Stupid Never Works

from Pat McGraw:

Why Direct Mail No Longer Works

Posted: 24 Jun 2011 01:12 PM PDT

On a monthly basis, I am told by a colleague that direct mail doesn’t work. And when I ask to see what it was they have done, I am presented with a piece that very much resembles what I received in the mail yesterday afternoon.

It was a plain white #10 envelope with a plan white label that read:

Pat McGraw
Pat McGraw
555 Main Street
Anywhere, US 12345

The actual address was my home address – but I do work out of my home so somehow, somewhere, my house has ended up on a business list. That, or the sender rented a list based on zip code only and elected to mail home and business addresses…

The return address was a commercial real estate firm and the postage was metered. Now, anyone with experience in direct mail will tell you that the best way to have your mail thrown out, unopened, is to use a plain white #10 envelope with an address label and metered postage. It smells like a pitch – and it’s usually a bad pitch because the sender is making basic mistakes that most likely creep over into the messaging and offer.

I was kind of bored so I figured ‘What the hell?!’ and opened the envelope in order to see what someone wanted me to buy. What I found was a 4-color product sheet that was obviously printed on standard paper from a color printer. The sheet featured 5 photographs of an office building and a list of factoids.

LEASE
Address Information

Building Information such as how much square footage was available, the cost per square foot, parking space ration and required terms were then listed in a bullet list. Then there were ‘highlights’ that included the fact that the building was a Class A Medical/Office building with a medical office build out.

At the bottom of the page, in the footer, was the contact information.

No real offer. No real messaging. To be honest, I am not all that sure as to what they wanted me to do or why I should do whatever it was they might have wanted me to do.

And that’s why direct mail no longer works. Direct mail doesn’t work for those marketers that don’t understand how to properly select a list. Direct mail doesn’t work for those marketers that don’t understand that messaging and offers need to be clearly, concisely presented. Direct mail doesn’t work for those marketers that think a single direct mail effort that doesn’t test lists, messages, offers, or creative is all you need to do.

What do you think? Does direct mail work for you?

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The Benefits of Unopened Email

Yes, we all want our email marketing campaigns to be successful.

But there is value in even the unopened emails according to this piece from Marketing Profs:

How to Make the 'Nudge Effect' Work for You

"You may be frustrated with unopened emails and low clickthroughs, but be reassured that even if your subscribers don't open your email, its presence in their inbox leads to a tangible impact on brand awareness and sales via online and other channels," writes Dela Quist in a classic issue of the Alchemy Worx newsletter.

The subtle impact of the unopened email's presence is called the "Nudge Effect." Quist explains how it works:

• The recipient scans her inbox much like a triage nurse—deciding what needs attention now, what can wait and what she'll delete without reading.
  
• Even if she doesn't open your email, seeing your brand name in the from line and your pitch in the subject line can influence her buying decisions.

Alchemy Worx began to investigate the phenomenon when they saw an uptick in purchases—and a surge in natural, PPC and affiliate searches—from subscribers who had left marketing messages unopened. "Your message, in other words, may have been just the prompt a subscriber needed to pick up the phone or make a purchase via another channel," he explains.

According to Quist, you can optimize for the Nudge Effect by:

• Writing subject lines that encourage recipients to take action in other channels (eg, Call our sales team for a 20% discount).
  
• Timing delivery of messages with subject lines that tell subscribers about an in-store deal the next day.

"This way people do not even need to open the email," he says. "[T]hey remember the message that relates to other channels and can follow up your offer."

The Po!nt: One-liners can work. Take advantage of the Nudge Effect by using subject lines to deliver brand messages and generate cross-channel action.

Source: Alchemy Worx.

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3 Rules

from my email:

Daily Sales Tip: Three Key Rules of Sales

Rule 1: Know more about the customer than anyone else.
Rule 2: Get closer to the customer than anyone else.
Rule 3: Emotionally connect with the customer better than anyone else.

Every great sales professional excels at following and living by all three of these rules. In a customer-driven market, which we are in and will be in for the foreseeable future, there are no substitutes for knowing more about, getting closer to, and emotionally connecting with the customer.

The Three Rules are actions that take place simultaneously, for when you know more about the customer than anyone else, you have the ability to get closer than anyone else, and you then begin to connect emotionally. Combining these three actions will give you the single greatest competitive advantage in business.

I have always remembered something taught by the great sales trainer Tom Hopkins. Hopkins always said that your first goal as a salesman is to have the customer "like you and trust you." I agree with this idea, but it's not the starting point. Having the customer like and trust you is what happens when you get closer and establish an emotional connection. The process begins with knowing more about that customer.

