Stand For Something

by Steve Fodor

A colleague of mine likes to say, “If you needed to have brain surgery done, you wouldn’t go to a general practice doctor.”

The same is true when it comes to positioning your business and how you go to market. If you don’t stand for something specific and own it, or, if you try to be too broad in your positioning, you end up standing for nothing in the minds of prospects and customers.

Positioning is the discipline of making trade-offs. And I say “discipline” because it is hard to focus your marketing message and positioning. But, as Bill Cosby once said, “The surest way to fail is to try to be all things to all people.”

Defining what you do best (or the two or three things you do best and can own) requires you to take a hard look at yourself and have insight into what the unmet needs are in your category. What makes you unique? Will this motivate customers? Will this render the competition helpless? Not only is this a critical business strategy, but think about how people find information today. In many cases, their first avenue is to enter some words into Google. If you’re not presenting your information in a specific, well-defined and positioned way, you’re probably not going to be high on the search page.

Today’s consumers and buyers have way, way more choices than they did just a decade ago. If you don’t stand for something specific, own a relevant position and stand out in a unique way, you’re just another commodity. And if you’re a commodity, you’ll always be forced to compete on price. That’s not the most enjoyable position to own.

Flickr Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mistressf/

Do You Really Need A New Brochure?

by Steve Fodor

I read something interesting in Business-To-Business magazine recently. Over 70% of industrial buyers view white papers as the most credible source of information for their purchasing decisions. Even more, they prefer information they can download from a Web site.

At first I was surprised by this statistic. I’ve always viewed the “stand-by” full-line product brochure as a necessity for anyone selling in the B2B, industrial world. But, with a new generation of decision makers entering the work force, I guess this isn’t such a surprise.

People (be them consumers or industrial buyers) want information on their terms. In a world of commodity products, decisions are often made based on “who makes it the most convenient for me to purchase” and “who gives me a feeling of more control over my purchasing situation.”

Selling tools for today’s new generation of decision makers must be created to meet their information needs, not the seller’s. Think about all the new alternatives to the standard, printed brochure. There are DVDs, social media venues, opt-in e-mail and others that present information in a more dynamic and convenient format than a printed brochure. Not to mention that some of these options are more flexible and less costly than a printed piece.

Ultimately, it comes down to understanding the information needs of your customer. How do they use information? What is their decision-making process? Where do they go for information? What do they consider the most credible sources for information?

Understand what customers want and how they want to be communicated with. Gee, what a novel marketing concept.

Flickr Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinandrewstewart/

Working With An Ad Agency And The "Seven-Year Itch"

by Steve Fodor

I’ve always heard that an agency/client relationship is a lot like a marriage. And most marriages that fail do so, on average, in about seven years. It goes something like this.

1. Year one – the honeymoon phase.

2. Year two – you start to notice little “quirks” about each other, but it’s no big deal.

3. Year three – you begin to take each other for granted.

4. Year four – you start to ignore each other.

5. Year five – tensions grow and you begin to argue…a lot.

6. Year six – you start to realize you made a bad decision.

7. Year seven – you get the “itch” to find another partner.

When do most marriages and agency/client relationships go bad? Year three.

Flickr Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50841708@N00/

The Value of a Big Idea

by Steve Fodor

People often ask me, “What’s your favorite ad of all time?” Well, I have several, but one in particular stands out.

I love this ad (at right) for Volkswagen done by Arnold Communications and DDB Worldwide in 1979. Why? It’s simple and extendable. It makes the point by letting the reader reach the conclusion themselves, not by pounding a list of benefits into the reader’s head. Even the look of the ad says “simple” and “out of the ordinary” – Volkswagen brand attributes from my point of view. And the ad is timely, and timeless. It was developed during the oil embargo in the late 1970s. But it’s just as relevant today. What more could you ask for from an ad?

Whenever I show this ad as my favorite, people look at me and say, “Give me a black marker and a piece of paper and I could do that ad in about 30 seconds. Probably could draw the picture better, too.”

The value of a big idea and creativity is priceless. It’s much more than pretty pictures and execution alone.

Spring Has Sprung (And So Should You)

by Steve Badertscher

While enjoying a cup of coffee on my patio yesterday, I really was in awe of the beauty that can be seen in all of God’s creation. It was evident in every direction I turned.

