Companies dealing with increased competition, declining margins and slow growth continue to struggle with how to generate more business. In this and in future blog entries, we look at the triumvirate of strategies for creating differentiation, value and commitment for your products and services:
Marketing is the process of differentiating your product or service and creating a predisposition to buy it through a combination of research, branding, message development and promotional strategies and tactics that deliver the message to your target audiences.
Design is the process of adding value to a product or service by defining the relevant attributes and emotional cues that make them desirable, useful and usable and is delivered through a combination of user research, prototyping and testing.
Sales is the process of reducing resistance to commitment on the part of a prospect so as to make it easy for them to agree to buy your product or service and is accomplished by identifying needs or ‘pain’ that you can address and gaining agreement on your ability to satisfy their need.
This information is based on research on best practices and experience based on over 27 years of consulting for a variety of organizations. We’re interested in your thoughts and ideas that can augment these ideas, so feel free to add your own comments and suggestions. For more detailed information on these topics, contact us or visit our Web site for additional materials and explanations.
Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.
June 30th, 2009, posted by admin
Design, Marketing, Pittsburgh, Sales
How much does a house cost? A car? A doggie in the window? If you were going by averages, the answers are simple: $235,000, $16,400 and $249. Yet we know that averages don’t tell the whole story. Although a new Mercedes or old Rolls Royce might be five times the cost of a new Chevrolet, to say that any of these is not ‘worth it,’ ignores the reality that perceived value depends on one’s needs, wants, credit limits and perhaps a dozen other factors. Like your income.
Yet, many believe that there’s an easy answer to questions related to marketing budgets. How much is a logo? What percentage of revenue should you spend on advertising? On a marketing plan? On PR? Again the averages are easy: $5,000, 3%, $8,000 and $2,500 a month. So there you have it. Marketing budgets for everyone… until you consider unique circumstances like your form of business, the growth rate of your market, how fast you want to grow, competitive environment, product or service and…your budget. So many businesses want great marketing, but have come to believe that it’s not ‘worth it,’ when the truth of the matter is, they just don’t know what’s appropriate for their business.
You can get fine marketing for $5,000 a year, just like you can get a fine car for $5,000. Fine brochures or Web sites can be developed for $1,000. But, such budgets may not accomplish your goals. Further, many confuse marketing infrastructure, generally one-time costs like corporate identity, branding, market planning and design, with ongoing costs such as advertising, public relations or direct marketing. Some costs are investments like the selling price of a house or car, which need to be amortized over several years. Others are ongoing expenses, much like fuel, maintenance costs and insurance.
Further, people sometimes confuse a medium with a message. We often hear that ‘advertising doesn’t work.’ Or ‘we tried seminars and didn’t get any business from them.’ Does this mean that advertising and seminars are ineffective? Or could it be the content, message or target audience are wrong? Maximizing your marketing depends on good strategy and branding as well as solid tactics.
Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.
June 23rd, 2009, posted by admin
Branding, Marketing, Pittsburgh, Public Relations, Sales
Defining The Problem
Brainstorming starts with a problem, defined in the form of questions like, “How can we reduce our delivery time?” “What problem do our customers have that our competitors are solving?” “What phrase can we use to differentiate our services from competitors?” If the problem is too complex, it can be broken down into smaller chunks, each with it’s own set of questions.
Warm Up
The purpose of a warm up is to get people comfortable with a criticism-free environment. You can start with a simple problem such as “where should we take a guest from out of town,” “What gift should we buy my Mom for mother’s day,” or other question that everyone can relate to. Groups can also use word games or games of ‘opposites,’ where participants come up with a list of words and have to come up the opposite idea.
First Lists
Participants write their ideas on post-it notes or in a list. Then the moderator either collects the ideas or a master list is made which aggregates the ideas. People are asked to build on ideas. Sometimes the post-its or individual lists are passed to others in the group for ‘building’ upon. Where more details are needed, such as color, features or size, etc, the group might be divided into subgroups to focus on these details. Each group the brings their ideas back to the main group for further discussion and ‘distillation.’
The Vote
People then have a chance to individually evaluate ideas on the list, through a simple show of hands. Votes are recorded, helping prioritize and distill ideas.
Killer Phrases
Here are a few lines that discourage idea flow and should be avoided:
• A great idea but…
• Against company policy
• All right in theory
• Be practical
• Costs too much
• Don’t start anything yet
• It needs more study
• It’s not budgeted
• It’s not good enough
• It’s not part of your job
• Let’s make a survey first
• Let’s sit on it for a while
• That’s not our position
• The boss won’t go for it
• The old timers won’t use it
• Too hard to administer
• We have been doing it this way for a long time and it works
• Why hasn’t someone suggested it before if it’s a good idea?
• Ahead of the times
• Let’s discuss it
• Let’s form a committee
• We’ve never done it that way
• Who else has tried it
• Not politically possible
Reflection
Sometimes, The Eureka Idea comes out of brainstorming session. But not usually. Don’t worry. The real work in coming to an original or “Most Advanced Yet Acceptable” (MAYA) idea is in the reflection phase. Think of the brainstorming session as a way to open the mind to new ways of thinking. But ideas sometimes take time to gel. In the day or two after a session, while you’re running, walking, taking a shower or other ‘reflective period,’ the ideas start to take shape. Participants need to take the time to go through the lists and consider other options. Your ‘fallback’ ideas are those you generated in the brainstorming session. But time works wonders. You can come back to another session to discuss these ideas, with greater discussion of the constraints and applications.
Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.
June 15th, 2009, posted by admin
Design, Marketing, Pittsburgh
You’ve got to come with a solution to a problem or ideas for a new product or campaign that someone hasn’t thought of before. The Eureka Idea. Research won’t work because everything you’ll find will have been done before. Research won’t take you to Eureka, but a combination of brainstorming and reflection can.
