Welcome to another edition of 5 Question Friday! Today I sit down with Phil Hunt, Flint Communications Copywriter. We manage to discuss his work, what inspires him and the trials of writing music for his band. Happy viewing!
Beyond an audience of ONE.
When developing marketing communications plans and materials there is always the crucial “approval” phase where the decision is made to proceed. One significant challenge at this point is managing the personal subjectivity that tends creep in. Time and time again, great communications concepts and ideas are tossed aside based on personal choices, at times undermining the potential impact of a tactic helping achieve a communications objective. Some of these may sound familiar:
- I talked to a few people around the office and some didn’t like it.
- I had my spouse look at it and s/he didn’t like this part of it.
- I showed my Dad/Mom/Grandparent and they don’t understand it.
- “I” just don’t like it.
The issue with placing credence in the above objections is often times your “audience of one” is not a true representative sample of the target audience the communications is seeking to reach. Many factors are considered in plan, campaign and tactic development including demographics, interests, product use patterns and more. In order to get the best possible evaluation on your marketing communications concepts and ideas you’ll want feedback from a solid segment of your target audience.
Focus on your audience first. Here are some points to help guide you:
- Don’t assume that your target audience uses communications tools the same way you do. For example, you may not use RSS feeds and feel the need to crush a concept using RSS, but your audience may find great value in it.
- Sit on the other side of the table when evaluating. Try not to think of the concepts and ideas from a company standpoint. Think of the concepts from your audience member standpoint. Remember, in most cases you are not the target audience.
- Stay away from people’s opinions other than your target audience. Unless your co-worker, parent, spouse or friend is solidly a part of your target audience, don’t seek their opinion as you will simply get a subjective, reactive response.
- Find means to engage your audience in the approval process. Focus groups, panels, test markets and other means are available to find out the true response of your audience to certain concepts. And new digital tools are making this easier and faster than ever before.
Bottom-line: You may be close to the work and close to the market, but don’t assume that you will react the same way as your target audience. They are often more astute, connected and discriminatory than you might give them credit for. Make the most of your marketing communications by reaching out to your customers for involvement and approval early. The impact at launch time will be well worth the effort.
Have you ever been surprised by a customer unexpectedly liking something you didn’t? If so, please share. It’s always great to learn from others.
Colin is a senior strategist for The Flint Group. Follow him on Twitter @colinnclarke or on Facebook at Facebook.com/cnclarke.
5 Question Friday with Kimberly Wold Janke, Communications Strategist – Flint Communications
Kimberly Wold Janke sits down to talk about what brought her to Flint Communications, her educational background, and what keeps her ticking everyday. She shares insights about working with clients and balancing work time with family time.
Is the Phonebook Dead?
Last week we had a little interaction on our Facebook Fan Page regarding a recent article from Open Forum titled “Forget the Phonebook: 3 Local Marketing Initiatives with Higher ROIs.” The article provided information about three online services that they believe provide a higher return than the Phonebook – Yelp, Google Local and Yahoo Local.
As mobility and the speed and availability of connectivity continue to increase, local search is becoming much easier and much more efficient to accomplish online, rather than having to sift through the yellow or white pages. Besides that, they are adding value to their services through partnerships, user reviews and ratings, and more.
So is the Phonebook dead or nearing its death? What online services do you get the best return from? Please leave your comments below or on our Facebook page.
5 Question Friday in Duluth with Ken Zakovich, WestmorelandFlint Creative Director
Welcome to another edition of 5 Question Friday! Today I sit down with Ken Zakovich, WestmorelandFlint Creative Director, to discuss brands that inspire him, the creative process, keeping up with changes in the advertising world and life outside of work including birding and playing guitar. Enjoy!
How to get MORE customers by giving them LESS.
In the ever competitive world of business, companies are constantly seeking bigger, better, faster, more. Trouble is, many companies lose focus while trying to attract more business and more customers. You can see the evidence bleeding from marketing materials every day.
While clamoring for more customers, some marketers make the grave mistake of trying to appeal to a wider audience by broadening their marketing message rather than zeroing in on what truly differentiates their business from the competition – all the while diluting their message and brand perception along the way.
You’ve seen and heard it before, “For all your [so and so] needs,” or the exhaustive list of specifications or services. What do you suppose sticks in the mind of the consumer when they are exposed to such generalizations? Absolutely nothing.
So what do you need to do to get your marketing message to stick? Find the “one thing” that sets you apart from the competition, zero in on it and make it the absolute focus of every aspect of your business. If you are a low-cost supplier selling low price, completely own the “low price” category in everything you do. If you believe your service differentiates your company, let “service” prove itself by being at the center of everything you do. Own the category so hard that no one else can duplicate what you do.
The key here is brand differentiation. Do one thing and do it well. Take Bobcat Company for example. Focused on providing the toughest, most reliable compact equipment and tools, everything they communicate is “tough and agile.” You will never see Bobcat market a BIG piece of equipment. Or how about Disney theme parks? Completely focused on “family fun” (When was the last time you saw Disney LIST all their theme park rides vs. Six Flags? You won’t!) And there are local examples all around you – the furniture company that has touted “best selection” for the past 20 years, the restaurant that serves “open pit steaks,” the broadcast station that is the “region’s new source.”
As a marketer, if you want to truly grow your business, broaden your appeal by differentiating your brand CLEARLY in the marketplace. Choose what sets you apart, then live, breathe and communicate it through everything you do. Don’t muddy your marketing materials with a mix of messages. Say ONE thing, say it loud and clear and say it often. By giving customers fewer things to process you’ll be giving them more information than ever before.
What local brands can you point to as great examples of clear brand differentiation? Or others that you think might be failing at differentiation? It’s always great to learn by observing others.
Colin is a senior strategist for The Flint Group. Follow him on Twitter @colinnclarke or on Facebook at Facebook.com/cnclarke.
New Geography Named to Planetizen’s Best of 2010 List
A public policy news and information website published by Praxis Strategy Group of Grand Forks, N.D., has been named as a top site for 2010.
|
Grand Forks, ND (Vocus/PRWEB ) March 16, 2010 — A public policy news and information website published by Praxis Strategy Group of Grand Forks, N.D., has been named as a top site for 2010.
Planetizen, recognized as one of the world’s most popular urban planning websites, included newgeography.com on its 2010 list of the best planning, design and development websites for 2010. The sites named to the annual list are said to represent some of the top online resources for those interested in planning, design and development.
Websites are nominated by Planetizen readers and staff and judged against a common set of criteria including content, design and usability.
In citing NewGeography.com, judges commended its fair and balanced content, even though it sometimes goes against the grain of popular thinking among planners: “It was inevitable that certain voices that reject the current belief system of urban planning – people like Wendell Cox, Joel Kotkin, and Michael Lind – would band together. What wasn’t inevitable is that their collaboration would be readable, fair, and dare we say, balanced. With a bent towards the libertarian, Kotkin and crew cover urban issues, housing, politics and the suburbs with a hefty dose of demographics and GIS maps.”
Launched in 2008, NewGeography.com includes analysis and commentary on economic development, demographics, economics, politics and other public policy issues. It features writing and research from authors across the U.S., Europe, China and New Zealand and publishes an annual “Best Cities for Job Growth” in partnership with Forbes.com.
Praxis Strategy Group is a partner with the Flint Group
