Marketing Wisdom

There are many different kinds of presentations that you see in the business world today. PowerPoint, a speech, a pitch, collateral, and so on.

But what did we remember about them? Anything?

You were sent to hear this presentation, either internally or at an event (or somewhere), and did they impress you? Did they gain your attention? Hey, even a sales pitch is a presentation!!!

How many times did we fall asleep? Have to stab ourselves in the leg with a pen to keep awake?

If you have never figured it out, it is the person giving the presentation, and not usually the content of the presentation, that keeps our attention.  The person actively got you involved – either by asking questions, by being personable, by interacting with you.

When we give presentations, we are trained on quite a few things, but, the first and foremost is to get the audience to interact!!!  Either by asking questions of the audience (or feedback) or getting the audience to particpate (by calling on companies or divisions of companies to give the answer).

Get them involved – make them stay awake. 

There was one presentation that I attended, almost 20 years ago, and during the presentation, the speaker would throw potatoes (raw) to people who answered her question correctly. EVERYONE wanted a potato after the first few rounds.  They stayed attentitive through the whole day.

You know what they got at the end of the day? Nothing.  The speaker said “I have given you a start in XYZ (what the presentation was about) and a start on your dinner tonight”.  What a let down, but, wow, did she have our attention the whole time!!!

An Email Name

What’s in an email name?

No, not your name, but, the portion of the address after the “@” symbol. 

You have clients who have an address with xxx@aol.com or xxx@yahoo.com, right?  You worked for a start-up/small business that uses those free email clients, right?

What is your perception of an address like this? Mine is that “with an address like that, people think you aren’t serious, that you work out of your home, that you don’t have time to form a company/business, and that you are using your child’s free email account” (or that your child set up your email account).  

After I inform people that this is what the general market thinks, they are shocked, and don’t believe it. 

Show your clients email address’ from small business’ in your area and ask them which ones they “take” or consider more seriously – those with a company name (like mine with blainep@xbrand.biz) or those with an xxx@aol.com or xxx@yahoo.com domain.

Once they realize how “bad” they look to the general audience and their initial shock and disbelief has worn off, explain to them the cost of setting up a company email (less then $100 a year).  

If they can’t afford that, then they shouldn’t be a client of yours. If they don’t want to do it because they know better, then, they also shouldn’t be a client of yours.

How much business is lost because people have this perception?

How many people think they are dealing with amateurs when they contact a company like this?
Change your email address (or their address) so that they become a professional company.

Presentations

I’m sure that I spoke of this before – maybe in parts, here and there – but, wanted to bring it up again.  Was reading an article the other day on how to make a presentation (like PowerPoint).

It amazed me how still, to this day, after years and years, people still don’t know how to make and do a presentation. I don’t want to discuss how a presentation should be made or not; I want to discuss the other elements of a presentation.

What other elements?

In a past posting, I mentioned that I do NOT do presentation when I go on press or analyst tours. Why? Because I want the other individual focused on me, not on anyone or anything else. When they are looking at me, I know when they are paying attention and when they are not.

Was at a job interview the other day, and one of the questions I was asked was: “If, in the middle of your presentation, you notice that your audience is not paying attention as attentively as they should. What would you do? a) Start over, b) Ask if they need me to repeat anything, c) Ask if I am going to fast and they are lost, or d) Ask if they don’t understand anything”.

What amazed me, if you have done over 50 presentations in your life, is that there was no “e) Skip ahead to the meat of your subject, worry about the details later”.

When I lived in Israel, I was reminded that what I had always been doing was welcomed, as I always would present “e)”, which the the Israeli culture demands. Get to the meat of the subject and cover the details later.  In other words, get to the strategy and go over the tactics at a later time/date.

I know, I know, it depends on your audience – a CEO wants strategy, where Product Managers want tactics first and then strategy. In other words, the CEO wants “what”, and the PM wants “how & when”.

I know I am rambling again, but, I am a member of a board of advisors for Dell Computer. They send presentations out, from one of three individuals. Two of them present as if I am a PM, while the other presents as if I am a CEO – AND, that same individual, in later slides, gives the tactics if I have further questions or issues.

Okay, an analogy. If you have kids, or nephews, nieces, etc., you probably have been in the position of one of the following:

1) “Owww, it hurts, it hurts. Help me.”

2) “I bit the inside of my mouth. It hurts. Help me.”

Which one would you prefer? Of course, #2. Gets right to the point, huh?

To close this, back to them paying attention or not. Do presentations when you have a technology that can’t be seen with the naked eye, or have to display large images, sketches, etc. to numerous individuals. When I have one or two people that I have to give a presentation to, I do not do a presentation. When more then three, then, do a presentation.

How far should you go with Social Networks?

There is a lot of discussion about “if” or “when” a company/business should start a social networking site.

