For many of us in marketing, it is sometimes a challenge to work with very technically oriented people. They seem to see everything in terms of spec-points and checklists.

Imagine this story. Three guys running an engineering company wanted to hire a secretary. They agreed that they needed someone who could use Microsoft Excel, Word and the occasional PowerPoint. They also agreed that she had to be good with arranging schedules and handling clients who call. So, after interviewing 20 candidates, our three guys decided that Ms Scarlet would be the best - she had cute long legs.

How many times have we thought about buying something, listing out all the “features” that we want, calculating our budgets and so on… then throwing it all away when we walk into the store and see this latest and greatest gizmo that you would just die if you did not own?

Marketing is an art. Sure, there is a science to it. But there is no way that anyone is going to convince me that the pure mechanics of marketing can beat the power of a creative streak that is unsupported by any statistics or history.

Ask the market, “Do you need a Spreadsheet?” In fact, think about it, before they came out with it, how many of us ever imagined that the “presentation software” would be so important to our daily, working lives?

If it were up to the “bosses”, no on would have launched anything new.

Market studies, statistics, have had an up and down history. They have gone from boom to bust and back again, with companies first embracing it, then pooh-poohing it. But the reality is that most large corporations continue to rely on it.

We ask the market questions like:

- what do you like?
- which is better?
- which is tastier?
- what is the best feature?

But after watching this season of American Idol, the chill that was creeping up my spine has become a full blown blizzard. First, the survival of Kristy against so many of her betters for so long (but she was really smart…) and then now, the survival of Jason Castro.

I mean, that was the worse rendition of Memory I have ever heard. Yes, that includes sleazy bars, cheap cabarets and of course, cruise ships. Yet, I am guessing that they voted for his dreadlocks.

So, marketers, beware. The next time you wave your “indisputable” market study based on a cross section of “relevant” targets, keep in mind, that these are the same people telling you how great your product is, who voted for dreadlocks in a singing competition.

Another thing about statistics. If you read this article in eNews - American Idol: Carly Smithson Voted Off, you will see right at the bottom an interesting statistics that:

Nielsen data through last week showed that “Idol” on its regular nights of Tuesday and Wednesday was averaging 28.9 million viewers - down 8 percent from 31.3 million one year ago at this point…

If you think about the 28 million votes that Ryan claimed they received, it means that on average, everyone who watched the show voted. Yeah, right.

Do not be deceived, there is no choice!

A friend of mine had a very interesting discussion with me recently. Basically, we were talking about why she was not aggressively marketing her company’s services. Typical of many small business owners, she was a little apprehensive about marketing.

Her comments were along the lines of her not having a very outgoing personality, there was not a lot of money to go around for marketing, and such. But the most interesting comment was this: “Maybe I cannot do push marketing, but what kind of pull marketing do you think I should do?”

Let me get this straight - too shy to do push marketing and you want to do pull marketing? Hmmm…. interesting.

I mean, you can get a lot of information on the Internet about what push marketing and pull marketing are. So, this statement took me by surprise. What was it in the definition of pull and push marketing that gives the impression that pull marketing was

• cheaper
• less demanding
• no need to encounter customer

This is so wrong. So, I have some good news and some bad news for all small business owners.

The Bad News is - pull and push marketing are two sides of the same coin
The Good News is - pull and push marketing are two sides of the same coin

What is the essence of marketing anyway? Please, put away your marketing texts and stop waving that MBA at me!

Marketing is basically about letting others know how wonderful your products/services are and to convince them that they should buy it from you.

Now, keeping that in mind, there is no such thing as push and pull marketing. Leave that to the “experts” and those who make their money marketing full time. For the small business manager, you just have to find what works for your particular industry and niche. More importantly, do what works for you.

For example, distributing flyers at the street corner can be considered “pull” marketing as you attempt to get customers into your eatery or hardware store. But it is really not so effective if you were a lawyer or a dentist. Putting up posters advertising your wares might work if you had your own brand, but it is not going to help get customers directly to your store.

Forget about push and pull marketing. Instead, think about “bread and butter” marketing. Every action that you take to attract customers must pay off for itself, at least. Don’t get caught up in jargon and industry fads. Focus instead on what works for you.

Talk to a marketing professional because they will know how to “do it”. But don’t get bamboozled by all the glitz. Use your hard won experience and tell them what you want to achieve and how much money you have to do it. Any good marketer should be able to work within your budget and deliver your results. The great ones will exceed your expectations.

A friend of mine in the tiny, sunny island of Singapore, just told me about a really interesting development that really got the people miffed: “The New Taxi Stand Rule“.

This was really interesting. You see, most of the policy makers, as commonly assumed, are government scholars. The best of the best. The brightest of the bright. So, they are supposed to, short of being able to see tomorrow’s stock index, be able to map out the plans for the future.

