Video Transcript:

Hi, I’m Tom Wanek. Welcome to WonderBranding’s Marketing Quick Take Q&A, where we answer your specific questions about marketing and advertising.

Today’s question comes from WonderBranding reader, Duane Christensen … Duane says:

“I’ve been pondering this comment a local lawn fertilizing client of mine told me the other day.

He said something like, “We don’t do social media because even though we may take the utmost care in providing great service and products to our customers, mother nature may have a different plan for their lawn. Or they forget to water through a month-long drought. And then they’ll complain to us publicly on Facebook that we suck or something.”

What advice would you give?”

First, let me say that your client’s fear is understandable. We sometimes fear that which we cannot control … and – unlike mass media advertising – we have little control over social conversations.

But we can choose to participate in them.

You’re client should look at it this way: Would you prefer that these conversations … conversations about your business – occur without you? What’s more, what does your absence say to your prospect?

Duane, I recommend your client takes the same approach he would take when he speaks to his customers face-to-face. In other words, what would he say to a customer who is upset about the condition of their lawn, despite the fact that this person neglected to water it properly?

I trust your client would handle this crucial conversation with complete grace. And I predict others will be impressed by his professionalism.

It’s also worth mentioning that social media is a terrific place to share tips and techniques with customers. Doing so will transfer confidence and demonstrate the value your client brings to the table.

That said, I want to make sure your client has the right expectations about social media.

Social media – while sexy and powerful – is not a panacea for a broken business … a business that lacks a solid strategy. Social media works best as a tool to deepen relationships, and it’s unrealistic to expect for it to be a substantial traffic-builder for your business. Here, traditional mass media is still your best bet.

Duane, I really appreciate you sending us your question. Thanks a bunch.

As always, if YOU have a marketing question you’d like answered, email your question to: ask@WonderBranding.com.

I’m Tom Wanek … keep moving the sales curve upward.

Video Transcript:

Greetings from San Antonio!  As you can probably see from the hotel room décor, I’m on the road again for business travel, but I didn’t want that to stop me from posting this new question we recently received from Greg.  Greg writes:

“I’m 54 years old and in the “powersports business.”  I never thought I would be at this level after working all this time in my life.  I shouldn’t complain – my net profit was about 6% in 2011, which by industry standards is quite good.  But the “Fun Factor” is gone.  I never counted on working 6 to 7 days a week and 70 to 85 hours.  I’ve tried to find someone to follow in my footsteps and become the dealer, even offering to finance 90% of it for the right person!  But no takers.  I enjoy the business… but at 70 to 80 hours – it has started taking a toll on my health.  Is it time to move on and let go?  And lose nearly everything I’ve invested?”

First of all, Greg, congratulations on the continued success of your business, even during challenging economic times.  The only way you could have achieved this growth is with nose-to-the grindstone dedication, so I’m not surprised you’ve been putting 70+ hours in per week.

Your email really hit home for me because I’ve been where you are right now.  Your question so important that I’m going to take three episodes to try and give you a comprehensive answer that I hope will help you  – and others watching this – make the right decision.

Normally, I compare honest “burnout” to the simple need for an extended vacation, but when you mentioned that it’s taking a toll on your physical health, that raised a red flag for me.

Your passion for your job is the “heart” of your company.  And if your heart is damaged, so will be your personal health.  Right now, you’re caught up in a vicious cycle of working harder to achieve, as a replacement for that drain of passion you once had for your business.

And you and I both know that all the hard work in the world can NEVER replace passion.

As Steve Jobs once said:

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

Steve Jobs knew what he was talking about.  If you’re having too many days in a row where you don’t like what you do, it’s time to explore what will most likely be the most exciting opportunity of your life.  Hey – you’re only 54!  I’m 51, and I’ve re-invented myself over the over.  It’s what keeps us ALIVE, man!

For now, spend some time considering passion – it’s what keeps us young and curious.

Stick with me, Greg.  In the next video, we’ll take a look at the practicalities of making such a big change in your life, and the questions you need to ask yourself.

Till then, I’m Michele Miller for WonderBranding.  If YOU have a question you’d like the WonderBranding team to take on, shoot us an email at ask@wonderbranding.com.

