(This was originally posted on the CreateWOWmarketing Blog on 10/19/10)

Have you ever seen a great NFL quarterback run to the sidelines and look into the playbook? Neither have I… So why is it that so many marketers out there are generating rote, boring plans for their clients based on “plays” they learned back in the bush leagues?

The traditional approach to marketing is too linear for today’s world. Today’s target audience is constantly moving, growing and learning new technologies. But much of the marketing we see today is still formulaic and trite, as if someone in 1976 created “The Playbook For Successful Marketing” and it’s been dogmatically followed ever since? Cold. Unfeeling. Corporate.

How ’bout I let you in on a secret…

Dogmatic playbook-marketing isn’t viable any longer. The game has changed. Sure, marketing can follow a plan / structure. Marketing can (should) have strategy. But if you think the formulaic mindset you (they) used in 1976 (or earlier for you MadMen fans) will work, you’re going to fail abjectly!

The playbooks are outdated. The systems set forth by or mentors, while still brilliant, are tired. And they (dare I say it?) are singular-minded, focusing on agency award hardware… not the client nor its community. The days of super-star agency quarterbacks in the big, Manhattan corner office are over!

Stop and look around your office (if you have one). There’s value there, you just have to see it. The biggest asset you’ll find are the actual human beings that work WITH you!

Here’s a note for our “Super-Star” marketing quarterbacks:

Marketing Has Taken A More Emotional, Community-Focused Approach

That’s what I like about social media. Adding social media to marketing has taken the ritualistic, dogma of “old school” and turned it on its ear. It allows fresh minds, the “rebels” of the community to work organically on the sidelines, changing the plays and calling options as they see the defense set up. Sure, the goal is the same – get the client’s product or service noticed and to generate actions or a purchase.

I’ll say it again. Our job is to, “… get the client’s product or service noticed and to generate actions or a purchase.”

That’s IT. No more. No less.

GOAL!

When a client brings their product or service to you, the first thing that happens to you and your team is you form an EMOTIONAL response or “Feeling” about it. Immediately, that elicits a LOGICAL action plan on how to deal with it.

STOP THERE!

Don’t pick up the “1976 Playbook For Successful Marketing.” Because I guarantee, if the client hasn’t heard the rhetoric yet, the marketplace has and you’re going to get sacked. You need to out-think the defense! Create marketing that makes people say “WOW!!” (Or something similar).

Be quicker. Be original. Be passionate. Call the option. Use a flea-flicker or the hail-Mary pass from time-to-time. It may be unexpected, but THAT’s what people respond to.

Have you seen marketing that’s disregarded all the traditional plays and succeeded? I have.

Do you have a client that needs a passionate, community-driven plan instead of the same old rhetoric? Create even a little “WOW” and they’ll see the end-zone.

Until the next huddle…

Keep Cooking (silly sports metaphors for everything),
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

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.

Enjoy!

The Brand Chef and Johnny Wright – The Unsecret Shopper Interview 7/24/10

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!

Yep, it’s coming. Christmas.

Sure, right now it’s 93 degrees (in my neighborhood) and Christmas is a whole 156 days away, but I can almost see all of the commercials now. Don’t they start airing some time in September?!? And shortly after, my kids start communicating with every sentence starting with, “I NEED…”

It’s as predictable as the tides. What do you do?

The Child’s Mind And The “Want vs. Need” Paradigm

About mid October, when the kids finally succumb to the hypnotizing din of “New and improved this…” or “Now with 3D and smell-o-vision that,” I stop making lists and start asking two simple questions.

“How many do you actually NEED?”
and “Do you really NEED that… Really?”

“… or is it that you just ‘WANT’ it?”

That usually stops the munchkins mid-sentence like they’re hoping not to be caught for audibly farting. But what it really does is open the door to a more reasonable conversation centered on the “Want vs. Need” paradigm. (No, my kids don’t use the word “paradigm…” yet, but it works…)

The Nightmare Of The Perpetual Christmas And The Ever-Elusive Groovy Doohickey

In the marketing world, Christmas comes on almost a daily basis. Day after day, week-in and week-out, clients approach their marketing teams with stars in their eyes and dreams of some ever-elusive groovy doohickey that’s going to revolutionize the industry. And day after day, week-in and week-out, advertising agencies, marketing boutiques, freelancers and consultants alike accommodate them like Daddy Warbucks on Christmas morning. But should we really?

