Found these great ads on Sherbs Blog.
technorati tags > advertising
Archive for the 'advertising' Category
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No small question to tackle! Over my career I’ve held marketing position in both B2C and B2B. And while I personally didn’t approach each role differently, a lot of people did. I typically work under the general principles of:
- Figure out what the target audience is looking for
- Build your service or product (and your collateral) around meeting that need
- Test, test, test
- Refine and launch
- Test, test, test
- Refine and re-launch, rinse and repeat
I know that’s just Marketing 101, but it’s amazing how many people skip a lot of those steps. In organizations that are not customer-centric, you’re forced to sale what you’ve got. Sometimes those products are big hits and sometimes they’re not; regardless it’s risky. You may not have the luxury of testing or refining.
The idea of business customers needing something that retail consumers didn’t was always foreign to me. Obviously it takes different types of messaging, packaging, promotions and payment structure for a B2B audience, but that’s not a big deal. That’s just good segmentation or targeting. Different audiences should receive relevant messaging. Products targeted at everyone rarely make a difference to anyone.
And obviously different marketing mediums reach the different audiences more effectively. It’s hard to market to top tier business executives with 30 second TV spots. They’re too broad and expensive to reach such a small audience. Rebates don’t work well in large organizations. If you’ve ever worked in a Fortune 500 business, you know how big of a pain it would be to process a rebate coupon with your procurement department much less American Express. Tech-heavy spec sheets or pricing schedules do not appeal to the general public. But, I contend that the thought process is the same. The deliverables, mediums and tactics may differ but you still need to determine the best message that will get this user to buy – and buy now.
It’s about getting them over the hump as quickly as possible. You have to show them what problem your particular offering solves, why you are the provider of choice, and why they should act now. Those foundations should be the core of any marketing initiative.
Seth Godin said it best, “Business to business marketing is just marketing to consumers who happen to have a corporation pay for what they buy.”
technorati tags > B2B, B2C, business, consumer, marketing, strategy,
This image from Hugh Macleod got me thinking.
Trust in a seller/customer relationship truly is paramount. Big advertising blew it – people are sick of being screamed at. Big business blew it – employment for life? The social media push is all about trust. It’s an amplified globe-shrinking Word of Mouth push. It is about customers taking back control and recognizing the power of their tribe.
I’ve seen it happen a thousand times – and I’m guilty of it myself. Once a creative firm (in-house or outside) sells a new idea; the client usually jumps right into “so how are we going to do it”. I’ve always thought they should be more concerned about ensuring their brand is elevated in the eyes of the customer instead of the technical details. I’m sure the thought process is “if I understand how it’s going to work, I’ll be able to know if it’s right”.
Most clients are focused on the wrong thing and it’s puts them at a disadvantage that is next to impossible to overcome. Focus on what your customer wants to hear (the why), not the technology (the what or how). Focus on solving the true business problem that’s prompting you to market/publicize/advertise/etc… Be brave enough to peel back the layers and write an honest creative brief. Make trust a priority.
technorati tags > marketing, branding, advertising, priorities, strategy, customer, trust
Johnnie Moore’s post on constraints got me thinking about limits that clients naturally put on projects. It always surprises me that no one likes to talk about budgets or deadlines up front. Especially considering that those two very real constraints drive 99% of all marketing projects. After all who is going to pay an agency to work forever with no goals or defined invoice amount?
The true genius of a creative person is finding the best solution available given project constraints. It’s not unreasonable to renegotiate deliverables to fit within constraints – and that goes for client expectations as well as agency desires to produce top notch materials on every engagement.
It’s hard to fault a designer for wanting to do the best job possible on each and every assignment. Unfortunately the business world is one of realities more so than possibilities. The trick is doing the best job possible under the deadline and budget restrictions. That’s hard for a lot of creative directors and producers to wrap their heads around. You have to make conscious design decisions that meet the project/brand goals while staying on time and budget.
