Video, video and more video
September 29, 2006
Weeks after his death, thousands of people are still searching for the Steve Irwin death video. Not into watching the death of one of Animal Planet’s most beloved stars by a sting ray? Well, if you didn’t search for the Steve Irwin death video, then you were probably searching Google for funny videos. Tens of thousands of searches are done each day on Google for funny videos and over 950,000 web pages have stepped up to meet that query!
If you don’t think video online is hot, think again. Forbes reports “Video accounts for a 60% share of Internet traffic, and that number will soar.â€
Advertisers are taking notice and scrambling to create viral videos to promote their products and services. In a world of Tivo, it’s a natural reaction; however, as I pointed out in my previous post, creating the video is the easy part. Creating a video that people want to watch is where the challenge begins.
They’re called Viral Videos and the genre earns the moniker by becoming videos people want to share with family and friends, even feature on their myspace.com account. The thing about viral videos is their ability to “connect†with people. Viral videos will surprise you: they’ll make you laugh or they’ll make you gasp, but they always captivate and they always connect.
To create a viral video requires not only creativity but also knowing how to harness the unexpected and give people what they want to see! Packaging that into a 3 minute video that sells as well takes nothing less than pure genius.
Beyond Boring… Making Video Work for You
September 23, 2006
The latest “marketing made easy” ploy is now video. “How to promote your business via video” seminars and work shops are popping up all over.
I hate to be a party pooper, but video in an of itself is not the answer. Like any media, video can sizzle or it can flop and can be even more boring and ineffective than just regular marketing efforts. However, when video is done plus from a place of knowing what your target audience wants, well then you can create REAL marketing magic.
Take this video for example. Not only is one is going to complain about watching this video ad, which will surely become a legend in the viral video marketing archives. Web surfers and myspace users will be distributing this video to their friends and family because it’s truly a fascinating piece of footage. Oh, and it’s an advertisement to boot.
Milwaukee’s Best gets what video is about. Like the Beer Cannon Montage? You can read all about how the beer cannon was built, with lots of swarthly references to how Milwaukee’s Best is a real “man’s” beer. While you’re there, you can play games, even submit your own “launch request.” Still bored? See if you can “Act Like a Man” in Grins and Needles.
They get it. They really get it. Great job guys (from someone you’re not even targeting).
The power of pain
September 22, 2006
A few weeks ago, I was visited by an ailment that I hadn’t had in years; an ear ache.
If its been a while since you or someone in your household has experienced an ear ache (its been a LONG time here), let me remind you that it is NOT a pleasant experience. I know I had more than my share of ear infections growing up, so how could I not remember something so intense?
Experts tell us that humans do not have good pain recollection and my recent malady was living proof of that concept. (The fact that I have more than one child should serve as yet more proof of that postulate.)
As I suffered, waiting for the antibiotics to work their magic and kill the evil microbes causing my distress, I recognized that the pain had me distracted to the point where I could barely function. It was all I could think about. I made a conscious effort to make sure it wasn’t all I could talk about, but even though I wasn’t talking about it, I was still keenly aware of my affliction.
During that period of time, if you weren’t talking about how I could make the hurting stop, I have to be honest and say that I probably wasn’t paying very much attention to you. On the other hand, if you were talking about pain relief, you had my complete and undivided attention. Whether it was radio, television, direct mail or even in person, if you were offering a solution, you had my attention.
When I recovered, I realized that ear aches aren’t the only malady that affects your customers to the point of distraction. Whether it’s mounting debt, excess fat stores, sexual dysfunction, or even the war in Iraq; if you are aware of the issue that your target market is focused upon, then you can create a marketing message that will tap into those issues.
Because we humans don’t have effective pain recollection, it may be that you’ve experienced the pain your customers are feeling some time in the past, but now its just a hazy memory. Maybe you’ve never experienced your customers pain, which puts you at an even greater disadvantage. In either case, its time to connect with your customers pain so you can create a marketing message that truly speaks to them.
If youre a mortgage broker who is trying to connect with people who are having trouble paying their credit card debt, if you’ve never been on the receiving end of a collection call then you’re going to have trouble “speaking your customers language. If that’s the case, then I recommend you sit down with someone face to face who’s in the middle of that pain so you can create an effective marketing message.
Im reminded of a good friend of mine who spent most of her early thirties working in the collection department of a local bank. She was constantly winning awards for her performance and one day I asked her what her secret was for such outstanding success. She replied,
“I’ve been there. When my husband first started his business, things were tough. There for a while, we were getting collection calls every night.
