I was reading an article this morning written by Jerry Del Coliano. He was a professor at USC and a veteran in the radio broadcasting industry. I thought that his point was very interesting. Here it is summarized with my own thoughts added:
As a college professor, I'm amazed at the attitude that many students have toward their education. On the first day of each semester, one of the first questions from students is, “how many days can we miss”. This question is likened to buying a car and telling the sales person that even though you paid for air conditioning, you would like to get the car without AC. Even though someone paid thousands of dollars for that class, the first thing the typical student wants to know, is how much can I "not take" of what I’ve (or someone) already paid for and still get through.
I think that this is a profound observation with regard to life. When we choose a profession, is our mission to be the best or to just get through so we can move on to some other more entertaining, albeit less profitable, endeavor? Depending upon how you answer this question – in your mind – and how you act upon what it speaks to – in your life – I believe that you can safely predict your life's success story.
You see, excellence in any endeavor requires practice. Sure there is the occasional prodigy (lucky person) or the “trust fund baby” (most of whom I know are now broke). The fact is that virtually every person I know worked for years and years through triumph and failure, over and over to become successful.
Malcolm Gladwell, in The Outliers, talks about what the common thread of success is in professional Hockey players. It includes such things as what month of the year they are born and the impact that has on the number of hours they practice. It is generally stated that successful talent/development takes approximately 20,000 hours of dedicated practice.
As I consider how lucky I am in my life’s endeavor, I’m reminded of all of the metaphors that I’ve heard over my life that encapsulate that premise. Perhaps my favorite is “The harder I work, the luckier I get” (paraphrased from Thomas Jefferson’s original quote).
At Branding Plus, we are focused on what we do. We are single minded and believe that our knowledge and years of practical experience empower us to help you grow your business. Our focus is outcome as opposed to how much money we can make on any aspect of our work. We know that if we help you get what you want, that each night when we retire for the evening that our basket will be full.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Step 3: Valid Offer
Step 3 is very simple and straightforward. If you don’t have a valid offer, you are simply “branding”.
I remember when I first got into the business that the word “branding” had not been conscripted into the jargon of Madison Avenue. Back then what we now refer to as branding was called “Institutional Advertising”. You know the commercials that you used to hear from banks, Proctor and Gamble products and Coca Cola. It wasn’t until the early 80’s that the Wizards of Madison Avenue perfected the concept of “Branding”. It was much sexier than “Institutional Advertising”. Don’t you think?
I actually think, not having been there to actually experience it, that P&G invented the concept of brand development. But that’s another discussion.
There was not really a name for the “other” commercials; you know the ones that had an offer of some type. But as a kid I remember watching TV during the day with my Grandmother and seeing a commercial for Breeze laundry detergent. It was odd, because it did not talk about how clean it would get your clothes, but the fact that in every box of Breeze, there was a towel. From washcloths, to hand towels to bath towels, you could get them all- depending upon the size box you bought. Now if you had one of these towels today, you’d throw them away as threadbare. They were thin and cheap, but they were free. And if you took a bath at my Mamaw’s house, this is what you used.
That is probably my earliest recollection of some kind of “offer” or what we refer to as response-based advertising.
Use your ad to create differentiation with your product– demonstrate its superior features and explain the benefits those features deliver. Branding.
Ad an offer – this week you’ll receive a free engineer’s report . . . $50 off every service call, Free Delivery, you get the idea. Response based advertising with a real time limit to stimulate your customer to action.
There are those that say all you need is branding. I think for Corporate America, they might be right – Coca Cola, Proctor and Gamble. Deep pockets. But for the rest of us, and for a large part of Corporate America, (Home Depot, Chick-fil-a, etc.) we need to sell something – TODAY! Now Home Depot can afford TV, Radio, Newspaper, Outdoor, Direct Mail, Web Marketing, Social and probably some forms of advertising that I haven’t even thought about. And their deep pockets allow them the luxury of using a combination of branding messages and response-based offers in a very effective media mix.
Would that we all had those kind of budgets.
So for the rest of us, let’s just understand that we need a “Valid Offer” in our ads. That’s it. Nothing more.
In our next blog, we’ll discuss the concept of Compelling Creative.
I remember when I first got into the business that the word “branding” had not been conscripted into the jargon of Madison Avenue. Back then what we now refer to as branding was called “Institutional Advertising”. You know the commercials that you used to hear from banks, Proctor and Gamble products and Coca Cola. It wasn’t until the early 80’s that the Wizards of Madison Avenue perfected the concept of “Branding”. It was much sexier than “Institutional Advertising”. Don’t you think?
I actually think, not having been there to actually experience it, that P&G invented the concept of brand development. But that’s another discussion.
