July 2008 – Page 2

Chris Brown, Doublemint, And The New Jingle

Fans of Chris Brown
will recognize the line in
his latest hit
‘Forever.’

“Double your pleasure,
double your fun.”

Yep, the Doublemint slogan.
He is also shown in the video
opening the distinctive silver paper covered stick.

Is this a happy coincidence
for Wrigleys?
No.
Wrigleys has partnered
with
Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, and Julianne Hough
to remake
Big Red, Doublemint, and Juicy Fruit
jingles.

A marketer’s dream.
Chris Brown’s Forever
has been downloaded
on YouTube over 20 million
(yes, million)
times.

Not Healthy

On a tv panel
with health food business experts,
the consensus is
that saying a product is
healthy
means nothing to the consumer.

The word is used so often
prospects filter it out.

Instead talk about the specific benefits
but avoid too much medical lingo.

Be specific, not scientific
(put the scientific on the website).

Internal Or External Succession Planning

With succession planning,
business leaders have a choice.
They can promote from within
or they can look outside of the organization.

Which route to take?
It depends on what future challenges
the company will face.

Business succession expert
John Szold advises
to groom internal candidates for leadership
if the company expects the future
to be “business as usual”,
with
no fundamental changes.

If the business landscape is expected to change
dramatically
(the merging of tv and internet as an example),
then an outside candidate may
have the new skill sets required.

Avoiding Auctions

More and more companies
are using auctions to find suppliers.
Suppliers bid on the business
and all services remaining equal,
the low bid wins.

That is a good deal
if you are buying.
A bad deal
if you are selling.

How to avoid having your margins squeezed
by auctions?

GE’s CIO Gary Reiner
explains their strategy…
“The more commodity-like the part or service is,
the easier it is to auction;
and the more differentiated,
the less easy it is to auction.
By design, every year we try to make
more of our business portfolio be
products and services that are noncommodity –
that are differentiated.
So we have been fortunate not to be
as auctioned on the sell side as
we are on the buy side.”

Are your products noncommodity?

Leading, Not Following

The Fortune 500 companies are
seen as industry leaders.
They are NOT innovation leaders.
They have too much to risk.

The innovation leaders are the start ups.
They’re forced in that role.

Bernie Hadley-Beauregard,
founder of Brandever Strategy Inc.,
says start ups become successful
“By taking chances that the
large competitors dare not take.”

If your new product isn’t risky,
it has either been done
or been tested and failed.

Paying Off The Mortgage

When I hear financial security stated
as a reason for starting a business,
I cringe.

Entrepreneurship is NOT for the cautious.
It is NOT a direct route to wealth
and being able to risk everything
to feed a hungry start up
is necessary for business building success.

As David “Patch” Patchell-Evans,
the multi-millionaire founder of
GoodLife Fitness Clubs states
“You have to be able to
risk the mortgage.”

Carlos Santana And Whatever People

I saw an interview with guitar great
Carlos Santana.
He talked about the importance of
goals and plans.
He feels that without them,
a person is at the whim of others.

“There are a lot of whatever people.
I don’t want to be a whatever person.
I’m not a control freak
but I’m not a victim.”

Don’t be a whatever person.
Have a plan.

Sally Lunn’s in Bath

You can’t consider a trip to Bath complete,
without a stop at Sally Lunn’s
and a taste of their famous Bath Bun.

Sally Lunn’s is the oldest house in Bath.
They’ve also been making the same bun
since 1680.
Same huge size
(no downsizing for them),
same great recipe.

You’d think that would be enough
to draw visitors in.

But no, Sally Lunn’s doesn’t do “enough”,
they do more.

They have a free museum.
They give out free samples
with perhaps the friendliest employee I’ve ever met.
Their website not only has
tips on Bath attractions
but recommendations
on competing restaurants travelers should consider.

They over deliver and delight.
And that is why I would go back.

How To Remain Productive

Mid July is the most challenging time
for me as an entrepreneur.
Most of my employee buddies
spend their weekends at the cottage.
I spend it marketing.

How to stay productive,
especially when results are delayed?

I employ Yaro Starak’s technique.

“One of the things I did and still do
whenever I feel less than enthusiastic
is to focus on output,
rather than the external elements
that bring me down.”

If I do the same thing
that other successful marketers do,
over and over,
I SHOULD get the same results.

Until real results come in,
I base achievement
on what I do.

Copywriting Tips

Kim T. Gordon at Entrepreneur.com
shares her top 5 tips
for great copywriting…

1) Write one-to-one.
2) Make your message “outer-directed.”
(about your reader)
3) Lead with benefits.
(to your reader, not to you)
4) Follow the rules of engagement
(use direct, short words).
and
5) Provoke a reaction
(Most common way? Ask a question)

1) Write one-to-one
applies to any sort of writing.
When I write my novels,
I write for a specific single reader in mind.

As Gordon states
“People read marketing copy as individuals,
not as a group.”