Stupid Marketing, aka Not Suffering Fools Gladly

Leverage versus Spam: the New York Times, me, and not so Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:49:00 GMT

As a marketer I am constantly barraged with offers to feature my information for money.

Most offers are based on a trade-off between volume, cost, and accuracy in targeting.

It is therefore startling to occasionally be surprised when a vehicle doesn't fit the pattern.

I'm speaking, of course, of the New York Times.

I was recently fortunate (?) enough to appear in the pages of the Times (thanks very much Ashlee Vance), and was personally startled by the results.

Suddenly, people I hadn’t seen in a while wanted to talk to me. Just to say hi.

Now, I can change my status in Facebook, and one or two friends will comment.

I can change my status on linked in, and 5 to 10 colleagues will comment.

Yet have my name mentioned once in the Times, and people I haven't heard from in years – who are still linked to me on linked in and other mechanisms – come swarming out of the woodwork to say hi.

I am not sure if this is because an appearance in the Times signifies success, or, as I suspect, print still carries a higher legitimacy and therefore marketing weight.

To that point – I'm still not persuaded that -advertising- in the New York Times is worth the cost, and have questions about targeting for smaller audiences. But I will say that I am reevaluating the power of printed formats.

Perhaps a good lesson for us all. The world changes, people pay attention to certain vehicles reliably, and others on only a temporary or faddish basis. Reevaluate constantly. As people's attention shifts, so must our marketing.

Mistakes and Marketing opportunities: Target Stores, Toyota, Tylenol, Tiger Woods, and not so stupid Marketing.

KevinE — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:09:00 GMT

Everyone makes mistakes. And by everyone, I mean people, countries, institutions, organizations, and companies.

Mistakes are a great opportunity to learn. Moreover, especially when mistakes cast the public eye on your situation, they are a great opportunity for marketing.

Now, I'm not talking about the traditional marketing response to mistakes, which is to back off prevaricate, and obfuscate.

I'm talking about the opportunity to make the most of the moment; to seize that moment in the public eye, which so many marketers work so hard to get for positive reasons, and turn a negative into a positive.

This can be done at any level from the small to large.

At the small end of the spectrum, consider this next line:

“Target Stores are awful”.

I'm mentioning this because my experience with them recently attempting to return a less than $200 product has been hideous, driven by a mistake they made.

But I find it amazing that target is willing to risk the bad PR from their mistakes for less than $200 in product. They could have apologized for their error and fixed it – but instead, will waste my and their time and money marketing around the error.

But Target is a trivial example.

Let's consider larger examples like Toyota.

Toyota spends millions of dollars every year marketing their product. These dollars are largely spent in an attempt to get people to pay attention to Toyota. Now, suddenly, inadvertently, Toyota has that attention – they’re in the spotlight (although for the wrong reasons).

As a marketer, this is a fantastic opportunity for Toyota to show the world what they're really made of.

As an example of what Toyota could have done, consider the Tylenol scare.

When Tylenol was subject to malicious tampering years ago, they publicly apologized (though it was arguably not their fault), made some changes, and with successful marketing conveyed to the public their “true colors” – the image was of a company that cared.

In contrast, Toyota’s response – pretend there was no mistake, then claim it was all solved -- is stupid Marketing. And it's arrogant.

Similarly, consider Tiger Woods.

While one can debate the justness of exposing a private life in public (and frankly, celebrity = paid lots of money to do just that, so it’s just), the fact is that Tiger had an opportunity to build on his image – to show us a human side, admit errors, and be one of us. Instead, his handlers let him run and hide, to “let things blow over”. I’m shocked they’d mot only waste, but practically invert a great marketing opportunity.

So, ponder what your plans are. Are you ready for your queue when the spotlight turns on you? Do you have your lines memorized? Plan now: your 15 minutes of (in)fame(y) are coming...

Why do they call it the BETTER Business Bureau? Target stores, the BBB, and stupid Marketing

KevinE — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:48:00 GMT

Since lately there have been enough articles in this blog about poor customer service and its impact on marketing, we’ll forgo any comments about Target Stores, and their laughably named “customer service”*…

*(where a letter to the CEO produced a phone call from a rep who refused to provide their name, and explicitly stated the point of their call was to better explain store policy on returns; they’d not be assisting with a return in any way)

… But as I said, forgoing any commentary on Target's stupidity, let's talk about the Better Business Bureau.

