Who is the target audience of the Samsung Galaxy Note?

February 6, 2012

Shawn Blanc highlights a post today by Trevor Gilber about the Samsung Galaxy Note ad from yesterday’s superbowl.:

It was an odd commercial.

If Samsung was targeting Apple customers then why did they make fun of us by insulting the fact that we’re willing to stand in line for an iPhone?

If Samsung is targeting people who look at “Apple fanboys” as being silly for their willingness to stand in line for an iPhone, they why did Samsung depict all those Apple customers as jumping the line to get the Galaxy Note?

Whomever it was that Samsung was trying to advertise to, they managed to insult instead.

The real question is, if they are trying to take customers from Apple, who thought that putting a stylus on the thing was a good idea?

via: Shawn Blanc

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Budweiser – Marketing done right

February 2, 2012

Scott Stratten:

This was made for a Superbowl commercial in Canada, but will out last the game itself. That should be the goal of any campaign: make it so awesome that it achieves word-of-perpetual-mouth-motion.

This is marketing done right.
This is what we should all be shooting for.

via: @cc_chapman

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The real cost of Super Bowl ads

February 1, 2012

Tom Asacker on Super Bowl advertising:

Most commercials will probably be about nothing. There won’t be a compelling reason to consume their stuff weaved into the ads, since their stuff is pretty much the same stuff as their competitors’ stuff; think beverages, salty snacks, and candy bars. Their solution: Get you to like and remember their brands, so when you walk through the store you’ll (hopefully) reach out and grab a few.

Therein lies the problem. Gobs of money being spent on something (save for a few ads each year) that most people will remember come Monday morning.

The solutions he outlines in the post are much better and will lead to a more lasting brand and (most likely) more and better customers.

I, like Tom, would have to have exhausted every other option before buying an ad in the Super Bowl. I think that, until a company is nearly perfect, the cost of the ad could be much better spent in improving the experience for the customer.

Ultimately, the real cost goes beyond the dollars and into lost/missed opportunity.

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Making companies memorable

February 1, 2012

Christina DesMarais for Inc.:

So what exactly did these two men do to make such a large impact on so many people? In business and in life, they knew how to deal with people. Here’s what they did, and what you can do, too:

Christina highlights the qualities of two important people in her life and how they lived in a way that made them memorable and made them who they were.

The funny thing? Each of the seven points she outlines could just as easily be applied to a company and the way it markets.

It just goes to show that marketing and business are becoming ever more personal and the successful companies are those that will approach it as such.

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What’s happening?!?

January 31, 2012

Christopher Penn:

The simplest and most powerful customer service secret of all: tell your customers what’s going on.
Or better yet, give them the ability to tell themselves.

The number of marketing / PR disasters that could have been avoided by simply keeping customers in the loop could choke a horse.

People can be awfully forgiving if they know that you are doing everything you can to help them. Just keep them informed.

(via)

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The genealogy of brands

January 27, 2012

Leslie Gaines-Ross for Harvard Business Review.

Shoppers are seeing the choices they make in store aisles not only as votes of confidence in product quality but as votes of approval of corporate conduct. Just as in their charitable contributions, they want their money to support institutions known for integrity and for values they share. Appealing brand messaging will probably always catch their eye—but before making any serious commitments, they’ll insist on meeting the parents.

Companies can’t hide behind their brands anymore. Everything a company does can now affect buyers’ decisions. Consider the decisions you make very carefully.

In other words. Everything is marketing.

(via)

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Has marketing really changed?

January 26, 2012

John Moore cites a recent interview he did with Daniel Milstein today.

Moore highlights an answer he gave to a question about how marketing has changed that resonated with me:

Strategically, marketing hasn’t changed. Marketing will always be about getting the right product and right message to the right customer at the right time in the right way. If a business does that, sales will happen.

Tactically, things have changed because of technology and consumer savviness. Marketers now have more ways to reach customers (social media, mobile, etc.). Because customers have more access to information, they’ve become smarter about making purchase decisions.

I believe really good marketing is, was, and will continue to be about getting the right message to the right person at the right time in the right way(s) to deliver the right results.