A social network is a place where people can come and a) post comments, b) read stuff about your business/company, c) speak with others, real time (IM) about anything, and d) post comments.

Why do I have the same points twice – because by having a site like this, people can post positive as well as NEGATIVE comments about your business.  As I stated in a previous post, negative comments are good to have, as it is instant feedback on areas that need improvement, as well as showing that you believe in freedom of speech. 

You can always remove any negative comments (but then, why have a social networking site?).

This is the issue of having a site like this. The blogs, you can control.  The content, you can control. But, by allowing your customers to speak with each other and post what they think, that is, again, the issue of having this technology on or as your website.

Think it through before you put up a social networking site. It does cost some money, but, the damage can be incredible if you don’t watch yourself (and the site!). 

Let’s take the dogfood recall as an example.  Would you, if you were one of the major brands, have fared better if you had a comment area on your website? Would it have been beneficial to have a blog so your customers can read about what you are doing?

As all of you know (if you are a follower of this blog), I absolutely believe that it would have been beneficial.

The first would have been to issue apologies through the blog.

The second, would have been to issue next steps through the blog.

The third, would have been to get customers to talk to each other about what they are going through with their pets.

And the fourth, to respond to the customers about their concerns. Yes, you would have had customers say “I will never buy from you again”.  But, if you were the dogfood manufacterer BRAND, then, you could have laid out next steps on how you will never allow this to occur again (we didn’t see that anywhere, did we?).

Think it through if you are going to get into a social site – I think it is worth it, no matter what, but, sometimes, your management may not think so.

Was reading an article about how tv ad’s are going to be replaced by internet advertising as “the” place where all the money is going to go (for your marketing dollars).

I have to disagree. Yes, internet advertising is definitely a place that you “have to” advertise on and that you need to get those eyeballs to see your brand. But, how effective has it been? Look at all the research (and articles) about how billions are being spent (and much of it being wasted) on internet advertising and how advertisers don’t understand why there isn’t any ROI.

I don’t want to go into all of that, I just want to mention that tv advertising won’t be dissappearing – as long as there is March Madness, the Superbowl, Dancing with the Stars, and so on, all on tv, money won’t stop going in that direction.

Until advertisers learn HOW to advertise (& communicate) to their web-surfers, the money will always go to the TV…and don’t be surprised if you continue to see money leaving the web and going back into more traditional advertising.

NOTE: Yes, there are millions of teens on Facebook, yes, there are millions of potential purchasers of product on ESPN’s site, and so on (especially being forced to “watch” ads before watching video or playing a game or whatever). I, like so many others, don’t look at an ad and search for the “skip” button (if forced to see an ad) faster then the ad can be ran.

Don’t forget TV – yes, Tivo has hurt the ad business, but, remember, if your ad is upbeat and on-target, people will watch it.

GREEN!!!!

You know, you see everyone advertising and marketing that they are a “green” company, that they are going green, that their product is green, that the company is green, and so on and so on.

This is marketing at its purest.  A perception exists that the world is ending (you can debate what you believe on an environmental blog/web site, not here), the media consistently “hypes” that the world needs to go green, and you, yes you, the marketer, are jumping all over it.

Everyone wants to contribute (not to greenhouse gasses, but to saving the planet), so, if “I” can buy a product that was made in a “green” fashion, or buy from a company that has gone “green”, I am helping the environment.

I have wanted to write about this for quite some time, because I am watching how companies and products are “adapting” the perception out there.

If you don’t think that “global warming” isn’t marketing, then, you shouldn’t be in marketing. Again, the marketing campaign behind this “movement” is truly marketing at its best.

By the way, have you noticed how Wiki’s are taking off? How everyone is now using one? Do you remember my entry about Wiki’s last year? Where I stated that Wiki’s are perfect for corporations and people who need to share info, to contribute to other divisions, and how it should not be exposed to the public? Well, if you are following any of the news on Wiki’s and how companies are jumping all over them and using them to help themselves, it will prove that I was right, again (lol – if any of you know me, I don’t have a big ego, but, this time, I had to brag a little about it).

Wiki’s are WONDERFUL, in a corporate setting, for a corporation. But, sharing that info to the outside world and letting outsiders (who don’t know your business) comment and change your information is (or I guess, was) a big mistake. Use them, they are wonderful tools (but remember, tools are best used by those who can use them).

What’s in a brand name?

If you go out and start following (or researching or studying) brands, you quickly become overwhelmed.  Of course, Coca-Cola, Disney, and Ford are brought up in every study or article you read, and, I’m sure, alot more of them that you and 100 other people can name.

I don’t want to talk about those guys.  I want to talk about the guys that have strong brands, IN their industry, and are content to keep it that way (why does National Semiconductor or RedHat need to have an international, consumer aware, brand? They don’t – they let the market that they are in make their brand).

Too many times in my career have I come to a company where they want an International brand, recognized the world over.

