Category listing: Survey
The Fort Worth Business Press is requesting nominations for various categories – some of you may want to participate in nominating for:
40 UNDER 40:
This fun event honors select men and women under the age of 40 who are helping to shape the future through their business and community involvement. They are leaders today and are sure to be part of the next generation that will make Tarrant County a great place to live and work.
Nomination Deadline – April 4th, 2008
Also, if you know anyone in Tarrant County who would qualify for FAMILY BUSINESS OF THE YEAR, go to this nominating form:
FAMILY BUSINESSES:
Family businesses are the driving force behind the city of Fort Worth–they not only keep the economy strong, but the community strong as well. This event recognizes the importance of family owned businesses and honors those that have been a vital part of the growth of Fort Worth.
Nomination Deadline – August 1st, 2008
PS – The deadline for “40 Under 40″ is April 4th (this FRIDAY!). The Family Business is due August, but don’t let it pass you by. Perhaps you have a family business of your own, or you have a special client who you think deserves the honor . . . don’t let the busyness of the summer cause you to miss this opportunity! It’s great for client relations or your own PR!
In a long line of effective Super Bowl ads, the FedEx ad agency of BBDO/New York (19 years and running for FedEx!) has produced another great ad:
1. HUMOR: This is probably the most common element among all the ads, but it works. It’s probably what has made the Super Bowl ads so famous (when is there ever such a buzz about commercials?) The shot of the smaller Cleveland-bound pigeon “equipped with GPS and night-vision” was hysterical.
2. PROBLEM IDENTIFIED: With a little exaggeration, the clerk is showing off his solution to the obvious chaos in the mail department of this company. The problem is then posed by the presumed company president, “what about the big stuff?” This is likely an issue alot of companies have…they may use FedEx for smaller packages, but think of other carriers for large shipments.
3. CURRENT SOLUTION EXPOSED: With the help of some exaggerated enormous carrier pigeons, we are shown the disastrous work of these birds with “the big stuff”. The one dropped package sets off a chain of horrifying events that triple the chaos!
4. NEW SOLUTION PROPOSED: Alot of times, ads will mention their product names early on or in the middle but fail to capture that final word: FedEx scores big with the company president’s directive: “Let’s switch to FedEx.” Brilliant. (I think it’s a nice touch, too, that it is the clerk’s very own car that comes crashing into the top-floor suite…evidenced by the clerk turning off the car alarm…funny.)
John Jantsch, creator and founder of the Duct Tape Marketing system, defines marketing this way:
GETTING PEOPLE WITH A SPECIFIC NEED OR PROBLEM TO KNOW, LIKE AND TRUST YOU.
At the heart of the Duct Tape Marketing system is this principle…and I believe this FedEx ad demonstrates the first part of this definition. In your own marketing (minus the 3 million dollar budget), consider ways to identify clearly the problem you know your clients have…even using exaggeration to make your point. Try and show the depths of your understanding by not just identifying the quantifiable problem, but the emotional problems, too (how this problem causes anger, frustration, sadness, confusion). This is where you grab the client’s attention.
Without going too negative on the competition (most small business owners I talk to are not really into getting into a war with their competitors)…you can identify differences. Or you can try and demonstrate (again with the help of exaggeration) the reasons why the client’s current solution is not a good buy (most likely you will need to focus on your client’s frustration with their ROI).
Then you have to be prepared to present with clarity why YOU are the true answer to the client’s problem. FedEx doesn’t get to do this in a 45-second spot, but this will come as they deliver on their promise (no pun intended). Getting people to know you (and understand why YOU are the true solution to their problem) is a huge first step…the “like” and “trust” part are significant elements of your marketing as well and the Duct Tape Marketing system can help you understand how to do this. A great marketing system helps put you on a path toward success…and a good marketing coach can help you get it done. I am a Duct Tape Marketing authorized coach and would love to help you implement this success!
-Randy
OK, so this is probably not the absolute best commercial of the day (but I saw one poll where it ranked #10), but I wanted to review the ad because it has some unique elements that we can all learn from:
First of all, here it is again for your review: Tide:TalkingStain
Here’s some reasons why I like it and I believe you can learn some things for your marketing as well:
1. HUMOR – It’s hard to beat humor, especially when you are marketing a somewhat dull product like a stain remover tool. These ring-around-the-collar guys have gotten funny!
2. EARLY ARREST – this ad (unlike some of the Bud Light commercials) grabs your attention right from the start, assuring that you don’t walk away and head to the fridge just yet. In our day and time, amidst all the clutter, to get someone’s attention early is key!
3. OVERKILL ON IT’S PRACTICALITY – OK, what idiot would go to an interview with a stain that big…but that’s not the point…although we’re not that dumb, we could all imagine ourselves in a similar situation where a smaller stain (or some other physical imperfection) could totally ruin the job interview…so we relate, even if it’s exaggerated. This is a product that could save us if we were in a similar situation (although I always saved my meals for post-job-interview for this very reason!)
4. ACTION ITEM AT END – I’m not sure if people caught it because they might have been laughing too hard to hear the announcer say, “Get Famous at mytalkingstain.com”…..but they are banking on the fact that some of you did or at least you’ll hear it when you replay the ad today on blogs like this one….so you are instructed about this practical laundry tool, but they are counting on you to retain your affinity for this product (and the Tide brand name) by going to this site that has a YouTube feature where you can create your own talking stain ad or watch other homemade versions (that they promise to choose the best and air on national TV). By the time I am writing this (about 18 hours after the airing of the commercial) there were only a few spots…I wonder how many they’ll end up with (the men’s restroom one is pretty funny). Not all of you will be able to encourage your customers to go to some website that allows people to create their own spoof videos (much like the ElfYourself phenomenon of OfficeMax), but the idea of getting people to engage in free follow-up PR (putting their own Tide to Go spoofs on YouTube…free PR for you!)…well, it’s a strategy that will enable some audiences to maintain their affection for Tide long after the 30 sec spot is done (which is probably what happens with alot of the million dollar commercials). Without spending millions of dollars, you can still take advantage of the web to give people a place to go to learn more, see more, or hear more about your product (and the effective use of creative domain names….mytalkingstain.com….it helps create a little buzz about what you have to offer.) This is a key element to the Duct Tape Marketing system…I am an authorized DTM coach, so I can tell you more about it!
Well, that’s it for today….either myself or the other TWIN will chime in with more as the week goes on. These are fun to review and watch, and even though you may not mimic the same ad buy budget, you can glean some elements that will be important for your small business marketing.
-Randy
