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I'm listening.
I've been getting lots
of feedback on this newsletter and it is really helpful. So
again, I'll put a gift card in the mail to the first person
who responds to this letter with a topic or question he or she
would like to see addressed in an upcoming issue. Follow this link to
reply.
Even
if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just
sit there."
- -- Will Rogers
Build Boston Photo
Exhibit Deadline
Traditionally at Build Boston, the
BSA exhibits the work of New England architects, interior
designers, and landscape architects.
Now is the time to
submit your photographs for the 2007/2008 Juried Photo
Exhibits, co-sponsored by BSLA, IIDA, and ASID. Boards
submitted by the August 1 deadline will be displayed at Build
Boston 2007 and Residential Design and Construction 2008. For
more information, follow
this link.
Copyright
2007
Chris Joy Marketing Communications.
All
rights reserved. You may reproduce content included in the
Brand Guardian e-newsletter by including this copyright and,
if reproducing it electronically, by including a link to www.chrisjoycomm.com.
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Hello,
Today's
newsletter is about how I hope to help you think like a better
marketer. Hope it's helpful!
All the best,
Chris Joy
Principal
Chris Joy
Marketing Communications
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Seeing
the World Through a Marketer's Prism
With a newborn
baby, going out to a movie is a thing of the past for us, but
last night, my husband Jim and I finally got around to renting
"An
Inconvenient Truth" - the global warming documentary by Al
Gore. If you know me well, you know I make a sincere effort to
live what I consider an environmentally responsible life. I
recycle. I buy green. I cringe when I'm on the highway, my 4-cylinder
Honda Civic surrounded by SUVs that are each roughly the
size of my living room. So it probably doesn't surprise you to
hear that I hope everyone sees this incredibly important
film.
I'm no science buff, and I'm guessing Vice
President Gore probably wasn't voted the most charismatic kid
in his high school class (Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't
the Washington Post once refer to the man as "giving new
meaning to the word cardboard"?). But, I gotta tell you, The
Goracle certainly connected with me in this film. I was
glued to Mr. Gore's Powerpoint presentation (that's Academy
Award-winning Powerpoint presentation, thank you very much.) I
was stymied by his hockey stick graph showing the hottest 10
years ever on record having occured in the past 14 years. I
was confounded by the arresting
photos taken of the retreating snow caps of Mount
Kilimanjaro, and shaken by the calculation of a 100
million refugees being created by a 20 foot rise in the
world's sea level caused by the loss of shelf ice in Greenland
and Antarctica.
The facts were not surprising to me
- global warming has been on my own personal radar screen
for some time. But the depth of my reaction is something
new.
Let's call it the Parent Prism.
While I have been concerned about the environment
and the consequences of our treatment of it for a number of
years, it's so much more critical to me now that I have a
6-month-old son who is and will be breathing in this air we're
polluting today for the rest of his life. I now see things in
a way I just didn't before. It's a new kind of
awareness.
I can't remember where I read this
particular article recently (admittedly, the Parent Prism is
also often a bit blurry from lack of sleep), but I think it
was in a trade magazine like "Residential Architect" or maybe
it was "Custom Home." Anyway, the author made the point that
marketing is THE most important thing you can do for your
company. Period. He went on to justify this bold statement
by reminding readers that without the ability to attract the
next good client, a business is doomed.
Admittedly, a business' failing may not hold the
same weight as the fate of our planet, but I'm willing to bet
that your business is a significant part of your world.
So for the sake of your business' survival, I hope
this newsletter helps you see things like a professional
marketer. With a new kind of awareness to see, and skills with
which to judge, marketing opportunities.
To see the
world through a Marketer's Prism, if you will.
Going forward, in an effort to help you flex your
own growing marketing muscles, I am going to include a section
in which I describe a given marketing campaign and invite you
to critique it. You don't need to write back or anything -
just think about it for yourself.
Through this
monthly exercise, I believe you'll become a better marketer.
Eventually, you'll develop your own "Marketer's Prism" through
which you will naturally see more opportunities and make
better judgments about marketing, continuously developing your
competency in a discipline that is critical to your company's
growth, if not its very survival.
But one step at a
time. For today, just take a look at this new section called
"Does This Message Pop or Flop?" and see if it
gets your marketing wheels turning.
Speaking of taking
one step at a time, I'm asking you to see "An Inconvenient
Truth" if you haven't already done so. If you do not have a
subscription to Netflix, or don't live near a movie rental
store, I'll buy you a copy of the movie. Just email me and I
will order it for you today. |
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Does This Message Pop or Flop?
Last
week, I was flipping through a copy of Metropolitan Home and I
came across an
ad for Mr. Rooter.
In this campaign, the firm
attempts to differentiate itself by having readers recall the
stereotypical image of a plumber -- sloppy, irresponsible,
lacking in any finesse with customers.
Through the
look and feel of a "Cosmo Quiz" the ads beg the reader to ask
themselves how well their "relationship" with their plumber is
working. Mr Rooter hopes, of course, that the reader will come
to the conclusion that they deserve better, dump their current
plumber and switch to Mr. Rooter, whose service tagline is,
naturally, "The Plumber You Deserve."
There is a lot to
like about this ad campaign -- it's targeted at women who
immediately recognize the fun, Cosmo Quiz format. It uses
humor to make its point, and draws a clear connection to
the service promise of the Mr. Rooter brand.
The
one element that may or may not work for some is drawing the
negative stereotype of the plumber. Does it cast a pall on the
entire industry? You be the judge.
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Quick Tip
For Inspiration, Look
Outside the Industry
I have been working
exclusively with service providers for my entire career.
Service brands are very different from product brands, and in
some ways it is harder to market a service brand, I admit.
But to me, it just means we have to dig deeper to
find our message.
To avoid looking like everyone
else in your given category, it often is smart to look outside
your industry for inspiration. For instance, I work with a lot
of companies who serve a very high-end clientele. In that
strata, clients can afford just about anything, so you are not
dealing so much with price-sensitivity as you are trust.
Where might you look for message inspiration around
trust? It seems to me that wealth management companies might
be a reasonably good place to start.
Next Sunday
afternoon, TIVO a golf tournament and fast-forward to the
financial services commercials - almost all of which revolve
around high net worth wealth management. They may help you
think outside the box the next time you consider revitalizing
your firm's marketing messages.
Make sense? I'd love to hear your
thoughts.
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