Now, the “central business district” is the downtown area that is consists mainly of offices and shopping malls. It is usually the most crowded and traffic is usually congested. This whole “taxi” rule came about because of a desire to improve road safety and to impose a stronger measure of orderliness in an already highly ordered society.

The problem occurs where the rubber meets the road, almost literally. While the measures are good, it created ripples of inconveniences that the law-makers never expected - the disabled, the elderly, and the vagarities of the weather. Having to trudge 50 meters in the rain to get to/from the allowed taxi stand is definitely not an improvement in the eyes of executives and office workers who used to have the convenience of a taxi to the doorstep.

Forcing a wheelchair bound person to use the taxi stand is even more ludicrous. Now, how is all of this relevant in a marketing blog?

Marketing is about communications. But communications is not all there is to marketing. How the example of logical thinking failing in the face of reality can be illustrated by one example that I will give below:

Everyone knows that there is no better way to drive volume and increase take up rate by giving away one free for every two purchased. Right.

Several years ago, a company wanted to launch a new game. The revenue model was for gamers to buy a prepaid card with a special code number on it, then, they get to play for 30 days when they enter this code into the computer. So, marketing said, “Buy 1 and get 1 free”. Simple.

Well, actually, what really happened was, instead of increasing sales and increasing take-up, they have just REDUCED SALES by 50% and lost 80% of the follow up sales. Those familiar with the online games market will understand this. What happened? Unlike other consumer products, online games have a definite, and usually short, life-span. Giving one for one simply made it so that gamers (who always move in groups) simply pooled together and bought half of what they would have purchased originally.

Then, follow up sales suffered because not everyone will continue. So, with a lower initial sales, follow up sales will also be lower. Now, this is again different from those instances where games are played for free and then later have upgrades to a paying model. It is not as simple as it appears at the outset.

All I am saying is, knowing happens at many levels. And sometimes, the heart and soul of a specific market could be very different from the norms of a generic market.

NOTE: As of now, they are reviewing the policies to address some of the concerns raised about the elderly and the disable. The rest of them just have to learn to use an umbrella, I guess.

I learned that there are some *ist words that are quite controversial. Sexist, elitist, masochist, dentist… well, you get the idea. But the thing is, in marketing, controversy sells. Which is probably one of the reasons sex sells.

This then leads us into another controversy, your conscience. Are you my conscience?

When is it ethical to use sex to sell? Is it ever?

There was a study that was discussed in about Sex In Advertising (link has a few naughty images) that seems to imply that using sex in ads might not be as effective as is commonly believed.

So, if using sex might actually back-fire against your campaign, is it worth the risk then to take this route? There must be better ways to create impact and stir interest. Must we really resort to the lowest tier in Maslow’s little pyramid?

Tell me what you think!

I am sure by now, all of you would have had the joy of discovering the power of YouTube videos in promoting your product, services or brand.

It is particularly powerful when it comes to delivering socially conscious corporate messages, don’t you think?

But what if you do not have the video talents? Surely you do not want your products or brand image to be tarnished by an amateurish video effort? Well, I just found a new best friend - the corporate film-maker. Imagine that you have the resources and experience of a producer that has worked with big names and big brands. Then imagine that you can discuss your needs with him/them. Isn’t that better than begging those young ‘uns in your department to cook up a YouTube video that you might not even dare show your mother?

Chuckle if you will, but don’t joke with your corporate image. I was puzzling through this question - how can I participate in the YouTube phenomena if I can’t make a decent film. Well, I was wondering until Director Tom visited my site and I saw his link on the MyBlogLog widget.

Problem solved.

One of the biggest challenges in publicity marekting, is simply getting the news to travel.

But I just read Glenda’s post on “9 Ways to Use Social Media to Campaign for Votes” which really hit it right on the head when it comes to getting the word out. Her nine tips are practical and really easy to do. But most importantly, I feel that they are also effective.

Leveraging off social networks is probably one of the smartest way to promote yourself or your business. There is only one thing more powerful than the 9 o’clock news - Susie’s gossip. If you doubt this, then consider that there are times when you know nothing about the big news about the new community center getting built in your neighbourhood; yet, Susie seeing your neighbour buying a diamond studded collar for his dog is known by one and all.

Social networks have been a powerful force throughout civilization. Now, with the Internet, it has become even more formidable. Question is, do you know how to harness its power?

Technorati Tags: social networking, gossip, news, marketing, publicity

Well, if you have been blogging for a while, and you are still at it, then you must really love it. So, why not test your mettle against the best on the web and take part in the Holiday Blogging Award 2007 competition?

There are three categories that you can participate in:

Best Holiday decoration of a Blog - Any blog or blogger who has decorated their blog for the holidays either entirely or in an subtle way. Prize: $20 USD via Paypal and links from channel blogs.

