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Effective Advertising Workshops Newsletter
Volume IV Issue 4 |
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Dear Reader,
We had the pleasure of attending a marketing seminar presented by Jerry Rossi. Over the next few newsletters, we're going to share some of his thoughts, which, not coincidentally, are similar to our Effective Advertising Seminar philosophy. Find out about the 9 Secrets that are in Jerry's best-selling book, "Dog Eat Dog & Vice Versa: 9 Secrets to Put the Bite into Your Marketing", which is available at most book stores.
Jerry's Rule #5: "Stop spending money on advertising that doesn't produce!"
For those of you that have been to one of our seminars, you may remember that this is the first slide in our PowerPoint:
Why Advertise? To get Results! (not to get response, not for institutional purposes, not to fuel your ego), but to sell your product or services.
Jerry says,
"Position, Position, Position.
Marketing is as much about positioning as it is about dollars. Competition for space on television, magazines, billboards, and grocery shelves often turns into a dogfight - a competition not unlike that seen on the gridiron, the tennis court or the Tour de France. It's all about supply and demand. Even with the explosion of media outlets, cable television, broadband and cell phones that show movies and advertisements - there is still only so much 'prime real estate', only so much airtime, a limited number of prime billboard locations, only one banner space on each Internet results search pages, only so much top shelf, only one back cover on a magazine, and only so much that can be crammed onto a cell phone streaming video."
"The Very Ready for Prime Time Players
Who owns prime time? We all know the answer to this question. The Big Dogs of industry and commerce. And whatever the big dogs fight over gets more and more expensive. The cost of a :30 second ad in the Super Bowl is now $3 million. Anheuser Busch thought it was such a good idea that they bought ten minutes (and precluded any other beer brand from the telecast). That's a drop in the bucket for Anheuser Busch - but that's $30 million to you and me (or you might say that the Dalmatian that rides on the top of the Budweiser beer wagon is one Big Dog)."
" 'The Big Question' for Small Businesses.
The BIG question is: 'Where do I spend my marketing dollars and how do I get the biggest bang for my Buck?'
Often the answer is: 'Wherever you get the best results.'
'Oh thanks. Just what I didn't want to hear' you say. 'I'm way too busy running my business to figure out which marketing dollars are giving me the best results. And even if I did have time to do that kind of research, I wouldn't know how to interpret the data'."
The problem here is that many businesses do not know how to measure or even find out what works for them. The President of Pulte Homes said: "Measure your market to Manage your market".
Our best recommendation?
First things first, start with a simple goal...just try to start to Brand Your Business. Select a medium that can brand you best - radio, television, or cable. Negotiate with the one you choose, remembering the Three Pillars of Successful Advertising: Reach, Frequency and Consistency. Reach enough people, reach them frequently, and do this on a year-round, consistent basis.
All forms of media will bend over backwards to accommodate the advertiser that is flexible and consistent. Don't be tempted to "try it for a couple of months". We're telling you now, IT DOESN'T WORK!
Don't be tempted to mix and match different media, you don't have enough money (see Big Dogs). With this "media mix" philosophy, you end up with too few ads in too many different places, none of which are remembered because you don't have enough frequency of message.
In the months ahead, we will share more of Jerry Rossi's "9 Secrets That Put the Bite in Your Marketing".
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Neilsen Figures
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We get more and more questions about television viewing habits, about where people watch, about TIVO (watching a delayed video of your selected show), and about length of viewing. We ran across some brand new figures, we will go into depth at a later date.
At the start of 2010 Fall ad sales push Nielsen released a new report titled " How Consumers Watch: 2010 TV Upfront Fact Sheet." A few nuggets about traditional TV and DVR use sifted from the report include:
- Today, there are more TVs on average in homes in America at 2.86, than people at 2.53
- As of 4Q09, the average American watches 34 hours and 37 minutes of TV per week.
- An estimated 90% of US homes receive either cable TV and/or satellite service (Feb 2010).
- In 4Q09, DVRs are in 35% of American homes and usage is up +25% from the previous year.
- DVR users watch approximately 47% of the primetime commercials in programs played back after 3 days
- Within homes using DVRs, 85% of all primetime viewing is live (Nov 2009).
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Establishing An Iconic Brand
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Carla Stafford has some interesting thoughts about brand establishment. Although the main reference is to national brands, a local business can do the same thing. If you think for a moment, your home town has more than one local business that has branded itself and enjoys good long-term, loyal business. Here in Charleston, SC, Glass Pro (It's Your Choice, Insist on Glass Pro) leads the market in sales, (with competition from 40 auto glass replacement companies), has 8 local stores, and has only been in business for 15 years. Gerald's Tires, the leader in tire sales, is known for their service and friendliness, and Polly's Jewelry, "Charleston's Leader in Fine Jewelry", has not been open for 100 years (more like 20), but has been able with clever commercials to brand themselves as a leader in the highly competitive jewelry business.
Read what Carla says:
An iconic brand is a powerful asset. These brands become part of our lives and stand the test of time. Think what our culture would be like without brands such as Apple, Coca-Cola, and Target. The Nike "swoosh" remains a powerful symbol today, more than 37 years after its creation.
It's every manager's dream to build a brand that significantly impacts our culture. So what does it take for organizations to make their brands world famous? The reality is, brands don't become iconic by chance. Achieving this status takes careful planning and execution.
If you're looking to build the next iconic brand keep in mind the following:
An example is Safeway Select, Safeway's store brand. Safeway Select is a popular choice for consumers looking to purchase store-brand products over brand-name items during these tough economic times. In response to this demand, Safeway has been expanding its store-brand products to meet customer needs. This has inevitably led customers to associate Safeway Select with cost-effective, quality products.
4.Infuse your brand with custom photography. The use of imagery has dramatically changed with new tools and software. These tools have enabled companies to be more creative with photography. Smart companies also invest in digital assets they can repurpose across all channels of advertising - TV commercials, print ads, and in the social media world.
T-Mobile, for example, leverages video, custom photos, logo animation and more in its branding efforts. As a client of ours, we have helped T-Mobile coordinate photo shoots across multiple locations to infuse campaigns with high-quality photography to create a connection with its audiences. The company's imagery, along with its famous use of pink, is very effective.
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A good time was had by all two weeks ago in Eastern Kentucky. Look out Norfolk, here we come! Our workshops will be in Hampton, VA on May 11, and Norfolk on May 12 & 13.
We have a long list of new advertisers that have discovered that our program works...year after year! Please go to www.effectiveadvertisingseminars.com and click on Testimonials. Chances are you will find a business that is just like you. They will tell you how our Three Pillars of Successful Advertising will work for your business.
As always, we hope to see you at a seminar soon and are always ready to answer any questions.
Sincerely,
Larry Kirby
Effective Advertising Workshops |
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