As an agency, we have to set client expectations up front about what is possible within given project constraints. With margins thinning, it’s a fine line to walk between customer satisfaction and agency profitability. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing. The days of multi-year retainer client/agency relationships are gone. I’ve heard a lot of mega-agency people talk about retainers as if they are an open bucket of money without defined deliverables or deadlines. In reality, retainers are just multi-project engagements under contract with one agency. You still have the same constraints as one off project work; you’re just not fighting off other firms for each job.
We have to learn to embrace constraints. Use them as fuel for out-of-the-box creative thinking. Great work comes from finding unique solutions while meeting all goals (project objectives, client satisfaction, timeframe, budget, agency goals and designer expectations – probably in that order). Budget and timeframe should determine level of effort on a sliding scale. A seasoned design professional will know what is possible when they understand the constraints. After that it’s a matter of aligning client & agency expectations with those constraints and everyone involved making purposeful decisions to stay on target.
technorati tags > marketing, communications, advertising, level of effort, constraints, retainer, projects, budget, deadline, project management, designer, client, agency, creative
Q1 Online Ad Spend Up 46%, MySpace Gets 17% of June Ads · MarketingVOX
Interesting fact; Yahoo Mail & MySpace account for over 50% of ALL online advertising clicks. That’s amazing.
technorati tags > online, advertising, myspace, yahoo, spending, budget, increase
Brand Autopsy: Creationist WOM Eggs-ample
John Moore is right on. I’m not sure what made CBS thinking that advertising on eggshells made sense for their brand, but they’re trying it anyway. Just because it’s technically feasible to put a message on a substrate doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for your company’s image. WaffleHouse maybe, but CBS? I’m all for trying new things, but you have to stay in alignment w/ your business.
technorati tags > word of mouth, marketing, advertising, eggs
Great post from Olivier Blanchard on Charmin’s latest ad in the UK – there’s even a blog to go along.
It took me a little while to catch on, but it’s pretty clever. Great job on getting people to talk about toilet paper of all things. If TP can be viral, anything can!
technorati tags > advertising, viral, toilet, paper, UK, branding, blog
Still think the blogosphere is just for early adopter fringe web users?
Think again. Check out some of the stats in this article.
- YouTube traffic doubles monthly
- MySpace is bigger than Yahoo
- Blogs can drive explosive growth or outrage
- Revolutionize customer service programs
- Senior citizens are the fastest growing blog population
User generated content or free for all communication; call it what you like but blogging and social media networks have really grown into their own over the last 12 months. Companies are launching new 3o second commercials solely on YouTube instead of paying $$ for network airtime. Fortune 5oo companies use MySpace to launch products to highly influential young adults w/ billions of dollars of purchasing power.
When a customer is happy enough or mad enough to talk about your product or service you should pay attention. In fact, you should encourage the conversation. That’s what web 2.0 is all about. The tables are turned and if you’re not taking the lead you will be left behind. Your audience is too savvy. They demand control over their experience with your brand and the ability to speak out about it – good and bad.
You cannot control your brand. You can only hope to guide it’s direction by knowing who you are, who your customers are, what they want, and who you want to be to them. If you think the world is small; the gap from CEO to customer is tiny. You don’t need a million dollar research program; just start a blog and pay attention.
The truth is that they’re already talking. They always have been. Read more…
technorati tags > blog, social, networks, media, youtube, myspace, marketing, advertising, customer, branding, web 2.0
Check out this great campaign from Carmichael Lynch. It was commissioned by the AAF to educate CEO’s on the powerful cultural impact iconic brands possess. Their research showed that many CEO’s undervalue advertising contribution to corporate strategy.
technorati tags > advertising, carmichael lynch, aaf, ceo, corporate, strategy, branding, iconic
Battle of the brands and walletshare…
As Bill Gates prepares to exit the company he founded, Microsoft finds itself dumped from the US’s favourite brands… by, of all, people, Apple! Sony was ranked the best brand in the US for the seventh year in a row, according to Harris Interactive.
technorati tags > apple, microsoft, sony, hp, branding, US top brands, harris interactive
