February 2012
11 posts
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STARK REALITY ADVICE
90% of SME Communication not only does not maximize ROI, but is WASTED because it doesn’t build or have a cumulative effect!
Most SME business owners do it themselves or let the job be done by the media or designers. Their expenditure lines the pockets of media companies, web developers, designers, printers who are not aware of simple and proven Scientific Advertising Principles.
Develop an...
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Marketng Communication - Clarity
People today more receptive than ever before to Clear Solutions and Clear Messages. Clarity promises Peace of Mind in today’s chaotic world!
Here is an example by a jewellery chain that produced amazing results:
A simple headline was changed from:
“We guarantee the quality of the diamonds we sell”
to:
“If the Gemological Institute of America doesn’t confirm our...
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Marketing Communication - Compression &...
Solutions we offer have to be immediately comprehensible otherwise they become problems and add to the sensory overload of our clients and prospects.
People are too stressed and busy for dense visuals and jargon - a common sin of Finance and IT industries.
Time Deprivation + Technology = Compression
Digital TV 500 channels & The Web = Life now is 24 x 7x 365
Compressed patience and...
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HOW WILL YOU SAY IT? - Effective Marketing...
Does your marketing communication:
Dramatize your brand’s most important benefit?
Communicate simply? Simplicity is powerful – less is more
Use natural, real life dialogue?
Avoid jargon?
Tell a story, leave a picture in your prospects’ mind?
Ask questions?
Provide proof and reasons to believe?
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HOW WILL YOU SAY IT? - General Principles of...
Here is a checklist for all your marketing communications. Ask yourself the following questions and see whether your marketing communication achieves the following objectives:
Does your marketing communication grab Attention?
Does your marketing communication clearly identify your brand? Does it do so immediately and throughout the advertisement?
Does your marketing communication reinforce your...
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LinkedIn - The greatest Personal Branding,...
There are 3 types of people in business: - Entrepreneurs - Intrapreneurs - Un-enterprising and all of them can benefit from LinkedIn, even the un-enterprising! It’s the often overlooked social media channel of LinkedIn! Whilst it is Facebook and Twitter that get all the media attention, it is LinkedIn that leads with results. Hubspot research shows LinkedIn being the equal leading Customer...
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The Importance of Your Personal Brand
If you are the owner or founder of an SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) or are the person responsible for sales or business development in any size organization then your reputation - your personal brand is paramount in your personal success and the success of your organization.
‘Brands are like people’ is an analogy often used to describe the companies they represent. Virgin is the...
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Is Your Website Built for Online Success?
All websites can be classified into 4 types:
1. A site that sells product(s) or service(s) by the quality of design and copywriting, which is in turn
2. A lead generation site that attracts potential new clients
3. A customer support or self service site that reduces costs by completing routine tasks, replacing or reducing human interaction
4. A content site that educates or informs...
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www - web - the great equalizer
The web allows ‘small business Davids’ to compete with corporate Goliaths.
Your website is the most flexible and accountable marketing weapon today. Usually the first thing that your prospects see and experience about your business, it is your most public face to the world, a showroom open every hour of every day.
The investment into your website is 100% measurable and hence...
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How to cut your marketing costs without decreasing...
You Need Original Ideas & More Creative Execution but more importantly you need to SHARE!
12 Half Page Print Ads are more effective than 6 Full Page Ads
One Colour, called spot colour can be used instead of Full Colour to decrease the cost without effecting effectiveness if the design is used creatively to compensate for this.
Use 30 Second Radio Ad v 60 Second Radio Ad
Decrease the...
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Importance of PR for Small Businesses (SME's)
The “birth of a brand” is achieved with publicity, not advertising. A new brand must be capable of generating favorable publicity in the media or it will not have a chance in the marketplace.
PR automatically generates greater credibility through “unbiased editorial” rather than a “paid” message.
The ultimate cost effective guerrilla marketing tool, PR can give a ‘David’ advantages over the...
January 2012
22 posts
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11 Most Effective Ways of Reaching Your Target...
As discussed previously, reaching your prospects and customers with your message is today the single greatest ‘cost of doing business’.
If you are a small business, selling to other businesses (B2B) or a professional services firm and even when selling directly to your customers and clients (B2C), then here are our top 11 ways of getting your message to them most cost effectively.
In...
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Before you start communicating you need a...
To reach your customers and prospects with your message most cost effectively and improve your Cost Per Lead you will need a plan. Your Marketing Action Plan should include the following:
Align each target audience with the Appropriate Offer and hence Communication Objective
Plan each of the target market communications throughout the calendar year.
Prepare a realistic marketing activity...
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“THE IMPORTANCE OF FREQUENCY:
1. The first time a man looks at an advertisement,...”
– Thomas Smith of London wrote this back in 1885 when the Newspaper was the only medium!
Today the estimates are that the average consumer is exposed to between 500 to 5000 brand messages per day. Estimates vary depending who you believe, but regardless of the actual number these figures illustrate...
