Archive for the Advertising Category
Posted on February 26, 2010 by The Growthwire Team
Here’s the second in a series of simple tips to improve the quality of your advertising. This month, we focus on the power of emotion and the appropriate use of facts and logic. As much as you’d like to communicate all of the things that make your business special, your best message is one that makes your strongest differentiator undeniably clear. If you can express this difference in emotional terms – specifically as a benefit that has emotion at its core, you’ve got it made. Remember, for every charming gecko, memorable slogan, or unforgettable jingle, thousands of businesses advertise very effectively by being authentic, direct, and adhering to a couple of simple ideas. You don’t have to be a creative genius to use advertising effectively!
Posted on February 15, 2010 by Bill Hansen
Anyone who’s had an opening or two recently has probably seen hundreds of resumes. More than a few from folks who have enough experience to run the place. And we certainly can’t complain about salary needs: recruits are demanding much less than they were several years ago.
So what’s the problem?
There’s a funny thing about our 10%+ unemployment economy: it hasn’t gotten that much easier to find great employees.
If you’ve been in business for a while, you know that hiring now is tricky for two reasons. First, most of the overqualified applicants aren’t going to stick around when the job market turns this year or next. And second, the true cost of labor includes 1) the training that goes into replacing them and 2) the lost productivity that comes from having unfilled positions and/or a less-than-perfect fit. When you consider these costs, our current ability to pick through the low-hanging fruit isn’t as compelling as it seems.
Posted on February 12, 2010 by The Growthwire Team
Dr. Carmen Kavali, Kavali Plastic Surgery
When we think about the types of businesses that benefit most from strong consumer marketing effort, categories like retail, entertainment, and automotive usually come to mind. This month’s exceptional marketer, Dr. Carmen Kavali, illustrates how professional services – even medical practices – benefit significantly by building market-wide brand awareness.
Dr. Kavali has built a strong brand around an emotional idea: a metamorphosis for body, mind, and soul. Her logo, website, and on-air radio marketing work together to reinforce this idea. She’s even branded one of her practice specialties “The Mommy Makeover” around this holistic idea of change and growth.
The emotional thrust of her marketing distinguish her practice in a marketplace that is extremely competitive and, like most other sectors, feeling the impact of shrinking consumer spending. The branding is tasteful, relevant, and creates desire (while remaining well within the bounds of medical marketing canon). Her radio advertising, which is targeted toward her adult female client base, is a powerful and cost-effective tool for bringing this emotion to life on a daily basis. It’s built broad market awareness that other local practices can’t match.
Dr. Kavali’s proactive growth strategy has yielded enviable success. As a recent letter to Cumulus put it, “In a few short years, my brand has become something bigger than just me.” — a key point for all professional practices, medical and non-medical, alike.
Posted on February 8, 2010 by Bill Hansen
Google is putting their money where their mouth isn’t: brand marketing via
broadcast media.
The internet advertising behemoth has been running broadcast ads since mid-January and invested an estimated $5 million for a single 53-second Super Bowl TV ad. The spot, an emotion-laden story about life, love and adventure, driven by Google searching, was one of the critic’s favorites this morning.
What most advertising pundits missed was this: Why does a company that has unlimited ability to advertise and build name recognition across billions of web pages every single day need to advertise on TV? The answer: Google is facing real competition today from Microsoft/Bing, and soon probably from Apple. They realize that they can’t just win with superior algorithms any more. And they know something that a company learns by driving and analyzing 60% of internet advertising: internet ads do a lousy job of branding and building desire.
Posted on February 3, 2010 by The Growthwire Team
Each month, Access Points highlights a way for businesses to creatively and cost-effectively reach the large communities of radio listeners in their markets. This post pertains to several specific types of businesses: primarily the restaurant, golf, ski, and spa categories.
When someone hears the term “no cost” advertising, his or her first reaction is usually skepticism: you can’t get something valuable for free. (Their next reaction is often to wonder, as in “can I get some?”)
Yes, there really is a way to get valuable, high-reach, high-impact marketing for your restaurant, golf course, or several other specific businesses for no incremental cost. The program is typically called “Half-Off” (while it is free to the business, half-off is the value proposition for the end-consumer).
It works very simply: the business buys an advertising promotion from the station using gift certificates instead of cash. The radio station then resells those gift certificate to it’s audience via its website – at HALF OFF. $50 gift certificates for the business, for example, which would sell for $25 online, are typically sold out just minutes after they become available (these programs are immensely popular). The customer then redeems the certificate at the business and enjoys a great meal, round of golf, or massage.
Posted on January 18, 2010 by The Growthwire Team
As reported by the
Wall Street Journal this week, the board of Zales Corp fired it’s CEO and two other top executives over poor performance, particularly during the 2009 holiday season. One of the major issues, according to The Journal, was CEO Neal Goldberg’s decision to shift most of it’s broadcast advertising budget to internet marketing. This strategy clearly backfired as Zales’ prime competitors, heavy users of broadcast media, posted strong results.
