Class to Mass, a luxury brand degradation tale

Having spent a great deal of my career in brand building and marketing, I've learned that there are some steadfast rules when it comes to creating a brand, or at least I thought so. Over the last decade, there's been a shift; it seems as though the rules no longer apply.

I suppose what astonishes me is the success of some brands - they seem to be flourishing by defying the very definition of themselves.

Good brands are born out of ingenuity, design and quality - I say they are born, but we all know it's more scientific than that, perhaps created, invented, formulated and planned would be more apropos. Being unique or the best at something often times is enough of a foundation for a good brand and that's where the planning begins. In creating a business, one ensures there is a demand, this is not always the case for a brand - some of the best brands in the world were the first of their kind... they created the category.

A good brand creates demand. A luxury brand creates more than that.

I have done some work on luxury brands, a category unto itself - marketed much differently than any other brands. Luxury brands introduce a complexity of psychological elements such as conspicuous and invidious consumption, aspirational marketing and status. It's all very heady, actually, as a marketer, it draws you in until it's all quite obvious as to how it works.

Never have the rules of marketing applied more than in luxury brand marketing. You used to be able to tell a luxury brand by the sheer fact that it was exclusive and inaccessible to the average consumer... inaccessible, by location and by price.

A true luxury brand should be something that is unattainable to all but a few that can afford it, all others aspire to own these products. This is what's called 'craving', a mindset luxury marketers try to create amongst consumers that can't purchase their product. Craving a luxury brand furthers the desire amongst other consumers. The more consumers crave a brand that they can't have the more that brand is elevated to a sought-after luxury brand.

A very good example of this is Ferrari; everyone wants one, people wear their products, play with their toys and hang their posters - but most people can't afford one, will never afford one... ever. Does this stop the craving? Absolutely not, millions of people having aspirations to own one is exactly what causes those who can afford one to purchase one. There is an appreciation of quality and design that transcends ownership but is inherent in the brand. This means that ownership of a Ferrari is really telling people that you are special - if for the only reason, because you can afford a Ferrari.

So, with that rule firmly embossed into the fabric of luxury branding, why are so many luxury products ignoring it? And, how do they continue to be successful at it? Are they still true luxury brands at all?

We've seen a shift from these luxury brands being unattainable to being not only being attainable, but on every corner. There was a time that you used to have to go to Paris to buy Louis Vuitton and New York to buy a Coach handbag. Now, luxury retail has gone from the manufacturer with a flagship location to select locations in wealthy shopping areas to the mass market by way of strip malls and shopping centres everywhere. You can get a Coach handbag as easily as a Starbucks coffee, and for nearly the same price. Coach has made their product more accessible than many lesser-priced brands.

Finding luxury brands is more common than uncommon. Let me remind you that being common is not what makes a luxury brand. Yet, people are still buying them.

Rules, schmules.

The most common offender of this rule seems to be in fashion brands such as Coach, Burberry, Lush, Armani, TAG Hauer, Versacci, Luis Vuitton, Persol, Mont Blanc, Tiffany, Fendi, Chanel, Omega,... once all highly praised for their quality, craftsmanship and/or crave factor are now available in abundance in nearly every local mall. Some still hold onto the original brand attributes such as quality, some have even gotten even better in craftsmanship (ie. Lamborghini) but this class to mass shift has really taken the wind out of the exclusive sails.

Words like proletarian, erosion and dilution all come to mind. If everything is special, nothing is special. I mean, if Ferrari made a new model that sold for $25,000, they could sell millions of them. But, they would likely cease to sell $500,000 models as their brand would be eroded and diluted to the point where nobody would notice them, nor care about them. Ferrari's would become commonplace, nobody 'craves' commonplace, especially not commoners.

You no longer have to go to Paris, London, New York, Beverly Hills or Hong Kong. What was once unattainable for most is now commonplace, yet people are still falling over themselves, opening their faux Gucci wallets to spend excess amounts on items that are no longer considered unique by even the most generous of standards.

Luxury goods promote ones status, purchasing them validates the self importance of the consumer. However, some brands are so 'in your face' and gaudy their only purpose is to tell people you have that brand. (Thinking Ed Hardy now). This leads me to believe purchasing these products is more about keeping up with the Jones' and less to do with the status the brands bring. This is true invidious consumption and this is really disheartening as it speaks to just how shallow and selfish we have become as a society.

Quality, craftsmanship and price be dammned, my neighbor has it; I want it too.

As luxury brands move from class to mass, it will open the space for more specialized, even more exclusive brands to fill the void. I wouldn't be caught dead in a Ferrari if there were 4 others on the block... which is why the Bugatti Veyron makes so much sense. A whole new level of extravagant, lavish, creative and remarkable products will enter the 'exclusive' void and begin this whole process once again.

It's the circle of life - start saving up now.

Watch for my upcoming article: Brand Whores; Harley Davidson finally draws the line on logo placement... not.

