Don't be like Harry Connick!

Yes, I am talking about Harry Connick, Jr., multi-talented jazz musician and actor, but this is really a post about your small business marketing strategy. I will tie the two concepts together in a moment.

I am a big Connick fan, and have been for many years. If you are familiar with his work, you will know that he has two very different musical sides. Sometimes he thinks he is Frank Sinatra, and does a great Big Band belter or gentle crooner, as required. Other times, he thinks he is Thelonius Monk, the
jazz pianist and composer famous for “dissonant harmonies and angular melodic twists” (wikipedia).

My musical tastes are idiosyncratic, so I enjoy both version of Harry Connick. However, when I pick up a CD, I have to study the musical selections to understand which Connick is present.

Connick is very good in both genres, and this approach to the jazz repertoire seems to have worked for him. But, as a small businessman, IT WON'T WORK FOR YOU!!!

You can't afford this bifurcated approach. As a business owner, you have a tough enough time establishing a reputation in one area of operational excellence, much less two or more. And while this may seem counter-intuitive, the smaller your business, the fewer things you should do.

To be specific, I am not really talking about the customer activities you undertake each day, but rather the things you talk about in your advertising and in your various image-building activities.

• Find ONE THING you want to be known for.
• Do that ONE THING very well, and much better than the competition.
• Then, talk about that ONE THING every chance you get, in your advertising, in the phone book, on your business card, in your emails, on your building and vehicle signs, ...everywhere.

That's the best way to build your brand inside the head of your customer base.

If you want to take on customers and activities that are off-message, that's OK. However, your best performance is going to be in the activities that you do the most often. And your reputation won't be enhanced by your successes in those non-core areas. The more you can focus on the ONE THING, and the more you can promote it, the more success you will have.

Is it possible to be successful by doing MORE than the One Thing?

Sure. McDonald's does. General Electric does. WalMart does. And so do dozens of other companies. What do they all have in common?

• They have been in business for a long time, and have well-established images
  
• They have HUGE advertising budgets to put behind each of their market segments.

Does that sound like your small business situation? Probably not. You may not even have enough resources to do a good job of promoting your primary focus, so spending dollars to promote your secondary activities will only detract from you main message and confuse your customers.

Avoid the Harry Connick dilemma. Stay focused.

Practical Tip of the Day:

• Gather all of you printed and electronic media advertising from the past 12 months.
• Analyze the primary message of each ad, and look for a common theme. If there isn't one, Make One.
• Build that one theme into every ad you run in the next 12 months. Your customers will respond.

And if you want to know more about Harry Connick and his music, Click Here.

Recent Advertising Stories that Caught my Interest

Two recent stories from the world of advertising caught my eye, and led to some questions which I will share with you.

1.) GM vs Facebook

Facebook has gotten a lot of press lately for its IPO and the aftermath. However, the Facebook story that interested me most occurred a few days prior to the IPO. According to the Wall Street Journal, General Motors will stop advertising on Facebook, after deciding that paid ads on the site have little impact on consumers' car purchases. They will maintain their Facebook pages and will continue working with other social media, but will discontinue its $10 million advertising buy.

Admittedly, this is pretty small potatoes in GM's overall advertising budget, but it may say something about using social media for commercial purposes. Obviously, with 800+ million users worldwide, and over 50% of North Americans using the service, those GM ads were getting a lot of views.

However, this large number of views didn't seem to be getting results for GM. In fact, I read recently that less than 5% of social media users regularly depend on those sites for purchasing recommendations.

Three things may be at play here:

• Type of Product – social media users may be more likely to respond to the opinions of the crowd, or their friends, when the risk is low. If you go to a new restaurant that has a lot of social hype and then find you are disappointed, your loss is pretty minimal. If, however, you buy a car that you end up not liking, the costs are obviously much higher.
  
  
• Age Group Attitudes – heavy social media users are likely to be under 30, which may not be the prime target for purchasing high-profit new cars.
  
  
•  Level of Engagement – After the GM announcement, Ford stated that they were pleased with the response to their Facebook ads, and were continuing their investment. Ford may have a more creative approach to its social media ads and a more comprehensive engagement process after you hit the Like button.

While its not precisely clear what's going on here, it is obvious that there will be a steep learning curve for most businesses before they turn social media into an effective marketing vehicle.


2.) Harry's Law vs the Tyranny of the Ratings

I have been a faithful viewer of Harry's Law (NBC) over its first, and last, two seasons. First on Wednesday nights, and then on Sunday, this was my “must see” show of the evening. Set in Cincinnati, the show starred Kathy Bates as lawyer Harriet Korn, and Christopher McDonald as the over-the-top Fieger-esque Tommy Jefferson. The show had great characters, solid scripts, and unique plot twists. It also got canceled after two seasons, even with decent ratings.

Yes, Harry's Law had decent overall ratings (rather unique for NBC), but it got canceled anyway. Why? Here's a quote from the TV By The Numbers website:

“Will the Harry's Law cancellation convince the doubters that total viewership is completely meaningless in broadcast primetime? A network's top total viewership show (but nearly lowest adults 18-49 rated show) was canceled. Doesn't get any more definitive than that.”

Yes, The show had a lot of great things going for it, but it wasn't “young” enough. But this isn't just a rant from an Old Fogey about how the youngsters are killing all of the valuable culture in our society. (I'll save that for some future blog.) This is merely a statement of my confusion on the subject.

Here is a quiz for you: What do the following advertised products have in common?

