Category: a slice of STRATEGY

Pure, unadulterated strategy: marketing, brand positioning, & entrepreneurial wisdom. New trends with staying power. Old standbys with inarguable value.
What to embrace, what to avoid, and what to attempt — with steady discernment.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Ask the Expert: Using social media to delight & provoke, plus how studios know whether to cast Ashton or not

Posted on by Red Slice

Part 2 with Scott Montgomery, (see Part 1 here) this time about social media mayhem and his new firm that tracks and analyzes entertainment buzz, Fizziolo.gy. 

RS: Tell me about social media’s place in the branding equation? Who’s using it right? Do you think it works better for smaller or larger companies?

SM: Well I know how companies are doing it wrong. There is nothing more obvious than planted comments to a planted glowing review of a product in a planted blog. I don’t know, maybe that fools somebody, but I think it’s pretty transparent to all but the newest of newbies who would still use the word “newbie” in conversation.

It’s not surprising that, right now, most of the branding successes in social media are directly related to enthusiast brands, those that can offer value through social engagement, and those that are creating a bit of controversy. Google, for example, wins in social media not just because they engage in it, but by the fact that their innovations are worth tweeting about. I can’t tell you how often we’ve seen Google Wave as a trending topic on Twitter, not because of active seeding, but because their tactics have got people talking – releasing controversial videos of Wave in action, beta-testing by invitation – that sort of thing. I’m certainly not ruling out some kinds of seeding, but it’s all more powerful if you devise your product’s strategy to be inherently “political”. By that I mean, create things where the audience has a reason to take your side (or at least a side). Let your product efforts, promotions and events be retweetable.

Guys like me sometimes get a bit of stick because we sing the praises of social media to a background chorale of “where’s the ROI?” I believe we do create mass movement in behaviors. But as in any medium, it pays to harness the energy where the mass is, and not necessarily via a custom community. You don’t have to be a huge company to do it. A few weeks back, a motivated Facebook group succeeded in making an old Rage Against the Machine single 2009’s Christmas Number One. Now, Christmas Number One is a big deal in Britain (remember Love, Actually?) and Jon and Tracy Morter were disgusted that for the last few years, whatever won on Simon Cowell’s X Factor automatically went to number one at Christmas. Did they build a custom website to vent? Nope. They went to where the mass was – created a Facebook community and translated online behavior into real-world results – results that have a real economic impact on all the players in the controversy.

If Jon and Tracy from Essex can do that, shouldn’t a company with resources be able to move online behaviors to real-world action too? You just have to create something that makes people care.
Back here at my agency, we recently won an OMMA award for best standalone video for Microsoft – a review of the History of the Internet  by some of the odd characters who inhabit it – to promote the launch of Windows Internet Explorer 8. But it wasn’t the video itself that was unique (though it is kind of hilarious), it was the way we distributed it. IE8 was set to launch at MIX09 to a crowd of developers. The video preceded the launch, and we made sure the amused attendee had a url to share. As insiders, they were emotionally driven to distribute the link to everyone they knew. IE8 was a trending topic for a big part of the day, and chatter about the video was a big part of it. Getting the Windows community to download IE8 was a key effort for 2009 – motivating those downloads though harnessing social media was a big part of accelerating the effort.

RS:  Tell me about Fizziolo.gy and the new way companies are using social media in their marketing mix
RS: Fizziology  is a tracking company we started in mid-2009 to take advantage of information that can be gleaned from what people post on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other social media tools. Right now, we’re providing insights to movie studios and production companies, tracking what people are saying about movies as they approach release and upon opening – we’re consistently performing better than traditional tracking companies do.

So far I think it’s pretty amazing.A lot of companies are springing up here and there, trying to make marketing sense of this mountain of data – it’s becoming known as the Real Time Search industry (which I think is a stupid term). But almost all of them use some form of automated keyword scoring methodologies, and they just aren’t real accurate. In our world, “dude, that movie is sick” could mean something bad or good, but you can’t know that from a prejudged keyword algorithm. We actually read and score a statistically significant number of the total volume of chatter relating to a person, entertainment property or brand, and treat it like the world’s fastest, most honest focus group. So we believe we know more about the tweeting public’s intent to take action than a lot of our competitors.