Now, when I make my calls, I remember what it was like when I was getting those calls. Instead of focusing on getting them to pay, I see how I can help.
Sometimes, they just need a sympathetic ear. When they’ve told me their tale, I then get to work trying to help.
The thing is, the answer is usually as simple as they need to start paying everyone a little instead of paying one a lot while ignoring the others. They can take the first step by paying a little on this account that I’m calling them about.”
Her secret for debt collection success: she was just trying to help the people she was calling.
Yeah. It works like that with your marketing and advertising messages too.
The fun antics that occur when you DON’T target your market.
September 19, 2006
The other morning, I was watching “Arthur” on PBS with my 12-year-old son. Yes, he’s too old for Arthur but the television pickings are slim at 6:00 a.m. which is when his internal clock is set to awaken him and I am grateful that he doesn’t choose the Wiggles or something even more annoying.
So, the plot of that day’s show is Arthur decides to earn money by starting a pet sitting business. Hilarity ensues as Arthur finds himself caring for a menagerie of beasts.  Since Arthur has taken in frogs and snakes and cats and dogs, he finds himself in the unenviable position of trying to care for a variety of different pets with wildly divergent needs and he spends most of his time trying to keep the dogs from chasing the cats and the frogs from becoming dinner for the snakes.
As I’m watching, I find myself saying to my 12-year-old, “If Arthur just limited himself to a single type of pet, he wouldn’t be having the problems he’s having. If he would define his target audience to a single pet, his business would be more successful and he could provide better service to his clients.†(Yeah, that’s what it’s like to watch cartoons with me at my house.)
My 12-year-old ignores my comment and pours himself a bowl of cereal.
The thing about watching PBS is there are no commercials during children’s programming so to fill the time, they run a short filler piece with adorable preschool or school aged children to fill the time slot. During this morning’s segment, the adorable school aged children were obviously videotaped as they performed their class assignment of creating a commercial for a fictional pet store, which tied into the Arthur story plot. The first group’s commercial consisted of the adorable children jumping in place while holding the sign they created with their pet store’s name. The second group spoke in unison as they held their sign. They threatened in unison, “You’d better come to Pet Palace . . . or else!†and they ended with pointing an accusing finger at the camera.
That, my friends, provides a glimpse into how small children view current television advertising.  As I’ve watched television in the days that follow, I am saddened to say that I can see from whence they drew their inspiration for their commercials.
Children are great imitators. They imitate adults as they prepare for their future, when they join the adult world. These children didn’t see commercials as a way to communicate but just joyless fluff. Their attempts at creating their own commercials told the tale. They didn’t say, “Come see us! We’ve got the cutest puppies in town!â€Â  They didn’t say, “If you want your pet to live forever, buy our pets! They never die!â€Â They didn’t cajole, they didn’t coax, they didn’t persuade their audience or try to charm them. Instead they bounced and bullied their way through their commercial attempts. Not that I expected great advertising from what appeared to be third graders, but I really was surprised by the “buy here or else†slogan.
Take a look at your advertising. Is it cajoling? Is it persuasive? Is it alluring? Or are you just bouncing and bullying your way through 30 or 60 seconds of air time?
The long term value of a customer
September 18, 2006
Or, how much is your customer worth over the long haul.
The past few weeks have been more than a bit trying around here. In addition to getting ready to publish my book Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results, I’ve also had the added stressor of sending my oldest away to college.
Last night, after spending the weekend at home, as my daughter headed back to college, she experienced car trouble….AGAIN! Her 1999 Chevy Prism is suffering from spending the first six years of its existence in the harsh climate of Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan. This time the bracket that holds the exhaust let loose thanks to a well timed jarring while traveling through construction on the Florida Turnpike. The whole incident brought to mind the topic for the day: the long term value of a customer.
The story of our search for an auto mechanic contains a valuable lesson for everyone in business, but especially those who are making intangible major sales, or are in a service profession.
See, when we moved 1300 miles to our new home, we found ourselves having to find everything new. From dentists, to hair stylists to a reliable auto mechanic, our first 18 months down here were spent in trial and error. Our search for an auto mechanic was unfortunately our first search after moving. Despite knowing better, we began by taking the car to the nearest Chrysler dealership. My husband had heard good stories about their body shop, so we gave them a shot. Maybe car dealership service departments down here weren’t the houses of ill-repute they were back home.