See you next time!

The target of today’s exposé?

An all too common case of wearing “connoisseur goggles” best described by Youngme Moon:

“Where a connoisseur sees the differences, a novice see the similarities. Where a connoisseur can discern subtle shades of distinction based on nuanced asymmetries, a novice lacks the necessary filters to canvas, to organize, to sift an assortment in a meaningful way,” says Youngme Moon. “Where a connoisseur can navigate a category with effortless intuition, a novice will struggle to find beginning, middle, or end.”

So let’s be clear about the role you play as a Main Street business owner: YOU’RE the connoisseur … you’re intimate with your products and services … you’re steeped in your market and competitive environment.

But, your customer is NOT.

Put simply, she doesn’t have the time, energy or desire to be ANYTHING BUT a novice. Yes, a well-informed novice – but still a novice when compared to you. (Let’s face it, she’s not even close to being in your league.)

And with a mind-boggling volume of advertising messages confronting her daily – as well as a million and one other things tugging at her mind – your customer’s attention span is running on fumes.

What’s more, viewing your market as a connoisseur sends you into even deeper waters, especially when analyzing your competition.

Take my word for it:

The moment you place your time and energy into a game of one-upmanship – a game that drives you to the point of an insatiable madness where you drool, obsess and COPY every feature and benefit offered by your competition – well, YOU LOSE. You lose your identity … you lose your point of differentiation – and most importantly … you lose credibility with your customer.

Once this happens, you and your competition begin to look like drab and lifeless clones. Worse yet, you begin promoting features and benefits that your customer cares nothing about.

In other words, you’re answering questions NO ONE was asking, and you’re doing NOTHING to stand out from all the available choices in the market.

That, my friend, is a surefire way to lose sales.

So rather than drive your marketing efforts by imitating the competition – focus on providing value that plays to your strengths and speaks to the customer’s felt need. This will help you to remove your connoisseur goggles and rise above the copycat-mentality that’s pulling you under and preventing you from looking remarkable in the eyes of your customer.

P.S. If you enjoy reading WonderBranding, why not tell your friends and colleagues about us? Just send an email to everyone you know who runs a Main Street business … works in marketing … or writes copy – and invite them to visit our blog.

Look at you, prancing around, all managerial and full of efficiency.

How’s that working for you?

Do meetings start late because of stragglers?

Do staff members stare straight ahead with glazed-over cow eyes?

If you poked them with a sharp stick, would it even register?

I’ve paid my fair share of penance sitting in staff meetings and conference calls that went nowhere fast.  Want to know what hell is like?  It’s the big hand tipping over into Hour Two of a conversation that should have taken twenty minutes.  That calm demeanor on a staff member’s face?  It’s her “check-out” persona, where she can look right at someone like she’s paying attention as she fantasizes about picking up the vase in the middle of the table and shot-putting it against the wall.

Staff meetings don’t have to suck.  But here are three big reasons they usually do:

1. No set time limit for the meeting.

Average managers rarely announce an ending time. Staff members arrive later and later, thinking to themselves, “This meeting is going to go on for 90 minutes.  Why torture myself by waiting for it to get underway?”

Weekly staff meetings also don’t have to last 60 minutes.  If they do, you either have too many people in the room or one person with enough hot air to make up for everyone else.

Set a limit. Try 30 minutes. If you need more that, it could be a sign you’re relying too heavily on staff meetings to get information.  Maybe you need to remove your middle-aged spread from the bottom of the chair more often during the week and conduct more management by wandering around.

2. No agenda.

When there’s no agenda, there’s no control.  When there’s no control, there’s no buy-in.  Eventually, when there’s no buy-in, there ceases to be a company.

Kinda like the butterfly effect, no?

A fixed agenda, sent out 24 hours before the meeting, symbolizes your commitment to getting the important stuff done without wasting the staff’s productivity time.  It gives the introverts in your department time to mull over what will be covered so that they can contribute to their highest level.  And it keeps things on schedule (see #1).

3. Appropriating staff meeting time for brainstorming.

You can usually pinpoint the introverts in a staff meeting by the way they slink down in their chairs when someone says, “Let’s do some brainstorming to come up with a great idea for this next campaign/brand/magazine ad.”  The only thing worse is the phrase “quick brainstorming.”

