Category: Marketing Communications

Forget About Marketing Ethics – Let’s Start with Truth-based Messaging

If marketing professionals seek to conduct business ethically by promoting goods and services beneficial to a customer’s well being, they must first start with truth-based messaging. Regardless of the product or service, if marketers can’t speak honestly when describing features and benefits, then forget about thinking marketers could possibly be ethical.

Having been a marketer for the past couple of decades, I am quite familiar with the pressure to stretch the truth about product attributes, features or benefits, all in the name of trying to increase sales. My experience in marketing and business communications has been concentrated in the high tech field, including network security and software. With such ambiguous products that are impossible to “touch and feel,” marketing communications tend to fall into broad benefits categories, such as to reduce costs, increase productivity or eliminate potential threats, where the temptation to inflate product benefits definitely exists.

Underlying each of my messages, however, has been a story based in truth. Calculating actual benefits can be tricky. It might be necessary to make assumptions about a prospective buyer’s usage of your product, how your software performs at your client’s company, and so forth. As part of this process, I build a reasonable “story,” backed up by case studies, customer feedback or observations from the field to support my messaging claims.

I am now concerned in the direction of recent corporate marketing communications. A new level of deception now appears to be status quo, as highlighted in a recent Wall Street Journal article, “AT&T Relabels Networks as 4G.” AT&T’s marketing department decided they needed a “4G” product to stay competitive, so they decided to simply rename their existing “3G” network as “4G.” Justification was based on comments issued by the International Telecommunications Union, a wireless industry standards body, which indicated that they have not yet set a firm 4G definition. In AT&T’s view, this was a wide open door to apply the 4G term to their “advanced” 3G technologies – look for a future announcement.

This decision goes way beyond a question of ethics, representing an outright deception and lie to prospective customers. Apparently, truth-based messaging is not a requirement at AT&T.

The sad part is that the wireless industry is not acting alone, but is simply following the current direction of the automotive industry.

It used to an accepted truth that automobile model numbers designated meaningful data. For example, Mercedes Benz used to have a strict numbering convention, which made it very easy to understand model and engine size.

If you see a Mercedes Benz SL 55, it denoted an SL body with a 5.5 liter engine. Today, if you buy a SL 63, you get one with a 6.2 liter engine. Rumor has it that the next replacement model will have a 5.5 liter engine, yet be called a SL 63.

I see no truth-based messaging or communications in Mercedes’ decision to change their model number methodology. What I see is deception, which will cause consumers to question the company’s communications, leading to a lack of trust in future messaging.

If you go down the road of deception about product specifications, you are setting yourself up for customer dissatisfaction, opening up an opportunity for your competitors. Your sales team will suffer reduced effectiveness, customer satisfaction will decline and, in the end, brand integrity will suffer. Compounding matters further, the Wall Street bonus philosophy exists here too … those involved in making these messaging decisions will have already been rewarded for their actions with promotions, bonuses or new job offers, prior to when the proverbial “shit” hits the fan.

I propose that a new, higher level of ethics is sorely needed, to be self-imposed by marketing professionals, such that a company’s marketing collateral and business communications can at least be truth-based, rather than outright fabrications. Perhaps I am expecting too much – maybe a better course of action is to institutionalize some sort of “whistle blower” program, such as what the SEC has implemented? Do I sound unreasonable? How far can this messaging strategy continue before the public has had enough? Let me know your thoughts.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

5 Questions to Ask Before Writing a Business Plan

Writing a business plan is an excellent way to discover if your idea for a new business has merit. Going through this exercise will challenge you to see if your idea for a business has the foundation for a viable business, or if it is just a neat idea worthy of a cocktail party conversation. The difficulty, however, is that the whole process of writing the business plan can be quite time consuming, even if you elect to hire a third party business plan writer.

Before you invest the time and effort to write your business plan, there are a few questions you should consider as part of an evaluation process if your idea is worth pursuing.

5 questionsI just discovered a great blog written by Pamela Slim where she talks about transitioning from the corporate world to starting your own business. As part of this process, Pamela posted “Can you answer these 5 questions about your business?” I would propose that these questions can function quite well as a “filter,” which can then help guide you through your decision making process. If you can answer each of these questions, then you understand your value proposition and are now ready to prepare a business plan.

