When I was growing up in the 1960s in Philadelphia, PA, almost everything my family bought was from a small shop, usually a family-run business. Quality was important. Everything had to last. Basically, we could barely afford what we bought once, much less the expense of replacing it.
Others who had more money were also accustomed to this “conscientious shopping,” but for other reasons. Perhaps they were more aware of where the money was going, wanting to support the local economy. Or, perhaps they were more focused on contributing to the greater good.
Lots of client work is a good thing — but it left us with very little time to create a proper holiday greeting. SO ANYWAY, here are some videos we had lots of fun hastily cobbling together.
Using nothing but home-made puppets, action figures and a whiteboard, we improvised video recreations of our favorite holiday stories.
And hey… actors sometimes enjoy their performances more than the audience does. So, be kind!
George M. Elish, Executive Vice President of Rosetta Capital Corporation, joins Fitting Group as a guest blogger.
No, this is not George Elish.
I have often talked with executives who believe that a marketing agency’s fee should be determined, at least in part, by sales results. When I hear this, I immediately think that they really do not understand the role of the marketing agency, and more importantly, perhaps, the fundamental difference between marketing and sales.
It also underscores why I believe that marketing and sales decisions are among the most difficult that executives have to make. (more…)
Fitting Group Account Coordinator Molly Schaefer blogs about branding & books.
Before I became a Brand Spanker here at Fitting Group, I was a graduate student studying literature at Carnegie Mellon University. People who know this often ask me how I ended up at a branding agency and if I’m able to apply my degree to my job. There are lots of answers to these questions – my education has made me an effective communicator and a strong writer and researcher, important skills in my field. And, while marketing and literature are very different, if you’re in tune with both, it’s easy to find instances where they overlap. Here are a few of my favorite examples:
Companies that are not the market leaders in their industries need special advice about how to compete. For example, when a Challenger Brand company like K-Swiss, a shoemaker with 3% of the athletic shoe market, looks for an agency, they need three important qualities. First, they need an agency that understands their prime customers. Second, they need an agency experienced in image-driven products.
K-Swiss exercises its voice clearly through this video.
I read an article recently about the principles on which McDonald’s was founded. HEY…I see you rolling your eyes! But just because we love to hate those ginormous global corporations doesn’t mean we can’t learn something from them – especially as we learn about the things that made them so successful in the very beginning. That is what struck me as interesting about the McDonald’s story. Paul Facella, a 34-year veteran of the organization, tells his story in Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald’s. He started with the company at age 16 flipping burgers and ended up as Regional Vice President of the New York Region.
Facella, who currently runs a highly successful consulting company, was personally mentored by the founder, Ray Kroc, and by subsequent CEOs. He has many interesting anecdotes but the crux of the matter for aspiring Challenger Brands who might have “world domination” as their ultimate goal will be his Seven Drivers of Success:
1. Honesty, integrity, and transparency
2. Relationships, trust and mutual respect
3. High standards and a never-be-satisfied culture
Planning a wedding is like executing the biggest marketing campaign of your life. It takes a lot of money, creativity and detailed execution, and with a bit of luck, ends blissfully for all parties involved.
When I first imagined my wedding, I chose what I thought was a unique theme – a sort of “rustic Tuscan” feel with rich colors. But as I struggled to choose “rustic” invitations and “rustic” centerpieces, something didn’t feel right. After a friend told me she was genuinely surprised by my chosen theme, it clicked – sure my wedding was different, but it wasn’t really me.
The problem was that I chose a theme just to be different, not because it reflected my style or personality – my “personal brand.” Rustic just isn’t my thing – I hate the color brown and refuse to be in touch with nature. As a result of the theme being off the mark, there was a lack of consistency with the event details, and my friends and family (the target audience) were getting mixed messages.
We all know that Challenger Brands need to be different to challenge market leaders, but that doesn’t need to mean losing sight of the overall brand message. Just like my original choice for a “rustic Tuscan” wedding theme didn’t fit my personal brand, Challengers shouldn’t execute a campaign only because it says something different. If your campaign message is too far from your company’s core values, you won’t be able to pay it off and will end up diminishing the brand.