Brainstorming is a technique for generating new ideas. By associating ideas and concepts that haven’t been considered ‘right’ to put together, new ways of thinking emerge. But the real work is in the subconscious, with endorphins and time. But first, Brainstorming.
Background on Brainstorming
Creative problem solving involves putting things together in ways that haven’t been seen that way before. While people have been solving problems and probably using techniques of brainstorming methods since the Neanderthal times, the formal methods were developed by BBDO founder Alex Osborn in the 1940’s to generate advertising concepts.
Brainstorming is a lateral thinking process that generates ideas that may seem at first to be impractical or off-putting. The process is designed to allow for free-wheeling in the early stages, and leaves evaluation to the last stages.
The Rules and of Brainstorming
The basic rules of brainstorming are:
• Quantity over Quality to generate as many ideas as possible. Although this might seem counterproductive, as you’re trying, eventually to come up with ‘quality,’ the fact is that the more ideas you have, the better chance that one of them will be better than the rest. You’re trying to create a stream of ideas. Assessment comes later.
• Acceptance over Criticism. No idea is bad. Rather than criticize an idea, brainstormers ‘build’ on ideas thereby encouraging everyone to generate more and better ideas. This means that logic can take a back seat, too. Great associating often isn’t logical or subject to evaluation.
• Radical over Regular. No idea is too outlandish. In fact, they’re encouraged to achieve goal #1 (quantity). Often it takes a few rounds of associating to see patterns or relationships between disparate ideas. Some kernel of appropriateness might exist within even the most outrageous idea.
• Pictures and Words. Brainstormers draw diagrams and pictures to make their point. It’s not just about words. Think of it as organized play. With products, you can use simple materials such as clay, wood or paper to ‘represent’ product. “Getting Physical” can help you visualize a concept much better than words.
• Play over Pressure. Relax. The more playful and spontaneous you are, the better brainstormer you’ll be. You don’t have to come to any decisions during the brainstorming period, so chill. It’s the beginning, not the end.
The Method of Brainstorming
Although brainstorming can be done individually, with either mind mapping or simple listing, the best way to generate a large quantity and variety of ideas is in a group. A moderator is needed to both cajole and record ideas and keep the discussion moving. The moderators responsibility is to define the problem, keep the discussion going and with the help of a ’scribe,’ document the ideas.
Look for the second and final part of Brainstorming: Getting to Eureka next week.
Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.
June 9th, 2009, posted by admin
Design, Marketing, Pittsburgh
While many people spend days at conferences and hours of watching DVD’s to learn the intricacies of selling, I suggest another tack. Drive to Volant, PA., a hamlet in Northwestern Pennsylvania, adjoining Neshannock Creek, one of the best fly fishing rivers in the land. After a day of being rejected by fish you can plainly see, you’ll understand what it takes to land customers. You have to have more than a great product on the end of your line.
Preparation
Some people think you can just walk into a fish’s office and start to lay down the line. Not so fast. There’s a few things you’ll need to do first:
• Dress Right. Fish are naturally suspicious of people who wear wild ties. They’re much more comfortable when you’re not. So get out those rubber pants and look a bit vulnerable. If you look too smart, they’ll sense it.
• The Tools. Catching fish requires tools. A rod with flexibility. A reel with a lot of line for the fish to take out. And a variety of flys. You never know what they’re going to bite on until they do.
• Know Your Fish. You have to know what fish you want to catch. Every fish has a different personality. If you’re going for a trout, you have to start thinking like one. They’re a cool edgy bunch, like cold water and get spooked if you move too quickly. Bass are more relaxed, actually lazy bums and happy to stay on the bottom, so you have to come to them.
Targeting
Before you can fish, you have to find them. Prospecting can actually be pretty easy. Watch to see where your competitors are. Forget trying to find a place where no one’s fishing. It’s probably because there’s no fish. If it’s stream, there are certain things you look for, like ripples in the water, a big rock or fallen tree, or something else the fish can hide under or behind. If it’s a lake, unless you know something the competitors don’t know, just watch where the other boats are.
The Fly
The reason they call it fly fishing is because you’re trying to attract the fish to something that looks like a bug. But not any bug. Fish are picky eaters and they know a lot more about bugs than you think. So, don’t get cocky. They’ve seen your competitor’s bugs and have actually seen real bugs. Not only do different fish like different bugs, they know what bugs look like in different parts of a stream and different parts of a bug’s lifecycle. Some bugs float. Other sink. So there’s a bit of entomology involved. And it doesn’t matter what kind of bugs you like, the fish have minds of their own. You have to know what they like.
The Presentation
You can’t just put the fly in front of a fish and expect them to believe you. You have to land the fly gently, which takes some practice. If the fly hits the water with a splash, those brownies just roll their eyes. They’ll let you keep casting, but they’re just not listening anymore.
Hooking The Fish
If you’re lucky enough to have the right product and make a good presentation, the fish start to trust you, and may just bite. When they realize what’s going on, believe me, they’ll resist. So let them take out some line. Give them some space. But not too much. Keep the line taut.
Landing the Fish
Just ask a fisherman how they did and you’ll probably hear about how the one got away. Actually, the 10 that got away. You may think that hooking a fish is catching a fish. But the reason they call it fishing, not catching is that the hard part is getting the fish in the boat. Most catches are lost after you’ve done everything right. Except land the fish. It’s often a delicate operation, so take your time. And when the fish comes of the water, make sure you hold on, because most fish escape at the last minute… buyer’s remorse.
Good luck and remember: It’s up to the fish to come to you. But it’s up to you to get it in the boat.
Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.
June 3rd, 2009, posted by admin
Marketing, Pittsburgh, Sales