Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

Get Me In! Get Me Out!

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

I love PR (public relations)
Photo by JerrySilfwer
These days, more and more clients are hiring us for one of two reasons—“Get me in the news!” or “Get me out of the news!” Advertising is what you buy from the sales department of the media. Public Relations (PR) is what you get from the news department—some of it good, some of it not so good.

How many ads do you suppose a good news story is worth?
Q: Which of the following statements is false?
1. Thomas Edison invented electric light.
2. Guglielmo Marconi invented radio.
3. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.

Regardless of which statement you think to be untrue, you’re exactly one-third correct; because all three statements are false. (more…)

Onederful! Using social media to generate real prospects for your business

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

InsideOnederfulI was recently asked to make a presentation to a group of business owners regarding social media and its use in generating bona fide prospects. I used our project- http://marketinggrader.net as the focal point of my presentation as it has been an extremely successful tool at generating leads for us. Social media is not a fad, it’s here to stay and there are numerous ways to exploit it for your business gain. The presentation lacks notes and of course the extra’s and examples I gave out in the seminar. If you have any questions or would like for me to make this presentation in person or remotely, for you, your group or business, please let me know.

Fewer calories, smaller can

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Old soft drink signs
Photo by Photocapy

Photo by Photocapy

Photo by Photocapy
This is an innovative move on Coca-Cola’s part. By introducing its well-known carbonated drink in a smaller size, the soft drink giant is ensuring it resonates with consumers who are watching what they eat and how many calories they’re consuming.

The 7.5-fluid-oz can is red with a white image of a Coke bottle, and will be available in eight packs. Other brands will be available in 90-calorie cans, including Sprite, Fanta Orange, Cherry Coca-Cola, and Barq’s Root Beer.

The new can will roll out in Washington, D.C. and New York City in December and is expected to launch throughout the rest of the country by March 2010.

But Coca-Cola isn’t alone in marrying portion-control with a package overahaul. According to Mintel’s Packaging Trends in Food and Drink – U.S.- March 2009 report, some brands are taking a holistic approach to health and completely overhauling their packaging to better convey the product’s health qualities.

  • Kraft’s Crystal Light brand has introduced environmentally friendly beverage packaging that features a new 1-quart packet size in the 8-quart canister. The new design helps consumers control how much they want to drink. A window on the front of the canister also shows when packets are running low.

In addition to introducing the 90-calorie mini can, Coca-Cola has announced plans to display calorie information on the front of most of its beverage packages, including Sprite, Powerade, and Full Throttle. This tactic will resonate well with soda drinkers, as they will be able to see how many calories are in their favorite drink so they can adjust their diet accordingly.

Coca-Cola is giving consumers who have moved away from traditional CSDs a reason to come back: portion control. But the interesting – it’s cute! – packaging is also giving its brand fans something new – both to talk about and to consume.

A quick word about the competitive environment

Monday, October 12th, 2009

icearrow“Rainy days and Mondays always get me down”– or at least they did Karen Carpenter as I grew up hearing her sing the song. Today is Monday and it’s pouring rain. I’m actually writing this blog article to waylay my having to go out and get wet delivering some printing jobs to clients. In my mailbox this morning I found a short email about competition. It conveyed some simple thoughts. See what you think about them.

  • “How good am I?” is the second question that every business owner must answer. “How good are my competitors?” is the first.
  • Like it or not, your competitors set the height of the bar you must jump.
  • It’s a weary old saying, but true, “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”

And as venture capitalist I knew once told me, “We learned quickly that the most important predictor of success is determination. At first we thought it might be intelligence. Everyone likes to believe that’s what makes startups succeed. It makes a better story that a company ‘won’ because its founders were so smart. But while it certainly helps to be smart, it’s not the deciding factor. There are plenty of people as smart as Bill Gates who achieve nothing.”

So, essentially making money is easy:

  1. Sell what people want to buy
  2. Offer it at an attractive price
  3. Occupy a high-visibility location
  4. Wave your arms and draw a crowd

Maybe you can’t have all of those, but I have never seen the combination fail. Need some help? We’re here.

Using Crisis to Create Success!

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

CATAPULT-COVER_tammy-210x300Everyday, business emergencies, crises, and disasters suddenly liberate organizations from the restraints of the institutionalized barriers to performance improvement. These events evoke powerful and dramatic responses that cannot be matched by any of the structured programs and technologies a company may currently use. They can be large or small.

Here’s an example:

When adulterated Tylenol capsules caused the deaths of seven people in September 1982, Johnson & Johnson organized a crash program to protect the public as well as to salvage its #1 brand product. One of the most critical tasks was to design a sealed package. Within seven weeks, a team of engineers and designers had developed and tested a triple-sealed package, redesigned production processes and equipment, developed new package graphics, and moved into full-scale production. Completing this series of complex tasks under normal circumstances would have taken well over one year, nearly two years. (more…)