The media is the message . . . even for flyers
I received a flyer, home made and printed in black and white attached to my front door knob by rubber band a few days ago. This is a common occurrence in my neighborhood. I guess the slowing economy is making a lot of people search for different sources of income. What I found particularly interesting about this is that it was advertising two things. The top half of the flyer was showcasing a home based massage studio, but the bottom half was trying to sell a reusable shopping bag.
The headline read “Help save the environment. Stop filling our land fill with grocery store bags.” Then came some copy about how grocery store bags are not reused because they were so weak so most end up in the trash, and then the call to action was to buy a nice cloth reusable shopping bag. All in all for a homegrown flyer it wasn’t bad. I’ve seen some “professional” copywriters do worse. The only problem with the message was the media.
I got this flyer from my front door. So did all of my neighbors. There are probably at least 350 houses in my subdivision, and they all got the flyer on their doors. I can’t help but think that all those flyer went in the trash. The flyer about reducing trash and being responsible… went in the trash… about 350 of them. That message, while unintended, was loud and clear to me.
If you don’t know the web, you can’t brand (sort of).
Now before anyone jumps all over me shouting “Of course you would say that, thats what you do!” consider this, I didn’t start this idea. I caught this idea from Mitch Joel’s blog post DIGITAL MARKETING AGENCIES SHOULD NOT ADJUST CAMPAIGNS FOR THE WEB BUT LEAD THE BRAND STRATEGY. Here is the low down.A recent Forrester Research study, as seen in Advertising Age’s article, To Lead Overall Brand Strategy, Digital Shops Have Much To Do. The premise is that the digital agency is in the best position to lead brand strategy because markets are moving online, but more so because of the wealth of data interactive channels provide. You can read Mitch’s post, and the Ad Age article for more details.Take this information in the back of your mind and then go through the Brand Gap presentation, particularly looking at slide 60 - 65. To me it makes the most sense that with the above thought pattern, your digital agency should be the one sitting in the middle of the chart on slide 60 or 62, instead of a spoke on slide 64.
Rap’s lesson to marketing
This post is in relation to Pop-music’s Lesson to marketing. If you haven’t read it, take some time to do so before continuing.
Again this point is relevant to a lot of music styles, not just rap, but let me be wildly stereotypical to make a point. While we project that pop music is predominantly about love and relationships, we also suggest that another popular content for song is all about selfishness. We will use Rap music as an example.
Many Rap songs are based on attitude and personal gratification. One of the most popular of them all is the subject of how much money, wealth, cars, toys and women a particular artist or group has. This, like our pop music example is an insight into human behavior.
While the two topics may seem contradictory, they are not so different. On one hand we have the pop music’s idea of love, and on the other hand we have raps view of collecting women. Could we find any two things more opposite? Actually, there not so far apart. How are they related? They are both in reference to relationships.
There is no point expressing an accumulation of things (money, cars, etc…) unless it’s used as a comparison to another. This is relation. “I have more women that want me than you” is a relational comparison. The argument doesn’t work unless there is another side to compare it with.
This suggests a few things. One is that differentiation is critical to a brand. If you don’t have a strong and meaningful way of comparing yourself or your brand to your competition, then how are your fans (customers) supposed to know that being on your side is the right side to be on? The second thing to consider is whether your differentiation and brand image is built using the right “metrics”. To be successful in rap music you have to have the most money, cars, houses, toys and women wishing to be with you. If you decided to become a rap artist and rap about how you have more life insurance and a better retirement package, you probably won’t get too far. You would be using the wrong metrics. What metrics do your customers use to rate brands? What metrics is your brand built on? Are they the same or related?
Do agencies take their own advice?
I have been reading a lot of blog posts lately where the agency side is trying to convince clients to stop coming to them with solutions, and start to bring them problems. I don’t know why anyone would want more problems, but maybe that’s just me. 
All kidding aside, the premise of the argument is that agencies feel that if they are brought the problems the company has (I need more market share, I need higher positive brand recognition) that the agency can use their insights to help create the solution (the strategy).