Consumers are obviously using the web with increasing frequency as their source of entertainment and social connection. Marketers should take caution, however, before they assume that this shift in attention equates to a shift in digital marketing effectiveness.
For all its promise, the web has yet do demonstrate an ability to influence desire and intent to purchase. In fact, most web commerce is dependent on those triggers occurring before Google is searched, a banner is clicked, or a merchant’s site is opened.
The desire and brand choice that drives market share — online and offline — are still being created by effective terrestrial advertising. This is particularly true for emotion-driven purchases like diamond jewelry, as Zales can now sadly attest.
Bottom line: Make sure that you’ve built the desire for your brand with effective offline advertising before you expect consumers to look for it online.
Posted on January 8, 2010 by Bill Hansen
Five days after my original post (below), the Commerce Department released its estimate of December retail and the report was much less rosy (down .3% or basically flat). This data counted ALL RETAIL, as opposed to the earlier report which was based on reports from larger mall stores and retail chains (i.e. well-known consumer brands). Both sets of data are probably correct, but it’s yet another mixed signal about the economy. Some sectors are slowly improving and others obviously not.
If these conflicting reports say anything to us as marketers, it’s that well-known brands benefit first when consumers start spending again…
Original Post:
Data released today indicates that holiday retail sales grew a surprising 3% compared to last year. After the sting of unsold 2008 inventory and the massive discounting early in the year, retailers approached 2009 with conservative inventory levels and relatively low pre-holiday discounts. With retailers holding their price, the season started with what appeared to be a standoff. Neither side capitulated throughout November and early December. But, as one analyst noted, in late December ‘the consumer blinked.’ In a strong pre-Christmas week, retailers of all types received a surge of high-margin business from consumers who had avoided significant spending for over a year.
While our economy is still a long way from recovery, this data point is another signal that we might have turned the corner. Whether or not it means that a turnaround is certain, it is sure to get businesses thinking about their investment in growth again. No one will want to be the “last in” when it comes to competing again for lost revenue. If you’re in a category that is driven by replacement spending, you should be thinking particularly hard about this timing: the consumers who’ve delayed spending on maintenance, worn equipment, even things like dental visits, typically re-enter the market in a wave as consumer psychology improves. It typically takes several months of marketing, after a prolonged absence, to be considered for these purchases. Don’t be the last one in your competitive set to make this important decision…
Posted on January 8, 2010 by Bill Hansen
All too often, our business cards are designed for utilitarian purposes: affordability and utilizing the artistic expertise that most small business owners have on-hand at the time. At the least, they help us distribute our contact information and at best, many show that we care enough about our work to invest in color printing and good paper stock. But ask yourself, does your card really say much about what makes your business
special in that critical first impression?
Whether it’s time to replace your depleted stock or you want to improve the direct impact on business that clever identity/marketing can provide, consider investing in a winning first (and hopefully, lasting) impression with a great business card this year. These eleven examples are extremely clever and several are quite expensive. But they show different uses of design, layout, materials, and manipulation that strongly reinforce the business’ brand. The one thing that they all share, beyond the stuff that goes into the card, is that a great deal of thought has gone into what the card means and tells us about the business. Hopefully, one or more will provide inspiration to get you started on your own winning design!
Posted on January 7, 2010 by Bill Hansen
According to several recent studies, 75-90% of small businesses get
no return on investments in web marketing via social networks. This, despite the fact that about 50% of small business owners spent over 100 hours last year engaged in social media marketing. In one recent survey conducted by
BizLaunch, owners were asked a very general question: ”What social media platforms have contributed to your sales?” The answers were pretty dismal:
- Facebook: 14%
- Linked-In: 7%
- Twitter: 5%
- Blogs: 4%
- YouTube: 1%
So what’s going on?
Posted on December 30, 2009 by The Growthwire Team
Wendy Harris, Team Harris Realty
2009 was a great year for Wendy Harris, of Team Harris Realty, despite the horrible macro environment for realty businesses. While many of her peers reacted to the real estate downturn by reducing or eliminating mass-marketing, Wendy moved in the opposite direction with spectacular results.
Wendy recently wrote to share her story: “Thanks to Cumulus radio, I outsold every resale Real Estate agent in Fayetteville and continue to increase my business!”
Wendy took advantage of radio’s unique ability to deeply inform potential clients as part of the mass-reach/high-frequency branding process. She differentiates her business with a unique listing proposition: a guarantee to sell the house at a specified price by a specified deadline and backs her guarantee by agreeing to buy the home if she doesn’t hit her goals. By breaking this concept down into several explanatory radio commercials she quickly communicated this program to anxious sellers. “The phones started ringing the first week I started.”
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