My Depressed Schnauzer

I recently returned from my family’s Disney vacation. Walt Disney World is the epitome of non-stop marketing. I knew it and I didn’t care. How is that possible?

Don’t people hate shameless promotion? Don’t they feel “sold” when they purchase baseball caps with ears and blinking lights – hats that they will never have the opportunity to wear outside of the park? Aren’t we supposed to be angry that we are made to stand in line and stare at corporate sponsored displays? The answer is no! We love it. We even pay to see it.

We watched a fireworks display every night. Isn’t that overkill? No! Disney is about branding from start to finish. They understand that everything matters. Even their employees are called cast members. They are on stage. They represent Disney. I will be honest; we did have some bad experiences. Most notably was a concierge that bad mouthed the company and had a less than pleasant attitude. I have to say that my first thought after meeting him was, “They should fire his butt today.” Disney has about 50,000 employees and my encounter with one was enough to change my experience.

By now you may be thinking what the heck does this have to do with my depressed schnauzer. Good question. Ever since we’ve been home my dog acts like something is wrong. I think he wants to bring me down. There are two possibilities, either he had a great time while we were gone and wishes we hadn’t come home, or he is completely jealous that we had fun without him. If he doesn’t snap out of it, I may have to get myself a new dog before none of us are able to get out of bed in the morning.


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THE BOTTOM LINE:

Principal 1: Branding is internal and external. To maintain the integrity of your brand you will need to focus on marketing to your employees as well.

Principal 2: Your reputation depends on more than your product and promotions. You must create a complete customer experience.

Principal 3: One bad attitude can bring everyone down. Change the attitude or change the person.

The Next Big Thing

If people could really pick the "next big thing", Forbes would have to run a double issue of the world’s richest people. Still agencies uselessly spend their client’s money on focus groups, commercial testing and a bunch of other bogus research projects. Who came up with the notion that people know what motivates them to buy anyway?

The truth is, consumers don’t often think about their “motivation to buy”. So how can you expect to get accurate information in a focus group or poll? Don’t get me wrong, I know client feedback is important, but you won’t research yourself to success in the market.

(It’s time for my disclaimer… I’m not talking about Research and Development. R&D requires research and testing. I’m talking about B2B and Consumer marketing of existing products and services.)

Consider this novel approach. If your ads are working, celebrate and run more. If they don’t work, pull them and do something else.

Remember the Geico caveman commercials? I know people who loved those caveman spots and I know others that hated them. But I’m guessing the cavemen did well for Geico, until over-educated over-paid Hollywood executives looked at the data, added ridiculous amounts of research, and determined that a TV show with the cavemen would be successful. Wrong again! Maybe they asked the wrong people.


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THE BOTTOM LINE:

Principal 1: Research won’t guarantee success.

Principal 2: Spend your money reaching your audience not researching them.

Principal 3: Just because something works once, doesn’t mean that it will work again.

The Genius of Ben Franklin

“I guess I don’t so much mind being old, as I mind being fat and old.”

Before anyone gets mad at me for picking on fat people, you must remember that you are not mad at me, you are mad at Ben Franklin – he said it not me. Besides, there is a concept in that quote. (Ben could have been an ad guy.)

Here’s the point. Some things are within your control – others are not. Everything changes, but how you respond to change is up to you. You can get depressed, worried, frustrated or you can choose to embrace it. Where would we be without change? Change creates opportunity.

I can’t help but think about the demise of the one-hour photo mat. Couldn’t they see it coming? It’s not like the “Digital Age” just snuck up on them. But some refused to change and one by one they closed. It could be said, that digital photography was a business killer. It could also be said that it opened the door to endless possibilities like selling photo printers and paper, photo sharing websites, memory cards, electronic picture frames, etc. The the list goes on and on and continues to grow.

Maybe you are sitting passively by as change controls your business. Maybe your business is “getting fat”. Maybe Ben said it best when he said, “Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
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THE BOTTOM LINE:

Principal 1: Planning and preparation won’t control the future.

Principal 2: Adapt or Die.
Principal 3: Every change creates new opportunity. Do something with it.

Human Crash Test Dummies

Not every idea is a good idea. Some are just plain stupid. Others need refining. But there are a few that are brilliant. They change culture. They shape history. They endure.

Most of the best ideas seem so obvious, they leave people asking themselves, “Why didn’t I think of that?” The truth is you might have thought of it first, and made the mistake of seeking the opinion of someone who told you it would never work, or you may have lacked the conviction to pursue it.

Take the history of flight for example, I’m sure it wasn’t too difficult to see a bird gracefully soaring through the sky and think; “It would be great if we could fly like that.” The next step is critical. There are some who would craft a pair of wings, attach feathers and jump off a cliff. They most likely died. They are what I like to call human crash test dummies. Their goal is to be first, at all costs. Others like DaVinci thought about it, but never strapped on a pair of wings.

