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Your Brand, Your Spokesperson and Billy Mays

2009
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The rash of endorser deaths recently may have marked the end of an advertising era… the age of the spokesperson.

  • Michael Jackson:  Pepsi
  • Ed McMahon:  Publishers Clearing House
  • Karl Malden:  American Express’s “Don’t Leave Home Without It”
  • Farrah Fawcett:  Schick Speed Styler (for those 70′s wings)
  • Billy Mays:  OxiClean, Mighty Putty, Hercules Hook, etc.

During the days when it was possible to sell 30 million copies of “Thriller” and 12 million copies of a pinup poster, these celebrity endorsers parlayed their popularity into selling products to massive audiences that only the Super Bowl and (maybe) the Oscars can generate today.

Now, our media markets are fragmented across hundreds of channels and Mr. Mays didn’t use mass-media or fame to sell products, but rather became famous by selling products to thousands of niche cable audiences over the course of a decade.  So much so that the question has become:

Will the next Billy Mays please stand up?  Mr. Mays turned out to be incredibly indispensible, but someone will have to replace him.  Options include:

  • Billy Mays:  i.e. his father, Billy Mays, Sr., and his son, Billy Mays III, both of who also appeared in the Discover Channel show “Pitchmen.”
  • Anthony Sullivan:  Mr. Mays’ longtime friend, DRTV producer and co-star on Discovery’s “Pitchmen,” but even Mr. Sullivan has conceded that he’s no Billy Mays.
  • Vince Offer (a.k.a. Shlomi):  Mr. Offer’s breakthrough success with the ShamWow last year invited comparisons to Mr. Mays.  But, the man who uttered the memorable selling line “You’re gonna love my nuts” in his subsequent Slap Chop ad has a somewhat checkered past (and present… Miami Beach prostitute biting incident, anyone?).
  • Pitchman TBD:  The next Billy Mays is most probably out there right now pitching kitchen gadgets at Costco, purse accessories at the flea market, and/or vacuums at the home show near you.  All of the above came from that type of background, which eventually translated to the small screen.

When you go to assign a person/personality to represent your brand, make sure their personality, appearance, and behaviors align with your company goals.

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Attention ALL Companies: Angering Your Customers is Dangerous Business

2009
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I read an article this past weekend in Advertising Age, by Bob Garfield (see below) and I want to comment on the Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas because I’m highlighting two companies who somehow think that they are above their customers.

First, the Stoneleigh… Now, I want to be clear.  I want, want, WANT to LOVE the Stoneleigh Hotel.  I met my boyfriend there for the first time over five years ago at a professional networking event.  I was so excited when they announced their remodel and upgrades two years ago and completed them all above anyone’s expectations.  I have been (and taken boyfriend) to the Spa in the Stoneleigh numerous times, and their services are sublime.  I love sipping cocktails in the lobby lounge and the retro chandeliers are chic.  I wish more than anything that they would get back to work on the Stoneleigh Residences Tower because I want to live here… do you get that I like this place?

So, I set a meeting in their lobby during a mid-afternoon this past week and after doing business, I noticed a flyer on the concierge desk in the lobby with all kinds of Spa promotional items.  With my iPhone in hand, I fired up TwitterFon Pro and commenced to tweeting one of their specials from my CityCrush (@CCDallas) account.  NOTE:  We have over 680 followers vs. the Stoneleigh’s 55.  In mid-Tweet, I realized that I wasn’t positive that the Stoneleigh’s Twitter ID was @StoneleighHotel (it is!).  I asked both the bartenders for confirmation, and they said they didn’t know it.

HUH?  Isn’t this basic marketing?  NOTE to all companies:  Every employee should know the company Twitter ID, Facebook group, LinkedIn URL.  It should be on their business cards for easy reference.

So, back at the Stoneleigh, I walk over to the Concierge Desk thinking (stupidly, it turns out, on my part) surely this guy will know.  Instead, I am handed a snippily delivered, “I don’t tweet.” complete with a side order of disdain.