I don’t know if it was the fact that the car was brought in by a woman or if they just treated everyone who walked in as if they had S-T-U-P-I-D tattooed on their forehead, but when the mechanic called me and told me that the car needed $1200 worth of repairs, I was shocked. Did he think I just fell off the turnip truck? I issued my standard reply to car people who try to screw me: “Forget it. I’ll have my father take it to the sale. He’s a wholesaler.†Without exception, this sends the would-be thief into a stammering fit, while he tries to back pedal because he sees that not only do I recognize that he’s trying to gouge me but now he’s going to lose the chance to do ANY business with me. Obviously the Chrysler dealer figured out a way to get theirs in this situation. They charged me $85 for their “diagnosisâ€. Yes, I was charge $85 for refusing to allow them to screw me and I have to admit, I was amazed.
The reason I was amazed was simply my point of view. See, from where I operate, what I saw was a potential customer, the owner of a 7 year old Chrysler van. In my way of thinking, I’ve got a chance at landing a long term customer. If I treat her right today, maybe she’ll be back tomorrow to trade that bucket of bolts in on a shiny new model. That wasn’t the view the dealership chose to take. These idiots were more interested in squeezing $1200 out of me for unnecessary repairs in that moment than in establishing a relationship with me that would mean not only future repairs for the service department but also a possible customer for another van in the near future.
As I left the dealership I passed a repair shop that was off the beaten path.The name of the shop was “Dave Fixes Cars.†I decided to give Dave a shot. Dave replaced the offending belt and only the belt for a reasonable price. I was so thrilled; I wrote him a check for double the amount. A few weeks later when my daughter’s Prism started acting up, guess who we called? That’s right Dave.
Oh and three months later, after and a few more trips back to Dave, when I decided that it was time for a new van, guess where I went to buy my new van? That’s right, anyplace BUT the Chrysler dealer! No amount of advertising that the dealership does will EVER repair their relationship with me or my family. Not only that, but my husband made sure to spread the word where he works as well. Now that’s the kind of “word of mouth†advertising that I don’t want for my business and you shouldn’t want for yours.
Today, when my husband and I dropped my daughter’s car off for its THIRD visit to Dave this month, I told Dave that we’re considering naming the car, “Dave’s Financial Security.†He laughed. Over the past 18 months, we’ve written enough checks to Dave that he’s made more than the original repair estimate from the Chrysler dealer. (We’re a three, soon to be four car family.) Not only that, but when the Prism needed body work, I asked Dave for advice on where to take the car for body work. He was happy to refer me to a friend who now has earned my undying gratitude for his reasonable and sensible attitude towards his business.
Both Dave and Billy (the body man) both realize that a long term customer is a beautiful thing. Not only do they return time and time again, but they also refer their friends. I can’t begin to count the number of people my husband and I have referred to both Dave and Billy. Oh, and when I need ANYTHING done, whether it’s related to my car or my home, I’ll be asking Dave or Billy who THEY recommend!
As for the Chrysler dealer, well I have noticed that very few Chrysler products are sporting their sticker on the back of their car. The Chrysler dealer should be grateful that on average 1500 people are moving to our city every month because I cant see how he could stay in business any other way.
I’m amazed because I would think it would be common sense. Gaining a new customer is expensive which means the most effective way to run a business is to try to KEEP your current customers and use your marketing and advertising to get more customers who will also remain loyal to your business. If you’re using your marketing and advertising dollars to try to replace your current customers … well, maybe you should quit advertising and find out why you’re losing customers. Just my .02 worth.
How strongly are your customers bonded to your business?
September 14, 2006
Lewis Carbone in his post at Fast Company addresses the groundswell of emotion coming from the assimilation of Marshall Fields Department Stores in Chicago by Macy’s.
My .02 were:
“I think the strong emotional attachment you refer to is not so much a reaction to the name change, but rather the devoted customers recognize what the other comments here have referenced: it’s just not going to be Marshall Fields anymore. Keeping the name isn’t enough.
Marshall Fields was more than just a name on buildings, it was a culture all it’s own. Growing up in Indiana, even as a child I knew a trip to Marshall Fields was worth the drive to the Chicagoland area. Whether it was the flagship store or an anchor at a mall, MF had a unique culture which created a unique shopping experience. There isn’t any way to keep that identity intact and separate from other Macy holdings.
Customers know that when the Borg (in this case Macy) assimilate a store, the store will cease to maintain it’s own identity and will indeed become part of the collective, stripped of almost all of the factors that made it “unique”.
Sigh. ”
Sigh indeed. What I didn’t post there, but will here, is that I must admit I’m anxiously awaiting for the pendulum to swing back to community based stores.