My First Book Review - Enchantment

A couple of weeks ago, I was approached by Guy Kawasaki to review his latest book, Enchantment. Now, I'm not a book reviewer, I'll get that out of the way right now as to lower your expectations on the posting you are about to (are) read(ing), so I was a bit confused about why my opinion on his book would be important or even necessary. Keep in mind, that Guy is not a friend, colleague nor family member, so to ask me to review the book was really a bit of a surprise. I'm a nobody.

As it turns out, my business blog is listed on Alltop, Mr. Kawasaki's web site that lists top blogs in various fields - Tales from the Expedition is a marketing blog and fit the bill to review a book on marketing.

But, to simply call Enchantment a marketing book would be foolish and unedu-macated. Enchantment is a book about being better, about being enchanting, about so much more than just marketing... having said that, it can all be applied to marketing. The fact that it's not just about marketing is why I believe this book will do very well - it's a book about business, relationships, marketing, leadership, sales and about being someone people will like and trust. It's about being enchanting.

I learned while reading Enchantment that approaching nobodies like myself (a lot of us actually), that the message of this book can be spread. Well, we'll see about that... I'm sure if Guy had access to our Google Analytics, he wouldn't have approached us to begin with (LOL). Also, after learning of Guy's passion for hockey, I had an obligation to review this - it's the dressing room code. With his passion in mind, I took my review copy to the site of the NHL's Heritage Classic, where my team was fortunate enough to play one afternoon following the big NHL game, for a quick photo (above) - hockey is also a passion of mine.

OK, so, here it goes, my first book review:

At first I was afraid I was petrified...

While reading the book I was overcome with the thought that the secret is out - thanks Guy for telling everyone, thanks for ruining what we had. Not to say I am enchanting myself, but Guy goes on to tell people, in point form and with some very good examples on how to be enchanting - some of these techniques I use myself (although, admittedly, I didn't know they were techniques until after I read the book). I was mortified that this information could get into the wrong hands and only calmed down after convincing myself that not all horses drink when lead to water. Even when the water is so easily presented, with the fences removed.

Also, when you consider that everyone has access to the secret eleven herbs and spices used by the colonel (thanks to the interweb) and nobody is making it, that tells me that the secret is still mostly safe. Mostly. You must consider that the internet doesn't give you point form, step by step instructions on how to perfect the recipe, not like this book does.

The tag line on the book says, "The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions" and holds true to this throughout. There are lessons learned, great examples, stories and illustrated points - explaining how to be enchanting. The onus is on the reader however, to implement the content from this book and become an enchanting person. Now, really, it can't be hard, it's practically an instruction manual - and I don't mean that in a negative way, I just mean that you can't mistake or misconstrue the information in this book - it's clear and well written. It just requires action on the readers part after reading it. Quite simple, really.

Advice like, 'apologizing is a sign of weakness', you know, the kind of advice that a father may bestow on his son while driving him to the monster truck rally, is not what you'll find in this book. The advice is real, it's genuine and Guy does an amazing job of tying it all together with some real world examples and sound rationale. You begin to see exactly why enchanting people are enchanting.

Now, I have read many business books, many stinkers, ...too many. In fact, I've read so many bad ones that I've pretty much narrowed down the field of who I listen to and take seriously to include just a handful of people who's opinions I respect and believe. I'm happy to say that Guy Kawasaki was on my shortlist, even before he approached me to review this book. I've read his other books - they're good, really good. This one is great. Enchantment is packed full of what seems to be Guy's secrets to success, it's like listening to your mentor impart their wisdom upon you. I actually felt better for reading it, like I had learned something useful. I had.

Unlike a Christopher Hitchen's book where it takes 200 pages to make a single point (no offense to Hitchen fans, but business books need to be succinct IMHO), Enchantment makes several points and explains an entire way of conducting oneself while coming in at just under 200 pages. It's light and easy-going in nature, but don't let that fool you - it packs a serious punch if you let it. I know that this is one book that will be read repeatedly by myself and recommended to trusted colleagues.

However, the icing on the cake was the last chapter, "How to Resist Enchantment" - this for me, was the clincher,... reading chapter after chapter on how to be enchanting, one begins to wonder what would happen if this information got into the wrong hands. Well, luckily, Mr. Kawasaki takes care of this with useful advice on how to be aware of and resist enchantment, or pseudo enchantment. This made me feel so much better. Thanks Guy.

OK, I guess this is the part where I sum it up and tell you to go buy the book. If you deal with people in any way shape or form, this is a must read book - buy it now.

Although I reviewed the hardcover of this book, I highly recommend the digital version, why? Read the book, you'll understand.

It's Different in Our Industry

When I hear people tell me 'it's different in our industry' or 'marketing doesn't work for my business' I know right away that they don't understand marketing. At all.

And, It makes me cringe. With that perception, they've already closed their mind to ideas and any chance of putting a proper plan in place for their marketing.