Hello, Marketing Director at the Stoneleigh Hotel?  Maybe this is one reason why your job is so hard?  Your own freakin’ employees are in essence working against you.  I would call an all staff meeting asap and teach everyone two things:  1. basic manners  2.  know all the Stoneleigh’s brand messaging platforms

I would have thought that companies would know by now that you can’t ignore your customers… especially when you’ve angered them by bad, or rude, service.  I mean, we’ve stood here… given you our hard earned money… we WANT to like you… we WANT to feel great about the brands we do business with.  We want to be advocates and brand champions for you and make life easier on your entire Marketing Department.  Why do you continue to allow bad employees be bad brand representation?  You DO pay dearly for it, and the next paragraph is proof.

“Music Video Forces United to Clean Up Customer-Service Act” by Bob Garfield in Advertising Age, June 13, 2009 issue.  So far, the YouTube video is approaching 3.5 MILLION views.  Way to go, Sons of Maxwell.

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Brand Development is Like…

2009
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… going to the psychiatrist.  It’s an exercise in figuring out exactly who you are, what you stand for, what you say and how you say it.

Top Ten Things to Think about:

  1. Do you want to be a brand people talk about?
  2. Do you have a strategy for “talkability?”
  3. Do you know the correct behavior for your brand?
  4. Do you have strict advertising standards and guidelines?
  5. Do you have a plan that coordinates all of your outside agencies?  Or does the right hand not know what the left hand is doing half the time?
  6. Is your brand development taking the current economic climate into account?
  7. Are you looking at your competitors for ideas on what to say to customers?
  8. Are you taking SEO strategies under advisement while developing your brand?
  9. If you are shifting your brand to target a different audience, how are you working to move into this new space?
  10. Are you establishing trust and consistency with customers and prospects?
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Branded Social Media

2009
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Given the tangled web of branded social media channels and usage, it’s not surprising that only a fraction of CMOs list social media as a top capability they need for the future.  But, smart CMOs and business owners must understand that social media’s role goes beyond tactical initiatives and requires a comprehensive strategy to connect with passionate customers.  Forrester Research has developed a step-by-step approach to help senior management teams make a considered jump into social media in a way that sets expectations and metrics accordingly.

Step 1:  Take Off the Reach and Frequency Blinders

Repeat this mantra as often as you need:  “Branded social media is not about reach and frequency.”  Too often C-levels expect scale from social media only to be disappointed by a small number of participants.  But truly effective social media:

  • Focuses on the end of the marketing funnel… not the front
  • Gives brand advocates the tools to evangelize
  • Gives brand enthusiasts reasons to get more involved

Step 2:  Map Who Uses Social Technologies, When and Where

Given social media’s smaller target, the POST (People, Objectives, Strategies, Technologies) Methodology remains key components to any C-level leader who wants to create successful social media.  Combining these tools with a detailed channel plan enhances the likelihood of success by:

  • Examining the overall social savviness of your target
  • Creating objectives up front
  • Prioritizing channels by those objectives

Step 3:  Link Initiatives to Measure Success for Your Brand

In an era of shrinking budgets and short-term focus, leaders need to show results in all channels quickly.  To begin to understand the true impact of social media on the company’s brand, senior management should:

  • Create social media programs that incent but do not require opting in
  • Use analytics to size your brand advocacy potential
  • Tie loyalty programs to social initiatives

So… recommendations?  Build your social media strategy to meet the needs of your target audience.  Given the complexity of who uses branded social media, when they use it, and how, it’s clear that a “one-size-fits-all” approach won’t generate the engagement or loyalty that CMOs are looking for.  Intelligent social media strategists will:

  • Prioritize channels that generate interest and influence across a broad user base.  Online videos and reviews are the most universally accepted and influential channels and are therefore likely to have the strongest short-term ROI.  Marketers should promote these channels through search and email and provide users ways to link to and share videos and reviews on their peer sites as well.
  • Tailor more niche channels to the needs of your brand advocates.  Channels like blogs and discussion forums shine as a place to reinforce loyalty and engage and involve best customers.  Use these vehicles as well as private communities for market research and innovation to tap the customers who love you.
  • Pay attention to gender and demographics.  Consider the makeup of your target:  women will much more likely rate or review a product or participate in a discussion forum than download a podcast.  Plan your channels with this gender imbalance in mind.
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5 P’s of Social Media & Your Brand

