Category Archives: Helpful Hints

July 8, 2013 · 11:04 am

Something For Nothing

Let’s start the week with a little bit of common sense backed up by some research.

Mobile-phone-advertising

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You might categorize the recent study released by Millward Brown, in partnership with SessionM, in the “duh” bin and you wouldn’t be far off but it serves as a good reminder of some basic marketing thoughts.  The study is called Exploring the Role of Value in Mobile Advertising and it talks about how to break through low favorability of mobile advertising by offering more tangible value in brands’ marketing content.  You can read the study here (pdf) if you want but mobile ads are close to the bottom of consumer‘s likes. Only 9% of people have a favorable attitude toward them (opt-in email tops the rankings at 28%, showing that mobile advertising in general has a problem).

Here is the “duh” part that carried over to just about anything you’re doing in marketing:

  • Consumers presently reward brands that deliver on that value in exchange for their loyalty
  • Reward-based mobile advertising succeeds when  the advertising execution is timely, chosen &  relevant and the reward is predictable, tangible & chosen.
  • Advertisers need to be mindful of the value exchange they offer through their mobile marketing efforts and make certain it is commensurate with their audience’s expectations.

In other words, answer the “why do I care” question and make sure your answer is coming from the consumer’s point of view.  Make sure that any time the consumer is spending on you is paid back many times over.  Look to surprise them and in a way that’s meaningful to them.  Be visible but unintrusive – show ads at natural break points (we all hate pop-ups that stop us from reading or video ads – TV or steaming – that interrupt our experience).  You have to give them something for their attention and engagement – you can’t get something (their loyalty) for nothing.

Where we fail as marketers is the place where our branding needs climb over those of our consumers or potential consumers.  We need to avoid that place like the plague, whether it’s on mobile devices or anyplace else.  This research shows it yet again but one would hope that common sense – and the ability to approach marketing as a consumer and not a brand maven – has us there already.  Does it?

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July 1, 2013 · 9:41 am

Driving For Show

There is something really extraordinary going on right now in the sports world and I’m not sure you’re paying attention to it. As it turns out (big shock) I also see a business point in it and that’s our topic today.

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD - JUNE 10: Inbee Park (KOR)...

(Photo by Keith Allison) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If the name “Inbee Park” is unfamiliar to you, it probably won’t be for long. She’s just won the U.S. Women’s Open, the third major golf championship she’s won this year. In context, the last time a pro – male or female – won the first three majors of the year was 60 years ago.  That’s amazing but what makes it even more so is how she’s managed to win them all.  It’s not because she hits the ball a long way – she doesn’t.  In fact, she’s usually using harder to hit clubs from the same distances as other pros because she doesn’t hit it as far.  She’s not a lot more accurate either.  She ranks 55th in fairways hit off the tee and 17th in green’s hit in regulation.  Where she excels is putting.  As a golfer I can tell you that I have never seen any pro on any tour putt the way she is putting.  She’s making everything of any length – 25, 30, 40 feet.  It doesn’t matter.  And that’s the business point.

There is an old golf expression – drive for show, putt for dough.  A big drive counts just the same as a perfect putt and great putting – as Inbee Park shows – can make a good golfer into a great one.  It’s the same for business.  Many businesses focus on the “big drive” – flashy new products, for example – instead of excellent putting – the stuff that really matters.  When was the last time you and your team thought about not what makes a huge impression but about what makes the cash register ring?

Golfers forget that putting is usually 40%-50% of the shots yet many spend hours practicing their driving which they might do 14 times a round.  Businesses need to focus on the little things that happen every day and constantly.  That’s how they win.  Your business doesn’t have to excel at everything as long as the focus and performance is there on the things that matter and the rest of the performance is solid if not exceptional.

Hitting a booming drive it satisfying but sinking a long putt wins – in golf as well as in business.  You agree?

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June 27, 2013 · 8:58 am

Guest Post: Expiration Dates

My friend Robin is lawyer but I don’t hold that against her (he said, alienating a fair number of his friends…).  She had some really interesting thoughts on the topic of holding on to the past that I asked her to share.  Hopefully you’ll find them as thought-provoking as I did.
Why is it that very few of the finer things in life have never-ending shelf lives? The old vintage bottle of wine…it stays safe and protected, buried deep down in the wine cellar until you decide to dig it out and pop the cork. Then its days are numbered. The time starts ticking away. A lovely French cheese, fresh fruit, and even bright light bulbs, they are all destined to burn out sooner rather than later. Even though you can replace these things, are they as good the second time around?
Why is it that so many things in life are perishable, only at their peak for a short while? More importantly, why do we seem to hold on to things that have long since reached their expiration dates? We know that using expired products is recipe for disaster. It is toxic and unhealthy. We understand that with food, but why doesn’t it click in other areas of our lives – business, relationships, or even wearing that old worn out pair of shoes that hurts our back? Do we honestly need a “good if used by” stamp on everything in our life so we know when to let things go? Would we be better off if there were some predetermined formula to tell us when it’s time to let go?
As I am cleaning out my office, I am amazed at all the “stuff” I have amassed. Most of it has long since expired, even if only in theory. I’m purging the outdated and irrelevant to make room more new possibilities, better opportunities. Why have I spent so much time and energy holding on to things that never really mattered? It is just because there was no expiration date? Because I didn’t know its shelf life? It’s much easier to discard something that has surpassed its expiration date than to make a conscious choice to throw something away without the guidance of a date. That date is like a security blanket.
With dates, there’s no questioning, no second guessing. You just know. You could enjoy things for the time they’re available, regardless of how long or short.  Why do I still have an address book from 2000 and a Rolodex from 2003 (Yes, I trashed both of them)? My office has moved four times since then. Did I seriously cart these things around? They are irrelevant.
If there’s any purpose to carrying around this much baggage, I have no clue what it is.
I think we all can probably do a little cleaning out of our offices and homes, don’t you?  New “stuff” awaits – you just need the room to let it into your life!  Thoughts?
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