I first saw this presentation at Doc Yankee’s Marketing Mojo blog. You can also follow Doc Yankee on Twitter. The slide show presentation is from Jay Conrad Levinson and features 90 things you can do to market yourself and your business in low-cost, but creative ways. Some items on the list won’t be for everyone, but I’m sure you will be able to find a lot of useful information.
My brother Steven turned me onto this spot from American Airlines and I thought I would share it here. I think this spot works for a number of reasons:
And as always, feel free to leave your impressions on this commercial in the “comments” section.
I was recently approached by a potential client with a question, “I’m interested in putting together a 6-8 part educational DVD series. How much will that cost?” On another occassion I received a call from an individual who simply asked, “I want to do a video. How much will that cost?”
If your company puts you in charge of working with a production company to produce a marketing/promotional video, it’s important to understand the budgeting process. There are several factors involved in bidding a job, and there are some questions that you need to ask yourself before picking up the phone to call a video production company. The more specific you are, the more accurate the bid will be. Let’s use the example of the 6-8 part educational DVD series to understand some of the factors involved in bidding a video. Here are some variables that need to be addressed:
The answer to each of these questions will affect the budget of the entire production. They dictate how much crew will be needed on set, how much and what type of gear will be needed, whether actors need to be hired, whether sets need to be built, whether location fees need to be paid, etc.
I understand that sometimes you might not know the answers to these questions, but don’t panic. Talk to potential production companies and allow them to help you narrow your focus. Then you can be assured that you will receive a more accurate bid.
Right now Social Media feels more like the Wild West — no solid rules and everyone is out for himself. Some are afraid to embrace this new generation of marketing, satisfied with the status quo of marketing and sales. However, there’s no ignoring the power of Social Media and Web 2.0. Someone shared this blog post with me a few days ago and the statistics are pretty amazing. The article is titled “20 Reasons Why You Can’t Ignore Social Media.” I want to share the number one reason with you, “394 million people watch video clips online.”
Let that one sink in for a moment. That’s a lot of people watching video, and those are people that you could be reaching with an online video campaign. And the wonderful thing about Social Media is that you can track who watches your videos and learn a lot more about them than traditional TV advertising. And if you can get them talking about your video, then the audience grows exponentially and you can turn that audience into buyers.
Consider the case of the “Will It Blend” video series where the owner of a blender company demonstrates the power of his product by shoving all kinds of objects into the blender. On this 9-minute video, one member of the marketing team discusses the genesis of this campaign and its impact on blender sales. It’s obvious that online video worked for them, and it can work for any business if they’re open to the new frontier of Social Media.
This news may be a few months old, but it’s important to note. YouTube is now the second most popular search engine, right behind Google. Just type in “YouTube second most popular search engine” and you will come up with dozens of articles. YouTube has surpassed Yahoo! which is now in third place. This should be an eye-opener for everyone who has considered the use of online video, but hasn’t made the investment. Worth considering.
When a company looks at their existing marketing materials (logo, brochures, website, videos, etc.) they might wonder why they should invest the time and money to re-brand their image. After all, the existing brand has worked for several years now. Here are some things to consider regarding the need for an updated brand:
1. Re-branding is a part of a company’s life cycle.Usually, existing marketing materials, logos, etc. are good for 5-10 years. After that time period, businesses evaluate existing materials and will re-brand…
· to reflect current design themes
· to embrace current marketing strategies
· to announce the transition into a new phase of their company
· to communicate the company’s vision for its future
Think of how quickly our world is advancing, especially in the technological realm. A computer you purchase today will be obsolete within the year. A corporate video produced with today’s technology will look a lot different from one produced in 1995. And so it’s important for businesses to assess their brand and its effectiveness every 5-10 years in an effort to remain competitive and current.
2. Re-branding tells your audience that you are committed. A business that takes the time to update its marketing materials is a business committed to the long haul. You want your clients and potential clients to feel safe and secure, knowing that you will be around for years to come. When the public sees that a company has taken the time and invested the money to re-brand, they understand that this is a company that is looking to the future and plans to increase its strength and position in the marketplace.
3. Re-branding is about looking your best. A company’s credibility among audiences depends on the image they put forth for public consumption. Presentation is everything.
a. When a candidate walks in for a job interview, the way he/she looks is important.
b. When your employees show up for work, how they present themselves is important.
c. When company representatives go out for sales or service calls, the way they look and act is important.
d. When customers, clients, or potential clients come into your office building, how it looks is important.
