David Young | Branding Blog - Marketing Advice and Advertising Strategy for Local Business Owners

Strategic Copywriting

When copy doesn't matter, and when it will make all the difference in the world.

It doesn't really matter what Budweiser says in their ads. They have a Path Dominant business model that allows their ad copy to coast along entertaining us with frogs or whatever. As long as it does no harm, they'll continue to dominate their category because they have purchased shelf space at eye-level in every supermarket and made sure that their products are available on tap at your favorite restaurant.

Likewise, WalMart wasn't built on the power of their advertising. They became a juggernaut through superior inventory management. End of story.

In the healthcare category, the business is called a "practice" because it usually offers custom, customer-intimate solutions to problems. They like to think that it is their surgeons, specialists and training that make all the difference. Most of the time, and stacked up against most of their competitors, they are correct.

But, there are two situations that will change the game, and if they aren't prepared to respond with the right message, they'll quickly find themselves marginalized and irrelevant.

Let's take a look at the field of LASIK. Laser vision correction has been around for awhile now. In the early days, it was a pretty scary idea.

There are chains of LASIK shops which are bombarding us with spam and other ads offering vision correction for $299 per eye. These are the discount merchants of vision correction and most consumers won't bother to investigate much further than price. They'll be drawn in by the marketing only to find out that the price includes technology that the best ophthalmologists have relegated to museums. That's right, if you want to get bargain-basement LASIK, your corneal flap will be cut with a steel blade instead of state-of-the-art computer-guided lasers. Guess what? Most patients opt for a higher-priced procedure using more modern equipment…but still not always state-of-the-art.

Most of the independant doctors are afraid to call the chain shops out on this bait-and-switch routine. They wring their hands and moan just like their old retail friends who were shut down years ago when WalMart moved to town. That's the first situation.

Many of them have an ace in their sleeve that they also fail to play. If they've invested in the latest and greatest technology, they really can offer a better outcome for their patients. But, they think that patients just won't be able to understand why their prices are so much higher than the chains. And, that's just as bad as not responding to the bait message.

The simple truth is that the procedure is more expensive BECAUSE of the newer technology and the business model of the manufacturer. Using the old methods, the only incremental cost to the chain store is buying new blades and paying the surgeons. The state-of-the-art LASIK systems incur a royalty fee to the manufacturer each and every time the laser is used on a patient. This adds MORE than the cost of the cheap LASIK to the procedure BEFORE the doctor's office has made a dime.

So, they'll tell you that it's safer. They'll tell you that their doctors are smarter. They might be brave enough to tell you that the chain stores are some kind of assembly line. But, I haven't found one yet that will tell you why it costs more. In fact, most of them avoid any mention of price on their sites.

Nobody does a very good of explaining what's in it for the clinic…by way of outlining what's in it for the developer of the laser equipment. 

I've talked to insiders. I understand the procedures and the equipment. I'd never opt for anything but the newest technology, because it makes a difference.

So, these clinics have a Proprietary Product and yet they fail to take advantage of it. It's like a BMW dealer refusing to mention the manufacturer of the luxury cars for sale at his business. It would be sheer folly for him to expect me to pay a premium price just because he's a highly trained car dealer.

I'm not suggesting that you give up talking about the skills of your surgeons, but if you have a Proprietary Product, you should turn it into the big deal that it really is.

Persona Based Leadership

The best reality show on TV right now for business owners is Undercover Boss on CBS where the CEOs of big companies are learning some valuable lessons by interacting with their rank and file while in disguise.

As a business owner, you have a leadership style. Unless you've worked at crafting your leadership style with training and intention, it's quite likely to simply be your natural style based on your personality type.

So, what's your personality type? Do you know it? I've been using a personality-based approach toward marketing for my clients for the past 6 years. We based our messaging and strategy around what we know to be true of people's decision making styles. We anticipate their questions and their actions.

Turn it around and point it back at yourself as a leader and you'll quickly uncover your strengths and maybe some areas where you are failing and don't know it yet. Yes, you'll identify your blind spots.

Bruna Martinuzzi has shared some great advice for leaders based on their personality preference for Extraversion or Introversion. (If you don't know your personality type try this free test. You're looking for the first letter in your 4-letter type...E or I.)

Martinuzzi's advice for Extraverted Leaders:

Circulate information ahead of a meeting. Provide as much written information as is feasible before a meeting so that introverted team members have a chance to reflect on the material in order to give you their best thinking.

And for Introverted Leaders:

Beware of voids created by non-communication. A void will be quickly filled by rumors, misinterpretations, and grapevine musings. Take the initiative to share information. Be inspired by Seth Godin’s exhortation that “the less people know, the more they yell” and make sure that you communicate early and often.

The entire article is a good read for a business owner. It gives 6 good tips for both types of leaders.

Currencies That Buy Credibility by Tom Wanek

I've got a copy of Tom Wanek's new book, "Currencies that Buy Credibility." I got one of the first books out of the box, got it signed and everything because I was standing next to him when he opened the box.