Just recently, and we reported this before anyone else, we saw that the movie The Blind Side was going to significantly overperform reported estimates. Turned out we were right. And we knew The box office for Saw VI was going to be a lot weaker than estimated – we saw very high negatives in the chatter and correlated it with a lower than expected “intention to see”. We could also see the way the interest shifted in Where The Wild Things Are after opening, as people realized that it wasn’t a kids’ movie.

As we move forward, we’re building a database in which we can compare the behaviors of these entertainment properties by genre and seasonality, and we’re building it so we can make comparisons as the public’s usage of social media evolves.

We’ve been asked to track individual actors for insights about how the public might respond to them if they’re cast in a certain kind of role or with other actors. That’s a valuable insight for studios, casting agents, even the actors themselves. We are also beginning to apply the same model to brands.

Every marketer who’s even paying a little attention knows all this sharing is a goldmine for understanding public sentiment about all kinds of things, but there’s no clear gold standard yet. We think our methods give us a good shot at being that.

About Scott Montgomery

One of my favorite people in the world, and the man who teaches me so much about branding and advertising, is Scott Montgomery. Scott is Principal and Executive Creative Director of Bradley and Montgomery,  which has made both traditional and very untraditional advertising, branding and communications for clients like JPMorgan Chase, VH1, MTV, Knoll, Microsoft and many others.

He is also founder of Fizziolo.gy, a firm that tracks and analyzes social media chatter for entertainment companies so they can tell if their movie or TV show will be a hit or a flop.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Ask the Expert: What’s your brand promise and what is it wearing?

Posted on by Red Slice

Forget the hype of marketing alternatives swirling about you. It’s all about the fundamentals, regardless of which channel you use to broadcast your message. There is indeed a reason that Snuggies sell so well, as you will learn below.

One of my favorite people in the world, and the man who teaches me so much about branding and advertising, is Scott Montgomery. Scott is Principal and Executive Creative Director of Bradley and Montgomery,  which has made both traditional and very untraditional advertising, branding and communications for clients like JPMorgan Chase, VH1, MTV, Knoll, Microsoft and many others.Their recent work includes: a national TV and online campaign for Microsoft Windows, “The Mojave Experiment”; retail environmental rebranding work for JPMorgan Chase when they purchased Washington Mutual; launching a documentary and online campaign supporting Chase Bank and Project Homeowner, a massive effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure through mortgage modifications at community events and crisis centers; the invention of EmotiClips – shared video snippets in support of MTV’s “The Hills” and other properties; and websites and virals for Microsoft Internet Explorer 8. 

He is also a founding partner of Fizziolo.gy, a firm that tracks social media chatter for entertainment companies so they can tell if their movie or TV show will be a hit or a flop.

Scott’s work had been featured in many national creative pubs, won lots of awards and even rapped with Neal Conan on NPR’s Talk of the Nation.

But blah blah blah. This guy is simply a student of humanity who, like me, loves watching how culture and messaging can change perceptions and mobilize people. Scott is that rare  innovative creative mind who, at the end of the day, fully understands that advertising must result in making cash registers ring. He balances artistic integrity with business necessity. And I dig that about him.

With that, I’m giving him 2 editions for Ask the Expert, because he has so much juicy stuff to share. So pay attention.

RS: What do you think makes a strong brand? The fundamentals?

SM: In a world where absolutely everything in media is changing, let me try to define “brand” in a way that won’t: A brand is exactly two things: It’s the promise your offering makes to people, and the clothes that promise is dressed in. The degree to which that combination generates the behavior you want from people is all that matters.

