about cheese, and they sell newspapers from all the major US and international cities the world. Â
These are two stores that are looking for ways to differentiate themselves and become indispensable to their communities, and it’s working. As one customer described Wegman’s business, “People are coming in from the hills in droves, just to shop here.â€Â These companies need to be competitive, to find ways to make the shopping experience so pleasant that no one would ever consider going anywhere else. Both are meeting the needs of their community in very different ways. It creates a highly competitive environment, and it will be interesting to see who will win. My money is on…the consumer!Â
Posted by Rahna on January 7, 2008 under Consumer Engagement, Uncategorized |
I read an interesting synopsis of some eye-tracking research done on website viewing habits and the subsequent implications that provides for development of any website. There are some very helpful tips if you manage or develop websites. Here’s the link: http://www.virtualhosting.com/blog/2007/scientific-web-design-23-actionable-lessons-from-eye-tracking-studies/Â
I also found one on newsletters that may also be helpful if you have an on-line newsletter:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/newsletters.html
In both instances, the results speak to the importance of words—compelling headlines that grab a reader’s attention and convey benefit-oriented information.Â
But these two studies remind me of an eye-tracking study done with kids. The study was showing the visual path of a mother shopping in a toy store. The second part of the study showed the visual path of a child shopping in that same toy store. As an adult watching the footage, I can tell you that the child’s eye patterns were physically difficult for me to watch. The child’s eye movements were at lightning speed compared to the adults, flitting from logos and images with the speed of a hummingbird. If you have a difficult time viewing movies that use the creatively kitsch technique I call “Shaky Camera,†then you would never have been able to keep up with this child’s view of the world.  What it highlights to me is that, even when we are talking about eye-tracking research, you have to think of who the target audience is. I know I get boring by saying it over and over and over, but you must know your consumer; you must know your consumer; you must know your consumer. Read the tips provided in the articles highlighted above; but if your target audience is a child, you need to think about how to visually appeal to someone with the energy and timeframe of the cartoon character “Road Runner†or “Speedy Gonzalez.â€
Posted by Rahna on January 3, 2008 under Strategy |
If marketing gets boiled down to its essence of having the right message delivered at the right time to the right audience via the right vehicles, then surely there are some simple lessons to be gleaned from those in the health & fitness industries. As I see all of the ads on TV for various self-improvement services (health clubs, diet foods, etc.), two concepts some to mind:
·        Relevancy: As people re-evaluate their lives (and more importantly for us as marketers, their behaviors), we need to reiterate for them why our products or services should play a role in their lives.Â
·        Seasonality: If your business is seasonal, you need to make sure that you are doing all that you can to capture your consumer’s attention at the right time. I have worked in many highly seasonal industries (the toy industry lives or dies by the Christmas season just as surely as the lawn & garden industry lives or dies by how robust its spring planting season is).Â
 Timing is important; do you know when your customers actively think about your product/service offerings? Are you speaking to them then?
