Marketing During a Down Economy – Some Interesting Stats

November 4, 2011 | by Rich Suitum | No comments yet

Over the last few years you’ve probably heard this rally cry from a number of marketers and advertisers – “Take this opportunity during a down economy to increase your market share!” Well, is it true? To what extent can you grow it? Where are the studies to back it up?

A quick search online produced the following nuggets:

- McGraw-Hill Research study of over 600 Businesses found that during 1981-1982, businesses that maintained or increased their ad spend during this time averaged higher sales growth during the recession and in the following three years!

- By 1985, sales of the businesses that maintained or increased their ad spend during that recession had risen 256% over those that had cut back on advertising.

- Likewise, in 2001, another study found that aggressive recession advertisers increased market share 2.5 times the average for all businesses in the post-recession.

- In 2002, the Strategic Planning Institute illustrated that, during economic expansion, although 80% of businesses increased their advertising spend, there was NO improvement in market share! The main reason was because everyone had increased ad spending.

As difficult as it is to find additional funds to allocate to marketing and advertising line items these days, it could be one of your most effective decisions as it relates to ROI. Economists believe we still have a few years of slow growth ahead of us. It could be your time to capture some very valuable market share!

Giving props: Much of the above stats were taken from a paper called Innovating through Recession by Professor Andrew J. Razeghi at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

I love jingles. I hate jingles.

August 10, 2011 | by Brian Ells | 1 comment

One problem I have with a lot of modern advertising is when you see an ad, but can’t remember what company it was for. Many car ads work this way. They all talk about how they stand out from the competition, but the ads don’t say anything unique.

“Wow. That was a cool car. What was it?”
“Uh … I dunno. Toyota? Ford? I don’t remember.”

You’re not going to buy that car. At least not because of the commercial. One of the goals of advertising is to increase your awareness in the marketplace, but you’ve failed if the audience doesn’t remember the company.

Ask the next person you see how much you can get a 12-inch Subway sandwich for. Ask a New Englander, “Who do you call when your windshield’s busted?” I bet they know. For the windshield, they may even be able to tell you the phone number. When someone gets a cracked windshield or wants a mediocre sandwich, something in their head clicks. Because they had jingles!

Those short little songs, and the companies they represent, have lodged themselves in your brain and refused to be shaken out.

But like standard songs, that stickiness can be annoying. I’m not sure what is worse, the music of Steve Miller or those ads that They Might Be Giants wrote for Dunkin Donuts (“Karate!”, “Fritalian”, etc.) I’m sure they didn’t hurt business, but those songs drove me crazy, and I muted the TV every time they came on.

Music is subjective and I’m not here to judge (other than that “Rock’n Me” is a terrible, terrible song). I’m just saying that music is a great way to lodge your name in someone’s head. Some are fun. Some are annoying. But I bet you remember who it’s for.

What are some of your (least) favorites?

SEO – NOT A FAD!

July 12, 2011 | by Dar Sojka | 1 comment

Okay by now you know SEO is here to stay.

It’s not a fad like leisure suits (never been a fan) or bell-bottoms (loved them!) of the 1970’s that disappear or take a long hiatus – (bell bottoms are back baby!).

So how and where do you begin your SEO journey?

I’m often asked this question and my answer is … by getting intimate. And 99.9% of the time I get the same response…’what do you mean by getting intimate?’

Get to know, in-depth, not only your company but also your:
• Customers, and
• Competitors

I cannot stress the importance of this step. And I’m not going to lie. This is a long process and you may not like some of the information uncovered. But if you do not know your company, your customers, and your competition, intimately, then how can you:
• Know what your company truly has to offer – products and services – and more importantly, what they do not offer…but should;
• Know who your customers are…and their needs; and
• Know what you do better than your competition…or do worse!

WHAT IS SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) according to Wikipedia is the process of improving the visibility of a website or web page in search engines via the ‘natural’ or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.