My all time favourite line was, "Marketing doesn't work for us, we have to develop relationships with our customers." Um, yeah, ...that sounds so different from every other company that I deal with... (read with sarcastic tone)

The principals of marketing are the same whether you are selling silicone for space shuttle door hatch screw holders or groceries. The only things that change are the ideas and the method to deliver them.

You have to identify who you are trying to reach and what will reach them. Understanding your customer is critical if you are to market to them. If there is a buyer or user of your service, there is a way to reach him/her - that's the function of marketing.

I know, it's a short posting, but things are different in my industry.

Leading a Horse to Water

I've been blogging since 2006. Yeah, I know... where has the time gone?

Considering how pressed for time everyone is these days - myself included, I've somehow managed to come up with over 60,000 words of content in 132 posts, spread over 2 blogs.

The topic of conversation typically centers around marketing, or with some sort of a marketing flavour. But, sometimes it's just for fun.

When writing about marketing, I don't hold back any information - while trying to explain a concept or process I try to be as descriptive as possible without writing a novel. It's important not to be superfluous, it's a blog after all and brevity is key. The KISS principle is applicable in nearly every situation, rocket surgery excluded.

With over 20 years experience, I think I've got a lot to share. And, share I do. In fact, much of what's posted is advice that customers typically pay for... and I'm giving it away here for free! No loss-leaders here folks, it's all laid out here for you to read and hopefully implement in your own business. The writing is not technical by any stretch, it's in plain speak and I try to include examples where I can.

Here are a few of the marketing posts that I think are key reading if you are looking to make improvements on your marketing:

• Your Brand Motto, perhaps the most important of all is to understand your brand.
• Meeting Expectations is so important in creating your brand.
• Understanding the importance of Branding, in general terms.
• Everyone wants to know what Works in marketing.
• Creating a memorable Brand Experience for your company.
• Do you even know what your biggest Asset is?

Now, these are just a sampling of some posts I've written over the past 4 years, take from them what you will. But, know that they are there for the reading, they're free and what you do with the information is up to you.

Direct Mail Advice

I love checking the mail. And, I get to do it up to three times a day - at work, at home, and at the post office.

There's something about not knowing what's going to be behind the tiny door - usually bills, but getting letters, cards and money are some of my favourite types of mail and make my day when they arrive.

Sometimes direct mail falls into that category too, but that all depends on how well it speaks to me - is it relevant to what I am looking for or think I need at that particular point in my life/day/week? Also, does the piece stand out visually and look like a legitimate product or service that I would use? I like a good piece of direct mail.

There's a few things that I've learned over the years when it comes to direct mail and it can be summed up pretty easy:

1. Frequency - you need to do several drops, a minimum of 3 drops with a consistently branded piece should do the trick.
2. Target - carefully select the area you want to target and only focus on the areas that you feel would be best to use your product/service.
3. Offer - don't just tell them who you are and what you do - tell them how you can do what you do right now for less or with some kind of added value.
4. Design - your mail pieces should be in line with your other advertising as well as your brand, consistent messaging and branding is important.
5. Timing - the offer you are presenting should be appropriate and relevant to the time of year that you are doing your campaign.

Without going into too much detail, those are the 5 key things to focus on for your direct mail campaign - your design team should come up with something that will stand out from the hoards of mail.

I'm a huge fan of online marketing, but direct mail has it's place and there's nothing like a tangible piece to give some products a bit of legitimacy and credit.

If you really want to take your direct mail to the next level consider building a micro-site that specifically handles the task of the offer in the direct mail pieces. For example, your call to action becomes, "visit do-something-now.com and sign up for free something today!" Now, the recipient can check out your site (no sales pressure or obligation, like a phone call might be perceived), which can answer way more questions than a post card ever could, and now provide you with contact information through a form.

Like in any other form of advertising and promotion - keep it simple. One offer, one form of contact... you don't need to clutter the piece up with info - direct them to a site for more information - the piece should be designed to do one thing, and one thing only: get the consumer to act... and they need clear directions on how to and why to.

We've done several direct mail pieces at Francomedia, some extremely successful (followed above advice to the letter) and others that were complete disasters (decided to self-deliver to save .09¢ and only got a few hundred pieces into the market) - it's surprising when clients don't follow the paid advice given by professionals. So, today the advice is free - take it and use it or ignore it.

Direct mail is inexpensive, but can be a costly endeavor if you get no results. Like anything in life, you need to do things a certain way to achieve results - not every try will be successful, but this only helps you refine the right approach. Above, I've given you 5 things to focus on that will help make your next campaign a success.

The Bottomline: Direct mail works and it works well, if it didn't people would have stopped a long time ago - you just have to follow the above free advice.

Testing 1, 2, 3....

THIS IS A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM

Growing up, we heard that droning message while watching TV at various times of the day on every channel. On Saturday mornings, the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) gave us enough time to get a fresh bowl of cereal half-way through Scooby Doo, a staple of our Saturdays until they introduced Scrappy, he ruined everything.