The Better Business Bureau is a wonderful triumph of marketing over reality.

The reputation of the BBB creates is that of a quality enforcement group: an organization feared by Stores as a defender of consumers and hailed by consumers as a way of taking on unfeeling giants.

Perhaps at one point in American history this was actually the case.

It isn't anymore.

These days, most companies view the Better Business Bureau as a mere annoyance.

Why?

Because the BBB is toothless. If you complain about a company that is a member of the BBB, all the company has to do to keep its record clear is respond.

They don't actually have to resolve anything. Just respond.

Yet somehow, businesses remain afraid of the BBB.

And so they pay to be members of the BBB.

This is brilliant marketing.

Not ethical. Not useful.

But when you can persuade an audience to pay you because you have influence over another audience, you have succeeded in one of the goals of marketing; getting the customer to understand your perspective.

As I said about Scientology previously, I'm not a fan.

In fact I think it's gross.

But it is brilliant marketing.

Customers Brilliant, Ignorant, Lazy… Human? Geico, Dyson, Kelloggs, and flavors of smart and Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:31:47 GMT

At one point in a conversation with the Blonde Bombshell the other day, she asked whether I’d really heard what she was saying. (Yes, love, I did – and do).

Lovers past, present, and future aside, the question is also an excellent one to apply to marketing.

Specifically, most marketing messages I’ve seen seem to make one of four assumptions about the intended audience – only one of which, in my opinion, works.

1. “Our prospective customers are brilliant”
This assumption is the only way I can explain marketing that contains multiple three-syllable words, acronyms, and 10-point font. Or Powerpoint slides that wax eloquently about the [insert technical term here] attributes of your product. You assume that your customers are brilliant, are as steeped as you are in your product and industry, and thus would be bored by basic discussion of what it does and why that matters day-to-day. Example: every Dyson vacuum cleaner ad I’ve seen. (Hint: that vortex CGI animation of the inside of the vacuum cleaner takes me back to my days studying atomic dispersion in fission reactions… but I really want to know if you’re getting my carpet cleaner. Show me a side-by-side comparison, please.)

2. “Our prospective customers are ignorant”
This assumption is the inverse of #1. You assume your customers are like sheep, and will fall for every marketing ploy, so you treat them like idiots. Example: Froot Loops with 3g of Fiber. (Hint: advertising this does not make us think Froot Loops are healthy. It does make us wonder how dumb you think we are. Insulting? Yep.)

3. “Our prospective customers are lazy”
A modification of #2, I almost like this approach – if you pick the right message and are consistent. You assume that your customers won’t take action based on one message, so you saturate us with your marketing message. (Hint: Geico – I remember your name. You’re the guys with the cavemen and gecko. Right. How do those two fit together again? And what was it you sold? Oh, car insurance. Really? I’m so inundated by geckos that I don’t remember what I’m supposed to do and why... maybe spend less budget on display, more on crafting the message and call to action?)

4. “Our prospective customers are human”
My favorite approach, this assumes that prospective customers are smart but busy people, who may not be steeped in the intricacies of your product, but who can be educated to understand it. Again, the key is education – marketing as respectful, concise education.

So.

Which of the four attitudes do you have?

Which should you have?

Time to make it so…

Braille Band-Aid Boxes: J&J, Apple, Details, and not-so-stupid marketing.

KevinE — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:10:00 GMT

Shopping the other day with the Blonde Bombshell, she pointed out something interesting: the Johnson & Johnson Band-Aid boxes were marked in Braille.

Really.

Punched right into the cardboard.

Did J&J need to do this?

Absolutely not. 90% of the customers who buy these boxes won’t need the Braille, won’t notice, and won’t care.

But for the small percentage who do need it – what a difference it will make.

And those customers, and their families, will love J&J and lavish attention on them.

All for the cost of a detail.

Just something to think about when you’re marketing.

