Monday, February 28, 2011

Great Business Lessons from Horrible Marketing Strategies

Editor's Note: The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post written by Alana Horowitz which first appeared on Business Insider, a new business site with deep financial, entertainment, green tech, and digital industry verticals. We're all familiar with the well-documented crises outlined below, but what about the important lessons that should be learned from them? Horowitz lays out the key takeaways from these famous faux pas.
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You can learn a lot about business from marketing history. Some of the most successful companies were born from great ads and publicity stunts (think of Apple's groundbreaking 1984 spot). On the other hand, bad strategies can be just as educational.

Here’s a look at what some of the biggest marketing failures can teach you:

The move: New Coke.

How it flopped: In 1985, The Coca Cola Company unveiled its first formula change in 99 years. The public was outraged. Replacing a tried-and-true classic with an unknown version would be like trying to change the national anthem to a Justin Bieber song. Coke quickly learned not to mess with brand loyalty and brought back the old formula 79 days later.

What you can learn: Stick to your brand. If you aren’t getting complaints about a service or product, there’s probably no need for drastic changes. On the other hand, it’s important to tap into your client or customer base and find out what they really want. Coke’s biggest mistake was trying out a new formula without ever asking consumers if there was anything wrong with the old one.


The move: Starbucks takes over the world.

How it flopped: Starbucks relies on its omnipresence as its primary form of advertising. How often do you buy their coffee because you literally can’t think of anywhere else to go? But there’s a downside to Starbucks’ ubiquity. There are so many stores (not to mention licensed franchises and grocery store products) that the brand itself has become watered down. It represents consumerism, not great coffee and friendly service.

What you can learn: Let your company grow naturally. Don’t force expansion or your message will become as diluted as a cup of Starbucks’ coffee.


The move: Kenneth Cole jokes about Egypt.

How it flopped: This year’s protests in Egypt were many things -- tragic, chaotic, revolutionary -- but funny wasn’t one of them. However, that didn’t stop designer Kenneth Cole from tweeting, “Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our spring collection is now available online.” Public reaction was so bad that Cole ended up deleting the tweet and issuing several apology statements.

What you can learn: Bad publicity is almost worse than none at all. A recent Google search for Kenneth Cole brings up articles about the social media misstep right under its own Website. If you think a stunt might offend people, it’s best to hold off.


The move: The Titanic is called "unsinkable."

How it flopped: Everyone knows the story. The luxury steamship was marketed as unsinkable -- until it was felled by an on its maiden voyage.

What you can learn: Whether it’s to one client or 3,500 passengers, don’t make promises unless you know you can deliver. Reliability is crucial, especially for a new business.

© 2011 Business Insider, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Monday, February 21, 2011

7 Web Design Elements That Annoy Online Visitors

Editor's Note: The following is another guest Marketing Mulligans post written by Mickie Kennedy, founder and president of eReleases, a cost-effective electronic press release distribution service, and a widely-regarded and well-respected PR professional who maintains the company's popular PR Fuel blog. How many times have you visited a Website, and been completely annoyed with one or more of its features (or lack thereof)? Probably in the thousands, right? Well, here are the top 7 Web design elements that put off users, and the actions that small businesses can take to address them.
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If you want to build a successful online presence, you need to have a fine-tuned Website that brings visitors in and gets them to take action once on your site. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to have the first part down (getting traffic), but when it comes to actually converting visitors into customers, they fail miserably.

That’s because a lot of sites are annoying. They drive visitors away almost as quickly as they arrive. To add insult to injury, the frustrated visitors usually end up going to a competitor’s site to get their needs taken care of by someone else.

Here are 7 things that annoy Website visitors:

1. Slow loading times.
I’ve seen studies that say Internet users give a site eight seconds to grab their attention. If it doesn’t satisfy them during that short time period, they’ll back out and go elsewhere. People are impatient. That’s why it’s so important to have a fast-loading site. Here’s a good post with tips for increasing site loading speed.

2. Autoplay music or video.
Seriously, this isn’t 1998. If your site starts playing music or video as soon as someone lands on it, you can bet more people than not will leave. It’s intrusive and annoying. Give visitors the option of playing the music or video. Don’t force it on them.

3. Cluttered layouts.
Have you ever walked into a messy room and tried to find something? It’s overwhelming, right? The same thing goes for a cluttered site layout. If every single space on your site is filled, you’re going to overwhelm visitors and make it too difficult for them to use your site. Remember, less is usually more, and white space is your friend.

4. Poor navigation.
Internet users have grown accustomed to using sites in a specific manner. They expect the navigation to be along the top or left-hand side of the page. They expect the navigation to be clear and the site to be organized in a logical manner. Don’t try to change this up. Keep it simple.

5. Forced registration.
Look, I understand you want to collect data for marketing purposes from your visitors. But there’s nothing more frustrating than forcing visitors to register before they can take certain actions. Most people don’t like giving out a lot of their personal information, so you’re only going to drive them away by doing this.