So … what does that mean? It means getting a potential customer to your website via organic or unpaid means. If done correctly your website will receive a high ranking on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). A high ranking gives your company the exposure it needs to increase the amount of visitors to your website, therefore increasing your ROI.

An increase in your ROI could mean an increase in – sales, visitors to your website, visitors downloading white papers, etc. – there are many ways to measure your ROI.

For your site to receive a high ranking from search engines (major players are Google, Bing and Yahoo) it must have pertinent keywords/phrases placed throughout the website, META tags, links and other social media avenues.

How do you know which search terms/phrases to use? Ah ha…that is where ‘getting intimate’ is so important!

Next blog I’ll go into more detail on how ‘getting intimate’ leads to targeted SEO.

In the meantime what were the fads when you were growing up? Any you really miss? Any you hope never return?

I’m out to get a new pair of bell-bottoms before they go on hiatus again!

Take care, be happy and stay tuned!

NASCAR Through a Marketer’s Eyes

July 5, 2011 | by Thom Wilk | No comments yet

Now that we’ve finished cleaning up from the Bruins’ Stanley Cup celebration parade and the Red Sox have one of the best records in the American League, I’d like to turn the spotlight on my favorite sport for a moment—NASCAR. I know, I know. “Hillbillies turning left. Driving in circles isn’t a sport. Those guys aren’t athletes. What do you mean the headlights are stickers?” I’ve heard it all before and if you don’t get it, that’s ok. Because this is a blog entry on a marketing agency’s site, I’m not going to explain the nuances of drafting or adding wedge or camber. I want to help you see how important NASCAR is to something you do understand, getting customers’ attention.

According to the 2010 Roush Fenway Racing Overview, NASCAR owns some very powerful and interesting marketing data points:
• 75 million fans – one-third of the adult U.S. population are NASCAR fans
• Leader in fan loyalty – fans are three times as likely as non-fans to purchase sponsors products and services
• 10-month season – the longest in professional sports with events spanning the continent
• Demographic appeal – with a fan-base 41% female, 43% with children under 18, 49% 18-44 years old and 48% earning $50,000+
• Leading spectator sport – with 17 of the top 20 highest attended sporting events in the U.S.
• First or second on television – earning a spot in the top two during 23 of 36 race weekends
• 7.9 million viewers – tune in weekly on average
• 125,000+ average attendance – per event for the 36 point races
• More Fortune 500 companies rely on NASCAR to build their brands and market their products and services than any other sport.

So the next time you are channel surfing and come across a NASCAR race, do yourself a favor, stop and take a look at it through the eyes of a marketer. Realize the brand exposure that is taking place. Think of the intense loyalty of the fans and the opportunities they represent. Take it in from a business perspective and contemplate the mind-boggling value chain of NASCAR. Who knows, maybe looking at the sport from an abstract angle might (I said might) just make you a fan too.

Building Relationships

June 20, 2011 | by Kelly Lee Lizotte | No comments yet

Building successful business relationships helps add value to your service, enhance your brand and gives you a better position against your competition. Building relationships allows you to be a better resource to your clients when they are finally ready to buy or use your service.

Frequently communicating with your prospects and potential clients is a great way to help build that relationship. Never just reach out during specials. A lot of publications make that mistake hitting “spot advertisers” and never building longer programs selling just one ad. It is better to use the “softer sell” method or a method that is customer service centric. I typically mix up my frequent communication with calls, emails and face to face meetings or visits. I limit my direct mail to only one piece. You can occasionally offer helpful hints during your visits or for the reasons for your call.

When it comes to customer relationships, listening is more important then telling. Using your marketing generated tools like your website, newsletter, blogs or surveys helps get feedback on your services. As our Senior Account Supervisor suggested to a potential client once, you should also respond to negative reviews. Correct mistakes if you can. Show all potential customers that you are willing to take action to correct any issues.

Relationship building or marketing is the most common practice of customer retention and satisfaction. A client or customer will work with whom they trust. Relationship building is different from any other form of sales. There is a longer-term value and result.