Staff meetings are not for brainstorming, and half your staff (the introverts) are simply unable to contribute on the fly.  Brainstorming needs to be planned for, which flies in the face of what people believe it to be.  If you schedule a brainstorming meeting with the specific topic to be explored, it gives introverts the time they need to prepare themselves to contribute.  Given the right preparation, introverts can join alongside the extroverts in offering ideas.  The right setting allows everyone to play off each other, generating more mind-blowing opportunities than you could dream of.

Set a time limit.

Create an agenda.

Prepare for brainstorming in another setting.

Do you have any other pet peeves about staff meetings?  Share them below and let’s see if we can come up with some solutions that would help every business owner.

Video Transcript:

Hi, I’m Tom Wanek. Welcome to WonderBranding’s Marketing Quick Take Q&A, where we answer your most burning marketing questions.

Today’s question comes from Ed Skimin, owner of Emerge, Incorporated. Ed wants to know:

“We are putting together marketing plans for a new service, and have a long list of features and benefits that explain why our target customer should be excited to buy our service. How do we decide which feature and/or benefit should be the focus of the marketing campaign?”

Ed … here’s what you need to do. First things first, be sure to concentrate on the benefits of your service, as well as the emotions that fuel your prospect’s desire to buy from you. In other words, what does your service DO for your prospect, and how does that make your prospect FEEL?

Next … assigning value to your benefits requires that you go on a little reconnaissance mission.

My all-time favorite technique is to visit Internet forums where your customers congregate. The anonymity of Internet forums allows you to get a truly unbiased opinion and uncover which benefits are most important to your prospect. You’ll also learn the “language” of the customer, and the emotions that reside within your prospect’s heart.

You should also poll prospective customers, individually, and ask them questions such as: “If you were forced to choose between Benefit A and Benefit B, which would you choose?”

And one more thing … tap into the knowledge of your front line employees. Ask them which benefits would prospects find most appealing.

Ed, these techniques will clue you in and help you decide which benefits are the primary benefits that should be the focus of your marketing campaign.

Thank you, Ed, for sending in your question.

As always, if YOU have a marketing question you’d like answered, ask away by emailing your question to: ask@WonderBranding.com.

I’m Tom Wanek … keep moving the sales curve upward.

He built himself a small building from a kit, behind his house in Connecticut.  He filled it with the tools of his trade and added a sofa.

Lennie’s wife would look in from time to time and catch him lying on the sofa, daydreaming or napping.

“I thought you were working,” she would say.

“I am,” was his reply.

For three decades, composer Leonard Bernstein crafted some of his most famous works from his tiny studio.  He could usually be found composing, orchestrating a work, or flat on his back staring at the ceiling.  Lennie understood the necessity of “making time to waste time” in order to generate great ideas.

Unfortunately, today’s culture of American business is steeped in the philosophy of hard work and focus for productivity, rather than taking time for creativity; to relax the mind so that all of those problems that have been working themselves out in the back of your brain have an opportunity to bubble up to the top.

The most common thread among great thinkers?

Taking time to waste time.

Bernstein did it.  So did Albert Einstein, with his long hikes through the mountains.  And Steve Jobs, who was known for his dedication to long, long walks.  They removed themselves from the moment so that answers could push through.  And yes, they were working.

3M invented the philosophy of “creative time” more than 50 years ago, giving each employee 15% of their time to work on a project of their own.  Google copied 3M and credits “creative time” for most of the apps and features that have made Google far more than just a search engine.

Wouldn’t it be great to take 15% of your daily work time to devote to letting your mind relax?

Let’s say you have a 7-hour day (which, if you’re a Main Street business owner is laughable).

That’s 420 minutes a day.

Fifteen percent of that is 63 minutes.

One hour a day to clear the mind and let solutions bubble to the top.

And yes, it’s WORKING time.  Don’t let traditional, old-fashioned ways tell you otherwise.