Source: Branding consultant/business author Joe Calloway

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Friday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Click & read:

Automotive

Ford Launches Major Racing Program. NASCAR? Not

by Karl Greenberg

"Millennials are the heart and soul of the business and there are some other companies who have formed total brands to attract them," Ford's Jim Farley said. "That was a rewarding discovery for me as a leader -- that marketing tactics and product strategy can be totally different." ...Read the whole story >>

Retail

Gap Goes Social To Fuel Digital Engagement

by Karl Greenberg

"People are doing their pre-shopping, looking at Web coupons, circulars, ratings and reviews, friends' suggestions, emails, etc., and they are doing that not only on computers, but when they are in stores, as well. They are using cell phones and mobile devices to check reviews, to Yelp, get coupons, post reviews, and talk smack about the experiences they have just had with salespeople." ...Read the whole story >>

Food and Beverages

Coalition Takes On Kids' Marketing Proposal

by Karlene Lukovitz

The food, advertising, media and restaurant industries, now formally cooperating in a "Sensible Food Policy Coalition," have launched a multi-pronged campaign to scuttle the nutritional guidelines laid out by the FTC and three other government agencies comprising the Interagency Working Group ...Read the whole story >>

Entertainment

Theme Park Revenues Have Their Ups, Downs, Ups

by Aaron Baar

"We're on the slow climb [up]," Fiona O'Donnell, senior analyst at Mintel, tells Marketing Daily. "I don't know if that means we're heading for a big dip. Because there have been a lot of innovative, new rides introduced, people still want to go to theme parks." ...Read the whole story >>

Restaurants

Domino's Utilizes Social Media To Reinvent Company

by Karl Greenberg

Domino's Pizza reinvented itself with customers by integrating social media into its public branding. The digital national campaign, which pushed for corporate transparency, clicked. The company also pushed its online ordering platform, resulting in higher profits. ...Read the whole story >>

Awards

Conan, Old Spice Top Emmy Nominations For Ads

by Wayne Friedman

Conan O'Brien's celebrated "Curtain" commercial for American Express top-lined six commercials nominated for an Emmy Award. He was followed by the Old Spice spot, as well as Subaru and Nissan ads. ...Read the whole story >>

JetBlue Offers Flight For Frustrated Angelenos

Ad Club Opens Long Island Office

American Greetings Has Ad Openings For BTS Hub

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Improve Your Email List

Email marketing is one of the tools we give our clients at Cirrus ABS, but there are a few rules to follow.

First, don't be a spammer.

Next, follow these tips from an email I opted-in to receive from Marketing Profs:

What Does Opt-In Really Mean?

The debate between opt-in and opt-out email marketing strategies isn't simply about one choice or another. The reason? Any two marketers might have strikingly different definitions of opt-in. "[N]ot all opt-ins are created equal," writes Maria Pergolino at Marketo. "In fact, it's quite the opposite." What one marketer considers strong opt-in permission might be, from another marketer's perspective, barely up to CAN-SPAM standards.

Get on the same page by determining which opt-in category you're discussing:

Unconfirmed opt-in. This is as close to opt-out as opt-in gets because visitors don't actively subscribe to your newsletters or offers. Instead, their addresses are added to your list when they register at your website for other reasons—like downloading white papers. "You may be in keeping with the law but you're not getting high marks for credibility," Pergolino notes.

Single-confirmation opt-in. With this much better option, you add visitors' addresses to your list only when they actively subscribe by checking—or not un-checking—a box. "To make that opt-in easier," she advises, "have the permission box pre-checked and be sure to highlight all the reasons they will benefit from continuing a dialogue with you."

Double-confirmation opt-in. Pergolino considers this the best of all—a policy that removes any doubt about new subscribers' intentions. They're only added to your list after they confirm their subscription by clicking on a link in a follow-up email.

The Po!nt: It should be up to them. You won't sell anything to a list of people who can't figure out why you're sending them newsletters, so focus on building a list of engaged customers who actually want to receive your relevant information.

Source: Marketo.

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A Sales Letter?

from Drew:

Five elements to writing an effective sales letter

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 08:27 AM PDT

…make me feel like you know I’m unique

Writing an effective sales letter for a cold list? Are you kidding me?

Cold calling doesn’t work. Blind sales letters go right into the circular file cabinet. E-mail solicitation to strangers get flagged as SPAM.

All of that is true. Most of the time.

And while I will never be the guy advocating for blindly reaching out to people who have no idea who you are, have no burning need for what you’re selling and in fact, will probably see you as a nuisance, not a trusted partner — every once in awhile I see someone who does it masterfully enough that I admit, never say never.