• Cialis and Viagra
• Knee replacements
• Faulty knee replacement law suits
• Walk-in tubs
• Ensure nutritional drinks
• The Owl magnifier
• Computer keyboards with oversized keys
• Arthritis medications
• Hoveround powered wheelchairs
• Depends undergarments

I am sure you see the pattern:  
These products aren't being pitched to youngsters!!!

The target audience for many of these products is over 60. Wouldn't a show like Harry's Law be a perfect vehicle for these companies? So why did it get canceled?

There may be some esoteric logic here that can only be discerned by all-knowing network executives, but it is beyond me.

Leadership Comes in Three Forms

I read a good book recently.

Actually, I've read several good books recently, but only a few have any bearing on the subject of this blog: Small Business Marketing Strategy. One that does, and has some trenchant philosophy to offer (translation: the author agrees with me), is:

The Discipline of Market Leaders
       Choose your customers, Narrow your focus, Dominate your market.
        by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema.

My reading list is eclectic. I don't spend a lot of time on “Just Released Best Sellers”. I do look for solid, non-fad ideas that can be translated easily into the small business environment. Although this book takes its examples from the world of well-known corporations, the strategies still apply on the smaller scale.

The book was written about 15 years ago, and many things have changed. In fact, some of the corporate examples used in the book have fallen from favor. However, their replacements as market leaders have succeeded by using the same strategies, which is an excellent validation.

The authors cover a lot of ground, but one key element is this:

All market leaders lead in one of three ways:

1. Operational Excellence
2. Long-term Product Innovation
3. Customer Intimacy

Lets look at these one-at-a time, and go through some examples.

1. Operational Excellence

These market leaders have a well-defined target audience, they offer only a limited numbers of products or services, and they use their intense focus to squeeze out costs throughout their organization and supply chain. This allows them to offer customers a very predictable and highly reliable buying experience at a low cost.

Typical examples would be McDonalds, Costco, Dell Computers, and Southwest Airlines. These companies have brands built around their operational consistency and the low pricing that it allows. In most every industry, you can name a low cost, tightly focused, operationally excellent company that is seen as a leader, and has significant market share.


2. Long-Term Product Innovation

These market leaders are often at the other end of the pricing scale, but they succeed because of their product reputation. A prime factor here is the words “Long Term”. This isn't the company with the latest, greatest product. Its the company with a tradition of innovation that has been earned over several generations of new products.

Some examples here would include, Johnson & Johnson, Apple, Nike, and Disney. One example used in the book was Sony, which was certainly a product leader for many years, but may have fallen by the wayside now. Then new leader in TV's might be Panasonic, and Virgin Atlantic might fit in this bracket in the airline industry.

Once you have a reputation for product excellence and innovation, the market rewards you with the ability to charge higher prices and earn higher margins. Its the long term performance that develops the brand, and its the brand that allows customers to feel justified in paying a higher price.

3. Customer Intimacy

With the advent of liberalize TV advertising standards, this term has taken on a new meaning. In this context, however, it means the ability of a company to truly understand all of the buying needs of the customer, and to offer customized solutions. In some sense, this is the opposite of the highly focused, “operational excellence” company.

Not that these companies aren't good at what they do. Rather, they offer a variety of products and services in an effort to create a unique solution for each customer. And, they charge for it. This type of market leader is going after the customer that can’t find exactly what they want off-the-shelf and are willing to pay more to get a precise solution to their problem. Some examples here would include IBM and Johnson Controls.

In this scenario, the company looks to create a long-term relationship with the customer, and seeks a deep insight into their needs. They also study how they customer benefits from the products / services offered. This deep knowledge allows the company to tailor solutions that fit the situation. The relationship has value to the customer, and is reflected in a higher pricing structure.

Applying these models to small business

In the Operational Excellence model, the secret is limiting your offerings and finding ways to squeeze costs out of your operations and supply chain. It is these cost reductions that allow for low prices while maintaining reasonable margins. I have some service-provider clients who have increased their use of automation, allowing them to offer faster results at lower cost than their local competition.

The Product Leadership model is harder to implement as a small business, because few of them actually create the products they sell. An exception, obviously, is the restaurant business, where many small operations have been successful by offering unique products and presentations to their customers. Another approach is to associate your business with a national product leader, such as offering specialized training and add-ons to Apple products, or becoming a local service outlet for a manufacturer with a major reputation.

Due to the close relationship between most small businesses and their customers, the Customer Intimacy approach may well have the most potential. I don't recommend trying to offer everything to everybody. Rather, you should pick a niche you want to specialize in, and then carry a combination of products and services that let your customers feel like they are getting a customized solution. You should also look for ways to make your business an integral part of their business success.

And now, the really hard part!

For each of these three models to succeed, they must be fully integrated into every aspect of your business operations. These are not simplistic “marketing veneers” that can be slapped on top of your existing business plan. They must be engineered into everything you do, and must be the focus of every customer interaction you have.

It took years for IBM to leave behind its Big Iron business and to get into services and consulting. It took even more time for the buying public to see how they had changed, and for them to once-again regain their leadership position.

The same can be said for most of the examples mentioned above. This isn't a quick solution to the problems of a mediocre brand, but it is an effective one.


Wiersema and Treacy have updated this great book. The new edition is entitled:

        The New Market Leaders: Who is winning and how in the battle for customers.

Fred Wiersema has written several other books about superior customer service. More information,  click here