There is a lot of merit in this argument. Because most agencies work with many different kinds of markets they are in a good position to help move things that work in one sector into another. Often times, the ideas and strategies they bring are new to a particular market and if works wonders. When you spend your days thinking about brands and markets, you get good at it. This is very different than taking an agency your solutions. This is often spec work, and a lot of agencies and independents don’t like it. As an example, lets say you need to increase your brand awareness. You have read a lot about the migration of markets to the web, so you decided you need to beef up your web presence in order to fulfill your need for brand awareness. You decide that you need a website that does a, b and c. So you shop around, get some referrals and call a digital agency. They get on board, do a great job and launch a site that has the best execution of a, b and c. Then 6 months later you measure you progress to find that the web initiative failed. As it turns out your focus on a, b and c made no difference to your brand awareness. You should have focused on d. If the agency we’re brought the problem (I need more brand awareness) they could have helped identify that d was what will make the difference, not a, b or c. That’s the way the story goes anyway, not all agencies would have identified that d is the best option anymore than their client-side counterparts.
The part where this all gets interesting is that, don’t we get taught in brand / business 101 that to be really successful, you need to identify the need and wants of your market and then fulfill those needs? I have heard a million agencies tell their clients exactly that. Try to go with the market instead of trying change the market to fit the business practices? If this is true (you decide if it is) then do agencies practice what they preach?
I received a twitter from David Armano from the Logic + Emotion blog, that pointed to a story on Marketing Vox about whether size matters (size of the agency) to clients. As it turns out, it doesn’t matter that much. But in the article was the list of top reasons marketers choose one agency over another. Here is the list:
1. Quality customer insights
2. Chemistry
3. Creative work
4. Service level / response to needs ongoing
5. Cost control
6. Innovative / strategic thinking
7. Case for ROI
8. Client list
9. Strict adherence to brief
10. Seniority of account team
11. Location
12. Size
It does indeed show that size doesn’t matter, but look at what else it implies. Innovative / strategic thinking didn’t even break the top 5, and neither did Case for ROI. Chemistry and Creative work are at the top of list. With these priorities, does it seem like many clients are searching for help with strategy as agencies think they should (the problem), or are clients searching for great execution (the solution)? It would seem the latter.
Beware the web metrics, it might not be what you think.
Imagine setting a goal to double the sales you get from your website. You look at your options and decide incremental changes to a few areas can make the difference. So you look at your sites log files or log into your analytics program to see how your site is doing now. You are shocked to find that your page view per visitor are really high, and so is your average time on site. How can this be? Don’t these metrics mean that the site users are engaged? If they are so engaged, why don’t they buy more?
The answer is because the users of the site are not engaged. They are confused. This example is a true story. Users of the site spent so much time on so many pages just trying to figure out how to use the site that the metrics were through the roof. I was hired to fix these issues, among others, and after working with them we (mindSpace, Inc) also made their total traffic number go down. That’s right, I said go down. Normally, you might think that that is a bad thing; however, in their case after just a few quick changes to their cpc (cost per click) campaigns, their traffic went down about 10% and their conversion rate went up 400%. What does that mean? It means they are spending less money on traffic that does them no good, and now only brings people to the site that actually might want what they are selling.
In this age of accountability, it’s important to remember that numbers don’t tell us anything. They are numbers. They can show us what is going on, but not always why. Develop a solid business strategy and figure out what is important to measure and WHY. Don’t just measure stuff you “think” you need to measure. The numbers are trying to tell you something, but they can’t say it out loud. They are more like signs that point to where to look.
How much do you have to spend to make me switch?
Here in New Mexico its pretty dry. It will suck the moisture right out of your skin. So as anyone who lives in the drier parts of the country (world) will tell you, the kind of soap you use makes a difference. I know this seems like a strange post but follow me, I have a point.
I came to live in Albuquerque after several years in Tampa, Florida. There is quite a humidity difference. And it does take a toll on your skin. I used to use an Old Spice soap because I liked the spell, and most importantly, it’s the same brand as my deodorant. The problem was that my elbows used to get so dry they would crack. In the winter, when you are taking on and off long sleeve shirts and jackets, it hurt, a lot. Then I noticed that after taking a bath with my wife one night, my skin was much better off. As we came to find out, it was the soap, her soap. So now the secret is out, I use women’s soap, (it’s Dove, and it comes in a no-scent formula so I don’t spell like a girl all day. That would make for interesting client meetings.)
So what’s the moral of the story? I watch just as many ads for soap as the next guy. I’ve seen the Axe commercials where women throw themselves on men just from the scent of their soap. While I have to say that I wouldn’t mind a product that had that attribute, we all know its not true. Besides, I like having my elbows in tact. So with all the “men’s” soaps out there, why do I still use Dove? Duh. It works. And until it stops working for me, no amount of advertising would ever get me to change.