In business, perception is more important than fact. You don’t have to be first to market to be successful, but you want to own mindshare. Let’s play a game. After the Wright Brothers’ historic flight, who broke their record? I don’t know either. OK, let’s try this one. What is the name of the world's leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined? Did you guess Boeing? Good.

I’m sure most people throughout time said, “We are not birds. We will never fly.” Fortunately they were wrong too. Some great ideas just need the right timing to be successful. Learn from the dummies that tried and failed. The Wright Brothers learned and even succeeded in their quest to fly. But the good news is their success was not the end. It was only the beginning.


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THE BOTTOM LINE:

Principal 1: Perception in the market is more important than being first.

Principal 2: There is a difference between a fad and a trend. Pursue the trend.

Principal 3: Market timing is critical to the success of your business. If you are too early or too late, you may fail even if the idea is good.

Gut Check

Self-doubt and fear prevent people from truly following their passion. The result is they settle for less and don’t rock the boat. It’s time to rock this boat.

When I moved to Colorado in 1995, my first purchase was a mountain bike. Apparently I had been inspired by Mountain Dew commercials. It was like going skiing for the first time and skipping the bunny hill, the green runs, the blue runs and even the black diamonds. It was like being dropped from a helicopter for an extreme back-country adventure. Going uphill was difficult enough, but looking back down the mountain was horrifying.

As I looked down at a 12-inch trail scattered with rocks, boulders, and very poorly placed roots and trees, I could feel my heart in my throat and my stomach beginning to churn. Self-doubt and fear were very real emotions. I tried to calm myself by thinking that people do this kind of thing all the time. Heck, the Mountain Dew guy didn’t die, right? So down I went. It was not pretty or even successful, but I did go down.
When I told the story to a friend of mine who was a sponsored racer, he laughed and asked where I went. I told him. His response was, “Are you crazy? Nobody goes down that hill.” I did feel a little better after hearing that, and by comparison, my next ride was simple.

It has become evident that I will never be a professional mountain biker, but I have learned that you will never know what you are capable of without a “gut check” every once-in-a-while.


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THE BOTTOM LINE:

Principal 1: You have to be tested to know what you are capable of.

Principal 2: Perseverance is required for success. Otherwise you aren’t good, you’re just lucky.

Principal 3: Fear is not truth. It’s just fear.

One Step Back. Two Steps Forward.

I think it’s time for a little history lesson. I recently read a book about Thomas Edison. He was incredible, there is no doubt about it, but just like most people, he still needed investors to back his ideas. Edison was a true innovator. But his success was also due to a great team he called “muckers”. His muckers worked like crazy to turn his ideas into reality. Also, let’s not forget that Edison wasn’t trying to get rich quick. He said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

Here’s some more to think about: the Wright brothers did not invent the airplane; Henry Ford didn’t invent the car; Robert Fulton didn't invent the steam ship; and neither Bill Gates nor Steve Jobs invented computers. So what do these historically great people all have in common? They all took a good idea and made it better. Where would we be if they hadn’t? The truth is, someone else would have done it too.

If being the originator of an idea was the only measure of success, we would never have made it to the moon. Today’s greatest innovations are most often improvements on existing ideas or processes. Keep this in mind when thinking about how to move your business forward.

It may be worth taking a step back to look seriously at what has been done. You may be surprised that the greatest leaps forward can be made when you improve on an old process. They call it progress.

There is an old marketing adage that says, “It’s better to be first than best.” I think they are wrong. After all, how many people still buy Zenith televisions?

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THE BOTTOM LINE:

Principal 1: To succeed you need to move forward despite what other people say.

Principal 2: Innovation is not a synonym for invention, nor is it a synonym for creativity. Innovation is about improving process, re-thinking ideas, and executing a plan.

Principal 3: History can teach us if we are willing to learn. Many great businesses have failed because they stopped moving forward.

A new car for my phone

I was just thinking back to when I finally caved and purchased a mobile phone.  At the time (2007) I was going through a bit of a rebellious stage. For years people had been telling me I “need” a cell phone. Then they proceeded to give me a laundry list of reasons why I needed one – I didn't
Then along came the iPhone. They almost had me. I wanted it. I still didn’t need it, but that didn’t matter. It just looked cool and it did a lot of great things I didn't need help with, like find a Starbucks. That sounds good, but I am capable of opening my eyes, so that wasn’t too convincing. So why did I want it? 

Consumers use a combination of intellectual and emotional justifications to make purchasing decisions; therefore brand impact is more strategic when leveraging both intellectual and emotional persuasion tactics.

Consider this, Americans consistently spend anywhere from $15,000 to $75,000 on a new car. A major factor in that purchasing decision is whether or not it has a navigation system, an smartphone compatible sound system, or satellite radio. Therefore, it must be safe to say that all cars are essentially the same. It’s true; they all get about the same gas mileage, function in the same way and get us where we want to go. So what drives the purchase? Is it money? For some it is. But for others, they just want what they want.