  1. Who is your ideal client? This is a simplified way of stating “who are you going to sell to?” Specificity is needed, to help you hone and refine your message. From a marketer’s perspective, the question here is “Who is your target market?” Who will buy your goods or services, and why would they buy it from you? Most importantly … do you have the skills and background to SELL it to them? Great first question to consider before you decide to write your business plan.
  2. Where do I send people who are interested? This question is stating that you better be ready to make an investment in building an online presence, no matter what it is you are selling. Do you have a site already? As part of evaluating the decision to write a business plan, have you thought about the investment of your time and resources to build an online presence? What would that website’s URL be? What would your business name be? How would you portray yourself and what sort of message would you include on the site? The answers to these questions will layout a framework for you to establish a marketing communications style and plan of how your message is communicated to your ideal client.
  3. Who would you really love to meet? I see this question as a gauge to the level of passion you have for your idea. Without the passion, your new business idea is doomed. So, who would you be really excited to meet that is a “player” or key influencer in your industry? Once you have identified that person, are you ready to reach out and try and meet them? One of the biggest attributes of a successful entrepreneur is if they feel they can change the world by doing something better, faster, easier, etc. than everyone else … you can’t do that unless you are a guru in your space and have a passion for meeting the other key players in your industry.
  4. Which media would you love to cover your business? This might be a question asked when it comes time to write your marketing plan … where will your message be displayed, how will you market to your customers and what medium is best for establishing this marketing communication? But, if you are ask this question early in the process, it can reveal quite quickly if your business plan will be tough or easy to launch. If you don’t know the answer to this question, maybe you don’t know your target audience as well as you should, which then poses the question “Is there really a viable market out there for your goods or services?” This is a pretty important question to consider.
  5. How do you make money? Or, what is your revenue model? Another great question. This should be on the top of your list when evaluating a new business or expanding a new division. Challenge yourself to answer this question with detail. For example, if your business is web-based e-commerce site, saying “I will sell banner ads” really isn’t sufficient of an answer. You need to know what traffic levels are needed before anyone considers placing an ad. How long will that take? What revenues are possible, and what level of traffic do I need to achieve X dollars of banner ad revenue? These are the types of questions that should be considered in great depth before spending the time and resources to get your business plan written.

Don’t worry if it takes some time to answer these questions … the knowledge you will gain will be well worth the effort. Not only will this exercise help you better understand if you really have a viable business model, but it will give you an outline of what your business plan should look like.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

Another Evolving Social Behavior to Consider in Your Marketing Communications

Words are flying out like endless rain into a paper cup;
They slither while they pass; They slip away across the universe.

– John Lennon & Paul McCartney

The words and way we communicate today is obviously very different than in the past. In fact, over the past 5 years, the increasing usage of Twitter and texting has been nothing short of spectacular. Twitter reported that more than two billion tweets were sent just last month. Wow!

What is interesting is that as a new communication medium is launched, we keep compressing the time frame to contact someone and expect a response. Back in the 1960s when the Beatles were writing their legendary songs, the only way to talk to your girl was on a rotary dial up phone – an answering machine didn’t exist. If you had to reach someone, you simply kept calling until they were home. Then, along came the answering machine. Now you could leave a message and probably get a call back later that day or the next. By the early 2000s, email broke through the next threshold where a response could be expected within 24 hours.

Today you can text or twitter someone, and if they don’t reply back within a few minutes, some might be offended. Worse, they might think you lost your phone or are in trouble! The time required to reach out and talk with someone anywhere in the world has been compressed from days to minutes with texting and twittering. And, not only has the length of time for response been compressed, the actual content of the message has been shortened from having a 30 minute phone call to sending a 140 character tweet.

twitter-logoAs with other technology advances (see “Evolving Social Behaviors Necessitate a Change in Marketing Communications“), a new social behavior has also evolved with this communications transformation. The concept of where and when to meet someone for dinner, a movie, etc. has changed. Now, it is acceptable to simply suggest a general area and time for your social interaction … details can follow later. And, if you are running late, no sweat; texting has made it socially acceptable to be late, as long as you communicate your delay to the affected party.

But, as a marketer, it is highly unlikely that your target audience will be as forgiving.

If you approach your marketing communications in the same way, you might not be very effective. To start, if you are meeting with a client, you are the one that is expected to be prompt and on time; if your prospect is late, then that isn’t a problem. The same holds true if you are advertising your product’s availability or a promotion. Even if it is a 20 minute special, your decision to text your prospects about your current offer might not be seen as relevant or appropriate in their minds, causing frustration on their part from your message.

Or, it might be just fine. Let me explain. A twitter user or company that sends out a 140 character message that is perceived to have significant value to a recipient will be welcomed, such as a tweet announcing free concert tickets to the first 100 people that arrive at a certain location. But, the line between what is appropriate and what is not is a fine line, with the potential of alienating your target audience if you get it wrong. Best to choose those 140 characters very carefully!