You don’t need to read yet another treatise on how gorgeously effective brands for Apple and Mercedes are. They are perfect promises for people who want beautiful things. They are the mirrors their buyers want to be reflected in. Articles like this one hold up brands like those as monuments to the power of branding, and they are. But you might also be led to think that elegance and branding are the same thing. I submit to you that they ain’t.

I was trained as a graphic designer, so sometimes it pains me to say this – many brands succeed because of the absolute appropriateness of their ugliness. That’s visual ugliness, ugliness in actions, or both. Here’s why I think the definition above holds:

Some really nasty-lookin’ brands have the power of a simple, appropriate promise. “Brands” that are products, like SlapChop, Snuggie and Sarah Palin are nightmares of “good design” but their antithetical relationships to “good taste” give them power in the marketplace. That’s because – as good brands – their promises are simple, their messages are consistent and their visual expressions are in sync with their value. Just like Apple, Mercedes and the others that usually top brand surveys. Same rules, different demographics.

The quality or “rightness” of the thing makes little difference, either. That’s worth noting.
We in the U.S. still consume a small ocean of bottled water that’s been judged to be no better than Manhattan’s tap water, one that’s shipped half way around the world by boat, plane, train and, ultimately automobile, not because of its uniqueness, but because of its Fijiness. It’s nuts, and particularly evil considering some residents of Fiji don’t have access to potable water themselves, and are living under a regime odious enough to get it kicked out of the Commonwealth of Nations back in September for suspending free elections.

But Fiji is a strong, simple brand promise dressed in attractive clothes. Well done. Branding can be powerful stuff in the right hands. Or the other ones.

So, you’d figure if an icky product can benefit mightily, then it should be even easier for the not-so-icky ones. Then why do a huge number of non-icky companies still get it wrong?

I think it’s because they try to promise wildly disparate things under a single name. They design their offerings for too many audiences, or none at all. They promise a promise that no one wants. Or they do nothing to generate customer behavior. Their promises aren’t compelling, they don’t get people talking – either around the office, at the game, on in their status updates. Say what you will about Snuggie as a product, but its footprint in free social media is huge.

This is where I’m supposed to say, as an agency principal, “an ad agency can sort this out for you.” But increasingly, a lot of them can’t. Wedded to a arguably ineffective interruptive model of creative promotion, a great many agency people are, frankly, clueless. It’s a world in which you may have encountered 4 kinds of screens that weren’t a TV today. And how on Earth will they make money if you aren’t watching TV?

The people who are getting it are finding ways to harness the interactions between consumers, and the myriad opportunities for meaningful engagements with products and their promises. Happily, brands are bigger than advertising, and good promises spread in ways we wouldn’t have imagined even 5 years ago – through social media, through entertainment, through fashion, through the recycling of imagery across the web, through celebrities and events, via phone screens and whatever Magical Tablet Media Procurer cum Location Based Social Appliance that Apple and Microsoft are racing to produce at this writing.

That’s why I believe that as much as things are changing, the fundamentals have become even more important. The clarity of the promise, and the appropriateness of its expression are what matters. Clarity of the promise is more important than ever. It’s a little like the old “telephone” whispering game: as opinion about a brand is passed along and repeated across a widening range of outlets and technologies, it has to be sturdy enough to survive the trip.

 

See Part 2 with Scott about social media innovations here.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

5 Branding Myths…Shattered

Posted on by Red Slice

People sometimes let the myths get in the way of the reality when it comes to branding. I recently did a guest column at understandingmarketing.com about this topic. Reprinted below for your enjoyment:

When people think branding, they often just think it’s a logo or business card. Or they think of the opposite extreme like Apple or Virgin and assume they will never have the budgets to “brand effectively.” While dazzling branding is more than just pretty pictures, it also is something that is easily attainable, if businesspeople put the right thought and effort into it. Dispelling five popular myths about branding is key to starting that process and transforming your business through small business branding tips.