2009
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So, now that you’re getting a better idea of what social media is, the question becomes “How do I actually apply it?  Where do I start?  How do I not screw it up and blast away all my customers?”  Start here… the 5 P’s of Social Media:  Profiles, Propagate, Produce, Participate, and Progress

1.  Profiles: There are basically two types of user Profiles, your personal one or your company one and a group profile.  Personal/business profiles can be: Jane Doe in LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter, YouTube.  A group profile can be:  Social Media Marketers, Investment Bankers Online, or Innovative Thinking.

You should immediately secure your names before someone else gets them.  Already, cyber-squatters are piling in to Twitter.  With the last Friday (06/12/2009) night opening up of personalized Facebook URLs, over 1/2 million people secured their names in the first 15 minutes.  Don’t be behind.

2.  Propagate: After you’ve created your accounts and filled in your profiles, you need to begin to propogate those accounts with content.  Photos, company pdfs, product slicks, video, audio files, etc.  Get out there and get all your digital files collected and uploaded to these web sites so that when your customers and prospects are looking for you and/or information on you, it’s easy to find.

3.  Produce: If you don’t have a lot of content, or if you want to add new content, get to creating!  Your computer, more than likely, has a built in microphone and free sound editing software (if not, get Audacity, a free audio recording and editing software). The best part of all is there is no cost but your time.  However, you must always keep in mind to send a strong “What’s in it for me?” message to your listeners.  Give them a reason to keep watching, listening, or reading your content.

4.  Participate: Yes, you have to have conversations with other people’s content and in their blogs and profiles.  Begin by commenting, but LISTEN first… don’t just jump in.  This medium really is a cocktail party… use the same skills.  You don’t just walk over to a group across the room and start pontificating.  You listen in on the fringes first; you look interested; you nod your head; then, once one of the group glances at you expectantly, you ask a relevant question or give an interesting statement.  That’s manners.

5.  Progress: Said it before… say it again, “What gets measured, gets managed.”  So, be sure you’re measuring your progress.  I.E. how many views has your video received on YouTube?  How many people have “liked” or commented on your Facebook status?  How many people request to be linked to you on LinkedIn?  How often do people follow you back on Twitter?  I recommend Google alerts for seeing when your name/ your company name is mentioned on the web.  Also, I cannot recommend Woopra highly enough!!!  John Pozadzides is the CEO and he and his team have created an amazing product.  I track both Wendistry and CityCrush with Woopra.

Some portions excerpted from FastCompany.com and Lon Safko

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The Killer App for Local Businesses

2009
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With the launch of CityCrush, a joint venture between Wendistry and BlackBox Technologies, four weeks ago, naturally I’m drawn to articles and information about hyper-local media and the businesses that they highlight and promote.  So, in my May 18 edition of Advertising Age, an article by Abbey Klaassen caught my eye.

“New Orleans pizza joint, Chicago yogurt chain see results from promos on microblogging service, Twitter”

Naked Pizza, a New Orleans healthful-pizza shop that’s hoping to go national (Mark Cuban is a backer) has been marketing itself via the micro-blogging service.  Recently it has started tracking Twitter-spurred sales at the register.  In a test run on April 23, an exclusive-to-Twitter promotion brought in 15% of the day’s business.  “Sure, there’s the brand marketing and getting-to-know-you stuff… But we wanted to know:  Can it make the cash register ring?” says Jeff Leach, the restaurant’s co-founder.

Mr. Leach is one of many small local businesses using Twitter as a marketing tool, and his group could turn out to be a very lucrative market for the fast-growing site if other local entrepreneurs have similar experiences.  Twitter’s real-time messaging service is a boon to local establishments, who are starting to get on-board, mostly because the message pops into users’ Twitter feeds and they are close enough in proximity to act on it.  For Mr. Leach, who is targeting people within a three-mile radius of his store, that’s key.  He’s gone so far as to erect a billboard outside his store publicizing Naked Pizza’s Twitter ID (which got him written up in TechCrunch).  After that, Twitter contacted him; he’s going to be working with the company to beta test some applications for small businesses.