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Your greatest marketing cost is reaching your...
WHERE ARE YOU SAYING IT?
Where are you communicating with your customers and prospects? Where can you reach them most cost effectively? What are they reading, listening to and watching?
You need to invest wisely and and measure your results by capturing responses to as many of your communication initiatives as possible.
Here are a few rules of thumb:
Budget (Marketing as a rule of thumb is 10%...
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Consistency is more important in brand building...
A brand is a personality and personalities like people don’t really change so neither should your brand.
“Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image.” - David Ogilvy, regarded as the Father of Modern Advertising
“It took millions of years for man’s instinct’s to develop. It will take millions more for them to even...
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Famous Advertising Campaign Themes and Characters
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Creatve Theme - Sailing
A Sailing themed Postcard campaign was used by a bay side real estate agency as a mail box drop in it’s local area.
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Creative Theme - Animals
Web Banners created for a dental practice to differentiate from the typical imagery of generic smiling faces straight out of stock libraries.
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Creative Theme - Illusions
Postcard campaign for my own Marketing Consultancy, reinforcing the brand values of Stark Reality and communicating the benefits of working with an SME marketing specialist.
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Creative Theme - Movies
A postcard campaign to get a job interview in the most competitive market in the world - Madison Avenue, New York.
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Creative Theme - Famous Man Made Landmarks
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Creative Theme - Cartoons
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How to develop a Creative Theme for more effective...
To develop an effective creative theme you need to be different from what is prevalent in your industry segment. One way of doing this is staying away from standard photography stock photos. Not only will this not provide your business with the necessary point of difference but will play into the hands of the category leader, who is most likely already using the “typical” stock shots.
...
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Why having a Creative Strategy is critical to your...
The creative strategy is the translation of the brand objectives and attributes, into communication that will:
Grab customer Attention,
Arouse their Interest,
Stimulate their Desire and
Prompt them into Action.
Having a strong creative strategy is more important for the SME which doesn’t have the corporate budget to drum in the message using the sheer weight of media dollars. An...
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Simplicity - Your competitive advantage in raising...
Why don’t any of our top tier law firms promise to explain the law in layman’s English? Wouldn’t that be nice in our age of information overload, stress and time scarcity? No matter how complex the product or service is, the simpler you can make the customer communication, the more your professional services firm can benefit! Check out www.maxsuper.com.au for inspiration and ideas on how to turn...
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Judging Australian law firm marketing – Guilty on...
First of all, we should acknowledge that marketing in general, and branding in particular, for any professional service organisation has its own unique challenges. The offering is intangible, so you can’t pick it up and compare it feature for feature with a competing offering. The service also relies on humans to deliver it each and every time; it is subject to a lot more variability in ...
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Why do Law Firms have a serious misunderstanding...
A joke or reality?
A young lawyer, starting up his private practice, was very anxious to impress potential clients. When he saw the first visitor to his office come through the door, he immediately picked up his phone and spoke into it,” I’m sorry, but my caseload is so tremendous that I’m not going to be able to look into your problem for at least a month. I’ll have to get...
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July 2011
1 post
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The Power of the Positioning Statement
According to a study by research company Millward Brown, slogan or positioning statement usage in advertising has been declining over the last 20 years. The study found that slogans make a difference in advertisements, and generate more interest from the target audience. The Knowledge Point study, found that two-thirds of all ads actually included slogans. Ads with slogans that part are of a...
February 2011
25 posts
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“Making the simple complicated is commonplace, making the complicated simple,...”
– Charles Mingus, Jazz Musician
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary...”
– Hans Hoffman – Artist
“Simplicity is easy to use but can be hard to design. You may need some...”
– “Simplicity”, Edward de Bono, 1998
“The specialist has a chance to use their field of expertise as a point of...”
– Andrew Carnegie 1835-1919
“An expert is someone who has succeeded in making decisions and judgements...”
– Simplicity - Edward de Bono, 1998
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“This is the day of dramatisation. Merely stating a truth isn’t enough. The truth...”
– How to Win Friends and Influence People – Updated version, Dale Carnegie
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“Young man, make your name worth something. The men who have succeeded are men...”
– Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919
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“The way to become rich is to put all your eggs in one basket and then watch that...”
– Image via Wikipedia
Andrew Carnegie 1835-1919
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BRAND POSITIONING STATEMENT
A Brand Positioning Statement, also known as a slogan or a strap line, is the creative interpretation of the Brand Promise or USP which we discussed earlier.
Brand (Positioning Statements) should be able to hold their position in the long run and ideally achieve the following 4 criteria:
Differentiate the business (Communicate the USP)
Provide a Creative (Campaignable and Sustainable) platform
...
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Brand Experience -Where is your BRANDTERTAINMENT?
Before moving onto discussing Brand Positioning, we need to make sure that we understand that Communication alone does not create brand feelings.
Experience with the brand creates brand feelings. Great Communication (Advertising or Promotion of any type) will make bad products and services fail faster. On the other hand without great communication, the best products and services with the best...