Marketing messages need to be presented in a form that’s easily consumed by the audience. 
To understand form of consumption a little better, lets take a look at a coconut. Locked inside a coconut is milk and fruit that is used to make tasty drinks and treats. The problem is, its locked inside and is not in a form that is easily consumed. If you are trying to open a coconut that has come straight off a tree, you had better have a machete. It takes considerable work to get to the milk.
Coconut
In contrast to the hard inaccessible coconut, think of a Pina Colada. Both have coconut milk, but one is much more easy to consume than the other.
Pina Colada
My point is, that there are many forms of media and communications that we can use to communicate with our audience. Not all forms are right for all audiences. To some audiences, certain forms of media are going to seem like a coconut, filled with something they want, but in a form too difficult for them to access.
For example, lets say a person has a pipe that has just broken in their house and their basement is filling up with water. They need a solution ASAP. A long form blog post on plumbing is a coconut, while a phone book with the name of a plumber is a Pina Colada.
Marketing messages need to be like Pina Coladas , filled with what an audience needs and in a form they can easily consume. To do this we have to know our audience and know the form they need their information in.
Tags: Audience, Consumption
Posted in Audience, Messaging | 4 Comments »
The internet is evolving at a rapid pace and it is changing the way people consume information. As marketers, we need to understand how the consumption of information is changing to make sure that our messages to consumers are in a form that they understand.
One platform that is greatly changing the way peoeple consume info is Twitter. So whats the big deal and why all the buzz? While it took a little over a year for Twitter to reach about 5 million users, it was able to reach its second 5 million users in about a month. Whether its the race between Ashton Kutcher and CNN to be the first in the history of Twitter to reach 1 Million followers, or the rumor that Oprah is going to send her first Tweet tomorrow, people are flocking to Twitter and its effecting how masses of people consume online.
Two things about Twitter are changing the way we consume. First, Twitter only allows people to post short bits in 140 characters. This is causing people to get right to the point and say exaclty what they mean. 140 characters is quite the opposite to the long 3 page in depth blog post. More and more people are getting used to consuming info in this short, tell me exactly what I need to know, 140 character form. They read a few short tweets and move on. And my guess is their attention span for a long blog post is changing.
The second thing about Twitter is its shear volume. Many people follow hundreds, if not thousands of people and recieve all of their tweets in a constant stream. Its a firehose of information, and who has the time to read it all. Anthony calls this the Twitter Paradox in that “I read more but I read less.” The amount of posts, info and links that we are exposed to has gone way up. But we don’t have the time to read it all, so we scan, much like we do with search results.
Now this isn’t to say that Twitter is going to make all other forms of communications and media disapear. It is simply one platform that is having an effect. The point is that there are many types of media that we can use to communicate and they are changing as we speak. To reach an audience, we need to understand each of these forms and identifiy which forms are best for communicating with a particular audience. We are currently thinking about the the different demand states of an audience and the different forms of media that would be best to reach them.
Tags: Audience, Demand, Form
Posted in Audience | No Comments »
Two recent projects have allowed us to rethink the notion of ‘demand generation’. In the usual sense the phrase refers to getting people to take a step toward becoming a customer - become a lead, ask for information or make a purchase. And in this world people follow the traditional path of awareness, consideration, and purchase with time spent between each stage.
There are scenarios when the desire to satisfy a need is much more intense than in other cases. A refrigerator dies, a job is lost, or a project is finally approved represent scenarios where people behave and think differently than the normal sales funnel. A useful analogy might be to think of pain in terms of medical conditions.
- Acute Demand: Characterized by the need for immediate relief. The decision to buy has already been made, now it is a matter of which option. Marketing tactics must cover all the places where a person would look for treatment - search, directories, factual comparisons, product reviews, and direct response. Those things that make it easy to make a decision in an extremely short period of time.
- Chronic Demand: Characterized by an on-going need that a person has, but has yet to satisfy. The decision to buy has not been made, but the individual knows they should. Marketing tactics must portray both empathy and information to allow the person to make a commitment. Given the long-term nature of chronic situations, campaigns should run in parallel with and through the events that trigger decision with attention paid to those with veto power.
- Latent Demand: Often an invisible need that hasn’t (and may not) surface. No decision to buy has been made at all and its unclear whether one will ever be made because a need has yet to be articulated. Marketing tactics should work on stimulating or confirming a need through the benefits of the solution. Since common interests are the new demographics campaigns should focus on where people congregate, both literally and figuratively.
As an example, consider the potential strategies for Pest Control:
- Acute: be everywhere a person would turn to if termites or fire ants are found. Who would they ask? Where would they turn? to get the problem solved that day. Yellow pages, Google/MSN/Yahoo!, and Angies’/classifieds should be at the foundation of the plan. Since resolving acute pains often relies on personal recommendations, this is a highly localized decision - even for national brands.