Twitter has a golden trait that appeals to small business… it’s easy.  Simpler than a blog, setting up a Facebook or MySpace page, it’s a lot like email which has been one of the most effective marketing tools for small companies to date.  The social nature is also very appealing.  Consumers are already using Twitter as a question-and-answer recommendation service and to forward (“retweet”) messages they receive from brands they like.

Michael Farah, founder and CEO of Berry Chill, a yogurt shop with three Chicago locations, has been using Twitter to send out “Sweet Tweets”… promos that require users to show they’re Twitter followers of the store.  In a month, he’s logged 700 followers and, he said, “sweet tweets” haven’t diminished his daily sales totals.

“Our last big promotion we gave away 1,100 yogurts ($5,500 worth of product) but sales were the same as the day before,” he said.  “The people who were existing customers standing in line attracted people who hadn’t tried it.” Add the location-based technology nearly every mobile device will have soon, and many say it will really earn its keep as a killer local app.

Meanwhile,  Naked Pizza’s wish list includes analytics tools that help it understand the most effective times of the day or week to deliver promotional messages, much like an e-mail marketing services provider would.  Mr. Leach, who spends up to $60,000 a year on direct mail and almost $2,500 a year on e-mail marketing, said he would gladly pay a monthly fee for services like those.

In the next 90 days, he said, he’s aiming to sign up 5,000 followers that have city of New Orleans as their location.  As he puts it: “That’s 5,000 people I don’t have to mail a postcard to.”

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A Brand Beauty: 100 Years of L’Oreal

2009
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L’Oreal… the name evokes the image of allure and glamour. For most of the company’s 100 years, the name has been synonymous with the image of the quintessential Parisienne- upscale, exclusive and aspirational.

Over the last 25 years, that image has been expanding.  Today, L’Oreal is recognized as the global leader in all aspects of beauty, for men as well as women, for everyman and woman as well as the upper crust.  The company says its track record today reflects a quest for diversity to meet the needs of men and women around the globe and to make its products available to as many people as possible.

This transformation has occurred by implementing a well-formulated strategy of acquisitions and expansion geographically as well as into all distribution channels, while remaining true to the spirit on which L’Oreal was founded… that research and innovation should serve beauty and that product innovation should drive business.

Although mainstream cosmetics, fragrances and haircare products for women remain the majority of L’Oreal’s business, growth in recent years has also come as the company segments the beauty market in several ways… by age, ethnicity, prestige, gender and marketing approach.  “I don’t believe that there is one consumer that is not part of our total communications,” says Joe Campinell, president of L’Oreal USA’s Consumer Products Division.  “In the mass market, it runs from 3-, 4-, 5-year-olds with L’Oreal shampoo for kids, to anti-aging products for wrinkles and dryness and firmness for 65-to-70 year old women… We also target men,” he says.

Carol Hamilton, president of L’Oreal USA’s Luxury Products Division, says, “It was quite a milestone in marketing to seniors to sign actress Diane Keaton for L’Oreal Paris, who is fabulous at the age of a little over 60 and such a dynamic role model.”  L’Oreal has an enviable portfolio of brands like Giorgio Armani, Cacharel, Diesel, Guy Laroche, Paloma Picasso, Ralph Lauren, Viktor & rolf and Yves Sant Laurent, a well as Japanese makeup artist Shu Uemura.  Kiehl’s Since 1851, an exclusive specialty brand, has a particular personal relationship with a loyal  following in the luxury segment and, since it was acquired in 2000, is L’Oreal’s fastest-growing luxury brand.

Happy Birthday, L’Oreal… Here’s to the next 100 years.

Excerpted from June 1, 2009, issue of Advertising Age magazine.

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Creative by Committee?

2009
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Everyone’s heard that 90 percent of all new product ideas fail. But, do you know the real reason why? The only reason 90 percent fail is that corporations get committees together who water down the original creator’s vision until it becomes lifeless and useless.