[Think this is exaggerating a point? Ask why Apple’s products like the iPod and iPhone consistently outsell similar products. Or why Microsoft desktop software for years was consistently a leader, making them what they are today. It’s the details – things like the phone adjusting the display based on how you’re holding it, or MS Word catching common letter transpositions and just fixing them without fuss. Details. They matter.]

The Fine Line Between Persistent and Annoying: LeadSpark, Kyle B, and Stupid Marketing.

KevinE — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:12:00 GMT

I respect – nay, even appreciate – persistent salespeople. I’ll be the first to admit that there’s too much to do, and I forget about projects, and (for example) I have huge respect for Vinny at Tippit because he’s been able to persuade me over a course of weeks and short, respectful emails and phone calls that he has a product of value.

Conversely, let’s consider Kyle B of LeadSpark.

Kyle sent me eight emails over the six weeks at the end of December / beginning of January(Holiday weeks!), and I haven’t responded to any.

Nor will I.

In fact, while Kyle may actually be a great guy in person, and LeadSpark a firm with value, Kyle’s approach has so alienated me that I’m probably not going to exert any energy to find out.

Why?

Email #1 was a standard (if lengthy) sales pitch, sent at 5pm 12/17/09. OK.

Email #2, sent at 7:30pm the same day (!) begins “Thank you for your time today.” Hunh? Did I miss something? I was on a plane on 12/17.

Email #3: “Just making sure we are still on your calendar tomorrow?”. Um, what? Now I;m getting annoyed. You tried to trick me, -and- you’ve crossed the line from presumptive close to arrogant and pushy.

Email #4: “Are you available in January to continue our conversation”. Hint, we can’t continue something we never had. This type of one-sided conversation works well when talking to brick walls, but isn’t winning me over. (Hint #2: when you’re doing all the talking, your date has left the table)

And the emails continue.

You get the idea.

LeadSpark is now on my SPAM list.

As I’ve said before, and will say again: your – our - customers are not stupid. They are human. We need to accord them the respect and humility in asking for their time and attention that we’d hope they’d show us.

Good grief.

An Unexpected Gift: Needham MA and not-so-stupid marketing

KevinE — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:11:00 GMT

One of my favorite authors of all time, Robert Cialdini, in his book “Influence”, talks about the hardwired psychological reactions we humans have to certain behaviors.

One of the strongest is Reciprocity – if someone gives something to you, you feel compelled to give something back.

Combine this with variable rewarding (eg, don’t establish a pattern; reward people –sometimes- for doing something) and you have a very powerful motivator indeed.

Which is why I was so happily surprised when I was in downtown Needham MA over the New Year’s holidays, and saw red bags over the parking meters.

Yep. Red plastic bags. Cost to create = a few pennies.

But each bag was labeled “free parking, courtesy of Needham, Happy Holidays”.

How great is that?

I parked, shopped, and left.

Total time, perhaps 30 minutes.

Lost revenue to town, less than $0.25

Happiness at not having to find change for the meter? Priceless… or, in my case, probably another $10-$15 spent at the store (whose taxes on the store and employees help the town) and a desire to come back to Needham and spend even more.

All done via a few red bags.

Variable reward. Do something nice for your prospects sometimes. It’s good marketing.

The Phrase that Pays... or not: Bank of America, things not to say, and Stupid Marketing.

KevinE — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:30:00 GMT

As I’ve repeatedly said over the years (usually while standing on a soapbox, foaming at the mouth), I firmly believe that Marketing’s sole function is to serve sales.

This can be sales in the strictest “exchange of payment for goods or services” sense, or in the more general “persuasive conveyance of ideas and emotions”... but it’s all sales.

Good marketers seek out the target audience for the thing being sold, understand how that target audience would prefer to receive information (“learn”) about the thing being sold, and convey the information in the right way (time, vehicle, -WORDING and PERSPECTIVE-) that best allows the audience to understand the value of the thing for sale, and thus it’s desireability.

It’s that last part about wording and perspective that often goes so horribly wrong.

As marketers, we’re begging time and attention from our target audience. Yes, we may be doing them a favor in the longer term – alerting them to sources of income, or ways to improve their situation – but in the short term, we’re interrupting them.

