Brand disaster a blessing in disguise?

Hi,

Here is a case where a disaster achieves one of your marketing goals:

The thoroughbred racing industry is in turmoil with the Spring Racing Carnival in Sydney cancelled because of equine 'flu. But the industry has suffered for years from public and political ignorance of its size and importance, according to the industry leaders I interviewed during a brand audit for TAB Limited several years ago. Now the 'flu disaster has made the facts painfully public: the Spring Racing Carnival was expected to turnover $1billion. A study in 2001 revealed the industry was worth $8billion annually. The cost to the NSW racing industry is estimated to be around $40 million in TAB turnover for the first 72 hours of the crisis alone.

So it's a costly way to achieve a marketing objective. But it should be calculated into the equation.

Cheers!

Michael

PS. A mate of mine Malcolm Martyn emailed me to say my reference to Interflora and my dearly departed father probably started a word of mouth/viral campaign that will boost Interflora's sales! Another cloud with a silver lining?

Peter Costello to ban consumer boycotts

Peter Costello aims to ban consumer boycotts because they damage the economy.
The Trade Practices Amendment (Small Business Protection) Bill 2007 hit Parliament last week. Mr Costello said it was his "commitment to stand up for small business against thuggery and intimidation. It is vital, both for our economy and our way of life."
If a business is boycotted because it is considered ethically repugnant to buy its products, the ACCC can sue the boycott organisers to recover the company's lost profits. Mr Costello said: "Secondary boycotts can have a significant impact on our economy. They disrupt trade, they reduce output and they inhibit competition."
How many boycotts have there been lately? Why disempower consumers? Madness.

Flowers for my Dad? Nice idea, Interflora

I received this email from Interflora...

"Dear Michael

It’s time again to think of a present for Dad, and let’s face it, he probably already has a shed full of power tools!"

Flowers would be appropriate for my Dad. He's dead.

The eletter ends: "Leave it to the experts this Father’s Day – Interflora." Experts with flowers, not database marketing.

When I worked at O&M and American Express was carpet-bombing Australia with letters that started: "Frankly the American Express Card is not for everyone..." Amex was sending card offers to dead people. Elderly widows would write their pleas in shakey handwriting: "How many times must I tell you: He's DEAD! Please stop."

We had these sorry Return To Senders pinned on the kitchen notice board. I took little interest then. I know now what we were doing to people.

Cheers!

Michael

How to establish a monopoly...

Hi,

Here's how to create a legal monopoly and forget about market share battles: Genetically modified canola is designed to protect the crop from the poison Roundup (produced by agrichemical giant Monsanto) so the weeds can be sprayed out without harming the crop. Once the GM seed is introduced, every grower will use it for competitive reasons. To make their dominance something Hitler could only have wished for, Monsanto will engineer the seed to be sterile, so farmers will have to buy seed each year instead of saving some from last year to plant. Governments are urging farmers to fall in line. It's not marketing. It's world domination.

Cheers!

MK

Do you know too much about marketing?

Hi,

Can you know too much about marketing? Ted Levitt invented the term ‘marketing myopia’ in the 1970s to describe the business world's ignorance of marketing at the time. Fast forward 40 years and the same term could be used to describe a new short-sightedness, brought on by too much ‘knowledge’ of marketing. Telstra was forced to pull TV ads featuring the Dustin Hoffman about its 3G network because they were telling lies. Woolworths has pulled its own brand tissue products because the product was labelled as “sustainable”, but the Indonesian company supplying it is clearing rainforest. Woolworths had not waited for WWF to report on its audit of the supplier before publishing the lie. How can these things happen? Marketing has become too complex – too many processes and technologies. Fundamentals. Did no one at Telstra and Woolworths think to check? Strip your marketing processes down to basics. Then weed the garden regularly. Or does your success in professional marketing driven by your ability to complicate matters?

Cheers!

Michael

The 10 best things you can do to a copywriter

Hi,

After the last post, I was contacted by certiain parties who told me that you can replace the word 'copywriter' with the word 'consultant'.

Here is part 2:

.......


I have worked with some of the best clients in the advertising and marketing communications business, and some of the worst… And the best found their way to the top of the tree. (The worst wound up driving cabs...not that there's anything wrong with that....) These are 10 ways to help a copywriter make you successful.

