All You Need Is A Good Idea!

A GOAL WITHOUT A PLAN IS JUST A WISH

For those who are new to that thought, as I was, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery,  it is very motivating.

Happy Holiday,

A Funny Commercial Spoof

There is a new TV comedy, “Better Off Ted”  set in a giant research and development company called Veridian Dynamics. During each show there are commercials for the fictitious company, as if it were a real sponsor. (This false reality has been done before, of course, most notably for the Lost TV series and Oceanic Airlines. But I always love it when I see it done well.)

Wanted to show you a typical spot, because I think they are wonderful spoofs of the classic industrial, boring, multi-product international conglomerates. You can see others on YouTube, if you like.

Oh, and though your company is probably too small to have a large enough budget for institutional advertising like this, when you are, don’t.

FRAIDY-CAT

Not sure why it is fraidy-cat, and not fraidy-dog or fraidy-cow. But the point is, fear is what stops many of us from doing what we know should be done. We are all hesitant to go outside our comfort zone, though admittedly the zone is larger for some than others. Some of us are afraid of success (how will I be able to service all those new customers, I’ll have no time for the things I want to do). Some afraid to change our products (what if it flops, how much should I charge). Some are afraid to give seminars (they’ll ask questions I can’t answer, they’ll discover I am not the expert they thought I was).

So here is a video David Simon (yes, that David Simon) sent me last year, but which I did not look at till recently, when I was clearing up my Gmail. It is J.K. Rowling’s commencement address at Harvard in 2008. It is a wonderful 20 minutes that creates some very strong emotional reactions, particularly during the second half. If you do not agree that is one of the best speeches you have ever heard, you get double your money back.
Oh, and what it has to do with today’s topic is well, the video's title is The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination.

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

How Big Is Your Idea?

As I’ve often stated, it is not the size of your budget, it is the size of your idea. Marketing opportunities are everywhere, in places you would never think of. Until you think of them. And once you do, they become so obvious you wonder why you never thought of them before.

Robin Ewert (no, not that Robin Ewert) sent me this picture. And now that you’ve seen it, it does seem pretty obvious, doesn’t it? Ahh, the old 20-20 hindsight. And what is it? Just a straightforward little sticker with a simple message. But because of its unique distribution method, it’s hard to ignore.

So, after you’ve smacked your forehead in the classic, “Wow, I could have had a V8” moment, think about what media you might be using that is as inexpensive, relevant and shocking. But please, think outside the banana and don’t just come up with a list of banana stickers. That is merely the catalyst for your own original good ideas. And don’t confine yourself to the skin of other fruits, like an apple with a Doctor’s sticker on it, as in, “An apple a day.” Or a pineapple sticker that promotes a skin softening cream.

What other surfaces are there just waiting for you to do something clever with? Look around. And luckily, since this is my blog, I get to ask the questions without having to come up with the answers.

Good luck.

What’s your line?

(WARNING: many bad “line” puns ahead. But a serious message.)

See this line? It can mean many different things to your business. Place it underneath, and it becomes your “bottom” line (Net income).
Place it on the top, and it can refer to your “top” line (Gross revenues).

But pay too much attention to either one, at the expense of paying attention to your customers, and you are crossing a very important line—the line that says your business is not about you or your profits, but about your customers.

Your customers don’t care about your profits, your excess inventory, and your problems with suppliers. They care about your returns policy, your customer service, your pricing, and whether or not, on their fourth visit, anyone recognizes them and says, “Welcome back.”

The only line customers care about is how quickly the line at the cash register moves.

A line that can help you is your tagline (slogan). But not if it is only a combination of words you slap onto the bottom of your logo, created because it says all the things you think your customers want to hear. A tagline has to come out of your marketing strategy as to what you are and what you offer that is different/better.

(Clever last line goes here.)

Coke, Pepsi, or Sparkle?

So you decide to have a Coke with your burger, at a local deli or coffee shop. "Sorry," the server says, "we only have..." And while you are waiting to hear "Pepsi" she finishes with "...Sparkle Cola."

Are you still thirsty? After all, what the heck is Sparkle Cola? You have never heard of it, have no idea who makes it, no sense of what it will taste like, what the ingredients are. Nothing.

