So you’ve had to tighten your belt. The cost of doing business is rising exponentially and you need to figure out how to stop the bleeding. Layoffs (God forbid) should be your last solution. You could walk around the office turning off lights and equipment like an obsessed father (yours truly). Or, (wait for it) you could trim your marketing budget and streamline media and print.

What? Did I just say that? YES!

A lot of marketing and communications companies are struggling with this concept. I say, instead of fighting the facts, solutions can be developed to economically and effectively maintain necessary communications for our clients. We’re creative, so let’s prove it!

I have two simple tactics that some “average” marketing and communications campaigns can use to trim marketing costs.

Marketing Trim Tactic #1: Save The Trees – Stop Global Warming!
How about saving on printing and mail services and converting your direct mail campaign to an e-mail campaign? Digital marketing is not only cost-effective but also completely trackable. How well does that postcard track?

Marketing Trim Tactic #2: Manage Your Media – Your Audience Doesn’t Watch “Knight Rider” at 3:AM!
Media exposure can be streamlined through popper management and negotiations with providers. If your rating points are in the neighborhood of 2600 to 3000 per month (for example), trim it back to 1750 to 2000 points and NEGOTIATE FOR THE PROGRAM NOT THE CHANNEL!

I’ve had a lot of conversations about the affect the economy is having on businesses lately. Some have acted on my suggestions. Others, a sad, defeated bunch, have gone to taking drastic measures like STOPPING marketing and communications efforts altogether.

My advice is to trim and streamline. DO NOT STOP! If you were to stop talking to your customers, how long would it take for a competitor to start a conversation? What would THAT cost you?

What are other ways you can think of to trim marketing and communications costs? Do you have a plan for continuing your current campaigns, start new ones, or has the economy forced you to make some alternative decisions? Let’s see if we can stir up some solutions!

Whatever you do…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew

Although actual “branding” is a somewhat passive, cerebral concept; this weekend, it jumped up and knocked me on my (cerebral) butt – ultimately making me declare that being employed in the marketing and communications industry is making me stupid.

Or maybe it was as simple as “You can’t defeat good branding.”

I have seen, first hand, certain products go from “moo-to-market” all in the span of a few, mind-altering hours. And having built brands and campaigns around completely intangible traits of agricultural byproducts makes you think a lot more about what goes IN the product itself than the actual value of the product to the consumer. In other words, I know way too much, and going to the store with me is a drag. I drive my family nuts.

Case in point – this weekend, my daughter and I went to the store to fulfill one simple task; pick up hot dogs. As we walked into the meat isle at our local Mega Mart, and stared down the cold case of processed meats, we saw brats, franks, wieners, dogs, sausages with cheesy centers, microwavable dogs, ballparks, plumpers, and sizzlers. You name it; there was every kind of cased meat you could ever want. My head was spinning in meaty delight. Madison, the more levelheaded of us, quickly picked up a couple 8-packs of national brand franks and turned to go check out counter. Simple? Not for me…

“Wait!” I hollered after her. Her shoulders hunched and her head dropped – knowing what was next, “Do you know what’s IN those?!?” I asked.

“C’mon dad, they’re HOT DOGS, and we need to GO…” she pleaded.

I started to pull other packages from the case “What about these?” I yelled, “or these?”

I was waving hot dogs in the air like a demented clown twisting balloon animals at a birthday party. At one glance, I had seven packs of hot dogs in my hands, reading the ingredients and nutrition facts. I was comparing prices by net weight and evaluating whether they were priced based on packaging costs, ingredients, or positioning in the cold case. I was pacing up and down the isle like a crazy man.

Finally, I yelled, “Okay! I got ‘em…” as I held up a bulk package of waterlogged, blanched wieners that sagged, limply, in my arms. “NOW we can go!”

Madison snatched the package from me with a quick snap. “DAAAA-duh… NO!” And she threw them back into my arms with a resonating, cold SPLAT. “We’re getting THESE.” She held up the national brand. “We ALWAYS get these…”

She closed and spun on her heels to the check out isle. There I stood, next to the meat case, with a soggy bag of wieners, defeated.