That summarizes it quite well. Too many people think that marketing has changed when it’s only the tools have changed.

Yes, the tactics have changed and, as marketers, we need to be more aware given the ability of consumers to spread their message and opinion far and wide. The thing is, it’s still about spreading a message that resonates with people.

The tools are different, the goal remains the same.

(via)

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Too much talk, not enough walk

January 25, 2012

C.C. Chapman:

The blunt truth is I’m seeing more and more people who do lots of talking about this space, but rarely actually do anything. They haven’t put in the long hours throwing ideas around to come up with the best ones. They haven’t challenged themselves to go so far away from the tree with their creative thinking that they don’t know how to get back. They haven’t put in the time to make a campaign work and then look back at the end and find out how it could have been better.

Anyone can look out at the social world in front of them and come up with a content strategy that leverages all the right channels. But, that doesn’t mean that anyone possesses the needed creativity to make it stand out from the masses and reach their clients goals.

Well said as always, C.C.

(via)

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Thinking Smarter

January 25, 2012

Mitch Joel:

People will often tell me that they can’t wait to go on vacation so that they can catch up on their reading. They’ll also talk about the sabbatical that they’re taking to spend time learning. Here’s the truth: you can’t catch up on reading and you don’t need a sabbatical to learn. In our hyper-connected and competitive business world, you need to be thinking about getting smarter as an iterative and critical part of your day-to-day regiment. Every day that you’re not reading or learning something is a waste and you can’t “catch up” on vacation. If you make time for the gym, you better make time for the brain too. Thanks to the Web, mobile and touch, it’s never been easier.

Time to work, and think, smarter…not harder.

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Shawn Blanc’s Spaghetti Spam

January 11, 2012

Shawn Blanc makes a great point today about companies that spam their current customers. Shawn’s contention is that companies targeting their current customers often do it with little relevance and no desire indicated by the customer.

I couldn’t agree more and there are a couple points that Shawn makes that stand out to me.

Want to double-down?

The first scenario that Shawn mentions is one that I’ve found myself in multiple times.

I’ve been with my bank for a decade. I run my business finances through them, my personal checking account, a savings account, and my home mortgage. About twice a week I get a letter in the mail from them trying to sell me a new credit card or insurance package. Last week I got an application for a debit card rewards program that I am already enrolled in. Alas, as a customer, I’ve been told I cannot opt out of this junk mail.

Why would a company not wash their mailing list against their internal list? That seems like the easiest step.

Step 1: Create a list of people to send a promotion to.
Step 2: Find out which of those people are already paying for the thing you’re promoting.
Step 3: Take those people out of the list.
Step 4: Move on.

How much more wasteful can a company be? If for no other reason than to reduce your mailing costs, please don’t try to sell me something I’m already paying you for.

Don’t look behind the curtain…there’s nothing there.

Another point that Shawn makes is one that I’ve been frustrated with multiple times…with the same company.

My wife and I have been AT&T customers since 2007. We have a family plan with unlimited texting, and the expensive data plan for our iPhones. For years they sent me junk mail trying to get me to sign up for their U-Verse services. One day I finally called to look into it only to find out that it wasn’t even available in my neighborhood. (emphasis mine)

I don’t know if this is easier than the first fix, but it’s up there. When you create your list, filter out those people who can’t buy what you’re selling.

Simple as that.

If you don’t serve the 53535 ZIP code, don’t mail there.

Spend five minutes in Excel to make sure that the people you’re mailing to meet the absolute bare-minimum requirements to receive your mail piece.

Put at least one bit of thought into it.

The concerns that Shawn highlights aren’t even difficult things. They’re not even challenging segmentation issues. These are the basics.

There’s nothing beneficial about doing what he outlines. These practices frustrate and annoy your loyal customers. They waste marketing dollars unnecessarily. They deflate your campaign’s ROI. They’re just dumb.

Shawn’s final point is good, but I’m not sure it even applies here. He says,

Relevant marketing, however, is hard because it requires thought and planning.

Well said, but I don’t think that to solve these problems we even have to get to any real thought, planning or difficulty. This is just dead simple stuff that should be the cost of entry for marketing, but, sadly, isn’t.

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