And that, gentle reader, is why you want to become a brand. Many people, myself included, tell you to do certain things, because they will help you become a brand. All it means is that people will have a sense of who and what you are. Simply put, it is the personality of your product or service. Think of it as the difference between a stranger and a friend. The stranger may eventually prove himself to be a wonderful person, but right now it is so much easier for you to be comfortable with your friend. You know his qualities, his strengths, he has proven himself over time, and even when he is not at his best, or in a bad mood, you are more likely to be forgiving.

So fine tune your marketing message, change your graphics, update your commercials. But do not stray from your true core, your unique voice, your reason for being. Avoid the "Just this once" excuse.

Sound like a good idea?

Nicely Daffy

DAFFY'S is a chain of discounted fashion designers' clothing and accessories. Their advertising has always had an edge to it, but it was only recently that I actually went into one of their stores. Loved two signs I saw there, because they showed someone was paying attention to the brand position, even in the little things.

One sign simply called it the  "Undressing Room," which was more accurate and more unexpected. The second, my favorite, was the sign over the cashier's area. It said, "Pay here (But Not Too Much)."

Guarding your brand is not just watching over the expensive TV commercials. It is the signage, the point of purchase materials, the type selection, the consistent attitude of each piece of your communications.

Wacky...But Good

Writing an ad for a FSI (Free Standing Insert) has to be really difficult. Those are the inserts that come with your weekend newspapers, filled with coupon offers. Since everyone is screaming the same message (Clip me! Clip me!) how do you stand out? Particularly since you are also competing for attention with the full color inserts from retailers such as Target, Circuit City and local stores.

There are a lot of "Free!," "Save!," and "New!,"  in the headlines, which are considered to be among the most powerful words in advertising. But when they are used on page after page of competing messages, they tend to lose their impact. (The ads for categories we have no interest in will never be noticed, so in that sense there is less clutter than first meets the eye.)

Out of the literally more than 100  full page and half-page ads in a group of inserts on just one recent Sunday, one stood out to me. It was for a product called "Wacky Mac," a line of pasta. Its main difference seems to be the colors and shapes (curls, spirals, wheels and veggie shapes). The headline was "Everyone will thank you for going Wacky!" and it had the large coupon, appetizing food shot, recipe that you would expect.  But somehow, from the layout to the headline it all simply worked.

Now, given its name, you might expect a headline like the one they used. For all I know, they chose the name in the  first place to help the product stand out. But it was clear that they had given some extra effort to what could have been a very typical insert ad. Always a good idea.

Identity Crisis

Celebrated my wife's birthday the other evening at Maz Mezcal a Mexican restaurant in New York.  When we got there, the hostess/owner at the front desk asked how I was. I often respond as if the other person might really care, and I said all was good, and that we were there because though there are more than 20,000 restaurants in New York, my wife had selected hers to celebrate her birthday. We chatted briefly, the owner asked my wife's name, and then showed us to our table.

Meal was quite good, service fine.  What happened at the end, though, was   the really nice idea. Suddenly four or five waiters approached, put a gigantic straw hat on my wife's head, sang Happy Birthday—actually using her name instead of just mumbling something—and placed a lovely plate with sweets and a candle on the table.

Very nice idea, attentive, warm and unexpected. The kicker was that as we left, the waiter said that we should take the hat with us as a souvenir of the evening. Nice idea; a physical memento that would guarantee we would talk about the restaurant in the most glowing of terms. (Heck, someone might even do a blog about it.)

A little thing would have made it a good idea; simply the addition of the restaurant's name, embroidered or somehow placed on the hat. Then, instead of being a generic straw hat in the corner of the apartment, it would have been a constant reminder of the actual name of the place. And when the hat was passed along, as it inevitably would be, the name would have moved with it.   

Is there a little thing you can do to help build your identity/brand? Announcing the company name when the phone is answered, rather than just your own name? A color you can "own."? A logo placed where your logo has never gone before? Do it all in good taste, but do it!

Fresh Direct, a grocery that delivers food to your home in the New York area, uses a nice group of words: Our food is fresh. Our customers are spoiled.