6. No contact information.
Your visitors shouldn’t have any problems getting in touch with you. You should have a dedicated contact page on your site, contact forms throughout, and you can even post your phone number or other contact info on each page of your site.

7. Too much Flash.
There’s nothing wrong with having some minor Flash elements on your site, but when your entire site is based in Flash, you’re going to have some problems. First, you’re losing most mobile internet users. And then you run into problems with simple usability issues like bookmarking pages, clicking the back button, etc.

What are some other things that annoy you on Websites? Please leave your comments here.

© 1998-2011 eReleases® Press Release Distribution. All Rights Reserved.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Cupid ♥ Social Media: The Latest Valentine's Day Stats

Obviously, today is Valentine's Day, and love it or hate it, this faux-holiday is responsible for billions of dollars in consumer spending annually: everything from traditional and electronic greeting cards and flowers, to candy, jewelry, cute stuffed animals, and countless other red, heart-shaped gifts and accessories. Frankly, it's just too big to be ignored.

And so it goes in the social media space. With the explosion of social media sites worldwide, and with users frequently discussing the status of their relationships (for better or for worse) openly on these forums, the social media realm provides some unique insights into the nature of today's relationships. In addition, it also yields several interesting perspectives on how social media enhances, or detracts from, Valentine's Day plans and gift-giving.

As explained in this story yesterday in Mashable, a recent study of 400 Facebook and MySpace users by Lab 42 offers a solid overview of how Americans perceive their relationships, use social media to describe them, and summarize their Valentine's Day plans. It's all laid out in this intriguing infographic, which may be clicked to reveal a larger view:

The story astutely points out of telling findings. For example, 16% of singles have their current relationship status on Facebook listed as “dating,” “engaged” or “married.” However, no married respondents called themselves “single.” A staggering 88% would rather receive a Valentine's Day gift at home, which we find funny because our two decades of experience in the workplace has been just the opposite. Why? People like to receive their gifts at work to flaunt them in front of their co-workers. And probably the most compelling result is that 41% of the users polled claimed they said "I love you" to their significant other in three months or less. This figure goes up to 63% when factoring in a timeframe of six months or less. Really?

In any case, whatever your status is, have an enjoyable Valentine's Day, and we hope you're spending it with someone special. If for some reason you're not currently in a relationship, then make sure to treat yourself in some way. You deserve it!

7 Key Lessons Super Bowl Ads Can Teach Small Business Owners

Editor's Note: The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post written by Barry Moltz, a well-respected business consultant to entrepreneurs, that first appeared on American Express OPEN Forum. With Super Bowl XLV just one week old, and with the Steelers-Packers contest having generated tremendous volumes of traditional media, blogosphere, and social networking coverage for the debut of dozens of new advertising campaigns, Moltz discusses some very important lessons that small business owners can learn from the successes and failures of the brands that ponied up to $3 million for each 30-second spot.
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Running a small business is a lot of pressure. But, what if 110 million people were watching you everyday like at the Super Bowl? This is the type of stress that businesses face when they advertised last night by spending $2.5M for a 30- second commercial.

For some consumers, the commercials are a very popular part of the event. Super Bowl ads have produced many breakthrough moments in television and many more bombs. There are memorable commercials from the 2010 Super Bowl like Betty White for Snickers and the Old Spice Man. But there have been many more horrible ads like Pets.com sock puppet and this year’s Groupon debacle, displayed below.

So without spending millions of dollars, what can your business learn by watching Super Bowl commercials?

1. Don’t risk everything at once. In small business marketing, it is far safer and more effective to spread your bets by testing many different marketing methods. Homeaway.com took a big risk for a small company running their second Super Bowl ad this year. For your small business, it is far more effective to take patient interim steps. After your company has learned what works and doesn’t work in your marketing campaign, plot the next step. With limited capital, small businesses can’t afford the risk of a “one and done” strategy.

2. Track how the marketing tactic performed. Most companies have a variety of things they do to promote their business. Spending money on marketing is worthless unless your business knows what worked and what did not work. It is essential to get feedback on all aspects of your campaign. It is simple with today’s technology to ask the consumer in the targeted segment to go to your website or use a social media tool to judge results. The Ford Focus commercial encouraged the audience to cheer on their team online and “Watch, Compete, and Win."

3. Deliver on the promise. Denny’s offered a free meal in a 2010 Super Bowl ad. Not surprisingly, Denny’s was overwhelmed by 2 million people showing up the next day for a free breakfast. The goal of the ad was to get people to try Denny’s and then come back. But if the service was bad on their first visit, why would they return? (Notice there was no free Denny’s breakfast this year!)

4. Interact with the consumer. Getting attention for your ad and getting consumers to perform a specific action are very different. Most Super Bowl commercials are now interactive. For example, GoDaddy asked the viewer to go to the web site to watch the end of the commercial that could not be seen on TV. Chevy and Glee produced a car giveaway commercial that the consumer needs to watch at the conclusion of the next Glee episode. Remember, the majority of people watching anything these days will have smart phones with them and can react immediately.

