dialOGue

Grand opening isn’t so grand

How long should a retail establishment keep their grand opening banner out? I pondered this recently as the Zenail & Spa is located near me.

I can certainly understand a retailer wanting to keep the grand opening feeling going. Nothing compares to the grand opening. There’s excitement in the air. Everything is new. For potential customers, there’s a new store to explore and shop.

Zenail & Spa opened a year and half ago. Don’t you think it’s time for the grand opening to be over?  Let’s make this multiple choice question.

When should a retailer take down the grand opening banner?

A.    3 weeks
B.    3 months
C.    3 years

I’m thinking 3 weeks but I’d accept 3 months. Anything longer is violating the grand opening definition. So what should a retailer do after the newness has worn off?

Here are three suggestions:

Celebrate anniversaries
Take down the grand opening banner and put up the anniversary sign and special. “We’re 2. Temper tantrum if you don’t come in.”

We’re not new but you are
New people move in near the retail establishment throughout the year. Buy the new movers list and mail them a direct mail welcome. Include a special offer.

Groupon some customers
The whole idea behind the grand opening is get new people in the door. That’s the same idea behind Groupon. So take down the grand opening banner and send out an irresistible offer via a Groupon coupon. For more on Groupon, read article I wrote for TalentZoo.

Sorry,  Zenail & Spa, your banner has become a zeyesore. Take it down and try something else to win new customers.

Starbucks. The Way I See It Now

Starbucks brought back the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Here’s hoping they bring back “The Way I See It” cups next.

Do you remember them? You’d order Starbucks and the cup would have a thought-provoking message from an author, poet, pundit, blogger, among others.  There were hundreds of different messages on the cups.  Each cup sparked thought, conversation, agreement, anger, all kinds of emotions.

What better fit with a brand that wants to be the third place in your life after home and work?

Or consider what Starbucks founder Howard Schultz was quoted as saying to the New York Times in 2006. He was talking about music but it could apply to any unique content.

'With the assets Starbucks has in terms of number of stores, and the trust we have with the brand, and the profile of our customers, we're in a unique position to partner with creators of unique content to create an entertainment platform and an audience that's unparalleled.''

I think this blogger summed up it best in his collection of “The Way I See It” cups. He wrote, “There are days when the quote on the side of my Starbucks cup is almost as motivating as my coffee!”

There’s a lot going on in the world today. Our eminent thinkers help us make sense of the craziness and see the beauty around us.

For example, let’s say you’re at Starbucks and read about ethnic strife or the latest budget battle in Washington. Then you look at your cup and read this:

Imagine we are all the same. Imagine we all agree about politics, religion and morality. Imagine we like the same types of music, food and coffee. Sound boring? Differences need not divide us. Embrace diversity. Dignity is everyone's human right. “ ~ Bill Brummel

Or let’s say you’re a Mom who just dropped off the kids and didn’t get a hug or kiss back. You’re questing your parenting while waiting in the Starbucks drive-thru lane. During the transaction with the barista, you read this on the cup.

Do not kiss your children so they will kiss you back but so they will kiss their children, and their children's children. ~ Noah benShea

What about the long-time unemployed worker who’s hanging out at Starbucks? He’s thinking back to his last interview and bracing for bad news. He looks down at his cup and reads:

The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. On occasion, some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say "no" — they may not be smart enough to say "yes." ~ Keith Olbermann

Content meets context. What a concept. That’s why Starbucks needs to bring back “The Way I See It” cups.  Now more than ever.

 

Christmas comes early to Costco

Last Saturday at a Cosco in Overland Park, Kansas, I spotted something I didn’t expect to see in mid-September—holiday decorations on display.

Are retailers extending the holiday shopping season into September? I thought it was bad enough that holiday shopping drowns out Thanksgiving. Now we’re leapfrogging Halloween? I can see why. Halloween is like Texas. Don’t mess with it.

I guess one argument for it could be that Costco caters to businesses, which need to plan in advance. If so, I’m not buying it. The goal is to make sales, right? Is extending the time that merchandise is on the shelf the right way to make sales?

What about using some new media tactics to drum up holiday merchandise sales without diluting the impact of a well-timed appearance when the consumer fire is stoked in late November? Here are three ideas:

Groupon coupon for Costco’s store in a store
Cosco is a big warehouse. What if a section of the store was hidden and closed off to regular shoppers? Now send out a Groupon coupon to shop there. The coupon gets you in the store inside the store.

QR code that promotes internal store
Place a QR code around the store. Shoppers who check it out are then invited to shop the holiday store inside Costco.

Promote FourSquare check-ins
After they check in, invite them to shop Cosco’s holiday store with sales specials. Shower the Mayor with appreciation and merchandise.