Although the EBS was an American initiative, we were exposed to it because we watched their TV stations, drank their Kool Aid and marveled at all the neat products that weren't available on this side of the border. As Canadians, we were a casual bystander with enough of a socialist mentality to empathize with the Russians and a strong enough capitalist desire to consider ourselves as best buddies with our friends to the south. But, the sporadic EBS tests reminded us that we weren't entirely safe sitting on the sidelines, we were far from it.

The one minute monotone message could interrupt us at any time and warn us of impending doom which heightened the experience of growing up during the cold war. Scaring the hell out of children, showing kids how to cowl under their desks and general fear mongering was the order of the day. This was emphasized in the neighborhoods with giant air raid sirens casting cold shadows across the school yards.

Looking back, it all seems so silly - after the wall came down in the late 80's and Gorbachev turned out to be an idealistic hippy, the threat quickly dissolved. But the EBS didn't. The EBS soldiered on until 1997 when it was replaced by the Emergency Alert System (EAS). Prior to the EBS there was the CONELRAD system, which Bob Dylan sings the blues about, or rather talks about in one of his songs about world war III.

The EBS expanded to include satellite radio and network news stations. The focus went from a war alert to more of an alert of national interests like natural disasters and terror threats, which has yet to happen. Events like 9/11, the Oklahoma bombing and hurricane Katrina were ignored by the EBS because network news stations scooped the story. And, with the interweb consuming all souls through social media outlets the need for a national alert system comes into question. Everyone in the world knew that Michael Jackson died within 20 minutes of him popping the last pill, with jokes circulating just as quickly... all without any help from the EAS.

Many years ago, you could reach the masses through radio which is why the CONELRAD system was employed, it was later replaced to include TV stations with the EBS for greater reach and then again later with little more reach by the EAS. These days however, internet access is rampant and TV and radio are reaching fewer and fewer numbers. With social media entrenched in amongst the masses, news of world events like the Haiti earthquake spread quickly and with surprising results - people can actually respond and offer aid. Now isn't that a better way to handle crisis than to spew out warnings to a useless and powerless audience?

I guess what I'm saying is that social media is good for more than marketing, which is where most of the emphasis is placed it seems. It's not surprising, it's no different than any other medium when it first arrives on the scene. The invention of any great new media always gets greeted with 'how can we monetize this?' Slapping ads on things is the most creative form of making money for people that don't work in creative.

Getting messages out to the masses is easier than ever, ...if it's big news.

To market something these days, it had better be big news if you want to break through the clutter.

Think about this the next time you are putting a campaign together, ask yourself - would I share this with others? Or, will it just be another innocuous droning message with nothing much to say?

What a Bunch of Tools

In the 20+ years that I've spent in the advertising and marketing field, I have come across a lot of tools.

When I was a buyer, I met with more unprepared sales people than anyone should ever have to. Good sales people are hard to find - if you found one, keep him (or her). A good salesperson knows their tools and how to use them. Arguably, the best tool a salesperson wields is their ears. The ability to listen, and I mean really listen, is the key to making a sale or progress of any kind with a client. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no sales genius, but I did learn that tip from one of the best - I worked under him (or her) long enough to see the real difference between someone who knows and understands his tools and someone who doesn't. Salespeople that can use this tool effectively are the ones that succeed.

And, like the hoards of unprepared sales people not knowing how to sell, the internet is fraught with tools that don't know how to use the tools. Or, maybe it's just that there is this really great tool and everyone can afford it. But, nobody knows how to properly use it. Actually, let's assume that is the case.

The tool is social media, and it's just that; a tool.

So many people believe that social media is the answer to their marketing problems, that it's the end all and be all of their marketing efforts. To me, I see it as the latest gold rush online - it's free to use, so anyone can do it. It's super easy and people are making millions! MILLIONS!!! If they can make millions just by using this free tool, why can't I use it to sell my crappy brand?

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It's your turn to cash in! Here's a surefire way to social marketing success online, and this is FREE advice folks, so be sure to gobble it up:

Just sign up for a Twitter account, make a Facebook page, post some crappy Youtube videos and tell everyone all about it on your blog. So, here's how you do it:

Twitter: simply follow a bunch, like thousands! - remember it's free - of people on Twitter, and most of them will follow you back. Wasn't that easy. Now you have a bunch of people following you. Now, you type your 140 words about your product and the legions of followers will soon be instantly mesmerized by your brand's offering. Told ya, it's simple.

Facebook: go into your Facebook account and click, Create Page. Answer all the fields, upload your logo and you're set. Now just sit back and watch the millions of people on Facebook become fans of your page. You know how easy that is? They are all tuned into your brand's offering now. All it takes is one person to tell another person and the rest is money in the bank - that's how social media works.

Youtube: put a tripod in the chair across from your desk, or if you don't have a tripod, use a stack of hard cover books. Mount a consumer grade camera ontop of the tripod or novels and start rambling about your brand. When you are done, post it onto Youtube, do you know how many people are on there? There's millions, and your crappy one take, poorly lit, barely audible, unprepared ramble about what nobody is interested in will surely make the Featured Videos list.

