Army marketing tactics
2007-11-29 16:21:02
I saw an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal today. According to the article, the U.S. Army is providing a new program called the “Army Advantage Fund.” It seems that this program is offering new recruits $40,000 (the LA Times reported $45,000) towards purchase of a house or the creation of business - upon completion of their service. The article went on to say that the program is an effort to convince parents and other “influencers” that the army is wise choice for young people.
This seems pretty desperate to me. In fact, it reeks of bribery. Meanwhile, the rest of tax-paying America is picking up the tab. Not only of the massive costs this new program will undoubtably incurr, but also the continuing costs involved in promoting this program and others. According to the WSJ, the Army’s advertising budget alone has increased from $121M in 2003 to $174M last year.
So while this latest marketing tactic is a nice attempt at a Malcolm Gladwell/
Read more: tactics
Will it Blend? Viral Genius…
2007-11-28 01:06:17
Is there any better example of a viral video campaign than the Will it Blend
? series? If you haven’t seen them, take a look. Here are three of my favorites:
These videos are pretty near perfect. They’re funny. They’re creative. Best of all, they make the product the star of the show. (And yes, they appeal to the side we all have that likes to wreck stuff.)
If you go their website, www.willitblend.com, you’ll see that they haven’t missed a trick. You can get Will it Blend? shirts and DVD’s&hellip
; suggest something to blend… and of course, buy a blender. This is genius. Pure genius.
Read more: Viral
Showing a flaw - Buckley’s Cough Syrup
2007-11-27 22:24:41
Listening to the radio today, I heard a very interesting ad. It began with an irate customer calling a cough syrup company. He complained that the cough syrup tasted horrible - likening it to a public portapotty (does anyone really know what those taste like?) and an old tire. The customer service representative asked - clearly unconcerned - if the customer still had his cough. “Um… No,” he mumbled. The rep warmly thanked him for calling… followed by a voice-over saying, “Buckley
’s cough syrup. It tastes awful, and it works.”
It’s an interesting approach to selling cough syrup, but it appears to work - because - for one - it gets people talking. “Hey, have you heard that weird cough syrup ad?” But it is also effective in that it increases the believability of Buckley’s more attractive claims. People automatically become suspicious when a company prattles on and on about how wonderful their product is. So when B
Read more: Cough
Brand image - Microsoft vs. Apple
2007-11-26 08:18:36
This hilarious video shows Apple
’s and Microsoft
’s stark difference in brand image:
Apple is absolutely genius when it comes to marketing their products. It’s really hard to find a better example of branding done right.
But at the same time, is Microsoft’s approach completely wrong?
I mean, it would be downright stupid to try to mimic Apple. Try as Microsoft might, there would be no chance of displacing the position Apple has. Obviously, Microsoft needs to create their own positioning.
It seems to me that they’ve done that fairly well - even if a little clumsily.
Apple is sleek, modern, minimalist - almost sensual. Rather than trying to compete with that directly, Microsoft has positioned themselves as a company for the everyman… simple, practical, and effective. That seems to be the best approach, considering the marketing genius of Apple they’re up against.
I’m not saying Microsoft is perfect. I think they’ve dropped the
Read more: Brand
Disney, binoculars, and marketing
2007-11-25 12:48:20
When I was in Florida this past week, I spent a couple days in Orlando. On one of the evenings I went over to Downtown Disney
. Really a neat place, if you’ve never been there. There appears to be a lot to do. Shopping… entertainment… restaurants. But I was there by myself, so I basically just walked around. (Well, that and hung out at the Irish pub.)
I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but Disney is great at creating a sort of Utopian society. I hate socialism, but in Disney’s case, it works. It gives everyone a sense of inclusion. (Of course, the irony is that Disney is one of my favorite examples of great capitalism… but that’s another story.)
Anyway, so I’m walking through the streets in Downtown Disney… just looking around. I couldn’t help but notice what a great job they did to create that Utopian feel. They provide free transportation - buses to anywhere and everywhere, available to anyone and everyone
Tricking your prospects - the ultimate stupidity
2007-11-23 20:30:18
I saw these pictures on Boing Boing:
At first glance, it looks like you get a dozen roses for four dollars.
Great deal, right? Let’s buy some roses!
Look closer. You’ll notice in the picture on the right that you’ve been tricked. In almost microscopic print, the sign adds 99 cents to your bill and divides the amount of roses you’ll be receiving in half.