Myth #1: Branding is hard

Branding is not rocket science. It simply requires focused thought about what you want your business to stand for and to whom, and then a commitment to communicate that message through everything you do visually and experientially. With my clients, I offer a simple 10 step process for small business branding tips to building a firm brand strategy. But once built, you are never “done” nor do you ever stop being a steward for your brand once all the processes, websites and logos are in place. You need to constantly be vigilant and regularly do a “system check” on your materials, business practices, customer service and messaging to ensure your brand is clear and consistent. You also just need to commit to living your values and ensuring all of your employees and partners can verbalize and live those values as well.

Myth #2: Branding is expensive

Effective branding can be done on any budget. I’ve worked with $12 million dollar budgets and $1000 budgets. The real key to effective branding and small business branding tips is making sure you have your ideal audience detailed out and that your business messages speak directly to their needs and the benefits they value. Once you have those thoughts together, you can then work more effectively with a designer to put together your logo or website experience and a writer to craft your brochure and website messaging.  Consistency and clarity in messaging (visual and verbal) is what makes a brand effective and creates rabid fans and evangelists, not how much money you spend promoting it. So if you can only spend $200 on a logo, you can still ensure it communicates exactly what you want to whom you want. True, you may not be able to do multi-million ad campaigns or sponsor extravagant sporting events. But with clear, consistent and strong messages, you ensure that even those 3 or 4 activities you can afford to do are laser-focused.

In addition, since brand is more than just your logo or advertising, you can live your brand through aligned corporate policies and processes. You can easily and cheaply craft a voice mail message or email signature that furthers that brand. You can extend the brand to free social media that captures customers with limited dollars. And you can ensure your product or service quality and price maps consistently to your brand promise. Those are all things you need to do anyway to run your business, so you may as well align them to a strong brand for maximum “oomph.”

Myth #3: Branding is Just Fluff

Brand equity can make or break a company. And if you think branding has no financial impact, just ask private equity firms who “buy” brands for billions of dollars, all for the brand cache or loyal customer base. It’s the reason people will pay 3 times as much for a white t-shirt at Nordstrom than they would at Target. Brand translates into bottom-line sales when done effectively. You can’t deny that if you build a strong foundation and communicate it to the right people at the right time, you will attract just the interested customer you seek.  In addition, a strong brand guides all the other marketing decisions that fuel your company’s growth: where to advertise, who to partner with, how to price your product, etc.

Myth #4: All Designers are the Same

All designers and branding firms are not the same when it comes to small business branding tips. While you can save lots of money thinking through a brand strategy on your own before you engage with a designer on communicating anything visually, some designers get it and some don’t. And sometimes, you do get what you pay for in this regard. If you are talking to a designer who does not ask who your target audience is or what you are trying to convey to them through your visual elements – merely asking you what colors or concepts you “like” – you need to run the other way. While you might be only spending $100 on them and think it’s a steal, you will lose more in sales and customers by not communicating the right message visually. Good designers understand how imagery, font, color and spacing impact the subconscious connections people will make about your company and what it offers. And they should be experienced enough to make some clear recommendations in that regard. It’s worth it to spend a bit more on this if you can and work with someone good who asks about your brand and your ideal customer.

Myth #5: Branding Works Immediately

Branding and direct response marketing are two different things. People need to experience your brand multiple times before it sticks.   You will need to have it out there, present in all of your customer touch points, before being able to decide if it works or not.  Branding is about awareness and “mindshare” – what spaces do you occupy in people’s minds when they see your logo or hear your name. This takes time to build. The Nike swoosh did not have meaning within the first 3 months it appeared. Avoid the temptation to change branding every few months in an effort to chase quarterly sales growth. Yes, if you get feedback that things are not working, you should make changes, but hopefully, you will have put the upfront thought and effort into the brand strategy and messaging before implementing it, so that maybe only slight tweaks are required.  Branding and messaging can be refreshed over time – but not before customers get a chance to respond to it. And while you might be sick of your brand and messaging after 3 months, remember, your potential customers may not even have seen it yet, with all the noise that is in the marketplace.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

2010 Advertising Trends: Tiger Fallout and Less Glitz

Posted on by Red Slice

Great article in today’s WSJ about advertising trends for 2010. Writer Suzanne Vranica combs Madison Avenue to find out what we’ll be seeing in 2010. Here are her 10 trends and my Red Slice take on them.