Everything reflects back onto your business, either positively or negatively. It’s easy to overlook the current status of your brand with other daily tasks filling your calendar, but it’s important to take the time to review that brand on an annual basis. Updating that brand communicates two things…
· Your company is growing, and
· You are concerned for its reputation.
An updated brand can positively affect public perception about your company encourage them to do business with you.
Before any marketing and advertising project, it’s important to do the research. Find out all that you can about your client and how they do business. Find out all that you can about how they perceive themselves and how they want the public to perceive them. Find out about their short and long-term goals and their overall mission. But most importantly, find out all that you can about your target market.
Yes, it’s important to learn about your client, but it’s more important to learn about your audience. If you put together a great ad, but it doesn’t speak to your audience, then you haven’t accomplished anything. In fact, you might do severe damage to your client’s brand and create a PR nightmare. Consider the online Motrin campaign from last fall that offended so many moms. In the ads, Motrin speaks to the audience from the perspective of a mother — a mother who needs pain relief from carrying her baby in a sling or papoose, or other baby carrier. It sounded good, right? Moms need relief sometimes. However, for moms who actually use and love their baby-carrying devices, the ad completely missed the mark. They found it offensive and insulting and Twitter feeds lit up with posts from moms who have nothing but great things to say about their baby carriers. Motrin may have had a decent idea, but they seem to have fallen way short of connecting with their demographic.
I came across a new commercial campaign for Gold’s Gym that I feel is very successful. I’ve seen a lot of commercials for fitness centers and gyms and most of them focus on the equipment: the amount they have, the quality, the brand names, etc. The spots are usually punched up with a lot of quick cutting, tilted camera angles, and up-tempo music. However, this new campaign for Gold’s Gym focuses not on the gym itself, but on personal goals and personal drive. The campaign succeeds because of two things:
The title of the campaign is “Strength.” Here’s the idea behind the campaign, straight from the Gold’s Gym website (you can also view all four commercials there):
Whether it’s the strength to be a better parent, the strength to climb the corporate ladder or the strength to just say no to that plate of fettuccini alfredo… we recognize that strength comes in many forms. Our job for over 40 years has been to help people find their own inner strength and achieve their goals. At Gold’s Gym, we know that no matter what your fitness level, when you’re committed, anything is possible.
Here’s one of the commercials, entitled “Reps.”
Discouragement and anxiety prevail during a slow economy. News headlines proclaim that companies are making additional cutbacks. Hundreds, if not thousands of employees have been laid off. It’s during these tough economic times that your company’s brand and your marketing strategy become increasingly important.
When the economy is bad, one of the first things on the chopping block is marketing. Pulling back marketing efforts, however, only encourages competitors to step up and fill the void that you left behind. Consider a recent article in the Birmingham Business Journal by Lydia Wilbanks, of Wilbanks-Elam Marketing & Public Relations (unfortunately you have to be a paid subscriber to see the full article, but you will at least get her point). She encourages readers to think of their company long-term. Decreasing marketing efforts is a quick fix, but may prove to have lasting effects once the market turns around.
Or consider Staples, who recently has used news of Office Depot closings to ramp up their marketing campaign. Staples blitzed the market with emails re-printing a Dec. 10th article from Boca Raton, FL in which the reporter states that in 2009 Office Depot will close 112 North American stores. Above the article is the headline, “You can always count on Staples.” This is a great example of how one business is filling the gap left by a competitor, who is seen as unstable and temporary.
Remember that your company’s brand is much more than what’s on the letterhead or the brochures. Your brand helps your company establish and develop relationships. It communicates core company values. It encompasses your mission statement and reflects the vision you have for the future of your business. Now is the perfect time to invest in your marketing efforts because, chances are, your competition isn’t.
For the 11th time in its 110 year history, Pepsi has updated its logo. The soft drink company, according to the article in Advertising Age, hired a top ad firm to develop the new look. The agency spent five months, and Pepsi spent just over $1 million to arrive at the new logo. My question is, “Why?” Frank Cooper, Pepsi’s VP of portfolio brands is pleased with the new creative direction, but I feel that the logo is a waste of money and a step backward. Pepsi may have spent $1 million to arrive at the logo, but now that have to spend millions more to change out all advertisements, cans, bottles, vending machines, promotional items, etc. What about you? Do you like the logo? Is it better than what they had before? Was it a wise use of the money?