Personally, I am offended at every one of the marketing or sales texts that I have received, such as to call now to refi my home mortgage. Seriously, is this a message that I need to drop everything regardless of where I am and immediately start a refinance process? This is an excellent example of an evolving social behavior that must be addressed by marketers, and not abused. It may be totally inappropriate to expect an instant response from your prospect, even though today’s technology could support it.

It is critical that we, as marketers, choose a medium and expected time frame for response that matches our offer if we are to avoid alienating our prospects. For example, if I am offering a service targeted at residential real estate agents, then an email might be most appropriate for matching the time to reply to the offer, especially considering that most real estate agents now carry smart phones capable of reading and responding to emails. A text, however, sent to an agent out in the field while showing a prospect an open house might be disruptive, annoying and ill timed. Be careful when exploring these new communications mediums. Given the ease of today’s mass communications, a poorly executed marketing communications can go viral in an instant, causing potential long term damage to your brand or company.

Texts and tweets now fly out like endless rain while they slip away across the cyber universe … best to be sure your message is relevant and time appropriate when trying to reach out across your universe.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

The Power of the Digital Written Word

The expression that the pen is mightier than the sword may soon need to be updated … if the recent news about the Oxford English dictionary foreshadows the future.

In this recent news article, it was reported that the next edition of the world’s most definitive work on the English language will never be printed again, due to the impact of the Internet on book sales.

The power of the “written” word obviously still exists today … just look at all of the blog postings, comments and feedback that is typical on any given day. However, it is now becoming increasingly obvious that the Kindles, iPads and future book readers of the world will indeed replace the printed book, as well as the daily newspapers and monthly magazines. This transition will likely take an entire generation to be completed, but, the transition has already begun and will continue.

As a marketing communications professional, if the future of your business model or lead generation campaign is based on collecting leads from ads in a paper newspaper or magazine, now might be a good time for an overhaul (either strategically for your business, or time for a new career). More importantly, if you are a publisher of paper books (ex: Random House, HarperCollins or Simon & Schuster), you face a challenge no different than what Blockbuster and Hollywood Video faced … and failed miserably. Having a vision of what the future holds isn’t a panacea to identifying a replacement business strategy.

One challenge why an incumbent provider in a “dying” industry is seldom the next leader in the transformed industry is the fact that the incumbent has significant psychological and physical investment in the way things used to get done. Think about the physical infrastructure that today’s leading book publishers have made investments in – it would be very difficult to simply “chuck” their existing equipment, facilities and employees.

Yet, a new crop of businesses will emerge without the financial “baggage” of the incumbents, helping them to be more nimble and willing to experiment with new approaches and untested methods or strategies. This highly dynamic nature of start ups is a powerful force, one that will ultimately result in a new market leader in how this industry evolves into one that is not based on paper, but the power of the digital word.

One business strategy that has worked in the past is for an existing player to set up completely new division, one that is not encumbered with financial, political and other constraints of the parent company. The smart car is a good example, which began as an idea by the Swatch watch company, and became a reality with an investment by Mercedes Benz. The car is clearly not a luxury product, so Mercedes thoughtfully financed its launch it to address the growing sub-compact car market, which it correctly predicted. This strategy enables the new entity to be given a truly “free reign” on trying a new business strategy without diluting the parent company’s brand.

As a marketer, it helps to keep an extremely open mind on how to find the next lead, as well as what industry you choose to work in. Content is still king, but it will increasingly be a digital king, and not a paper one. When naming my blog, I am sure glad “Making Every Word Count” works in both paper and digital format, helping to avoid future obsolescence, at least the foreseeable future, which is all I can reasonably expect in today’s highly fluid business climate!

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

When Taking a Step Backward can Yield an Innovative Business Plan

Carbon-free Landscape RemovalI read a most interesting article today in the Wall Street Journal about a business start up in Chapel Hill, N.C. called Rent-a-Goat.com. What they offer is a completely environmentally friendly way for home and business owners to clear fields of unwanted shrubbery, grasses and any other prickly plants that need to be removed. What is remarkable is that this company has figured out a way to execute upon a business plan first launched thousands of years ago, and still make money today.

As I read further, I learned that Google has hired a similar company to clear their corporate campus of un-needed plants. Other end users include the Vanderbilt estate, where goats were hired for $9,000 to clear seven hilly acres, according to Dave Hayes, the estate’s natural-resource program manager. See the video. Apparently this price tag was two-thirds the cost to hire workers to do the same job … with a zero carbon footprint!