Classic. Pure genius. You get people to come into your flower shop expecting to receive 12 roses for four dollars. Then you tell them, “Actually we tricked you. It’s really six roses for four ninety-nine.” And at that point the person is supposed say, “Oh, okay” and buy anyway?
Tricking your prospects is downright unethical. But even ignoring that, it’s downright stupid. The person tricked by this sign will resent the business that tricked them. And they’ll tell everyone they know who NOT to buy flowers from.
Can you think of a better way to sabotage your business?
Read more: stupidity
Outstanding!
2007-11-22 22:14:38
It’s rare that I come across a book that is truly rich in information. But occasionally I’ll find something. Well, it just so happened that while I was in the library the other day I saw a familiar title…
Selling the Invisible - by Harry Beckwith
Yeah, I know… this book is a classic. I should have read it before now. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t. (But hey, I only have so much time.) Anyway, I checked it out of the library - more out of a feeling of guilt than anything. I figured it would be one of those way-overrated business books that everyone absolutely needs to read - but don’t contain any substantial information. So the book sat untouched for several days… gathering dust in the ever growing pile.
Boy was I surprised when I start to read it!
This book is pure gold.
In case you haven’t read it, Selling the Invisible is based on the idea that there is an increasing trend towards service bus
The fundamentals of marketing never change
2007-12-06 08:38:18
With the amount of constant change around us, it can be a little surprising to discover how the fundamentals of marketing stay the same. Our language changes, our clothing changes, our technology changes - but people still think in the same way as they have for almost all time.
A great example of this is Gene Schwartz’s Breakthrough Advertising.This book has been around a while. There’s been a lot of change since its first printing… socially… culturally. But its principles ring true. And it still survives as one of the greatest marketing books ever written.
That being said, some parts of marketing change. This too, is evident in Breakthrough Advertising, when some examples of ad copy are given. One of the examples was selling women’s deodorant. Apparently the word “deodorant” was not popular yet. The author used the next best word: “toilet water.” Yeah, some things change a little.
Another part of marketing that changes is the
Swiping… when does it go too far?
2007-12-05 09:35:20
You may be aware of a copywriting practice known as “swiping.” Most copywriters have a “swipe file” of successful letters, and they “swipe” ideas from these letters. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the practice. In fact, it’s a very good idea. But I’ve noticed a lot of people taking it to an extreme. Some copywriters seem to be so lazy that they just take a successful letter - normally a famous one - and insert their own information. I don’t know&hellip
; maybe it’s just me. But I call that plagairism.
Let’s ignore for a moment that plagairizing someone else’s work is unethical. It’s also a very poor idea for effective copywriting.
The whole principle of copywriting is connecting a certain prospect with a certain product - with a carefully written letter. But when you take that letter - change a few words - and then use it to sell something completely different to a completely different group of
Why I’ve started reading novels… a bit
2007-12-04 07:04:59
I’ve never been one to read many novels. I’ve always had plenty of other stuff to read that seemed far more important. And for the most part, my “serious” reading material has been more important. But just recently, I’ve started to realize that novels may have a place as well.
I realized this the other day, when I was having some difficulty writing. For some reason, the words weren’t flowing, and the sentences sound forced once I finally did get something down on paper. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time it had happened. Now and then, my creative juices seem to temporarily dry up.
Naturally, I started thinking about how I could stop this problem. My thoughts turned to novelists - and how they seem to have no trouble writing clearly, smoothly, and - of course - descriptively. A good novel has a way of holding you&hellip
; it has almost hypnotic powers. Temporarily, there’s nothing more important to you than finishing the next page.
Purple Cow
2007-12-03 14:39:03
Sometimes it seems that marketing a product is accomplishing nothing at all. Maybe that’s the point when you need to rethink the product. That’s what Seth Godin, author of Purple
Cow - and numerous other marketing books - suggests.
It appears that in order to win these days, it is essential to harness the power of word-of-mouth marketing. It costs nothing and it’s incredibly powerful… but it’s very hard to grab control of. Godin explains in this wonderful book that the key to word-of-mouth marketing is having a truly unique product. One that can speak for itself. One that stands out from all the others - what he calls a “purple cow.” He says that if you have a TRUE purple cow product, 99% of your marketing will be taken care of. You won’t have to shout in the streets about how great your product is.
Of course, creating a true purple cow product is very difficult, but this book clarifies what it is that makes some ideas spread like wild
Gotta light?