5. Don’t let the humor or drama distract from the brand. Your commercial may have been entertaining, but did consumers remember the brand or what the company was promoting? Doritos had a commercial in which their product brought a dead relative back to life? What does that have to do with the snack? However, Volkswagen’s Passat commercial struck the perfect balance. It focused on the car, but had a little bit of brand help from Darth Vader. The Chevrolet Cruze Eco commercial merged seamlessly their new car and the OnStar feature of real-time updates from Facebook.

6. Be careful not to let a celebrity pitchman overshadow your brand. We all remember Ozzie Osbourne’s line, “What’s a Bieber?” But who was the commercial for? Could consumers look past Kim Kardashian and remember Skechers?

7. Don’t mix your product with politics. What was Groupon thinking with their commercial that played off the issues of Tibet and their company? If your business wants to give money to charity (like the Citibank Thank You ad), that works, but tackling a political issue in a Super Bowl ad is a big risk. Mini Cooper’s “Cram it in the Boot” ad didn’t translate well for American audiences. The Chrysler commercial with Eminem did a fantastic job of selling their company while focusing on bringing back Detroit.



© 2011 American Express Company. All rights reserved.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Art...And Subtle Science...Of Customer Acquisition

So I was in a lengthy meeting with a hot prospect the other day, and I heard the most fascinating story which provides some cautionary customer acquisition lessons for any business owner.

During our conversation, this gentleman spun me a wild, but unbelievably true, yarn as to how he landed in his new office space, which he's occupied for just three short weeks. As the story goes, he was initially interested in a 25% larger suite in a beautiful commercial building just up the road. This particular space was ideal for this business owner, who is in the professional services sector. The exterior of the building is elegantly appointed, with lush, well-attended landscaping, plentiful parking, and easy access from the main road. The unit's interior is spacious, with ample natural lighting, large 40-foot windows on either side that afford gorgeous mountain views, and sufficient space for multiple associates to have their own individual private offices. And the rate per square foot was well below market value for this area. A real find, right?

Not quite. The previous tenant, with the property owner's permission, had used the suite as an industrial space to repair cars and motorcycles. As a result, the suite is overwhelmed with exhaust fumes and the pervasive odor of motor oil; the carpet is destroyed and must be replaced; and the lighting is not optimal. Other issues, too many to list here, exist as well. In his negotiations with the landlord, my contact offered to make the necessary improvements to the space prior to moving in, at his own expense. The conditions? The landlord had to agree to reimburse him, interest free, on a monthly basis over the term of the five-year lease, and knock down the monthly rent a little bit. Without hesitation, the property owner refused to negotiate further and curtly turned down the offer, even though there was virtually no risk on his end. Rather than make a counteroffer, he killed the deal outright and forced my contact to go elsewhere. Most importantly, the space in question still remains vacant, leaving the landlord without a long-term tenant, AND without all the cash flow that comes along with that arrangement. And as detective Peter Falk in "Colombo" used to say, "Oh, yeah...and one more thing:" the landlord is also stuck with an unrenovated, unusable suite that no one will EVER rent until the aforementioned issues are rectified...at his OWN cost.

So what are the lessons learned here when it comes to customer acquisition? Let's review:

1. Always be willing to negotiate.
Negotiations are a critical component of most business transactions, and they're an every-day fact of life in the business world. If you're not willing to negotiate, or to improve your negotiation skills, then you probably shouldn't be in business. In this case, the property owner could still have negotiated a very favorable deal with my contact...if he had just been willing to entertain alternative contract terms. Instead, he lost a valuable customer.

2. Remain flexible.
This is related to Lesson #1. There's nothing worse than working with business professionals who are rigid and unwilling to bend...even a little bit. It's a surefire indicator of other issues, and oftentimes a lack of flexibility can be a deal breaker, as it was in this case. As we all know, the customer is not always right, but we should still act like it (at least most of the time). It's part of a creating and maintaining an excellent customer-centric approach, which usually leads to improved reputation, more leads, and greater sales down the road. And, here's the kicker: customers like working with companies that are flexible and service-oriented.

3. Keep your reputation in mind.
Speaking of reputation, it won't be long before word about this property owner's business practices gets around. The unwillingness to negotiate and be flexible could very well impact his ability to secure new tenants, now and in the future. That's no good, especially if you're in the property management business, and when your livelihood is directly tied to collecting lease payments each month. And just to be clear, there's nothing wrong with having a reputation for being a tough negotiator, as long as one is fair. Obviously, this is certainly more preferable than being known for not negotiating at all.

4. Remember the time value of money.
The time value of money dictates that, all things being equal, it is better to have money now rather than later. Why? You can do much more with the money if you have it now because over time you can earn more interest on your money. And that is what this property owner should have considered. It's far better to have a loyal, contractually-obligated paying tenant now than to wait 6, 12, or 18 months to secure another another one for the same space. Simply put, the landlord blew it.

Acquiring new customers or clients is difficult enough without throwing these monkey wrenches into the works. Customer acquisition is both an art and subtle science, but if you recognize this delicate balance, you can take the steps necessary to appropriately manage leads and then convert those into loyal customers.