Now, my darling daughter didn’t defeat me. I wasn’t even defeated by my own obsessive need to pick apart every package in the store. Good branding defeated me. I stood there and soaked in a TRUE branding lesson.

You can’t defeat good (TRUE) branding.

My 13-year-old knew that the national brand was the brand she wanted. Why?

Was it TRUTHFUL? Sure. Madison said it best, “…they’re HOT DOGS…” and that’s what we came to the store to get. The national brand was her “definition” of “hot dog.”

It was certainly RELEVANT to her (“We ALWAYS get these…”), but was it UNIQUE? Maybe not so much the actual product, but the packaging sure stood out from the crowd.

It had, at one time or another ENGAGED her – making her part of the brand culture (c’mon, sing the song with me… “Well, my bologna has a first name, it’s…”). In her mind, it was a TRUE hot dog.

Okay, lesson learned. The grill was waiting…

When I said “hot dog,” what immediately came to mind? Was it a specific brand, a package image? What if I said “Running Shoes?” What if I said “Oil Company?”

“If you are writing about baloney, don’t try to make it a Cornish hen, because that is the worst kind of baloney there is. Just make it darned good baloney.”
- Leo Burnett

Keep Cooking!
Andrew

Photo credit: istockphoto.com

If you’ve ever “visited” a hospital waiting room, you’re quite aware of the time that you’ll spend paging through magazines. In past visits, these sterile, silk flower adorned mausoleums have provided me with a plethora of subscriptions to choose from – everything from Diabetes Digest to Preserving Your Memory (an Alzheimer’s Special Publication). Sometimes a receptionist would even bring in their copy of People. Mind numbing, but satisfying all the same.

In a recent visit to Iowa Methodist Medical Center, I found myself pacing around such a room, looking for something to distract me. I would have taken anything, but as I looked around, there were no magazines, no special publications, no newspapers, not even a darn T.V. There was a dog-eared copy of Highlights on a corner table, but that was it.

So, there I waited – freaking out, frustrated and bored! Then, while tipping back my 10th cup of cold coffee, I noticed a little blue sign over the door.

“IHS Provides Free Wi-Fi For Your Convenience.” I looked around the room again. Of the three other people there, two of them were on laptops and the other was on her iPhone. I had to laugh.

For years I’ve subscribed to online publications ranging from the culinary arts to photography and music, and (obviously) technology. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I subscribed to a traditional print publication. But, as technically integrated as my life is, I never expected to go to a hospital and read my favorite subscriptions on my laptop.

As the receptionist put it,

“Why should we subscribe to all of those magazines when the Internet provides everything?”

Read or not, now people have a choice. They can get online and blog, check email, send out notifications and updates to family members right from the (semi) comfort of the IHS waiting rooms. And if you don’t have a laptop or a web-enabled phone, they have a couple units out in the hallway that you can use (within limits). So, for the most part, they got rid of their traditional print publications altogether.

Some say that the future of print publication looks pretty dim. On the other hand, reports show increased online subscriptions (like mine) bolstering revenue and advertising sales.

In any case, I believe the magazines; newspapers and special publications that plan to survive the online media revolution have already made the jump from traditional print to Web. Even old standards like The New York Times and Wall Street Journal have differentiated their print content from their online content with the understanding that the reader demographics are different. But how long before that line gets trampled?

“It’s not the strongest of the species that survives: nor the most intelligent; it is the one that is most adaptable to change.”

– Charles Darwin

How many print subscriptions do you still receive? Do you get your media content online? Through email newsletters? Blogs? Web sites? What other sources have you seen/read for media and news lately? How many magazines or newspapers did I link to in this article?!?

Until next time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew

P.S. Please say a prayer for my mother’s quick recovery. She’s doing better, but the road ahead isn’t such a welcoming one.

God Bless.