Best post about Christmas on a Blog - The best posting about Christmas or holiday activities on a blog. It can be religious or non-religious, but should celebrate the spirit of the season. Prize: $20 USD via Paypal and links from channel blogs.

Best Holiday image or video on a Blog - The best display of your own personal holiday decorations on a blog. It can be religious or non-religious, but again, should celebrate the spirit of the season. Prize: $20 USD via Paypal and links from channel blogs.

I have been invited to be a judge for these awards, so please… be nice to me! :)

Technorati Tags: blog, blogging, holiday blogging

In most large marketing companies, market research tends to rule, or rather, over-rule many marketing decisions. Marketing by numbers has become not only the favourite past-time of marketers, it has also become necessary to justify ever increasing budgets.

Most of the time, market research is useful and important. Product managers should never fall in love with their products and company owners should not be so enamored by their own cleverness that market feedback is ignored.

But what happens if the market says “no” when everything you believe in says “yes!”? This is a dilemma faced by innovators through out the ages.

If you believe market research, the Sony Walkman would never have seen the light of day. If you listen to market research, Intel’s CPU road map would be boring indeed. And of course, Microsoft, who in the world would have imagined that everyone “needed” to have Microsoft Office on their computers, at home? No one needed a telephone and the fax machine was a joke.

Then there is the now infamous line “… who would ever want to make a copy of that?”

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/photocopier.html
http://www.cornerstonecopy.com/history.html

Now, bring that into the context of Marketing, and you will begin to see the same behvaviour. When you propose a new idea that no one has ever tried before, the Management will more likely than not, shoot it down. Simply because it has never been done before. Keep this in mind when your next idea gets canned and just smile a little smile to yourself.

Here is a really simple, yet often overlooked tip for business owners - collect as many business cards as you can!

OK, for those who are asking “why?” I would then say, because…

- you need to know more people who might become your potential customers
- you need to know more people who might know your potential customers
- you need to know more people who might be able to help you in your business
- you need to know more people who might be able to invite you to more parties

But as any avid business card collector will tell you, the challenge is not in collecting cards. People are more than happy to pass you their cards. It has become an auto-reflex. The real problem is, what do you DO with all those cards? It is going to be hell trying to type in all the contacts.

To the rescue, comes the business card reader. As an employee, you might wave it off as a frivolous toy, but as an entrepreneur, this is your lean, mean, lead-generating machine!

Of course, this is not the only model available out there. But this model, Scan2Contacts from ScanShell integrates with your Microsoft Outlook and scans those addresses and other information directly into your Outlook. Talk about saving time!

If you speak with any internet marketing professional, you will always hear “… the money is in the list” kind of talk. Well, in this case, it is easy to create that list. Just feed those cards into the reader. If that is too technical for you, then you must be that 5-year old lemonade king that everyone is talking about down the block!

Technorati Tags: business card scanner, entrepreneur, small business, start up

I just came across this really interesting post by KEVIN. That post got me thinking. Not about prostitutes nor about the similarities with corporate live. Nope. Nothing like that at all.

When something new comes along, when there is an innovation; it usually isn’t the big boys who jump first. Sure, they have all the analysts, they do projections, they monitor the markets, their customers. They segmentise 9-ways to nowhere and they should be miles ahead of us small little entrepreneurs. But you see, innovation and creativity seems to be antithesis to large corporation.

Reading that post, I have hope. That individuals catch emerging trends better than large corporations. That small companies fueled by individual ambition and tenacity ride new waves better than large corporations. But then, I also have a sobering thought. Many entrepreneurs are so caught up with running their business, they have no time to spare. In fact, some have shunned the Internet, not wanting to be caught in its web of defeat, where companies are expected to give away everything for free and users are expected to well, be surfing.

In the end, it is up to you. As a society, as an economy, everything moves together. But that huge movement forward is made up of many small movements. It is not just the large corporates that move. The little guys create far more movement that they ever could. In fact, large corporations detest change. They cannot help it. It’s their nature. I don’t even need to prove it.

So, here is your chance. Your opportunity. Blogs, forums, web 2.0; these are all tools that you can use to help you grow your business. Tools to help give your marketing that extra boost. But only if you dare.

Technorati Tags: entrepreneur, large corporation, small business

Sometimes, problems appear larger than they really are. As a small business owner, the thought of using some of the tricks of the “big boys” seem to be so out of reach. But you know, getting color flyer printing done is not really that tough. It’s like less than thirty cents a piece and it will not cost you more than a hundred bucks to get a batch done up.

So, if you think that having some nice flyers distributed around your neighborhood is going to cost you an arm and a leg, you can now heave a sigh of relieve. Entrepreneurs need to employ all kinds of marketing strategies to get noticed and to survive. Services like these are a valuable resource.

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Technorati Tags: printing, flyers, small business, marketing