Posted by Rahna on April 28, 2008 under Uncategorized | 
This blog is aimed more at my entrepreneurial readers than anyone else. Â
I had the opportunity to stop in at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles that turned the Beverly Hilton Hotel into a cornucopia of today’s masters of enterprise. It seemed that everyone who was anyone was there to mix, mingle, see and be seen. I even met Rosie Grier, which seemed pretty random (at least to me, anyway). Â
There were heads of venture capital groups, high profile celebrities, heads of entertainment and educational institutions. They were all there to try and find out what is happening in the world today to keep on top of trends. There were meetings happening in the lobbies about business start-ups—deals that were being put together, management teams that were needed…people calmly discussing multi-million dollar deals. Â
Is this the world that you live in? Is it a world that you could live in? I deal with small-town businesses and big box suppliers. No matter what your industry, the question is, “How big is your thinking?†If you have a big idea, you should have passion about it. Understand that there are others who want to bring that passion to bear with you. Â
All these “friends†of Milken, in their Savile Row three-piece suits, got to where they are by being passionate about what they do. They become well known for the things that they are passionate about….Arnold Schwarzenegger was there; everybody knows that he’s passionate about the environment. Andre Agassi was there as a founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation. The list of attendees runs like a “who’s who†of people who are passionate about what they do. Â
Make sure that you’re passionate of what you do. Â
Make sure you that you think big about your idea. Â
You never know; you might find yourself in a three-piece suit someday attending the Milken Institute Global Conference.
Posted by Rahna on April 24, 2008 under Branding |
In a focus group I was conducting yesterday and today, I asked the participants to write down brands that came to mind in the category we were discussing. They all looked at me blankly. Fewer than 25% of them could recall any brand names in what is a multi-billion dollar category. Had I been the brand manager for any of the companies in that category, I would have been appalled. For my clients sitting behind the two-way mirror, these answers just meant that there was more opportunity for them to enter the category and make an impact.  Â
Those competitors simply have not made themselves distinct enough in many consumers’ minds to be differentiated.  Â
What would your consumers say if asked such a question? Try to answer this question as honestly as possible. (Remember, results that I found in those focus groups came in a multi-billion dollar industry with products they keep in their pantry at all times throughout the year!) If the answer would be similar, you must think of ways to strengthen your brand in the minds of your consumers.  We are giving a seminar next Thursday in Connecticut to talk about how to Build Your Brand Without Breaking the Bank. Read the program section of our website for more details.                                 Â
Posted by Rahna on April 21, 2008 under Consumer Engagement |
Marketing in today’s world is messy. I was reading an article about Nike’s video on YouTube to create buzz on their new hyper-dunk basketball shoe. They have a 53-second video, showing Kobe Bryant jumping over an Aston Martin car. It’s not real footage; obviously it has been doctored….Well, at least it’s obvious to me. The question is, is it obvious to kids?Â
There’s a lot of buzz in the internet about whether it crosses the line between building a fun video to get people talking or does it encourage kids to try to jump over cars themselves. Some say kids are pretty savvy and can suspend their disbelief just for the sake of the video, but that they do understand that this is a created effect. But there are others who worry that this will promote kids jumping in front of cars. Whether or not this ends up being a good idea has yet to be seen, as this sort of video does build buzz…but does it build the right kind of buzz? Advocacy groups are going to continue to monitor this sort of viral word of mouth campaign, especially when it comes to kid marketing. Â
One way to make sure to avoid this sort of an issue is to make sure that everything you do fits with your brand. If you are true to the personality of your brand, then there’s less likelihood that things will not turn out in your favor. Nike has launched this in order to see its new product launch, which doesn’t come out in stores until late July. This risky move can benefit them, but it might hurt them just as well. You’ll eliminate that risk if you stay true to your brand and make sure you only do things that are within your brand. Â
Posted by Rahna on April 17, 2008 under Consumer Engagement |
Anyone who knows me knows how passionately I believe you need to know everything there is to know about your customer…. You just can’t tell anybody about it. There is a law suit that has been filed against Blockbuster for participating in Facebook’s Beacon Program. The Beacon program tells members about things that their friends have bought on-line. As a part of their viral internet marketing campaign, Blockbuster intended to tell others what kinds of great rentals they have and their friends have gotten. When the program started out, you had to opt out if you didn’t want the rental information set. Four weeks after launch, they revised it so that you had to opt in.  Needless to say, there were a lot of controversy around making this information public. Â
What is the lesson here? As you move forward in your marketing campaigns and find out more and more information about your customers, just make sure you guard that information very carefully because with greater information comes greater responsibility.     Â
Posted by Rahna on April 14, 2008 under Consumer Engagement |
I hope that the people reading this blog are not like Wal*Mart. I’m not saying that Wal*Mart does not have some fabulous business systems, or super-smart negotiators, but in the world of marketing, it seems like they are just playing “catch-up.† Today’s Marketing Daily article from MediaPost talks about how Wal*Mart.com is (finally) looking at consumer engagement as something they might want to focus on.