Give it a try, even if it’s for just fifteen minutes a day (some of you gotta break into this slowly, I know).  Shut the door and lay on the sofa or the floor.  Sit in your chair with your feet on the desk.  Head out the door (without your phone!) and take a walk in the neighborhood.  Try not to think about anything…. Just daydream.  If you fall asleep, that’s okay.  Your mind never stops working, even when it’s asleep.

Trust the process.  Lennie did.  So did Albert and Steven.

For more on creativity, problem-solving, and the imagination, be sure to pick up a copy of Jonah Lehrer’s latest book, Imagine.  It’s a fascinating and entertaining look at the power of “wasting time” for utmost creativity.

I’ll leave you with a short video from Jonah, as well as one of Lennie’s greatest contributions to musical theater. Be sure to comment below and let us know how you waste time for creativity – we’d love to hear your stories.

Now at the time, I was clueless as to the ad’s origin.

But that shouldn’t surprise you in the least. Just one glance at the ad and you, too, will become puzzled by its absence of brand identification and clarity of message.

Yes, this ad is a real head-scratcher. Problem is, prospects have to THINK way too much about the meaning of its message.

That said, it wasn’t until just the other day, when I stumbled across an online video promoting Yuengling light beer, that the company behind the billboard was finally revealed to me.

Why do I mention this to you?

See, I bring this ad to your attention because it underscores the deadliest mistake in advertising today: Sacrificing clarity for creativity’s sake.

What’s more, the whole vague and lackadaisical “let the customer interpret the meaning of our marketing message” approach leaves me feeling queasy.

Hell. That’s just bad marketing. Not to mention, a complete waste of money.

Maybe Yuengling – and other corporate “big boys” – can afford to piss away its hard-earned moolah on an unclear and creative advertisement, but trust me … you can’t. In fact, I’ve never met a Main Street business owner who could.

Now, please forgive me for being so direct. Honestly, I mean no disrespect. I just DON’T want you to believe that entertainment should be the primary goal of your advertising just because that’s corporate America’s shtick.

Sure – you can have fun with your marketing … you can spice up your ads with a little humor … you can even get creative with your imagery or delivery of message.

Heck – no one says your marketing has to be boring.

But you simply can NOT sacrifice the clarity of your message just to entertain your customer.

Remember, entertainment is Hollywood’s job.

Your job – as a Main Street Marketer – is to persuade. And the way I see it, no customer wants to agonize over ANY buying decision. Considering that your customer is exposed to more than 5,000 advertisements each day, does she really want to guess about the meaning of your message?

What’s more, do YOU really want to take the chance that your message is misinterpreted?

Help your customer to decide to buy from you with a marketing message that’s clear and compelling. And if you really want to set your marketing on fire, why not frame the buying experience in a way that differentiates your company and positions your product or service as the hero?

P.S. After digging a bit deeper, I discovered that Yuengling’s ads are “urging you to rethink your light beer.” This copy – coupled with the contrasting image of its rich, light beer surrounded by watered-down suds – may be a good message after all. Especially considering that light beer sales are sagging due to a possible consumer revolt against lousy tasting beer.

Again, Yuengling has a message worth sending. Sadly, I just had to work too damn hard to uncover it.

It took the automaker 20 years to transform the brand from “junk car” to “gotta have,” but today models like the Elantra and Sonata are hot tickets (forget any kind of discount at a dealership).  Since 2008, sales are up 60% and show no signs of stopping.

John Krafcik, CEO of American operations, sat down with the Associated Press recently and offered up some profound advice that owners of Main Street businesses can use to help grow their revenue and reputation:

1.  Show, don’t tell, that you mean quality.

It’s one thing to talk about the quality of your product or service; it’s another to back it up.  In 2007, Hyundai knew that the workmanship and reliability of their automobiles rivaled the best of the bunch.  But the brand had taken such a beating in past years for poor quality, the company couldn’t just “tell” consumers and hope they’d believe it.  Instead, Hyundai made what was, according to Krafcik, a “bet-the-company move,” offering a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty with each car.  It was a bold strategy that paid off, getting the attention of consumers and press alike.

The average human hears or reads about “quality” probably 100 times a day.  And the response is one, big yawn.  What is it about the quality of your particular product or service that makes you so special?  How can you prove it to customers?  What are you willing to lay on the line to convince someone to do business with you?