2007-12-14 08:53:38
Somewhat poorly placed advertising…
Read more: Gotta
, light
Hiralious examples of why you should never forget who your market is…
2007-12-13 11:27:36
Just another example of companies forgetting who they’re marketing to&hellip
; I came across some classic mistakes made when marketing products internationally. They’re a great - and hilarious - example of the dangers of not paying enough attention to exactly who your potential customers are. Here are some examples:
A pharmaceutical company expanded to the Middle East. In their advertising, they had a picture of a sick person on the left, then the same person, in a second picture on the right, but visibly cured of their illness. It was actually a good plan, considering that in that part of the world, the literacy levels are low, and people are inclined to “read” pictures, instead of words. But there was a hitch. In that same part of the world, people don’t read from left to right. They read from right to left. So everyone got the idea that the product being advertised would make a well person sick. Not good.
Chevrolet imported their Nova to Mexico. The
Obnoxious “Marketing”
2007-12-12 08:28:45
I’m always surprised by the number of people that think marketing - advertising in particular - is merely waving their message in front of prospects’ noses. He who gets the message waved the most wins.
Case in point: an experience Jim Tobin, at the Life is Marketing
blog, had. Apparently when Jim had Chinese for dinner the other night, his fortune cookie read, &ldquo
;Did you enjoy your meal? Get one to go.&rdquo
;
Second case in point: NASCAR. Maybe it’s just because I don’t like the sport, but I can’t quite understand how having a small sticker with your company’s name on it, surrounded by what seems like hundreds of other stickers, moving at upwards to 200mph can really do anything for your company. No, not even your “brand image.”
And most of stickers are tiny. (What gives with all those itty bitty stickers behind the front wheel wells?) Seems like a complete waste of money to me. Yet companies still pay for it because they stub
Don’t annoy your prospects!
2007-12-11 09:18:27
Is it just me, or is there no bigger turnoff than businesses just being flat out irritating in their marketing and promotional methods?
For example, an ad I keep hearing on the radio… It starts with Neil Armstrong’s famous message to Earth. “The Eagle has landed.” Then, “That’s one small step for man, one…” the message was interrupted by an announcer saying, “We interrupt this broadcast with an important announcement.” The “important announcement” turned out to be quite trivial… a chain office supply retailer now offering a complete line of Dell ink cartridges. It was an attempt at humor, but a pretty lame one. You know, it’s been said before that humor doesn’t sell. In reality, it can often do even worse than that. It can “unsell.” Anyone who’s not in a humorous mood or who doesn’t get the joke will most likely just be irritated. And people don’t buy when they&r
Harley-Davidson
2007-12-10 07:58:48
I love Harley
-Davidson
. Personally, I don’t have any interest in their products, but I think they’re just about the best example of branding ever. To build a whole culture - completely around your product - is an incredible accomplishment. How many other companies can claim that their customers voluntarily ink their name - permanently - into their skin? How many companies can claim that almost 5% of their revenue comes from licensing their logo? Only Harley-Davidson.
I think the following ad at least partly explains this phenomenon. It is a perfect example of the way Harley-Davidson emphasizes “experience.”
Facebook losing face?
2007-12-07 06:54:32
Well, Mark Zuckerburg, CEO of Facebook
, finally apologized for his company’s “Beacon” debacle. Beacon is a new program the social networking site came out with about a month ago, offering advertisers extremely targeted advertising. The problem was, Beacon jeopardized users’ privacy. And not surprisingly, a great deal of the Facebook community was not so happy about the new feature. A lot were downright angry.
This whole Beacon thing wouldn’t be that big of deal if it weren’t such as stupid marketing move. But apparently Zuckerburg forgot that his site’s unique selling proposition is, above all else, the privacy it offers. A great deal of Facebook users are disillusioned MySpace members and such… tired of minimal privacy and spam. Facebook offered a new solution and people loved it. But now, Facebook appears to forgetting its roots, as they demonstrate that user privacy isn’t that important to them after all. When you have as powe
New FREE Ezine
2007-12-21 09:12:53
Just a quick heads up… I’m now offering a brand new ezine, to be sent out on a monthly basis. To subscribe, just enter your name and email address on the left. My plan is for this ezine to be a combination of writing and marketing tips, ideas, stories, quotes… hopefully it will be helpful.
One more thing. After you sign up, you will receive an email requesting your confirmation. In order to get the ezine, you have to click the confirmation link. It’s that simple - but you need to do it, or else you won’t receive the ezine.