It therefore amazes me to witness marketing that can only be described with such negative terms as “arrogant”, “rude”, “presumptive”, or “obnoxious” attitudes towards the target audience.

I’m picking on Bank of America today because a branch manager, Sara E., just demonstrated all of these in a five-minute call the other day – but these could apply to any of us.

Here are my top five “things you should never say”:

1. “I want you to know...” (I don’t care what you want me to know. You’re interrupting my day. Why should –I- want to know this?)

2. “You need to...” (Nope. I’m the customer. I decide what I need to do, and unless it’s on fire, I don’t –need- to do anything. You need to be nicer...!)

3. “Well, [firstname]...” (In email, sometimes this works, if tone is consistent. Phone, never. I don’t know you well enough yet for you to address me by my first name – and now I don’t want to. Ironically, using a full name in email – ‘dear firstname lastname’ - is also a turnoff, it’s an obvious poor mail-merge)

4. “Goodbye (click)”. (Never hang up. Even at the end of a conversation, let the customer hang up, you never know, they might think of a last minute question).

Those are at least a start – others, anyone?

I’m dyyyyyyin over here: Starving vs Budget Cutting, and Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:38:00 GMT

In (very) old Bugs Bunny cartoons, when confronted with a particularly egregious situation, Bugs would grab his head and yell (in a wonderful brooklyn accent) “I’m dyyyyyyyyin ovah heah!”

In this economy, many a marketing department is doing something similar, as budgets are cut and a cycle of starvation is set up.

The way it works is usually something like this:
o The company’s sales are weakening. Economy is tough. So the company looks for ways to save cash.

o “Hey, let’s cut the marketing budget”, says someone. “After all, they’re just a cost center”.

o That person may be right. You may not be using your marketing efficiently. So you become more careful with spend, and since lead cycles are long anyway, nothing negative seems to happen to the sales funnel.

o “Hey, that’s great!” they say. “We can cut more!”

o Now things start to crack. You know you’re bringing in fewer leads for sales, and even with long cycles, the funnel starts to shrink. Sales drop.

o But if sales drop, we need to cut more. Let’s cut some marketing!

o Sales drop further. Now, sometimes, marketing budget is restored. But unless management is willing to wait through a full lead cycle (unlikely, sales are down), there’s no immediate impact, and the momentary increase is seen as useless.

o Eventually, someone asks “well, why can’t sales just work their rolodexes – do we really need marketing”?

o …and now you’re done.

How to avoid this pernicious death spiral?

1. Measure, measure, measure. It’s easier to keep funding if you can show your sources of funding the effects of various programs. (And if you can’t show the effects, yes, you should be cut!)

2. Don’t just give in. Yes, you’re a team player. But you also need to support your aspect of the team. If you let the funnel down, sales will fail. So use your measurements and negotiate. If you can make sales 2x more efficient, can sales cut their budget? Can engineering wait a quarter on machine buys? Etc

3. Be transparently essential to sales. If you’ve been a vendor to the sales team all along – asking them what they need to do their job better – then cust to you are cust to their ability to sell – and they’ll defend you.

In short, just like any other function, marketing (if done right) isn’t just a “must have because everyone does”. You serve a crucial function. Market that.

It IS about you: Events and Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:22:00 GMT

I know there are sadists in this world, who invite friends (?) over to torture them with uncomfortable furniture, oversalted meals, cold and drafty rooms and overly loud and boorish conversation.

I personally aspire not to be, much less know, these people.

And I’d hope that you all feel similarly. I was always raised to believe that when you have guests over to visit, you go out of your way to make them comfortable.

So why is it that conference or event organizers can’t do the same?

Here’s a hint, if you’re planning an event: attend one at your chosen facility as a guest. If you can’t, get someone you know and trust to do so.

Why?

Same idea as testing your guest-room by sleeping in it one night: you experience what guests will, first-hand.

This lets you later avoid... (this is a checklist, print it out!)