What would happen if the advertising agencies, marketing boutiques, freelancers and consultants asked one of two simple questions?

“How many do you actually NEED?”

Has the affect of the last 40 ad-hock attempts at knee-jerk marketing been successful? Have you taken the time to let a strategy take hold?  Will another direct mailer or another sales spot on every radio station in the city really make it better?  Doesn’t it eventually all add up to more noise?

OR (my favorite) “Do you really NEED that… Really?”

Too many companies are out there listening to “gurus” preaching on everything from social media and branding to voo-doo for solutions to their marketing woes. Maybe it’s not the next groovy doohickey that your marketing needs.

What would happen if we treated our customers like children? Would they listen?  Would they walk away? Could you do it? Maybe some of you already have (I know some of you and it’s true).

Food for thought…

Keep Cooking (the bravest decisions for your customers – whether they like it or not.)!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

For those of you that know me, locally, you’ve all probably heard (or even witnessed) the troubles I’ve been having with my 2004 Jeep Liberty. It seems like the winter of ’09-’10 has taken a pretty good toll on my little SUV. And for the past 14 to 16 months, I have been in one auto service center or another for everything from new tires, new break pads and rotors – all ’round, dead battery, cracked windshield (not yet fixed), various alignment issues (I need to stop plowing through snow drifts), and, of course, the routine oil changes and maintenance.

For a while there, I’d become accustomed to sitting in small, cold, white rooms and drinking stale coffee out of 8 oz Styrofoam cups. Hell, I used so many of those little things; I think I’m partially to blame for this global warming crap. We’ll need to talk to Al Gore about that one.  And what’s up with those 19″ RCA TVs mounted in the corner, flickering the local PBS station. Is that a service department prerequisite?

Anyway, yesterday, I’d finally had enough. For about three weeks now, I’d been driving my little Jeep 40 to 60 miles a day with a heater that would only blow hot air if it was going 45 miles per hour or faster.  Yes,  I live above the Mason-Dixon line and I have a shoddy heater in my car…  Brilliant!

It wasn’t such a huge deal for the trips into the office and back; I take the bypass in where 75 MPH is the median speed.  But once I got off the bypass or was driving through town, the frigid bite really set its teeth in.  Yesterday, it was -12˚F on my way into the office, and 30 seconds off the bypass, my car went from cozy warm to cold enough to freeze snot (trust me). By the time I got to the office parking lot, I was worried about frostbite on exposed extremities (thank GOD for seat warmers)!

So, I called my local Jeep dealer (yes, the dealer…).

When I called, of course I expected this:

Mechanic: “Hey…  huh?  Oh, man…  I s’pose we can work you in some time early next week.  Oh, by the way, we have an $80 inspection fee.”

Me: “sigh…  oooohkaaaay…  lemme bend over…”

What I got:

Mechanic: “Sure, Mr. Clark…  we close at six tonight, but we’d be more than happy to come get it for you.  A heater, in this weather, is nothing to mess with.”

Me: “uh… no, I’ll drive it down after work, thanks.”

Mechanic: “Will you need a ride home?”

Me: giddy like a school girl, “Hee hee… no, my wife can pick me up.”

Mechanic: “Great, Mr. Clark. Robert will expect you around 5:30.  Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Me: “No… I love you…“

Okay, I didn’t say that last part, but I was very attracted to the concept of good customer service, for once.  I hadn’t even gotten my car to the garage door yet and it was already a pleasant experience.  What a breath of fresh air!

So, upon arrival, I looked at my watch and realized it was about ten ’til six.  When I drove in, I fully expected half of the lights in the work bays to be off and a single, growly dude, in greasy coveralls, standing at the counter looking at his watch.

Not the case at all…

When I drove in, there were three employees working diligently at their respective check-in desks.  I parked and turned off my car (with numb fingers) and before I could get out, a friendly, clean-cut gentleman was standing at my door, clipboard in hand, ready to gather my information.