But wait, the swing has begun. Wal-mart has begun “localizing” it’s stores. A store in Houston is being revamped and will appeal to Latino shoppers while a store in Chicago is undergoing it’s rennovation into a more “urban” experience.
My husband is a Wal-mart employee, and I can tell you what caused the pendulum to shift at Wally world: the outrageous success of a little store outside of Miami.
If you don’t know Wal-mart’s insides, then you don’t know that Wal-mart provides an excellent opportunity for “entrepreneurial minded” managers. Well, this store manager of this little store outside of Miami…. not a SuperCenter mind you but one of the “old style” Wal-marts. This store is a throwback from back in the days when Wal-mart didn’t sell absolutely EVERYTHING under the sun. Well, this store manager, who is hispanic, has created a culture in his store that refeclts his culture. The banners that hang above the aisles are in spanish. Most of the employees speak Spanish, some speak ONLY spanish. You get the drift. Anyhow, this store manager was honored at my husband’s DC (distribution center) this past December because of his store’s outstanding performance.
In a world where a Wal-mart Super Center on any given day January-September might take 2-4 semi-truck loads of goods to be offered for sale and a “division 1″ store might take 1 load, this store takes 5-7. During the Christmas season, this tiny little store will move up to 10 truckloads of goods A DAY through it’s doors.
This manager has “tapped into” the culture of the area. He’s made his store a hub, a meeting place, a place like the bar on the series “Cheers.” At this tiny Wal-mart, everybody knows your name.
Wal-mart didn’t get to be the biggest retailer in the world by not seeing the writing on the wall. Now, other Wal-marts are being “transformed” into a local hub, just as this tiny store outisde Miami has done so well.
So it is possible to be part of the collective and still have your own personality. However, I don’t see that happening with Macy’s until Wal-mart swallows them as they swallowed MF.
Way Beyond Boring: Advertising as fashion
September 13, 2006
Philips Research unveiled their latest innovation last week in Berlin. Visitors to the World Wide Technology trade show were wowed by Phillips latest demonstration of Philips’ Lumalive photonic textiles. I could try to describe it to you, but this is truly a case where video can do it so much better. Click here to see the video.
Phillips is hoping to capitalize upon the quest to gain attention for a brand or product, and from the looks of it, they won’t have any problem generating outstanding success.
The possibilities for promotion ideas are positively mind boggling for photonic textiles. Finally! A productive use for all the flash intro pages polluting the internet!
I make that jab because flash “splash” pages used to be the rage on the web. They were labor intensive and in the end, the web site owner that used the technique found him/herself in the unenviable position of creating a barrer between their web site content and the search engines. Since 80% of all traffic comes from search engine searches, to say flash intro pages were a bad idea would be an understatement.
Which was sad, because there were a few truly magnifent splash pages out there and those splash pages could become truly eye catching displays when married with photonic textile technology.
I for one can’t wait to be a walking billboard for Coca Cola. Yes, I’d actually pay for the privilege of displaying such cutting edge technology. I wonder who will be first? My money’s on Nike as an early adopter of this ultra cool development.
The Power of Problems
September 6, 2006
According to the Neil Rackham, during the Huthwaite Institute’s study of outside sales people, they identified two type of questions sales people ask buyers in making the sale. The first type of questions asked by sales people are situation questions. You know, “How long have you been in business?” and “How many employees do you have.” The second type of question sales people ask are called “Problem” questions. They begin with such openings as:
- “Are you worried…”
- “What if…”
- “What needs improving?
According to Huthwaite, outside sales people who focus upon PROBLEM QUESTIONS have a signficantly higher success ration when making a major sale.
I could have saved Neil a LOT of time and research with that one. In creating marketing messages, situation questions and their answers would fall into the category of “features”. Features don’t make good ad copy. PERIOD! On the other hand, problem questions and the corresponding solutions would be classified as “benefits” and should be the foundation of your marketing message.
Of course, most of the time when you deliver your marketing message, you aren’t sitting face to face with your potential customer and that’s what makes Rackham’s research irrelevant to creating marketing messages.
Now, there are “info-gurus” out there who are just sure that the internet changes the rules. They honestly want you to believe that your email message or web page is a two way conversation. It’s not now (even with the new Web 2.0 applications) and it probably never will be.
