The joys of dating…
We all know a friend who, at some stage in their single life, has dated anything with a heartbeat. (Let’s be totally honest, some of us are those friends). Dating anything with a heartbeat is essentially a market-share strategy—getting your brand out there any way you can, learning from experience, polishing your image while honing your products and services. The strategy serves a purpose—you discover what you do want by exploring what you don’t want, you work out who you are and what matters. And eventually, for most us, we outgrow it. It serves its purpose and we move on. Why? Because a marketshare strategy is exhausting. It demands a lot of resources—it requires us to spend time with people who we aren’t really compatible with, to invest money in programs and events that aren’t always our cup of tea, and to constantly make exceptions in our system to accommodate an endless array of idiosyncrasies. Most of us only endure this because we intend for it to lead to that one special account where, having found it, we can invest all of our energy and resources while enjoying the mutual benefits of genuine compatibility. (Wistful sigh).
Business is very much like dating, especially so in the B2B service sector. A market-share strategy will serve its purpose as long as you have a clearly defined notion of what that purpose is and for how long you plan to sustain the effort and investment.
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marketing lessons,
market-share,
strategy
Warning: do not task your sales team to prospect for clients that have the right ‘cultural fit’…
We were speaking with a client about the types of customers they want to attract to their B2B business, and rather than weighting factors like market segment and industry vertical, they focused instead on cultural fit. It’s a growing trend that companies are not just seeking new business, but new business partners—a coming-together of organizations that aspire to similar futures, approach their challenges with like mindsets and share analogous values. The discussions are vivacious and engaging. And why wouldn’t they be? It is, after all, not just a goal of marketing, but a tradition of human inquiry to grapple with the indefinable and to seek connections that transcend the merely physical.
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prospecting,
sales,
cultural fit,
organizational culture
For a start, they’re large for my height. I’m 5’6” tall and my feet are size ten. I can never predict what a shoe will look like on my foot until it’s been shod onto my clod-hopper. The daintiest slipper can transform me into Ronald McDonald. As a consequence, I don’t shop for shoes, I hunt. Like a special operative. I try on shoes quickly and furtively. It can be an emotionally trying experience.
But apparently thousands and thousands of consumers take a different approach to shoe shopping. Last year Zappos.com, the online shoe retailer, reached a $1 billion milestone in annual revenues. This is the same Zappos.com that Amazon announced recently that it would be purchasing for $900 million.
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branding
The name Alice reminds me of the housekeeper on "The Brady Bunch." I cannot hear that name without thinking of a female embodiment of a real-life Mr. Clean powerhouse. She was always there when needed—and even before the family knew they needed her. She cleaned up messes around the Brady house and in the family’s personal lives as well. She had a solution for just about everything.
I’m guessing the branders of the new e-commerce site, Alice, were also TV-watching kids from the 70s. With the tagline “Everybody needs an Alice,” the site promises to revolutionize the way people shop for household goods, and gives them an opportunity to get products straight from manufacturers. By eliminating the middleman and any retail margin, Alice is able to offer prices that are 20 to 30 percent lower than other online stores. In Alice’s own words from the site, “Our mission is to give people a better way to buy the goods that keep their homes running. We have big plans to disrupt the traditional retail market. Everything we do is focused on empowering our customer.”
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branding,
interactive,
ecommerce,
consumer relationships
While the infomercial is crass and limited in many cases or categories, sometimes our vantage point is so elitist that we give this type of marketing no credit. The death of Billy Mays should give us all pause in the advertising world, and an opportunity to see what we can learn from the Infomercial King.
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marketing lessons,
infomercial,
billy mays,
advertising gimmicks
Word on the street? Domino's logo and campaign tagline have been power washed out of street grime using a stencil on the sidewalks of Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York City. They used a company called GreenGraffiti in Europe. Domino's claims they are the first American company to get GreenGraffiti’s help. Sure, there are mixed reactions, but whatever the reaction is at least a conversation. Break away for a second from the traditional routes to advertise your name. Out-of-the-box ideas, like this one, do not cost much at all (in fact, it's merely a fraction of the price of traditional outdoor media) and create that breakout moment that gets you noticed and people talking. Obviously "everything" has not been done before.
Check out the Brandweek article and get inspired: Domino's Ads Pop Up on City Sidewalks
green,
outdoor media
So, the first definition listed for “Evian” in the Urban Dictionary is “water that rich folk drink.” For all the negative lip Evian has gotten over the last years for being overly priced for being just plain water, their new campaign featuring cute babies having fun on roller skates and a tagline of “Live Young” is going viral crazy. Sorta makes me want to put away my disgust for what the brand used to stand for and feel all cuddly now. Good thinking on their part because even Jennifer Lopez wasn’t drinking it anymore. Remember the E*TRADE baby and what a big hit he was? Babies R It!
Check out the Evian Babies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PHnRIn74Ag
babies,
evian,
roller
Jason brought the article linked below to my attention today and I’d like to share a few thoughts on it:
Twitter Promotion Done Right: #moonfruit
1) The first ones out of the gate, clever - when Twitter becomes filled with this stuff, it will lead to a backlash.
2) Twitter IS an excellent tool for basic consumer sweepstakes - which is essentially what this is - because unlike traditional sweeps, it includes the viral element automatically UNLIKE the annoying email "free stuff" campaigns of a few years ago, you don't hate your friends for forwarding it to you and wasting your time.
3) I'd personally like to see the viral component evolve for more brands beyond having to give stuff away - which to me is the least creative default (it seems to suggest that the story isn't compelling enough without bribery which is untrue). I'm sure this will evolve.
twitter,
micro-blogging,
social media,
promotions
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