Have you ever wondered how I became The Brand Chef? It’s not a story I tell often, but in a recent interview with Johnny Wright (Twitter: @unsecretshopper), better known as The UnSecret Shopper the TRUTH was revealed.
The request came out of the blue (proof of building a good personal brand), but after a few Twitter direct messages and a phone call-or-two, I decided Johnny had some great things to talk about and was very interested in learning more about The Brand Chef, marketing strategies and generally what I do… (go figure).
In 19 short minutes, we covered everything from marketing strategies, social media marketing, customer service (which Johnny is brilliant at, by the way), and we even talked a little about how I became The Brand Chef!
Here’s a link to his post of his full 1-hour show. Or you can listen to just my interview below.
Again, I’d like to thank Johnny Wright for taking the time and giving me the honor of being on his show. It was a great conversation and I look forward to hearing / seeing more from him in the future!
Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
Johnny Wright can also be heard on 1350 AM, KRNT radio in Des Moines Iowa. Every Saturday at 8 AM. Check it out!
I don’t mean to fire another shot at the marketing community in the U.K., but…
What the heck are the marketers for the London 2012 Olympics committee smoking?
VIDEO:
Sorry about the auto play… (Notice the kids giving the Nazi salute to them? WTH?)
To have such a prestigious organization adorn your city would be an honor to last a lifetime. But it seems like the folks marketing for the occasion have taken the opportunity and turned it into a Duran Duran meets The TeleTubbies on LSD experience.
Let me back up about four years… If you haven’t read it yet, I did a blog post(June 2006) about the incredibly ill-conceived logo designed for the London 2012 Olympics. Saying:
“I’m saddened when I think of the world’s athletes that have put so much effort and time into achieving the honor of competing in the Olympics having to walk around the Olympic Village slathered with a logo that looks like they just got back from a Duran Duran concert.”
And now the marketers have launched a campaign to show off the new mascots. All I can say for them is at least they’re consistent.
Good Lord, They look like the love child of Timothy Leary and TinkyWinkie! I’m thinking the Aztecs saw this for 2012 and just decided to end it all there. What the heck would be the point of living after that?
Marketing in a Vacuum?
Normally, in these horribly off-the-mark situations, I’d point my finger at some self indulgent agency or myopic company trying to be “cutting edge” without the first hint of research or understanding of the target market. But according to The Telegraph UK, the chairman of the London Organizing Committee, Lord Coe and his marketing group spent 18 months and did over 40 focus groups in preparation and development of these atrocities!
40 FOCUS GROUPS?!?
What did they do, design them AND THEN hold focus groups until they found someone to say they liked them?
Here are a couple more images that come to mind when I see these mascots:
At least Vancouver 2010 Mascots related to the region and didn’t scare the hell out of people…
Stephen Bayley, the prominent design critic, said: “What is it about these Games which seems to drive the organisers into this cretinous infantilism?
“Why can’t we have something that makes us sing with pride, instead of these appalling computerised Smurfs for the iPhone generation?”
“If the Games are going to be remembered by their art then we can declare them a calamitous failure already.”
I mean c’mon, if one of the biggest design critics in your country says they suck, shouldn’t you reflect on the direction you’ve taken?
So, what is the London 2012 Olympic committee to do? It’s too late to start over. It’s too ugly to ignore. Is this a public relations issue now? Can they make this all make sense somehow?
There are a lot of positive signs that small businesses are starting to adopt social media marketing as an integrated component of their overall business plans. One significant change, based on a February 2010 Small Business Success Index report, is the fact that social media usage among small business jumped from a meager 12% in 2008 to 24% in the following year (Yes, doubled).
Of those using social media, 69% post regular updates / articles of relevance to sites like FaceBook and LinkedIn. Two additional stats that made me smile were: 54% monitor positive / negative feedback via social networks, and almost 40% of the small businesses author a blog pertaining to their field of expertise.
OUTSTANDING!
But hold on, that’s still only 1-in-5 of those surveyed.
So, let’s address some of the restraints keeping small businesses form jumping on board?
According to the report, 50% of the users say it takes more time than they expected.
This is a surprise? Okay, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, but the reason they may have been caught off guard is a result of one or a combination of following:
Some “Social Media Expert” duped them with dollar signs and drummed up statistics, set up a Twitter account and a FaceBook page and then ran off with little to no strategy or support.
They took it on by themselves with little to no understanding of building a social media community or marketing.
They underestimated how little they knew about their brand, the audience and the business.
Of course social media marketing takes time! Just like scheduling time to check voice-mail or email, small business owners need to adapt to make time for a little proactive community engagement. It pays off in the end.
Then there’s the statistic that made me laugh the hardest. 17% expressed that social media gives people a chance to criticize their business on the Internet.
Do they actually think criticism won’t happen if they stay away? Go ahead, try it. Then, call me when the business folds. I know Realtors that need the square footage.
***
Come on, folks, this should stand as a call to action for all small business owners (as well as those that market to/for them). Social media is not going away any time soon. And the quicker you figure out how to use it to your advantage, the better chances you’ll have for surviving the years to come.
Here are 10 starting questions I like to ask those looking into social media for marketing.
What will make you stand out among the others “yelling into the chasm?”
Who is your target audience?
Who are your direct competitors?
What could be some indirect inhibitors?
Do you have a marketing plan – written down with goals, strategies, tactics and a reasonable budget?