On the internet, those who just watch and don’t participate used to be called “lurkers.” I don’t hear anyone refer to “lurkers” these days, but back in the 90’s, anyone who read but didn’t contribute to a newsgroup or bulletin board was called a “lurker.” For heavens sakes, they’d even venture out of lurk mode, identifiy themselves as a lurker, post and then retreat. The thing is, there were a LOT more lurkers than there were “active” participants. Come to think of it, isnt this the way it seems to goes in real life as well?. Two of the most frustrating aspects of these lurkers are:
- their numbers and
- their silence.
One of my clients has a newsletter with hundreds of subscribers, each and every one a card carrying “lurker.”. She actually contemplated shutting her newsletter down because she NEVER heard from her subscribers. Yet we’d go, look at her log files and see that 75% of her subscribers actually logged onto the web page to read her monthly newsletter. For those of you who aren’t familiar with e-mail newsletters, that is an incredibly high open/read rate. Yet my client has fallen victim to this “the internet is interactive” mentality and thought no one was reading what she was writing.
For the most part, creating messages for the web is very similar to creating messages for direct mail, television and even radio. You begin by assuming the reader/listener can’t respond. You don’t write radio copy which asks a question and then waits for the listener to actually call in and respond? (If that’s your format, you’re doing TALK RADIO and not commerical advertising.) However, if during your creation of a web application: web page, pod cast or newsletter, you hit a nerve, then expect feedback and lots of it.
My client with the successful newsletter is sending out feel good messages and recipes. That’s her sunny, bright and cheerful style. If however, she took an “in your face” approach, she might find her feedback rate increased. Knowing my client, so would her blood pressure. That’s NOT the kind of relationship she wants with her readers.
Problems are powerful. Providing solutions can make you $$$ and tons of it. Touch even briefly upon a powerful problem and you can expect and explosion of response which is what makes the web so much fun. But the first you have to identify the problem.
Building an empire through the power of “freeâ€
September 5, 2006
The power of building an empire upon the power of FREE is illustrated beautifully by that tiny mom and pop company: Google. While Google may be your favorite way to find web sites on the web, it’s easy to forget that Google is actually a multi BILLION dollar business and as a business, they are selling a product. That product is AD WORDS, where you pay for a featured listing in a search. While Ad Words is a source of Google’s massive income, in the beginning Google was simply a search engine. As a search engine, it was Google’s job to index and catalog the internet.
Google began generating “buzz†way back in the late 1990’s. At that time, when Suzie Q Public went to Google and typed in her new boyfriend’s name, she got back an incredible WEALTH of information on her new boyfriend. Because Suzie Q Public got such GREAT useable information on her potential suitors, she then began going to Google to get other information, such as where to find the hottest swim suits or what site offered music lyrics. When Google gave Suzie Q Public the results she was asking for, instead of a bunch of unrelated garbage, Suzie Q and the rest of the public began using Google as their search engine.
So in the beginning, if you created a site that was rich in keyword content, AND had lots of links to other sites (which is how people got around on the internet way back in the 90’s…. surfing from one hyperlink to another) Google would return your site favorably. What that meant is if you had a site that focused on music lyrics and the term “music lyrics†appeared over and over in your pages, AND other music aficionados linked to your site, your site got a better Google ranking under the keywords “music lyrics†than a site that only used the word once and had no links*. After all, that was the insurance Google wanted to make sure that your page would deliver EXACTLY Suzie Q and the Publics were searching for when s/he used the search engine.
While Google was launched in 1996, it didn’t begin selling ads until four years later in the year 2000 by launching their Ad Words program. (Overture had already beaten them to the pay per click concept, but no matter. First doesn’t always win the race, especially on the internet.) In 2004, Google began offering FREE web based email, which proved to be yet another place to deliver their advertiser’s ads.
In 2005, Google reported earnings of $6,138,560,000 and their stock trades in the $400 per share neighborhood. Obviously, there’s a lot of mojo in the power of FREE!! If you have any doubts, check the number of searches done around the search term “free.” It’s no surprise that the biggest “free” search of all is for “free porn.” A huge majority of the most popular freebie searches tend to center around the sex act.
While the search for “free” continues both on and off the web, it appears retailers are weary of giving away services and wares. Finding “free” both on and off the web becomes more and more difficult. Even customer service isn’t offered for “free” by many businesses anymore.
If you’re a small retailer, this should act as a wake up call. Want to know how to compete with the Wal-Marts and other big box retailers? Offer something of value for free. Is there a service you can offer “for free” that will have your customers clamoring for more?
There’s real value in “free.” The word, though overused, still has a lot of mojo for your business if you can find a way to harness it.