Blog: you can't go through all that effort the past 30 minutes in setting up your social marketing campain without telling people about it... why not the 3 people who read your blog each week? Posting your weak efforts onto other social marketing spaces so people will check out your other social marketing efforts is retarded. As you type Pubish Post, remember, what you are doing is filling the internet up with more useful information about your brand - you are helping millions (potentially).

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Wasn't that easy? Everyone should be doing this... oh, right: They are.

I've met so many 'social media marketing experts' in the last 6 months, that I cringe when I hear that phrase now. It's rediculous. Now, I'm sure there are some real experts in the field - in fact, I know one quite well and believe me, the years of marketing behind her make her the expert - not the tool.

Social media is just a tool, the same way a hammer is a tool. Thing is, I own a hammer, but I don't profess to be an expert framer. Brands have got to remember, social media is nothing more than a marketing tool. And, some tools are just best left for the trades to use.

What most brands don't get, is that you need to have a marketing plan, a strategy, the playbook for where you want to end up at the end of the game. I may have broken the analogy record here, but a quarterback doesn't keep going to the running play (unless it's NFL) over and over again - a number of tools must be used to tell your brand story and to communicate your offering.

Social media is not the end all and be all... it's just a tool.

Mmmm.... Peanut Butter! Part 1

Both radio and peanut butter have humble beginnings, making their big splash this side of the border. Marconi used Newfoundland to receive the first Trans-Atlantic broadcast and Edson patented peanut butter from his residence in Montreal.

Canadians are awesome. (insert smiley face emoticon here)

A number of years ago, in the grocery aisles where I grew up, there were three dominant brands available to consumers: Skippy, Squirrel and Empress.

Empress. What can I say, it was the Safeway store brand before there the invention of no name or generic products. It was a decent enough product, and half the price of the others. You knew better than to ask for allowance when there was Empress in the pantry cause things were tight if we were eatin' store brands. Quality was always good, but flavour was a bit lacking and this was true of most of the house brands, the jams that Empress made however were top shelf. Today, the Empress brand is reserved for jams only, other products along with the peanut butter moved into large tubs with lousy packaging that equal the taste.

Skippy was the fun one, it had colourful packaging, and was noticably sweeter and smoother than the others - their secret was the use of icing sugar rather than granular or liquid sugars. The packaging was marketed to kids, and as a result, it was the top pick amongst us kids. The Canada Corn Starch Company manufactured this under the Best Foods banner until it was sold to Unilever in the 1990's.

Squirrel peanut butter was a novel treat from time to time as it gave you one of the first unique packaging experiences known - when you opened the jar you were greeted with a whole peanut, sitting on the top of the peanut butter. The first scoopful was always a treat - the rest of it was so-so, mostly because it wasn't the kids first pick. I may be wrong about this, but I believe Kraft had this under their umbrella and manufactured it for many years before finally selling to Best Foods in the 1990's. CCC, AKA Best Foods, quickly liquidated many of their lines which included the unloading of Squirrel and Skippy to Unilever.

When Unilever acquired both Skippy and Squirrel, they decided the consumers only needed one peanut butter or they only wanted to manage one peanut butter with the accounts. Customers wouldn't notice, or if they did they wouldn't be vocal about it - luckily I didn't have this blog then. They did it slowly, they slowly killed off the number two seller in the category. Some companies in the food industry would die to have number 1 and number 2 sellers in a category - there certainly must have been other issues to arrive at the decision they did to nix the poor squirrel.

So, Skippy came out on top and its name would carry on down the sales trail - but how exactly would they 'off' good ole Squirrel? Well, they decided to do somewhat of a merger of the two brands - a sort of brand integration 'til the end. I actually would have advised the same tactic at the time. They merged the two brands by calling it Skippy the Squirrel and in a collaborative effort between wordmarks and fonts the slowly worked the squirrel out of the brand. It was the Skippy formula with the Squirrel peanut on the top... for a while.

Whether through customer feedback or just sheer lack of understanding of their brand legacy, they changed the formula and dropped the whole peanut. And, over time, the packaging featuring the little mascot squirrel and the name squirrel started to shrink, and each time you purchased a jar, it got smaller and smaller until one day they were gone entirely. Gone from the shelf, but not from our memories.

I used to love having a peanut butter sandwich... raspberry jam was my all-time favourite, but strawberry jam or honey worked out nicely too. And, if my dad taught me anything it's that the amount of peanut butter is at the very minimum twice as thick as the complimentary spread - dad always made the best peanut butter sandwiches, not sure if mom was spreading it thin as a means to make the jar last longer or she just didn't know any different. I never told her this fact because she would change it for sure and there would be no difference between the two - then dad's wouldn't be looked forward to as a treat.