This story is an excellent example of how technological progress and innovation can sometimes take a “U” turn, especially when the social green movement is involved, despite the typical technology innovation cycle we so commonly see and write about (see my prior post on how technology innovation can be treated as a constant). Goes to show that there are no true constants in life, but some highly probably outcomes!

When seeking a business plan writer or preparing a strategic marketing plan, at times it can be helpful to take a completely opposite perspective with regards to what your new service or product should be. This strategy can be quite effective in markets and industries where a growing backlash is starting to gain momentum.

A good example of a business plan that has taken advantage of going “against the mainstream” is the latest offering from Knock Knock, a Los Angeles-based company that sells specialty paper products. They are now offering paper tweet pads, which limit you to a message of 140 characters that you can write down on a piece of paper. Their messaging in the product descriptions is quite good:  “Get on the social networking bandwagon with a cutting-edge notepad! The wireless miracle of pen and paper will have you expressing your mundane, or even pressing, thoughts anytime, anywhere!” In a way, they are making fun at all the notoriety and excitement around Twitter, and becoming just the opposite, pointing out that good old fashioned pen and paper is not a bad communications medium.

It turns out that maybe change is the only constant, rather than always counting on technology to drive innovation. Taking a step backward after several strides forward gives us a pause and time for reflection. People are always looking for something new and improved; the “new” maybe simply an old idea that has now gained new awareness and a fresh perspective.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

Applying Humor to Your Business Communications

“Computers are useless.  They can only give you answers.”

Pablo Picasso

When considering the question of “How do I improve my business communications?”, humor may be the answer. The decision should be based on what type of communications you seek. There are several roles humor can take … to grab attention, to make a lasting impression or to build a longer term relationship with your readers. Alternatively, a more serious and “professional” sounding message may be better suited to a more formal communications, in which case humor may not be appropriate.

Let me explain. It might not be the best idea to use humor when talking about a financial institution’s lending practices, or the way that a customer’s money is managed.

When we write or speak to an audience, often we are really trying to build a relationship with our audience in order to convey a thought, a message or a suggestion to purchase a product r service. As part of establishing that message and gaining credibility, it can be quite effective if you are communicating more as a friend or advisor. In that case, humor can definitely play a role in helping to build the relationship, earn trust and communicate on a more personal level.

South West Airlines (SWA) is an excellent example. They have effectively used humor in their verbal communications. Each flight attendant was clearly encouraged by their peers and supervisors to include humor as part of their pre-take off, FAA required announcements at the beginning of every flight.

In today’s YouTube age, there is another incentive: to become the next big hit.  Watch this video for an example of a video that has gone viral, with nearly 1 million hits so far. Interestingly, SWA’s practice began before the age of the Internet. Now these videos are actually a form of advertising, helping to increase brand awareness – and might even generate a ticket sale or two. Clearly, humor can lend itself to social networking marketing quite nicely.

While SWA’s topic is serious, the message has been effectively conveyed in a joyful, playful manner, with short one-liner jokes intermingled with information on what to do in an evacuation, and how the seat cushions also works as a life vest. In the end, passengers felt more relaxed and at ease, trusting that SWA had things under control in the passenger’s best interest while helping to pass the time during the boring announcements that business travelers all know by heart.

TD Ameritrade is an example of when a more serious communications was best. Their selection of Sam Waterston as a spokesperson conveys a serious message that TD Ameritrade is a secure institution you can trust, based on our associating him as being a District Attorney for Law and Order, even though it is just a character he plays on a television show. But don’t expect Sam to crack a joke during his endorsement during the ad.

Similarly, if you are writing a business plan to demonstrate intimate knowledge of your industry or market opportunity, it is trust that you are trying to build. As you might not have the opportunity to build a relationship over time with multiple interactions of your readers and prospective investors, you might only have one chance to make a first impression. In this case, your tone should probably be authoritative and professional, demonstrating you are serious about your business plan and the investment funds you are requesting. Probably not a good place for humor in your communications.

Each of these examples offers best-in-class leveraging of humor – or a lack of it – to accentuate and exemplify business communications. Deciding whether or not to use humor, however, is harder and riskier. Your message must indeed BE funny, or else the opposite effect will occur, possibly even alienating you from your target audience, and clearly hurting your communications objectives.  As it is more riskier to use humor, the choice is often to simply avoid it.

Next time you ask yourself whether humor might be appropriate in your next business communications, the answer won’t come from a computer.  It should be based on your subjective decision, half-based on theory and half-based on a gut feel if it really is appropriate.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

Sometimes The Best Marketing Communications Can’t Reverse a Brilliant Contract Agreement

I can feel the pain the marketing team for the wireless division must be dealing with at Verizon, even more so now the news was just announced that AT&T had indeed signed a 5 year agreement to distribute Apple’s now infamous iPhone.  So, Verizon is locked out through 2012 before they can think of carrying the now icon status phone.