We got an e-mail sales letter today that not only got me to read it but — got me to respond. And that hardly ever happens. I thought I’d share the letter with you (I did trim/paraphrase for space) and then we can identify why it worked.

“You can stop wasting time chasing after the wrong ones and simply attract the ones who are your perfect fit. Customers who love you aren’t about the transaction. They’re about the relationship.”

Now, some would call the above quote plagiarism, but let’s assume none of those people are here. This quote was lifted from the MMG website because it’s simply one of the smarter lines I’ve read on an agency’s website in quite some time. It’s honest and effectual, and it speaks volumes of the work your company does. It makes advertising geeks like me want to get to know MMG and what the company is up to (and possibly get one of those sweet nicknames. Not going to lie – I’m a little jealous ‘Girl Wonder’ is already taken).

I just wanted to reach out and introduce myself as your new – or possibly first – rep for Company XYZ.

And now that I’ve explained why I want to work with you, I’d like to come in and tell you why you would want to work with me…

If you’re not familiar with Company XYZ, here are the Cliffsnotes: [Two short sentences about what they do] On top of that, we swear by our customer service and I can promise you’ll be embarrassingly doted on as a client.

I’d love to swing through Des Moines office and get the scoop on what’s in the works at McLellan. Do you have any time available for lunch (liquid or otherwise – pick your poison) or a meeting the week of 8/1?

Looking forward to working together!

Sarah

Bravo Sarah! Let’s disect her efforts to see what elements made this work:

Show me that you know me. I’m sure she used the same technique of quoting a prospect’s website in all her letters, but in this one — she quoted us. And she referenced our job titles. It felt like she “got us.” No one wants to be prospect #2,843.

Cop our attitude: Our website is written with a bit of attitude and Sarah captured it perfectly in her e-mail. It feels like we speak the same language.

Talk more about me than you: In the entire pitch e-mail, two sentences are about the company she works for. The rest is about us. And who doesn’t like to talk and read about themselves.

Keep it short: Whether it’s e-mail or snail mail — you don’t need to tell me everything in one fell swoop. Hit the highlights and whet my appetite.

When you talk about yourself, talk about me: Even in the two sentences she wrote about her company’s offerings — she talked about them in relation to how they could help us serve clients better.

Notice how many times I used the word “me” in the call outs above. That’s why most sales letters don’t work. Because they’re not about the prospect at all. Most sales people don’t take the time to do their research or tailor the letter.

Which is why most sales letters go right in the trash. But if you build in the elements that Sarah so deftly demonstrated — you might be surprised at the results!

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Thursday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Yep, another click & read...

Restaurants

Industry Initiative Supports Healthier Kids Meals

by Karlene Lukovitz

Initial participants include Au Bon Pain, Bonefish Grill, Burger King, Burgerville, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Chevys Fresh Mex, Chili's Grill & Bar, Corner Bakery Cafe, Cracker Barrel, Denny's, El Pollo Loco, Friendly's, IHOP, Joe's Crab Shack, Outback Steakhouse, Silver Diner, Sizzler, T-Bones Great American Eatery and zpizza. ...Read the whole story >>

Electronics

Lenovo Campaign Leverages Boot-up Delay

by Aaron Baar

The time it takes for a Windows-powered laptop to power up seems interminable, particularly when compared with the near-instantaneous boot-time of mobile and tablet devices. But even as tablets encroach on PC sales, Lenovo is setting out to prove that its laptops can defy gravity when booting up. ...Read the whole story >>

Retail

Puma Enlists Actress For 'Project Pink'

by Tanya Irwin

"Vampire Diaries" actress Nina Dobrev is joining sports brand Puma in kicking off its second year of "Project Pink." With the deal Chevrolet gets exclusive category rights, and presenting sponsorship of the annual Roberto Clemente Award, the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, and the World Series Most Valuable Player Award ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie And ... Volt?

by Karl Greenberg

With the deal Chevrolet gets exclusive category rights, and presenting sponsorship of the annual Roberto Clemente Award, the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, and the World Series Most Valuable Player Award. ...Read the whole story >>

Electronics

Sony Reups With ESPN 3D, Debate Rages Over Sets

by David Goetzl

The launch sponsor behind the ESPN 3D network, which became a 24/7 channel earlier this year, has re-upped. Sony, which manufacturers the fledgling 3D sets, will continue as the lead backer for a second year. Kagan and the CEA disagree about 3D TV set adoption. ...Read the whole story >>

Health Organizations Want Federal Nutrition Database

State Farm, AAA, GEICO Best Insurance Brands

Nissan Sponsors AAF Competition

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New Ad Campaigns

This weeks update from Amy at Mediapost:

What do you love? Volkswagen shows us that "driving can be beautiful." Let's launch!