2.  Conduct research with an open mind and a skeptical eye.

Krafcik has forward-thinking vision about being more intuitive with consumer research.  When asked why Hyundai started pushing the envelope with design, Krafcik noted, “… conventional orthodoxy in the industry was midsize cars should be styled conservatively.  This is typical market research talking… doesn’t move the needle in terms of sales.  When we do our research, we categorize people before they come (in) as either conservative or progressive in their design thought.  And we can then weight the results.”

Market research also goes beyond the typical focus group.  Hyundai devotes large segments of research time and dollars on sending product planners and engineers out to spend days with consumers.  The goal is to learn how consumers live their lives around their cars. It’s clear to Krafcik that consumers see and use their automobiles as “personal living space.”  From trunk room (where do they put all those huge packages of toilet paper from Costco?) to cup holders (two per driver and two per passenger), it’s the little things that make Hyundai models seem like the dream car you’ve always wanted.

How much do you know about your customers and how your product or service interacts with their lives? Conducting your own research with mini-immersion projects will give you a clearer picture and is an affordable, easy way to discover ideas that will set you a apart from your competition.

Quality will always drive the mission and vision of Hyundai Motor Company (they are constantly working toward a fanatical level of quality control), but with it, they carry the banner of “bold targets drive great things.” Taking simple steps to get to know how the consumer lives each day, exploring ideas to incorporate your brand into her life, and backing up all your talk about quality will set you on the road to growth and big-picture vision.

If you’re interested, catch the entire interview with John Krafcik – a worthy read.

We’d like to hear what you think about quality and how it reflects on your brand.  If you need help with ideas, post a comment below about your business and its quality – we’ll see if we can help you come up with a bold move of your own.

Recently, WonderBranding reader and toy retailer, Phil Wrzesinski, asked:

“My biggest challenge is trying to figure out when a slow-down in business is simply the economy, something we are doing internally, or a fundamental shift in our market/industry.  The three issues require vastly different strategies to combat them and choosing wrong can be disastrous (see Borders).

I don’t know if that is anything you will address, but I would greatly appreciate any knowledge you have of signs leading one way or another.”

Phil, you ask a terrific question … one that I’m happy to address.

First, remember that you are dealing with immense natural forces which shift constantly, and identifying the specific force disrupting your sales is like predicting the stock market or our next recession.

In other words, rules and formulas simply do not exist.

At best, you can look to specific signpost questions that will give you an indication as to which force is affecting your business and costing you sales.

Second, you’re spot on … you must accurately diagnose the illness in order apply the correct remedy. Otherwise, you might make matters worse. For instance, companies who advertise during a recession often find that their market share has grown once the dark economic cloud has lifted – but companies who make good advertising for a bad product typically go out of business.

That said, here are a handful of signpost questions (broken down by category, and by no means exhaustive) to help uncover the culprit clobbering your sales:

Internal Signpost Questions:

• Are your sales conversions (as a percentage) increasing or decreasing?
• How about customer complaints? Testimonials? (You can also measure the occurrence of complaints and testimonials as a percentage of sales.)
• What are prospects saying? Here, interview your employees on the front line and look for common themes such as frequently requested products or services absent from your offer.
• Have there been any recent disruptions to your stock or inventory levels?
• How about changes in suppliers?
• Refinements to your strategy, message, or tactics?
• Have there been any recent changes in policy or staffing?
• Can you detect any conflict between what you are saying (advertising), and who you are being (customer experience) that would indicate a credibility problem?

Market Signpost Questions:

• Are competitors’ sales levels growing or declining? And where do you stand relative to the competition? Has your position remained steady, or are your sales shrinking while the competition is growing? (I strongly encourage you to have a frank conversation with your vendors’ sales reps. Although they must protect the confidentiality of their other accounts, namely your competitors, they’ll likely be able to give you some indication of your standing relative to the competition.)
• Has there been a recent shift in consumer behavior … maybe a shift in preference towards a disruptive technology? For example, are iPad and game apps eroding market share of traditional toys?
• Have there been any shifts in the bargaining power of buyers or suppliers?
• Have you seen an emergence of new competitors or substitute products/services?
• How about the rivalry among existing competitors … has it become more heated?
• Are companies inside your industry – but outside of your market – growing while your sales have remained flat or declining?
• Do you own a business that’s affected by “acts of God” such as inclement weather? Has there been such an occurrence recently?