Of course, this was a risky move on Apple’s part, to lock in a distribution partner for a relatively new product in an untested market.  But, clearly each party recognized the importance of helping each other out – from the development plans and specs to which features should be offered or not.  In the end, it was a brilliant move.

So, what do you do if you work in the marketing communications department at Verizon?  As a marketing and business plan writer, I can relate.

First thing is to bridge the “product divide” by offering as close to a product replacement as possible, which they clearly have done with the Android.  But, for those of you who have actually gone into the store and tried using the Android followed by the iPhone, you know that there really isn’t much of a comparison.  In the end, I personally chose the iPhone based on ease of use, product design and the simple fact that my 3,000+ song library will seamlessly connect with my new phone.

What do you do next?  One option is to re-define the debate.  For example, a new importance or decision factor could be introduced into the mix that might cause a reconsideration of the purchase.  For example, the network coverage of Verizon could be argued as being more comprehensive – clearly this is also a strategy they have pursued.  Further, I would suggest that this strategy could be exemplified by noting that all the data traffic that the AT&T network now has is starting to clog it up, such that iPhones are now not being sold in New York anymore.  But, the downside to this type of strategy might lead some to conclude that “everyone is now going to AT&T, so what am I doing at Verizon?”

New features is another angle, to them message that “if you want X, then you need to go with Verizon.”  For example, perhaps there is some type of value added service or partnership that could be established to offer a new value to those with Verizon, such that the loss of not using an iPhone is less of an impact.  Then, plaster the market with this new offer.  How about advance, limited screenings of new movies that can be seen on your Verizon phone through a special user interface that is securely offered to just Verizon customers?  Or, perhaps there are a series of local events that could be sponsored by Verizon that their customers are exclusively invited to?  The communications could then be focused on the fact that the phone company you choose should be based on more than what a particular phone they offer.

But, in the end, it is a long, uphill battle for the Verizon marketing communications team for now, at least until the end of 2012, or until when that contract can be ended.  My guess is that considerable efforts are now being done to try and “woo” Apple into breaking their AT&T contract, and that AT&T is spending an equal amount of time to ensure the agreement is air-tight … which is probably an excellent use of their time.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

Evolving Social Behaviors Necessitate a Change in Marketing Communications

I would propose a correction to one of Benjamin Franklin’s famous quotes.

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

benjamin_franklin_nothing_certain_but_death_and_taxes_and_technologyI think he missed a third certainty:  technology advances.  Since early inventions such as the cross bow or sword to the digital society of today, social patterns have changed as new weapons, inventions or technology advances are introduced into a culture or society.  Early warring nomads with a weapon advantage expanded their geographical reach to take precious resources, land and women … and as a result, these actions then changed cultures.

Today’s technology advances can be attributed in part to the proliferation of digital data that is increasingly universally available – viewable to an audience of one, or to a much larger group.  The way we interact, communicate and entertain as part of our social lifestyle has changed, and will continue to do so, as a direct response to this technology advance.  As marketers, we must also change.

For example, the changing technology advance of the digital video recorder (DVR) has triggered a new social behavior of fast forwarding through commercials.  Commercial communications effectiveness as a branding or lead generation tool has declined, reducing the return on investment of an advertising spot.

These types of changes necessitate a questioning of prior lead generation and business development techniques.  By examining emerging social patterns, new opportunities for marketing communications can be revealed, often better than the approaches they replaced.  The objective of a marketer hasn’t changed.  What has changed is the medium and method of attempting to influence a purchase decision to be in favor of their product or service.

The key is to reach out to where people are socially interacting, to then be part of that community, which will then assist with your marketing objectives.  This is why social networking communities are so hot right now, and why every marketer is under pressure to understand this medium and figure out how to monetize a revenue model tied to this activity.

Look at the Internet, as a form of lead generation, and an example of how good can come with the digital revolution.  Google is a very profitable company because their ad revenue model is highly effective.  Never before have marketers been able to pin point prospective customers by filtering search activity by selective words and phrases, with very calculated return on investment to better fine tune spend rates and ad performance metrics.

One of the toughest challenges to deal with in times of technology advances is when your own business or industry becomes a victim in the steadily advancing society.  No one wants to be the next buggy whip manufacturer, yet in order for change to occur, there must be a thinning of the herd to make room for a new wave of advancement and enlightenment.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.