ADDY Judging
I’m heading this week to the Tampa area to be a judge for their local ADDY awards. I’ve done quite a few of these over the years. It gives me a chance to hang out with advertising people in a different market, see a lot of good work, it’s always a lot of fun and I typically learn something everywhere I go.
Increasing profits in 2011
“There’s a recession, but we’ve decided not to participate.”
We have several clients that over the last few years have had record-breaking sales and profits. Although we would love to take all the credit for this, it really is more about their leadership and attitude than anything else.
For most companies, the end of the year becomes a measuring stick on their success, and also signifies a time to reevaluate their business objectives and strategies. Most are looking at one main goal: increase profits. For that reason, I’d like to share basic thoughts on increasing profits that should work for most businesses. I’m doing it in the context of a retail establishment, but the principles are the same for business-to-business (B2B) or other consumer oriented businesses (B2C).
And, to be honest, there is nothing ground-breaking here. This is all common business knowledge, but being reminded of basic business principles is probably a good idea when planning out the coming year.
Outsourcing to Ad Agencies
A recent New York Post article shares that many ad agencies are taking on new roles for their clients, bringing in work that in the past was performed by the company’s internal marketing, advertising and PR team. With uncertainty about whether the economy is rebounding or not, plus the costs involved with hiring and employing new people, these companies are turning to outsourcing work to their ad agencies instead of hiring new employees. This gives them more flexibility to change directions later while saving money now.
One agency mentioned that a good portion of their growth has been in digital, search and analytics.
Our agency is seeing more of this type of work too. Although we build websites that are easily managed by our clients and are proponents of enabling our clients to perform many of the updating and maintenance type tasks, we’re finding many of them simply prefer that we do that maintenance and analytic analysis for them. We’re also offering more retainer-based programs where we help with public relations and social media on a consistent basis.
The USP Myth
Almost every ad agency in the world subscribes to the USP—the Unique Selling Proposition. What they typically tell their clients is we need to find the one thing that makes your company unique in all of the world, and that is the message that we are going to extoll in all of our advertising for you. The idea is that this USP will make you stand out from your competitors and give you the advantage.
There is a huge problem with this scenario: most companies don’t actually have a real unique selling proposition. There are a few…Apple Computers has their retail stores with the Genius Bar and so far they are the only computer company that I know of that offers a service like this; WalMart uses size to their advantage and beats up their suppliers to offer the lowest prices; and cell phone companies come out with new technology temporarily allowing them to offer something unique.
Next Seminar November 1st
My next seminar will be in Monroe, Wisconsin on November 1st for the Green County Entrepreneur & Inventors group sponsored by Green County Development Corporation. The topic will be Marketing 101-1/2, basic marketing plus a little bit more.
Thinking Outside The Store
When a retailer thinks outside the box it sometimes takes him outside the store. Brian Banks at LifeStyles Furniture in Moline is placing leather furniture at the Quad City International Airport for travelers to use. We like working with Brian because he lets us do some really fun work. Read the press release…
Ethical Marks Up and Down
Recently I gave a presentation to the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce about writing your own marketing plan. During the presentation a question came up about pricing. Although pricing of products and services typically is part of the business plan, it can also be an important marketing strategy. Sometimes by raising your prices you can actually increase your business. As any marketer knows, it is all about perceptions and your higher pricing often helps convince of higher quality.
I then mentioned a strategy of “marking it up to mark it down.” The thought process in this strategy is that if you have a higher list price it allows you to mark it down (sales, coupons, etc.) and still get your margins. (Obviously this is more for a retail/consumer product environment than for a service or B2B account.) I then spoke briefly about the psychology of “getting a deal” and how consumers feel good about that process. Even if they could have purchased a competitor’s product of a better quality for less money, the idea of getting a deal trumps the comparison shopping.
Later, I received an email from Carol Smith at Just Fare Market (www.justfare.org). She asked an interesting question on whether the strategy “to mark it up to mark it down” was ethical. I asked her to elaborate:
50 things you can do to market your company
This is part of a Chamber class in Fond du Lac. It’s simply a list of things you can do to market/promote your business. Feel free to add to it!
3-D Photography
3-D movies are all the rage again and people are rushing to get their movies out on the big screen. Of course we’re talking about the 3-D where you put on glasses and the movie has realistic, or sometimes fantastic, depth to them. (There is another type of 3-D movie where the imagery is computer generated using 3-D modeling techniques, but that is another discussion. The recent Toy Story is an example that uses both 3-D types.)
That Pavilion at Olbrich Gardens in Madison using "cross-eyed" 3-D viewing technique (click to enlarge.) To view in 3-D, simply sit in front of the photo and cross your eyes. A combined 3-D image should form in the middle. (It takes a little practice and some people have a hard time making it work.) The web link has anaglyphic photos - red-blue glasses needed. www.GunterAgency.com/3d
I’ve actually been playing around with 3-D imagery since I was a kid.
Pinheads
Lastest television commercial that we created for the Ad Diner. That’s me saying, “hey, don’t make him mad” (the one being referred to as a “pinhead.”) www.AdDiner.com