How many times have I sat down with them and said ”Why?”. 

For example, when I worked at M-Systems, a semi-conductor company, they came up with a consumer product that they wanted to market to the world. No one knew who M-Systems was (except in the semi-conductor world), so, how can you enter the consumer market with no name AND with a name that is technology friendly, not consumer friendly?

We came up with a more friendly name for the division and the product (not M-Systems), and marketed the name around the world. Over two years, the name became recognizable, NOT by the consumer (which is not what I wanted), but, by the buyers of our products (i.e. retail chains).

Because the name became recognizable – there wasn’t a month that went by in the first two years that at least 3 magazines/webzines weren’t covering it – they knew they had to have it.

Which, in turn, boosted revenue at M-Systems by 700%.

Originally, the CEO wanted the brand to be known world-wide, like Microsoft. With a budget of less then $500K. Riiiggghhhttt.

But, with $500K, the brand became recognizable by the people that mattered most to M-Systems, the buyer.

The last year that I was at M-Systems and was marketing this product, we had a budget of $1M (after five years of incredible growth) with sales of over $500M.

Branding is, in my terms, awareness. Making your target audience aware that this product is out there (which we did through a brand – not associated with semi-conductors, but with consumers (even though the consumer was rarely exposed to the brand)).

When you are considering “building a brand”, there are many different approaches.  Don’t give up to easily, as the budget can be minimal, or there is alot of resistence from the executives or board.  Stick to your guns – understand your audience and market that you are attacking, and build the brand for them – you may get lucky and the brand may bleed into other markets – but, first and foremost, you will increase revenue and profits!!!

Let the awareness of the brand build your brand – especially if you have a limited budget.

What’s in a brand?

What’s in a brand and the politics that may be behind it.

I have wanted to write this down for some time and am finally going to do it.

I worked for a little known company (now no longer around), called Olympus Image Systems Inc. (OISI) in 1994 – 1995. They were a subsidiary of Olympus Japan (mostly known for their film camera’s).  We were given a small budget and one year to justify our “life” – i.e. sell enough products to become self-sustaining.

I was the product manager and was given various products to try and “market/sell” to the U.S. market.

We were first given a Magneto Optical (MO) drive (which we launched the same month that the Iomega Zip drive came out). This was not very successful – even though it was a much better product, but, was twice the cost.

With the MO drive, I learned that price truely did drive sales, and not necessarily having a better product.

After this, we were given a CD-R drive (which we sold for $6000).  This also failed – yes, we sold some, but, not enough for Olympus Japan to keep us in the business; the MO drives did better).

And then, we were given our final product, with Olympus Japan saying “Here is your final product, if you can’t sell this, then, we will shut you down”.

It was a digital camera.

We were very excited, because we knew that this would be a big hit in the U.S. market – but, we had one problem – a very BIG problem. Olympus America did NOT want us to use the Olympus brand when selling it and we could NOT use their existing sales force that already sold into camera stores.

Olympus America had a large revenue stream from its film camera sales and did not want to lose any of that to digital camera’s (they were on a different P&L then we were).

So, we at OISI had to come up with a sales force and a brand that we could sell this under. What we came up with was having a distributor in Boston sell the digital camera’s under their name. Their name was Camedia.

Within a few months, we could not get enough digital camera’s from Olympus Japan, as everyone we received, we sold (to Camedia, who then sold to the general market).

Olympus Japan now recognized that OISI had a product that was selling and profitable – but, it no longer wanted us on their books.  They decided to shut us down and roll the staff and products into Olympus America.

Olympus America, when hearing this (and very upset because the digital camera was eating into their film camera sells), had to agree to the merger, but, had a problem – they now had a new brand of digital camera’s, which did not have the Olympus brand name on them.

Olympus America ended up buying the name from Camedia (for a hefty sum).

This is why, if you are ever shopping for a digital camera, you see the Camedia name on the Olympus products.

Because Olympus America did no research on digital camera’s (and that film camera’s were on their death-bed), they chose not to allow their brand to be shared, and thus now have a name (brand) on their camera’s that does not make 100% sense.

But, now, I hope you do understand the “sense” as to why they have this name.

We failed in part because we did not convince Olympus America that it was unwise to not let us have the Olympus brand, but, looking back on it, the blame was small on us, as we were going up against a company that had sold film camera’s for over 30 years and it did not want to “change”.

So, when launching new products, think it through. Your Brand has equity and can be used to make a success of new products.

By the way, the MO drive and CD-R were both marketed under the Olympus name, but, because they weren’t competing directly with other existing products (at Olympus America), it was okay.

Branding

Recently, we were part of helping a mid-size company re-brand itself, as its technology was changing from what it was for the past 10 years to a new technology (but, in the same market).