One of the biggest challenges in business today is building strong relationships with customers and contacts. How do you establish and cultivate relationships while maintaining integrity and credibility? It’s important to share the success of your company, new products or ventures, while remaining sensitive of others’ time and interests. Even keeping your own employees in the know can be a challenge. So how do you keep a steady stream of information flowing without monopolizing everyone’s time?

Whether you’re targeting customers, employees or investors, newsletters are an excellent tool for keeping people informed. Sure, some may consider newsletters passé, but if designed and written in an engaging manner, a newsletter can be an un-intrusive way to stay in touch while building credibility in your expertise. Even older issues can be archived on your Web site, so the information is continually available to those interested – creating a continuous flow of information about your company and its history.

Newsletters provide an avenue for sharing:
• Detailed information on your products/services.
• History of your organization.
• Industry trends.
• Upcoming events.
• Special promotions.

E-Newsletters
Technology has allowed us to take the traditional newsletter one step further. Electronic newsletters and services that provide contact management, eliminate the need for printing and postage costs while also providing instantaneous delivery to a infinitely customizable lists. If you can gather a database of a target audience’s email addresses (of course with them opting-in, but that’s another post) you can get them your newsletter with the click of a mouse. Email newsletters are great for quick information or special offer blasts and linking to other Web sites, blogs or articles. And remember, just as having a visually pleasing print newsletter is important, so is having an e-newsletter that is easy to navigate and skim.

When contemplating the creation of a company newsletter, consider the following:
• Who will receive your newsletter?
• Do you want print newsletters or electronic – or both?
• Do you have a writer on staff or should you hire it out?
• Who will design it?
• How often will you send it out?

Keep it simple, stupid (K.I.S.S.)
We’re all familiar with the K.I.S.S. theory in marketing. I actually wrote about it The Brand Chef’s inaugural post. With attention spans ever shrinking and the Internet’s information-on-demand, the day of the eight to 12 page newsletters is gone. Today, the more abbreviated, yet informative and engaging your newsletter can be, the better. This gives the recipients something from your company that they can to look forward to and feel like they have a personal connection to your brand.

Newsletters take some planning and creativity, but can be a powerful tool for engaging your audience and employees in your brand – building trust in your services. How are you fostering relationships with those most important to your business? It may be as simple as sending a periodic reminder of what your business is about.

Food for thought…

Keep Cooking,
Andrew

Photo credit: istockphoto.com

Now, this post may not apply to all of you, but for those that recognize this guy… read on.

Web Site Rule #32:
A web site is a living thing – one that needs constant love and attention.

Okay, you’ve been in business for a few good years now and you’ve got a lot invested. You work – tirelessly – day-after-day on contacts, leads, sales and tracking reports, inventory, contracts, and employees. On top of that, there are the books to worry about. Heck, tax time just passed and now your accountant has informed you that you have to focus on that sheltered annuity for next year. And who is going to take out that darn trash? Exhausting, isn’t it?

So, we should understand why you haven’t updated your website since 1996.

What!

As your company has evolved and grown, I’m sure the effort you’ve taken to provide your customers with the best service and products possible has been your #1 priority. But attention to marketing, especially your web site, its content, and functionality has fallen to the wayside. And it shows. You may not have realized it, but, as your company has grown and changed, the Internet has as well.

Whether it’s lack of time, lack of interest, some bizarre techno-phobia or simply forgetfulness, you can’t successfully take advantage of the Internet with a website that has been neglected for years.

With a professionally updated website, along with the benefit of a credible online presence that reflects your company’s TRUE brand, you can utilize the ever-growing supply of online marketing tools.

The right website can:

• Help customers find you and your product/service
• Be a lead-generation tool
• Build a community around your brand
• Connect you/your clients to resources for product/service augmentation
• Entertain (GOD forbid)
• and soooo much more!

You’re not dead, so why should your web site and marketing materials look it? Don’t let time pass you by. Because time hasn’t been so friendly, friend.

Is the age of your website and other marketing tools properly representing your brand. If you updated last time Abe was on T.V. I’d be willing to say NOPE!

Food for thought.

Keep Cooking!
Andrew