1) Rising Stars: We thought we were done with Joe the Plumber but alas, everyone is a critic these days. So rather than just citing expert movie critics, fancy awards or the like, more companies will opt for showcasing good reviews and quotes in their ads from normal folk via Twitter and Facebook comments. I love the democracy of this era, and I’m a fan of Yelp, but I’m not sure that just anyone who has an opinion is really always relevant to me.

2) Divided Attention: Embedding more advertising in programming will be a continuing trend to counteract TiVo and DVR zapping. Some will get more creative with this, split-screening actual content with ads on the other side of the screen, or giving viewers more “behind the scenes” footage on a talk show or live event while an ad runs alongside it. We thought we were ADD now with the 24-hour news ticker. Yikes.

3) Mobile. For Real This Time: Companies will get more creative making mobile ads more useful to consumers via real-time ads while shopping or in a specific location. The article states this may be in the form of apps and widgets rather than pure-play advertising, which has not translated that successfully to mobile use. If someone made an app to help me find random stuff at Safeway that is not listed on the aisle signs, that would be cool.

4) Tiger Fallout: Watch for companies to sponsor more teams or events and less individual athletes and celebs, leaving them exposed to less risk from, ahem, “personal transgressions.”

5) Getting to Know You: Consumers may start to give more personal information and “opt-in” just to ensure they only see relevant ads. This may also come into play with cable companies who can target specific households and demographics for advertisers. Not sure this one will really fly, as people balance identity theft concerns with trying to simplify their lives – and their in-boxes.

6) Cheaper Pitchmen: Employees: While Best Buy has been using actual employees for their ads lately, I’m not sure this is the way to go. The thought is that employees understand the products best and can be the best evangelists, which is totally true, but not all employees are camera-ready or engaging enough to do what ads need them to do. I would say this may work if the right employees are chosen and not just the CEO’s son-in-law or the like. Not sure if Southwest us using actual employees for their Bags Fly Free ads (which I adore) but if they are, then they totally lucked out and have some great people they are using.

7) Lux 2.0: Luxury companies finally got their digital acts together, although late to the party. But given the budgets they have to work with, they could be on the cusp of innovative advertising and “leapfrogging the competition” as the article states. I would say this extends to luxury publishing/media brands as well (another industry late to the party).

8) Avatar Envy: I hate to say this to my fellow actors, but this is a new trend. Less real actors, more animation and virtual talent in ads seems to be the financial way to go. It’s cheaper and avatars don’t demand residuals or require Union contracts – or lock themselves in their trailers. Plus, it avoids issues as noted in #4 above.

9) Watch One, Get One Free: As the ad noise gets deafening, companies offering real value will rise above the din. Notice all the free Wi-Fi at airports lately, sponsored by so-and-so? Just like “cause marketing”, giving away freebies will attract attention and good will for the brand.

10) Less Glitz: Really? Promise? In our Recession-era, post-Economic bust hangover, making cheaper ads for the digital savvy marketplace will be the way to go. If it can’t be said in 140 characters, is it really worth it? (I totally kid – don’t get me started on short attention spans….)

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Happy holidays

Posted on by Red Slice

Red Slice is trekking back to the Midwest for Christmas and will be going dark until January. Whatever your religion, take this time to enjoy friends and family, count your blessings, and think big thoughts about how to build your business in 2010. The more you can set a clear vision and break things down into easier tasks, the lower your blood pressure.

Thanks to all my clients, blog readers and social media fans out there. I have an exciting lineup planned for you on articles, information, and interviews in the new year to help you grow your business and make your marketing sing. And if you have a hankering for specific topics not covered anywhere else, by all means email me at maria@red-slice.com and let me know.