Fred Savage makes his commercial directing debut in an online and social media campaign for uni-ball pens, targeting young male professionals. I'm left singing the opening lines to "The Wonder Years" theme song. The videos position uni-ball as an all-business pen that's durable and sans frills. A florescent-colored pen with needless embellishments spends his day at work viewing cute animal pictures. When it's time to present a project to his boss, the paper is frilly and smells like honeysuckle. Bad move. "All performance. No distractions." closes the ad, seen here. Ever have a pen explode on you? That's what happens in "Piddler." A nervous Nellie awaits a job interview and sweats onto a couch. During the interview, he goes a step further and explodes onto the man interviewing him. Watch it here. A pen's John Hancock is needed on an important document in the next ad, seen here. Too bad the pen falls apart, inciting the question "Do you ever work?" from his boss. TRIS3CT created the campaign.

If there's no football season this year, why not make a real series out of the fake TV show "Football Cops," starring Eli and Peyton Manning? It's two and a half minutes of football lingo, Fu Manchu mustaches and lethal weapons. And by lethal weapons, I mean black footballs that thwart criminals in the act. The preview video is a promotion for DIRECTV's NFL Sunday Ticket, assuming that they'll have one this season. The Mannings star as two former football players turned cops, who are looking to save a damsel in distress before she is blown to smithereens. When interrogating a suspect, the man claims to be a victim of unnecessary roughness and points to his black eye. "Well I didn't hear a whistle," says Peyton. "And I don't see a flag," screams Eli. Watch the video here, created by Deutsch New York.

Nike launched a campaign for Copa America, a football tournament happening in Argentina throughout July. "Copa Barrio" films were created for Brazil and Argentina to celebrate each nation's varying football views and extensive fan base. An online element was added for fans to recruit additional football fanatics to support their Barrio's journey to victory, and hope every other Barrio loses. Neymar stars in the Barzilian ad, playing an impromptu game of soccer with local kids and describing the fierce competition between Barrios. Watch it here. Footballers Pastore, Higuain and Tevez interact with Argentinean fans, playing soccer and hanging posters and flags throughout the city. See it here. Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam created the films and AKQA London handled the digital components.

Affinity Plus Credit Union launched "Underwear and Socks," a TV spot illustrating big banks taking more than the shirts off consumers' backs with hefty fees and rate increases. A man walks into his large bank wearing a jacket, shirt and pants. By the time he reaches a teller, he's buck-naked. Affinity Plus Credit Union, however, is "Not for profit. For people." See the ad here, created by Risdall Marketing Group, produced by Twist and directed by Matt Pittroff.

What do you love? Is it peanut butter, running and authentic key lime pie? OK, those are just a few of my favorite things that I can learn more about at What do you Love, a Web site launched this week by Google. The site places the power of 21 Google products on one page, so typing in key lime pie gives me recipes, pictures, the ability to translate the words into 57 languages, ways to start a key lime discussion group and search key lime pie blogs. Also love that the search bar has a heart in it. Very cute. Search for things you love and find a great deal of information housed on one page. Big Spaceship and Google Creative Lab created the site.

Volkswagen Canada launched a soothing TV campaign for the 2012 Jetta GLI. The ad shows the headlights and tail lamps of the GLI acting as a paintbrush on a parking lot. The spot ends with an aerial shot of the parking lot and a completed light painting of the Volkswagen logo. "Driving can be beautiful," closes the ad, seen here and created by Red Urban Canada.

Samsung launched a pinball game on its Home Appliances Facebook page called "Crazy Day Pinball." The game targets moms on its "Mom's Day Off" tab, where they can enter to win a spa day plus a Samsung 4-door LCD refrigerator. Once you "like" the page, you can play away. Each time you submit a game score, you receive an additional entry into the sweepstakes. The first time I played I scored 576,510 and was pleased. The next time I played, post-lunch, I scored an astounding 3,570,520. All in a day's work. Enjoy the game, created by VIA Agency.

Hillshire Farm launched an amusing TV campaign called "So Good. They'll Think It's For Them," and the first ad stars Wendi McLendon-Covey from the hysterically funny movie"Bridesmaids." "Something New" begins with a woman preparing a Hillshire Farm chicken sausage and pasta dinner. Her alter ego, played by McLendon-Covey, appears and admits the real reason for cooking her husband's favorite meal: to tell him the pair are signed up for dance lessons. Watch the ad here, created by TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles.