. Overheated, freezing, or simply uncontrolled temperature event rooms
. Too few people in gigantic space
. Painful chairs (after an hour, not 5 minutes)
. Bad internet or phone connectivity (as 100 people simultaneously access your wifi acces point)
. Distorted audio
. Invisible projected slides
. Salty / stale / rubbery food – or simply too little of it
. Noise (or worse, smells) from other rooms
. Simply dangerous places (I once stayed in an hotel in Atlanta whose front doors not only had no doorman; they had large locks. To enter the lobby. Really)

In short, when planning for success, don’t just put yourself in the customer’s shoes in theory; try it in person. Happy travels!

Happy Holidays

KevinE — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:33:00 GMT

No Stupid Marketing blog entry this week. Enjoy the US holiday which so gloriously exemplifies all the best and worst in marketing...

-K

Part of (next to) this nutritious breakfast: Rice Krispies, Froot Loops, and Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:38:00 GMT

Growing up, I always loved the phrase in television commercials “...part of this nutritious breakfast”.

The phrase was always spoken as the camera panned over milk, juice, eggs, bacon, toast, jam, fruit – oh, yes, and some sugar cereal like “Sugar Smacks”. (This was in the ancient times, when Sugar was still advertised openly, as opposed to today’s “Honey Smacks”. Dig’em the frog has been bought off).

I loved the phrase because it seemed to me to be such obvious parody – you might as well say “Sugr cereal: next to this nutritious breakfast”, as it was clear that the cereal made no contribution. In fact, that the cereal had less nutritive value than its cardboard box.

Fast-forward to today, when we see Froot Loops advertising itself as “good for kids, with 3g of fiber per bowl”, and (as the Blonde Bombshell pointed out) Rice Krispies stating “filled with vitamins to help boost your immune system and avoid getting sick”.

Shame, SHAME on those marketers!

1. Yes, Froot Loops have fiber. Again, their box has more. The Froot Loops fiber health benefits are almost certainly trumped by the negative effect of ingesting a zillion calories of raw sugar.

2. Yes, Rice Krispies have vitamins. So do most substances we ingest. But the link between the amount of vitamins in Rice Krispies’ effect on your immune system, vs the benefits of having good sleep and a balanced diet...?

That all said, I’m not castigating these two (Kelloggs) brands for spin. It’s acceptable to try and emphasize the positive in your product.

What’s not acceptable is taking things to a patent-medicine-man level of hype.

Marketing should be about education. Not hype.

So folks – turn down the volume a notch, eh? Or the next thing I link to is the infamous Saturday Night Live “Colon Blow” cereal satire. And no-one wants that. Ok?

What Were They Thinking?! Products and Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:48:00 GMT

Many thanks to the Blonde Bombshell for finding many of these online and offline while doing her Xmas shopping. (She says she doesn’t want anything for Xmas. Too late, I ordered it a while ago... call it a New Year’s gift.)

I present just a few examples of dissonant marketing, where the product & packaging & Pricing & promotion are internally inconsistent.

. Organic Pancake Spray-Batter in a Can. Like cheese-wiz without the shelf-life, available at Whole Foods, this combines the eco-conscious new millennium with the amazing instant gratification and wastefulness of the late last-century.

. Ultra-bright LED billboards with video ads on major highways, touting highway safety. Wow, the good news is that the sign reminded me to buckle up, so when it killed my night-vision and distracted me I was safe when I rolled the car.

. Costco’s infamous “Cuddle Baby Doll”, aka “the lil’ monkey doll”, which although it also came in Hispanic and Caucasian versions, and shows that Costco is so non-racist that concerns never crossed their minds, does not excuse the amazing oversight in shipping a black baby doll packaged with a toy monkey and a headband saying “lil’ monkey”. What’s next, “lil’ shylock?”

The examples are infinite, but the tale is the same: please check your 4 P’s before you ship. OK?

Aggressive and Demanding Don’t Buy You Love: Morsatile, Email, and Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:48:00 GMT

I recently received an email solicitation from a would-be startup company named “Moresatile” (As in “More Versatile”. Supposedly. They did not read my post on naming, I think).

I usually delete these, sometimes investigate the vendor further.

But I saved this email. Because it was such a wonderful example of what not to do... specifically in tone.

Here it is:

----
Dear Kevin:

I'm following up on the e-mail below to have you either determine or direct me to the most appropriate contacts to arrange a brief meeting to discuss the opportunity outlined below.

I typically arrange this discussion with the VP/Director of Sales, M arketing & Business Development.

Please kindly advise.
----

OK, where to start.

o Familiarity. It’s an email, it is casual, but I’ve never met you. I might let it go, but would really prefer if you didn’t use my first name yet. (B/

o Grammar. Please kindly advise. Infinitely long first sentence. Useless words (following up on email below – no kidding?). (C/C+)

o Typos. The space in the word Marketing, for example. (C-)

o Tone. I am the decision-maker. I am an officer. While I appreciate your attempting to guide my attempts to forward by naming your targets (B+/A-!), it is not my job to determine or direct you anywhere in my company. You are not having me do anything. I am having you spam-filtered going forward. (D-/F)

Did that last statement sound arrogant? You betcha. But it’s the initial internal 1-second reaction of 99% of overworked executives.

When writing a solicitation email, please remember, you’re presuming on someone else’s time and attention – you need their good grace to do you a favor.

So beg. Politely, not obsequiously, but make no mistake, you’re asking a favor – so picture yourself asking to borrow money from your life-partner’s parent, on your first date... and you’ll have just about the right tone. (Deferential, respectful, but independent).

Good hunting.

Customers Brilliant, Ignorant, Lazy… Human? Geico, Dyson, Kelloggs, and flavors of smart and Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:29:00 GMT

Above and Beyond: Border’s Books, and not so Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:34:00 GMT

“Look at this!” the Blonde Bombshell said to me the other day. “Border’s Bookstore is going to ship me stuff for free!”

I was intrigued.

The actual press release stated in part “Borders’ "In-Stock Guarantee," promising customers that if they do not find an item in stock in a Borders store, and that item is among the more than one million titles available on Borders.com, Borders will find it and pay the shipping costs to the customer's home”

How smart is that?

The best marketing often takes “things you are doing already or should be doing” and highlights them to relevant parties, eg prospective customers.

So, as a customer, if you were shipping in person, and Borders didn’t have the book, you’d go elsewhere, right?

They’d have lost the sale.

Maybe even to an online retailer.

So now, with this promotion, at the (small) cost of shipping, they keep you as a customer, gather all your marketing contact info – and possibly lure new prospective customers into the store as they’ve removed one risk of / barrier to shopping (“gee, maybe I’ll spend the effort to look and they won’t have what I want, ergo wasted effort, why start)

Nice work, Borders marketers. Everyone wins. Not stupid.

Image Matters, Part II: Bank of America, signage, and Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:42:00 GMT

I took the photo below at the Bank of America "Stanford Financial Square" branch at 2600 El Camino Real in Palo Alto CA.

The sign as shown has been in place for weeks (though they've neatened up the masking tape holding it and the pink flyer on the ATM).

Hmmm. I know it's a college town, and this reeks of empathy -- dorm rooms, frat parties, rallies on the quad, and so forth...

But do I -really- want to trust my money to a bank that can't afford the $25 or less at Kinkos (a block away) to print a professional-looking sign?

Somewhere in BofA, I suspect (hope) some marketer is feeling an itch and wondering why... (ps -- right-click, save the photo below, and re-tweet / re-email for extra fun!)

Evelyn Makes A Smart Choice: Toyota Motors and not so Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:32:00 GMT

Somewhere out there is a customer service rep named Evelyn, who’s an amazingly valuable asset to the Toyota Motors corporation... and who’s being laid off today.

Here’s Evelyn’s story.

One day, last week, a polite and well-spoken but somewhat concerned man called the Toyota Motors customer service hotline, and after wading through three layers of voice menus, reached Evelyn.

He explained to Evelyn that a nice older lady of his close acquaintance owned a mid-range Toyota, had taken faithful care of it, was loyal to the dealer, and was surprised to have to have a certain part replaced – especially when the dealer mentioned that they’d seen that situation a lot with this model.

The nice man also explained that the internet showed a Toyota Technical Service Bulletin, covering this part for 3yrs/36k... but that his acquaintance’s vehicle was markedly past that point.

The man asked whether Toyota could assist nonetheless.