Read more: Ezine
Simpleology multi-media blogging course
2007-12-20 18:10:57
I’m evaluating a multi-media
course
on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.
It covers:
The best blogging techniques.
How to get traffic to your blog.
How to turn your blog into money.
I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.
Creative new Nike ad
2007-12-20 11:01:21
I guess it’s redundant to say “creative” new Nike ad… Nike has established a reputation for producing unique and clever TV spots. Still, I love their latest:
True genuineness
2007-12-19 06:05:20
Yesterday I wrote about how being genuine is really the best marketing policy. I want to take that a step further.
A lot of companies and individuals think they can change others’ opinions (positioning) of them by just saying they’ve changed. They think - in the case of companies - that they can just run a new ad campaign, and suddenly the market will view them in the way they want to be viewed. Or in the case of individuals, we often think that we can just mumble “Sorry. I’ll try to change.” and then everything will be hunky dory.
To change others’ opinions of you, you can’t just tell them that you’re changing. It’s not even good enough to tell them how you’re changing. To change their opinions of you, you must really, genuinely change.
“Positioning helps a company become what it is, not something it’s not.”
Stephen Denning, author of Squirrel Inc.
Genuineness is the best type of marketing
2007-12-18 10:00:39
You know, I keep discovering more and more that the best path to success is by being genuine. By just being who you are and focusing on that. In marketing it’s so easy to think you have to pretend to be something that you’re not. That just isn’t true. Some of the most successful people and companies have found success just through knowing what they stand for, believing in it, and living by it every day. While you can - and should - always strive to improve, you can’t be something that you’re not, no matter how hard you try.
How PLC affects copywriting
2008-02-19 09:20:13
Product Life Cycle - or PLC - is what marketers refer to when talking about the succession of stages a product goes through. If you haven’t ever thought of this before, consider the evolution of cell phones. When cell phones were first released, you didn’t have to do much to sell them. People were fascinated by a cell [...]
Read more: affects
, copywriting
Superbowl ads
2008-02-07 09:40:43
Well, since the last time I posted, some very interesting events have occured. Not least of which, the Superbowl
, and the annual collection of advertisements that have become as much part of tradition as the halftime show. (And I should mention that I didn’t actually watch the Superbowl… but I did watch the clips of some of [...]
Technical Difficulties
2008-01-24 23:06:01
Apparently, this site has been experiencing some very annoying technical problems - and completely unbeknownst to me. Fortunately, someone was gracious enough to alert me to the existence of the problems.
I’m currently working to get things fixed, so I’ve temporarily got a default site theme set up. I’ll be getting things back to how they should be [...]
Read more: Technical
, Technical Difficulties
I’m lovin’ it?
2008-01-18 10:00:45
As we all know, McDonald’s has gained a reputation over the years. (Not necessarily in a negative way.) What I mean is, they are positioned very specifically. Years of doing things the same way has planted a rigid image in all of our minds of what McDonald’s is.
Ever since Ray Kroc saw the first McDonald’s [...]
Brand new FREE ebook!
2008-01-17 08:27:13
So far, this U.S. Presidential election has seen some interesting events - but none more fascinating than the massive grassroots support of one relatively little-known candidate. You wouldn’t believe the extent many of his devoted supporters go to. Which begs the question: What is his marketing strategy?
The answers to that question and more are in my [...]
Read more: Brand
Who are you kidding?
2008-01-15 07:22:02
Here’s something that really irritates me - and it’s running rampant on the Internet…
Inflated estimated values of products.
For example:
Buy Our New Ultra-Slim Doohickey Now! Buy For Only: $300 $15 That’s Right! This Product Has A 300 Dollar Value And We’re Giving It To You For Only 15 Bucks!!!
My question is, who are you kidding?
Here’s the thing. If [...]
The Cockroach Hall of Fame
2008-01-14 10:11:33
In Plano, Texas, there’s a little pest extermination store that’s gotten national - even international - attention. But it hasn’t gotten this attention for pest extermination. Instead, this place is known as “The Cockroach Hall of Fame.” In this little store, the owner, Michael “Cockroach Dundee” Bohdan, has turned his fascination with bugs into a mini-museum, filling it with [...]
Mr. W
2008-01-11 10:44:04
This is an advertisement from a German energy company:
I have to say, I really like this ad. It does an incredibly good job of giving personality and life to something that’s not even visible. It builds a connection on an individual level that the energy industry is so often devoid of. And besides that, it’s [...]
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