Strategic Marketing Thought

Saturday night was SMASHING!

…That usually means I enjoyed a delicious Smash Burger for dinner.  But in this case, it was something more compelling.

NBC has partnered with iTunes to air the pilot of their new series “Smash” set to premier on Monday, February 6, 2012 at 9pm Central time.

The show is produced by Steven Spielberg and stars Debra Messing, Christian Borle, Katharine McPhee, Jack Davenport, Mega Hilty, Angelican Huston, Jaime Cepero, Raza Jeffrey, and Brian d’Arcy James.

This basic premise is an often used plot of a show within a show.   A new Broadway show is in development about the life of Marilyn Monroe.  The pilot episode opens with try-outs and call-backs for the role of Marilyn.

Megan Hill is the apparent favorite to be cast in the role of Marilyn until the young girl from Iowa (McPhee) stuns the producers with “Beautiful.”.  The show is stunning. The writing is thankfully intelligent.  The stars are really stars.  The music makes me want more of it.  My iTunes download occurred in the second act!

More stunning than the music, is NBC’s marketing of their new show shamelessly targeted at Gleeks.  Music is hot again in prime time and Smash should cash-in with ratings and advertiser support.

The marketing lesson here is NBC’s early release of the Pilot show through internet, AppleTV and iTunes and probably other avenues I may have yet to discover.  This is clearly a viral marketing launch with a goal to create buzz for the February 6 opening night.

I found the show on iTunes by accident.   I didn’t read about it and was not referred to the site.  I was so excited to see the show earlier than advertised that I gave very little thought to the marketing effort.

It’s a great lesson for all brand managers.  Build momentum.  Create a buzz.  Start a virus.

Make it a SMASH!

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It’s dangerous to have only one good idea.

I’m often amazed at how people who offer business solutions bring only one idea to the table.  The suggestion is made that THIS idea is THE answer.    Alternative solutions aren’t considered because THIS idea is the one idea to move the business forward.

Business rarely happens as we forecast or predict.  Change occurs rapidly and environmental factors often nibble away at our foundation.

Come to the table with several alternative solutions.  Present options for equal and passionate consideration.  Idea Fathers need to give all their children a chance to grow-up and flourish.  It’s not good parenting to play favorites.

Every plenary session should end with a discussion of a life boat plan.  The life boat plan is our way forward if everything turns against us.  It’s a healthy drill to actually SEE a worst case scenario and then plan for it.

Often, the best way forward in times of stress is to strip the business to its core essence.

* What matters most?

* Have we picked all the low hanging fruit?

* Are we meeting the needs of our best customers?

The next time you are presented with a one idea solution, ask one question… “Is this the best idea you have?” And of course, apply appropriate facial contortions.

Make it dangerous in your company to have only one idea.

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The problem with Peter is that he knows he can’t fly.

Other people think Peter Pan can fly… but Peter knows the truth.  An intricate set of invisible cables support the Pan Man as he darts in and out of  scenes.

Peter isn’t the only pseudo-flyer with a high degree of self doubt.   The average man experiences the imposter complex on a fairly regular basis.

Someone who suffers from the imposter complex has an inner feeling of incompetence.  The IC victim lays his (or her) head on a pillow at night and fears “being found out.”

“I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

“Did anything I do today really make a difference?”

“How much longer will it be before I’m found out and flogged in front of SAGA?’

The imposter complex seems to infect marketers at a higher-than-  average rate of attack.  Marketers fly blind in much of their decision  making.  It may be months before the market feeds-back success or  failure of a project.  Marketers are often called upon to shoot arrows  into the air…to fall… we know not where.

Social media hasn’t provided the type of monetized feedback that some marketers prophesied.  It’s just not enough to be “liked” or RT’d.    Money metrics still matter most.

Flying free as a marketer will always depend upon an ROI measured by increased revenue.  If marketers recommend a strategy and revenue doesn’t increase over the measurement period…perhaps “imposter” is a fitting title.  Accountability must rule.

It’s no longer acceptable to tell clients “it takes time for advertising to work.  Trust me, it will work over the long run.”

The days of Mad Men are limited to memories of the good ol’ days when imposters could fly and no one cared how.

Results matter in the short-run.  Even Peter knows that!

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It seems hip to reject old school.

I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t hear someone say “that’s old school!”  And I’m fairly certain the phrase is not slung with adoration.

Is anything in marketing old school?

The birth of marketing thought was sparked by the acceptance of  the marketing concept.  Prior to the adoption of the marketing  concept, the field of marketing was largely based in agriculture.  General Electric was the first company to identify a marketing  function in their organization chart in the 60’s.