Random iPhone App of the week: SoBe launched "Try Your New Look," an app for the iPhone 4 and iPad 2. The app is an extension of the interactive "Try Your New Look" kiosks that SoBe debuted at SXSW 2011. Users can digitally try on new looks, like an Afro, princess hair with tiara, handlebar mustaches and a mouth full of braces. A picture or video is then taken and can be uploaded directly to a social networking site. The app, created and developed by Firstborn, is available for free in the App Store.

Amy Corr is managing editor, online newsletters for MediaPost. She can be reached at amyc@mediapost.com.

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Think Like a Customer

from my email:

Daily Sales Tip: Thinking Like a Customer

Outstanding sales results depend on the ability to think from the customer's point of view. This means understanding and responding to the customer's agenda and best interests.

Top salespeople are willing to adapt to a customer's change of agenda almost twice as often as average salespeople.

They recognize that thinking like a salesperson places the focus on what they want to sell, while thinking like a customer means getting in tune with what the customer needs and aligning the product or service to fit the customer's requirements.

Thinking like a salesperson may make the sale, but thinking like a customer creates a relationship.

Source: Adapted from The 25 Sales Habits of Highly Successful Salespeople, by Stephan Schiffman

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Wednesday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Click & read:

Automotive

Infiniti Offers Owners A Personal Assistant

by Karl Greenberg

The program, within the Infiniti's Total Ownership Experience, is meant as (in the company's words) "'anything, anytime, anywhere' concierge service with the personal touch of talking to real people." It's free for the first four years from the date of purchase of a new Infiniti vehicle. ...Read the whole story >>

Telecom

Mobile Churn: Everything's Amazing; No One's Happy

by Aaron Baar

It's not as though executives within the carriers don't know there's a disconnect between their companies and the customer experience. More than two-thirds (68%) said their corporate mindset is out of sync with new forms of service delivery, and nearly three-quarters (72%) said there's poor alignment among marketing, sales and IT within their organizations. ...Read the whole story >>

Packaged Goods

Arm & Hammer Contest Invites Cat Photos

by Tanya Irwin

Cat owners can share two favorite photos with captions that describe each moment by submitting them to www.DoubleTakeContest.com through Aug. 22. Selected photos will be featured in a national print ad for Princeton, N.J.-based Arm & Hammer. ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Strategic Vision Questions Rankings, Offers Own

by Karl Greenberg

The firm's 2011 Total Quality Index says "quality" has to reflect the sum of the emotionally relevant experience for the new car buyer. In the study, Land Rover and Jaguar were the leading brands, with Jaguar XJ having the highest Total Quality score in the industry and with Land Rover LR4 in the near-luxury SUVs. ...Read the whole story >>

Food

Menchie's Frozen Yogurt Makes Toys Offer Permanent

by Karlene Lukovitz

Menchie's is not in the business of selling frozen yogurt, but the business of "making people smile," it says, and the company views its relationship to communities and its stores' environment, service and atmosphere as even more important than the product. Adding the toys is a way to enhance the "multidimensional experience, ...Read the whole story >>

Suzuki Lets People Rate Vehicles On Web Site

Starbucks Reorganizes; Intros Low-Cal Meals

Carl's Jr. Taps Social Media for Anniversary Efforts

Study: Southwest, Marriott Tops In Brand Perception

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What's a Google?

Last weekend I spent a considerable amount of time exploring Google Plus.

This website is powered by Google, I have my entire ScLoHo business built on the Google Apps platform including my email.

My phone uses Android, from Google.

I recently started using my Google Voice number as my business phone.

So, I want Google to survive...

Laura Ries wrote about this recently:

Google Today, Gone Tomorrow?

What’s a Google? It’s a search engine. Want to find something online, you Google it.

Advertising, the money making machine for Google, accounts for practically all of its revenue. Google also depends mostly on the English-speaking market in the United States and the U.K. for 59% of its revenue.

After domination of a category like search, the question business leaders and investors always have is, What's next?

What's next is usually taking the incredible success of the mother brand and extending it into new areas. As well as gobbling up lots of other companies and rebranding them with the same brand name.

This is exactly Google's pattern today. And it's exactly the pattern of many companies yesterday. Companies like Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo.

If you know me, you know what I’m going to say next. It is a mistake.

The power of a brand comes from its ability to own a word in the mind. The more things you put your brand name on, the weaker that name becomes in the mind.

Say Yahoo to somebody today and they yawn. It means nothing because it over-extended and over-expanded its brand, leaving itself vulnerable to competition.

Say AOL and you think dial-up and failed mergers and expansions.

In the short term, it is hard to see the dangers of expansion. The "Let’s Google everything" strategy gives a boost to the company and more importantly the stock. While consumers and investors get fooled into thinking the strategy is sound, it is not.