The organization already had an internal branding division (called a Mar/Com team) and thought they “knew” how to re-brand the company. After months and months of work by outside agencies (which we were one of) and hundreds of thousands of dollars, the company decided to go with what their internal division came up with.

The company was headquartered overseas and was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, with the symbol being TECH (this is not the real stock symbol, but will suffice to show how branding can go horribly wrong).

The name of the company (what it was for the past 10+ years) was ABC, Leaders in Technology, Inc (this is also not their real name).

The internal division decided to not change the NASDAQ symbol, which was TECH.  But, the company, as previously mentioned, was changing its direction from technology to consumer goods. So, for the 10+ years it was on the stock exchange, the name of TECH meant something – to be exact, it meant and stood for the technology that they were in. So, investors and investment analysts saw no change in one of the most fundamental of re-branding efforts – it stayed the same.

The company (and internal branding division or Mar/Com team – which, by the way, understood the English language only in a rudimentary way) decided to make the next two changes to their existing brand, thus, insuring that the world market would understand their new markets and direction (again, it is good to remember that nothing was changed at NASDAQ):

• They decided to remove the “Leaders in Technology” from the name of their company “ABC, Leaders in Technology, Inc.”.  Now the name of the company became ABC, Inc.
• They also decided to make the name of their company in small letters, abc, Inc.

Now, on all their brochures, press releases, financial statements, etc., it looks like this:

“abc, Inc. announced to today a new car for the working mom. It not only gets….”

Every brochure, sign, etc. begins with the incorrect English being used; i.e. starting a sentence without capitalizing the first letter.

Because the company devoted so much time and money to the effort, and it was thought up from their internal division, they have not realized that they are committing a major error in the English language, as well as remaining to investors what they were before they re-branded themselves.

Every time a person, who has any skills of the English language sees a booklet, their web-site, etc., they all think “oh, they have a typo”. 

The company did not “announce” their new brand either to the markets – but, just started putting out collateral with their new name on it (talk about confusion in the market place). By the way, they did not want to spend the $200 it would take to put out a press release or the $3000 to do a direct mail to all their customers and accounts informing them of this change (after they spent $100,000′s already).

I even recently overheard someone speaking about abc.  Here is how the conversation went:

“Are you aware of the new product from ABC?” said person one.

“No, who is ABC?” said person two.

Person one responded with, “You know them, the company that doesn’t know English and spells their name all in small letters?”

“Oh yeah, what were they thinking…” and the conversation turned from their new product to how they don’t know English.

I hope that you understand the lesson here – that companies (small to mid-size) should be known for their technology or product or service, not their name and brand.

A brand should compliment their product line, not detract from it.  The brand will come naturally as the company grows – who knew what Coca-Cola was 80 years ago? or IBM? or even Microsoft? With time and the correct marketing, the brand will emerge. 

abc, Inc. made a fatal mistake which will continue to keep them flawed, they did not listen to the cultures existing in the market place (which the various agencies all pointed out).

To recall or not to recall – WHAT DO WE DO???

By now, everyone knows about the petfood killing pets.

And, everyone is now saying – why aren’t the petfood “brands” doing more? Why is it all coming down to the manufacturer that has to do everything and not the brand? Why aren’t the brand names doing something for the pet owners?

The debate is just heating up and I’m sure that there will be many case studies done in colleges around the world on what was done, what should have been done, and how it could have been done better.

I’m sure that you are surprised that the brands haven’t done more – I am.

Here are incredible brands, known very well, doing nothing.

So, here is my case study:

1) Own up to the mistake and apologize – publicly.
2) Make restitution to the pet owners – the manufacturer is out millions and millions of dollars, but, the brand can only lose it’s image (which, of course, also affects the bottom line) – so, to provide a $1000 or even $10000 to the 20 pets that have been proven to have died from this trajedy is nothing, compared to saving the brand.
3) Be the FIRST to come forward (see #1) – don’t be the last. This almost reminds me of a surreal movie, where the first one to step forward will be killed (where I believe the first one to step forward will be applauded).
4) Immediately come out with a recall of ALL of your products from that category. I have a pet and we feed them IAM’s wet food – so, if I was CMO at IAM’s, I would pull all of the IAM’s wet food from every store and replace it (of course, I would inspect all food coming back and destroy the bad).
5) Get out front and discuss this – get on all the TV programs – discuss what happened, and talk about what we are going to do to correct it. What we are thought we did right (i.e. safety and quality control).

It really isn’t that hard. It makes sense to let the food manufacturer stand out there, on their own and die – which they are going to do anyway. But, again, as a pet owner, I had questions about the “brands” quality and caring.  As I’m sure that there are millions of others (pet owners) that have questions also.

The one thing, ONE THING that you have as a company, that must be protected at ALL costs, is your brand. To stand to one side and let something else affect it is not correct. You, as a future or current CMO or Marketing Executive, should NOT allow something like this to happen.