Most would agree that we are in late first generation of knowledge in the field.   While I agree that first generation thinkers have grandchildren who may today be thought creators, it’s hard to claim that any study in marketing is old.

The danger of young minds grabbing all the new media as replacement parts to classical thinking is that the frame of reference of strong theory evaporates.  New, for the sake of new, rarely advances thought.  New media works best when attached to the coat-tails of basic marketing paradigms.

Old lessons of grey thinkers have been passed on as a starting point to the advancement of marketing knowledge.  The knowledge bank is not quite ready for a trip to the Smithsonian.

As I watch the proliferation of social media and the self-anointed claims of “expert status,” I can’t help but wonder if the expert spent time at the feet of a wise marketer.  The medium only delivers a marketing message.  Marketing words are derived from consumer behavior studies that are rooted in classical research.

I’m reading and hearing with increasing frequency that social media isn’t producing new revenue for companies. Some companies have abandoned their social media initiatives because “it doesn’t work.”

Media should not necessarily be jettisoned because of lack of results.  There needs to be greater study into HOW to make any medium work (as measured by ROI).

The solution to creating efficacy in social media lies in old school marketing knowledge.

If it’s not increasing revenue, it’s not hip.

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How do we measure the effectiveness of a marketing campaign?

Discussions of Super Bowl advertising continue to focus on which ad was the best and who liked what ad for whatever reason.  The fact is, Super Bowl advertising must increase revenue for the sponsor.

ROI can be measure in many different ways but in a difficult economy the Return that matters most must be cash.  Most of us would agree that effective image advertising eventually leads to more revenue.  Investors ask, when?

The question, “when will we see an increase in sales” opens up a discussion of speed of marketing impact upon sales.  Does social media have immediate impact on sales?  A new website?  A new retail outlet?  A new and improved product?

I know of only one marketing tool that can produce an immediate impact on revenue.  And it’s not “Tweet-an-offer,” or “Chase a Facebook Thingy.”

The most misunderstood marketing tool is pricing. Marketing students take courses in sales, promotion, advertising, internet marketing, distribution and several other “tool” classes.  The closest most marketing students come to studying Price Theory is in accounting or Micro-Economics.  Young marketers see pricing as a way to cover costs using some margin goal to set price.   The depth of knowledge on pricing is about at wading pool depth.



Pricing is a powerful weapon.

If I raise prices today by 1 percent, I will see an immediate impact on revenue. We can assume that demand will remain constant to keep the issue clear.  But demand assessment must always consider the customer’s willingness to pay…and pay again.  The price to value relationship must be constantly scrutinized.

The take-away from this blog is to learn more about price theory.  Learn to assess demand at various price points.  Understand the impact of price increases on total revenue and profitability.

If we don’t “get price” it’s much-a-tweet-about-nothing.

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One of the first symptoms of senior-itis is the sudden awareness that college is ending and the job search is beginning.

Regardless of major or mission, most students have more than one sleepless night while thinking about the first step down a career path.  It’s not that the thoughts haven’t visited before.  Now, however, the thoughts won’t go away.

“What am I going to do when I graduate?”

For marketing students, the options are many and varied.  There isn’t a best path to the office of CMO.  Most CMO’s would confess that graduation goals didn’t include the pursuit of CMO.  It happens because of choice, mentors and a strong ability to sell.

I believe the most common trait of Fortune 500’s CMO’s is a track record of success in sales.

Selling provides a boot camp experience that catalyzes development in understanding consumers, work ethic, time management, writing skills, presentation skills, teamwork and a long list of other character traits necessary to lead a marketing department.

Professional sellers learn that revenue production is not just a good idea… it’s a mandate.  Sellers learn that success is not a matter of entitlement but results driven.  Doing matters more than talking.

A well developed production mentality fuels promotion into higher level marketing opportunities.  The boardroom has a keen eye for producers.

Young marketers need to embrace an opportunity to sell. Sales are the heart of a marketing department.  And it takes a lot of heart to sell.

Sell your way to the top.

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It’s been 30 plus years since I didn’t “go to work” because of snow.

Now that I’m back in academics I was gifted last week with 4 days-off because of the blizzard that rendered T-town impassable.  The snow was beautiful.  The roads were not.  A week later most of our neighborhoods are still in disrepair.

As I watched the TV screen last Monday waiting to see if our  University was closed, I couldn’t help remember when I was a very  young boy in St. Louis listening to my transistor radio under my  pillow on snowy nights for the list of school closings.  My heart and  most of the rest of me jumped as I heard the name of my elementary school called out.  My parents didn’t know that I knew and my need for sleep suddenly abated.  Strat-o-matic baseball played well with a flashlight.