1. Insist that the copywriter be given a complete induction to your operation, including exposure to your staff as individuals so they can absorb the corporate culture. (It proves that you understand that the copywriter will be the voice of your corporation in the marketplace.)

2. Brief the copywriter on your corporate strategy and your competitors. (It reveals that you understand that marketing communications are a key strategic activity.)
3. Spend time with your copywriter getting to know them and their capabilities. If you are not impressed, change them. (This shows that you respect the role and have high expectations.)

4. Engage the copywriter in conversations about strategy and ideas well before the time for campaigns and projects. (It reveals that you understand that the copywriter is like a barrister, trained to think strategically from your point of view.)

5. Make sure the copywriter is invited to your product releases and corporate presentations. (This says that you expect the copywriter to think without a brief, coming up with initiatives.)

6. Invite your copywriter to take part in brainstorming sessions held by staff. (This reveals your desire to extract maximum value from your copywriter.

7. When critiquing copy, identify problems under three headings: a. Factual mistakes.
b. Tone and manner. (It doesn’t sound right.) c. Personal dislikes. Address each as such. (This absolves the copywriter of responsibility for all the mistakes and proves you can be trusted not to shift the blame.)

8. Don’t suggest copy. Leave it to the copywriter to solve it. (This shows that you respect the copywriter’s professionalism and value their skills.)

9. Creative people are normally insecure. Make your copywriter feel that you trust them and like their ideas. You’ll get more effort and better ideas. They’ll work on your account in their spare time. For free. (This proves that you are one smart cookie.)

10. Give a copy of the last post on this blog to your marketing assistants and other staff who interact with the copywriter. (This proves that you get it.)

The 10 worst things to do to a copywriter

Hi,

Any half decent copywriter will tell you that the best clients – the ones who get the best work – express their respect for your professional skills by the way they treat you. And vice versa. Here are 10 things I have observed in more than 20 years working with small clients and corporate giants. I have seen the best and worst of behaviour. (Best in next post.)

1. Write sarcastic remarks on the copy. (It reveals that you are a beginner.)
2. Rewrite the copy yourself. (It reveals you are an amateur.)
3. Insist on short deadlines because you are always running late. (It reveals that you are a poor manager.)
4. Insist on short copy because you don’t like long copy yourself. (It reveals that you are ill-equipped for managing marketing communications.)
5. Neglect to supply the necessary ammunition/evidence/information to forge a sales argument, supplying it only after the first draft of the copy is submitted. (It proves you have contempt for people whose job it is to make you successful.)
6. Feel compelled to find some detail wrong with the work, turning the presentation into a ‘find the problem with the copy’ session. (It proves that you are so low on the corporate tree that you can only say “No”, not “Yes”.)
7. Neglect to inform the writer of corporate mandatories. (Ditto.)
8. Insist that your copy sound like your competitor’s copy because that’s what copy should sound like in your category. (It shows the world that you don’t get it.)
9. Neglect to give a written brief or insist that your agency develop a written brief that you sign off. It makes the copywriter play Pin The Tail On The Donkey with your copy. (It proves you don't respect the copywriter's time... or anyone else's.)
10. Demoralise the copywriter by playing “I don’t know what I want, But I’ll know what I don’t want when I see it”. (It makes people inclined to laugh about you whenever your name and the word 'strategy' are mentioned in the same sentence.)

Next: The 10 best things you can do to a copywriter

How to invade the popular mind

The girls on our farm like McLeod's Daughters. Even though it bears no resemblance to life on the land round here... But the real world occasionally invades the show... and here is an opportunity for you and your brand/cause/message to make an appearance on a high rating soap (surely the best way to invade the popular mind). Two incidents on the show reveal this opportunity: The ALP's message about Workplace Agreements smacked the Government in the face when young mechanic Patrick Brewer was given a take-it-or-leave-it ulitmatum on a reduction of wages and increase in hours. "You can't do that!" said his girlfriend to the nasty boss. "Yes I can. It's the Law" said the nasty boss. Bullseye. Heartburn for the PM. The second example is the story about building 'leaky weirs' in eroding gullies to encourage vegetation growth after a drought and the issue of letting weeds grow because they have a job to do with the soil. This is a difficult concept for people to get their heads around - it is the theory promoted by my friend and colleague Peter Andrews (he was the subject of the first ABC Australian Story). The fastest way to make a concept popular is to simplify it and incorporate it in a popular story... as has happened. Parables.
How can you get a starring role for your concept/product/brand? Simple. Watch the show you think would be best fit. Observe how the themes are developed. Then send a briefing package to the show's producers and scriptwriters. (They're easy enough to find.) And they are always looking for new story ideas.