(Company leaders who think in the short term are likely to run their companies into the ground.)

Yesterday, Google announced it was going to rename several non-Google brands as Google products. So say goodbye to Picasa and Blogger. Hello Google Photos and Google Blogs.

This is on top of the other Google brands such as: Google Alerts, Google Earth, Google Image Search, Google Labs, Google Local, Google Mobile, Google News, Google Video, Gmail, Google Analytics (Web traffic measurement), Google Chrome (Web browser), Google Desktop Search, Google Language Tools (translation tools), Google Talk (instant messaging), Google Toolbar.

But Google isn’t stopping there, its much-talked-about social-networking brand Google+ is coming soon. Google hopes Google+ will be a Facebook killer.

Just like Bing was going to be a Google killer?

The problem with Picasa won’t be solved by calling it Google Photos. The problem with Picasa is that wasn’t first and doesn’t dominate its category. Flickr does.

Launched in 1999, Blogger was one of the first blog-publishers. But its generic name made it harder to cement the Blogger brand into the mind. In 2003, Google bought Blogger.

Google has done better with other acquisitions that not only were pioneers in a category like Blogger, but also had superior brand names. Namely, YouTube and Android. Wisely, Google plans on changing neither of these names.

Google is a monster today. And like most monsters, it thinks it is invincible and not subject to the laws of marketing. But nothing could be further than the truth.

Google should study history. They don’t want to be the AOL or Yahoo of tomorrow. Google needs to surround its strong search brand with other brands and other brand names that dominate new emerging categories.

Toyota did that with Lexus, Prius and Scion. Google that Google.

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Two Approaches

One is an opportunity.

So is the other, but from a different angle.

From Seth Godin:

Unbetterable

The two best ways to break through a rut and to make an impact:

• Find things that others have accepted as the status quo and make them significantly, noticably and remarkably better.
• Find things that you're attached to that are slowing you down, realize that they are broken beyond repair and eliminate them. Toss them away and refuse to use them any longer.

When a not-so-good software tool or a habit or an agency or a policy has too much inertia to be fixed, when it's unbetterable, you're better off without it. Eliminating it will create a void, fertile territory for something much better to arrive.

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Tuesday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Click & Read:

Technology

Intel, Toshiba Straddle Social Media, Film

by Aaron Baar

The project will rely on the audience to use its own social networks to connect with Christina (once the videos start airing on July 25), tweeting clues and posting advice to her Facebook wall. The film's editors (led by Emmy winner Josh Bodnar) will incorporate the posts into the episodes' storylines. ...Read the whole story >>

Beverages

A First: Pepsi Using Foursquare on Global Basis

by Karlene Lukovitz

That ad, which takes a direct jab at Coke by overtly hijacking the polar bear theme that Coke has used to drive its winter sales, was previewed first on Pepsi's Facebook and YouTube pages starting on the morning of July 3. Then, that evening, it was broadcast for the first time on "America's Got Talent." ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Mercedes Dealers Ranked No. 1 In Retail Experience

by Karl Greenberg

It looks like Mercedes-Benz' focus on retail, including giving sales staff at dealerships iPads and installing interactive video displays on showroom floors, has paid off. The brand's dealers have gotten the highest satisfaction index ranking for the third year in a row in the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index. ...Read the whole story >>

Entertainment

Disney, Buick Sponsor Blogger's Mega Vacation

by Tanya Irwin

"This is a case study that showcases what a brand like Disney is doing in the social media universe to reach out to parents and more specifically Hispanic parents," according to a spokesperson. Stories will also be featured in the new Walt Disney World/Latino Facebook page. ...Read the whole story >>

Research

Coke 'Shape' Ad Leads Q2 Ace Effectiveness Scores

by Karlene Lukovitz

The ad, which pulled a 670 Ace score compared to the beverage category's norm of 551, was also Coke's highest-scoring ad in the past three years. It had the highest attention and likeability subscores among the quarter's top 10 ads, and performed particularly well among younger demographics, according to Ace Metrix CEO Peter Daboll. ...Read the whole story >>

Gaming Spending Increases

Infiniti Launches IPA Program

Mercedes Takes Over Smart, Creates Team

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Build it Right

An amazing thing has been going on the past several years.

You and I have been building our reputations.

If you have been careful with your life, giving your word, standing by your word, doing the work, standing by your work, and helping others with a sincere heart, then you have been building it right.

I'm not talking about perfection, but there is a big difference between deceit, and mistakes.

Drew wrote about this recently:

Your brand’s foundation

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 07:51 AM PDT

How are you building your foundation?

A brand, much like someone’s personality, isn’t something you concoct or fabricate. You can’t put it on and take it off at will. It’s not window dressing, but instead it comes from within your company, the culture, the people, the vision and of course…the marketplace in which it exists.

You can, of course, amplify your brand by doing the right things with intention and frequency. But…the foundation is already set.

In fact…you build your foundation with every choice you make as an organization and as the individuals who work for that organization. David Ogilvy once said “every advertisement is part of the long-term investment in the personality of the brand.” In today’s digital world where everything is archived by Google — it goes far beyond that.

Long before you are consciously on the radar screen of your target audience…you are creating your brand’s foundation with every:

• Tweet
• Facebook update
• Snarly employee wearing one of your logo’d shirts in a bar
• Branded truck driving carelessly
• Sponsorship of an event
• Comment left on someone else’s blog, FB, etc.
• Advertising/Marketing offers

Think of each action as a log or brick. Without meaning to — you are stacking each of those choices/actions together to create my first impression of you. The foundation upon which I will decide if I want to keep interacting.

And by the way — your absence is as noticeable as your presence. Those choices should be made as carefully as deciding where you do want to be seen.

Here’s my question. How intentional are you being about your brand’s foundation? Are you building it with a vision and purpose or is it just happening haphazardly?

Hat tip to Derrick Daye for reminding me of this Ogilvy quote.

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Body Talk

There was an old Olivia Newton-John song, "Physical" that included the chorus, "Let me hear your body talk".

The question is, are you listening?

From my email:

Daily Sales Tip: Understanding Body Language

Body language is a mixture of movement, posture and tone of voice. Research indicates that in a face-to-face conversation, more than 70 percent of our communication is nonverbal.

Our body language reveals our deepest feelings and hidden thoughts to total strangers. In addition, nonverbal communication has a much greater impact and reliability than the spoken word. Therefore, if your sales prospect's words are incongruent with his or her body language gestures, you would be wise to rely on the body language as a more accurate reflection of their true feelings.

Be mindful of your own body language gestures and remember to keep them positive by unfolding your arms, uncrossing your legs and smiling frequently.

Create harmony by "matching and mirroring" your prospect's body language gestures. Matching and mirroring is an unconscious body language mimicry by which one person tells another they are in agreement.

The next time you are at a social event, notice how many people are subconsciously matching one another. Likewise, when people disagree, they subconsciously mismatch their body language gestures.

An effective way to begin matching your prospect is to subtly nod your head in agreement whenever your prospect nods his or her head, or cross your legs when they cross their legs, etc.

By understanding the meaning behind your prospect's body language, you will minimize perceived sales pressure and know when it's appropriate to close the sale.

Source: Sales trainer/author John Boe

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Monday Night Markting News from Mediapost

My breakfast today came from Arby's.

Not because of their silly contest, but because they had what I wanted to eat...

Restaurants

Arby's Launches Good-Mood 'Casting Call' Contest

by Karlene Lukovitz

The campaign, also seen on high-visibility billboards, additionally aimed to convey a broader message to Arby's' target audience, which it describes as "balance seekers": people who want/need fast-food options that are tasty but "higher-quality and more wholesome" than typical burger fare. ...Read the whole story >>

Financial Services

Chase Offers Members Exclusive Golf Experience

by Tanya Irwin

"Golf is certainly a sweet spot for this customer segment," Chase Card Services General Manager Sean O'Reilly tells Marketing Daily. "It's something that can be accessed all around the country so the accessibility is very good. It's certainly an area that people both watch on TV and participate in." ...Read the whole story >>

Packaged Goods

P&G: Febreze Makes Scents That Make Happiness

by Karl Greenberg

The campaign centers on a live scent experiment. The TV ads show Febreze being used in such public environments as hotels, and restaurants to get real reactions to odors, and how Febreze fixes the olfactory environment. ...Read the whole story >>

Research

The Most Affluent Also Seek Bargains Online

by Aaron Baar

According to Unity Marketing's most recent survey of ultra-affluent consumers (those making more than $250,000 in annual income, the wealthiest 2% of Americans), Amazon.com is the top shopping destination for about 45% of the demographic. That is more than two to three times greater than the next-most-popular Web site. ...Read the whole story >>

Restaurants

Buzz-Wise, Subway Still Reigns Among QSRs

by Karlene Lukovitz

None of the leading QSRs tracked showed major gains in their buzz scores in comparison with 2010's first half. The largest improvements were a 1-point gain by Chipotle (from 8.8 to 9.8, landing it a place in the 1H 2011 top 10) and 0.9-point gains by McDonald's (from 14.5 to 15.4) and Nathan's Famous (from 3.1 to 4). ...Read the whole story >>