I'm kinda sad that this book is out because I work quite closely with Tom and frankly, he's my secret weapon for finding a good strategic hook for clients. I shouldn't be sad though, because now you have a chance to apply what Tom knows.

In Currencies, he outlines six strategies for spending a business' resources to purchase credibility in the minds of customers and the public. Think of it as six ways to put your money where your mouth is…although it's not just about money.

You'll be hearing more about this book all over the web, and right here.

You can pre-order "Currencies that Buy Credibility" from Amazon for delivery in about a week. I really think you should.

Tom Wanek - small business consultant website.

Follow Tom Wanek on Twitter.

Happy New Year...Ready to Learn?

I've got a couple of course recommendations for you.

First...Fight the Big Boys and WIN! Just a few seats left and you might just get to stay in Engelbrecht house if you hurry.

Second....The Marketing Performance Seminar in Denver, Colorado. This one is a bargain, especially if you're a retail or service business owner. Your registration will be just $99 and you can grab an on-site hotel room for just $99/night.

Advertising vs. Being Remarkable

"Advertising is a tax you pay for being unremarkable."
-Geek Squad founder Robert Stephens

There are STILL plenty of very smart people in the world who have not begun to realize the power of the web. For some, it's a fear of technology. Others have been too busy engaged in successful business. Still others just have their heads in the sand.

I was having a conversation with a group of very successful brick and mortar jewelers a couple of weeks ago. We were talking about my blogging class and they asked if I knew of any jewelers who have had any measure of success with blogging. I pointed them to Ice.com and their use of a blog strategy to tie their name to celebrities and provide lots of in-bound links to products.

Then, they asked me if I could name a business that has achieved any kind of success with YouTube?

Low Rent Strategy

We're always telling our clients that rent money and advertising dollars are interchangeable. Our partners down under offer proof!

3 months ago, a local NSW coastal business owner made a decision to relocate his surf clothing store after staring down the barrel of a 34% increase in rent.  The original location was on the esplanade of a high tourist area… lots of restaurants, lots of shops, lots of apartments, lots of feet.  The move took him just one street away... just one street… but thousands of feet from his original location because nobody wanders behind the resorts on the Esplanade.

What happened next?  Sales plummeted by $115,000… and are still going down.

YIKES! Have you calculated your ad budget lately?

Art as a Marketing Tool

Sonja Howle has been studying art as a strategic tool for marketing for over a year now and has been busy posting her observations and case studies on her American Visionaries blog. Our Wizardly Customer Experience partner, Mike Dandridge picked up on her latest story about The Palm restaurant in NYC.

By sheer coincidence a book landed in my lap 2 nights ago that chronicles the story of an iconic Austin restaurant called Fonda San Miguel. The restaurant is owned by a native of my little hometown in Nebraska, so I'm familiar with it and I've dined there. It was great, but my focus wasn't on the experience as much as it had been if I had "discovered" it myself.

Now the book has allowed me to re-discover what the owners have been able to create over the past 30 years and how they have woven authentic Mexican cuisine (not the enchilada plate #2) along with art and architecture into a truly experiential dinner.

I sent this link to Sonja and suggested that a group of us head to Fonda San Miguel next week when we're back in Austin. It will be good to catch up with Tom Gilliland and take a look at the place with a different eye.

Pimp my Blind

One of the strategies we use for our clients is called business topology mapping. It involves taking a totally unrelated business model and finding a way to apply their tactics in your own business.

Here's an example and a free idea for my friends at Cabela's.  Pimp My Ride is a cool show on MTV right now.  MTV finds some poor kid with a crappy car and sends out rap artist Xzibit to pimp their ride. Basically, they take the junker and turn it into a customized dream car for the owner.  Cabela's could find some poor hunter with a lousy goose pit and award him a total makeover.  Call the show "Pimp my Blind." 

Maybe instead of a rap artist, you could get Ted Nugent to host the show. I can see the pimped out blind:  Satellite TV dish inside of a decoy...plasma TV monitors for each hunter connected both to the football games AND to horizon-scanning cameras to keep a look out for the birds.  Full underground kitchen, the works.

Why let MTV have all the fun?

What the world needs now, is Psychopaths, sweet Psychopaths

I've often suspected this. In fact, I think I could name a few.

But the corporate world's dirty little secret may well be that psychopaths thrive because companies actively seek them out: The focus on short-term results in today's "quarterly capitalism" requires ruthless leaders not afraid to take hard quick decisions without looking back.

Yahoo! News - Is your boss a 'snake in a suit' or just an ordinary psycho?

Fast Company Now

Good advice from Fast Company. Everyone is in the PR/Marketing department. Everyone.

Fast Company Now

Make everyone an evangelist for your company's product & services. The secretary, the account manager, the programmer, the accountant - all should be well versed in the mission of the company, the brand. Share with your associates an elevator pitch that they can keep at the ready.