That’s three ideas. There are plenty more out there. My point is, why rush Christmas or the more politically-correct “holidays” and hamper sales with holiday fatigue.  By using new media and other tactics like store inside a store, a retailer can create exclusivity, which will rack up sales and enhance customer loyalty while keeping the holidays out of September and October.

9/11 ads. Not Marketing’s Finest Hour

 

I watched this spot for Budweiser on Sunday, Sept. 11, the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Initially, I liked it—beautifully shot, emotional music, heart clearly in the right place.

Ever since then, I’ve questioned Budweiser’s decision to fund and run this spot. Even though the heart was in the right place, the head wasn’t. What were they thinking?

9/11 was a tragedy that we as a nation are honoring. And here we honor it with a 60-second commercial with a forced shot of the Statue of Liberty and a less than authentic kneeling of the Clydesdales? Please. The best part of the spot was the end—the call to donate.

Interestingly, I didn’t object to all the 9/11 programs on Discovery and Nat Geo, among other. Watching them helped me better understand the different views of 9/11.  I think that’s where I take issue—the 30 or 60-second spot  is all about ads!

If Budweiser could hit the rewind button and do it all over again, what would I suggest? For starters, try a different format---a five minute program, a social media push, an event….Something that takes us out of the ad mindset. 

Or here’s a thought. The one point of view I’m dying to hear related to 9/11 is those firemen who went into the towers but survived or those who lost brothers.  What if the Budweiser Clydesdales visited fire stations in lower Manhattan and gave out free beer to the firemen?

The goal would be to loosen them up and get them talking while the cameras rolled. That I would like to see and a much better way to honor 9/11.

Do you agree/disagree? Heck, let's make a discussion here.

To improve marketing effectiveness, get trigger-happy

Earlier this spring a hailstorm ripped through my neighborhood. When the dust settled, err hail melted, these signs started appearing on front lawns. I counted 12-15 different roofing companies, both local and out-of-town opportunity seekers.

It got me thinking about something we don’t often think about in marketing. That thought is the importance of triggers. The hailstorm and the resulting roof damage was a trigger for hiring a roofing company.

Triggers play a key role in a lot of consumer decisions. The washer going out is a trigger to shop for a new one. 9/11 anniversary is a trigger to pay tribute.  Going into a grocery store hungry is a trigger for buying something not on the list.

Triggers by themselves are not enough to generate purchase behavior. Dr. BJ Fogg, founder of Standford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab, believes it starts with a trigger but motivation and ability are also required to create a desired behavior.

For example, the hailstorm is the trigger. But is the homeowner motivated to fix the roof that looks fine to the eye? Do they have the ability to pay for the new roof? Dr. Fogg’s behavior model shows the dynamic relationship between these three conditions.

With triggers, marketing and advertising works like magic. Messaging can address motivation and ability. Or if the consumer provides the motivation and ability (i.e., “I need a new car!”), the marketing just needs to be present (i.e., cars for sale ad).

What’s been your experience with triggers? Can marketing itself create a trigger?

Food Network’s Restaurant: Impossible. Five marketing lessons on the menu

Restaurant: Impossible serves up some appetizing lessons for marketers. If you haven’t watched this entertaining Food Network program, here’s the premise. Chef Robert Irvine visits a struggling restaurant and takes two days and spends $10,000 to restore the restaurant to profitability.

Chef Irvine is a genius. He knows exactly what to do to turn things around. Once he analyzes the situation, he gathers the staff and lists five things that must be addressed.  The five typically relate to food, service, décor, staff and marketing. The show is Chef Irvine, his helpers and the restaurant frantically addressing the changes in order to meet the grand reopening the following day.

Before watching this show, I thought the economy was the reason many restaurants are failing. Chef Irvine shows the problem isn’t the economy. The problem is the restaurant. That got me thinking.

Are the lessons presented on Restaurant: Impossible applicable to other businesses and industries? And what lessons apply specifically to marketing?

In honor of Chef Irvine’s list of five, here are five takeaways for marketing:

Make waves with a mandate
Restaurants selected for Restaurant: Impossible are desperate. They’re ready to try anything… Some balk a bit but Chef Irvine is the expert, the savior, and in one episode, the new sheriff in town.  In short, he has a mandate to go along with his mission.

Your company has a mission. But do you have a mandate? With a mandate, you can make sweeping changes, the kind that would transform your organization.

Lesson: Mandates go great with missions.

Have a strong identifiable concept
What’s truly impossible is making a great first impression with Chef Irvine. He spots problems the moment he enters the restaurant. Often times, his ire is the restaurant concept.  For example, an English pub that looks more like a sports bar.

