Coca-Cola’s Polar Bear Cans

There was customer outrage
after the roll out of Coca-Cola’s white polar bear cans.
Some customers couldn’t distinguish them
from the Diet Coke cans.
Other customers claimed the beverage tasted different
in the white cans.

Coca-Cola didn’t argue with customers.
They didn’t wage a marketing campaign
to change minds.

They simply swallowed the costs
(and there WERE costs as
not only the cans had to be switched
but all of the marketing materials related to the cans)
and changed the cans.

If Coca-Cola,
with the number one brand in the world
and over a century of experience,
realizes they can’t change the customer’s mind,
what makes us think we can?

Don’t fight the customer on what she wants.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Start Up Equipment

One of my buddies,
when he started up his business,
was told he needed a fancy office space
so he could meet his fancy clients.
He couldn’t afford the space.
Instead, he rented a hotel meeting room.

Today, he still rents hotel meeting rooms
because he likes the focus
it gives him.
There are no interruptions.
All of his attention is on his client.

If you’re bootstrapping,
you likely won’t have the latest, greatest equipment,
the best office space,
or the most experienced staff.

That’s okay.

As hip-hop entrepreneur Daddy-O says,
use what you have.

“You ask any guitarist,
and they don’t want a crappy guitar.
But I guarantee you,
Flea plays just as well
on a sucky bass as a good bass,
because he learned to play
on a sucky bass.
Use what you’ve got,
and it will get you to the next level.”

Celebrating Taylor Swift’s Birthday

What is the most valuable present today?

Attention.

Seth Godin talks about this often
on his blog.
Attention is the currency of this decade.

Swifties (Taylor Swift fans) know this also.
For Taylor Swift’s birthday (December 13th),
they’re organizing to give her
the gift of 150,000,000 views on Youtube
of her most popular video
You Belong To Me.

It is a brilliant gift.
It doesn’t cost fans a thing.
It creates an online event everyone can participate in.
And the marketing value is priceless.

Want to give a special present?
Consider the gift of attention.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Non Cash Rewards

Stephen Shapiro has a great post
explaining Dan Ariely’s research
on rewards.

As he states…
“In a nutshell,
when a dollar value is assigned to a task,
people weigh the effort
against the financial return.
But if no dollar amount is specified,
we evaluate it differently.”

This is the country fair phenomena.
A man will spend $500
trying to win a big stuffed bear worth $20.
That same man would never spend $500
trying to win $20.

Ariely points out that gift cards
or incentives with a clearly stated cash value
are treated like cash
and compared to the effort needed.

Unless the cash reward is large
related to the amount of work required
to earn that reward,
non cash rewards are better incentives.

Excluding Team Members From Meetings

I don’t know about you
but I go to enough meetings.
I’m thrilled when I’m not needed
in a meeting…

…as long as I don’t know
about that meeting.

Recently, an email went out
to a project team I’m on.
The project manager asked that
‘key members’ attend a smaller meeting
and she named these key members.

The rest of the hard working team
was pissed off.
They got the message
that they weren’t key,
and they weren’t important
to the success of the project.
Their engagement level plummeted.
The project got shifted
to low priority.

It is great to have smaller breakout meetings.
Smaller meetings are more efficient
and more conducive to quick decision making.

Just don’t broadcast that
you’re having them.
Exclude team members quietly.

Promoting Your Promotion

A romance blogger recently asked me
to guest blog for her.
I could talk about anything,
she told me,
EXCEPT my books.
And could I please help her spread the word
about my guest post?

WTF?

Yet writers are guest blogging for her.
Happily.

I see this happen all the time.
Authors and businesses promote
their promotion
and forget about their brand or product.

Wouldn’t want the brand name in the commercial,
they say.
That’s tacky.

No, that’s not tacky.
That is the POINT of promoting.

It is okay to promote your promotion
if you’re promoting your product/brand also
but promoting your promotion exclusively?
Ask yourself
if that’s a wise use of your limited resources.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

No Brand, Nothing To Lose

A loved one likes
partnering with new businesses
and new business people.

That’s admirable
especially since about 50% of the time,
he gets burned for this.

He suffers through their mistakes.
He meets scammers.
He deals with new players
who simply quit in the middle of a project.

These new folks
have nothing to lose by quitting
or screwing up.
They have no reputation.
They’ve spent no time or money
building a reputation.
They can simply quit
and then start again later,
if they choose,
under a different name.

THIS is why
if a role is important to you,
you should fill it with
a business with a healthy brand or reputation.

And THIS is why
as a business with a brand/reputation,
you can or should charge more.

Brand matters.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Your Customer’s Name

There’s an unwritten rule in romance writing.
If an author gives a character a name,
the character is important.
Readers should care about the character.
They take note of
what the character is doing.

It works in romance writing
because it mirrors real life.
If we know someone’s name,
that someone becomes more important to us.

Recently,
tellers at a local bank
started addressing customers
by their names.
Complaints magically decreased.

As Scott Ginsberg shares
“If your customers wore nametags,
would you give them better service?
Sure you would.
Names reduce the distance between people.”

Your customer’s name is a powerful tool
and surprisingly,
it is not used that often.
I’m always impressed
when a salesperson uses my name.

Find out your customer’s name
and then use it.

Published
Categorized as Sales

Secondary Goals

My writing chapter is hosting
an introduction to romance all day workshop.
From the buzz,
it sounds like we’ll have more attendees
than we’ll have room for.
We’ll turn writers away.

My suggestion was
that we charge a minimal amount
like $5
to separate the serious writers
from the tourists.

“Oh, no,” was the response.
“We don’t need to make money.”

Fine. Making money isn’t the main goal
but since we’re achieving the main goal,
is it a crime to make money too?

Another buddy is publishing
a literary collection of short stories.
I suggested he team with another short story writer,
and publish two collections
so he could readership share with that other writer
and reach more readers.

“Oh, no,” was the response.
“I don’t need more readers.”

Fine. Having readers isn’t the main goal
but since he’s achieving the main goal,
is it a crime to have readers also?

Yes, the key goal of any project
should be what we’re concentrating
on achieving
but why not set up the project
to achieve secondary goals also?

Why Lead?

Yes, I know
yesterday’s post on
leaders being hated
was a bit of a downer.
Building a company isn’t all sunshine and roses.

BUT
there ARE moments
where it IS sunshine and roses.
These moments are magic.
They’re what we work so hard
to achieve.

A couple of days ago,
I received an email from a reader.
While her husband, a retired police officer,
was in the hospital, dying of cancer,
she read him shorter stories
and one of the stories she read him
was mine.
It was a humorous romance with a police officer hero.
She said they laughed and laughed
and now whenever she sees the cover of this story,
she hears his laughter
and it is like he’s with her again.

THAT is why we build companies,
launch products,
lead.

We don’t lead to win a popularity contest.
We lead to make a difference.