In 2010, I will be working on a Branding Book to help you easily and more effectively build a strong brand foundation and save time and money on marketing efforts. The contract is not yet finalized with the publisher, but we did come to agreements on everything so – fingers crossed. Once it comes out, I’m happy to do an info-packed  book signing or launch event in your city, so just let me know if you want some sassy, smart and practical marketing advice delivered fresh to the door of your company, association or networking group.

Have a great holiday. Relax. Refresh. Reconnect. 2010 should be a blast!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

When brands disappoint: Hooters

Posted on by Red Slice

Hear me out.

Put aside your disgust about women parading around in orange short-shorts in a PG-rated version of a strip club named after a derogatory term for the female anatomy. If you can. I agree. Only a few people can really pull off orange well – I know one of them. So that’s exploitation right there.

I am actually a fan of Hooters. There, I said it. I like the tacky sports bar atmosphere. I like that the waitresses get to wear the most comfortable footwear in food service history (thick-soled sneakers and warm socks) while on their feet all day. I love the wings…truly. They are yummy. When I want to get in touch with my inner redneck, I can go there. And I love that Hooters understands that in order to thrive and attract men, the restaurant has to be a place that wives, girlfriends and sig others are okay with their man patronizing.

Have you ever been in a Hooters, as a woman? I kid you not, you are treated like royalty.

See, they get it. They know they have to get you on-side so you don’t freak out if your mate goes there. So they fawn over women. They offer impeccable service to you, they make sure your every need is met, they get you your food piping hot, they make interesting chit-chat (most of the time). In San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf location, they even have a rule that each waitress needs to check in on your table and sign her name on your placemat to prove someone has greeted you, taken care of you, etc. The waitresses are fun, and friendly, and not overtly sexy and make you believe this could be someone you’d hang out with if you wanted. Their goal is for you to have such a positive experience that you’ll either go with your mate or at least be okay with him going with the boys.

And the wings. The wings really are damn good. Since I don’t have access to the best wings in the world, BW3, here on the West Coast, I have to make do with what I have.

Would I hang out there every Friday? Heavens no. Once or twice a year is fine with me. But even a former fellow female colleague agreed with me – especially about how they treat women customers.  And we made a special trip, by ourselves, to the Vegas one when we were in town. We had a blast.

So Hooters knows what it is. They make no apologies for it, in a “wink-wink, nudge-nudge” sort of way. It’s not like women are twirling from poles bolted to the floor and ceiling. They create an atmosphere of good, cheeky fun. And they get that in order for their brand to survive, they must get women on their side. That kind of self-awareness is rare.

Therefore, I was disappointed when we went to Hooters last weekend in Seattle. The wings were small, greasy and not very tasty. And the service, while great at the beginning, faded away until we finally had to flag someone down to get our check. They weren’t crowded so there was really no excuse. We left disappointed in what we thought the brand experience was going to be and the reality.

The lesson here is don’t make promises you can’t keep consistently. While every location has a different manager, it’s the company’s job to ensure the experience is the same no matter where you go. See McDonald’s. if you are going to invest so much into creating a strong brand experience, you have to work just as hard to maintain it again and again and again.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Tiger-gate: Accenture’s branding nightmare

Posted on by Red Slice

Accenture just announced that, in light of the recent Tiger Woods scandals, they will be dropping the 6-year sponsorship with the golfer. This results in a massive branding and marketing headache for Accenture in more ways than one: they have to replace both internal materials and external marketing materials in 27 countries.  If you’ve been in any airport, you can appreciate the scope of this effort.

Many athletes do have “morality clauses” in their sports marketing contracts to protect a company’s brand if the athlete does anything controversial or not in line with the company’s brand. But there is a spectrum here to consider. Michael Phelps only lost some of his sponsorships but not others after being photographed smoking marijuana.  The rest of his associative traits (fierce competitor, young approachable celeb) still remain intact. In some cases, he may have even gotten new fans as a result.

