Buzz!Words

Realigning Your Business Model

What do I want to be when I grow up?  Well, that has changed hundreds of time since I was a younger kid.  (I'm an old kid now, just ask my mother).  Doctor, lawyer, soldier, politician, business woman, you name it, I've thought about it.  And a couple of times I actually did it. 

Since I've started this business, I've been thinking about this question.  The answer has evolved over time, as I've figured out what I like to do, how much other people will pay me for it, and how many people are willing to pay me. 

And I'm sure, as the economy shifts, as technology matures, and as my interests change, that the focus of this business will change too.  In fact, since our world is changing faster than ever, it has become critical for small business owners to look at the big picture trends. 

Ask yourself, is this the business I should be in?  Remember the buggy whip manufacturers, who just kept focusing on making a better, cheaper buggy whip, and were blindsided when cars killed their market?  It seems obvious to us now, but when you're in the heat of running a business, most of us don't stick our heads up long enough to look at those trends and adjust course. 

So, a couple of times a year, do some thinking about what's happening out there that might affect your business a few years out.  Then think about what you could do to meet that challenge.  The fun of running your own business, is that you get to decide what you will be when you grow up. 

Just Say Yes

Today's message is "just say yes".  Yes to new marketing ideas, concepts and tools.  Try something new in a small way, and see if it works. 

I know that most business owners are so busy just running their businesses that they don't have the time to think about new things they should be doing.  Or, they're so uncomfortable with new technology that they say "I can't". 

Here's the rub.  If you don't spend that time thinking about your business, how consumers expect to be marketing to and how they want to be communicated with, then you might end up like the buggy whip maker.  Out of business.

Take the tourism industry.  83% of travel decisions are now researched online.  But how many small and medium size tourism operators (attractions, accommodations, airlines, travel agents, online agents) still don't have email, let alone a website.  And, those that do have email are struggling to respond to customer inquiries, with 39% responding in 3+ days, or not responding at all.   Yet there are cost effective tools like auto-responders and content management websites that make all of this easy, even for a techno-peasant like me. 

You don't have to change everything at once, but once you have the vision, work toward achieving it over time.  If you say "I can't do that" then you might find yourself wondering where the business went to. 

Physician Heal Thyself

Summary:  Marketing planning is essential to small and medium size businesses, even if it is painful.

I'm going through the process of putting on paper the marketing plan that has been in my head since I started this business a couple of months ago.  I actually got side tracked by clients wanting me to work for them, and never got around to writing the marketing plan.  I kept it in my head.

So, of course, as I have become busy with sales calls, and actually delivering services to clients, my carefully thought through, in my head marketing plan has fallen to the wayside.  Stuff isn't getting done, and I'm not sure where I'm at ... budget, results, you name it.  The problem with marketing plans in your head is that you don't have the same kind of accountability to yourself, as if they are written down.  It's harder to track your successes and failures, and learn from them. 

It's time for the physician to heal herself.  So, I'm going to sit down this weekend and stare down that piece of paper, and write out the marketing plan, including monthly activities for business development. 

Reinvest and Reinvent Marketing

Summary:  New York Times discusses a new trend, consumer package goods (CPG) companies re-investing significantly in marketing spending.  Reinvesting in tired brands is critical, but, without reinventing those brands, it's only a short term fix.  CPG companies need to reinvent the industry.

No kidding CPG brands are getting tired and old.  CPG companies have a lot of rules about marketing.  Unfortunately, many of these rules don't fit the world of marketing today. 

"Bite and smile" advertising just isn't believable anymore, and if anything, it's just more wallpaper for the consumer to ignore.  These brands need a shot of investment, that's for sure.  But they also need a new approach, whether its with the marketing tactics, or with a complete re-think about how to compete in the industry.  Maybe it's time for a reinvention of the CPG world. 

Attempts to make marketing spending more efficient, such as merging brands, line extending and creating sub brands has just confused consumers.  New marketing approaches seem to have fallen flat with both consumers and marketers in CPG.  Markets of one may work well on lower volume, higher profit products, but they are very challenging for high volume, low margin businesses like CPG.   At the same time, most of North America is over-stored with grocery retailers, creating fierce competition.  In turn, retailers are squeezing manufacturers.  And the Charmin is pretty much squeezed out. 

