Marketing to Potential: Issue #1!

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Dear {FIRST_NAME}, Happy New Year!! We hope you enjoy this second edition of Marketing to Potential! Our goal is to share marketing input that you will find of use within your own organization and encourage an exchange of ideas as well. ~ Jon Pelzer, President, Client Relations

Issue #002, January 2007

Hot Tip: Testing first...
"Key" Info: What's behind a "Key"?
Bite-Size Chunks: branding's importance, silo marketing...
Client To Client: Building teams...

"Key" Info

Part 2: What's Behind A "Key"?

A brand's "Key" target is defined by the behaviors that will drive brand interest and purchase. Specific household types are identified to be “Key” because they: 1) are just like the brand’s current best customers or 2) are actively involved with the category but not your brand at this time, and 3) have lifestyles, needs and interests that match the brand promise/personality, meaning they are likely to become your customers when marketed to. This approach “opens up” the sales opportunity from including only current customer "look-a-likes" to also including untapped opportunity volumes. The net result is a broader and more efficient sales opportunity to go after with available marketing dollars. To actually achieve higher volume/more efficient sales results, the “Key” target should influence strategy development and “be” the basis of all types of marketing programs and executions. Read Part 1 of this series here...

News @handshake

Our website will be going through a complete update and redesign.... Stay tuned!

Hot Tip

Test before taking the plunge.

"Test dollars" are "wise dollars", as they allow you to grow sales in a controlled risk environment while offering valuable consumer insights. From testing you will learn which specific brand and positioning strategies work best in combination with other message/offer points. From testing you will learn which tactics or combination of tactics will deliver the highest response/conversion levels. From testing you will find out which markets are "oil wells" versus "money pits". From the learning that comes from testing, you can manage financial risk while significantly improving your long term chances for success.

Here are some tips for testing:

The test effort is representative of the strategies/targets/tactics/channels/markets/offers that would or "could" be implemented on a larger scale. Do not attempt to test too many variables at one time; this will cause either inflated test expenses or a test sample size insufficient for reliable insights.
Allow adequate time for prep, campaign runs, measurement and optimization... 3 - 4 months is a good range.
Focus measurement on cost per lead/order generated from individual variables, such as tactics, and combination of variables, such as targets/tactics/markets.
Budget and forecast a roll out campaign that assumes most of the "spend" will be placed within those areas that performed well while continually testing new moves and ways to optimize.

Bite-Sized Chunks

Why is branding so important? When we meet someone we like, we are taken by their personality and their character, and there's an emotional connection that is very unique between ourselves and that person. From this human experience, relationships are formed and commitments are made. Brand relationships, we would argue, are similarly motivated. If consumers do not "get" that vital or relevant piece of information from you ("the unique hook") and experience an emotional connection regarding what the brand signifies ("the brand's personality"), then consumers are not likely to act.
Beware of silo marketing! Departmental silos are a part our business culture, and a good part because they ensure individual commitments to responsibility, accountability and productivity. But "silo marketing" is a different story. "Silo marketing" basically means that all the independent variables--such as product, distribution, brand message, offer, offer message, media tactics, and customer care--are not working together as a unit to drive the most important dependent variable: revenues/profits. Other than having common targets and a platform from which to base efforts, excellent results depend greatly upon a team that feels free to share ideas and opinions, to work together off-line on important issues, et cetera. Good team leaders will be the first to recognize that it is not their job to direct or dictate how all the pieces of the puzzle are to fit together, but instead to facilitate an environment that thrives on productivity through teamwork.

Client To Client Discussion

Please share any ideas you may have that worked well for you to encourage team-building in the marketing organization and we may include it in our next newsletter.