Cheers!

Michael

Your slip is showing?

It pays to be careful with descriptors and names that aim to shape your brand to address a weakness. They are a dead giveaway. McDonald's has "Healthier Choices", Marlboro has "Lights", John Howard has "Trust", as in "Who do you trust?" In each case the qualifier reveals a truth about the product that the product's owner would prefer we forgot.

Former Bostonian Mike Connor writes: "Ever since I came to Oz, I have been mystified by the phrase "Proudly Australian". Does this imply every other Australian business (or those who don't have this sign) are an un-proud Australian. Why are there un-proud Australians? This is the wrong message. We should be saying Buy Australian. James Brown's song "I'm Black and I'm Proud" was aimed at lifting the self image of the black community. Do we in Australia have a self image problem? In the US when Japan was producing better cars, the phrase used was Buy American. The phrase "Proudly American" was redundant. Until Bush became President, every American was a proud American."

James picks the weak link

Re our last item on a viral customer revolt against olil prioces, James Schloeffel send us this:

Hi Michael,

I've seen that email a few times over the past couple of years. It has failed to lower the price of petrol because it is based on flawed logic. Boycotting a major oil company and buying your petrol somewhere else simply shifts demand, it doesn't lower it. And if demand doesn't change, neither does the price.

To use an example, if everyone was to boycott Shell and buy their petrol from another Major or from independent outlets, the Shell stations would respond by dropping their price. But as soon as Shell prices dropped by just 1c below the average market price, bargain hunters would be attracted to Shell, buy petrol there and the prices would immediately go up again. All the other non-Shell stations, encouraged by the extra demand at their outlets would actually raise their prices (at least until Shell moved prices back to original levels). So while a few lucky bargain hunters may get a slightly lower price, the overall effect is nil.

The only real way consumers can affect the price of oil is to stop buying the stuff altogether.

Cheers,
James


James Schloeffel
Retail Marketing Manager
STA Travel

Viral consumer revolt?

I got a chain email today which could spell doom for the oil companies. It predicts that petrol will hit $1.70 this summer. The oil companies are untouchable. They can charge whatever they like. They keep moving the price around to keep our minds off the rise in average prices. Well someone has had enough and has devised a way for consumers to fight back. The plan is to get as many consumers as possible to boycott the majors and start a price war as they try to win us back. How do you organise a consumer boycott these days? Use viral marketing vias the Net. The originator of the email sent it to 30 friends. He asked them to send it on to 10 friends. In only 5 successions, it will have reached 3 million consumers. Now of course many won't send it on. But it has been through 12 successions to get to me. Boycott BP and Shell, it says. I'd throw in Caltex for good measure. WIll it work? Let's wait and see.

PS.Until I work out how to embed the powerpoint document in this blog, you'll have to email me for a copy if you want to pass it on.

Email me on michael@michaelkielymarketing.com.au or call (02) 6374 0329

Obey The Basics and see the future

Marketers need to be able to predict the future. The future is hard to see. But the basics always dictate the outcome.

The basics sometimes get lost in the peripheral noise of the media. But the basics always win.

EG. Elton John calls for the Internet to be shut down to stop the cult of the amateur recording artist. Basics: democratising technology always tips elites out of their thrones. Bad luck, Elton.

EG. Murdoch buys the Wall Street Journal. Will it lose its editorial independence? Has Murdoch ever allowed any of his newspapers their independence? Basics: No. Buddha says Dogs have dog nature.

EG. British Airways fined $600million for collusion on prices with competitor Virgin Airways. Virgin gained immunity by confessing. Basics: Never trust a competitor that you have humiliated and attempted to destroy.