Living on a wooded lot, the first thing I noticed was that the trees are filling in and budding. My rapidly growing grass is currently a thick, lush green. Even the dandelions seem to have some redeeming qualities these days. It also seemed as if the animals have a little more pep in their step as the squirrels scurry from branch to branch and the birds serenade them with warbling reminiscent of a Disney movie soundtrack.

Beyond just recounting what a beautiful evening it was, it also reinforced that now is the perfect time to capture outdoor marketing communications visuals.

Our agency will be shooting footage over the next couple of weeks for a video we are creating to promote Marion, Ohio. This is the prime time of the year in the Midwest for capturing nature at its best. There will be a window between now and mid-June when the grass will be lush green, the skies will be crystal blue (when it’s not raining!) and most every flowering plant will be colorful and in bloom.

So if you have old photos of your facilities that need to be updated due to an expansion, now would be the time to schedule shooting new images, whether you need video or stills. Or if the most current annual report photo of your plant has a parking lot full of cars produced pre-1970, now might be a good time to remedy that for the future.

Also, if you need to update outdoor video footage for your training or product videos, shooting now while the grass isn’t brown, the trees aren’t bare or the snow isn’t flying (been there, done that) leaves a much better impression of your company.

Spring has officially sprung, and you should too. Schedule that outdoor video or photo shoot today. This current window of great scenery is something you should take full advantage of.

Flickr Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/booleansplit/

A (New) Case For Direct Mail

by Steve Fodor

Unless you’ve been living under a rock somewhere, you’ve experienced the explosion of e-mail and mobile marketing. It’s revolutionized marketers’ abilities to cost-efficiently communicate with more customers, create conversations and engage with a brand’s target audience.

But, to quote an old cliché, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you see every problem as a nail.”

I still love direct mail for what it can do…and for what e-mail and mobile marketing cannot do (yet, anyway.)

Here are a few (and certainly by no means all) considerations for making direct mail part of your marketing mix:

· Recipients can take more time. How aggravating is it to open an e-mail and see that it’s a l-o-n-g one? If you have a technical or highly involved sale, direct mail can deliver a “complex” story in a more passive environment than an e-mail in-box. Adding a personalized letter with related elements (brochure, white paper, DVD, etc.) can increase readership as much as 45%.

· Credibility. Spam has made even so-called “junk” mail from the post office more credible. Privacy issues and fear of opening or responding are less prevalent with direct mail. Credibility is vital if you’re marketing a high-end/high-ticket product.

· Human beings are tactile creatures. Direct mail allows you to touch, feel and interact with the medium. Paper stocks and certain type fonts can create a “feeling,” or ambience, for your brand. Adding a dimensional feature to direct mail can elevate its perceived importance. You’re curious to see if there’s something “good” in there. This can be especially relevant if your selling proposition is based on emotional appeal. And the more senses we humans use to process information, the more likely we are to remember that information.

I could go on and on about the pros and cons of direct mail vs. e-mail. The point is, think about what you’re selling, the brand impression you need to make and what you require from a medium to deliver your message in a creative and memorable way. Let that drive your media selection. Not just cost per exposure.

Send me an e-mail if you agree.

Flickr Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerbooktrance/

What It Means To Be A "Big" Advertising Agency Brand

by Steve Fodor.

I’ve worked in the advertising business for over 20 years now. During that time, I’ve worked for big agencies in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. I’ve worked for agencies that handled major consumer brands and positioned themselves as “one-stop shops” and that have won countless creative awards.

I used to think that “bigger was always better” and you had to be in a big city to be “big-time” in advertising and marketing.

But I see the world differently today. I’ve come to realize that what you stand for is far more important than how big you are or how many accolades hang on your wall.
Twenty years ago, I never thought that I would end up working for an ad agency in, of all places, Marion, Ohio. Marion is a Midwestern manufacturing town. We’re going through some “rust belt” changes. It’s not a big city by any means. The people are nice and have humble values. And I work for a smaller agency now that does one thing: Business-to-business, industrial marketing. We’ve even been recognized six times as a “Top U.S. agency” by Business-To-Business magazine.

I guess in today’s world, it really doesn’t matter how big you are or where you’re located. It matters more that you know what you’re good at and that you make it your mission to work hard and do the best you can. It matters that you have fun at what you do, that you like the people you work with and that you share common values.

Dare I say it: Size doesn’t really matter (sorry, Viagra). What matters is that people respect you because you respect them and that you go to work every day with the intent of doing your best at what you’re good at. That’s your brand, after all.

It took me twenty years to realize that.

Flickr Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/a2gemma/