“Want” is powerful! It is not practical.



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THE BOTTOM LINE:

Principal 1: In an attempt to cut costs, companies are sacrificing the intangibles that most often create “want”.

Principal 2: No matter how convincing you may be, you can’t create “want” by appealing to intellect alone.

Principal 3: Intellect provides justification for what you already want.

The Game

Congratulations, if you’re in business, you’re in the game. By the way, did anyone explain the rules? Never mind, it doesn’t matter, they’ll change anyway. Today’s game seems to be follow-the-leader.

Think about it, companies today are desperately trying to copy each other. Who chose this game? I’d bet money it’s the leader. Have you ever really thought about playing follow-the-leader? If you have, I’m sure you realize you can’t win. So why play?

Don’t get me wrong, I realize follow-the-leader can be fun. It can be exciting. You may even be thrilled at what you are able to accomplish. But if you really want to be the leader, you will soon find out the fun wears off and it won’t be long before you get tired or frustrated.

Here’s a suggestion for the leaders... Play your own game – the game you get to lead. If you do, make up rules that will allow you to win. If you can’t think of any, maybe you got in the game too soon.


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THE BOTTOM LINE:

Principal 1: You can’t win if the rules keep changing. Don’t play that game.

Principal 2: They zig, you zag. You might as well; you’ll never zig exactly like the one you are following.

Principal 3: Take the time for a little introspection. You must know your weaknesses to effectively play to your strengths.

Kindergarten Basics

Life is full of lessons. If you are smart, you learn from them. My education began when I was five years old. I was thrilled to go to school, but I was also nervous. I didn’t know what to expect. It didn’t take long to learn that if I climbed a tree during recess, I wasn’t asked to come back in. Everyday my mother asked me how school was and I said, “Great!” She asked what I learned and I said, “Nothing.” Then she asked what I did, and I said, “Play in the tree.”

The next thing I know she went to school to speak with my teacher. She asked her if she knew I was in the tree during school, and the teacher responded, “Yes. He will come in when he’s ready to learn.” “NO HE WON’T!” my mother said, “You need to tell him it’s time to learn and he will learn.”

I was taken out of that school and I wasn’t able to start in again until the next year. I had failed kindergarten. The good news is I did learn. Clear communication is essential. It works. If you want someone to register, tell them to register. If they’re supposed to buy something, tell them to buy it. You would be surprised how many businesses are less than successful because they think clear communication is pushy.

There is a big difference between a hard sell and clear communication. Choosing a product or a service can be difficult. It involves both an intellectual and emotional decision. If you know that, you will know how to communicate. Another approach is to sit passively and hope that someone to come to you. If they’re anything like me, they can probably think of better things to do.

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THE BOTTOM LINE:

Principal 1: If you fail, learn from it and move on.
Principal 2: If you just build it, they won’t come. That’s why marketing and sales exist. Use them.

Principal 3: You make decisions intellectually. Purchasing adds an emotional element.

Never Lost: My GPS Nightmare

It was 2006, I walked out of Hertz with the keys to my Jaguar in hand. (Upgrades are fun!) I was looking forward to touring California’s wine country and coast. I felt completely at ease. Hertz supplied me with their Never Lost Navigation System. Two hours into the trip, I began to experience a unique version of road rage. This one involved me and that persistent voice on the GPS. She told me I wasn’t on the road. I was! She told me I was lost. I wasn’t! She wanted to re-plot my course. I wanted to throw her out the window.

On that same subject, have you ever looked at directions from MapQuest when you already knew the way? If so, you know that they may eventually get you to your destination but it’s not always the best route.

When you don’t know the way, the most assured way to get where you want to go is to give the keys to the person who knows how to get there. (I know it’s your car. But if I’m driving your car, I’m going to be extra careful.) You may be thinking, “I’ll drive and just ask directions when I need them.” That works too, but it can become frustrating, especially when you disagree with the person giving the directions.

There are other ways to travel. You still have a choice. You could get a dirty cab or a limousine. You could charter a flight or wait in a security line, or better yet, on a runway without air conditioning, with someone else’s child climbing on you while you try to ignore the fact that your connecting flight is already leaving.

So, do you go with that publicly traded mega agency and follow their rules? At first, you may be excited about all the useless features they have to offer, but you may also want to throw them out the window after your first two hour meeting.

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THE BOTTOM LINE:
Principal 1: Don’t become enamored with prestige.
Principal 2: Don’t be distracted by useless gimmicks and strategies that have nothing to do with the business at hand.
Principal 3: Sometimes you’ve got to be willing to trust your gut. Don’t let someone tell you that you are not headed in the right direction when you can see the road right in front of you.