So, what's a marketer to do?  Well, maybe part of the answer is in Seth Godin's comment in the NY Times article, to create new things that will compelling for consumers.  One answer may be to consider "micro targets" very small niche targets for products, as compared to mass markets or to one to one marketing.  Or maybe, it's time to reinvent the industry. 

Perhaps manufacturers need to get closer to the consumer.  Develop a small retail chain to test new product ideas and create a new way for people to shop for specific micro targets.  Can you imagine the Campbell's Wellness Centre?  A place where people can shop for healthy food, make an appointment with a dietician, buy cooking magazines and books, sign up for a healthy cooking class, or weight watchers group?   A Cheerios Child Development Centre, complete with healthy food, a daycare centre, books on childhood development, seminars on parenting, family activities?  Food for thought. 

Tell Customers Who You Are, and Aren't

Great post from Brand Autopsy today on telling customers who you are.  They argue that if you show people the shortcomings of your product or service, that you will reinforce the negative choice. 

I'm not sure that I agree with them.  Yeah, of course your main message should be about who you are as a business.  But, if you aren't honest about your shortcomings, customers will figure it out anyway.  Being honest about your shortcomings, and what you are doing to fix them will buy you a whole lot of goodwill, and tolerance from your customers.  I guess I've been reading too much of The Naked Corporation. 

Marketing 101 - Positioning

As I promised yesterday, as part of my ongoing Marketing 101 posts, I am going to tackle the concept of positioning. There has probably been enough written to fill a university libary on positioning. Al Ries invented the concept over 20 years ago, and it has become one of the most important issues in marketing today.

So, what is positioning? Well, it's about positioning your business, brand, service benefits relative to your competition in the consumer's mind. Think about Miller beer, in the 70s it was positioned as the beer that you consumed in the golden hour after work. A positioning statement is an internal document that you use to determine all aspects of your business. If something you plan to do isn't consistent with your positioning statement, you don't do it. It also helps you communicate with consumers. Your positioning statement guides what you say to consumers in advertising, PR, in every single communication you have with your customers.

A positioning statement is not something that you actually say to consumers. Miller beer didn't say "its the beer that you consume in the golden hour after work". Miller's advertising used a tag line. A tag line is a consumer friendly sound bite that communicates the positioning statement. In Miller's case it was "It's Miller Time".

Now, there are critics of the Al Ries vision of positioning. They believe that Ries' vision of positioning is a bit antiquated, ignoring some of the emotional elements of branding. Perhaps they are right. However, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Positioing still plays an important part of creating a great marketing campaign.

Here are my views on brand positioning:

1) Pick a distinctive positioning that fits with your company, is credible and is a meaningful benefit to your customers.

2) Make sure that none of your competition can say the same thing, either because you owned it first, or because your organization is unique. Make sure that there is a reason to believe.

3) Be consistent in your brand positioning. Make sure that everything in your organization reinforces that positioning, from print materials to advertising to customer service to your web site to the way your office looks.

4) As you learn more about your positioning, brand and marketing efforts, refine your positioning and try new ways to communicate your positioning.

5) Keep at it. It takes years to build a consistent positioning with consumers on a big budget. When you have a little budget, it takes consistency and creativity to get your message across.

For example, on of my clients, Sharen Realty GMAC Real Estate (yes, it is not a coincidence, it is the family business), has settled on a positioning that they are the real estate company that knows the geographic area better than anyone else. Why should a customer believe that? Because Sharen Realty has been in business for over 50 years, more than anyone else in the area. The third generation of the family is now part of the family business. It's also meaningful to our customer base, since Sharen Realty operates in a resort area, it's important to out of towners to have a realtor who knows the area. We've integrated the tag line "We Know Grand Bend" into the website domain name, into the site itself, into all of our advertising and promotions.

Creating a positioning is really very simple. The closer you are to your customers, the easier it gets. The tough part is having the discipline to execute it throughout your marketing plan, throughout your business operations, and sticking to it consistently.