There was not really a name for the “other” commercials; you know the ones that had an offer of some type. But as a kid I remember watching TV during the day with my Grandmother and seeing a commercial for Breeze laundry detergent. It was odd, because it did not talk about how clean it would get your clothes, but the fact that in every box of Breeze, there was a towel. From washcloths, to hand towels to bath towels, you could get them all- depending upon the size box you bought. Now if you had one of these towels today, you’d throw them away as threadbare. They were thin and cheap, but they were free. And if you took a bath at my Mamaw’s house, this is what you used.
That is probably my earliest recollection of some kind of “offer” or what we refer to as response-based advertising.
Use your ad to create differentiation with your product– demonstrate its superior features and explain the benefits those features deliver. Branding.
Ad an offer – this week you’ll receive a free engineer’s report . . . $50 off every service call, Free Delivery, you get the idea. Response based advertising with a real time limit to stimulate your customer to action.
There are those that say all you need is branding. I think for Corporate America, they might be right – Coca Cola, Proctor and Gamble. Deep pockets. But for the rest of us, and for a large part of Corporate America, (Home Depot, Chick-fil-a, etc.) we need to sell something – TODAY! Now Home Depot can afford TV, Radio, Newspaper, Outdoor, Direct Mail, Web Marketing, Social and probably some forms of advertising that I haven’t even thought about. And their deep pockets allow them the luxury of using a combination of branding messages and response-based offers in a very effective media mix.
Would that we all had those kind of budgets.
So for the rest of us, let’s just understand that we need a “Valid Offer” in our ads. That’s it. Nothing more.
In our next blog, we’ll discuss the concept of Compelling Creative.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Step Two: The Correct Target
{Read Step One here}
Who are you advertising to? Who is your core consumer? Do you know? Or do you think you know?
Most entrepreneurs have a handle on these questions – kind of. The answers are key to the success of any advertising program. For the purpose of this blog, I want to talk about what defines a customer – a heavy-user if you will.
We’ll begin with the premise that narrow is better. When we meet with clients and get to this part of our creative problem solving process, many times we’ll get answers like - we want to reach homeowners: or it’s women. That’s a great place to start, but what we know is that every demographic model can be further divided into unique consumer groups. The trick is to define these as narrowly as practical and then prioritize.
Let me demonstrate. My target is Adults 25-54.
Oh, is it really? So you want to reach lower income, non-English speaking adults 25-54 that live . . . you get the idea. The answer is usually no.
So here is what Adults 25-54 can look like:
Men, Women, 25-34. 35-44. 45-54, White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, HHI of $50k, $75k, $100k, $150k, over $200k, single, married, own home, rent, blue collar, white collar, professional, executive, drive a Honda, drive a Ford F150, live in Richardson, Live in Ft. Worth . . . and the list goes on.
You can see that I began with the demographic information, and that is important. However, everything that came after that is probably more important. It’s easy to discern the age of consumers. But is important to define the qualitative, or lifestyle composite of your target. The more specific you can become, the more successful you will be.
With a clear and vivid picture of your correct target(s), and an accurate analysis of your sales, by category, it makes it very easy to prioritize. And at the end of the day, we recommend that you invest 100% of your advertising budget against your highest priority target: that is until we have achieved our reach and frequency objectives against the target with a compelling message that matches their motivation. When we have achieved that objective, then and only then will we move to the second “in order of importance” target. Gone are the days of “broadcasting” a message. We’ll never return to the halcyon days of the 50’s consumer revolution that was spawned by the end of WWII and the Baby Boomers. Today we communicate instantly with our peers and personal recommendations (peer to peer) – of which you have no control – are more powerful than ever. Today’s consumers want short, concise bits of information that answer THEIR questions. They really don’t care about what you are selling or what service you are providing. More than ever, they care about their very narrow self-interest and sought after benefits.
And speaking of a demographic, let’s look back at an demographic rage that spans thirty years. That’s my dad and me. And if you think that we’re thinking the same and responding the same to your messaging, you would be wrong. I’m on Facebook, Twitter and the Internet daily. He plays Free Cell on the computer. I have a smart phone; he has an eight-year-old Nokia cell phone. I drive an Acura MDX. He drives a Cadillac DTS. I like loud music and rock concerts. He likes Country Western and the Gaithers. And it’s been that way for years.