These days, a bit of me gets disappointed when I eat a peanut butter sandwich. I get excited about the idea of a PB and J, I lay out the bread 4 up on the counter with the tops of their crusts touching. My mouth waters as I make the sandwiches, but when I take the first bite, something is different. It's not the same. Is it that I am old and loosing my taste buds? I don't think so. I think the formula has been changed ever so slightly over the years, a bit here and a bit there... enough to make my childhood treat, my comfort food, my sit back and relax snack, a distant memory.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the sandwich, it's just different. It's not the same as it once was. And, it once was great.



Kevin's helpful shopping tip: if you're looking for real jam, it should read 'jam' on the label, fruit spread is not an acceptable substitute in my book.

Steadfast and True

Business is booming right now for us. It's encouraging to know that all the hard work my staff and I have put into making Francomedia a great company has not gotten washed away or eroded with the global recession we are faced with.

Quite the opposite in fact. Despite the downturn in the economy, we have posted two record setting months; April and June. And, I think that's just the beginning.

2009 hasn't all been great though, we did operate for 2 months at a loss and 2 months of just breaking even. I was expecting 3 or 4 months of down time and although I didn't really budget for it, I managed to keep everyone employed while things got back to black.

What I didn't count on was the swell of clients coming to us from agencies that have been taking advantage of the market conditions prior to the winter. When I say taking advantage, I mean over-charging. The market turned in October, and when things get tight, the first thing many companies do is look to cut some dead weight and reduce expenses. They begin to analyze their spends a little bit.

When they see that their ad agency charged them $200 to burn a CD of their own web assets they begin to question the relationship and the value they're getting - and justly so. Soon, they begin to shop around for another agency or service provider.

We have been on the receiving end of more than a few of these companies that were looking for some 'fresh ideas' and honest billing.

Luckily, we've built a solid reputation in the market place for being very creative and we operate cleanly. Meaning we are fair and honest with all our clients. Sure, we could have taken advantage of things when times were good, but that's not in our make up - that's not who we are. Making money has never been our primary objective, we've always put the work first. 'Be creative and serve the clients needs and the money will follow' - that's what I've always believed.

It may not be the best business strategy, I understand a business needs to be profitable and make money, it's just not our sole purpose. Making money is a necessity and a benefit of what we do, our purpose is creation. At times it's tough to balance and sometimes we give clients ridiculous deals just so we can do something creative.

So, the tide is turning and our reputation is prevailing. More and more companies are coming to us and looking for some good old fashioned, honest, creative.

We are happy to oblige.

Contesting

Contests are a great way to promote your product, service or brand - if done correctly.

In any marketing, be it an advertisement, a web page, a vehicle design, apparel, logo or a contest, the messaging and purpose has to be relevant and on brand. What you do in anything related to marketing must not stray from your brand motto or your brand's core beliefs.

Recently, we have been putting a contest together for our tiny, little boutique creative shop. The contest has a purpose - to promote the win of a creative award for the design and concept of a custom envelope and stamp. And, the contest is relevant - to win the contest, you have to collect the very thing that we won the award with - our custom stamps.

Structuring the contest this way informs people about the win and gets them to notice and focus on the envelopes and stamps that may have been background noise up until then. Our goal is to promote to our customers and people who deal with us that we are an award winning creative shop that specializes in out-of-the-box thinking and design.

You can read about this contest here.

The goal of a contest is not to give away a specific prize but to promote your offering or brand. If the prize does this, that's great but not every business can do this. In our case, we are awarding lunch for the winner and eleven of their closest friends, delivered by our staff. This will award the winner, but also allow for interaction with our staff and their staff.

You want to give something away that is meaningful and/or has some relevance.

Immersing people in your brand and having them engage with it makes for a successful campaign. Just having people enter to win with no interaction can be misguided unless you are collecting data to follow up with at a latter date.

At the end of the day, people need to remember what your offering is and what you do. When planning a contest, think about this carefully, will your contest accomplish this?

I think ours will.

The Marketing Platypus

Everyone has heard the analogy that a camel is a race horse built by committee. If a committee builds a camel, business owners who want to do things themselves usually build a platypus.

There is no more definitive proof of this than when you check your mail at the end of a busy day and see the unaddressed admail in your mailbox. You see some of the most unprofessional misfirings in marketing. Many times, I bring these into the office for the entire group to see (and get a good chuckle). Nothing says home made logo, like a home made logo.

A platypus isn't good for much if you're competing with race horses, or even with camels for that matter. This sounds contradictory, but in marketing, sui generis is usually what you are after, but being unique in the amateurish and nonsensical arena won't get you on top. There are times when an unpolished or kitschy approach can work for marketing, but this takes planning and strategy, not just blind luck and a duck beak.

A while back I wrote a blog called, Heed the Advice, it spoke to the fact that you have to listen to the advice of experts. This came from a lesson that I learned and was not meant to be an endorsement by any stretch, unlike this posting (insert smiling or winking emoticon here).

There are some things you might like to experiment with or do as a hobby, all too often we see companies that treat their marketing this way. Marketing is not a hobby, you either live it and breath it or you don't. Having said that, there are some business owners have a knack for it, understand the importance of marketing but, they know when to bring experts to the table to execute or refine their ideas - there's no coincidence that these are the very same business owners that are successful in what they do.