Brands don’t happen overnight – they develop over time and through numerous interactions with your target market. Once you have invested the time to develop a brand identity for your company that’s differentiated and meaningful to consumers, hammer it into people’s heads. Be sure that your message is consistently repeated with every audience touch-point – whether it’s a campaign, social media or event, or in my case, save-the-date, centerpiece or cocktail napkin.
As for my wedding, I changed the theme to something that supports my personal brand – black and white with some vintage touches. Now it’s more sophisticated and polished – no “rustic” branches or brown in sight.
As the Public Relations Coordinator at our agency, I find myself constantly discussing with clients the many benefits of social media: engaging, free, easy to maintain and most importantly – allows you to have direct conversations about your product or service with your customers. All really good things – right?
So as a young Republican, I should be enthused about the following:
Last week, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, candidates to become chairman of the RNC were asked at a debate, among other questions, whether they have any followers on Twitter. Almost all of them responded ‘yes’ and went on to quote the exact numbers of social media followers and friends they had accumulated on not only Twitter, but Facebook as well.
This somewhat unusual line of questioning is part of a larger movement by the Republican party to focus on the Internet and social media after the November drubbing by the more tech-savvy Democrats. In fact, a coalition of Republicans came up with a ten-point action plan outlining how to rebuild the Republican party, with “the Internet” as the number one priority. According to them, “Winning the technology war with the Democrats must be the RNC’s number one priority in the next four years.”
So am I, as the young, social media-pushing Republican, enthused about this? No. Here’s why.
If the Republican party really does plow ahead making the Internet its number one priority, it will be missing a vital step in the process of rejuvenating itself – REBUILDING THE BRAND (or, as we like to say, spanking).
Whether it is social media, online advertising or good old-fashioned print advertising, it doesn’t matter which outlet you’re using if the right message isn’t there. The majority of my peers (who supported Obama to McCain 2:1) were not supporting Obama because they received his tweets or were friends with him on Facebook. They supported him because they wanted change and his brand represented that. Consistently.
The Republican party has already realized it needs to revitalize itself, and that’s an important first step for Challenger Brands. But before it jumps the gun and tries to “get out there” and “connect,” there needs to be consensus about what it stands for and what message it’s trying to portray. Once everyone has a message and cause to rally around, then online support will develop naturally – that’s the beauty of social media.
Just as everyone’s putting the final touches on their ‘09 marketing plans, I’d like to throw the proverbial wrench into the equation. I’m sure everyone’s got a nice chunk of their advertising budget set aside for print, a good bit for broadcast, maybe some for outdoor. Oh, and don’t forget the cool new(ish) kid on the block – online.
But what about those crazy ideas that come to you out-of-the-blue? The ones that don’t fit neatly into any of the categories mentioned above. These are often one-off type projects with limited impressions, but huge impact. These are the types of ideas Challenger Brands can thrive on, and we need to make sure these moments of genius come to fruition.
I’ve always been a big fan of planned spontaneity, and I think more marketing plans need to integrate the concept. Here’s what I propose: set aside a small amount of your budget (maybe 5-10%) every year for these “out-of-the-blue” projects. If by October nothing has been proposed that blows your socks off, then use the money to extend some other buy. Seems simple enough, but there’s probably a reason they don’t let creatives do the marketing plans.
And for inspiration, I’ve collected some examples of these nontraditional projects. Enjoy.
Not that long ago, marketers would have paid a pretty penny for direct access to customers who were actively looking for what they had to offer. It was unthinkable that a message could easily and affordably be plopped down in front of prospects when they were searching for it.
Search engine advertising allows companies to communicate with their prime prospects when they are most receptive, those in “search mode” who are seeking exactly what is being offered. These ads are perfect for Challenger Brands because you determine a set budget and only pay when someone who is interested clicks on the ad. Marketing dollars are not wasted on impressions that don’t result in the reader taking an action.
However, these attractive benefits also mean, without a doubt, the competition will be there, right beside you, vying for the exact same customers. Here are some tips for making sure you get the most out of your search engine ads:
Fitting Group Account Coordinator Molly Schaefer blogs about branding & books.