There were many times in my thirties, forties and fifties I have prayed for snow days.  Even in July.

Those prayers were never answered in my corporate career.  Not one time did I see the name of my business listed as “closed due to inclement weather.”  Trust me.  The weather in New Orleans in July is quite inclement.

As we returned to classes Monday, lethargy filled our halls and classrooms.  It seemed we were all moving in slow motion, trying to jump start our will to teach and learn.

Snow Days soften us.

I offer the following tips to reduce the lag effect of Snow Days:

• Set goals when the announcement is made—write your goals!  What do you intend to accomplish while locked-in?  What will you read?  Can you write 5 blogs?  How about research?  Be specific and be proactive.
• Avoid the temptation to watch TV.  I-Tunes is ready when you are and you’ll get a lot more done.
• Be accountable.  If not to yourself, then ask for help.  Ask someone to hold you accountable to accomplish your goals.
• Think ahead to your first day back.  How can you energize your “back-to-work week?”

Snow melts.

Did you grow when it snowed?

Photo by: Freephoto.com

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WORDS MATTER

Twitter has given a voice to the once silent critic.

The voices screamed last evening through almost 4 torturous hours  of football, advertising, a botched National anthem, a Black-Eye Pea  underwhelming performance and countless missiles of social media.

I was more amused by the Twitter comments than any single  commercial or football play.  There is even a voting system that has  quickly evolved in the medium.

# Pass

# Fail

# So-So

# Eh

Of course the voting was accented by assorted adjectives placed before and after the voting opinion.  It’s a good thing we can’t do that with Political ballots.

As I watched the votes sail in, for most of the first half I listened quietly to the clanging cacophony of comment.  I imagined I was on the other side of a focus group window and listening to middle-America yap their opinions about possible commercials. I spent a lot of years moderating groups.  The pain and suffering was unimaginable.    Listening to the client side of the window is worse.  Much worse.

Most of the expert tweets last night were from people with a little bit of knowledge and a lot of ad-consumption experience.  It was obvious from the tweets that such a combination is a dangerous mixture.  I think the combustion effect re-aligned the planets.

The majority of the jabber voting came from what I’m labeling the Google generation.  The Google generation is not defined by age.  It is defined by depth of mush.

Most of the knowledge of this generation descends from Master Google.  All knowledge is available one Goog at a time.

Google in.  Tweet out.

Thankfully, Twitter is limited to 145 characters.

For the record, the best ads displayed during the Super Bowl were built upon a strong foundation of words.  Chrysler got it right with “Imported from Detroit.”     The long form commercial (1:30) was brilliant but the words shone most brightly.

Words matter in our nation’s anthem as well.  Christina is hearing today about the power of wrong words.

Hopefully, in time, Super Bowl 45 will be remembered for the actual game more than the words.

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POWER-PACKED OFFERS

What matters most in creating consumer response to a marketing    offer?

An argument can be made that the medium, timing and message frequency are driving forces behind any marketing campaign. I have long argued that the words matter most.

Not just any words will do.  Copywriters must strive to find the correct combination of words that compel consumers to act.

It’s all about the offer.

“Buy one, get one free.”

“Buy a new lawn mower– get a weed-eater for half-price”

“Visit our store today and get a free Major League World Series Baseball”

The best offer is one that creates movement in a potential customer.  Here’s a check-list for offer power:

• Call me out—be as specific as possible about WHO will receive the offer.  The more limited the audience the more likely a customer will move quickly.  Make the customer feel special with a personal offer.
• What’s –in-it-for-me? – Spell out the benefit of the offer in simple terms.  If the offer requires an asterisk and fine print—please try again.
• Remove all risk – Offer the best, no-questions-asked guarantee in the business and scream the guarantee in the message
  • Drive our truck for 60 days.  If it doesn’t do the job, bring it back.  Period.  ( See your local Dodge dealer about how this offer is working for them)
• Keep it short and simple—If you can’t Tweet the offer, it’s probably too long.
• Quick deadlines—The best offers don’t last long. (Keep new offers coming.)  A business owner should continue to honor an offer after a deadline—but communicate deadlines to create urgency.
  • 3 DAYS ONLY
  • OFFER ENDS FRIDAY
  • HALF PRICE FOR 3 HOURS

Power-packed offers cause consumers to respond.  The only test of efficacy should be the response function.  We write offers to cause response.  If the offer is not working—don’t blame the medium…fire the copywriter!

Keep writing and testing offers.

What is the best offer you’ve seen?

Photo by Rebecca Gunn

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