Economic Signpost Questions (your common economic indicators):

• Generally speaking, in which direction is the economy moving … up or down? Also consider global, national and local economic trends.
• In which direction does your business move relative to the economy? That is, are you operating a cyclical or counter-cyclical business? Have your sales recently diverged from this pattern?
• What is the current level of consumer confidence? As you probably know, the Consumer Confidence Index® is updated monthly.
• Similarly, you can also look at unemployment rates. Again, it might be helpful to also consider your local area unemployment statistics: http://www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm
• Other economic indicators you may want to consider: http://www.investopedia.com/university/releases/

Phil, as you filter through these questions and others, see if you can rule out any single category or force. Not only should you – the business owner – answer these questions, but so should some of your key personnel within the business (i.e., inventory manager, purchasing, etc.). It will give a clearer picture from different perspectives and help present a much clearer signpost.

But, once again, this will not be an easy task. Making your challenge more difficult is the fact that none of these forces take place in a vacuum. Each force influences the others, which means a single culprit may not exist.

For example, down economies typically beget entrepreneurship and innovation, which can then reshape markets. Likewise, prosperity can free resources for Main Street business owners, like yourself, to increase advertising and improve your customer experience.

Always remember, you are relying on a series of rough guesses to help you uncover the root of the problem. All the best. And thank you, Phil, for sending us your question.

Got a signpost question you believe will help Phil or others? By all means, please comment and share below.

As always, if YOU have a marketing question you’d like answered, shoot us an email.

GREAT advertising happens when you can tell me exactly who you are NOT.

Coined “The Wedge Concept” by Wizard of Ads partner Chris Maddock, this technique helps potential customers get a better grasp on who you really are in comparison to your competition, making your business the most compelling choice.

As an example, let’s use Appelt’s Diamonds in Winnipeg.  I’ve written about their success story in the past, but let’s take a look at how they’ve utilized The Wedge Concept in their radio advertising.

For several years, Appelt’s message focused on three generations of fine quality diamonds.  These “Belgium diamonds” are handpicked during semi-annual trips to Antwerp.  This eliminates the middleman, resulting in the best, most beautiful diamonds at the best price in Manitoba.

Were these ads good?  Yes.

But they weren’t GREAT until we introduced The Wedge Concept.

With the launch of Appelt’s Rock Solid Diamond Warranty, an entire pie of wedges was set before us; a veritable feast of advertising copy that would help explain what Appelt’s is NOT, in comparison to its competition.

Here are two examples:

Question Number One for every jeweler:  If I’m unhappy with my diamond purchase, can I return it?  Other jewelers say “maybe,” and might give you store credit.  But with Appelt’s Rock Solid Diamond Warranty, you have 90 days to return your purchase, no questions asked, for a full cash refund.  Appelt’s Diamonds is committed to quality, beauty, and great love stories.  Let us help make yours the greatest ever!

If you’ve ever shopped for a diamond, you probably know that most jewellers charge extra for a warranty on a diamond purchase.  But at Appelt’s Diamonds, the “Rock Solid Diamond Warranty” is FREE.  Replacement if your diamond chips, cracks, or is lost?  It’s FREE. 90 days to return your purchase for a full cash refund?  It’s FREE. A lifetime, full-value trade-up policy?  FREE. Beauty, quality, AND affordability you can believe in – visit Appelt’s today.

Wedge ads like these have delivered big results for Appelt’s – a 28% increase in revenue in the last year alone.

Using a wedge to enhance the contrast between you and your competitors (or a stigma of your particular industry) is a powerful way to set yourself apart as a leader.

Take five minutes to write down a few things that could be used as a wedge in your sales process.  How can you use these in your ad copy, on your website, and with sales training?

Write your best wedge idea in the Comments section below and we’ll give you some feedback. As a business, what are you?  And, most important, what are you NOT?

I leave you with one final example of great wedge advertising – Brita water filters, using a “big picture” wedge to outshine the competition.