How much for the Oreo?

"Maybe the reason it seems that price is all your customers care about is...that you haven't given them anything else to care about."

-Seth Godins

Take an example of Target and there pricing on produce and grocery items. For the most part same items as Wal-Mart...grapes, lettuce,celery and Oreo cookies,Coke,Pepsi..but present them in a very clean atmosphere, neatly arraigned and you can charge more and people will buy. And why?Again it goes back to the experience, same grapes different experience buying them. Going into Target and paying more for the Oreo's is not such a big deal when you feel like you are getting so much more in the way of the experience. Whole Foods same thing..Starbucks same thing. Give them more to think about then price and price will not become an issue..and your bottom line will show you the experience.

LOOK MOM NO NET

How confident are you in your abilities? I believe the painters of the Brooklyn Bridge back in 1914 were really confident in there skills! Don't be afraid to work without a net...you may surprise yourself on how confident you are.

Fall Line-up's using Word of Mouth

Even the "big" four Networks are using word of mouth to promote the upcoming fall season. Check out this article and see how Fox is using WOM and Social Web Sites to attract new viewers.

http://www.womma.org/womnibus/011174.php

He is the most interesting man in the world

Its Friday and I usually take it easy on Friday...try not to give you to much to think about over the weekend, but leave you with a smile. So from time to time you will get my In-Out List and my favorite brand themed web sites. Enjoy them and please as always pass along to friends and family.

Thanks for your support!

Today's web site comes from "The Most Interesting Man in the World" a new campaign from Dos Equis Cerveza. You must check out the "Get to know me" and "Test your Skills" tabs.
http://staythirstymyfriends.com/

WHO ARE YOUR CLIENTS?

Sorry I have been away...vacation to Upstate NY with no Internet. So nice to get away but fell behind in my writing. I have plenty to say and have a back log of blogs on paper...check back I will have new post starting Thursday!

Thanks for all the support!
Robert

Don't let them leave without a reason to come back. As a business you work so hard and spend lots of money trying to find new customers. And once you get that customer most business think marketing to that customer stops with that effort! Wrong you have to keep that client and continue working that client. Give them a reason to come back. I was having lunch with a very successful CEO of a local tech company last week and I went through an exercise with him. I asked him "do you think this restaurant has any idea who we are?" Will they have any idea who we are when we leave? Will they know if we liked the experience? And will they know if we will come back or if this was our first time in the restaurant? The answer was no to all the above. We walked in had lunch and they have no clue to any of the questions above. Should they..you bet they should! Here are a few examples of how they could achieve gathering all the info they would need about us.

1. Welcome to "xyz restaurant" you have been here before haven't you? No well welcome and let me tell you about us.

2. I want to point out a comment card we have on the table. After your meal if you would take just a minute to fill it out and tell us about your experience and also if you like your name and email address so we can send you email specials a few times a month.

3.Also here are six discount cards for you and five of your friends or family members. We look forward to seeing you again very soon.

Do you know who your clients are?

A smarter way?

"In my life I have found it's great to be the early bird and get the worm.....but I have found that the second mouse always gets the cheese."

-Music Star Hal Ketchum

Passing of a childhood voice

The passing of a legend. Sorry to get a little of topic today but yesterday was probably the first time in my life(early 30's) that one of the biggest voices of my childhood was silenced with the passing of Phil Rizzuto. For my non-sports fan readers Phil Rizzuto was a Hall of Fame player for the New York Yankees in the 50' s and a Yankee broadcaster for 40 years and that's where my generation came to know him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Rizzuto Living in New York most games were on WPIX and the voice was Phil Rizzuto, he was not the best broadcaster he was just the most entertaining and made you feel like he was sitting in your living room talking about the Yankees. I learned the phrase "Howly Cow" and "what a Huckelberry" and learned how to play the game. With his passing yesterday it had me thinking about who that broadcaster would be for my children? And I am not sure in this day in age if there will be one...but I will pass my memories of hot summers in New York listening to the voice of the Yankees...part of my childhood that will live on forever.