So at the end of the day, narrowly define your demographic and then prioritize it. We recommend that you look at target age then consider 5 years on either side. So if your core consumer is a 39-year-old woman, then we’ll target women 34 to 44. See how easy that was. Don’t forget the important part though:
In addition to being 39, she is also white, married, college educated, with 2.8 kids, lives in a 2,500 square foot house in the 'burbs, drives a Toyota Sienna Mini Van, is a school teacher and teaches Sunday School at her church and with her family, shops with coupons and goes to Destin Florida every year for family vacation where they buy sea shells and hermit crabs for souvenirs.
Or just maybe, she is 39, black, single, a lawyer, with her own practice – sues Insurance Companies for personal injury, drives a Maseratti, lives in the W downtown, collects fine wine, goes to church when she can and travels alone to a different country every year for vacation where the only "souvenirs" she obtains are rest and relaxation.
And I’m just getting started…
If you haven’t developed this kind of ACCURATE profile for your “multiple-targets” then prioritized them…do it today. Then execute your marketing and advertising strategies against them, in priority order, with discipline and fervor.
Next week, we’ll learn how to make your advertising activate. Hmmmm….
Who are you advertising to? Who is your core consumer? Do you know? Or do you think you know?
Most entrepreneurs have a handle on these questions – kind of. The answers are key to the success of any advertising program. For the purpose of this blog, I want to talk about what defines a customer – a heavy-user if you will.
We’ll begin with the premise that narrow is better. When we meet with clients and get to this part of our creative problem solving process, many times we’ll get answers like - we want to reach homeowners: or it’s women. That’s a great place to start, but what we know is that every demographic model can be further divided into unique consumer groups. The trick is to define these as narrowly as practical and then prioritize.
Let me demonstrate. My target is Adults 25-54.
Oh, is it really? So you want to reach lower income, non-English speaking adults 25-54 that live . . . you get the idea. The answer is usually no.
So here is what Adults 25-54 can look like:
Men, Women, 25-34. 35-44. 45-54, White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, HHI of $50k, $75k, $100k, $150k, over $200k, single, married, own home, rent, blue collar, white collar, professional, executive, drive a Honda, drive a Ford F150, live in Richardson, Live in Ft. Worth . . . and the list goes on.
You can see that I began with the demographic information, and that is important. However, everything that came after that is probably more important. It’s easy to discern the age of consumers. But is important to define the qualitative, or lifestyle composite of your target. The more specific you can become, the more successful you will be.
With a clear and vivid picture of your correct target(s), and an accurate analysis of your sales, by category, it makes it very easy to prioritize. And at the end of the day, we recommend that you invest 100% of your advertising budget against your highest priority target: that is until we have achieved our reach and frequency objectives against the target with a compelling message that matches their motivation. When we have achieved that objective, then and only then will we move to the second “in order of importance” target. Gone are the days of “broadcasting” a message. We’ll never return to the halcyon days of the 50’s consumer revolution that was spawned by the end of WWII and the Baby Boomers. Today we communicate instantly with our peers and personal recommendations (peer to peer) – of which you have no control – are more powerful than ever. Today’s consumers want short, concise bits of information that answer THEIR questions. They really don’t care about what you are selling or what service you are providing. More than ever, they care about their very narrow self-interest and sought after benefits.
And speaking of a demographic, let’s look back at an demographic rage that spans thirty years. That’s my dad and me. And if you think that we’re thinking the same and responding the same to your messaging, you would be wrong. I’m on Facebook, Twitter and the Internet daily. He plays Free Cell on the computer. I have a smart phone; he has an eight-year-old Nokia cell phone. I drive an Acura MDX. He drives a Cadillac DTS. I like loud music and rock concerts. He likes Country Western and the Gaithers. And it’s been that way for years.
So at the end of the day, narrowly define your demographic and then prioritize it. We recommend that you look at target age then consider 5 years on either side. So if your core consumer is a 39-year-old woman, then we’ll target women 34 to 44. See how easy that was. Don’t forget the important part though:
In addition to being 39, she is also white, married, college educated, with 2.8 kids, lives in a 2,500 square foot house in the 'burbs, drives a Toyota Sienna Mini Van, is a school teacher and teaches Sunday School at her church and with her family, shops with coupons and goes to Destin Florida every year for family vacation where they buy sea shells and hermit crabs for souvenirs.
Or just maybe, she is 39, black, single, a lawyer, with her own practice – sues Insurance Companies for personal injury, drives a Maseratti, lives in the W downtown, collects fine wine, goes to church when she can and travels alone to a different country every year for vacation where the only "souvenirs" she obtains are rest and relaxation.
And I’m just getting started…
If you haven’t developed this kind of ACCURATE profile for your “multiple-targets” then prioritized them…do it today. Then execute your marketing and advertising strategies against them, in priority order, with discipline and fervor.
Next week, we’ll learn how to make your advertising activate. Hmmmm….
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