If you are serious about growing your business, hire a marketing professional - but before you do, make sure they can make race horses. Have a look at their track record, make sure they can build successful campaigns and bring creative approaches to the table.

At the end of the day, we build race horses for customers. Sometimes we end up with a camel but never a platypus.

From the opening credits of Dogma, a film by Kevin Smith:

Remember: Even God has a sense of humor. Just look at the Platypus. Thank you and enjoy the show.

P.S. We sincerely apologize to all Platypus enthusiasts out there who are offended by that thoughtless comment about Platypi. We at View Askew respect the noble Platypus, and it is not our intention to slight these stupid creatures in any way. Thank you again and enjoy the show.

Marketing is like Self Help

Most people in their life have found themselves at one of those self-help type seminars put on by people like Steven Covey, Tony Robbins and the like.

And, most people walk away from these events energized and full of hope that they can be a better person, or at least remember 1 of the 7 important things they have heard. They learn 'tips' and 'tricks' on how to be more focused, more congenial, more positive, more everything.

The thing is, none of this positive self-help is news to anyone in the audience - there is nothing revolutionary being said and everyone knows it all ready. For the most part, it's common sense stuff. It's a good reminder of stuff we already know to be true but perhaps aren't acting on.

Whether it's the new infusion of thought, or the 12 coffees consumed during these seminars, people seem to come out of these seminars charged up and ready to change their lives for the better. And, for a couple of days they may even implement some of the philosophy and teachings. But it is soon forgotten because the two things they remembered to do, didn't really make an impact so they stop doing them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to downplay the importance of self-help - it's good stuff, and we all need reminders now and then.

My point is this; these seminars teach many 'tips' and 'tricks' to be a better person, and doing one or two of them really will not make that big of difference in any one person's life - it's when they start doing several or all of these things that you start to see improvement. If you are committed to it and stick to it.

And, folks, that is exactly how marketing works.

Marketing success is the sum of its parts. It's not just doing a newspaper ad, or re-vamping your web site or cleaning up your logo. Everything must be firing on all cylinders if you truly want results. Nothing should be overlooked. Any one part of an automobile is not an automobile - it doesn't take you to point B until everything is is assembled together.

Remember, everything is marketing.

If you truly want to create a memorable or remarkable customer experience everything must be looked at, everything must be on brand and true to your brand motto. For when everything you do and say, reflects the core message or is relevant to your brand, that is when you are really marketing - then it just becomes a game of promoting.

So many companies believe that their logo is their brand. Let me tell you this, people don't interact with your logo, they interact with you or your staff. They go through your web site, hopefully you do a job in immersing them in your brand by giving them a great experience in your store or office. The logo just helps them remember their experience - the logo should reflect the brand and set the expectation, as in all your marketing.

What you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) is used a lot in our industry, mostly for printing and proofing. In marketing, you must step back and look at your business through a customers eyes. Their perception is reality. What they see is what they are expecting to get. You set the expectation in many ways, think about what a dirty logo'd vehicle tells people that have never dealt with you. Everyone has seen third rate business cards, the impression and perception formed immediately (first impressions) is that your firm is as crappy as your business card.

Cleaning your company vehicle and getting professional calling cards are not earth shaking ideas. In fact, common sense already told you that these were good ideas before I even told you. But, if you don't implement them they won't help. Now, on their own they are not going to save a company, or increase profits, or double your sales - they are just two little things on a list of hundreds.

The bottom line is, you need to follow through on everything to be better, in life and in marketing.

Remember, marketing is everything.

The Time it Takes

Doing a good job takes time - doing a lousy job takes no time at all.

It's easy to go through the motions but that's not what I'm about. I'm a marketer and slapping things together doesn't help anybody. Things need to be thought through, in concept, in planning, in design and in execution.

I recently heard Roger Grant from Identicor speak on the subject of branding and naming (he is one of the only professional name generators in the country) and he said, "have a look through a trade magazine at all the ads... it's more about fitting in than standing out." I thought this was brilliant. It really sums up what we're about, standing out.

Life isn't middle school and your brand isn't trying to fit in - you need to get noticed and you want to be talked about. Hell, using that analogy, a brand with pimples might make you a household name.

Being different, or remarkable is what any good marketer does - we help you stand out.

If you really want marketing that helps your brand stand out and generates engagement then you have to understand that it takes time + planning + experience. I am always willing to spend the time needed to ensure that the right ideas are put forward, and sometimes even invest time and money into projects that I am passionate about.

If you want band-aid solutions and knee-jerk reactionary planning, I'm not your guy. I don't settle for mediocrity and I won't dedicate time to something I don't believe in.

Great brands and good marketing don't just happen and they're not born of a single event, but rather through planning, thought and design.

When Marketing Backfires

On two separate occasions Direct Energy sent a solicitor to my door to get me to combine my gas and electric bill onto just one bill.