What’s your concept or business proposition? Is it clear and compelling to your target audience? Are you sending conflicting messages?

Lesson: A good concept sells itself

Focus on the customer experience
In episode after episode, Chef Irvine spends time testing and training the wait staff. He know the ideal customer experience and shows the staff how they can serve better and make more money.

It’s not enough to sell a great product. It’s about the entire customer experience, from consideration to decision to the actual experience.

Lesson: Customer views trump corner office views

Time is money. Therefore, less time is less money
When the interior designer appears, they’ll usually comment that the job would take months and cost thousands of dollars. That’s when Chef Irvine replies that they have $10, 000 and it has to be done by tomorrow.  It’s amazing what the designers accomplish.

Low budgets and quick turnarounds are all too common at your company. In fact, it’s probably the norm. What you need is impossible! This gets the creative juices flowing.

Lesson: Impossible deadlines and budget constraints foster creativity.

Sampling technique is tried and true
With new menu items, Chef Irvine and the restaurant staff will head into town to hand out free food and encourage the locals to come to the grand reopening. Sampling is a proven marketing technique.

For your company, sampling can be interpreted in other ways. It doesn’t have to be food. What can you give away in the form of advice and guidance related to your product or service? Could you offer a free trial? What about giving your product or service to the media or influential bloggers?

Lesson: Try it before you buy it is gold.

That’s five lessons for marketers based on the Restaurant: Impossible show. Are there lessons I missed? Have a comment? Share it below.

Burger King - King out, Food in

Burger King’s King is headed for retirement. Media reports said the King wasn’t connecting with the target audience—20s men-- the way he used to and business is down. The plan now, backed by research, is to focus on the food.

All this leads to a couple of questions. Was it wise to get rid of the King? Will a food-centric ad campaign reverse sales?

You’ve got to admit the King is kind of creepy. Maybe the King wasn’t the problem but rather the storylines.  Maybe Dentus, BK’s agency, veered too far from food.  If I was the CMO, I’d be tempted to call Crispin Porter.

What about a food focus approach? Wasn’t this Taco Bell’s strategy when they parting ways with the Taco Bell Chihuahua? Sidenote: what a shame. Bernbach did say that humor should evolve out of the product. Example: Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?”

After a few food spots, then where do you from there? Next thing you know, you’re promoting price specials. That’s okay to a point but does it build brand and loyalty?

 I believe with media proliferation and empowered consumers, brands do have to entertain while selling. What about a Red Bull approach to fast food? What about taking the ad budget and dialing up social engagement?

Speaking of social media, there’s a Facebook page to save the King. It only has 17 Likes.  I don’t think the King is coming back anytime soon.

Was BK right in retiring the King? Will a food-centric approach reverse sales? Share your opinion.

Borders closing. How did it come to this?

For book lovers, it’s a sad sight. For marketers, it’s another example of a company failing to adjust to the marketplace. But what killed Borders? Was it the shift to digital books? Was it their gamble on music? Was it all the people who hang out at Borders but don’t purchase anything? The answer is probably all of the above and more. RIP, Borders.

Is Barnes & Noble next? I don’t think so and that’s saying a lot with Amazon out there. Even though B and N’s business model is traditional brick and mortar, they’re taking the shift to digital books seriously. For example, in March 2010, they hired William Lynch as their new CEO. Lynch came from Silicon Valley and offices not out of the corporate office but rather the offices of barnesandnoble.com. That and other digital investments are paying off. Barnes & Noble has 27% of the digital book market.

The lesson in all this? Keep innovating! Failure is an option. For every failure (think Google TV), there’s a chance of a hit (think Google+). Another key is a relentless focus on the customer. This is made easier with social media—the 24/7 focus group.

What's your opinion why Borders bit the dust? Do share.

Replace the 80/20 Rule with the 1% Social Media Maxim

The 80/20 Rule states that 80% of business comes from 20% of the customer base. I still believe that’s true but I’m questioning it from a marketing perspective. It’s the 1% that needs your focus. The 1% is the rabid fans or the raving lunatics.

To illustrate, Fiskars, those familiar orange scissors, discovered that their products were used a lot by crafters doing scrapbooks. So they created Fiskateers – Crafting Ambassadors.

It’s not about the product. It’s about the passion served by the product. Find the passion and you’ll discover the secret to marketing through social media.

But don’t forget about the 1% who feel wronged by a brand, whether it’s a rogue employee (see Domino’s) or irate customers. They too know how to use social media. 1% or even one person can bring a brand to its knees.

No company can afford to take the position that social media is a fad. Even if true, the here and now is a dangerous place.