- Chronic: provide information around treatment options, health and safety concerns about the consumers house and family. Provide content and advisories on where outbreaks do/might occur through the media the audience uses. Become the content aggregator for a specific problem.
- Latent: be visible. Often termed ‘air cover’ in media plans there is a need to create some form of name recognition when a person moves to either chronic of acute demand. Sponsor community or elementary school programs; be a member of the community by actively participating. Broadcast advertising might be appropriate here to efficiently extend reach in lieu of any targeting information.
To provide a fresh view on a marketing plan, ask yourself:
- When people buy my product, what percent come from each type of demand?
- Are my campaigns aligned well with each need state?
- Are my tactics delivering the right information to each type of person?
Tags: demand generation, marketing plans
Posted in Marketing | 22 Comments »
What is Google telling your customers about you?
When someone wants to know more about a product or service, especially high consideration products, they often go straight to Google to see what the web has to say about it. That’s because, while your website may have a lot of great things to say, people expect marketing speak on a corporate site and therefore don’t really value it as a trusted source of information. They do however trust Google to give a more broad, somewhat unbiased, view of whatever they are searching for.
As a marketer and understanding how people turn to Google, I am often amazed at how few companies take the time to Google the name of their own company and see what pops up on the first page of results.
CashforGold made this mistake a few months ago when they ran their high priced Super Bowl ads. They have since started cleaning up their online reputation, but at the time, the first page Google results had some pretty negative things to say about the company. That’s a lot of money to spend on an ad, only to have it shot down on the Google results page.
With the huge growth of social media, people will have access to even more information and opinions about a products and company then ever before. And Google never forgets. Its important more than ever that companies are aware of what is being said about them and their products on the internet. It takes a proactive approach to keep up.
Companies should also understand that marketing programs, both online and offline, need to work together. They need to function as a whole to accomplish the overall objectives. Work to find a balance, because focusing one and forgetting others, may prove disastrous.
And if you haven’t Google your company lately, do it now.
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
As B2B technology companies leave the early stage of incubation and product development they often struggle with identifying the best market for their offering. Misalignment between a company’s solution and the needs of the market is the number one reason for failure. In Tim Draper’s recent post on why startups fail many of the reasons had to do with understanding the market.
- They aim too high. A successful start up identifies a narrow niche and expands.
- They go after too small a market
- They don’t charge enough, i.e. the benefit isn’t compelling
- They get broadsided by incumbents, i.e. the point of differentiation isn’t clear
To succeed companies need to simultaneously answer three critical questions:
- Who is our customer?
- What do they need that we offer?
- Why is our answer distinct and better than other options?
In a nutshell it comes down to positioning and branding - the art and science of defining the best opportunity for success. This is what we as marketers do.
Tags: B2B, positioning, technology
Posted in Marketing | 2 Comments »
Are people actually hardwired to buy guns in times of hardship? Is there some genetic predisposition that makes one person feel the distinct urge to own a gun? Are we talking some survival of the fittest, life-or-death, we need to “bunker down” and protect the fort logic? I hope not.
Since 4thquarter 2008, guns and ammunition sales are through the roof. All major US companies are seeing an increase in sales during this economic downturn. So this year, what plans do you have for your tax refund? 44-Magnum? Or, is the 45 Ruger more your flavor?
Equally alarming, is the increase in sleep-aids, antidepressant medications, fast-foods, diabetes, and bad movies. You like how we slipped in diabetes, huh?
So, as the economy helps a select few, what products are wasting their time advertising? Not one. But there are plenty of brands wasting marketing dollars in places that are far from recession-proof. What marketers must find is an emphasis on their true customers with local media—back to the basics of finding the target audience and earning their respect with sincerity and great deals. No more of this nickel-and-dime attitude! (hint, hint, wink, wink airline industry.) Need a cheap athlete or celebrity for an online campaign that’s recognizable to just the Midwest? Check out Brand Affinity’s platform! Need a localized approach to TV, Print, and Social Media? Turn to companies like Studeo Interactive or Recipe31!
Wal-Mart, an economic barometer in its own right, has the perfect business model during any recession. Beyond the cheap goods, they have a smiling face for a logo; typically become a small town center; have a great pharmacy program and sell guns and ammo to boot!
Great, just what we need—a bunch of Ambien and McDonalds loaded people buying guns and the latest DVD release, Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
Tags: ammo, Brand Affinity, economy downturn, guns, local media, movies, sales rise, sleep-aids, Wal-mart
Posted in Brand, Direct Response, Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »
One of our favorite types of clients is B2B technology for a few of reasons.
- There is always a differentiator of some type. Delivering certain functionality means trade-offs were made in development.
- The focus is often on lead generation which is quite measurable.
- The decision process is made by a natural community where numerous points of interaction exist.
Our approach is to understand who would be most interested in your product’s advantage and then surround that conversation network with the appropriate proof points.
Technology is not omnipotent, there are always weaknesses to be found in the category leader. For instance databases may optimize for transaction processing or ecommerce platforms may focus on branded sites. These decisions allow new entrants to damn them with faint praise while they focus on analytics or supporting multiple channels.
The ultimate marketing objective with any company is to clearly understand the value proposition, positioning, and personality of the brand. These three elements define the sweet spot and can be defined as follows.
- Value Proposition: states in financial terms what the buyer is getting from a product.
- Positioning: defines the market and offers the proof points as to why the product is the right choice
- Personality: outlines the manner in which the company and product portray itself.
These are not engineering issues or ‘build it and they will come’ but rather branding concepts that underpin the most succesful companies. They answer: “Why is this product important to me?”
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
As an agency, we’re often presented with products that are looking for help in finding their voice. There are several ways this may show itself:
- It may come across as another ‘me too’ product, or
- It tries to fight the incumbents on pre-established terms and ground rules, or
- It thinks it is the answer for everyone, or
- It doesn’t clearly know where it fits.
Most of the time a brand can work within an existing category through positioning and appropriate messaging. Because consumers prefer some choice there’s almost always room for a strong number 2 or 3.
But sometimes the product appears to be something new and different - deserving of the chance to create a category all its own. But what are the elements that drive a successful category? How can we identify a potential category-creator? There are three elements we look for: Ideas, Insights and Innovation.
- Idea: The product is new or different; it defies easy comparison to established brands. “It’s close to ____ but not really.” It does something different than what we would expect for the category, e.g. Curves or Online Law Schools.
- Insight: The difference has real value to a group of people. And this group isn’t likely who we thought at first. “You know who really needs this, its __________”. The ah ha moment where the right audience becomes clear; e.g. ‘law school is not just for lawyers’.
- Innovation: The functionality, delivery mechanism and business model have to be different; or at least 2 out of 3. If not, the 800# gorilla will make their category bigger by swallowing the product up. It must be painful for incumbents to compete.
These three elements often present a challenge to established brands and companies. New companies are much better suited to find their niche; although they may be challenged to execute. Established brands can execute but their legacy retards change.
Tags: Innovation, positioning
Posted in Power Windows | No Comments »
Lumenas Studios is currently producing a movie called The Legend of Santa Claus that is set to be released in November of 2010. At first one might ask, “Do we need another movie about Santa?” At least that was the reaction of some of the bloggers who read the latest Press Release announcing the movie. Going into this we knew that even marketing a movie about a character as loveable and well known as Santa would have its challenges.
Lumenas is a new client of ours and two days ago I had the opportunity to tour their studio in downtown Salt Lake City where they are hard at work. We will be managing all internet marketing and web development relating to the movie over the next two years.
The Legend of Santa Claus is a full length animated adventure film about the story of Santa’s youth. There have been many movies about Santa leaving the North Pole to deliver toys to good little girls and boys but never one about what Santa was like as a kid. So yes, this is a story about Santa but no, it’s not one you have heard before.
And therein lies the challenge in marketing this movie. Leveraging the icon of the magical man in the red suit and white beard enough to get people interested in the movie, without making them wonder why we need another movie about Santa.
But after touring the studio and seeing the dedicated people hard at work, each working in their field of expertise, I can see why we need another movie about Santa and why this won’t be like anything we have seen before. The atmosphere is one of creativity and energy and everyone involved, including me, is excited to be working on this project. I saw people painting, sculpting, animating, drawing, creating, lighting and doing what they do best, make good movies.
Over the next two years we hope to be able to give people a glimpse into the world that we saw two days ago and do our part to tell the story of the young boy who grew up to be the man in the red suit.
Posted in Buzz, Marketing | 1 Comment »
Sometimes having a great product isn’t enough to get people talking. As we can see from Tourism Queensland, sometimes you just need to give people something to talk about.
So what is everyone talking about? Only the best job in the world. Don’t believe me, here is a paragraph from the job description.
“Tourism Queensland is seeking applicants for the best job in the world! The role of Island
Caretaker is a six-month contract, based on luxurious Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier
Reef. It’s a live-in position with flexible working hours and key responsibilities include
exploring the islands of the Great Barrier Reef to discover what the area has to offer.
You’ll be required to report back on your adventures to Tourism Queensland
headquarters in Brisbane (and the rest of the world) via weekly blogs, photo diary, video
updates and ongoing media interviews. On offer is a unique opportunity to help promote
the wondrous Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.” You can read the full description here.
And did I mention that the job requires 12 hours of work a month and pays approximatley $100k US for the six month contract?
By giving people something to talk about, Tourism Queensland has:
- Received over 35,000 applications
- Generated hundreds of user generated videos on Youtube
- Generated thousands of blog mentions in many different languages
- Received tons of media coverage
- Generated lots of talk on Twitter
- Inspired many Facebook groups
Don’t just hope people will talk about your product. Give them something to talk about.
Tags: Generating Buzz
Posted in Buzz | 1 Comment »