But in this case, Accenture was aligning its brand with the very traits that Tiger has recently proven might not be 100% accurate. Reading some of Accenture’s ad headlines in light of the recent scandal is a bit ironic: “Go on. Be a Tiger”, “It’s not a setback. It’s a test.” and “How can you plan ahead when you can hardly see ahead?” The crux of the brand campaign was about integrity, excellence and making smart choices.  So in this case, they do indeed have cause to be concerned that Tiger’s recent actions, while poignantly human, are at odds with Accenture’s brand promise – and quite frankly, the entire Tiger brand in general.

From a pure brand perspective, it doesn’t matter what the circumstances around the scandal really turn out to be.  Accenture was banking on Woods’ “grace under pressure” mentality and high standards of excellence to align with their own brand messages. No matter what really happened, those are now not so true as they were a month ago – and Accenture really had no choice but to sever the relationship.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Management vs. Leadership: What’s the Diff?

Posted on by Red Slice

I attended a wonderful breakfast today for the Women’s Business Exchange, an innovative networking group that goes beyond just business building topics to areas of balance, leadership and…well, SOUL. Today’s speaker was Michelle Clements, Senior VP of Human Resources at REI, the outdoor sports and apparel retailer that my husband single-handedly must keep in business. She spoke from her years of experience about the differences between management and leadership.

She showed us a brilliant – and moving – video of different REI employees holding up signs about what they want from their leaders (things like “Communicate a clear vision” Inspire me” or “Develop me”). Michelle observed that some of the people seemed to say what they already had in their managers, while others were almost crying out for help that they were lacking these qualities from their supervisors.

What makes a “leader”? Michelle first defined management as “delivering predictable and key results results” while leadership “provides/delivers dramatic and useful change.” Leadership is about inspiring a future vision and moving people towards it not because they are being “told to go” but because they believe in the mission and walk on their own accord. Leadership is about exploring new territory, creating alignment, establishing direction and inspiring commitment. Management, she says, is a very important function needs to focus on creating order from complexity – planning and budgeting, organizing and staffing, controlling and problem-solving. But not all managers are leaders.

We also discussed some leadership myths, including:

  • Leadership is a skill you are born with – this implies that leadership is not accessible to anyone who wants to learn it, and she feels this is wrong. People can learn the skills of leadership and grow into the role.
  • Title and rank implies leadership – this one seems obvious, as we’ve all had managers who were inconsistent, indecisive, or control freaks -  and wouldn’t even be able to inspire a thirsty person to drink a glass of water in front of them. Leadership can come from even the lowest levels of the organization, if they are living the company mission, walking the talk, and inspiring others. Michelle said some of the most inspirational leaders she’s seen at REI were part-time workers who get out into the community and live the company’s values, thus inspiring others.
  • Leaders must be charismatic and extroverted – again, Michelle feels this myth boxes people into to not achieving their dreams. Many leaders can be introverted and less outgoing – if they communicate, inspire, empower and walk the talk by example. She feels you can adapt leadership skills with any personal style you have.

In many ways, leadership has a lot to do with branding: consistency, clarity and walking the talk/living the values. if your leaders can align with the brand as well, all the more powerful for creating a loyal workforce, loyal customers and happy quarterly sales results.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Brand boosting brainstorm to get your marketing butt in gear

Posted on by Red Slice

Hurry! Only 2 spots left! This might be the best $49 you spend on your business this year….

In or near by Seattle? I’m offering a Branding Brainstorm on Jan 7, 2010 from 2-4:30 pm. Maximum of 6 people, where we focus on each business, audit messaging, tweak brand strategy, throw out crazy ideas and see if they fly, and brainstorm partnership and promotional ideas for each business present. Info is at www.facebook.com/redslice.  Cost is $49, and includes a free copy of my Build Your Own Brand Strategy eBook.  Location TBD but probably near Queen Anne.

This is perfect for anyone who needs fresh ideas and tough love advice on their marketing plans, messaging or who needs to stand out from the crowd.

RSVP directly (due to the small size) to maria@red-slice.com by Dec 18 to save your spot. Hurry!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Planning for a successful 2010

Posted on by Red Slice

In the crush of the holiday season, marketing execs and business owners are in the throes of planning for 2010. What can you do to keep your sanity while building your marketing plan? Here are a few tips to stop you from going postal.