Likewise, of my business ventures of the past that have failed, without fail the cause has been too many cooks in the kitchen. In the history of branding, great creative elements have never been improved by the addition of filter after filter of accommodating layer after layer of input. All you get is a big blender. Unfortunately, everyone feels they have to get credit for adding something to be relevant. Fixing and futzing until the real idea has been beaten to death under the weight of the convolution… or at the least on life support.

If you’re in the position to influence the process in your company, do everything in your power not to kill it with too much consensus, especially during the creative stages. Keep the idea originator group small and give them the most “votes” when it comes to edits and changes. Subject the ideas to the larger group for feedback and constructive comments, but NOT for change, unless the originators agree that an adjustment will indeed move the ball forward, not set it back.

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Brand Asset Deployment, Part Last

2009
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I know I said I was going to discuss CONSISTENCY and DISTRIBUTION, but I think enough has been written about both in both this column and elsewhere. So….

NEWSWORTHINESS: Being in tune with the times offers lots of opportunities for “unpaid advertising.” Clearly defined, strategically oriented public relations can be a powerful tool. It’s an asset that can induce trial, enhance brand image, and build brand equity… IF (a big if) it is consistent with other messages. Give yourself 0 to 5 points for how well you’ve exploited this brand asset.

LIKABILITY: Yes, it matters. And yes, it’s measurable. If your communications (and therefore your brand) are likable, then people will welcome your message and open their wallets. It’s a fundamental truth: people buy from people (read Brands) they like. There are NO rational purchases. None. Ever. Give yourself up to 5 points for a refreshing brand “attitude.”

VALUE: In a rational world, price would equal value. (Of course, in a rational world, there would be no civil wars, salad shooters, Yanni concerts, IRS, clip-on ties, Christmas tree air fresheners, or lawn gnomes. But, we digress.) Price is just one element in the complex, non-rational perception tug-of-war within consumer buying decisions. Value equals perceived quality, divided by actual price. Perceived quality, of course, is what you hope to establish with your other assets. Pricing decisions, insofar as a brand holder can actually control, or even influence, them, have to be handled with much more skill and attention than simply throwing coupons or rebates at potential buyers. So, score 0 to 10 based on your pricing. If you can establish and maintain a value-added premium price versus competition, give yourself credit for being perceived as a value-added brand. It’s a judgment call, of course. Sometimes it takes heroic measures just to maintain price parity.

What’s your total score? (Out of a possible 55?) Have you projected wishful thinking (or natural optimism) onto the numbers? Most people tend to be a bit on the over-optimistic side. Not that the objective total matters… but, now put someone else in your company through this same exercise. Would your staff come up with the same numbers? Would your sales force? What score would your team give your competitors? What would your customers say? Where are the most obvious disagreements? Where can you find consensus? Which assets are clearly performing up to their potential? Which need a little hand-holding? Which are a drag on your brand equity?

The fact is every brand asset has to contribute to a value-added brand image to make the machinery work at peak efficiency. But, prudent asset deployment calls for putting money, people, time and energy against the assets with the most leverage.

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Brand Asset Deployment, Part 1

2009
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First, NAME: A brand’s most valuable asset can be the name itself. For one thing, the name can have inherent selling power when the word(s) stand for something… showcasing and explaining the uniqueness of the product or service. By this measure, “Vapo-Rub” is more valuable, more descriptive, than “Formula 44,” and Mercury “Cougar” promises more than Buick “Century.”

But, this value of NAME pales in comparison with the enormous power of those brands that have built equity after decades of consistent brand-building activities. “Diet Rite,” for example, no matter how descriptive and colorful, can’t approach the equity in “Diet Coke,” a heritage built on a bazillion dollars of investment ad spending.

In any brand asset audit, you have to give a lot of weight to the use (and occasional misuse) of a name. Investigating the practical limits of line extensions, for example, forces us to distinguish between those new product efforts that re-invest brand equity and those that dilute it.

So, in box #1 on your scorecard, give your brand a score from 0 to 5 points for the salesmanship built into the meaning of the name… plus, anywhere from 0 to 10 points for top-of-mind awareness, a fair measure of the value of the brand’s history of investment.

Tomorrow, Step 2, PACKAGING, and Step 3, REACH and FREQUENCY.

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