"God bless the great game of Baseball"

-Phil Rizzuto

Clean up inside before you go outside

Clean up the inside before you go outside... simple right? But why do most brands go outside before they clean up there inside...it's easier! Throwing money at it is easier for most companies, if sales are down they spend lots of money on a new ad campaign, new logos, new message. And the result..a slight bump in sales for a few months and then the process repeats itself. Great for the Agency...bad for the brand. Will they come back?

Work from inside-out. Do not go outside and market your business/brand until you have the operations/inside the walls marketing operating at a very high level. Do not go out and recruit new clients if you are having trouble taking care of the ones you have.

Simple right????

"If advertisers spent the same amount of money on improving their products as they do on advertising then they wouldn't have to advertise them.
-Will Rogers

Be Clean

If you get a chance to check out the CNBC special on McDonalds; "Inside the Golden Arches" I recommend talking an hour to watch it. I came away with a few interesting items but the one thing that struck me was a quote from an Owner/Operator from Connecticut who was asked his secret for success....his answer was not that the fries are so good, or the huge marketing campaigns or the secret sauce....it was keeping the bathrooms clean! What a great answer...he said if you have a clean bathroom people will come back and respect your location. And you know what he is right, as an owner or manager of a retail establishment what does the bathroom say about you? If its clean it says we respect you as a client and take pride in making sure our facility is clean...but if you have a bathroom that is dirty (and we have all been in many of them) it says you don't respect your clients enough to give them a clean facility.

Taking the extra steps to insure your clients feel appreciated can make the difference between being successful and flushing your business down the drain.

Ask the average Joe.

Ask...

Ask you clients what they think. Most brands are afraid to ask there clients what they think about there experience or brand. Why, they may not like what they hear. It is very easy to sit in a conference room and talk about strategies, but you live the brand everyday..your clients more than likely don't and they may see your brand in a different light.

There are many different ways to find out what your clients think of you. Phone surveys, direct mail, but the most effective way is Inside-Out Exit Polling. "IOEP" is one of the most effective ways to find information on your brand. The cost is minimal and the information you find out is invaluable. When I was working in senior management for a franchisee system we had no real idea what our clients felt about us..sure the numbers where good and client retention was good but what did the average Joe think about our brand. Well, we found out some very interesting things by doing the exit polling. They liked the brand and the overall experience, but there was a high number of complaints and things clients wanted added or dropped. Without taking the time to ask... you will never know what your brand looks like from inside-out.

"If you don't ask... they will not tell you."

The Power of the Experience

Consumers Notice When You Over-Hype, Under-Deliver

People pay attention when they feel worse than they expected, reports a recent University of Georgia study. The research, which was published in the March issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, found that while people are keenly aware when an experience under-delivers, they are less likely to notice when a product is better than expected. According to analysis of the research, too much hype can hurt a company if consumers' expectations aren't met.
The study's authors contend that satisfaction, repeat-purchases, and positive word of mouth are more impactful than brand hype, which can prove detrimental. The authors also assert that companies can help themselves by encouraging consumers to pay attention when they do feel better than expected -- something consumers are not naturally inclined to do, but can be prompted into doing.

source WOMMA Editor on May 4, 2007

A Second Life?

A friend of mine was telling me about this web site the other day http://secondlife.com/ is an Internet-based virtual world with a downloadable client program enables its users, called "Residents", to interact with each other through motion avatars, providing an advanced level of a social network service combined with general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items (virtual property) and services from one another.

And look what the staffing company Manpower is doing with Second Life.

Manpower Inc. Launches Island in Second Life With Live Panel Discussion on the Evolving World of Virtual Work

Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) announced today the launch of the Manpower Island in Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com), the online virtual community where residents, known as avatars, live and work in a variety of 3D environments. Manpower Island is a place where job seekers, employers and entrepreneurs can come together in an interactive forum to learn about and explore the World of Virtual Work, share ideas and identify new opportunities in traditional and non-traditional meeting spaces ranging from an amphitheater to a relaxing spot on the virtual beach. Built as a learning community, Manpower Island features a variety of virtual work resources, including an orientation trail to teach "newbies" how to move around, interact and teleport around Second Life; and a series of work-related stations offering advice on creating a virtual resume, preparing for both Real Life and Second Life job interviews, obtaining appropriate attire and finding a job in the virtual world.

