Tag Archives: Marketing and Advertising

July 10, 2014 · 11:14 am

What’s Your Story?

I’m preparing to work with a client team on their marketing plan for the next year.

Bedtime Stories

(Photo credit: Robynlou8)

The group is excited to start talking about which media, various tactics we’d use across the social platforms they employ, and how we’d communicate to consumers. I’m pretty sure that I’ll bring the discussion to a pause by asking them to tell me the story before we focus on any of that. I’ll get several curious looks but I think that’s the most important question one can ask as the plan begins to take shape. Why?

The story is what defines everything else. If we’re going to be successful in touching the consumer we need to do so in a way that resonates with them and stories are the things that drive that connection.  Obviously the consumer needs to be the hero of the story.  Well, maybe the focus of the story is a better way to say that.  They will be confronted with an obstacle and that problem is solved by whatever it is you’re selling.  Seems pretty basic, right?

Take a look around you.  How many pieces of marketing content can you spot that have it backwards?  The product is the hero, the consumer just a spectator.  How many tell a coherent story (they have beginnings, middle, and ends)?  How many have a call to action, even if it’s subtle?

Once we all agree on the story we’re telling, the focus becomes translating that tome into each channel and each medium.  We may need to alter the story slightly to be more specific to the audience we’re reaching through a particular medium but the basic story itself needs to remain intact.  If we’re really doing our jobs well the message will resonate, the characters (which might be the product and the consumer) will be well-formed, and the call to action will result in whatever it is we want them to do – a click, read something else, give us an email or maybe even buy something.

Tactics are, frankly, the less-fun part.  Writing the story is fun and an important first step.  So ask yourself – what’s your story?

Leave a comment

Filed under Consulting

Tagged as , , , ,

June 25, 2014 · 8:56 am

Barking Up The Wrong Tree?

Some interesting results came out of a poll by the Gallup folks the other day. They polled American consumers about the influence social media has on their purchasing decisions.   I guess if you hold stock in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other public social media company, you’re not a huge fan of the results:

Gallup says 62% of the more than 18,000 U.S. consumers it polled said social media had no influence on their buying decisions. Another 30% said it had some influence. U.S. companies spent $5.1 billion on social-media advertising in 2013, but Gallup says “consumers are highly adept at tuning out brand-related Facebook and Twitter content.”

That’s from the Wall St, Journal report on the study.  Oops?  Is all the time, money, and effort companies are throwing at social media just a massive barking up the wrong tree?  Not really.  In fact, I find that pretty encouraging since it might just get marketers focused on the real role of social as opposed to gross follower counts.  In fact:

“Gallup research shows that consumers are much more likely to turn to friends, family members, and experts when seeking advice about companies, brands, products, or services. Company-sponsored Facebook pages and Twitter feeds have almost no persuasive power.”

I’m sure that’s what the data said.  It’s throwing the baby out with the bath water, however.  Monitoring what and how consumers are talking about with respect to your brand is invaluable.  Giving them the opportunity to reach you directly can’t be a bad thing, can it?  Sure – if social is just a place to broadcast more brand news, sale information, or videos of your TV ads, you’re probably missing the boat.  Analyzing social-media conversations to see what consumers like and don’t like is smart.  Actually, it’s kind of mandatory.

Once again, a focus on the tools (social media) instead of the business is what barking up the wrong tree really means.  Using the social channel to gather information and take action where appropriate is smart business.  You with me?

Leave a comment

Filed under digital media, Helpful Hints

Tagged as , , , ,

June 17, 2014 · 8:49 am

Anthems

The World Cup is my favorite sporting event and one of the more interesting parts of it relates directly to our TunesDay theme.

Español: Equipos de Paraguay e Italia en el mo...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Every match is preceded by the national anthems of the teams involved and those are our topic today.  Why I think this event is so great is, in part, due to the national fervor it stimulates.  Here in the U.S., I think it’s doubly so for those who are following it.  After all, in addition to rooting for team USA, nearly all of us are from somewhere – we’re a nation of immigrants, right? – so there are at least a couple of teams we’re following.  For those of us who love the game, we pay attention to the best teams in the world as well – Spain, Germany – actually, I won’t miss watching ANY game if I can help it. We hear a lot of anthems – more so than at the Olympics where we only hear those of the gold medalists.

Putting on our marketing hats for a second, national anthems are a form of audio branding.  In commercial terms, audio branding is supposed to unify an identity (think NBC’s chimes, Intel’s audio tags, McDonald’s jingles, etc.) as well as bring certain brand attributes to mind.  I think the better anthems do that as well.

One of the best is that of France – La Marseillaise.  Its lyrics evoke revolution, conflict, taking up arms against tyranny, preparing for a fight – pretty good in a sports context – set to one of the world’s great tunes.  By contrast, the Spanish anthem is a march that has no words and which isn’t in my mind particularly Spanish-sounding.  Some – like Germany’s – were songs written by famous composers (Haydn) to which nationalistic lyrics were later added.  Others (like the USA) were poems first that were sung to popular songs (“To Anacreon in Heaven” in this case, a popular British song).

There are songs about the monarch, the countryside, the strong will of the people and yes, even about a flag.  The business point today is that obviously an anthem – audio branding of a people – can relate to almost anything.  It’s meant to be a signature and perhaps to inspire.  So ask yourself this:  what’s my business anthem?  What does my brand sound like?  As my team lined up before a crucial meeting, what song would we write or use to represent us?  What message would it send out to those standing (it is an anthem, after all) and listening?  Give that some thought as you get ready for the next match.

Leave a comment

Filed under Music, Thinking Aloud

Tagged as , , ,