Marketing and all things related

On a holiday weekend built around the idea of giving thanks for everything in our lives, I feel it is appropriate to stop for a moment and think about customer appreciation. Customers and their money are the driving force of commerce and the success of any business. But are they appreciated in the way they should be?

The beauty of this discussion is that we can all so easily see it from both sides - marketer and customer.

That said, let me ask you this bombshell of a question:

Do you as a customer really feel appreciated by the companies you patronize?

If the answer is no, and I'm betting it is, stop for a moment and ask why that feeling exists. I'll bet that it is not because those companies deliver bad products or services. Instead I think the problem lies in the systems that drive them, technological or otherwise. ATMs don't smile at us, shopping online doesn't make us feel warm, brand advertising doesn't make us jump for joy, and a 12-step automated toll-free certainly doesn't make us feel special.

What does? Genuine interaction with people who care. So, my challenge to you, my friends, is to think about how you show appreciation to people through people this holiday season.

Marketing Blurb has purchased our fair share of technology services over the years—primary web services. (We spend more money before the bubble than afterwards.) And while some say the economy has completely recovered from the 2002 recession, we know better. So in these cost conscious (or free-spending depending on who you ask) times, how do you collar the attention of those executives who are the decision-makers for technology services? CNET decided to partner with Marketing Sherpa to find the answer. They conducted a survey of business executives who had authorized an actual technologies service purchase in the last 12 months, and asked them what marketing efforts directly influenced their final purchase decision. Drum roll. Don’t be surprised, now, the answer is—word-of-mouth from colleagues at 48.3%. The moral of this story is simple. Sell in person. Provide superior services, and then deputize satisfied customers. Class dismissed. We learned about this study from Chief Marketer.

Last summer, GM launched a dynamite “employee discount” sales campaign. The technique was quickly imitated by both Ford and Chrysler. Every domestic automaker wanted to offer cars to the public at their “employee discount” price. As you might expect, savvy consumers realized they could already negotiate sharper prices anytime. But still, these campaigns were a monster success. The whole industry sold more cars , but at the lowest margins than anyone in the industry imagined possible. Sales shot up—profits tumbled, and fall inventory sat unsold in auto showrooms for months after these campaigns. Marketing Blurb thought the industry would know better than to repeat this debacle, but according to Advertising Age, Chrysler is using the same pitch again this summer. We think this is a dumb idea folks.

Marketing Blurb loves all kinds of music, but we confess we really don’t pay much attention to country and western. We have nothing against country and western music, and we think country stars do an especially fine job of pitching Ford trucks. But we have to admit that this Associated Press photo of Dolly Parton scared the ahem out of us. This is the scariest-looking country star we have ever seen. Dolly is pitching her new cookbook. You can’t find this culinary masterpiece at a bookstore, you need to visit Dollywood or purchase online. Did Dolly stick her head in a blender for this photo? No, as a matter of fact, Dolly just revealed that she is secretly Courtney Love’s older sister! Photo Credit: Associated Press

Marketing Blurb does not smoke and we encounter fewer smokers these days. But we do know underage kids are still smoking, and they’re trying to cop their smokes from CVS Pharmacy. But according to Promo Magazine, potential lawsuits from 37 state Attorney Generals have persuaded CVS to get tougher on cigarette sales to minors. CVS has signed the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance agreement, which eliminates free samples, self-service displays, and vending machines for cigarettes. “CVS agrees to check IDs of all shoppers who appear to be younger than 27, and hire a third party to conduct random compliance checks in 1,361 stores each year. Most of the provisions take effect by mid-May.” While Marketing Blurb is not keen on any government restraint of trade, we hope adolescents will find some other, less toxic vice.

Marketing Blurb will spare readers the details, but we recently were forced to bid re-roofing a portion of our house after a wind storm. With a good deal of anxiety, we endured inspections and estimates from four different roofing companies. We were not surprised that the sales people drove us crazy with double talk. But we were surprised with the sales representative with the runny nose who yawned repeatedly while explaining why his company was the best roofer in the city. Yes, we want to buy experience—but no, we won’t buy from this guy.

Well maybe it is still damp and cold in much of the country, but spring is coming, and soon you’ll want to guzzle down Sunny Delight. Or at least that is what Sunny Delight wants you to believe with their 60,000 mile nationwide road trip. The tour is already underway, beginning from Cincinnati with two pimped Sunny D Sunmobiles with trailer attachments. The vans will visit 50 major markets in 37 states. Sunny D ambassadors driving the vans use music to attract visitors at each stop, and distribute samples of new Sunny D Baja, Orange Peach and Orange Strawberry. Smile and say gulp. Photo Credit: Promo Magazine.

You know the Starbucks story. Take a commodity product like coffee, make it superior, provide a unique purchase environment, and charge a premium price. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco is hoping the same technique will work for their new cigarette brand called Marshall Mc-Gearty Tobacco Artisans. This exclusive brand is hand-rolled (okay machine-rolled, but by hand) on demand from a single location, the Marshall McGearty Lounge in Chicago. Smokers visit the lounge, chose from nine different tobacco blends, which staffers roll on the spot for $ 8 a pack.

“This is our first step in connoisseurship for cigarettes,” says RJR senior marketing director Brian Stebbins. “The lounge is all about introducing the brand. We looked at how connoisseurship started in other categories, like wine, coffee and chocolate. There's always a place for the full brand immersion experience.”

There is no advertising for the brand. R.J. Reynolds markets the product via taste-tests, inviting visitors to sign-up at the lounge. Marketing Blurb does not smoke (or go with girls who do,) but if we did smoke, this is where we would go for the right tobacco and to be seen with the right people.

Let’s say you have sometime to sell to a fellow marketer. What is the best way to reach a marketer with your, umm, marketing pitch? Well, according to research from Three Deep Marketing and Marketing Sherpa, don’t call marketers on the phone! 71% of survey respondents were adamant about not wanting telephone pitches. But don’t show up in person either, because 57% of marketers don’t want ace-to-face meetings either! Instead, if you must pitch that marketer, send email with a link to a web-based presentation. 87% of marketers prefer this approach. It seems obvious to Marketing Blurb that marketers can learn a lesson here about pitching prospects as well. Prospects do not want your phone call, or a face-to-face meeting. Prospects will not even take kindly to your email, unless they are already permission-based, opt-in customers. So—the moral of the story is optimize your website to let prospects find what they want.

As you might expect, Avon Products Inc. is the world’s largest direct sales cosmetic company. And to keep their beautiful face, Avon has evolved over the years to follow women from home to offices and online. In fact, the company just announced another $ 500 million restructuring program to remain competitive. Business Week interviewed Avon CEO, Andrea Jung, in their February 6th issue, and shared these noteworthy facts and figures. Over 80% of offices have an Avon representative. 70% of Avon representatives do their business online. It costs Avon more than a dollar to process a paper order, but only about $ 0.11 to process online orders. Avon operates 50 businesses in 120 countries. Marketing Blurb believes direct selling is alive and well. Oh, and I must say you look marvelous!

Face it, grocery shopping is a pain. Black belt grocery shoppers enter the store with a list and coupons in hand; zip through for specials and staples, and they’re out the door. The rest of us stroll through leisurely through the aisles, an easy mark for point-of-sale sampling. Without those sample cheese cubes and sausage links, why would Marketing Blurb shop anyway?

But as you might expect, sampling product in grocery stores is not a slam dunk to induce product trial. According to marketing services firm Promoworks, it is essential that sample tables are immediately adjacent to the product for sale. If you can hand out a sample immediately followed by the actual product, sample conversions increase by 20%. Kellogg’s learned this using grocery sampling trials for the introduction of Eggo Syrup. Chief Marketer has more (information, not cheese cubes.)

It’s that time of year again, (in Florida, anyway) when eager young Girl Scouts will tempt you for an order of Thin Mints, Shortbread, Lemon Pastry Cremes, and so on. Selling these cookies is a time-honored 90 year tradition. According to a Girl Scouts Press Release, cookies sales have:

“helped girls foster a sense of personal and collective empowerment by promoting skills they will use throughout their entire lives. Through this annual activity, girls ages 6 -17 learn how to set goals, develop action plans to reach those goals, work together as a team and cultivate a sense of business ethics. Additionally, they build confidence by developing public speaking and interpersonal communication skills. Girls also acquire knowledge in money management, marketing and customer service, thereby making the Girl Scout Cookie Program the nation’s premier financial literacy and entrepreneurship program.”

Marketing Blurb supports this lofty goal—but—suggests that girls not subcontract their work to parents, resellers, wholesalers, distributors, agents, subsidiaries, and so on. Smile and make that sale in person!