Sounds like a pretty good idea, but the pushy people (actually downright rude) and tactics they employed to explain this left me feeling less comfortable with Direct Energy as a provider of any service.

Just to clarify things - I was happy with the status quo, meaning two bills weren't bothering me and I was happy with both Direct Energy for my gas and Enmax for my electricity.

As a rule, I don't like door to door solicitation. But, I try to put on my least bothered face and listen for a few seconds, at least until they get their pitch out. The fella Direct Energy sent asked if I was paying two bills and I said yes, then he asked me to get them.... 'scuse me? I'm two thirds through Dancing With The Stars!

I explained I wasn't interested in doing this at my door step and asked if they had a web site. Then I could check things out when it was convenient, or not at all (that's convenient too).

The salesman pushed for a close saying today's the last opportunity to save $20 per month on my bill and that all of my neighbors have signed up tonight and I'm the only hold up. At this point, I said I'm not interested in saving $20 per month (I just want to get rid of him now). He responded with, and I kid you not, "that's dumb, everyone of your neighbors has signed up...". Now aggravated, I ask him to please leave my property and that I will be closing the door.

He leaves, I go to the web site to complain. I contact Direct Energy and try to complain but am told that the person that was at my door was from a different company of the same name. Hmmm.

Fast forward two months.

A lady comes to the door, says she's with Direct Energy. I say "Oh good, the last person you sent was very rude." To which the fast thinking lady responds with, "I'm the supervisor, I can help you."

So far so good I'm thinking, but then she asks to see my two energy bills - it's a sales pitch. I politely turn her down, she wasn't as relentless and rude as the previous chap, but still a bit pushy. Pushy enough to cause me to act.

The next day, I do a web search to see who their competitors are in the combining bills market. As it turns out, Enmax has a product called EasyMax that does this very thing. Now I've heard of EasyMax before but didn't understand what it was (either I wasn't listening because I was satisfied with the status quo or they didn't market it effectively to me). I signed up right there and then.

So, Direct Energy tried bullshit marketing and sales tactics to get all of my energy bill business and ended up losing the half they had in the first place.

I guess their marketing worked - it got me to take action on a problem that I didn't know I had. It just kind of backfired on them. Direct Energy lost my business because of their marketing - a result that was the exact opposite of what they had planned for.

So, if you're going to learn something from this, think of this old saying, "you attract more bees with honey than with vinegar". And, remember, the people you are marketing to are people too and they will likely respond and react the same way you might... treat people with respect.

What Works?

Everyone wants to know what advertising or marketing works, and rightly so, they want to invest some money in their brand so they can reap the rewards that extra sales and profits bring.

So, what's the answer? What does work?

When it comes to advertising and marketing... everything works. And, it's not the size, it's how you use it.

You've probably seen big campaigns that front line staff don't get behind and they never seem to take off. That's because advertising on it's own can be ineffective - your advertising sets the expectation - when the customer makes contact the brand, you better be what they expect (or better) - otherwise you are throwing away your money.

I always stress continuity, with my staff and with my customers. Having continuity is important for the story of the brand to be told and for expectations to be met.

It's like this:

Advertising and marketing set the expectation. This is done through a brand promise which is set forth in ads, signage, identity, decor etc. Consumers see this promise and decide whether or not to engage with your brand. This decision is based on fact and emotion - your advertising needs to prey and deliver on both.

Staff and product deliver the expectation. This is done through interaction with employees (or other peoples employees) and hands on experience with your product and/or brand. When the consumer decides to engage with your brand, they become a customer. If what you've promised in your brand promise is not delivered then you have lost a repeat customer. The ability for your brand to grow past a single transaction is difficult and requires more advertising to get single transaction business.

So advertising works. If you have a good brand strategy, you can milk every ad for more than a single transaction. But that takes continuity and good marketing sense.

Learn why your customer uses and trusts your brand and you will better understand their expectation... even though you have been setting it, you may find the results differ from even your own expectations.

So, when it comes to your advertising and marketing - make sure the carpet matches the drapes.

Marketing in Las Vegas

Leaving for Las Vegas in a couple of days... I enjoy the absurdness of this weird and tacky place and try to check my conscience at the boarding gate on departure.

There is no place on earth (that I've heard of) quite like Las Vegas, everything is done to extreme. It's extravagant, wasteful, reckless, care-free, casual, exploiting, unnecessary, immature, racy, ludicrous, seedy, flashy, dangerous, unnatural, fake, delusional, perverse, tempting, profane, chaotic, aberrant, ferocious and carnal.

And I love it.

The part I love best is they market these 'features', these differences, these experiences for what they are. It's Sin City after all, and you've got a lot to live up to with a name like that. Remember, you can't fake different.

There is no more profound experience than Las Vegas. And, it is exactly what's promised by the advertising. They create and set the expectation and deliver by the plane load.

I will take with me a voracious appetite for the things hinted at above and a giant note pad.

What can I say, I appreciate (and succumb to) great marketing.