We quickly went over my needs and as soon as I gave him my name he said,

“Yes, Mr. Clark, I’m Robert.  Why don’t you go have a seat and I’ll be in to talk to you once we get ‘er looked at.”

Ah…  the dreaded waiting room…

I poured myself a MUG of coffee and went through a pair of hinged doors to …wait for it… the cleanest, most comfortably lit, cushy waiting room I’d ever seen!

There were two love seats and a couch flanked by oak end tables with every (auto, political and society) magazine one could imagine.  And on the other side of the room was a 60″ plasma television streaming ESPN via satellite. And the coffee tasted like Dunkin Donuts breakfast blend, but I couldn’t be positive…  Color me impressed.

I plopped down on the couch, pulled out my BlackBerry to check in on FourSquare and to do some Tweeting when I was shocked back to reality by the sound of my car’s horn honking.  I looked up and there was Robert, sitting in my driver’s seat honking the horn and waving toward a sign on the window…

“We have FREE WiFi!” He yelled through the glass.

I began to weep…

I’ve since moved in with Robert and the crew down at the Jeep dealership.  Although the beds are a little firm for my bad back, I’ve become accustomed to the warmth and comfort their waiting room provides.  Sure, I need to call-in for food, but the cleaning crew and back rubs make it all worth it.  I’ll miss my wife.

***

Why not make working with your company a positive experience?

What extra steps has your company taken to make your customer feel “at home” – or at least comfortable with your services? Next time you have a customer call on you, will you be like my Jeep dealer or will you be leaving your customers out in the cold?

Food for thought.

Keep Cooking! (Customer service that’s second-to-none!)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Having worked in the restaurant industry through most of my adolescence and into my early 20’s, I was well aware of the old adage that went something like:

If a single upset customer tells 10 friends about an unsatisfactory experience, it’s conceivable those 10 friends could perpetuate that report to another 10… and so-on, and so-on… eventually damaging the restaurant’s brand bad enough to put it out of business.

Or, as Máma Brandcheffio said:

“Piss off one customer and you’ve lost 100…”

So, at a very young age, I was forced to learn two very important aspects to marketing.

1. Word-of-mouth marketing is very powerful.
2. The customer is always right.

WHAT? The customer is ALWAYS right?

Máma Brandcheffio used to tell me:

“Even if the customer is wrong, THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.”

Even at 15, that concept incensed me.  Today it seems like a complete disregard to human civility (See last week’s post) and is entirely defeatist in nature.

Luckily, I came to my senses.

Chew on this:

Originally, one disgruntled customer could, with good effort, affect the opinions of 100 others with their own word-of-mouth marketing.  In 1983, that was a pretty big deal. With 100 potential customers talking about poor service or a fuzzy hamburger bun, over several days, maybe months, the reputation of the restaurant could be damaged enough to warrant inspections, improvements or to be ostracized out of business all together.

That was 1983 word-of-mouth. (Yawn)

Today, our “upset” customer can take a photo, text a gripe to their iPhone or Tweet it to thousands or tens of thousands before your gazpacho reaches room temperature! If “viral” enough, those thousands can make an instantaneous decision to re-tweet it to their lists reaching thousands more!

Word-of-mouth marketing has reached light speed!

Restaurants, from local and regional to major chains, are taking a “more than cautious” approach to social media marketing.  They want to make sure it’s not a “fad” before jumping in.

Have they lost their minds? Maybe in 1983 that’d be okay, but this is 2009!

Not only are social media tools like Twitter and Facebook the fastest growing user-based tools on the Web, they have moved the “Customer is always right” paradigm entirely into the customer’s control, forever altering the approach to marketing communication and public relations.

Restaurants may not want to get involved in a “marketing” sense, but can you imagine how fast they will have to scramble when the “Chris Brogan” of the restaurant industry sends a damaging Tweet or photos of one of their cooks, in uniform, picking their boxers out of their ass as they walk into the kitchen?

Mmmmm, appetizing…

To put it simply, social media WILL affect your restaurant. Ignoring it is not an option for today’s restaurants, no matter what size.

It’s better to use basic social media tools and participate in a brand management program.  Otherwise, you can watch your brand (and your future) carried away in the beak of that ubiquitous little blue Twitter icon.

Food for thought.

Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef