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The Expression of Joy Ad campaign by BMW; May be an Expression of Big Money Wasted

Companies spend millions and often billions to advertise their products in their marketplace however the effort to be creative often results in a dilution of their message. When your message lacks clarity, it requires an interpreter…and the variability of the individual interpreters’ ability (your salespeople) to articulate your value is not something market leading companies leave to chance today.

When its 114 degrees in Scottsdale Arizona there is not much to do on weekends unless you head for the higher elevations to escape the heat. As I said when I wrote: Are interruptions “transforming “your customers into shoppers again? I like to go to movies. Now that we are into the hottest part of our summer I am seeing a number of movies.

Is it me or are the ads prior to the movies getting longer? Do they really need to advertise TV series in movie theaters? Recently, I observed something interesting, the “Expression of Joy ad” by BMW. The ad starts out with a Z4 driving through paint and painting the surface like it were a huge canvas, with just one problem…when the ad came on the audience in the theater verbally groaned. So I’m not the only one who has seen this ad and hates it? Is it the music or is it because the ad feels like “the never ending ad?”

Personally I think BMW’s make amazing vehicles, and I get what they were trying to do with this ad; however the audience I shared the theater with not only failed to appreciate this ad’s artistic expression, but verbally groaned when the ad started.

I hear comments in front of me sharing their disdain for this ad. Now mind you, there were a number of other ads from an air conditioned indoor storage facility to a counter top manufacturer who supplies four different surfaces based on your needs, budget, and overall design objectives. None of the other ads caused a group audience response like the BMW ad, again…interesting.

Did BMW test this ad prior to its release? I am curious what the total cost of this ad was and is it driving the desired sales revenues, or just another Addy award for the creative team that developed and produced this masterpiece?

To me this ad says: our cars have so much margin in them we can afford to produce ads like this… 

The reason for this post is not to bash BMW, as I said they engineer amazing driving machines, their fit and finish is best in class, but more so to challenge everyone reading this to listen to the responses your market is making to your advertising. Are you listening? Is your advertising about driving revenue, adding value to your bottom line, or helping your ad firm win another award to dust on a shelf before their next new account pitch? As I discussed in my post: 88% of Those Surveyed Said Advertising Services Have Become Commoditized? Ad Firms Heal Thy Self! I discuss how ad firms must fight the perception their services have become commoditized. Perhaps the firm that created the BMW Z4 ad swung the pendulum too far in the creative direction? At the end of the day, my single opinion does not mean much, but an audience of consumers in north Scottsdale Arizona, groaning when your ad comes on should get BMW’s attention.

Are you listening to the response or lack of response to your advertising?

Have you tested your soon to be released creative in your market?

When you developed the creative, did you do so with a specific buyer persona in mind?

Or do you think I am just a ROI Neanderthal who lacks an appreciation for artistic expression?

 

 

Market leading companies create messages that resonate not repulse their market.

Technorati Tags: BMW,BMW Z4,message,marketing,creative,addy award,drive revenue
Image of ad came from http://www.zercustoms.com/news/2009-BMW-Z4-Expression-of-Joy.html

What a Dentist, a Car Wash, and an Auto Repair shop can teach us about marketing in a difficult Economy

What’s a business to do when their phone does not ring as often or stops all together? Sure the newspaper says you need to run an ad, and the local direct marketing firm says you need to do a mass mailing. You have a friend who “knows a guy” that makes these pens with your logo….The problem is each of these tactics to reach buyers who have problems you solve cost money and have uncertain results.You are going to have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince. Don’t these sales reps know your business is hurting? If you knew, for sure, what they were trying to sell you worked, and would help your target buyers find you, you would do it.

First,please keep in mind you may know more than you may be aware. Have you run ads in the local paper before? How did that work for you? Market leaders measure every marketing expenditure and track the results it generates. If an ad in the paper or yellow pages has driven revenue, then by all means keep doing it, heck you may want to do more!

The secret is to intimately know your market buyers, the process they use to buy and where they hang out. When you engage with new leads, qualified leads as well as service past customers …ask. Ask why they choose you. Ask who influenced their decision; learn as much as you can about them and how they found you.

Here’s a couple of good examples. So I wander into my gym at 5:00 am with serious bed hair and after checking in I see a standee advertising a Dentist. It’s not a flier, or an inexpensive poster, but a very well designed free standing floor display. It turns out this is my families’ dentist Dr. Zana Alnaqie of Smiles by Design…how cool! My family is very happy with their service and the creative I am viewing does a good job of illustrating their high quality as well as friendliness. As I walked to the lock room I thought …how smart! People who work out at Gyms on a regular basis obviously care about their health and how they look. One of the profitable services for dentists is the  dental cosmetics and or whitening services. One of the reasons I do not smile often I am very self conscious about how my teeth look. So as I walk into my gym, I see a friendly reminder about my professional dentist who is friendly and the picture has a beautiful smile. I am reminded of my last cleaning and how she explained they can fix teeth like mine. In addition to having good creative that matches the buyer demographic for those that frequent this gym, her office is within a mile of this gym.

Another example occurred when I took my car to the carwash this weekend. I do not remember washing my car so often when I lived in Ohio, but out here in Arizona people seem to wash their cars often. In addition when I did wash my car in Ohio I would go through a carwash at a gas station or I would pull in to a self service bay, drop about six quarters and power hose off the salt and dirt before my time ran out. Here in Arizona you can spend from $11.99 to $18.00 to $24.00 per wash. Add a detail, and you will be spending well over $100.

While at McDonald’s recently I noticed a standee with various local retailer coupons. I saw a coupon for $4.00 off at my favorite car wash called Francis and Son’s. So Saturday I used my coupon, and received a good wash, hand dry, clean windows and interior dusting for $7.99. After they motioned that my car was ready I got back in my car. (and my seat was in the position I left it in). Is it just me, or do clean cars run better? As I drove home I  notice a neon green promotional flier on my console…interesting. When I returned home I read the flier assuming it was a bounce back coupon, but instead it was a promotion announcement from another local business that does auto repair and body work. Smart! So I am a consumer who cares about my car. As I get back in my car after a great experience from someone I trust, I find a flier for someone to make those nasty car door dings go away, and this same guy can help me with the tune up I need. The flier was nothing expensive, but connected with me when I was thinking about my car,while in my car,  again…very smart.

 

 

So what did we learn other than Mark is cheap, has bad teeth and needs a new car soon?

 

Marketing through complimentary businesses , influencers, and your referral network makes sense and provides a much greater return than traditional ; “ throw it out there and see if it sticks” marketing.

 

So what are some considerations if you want to try this strategy?

· Relevance – the more relevance the better, window cleaners leaving behind maid service fliers, and maid services leaving behind the window cleaner

· Proximity – if you lack or have limited relevance have proximity

· Quality – when you refer another business, whether you mean to or not you are endorsing them. Do not work with partners who do not have a high quality standard

· Trust – make sure if you work with another business , make sure they do not use the marketing to bait and switch those who respond

· Inspect what you expect – before you agree to work with someone, visit their business and shop it. How well did they treat you? Does their customer service mirror your standards?

· Creative must support your brand – my dentist hired someone to make a high quality free standing display. An auto repair shop can get away with a neon green two sided flier, but my dentist could not

· Know your buyers– Get to know your buyers and you will find complimentary products and or service that you could be working with today

As I drove home tonight I needed to pick up some groceries, so as I entered Safeway (because I no longer shop at Albertsons since they cut my trust with a customer loyalty program) I see my dentist’s creative on each shopping cart. Awesome!

How about your business?

 

Who has complimentary relevant products you could work with?

 

What businesses have proximity to your business that could be a high quality referral partner?

 

Who are key influencers that shape your buyer’s attitudes and perceptions of your buyer and how can you equip them to talk about you?

I can hear the big company executives in my head saying …” yah, well this is great for little small businesses but this does not add any value to me”. You could say that…but you would be wrong! Challenge me, post a comment about your type of business and I am sure we can find referral partners.

Are You “Spinning” the Wrong Marketing and Sales Formula and getting nowhere fast?

I have been trying to lose weight for years as I discussed in my post: Do you need to “Detox “your business before it can hit your goals? If you have struggled with your weight as I have, you know it is very frustrating. I have tried a number of diets and workouts independently .One of the workouts I tried was “Spinning”. If you have not tried it, spinning is a very intense workout on a stationary bike. It was not unusual for my heart rate to exceed 160 beats per minute and the calorie counter would show 600-750 calories burned in each workout

When I first started spinning, I did lose some weight. After a few weeks of spinning my weight loss hit a plateau. So what do we do in situations like this? Well type A’s like me…we work harder! I added more resistance to the stationary bike and after the 50 minute spinning class I would go into the weight room and work out for another hour. Again, I saw some weight loss and again I quickly hit another plateau…very frustrating.

What I lacked was the right formula for weight loss. To have sustainable, repeatable weight loss the formula is 65% your food intake and 35% your activity level, your workouts. One without the other and you will not reach your goals.That explained why working out harder and not significantly changing my diet did not help me achieve my weight loss goals.

This reminded me of how most businesses lack or have the wrong formula for sales and marketing. I have worked with businesses in different industries and varying sized revenues; from under $1 million to $300 million, as well as over a billion and I have seen teams frustrated in each. They keep working harder, spinning faster and faster in sales adding more training but 40% still miss achieving their sales goals. They lack the correct formula to feed (marketing) their sales  in relation to their selling activities.

When I worked for Frito-Lay I was fresh out of college. I would say the formula back then was; 30% marketing and 70% sales and service. Marketing did research and generated brochures and sales would pick and choose the tools we thought would work. Frequently we would create our own tools borrowing what we liked from what marketing created. This model may have made the marketing team at Frito-Lay cringe, but it worked in the 1980’s. My Unit of route salesmen realized huge sales gains year over year and our team was recognized in Frito-Lay’s national magazine with yours truly standing in front of a bridge display we sold to Giant Eagle stores that spanned the entire back of their store for July 4th weekend.

That formula; 30% marketing/70% “bare knuckle selling” worked in the 1980’s The problem today that is the 30% marketing/70% sales formula is dated and backwards. The change that caused this formula to flip flop was the internet. The advent of the internet changed how buyers gain information. Salespeople are no longer the” keepers of the product knowledge keys”. Buyers now demand; instant, accurate, authentic information at their finger tips 24/7. Not only must we provide this, but we must provide product information in the voice of the buyer so they quickly can find solutions to the problem(s) they are trying to solve. Fail to clearly state the problems you solve and the buyer “clicks” their way on to the next website.One of marketing’s key roles is now sales enablement.

Today the formula for most businesses should be 70% marketing and 30% sales and service.

Peter Ducker said: “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” To achieve this definition a considerable amount of time must be spent in understanding your market.

Buyers like to buy; they do not like being sold. (Truth be told they probably didn’t like being sold a bridge display that spanned 15 isles) Sales today have a responsibility to start conversations and lead buyers throughout their buying process until they are ready to buy. Salespeople must now “serve” their clients as opposed to “sell” them. I discussed the top concerns buyers had with salespeople in my post titled: WARNING: Buyer’s say what salespeople do wrong? PRICE is not on the list! Buyers today want salespeople to listen and understand their problems before presenting what’s in their bag.

When I speak of “sales” and “marketing” I am discussing the roles and not titles and people. In some of the smaller companies I have served my title was “VP of sales” but I performed a marketing role in identifying customer needs and pain points. The smaller companies I have helped did not have marketing departments and we outsourced the development of sales tools to ad agencies. As companies grow they segment and define roles more clearly. I really do not care what you call the person that does it, but someone must understand your market and how your buyer’s buy.

How your buyers buy has changed since the 1980’s and market leaders have already made the sales and marketing flip flop to insure buyers move quickly through their process to a sale.

Stop “Spinning” the wrong sales and marketing formula, working out harder and harder only to miss your goals.

Find out how your buyers buy and create a winning formula for how your buyers buy today…

… or keep spinning with your heart rate racing while your competitors adjust their formulas to the market of today and leave you in their dust.

How about your company…

If you had to guess, what % is your companies’ energies are spent in the roles of sales and marketing?

Are you still “bare knuckle selling” or are you helping buyers find you, and supplying what they need to buy from you?

Do you know how your buyers buy?

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