Branding Blog

Advertising vs. Being Remarkable

"Advertising is a tax you pay for being unremarkable."
-Geek Squad founder Robert Stephens

There are STILL plenty of very smart people in the world who have not begun to realize the power of the web. For some, it's a fear of technology. Others have been too busy engaged in successful business. Still others just have their heads in the sand.

I was having a conversation with a group of very successful brick and mortar jewelers a couple of weeks ago. We were talking about my blogging class and they asked if I knew of any jewelers who have had any measure of success with blogging. I pointed them to Ice.com and their use of a blog strategy to tie their name to celebrities and provide lots of in-bound links to products.

Then, they asked me if I could name a business that has achieved any kind of success with YouTube?

Two Nights in Phoenix

It was 4 degrees when we left home on Tuesday. I can understand why all of these smart old people winter in Phoenix.

Mrs. Brandingblog joined me on this trip and I can understand why.

Michele Miller and I met with a client on Wednesday for an annual marketing checkup.

We had two fabulous meals...Tuesday night at Michele and Ron's house where we also got some good playtime in with Pennie the Wonderdog.

Wednesday night found us at Durant's in uptown Phoenix with my old buddy Vince, now with Gannett and the Arizona Republic. I love good food and catching up with good friends.

Durant's is old school big city steakhouse. The entrance from the valet parking takes you right through the kitchen. Once inside, you kind of expect to look around and find Tony Soprano holding court in one of the bigger booths. Durant's web site is awful. Maybe that's another post in the making.

Waiting at PHX to head back to cold country. I sure feel stupid carrying around a parka in Arizona.

Are You Still in Your Comfort Zone?

Are you doing anything that makes you uncomfortable?

A couple of days ago, on the way out to our WWII Vintage Munitions Storage Bunker, I let my 12-year-old daughter drive. Shhh. Don't tell. BTW...she's pretty darned good. It's a step into the land of discomfort.

Yes, it's really an explosives storage facility.

Here's the sign from inside the door. There are some other good pics of the facility here. Don't worry, the only things stored in these things since the 1960s are grain, furniture and crap that won't sell at garage sales.

Today, I put myself in the care of a personal trainer. There's a step beyond the comfort zone.

Yesterday, I committed to teaching at Wizard Academy again. Thanks Roy! I needed the kick in the butt.

I hope that some of you who sent emails yesterday will actually step out of your fear of the web and register for the class!

PRO Convention in Portland

I just finished a week in Portland, Oregon delivering 5 presentations to the Photographic Research Organization's convention. What a great group of dedicated retail store owners. I absolutely love the passion that locally-owned stores have for their customers. These folks get together each year for a very fast-paced meeting full of educational sessions, product information and a buying expo with all of the big manufacturers in the digital photography industry.

I gave presentations on Buying Word of Mouth, the Advertising Performance Equation, Persuasion Architecture and threw in a few fun tidbits as well like my Ad Budget Calculator.

I got a real kick out a TV campaign put together by Jerry Sullivan of Precision Camera in Austin. The ads cut to the heart of the challenge these people have in convincing us that they are the best places to buy today's digital cameras. Have a look. The series of 5 TV spots spoof the "I'm a Mac" campaign. They're all on YouTube.

Customer Satisfaction Month at FastCompany Part II

Continuing coverage of this month's customer service focus at Fast Company.

Interesting article about Apple and why they didn't make the list. My take is that perhaps their new campaign is working so well that they can't deliver on their customer service promise. It's a powerful message and I have been tempted. My oldest daughter donated her PC a couple of weeks ago to her little sisters and ordered a Mac. The girl at the Apple store convinced her to order online because if she had the upgrade installed in the store it would cost her $100 more than just ordering it. Short version is that the computer was ordered 2 weeks ago, expedited 2nd day shipping and it isn't here yet. Hmmm.

If I'm right, do you pull the advertising campaign until you can catch up with demand? I think you can get away with delivering a mediocre sermon to the choir now and then, but when it's Christmas day and the heathens show up, you'd better deliver the goods. Apple created Christmas and the goods are still on the assembly line in China.

I put up a quote back in 2004 by by Amy Curtis-McIntyre, JetBlue's Vice President of Marketing. I think she nails the subject.

"Advertising is the last thing you bring to the mix. You start by getting the product right, getting your attitude right, getting everyone internally understanding the mission. Then you move to telling the story through PR. You build the advertising last, and that way you can live on realistic budgets."

No Geek Squad in The Shire

I heard great things about Best Buy a couple years ago so I bought a laptop from them. It's been a good machine up until a week ago when somehow Norton got corrupted and allowed cooties in the door. Problem with the Best Buy solution for me is that I live 150 miles from the nearest store. "Need a new battery? It's free with your service plan, but you have to show up at the store. Computer dead? Bring it on in." Very handy if you live in town. Not so much if you don't.

I brought it in Wednesday and I'm back today (to deliver my original recovery disks) with the promise that I'll get it back in a couple of hours...with all my precious software wiped out (At least I have backups of all my data...whew!). Guess what I'll be doing this week.

Life is full of compromises. If you want to live in the real-world equivalent of The Shire, you'll have to travel to Isengard whenever you want a qualified techno-wiz to work on your computer.

So, Julie and I are waiting (and working, or at least blogging) in the free wi-fi zone at a Panera Bread shop in Fort Collins, Colorado while the geeks down the street re-install my operating system. THANK YOU PANERA, for the free wi-fi. It makes the trip to Isengard and the wait a bit more bearable.

Dad's Jokes

I have some goofy junk that was my dad's. He had a great sense of humor and when I want to remember him, I shuffle through some of his old things.This worn out piece of paper was probably carried in his wallet for some length of time. Enjoy.

Flight Attendant Wisdom

"When the oxygen masks come down, put your own mask on before attempting to help those around you."  The expectation is that in an environment either filled with smoke or lacking oxygen, your performance as a viable human will suffer. (you'll likely pass out and die)

Meaning: You're no good to anyone if you don't have your own act together. Put the mask on first, and then help your fellow human.

Business owners can apply this same rule to their employee relations and customer service.

1. Don't expect your customers to provide referrals or word of mouth unless your employees and your products are exceeding expectations. Give them the pure oxygen of delight.
2. Don't expect your employees to provide delight to your customers unless their own needs are being met. Give the the pure oxygen of caring.
3. Don't expect yourself to care for your employees or your products if you're not caring for yourself. Give yourself the pure oxygen of self-improvement. Read a book, take a walk, spend time with the people you care about.

Put on your mask. Breathe deeply. Now, help someone else find their own mask.

Welcome Back Pitt

It had been over 50 years since Pitt played at Nebraska. I was there Saturday with my two oldest daughters and just over 77,000 of our closest friends. It's nice to be able to take a few days with your kids. We had fun and the 'Huskers squeaked out a win. Nice seats too. Here's a shot from my seat.

If you want to see the full size pic, click here:

Download stadium.jpg (6964.3K)

Particle Conflict

It's a thought particle thing. Particle Conflict heightens interest. Don't you want to know more about this guy? As if the banjo and the megaphone weren't enough, what tatoos is he hiding by wearing the t-shirt under the tank top? What's the venue? Is he alone? Tell me more. Punk rock meets banjo? Deliverance?