Manpower's presence in Second Life will be launched with a live virtual event where an expert panel of Second Life avatars will discuss the range of employment issues arising in the World of Virtual Work, from recruiting and job-seeking to virtual collaboration and cultural rules of engagement in virtual worlds such as Second Life. Hosted by Manpower chairman and CEO Jeffrey A. Joerres and moderated by CNET's Daniel Terdiman. "Manpower's mission is to help people, companies and governments understand what's coming next in the changing world of work. The virtualization of the labor market is a key issue for all of these groups and our presence in Second Life will enable us to further define the next stages of virtual work, which are emerging in 3D worlds," said Johns.Virtual working is defined as work done outside of the traditional physical office or work space, where individual workers or teams are based physically away from each other, either at home, in different departments or countries, or in a virtual environment like Second Life. Telecommuting and outsourcing are currently two of the most common forms of virtual work."The virtual labor market is similar to emerging labor markets in many countries of the world, facing many of the same infrastructure challenges as it develops and matures," said Joerres. "Manpower's decades of experience in helping employers and employees navigate the ever-changing world of work means we are ideally placed to help them make the transition beyond current definitions of virtual work to take full advantage of Web 2.0 opportunities."Manpower has developed a short informational video about the World of Virtual Work, which is available at http://www.manpower.com/SecondLife. The video examines how, in an environment of global competition, virtual work has become a powerful way to connect skills and demand, regardless of the distance between them. Today's challenging labor market demands these contemporary forms of working, which will define the workplace of the future.More than five million individuals now have a presence in Second Life alongside the more than 7,000 businesses operating in this virtual world, which include some of the largest organizations in the world as well as thousands of small businesses that exist only in the virtual world. Manpower has helped individuals and organizations large and small understand and benefit from practices such as telecommuting and outsourcing, and will bring the lessons learned from these experiences to bear in the virtual world in this next phase of virtual work.

Wow with all this who needs a "First Life"??

Get People Talking

Get people talking. How do you get people to talk about you and your brand?

1. Do something the competition would never do

Ex. Free dessert Tuesday's. Open 24hrs on Friday and Saturday. Send you Mascot to the busiest place within the 3 mile radius of your store and hand out coupons.

2. Have the best customer service

Ex. Do what ever it takes to retain your clients.

3. Brand Evangelist

Ex. Start building up your list of "certified brand evangelist" theses are the clients you know love your product/service and will tell everyone about it. Reward them with free meals, trips, sporting event tickets. Just keep them more than happy and they will do all the work for you.

4. Direct Mail

Ex. Do not forget you need to always be recruiting new clients. Send out a free offer in the mail and run an FSI in the local newspaper. Make the offer worth looking at and make sure the piece is professional done. Lots of clutter in direct mail you need to make it stand out. Also be consistent and clients will be looking for you every time they open the mail.

5. Sponsorship...be a part

Ex. Sponsor your local teams and community. Be part of the community. when people think of Pizza they think of only one pizza place...Yours. Because you sponsor everything. Sponsorship can be just giving a away a free pizza...free service....your time. So don't ever rule out a sponsorship because you think it will cost to much. Most organizations will let you do what you want to get you involved.

Rent a DVD at McDonalds?

Last week I talked about how Netflix is using a mix of direct mail and word of mouth to get to its customers. Now Redbox is throwing there hat in the DVD rental game. but they are coming to market with a strategic partner..McDonalds. Yes that's right the you can now rent DVDs at the golden arches! Very smart move on the part of Redbox to partner with McDonalds...right? But I am not sure the consumer is going to think "hey lets go to McDonald's and get a big mac and a movie" I hope Redbox has a word of mouth and direct mail campaign to let the consumer know about renting Redbox movies at McDonalds...because they may run the risk of there brand being swallowed up by Ronald and friends.

Let me know what you think!