Astonish Your Customer(s)

D.O.T. as marketer, yes marketer

I was traveling on the Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania. Saw lots of signs reading: "Don't Tailgate" and "Report Aggressive Drivers". I would guess that there was little compliance. 

Than, all of the sudden there were huge white dots painted in the lanes, every 40 feet or so as you traveled along the lane. Then a road sign appeared with a message something like "dots indicate travel distance between cars."

All the sudden, cars started complying, including myself. My kids were telling me to make sure I drove over my dot at the exact same moment that car ahead passed over its dot. 

I observed the other cars and just about everyone was falling into line. 

Presto, chango, behavior change. 

Why did it work? 

It was a game? It was a competition? It took skill? It broke the monotony? My kids were hectoring me? It made sense? It appealed to basic human nature? It was simple? 

Wow, bravo to the D.O.T.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

You want to sell fudge, now what

Fudge is a tough product to make distinctive. It is a fairly homogeneous product, sold in so many places already, and, it seems like the options for varying the recipe has been covered. 

So, confronted with this reality, what can a person do to distinguish her product from other fudge brands to get both retailers and customers interest and purchases? 

Give some thought to what Nancy's Fudge Cup has done. Nancy puts her fudge in a colorful baking cup so that it looks like a fudge cupcake.

Not a huge idea, nor did it take a lot of additional work or investment but it makes Nancy standout from the other providers who offer their product in a brick/block shape, covered in clear cellophane. 

She created a new category (sort of), fudge cupcakes, was first to be there, with a colorful identity and it is tasty.  

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Flood the Zone

Westin's Heavenly Bed concept was an example of being noticeably different and demonstrably better. 

It is also an example of improving something about the brand that literally every customer was guaranteed to notice and experience - 100% awareness and trial. It is also a very testable concept.  

Here's an even more interesting fact about this initiative. Prior to the introduction of the new bedding experience, guests rated the bedding experience 8.9 out of 10.  

So, Westin decided to "Flood the Zone", meaning that they went outrageously over the top to impress their customer, in an area of extremely high satisfaction. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

TY: Youngme Moon

Irish Mary Poppins

When I read that headline a very specific image and story popped into my mind.

It was handwritten on the back of a pamphlet and pinned on a cork board at a local independent coffee shop, amongst a sea of other business cards and fliers for roofers, landscapers, music lessons, art shows and the like. 

This was the only "advertisement" I noticed. 

A headline does not make someone (a product) remarkable, but it can help create differentiation if it is an audacious promise that meets a customers ideal expectation.

Patty (the Irish Mary Poppins) may think she is a nanny but for now she is a very effective marketer, telling a really persuasive story in just three words. 

I hope she gets a great job, with a respectful family and that she lives up to her own audacious billing. If not, I hope that she becomes a headline editor for some business. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.  

iRemarkable

Per Crowd Science (as listed in recent Time article)

• 40% of wireless customers now use a smartphone and growing rapidly.
• iPhone users account for 1 in 3 smartphone owners. 
• Among non-iPhone users, nearly 40% says they would switch to an iPhone for their next contract (count me among that 40%) 
• By 2008, in less than 18 months, Motorola lost $37 B in market cap. In 2009, market share was halved, from #2 to barely in top 5.

This is what it can look like if you do, or do not, take the time to create a truly remarkable product. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Bad Idea or Apocolyptic sign

"Primark, the discount clothing store, has withdrawn padded bikini tops aimed at girls as young as seven following criticism that the items were sexualizing children."  

Do you think that idea was launched because they thought the product would ... 1) be a big seller, 2) be a PR coup, 3) get the brand on the map, 4) establish the retailer as a place for sexy clothes - or - do you think they just thought that making 7 year old girls sexier is a good idea?

As the father of a 7 year old girl and a semi-sane human being, I object in the most prejudicial way.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Manufactured Demand - Scare, Seduce, Mislead

The marketing technique known as Manufactured Demand is artfully described using Bottled Water as the backdrop in a short video by Annie Leonard.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Customers-Aren't-Us

Visited the Toys-R-Us in Times Square today with my wife, 11 year old daughter and my 7 year old girl and boy. There was quite a crowd in the Square and in the store. We went in, attracted by the 40 foot themed ferris wheel. The kids were psyched to ride it. There were about 15 people in line but we were willing to wait. Then we were told that it was $4 a person - we passed. Then my son was recruited by a store photographer to take a picture with Iron Man and Spider Man, which he did. We were shown the (digital) picture. We could have 2 copies for $20. I asked for one for $10 an was told "no" - we passed. We then bought my son a $5 toy that was being demonstrated by an employee. We realized in the car that the toy did not work as demo'd and my son felt tricked.

Who does Toy-R-Us think visits that store? Loyal customers or people that have never visited or bought from them?  Families or single people? Americans or foreigners?

Why wouldn't they use the ferris wheel and the digital pictures as a freebie to reward loyal customers and/or encourage newbies to buy in the future? Will the income from the ferris wheel and photos offset the loss of goodwill ?

How many times will I share this story - lots. How often will I try to divert my family's toy dollar from Toys-R-Us - lots.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

11 year old girls strike again

So, if you are parent of kids ranging in age from mid-teen to kindergarten, how much money have you spent on Silly Bandz, the animal and other shaped rubber bands that are worn as jewelry? I think we're about $20.00 in so far.

Let's see what this product has going for it, as it relates to the aforementioned 11 year old girl strategy?

• Visible - worn on body
• Color - wrist looks like a rainbow when you were the requisite 10+ bandz
• Bragging rights & Competition - who has the latest and hardest to find shape
• Collectible - do you have the most or all the varieties  
• Ubiquity - retailers are promoting it and giving it lots of visibility before the fad burns out
• Status - you are uncool or your parents are cheap if you don't have them
• Cheap - Mom is willing to buy, although it is the most expensive rubber band ever purchased

I just know I have a Silly Bandz idea lurking inside me somewhere.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

How simple and clear can & should you get

The TV game show "The Price Is Right" has been running for over 30 years, and primarily with one host, Bob Barker, and the same studio sets.

The entire show has revolved around one question, "How much does this cost?". The show has over 100 different ways to ask that question but it always boils down to that question.

As a brand, the show knows what it stands for, what appeals to the audience and then innovates, in a consistent manner, around that one clear concept.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

TY: Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hannsson