 Laurie Sullivan’s Marketing Daily article reports that, “The retailer recognizes that 75% of Wal-Mart’s customers go online, but not all shop at Walmart.com, according to Cathy Halligan, Walmart.com CMO. “Our engagement online is too low, compared with growth rates seen in social network sites,” she told Marketing Daily at last week’s Forrester Research Marketing Forum 2008 in Los Angeles. “We’re growing at two times the industry growth rate, but when you look at what else is growing, such as non-transactional sites, we’re not growing as fast we would like.” Â
The push toward “engagement”–an industry buzzword describing everything from media buys to customer interaction with brands–has become the latest marketing craze. The trend gives retailers the means to monitor more closely what consumers say about the brands they sell, so employees can quickly respond. For Walmart.com, it switches success metrics solely from transactions to engagement, as more information about consumer preferences comes through blogs, wikis, social network sites and videos.â€
You can read the whole article here:
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=80500&Nid=41478&p=401846
Hopefully, you are sitting there thinking, “Of course consumer engagement is important.â€Â Hopefully, you already have efforts on-line to learn from your customers, find new ways to talk with them…and get them talking with each other.Â
If you are like Wal*Mart and happen to be a little late to the party, then I say, “Jump in. The water’s fine.â€Â Don’t just stick your toe into this ‘new-fangled thang’ called interactivity. It’s less expensive than a thirty second commercial in prime-time, but it will take more commitment to do it right. However, nurturing communities can reap huge rewards—building your brand, increasing your sales, maintaining top-of-mind awareness.   Welcome to marketing in the twenty-first century.Â
Posted by Rahna on April 10, 2008 under Branding |
Consistency is a pillar for anyone in the branding world.Â
I was reading an account of the re-branding of Marlboro cigarettes from “back in the day†when it went from being a ladies brand to being depicted through images of rough cowboys. The new campaign Had been running for a year and had not changed the brand’s standing s(#35 of all cigarettes)! Yet the person in charge stayed the course and, of course, now the whole world knows about Marlboro Country.Â
How consistent are you in your marketing efforts? Consistency takes on several forms:
·        Consistency in message…Geico is not completely consistent in its message, as it has several campaigns running all at once (the gecko, the cavemen, “I just saved a bunch of money on my car insuranceâ€). To counteract this, they spend more money than any other insurance company on advertising. If you don’t have the money to outspend everyone else, be consistent in message.
·        Consistency across media-Would I recognize a similarity across on-line versus TV or newspaper?
·        Consistency in frequency-Don’t believe that your messageis nt getting through just because your phone doesn’t ring the day after you send out a direct mail campaign. Remember what Marlboro did; stay the course.
·        Consistency in branding-Will the consumer always get what they expect from your brand?
Consistency is critical and hard to do. Be consistent.
Posted by Rahna on April 7, 2008 under Consumer Engagement |
Today, I wanted to follow up on last week’s blog about “Simple Marketing Advice.â€Â My entrepreneurial son sent a flyer around the neighborhood to solicit work. He got his first customer, and he was so excited. I coached him on how to do a good job for him and be respectful. He came home beaming, with a crisp ten dollar bill in his hand. “And Mommy, he says he has other jobs that I can do next Friday too!â€Â
My son is learning the lessons of commerce: the excitement of your first customer, the desire to please, your customer, the thrill of getting paid, that indescribable feeling of endless opportunity stretching out before you.
What’s the marketing lesson? It’s a LOT easier  (and cheaper) to keep a customer than to get a new customer. Once you get a customer, treat them like gold, because they will keep coming back for all the great things you have to offer. Find new ways to delight them, and you will be able to prosper with them.
Posted by Rahna on April 3, 2008 under Strategy |
One of the great things about teaching is that you also learn when you teach something. I teach a Branding and Positioning class at the University of Hartford’s Center for Entrepreneurial studies. We were talking the other day about strategic positioning. Â
Strategic positioning statements are usually only one or two sentences, but they are one of the most important one or two sentences for your business. All of your marketing flows out of your positioning statement. Earlier in my career, I was taught to picture the positioning statement as the iceberg. The positioning statement was, for the most part, unseen, but it is that which everything is built upon. The marketing materials are just what you see as a result of the positioning statement.Â
So the position statement is critically important. It has several critical elements in it: competitive advantage, focus on who your customer is, what your key benefits are and why one should believe you. Â
When was the last time you look at your positioning statement? Do you use it in every creative brief? Is it something that drives all of your marketing? Â
What is your iceberg?
