Archive for the ‘Great Ideas’ Category

Superior service does not improve profit; profit improves superior service.

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

I just read that. Then I read it again. And then, I read it at least three more times and really thought about it. Why? Because it’s true. How can you test this theory? As Blair Enns, the guy who wrote the headline above, does—and I will admit, it’s true in my office. The test is the “ringing telephone.” When we look down and see the name of the profitable client appear, we are happy to pick up. When we see the name of the unprofitable client, we cringe. Our clients know if they are getting the best from us, but they rarely know why.

Every client you or I have deserves our fullest attention, our best service and our commitment. For us to deliver this to them they need to deliver to us the profit margin that will allow it.

How many client relationship problems could have been avoided or fixed if we had charged properly? How many of our clients could we have done better for simply by commanding a little bit more money? Think about your business and those clients.

Blair Enns is the owner of winwithoutpitching.com and a general bad ass in our field. Most of this material came from his ‘manifesto’ which is available in several different formats at his website. Click here for more. The link will open in a new window. Have fun!

The myth of the great ad

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

Top secret
Photo by daliborlev
You can do a great job constructing a badly designed house. But when you are through, you’ve still got a badly designed house. Right? It doesn’t matter how good you are with a hammer if the blueprints themselves are faulty. Ads are like houses.

It doesn’t matter how good you are with nouns or verbs when the core message is boring. There is no good way to tell a bad story. And ultimately, it’s the core message of your campaign that determines the success of your advertising.

Give a powerful core message to an average writer and the little business on the corner can leap from Main Street to Wall Street. But give an average message to a powerful writer and ….yeah, you get it.

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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.