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.

Vive La Difference!

A technical term often used in marketing discussions is the USP: Unique Selling Proposition ( or, sometimes, Unique Selling Point).

It refers to something offered by the company that the competition can't/ won't/ doesn't match. It is a great way to get the buyer's attention.

Having a USP creates a superb marketing benefit, but only if it is actively promoted. Which brings us to today's topic:  Comparative Advertising.

I LOVE comparative advertising! I think it exemplifies what great marketing is all about.

The first time I remember seeing this approach was in a television ad for Wilkinson Sword Blades. This was back in the day when the US shaving market was dominated by Schick and Gillette. Wilkinson, the big British company, was trying to break into the market with its new, plastic coated blade. The commercial was simple: a small table, with 4 packages of blades from the major US companies. A hand appears, brushes the competitor's products to the floor, and places a pack of Wilkinson blades in the middle of the table. The announcer states that Wilkinson Sword makes the best blades anywhere, and the commercial ends.

The advertising community was shocked. Mentioning your competitors, particularly in a negative manner, just wasn't done. Complaints were made to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), but they held that comparative advertising could benefit consumers and encouraged it, provided that the comparisons were “clearly identified, truthful, and non-deceptive.”

What constitutes “truthful and non-deceptive” has been debated in many court cases since, but that hasn't stopped the practice. Some great examples through the years include the famous “Pepsi Challenge” and, more recently, the very clever “Mac vs PC” ads. (Here is the Youtube link to those ads.)

The automotive companies make extensive use of this technique today, particularly in their truck advertising. The Ford ads with Dennis Leary, and the Chevy ads with Howie Long, both state their advantages over the competition. They tout their mileage, power, and towing statistics, and they name names. It is powerful, and persuasive.

So, why don't more companies use this tactic?

We can assume it's because:

• They wish to appear to be “polite”
• They don't want to mention the competition's name
• They haven't figured out a USP
• They don't want to encourage a counter-attack

In my admittedly-radical point of view, if you don't have a USP, you really shouldn't be wasting money on advertising. I am a big believer in addressing the customer in manner they consider relevant, and in answering the Big Question. As detailed in an earlier post, before someone makes a purchase from your company, they endeavor to find an answer to the Big Question: “Why should I buy from you, rather than 6 other companies that do the same thing”.

Comparative advertising certainly attempts to answer that question. Are your ads as effective?

Practical Tip of the Day:

• What sets your company apart from the competition?
• What do your customers like about your company, as compared to the competition?
• Do you promote those qualities in your advertising?

Have you Checked your Brand Today?

One of the biggest buzzwords from the past decade is “Branding”. The word has been used to describe every form of image, from personal to political to commercial. In spite of, or perhaps because of, all that over-use the original concept has become obscured.

In the business environment, the term “brand” is too often used to refer to a company logo, trademark, or slogan. These are the images constructed by companies in order to communicate their message. But they don't equate to the company's Brand.

Your Brand exists in only one place: within the mind of your target audience!

What kind of impression do you make on your customers? That's your Brand. How do prospective buyers perceive your company? That's your Brand. What do people think of when they see your logo? That's your Brand. How does the marketplace rate your business versus your competitors? That's your Brand.

If the buying public thinks of your company as being “middle of the pack”, then you probably have modest sales, limited growth, and mediocre profits. Many small business owners experience these problems, but don't make the connection with their weak Brand.

Surprisingly, I often meet entrepreneurs who aren't concerned about managing their Brand. They focus entirely on their operations, hope that customers will be impressed, and expect sales growth. This strategy may have worked once, but no longer.

A Strong Brand = Solid Profits

Every time a company touches a potential customer, either directly (through sales interaction or advertising) or indirectly (through some publicity, or comments from a friend), the company's Brand is impacted. Every time a customer is happy with the sales experience or unhappy with a service issue, the Brand is impacted. Every time the company's product is used, and it works well or doesn't, the Brand is impacted.

If you aren't happy with you sales growth, or how the market ranks you versus the competition, CHECK YOUR BRAND.

Check inside the head of your customers, both large and small. Check inside the head of those who don't buy from you, preferring your competition instead. Check inside the head of your vendors' sales staff. And (although this is tricky to do) check inside the head of your own sales staff.

Don't be afraid to discover the truth. Therein may lie your future success.


Practical Tip of the Day:

Add a Survey Widget to your company website (there are many available, some free). Ask your site visitors what aspects of your product / service are most important to them. Then ask them how well you deliver on those issues. If you are worried about the answers you'll get, your instincts are telling you that some problems need to be addressed.