Beverages

'Got Milk' People Talk About Male Symptoms Of ... PMS

by Karl Greenberg

The new effort, "Everything I Do Is Wrong," ostensibly appeals to the men who have to live with the women who have PMS. And in the creative, as well as grassroots events around the campaign, it's all about men who are grabbing up milk by the carton to bring home to their dragons, er, wives. ...Read the whole story >>

Budweiser, Live Nation, Haymon Sponsor Superfest

P&G Sues German Firm Over Hand/Dish Liquids

Nissan Hits The Road With Leaf

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Missing Someone?

from the Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo:

Where Did They Go?

Ever wonder about the customers you don't have anymore?

Where did they go?

Some have moved out of town.

Some have died.

Some simply don't need what you are selling.

Some have found an alternative.

It's the last one that should concern you the most.

You need to find out what that alternative is and why it became an alternative for your customers.

You also need to find out why you are losing customers.

No matter how many new customers you have coming in your front door, if you can keep them from going out the back door, you should see your profits increase.

Now go do your homework.

The words of Scott Howard aka ScLoHo

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Giving It Away

The company I work for, Cirrus ABS has been stepping up our seminar schedule and it is working.

Check our website or email me: SHoward@CirrusABS.com for upcoming seminars we will be doing in Indiana.

Jim Connolly explains why this works:

See how quickly you can build a high quality client list: No selling required!

Posted: 23 Jun 2011 10:30 AM PDT

This post will show you how to attract inquiries from high quality prospective clients; people who will already know who you are AND value your work AND want to work with you. Oh, and no selling required!

Let me start with a quick question:

How much valuable information have you given away for free to your prospective clients this year?

I’m talking about free guides, informative blog posts, newsletter articles; the kind of content that has independent value. Not sales pitches, brochures, special offers or ads.

No selling required!

Here’s the thing: If you want an endless stream of high quality leads, you need your prospective clients thinking about you and talking about you. You need to regularly give them something, which they will want to share with their colleagues, friends and social networks. This not only spreads your name like a virus throughout your marketplace, it also positions you in their minds as an expert in your field. That’s worth a fortune.

Most small business owners waste their time, trying to get their marketplace excited using sales messages. They haven’t figured out yet, that they need to develop a relationship with their marketplace, if they want to attract the best inquiries. When you just send sales material into your marketplace, you are missing the point. You are trying to sell to people, before you have earned their attention. It’s like asking someone for a date, before you even say hello to them.

Educate: Don’t sell

The secret to attracting high quality inbound sales leads is to stop selling to your marketplace and start engaging them. Educate them, don’t sell to them. Help them with their problems. Contribute to their business by sharing valuable free advice, using the one-to-many method. Build relationships with the kind of people who buy from you.

Through the distribution of valuable, free information, you can engage your prospective clients, making it easy and natural for them to turn to you when they need a new provider. The results can be breathtaking, even life changing. I have developed a whole website, dedicated 100% to this subject!

The educate don’t sell approach is how I generate 100% of the daily inquiries I receive via this blog. It’s the most effective form of marketing I have seen, in my 25 years in the business. It’s a zero pressure way to build a massively valuable client list of amazing people, who really appreciate the value of your work. And with no selling required.

You can find out more in this Attraction Marketing post!

Photo: Ell Brown

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The Press

You never know what you might have a microphone & camera shoved in your face.

Well, if you want that to happen, I'll have a tip for you after the Sunday Seth:

How to be interviewed

The explosion of media channels and public events means that more people are being interviewed about more topics than ever before. It might even happen to you... and soon.

1. They call it giving an interview, not taking one, and for good reason. If you're not eager to share your perspective, don't bother showing up.
2. Questions shouldn't be taken literally. The purpose of the question is to give you a chance to talk about something you care about. The audience wants to hear what you have to say, and if the question isn't right on point, answer a different one instead.
3. In all but the most formal media settings, it's totally appropriate to talk with the interviewer in advance, to give her some clues about what you're interested in discussing. It makes you both look good.
4. The interviewer is not your friend, and everything you say is on the record. If you don't want it to be in print, don't say it.
5. If you get asked the same question from interview to interview, there's probably a good reason. Saying, "I get asked that question all the time," and then grimacing in pain is disrespectful to the interviewer and the audience. See rule 1.
6. If your answers aren't interesting, exciting or engaging, that's your fault, not the interviewer's. See rule 2.

Recently while having dinner with some Twitter friends, HARO was mentioned.

I used to subscribe, quit for awhile, but am doing it again. Click here.

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