Here’s where Evelyn was immensely valuable to Toyota: she said “yes”.

Evelyn investigated the man’s statements, reinforced to the man that the reason Toyota was willing to help was the customers’ demonstrated loyalty to the Toyota brand and dealers, and wrote off the full ~$430 of repairs.

Now, Evelyn could have been hostile, or unhelpful, or uncaring – which would have resulted in the corresponding story on this blog, as well as in other forms of social media.

But instead, Evelyn spent less than $500 of Toyota’s money – and has generated a story that (via word of mouth and social media) will do marketing that would have cost Toyota at least $50,000 to do via conventional means.

The best (worst) part?

Evelyn stated that she’d be sure to have the refund issued by today – as it would be her last day, she was being laid off.

That level of intelligence, good sense, and commitment in your employees is hard to find.

And it’s a clear example of how everyone works for marketing.

Toyota Motors execs, if you’re reading this, please email me directly – you have a hero(ine) in your midst, and you’re letting her go.

Oh, the humanity: health care, politics, and Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:02:00 GMT

Allow to to engage in some heresy: I believe there are certain things which shouldn’t be marketed.

Health Care is one of them.

Now, I don’t mean that marketing tools can’t be used well within the confines of generic care – for example, those wonderful school posters encouraging you to eat healthily, brush your teeth, and exercise. (EG relatively non-controversial statements like “act responsibly and healthily”).

But when different surgeons start placing competing ads for cosmetic surgery – a risky and expensive set of processes – that’s going too far. Artificially making people self-conscious enough to engage in being cut? Reprehensible.

Similarly, health insurance companies shouldn’t be allowed to market. There’s a massive conflict of interest in a company that makes more money when you engage in less care being allowed to market care recommendations. (Hunh, you think their marketing ever encourages anyone to seek a second opinion? How about look for the most price-competitive insurance offering?)

Lastly, no-one should be allowed to market around health care politics. Not the proponents, not the opposition.

Imagine if instead of all the “spin”, all that money was spent on making full or digested versions of the actual legislation available?

Or how about a website where you enter your stats and it kicks out what would happen to your coverage under the proposed plan?

Or what if the cash was just applied as a health care tax credit to all of us?

Seem wacky?

Maybe.

Or maybe, just maybe, there are some things sufficiently important that we’ll seek out the truth on our own, without needing others to deliver it tailored to our perspectives.

Maybe there are some things that shouldn’t be marketed.

Reputation, Reputation, Reputation: Mechanica Automotive, Yelp.com and not-so-Stupid Marketing

KevinE — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:56:00 GMT

One of the most successful marketers I know does no “marketing” in the most common sense of the word.

The marketer in question is a silicon valley engineer-turned-auto shop owner named Ed, and in all the time I’ve been visiting his business (“Mechanica Automotive”), I’ve never seen Ed once do any of the activities most people would associate with marketing.

I mean, yes, he does have a sign on his shop. And he once had T-shirts made for his staff (and a few select others). But I’ve never seen flyers, coupons, mailers, online social media, radio or tv spots, newspaper ads...heck, he’s barely visible in the telephone directories.

But his shop is never short on business.

Why?

Because Ed has a sterling reputation – and given such websites as Yelp, and basic email lists, word of mouth can move a good reputation further and provide more credible, meaningful, impactful marketing that could any of the more conventional devices.

Now some of you might be disagreeing right about now. “That’s not marketing”, you’re saying. “That’s just being a nice guy / being honest / being good at what you do”.

Precisely.

Marketing is educating would-be buyers of what you have to offer. Having satisfied, credible people working for you to spread that message is the best form of marketing – and ironically, the way you “pay” for such people is simply to provide them with excellent service.

Shakespeare’s Iago, in Othello, says “Who steals my purse steals trash…But he that filches from me my good name / Robs me of that which not enriches him, / And makes me poor indeed”.

Shakespeare knew that reputation has more value than cash – and serves as competitive differentiation, because it’s not simply transferrable. (Just look at all the corporations that have squandered the “goodwill” – reputation – for which they paid billions of dollars in acquisitions)

Wise words from the immortal Bard, indeed.