This soap choice, and deodorant choice are both parts of my routine. I don’t want to change my routine no matter how much money you spend on your ad budget. Of course the moral of my story isn’t that advertising is bad. But I am going to make two points.
1.) Experience trumps advertising. This has a lot to do with the routine. When I go to the store, I don’t sit around and debate which deodorant or soap I want. I know what I like and I get it. Even if your product is on sale, I’m not buying. The only exception to this rule is when I become dissatisfied with my current choice. This usually happens from either more experience (I took a bath with my wife’s soap) or a change in experience (I discover that my elbows are cracking again). Its not likely that advertising is going to put me in either of those positions. But advertising can make a difference. How?
2.) Give me a good reason to think my product is letting me down. I can only think of two “Men’s” soap brands – Axe and Old Spice. Axe is geared to younger men. The appeal for me really isn’t there. I know that no matter what soap I use no woman will throw herself on me (unless the soap can magically make me 40 lbs lighter). Also, because of this younger sex-sells approach, I am anti axe. I don’t fit in that tribe. So that leaves me Old Spice. Old Spice had a program where they would send you a free stick of deodorant to test against your own. This was pretty good approach, and because their advertising wasn’t geared to . . . Well, my son (he uses Axe) . . . I took the bait and switched. Advertising did have a lot to do with the decision for me to switch to Old Spice.
So now that I am happy with my routine, can you get me to switch to your product? Only if you give me a really good reason. There is a large part of this country that is desert…. Most of the southwest. So why aren’t there any ads directed to us? Where is Old Spice with is “manly” version of ultra-moisturizing soap? Where is the sposts showing a wife happy that her husband’s hands aren’t dry? The point is give me a good reason to switch by being relevant to me. And a good place to start is how I’m different.
Don’t expect your ads to do more than they can. Inform me, get me to recognize your brand, but when it comes to call to action, don’t assume that I don’t already have an answer to my problems. Give me a trial period or sample, and tell me how it fits in my “Unique” life. That’s the best you can do, and there is not guarantee that it will always work, but be smart about it.
3 points about the Nikon D80 debate
Admittedly, I am a little behind in my podcast listening and blog reading; however, I did just finish listening to Joseph Jaffe’s Across the Sound episode #82. As I sit here writing this post, Jaffe has put out episode #85, so I’m almost caught up.
In this episode of Across the Sound, Jaffe has a conversation with CK and Tangerine Toad about blogger outreach programs, and a lot about the Nikon D80 campaign specifically. For more info about the campaign, listen to the episode or search for Nikon D80 on technorati. In the course of the conversation, it seems that Nikon got a bad wrap. While I will agree the campaign wasn’t perfect, I can’t say it was bad. Here are my thoughts on the conversation.
1.) They should have used photo bloggers – I disagree. I think that photo bloggers are probably well aware of what the D80 is and what it is capable of doing. I agree this would have been a great idea if the D80 was revolutionary, but I don’t think it is. To be sure it’s a great camera, but it doesn’t do anything the Canon equivalent can’t do. For this campaign, I think getting a lot of people to talk about the Nikon worked well to get people to at least say “Nikon, huh? Let me go check them out.”
2.) This wasn’t a one shot deal. This isn’t the only thing that Nikon did to get attention for their D series cameras. They also gave a small town a bunch of D40’s and just let them go wild with them. They set up some web space for the townsfolk to upload their images and tell their story. This D80 campaign seems to be another aspect of this same strategy. I may only be speaking for myself, but between the two parts of this effort I have to say I am impressed with what Nikon is doing. They are putting product in the hands of people who will use them, and that has to generate some buzz. It also makes me think that Nikon is being a pretty good company. To me it says, “We at Nikon know we have a good product, so here check it out.” This is much more compelling than saying “We at Nikon have a good product, trust us and just buy it.”
3.) Final point – whether you think this was a good idea or not, just ask your self this – what did Canon do? I happen to be a Canon fan. When it was time to buy a digital camera I got the Canon Rebel XTi. I believe that Nikon is a good camera, for that matter I think the Nikon and the Canon are basically the same (although cnet doesn’t agree). I bought the Canon because I believe they have better lenses. But when I bought the camera, even though I thought that both Nikon and Canon were the same quality wise, I bought the Canon and didn’t even consider the Nikon. Now between these two campaigns for the D40 and D80, and the fact that a few of my friends and colleges went Nikon, I would have reconsidered my purchase.
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