 

  1. Remember your Goals: I know, I know. We all fall down on this one. But think about your realistic goals for the year and your stretch goals. Revenue, number of customers, types of products sold. Your stretch goals can be big and bold. Once you have them, then you can back into what you need to do to make them a reality. And you can see if what you are going to spend on marketing will realistically get your there. Never do a marketing activity without a goal or objective in mind. Is it 2 new customers? Is it being featured in Daily Candy? Is it increasing newsletter signups or Facebook followers? Have a firm goal.
  2. Think Depth, Not Breadth: Part 1: Focus on your main 2-3 customer segments only. If you have the luxury of a huge marketing budget, then you can build a separate marketing plan for each segment. If not, focus on the most profitable one and plan to get in front of them in multiple ways, at different stages of the buying cycle (see #2). Mix awareness ads and social media tactics with email offers and events. Don’t try to do one activity with each segment just for broad coverage. That will get you nowhere. Instead, think about trying to do different activities to that same segment each quarter.  Better to have 3 or 4 solid activities targeted to one segment than 1 ineffective standalone activity for each of them.
  3. Map to the Buying Cycle: You need a mix of activities in your marketing plan to cover the buying cycle phases: Awareness, Consideration, Evaluation and Purchase. A prospect’s info needs when they don’t even know you exist vs. when they are choosing between you and a competitor are very different. You need the constant air cover of awareness (ads, PR, etc.) to make your direct marketing activities (email offers, events) in the other phases more effective. Even just 3 or 4 tactics a quarter among all the phases, combined with ongoing awareness channels like blogs and newsletters can help.
  4. Partner with a Few to Create More Value: Don’t just buy one ad here or do one webcast there. Partner deeply with 2 or 3 media properties or associations where you can have an integrated, multi-touch campaign to a consistent audience throughout the quarter or year. For example, I used to partner with an online tech portal when I worked B2B because my investment got me ad banners, dedicated emails, a few sponsored webcasts and event presence for one packaged price. I went deep with this audience to get in front of the same group multiple times. This helps you leverage your investment, do more effective marketing and get a real presence among the same group of prospects over and over again. Most associations or online entities have multiple platforms and are open to negotiate a unique package to fit your needs and budget, so talk to the ad sales rep and get creative.
  5. Never Pay the Rate Card: Feeding off #2, never pay the listed price for ad/sponsorship space. You can always negotiate. If you can’t get the price down, then ask what else they can throw in. A dedicated email to their list? A regular column or contributed article? An extra lunch you can sponsor at the conference? Bag stuffers? Being able to introduce all the speakers at a luncheon? Your postcard/CD on attendee seats? Sponsor a weekly email with your logo and a special offer?
  6. Maintain Constancy: Spending all your cash on one bang-up event or campaign can be fun, but the hangover can last the rest of the year. If you have the money to do a big splash each quarter, great, but don’t forget smaller outreach through the rest of the year. Social media can be a great friend to you here to stay constantly top of mind.
  7. Customers vs. Prospects: Mine your existing customers more effectively. Plan different activities to upsell/resell existing customers than you do for new prospects. They have different needs and one group is more familiar with you and what you have to offer than another. Some activities may be able to do double-duty, but remember to offer some special programs/incentives for existing customers.
  8. Create an Editorial Calendar: Speaking of social media, try to plan your themes and content for at least 6 months out so you are not scrambling for what to say or what to promote. You can always do other topics as they come up. But this will keep you sane and also enable you to farm out some of the work if you can, i.e. hiring an intern to write/research blog posts, etc.
  9. Be Flexible: Be willing to try new things and measure them. If they don’t work, tweak them or move on. The dirty little secret about marketing is that oftentimes some tactics just don’t work. But you learn from it, and you move on.  As long as you have a good strategic basis for doing something, your efforts will never be wasted.