Is there a strategy or tactic within your marketing plan that social media could compliment / support(Public Relations, etc.)?
Do you have the manpower/ time for social media marketing?
(If not) Do you have the budget to outsource components of social media marketing?
Do you know how to carry on an engaging conversation?
Do you have patience?
As with any marketing tool, social media has a unique profile in each company’s marketing plan. While a blog is a great core component to a social media marketing strategy, Twitter, YouTube and FaceBook may not always apply. Heck, If your target audience isn’t active online, don’t be a fool and put your time into broad social media integration. Just make sure to do a little research before jumping in and you’ll know what’s right for you / your company.
Where does your small business stand when it comes to integrating social media into your marketing plan? Is it an add-on that will eventually fade away? Or do you have the plan and vision to make social media work for you?
If you’re a small business that hasn’t embraced social media as a marketing tool, then I have two things to say:
You’re losing out on a fantastic way to extend your marketing message as well as build brand equity.
You’re probably not reading this and I’m writing for my already savvy followers and this is pointless.
Food for thought.
Keep Cooking! (Purposeful, results-oriented decisions)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
I want to preempt any debate from this post and explain to you all, I am no outdoors man. I don’t like camping. “Roughing it,” to me, is a Super 8 without a whirlpool. I don’t like hunting and I’ve been fishing once in the last 10 years. But, I’ll tell ya’ what, that one fishing trip resulted more than a pile of smelly clothes and a few days of hangovers.
As we sat, through torrential rain, heat, mosquitoes the size of mature poodles and some pretty overwhelming odors (from more than the fish), conversations turned from day-to-day work issues and family musings to some pretty unbelievable fishing strategies. While I, the novice of the group, simply jabbed a leech(yes, the blood-sucking invertebrate) on the end of the hook and threw it out in the water, others in the group pulled out what seemed to be a Roland Martin-esqueplaybook for the event. Even before we boarded the “boat,” (I put that in quotes, because a boat, to me, is something you can sail or ski behind… not these little canoes) there would be long, deep discussions about the strategy behind our expedition.
Can see where I’m going with this? Yep… Marketing is a lot like fishing… I’m sure you’ve heard that before, but I wonder how many people really think about the similarities.
When you’re working up your “plan of attack” in marketing sessions, do you ask your team (or yourself) these questions?
What EXACTLY are we fishing for?
What bait / lure is better for muskie versus trout?
What time of day is best for fishing here?
Is it better to cast multiple lines or to target a specific area with one line and diligent effort?
Are others having success in this area of the lake?
Should we cast our line in uncharted territories?
Are there limits to the size of fish we want (too big or too small)?
Are there limits to the amount of fish we can catch (Is one enough? Can we handle 100?)?
Do these hip-waders make my butt look big?
Never the less, if that one fishing trip taught me anything, it was that you need a plan before casting your line into the waters. Fish (like clients) are capricious little buggers and unless you have the right strategy, you’re going to pull back an empty hook.
“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”— Chinese Proverb
Keep Cooking (with a little lemon and butter sauce)!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
Today is a landmark date for The Brand Chef, a true anniversary to be recognized. Can you guess what it is?
No, it’s not my marriage to the beautiful Mrs. BrandChef. It’s not the anniversary of being hired at Love Scott. Nope. Not even the anniversary of my first kiss. Nope.
But it’s almost as exciting…
Today is the 15th anniversary of my induction into the elite club of mobile device users. YES! On this day in 1995, I was given a “Work cell phone” as “a perk” while working as creative director at a local advertising agency.
While I knew it was really so my boss could call me, guilt-free at 2 a.m., I didn’t care. I HAD A FREAKIN’ CELL PHONE! I was on cloud nine. I could drive down the “hustle-bustle” of I-235 while drinking my Jolt Cola and talk to clients, vendors, my wife, my mom and my boss… all on my bitchen-cool cell phone.
Momentous? Heck yeah! It was my personal introduction to the most revolutionary change in communication since grunts and cave paintings.
Well, okay, maybe there were a few other more significant milestones, but this was MY revolution…
Think of it… (and this is just a snapshot!)
45,000 to 10,000 BC: Grunts and cave paintings
1450: Guttenberg uses block printing press to print a love poem
1841: The advertising agency is born (Then all hell breaks lose!)
1860: Pony Express carries mail between St. Joseph, Mo. and Sacramento
1865: Atlantic cable ties Europe and U.S. for instant communication
1991: Baby Bells get government permission to offer information services
1994: Prodigy bulletin board fields 12,000 messages in one after L.A. quake
1995: Andrew B. Clark (The Brand Chef) gets his first Nokia 6100 cell phone -AND life changes forever!
Simplistic? Dreamy? Sure… but technology is evolving faster every day, and I’ve been trying to keep up since THAT day.
The vision of the future is in the palm of your hand – figuratively and literally. If you take into consideration that my first cell phone (sporting capabilities like incoming & outgoing calls as well as all the dropped signals I could manage) was less than 15 years ago, and today I can create this entire post (excluding graphics) on a BlackBerry mobile device that hangs right beneath my love handles; think of what the next 15 years will hold!
What was the first technology experience that you consider to be “Life altering?” Was it a cell phone? Was it an electric typewriter? Or was it the recent iPad?
What ever it was, I bet Twitter still crashes on it…
How does your technology future look?
Keep Cooking (with the latest and greatest)!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
Let me back up about four years… If you haven’t read it yet, I did a blog post 
